Monthly Review of Literature. 543 



brim the cup of poison. This scoundrel, Carency, takes foul advantage of the 

 secret interviews to which fear drives Miss Montressor to murder and rob 

 her good aunt, to rob herself of the family jewels, and finally to kill Lord 

 Annandale. True, however, ' is the adage, Raro antecedentem scelestum 

 deseruit pede pcena claudo. The crimes of Carency are brought to light one 

 after another, and he meets the punishment due to his iniquities. The guilty 

 and unhappy Lady Annandale goes mad and dies, having found, alas, only 

 too late, that " even in the accomplishment of her schemes, she found only 

 the remorse and misery, that never fail, sooner or later, to await on crime." 



The letters of Miss Montressor constitute, as we have said before, by far 

 the most interesting part of the work ; but we would notice, as being worthy 

 of especial praise, those addressed to the Marquise de Villeroi. From one of 

 these we furnish an extract, that will show a part of the denouement, as well 

 as its own talent. The earlier letters are gay and thoughtless : those of later 

 date are of a more serious and sombre cast. 



" Lord Annandale dined with the ministers yesterday ; and I was sitting 

 in my boudoir, superintending the arrangement of some diamonds which my 

 maid was attaching to my court-dress, when the groom of the chambers an- 



fDunced Le Chevalier Carency, and that monster entered. 

 " The case of jewels I held in my hand fell to the ground, and I uttered a 

 faint shriek ; while Claudine, who, in the elegantly dressed man of fashion 

 before her, did not recognise the mysterious visitant of Annandale Castle, re- 

 spectfully retired. He approached me with alacrity, kissed my hand with 

 easy politeness, and said that, having only that day arrived from Paris, he 

 came to deliver a letter, and sundry messages, from our mutual friend, La 

 Marquise de Villeroi. Though I dreaded finding myself alone with him, I 

 dreaded still more the possibility of Claudine's recognising him, if suffered to 

 remain, or to be a witness to an interview in which I felt a presentiment that 

 new demands would be made ; so I was glad to see her withdraw. I then 

 asked him why he stood before me ? 



" ' The question is neither polite nor hospitable, ma belle comtesse,' replied 

 he, with an air of the most insulting familiarity ; ' mats n'importe. 1 am no 

 longer the ruined mendicant you saw at Annandale Castle, and whose appa- 

 rition seemed to give you so little pleasure. Your compulsory liberality has 

 enabled me to reassume that place in society to which my birth entitles me : 

 I flatter myself that my appearance would not discredit the most aristocratic 

 salon in London ; ' and he looked in a large mirror with undisguised com- 

 placency. ' But]Fortune owes me a grudge, and pursues me with a guignon, 

 as provoking as it is inconvenient. Last night I lost a considerable sum the 

 final remnant of your supply, and I am come to demand another. Seeing in 

 the papers that monsieur milord, votre mari, was to dine with the ministers 

 (for the English papers leave us ignorant of none of the engagements of les 

 messieurs et dames a la mode), I determined on paying you a visit. Should 

 milord arrive before I depart, you will, of course, present me to him as an old 

 friend just arrived from Paris, and the bearer of a letter from your friend, la 

 Marquise de Villeroi. Sa seigneurie will, of course, act I'aimable I, le gentil : 

 the acquaintance thus made, leave the rest to me : he shall present me to the 

 persons I desire to know, and all will go off a merveille. I see that you dis- 

 approve this arrangement/ added he, with a look of perfect nonchalance ; 

 ' but I have taken it into my head to enter into fashionable society in London, 

 and your husband is the person I have selected as chaperon.' 



" ' And you tell this to me/ said I, my blood boiling with indignation ; 

 ' to me, who know you for a robber for an assassin ! ' 



" His countenance assumed a fearful expression of malice as he glanced at 

 me, and replied, 



"'Bah, bah! you still remember that little episode ; but you appear to 

 forget your own share in it. Who gave me ingress to the house, and who 



