The novels of Charles Brockden Brown, consisting of Wieland;or, The transformation. Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the year 1793. Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a sleep-walker. Jane Talbot. Ormond; or, The secret witness. Clara Howard; or, The enthusiasm of love. With a memoir of the author.

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ORMOND; OR,

to others; and, by degrees, experience enlarged my
knowledge and familiarized my tasks.
It was agreed that I should visit and inspect my
friend's estate in Jersey, while she remained in her present abode, to put an end to the views and expectations
of Ormond, and to make preparation for her voyage.
We were reconciled to a temporary separation by the
necessity that prescribed it.
During our residence together, the mind of Constantia
was kept in perpetual ferment. The second day after
my departure, the turbulence of her feelings began to
subside, and she found herself at leisure to pursue those
measures which her present situation prescribed.
The time prefixed by Ormond for the termination of
his absence had nearly arrived. Her resolutions respecting this man, lately formed, now occurred to her.
Her heart drooped as she revolved the necessity of disuniting their fates; but that this disunion was proper
could not admit of doubt. How information of her present views might be most satisfactorily imparted to him,
was a question not instantly decided. She reflected on
the impetuosity of his character, and conceived that her
intentions might be most conveniently unfolded in a
letter. This letter she immediately sat down to write.
Just then the door opened, and Ormond entered the
apartment.
She was somewhat, and for a moment, startled by this
abrupt and unlooked-for entrance. Yet she greeted him
with pleasure. Her greeting was received with coldness.
A second glance at his countenance informed her that
his mind was somewhat discomposed.
Folding his hands on his breast, he stalked to the
window and looked up at the moon. Presently he withdrew his gaze from this object, and fixed it upon Constantia. He spoke, but his words were produced by a
kind of effort.
"Fit emblem," he exclaimed, "of human versatility!
One impediment is gone. I hoped it was the only one.
But no! the removal of that merely made room for another. Let this be removed. Well, fate will interplace
a third. All our toils will thus be frustrated, and the