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.

92

CLARA HOWARD; OR,

cheerful performer of your duty, —I should indeed be
happy.
You will wonder by what means Mary has been made
known to me. I will tell you. I went to pay a visit,
long since due, to Mrs. Etheridge; it was but yesterday.
After a cursory discourse, she mientioned that she expected in a few minutes to see a lady who was going on
the morrow to Philadelphia. I had written to you, and
was not unwilling to make use of this opportunity.
"What," I asked, "is her name, her character, her
situation?" a
"Mary Wilmot. She has just come f[om New Haven,
where she has passed the winter with a friend. She is
amiable, but unfortunate."
You will imagine with what emotions I listened to these
words. For some minutes I was too much surprised to
think or to speak clearly. My companion noticed my
emotion;,but, before she could inquire into the cause, a
visitant was announced, and Miss Wilmot herself entered
the room. Being introduced to each other, my name
occasioned as much surprise and embarrassment as hers
had given to me. The interview ended abruptly, but not
till I had so far collected my thoughts as to request her
to be the bearer of a letter. She mentioned the place
where it might be left, and we parted.
I ought to have acted in a different manner: I ought
to have asked her company home, have sought her confidence, have unbosomed myself to her, and removed
every obstacle to her union with you which might arise
from an erring judgment or an unwise generosity.
Bat I was unfitted for this by the suddenness of our
interview. I had not time to subdue those trembling and
mixed feelings which the sight of her produced, before
she withdrew; and I had not courage enough to visit
her at her lodgings and be the bearer of my own letter.
So much the more arduous is the task which belongs to
you; my deficiencies must be supplied by you. Act
uprightly and ingenuously, my friend, I entreat you;
seek her presence, and show her this and every other
letter from me; offer her-beseech her, compel her, to
accept-your vows.