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.

THE SECRET WITNESS.

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more detestable. I fight against conviction, and I cling
to it. That I love thee no longer is at once a subject
of joy and of mourning. I struggle to believe thee
superior to this shock; that thou wilt be happy, though
deserted by me. Whatever be thy destiny, my reason
will not allow me to be miserable on that account. Yet
I would give the world-I would forfeit every claim but
that which I hope upon the heart of Constantia-to be
sure that thy tranquillity will survive this stroke.
"But, let come what will, look no longer to me for
offices of love. Henceforth, all intercourse of tenderness ceases,-perhaps all personal intercourse whatever.
But, though this good be refused, thou art sure of independence. I will guard thy ease and thy honour with a
father's scrupulousness. Would to Heaven a sister could
be created by adoption! I*Cm willing, for thy sake, to
be an impostor. I will own thee to the world for my
sister, and carry thee whither the cheat shall never be
detected. I would devote my whole life to prevarication
and falsehood for thy sake, if that would suffice to make
thee happy."
To this speech Helena had nothing to answer. Her
sobs and tears choked all utterance. She hid her face
with her handkerchief, and sat powerless and overwhelmed with despair. Ormond traversed the room
uneasily, sometimes moving to and fro with quick steps,
sometimes standing and eyeing her with looks of compassion. At length he spoke:"It is time to leave you. This is the first night that
you will spend in dreary solitude. I know it will be
sleepless and full of agony; but the sentence cannot be
recalled. Henceforth regard me as a brother. I will
prove myself one. All other claims are. swallowed up
in a superior affection." In saying this, he left the
house, and, almost without intending it, found himself in
a few minutes at Mr. Dudley's door.