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 ENTHUSIASM OF LOVE.

59

we conversed at our last meeting. As her brother's
friend, I was, likewise, desirous of seeing her, and tendering her any service in my power; but, when taking
measures to bring about an interview, I received a letter
from my wife, who, to my infinite surprise and satisfaction, had embarked for America and arrived safely at
New York. My eagerness to see my family made me
postpone this interview for the present, and one engagement has since so rapidly succeeded another, that I have
never been at leisure to execute this design."
"What!" said I; "has no meeting taken place between Mary Wilmot and you? Has she not restored the
money you claimed?"
" Surely," replied he, " you cannot be ignorant that I
Fhave never received it. I doubted whether I ought to
receive it, even if my title were good. It was chiefly to
become acquainted with her that I looked for her, and
my good fortune has since enabled me to dispense with
any thing else. The property left by her brother may
rightfully belong to her, notwithstanding present appearances. At any rate, her possessions shall be unmolested
by me."
Hie then proceeded to inform me that his wife's parents,
being deceived, by his long silence and the intelligence
of his shipwreck, into the opinion of his death, had relented and settled an independent and liberal pension on
their daughter, on condition of her choosing some abode
at a distance from them. She proposed to retire, with
her child, to some neat and rural abode in Cornwall, and
was on the point of executing this design, when letters
were received from her husband, at Algiers, which assured her of his safety, and. requested her to embark for
America, where it was his intention to meet her. She
had instantly changed her plans, and, selling her annuity
on good terms, had transported herself and her property
to New York, where her husband, being apprized of her
arrival, hastened to join her.
"Thus," continued Morton, "you have, in my destiny,
a striking instance of the folly of despair. My shipwreck and my long absence, in circumstances which hindered all intercourse between me and my family, were
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