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.

TIIE ENTIUSIASM OF LOVE.

111

"Indeed! You speak as if you had the means of
knowing. Surely, madam, you know nothing of him?"
"I know enough of him. I-e is now in New York,
in the same house with Miss Howard."
"In the same house? And-perhaps-married?"
"Fie upon you, Mary! Is this the courage you have
just avowed,-to turn pale, to falter at the mere possibility of what you have so earnestly endeavoured to
accomplish?"
"Forgive me: it was a momentary folly. He is then
-married?"
" No. They live under the same roof; but it is nothing
but a vague surmise that they will ever be married."
"Dear lady, by what means-"
"Through my brother's letters, which, if you please
to read them, will give you all the information that I
possess. Why that sudden gravity? They will not
taint your fingers, or blast your sight; they are worthy
of my brother, and will depict truly that character which
you could not fail to love, if you were but thoroughly
acquainted with it."
This rebuke suppressed the objection which I was
going to raise against perusing these letters. They were
put into my hands: they contained no information respecting Stanley, but that he resided at New York.
They contained, chiefly, incidents and reflections relative to Sedley and to me: in this respect they were
copious. I read them often, and found myself daily
confirmed in the resolutions which I began to form. I
need not dwell upon the struggles which I occasionally
experienced, and those fits of profound melancholy into
which I was still sometimes plunged: I shall only say,
that, listening only to the dictates of justice and gratitude, and to the pathetic remonstrances of my friend,
I finally prevailed upon myself to consent to her brother's
wishes.
I should have written to Stanley, informing him of
my destiny; but I proposed to return to Philadelphia
with Mrs. Valentine, and hoped to meet him there, or at
New York.
I was not unaware of the effects of an interview with