which he was charged for his mistress, and to put a stop to the preparations she was making to visit her husband.
Unfolding the paper, she ran over its contents, which were couched in the most soothing terms possible; De Brooke assured her that the chief subject of his regret arose from the abruptness with which he had been obliged to leave her; that as to himself, he had philosophy sufficient to endure a temporary ill, for as a passing cloud, such he considered his present misfortune to be, and conjured her also to regard it in no other light; for, that the more courage she displayed, the less he should have reason to repine; the burden of self-reproach being aggravated by the reflection that it was himself who was the author of all the uneasiness she sustained. He then exhorted her to repose in the friendship of Mr. and Mrs. Philimore, and by no means to make any attempt at seeing him, as, under the present circumstances, their meeting could not but be attended with painful emotions; that if he could not as soon as he expected effect his liberation, he would himself be the first to solicit her coming to see him. He then concluded by assuring her he was well, as to her additional satisfaction Robert could testify.
