CHAPTER IV.
"Oh! teach me to elude each latent snare,
And whisper to my sliding heart, Beware!"
Fatigued by the exertions of the night, the party at Valpée Court at a very late hour the following morning assembled in the breakfast room. Not any had profited more by a sound repose than the sisters; nevertheless the roses of their cheeks were scarcely perceptible, and their eyes did not sparkle with their usual lustre.
Lady Valpée looked somewhat anxiously at Rosilia, whose thoughtful countenance betrayed that something more than the effects of fatigue was concerned with her gravity. The attention of Douglas to her the preceding evening had been too apparent to escape her experienced eye, and the real interest Lady Valpée took in the happiness of her young friend, determined her to afford Rosilia some information, which might act as a sort of guard or caution in the direction of her future conduct. Her ingenuity soon afforded her an opportunity to open the subject. With as much de-
