followed the course she would have dictated, and had heartily concurred in an arrangement which promised to spare him the awkwardness of being in any way mixed up with the sinister events that were at hand.

By a singular stroke of fortune, which under the circumstances might almost appear the result of a preconcerted plan, Albert, as we have seen, received orders to join his regiment, a few days previous to the intended departure of his father and stepmother, who proposed spending the summer months with some distant relatives in Bohemia. Thus the wishes and well devised machinations of the Countess were crowned with unequivocal success.

CHAPTER X.

Then came the parting hour, and what arise
When lovers part, expressive looks and eyes
Tender and tearful, many a fond adieu,
And many a call the sorrow to renew ;
Sighs such as lovers only can explain,

And words that they might undertake in vain.

Crabbe's Hall.

Moi t'oublier?....est-il en ma puissance?
French Romance.

ELLA, who had passed one of those long and placid nights of slumbering repose such as are only enjoyed during the first bloom of youth, ere time and the feverish experience of worldly cares have destroyed the confiding

simplicity of the mind, rose at an early hour on the day following the Duke de Reichstadt's visit to the opera, refreshed by sleep, bounded forth from her chamber with lightsome step, her fair face beaming with the glow of morning, and her young heart palpitating with the delightful consciousness of its own innocence. As she thus wandered in her garden, and tripped gaily amongst the party-coloured blossoms that filled the air with rich perfumes, stopping here and there to enjoy their sweetness, or bending her graceful head to examine the opening beauties of each promising bud that claimed her care, she seemed like one of those classic forms perpetuated in statuary alone. But the ripe perfections of womanhood bade defiance to the sculptor's art, and rivalled the soft and varied hues that

tinged the fragrant host by which she was surrounded.

Engaged in watering her plants, and dispersing a pearly shower which assumed a thousand changeful tints as the rays of the morning sun rose above the horizon, Ella did not hear a rapid step approaching, until a deep sigh warned her of the presence of a visitor. She raised her eyes from the delicate flower to which she was fixing a suitable support, and uttered a faint cry as she beheld Albert in a travelling dress, his face bearing the impress of deep sorrow. He met her tender gaze of recognition with a look at once so sad and so impassioned, that she scarcely knew in what terms to accost him.

"You are an early riser, dear Ella," said he, in a melancholy tone, taking her hand affectionately. "I scarcely hoped to have found you. Always happy, I see, in the society of your scented favourites."

"Is it then so very early for me to commence my occupations, dear Albert? or is it not rather early for you to witness them?" she replied, blushing with mingled pleasure and surprise.

"I fear that my intrusions in future will not be so frequent that you need feel much alarm," returned the lover mournfully.

"Nay, you are easily piqued," exclaimed Ella. "I did but jest; come when and where you please, your presence Albert must ever be agreeable to me. But now you are here, I shall make you useful; see that bed of variegated tulips; you can bind them all up for me before breakfast."

"I came, dearest, on a less pleasing errand,” observed Rosendahl, endeavouring to assume a composure he could ill command. "Military duties are very arbitrary, and I fear that I shall