for some space of time following this awful catastrophe, was inconceivable; the first impulse was flight, for a second shock seemed in every one's expectation and the rocking walls offered but an insecure asylum, since the whole foundation was more or less shaken.

It was Conrade and Pandulfo who first discovered the awful situation of Madame de Wolfstein; their immediate anxiety was to remove her and her companions, without delay, from a chamber, whose rent floor and yawning walls might the next moment have given way beneath them, and where the lightest footsteps might have proved fatal. They did not lose time, therefore, in endeavouring to ascertain their existence, till they had borne them to a place of comparative safety; but, having done so, it was with infinite thankfulness they beheld these most interesting objects of anxiety restored gradually to speech and consciousness, although totally ignorant. of the cause of their late insensibility, or

of the bustle and confusion reigning around them. Louisa's joy and surprise at the sight of Conrade was extreme; and that faithful servant, in the midst of the horror such a catastrophe as we have recorded must excite in every human breast, was filled with transport at this providential rescue of the sister of his idolized master.

In the space of one year from the death of Wolfstein, Louisa Baroness of Marchfeldt gave her hand to Count Casimir of Vallenstein; and the castle of Marchfeldt, on the banks of the Raab, became the scene of such domestic felicity as rarely brightens the cloudy history of man. The hearts both of Louisa and Casimir had been severely proved in the fiery ordeal of adversity, and they came brighter from the furnace; their intimate acquaintance with suffering, while it

softened and refined their natures, had strengthened the temper of their minds, and they doubly enjoyed every blessing, contrasting it with the terrible past. Count Vallensteïn, though, from his knowledge of his father's treasonable schemes, he could not resent the conduct adopted by. the Emperor; yet, so much of that father's memory was dear to his heart, that he could never consent to accept from his imperial majesty any of those personal favours, or honours, which lavishly courted his acceptance. Ambition had been the ruin of his father, and he determined to erect his own happiness on a far different basis. Under his mild rule, the domain of Marchfeldt improved and extended; nor was he less blessed and adored by his vassals than the lineal barons had been before him. He became the father of gallant sons and blooming daughters; and a blessing seemed to hover over his house and territory. Conrade, to whom Bar

bara committed her happiness, on the same auspicious day which saw the union of their lord and lady, succeeded his father, Sigismond, as Seneschal of Marchfeldt; and Stephen, the husband of our old friend the sapient and garrulous Alice, whose health was now restored, was promoted to be bailiff of the lands immediately surrounding the castle; an office for which his unshaken, sturdy integrity eminently fitted him. Desmond, the man. ly-hearted devoted Desmond, would not quit his friend; and, as in that frontier station, every feudal baron was necessitated to keep on foot a certain number of troops, and a garrison of no inconsiderable strength, the military department was placed under the charge of Desmond, and admirably fulfilled. Casimir rarely took the field in person, unless some special occasion called him forth; and whenever it was necessary to send a body of Marchfeldters to reinforce the army, he could not have consigned them

to a better substitute than the brave and experienced Desmond..

When Lindau returned to Vienna, with an account of his commission, he could not help feeling in his inmost heart the grateful encomiums of Princess Stolberg. The emotion she betrayed on learning the rescue of Casimir, and her enthusiastic reception of him who had undertaken his deliverance, only revealed how strong a hold her unavailing attachment still maintained in her heart; but gratitude on the one hand, a sense of service on the other, gradually created a mutual sympathy; they insensibly sought each other till they became reciprocally necessary, and friendship softened into love. Princess Stolberg was the first to disclose to Lindau the circumstances which had occurred between herself and Vallenstein; at the same time surrendering to him the token she had received from that unhappy youth when he had so abruptly quitted Vienna.