exhibited her natural violence of temper. Her beauty was striking and noble, but marked with the impression of her character.

"When she was about seventeen, the estate adjoining her father's was purchased by a Mr. Manners, a young man of moderate means, who had dissipated a large fortune in gambling. Alfred Manners very soon singled out Alicia from the young ladies of the neighbourhood, and after some hesitation on the part of Sir Edward Earl, he was accepted by the family, and married her.

"Alfred Manners was a very peculiar being, and no one could understand his character; there was a sinister expression in his handsome countenance which all his suavity could not conceal; and although he was never out of temper, neither was he ever thoroughly cheerful.

"The newly-married pair took up their residence at Earlscourt, for a time, as some repairs were going on at Alfred's place. Herbert Earl and Alfred Manners seemed to entertain a

natural antipathy for each other. The invalid, apparently, was quick-sighted enough to read the real hollowness of his brother-in-law's character.

Lady Earl was an heiress, and her property was so settled, that in case of her son's death it was to go to her daughter. Cupidity was the ruling passion in Alfred's heart, and between him and the enjoyment of immense possessions, stood Herbert. He must be sacrificed! This direful resolution having once become fixed in his mind, he lost no time in preparing for its execution, and having procured a slow yet subtle poison, calculated to wither the frame and bring its victim gently down into the grave, he watched anxiously for an opportunity to administer it. At length the favourable moment came. Herbert had been strolling through the grounds, with Alicia and her husband, one afternoon; and having walked much more than he was in the habit of doing, he returned to the house feverish and thirsty; he always kept lemonade in his study, and, on this occasion, the moment

they entered, he poured out some in a glass, and placing it on the table, went to a closet for some ingredient which he generally added to it; the article he wanted was on a high shelf, and he was obliged to mount on a chair in order to reach it. Alicia ran to hold and steady the chair for him, and, in the meantime, with the rapidity of lightning, Alfred took out the powder from his waistcoat pocket, where he always had it ready, and shook it, with a trembling eagerness, into the glass.

"There was a mirror in the room, so situated that Alicia could see the action, and, turning hastily to her husband, she asked him what he had been infusing? With wonderful self-possession Alfred replied, that it was some preparation he lately purchased, and which imparted a delicious flavour to the lemonade. The thing was passed over-Herbert drank the draught, and the circumstance was totally forgotten for a time.

"But weeks passed away, and no visible change took place in Herbert's health, whether the quantity was too small, or that some mistake

had occurred in the materials, Alfred could not conjecture, but it was evidently innocuous. Alfred had gone too far to recede, and he determined, by one desperate stroke, to finish his gloomy work.

"It was now the beginning of November, and the weather was dark and dismal.

One

night, when the wind was blowing a perfect hurricane, whistling and howling around the house, Alicia awoke about midnight; and, as she listened to the storm without, a strange terror crept over her. Suddenly a tremendous crash, occasioned by the falling of a tree which burst through the window of her room in its descent, caused her to start up in extreme alarm. She missed the night-lamp which she always kept burning in her apartment, and her husband was also missing. She arose hastily, and quitting her room, ran along the gallery towards her brother's chamber, to which she was attracted by light shining through the half-open door. She glided swiftly to the spot, and was about to push open the door, when a sight met her

eye, through the crevice, which paralysed all her faculties. She tried to scream, but could utter no sound; her feet were rooted to the floor-she felt an irresistible impulse compelling her to gaze on the scene within.

"Alfred Manners, her husband, stood on the far side of Herbert's bed, his eyes glaring, his face ashy pale, and a terrible sternness in his erect figure; he held aloft two huge cushions belonging to the sopha in his victim's room, and gazed immoveably on the calm sleeper. Herbert's face was upturned, and he slept profoundly. Suddenly Alfred flung the cushions. over his countenance, and throwing his whole weight across them, lay still. At this fearful crisis Alicia recovered her powers of motion, and terror being her predominant feeling, she crept back to her bed as quickly as her failing strength would permit, and scarcely had she re-established herself in it, till her senses deserted her, and a deep swoon overpowered her.

"The morning came, and with it a knowledge of Herbert's death. He was found cold and