ABSTRACT
WILLOUGHBY, with every sensation that could render such a journey unpleasant, proceeded to Paris, where he learned that his uncle impatiently waited for him; – had he gone immediately to him, he must have crush’d at once, all the expectations his appearance raised: and the shock must have been too great and too cruel. He determined at first, therefore, to write to Lady Castlenorth – yet after some reflection, doubted whether it would not be better to give the letter he had received to Miss Fitz-Hayman; and leave it to her to find the means of dismissing him, without his being compelled to assign the true reason. It was still possible that the charges against her might be unfounded or exaggerated. It was possible, that were they neither, he might rescue her from the abyss to which she seemed to be devoting herself. – But, from the pride and violence of her temper, and from that imperious spirit, which had never yet borne to be told of an error, he not only felt great uneasiness from the idea of the scene that was before him, but doubted whether the person for whose sake he was willing to encounter it, would not baffle all his endeavours to rescue her from evil, or conceal her errors by clamour and resentment.
