"THE IMPROVISATRICE," "THE VENETIAN BRACELET,"

&c. &c. &c.

Thus have I begun;

And 'tis my hope to end successfully.

SHAKESPEARE.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. III.

LONDON:

HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY,

NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

1831.

ROMANCE AND REALITY.

CHAPTER I.

"Her silent face is saintly pale,

And sadness shades it like a veil ;

A consecrated nun she seems,

Whose waking thoughts are deep as dreams."

WILSON.

"But the delicate chain

Of thought, once tangled, never cleared again."

MOORE.

COURTESY and curiosity are very often at variance. With a hurried apology, Lorraine had been shewn into a large, gloomy-looking apartment, where he was left to his own thoughts and a small lamp. The moon, now at its full, shone directly into the room, shedding a sad and softened light, which somewhat concealed the ravages of time, or what seemed