Transported out of himself by such a conviction, Sebastian folded his arms around his wife, whose countenance suddenly glowing with vivid emotion, was now bathed in tears. Instantaneously melted by this burst of affection, she wept profusely, but her tears had no bitterness in them; she forgot at that moment the impending evil she had been contemplating. By degrees this rapture subsided, and the separation from her daughter returned in all its force. “I will try to merit these kind praises:” she said faintly, “but my heart may not always have such strength: pardon me therefore Sebastian, if some moments of weakness should make me the selfish creature you feared to find me. Remember that in this discourse I have spoken my real sentiments, and do not attend to the temporary ravings of a mother, who cannot always hear the voices of Reason and Religion; who cannot always obey their commands. In my soul I am convinced we ought to make this sacrifice; as such, it shall be completed.” Again the tears of Kara Aziek ceased to flow, and her features resumed their former paleness. Sebastian still looked at her with a mixture of anguish and delight. His affection was eloquent, and repeated tributes to the fortitude he admired, contributed to support and to console Kara Aziek. One important matter yet remained to be discussed; should they or should they not suffer Blanche to depart without knowing the story of her birth? Many arguments in favor of each line of conduct presented themselves during this interesting discussion; but those had the most weight, which dictated explanation. Blanche was of an age and a character to feel the value of such a confidence: the knowledge of her parents misfortunes would surely endear them to her heart; and when widely separated, that anxiety which must result from her acquaintance with their critical situation, would form still a link of union. Their thoughts, their wishes, their solicitudes, would yet remain the same, though their persons might be divided; it would be impossible for Blanche not to remember and to love her parents, when her dearest interests were inseparably interwoven with their images. In addition to this consideration, Sebastian urged one equally important: Blanche would sooner attain the qualities requisite for her future guidance through life, by this early call upon them. Discretion, courage, attentive observation of persons and events, careful calculation of actions, and their consequences, would be the natural fruit of thus giving her a necessity for all these properties. With the prospect of one day filling a station of responsibility, seeing in the example of her father the awful vicissitudes to which even monarchy is exposed, and feeling, in her own person, the dependance of man on man, she would avoid the risk of becoming intoxicated with a distinction which presented itself under a shape so forbidding.