“If I should fail at last!” she constantly repeated to herself, while striving to strengthen her resolution by the recollection of Sebastian’s commendations; “if I should disappoint his trust in my promise of submission! ah God! pity me, succour me, support my feeble spirit, and give me that added confidence in thy mercy, that added tenderness for his feelings, which may successfully wrestle against the despair of a mother.” Impressed with a sense of her own weakness, Kara Aziek fled from every scene which could enervate her still further, courageous from that very tenderness of character, with which her courage had to struggle, she refused to herself the luxury of indulging her grief, and of participating in that affecting interview which must increase it. While she surrounded herself by various occupations, forcibly wresting her mind towards the interest of others, Sebastian was unfolding to their daughter the wonderful story of his youth. Her amazement and sympathy may be imagined; they were in proportion to the sensibility of her character: but Sebastian looked beyond these, and as he slowly related the events of his life, and pointed out the lessons to be learned from them, he watched their effect on her who might hereafter need such beacons to guide her in the same course. A serious joy warmed his heart, when he beheld the impression made by the knowledge of her birth: looks of trouble and apprehension were instantly diffused over her features: she was not ambitious therefore: to inspire her with zeal for her own rights, it would be requisite to teach her the benevolent purposes to which they might be directed. No parts of her father’s narrative so absorbed the attention of Blanche, as those which related to her mother. While Sebastian detailed the variety of Kara Aziek’s destiny, and the transitions from pain to pleasure which they had had mutually endured, the eyes of Blanche alternately shone with the brightness of joy, or fell to the ground blinded with tears. It was evident, that from the moment Kara Aziek appeared upon the scene, her affectionate child saw in her love the best blessing of life, and ceasing to think of her father’s loftier anxieties, was solely interested in reaching the moment which gave her parents to each other. Once, and only once, did her agitated heart burst through the restraint which delicate timidity, and filial respect had imposed: it was at the description of Sebastian’s return to Portugal, at the reception of Donna Gonsalva, and the conversation of the two noblemen at the house of Lopez Vernara. Powerfully moved by these incidents, she suddenly threw herself on the bosom of her father, exclaiming, in a voice broken by sobs, “Ah send me not to such a dreadful world! let me not live with people who have thus outraged my dearest father!”