“That knowledge came to me a double sorrow, quick following his death; to me more terrible than death. Now, alone in the world, with none of my blood known to me, I come to you as my defender. The law is a stern master; sometimes blind. If I lose, I lose all, a beggar, with a name suspected, I can do little else than lie down and die!” and she covered her face with her hands, and sobbed aloud. “Mr. Cornelius is honest,” said I. “Mr. Cornelius knows not my heart.” “He is rich.” “I would take nothing from his wealth. True, he is a man of large property, but my folly has, in part, brought this sorrow upon me; let the law judge between us, I will be content.” “Now, madam, you show the right spirit, and my best endeavors shall be exerted in your behalf,” said I, as the lady rose, and gave me her hand at parting. “Wait, trust in your counsel; and if you lose, still wait, still hope; _for every thing is rewarded and avenged in time_.” My fair client’s heart was too full to speak of gratitude; and I handed her to the door, and took leave of her in silence. SECTION IV. I returned to the papers and studied them, far into the night. There was the evidence of the fifty thousand dollars received; and there, too, was the evidence of the prior marriage—the first wife living at the time of the taking of the second. It was a sad tale, the story of that first wife; a tale of neglect, of desertion, of want and wo; a tale told in letters written from a far distant land, and blotted with many tears. I steeled my heart against it. How else could we of “The Profession” live? As the surgeon, compassionless, cuts with steady nerve through flesh, and bone, and marrow, and saves the life which pity would have lost; so we soon learn to close the heart to sorrow; to hear nothing, to see nothing but the interest of the client; to hope for nothing but his success—God protect us! Ever dealing with the passions and the vices of men; their unholy race after mammon; strifes by the way-side; plots and counter-plots; faith broken; trusts betrayed; snares for the unwary; the innocent duped; the unfortunate trampled upon; the hoary sinner honored—God protect us! Great wonder is it, that we do not loathe the very name of man! Poor woman! If she who assumed your name and state, and defiled the marriage bed, which with you alone was pure, was guilty, although ignorant, of a careless haste, the punishment has come, equal to the fault; and you, too, are avenged—even in time.