"Say, rather, _chastened_," said Mrs Lorton. "Ah! Eleanor, believe me, that those whom the Lord never sees fit to chasten are not to be envied, as you, in your present sorrow, would believe." The little miniature you have seen of my Francis was taken from life by Mrs Lorton; it fell into Mr Trail's hands through the loss of a box when I was travelling; it has, you see, twice escaped destruction. I returned to Annerley, broken-hearted. It was our winter--a desolate one, memorable in the annals of the colony for its storms and floods. Oh! how long it was before the cold wind and rain, which I heard beating against the windows, ceased to send a shudder through my heart, for fear they should injure my poor little lost snowdrop. I had dreaded leaving Fort Wellington, yet, what a trial it was there--to see the vacant place in the nursery, and the unused playthings, carefully put away by Mrs Lorton, but sometimes drawn out by stealth, that I might weep over them! These last lines of the manuscript are almost illegible, from the tears that had fallen on them. Frankfort's eyes were dim. How shall I tell you the rest? The unhappy being who was bound to me by my wretched fate disappeared, as I have said. For more than two years we heard nothing of him. At last, we learned that he was at the head of one of those factious parties in England, calling themselves patriots, who stir the people up to discontent by disseminating false principles among them. He was to be heard of in the different manufacturing districts, rousing the lower classes, and, as he himself said, "teaching them what they wanted:" thus he drew the weaver from his poor hearth, to send him back more discontented and unsettled than ever; the farmer from the market, to set him against his landlord, whom hitherto he had loved; the mechanic from his work, which afterwards he had no heart to finish; the reaper from the sunny fields, and the boy from his home, to destroy its influences if good, to foster them if evil; and those who listened went from him dissatisfied with themselves, and with "war in their hearts" towards their fellow-men. In a word, you well knew the name of Jasper Lee, he who was convicted for a conspiracy against the Government. He was my husband!--the name of Lee was an assumed one. Within six months we have received authentic intelligence of his death, and I am personally disenthralled of my heavy chain, but I bear its marks--my head has been bowed to earth by this galling yoke, and I shall feel that your decree will be just when you renounce me for ever. I am thankful that, at last, I _can_ recognise the hand of God in all the suffering I have undergone. Do you remember my requesting an interview once with Mr Trail?--you stood by and saw my confusion on discovering you. Ah! I cannot tell you the consolation I have derived from that good man.