_Sir Philip._ You there behold his father--my brother--[_Weeps._]--I've not beheld that face these twenty years.--Let me again peruse its lineaments. [_In an agony of grief._] Oh, God! how I loved that man!-- _Handy, jun._ Be composed. _Sir Philip._ I will endeavour. Now listen to my story. _Handy, jun._ You rivet my attention. _Sir Philip._ While we were boys, my father died intestate. So I, as elder born, became the sole possessor of his fortune; but the moment the law gave me power, I divided, in equal portions, his large possessions, one of which I with joy presented to my brother. _Handy, jun._ It was noble. _Sir Philip._ [_With suppressed agony._] You shall now hear, sir, how I was rewarded. Chance placed in my view a young woman of superior personal charms; my heart was captivated--Fortune she possessed not--but mine was ample. She blessed me by consenting to our union, and my brother approved my choice. _Handy, jun._ How enviable your situation! _Sir Philip._ Oh! [_Sighing deeply._] On the evening previous to my intended marriage, with a mind serene as the departing sun, whose morning beam was to light me to happiness, I sauntered to a favourite tree, where, lover-like, I had marked the name of my destined bride, and, with every nerve braced to the tone of ecstasy, I was wounding the bark with a deeper impression of the name--when, oh, God!---- _Handy, jun._ Pray proceed. _Sir Philip._ When the loved offspring of my mother, and the woman my soul adored--the only two beings on earth, who had wound themselves round my heart by every tie dear to the soul of man, placed themselves before me; I heard him--even now the sound is in my ears, and drives me to madness--I heard him breathe vows of love, which she answered with burning kisses--He pitied his poor brother, and told her he had prepared a vessel to bear her for ever from me.--They were about to depart, when the burning fever in my heart rushed upon my brain--Picture the young tiger, when first his savage nature rouses him to vengeance--the knife was in my gripe--I sprang upon them--with one hand I tore the faithless woman from his damned embrace, and with the other--stabbed my brother to the heart. _Handy, jun._ The wretched woman---- _Sir Philip._ Was secretly conveyed here--even to that chamber.--She proved pregnant, and in giving birth to a son, paid the forfeit of her perjury by death. My task being ended, yours begins. _Handy, jun._ Mine! _Sir Philip._ Yes, that chamber contains evidence of my shame; the fatal instrument, with other guilty proofs, lie there concealed--can you wonder I dread to visit the scene of horror--can you wonder I implore you, in mercy, to save me from the task? Oh! my friend, enter the chamber, bury in endless night those instruments of blood, and I will kneel and worship you. _Handy, jun._ I will.