"Oh! if I proceed farther, I will pass through the ordeal with ease and safety," exclaimed the lady: "I can nerve my mind to encounter any danger, when it is well defined, and I know its extent;--it is only when it is vague, uncertain, and indistinct, that I shrink from meeting it. Yes," she continued, after a few moments' reflection, "I will follow your counsel in all respects: you _do_ know--you _must_ know how much we risk, and how far we compromise ourselves;--and when I see you ready to urge on this matter to the end, how can I fear to accompany you? Yes," she added, after another pause, much longer than the preceding one,--"I will be Walter Sydney throughout this day at least!" "My dear friend," ejaculated Stephens, in a transport of joy, "you act in a manner worthy of your noble-hearted brother, I see--he smiles upon you even in his picture-frame." "I will retrieve from the hands of strangers that which is thine, dear brother," said the lady, addressing herself to the portrait as if it could hear the words which she pronounced with a melancholy solemnity: then, turning towards Stephens, she exclaimed, "But you must acquaint me with the ceremonies we have to fulfil, and the duties which I shall have to perform, in order to accomplish the desired aim." "I need not instruct you now," returned Stephens: "the forms are nothing, and explain themselves, as it were;--a few papers to sign at a certain person's house in Grosvenor Square--then a ride to the Bank--and all is over. But we must now take our departure: the hackney-coach that brought us hither is waiting to convey us to the West End." Stephens and Sydney issued from the house together. The former gave certain directions to the coachman; and they then commenced their memorable journey.