_Stra._ Reproaches! Here they are; here on my sallow cheek--here in my hollow eye--here in my faded form. These reproaches I could not spare you. _Mrs. H._ Were I a hardened sinner, this forbearance would be charity: but I am a suffering penitent, and it overpowers me. Alas! then I must be the herald of my own shame. For, where shall I find peace, till I have eased my soul by my confession? _Stra._ No confession, madam. I release you from every humiliation. I perceive you feel, that we must part for ever. _Mrs. H._ I know it. Nor come I here to supplicate your pardon; nor has my heart contained a ray of hope that you would grant it. All I dare ask is, that you will not curse my memory. _Stra._ [_Moved._] No, I do not curse you. I shall never curse you. _Mrs. H._ [_Agitated._] From the conviction that I am unworthy of your name, I have, during three years abandoned it. But this is not enough; you must have that redress which will enable you to chuse another--another wife; in whose chaste arms, may Heaven protect your hours in bliss! This paper will be necessary for the purpose: it contains a written acknowledgement of my guilt. [_Offers it, trembling._ _Stra._ [_Tearing it._] Perish the record, for ever.--No, Adelaide, you only have possessed my heart; and, I am not ashamed to own it, you alone will reign there for ever.--Your own sensations of virtue, your resolute honour, forbid you to profit by my weakness; and even if--Now, by Heaven, this is beneath a man! But--never--never will another fill Adelaide's place here. _Mrs. H._ [_Trembling._] Then nothing now remains but that one sad, hard, just word--farewell! _Stra._ Stay a moment. For some months we have, without knowing it, lived near each other. I have learnt much good of you. You have a heart open to the wants of your fellow creatures. I am happy that it is so. You shall not be without the power of gratifying your benevolence. I know you have a spirit that must shrink from a state of obligation. This paper, to which the whole remnant of my fortune is pledged, secures you independence, Adelaide: and let the only recommendation of the gift be, that it will administer to you the means of indulging in charity, the divine propensity of your nature. _Mrs. H._ Never! To the labour of my hands alone will I owe my sustenance. A morsel of bread, moistened with the tear of penitence, will suffice my wishes, and exceed my merits. It would be an additional reproach, to think that I served myself, or even others, from the bounty of the man whom I had so deeply injured. _Stra._ Take it, madam; take it. _Mrs. H._ I have deserved this. But I throw myself upon your generosity. Have compassion on me!