The irresolution and unhappiness into which Oswald was plunged was increased by the fact that his letters to Corinne received no replies.  Had her love ceased when his presence was removed?  His friends told him of the fickleness of Italian women, and he began to believe that she had deserted him.  The truth was that Corinne was not in Italy to receive his letters.  She had come to England.

Desolated by his absence, and alarmed by the tone of the letters from him that had reached her, she had resolved to follow him.  On arriving in London, she had been seized by an illness which prevented her from seeing him.  On her recovery the people with whom she was staying took her to the theatre where Mrs. Siddons was playing.  Oswald was at the theatre with Lady Edgarmond and Lucy.  Corinne observed with a sinking heart the delicate attention which Oswald paid to her half-sister.

She saw him next at a review, where he appeared at the head of his regiment.  After the march past, he escorted Lucy in a ride on horseback.  Corinne noted his kind solicitude, his promptitude when Lucy was in danger, the tenderness with which he supported her.  What more did Corinne need to convince her of his love for Lucy?

That evening she went to his door, and learnt that he had left for Scotland an hour earlier.  She felt that she must see him again; so she, also, departed for Scotland.

Lady Edgarmond gave a ball on her Scottish estate, and among the guests was Oswald, whose home was near at hand.  In the grounds lurked Corinne, seeking an opportunity of meeting her lover.  In the midst of the festivities, a white-clad figure hurried out alone; Corinne knew it to be her half-sister.  Lucy, believing that no eye was upon her, knelt down in the grove where stood her father’s tomb.  “Pray for me, O my father!” she said; “inspire him to choose me as the partner of his life!  Oh God, render me worthy of the love of Oswald!”

“Grant her prayer,” whispered Corinne, “and give her sister a peaceful grave.”

She drew out the ring that Oswald had given her, and wrapped it in a piece of paper on which she wrote the words, “You are free.”  She thrust this into the hand of a man near the house with a request that he should hand it to a servant to be delivered to Lord Nevil.  She saw the man give it to a servant.  Then she fled.

V.—­The Clouded Moon

To Oswald’s assured knowledge of his father’s wishes, and his fear that Corinne had been untrue to him, had been added a third consideration, Lady Edgarmond’s health was rapidly declining, and when she died Lucy would be unprotected in the world.  Was it not his duty to protect her?  He resolved to undertake the duty, if he could only be free from his promise to Corinne.

When his freedom came, with the mysterious return of the ring, all his doubts were removed.  Soon afterwards he married Lucy, and after a short interval—­during which he felt intense anxiety as to whether he had not wronged Corinne—­he went with his regiment to the West Indies.