Her heart throbbed to pour itself out, and atone to her gallant lover for all its errors.  At one moment she would place herself in a conspicuous situation, where she might catch his view at once, and surprise him by her welcome; but the next moment a doubt would come across her mind, and she would shrink among the throng, trembling and faint, and gasping with her emotions.  Her agitation increased as the boat drew near, until it became distressing; and it was almost a relief to her when she perceived that her lover was not there.  She presumed that some accident had detained him on board of the ship; and she felt that the delay would enable her to gather more self-possession for the meeting.  As the boat neared the shore, many inquiries were made, and laconic answers returned.

At length Annette heard some inquiries after her lover.  Her heart palpitated—­there was a moment’s pause:  the reply was brief, but awful.  He had been washed from the deck, with two of the crew, in the midst of a stormy night, when it was impossible to render any assistance.  A piercing shriek broke from among the crowd; and Annette had nearly fallen into the waves.

The sudden revulsion of feelings after such a transient gleam of happiness, was too much for her harassed frame.  She was carried home senseless.  Her life was for some time despaired of, and it was months before she recovered her health; but she never had perfectly recovered her mind:  it still remained unsettled with respect to her lover’s fate.

“The subject,” continued my informant, “is never mentioned in her hearing; but she sometimes speaks of it herself, and it seems as though there were some vague train of impressions in her mind, in which hope and fear are strangely mingled—­some imperfect idea of her lover’s shipwreck, and yet some expectation of his return.

“Her parents have tried every means to cheer her, and to banish these gloomy images from her thoughts.  They assemble round her the young companions in whose society she used to delight; and they will work, and chat, and sing, and laugh, as formerly; but she will sit silently among them, and will sometimes weep in the midst of their gayety; and, if spoken to, will make no reply, but look up with streaming eyes, and sing a dismal little song, which she has learned somewhere, about a shipwreck.  It makes every one’s heart ache to see her in this way, for she used to be the happiest creature in the village.

“She passes the greater part of the time with Eugene’s mother; whose only consolation is her society, and who dotes on her with a mother’s tenderness.  She is the only one that has perfect influence over Annette in every mood.  The poor girl seems, as formerly, to make an effort to be cheerful in her company; but will sometimes gaze upon her with the most piteous look, and then kiss her gray hairs, and fall on her neck and weep.