she had no objection to the signor, who was Laura could say no more, but her eyes spoke a language sufficiently intelligible to her fond mother, whose wishes coincided with her daughter's. The temper and disposition of Albertini was such as to give her every rational prospect of happiness, and most gratefully did the signora thank Heaven, for bestowing upon her children that felicity which would constitute hers also. . The abbot of St. Francis bestowed the nuptial benediction upon the two brides, who were both agitated, though from different causes. The natural timidity of Laura, and the reflection that she was about to quit a beloved mother, made the change peculiarly awful to her: Valeria, on the contrary, was to reside with the signora, whom she loved as a mother; and was it not for the single idea of her father's miserable fate, joy, the most pure and unmixed would have been her por tion. The benevolent abbess of St. Teresa felt all the satisfaction of a parent at the happy lot of her beloved child, who ever treated her with filial affection; and, perhaps, a happier family than that of Sforza could rarely be found. One single cloud disturbed the serenity of the signora's days: it arose from the fate of Julia. Too soon did she find that her mother was indeed a prophetess; and galling was the chain which she was destined for life to drag; it was rendered doubly so by the reflection, that she had rushed upon her fate, and that her sufferings were solely occasioned by her own fault. Very indifferent was the fate of Laura and Valeria; the many virtues of Laura, and her angelic temper, while they rendered her adored by her husband, made her a blessing also to her mother, her children, and her friends. Nor was the union of Sforza and Valeria less happy; some times, indeed, the circumstances of her birth would throw a transient damp on the spirits of Valeria, but these slight sorrows, which were soon chased away by the tenderness of an adoring husband, were the only ones she ever knew after she became his. Blest with a lovely family, happy in each other, and gifted with the means which they liberally used of doing good to their fellow creatures; it was not possible for frail humanity to enjoy a felicity, more complete than that of Sforza and his Valeria. FINIS R.Juigné, Printer, 17, Margaret-street, Cavendish-square. ́ |
