4

Perplexed & anxious he knew not what to think, but he
did not hesitate on determining secretly to watch, & if possible avert
the danger with which she was threatened. Determined, if possible to win
her confidence & if he should discover error to have grown up
in that once, pure mind, to endeavour to anticipate it, with a resolute vigorous
but tender hand. - Calmed by this resolution, he rose, & climbing
to the summit of the bank, he looked round for a path which
would lead him back by a more circuitous way, for he wishes
every trace of his recent emotion should be effaced, before he met
Julia. The path he entered, wound its devious way through
a noble wood. The undergrowth had been cleared away & the ground
was covered with a soft, short grape.- The undulating
surface, now sinking into hollows, new swelling into hillocks, limited his view
& deceived him as to the length of his way, & he began to think
he had lost himself, when in ascending an enimence, he found he
was on the verge of a public road; & one of the most beautiful landscapes
his eye had ever rested on, burst upon his view. Immediately, before him
were many large & handsome houses, surrounded with fine gar-
dens & beautifully variegated grounds, where groves of forest trees
mingled with foreign growth & every vanity of flowering shrub.
As the hill desended, the houses thickened & spread out in regular
streets to the waters edge; but the numerous gardens & trees mixed
among the dwellings, destroyed the monotony of a regularly built
town. Beyond, spread the broad Potomack, reflecting in its clear
waves the beautiful banks by which it was bounded.- Points of land
from the opposite shores, stretched almost across the river, & some
times gave it the appearance of a lake. A little fairy Island
lay embosomed in its waters, at a short distance from the town;
Through its tall trees, a white building could be seen at the farther-
end, that from its sequestened situation, d'Aubigne thought must
be the very abode of peace.- On the left bank of the river, extended
the high grounds of Washington, & its scattered buildings, among which
more preeminent the Capitol & its lofty cupola- Directly opposite