Wildvill， he is dead，’ said she， ‘and died not mine， aBlackmoor Lady had bewitched him from me； I received aLetter lately which informed me all； there was no namesubscribed to it， but it intimated， that it was written at therequest of dying Frankwit.’ ‘Oh！ I am sorry at my Soul，’ saidWildvill， ‘for I loved him with the best， the dearest friendship；no doubt then，’ rejoyned he， ‘’tis Witchcaft indeed that couldmake him false to you； what delight could he take in aBlackmoor Lady， tho’ she had received him at once with aSoul as open as her longing arms， and with her Petticoat putoff her modesty. Gods！ How could he change a whole FieldArgent into downright Sables.’ ‘’twas done，’ returned Celesia，‘with no small blot， I fancy， to the Female ‘scutcheon.’ Inshort， after some more discourse， but very sorrowful， Wildvilltakes his leave， extreamly taken with the fair Belvira， morebeauteous in her cloud of woe； he paid her afterwards frequentvisits， and found her wonder for the odd inconstancy ofFrankwit， greater than her sorrow， since he dy’d so unworthyof her. Wildvill attack’d her with all the force of vigorous love，and she （as she thought） fully convinc’d of Frankwit’s death，urg’d by the fury and impatience of her new ardent Lover，soon surrender’d， and the day of their Nuptials now arriv’d，their hands were joyn’d. In the mean time Frankwit （for he stillliv’d） knew nothing of the Injury the base Moorea practis’d，knew not that ‘twas thro’ her private order， that the foremention’daccount of his falshood and his death was sent； butimpatient to see his Dear Belvira， tho’ yet extremely weak， ridpost to London， and that very day arriv’d there， immediatelyafter the Nuptials of his Mistress and his Friend werecelebrated. I was at this time in Cambridge， and having somesmall acquaintance with this Blackmoor Lady， and sitting inher Room that evening， after Frankwit’s departure thence， inMoorea’s absence， saw inadvertently a bundle of Papers，which she had gathered up， as I suppose， to burn， since nowthey grew but useless， she having no farther Hopes of him： Ifancy’d I knew the Hand， and thence my Curiosity only led meto see the Name and finding Belvira subscrib’d， I began toguess there was some foul play in Hand. Belvira being myparticularly intimate Acquaintance， I read one of them， andfinding the Contents， convey’d them all secretly out with me，as I thought， in Point of Justice I was bound， and sent them toBelvira by that Night’s Post； so that they came to her Handssoon after the Minute of her Marriage， with an Account how，and by what Means I came to light on them. No doubt but theyexceedingly surpriz’d her： But Oh！ Much more she grewamaz’d immediately after， to see the Poor， and now unhappyFrankwit， who privately had enquir’d for her below， beingreceived as a Stranger， who said he had some urgent Businesswith her， in a back Chamber below Stairs. What Tongue， whatPen can express the mournful Sorrow of this Scene！ At firstthey both stood Dumb， and almost Senseless； she took him forthe Ghost of Frankwit； he looked so pale， new risen from hisSickness， he （for he had heard at his Entrance in the House，that his Belvira marry’d Wildvill） stood in Amaze， and like aGhost indeed， wanted the Power to speak， till spoken to thefirst. At last， he draws his Sword， designing there to fall uponit in her Presence； she then imagining it his Ghost too sure， andcome to kill her， shrieks out and Swoons； he ran immediatelyto her， and catch’d her in his Arms， and while he strove torevive and bring her to herself， tho’ that he thought could nevernow be done， since she was marry’d. Wildvill missing hisBride， and hearing the loud Shriek， came running down， andentring the Room， sees his Bride lie clasp’d in Frankwit’sArms. ‘Ha！ Traytor！’ He cries out， drawing his Sword with animpatient Fury， ‘have you kept that Strumpet all this while，curst Frankwit， and now think fit to put your damn’d castMistress upon me： could not you forbear her neither ev’n onmy Wedding Day？ abominable Wretch！’ Thus saying， he madea full Pass at Frankwit， and run him thro’ the left Arm， andquite thro’ the Body of the poor Belvira； that thrustimmediately made her start， tho’ Frankwit’s Endeavours allbefore were useless. Strange！ that her Death reviv’d her！ Forah！ she felt， that now she only liv’d to die！ Striving thro’ wildAmazement to run from such a Scene of Horror， as herApprehensions shew’d her； down she dropt， and Frankwitseeing her fall， （all Friendship disannull’d by such a Chain ofInjuries） Draws， fights with， and stabs his own loved Wildvill.
Ah！ Who can express the Horror and Distraction of this fatalMisunderstanding！ The House was alarm’d， and in came poorCelesia， running in Confusion just as Frankwit was off’ring tokill himself， to die with a false Friend， and perjur’d Mistress，for he suppos’d them such. Poor Celesia now bemoan’d herunhappiness of sight， and wish’d she again were blind.
Wildvill dy’d immediately， and Belvira only surviv’d him longenough to unfold all their most unhappy fate， desiring Frankwitwith her dying breath， if ever he lov’d her， （and now she saidthat she deserv’d his love， since she had convinced him thatshe was not false） to marry her poor dear Celesia， and love hertenderly for her Belvira’s sake； leaving her， being her nearestRelation， all her fortune， and he， much dearer than it all， to beadded to her own； so joyning his and Celesia’s Hands， shepoured her last breath upon his Lips， and said， ‘Dear Frankwit，Frankwit， I die yours.’ With tears and wondrous sorrow hepromis’d to obey her Will， and in some months after herinterrment， he perform’d his promise.
