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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Manners, Vol 3 of 3, by Madame Panache
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-Title: Manners, Vol 3 of 3
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-Author: Madame Panache
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-[Most recently updated: January 27, 2021]
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-Language: English
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                       MANNERS:
 
@@ -5724,358 +5698,4 @@ Printed by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey.
 [Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations within volume and between volumes
 left as printed.]
 
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+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40160 ***
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Vol 3 of 3, by Frances Brooke
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Manners, Vol 3 of 3
-       A Novel
-
-Author: Frances Brooke
-
-Release Date: July 7, 2012 [EBook #40160]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANNERS, VOL 3 OF 3 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
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-
-
-
-                      MANNERS:
-
-                      A NOVEL.
-
-
-            ----Dicas hîc forsitan unde
-    Ingenium par materiæ.
-
-                                     JUVENAL.
-
-    Je sais qu'un sot trouve toujours un plus sot pour le lire.
-
-                                     FRED. LE GRAND.
-
-
-    IN THREE VOLUMES.
-    VOL. III.
-
-    LONDON:
-    PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
-    PATERNOSTER ROW.
-
-    1817.
-
-
-
-
-MANNERS.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-    ----Whose birth beyond all question springs
-    From great and glorious, though forgotten, kings.
-
-    oeCHURCHILL.oe
-
-
-The lady who did the honours of Mr. O'Sullivan's house to our English
-travellers, on the night of their arrival at Ballinamoyle, Miss
-Fitzcarril by name, was in person extremely tall; and a carriage of
-extraordinary uprightness gave her, with a stiffness, a dignity also of
-appearance. Her face, though good natured in expression, was, at that
-period, rather plain; but yet sufficient evidence remained to
-corroborate her own frequent assertion, that "she had once been a fine
-woman;" in making which she flattered herself her auditors would imply,
-that she took the same license which the structure of a venerable
-language sometimes permits, of understanding, at pleasure, different
-tenses by the same word; and that they would from the past infer the
-present. In dress and manner she was old fashioned, but stately,
-generally wearing garments made of the antique tabinets and satins she
-inherited from her grandmother, and which, from the unbending nature of
-the material, would have stood alone, nearly in as erect a posture as
-that they maintained when encompassing her perpendicular figure; a
-double clear starched handkerchief, which Mr. Desmond wickedly called
-her transparency, enveloped her neck; and the costume of her person was
-completed by a fine muslin apron of curious work, derived from her own,
-or her progenitors' industry. Her headdress was the only part of her
-attire which was ever varied, and in this she was fantastic in the
-extreme, composing it of the most showy materials, and wearing in her
-caps and turbans colours only fit for the young and beautiful. Every
-acquaintance who visited Galway, Limerick, or Clare, was sure to have a
-commission to buy a cap or bonnet for Miss Fitzcarril; and the more
-_outré_ in form and colour, the better pleased she was with their
-purchase. She was, in mind, the most singular mixture of pride and
-parsimony that was perhaps ever compounded; the one she derived from her
-highly valued ancestry, the other from her own peculiar fate, and a
-mistaken idea of principle; and she reconciled her frugality and her
-dignity, by declaring that "the Fitzcarrils and O'Sullivans needn't
-trouble their heads about what any one said of them; _every body_ knew
-they were come of the kings of Connaught, and had a good right to do as
-they pleased." In early life she had lived in extreme poverty, and then
-had learned the ideas of management she afterwards laboured to enforce
-at Ballinamoyle. Mr. O'Sullivan had been deprived of his wife a few
-years before he had also the misfortune to lose his only child; and on
-the death of this beloved daughter, he chose Theresa Fitzcarril from
-amongst his female relatives, to superintend his establishment, at the
-same time settling a comfortable provision on her, in case she should
-survive himself; which he considered a mere act of justice, for he
-foresaw that the retirement of his residence would condemn her to a life
-of solitude and celibacy, the two precise circumstances which least
-accorded with her own wishes. Theresa, on her part, actuated by an
-excess of pride, resolved she would cancel her pecuniary obligations,
-not only to her original benefactor, but to his heir, by saving for the
-family a sum more than equivalent to all she should ever receive from
-it. She therefore endeavoured (though without much success) to introduce
-a system of penury at Ballinamoyle, that, had its owner been aware of
-her proceedings, he would not have suffered, as it was diametrically
-opposite to his wishes; he seldom however inquired into the _minutiæ_
-of his household; and indifferent to every thing, after the loss of his
-daughter, he permitted Theresa to do nearly as she pleased; and when he
-did object to any of her practices, she was so obstinate, that he found
-he must, to get rid of them, get rid of herself also with them, and this
-he never could resolve on; but consoled himself with the usual
-reflection of his countrymen, when trouble is necessary to avoid any
-thing unpleasant, "It will do well enough, my time won't be long." Miss
-Fitzcarril sought to relieve the monotony of her life by indulging in
-constant speculation. In every lottery she had a sixteenth share of a
-ticket; and to ascertain what she might possess in the _matrimonial
-lottery_, had frequent and protracted conferences with all the tribes of
-cup-tossers, card-cutters, and deaf and dumb men and women, who infested
-the country as fortune-tellers,--"Who blind could every thing
-foresee"--"Who dumb could every thing foretell." This pleasure however
-Miss Fitzcarril was obliged to indulge in secret, as Mr. O'Sullivan and
-the worthy priest, who was his domestic pastor, used their best
-endeavours to banish this race of vagabonds from every place they had
-influence in; so that when she consulted any of these oracles, she was
-obliged to conceal herself and them in some remote cabin; but perhaps
-the impediment thus thrown in the way of this favourite indulgence made
-her but the more keenly enjoy and still more pertinaciously persist in
-the practice, notwithstanding the reiterated penances imposed for this
-offence by the good father Dermoody, which, though she ventured to
-commit, she did not dare to suppress at confessional. A family of the
-name of Stewart wandered about the country, presenting papers signed by
-respectable names, setting forth, that "their progenitors had been
-shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland, about a century ago--that the whole
-race were deaf and dumb--but that Providence, in compensation, had
-bestowed on them the gift of second sight." To the predictions of a dumb
-woman, who claimed this name, and proved she was deaf, by showing that
-nature had left her unprovided with ears[1], Theresa gave the most
-implicit credit. This Pythoness had learned to write the printed
-character, and to draw rude representations of ships, trees, men, and
-animals, which she described on a board with a piece of white chalk; and
-of these hieroglyphics those who consulted her made what sense best
-pleased them. A sharp boy, who had all his senses in full activity,
-never failed to accompany her; apparently to assist in expounding her
-text, but, in reality, to collect information, which, by the language of
-signs, he certainly conveyed to his fellow conjuror, at the most
-_à-propos_ moment, as no body concealed from him the information she was
-supposed to be (humanly speaking) ignorant of;
-
-    "Tout cela bien souvent faisoit crier miracle!
-    Enfin quoique ignorant à vingt et trois carats,
-    Elle passoit pour un oracle!"
-
-[Footnote 1: This account of the Stewart family is not fictitious,
-either as to name or circumstance.]
-
-In their last conference Judy Stewart had given Miss Fitzcarril the
-following enigma:--A rose rudely drawn, followed by the words "of
-vargins,"--then, a ship in full sail--then, three suns--and lastly, a
-man, four times as big as the ship, holding a candle in one hand, and a
-ring in the other. The exposition Barny and the curious spinster gave of
-this was as follows:--"The flower of virgins," that is, the eldest
-daughter of the direct branch of the O'Sullivan family, was coming from
-beyond sea, and would arrive at Ballinamoyle, as soon as the sun had
-risen three times, bringing in her train a great personage (expressed by
-his extraordinary size,) who would, in winter, designated by the candle,
-bestow the wedding ring on the fair Theresa Fitzcarril. Judy Stewart's
-credit was luckily saved by the horses, which our travellers so
-unexpectedly procured at Tuberdonny, fulfilling the first part of the
-prediction; and in Mr. Webberly the credulous maiden saw the hero, who
-was to accomplish that part which related to herself.
-
-Extremes are popularly said to meet, which, we suppose, may naturally
-account for the Connaught sibyls' most zealous friend and powerful enemy
-residing at Ballinamoyle. The latter was the reverend father Dermoody,
-who filled the office of spiritual guide to its owner. He was well
-informed in mind, and gentlemanly in manners; two circumstances but
-rarely united in the Irish priests, who are generally taken from a low
-order in society, and do not usually carry an appearance impressive of
-the respect, to which most of them are entitled by their real worth. Mr.
-Dermoody was a relation of the late Mrs. O'Sullivan, and had embraced
-the priesthood from the influence of early disappointment, which had
-disgusted him with the world, and led him to devote himself to a
-religious life for consolation. He pursued his theological studies in
-one of the French colleges, and was deliberating on entering into a
-monastic order of great austerity, when he received a letter from his
-present patron, acquainting him with his marriage, and offering him the
-situation of chaplain to his family, which Dermoody's better stars
-induced him to accept. For many years he bestowed on the education of
-his relative's lovely daughter all of his time and thoughts, which were
-not devoted to his sacred functions; and, since her death, he had been
-the consolation of her desolate father, and a blessing to the poor of
-the vicinity. As he however avoided society in general, he was not
-introduced to our travellers on the night of their arrival, but they
-then made acquaintance with Miss Fitzcarril's constant and obsequious
-attendant, Captain Cormac, so called by common consent, though he had
-never risen in the army higher than a lieutenant, the half pay of which
-rank was his only subsistence, independent of Mr. O'Sullivan's bounty.
-Though of a different religious persuasion, his family had long been
-tenants and retainers of that at Ballinamoyle; and this member of it, on
-the strength of his red coat, was considered a gentleman, and, as such,
-was every day admitted to Mr. O'Sullivan's table, and made up his card
-party in the winter's evenings, generally returning at night to the
-house of a better sort of steward, living on the demesne, who managed
-the Ballinamoyle property, its owner charging himself with the expenses
-there incurred by Captain Cormac.
-
-This son of Mars, conscious of the deficiency of his pedigree, very
-unknowingly endeavoured to prove his title to the character of a
-gentleman, by paying the most anxious and unremitting attention to the
-fair sex in general, and to Miss Fitzcarril in particular; for, in
-consequence of his living in this sequestered situation, he was totally
-unsuspicious of the improvements in modern manners, which lead so many
-of our youth to suppose, that a neglect of the ladies they associate
-with, not unfrequently amounting almost to rudeness, is an indispensable
-requisite in the deportment of every fashionable beau; but perhaps some
-of our readers will suggest an excuse for Captain Cormac's ignorant
-simplicity, by acknowledging that beau and gentleman are not always
-synonymous terms. Mr. O'Sullivan for instance, was certainly no beau,
-though perfectly a gentleman. As this word, in our humble opinion,
-conveys a character that is almost all "that the eye looks for," or "the
-heart desires" in man, we will not weaken its inexpressible worth by
-paraphrase, but hope the actions of the person it has here been applied
-to will establish his claim to the most noble appellation the English
-language boasts of.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-    O! live--and deeply cherish still
-      The sweet remembrance of the past;
-    Rely on Heav'n's unchanging will
-                        For peace at last!
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-On the morning after her arrival at Ballinamoyle, Adelaide was forcibly
-struck with the strange coincidence of circumstances that had conducted
-her to this place, so remote from the scenes in which she had once
-expected to have passed her life. That day two years, she had no
-expectation of becoming an inhabitant of the British isles; and one
-fortnight had just elapsed since she received Mrs. O'Sullivan's letter,
-announcing her intention of undertaking the journey they had
-accomplished. Her meeting with Colonel Desmond seemed like seeing an
-inhabitant of another world, who could dive into thoughts, and was
-acquainted with occurrences unknown to those she was surrounded by.
-Though but four years had revolved since they last met, from the
-unexpected nature of the events that had marked them, they seemed, to
-memory, longer in duration than all those which had smoothly rolled
-away, ere their giant days rose on the wheel of fate, robed in the
-strongest hues of joy or sorrow. She felt grieved her journey was now at
-an end, as she had derived much amusement from it, and knew she should,
-in future, associate much less with Colonel Desmond. "I wonder, (thought
-she,) what description of being this Mr. O'Sullivan is, we have come so
-far to see--Poor little Caroline! I hope he will be more affectionate to
-her than her mother and sisters are."
-
-When Adelaide repaired to the breakfast room, and proceeded to open the
-door, her hand trembled on the lock, for she heard Caroline's joyous
-voice within, followed by an expression of fondness; and recollected,
-with bitterness of heart, that in that room was no relative, who would
-greet her entrance with a face of gladness.--She could not go in at that
-moment, and retreated a few steps. "Why am I so overpowered this
-morning? (thought she,) I ought to be more than usually happy, in
-reflecting, that dearest Caroline is this day introduced to her father's
-family; the happy one will soon arrive, when I shall be restored to
-mine, so _coûte qui coûte_, I go in." Armed with this magnanimous
-resolution, she entered the room, and her eyes were instantly attracted
-by one of the most venerable figures she had ever beheld. An old
-gentleman, dressed in mourning, was sitting with little Caroline on his
-knee; his face, as he bent his gray head to gaze on her infant beauties,
-was expressive of every benevolent feeling, whilst his dignified figure
-impressed the beholder with an awe, which was tempered, but not entirely
-removed, by the benignity of his countenance. In him was seen all that
-was reverend in age--in the cherub he caressed all that was blooming in
-youth. Her silken hair hung, in waving ringlets, on a cheek that mocked
-the rose's hue; her transparent skin showed the blue veins, that
-meandered on a brow as spotless as the mountain snow. The dark blue eye,
-that threw its melting ray on his, seemed to call forth fires that long
-had slept beneath those silver brows; and as her ivory arm hung round
-his neck, the youthful softness of her hand was more than usually
-apparent from the contrast it formed with the withered cheek it pressed.
-"Dearest Caroline! may he prove a fond parent to you!" was the ardent
-wish of Adelaide's heart, as she gazed on the happy child, and her
-venerable relative. Mr. O'Sullivan, looking up, rose to receive her; and
-the little girl, springing gaily forward, took her hand, saying, "This
-is my own dear Adele Wildenheim, I told you about, uncle; I love her
-better than any body in the world; if you will let me live with you, and
-will keep her too, I shall be so happy!" Whilst Caroline looked
-inquiringly up in his face to read the success of her proposition; the
-old man smiled on the lovely girl thus introduced to him, and holding
-out his hand cordially to her, said, "Your name is well known to me,
-Miss Wildenheim. Baron Wildenheim was the friend and benefactor of my
-deceased brother, and his child is truly welcome to my roof." Adelaide's
-cheek glowed with the most vivid blushes as she felt a tear trickle
-down; the accents faltered on her lips when she attempted to speak, and
-a deep sigh burst from Mr. O'Sullivan's breast as he recollected, that
-the daughter he had lost in the bloom of youth was, in his eyes at
-least, as lovely as the beautiful girl they now rested on.
-
-At this moment Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan entered the room; the
-latter acting the amicable, aspired to rest her fat hand on the bony arm
-of the stately Theresa, who, with smiles of unconscious exultation at
-her own towering height, and with an air of condescension, bent her long
-neck over her right shoulder, towards her rotund companion, as if the
-words she addressed to her would not otherwise be within hearing
-distance. The one stalked forward, sweeping after her a long train of
-the thickest tabinet; the other (though certainly not a figure for a
-Zephyr) fluttered in gauze, whose transparent texture a Roman would have
-compared to "the woven wind," her habiliment being about as long as that
-of the sapient dame well known in nursery history, after her unfortunate
-rencontre with the mischievous pedler.
-
-When Mrs. O'Sullivan espied her brother-in-law, she bustled up to him
-with an appearance of lively pleasure; but an observer, with half the
-penetration of Adelaide, might have seen a temporary expression of
-disappointment cloud his features, as from his brother he had never
-received the slightest hint, that might lead him to form an idea of what
-she really was, either in manner or appearance; and the beauty of her
-daughter and elegance of her ward had made him expect to find her far
-different in both; however, this expression was but transient, and he
-received her with his usual hospitality, and told her with much warmth
-and sincerity, how much he admired the charming little Caroline. The
-Miss Webberlys and their brother made their appearance shortly after
-Mrs. O'Sullivan's entrance; and the groupe were all assembled round the
-breakfast-table when Father Dermoody came into the room, whom Miss
-Fitzcarril and the master of the house rose to receive with the utmost
-respect, whilst his manner united the humility he felt as a man with the
-dignity he derived from his sacred office. When he approached them, the
-motion of his hand, and the raised expression of his countenance, told
-Adelaide that he passed that silent benediction she had so often
-witnessed abroad. His benevolent looks seemed to extend it to all,
-though a slight tinge on his cheek, and a half mournful glance of his
-eye, betrayed that he felt it would be scorned by some. A reverential
-bend of Adelaide's graceful figure, and the mild seriousness that
-chastened her smile of acknowledgement as her eye met his, conveyed to
-the venerable priest that she at least understood him, and thankfully
-received his pious aspirations. He looked in vain for the sign, that
-should have marked their conformity of faith, and sighed deeply, then
-muttered half under his breath, "In all else how like!"
-
-The English ladies soon found Miss Fitzcarril's gunpowder tea quite too
-potent for their nerves, and diluted it in a manner that astonished her;
-for this good lady, in her extensive patronage of vagrants, included
-smugglers and pedlers, from whom she procured the finest teas and
-brandies, for to these articles her ideas of parsimony did not extend;
-and as she kept the latter entirely for her male friends, she thought
-the former in their utmost strength the peculiar beverage of the fair
-sex, and now wondered where these ladies could have been brought up, not
-to understand the merits of gunpowder tea at a guinea a pound!
-
-In the course of the morning Mr. O'Sullivan took his usual promenade in
-front of his house; and here he appeared in all his glory. In one
-promiscuous groupe were assembled the heads of the families his tenantry
-comprised, with every other man, woman, or child, that could leave home
-to get a peep at the newly-arrived guests, whose appearance at
-Ballinamoyle had been looked for with more curiosity than pleasure. For
-Mr. O'Sullivan was universally beloved, and the superstitious ideas of
-his tenantry made them regard the arrival of his heiress as an omen of
-his own death; besides they very naturally dreaded this property being
-given to people unattached to them, and unacquainted with their customs.
-As the ladies stood at the open windows in front of the house to gaze at
-the strange assemblage, many were the remarks their appearance called
-forth. According to custom, every domestic went out in turn to
-"collogue," as they call it, with their favourite Judy or Barny; and as
-Caroline stood on the window-seat with Adelaide's protecting arm round
-her waist, she was repeatedly pointed out to the inquirers. But as the
-Irish seldom have patience to listen to more than half a sentence, when
-their minds are intent on any new subject, Caroline's companion was by
-most of the crowd taken for the object of their search. "She is a
-beautiful young lady, and looks loving and kind." "She's about the
-height of poor Miss Rose." "Ochone, she was the darling! Sun or moon
-will ne'er shine on the likes of her again; and while grass grows and
-water runs, she'll ne'er be forgot out of Ballinamoyle!" These and many
-similar expressions proceeded from the lips of the elder part of the
-assembly, whilst the unconscious object of their remarks entertained
-herself in viewing the various groupes it consisted of.
-
-Close after Mr. O'Sullivan walked his steward, hat in hand, to receive
-his orders, or answer his questions respecting the numerous petitioners
-who from time to time approached him. Whenever he turned towards the
-crowd, every man's hat was instantaneously taken off in the most
-respectful manner--every woman's petticoat, however short, touched the
-ground in her curtsy. Sundry sturdy little urchins were thumped on the
-back for being rather tardy in paying his honour proper respect; and a
-sulky reverence brought more than one little girl to the ground, as her
-mother used no very gentle means to expedite her motions; whilst many a
-rosy child had its plump cheek or white head stroked for being
-"mannerly." When Mr. O'Sullivan's levee had lasted as long as he wished,
-and when he had granted potato ground, and grazing ground, and firing
-ground, and had remitted fines for trespasses innumerable, his steward
-gave the usual signal, and the crowd dispersed to idle away the rest of
-the morning:--an idle evening was a thing of course.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril now proceeded to perform that ceremony always observed
-in a country house--of showing it, however unworthy it may be of
-exhibition. This old-fashioned edifice had been built by the present
-proprietor's grandfather with the materials of an ancient monastery,
-which had fallen to ruin on its site, which was made choice of for the
-convenience of communicating by a covered passage with the remaining
-chapel--a venerable and beautiful structure, that had been preserved in
-perfect repair. Over the hall door, at the top of the house, appeared
-the family arms cut in stone, and underneath the name of the builder and
-the date of the year when it was finished, in order, as Miss Webberly
-wittily remarked, "to claim the stolen goods by, should any one take it
-up on their backs and run away with it." The rooms were large and well
-built, and as uniformly square as a bricklayer's line could make them.
-The furniture was substantial, and, like Miss Fitzcarril, had been
-handsome in its day; but it survived its contemporaries, and the present
-race thought it heavy and sombre. The house had altogether a desolate
-appearance, and, like the Canal Inn, could rarely boast of a perfect
-bell or lock. In the part of the house which adjoined the chapel, Mrs.
-O'Sullivan frequently turned the lock of a door she passed by in
-traversing the various passages; and her guide always said with unusual
-seriousness, "You can't go in there, madam;" at last the question was
-asked "Why?" and was answered, with a deep sigh, "That was _poor Rose's_
-apartment; nobody has ever been in it since she died but her father and
-poor nurse." "Then what a pity," rejoined Mrs. O'Sullivan, "not to block
-up the windows; let me see, three rooms back to the chapel, one, two,
-three, four, five, six windows--all that much taxes for nothing!" "Block
-up the windows of poor Rose's apartment! Blessed powers defend
-me!--Child!" said the angry Theresa turning to Caroline, with a
-vehemence of gesture and sternness of aspect that made the trembling
-infant, while she looked fearfully up in her face, tightly clasp her
-arms round Adelaide, "if you ever own this place, take care that you pay
-respect to every relict of your cousin; it would be as much as any
-one's life's worth to put an affront upon her memory."
-
-Though Mrs. O'Sullivan could not see this apartment, she was resolved to
-inspect every other nook of the house, kitchens and store-rooms
-inclusive. In the latter she was surprised to see huge barrels of oaten
-meal and dried fish, with numerous casks of whisky. Suspended over head
-hung the cured carcases of three cows and five pigs, ready to supply the
-place of their fellows in the principal kitchen. As they passed down one
-of the back stair-cases, they saw in the court yard a number of men and
-boys, waiting for the chance of casual employment about the house. The
-men were muffled up in great coats, buttoned about their necks, the
-empty sleeves hanging at their sides; some leaning against the walls,
-some lying on their stomachs basking in the sun; others asleep in
-various postures; the boys dancing, or playing backgammon, which they
-managed by squares traced on the ground, whilst one called out the
-numbers at random, which answered the purpose of dice; others wrestling,
-sometimes throwing each other down on the sleepers, who just raised
-their heads to give a volley of oaths, and turned to sleep again. The
-unexpected entrance of the ladies into the kitchen put to flight a covey
-of char-women, who seemed to think they had all the business of the
-world on their hands. As strange servants were in the house, they had
-determined to keep up the "dacency of Ballinamoyle," by dressing
-themselves in their best; but being now at their work (that is, running
-in each other's way, at the same time talking unceasingly) all their
-petticoats were pinned up about their middle, except a very short dicky;
-their shoes and stockings were--not on their feet and legs, but on the
-kitchen tables and hot hearths, and the ears of their mob caps were
-pinned over the crowns of their heads to keep them clean and the wearers
-cool. There was a constant shouting to the boys in the yard to run
-incessant messages. At the moment of Mrs. O'Sullivan's first
-appearance, the cook called out of the kitchen window, "Do you hear,
-Barny, make aff to Jarge Quin for a slip of parsley:--do you mind, be
-back in a crack." No sooner was Barny dispatched than she shouted again:
-"Jimmy! Jimmy Maloony I say, rin for your life, and make ould Jarge sind
-the fruit for the pies." When the ladies proceeded to the servants'
-hall, there was an old piper playing, and three girls dancing, that Miss
-Fitzcarril thought were busy spinning and sewing. "Get along, you
-incorrigibly idle sluts," said she, and they were off in a trice; but it
-was out of Scylla into Charybdis, for two or three of the "cutty sarks,"
-who had been muddling in the kitchen, met them in the passage, where
-they had been drawn by hearing "the mistress spaking mad angry;" and
-each seizing her own daughter, and thumping her well, said, "I'll pay
-you for your jigging, indeed my lady!" Close to the servants' hall was a
-man cleaning knives; he had taken off his coat and waistcoat, one
-shoulder appeared through a great hole in the back of his shirt, the
-sleeves of which were rolled up to the elbow, and it was open down to
-the waist. He had neither shoes nor stockings on, and thus his legs and
-arms, with the greater part of his back and breast, were naked; the skin
-that covered them was nearly of a copper colour; his head was crowned
-with thick, short, curly, black hair, and his unshaved face presented a
-luxuriant crop of the same sable material. "What a number of men
-servants you keep! pray what compacity does that one fill?" inquired
-Mrs. O'Sullivan. "Madam," replied her _cicerone_ (all her pride
-colouring her face) "since the world was a world, no such sarving man as
-that ever belonged to the name of O'Sullivan! That's Black Frank, the
-fool, who comes in to do odd jobs now and again." Black Frank was an
-itinerant "innocent," who scoured knives, cleared out ashes, or did any
-job the servants of the houses he frequented were too lazy to perform
-themselves. He was capricious in his fancies, and never staid long in
-any one place, but blessed all his acquaintance in turn. As Mrs.
-O'Sullivan went up stairs, she said to herself, "It will be another
-guess matter when Caroline rules the roast; I'll soon pack off all these
-here wagabonds and ramscallions about their business; she'd be a sight
-the richer if these warlets didn't eat up her uncle's fortin. There's
-one comfort, he can't live long; when he dies, I'll make this stately
-madam and all take to their heels!"
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, however, was aware of but a small part of what she
-considered her daughter's wrongs; for her brother-in-law, though he had
-renounced all society himself, except that of a few distant relatives,
-and his friends the Desmonds, authorized his servants to bring their
-kindred and "cronies" to his servants' hall, to eat, drink, and be
-merry. From twenty to thirty people sat down to dinner there every day,
-and on Saturdays and holydays a great many more. And the song and the
-jest went round amongst the careless crew, accompanied by the boisterous
-laugh of rustic mirth. The young men and women amused themselves of a
-winter's evening dancing jigs, whilst their elders "kept the fire warm,"
-telling stories of the days of old, superstitious legends, or recounting
-the omens each had observed previous to the death of the ever lamented
-Miss Rose.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-    When wilt thou rise in thy beauty, first of Erin's maids?
-    Thy sleep is long in the tomb, and the morning distant far.
-    The Sun shall not come to thy bed and say, "Awake, Darthula!
-    Awake, thou first of women!"
-
-    oeDARTHULA.oe
-
-
-When the ladies retired to the drawing-room after dinner, Miss
-Fitzcarril proposed walking. Mrs. O'Sullivan was anxious that Adelaide
-and Caroline should study the good of their health by this exercise, but
-pleaded fatigue as an excuse for declining the promenade herself,
-wishing to profit by the opportunity their absence would afford, to
-interrogate Theresa as to the nature and extent of the Ballinamoyle
-property, and a thousand other _et cetera_. Her two elder daughters, to
-whom she had before dinner mentioned her distress at having her anxiety
-for information on this subject so _long_ unsatisfied, understood her
-manoeuvre, and remained to assist in the gratification of their mutual
-curiosity. Adelaide and Caroline accordingly set out on their ramble.
-Miss Fitzcarril, in her anxious civility, attended them as far as the
-hall door; she had scarcely reached it, when a voice accosted her with
-"I want to spake a word to you, Miss Teree--za." "Well, nurse!" "Will
-you be plased to give me some whisky for Jimmy Maloony--the paltry
-fellow! he let the dinner fall bringing it up, and the spalpeen has cut
-his leg very bad; but it was God saved the puddin, Miss!" Adelaide's
-eyes were attracted towards the speaker, and she saw a fresh coloured
-old woman, dressed in a rich flowered silk gown, underneath which
-appeared a pair of coarse shoes and worsted stockings. The gown was open
-before, and would have trailed on the ground, had it not been turned
-back and pinned up behind, just to touch the edge of a striped green
-stuff petticoat, which was surmounted in front with a fine linen apron
-as white as snow. Her gray hair was rolled back over a cushion, and a
-mob cap was pinned under her chin, the head piece ornamented with a
-cherry coloured riband put once round her head, the ends turned back
-again just to the ears, and a flat bow pinned on in front. It was not
-surprising that the silk gown, which nurse wore in honour of the
-strangers' arrival, should be old fashioned in make and texture, as she
-had received it, according to custom, on the day Mr. O'Sullivan's
-daughter had cut her first tooth. Miss Fitzcarril, before she complied
-with the old woman's demands, directed Adelaide how best to proceed from
-the hall door, to the following effect: "Do you see that walk to the
-right? well, then you're not to go down that, only just as far as the
-old oak, and then there is another to the left, mind you don't take
-that, it leads to the shaking bog, but keep strait forward, and that
-will bring you round and round to the back of the house." From which it
-appeared that they were neither to turn to the right nor the left, but
-to proceed in a strait line, which would conduct them home in a circle
-from the front to the back of the house!
-
-When the two young ladies set off, Miss Fitzcarril returned to nurse;
-and while she felt for a key, amongst its numerous fellows at the bottom
-of a pocket long enough to cover _her_ arm up to the elbow, shaking it
-two or three times in a manner that showed what metal she carried; the
-ancient dame said to her, "Our young lady that is to be, is the making
-of a pretty girl, God bless her! But I'd rather it was her comrade, she
-has more of the portly air and jaunteel walk of the O'Sullivans than any
-of them. The others are no great shakes of ladies. But it's none of them
-all would be a patch upon my sweet Rose if she was alive! Och Rose dear,
-why did you lave your ould mammy to go wid a foreigner? Wouldn't his
-honour have given ye gould to eat if ye chose it, and weren't you as
-merry as a grig the live long day? It's but little you're happier, now
-you're a blessed angel in Heaven, for you lament ye for your poor father
-and ould nurse; and you're not a whit beautifuller or better than you
-were here. Many's the mass we say for your sowl; but ye're fitter to
-pray for us poor sinful craturs than we for you. Weary on ye, Limerick,
-that ever ye rose on the face of God's earth, for ye lost me my sweet
-child." The poor old woman beat her breast as this burst of sorrow
-escaped her lips, and the tears rolled down the furrows of her aged
-cheeks in torrents. "Nurse! nurse!" said Theresa, sobbing, "don't take
-on so; if your master sees or hears you, you'll make him ill again: you
-know what trouble he was in this morning, and that he wouldn't have the
-first sight of the little girl before mortal breathing, but sent for her
-to his own room." "Well, well, I'll soon lay my gray head in under the
-sod; it isn't fit a poor cratur like me should mislist his honour." When
-Miss Fitzcarril had composed herself, and dispatched nurse with a "drap
-of comfort" to the kitchen, she returned to the drawing-room, and then
-answered the interrogatories her visitors put to her in such a manner,
-as much to strengthen the favourable impression, which the marshalling
-of the tenantry had made on their minds in the morning; and, without
-giving any one direct answer, managed to exalt her own and her cousin's
-consequence considerably in their estimation.
-
-Theresa, keeping ever in mind the fortune-teller's prediction, which she
-graciously interpreted in young Webberly's favour, was extremely anxious
-to ingratiate herself with his mother and sisters, and therefore had by
-this time almost forgiven the former her proposition of blocking up the
-windows of the revered apartment, as well as the affronting supposition,
-that Black Frank appertained to the regular establishment of
-Ballinamoyle; and the wheedling civility Mrs. O'Sullivan showed her,
-encouraged her hopes and her efforts; more especially as Jack, in
-compliance with his parent's wishes, had been particularly attentive to
-her in the course of the day. Mrs. O'Sullivan had that morning convinced
-her children it was for their interest, that Caroline should be her
-uncle's heiress, as she promised in that case not to leave her any of
-her own riches. She had been induced to hold out this bribe to them,
-from perceiving the extreme rudeness with which they were inclined to
-treat all around them, which she feared would disgust their host, whose
-uniform urbanity was not less conspicuous.
-
-With the Miss Webberlys, interest was scarcely a counterpoise to ill
-temper, conceit, and _ennui_; and therefore their deportment varied
-every half hour, according to the feeling of the moment. But in the
-composition of their brother, ill nature had not been added to folly and
-presumption; he was therefore constant in his endeavours to please, in
-which he was also encouraged by the hopes, that the success of this
-scheme might "put the old lady in a good humour, and make her come down
-handsomely when he married Miss Wildenheim, which he would as soon as
-they returned to England, please the pigs." Of the young lady's being
-pleased he had little doubt; "her being so confoundedly shy was all a
-sham."
-
-Whilst Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan were playing against each
-other, in the conversation which took place between them in the
-drawing-room, Adelaide and Caroline pursued their ramble. At a little
-distance from the house, one of the most beautiful scenes in nature
-presented itself to their view.--A lake, of considerable extent, rose
-from the bosom of rocky hills, whose bold forms were reflected in its
-pellucid waters. It contained several islands, some with fine trees,
-some grazed by cattle, and covered with the most brilliant verdure. On
-the centre island stood the ruins of an old castle half covered with
-ivy. To the south of the lake was a fine champaign country, and behind
-the house rose a beautiful hill of great height, covered from the base
-to the summit with an indigenous wood. To the right a narrow defile
-opened into a wild and romantic country, showing mountains of the most
-picturesque forms. The varied lights, which the declining sun threw on
-this enchanting scene, gave it every beauty of exquisite colouring. "Oh!
-look there, Adele!" said Caroline, "doesn't the lake and its islands
-look as if it was let down from Heaven by that beautiful rainbow that
-touches it at both sides? Oh, how I should like to walk up it!" "And
-then," thought Adelaide, as she looked at the lovely child, "you might
-join the company of the sylphs, whilst they 'pleas'd untwist the
-sevenfold threads of light.'" Just at this moment an odd looking man
-came close up, and taking off an old regimental cap, said, "I see you're
-some of the strange quality ladies; you're quite out of the right
-track,"--(rather surprising after Miss Fitzcarril's explicit
-directions.) "I'll show ye'z round the place, and take ye'z to the
-garden, if you're agreeable." "Thank you, my good man, I shall be much
-obliged to you: pray may I ask your name?"--"They call me Jarge Quin at
-the big house, Miss, because I was so long at the wars, where I lost my
-right eye. I'm his honour's gardiner; and a brave kind master he is til
-me, the Lord love him!" Jarge proceeded to do the honours; and delighted
-by the questions Adelaide asked, became more than usually loquacious.
-"Thon mountain that's foreninst ye, Miss, (said he,) is Croagh Patrick;
-on the top of it is an altar, where many a good Christian goes to tell
-their padereenes, on Patricksmas day. It's the very self same spot where
-St. Patrick stood, when he called all the snakes and toads, and varmint
-of all sorts, up the one side, and bid them, and their heirs for ever,
-go down the t'other intil the sea, and be aff till Inglant; and that's
-the rason the folks over the water have been so hard with us, ever since
-that blessed day, no blame to you, Miss." "And what's that mountain,
-shaped like a sugar loaf, more to the south?" "I don't know what name
-the quality give it, Miss; but we semples call it, _Altoir na
-Griene_[2], the name they say it had in ould times, afore St. Patrick
-stood on the other mountain."
-
-[Footnote 2: "The altar of the sun." Grieneus was one of the names of
-Apollo in the Grecian temples.]
-
-"Do you see that ould castle there, over aginst ye, in the lake? That's
-where the family used to live, afore the new house was built, seventy
-year agone next Hollontide; and now the good people dance in it every
-moonlight night." "And, pray, who are the good people?" "The little
-people, Miss, the fairies.--Many's the time Judy Maloony sees them
-chasing each other, when they slide down the moon beams, to play swing
-swang on the stalks of the ivy leaves.--And, she says, they sail across
-the lake in butter cups, to the lavender hedge in the garden, when it's
-in flower, to make themselves caps and jackets; and she gathers the
-thistle's beard, to sarve them for threads, afore the sun sets, and as
-sure as you live, there's never a bit of it there in the morning.
-
-"Do you see that big stone, Miss, a little up the mountain there? That
-by the side of the stream they call the goulden river; and that's the
-place the boys and girls sit, of a summer's evening, to steal unknownst
-upon the Loughrie men--ould men, about as big as my hand, looking as
-sour as you plase; but if you'll thrape it out to them, ye won't let
-them aff when ye catch them--they'll show you a power of gould they've
-hid in under the earth."
-
-Adelaide, though highly amused herself, thought she would give audience
-to Jarge another time, not thinking his conversation very edifying to
-Caroline, who, with "locks thrown back, and lips apart," was eagerly
-listening to every word he said; and therefore proposed returning home.
-But Jarge, looking much disappointed, said,--"Och! and won't ye be
-plased just to step intil the gardin? it's in iligant order for ye'z
-just now; I doubt ye'll never see it as nate again." Accordingly they
-were ushered into a walled garden, three _Irish_ acres in extent, well
-stocked with vegetables; but at least one third of it was planted with
-potatoes. It however produced a quantity of fruit, which almost
-exhausted Theresa's patience in preserving for herself and her friends
-the Desmonds; for he would have been a bold wight, that would have
-ventured to suggest to one of the name of O'Sullivan the propriety of
-selling fruit. It was much more consonant to their dignity to let, what
-they or their friends could not consume, rot under the trees. A great
-gate opened on a gravel walk (besides the entrance door) on which Mr.
-O'Sullivan's father had driven his coach and four all round the walks.
-But these walks, though just then, as Jarge Quin said, in "iligant
-order," were not usually remarkable for neatness. In their progress
-round the garden, they came to a very beautiful flower bed, and Adelaide
-put out her hand to pull a rose that tempted her sight.--Jarge hastily
-stopped her, saying, "You're welcome, as the flowers of May, to any
-thing, but that, at Ballinamoyle; his honour will have that himself the
-morra. Before I went to the wars, I dug the place for Miss Rose to plant
-the tree with her own beautiful hands. In the bed we always put the same
-sorting of flowers, after the very moral of what she left them; and no
-soul ever pulls them but his honour, and nurse Delany, who dresses the
-altar, in Miss Rose's room, with them; and lays them about her monument
-in the chapel, where she's cut out in white marble more nat'ral than the
-life."
-
-Adelaide made many apologies for the sacrilege she had been about to
-commit; and as she entered the house felt all the wounds of her heart
-bleed afresh, as she thought, "so would my beloved father have mourned
-for me."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-
-    And do I live to hear the tale!
-    And will ambition then prevail,
-    Can sordid schemes of wealth assail,
-                    A heart so true as his?
-
-    oeIL PERDUTO BEN.oe
-
-
-As Mr. O'Sullivan's guests were rising from the breakfast table the
-following morning, a peremptory ringing of the hall door bell announced
-the welcome arrival of the gray headed postman, who travelled on foot at
-all seasons of the year, visiting in turn the scattered dwellings of the
-gentry of this mountainous region. Adelaide, with sparkling eyes and
-eager fingers, opened a letter from Mrs. Temple, in answer to hers from
-Shrewsbury, which, besides much domestic intelligence, contained the
-following paragraph:--
-
-"I know you are much interested for Augustus Mordaunt, and therefore
-will be glad to hear that he is just gone abroad, with his uncle, Lord
-Osselstone, who, I am convinced, must grow proud, nay fond of him, as he
-has, by this means, an opportunity of being acquainted with the fine
-qualities of this noble young man. I am afraid my favourite wish, of his
-marrying Selina Seymour, is never likely to be gratified. Mr. Temple
-writes to me from London, that it is confidently reported she is engaged
-to Mr. Elton, Lord Eltondale's son and heir. He says, no young man in
-England bears a finer character (though it is impossible we could ever
-compare him to Augustus): a gentleman from Paris told Mr. Temple, that,
-instead of entering into the dissipation of that gay metropolis, he
-lives quite retired, absorbed in study; also that he had been acquainted
-with Mr. Elton in Sicily, where he was desperately in love with a lady
-of that country, whom he believed he had married: if this be the case,
-it is surely very dishonourable of him not to put an immediate stop to
-his engagement with Miss Seymour.--Augustus would never be guilty of
-such conduct."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Adelaide did indeed take a much deeper interest in Augustus Mordaunt's
-fate, than Mrs. Temple imagined; and little did that kind friend suspect
-the misery her letter had caused on the perusal. "Gone abroad!"
-exclaimed Adelaide, in thought; "perhaps for years."--A deadly paleness
-overspread her face, and she precipitately sought the solitude of her
-own chamber. Let us not intrude on the privacy she has chosen; but turn
-to survey the motley groupes that are now assembling about Mr.
-O'Sullivan's door.
-
-This day, being Saturday, Miss Fitzcarril held _her_ levee, which was as
-numerously, though not quite so respectably, attended as her host's had
-been on the day before. On this day of the week she gave audience, and a
-halfpenny apiece, to all the beggars in the country, with many charges
-not to spend their money idly. On these occasions she stood at the
-breakfast room window; from which spot she inquired into all their
-complaints, without scruple; and, with the assistance of nurse,
-prescribed for them, and gave medicines, wine, spirits, or black currant
-jam, as their wants demanded: this affair being at an end, they all
-adjourned to the kitchen door, where each received a pitcher of broth,
-and a huge oaten cake, to bake which had been the principal employment
-of the women assembled there the day before. An English reader might
-suppose, that the amount of Miss Fitzcarril's donation in money had been
-limited to a halfpenny to each beggar, from her own inclination to
-parsimony; but it was in fact what was customary, a sort of toll, paid
-by the gentry to the mendicants, on condition of receiving which, they
-forbore to infest their abodes at other times. The country families
-generally gave something additional, in the way of provision, according
-to their ability; but the inhabitants of towns and villages literally
-paid only this new species of poll tax; which, when received from
-numbers, amounts to something considerable to each individual. It is a
-lamentable truth, that an undue proportion of the Irish population are
-beggars, either from necessity or inclination; and the predilection for
-this mode of living is encouraged by the extraordinary charity of the
-lower order to each other: no suppliant ever leaves the door of the most
-miserable cabin, without receiving a handful of oaten meal, or two or
-three potatoes, which are put into bags carried for the purpose; nor is
-a night's lodging and the use of the turf fire ever denied. The form of
-application, and admittance, is as follows:--The beggar stands on the
-threshold, and says, "Peace be to this house! Any good Christian
-within?"--"What do you want, poor sowl?"--"The blessing of the Lord, and
-the holy powers, be about ye; and give a desolate cratur a night's
-lodging."--"In the name of the holy Vargin, and the blessed saints,
-kindly welcome." After this formula, the beggar, and his or her family,
-take up their abode, as long as the neighbourhood affords them
-subsistence. In summer, hordes of people travel about the country in
-this manner. They plant their potatoes, and sow their oats in spring;
-then locking up their houses, repair, like their betters, to the
-watering places, where they remain till the season arrives for digging
-the one and reaping the other. To the beggars that are acknowledged to
-be hale in body and sound in mind must be added those, who draw on the
-charity of the working members of the community, as "innocents,"
-"crouls," "spey" men or women, those afflicted with fits, dumb people,
-and lunatics. Whether it be, that the high premium that is given for any
-defect, mental or bodily, induces the fortunate possessor to bring it
-forward to publick view, and others, not so distinguished, to
-counterfeit infirmity; certain it is, that the eye of a stranger from
-England, where such objects are shut up in appropriate asylums, is as
-much shocked as surprised at the number of the above mentioned
-unfortunate beings, that are seen in the country parts of Ireland.
-There are numerous impostors, but still they are the exceptions, whilst
-the real sufferers form the rule.
-
-Ere the beggars dispersed, Adelaide returned to the breakfast parlour.
-And is this proud and brilliant beauty the gentle, placid Adelaide? A
-vivid, perhaps a feverish glow, mantled her cheeks, and gave her eyes a
-dazzling lustre, that was almost as repelling as it was beautiful. The
-dignity of her carriage approached to majesty. She seemed to walk
-triumphantly, as if she led misfortune by the hand, and awed her by
-
-    "The strange powers which lie
-    Within the magic circle of the eye."
-
-But had she thus quickly subdued all the rebel feelings, that so lately
-had mocked the calm control of reason? Oh, no! The smile that quivers
-round the trembling lip may play but to conceal the throb of agony. Even
-the melancholy sepulchre sometimes looks bright in the splendid beam of
-the sun; and the admiring spectator thinks not of the darkness and
-horror that reign within. At that moment Adelaide's heart was the tomb
-of hope. When she entered the breakfast room, Mr. Webberly stared at her
-like another Cymon, when Iphigenia first appeared to his wondering view.
-After gazing at her for some moments, he drew his breath, which had been
-repressed by his admiration, so as to give utterance to a most audible
-sigh; at the same time resolving, that, when she was Mrs. Webberly, she
-should always wear rouge. "When she has a colour (thought he) there is
-not a handsomer woman in all Lunnon.--At this very instant she looks as
-grand as Madame Catalani, when she acts that Di--Di--that virago queen,
-that burned herself like a fool. What a figure we shall cut when I drive
-her round the ring at the Park, in an open landaulet, with four dashing
-horses, and two out-riders, in smart liveries! No; I think I'll sit
-beside her; the fellows will envy me so! and have two postilions, with
-purple velvet caps, and jackets trimmed with gold lace!" Having thus
-settled his equipage to his satisfaction, he came up to the intended
-mistress of it, saying, with all the tenderness of accent he could
-command, "There is no body, Miss Wildenheim, I envy so much as Mrs.
-Temple; you used always to be so glad when you saw her; I should be the
-happiest man alive, if a letter from me would make you look so gay as
-hers has done."
-
-A deeper hue painted Adelaide's cheek, and a still brighter beam
-sparkled in her eye. "What strange figure is that?" said she, laughing,
-and avoiding any direct reply; "mounted like the farrier of Tamworth,
-'on a mare of four shilling?'" The equestrian, that thus attracted her
-notice, was one of a most unusual description. A sallow, meagre object
-was mounted on one of the rough mountain horses of the country; a straw
-rope served as bridle; and, instead of saddle, he sat on a well filled
-sack, wearing a coarse blanket, fastened under his chin, not to serve
-as a garment, as she unknowingly supposed, but to hide the good
-condition of those it concealed. "What's your business, good man?"
-inquired Miss Fitzcarril.--"I'm a stranger, and ye have a good name in
-the country, lady dear; and I'm just come to seek your charity, in God's
-name."--"What's that you've got in the sack?"--"Pratees and meal,
-honey."--"And where did you get that horse?"--"Troth, I bought him at
-the fair, last Tursday was tree weeks." "I've nothing for you, good man:
-many's the time I've heard of setting a beggar on horseback, but I never
-saw one till now." The following Saturday this hero returned on the same
-errand, but without his horse, still however retaining his blanket. Miss
-Fitzcarril's lynx's eye recognized him instantly; indeed such a peculiar
-figure could hardly have escaped the notice of the most casual observer.
-She inquired where he had left his horse? He very quietly answered, "Ye
-were no ways agreeable to him, jewel, the last time I was here, so I
-just hitched him up at the gate there below[3]!"
-
-[Footnote 3: _Verbatim._]
-
-In the middle of this assembly of beggars, four gentlemen and a lady
-rode up to the door; and Mr. Webberly turned away with an expression of
-mortification, when he saw Adelaide kiss her hand to Colonel Desmond,
-who jumped off his horse, and, with his niece and Mr. Donolan, quickly
-entered the house; whilst his brother, with his characteristic
-jocularity, stopped to jest with the women on the outside, his son
-standing by in silence to enjoy the fun. When they, in a few minutes'
-time, joined their party within, the mendicant dames said one to
-another, "God bless his merry honour, but master Harry is a hearty
-gentleman[4]!"
-
-[Footnote 4: The lower Irish, to the end of life, continue to call every
-body by the appellation they knew them in youth. Many a "Master Billy
-and Miss Jenny" are, with all propriety, fathers and mothers of large
-families. The wives of the peasantry are always called by their maiden
-names amongst their equals; and parents speak of "the boy," or "the
-girl," even when past the grand climacteric.]
-
-Mr. Desmond was a very handsome man, tall, stout, and well made; his
-face, manner, and words expressive of the greatest _bonhomie_, mirth,
-and joviality. He had no pretensions whatsoever, but was one of the few,
-who openly dare to appear precisely what they are. He went through the
-world finding amusement in every person he met, whether beggar or king;
-laughing at himself, and with every body else: he danced, rode, and sung
-admirably; and particularly excelled in the composition of
-electioneering songs and squibs. His family had, for centuries, lost
-their blood and their property, in every rebellion Ireland was agitated
-by; but, about sixty years ago, had become protestants and loyalists in
-the same day; and, as the Irish are never lukewarm in any thing, Mr.
-Desmond now figured as Orange-man, captain of a yeomanry corps,
-freemason, and magistrate of the most approved zeal, which, however, his
-natural good disposition kept within the pale of humanity. Miss Desmond,
-who accompanied her father and uncle in this visit, was mentally and
-personally a softened resemblance of the former. She was just then
-fifteen, but so extremely tall and womanly in stature, that the
-spectator was constantly obliged to refer to her face, to correct the
-false calendar expressed by her figure. The _dilettante_, in the true
-spirit of hypercriticism, congratulated himself on having discovered,
-that she was not symmetrically formed; but though some said, "She would
-be a fine woman," and some that "She would be a coarse woman," all were
-agreed, that in the mean time she was a very lovely girl. Her features
-were not perfect, but her countenance was frank, good natured, and
-vivacious: a pair of laughing eyes sent forth from beneath their shading
-lashes fairy messengers of mirth, to dimple her blooming cheek, or
-pucker up the corners of her eye-lids. In manner, though she was not
-impudent, she was not bashful, perhaps from the total absence of
-self-conceit, which never led her to suppose she occupied a place in the
-thoughts of those who did not love her; and on the partiality of those
-who did she relied implicitly. Until her uncle fixed his residence at
-her father's house, she was nearly as wild as the heaths that surrounded
-it. But the observer of nature is well aware, that in such uncultivated
-regions blooms many a flower, whose beauty is more exquisite than that
-of those the art of man raises in the brilliant parterre. Some happy
-star seemed to rule over Melicent Desmond, that saved her from the very
-verge of what was unlovely in woman. She was so tall, she would have
-looked masculine, but for the fairest complexion in the world, which
-gave her face, neck, and arms a most feminine appearance. The expression
-of her countenance was so droll, it would have been satirical, but for
-the kindness of heart it beamed with. She was so lively she was almost
-boisterous; and any other girl, equally careless of her attire, would
-have seemed untidy. But all her looks, words, and actions had a peculiar
-charm, that, though none would or could have imitated them, few were so
-harsh as to condemn; and, in the very act of censure, the face of the
-speaker expressed fondness and admiration, of which nobody could define
-to themselves the cause: she seized upon the affections with a sort of
-arbitrary power, which defied the remonstrances of reason, when it did
-not receive her sanction. This dear girl was the idol of her parents and
-her uncle: but the latter, though most anxious to see her all that was
-delightful in a female character, was extremely cautious in the line of
-conduct he adopted towards her; he rather sought to add, than to change,
-and was not a little fearful of "improving for the worse," as his
-countrymen emphatically express the effects arising from a spirit of
-false refinement:
-
-    "Many are spoil'd by that pedantic throng,
-    Who with great pains teach youth to reason wrong:
-    Tutors, like virtuosoes, oft inclin'd,
-    By strange transfusion to improve the mind,
-    Draw off the sense we have, to pour in new,
-    Which yet with all their skill they ne'er could do."
-
-He more judiciously confined his endeavours to furnishing her with ideas
-and examples, leaving it to her unbiassed judgment to choose amongst
-them, and make what she pleased her own. He now wished to give her the
-advantage of associating, as much as possible, with Adelaide, noticing
-her perfections but generally, and trusting to Melicent's discernment to
-analyse each particular charm, unaided, save by the happy benevolence of
-disposition, which would make such an exercise of her faculties the
-first of all pleasures. He had accordingly lost no time in making his
-brother call on the strangers, for the purpose of inviting them to
-Bogberry Hall. It was settled, in this visit, that the party from
-Ballinamoyle should dine at Mr. Desmond's house early in the ensuing
-week, where they should remain till the following day, as the distance
-was too great to permit of returning at night.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan prevailed on the Desmonds to join his family circle at
-dinner; and when they prepared to return home in the evening, Colonel
-Desmond said to Adelaide, in a low voice, "I hope Melicent has not
-shocked you by her brogue; I find it most difficult to cure." "Oh, don't
-try to alter her accent, (replied she) she speaks the prettiest Irish!
-Any thing that would make her less original, would take from her charms:
-she is one of the most captivating creatures I ever saw." His only
-answer was a parting pressure of her hand, which conveyed his thanks for
-her admiration of his niece, and meant more than he yet ventured to
-express in words. "How different she is from Melicent, (thought he), yet
-how charming!"
-
-A lover and an uncle could not be supposed to be expert at definition,
-otherwise he might have said, that the one amused the fancy, whilst the
-other touched the heart.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-                 Be my plan,
-    To live as merry as I can,
-    Regardless how the fashions go,
-    Whether there's reason for't, or no.
-    Be my employment here on earth,
-    To give a lib'ral scope to mirth.
-
-    oeCHURCHILLoe.
-
-Bogberry Hall was the abode of mirth and glee: there was nothing but
-rattling, and ranting, and singing, and dancing, from morning till
-night. The family living in it, consisted of nine happy children, with
-an indulgent, tender mother, remarkable for nothing, except her good
-nature, and careful attention to their wants and pleasures. This house
-was never without company staying in it, principally relations; for the
-Desmonds had first, second, and third cousins innumerable. The actual
-income of the family was not large, in proportion to their numbers; but
-the advantage of situation supplied them with almost every thing they
-consumed at a low rate; and many rents, that a non-resident would have
-found it impossible to get, were compounded for, partly in kind, partly
-in labour. When any body condoled with Mr. Desmond on his large family,
-he used to say, "The more the merrier; there never was a child sent into
-the world, that it did not bring its portion with it; I wish I had
-thirty of them." Calming his mind with this idea, he determined to make
-them, as long as he was alive, as merry as possible; for, in his
-vocabulary, merriment and happiness were synonymous. A very necessary
-part of his establishment, for this purpose, were two fiddlers and a
-piper. One of the former was then absent on rather a singular
-errand.--Miss Sophy Desmond had been put to school at Galway, and he was
-sent to board in the same house, that he might play for her to dance
-every evening, and "keep her from thinking long after home." The cause
-of Sophy's being sent to school was as singular as her strange
-accompaniment. One of Melicent's favourite pastimes the year before had
-been to get up on the horses that carried fish, poultry, or eggs, in a
-sort of open panniers called creels, to her father's house for sale; and
-whilst her mother was giving a dram, or buying chickens three to the
-couple, away she went "o'er moor and mountain," amusing herself with the
-alarm she should cause, and the hunt there would be after her. One day a
-horse was brought to Bogberry Hall, carrying two wooden churns, one
-containing eggs, the other buttermilk. Melicent scrambled up the side,
-and seating herself between them, off she set; but while she was
-galloping along much to her satisfaction, in making a leap over a pit in
-the bog before her father's gate, the covers of the churns came off, and
-she was soused with the milk on one side, and pelted with the eggs on
-the other. The horse took fright, and carried her in this condition
-miles round the country, without hat or cloak. She was at last met by
-some gentlemen, who brought her home, her clothes dripping wet, and her
-face and hair stiff with the contents of the egg shells. The conclusion
-her friends drew from this adventure was, that as _Melicent_ was quite
-spoiled, _Sophy_ must be sent to school directly. Miss Desmond's
-coadjutor in all such pranks (which however she had much intermitted
-since the above-mentioned unlucky day) was her brother Launcelot, an
-arch boy, one year younger than herself, who, to plague his cousin
-"Dilly," as he called Mr. Donolan, now pretended to be yet more
-unpolished than he really was. These two were standing in the window of
-their mother's drawing-room, on the day on which she expected the party
-from Ballinamoyle to dinner, when they espied Mrs. O'Sullivan's gaudy
-equipage at some distance. "There, Melicent," said Launcelot, "there
-comes Tidy-ideldy and Big bow bow," as he had christened the two Miss
-Webberlys. "I declare, Lanty," replied his sister, "when I saw that
-ugly Miss Webberly at dinner the other day, with half a rose tree on her
-head, I could scarcely keep from saying to you, that she was 'the devil
-in a bush.'" "Oh fie, Melicent!" said Colonel Desmond, with an
-ill-suppressed smile, "such a great girl as you ought not to encourage
-that rude boy; it would be much more becoming for you to think of
-receiving your guests with politeness, than to employ yourself in
-finding names for them." "Don't be angry, uncle dear," said Melicent,
-coaxingly, "and I'll call her London Pride; and that dear beautiful Miss
-Wildenheim is Venus's looking-glass:--you have no objection to be Flos
-Adonis, uncle, I'm sure. Oh! I wish I was like her, and then you'd be
-quite pleas'd with me." "My dearest Melicent," said he, fondly, "I don't
-wish you to be like any body but yourself; only control your spirits
-to-day, that's a good girl."
-
-In another window Mr. Donolan was expatiating on the merits of frogs
-stewed in _red_ champaigne, as he had eat them at the _Café de mille
-Colonnes_; whilst his auditor, Mr. Desmond, was assiduously drawing up
-his mouth into a whistle, his usual preventive of _mal à propos_
-laughter. His lady was preparing to receive her guests on their
-entrance, which she did with much kindness, and with the ease of a
-person well accustomed to the office. The ladies from Ballinamoyle were
-escorted only by Captain Cormac, as Mr. Webberly had unfortunately
-sprained his ancle that morning too severely to admit of his moving off
-a couch, and his host remained at home in order to show him proper
-attention, and Father Dermoody never formed one of so large a party.
-
-The company, when assembled, besides the party from Ballinamoyle and the
-Desmond family, consisted of the curate of the parish, the physician of
-the neighbourhood, a music-master, occasionally resident at Bogberry
-Hall, two smart beaux on a visit there from Limerick, and three very
-handsome girls of the name of Nevil, whom Mr. Desmond introduced to the
-English ladies as "Battle, Murder, and Sudden Death."
-
-Miss Fitzcarril had hoped much from the effects of a rose-coloured
-satin gown and orange turban, on the heart of her promised spouse; and
-therefore great was her disappointment, and unfeigned were her
-expressions of regret, when she lamented the accident, which deprived
-the party of his "agreeable society." Miss Webberly, resolving to take
-the _dilettante's_ affections by a _coup de main_, had that day employed
-herself in a reperusal of the portable Cyclopædia, and had no less
-attended to the embellishment of her person, which she attired _à la
-Minerve_, to give him a delicate proof of her just appreciation of his
-compliments.
-
-But Cecilia Webberly lost no time in commencing a flirtation with him,
-for the sole purpose of plaguing her "sweet Meely." In this however she
-was disappointed, for he complimented the mind of the one nearly as much
-as the person of the other, hoping thus to earn an equal portion of the
-"diet of good humour" for himself, which was as necessary to the comfort
-of his moral existence, as the daily aliments which were required for
-his physical being. For the purpose of receiving and bestowing flattery,
-he took a favourable opportunity, afforded by a pause in conversation,
-of producing a gold fillagree case, in which a few yards of pink riband
-were rolled up, which some milliner of the _Palais Royal_ had persuaded
-him to buy, in order to mark them with the dimensions of the celebrated
-statues in the _Louvre_; and he had thus indefatigably measured every
-wrist, waist, head, and ancle of the collection; and now as
-unremittingly solicited every lady of his acquaintance to apply this
-test of symmetry to the corresponding parts of her own person. And many
-a female heart beat with anxious expectation as she passed the girdle of
-various Venuses round Her waist, in hopes some one might prove a fit
-cestus for herself.
-
-By a little false play, Felix now proved Cecilia to be the exact
-counterpart of the celebrated Amazon of the Hall of the Laocoon, which
-considerably raised her in his and her own estimation. Mr. Desmond,
-seeing him preparing to roll this new _line of beauty_ up, called him
-over, and whispered loud enough for Adelaide, who was sitting close by,
-to hear, "The ladies will be affronted if you don't measure them all,
-Dilly; it looks as if you didn't think they would be the right
-fit:--begin with Miss Wildenheim; I'll be bound the belt of the _Venus
-de Medici_ will fit her as 'nate as a Limerick glove.'"
-
-When the _dilettante_, in the most affected manner possible, presented
-Adelaide with the portion of the riband he had passed round the waist of
-the Medicean Venus, she politely, but gravely declined the honour with a
-dignity that repelled the officious fop; and turning to Melicent with a
-kind and anxious glance, by a half sentence conveyed to the intelligent
-girl her contempt and disapprobation of the erudite trifling. Colonel
-Desmond met her eye, and by looks thanked her both for the example and
-advice; and then said, "Why, Felix, if you were to measure wrists and
-waists by spherical trigonometry; indeed it would afford a laudable
-display of your science. I'm sure Miss Wildenheim would not suffer the
-dimensions of her arm to be found in any way less sublime." "Yes,
-indeed," exclaimed Melicent, "you're no better, Cousin Dilly, than a
-common habit-maker with that little yard. Why don't you make a surtout
-for the Venus you are so fond of talking about?" Though Mr. Desmond had
-set young Donolan on in hopes of seeing a high scene of comic effect
-take place between him and the ladies, as he never let pass any
-opportunity of quizzing him, in revenge for the contempt he on all
-occasions expressed for that country, which was the object of his own
-enthusiastic love; he grinned with delight to see him so mortified,
-whilst he at the same time felt much obliged to Adelaide for the good
-natured hint she had given to Melicent, which he had predetermined to
-convey himself, when it came to her turn to make the ridiculous
-exhibition. However, this votary of Momus could not consent to lose his
-fun entirely, and therefore said to the discontented connoisseur, "Don't
-be dash'd, Dilly, if the young ones are too shy, we'll try the old
-ladies;" and snapping the fillagree case out of his hand, he began with
-his own wife, and with much laughter found her circumference out of all
-just proportion. He then proceeded to Mrs. O'Sullivan, saying, "I'm
-shocked, madam, at my nephew's want of gallantry in not ascertaining the
-proportions of your figure before he took those of lesser beauties."
-"You're wastly polite, sir, but I bant so slim as I used to be; that ere
-belt wouldn't compress me now, though time was, Mr. Desmond, when I was
-the pride of Bagnigge Wells--I could show shapes with any of 'em." "But,
-my dear ma'am, if one won't do, two of them put together will, and then
-we can safely say, you have double the beauty of the best French Venus
-amongst them all. Here's for the honour of Old England," holding up the
-riband; and as she passed it round her waist, "I knew that," continued
-he, "it's allowed that one English can beat three Frenchmen; and I could
-have laid my life, that one full grown British beauty was at least equal
-to two of the first in France." Miss Fitzcarril simperingly anticipated
-her triumph, when she should give incontestable proof, that her waist
-was smaller than that of the finest model of sculptured symmetry. After
-making the modest, she consented to give ocular demonstration of the
-fact; and then, holding out one long bony fore-finger, put the tip of
-the other on its knuckle, saying, with the utmost exultation, "All that
-much less:" which circumstance she related with conscious pride to Mr.
-Webberly, the first time she saw him afterwards; and it will long afford
-an agreeable subject for Captain Cormac's compliments, who, in truth,
-had lately been rather at a loss for novelties of this kind.
-
-The _dilettante_, in an agony of tasteful horror, that the silk, which
-had encircled the divine form of the Medicean Venus, should have been
-contaminated by touching that of the stiffest old maid in _Connaught_,
-shuddered as he internally groaned, "Oh! the she Vandal! But what can a
-man of taste expect, who ventures to amalgamate in society with these
-modern Boeotians! May the genius of sculpture never again display her
-_chefs d'oeuvre_ to my enlightened gaze, if I ever make any further
-attempt to give these demi-savages a specimen of the _beau idéal_." He
-had scarcely rolled up his riband with undissembled indignation, when
-dinner was announced. Had the tables on which it was served been as
-animated as Homer's, they would have groaned with the weight of
-supernumerary dishes, in all which, however, Mr. Donolan could not, with
-the aid of his glass, find any thing he could recommend Miss Cecilia
-Webberly to eat. "Not a particle of French cookery," said he,
-despairingly shrugging his shoulders, "except, perhaps, that _bashamele
-de veau roti_--the piper and the fiddler make such a confounded noise,
-no one can be heard. Launcelot! you're next your father, ask him for
-some of it." "Anan!" said the youth, pretending to look quite stupid,
-"Ask your father to send Miss Cecilia Webberly some of that _bashamele
-de veau roti_." "What in the name of the Lord does he mean, Milly?" said
-Lanty, turning to his sister; "faith and honour he never spakes legible
-now." "Legible, Lanty! indeed I think he speaks copperplate," replied
-Melicent; "it's some larded veal he wants."
-
-All this time the piper and the fiddler were playing furiously out of
-tune in the hall. Mr. Desmond, addressing Adelaide, said, "I always make
-them play up a tune at dinner--it makes it sit light." "What a
-satisfaction it must be to you to support those poor blind men!" "Yes,
-and their being blind has an advantage you don't think of;--if I have a
-potato and herring for my dinner, they don't know but I sport three
-courses and a dessert." The noise of the piper and fiddler, of
-incessant laughing and talking, the clatter of knives and forks, joined
-to the giggling and chattering of the maid servants employed in washing
-plates, spoons, forks, and knives, in one common bucket, behind the
-half-closed parlour door, with occasional dialogues between them, such
-as, "Oh Jasus! I have brok the big dish, and my mistress will be
-raving!" "The devil mend you! what cale had you to be peeping in at the
-quality, with your face as black as my shoe; and when the master turned
-his head, ye made off in such a flusteration, ye let go your load."
-"Sarra matter! I'll get Miss Milly to spake a good word for me, and
-there'll be nothing about it." All these noises united were too much for
-Mr. Donolan, whose "nerves were finer than a spider's web," and he
-became quite cross. When Melicent complained of the heat, he said very
-gruffly, "It's no wonder you're hot, when you appear in _bear skin_."
-She pretended not to understand him:--he retorted--"Really, Melicent, if
-you have not _gumption_ enough to understand them, I cannot be
-dictionary to my own _bon mots_." "Glossary, rather," thought Adelaide,
-"for I'm sure they are barbarous wit."
-
-Whilst Mr. Donolan conveyed to his _inamorata_, who was sitting beside
-him, by winks, and shrugs, and contortions of countenance, his knowledge
-of the _savoir vivre_, he and she both, as well as the rest of the
-company, gave incontestable proof--(at least if there be any truth in
-the proverb, which tells us, "That the proof of the pudding is in the
-eating")--that Mrs. Desmond's bill of fare, though "gothic to the last
-degree"--was very palatable. They even condescended, after demolishing
-fish, flesh, fowl, and pastry, to partake of her floating island, served
-in a flat cut glass dish, which occupied the place of a modern plateau.
-After the ladies had given the dessert "honour due," and the gentlemen
-had drank "The king," and "All our true friends, and the devil take the
-false ones," and the "Ladies' inclinations," the fair part of the
-company retired to the drawing-room. Here Melicent, in great delight,
-showed her friends the new grand piano forte her uncle had bought for
-her in Dublin. "It was thoroughly well tuned," said she to Adelaide, "by
-Mr. Ingham this morning, that we might have the pleasure of hearing you
-play. My uncle says you are a perfect musician." Miss Cecilia Webberly
-bit her lips, but quickly consoled herself with the recollection, that
-he had never heard her sing; and, to turn the conversation, asked Miss
-Desmond if she drew; she replied in the negative, but produced a
-port-folio of fine drawings of her uncle's. Adelaide had seen most of
-them before, and looked at them with the deepest interest, as they
-brought past scenes to her memory. Melicent held up one that was quite
-new to her;--a lovely female figure, in the freshest bloom of youth, was
-depicted holding a scroll, which she was reading with evident pleasure.
-The painter had caught one of the softest blushes and most bewitching
-smiles, that ever gave to beauty her least resistible charm; whilst the
-drapery, which flowed round a form of perfect symmetry, seemed to have
-been arranged by the hand of the Graces. This drawing had been executed
-by one of the first masters at Vienna, from a sketch of Colonel
-Desmond's. On the margin of the drawing were the following verses, the
-first few words of which were written on the scroll the fair creature
-was supposed to read:
-
-        Adélaïde
-    Paroît faite-exprès pour charmer;
-    Et mieux que le galant Ovide,
-    Ses yeux enseignent l'art d'aimer
-        Adélaïde.
-
-        D'Adélaïde
-    Ah! que l'empire semble doux!
-    Qu'on me donne un nouvel Alcide,
-    Je gage qu'il file aux genoux
-        D'Adélaïde.
-
-        D'Adélaïde
-    Fuyez le dangereux accueil:
-    Tous les enchantemens d'Armide
-    Sont moins à craindre qu'un coup d'oeil
-        D'Adélaïde.
-
-        D'Adélaïde
-    Quand l'Amour eut formé les traits,
-    Ma fois, dit-il, la cour de Gnide
-    N'a rien de pareil aux attraits
-        D'Adélaïde.
-
-        Adélaïde,
-    Lui dit-il, ne nous quittons pas:
-    Je suis aveugle, sois mon guide;
-    Je suivrai partout pas à pas
-        Adélaïde.
-
-
-    TRANSLATION.
-
-        Adelaide
-    Was surely form'd all hearts to move,
-    And more than Ovid we can prove
-    By speaking eyes, the art of love
-        In Adelaide.
-
-        Than Adelaide
-    No softer thraldom could we meet:
-    Alcides' self would think it sweet,
-    To spin his task out at the feet
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        From Adelaide
-    And all her dang'rous beauties fly;--
-    Armida's charms and witchery
-    Were far less fatal than the eye
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        Of Adelaide
-    When Cupid first the features fram'd,
-    "In Cnidus' court," he loud proclaim'd,
-    "Not one for beauty shall be fam'd
-        Like Adelaide."
-
-        "O Adelaide!"
-    The sightless boy enraptur'd cried,
-    "Alas, I'm blind! Be thou my guide;
-    From henceforth I'll ne'er leave the side
-        Of Adelaide."
-
-Miss Wildenheim quickly recollected, that these lines were written in a
-fine edition of Klopstock's works Colonel Desmond had given her, as a
-_gage d'amitié_, the last day she had seen him at Vienna; and when Miss
-Nevil turned to trace the resemblance she perceived in the drawing--the
-blush, the smile, the attitude, the graceful form, struck her so
-forcibly, that she exclaimed, "It _is_ yourself, Miss Wildenheim; I
-thought it was the image of you, the instant I saw it." Melicent, with
-intuitive propriety, sought to relieve Adelaide's embarrassment, and
-said, "Here's a far more beautiful figure; this, Miss Webberly, is my
-last production--a charming Paul and Virginia, I assure you. Do admire
-Paul's leg, it is thicker than the tree he is sitting under:--I wonder
-he doesn't kick Virginia, she squints so abominably."
-
-When this singular specimen of the fine arts was first displayed to the
-partial eyes of Melicent's parents, it met with no small admiration from
-them. A showy frame was bought, in which it was hung up over the
-chimney-piece of their usual sitting-room, and the fond mother gazed at
-it from morning till night. When Colonel Desmond returned from abroad,
-this was the first object, that, after showing her nine healthy,
-handsome children, she directed his attention to. He did not then
-express all the horror he felt at the contrast it afforded; but in about
-six months' negociation with considerable difficulty accomplished its
-being safely deposited in his port-folio.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-        Qu'Adélaïde
-    Met d'ame et de gout dans son chant!
-    Aux accens de sa voix timide
-    Chacun dit rien n'est si touchant,
-        Qu'Adélaïde[5]!
-
-    oeMARMONTELoe.
-
-[Footnote 5:
-
-        Adelaide
-    Whilst singing steals each list'ner's heart,
-    'Tis melody's refined part,
-    None can such melting strains impart,
-        As Adelaide.
-]
-
-
-As soon as the gentlemen returned to the drawing room, and tea was over,
-the mistress of the house proposed music.
-
-The Desmonds, in general, were considerable proficients in this
-delightful art; and a trio for the violin, flute, and piano forte, was
-charmingly played by Melicent, and her father, and uncle. Though the
-former failed so lamentably in drawing, she had a fine genius for music,
-which was made the most of by constant practice; it was the only thing
-her father had ever studied, and in it he had acquired considerable
-knowledge, whilst her uncle had gained, in Germany, a fine style of
-playing on the violin; and to their instructions she was more indebted
-for her excellence, than to those of Mr. Ingham, who taught her the mere
-mechanical part of the science, and even that very imperfectly. As soon
-as, according to the rules of etiquette, the young lady of the house had
-made a commencement, her guests were in turn requested to display their
-talents. Colonel Desmond had whispered about that Adelaide sung
-enchantingly; and there was a general impatience expressed to hear her,
-which she, in her usual unaffected manner, consented to gratify.
-
-The tones of her voice were exquisitely touching, and they took the
-shortest road to the heart, without stopping on the way to tickle the
-ear by the tricks of mere execution; each ornament seemed to rise in
-its own proper place, by a sort of "happy necessity," and, like the
-temple of taste, her singing "always charmed, never surprised." Her
-vocal excellences were most called forth in the highest style of Italian
-music. In the detached scenes of an opera she was inimitable: her divine
-voice painted, as it were, every shade of feeling; and the composer
-might have rejoiced to hear the Proserpine or Elfrida, not of his music,
-but of his imagination. Still more enchanting than her voice when she
-sang was her countenance, which the soul seemed to irradiate with that
-immortal light only seen on earth in "the human face divine;" and there
-were expressed all those indescribable charms, the offspring of genius
-and feeling, which the most melodious sounds are insufficient to convey
-to the sense. As she was however too rational, to be sublime out of
-place, she did not attempt to introduce the "grand opera" at Bogberry
-Hall, but apologizing for her deficiency in English music, which she
-feared to disfigure by her peculiar accent, sang a playful foreign
-ballad, which perhaps displayed the fascinating graces of her flexible
-voice, and polished manner, almost as delightfully as a finer
-composition would have done. She was rapturously _encored_, and was
-detained singing, till, quite distressed at the idea of excluding every
-other lady from the piano forte, she pleaded fatigue, as her excuse for
-retiring from the instrument. As the company crowded round her to bestow
-their praises, the winning expression with which her soft eyes met the
-general gaze, as they seemed imploringly to ask the forgiveness of her
-unsought superiority, and which her graceful gestures no less eloquently
-entreated, drew from the heart touched by her sweetness and modesty that
-exclamation of "charming! charming!" which the lips had opened to apply
-to her captivating talents.
-
-During the time Adelaide was singing, Melicent stood beside her uncle in
-almost breathless delight, her hand resting on his arm, which she
-pressed with earnestness as any note of peculiar beauty met her ear. He
-was so completely lost in a reverie, (a most unusual circumstance with
-him,) that even after the melody had ceased, he stood in the same spot,
-and in the same attitude, as before. Melicent roused him from his
-reflections, as she looked up in his face, and said, "How enchanting!
-her voice is 'pleasant as the gale of spring, that sighs on the hunter's
-ear when he wakens from dreams of joy, and has heard the music of the
-spirits of the Hill.'" "I perceive," replied he, almost starting at her
-first address, "that you read Ossian as incessantly as ever, Melicent: I
-have just been thinking how superior Miss Wildenheim is to her own
-acquirements." "I don't exactly understand you, uncle." "If you had ever
-mixed in the world, my love, you would without difficulty; you would
-there meet with many of both sexes, in whom the painter, or the poet, or
-the musician, stand forth so prominently, that the individual character
-is lost in the background, indeed, sometimes, with advantage. I'm sure,
-when Miss Wildenheim occurs to your mind to-morrow morning, you won't
-think _first_ of her singing, though you do admire it so much." "Oh,
-no!" replied Melicent, "I shall think of her charming smiles, as she is
-endeavouring to persuade Miss Cecilia Webberly to sing the air she
-thinks she most excels in.--They are looking for the music; I must go
-and assist them." Cecilia now did her utmost to eclipse Adelaide, by
-displaying twice the power of voice in songs of greater execution, which
-every body confessed she sang _well_, though no one _felt_ she sang
-charmingly. After two or three solos, it was proposed, that Mr. Ingham
-should join her in a duet. She purposely chose one, which should be a
-trial of skill between the performers. It was that style of music, which
-Colonel Desmond called the "florid Gothick," from its profuse ornament
-and defective taste; it had triplets, volatas, and trills without end.
-Poor Mr. Ingham, in more than one sense of the word, _shook_ for his
-fame; the merciless Cecilia forgot, that on it depended his bread; she
-did not read in his countenance, "He who filches from me my good name,
-takes that which not enricheth him, and makes me poor indeed!" But when
-they came to the final cadence, impelled by the "glorious fault of
-angels and of gods," she aspired higher than fate permitted her to
-attain with honour; and in a precipitate fall from D sharp in alt was
-hurled on the flat seventh, instead of the perfect third of the key,
-which made an unfortunate discord with the note intended to harmonize
-with said perfect third in a simultaneous trill; and on this unlucky
-seventh she continued to shake without pity or remorse, till the poor
-man, in emulation, was nearly black in the face, and was obliged to take
-breath twice, in a most audible manner, before she would have done. But
-at last she ceased, and the mortified musician's good-natured patron,
-seeing his vexation, and being himself shocked at the discord, clapped
-him on the back, saying, "Well done, Ingham; both parts famously sung:"
-and, with a significant wink, added, "By Heavens! she shook the cat out
-of the bag that time; she did you up there, man alive!" Lanty, who had
-thought the shake wondrous queer, he did not know why, understanding the
-drift of his father's observation, burst into a loud fit of laughter,
-which was followed by a peremptory order from his mother to quit the
-room. In the mean time the rest of the company were variously occupied:
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and Miss Fitzcarril, with the physician and curate,
-formed a party at _short whist_, which the former, to assist her claims
-to fashion, played at a rate that was much higher than accorded with her
-frugal propensities, and which the pride of her companions prevented
-from confessing was much beyond what suited their finances. The
-physician, who was losing, internally grumbled at this new method of
-playing the good old game of whist, by which twice as much may be lost
-in the same space of time; and muttered, as he sorted his cards, a
-barbarous parody of Shakspeare, "There comes the last scene of
-all:--short sight, short gowns, short whist, short every thing!" Leaning
-over "John of Gaunt's" chair, (the agnomen Mr. Desmond had been pleased
-to bestow on the stupendous Theresa,) stood Captain Cormac, to rejoice
-in the goodly row of kings, queens, and aces, which the hand of his
-liege sometimes contained, and which was graciously pointed out to him
-with an accompanying smile; or to pick up the glove, card, or
-handkerchief that fell to the ground, not always undesignedly. Mrs.
-Desmond kept herself disengaged to be kind and civil to every body,
-sometimes condoling with the losers at whist, sometimes laughing with
-the young people, as they played at "consequences," "what's my thought
-like?" or "dressing the poor soldier." Miss Webberly was in earnest
-conversation with Mr. Donolan, of which Mrs. Desmond's ear, unwilling,
-caught one or two sentences. In answer to an observation from Amelia, he
-said "A very good match for _him_," with a sort of conceited emphasis on
-the word _him_, which insinuated "it would be a very bad match for
-_me_." "Scarcely even for _him_," retorted Miss Webberly, "German gentry
-are but sma." This quotation was followed by a laugh of affected
-vehemence from both; and when Cecilia, exulting in her triumph over Mr.
-Ingham, came up to them, the witticism was repeated; and they then, in a
-playhouse whisper, extended their strictures to all the company in turn,
-only interrupted by fits of laughter. Mrs. Desmond turned away in
-disgust, and, looking for Melicent, proudly thought, "My little mountain
-girl may want polish, as Edward says, but, with all her wildness, she is
-still the lady." The object of her thoughts was, at that moment, in
-conversation with her uncle and Adelaide, whom they had joined, when
-Cecilia Webberly sat down to the piano forte. When she had finished her
-duet, in the manner before mentioned, Miss Desmond said, "What a pity it
-is, Miss Wildenheim, that people, in the attempt to astonish, will
-insist upon showing what they _cannot_ do." "My dear Melicent,"
-interrupted her uncle, "you may take it as a pretty general rule, that
-when a lady attempts or even succeeds in _astonishing_, all is not
-exactly as it ought to be; am I not right?" continued he, turning to
-Adelaide, "Oh, perfectly," replied she; "but, indeed, Miss Webberly
-executed her songs extremely well, with the exception of that
-unfortunate shake." "I have heard my uncle say," rejoined Melicent,
-"that an _execution_ is sometimes a _murder_; in that sense, I allow she
-has executed them well; but, surely, music that is not pleasing, can
-never be good." As Melicent never spoke _sotto voce_, her uncle was
-afraid her observations would be heard, and therefore, to divert her
-mind from Miss Webberly's singing, took up a book of poems, which was
-lying on the table they were standing near, and addressing Adelaide,
-said, "I condemned these verses this morning, as being unnatural:
-Melicent, to all my objections, only answered, 'Oh! dear uncle, I
-delight in them.' Do be our umpire, and show her, that something more
-is necessary to prove her admiration to be well founded, than the bare
-assertion that she does admire; when she dislikes, she has reasons
-enough at command, but when she approves, it is with an extravagance of
-enthusiasm, that admits of no analysis." Adelaide read as follows:--
-
-    The sigh of her heart was sincere,
-      When blushing she whisper'd her love,
-    A sound of delight in my ear;
-      Her voice was the voice of a dove.
-    Ah! who could from Phillida fly?
-      Yet I sought other nymphs of the vale,
-    Forgot her sweet blush and her sigh!
-      Forgot that I told her my tale.
-
-    In sorrow I wish'd to return,
-      And the tale of my passion renew;
-    Go, Shepherd, she answer'd with scorn,
-      False Shepherd, for ever adieu!
-    For thee no more tears will I shed,
-      From thee to fair Friendship I go;
-    The bird by a wound that has bled,
-      Is happy to fly from its foe.
-
-"What can she find so affecting in those lines?" thought Colonel
-Desmond, as he marked Adelaide's changing countenance. Memory had
-raised the shades of departed joys, which appeared in her eyes not clad
-in their original brightness, but wrapped in sorrow's watery veil;
-reason quickly bade them be gone, but not ere her attentive observer had
-marked their shadowy footsteps as they crossed her brow. When she looked
-up, his penetrating glance read her mind, and expressed his own. She
-painfully felt her heart was open to his view, that there was now no
-retreat, and therefore calmly said to Melicent, "I agree with you, Miss
-Desmond, the feelings of Phillida are perfectly natural." "But,"
-interrupted Colonel Desmond, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken,
-"don't you think, that though she might turn in scorn from the unworthy
-object of her first attachment, she might solace her wounded heart by
-admitting the love of another?" "Never!" replied Adelaide: "even in
-endeavouring to view him with indifference, her mind must have been too
-long filled with his idea, not to feel the impossibility of its ever
-being possessed by a second choice." Colonel Desmond knew the human
-heart better, and flattered himself, not unjustly, that if he had
-patience to play the friend, and did not too quickly assume the lover,
-he might imperceptibly win her regard in that character. He was not
-hurried away by the imprudent warmth of feeling, which would have
-deprived a younger man of his self-possession, but determined to destroy
-the impression of what the seriousness of his looks and tones had
-conveyed to her mind; and therefore with apparent carelessness, asked
-her how she liked Ireland. This question a stranger is plagued with in
-every company, from the day he lands in that country till the one he
-leaves it; which with its twin tormentor, "Do you like England or
-Ireland best?" serves to commence that sort of conversation, which
-begins in Great Britain with observations on the weather. By the way, it
-is strange that no moralist has ever remarked how providential it is,
-that the climate of this latter island is so variable, considering the
-propensity its inhabitants have to talk of it. It certainly affords a
-beautiful illustration of the doctrine of compensation.
-
-But to return to our friend Desmond:--he was too well bred to have asked
-such an unfair question, had he not been completely _distrait_. When the
-mind is absent without leave, the deputy it leaves behind to secure its
-unmolested retreat most resembles that apish faculty, memory, and
-mechanically imitates the manners, and repeats the phrases of others.
-Adelaide, more embarrassed, though not so _distrait_ as her
-interrogator, replied, that she was even more pleased with the country
-than she had expected to be from the favourable picture held forth in
-some late publications. He agreed to the justice of these
-representations; while his brother, happening to hear him, was nettled,
-to the quick, and abruptly said, "Not a bit like, Ned; quite too
-ridiculous." "But, my dear Harry, there is nothing in the world so
-tiresome as direct panegyric; you must allow a little for the malice of
-human nature, to make an individual or a national character loved, its
-virtues must be relieved by its foibles." "I'll tell you what, Ned, the
-devil a good there is in dressing us up in a fool's cap and bells, to
-make a set of fat English squires laugh who have eat themselves stupid."
-"How can you be so illiberal, brother? That des----"--"By the piper that
-danced before Moses," interrupted the elder Desmond; "it's themselves
-that's illiberal.--There's the two Webberlys, and that airified nephew
-of my wife's, mocking us all, by the Lord! and all the time of tea, and
-while Milly was playing on the forte, they were laughing as if their
-sides would burst. I'm bothered from the head to the tail with them,
-that's the truth of it. But come, Miss Wildenheim, a tune from you would
-save any man from being in a passion--give us 'God save the King,' and
-that will remind me that I ought to comport myself as becomes a
-peaceable subject."
-
-In nothing did Adelaide excel more than in playing an air, in a manner
-that seemed to give it beauties that it was not before suspected of
-possessing. She called to her aid all the powers of harmony, and united
-boldness of execution with tenderness of expression. She now played "God
-save the King," in a manner that electrified the company; the card
-players had dispersed, and there was such a nodding of heads, and
-marching, and whistling, and singing, and drumming on tables, and
-rattling watch chains, and beating time, that the performance of a
-person who could not have brought forth all the power of the "forte," as
-Mr. Desmond called it, would have been lost amongst all these various
-noises. The tune was played and replayed, till Adelaide laughingly said
-her fingers ached; and then dancing was proposed, and being agreed to,
-the company repaired to a large hall for the purpose. Here Mr. Desmond
-vented the remnant of his spleen against the Webberlys, by calling to
-the piper, "Play up the humours of Ludgate Hill there!" with a
-significant wink to the music master, (who, by the by, was more of a
-wag than an Orpheus), and though the wink was of no use to the blind
-piper and fiddler, the tone of his voice was sufficiently understood by
-them to need no second order; and they accordingly struck up their
-favourite tune of "Jig Polthogue," to which Mr. Desmond amused himself
-by mimicking, in turn, the dancing of all the set; and his imitations,
-being general, offended nobody in particular, but in truth he even
-satirized with so much good humour, that he hardly ever gave offence. It
-seemed always to be the fashions of the times he quizzed, rather than
-the people who exhibited them. "What an entertaining, exhilarating
-people the Irish are!" said Adelaide to Colonel Desmond. "Yes," replied
-he; "but yet, with all their cleverness, how strangely inconsistent is
-their conduct! If Melicent Desmond was a sovereign princess, her father
-could not have had more pride about her than he has; and yet here she is
-associating with her music-master, dancing in the very set with him;
-and I never can persuade him there is any impropriety in it." "How well
-she does dance!" remarked his fair partner. "And what a capital
-caricature Captain Cormac and Miss Fitzcarril would make--he all
-flourishes, she as stiff as the genealogical tree that hangs up in the
-hall at Ballinamoyle. Do you observe," resumed he, "how much of the
-'_incedo regina_' there is in her manner to him occasionally! This good
-lady is a singular being, I can assure you. She can be 'proud with
-meanness, and be mean with pride.'" "Such a character," rejoined
-Adelaide, "reminds me of Homer's princesses, who, from doing the honours
-of the palace, proceed to wash the clothes of its inhabitants in the
-neighbouring river, to which pleasant employment they drive right
-regally." Mr. Desmond now coming up to turn her in the dance, took that
-opportunity of saying, "I tried to touch you up, but I couldn't--it's a
-shame for you to bear away the _bell_ in every thing:--I never saw any
-one in my life _handle their feet_ as you do."
-
-After two or three dances the company adjourned to the supper table, and
-here again all was mirth and glee. Colonel and Mr. Desmond sung comical
-songs, and told droll stories, till the whole party were in fits of
-laughter. Three of the children, younger than Melicent and Launcelot,
-were kept up to supper, and they sang catches and glees with their
-father and uncle, in a manner that surprised every body who heard their
-sweet voices and saw their childish faces. Before they began, a dispute
-arose between Mr. Desmond and the music-master, relative to the key
-note; the one sounded one, and the other another; when, to settle the
-matter, the former called to his second son, "Do you hear, George, take
-this note out in your mouth to the forte, strike it, and bring me word
-if I'm not right, and be sure you don't drop it by the way." How far
-George was an impartial testimony, or how much the note lost or gained
-in its ascent or descent, must ever remain in doubt; but, like a dutiful
-child, when he returned, he said, "_You_ were right to be sure,
-father--listen here;" and sounding the octave above as clear as a bell,
-and as sweetly as possible, they all set to, the little performers
-keeping time and tune admirably; whilst the mellow base of the
-gentlemen, and the enchanting soprano of their sister, contrasted
-delightfully with the juvenile strains of these "young-eyed cherubim."
-Melicent's fine notes made most of the party express a wish to hear her
-in a solo, and she sang the "Exile of Erin," with a pathos that drew
-tears from many present. Adelaide seemed particularly to feel it; which
-Mr. Desmond perceiving, he said, "Come, Melicent, that's too
-dismal--I'll tune you up a lilt;" and he immediately sang, in a most
-comical manner, a ballad he had written himself, entitled, "Miss Jenny's
-lament for the loss of her petticoat;" in which was ably satirized the
-present style of _undress_. Soon after this the party separated with as
-much hilarity as they had met.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-    Jeunes beautés qui venez dans ces lieux,
-    Fouler d'un pied léger l'herbe tendre et fleurie,
-    Comme vous je connus les plaisirs de la vie,
-    Vos fêtes, vos transports, et vos aimables jeux.
-    L'Amour berçoit mon coeur de ses douces chimères,
-    Et l'Hymen me flattoit du destin le plus beau,
-    Un instant détruisit ces erreurs mensongères,
-    Que me reste-t-il? Le tombeau![6]
-
-    oeLEVIZACoe.
-
-[Footnote 6:
-
-    Ye fair ones that, with agile bound,
-    Dance o'er this turf in frolick round,
-    Whose tender flowers scarce bend their head,
-    Beneath your footstep's airy tread;
-    Like you I once, with sportive mien,
-    Join'd laughing Pleasure's joyous train:
-    Then life and all its hopes were new,
-    And love its brightest visions drew:
-    Those joys are past--the vision's flown:
-    What now remains?--The tomb alone.
-]
-
-
-When Adelaide returned to Ballinamoyle, she thought of the day she had
-spent at Bogberry Hall with the most lively pleasure; the unrefined
-good-natured gaiety of its inmates had seized her with so strong a
-grasp, that it had dragged her along with the general current of mirth,
-and, leading her thoughts out of their ordinary course, had, with no
-unwelcome violence, broken the chain of their painful associations. Her
-eye had early been accustomed to the animation of foreign countenances
-and gestures; and as she had only been acquainted with English manners
-in a very retired country place, it is perhaps not surprising, that she
-should have felt chilled by their apparent monotony, and abashed by the
-half-reproving look she sometimes met with; when, pausing for an instant
-to consider what she had done wrong, she found she had, in the
-earnestness of conversation, raised her hand and arm full six inches
-from her side, where it was arrested in its graceful action, and
-remanded by the blushing offender to its former quiescent station. But
-censure was not even thus avoided, for in the very effort to please,
-she had committed a second error, by moving that beautiful brow, which
-expressed every feeling of her heart; and her dismay, at perceiving her
-observer still unsatisfied, produced some other involuntary gesture
-still more reprehensible than the first.
-
-She now therefore saw the Irishmen change from one leg to another,
-flourish their arms, rattle their watch chains, and swing their chairs,
-without the horror so elegant a female was bound to experience on
-beholding such ungraceful motions, for which no sanctioning precedent
-could be produced at St. James's. And she even granted absolution to the
-varying expression of the women's countenances, which sometimes bordered
-on grimace; and extended it to their voices, running through half the
-gamut in the changes of the most decided brogue that ever offended ears
-polite.
-
-To speak seriously, she found very great amusement in observing a
-national character, so dissimilar to any that had ever before fallen
-under her observation, and which presented itself with so many comical
-and so many amiable traits. In every individual she had met, there was
-something strongly characteristic, from Moll Kelly on the strand at
-Dunleary, to the proprietor of Bogberry Hall; and, with the exception of
-Mr. Donolan, who was spoiled in an attempt at refinement, warmth of
-feeling and good nature seemed to be the portion of each. In order to
-become better acquainted with this national character, which so much
-interested her, she determined, during her residence at Ballinamoyle, to
-visit the cottages in its neighbourhood, and to cultivate the
-acquaintance of her friend Jarge Quin, hoping to learn from him the
-peculiar customs and superstitions of the country, while to the
-venerable Father Dermoody she applied for their explanation and origin.
-She did not now feel quite so much at ease in referring for information
-to her former _cicerone_, Colonel Desmond, as she had done previous to
-their ambiguous conversation in his brother's drawing-room: but his
-guarded conduct the remainder of the evening tended much to destroy her
-first impression; and she felt the utmost confusion, whenever those few
-sentences came across her mind, accusing herself of the most egregious
-vanity in annexing a sense to his words that he did not mean to give
-them; and asking herself, time after time, whether he could have
-perceived her mistake. However, these unpleasant ideas soon wore away,
-and Colonel Desmond played the part of friend so well, that she
-convinced herself he had not understood her; and in a short time this
-circumstance, which made her at first feel so embarrassed in his
-presence, was erased from her mind. And indeed he so dexterously availed
-himself of all the advantages he possessed to make his society agreeable
-to her, that she soon began to feel almost uncomfortable without it. He
-would talk to her of the scenes of her infancy; and she would then
-gratefully recollect the pains he had taken to teach her the English
-language, which she now felt of such essential advantage; and would
-sometimes remind him of the good-natured patience he had also shown,
-when he first condescended to accompany on the violin her childish
-performance of concertos and sonatas, and the remembrance of many an
-inveterately ill-timed passage afforded them now considerable diversion.
-There was one subject of the deepest interest, that he, and he alone, of
-all her associates, was master of the virtues and talents of her father;
-and this, in her enthusiastic filial affection, and his regrets and
-admiration, was inexhaustible. At first Baron Wildenheim's name was but
-slightly glanced at; but by degrees she could bear to hear his
-sentiments and his words repeated, and her heart warmly thanked the man,
-who had so carefully treasured them in his. Colonel Desmond's humanity
-and fine feeling told him exactly where to stop. He would,
-
-    "When the soft tear stole silently down from the eye,
-    Take no note of its course, nor detect the slow sigh;"
-
-and the sympathy he showed in her affliction tended much to restore her
-mind to its wonted serenity, by gently drawing forth all those agonizing
-reflections and remembrances that had fled to hide themselves from human
-knowledge, to the most secret recesses of her heart. Under all these
-circumstances a penetrating observer would, perhaps, have pronounced,
-that if Colonel Desmond steadily pursued his present plan, it would
-ultimately be crowned with success. At least it is contrary to all
-experience, that a young woman can long continue to feel _friendship
-alone_ for an unmarried man, who is in all things a lover, except in the
-declaration of his passion;--nay, if there is no love on either side at
-first, it is highly probable there will be on both at no distant period,
-whenever a similarity of taste, ideas, and pursuits, induces a desire of
-association and intimacy, which circumstances permit to be gratified.
-Every inexperienced female should be thoroughly aware of the high
-probability which exists of her bestowing her affections on the man
-with whom she is so situated.
-
-The second evening after their return from Bogberry Hall, Mr.
-O'Sullivan's guests were assembled at tea, when they heard the sound of
-music in the open air; and looking out, saw a gay groupe of young men
-and women dressed in their best, two fiddlers playing merrily before
-them, one of the party carrying a pole, on which were tied small hoops
-covered with garlands of flowers, intermixed with finery of various
-sorts, and gloves cut out in white and coloured papers; after them
-followed the elder members of their families, and, lastly, a crowd of
-children. The Miss Webberlys saw, with surprise, that not one of the
-females of the assembly had hat or bonnet. All the young women, except
-the queen of the garland, wore white round caps, ornamented with some
-gay riband; some had open gowns of a brilliant calico, others of white
-linen, with a stuff petticoat, blue, yellow, red, or green, according to
-the fancy of the wearer; white aprons, handkerchiefs, and stockings,
-completed their attire. Their showy dress, rosy complexions, and
-animated countenances, had altogether a most lively effect.
-
-The dress of the old women was rather different. It consisted of a white
-mob cap, with a black silk handkerchief brought over the crown, crossed
-under the chin, and tied behind; a calico gown, with a large and gaudy
-pattern; and, in addition to the handkerchief and apron, a white dimity
-bed-gown, with short sleeves, and the skirt reaching half way to their
-knees; with a bright scarlet cloak hanging on one arm. All the men who
-were not dancers wore a great coat, of the peculiar frieze of their
-country. In the dress of the young men there was nothing remarkable,
-except that each had on a showy waistcoat, or silk handkerchief, to make
-him look as smart as his sweetheart in her gay gown and petticoat.
-
-Adelaide was delightedly viewing the joyous scene, when she suddenly
-heard Colonel Desmond's voice returning Mrs. O'Sullivan's salutation,
-"It's midsummer's eve," said he, addressing her, "and I could not resist
-coming to witness your surprise at the curious customs observed here on
-this night." "I should think Miss Wildenheim wouldn't be such a fool as
-to go trapesing out on the damp grass with such a set of vagabonds,"
-said Mr. Webberly, who was himself confined to the sofa. Colonel
-Desmond's attention was too much engrossed by the sweet smiles and
-tones, with which Adelaide thanked him for his kind recollection of her,
-to notice the morose look which accompanied this observation; and he
-acknowledged the speaker no otherwise than by a distant bow, as the fair
-object of his solicitude left the room to join the rest of the party at
-the hall door. The crowd had by this time ranged themselves in a
-semicircle, in the centre of which stood the king and queen of the
-garland, the former carrying the pole. The rustic queen was the
-handsomest young girl of the country--
-
-    "Health in her motion, the wild grace
-    Of Pleasure speaking in her face."
-
-Her head was crowned with a chaplet of flowers, whilst her long hair,
-which is highly prized in Ireland as a part of female beauty, flowed in
-profusion down her back, and its raven hue contrasted well with her
-snow-white linen gown. A sky-blue petticoat appeared under her apron in
-front, and from her girdle hung a wreath of flowers, forming a festoon
-of varied tints. The temporary king was the best dancer, wrestler, and
-cudgel-player, and the "tightest and clanest boy in all Ballinamoyle
-town land." On the right stood the fiddlers, playing Plansety
-O'Sullivan. When the venerable possessor of this name came forward to
-welcome the crowd, the united strength of all their lungs sent forth a
-heart-felt wish of "Long life to his honour, and God bless him, hurra!
-hurra!" There is perhaps nothing more overcoming than the voice of a
-rejoicing multitude. The old man felt the present and the past, as he
-thought how his beloved Rose was hailed on such anniversaries; and
-whilst he made his bows of acknowledgement, the tear stood on his aged
-cheek. When silence was proclaimed, the village schoolmaster stepped
-forward, and presented him with a song he had written on his honour, and
-which "Brian Murdoch would make bould for to sing." Brian began with an
-"Och--" half a second in duration, and then proceeded as follows:--
-
-          In Connaught, my deer,
-          Did you walk far and neer,
-          At a poor man's requist,
-          His honour's the best
-            Of all in the land, of all in the land!
-          When poverty's near,
-          He ne'er turns a dafe ear,
-          But is free wid his store,
-          Gives kind words galliore,
-            Wid a bountiful hand, a bountiful hand!
-    Och!--Wheresomdiver he goes
-          A blessing there flows,
-          Like a beam of the sun
-          Or the soft shining moon,
-            The joy of our heart, the joy of our heart!
-          Then long may he rain
-          Widout sorrow or pane,
-          And in Heaven be blist,
-          When he takes his last rist,
-            Tho' we to the heart rue the day he depart!
-
-The intention of this composition was certainly better than the metre;
-but for once a poet did not flatter, for Mr. O'Sullivan exercised all
-the benevolence of his kind heart, in making his tenants happy; and they
-would in return, to use their own expression, have "gone through fire
-and water at the dead hour of the night, to sarve his honour. They had a
-good right to lay the hair of their head in under his feet."
-
-Brian's performance was applauded and encored, and when it was over,
-there was a little murmur amongst the crowd as if to settle the next
-act. "Which is her?" asked the king of the garland. "Why, that beautiful
-lady to be sure, talking to the fat madam in the lavender blossom dress,
-with the borders all figured out in white," replied an ancient matron,
-who had been one of the first assembly at Ballinamoyle. The young man
-now walked up to Adelaide, and with a bow down to the ground, begged the
-honour of dancing with her; and she, perceiving it was a national
-custom, instantly complied; and hearing from Captain Cormac, who handed
-her to the spot she was to dance on, that the figure of the jig she was
-expected to perform, was that of a minuet danced quick, she went through
-it with a spirit and grace, that were unalloyed by any airs of exalted
-languor.
-
-What! danced with an Irish peasant, and with spirit to! Look down, ye
-German Barons of sixteen quarters, and ye noble British Peers, on your
-descendant, and--behold her with pride! for she could be dignified
-without haughtiness, and complaisant without familiarity--perfectly
-understanding the art of adapting herself to her associates, without
-thereby assimilating her manners or ideas to theirs; always preserving
-that elegance, which "was around her as light," giving to her
-performance of the trifles of every day intercourse a charm peculiarly
-her own, and which as invariably adorned her in the humblest cottage, as
-it would have done in the most brilliant court, dancing with this king
-of a rustic pageant, as with the Autocrat of all the Russias; and had
-she been one of those selected for that honour, she would perhaps,
-whilst she paid due homage to the rank of the Emperor, have no less
-forcibly impressed her august partner with the _dignity of the lady_.
-
-However, the most scrupulous belle need not be much annoyed by the
-contamination she would suffer, by dancing with the king of the garland;
-for actuated by that respect, which the lower Irish so strongly feel for
-their superiors, he never presumes to take her hand, but contents
-himself with dancing opposite to her with all his might and main, at
-about three feet distance. Thus Adelaide's partner beat the batter on
-the ground, sprung, capered, hit the sole of his foot with his hand,
-danced the garland, beat the batter again, set, shuffled, and capered
-in turn. Every now and then there was clapping of hands, and "Well done,
-Lary, keep it up, keep it up!" and a murmur of approbation for Adelaide
-went round: "She's a beautiful cratur; and what kindly ways she has with
-her," said one. "The Lord love her little canny feet, how they do humour
-the music!" remarked another; and so on, till she made her curtsy when
-the jig was ended; and then there was a general shout of "Huzza! for the
-young lady and Lary for ever." "Arrah, whist wid your noisy tongues,"
-said an old woman; "you'll trouble his honour, and mind him of Miss
-Rose. This day two and twenty year she danced on this very spot of
-ground, and the sarra lady has done the same since from that day till
-this. Do you see old Dennis there, Cisly?" continued she to her
-daughter: "Well, Miss Rose smiled so sweet, (I mind it as if it was but
-yesterday), and said, 'What a wonderful old man Dennis is, to be able to
-tire me in a dance, at sixty years of age! I hope he'll live to see
-many a midsummer's eve.' They say the prayers of them that's soon going
-to their long home is uncommon lucky; so she left these words for a
-blessing to ould Dennis, though she was too good to live herself." The
-old woman's caution was unnecessary--Mr. O'Sullivan had pleaded the
-damps of the evening and retired, but begged of Colonel Desmond to take
-his place, and keep the dancers as long as they afforded amusement, as
-his room was at so distant a part of the house, his _sleep_ would not be
-disturbed. "Alas, no!" thought his friend, "poor man, he will never
-cease to grieve for his angelic daughter, till she smiles on him once
-more in another world."
-
-Colonel Desmond perceived there was a stop in the proceedings of the
-crowd, and recollected that it was customary for the master of the
-house, or some one in the place, to dance with the queen of the garland,
-and therefore requested Captain Cormac would do the honours the
-_etiquette_ of such occasions demanded. At another time he would have
-enjoyed doing so himself; but at this moment his head was too full of
-Rose and her father, to think of dancing--or even of Adelaide! Captain
-Cormac took the garland, as every man was bound to do, and flourished it
-about, and out-capered Lary himself; whilst his pretty partner, at
-stated times, cast her fine eyes on the ground, and was swung round by
-him with averted head, then danced boldly up with one arm akimbo,
-alternately took the garland, followed, or was chased by him. Little
-Caroline was wild with spirits, when the crowd, finding out their
-mistake with regard to Adelaide, raised her on a stout man's shoulders,
-and pressed round to shake hands with her in turn, while she received
-their greetings with the utmost cordiality; and, when let down again,
-she danced and capered about, as Jarge Quin said, "as merry and as
-pretty as the little people trip it on the blossoms on May morning."
-
-Mr. Webberly had by this time nearly recovered from the ill humour the
-sight of Colonel Desmond had put him into, and had been wheeled in a
-large chair to the window, for the double purpose of viewing the festive
-scene, and watching the proceedings of Adelaide. He was evidently in
-pain either of body or mind, and looked so mournful, so deserted, that
-she could not resist the impulse of compassion, and addressed to him,
-from time to time, some casual remark on the groupe before them. For
-many months she had not voluntarily spoken so much to him; and as
-Colonel Desmond observed his satisfaction, some painful reflections
-crossed his mind: "He deceives himself," thought he, "and so do I--she
-has no love for me either. I ought to tear myself from her; yet a faint
-heart never won a fair lady, and I see as little cause to despair as to
-hope." But with an inconsistency, that the agitation of his feelings
-alone could account for, he whispered to Adelaide, "Be more stern, and
-you will be more humane; your heavenly sweetness undoes your victim."
-She looked up surprised, and read that in his countenance, which
-immediately gave to hers a degree of gravity which he had never before
-seen her features wear; and bowing slightly in answer, addressed herself
-to Mrs. O'Sullivan. He soon found an opportunity of speaking to her
-again: "Adelaide," said he, sorrowfully, "you are offended; are you like
-all the rest of the world, capricious and fickle? Do you _reject_ the
-friend of your infancy?" "Colonel Desmond," said she calmly, "I must be
-frank--infancy does not last forever, '_altri tempi, altre maniere_.'"
-In these few words she had spoken volumes. To recover himself, he talked
-sentiment and science to the two Miss Webberlys, and in doing so, heard
-and made such a display of _esprit_, that it soon deadened his feelings,
-and in a few minutes he _appeared_ as much at ease as ever.
-
-In the mean time the merry rustics performed Quaker minuets, which
-consist of a mixture of quick and slow movements, a sort of strathspey
-called petticoatties, and some well executed handkerchief dances, the
-figures of which are of the same kind as the shawl-dances of the opera,
-and admit six or eight at pleasure. It is surprising with what a degree
-of natural dexterity and vivacity the lower Irish dance: Adelaide
-thought, "If Horace had been an Irishman, he would not have described
-the dancing of the Nymphs and Graces in the spiritless manner he has
-done:--
-
-    "Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus, imminente Luná,
-    Junctæque Nymphis Gratiæ decentes,
-    Alterno terram quatiunt pede.[7]"
-
-[Footnote 7: Literally nearly thus:
-
-Now beneath the beaming moon, Cytherean Venus leads forth the band. The
-decent Graces, joined by the Nymphs, strike the earth with alternate
-foot.]
-
-But profiting by Mrs. Temple's hint, she never now said any thing that
-might lead to the supposition of her being a "learned lady;" at the same
-time, she heartily joined in the praises, which even Mrs. O'Sullivan and
-her daughters bestowed on the groupe before them. "It is not all pure
-nature, however," said Colonel Desmond; "itinerant dancing-masters go
-about the country, and there is no lad or lass so poor, that once in
-their lives, at least, can't afford half a crown for the benefit of
-their education in this particular. They all gather together in some
-waste building, or on the level turf; and the scenes that take place in
-these assemblies are ludicrous beyond description. It is said, that one
-of our Connaught Vestrises found it necessary, to tie a straw rope about
-the right leg of his pupils, calling it suggar, and the other gad; and
-that he used to sing this rhyme to a tune that marks the time
-inimitably, beating it all the time with his foot: only conceive the
-bodily and mental labour of such a task!
-
-    "'Out with your suggar, my girl,
-    Right fal la fal la di dy,
-    Then the gad you must twirl,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Shuffle your suggar and gad,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Then you must set to the lad,
-    Right fal la, &c.'
-
-"It is not surprising," continued he, "that some such contrivance should
-sometimes be necessary on our Irish mountains, when the Scripture
-informs us, that a hundred and twenty thousand Ninevese could not
-discern between their right hand and their left." Adelaide was much
-entertained by this allusion. And here let us advise those, who regret
-any accidental coldness that may have arisen with a friend, if they have
-drollery enough in their composition, to make him or her laugh by all
-means. It is the surest way in the world to restore familiarity of
-manner; for we cannot look suddenly cross at the person, who has, in
-spite of our best endeavours at sullenness, excited the unwilling smile.
-Those who are "too dull for a wit, too grave for a joker," may try the
-pathetic; and if they can draw forth sympathetic tears at any horrible
-story, it will answer the purpose nearly as well, though our experience
-certainly inclines to the former method.
-
-Whilst the smile yet played on Adelaide's countenance, old Dennis
-walked up to her, and said, with a look where pleasure and regret strove
-for preeminence, "Faith, Miss dear, when I see your teeth as white as
-the water-lily, and your eyes dancing like the sunbeams on the lake, ye
-mind me of Miss Rose; you're the sauciest lady I've seen since she
-parted us, when she was in her fifteenth! The sweetest Rose was she in
-all Ireland, and the like will ne'er bloom again in Ballinamoyle."
-Adelaide graciously received the old man's compliment; and her eyes
-filled with tears, as she said to Colonel Desmond, "How much I feel
-interested for this Rose! She must have been most amiable, to be so long
-loved and remembered by these grateful people." "She was indeed,"
-replied he, "one of those beings, that would lead a fanciful imagination
-to suppose, they had nearly arrived at perfection in some pre-existent
-state, and had been sent on earth, for a short space, to complete their
-probation, and show what a superior nature might be, even clogged with
-our corporeal infirmities. Mr. O'Sullivan never breathes his daughter's
-name, nor is it ever mentioned before him, except by nurse, whom it is
-impossible to restrain. His life has passed away so monotonously, that
-it seems but as yesterday since he lost her, and she now rises again
-forcibly to the remembrance of the elder inhabitants of this
-neighbourhood, from the circumstance of Caroline O'Sullivan being
-brought, as it were, to take her place; which, I assure you, they
-consider as a sort of sacrilegious usurpation, and feel no small
-indignation at her having been born in England. Poor Rose! hers was a
-fatal marriage!--But this is not a fit time to sadden you with the
-details of her melancholy story."
-
-It was now dark, and some of the dancers came forward to receive the
-customary donations, after which they proceeded in a body elsewhere.
-They were in the act of setting up their last "hurra!" when, as if by
-appointed signal, all the hills were instantly illuminated with
-innumerable fires. In the distance blazed the altar of the sun, like a
-pyramid of light; the nearer flames were reflected in the still waters
-of the lake. Every island was gay with moving figures and bonfires.
-Within the spacious walls of the old castle in the centre islet was the
-largest of all, which was seen brightly beaming through the arched
-windows and dilapidated walls, while round it a groupe of merry boys and
-girls were dancing; and a sudden blaze showed here and there similar
-circles on every hill. Rejoicing voices rose and fell on the gales of
-night, which also conveyed, from time to time, the music of various
-instruments. "I never beheld so beautiful a scene," said Adelaide; "what
-is the origin of this custom?" "It descends to us from our pagan
-ancestry," replied Colonel Desmond, "who on this evening offered
-sacrifices to the sun on every hill. A similar custom was observed on
-the first of May and on the last of October, on which night we keep up
-the same ceremonies, which Burns has so beautifully described in his
-'Hallow E'en.' At this moment the whole of this island is gay with
-garlands, and dancing, and music; and her numerous population are poured
-forth on every hill in their best attire, accompanied by mirth and glee,
-leaving all their cares behind them at their cottage doors." "I hope,"
-said Caroline, "the fires in the castle won't hurt the little fairies
-Jarge Quin told us of, Adele; I dare say they ran in a great hurry up
-the walls; or may be the lake is covered with their tiny boats to take
-them away. When I live here, I never will let a single cobweb be swept."
-"Why, my dear child, have you so suddenly fallen in love with the spider
-tribe, as well as the fairies?" "Oh, nurse says they steal in at night
-through the keyhole, to take the cobwebs to make sails of them; and,
-when the wind blows them off, they stick to the trees and every thing,
-and they are twice as good for cuts as those in the house. I have been
-gathering a whole heap of them to take to England. Oh, Adele! I wish
-you would come and hear the beautiful stories nurse tells about kings,
-and queens, and giants. She puts her spectacles on her nose, and reads
-all morning out of a book she calls the 'Rabby Night's Intertinmant.' I
-run down to her every night before I go to bed, and she takes me on her
-knee, and tells it to me, and gives me cakes. Sometimes she cries when I
-kiss her, and then she talks to me of my _dear_ papa, what a fine young
-gentleman he was before he went to be a soldier. I'll marry a soldier
-when I grow big. I think nurse and uncle love me better than any body
-but you, Adele." It was in vain that Caroline's best beloved
-endeavoured, in a low voice, to assure her of the warmth of her mother's
-and sister's affection; she said little in reply, but felt all the pain
-of being convinced against her will.
-
-The party, when tired of admiring the admirable night scene the
-surrounding country presented, retired to the house; and by this time
-the rustic assembly had repaired to an empty barn, where they danced
-till sunrise, and then went out to make hay.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-    Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
-    I'll sweeten thy sad grave.
-
-    oeCYMBELINE.oe
-
-
-The remainder of the month of June and July passed at Ballinamoyle in
-various degrees of pleasure or tedium to its unusual inmates. Mrs.
-O'Sullivan and her three elder children saw the time originally fixed
-for their departure approach, with almost undissembled pleasure.
-Notwithstanding the anxious endeavours of their host and his circle, to
-show them the utmost respect and kindness, and to procure them every
-amusement within their reach, nothing pleased, nothing interested them;
-but if they could find little to admire in England beyond Hyde Park
-Corner, could they be expected to tolerate Irish barbarism? They
-associated much with the Desmond family; but, though this circumstance
-saved them many hours of _ennui_, it gave them none of real enjoyment.
-The Miss Webberlys saw Melicent's natural graces with too much contempt
-to envy them, and for once they associated with a lovely girl without
-being tormented by this passion. But her father and uncle they little
-short of hated; the one for his successful raillery, the other for his
-admiration of Adelaide; which circumstance rendered the latter equally
-obnoxious to their brother, who attributed to him the bad success of his
-suit to Miss Wildenheim, still more than to his sprained ancle, which
-had kept him a close prisoner, and enabled her effectually to shun his
-society. At home--Mr. O'Sullivan was dismal, Miss Fitzcarril
-insufferably proud; a Catholic priest was of course an object of
-illiberal aversion; and of all their associates, young Donolan was the
-only individual who found favour in their sight; but he had, by his
-heartless gallantries and fulsome flattery, ingratiated himself so much
-with both sisters, that he was a source of constant bickering between
-them.
-
-They therefore so plagued and prejudiced their weak mother, that she was
-as much out of humour as themselves. She and Miss Fitzcarril almost
-quarrelled, though the one was nearly as anxious to court the cousin, as
-the other to win the son; and the ridiculous pride of ancestry in the
-spinster kept pace with the narrow-minded pride of riches in the matron.
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and her amiable children vented all their ill humour on
-their servants, who, in revenge, quarrelled with the domestics of the
-house, and expressed their own and their superiors' contempt of every
-person and thing they saw, without reserve. All this Miss Fitzcarril was
-mean enough to suffer to be repeated to her with those additional
-charges scandal-mongers are certain to lay on their retail goods; and
-she came sometimes full primed with rage from the kitchen, ready to
-discharge her fire-arms in the parlour, which would not unfrequently
-have happened, had not Adelaide dexterously managed to unload the
-offensive weapon.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril found the amenity of her manners as invariable as the
-benignity of her heart. She would, boiling with passion, confide to her
-friendly ear some tale of horror she had been told by nurse, or the
-cook, the housemaid, or Black Frank himself; and always heard, in
-return, some extenuation of the offence, or expression of sorrow that
-purchased its forgiveness.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan's guests did not venture to treat him with disrespect,
-nor Miss Fitzcarril to annoy him with the recital of her various
-_brouilleries_; his uniformly dignified deportment preserved him from
-both: yet Mr. Webberly and his sisters he disliked for their airs of
-affected superiority to others; and had Caroline depended on her
-_mother's_ powers of pleasing, to obtain her uncle's estate, her claims
-would not have met with much success. An Irish country gentleman,
-however unpolished he may be himself, is to an extreme fastidious in
-his ideas of female gentility. Every one has a code of his own, which he
-thinks it necessary a woman should follow, to be what he calls
-"_ladylike_." His punctilios are frequently unreasonable, and
-excessively troublesome to the female relatives, who are obliged to
-conform to them; but the warm affection, from which they derive so much
-happiness, is also the source of that pride they sometimes find so
-annoying. A writer of eminence has clearly shown the difference between
-_rusticity_ and _vulgarity_. Many an unpolished rustic girl Mr.
-O'Sullivan might think _ladylike_: but a vulgar woman, such as his
-sister-in-law, was perhaps the object in the world the most disgusting
-to him; and it required all his good-nature, and all his hospitality, to
-make him conquer his involuntary repugnance sufficiently to treat her
-with the kindness due to his brother's widow. Though Maurice O'Sullivan
-had been only his step-brother by their father's marriage, very late in
-life, and there was twenty years' difference in their ages, he had
-always felt for him even more than the usual warmth of fraternal
-affection; and had, for a long series of years, been bountiful to him in
-a degree that but encouraged his extravagant dissipation; till the elder
-brother, at last provoked by his career of folly, finally discharged his
-debts, on condition of the entail being cut off, to enable him to bestow
-the family estate on some more worthy member of it. But the grave had
-now closed on all the faults of Maurice's character, whilst memory
-exaggerated all its virtues; and O'Sullivan would frequently contrast
-Caroline with her mother, saying in the pride of his heart, "How much of
-the _father_ she has in her! She shows good blood runs in her veins."
-
-To Adelaide Mr. O'Sullivan was unconsciously as kind as to Caroline.
-Before she had been many days in his house, he had made up his mind that
-she was "_quite the lady_," and of course possessed of every good
-quality necessarily consequent on that, in his mind, highly valued
-character. Besides he was much gratified by her inclination to be
-pleased with every thing that was worthy of commendation in his place,
-and in his country generally; and with the proper feeling and good
-breeding, which restrained her from wounding his pride by those
-offensive remarks he constantly heard from his sister-in-law and her
-elder children, which however were at least equalled by those of Mr.
-Donolan. Adelaide had moreover a strong claim on his gratitude for the
-kindness she showed to his niece. Caroline's father had lavished on her
-the most unlimited fondness, whilst her mother treated her with
-comparative coldness. Had she been left to herself, there is no doubt
-she would have felt the same love for her as for her other children; but
-she was unfortunately entirely guided by the Miss Webberlys. Cecilia she
-loved, and Amelia she also feared; and they contrived to alienate her
-affection from Caroline, whom they considered as an intruder, who would
-unjustly deprive them of a part of their lawful inheritance. It is not
-surprising, therefore, that Adelaide, mourning for the loss of a fond
-father, should see in Caroline a fellow-sufferer, and should bestow her
-affections on the only object around her that would receive or return
-them. The child, repulsed by every body else, flew into her open arms,
-and loved her with the most doting fondness. She could not bear now to
-lose sight of her, was the first that entered her room in the morning,
-and when she was busy, would sit for hours at her side, occupied in any
-employment Adelaide charitably provided for her. This little girl had
-naturally a fine understanding, which her friend's judicious management
-prevented running to waste. It was now with the utmost pain that friend
-thought of their approaching separation on her return to England; and
-this idea gave an increased tenderness to her looks, when she gazed with
-regret on the lovely child, and anticipated the probable blight of the
-fair promise, internally adding, "Alas! I may not venture to love any
-one; it is my fate to be torn from all my heart has ever cherished!" In
-consequence of this reciprocal attachment, every one associated Adelaide
-and Caroline in idea together; those who loved the one loved the other,
-and their united attractions gained them the good-will of every
-individual at Ballinamoyle.
-
-But with none of its inmates was the former a greater favourite than
-with the venerable Father Dermoody: her manners to him were expressive
-of that deference she had been accustomed to see the Catholic clergy
-treated with abroad, and she willingly granted that respect, which the
-impressive, though mild sanctity of his deportment extorted from others;
-and when he saw once more under Mr. O'Sullivan's roof a young and lovely
-female all sweetness and intellect, he thought of his beloved pupil,
-Rose, and sometimes looked at Adelaide, till he fancied he traced a
-strong resemblance to her who had been the adopted child of his
-heart--his only earthly pride! He loved to converse with Adelaide as to
-the recent state of countries, he had visited in his youth, and he still
-more delightedly answered her inquiries regarding the history or customs
-of Ireland, or the antiquities the neighbouring country abounded with,
-to visit which, Mr. O'Sullivan had induced his guests to make many
-excursions, as one of the best means of amusing their time. To
-illustrate these remains, Father Dermoody produced from his patron's
-library many a musty manuscript and fabulous legend of ancient fame,
-which he read and explained to Adelaide, with an enthusiastic admiration
-that was delightful to her to behold; though she was sometimes almost
-tempted to smile at the excess of his patriotic credulity; for there is
-scarcely any thing on the subject of national glory too extravagant for
-ancient Irish manuscripts to assert, or for modern Irish feeling to
-believe. Adelaide and her venerable friend went one morning to the
-above-mentioned library, in search of a work relative to "Conaro the
-turbulent and swift footed," whose tomb at the foot of the altar of the
-sun they had lately visited. They long looked for the precious relick in
-vain, but at last Mr. Dermoody descried it on the very top shelf; it was
-out of his reach, but by the help of a number of boxes piled on one of
-the heavy old mahogany chairs, Adelaide possessed herself of the
-treasure, and was preparing to descend, when she heard a gentleman's
-voice and step in the passage leading to the room. This made her prefer
-the quickest method of reaching _terra firma_, and she instantly leaped
-into the middle of the floor; and Colonel Desmond entering at the same
-instant, exclaimed, "Inimitable, by Jove! Why, Miss Wildenheim, if the
-principal _sauteuse_ of the Parisian opera had seen that graceful
-flight, she would, through all her rouge, have turned pale with envy. I
-should think you must find that preliminary much the pleasantest part of
-the proceedings attendant on the studies those loaded tables tell me you
-have lately been engaged in." "I hope," said Adelaide, laughing and
-blushing at his raillery, "you, as a true Milesian, are not inclined to
-slight their contents?" "Except to you, my revered friend," rejoined he,
-addressing himself to the priest, "who have charity to forgive even
-greater offences, I never dare own what a capacity of unbelief I have on
-such subjects; but, Miss Wildenheim," he continued, "I am at this moment
-much more anxious to hear what you think of the modern Irish, than to
-dive into the best accredited accounts of our ancient history. Come,
-confess to this worthy father--did you not expect to find us a set of
-demisavages, for whom you could feel little else but disgust?" "I am
-more than half affronted," replied Adelaide, "that you could possibly
-suppose me to be so illiberal." "And with justice," replied the priest;
-"wherever the human form is seen, there, I am sure, you find objects to
-love and reverence;--the Supreme has impressed on every being he has
-created some marks of his majesty and goodness." "Yes, my dear sir,"
-rejoined his youthful auditor; "but the proud heart of man draws a line
-of circumvallation round the cities he has erected, within which he
-confines every thing that is admirable in the human race. Surely we
-should rather imitate the liberality of the ancient poets, who peopled
-every hill and dale with superior natures." "You must however
-acknowledge," said Colonel Desmond, "that those classic favourites of
-yours never imagined any thing half so beautiful as our northern
-fairies! I don't know which of those ill-behaved scolds, the goddesses,
-it would not be an affront to compare a modern _élégante_ to; and pray
-what are all the accomplishments of Minerva, the best amongst them, to
-those of a girl of fashion, unless indeed she could plume herself on
-speaking Greek, in the style of the simpleton who was lost in admiration
-at the acquirements of the Gallic ladies, who could all converse in
-French with so much fluency? But the pure, elegant Queen of Fairies is
-the very prototype of female loveliness! I suffer considerable
-uneasiness on your account, Miss Wildenheim," continued he, with much
-gravity. "On my account, Colonel Desmond?" "Yes; for I am informed by
-those most in her majesty's confidence, that, 'when to the banks of the
-dark rolling Danube fair Adela hied,' she was seen by some of the fairy
-court; and that very evening, 'late, late in the gloamin, Hillmerry came
-hame,' being thought insipid in comparison of the more charming Adela.
-And now behold her conducted to the chief seat of the fairy power! But
-if she could be tempted to show that a small portion of human malice
-lurks in her heart, we might hope to keep her still; therefore I am more
-than ever anxious she should answer the question I put regarding the
-mortal inhabitants of this island." "I could not presume," replied
-Adelaide, colouring as she spoke, "on a casual acquaintance, to suppose
-myself qualified to estimate fully the merits or defects of the Irish
-nation; perhaps national character is of all subjects the one on which
-a woman is least competent to form a correct judgment;--but the Irish
-character, as it has presented itself to my view, is one I most
-sincerely and warmly love." Colonel Desmond seizing her hand in delight,
-shook it almost unconsciously for a second or two, whilst Father
-Dermoody, in an emphatic tone, and with a complimentary bow, said--
-
-    "La sagesse est sublime, on le dit, mais, hélas!
-    Tous ses admirateurs souvent ne l'aiment guère;
-    Et sans vous nous ne saurions pas,
-    Combien la sagesse peut plaire."[8]
-
-[Footnote 8:
-
-      Wisdom's sublime, we still are told it,
-    Yet few admire, though all uphold it;
-    And but for thee we ne'er had prov'd,
-    How much e'en wisdom may be lov'd.
-]
-
-Gentle reader, if you are _not_ Irish, you will be perhaps much puzzled
-to find out what Adele said on this occasion, so marvellously wise. If
-you are an Hibernian, you will say, "The dear creature!" Be that as it
-may, Miss Wildenheim pleased her auditors better than if she had
-uttered three pages of Socratic sense. Poor Colonel Desmond felt but too
-deeply the admiration the priest had expressed; and putting up a prayer,
-that she might one day descend from generals to particulars, in the
-application of these sentiments, was suddenly most assiduous in the
-examination of the contemned manuscripts.
-
-Adelaide, curtsying her thanks for Mr. Dermoody's flattering application
-of the lines he had repeated, was alleging some trifling excuse for
-retiring, when Mr. O'Sullivan came into the room to make his daily
-request, that she would join him and Caroline in a saunter round the
-garden, where he went every morning with them to gather the nicest fruit
-it contained for his two favourites.
-
-The party had not proceeded many paces from the house, when they were
-joined by Mr. Webberly, who was now sufficiently recovered from his
-sprain to persecute Adelaide once more with his attentions. Mr.
-O'Sullivan, addressing him with much civility, said, "I am happy to
-say, Mr. Webberly, that your mother has consented to remain with me till
-after the first of September, in order to celebrate my dear little
-Caroline's birth-day; and bespeak for her the good wishes of my
-tenantry, who will assemble to congratulate us on the occasion." "Dear
-uncle, how I love you!" said the little girl, twisting her arms round
-him; "only for Adele, I think I should break my heart when I go away
-from you." He pressed her fondly in his arms, and said, "What will be
-your consolation, Caroline, will be an additional grief to me! My dear
-young lady," continued he, turning to Adelaide, "you know not the sorrow
-the idea that I may never see you again causes me; your society has
-given me more pleasure, than I thought I ever should have felt again.
-Your sweet attentive manners have reminded me of one whom even you might
-be proud to be compared with!"--He paused--his faltering voice had told
-how deeply he was affected, and a general silence prevailed for a few
-minutes, which was interrupted Mr. Webberly saying, "I'm sure you'll
-have no objection to celebrate Miss Wildenheim's birth-day too,
-Sir;--she will be of age on the thirty-first of August; that day
-one-and-twenty years, Sir, was a happy day for the world, Miss
-Adelaide!" "Happy! Good God!" exclaimed the old man; and dropping
-Adele's arm, which he had slipped within his, retreated to the house. "I
-had almost forgot--" said Colonel Desmond to the priest, much moved,
-"was that the day----" "Yes, the day," interrupted he: "Alas! a father's
-heart never forgets."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Vous êtes belle, et votre soeur est belle,
-    Entre vous deux tout choix seroit bien doux,
-    L'Amour étoit blond, comme vous,
-    Mais il aimoit une brune, comme elle.[9]
-
-    oeBERNIS.oe
-
-[Footnote 9:
-
-    Thou art lovely--so is she,
-      Say, which should my heart prefer?
-    Cupid sure was fair like thee.
-      But his love was brown like her.
-]
-
-
-Whilst these scenes passed in Ireland, Lady Eltondale and Miss Seymour
-arrived at Cheltenham. At first, Selina's delight at breathing once more
-the pure air of the country made her almost wonder at the pleasure she
-had so lately found in the feverish amusements of London. Her step was
-still more elastic, as she trod the beautiful meadows that lay along
-the banks of the Chelt; and when, mounted on her favourite mare, she
-extended her rides to the surrounding hills, she seemed to regain a
-fresh existence.
-
-The picturesque beauties of Dodswell, the magnificent panorama of
-Lackington Hill, the curious remains of Sudeley castle, all were in time
-explored and admired by Selina; and often did she prefer a solitary walk
-amongst the sheltered lanes of Alstone, to accompanying Lady Eltondale
-to the morning mall, where crowds assembled at the Wells ostensibly in
-search of health, but really in pursuit of pleasure. In one of these
-morning walks, as she rested under the shadow of a gigantic oak, while
-the fresh breeze played on her glowing cheek, and the song of earliest
-birds alone interrupted the general silence, her thoughts involuntarily
-turned to those days which had glided by in similar scenes, when she
-used to bound like the fawns she chased through the park at Deane, or
-with more measured steps, though not less buoyant spirits, attended her
-father, as in his Bath chair he took his morning exercise on the broad
-smooth terrace, that stretched along the south front of the venerable
-mansion. The whole scene rose to her mind's eye, and she saw, in
-imagination, the lawns, the fields, the gardens, in which she had spent
-so many happy hours, and which were
-
-    "Once the calm scene of many a simple sport,
-    When nature pleas'd, for life itself was new,
-    And the heart promis'd what the fancy drew."
-
-She dwelt with a melancholy pleasure on the recollection of all the
-beloved companions of her earlier years, and sighed to think, that those
-moments of innocent delights would never again return to her. From this
-painfully pleasing reverie she was roused by the crying of a child, and
-the sound of an angry voice, exclaiming in a harsh key, "Hold your
-tongue, you little devil--ban't I going as fast as I can?" It seemed as
-if manual correction followed this expostulation, as the infant's cries
-were redoubled, and Selina heard its little voice, saying in a plaintive
-tone, "Mammy, mammy, me be a-hungry, me be tired." At that moment a turn
-in the road presented the speakers to her view, and she beheld a young
-woman, in whose pallid cheeks disease and wretchedness struggled for
-preeminence. A few coarse black locks strayed from under a cap, which
-might once have been white, but now in dirt and yellowness rivalled the
-complexion of the wearer, whilst it served to contrast a gaudy riband,
-by which it was encircled; a ragged, coloured handkerchief scarcely
-concealed her shrivelled bosom; and a cotton gown, which in its
-variegated pattern showed all the hues of the parterre, trained in the
-dust, and was partly caught up under her arm, below which appeared a
-tattered stuff petticoat, that scarcely reached to her knees. Her
-countenance was, if possible, more disgusting than her dress: her dark
-black eyes and oval forehead showed still some trace of beauty; but an
-expression of unblushing vice called forth sensations rather of disgust
-than of compassion. The little ragged urchin, that trotted by her side,
-endeavoured, on seeing Selina, to hide its head beneath her gown; but
-after a moment's deliberation, she dragged him from his concealment, and
-pushing him forward, desired him to demand charity. Selina, pitying the
-infant, more from the appearance of its associate than even from its own
-wretchedness, could not deny its request; and while she gave the poor
-child all the silver her purse contained, she inquired if the woman was
-its mother. "To be sure I am, my lady," replied she, in a tone of
-impertinent carelessness; "else what do you think I'd be troubled with
-such a brat as that for?" "It seems a fine boy," returned Selina,
-willing to rouse the maternal feelings that seemed so nearly extinct.
-"And where do you live?" "Down in that hut yonder, and a pretty penny I
-pay for it. Our landlord never comes to these here parts; if he did, he
-wouldn't let us be so racked; but he never thinks of us when he is
-away, and Mr. Smart, his agent, raises our rents just as he pleases; but
-he has our curses for his gains;" so saying, she seized the child
-roughly by the arm, and pursued her way, muttering imprecations Selina
-shuddered to hear. She also proceeded towards home; but her thoughts now
-took a more unpleasant turn. She recollected with sorrow how many poor
-cottages on her estate might also, with reason, lament the loss of a
-landlord, who had always inquired into their distresses and relieved
-their wants. But she, though possessed of such extensive means of being
-useful to her fellow-creatures, had hitherto seemed to consider the
-possession of fortune only as affording her a more ample opportunity for
-selfish gratification. She called to mind the happiness she had formerly
-experienced in charitable occupations; and reflected, with remorse, that
-since she had plunged into the vortex of dissipation, no tear had been
-wiped from the cheek of indigence by her generous aid--no smile of
-gratitude had hailed her approach to the couch of misery or pain. Of the
-many hours she had wasted in the pursuit of pleasure, not one had been
-devoted to the purposes of benevolence; and while she had lavished
-uncalculated sums in extravagance and folly, she had never purchased the
-inestimable benefit of a poor man's blessing.
-
-This trifling incident served to awaken in Selina's mind feelings and
-reflections that had long lain dormant. The whole tenour of Lady
-Eltondale's conduct had been calculated to efface all the impressions
-formerly made on her, both by the precepts and example of the admirable
-Mrs. Galton; and while her Ladyship contrived, by cautious degrees, to
-impede, and finally almost destroy the correspondence with her, which
-might have served occasionally to recall the first, the latter was
-almost totally obliterated from her mind by the entirely new scenes,
-into which she had been introduced. As to the habits of charity, to
-which both from inclination and instruction she had been early
-habituated, but little opportunity for their exercise had occurred since
-her residence with the Viscountess; for the very servants at Eltondale
-were too polite to admit a vulgar beggar within its gates; and in London
-she had been taught to consider all vagrants indiscriminately as
-impostors, whom it was almost a crime to relieve.
-
-But are those aware, who are anxious to find plausible excuses for
-delaying or omitting the fulfilment of the duties of charity, that the
-feelings of the human heart, though inflamed by casual restraint, are
-extinguished by a continued suppression? And wo be to that breast, in
-which the sentiments of benevolence and compassion are destroyed! The
-virtues of humanity, as they are those which most peculiarly belong to
-this present state of existence, so is the exercise of them most
-necessary to our individual happiness in this world; for he, whose heart
-has never melted at the sorrows of others, will assuredly, sooner or
-later, know the agony of seeking in vain for one sympathising bosom on
-which to repose the burden of his own.
-
-When Selina returned home, she was scarcely less pleased than surprised
-to find Mr. Sedley seated at breakfast with Lady Eltondale. They were so
-deeply engaged in conversation, that her entrance was unnoticed by
-either; and as her astonishment at perceiving so unexpected a guest made
-her pause for a moment at the door, she heard Lady Eltondale say,
-apparently in continuation of a previous speech, "And have you proof of
-this from himself, Mr. Sedley?" "Yes; proofs such as must convince even
-your Ladyship; otherwise I would never have made the proposal I have
-done." Selina here interrupted him, but her appearance was so sudden,
-that it was many minutes before he could collect his thoughts to address
-her with any composure. Lady Eltondale, however, showed no
-embarrassment; she inquired most kindly what had so long detained
-Selina; said that she and Mr. Sedley, whom she had accidentally met at
-the well, had walked miles in search of her; and finally joined in her
-vivacious raillery against Mr. Sedley for his visible confusion. In
-answer to Selina's inquiries when he arrived at Cheltenham, "Only
-yesterday," said he; "I was quite disappointed at not meeting you at the
-rooms last night. How is the detestable head-ache that Lady Eltondale
-told me prevented your accompanying her there?" While Selina hastily
-dismissed the subject of her casual indisposition, which, in truth, she
-had hardly remembered, a momentary surprise glanced across her mind at
-the recollection, that Lady Eltondale had not mentioned to her having
-seen Mr. Sedley; but she had not time to dwell on the thought, as the
-Viscountess immediately renewed her inquiries as to what could have so
-unusually prolonged Selina's walk; and the beggar woman and her boy
-recurring to her mind, she forgot all her doubts and past reflections,
-in the earnestness with which she entered into the description of all
-the wretchedness, which she "was sure the poor infant must suffer from
-its unfeeling mother." Lady Eltondale seemed to take uncommon interest
-in the relation, which she prolonged by apposite questions and remarks
-of "Poor child!--Of course you gave it something.--No wonder you
-returned so late.--I suppose you were just come home, just opened this
-door, as I perceived you.--Dear infant, I should like to have seen it!"
-And thus continued the conversation, while Mr. Sedley took a turn or two
-across the room; put into his pocket a letter-case that lay beside his
-coffee-cup, and regained all his customary self-possession. With his
-usual manners he resumed his place in Selina's estimation; and the hours
-flew by unnoticed, as he entertained her with the relation of a thousand
-ridiculous adventures, all of which had occurred either to himself or
-"his particular friends," during the space of three weeks, which he
-called an age, since they parted. And in truth he did not much
-exaggerate, when he described his regret at their having been so long
-separated. Like the unguarded moth, he had flitted round the flame till
-he actually suffered for his folly; for his improved acquaintance with
-Selina, during the latter part of their stay in London, had so far
-increased his admiration of her, that what was at first merely a
-preference chiefly influenced by pecuniary considerations, had now
-become a passion almost too powerful to be controlled. He had yet
-however sufficient command over his feelings, to avoid any verbal
-expression of them; and, while he carefully demonstrated how interesting
-to him had been all her observations, by delightedly referring to their
-former conversations, and recapitulating even her most trifling remarks,
-his present adulation was so delicately conveyed by inferred compliment
-alone, that, while Selina was gratified by the flattering attention,
-thus obviously paid her, she felt it would have but compromised her own
-modesty, had she, by disclaiming praise thus subtilely offered,
-appropriated to herself an admiration that was only insinuated. And how
-did Lady Eltondale approve of this? In truth she was not aware of the
-whole tendency of Mr. Sedley's discourse; a stolen glance or a peculiar
-emphasis explained his application of a particular sentence to her, who
-alone he meant should understand him; _et au reste_, the Viscountess,
-like a skilful navigator, always floated down a stream she found it
-impossible to stem.
-
-Selina almost persuaded herself, that every clock and watch in the house
-was out of order, when Lady Eltondale asserted, that the hour was come
-for Fazani's raffle, which she had particularly patronized; and as,
-accompanied by the Viscountess and Sedley, Selina walked under the dark
-avenue, that led to that fashionable rendezvous, she could not help
-internally observing, "how much Mr. Sedley's vivacity and good-nature
-enlivened every society of which he was a member."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-     _Lady Sneerwell._--You are partial, Snake.
-
-     _Snake._--Not in the least; every body will allow, that Lady
-     Sneerwell can do more with a word or a look, than many others with
-     the most laboured detail.
-
-     oeSCHOOL FOR SCANDAL.oe
-
-
-When they entered Fazani's, the raffle was only waiting for the arrival
-of the Viscountess. The prize was a beautiful work-box, and Fortune, who
-at that moment seemed to smile with peculiar benignity on Sedley, chose
-him to be the successful adventurer. As soon as he was declared victor,
-he immediately brought the treasure towards Lady Eltondale and Selina,
-and the latter, with pardonable vanity, flattered herself that he
-intended it as a present for her. But in this she was mistaken. He
-addressed himself to Lady Eltondale, and in a low tone said, with
-peculiar emphasis, "Will your ladyship accept this from me as a _gage
-d'amitié_?" "I take it as a flag of truce," replied she in a similar
-tone. "Then from henceforward you are my friend," exclaimed Sedley,
-seizing her hand with unusual vehemence. "At least not your enemy,"
-answered the Viscountess.--"But this is not a proper place to settle our
-preliminaries."
-
-This conversation was unintelligible to Selina, yet not uninteresting,
-as she felt a vague consciousness, that it in some way related to
-herself, and a momentary distrust of both speakers glanced across her
-mind. But her attention was quickly attracted by Lady Hammersley, who,
-on perceiving Lady Eltondale, had advanced from amongst the crowd to pay
-her compliments. The Viscountess was as minute in her inquiries
-regarding all that could concern Lady Hammersley, as if she had been
-sincere in her professions of being glad to meet her; and though Lady
-Hammersley's eyes were fixed on Selina, it was some minutes before she
-was sufficiently disengaged to accost her; at length she abruptly
-exclaimed, "Miss Seymour has, to all appearance, profited as much by her
-residence in London, as I prophesied she would; possibly amongst her
-other acquirements she may have learned the art of forgetting old
-acquaintances." Selina's colour rose, and the implied rebuke checking at
-once the friendly salutation with which she had prepared to address her,
-she returned her recognizance with an elegant but frigid compliment,
-worthy a pupil of Lady Eltondale. "Admirable!" retorted Lady Hammersley
-with a scornful smile: "My penetration is not baffled. I must write to
-Mrs. Galton, to notice the improvement _I_ always anticipated." "Why,
-does your Ladyship know Mrs. Galton?" inquired Selina anxiously; while
-Lady Eltondale, leaning on Mr. Sedley, took the opportunity of escaping
-from her "Dear Lady Hammersley." "I do know Mrs. Galton," replied she;
-"we were together all last winter at Bath; and she, Miss Seymour, was
-so convinced of your perfection, that she never would believe it was
-even in Lady Eltondale's power to _improve_ you, as I guessed she would,
-and see she has done." "Dear, dear aunt Mary!" exclaimed Selina,
-bursting into tears, as she heard this instance of a disinterested
-partiality, to which she had lately been unused, even though the recital
-had been made with more of acrimony than of benevolence. Lady Hammersley
-looked for some moments steadily at Selina, and then continued in her
-usual cynical tone, "Pray, Miss Seymour, compose yourself; Lady
-Eltondale will be shocked at my having betrayed you into so gross an
-impropriety. I had not the slightest idea that the mention of Mrs.
-Galton would have roused your feelings, and still less that you could
-have been tempted to exhibit them." Selina felt hurt at the undeserved
-censure, which both Lady Hammersley's words and manner expressed, and,
-with a look of dignity, replied, "I am indeed ashamed of betraying them
-where they can be so little understood;" and took leave of her Ladyship
-with a proud politeness, which admitted of no reply. Lady Hammersley for
-some moments looked after Selina, as she moved to a distant part of the
-room, where Lady Eltondale was waiting for her. "That girl is still
-worth knowing," thought she; and for once she turned an unprejudiced eye
-on the lovely form and heavenly countenance of the innocent girl, who
-had hitherto so undeservedly shared in the contempt and hatred, which
-her Ladyship had always been accustomed to feel for every thing, that in
-the remotest degree appertained to Lady Eltondale.
-
-Meantime Selina joined the Viscountess, while "disdain and scorn rode
-sparkling in her eyes." "Has Lady Hammersley been entertaining you with
-any sententious aphorisms?" asked Lady Eltondale. "No," replied Selina,
-laughing. "For once she has been talking on a subject she does not
-understand." The Viscountess was not sufficiently interested in her
-Ladyship's harangues to inquire further, and they continued their walk
-till it was time to separate for dinner.
-
-The amusement allotted for that evening was a public concert, and Lady
-Eltondale and Selina had acceded to Sedley's earnest entreaty of
-attending it. He accordingly took post in the outside room, waiting for
-their arrival, and anxiously inspecting every passing groupe, as the
-different parties entered, in hopes of recognizing them. But his
-expectations were disappointed; no Lady Eltondale or Selina made their
-appearance: he bewildered himself in conjectures; and at last, in a
-moment of pique, attributing their delay to caprice, he left the rooms
-before the concert was finished, cursing woman's inconsistency, and his
-own folly, in ever having suffered himself to be interested about any.
-This sage reflection was however chased long before morning, not only by
-the recollection of Selina's manifold charms, but of his own manifold
-creditors; and at an early hour he repaired to the well, where he and
-Lady Eltondale had agreed to meet, in order to finish a conversation
-neither was particularly anxious Selina should witness.
-
-But Lady Eltondale was not to be found; and when the hour for the
-general dispersion of the company arrived without his seeing her, he
-lost patience, and hastened to her house to inquire the cause of her
-protracted absence.
-
-But there, to his utmost consternation, he learned that an express had
-arrived, just as the ladies were preparing to go to the rooms the night
-before, to inform the Viscountess, that Lord Eltondale had suddenly
-expired at Eltondale, after having partaken of a turtle feast with more
-enjoyment, and even less restraint, than ordinary. Of course neither
-Selina nor Lady Eltondale was visible, and Sedley returned home agitated
-by a thousand conjectures and emotions.
-
-It was not to be expected, that Lady Eltondale would deeply lament the
-death of a husband, who, notwithstanding his uniform indulgence to her,
-had never possessed either her esteem or affection; but nevertheless
-Selina could not help being shocked at the total apathy and ingratitude
-she displayed; as without even assuming a grief, which it would have
-been almost more a virtue to dissemble, than thus openly to contemn, she
-only thought of, only lamented, the change of her circumstances the
-event would inevitably produce. Selina listened in astonishment to the
-calm retrospection of past extravagance, and the despairing anticipation
-of future poverty, in which she indulged even in those first moments of
-widowhood; and disdaining to offer consolation to the only sorrows she
-could hear unmoved, at an early hour retired to her own room.
-
-There far, far different reflections agitated her bosom. There is a
-certain sympathy in misfortune, which, touching a chord that has once
-jarred, finds an echo in our own breast;
-
-    "Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows,
-    Which show like grief itself."
-
-Thus the sudden dissolution of Lord Eltondale recalled to Selina's mind
-all the circumstances of her father's death; and though neither in her
-judgment nor affection they could ever have been compared, yet the last
-sad scene of mortality blended her recollections of both, and with
-unrestrained tears she gave way to all the poignancy of regret, in the
-solitude of her chamber, which the freezing insensibility of Lady
-Eltondale would have repressed, in the presence of her who should have
-been the greatest mourner.
-
-In the morning her swollen eyes and pallid cheeks bore testimony to her
-sleepless night; and as from Lady Eltondale she expected reproof rather
-than sympathy, she was not sorry to receive a message, stating that her
-Ladyship wished to breakfast alone, as she was engaged in writing
-letters.
-
-Selina, lost in reflection, unconsciously prolonged her solitary and
-almost untasted meal, till she was roused by the abrupt entrance of Lady
-Hammersley, who, profiting by her plea of relationship, had come to
-inquire all the particulars of the Viscount's death. Though Selina now
-felt a degree of repugnance to Lady Hammersley, which her almost
-impertinent remarks had provoked, yet she could not with propriety
-refuse the details she demanded; and she accordingly answered her
-numerous questions with as much brevity as politeness permitted. But her
-auditor seemed to attend more to her countenance than to her words, and
-at last abruptly exclaimed, "I certainly did not expect to see so much
-real sorrow in this house of mourning; you are a good girl, I believe,
-after all; and I like you for having at least _some_ feeling left."
-Though Selina was always grateful for advice, and even reproof, dictated
-by affection, yet she did not feel, that Lady Hammersley was in any way
-authorized to offer her either; and therefore she replied, with an air
-of _hauteur_, which the recollection of her observations the day before
-increased, "My acquaintance with your Ladyship has been so short, that
-neither my feelings nor character can be known to you: have you any
-commands, madam, to Lady Eltondale?" and rising as she spoke, she
-prepared to quit the room. But Lady Hammersley, taking hold of her hand,
-exclaimed, "What, proud too! well, I like you the more for it; come, sit
-down, you and I must be better acquainted. For once I am inclined to
-think I have been mistaken. When first I saw you at Eltondale,"
-continued she, in a tone of unusual kindness, "I was interested by your
-personal appearance; but above all, by your simplicity of character: but
-as I knew these were the two precise points, which must infallibly be
-most changed by your residence with Lady Eltondale, I looked upon you
-only as a fine piece of plaster of Paris, which she would probably mould
-to external perfection, but leave all hollow within. I should therefore
-(forgive my frankness, Miss Seymour), most likely, never have thought of
-you again, had I not met Mrs. Galton; who spoke of you in such terms,
-that I own I was curious to learn whether my prognostics were verified
-or not. Circumstances have accelerated my knowledge of you; and since I
-find, at least to all appearance, that Lady Eltondale's arts have not
-entirely spoiled your character, I am anxious that her schemes should
-not militate against your happiness." "Schemes! Lady Hammersley, I am at
-a loss to understand you." "Her favourite scheme," returned her
-Ladyship, "is this,--she intends you should marry her step-son Frederick
-Elton, now Lord Eltondale; and her visit to Deane Hall, which you may
-remember this time twelvemonth, was to procure your father's consent to
-the match, in which she succeeded." "My father's consent!" exclaimed the
-agitated girl. "But Mr. Elton and I are unacquainted; we have never even
-seen each other. You must be mistaken, my dear madam." "No, there is no
-mistake; both your late uncle and Mrs. Galton were my authorities." "And
-do you say my father gave his consent?" "I do say so: and I also know,
-that Frederick is now on his return to England, intending to propose
-for you. Come, my dear, do not be so agitated: he is one of the finest
-young men of the day: his character amiable, and his manners attractive;
-so perhaps you cannot do better than make choice of him, provided your
-affections are not otherwise engaged." A pause of some minutes ensued.
-Lady Hammersley then continued: "But in telling you Lady Eltondale's
-scheme, it is fit I should explain her motive; for be assured, Miss
-Seymour, no action of hers can ever be disinterested. The fact is, she
-has long known, that the Eltondale estates are as much encumbered as the
-entail permits them to be; and in securing your property for Frederick,
-she flatters herself she has secured an increased jointure for herself."
-Selina shuddered, but could make no reply. And Lady Hammersley rising,
-said, "I have now, my dear Miss Seymour, told you all I know: you may
-think me an impertinent old woman, but, be assured, I only wished to be
-a kind one. God bless you! perhaps we may never meet again; for I
-suppose Lady Eltondale will leave this place immediately. But don't
-forget the key I have given you to her character; and believe me it is
-not a false one." So saying, she affectionately kissed Selina, who took
-leave of her with a gratitude and cordiality, she would a few hours
-before have believed it scarcely possible she could ever have
-experienced for Lady Hammersley.
-
-It may be supposed this conversation made a deep impression on her mind;
-and one of the most painful feelings it excited was the insight it gave
-her into Lady Eltondale's selfish and dissembling character, confirmed
-as it was by her own previous observations. But even these feelings had
-not long power to withdraw her attention from that part of Lady
-Hammersley's communication which related to Frederick, and which was
-also corroborated by her recollection of several remarks and casual
-speeches of Lady Eltondale, which, at the time they were made, had
-seemed to her accidental and undesigned, but each of which, on
-retrospection, appeared "squared and fitted to its use." Nor did the
-circumstance of her deceased father having given his consent to the
-match serve, as with some romantic ladies it might have done, to
-determine her against it; on the contrary, it rather served to prejudice
-her in its favour; and a long train of reflections was concluded in her
-own mind by Lady Hammersley's observation, "So perhaps you cannot do
-better, provided your affections are not otherwise engaged."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-                        Why she, even she--
-    Oh! Heav'ns! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
-    Would have mourn'd longer.
-
-    oeHAMLET.oe
-
-
-Selina's meditations were disturbed by a summons to Lady Eltondale's
-dressing-room, on a subject of no less importance than the choice of
-mourning: a mixed sentiment of contempt and indignation took possession
-of her mind, as she saw every feeling, that should have been called
-forth in that of the recent loss, absorbed in the more momentous
-reflections suggested by the comparative merits of the bombasins. But
-when the bevy of milliners left the room, and Lady Eltondale, hiding her
-face with her handkerchief, gave way to an outrageous burst of grief,
-Selina condemned herself for her premature judgment. "That is fortitude,
-which I have cruelly termed insensibility," thought she; and softened by
-her tears, the first she had ever seen her shed, she kindly took her
-hand, and addressed her in terms of condolence. But Lady Eltondale
-interrupting her in a tone, which from contending passions almost
-approached a scream: "Spare me, spare me," exclaimed she, "I can bear
-any thing but _pity_. Good God! is it come to this! am I, the envied,
-flattered Lady Eltondale, born to be _pitied_?" Then turning to Selina,
-with a countenance distorted with rage, and her figure distended into
-more than common loftiness, "You mistake me, Miss Seymour," she
-continued; "though that man of sloth, that dormouse, Lord Eltondale, has
-left me almost pennyless; though all my entreaties, all my reasons,
-could never rouse him from his indolence, to make him active for or
-against ministers, either of which would have procured me a pension; yet
-do not fancy I am yet to be despised. My spirit is independent, be my
-circumstances what they may, and they may still be bettered."
-
-Selina was thunderstruck at this address. She could scarcely recognise
-the calm, dignified Lady Eltondale, in the being convulsed with rage,
-that writhed beneath her steady gaze. In the contortion of uncontrolled
-passion, the veil had dropped, and the delusion vanished. A silence of a
-few moments ensued, and both the ladies recovered themselves; Selina to
-explain the condolences she had meant to offer as kindnesses, and Lady
-Eltondale to receive them with that degree of gratitude, she timely
-recollected it was most prudent to profess. And now,
-
-    "Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
-    That in a spleen unfolds both Heav'n and earth,"
-
-did the Viscountess reassume all her usual calmness, and more than her
-usual charms. Stretching out one white hand towards Selina, whilst she
-pressed the other on her forehead, "Forgive me, my love," exclaimed
-she, "this sudden misfortune has quite overpowered me. But you, Selina,
-I know will bear with me; you will not forsake me."
-
-Selina gave her every assurance, that duty and compassion, if not
-affection, could suggest; and Lady Eltondale, with that feverish
-restlessness of mind, which was no less distinguishable in her, than the
-calm self-possession of her external deportment, immediately proceeded
-to arrange the plans for her future life. "We will leave this directly,"
-said she, "as I am anxious to return to Eltondale as soon as possible,
-after the funeral of my poor dear Lord is over. I want to arrange my
-papers, and my jewels, and a thousand little trifles that are my own
-property, and may be useful to me hereafter; and then we can be decided
-by Lord Eltondale's answer to the letters I have written to him, whether
-to await his return at Eltondale, or to spend the intervening time at
-Brighton." "Or suppose, my dear Lady Eltondale, we return to Deane, I
-shall be so delighted----" "Impossible, my love," interrupted the
-Viscountess; "in my present weak spirits such a retirement would kill
-me." But this selfish, unfeeling woman was yet to learn by deprivation
-the value of those blessings she had hitherto disregarded, and of that
-kindness she had only despised. Before she could decide at which of the
-gay watering places it would be most advisable for her to pass the first
-months of mourning, Lord Eltondale's steward arrived, in the utmost
-consternation, with the agonizing intelligence, that the Viscount's
-creditors had seized on all his personal property, to pay some part of
-the debts her extravagance had so largely contributed to contract. They
-had possessed themselves both of the house at Eltondale and in Portman
-Square; and mercilessly stripped them of all they could lay claim to of
-their splendid furniture, not even sparing her Ladyship's "jewels, and
-the thousand little trifles," which she had determined to appropriate to
-herself. Bitterly did she now inveigh against the memory of him, whose
-inconsiderate compliance with all her unreasonable demands had
-principally occasioned the distress of which she so unfeelingly
-complained. At last, having exhausted her passion in invective, she next
-employed herself in suggesting and debating on a variety of schemes for
-her immediate residence: and at length being convinced, that a few
-months of the very retirement at Deane, which she had at first so
-indignantly rejected, was the most advantageous measure she could now
-adopt, she endeavoured to make a virtue of necessity, and accepted
-Selina's proposition in such a manner, as would have convinced a
-stranger, that her sole reason for doing so was compliance with Selina's
-wishes.
-
-The delighted girl did not, however, pause to investigate the motives of
-the Viscountess's assent to her plan. With a little of the vivacity,
-which once had marked her every impression, did she now anticipate with
-fond delight her return to those beloved scenes of her happy infancy.
-Her heart beat high as in swiftest thought she pictured to herself being
-once more pressed to the maternal bosom of Mrs. Galton, and once more
-enjoying the calm unembittered pleasures of her earlier years. Overcome
-by the various emotions these thoughts gave birth to, she retired to her
-own room, to regain composure, and to write to persuade her dearest aunt
-to meet her there.
-
-But an unforeseen difficulty arose to their quitting Cheltenham. Lady
-Eltondale, with her usual inconsiderate extravagance, had run into debt
-with almost every shopkeeper in the town; and the tradesmen, from the
-moment her departure was announced, sent in their demands with what she
-was pleased to call impertinent importunity. Her own resources had been
-long exhausted; and perhaps of all her mortifications, none was to her
-so severe as being under the necessity of applying to Selina for
-pecuniary assistance. But notwithstanding Selina's accession of
-fortune, when she lost her habits of early economy, she with them lost
-the power of being generous. The last letter she had received from her
-banker had informed her, that her account was so much overdrawn, he
-could no longer accept her frequent drafts: and when she was obliged to
-refuse Lady Eltondale's request for money, she received a practical
-lesson on the folly of extravagance, which was more effectual than any
-precepts could have been. But Lady Eltondale was not to be repulsed by
-trifling difficulties; her brain, ever fruitful in expedients, suggested
-the possibility of Selina anticipating her rents, by drawing a bill on
-her agent in Yorkshire. Impatient of delay, and dreading the demands
-which her other numerous creditors in London and elsewhere might bring
-forward against her, she prevailed on Selina to go the next day to
-Mr. ----'s bank to negotiate the transaction in person, and fixed to
-leave Cheltenham as soon as possible afterwards.
-
-Accordingly, very early the following morning, she proceeded to obey
-Lady Eltondale's directions, having desired the steward, who professed
-to be well versed in such business, to meet her at the bank, in order to
-explain all that was necessary for her to do: she however needed no
-introduction, the wealth of the great Yorkshire heiress was too well
-known to require any confirmation; and on signing a paper which she
-scarcely looked at, she joyfully received the sum she desired, without
-stopping to calculate at what price the banker and the steward had
-agreed she was to purchase the accommodation.
-
-Elated by her success, she sent the money to Lady Eltondale by the
-steward, while she proceeded to take a farewell ramble amongst her
-favourite walks, and to indulge in their retirement the pleasing
-reveries the idea of returning to Deane Hall had excited. Her solitude
-however was soon interrupted: Sedley, who for the last three days had
-with restless anxiety hovered round her door, had followed her unseen,
-and now hastily overtook her. On first seeing him she was half tempted
-to return, but he, perceiving her intention, half seriously and half
-carelessly, put her arm within his, and led her forward. At first he
-paid her the common compliments of condolence; but when, in answer to
-his inquiries, she told him she and Lady Eltondale were to leave
-Cheltenham that day, his surprise and disappointment overcame all his
-resolutions, and with a vehemence of manner and expression, that almost
-terrified Selina, he declared his passion in the strongest terms. So
-little had Selina been accustomed to think of him as her lover, that at
-first she considered his address merely as an effusion of gallantry, and
-as such returned it with careless _badinage_. But his renewed
-protestations convincing her he was in earnest, her trepidation
-increased, nor would she probably soon have recovered her composure, had
-she not perceived that he misconstrued her prolonged silence. As soon
-therefore as he would permit her, she interrupted him, by politely
-thanking him for his good opinion of her: "But," continued she, "it
-distresses me even more than it flatters me: I cannot encourage a
-partiality I feel I do not return." With an agitated countenance, and
-looks almost of menace, he now inquired who was the favoured mortal she
-preferred. "It is not that I prefer another," replied she, "but I do not
-sufficiently prefer you. I think the only way I can repay your kindness
-is by treating you with perfect frankness. Do not therefore think me
-harsh when I say, that though I certainly prefer your society more than
-that of most others, and though I prize your friendship most highly, I
-by no means feel for you that exclusive partiality, of which I know my
-heart is capable; and without which, in my opinion, there can be no
-happiness in married life." "But may not time and assiduity win your
-affections, dear, dearest Selina; let me still hope." And then, with all
-the eloquence he was master of, did he implore her to consider him
-still as her friend; and to permit him in that character to enjoy her
-society, and at least endeavour to gain her love.
-
-But the delicacy of Selina's mind shrunk from the idea of encouraging an
-attachment she never meant to return; and scorning the little arts by
-which so many women gratify their own vanity, at the expense of those
-feelings which they seem to soothe, she steadily refused to give him any
-ground for expecting her to change her present sentiments: for within
-the last few days she had "communed with her own heart," and understood
-it better than she had ever done before. However her refusal though firm
-was gentle; and when Sedley parted from her at Lady Eltondale's door,
-the tempered smile that played on her lip, and the tear that gemm'd her
-eye, spoke so much of female softness and benevolence, that he departed
-more enamoured than ever; and, hastening home, shut himself up in his
-chamber, to indulge in a variety of schemes and reflections, which all
-concluded by his determining never to relinquish her pursuit, and by a
-natural consequence persuading himself his case was not yet desperate:
-
-    "None without hope e'er lov'd the brightest fair,
-    But love will hope where reason would despair."
-
-When Selina entered the drawing room, she found Lady Eltondale too much
-engrossed by her preparations for departure, to notice her protracted
-absence and agitated appearance. And when a few hours afterwards Selina
-actually found herself seated in the carriage, which was to convey her
-to her own home, her thoughts became so entirely occupied by painfully
-pleasing retrospection connected with it, that for a time all others
-faded from her mind. Orders had been dispatched for its being prepared
-for their arrival. And as they travelled but slowly, sufficient time was
-afforded for their execution. For the last few miles Selina preserved an
-uninterrupted silence, her whole attention being occupied in
-endeavouring to recognize every well known object; and as each
-succeeding tree, and cottage, and spire, met her view, a sentiment of
-pleasure, amounting almost to agony, oppressed her. At last, when the
-carriage turned up the long avenue, her feelings could no longer be
-repressed. She sobbed aloud, and concealed her face in her handkerchief,
-which she did not remove till she found herself pressed to the
-palpitating heart of Mrs. Galton, who having received Selina's letter
-when on a visit in Lancashire, had succeeded in anticipating her arrival
-by a few hours.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-    Thou yet shalt know how sweet, how dear,
-      To gaze on beauty's glistening eye,
-    To ask and pause in hope and fear,
-                                  Till she reply.
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-Immediately after the departure of Lady Eltondale and Selina from
-Cheltenham, Sedley had also quitted it, as he could not bear to remain
-in a place, which had been to him the scene of his fondest hopes--his
-bitterest disappointment. In fact his having met Miss Seymour there was
-by no means the effect of accident. When she and the Viscountess had
-left London in June, he had found such a loss in her society, especially
-in those particular hours, which he had of late been accustomed to pass
-in his daily visits to Portman Square, that life appeared a blank, and
-his regrets for her absence first taught him the extent of his regard.
-Not however that his mind, tainted as it was by so many of the
-fashionable follies, if not vices of the day, was capable of truly
-comprehending all the chaste and simple beauties of hers. His admiration
-was confined to her personal charms; and though, had she been fated to
-move in a humbler sphere, he would perhaps have sought her as a
-substitute for the pretty little opera dancer, that was now under his
-_protection_, as it is elegantly termed; yet with all Selina's
-loveliness, his aversion to matrimony would scarcely have been subdued
-by any less powerful motives than those suggested by her riches. For,
-like all spendthrifts, Sedley was avaricious; and these united
-interests, confirmed by habits of association, and increased by vanity,
-led him by degrees to feel for her an attachment, of which at first he
-could scarcely have supposed his heart to have been susceptible. Having
-once convinced himself, that the possession of Miss Seymour's hand and
-fortune would contribute to his own individual happiness, (for of hers
-he did not stop to think,) his next object was to determine how to
-procure it; nor did he consider her being the destined wife of his
-friend as any impediment to the accomplishment of his own wishes. He,
-however, was well aware, that it was of the utmost consequence to him to
-obtain the countenance and support of the Viscountess; and as he
-possessed sufficient penetration to discover the master passion of her
-soul, he took his measures accordingly. Soon after she went to
-Cheltenham he wrote her a letter, in which he so far betrayed the
-confidence Frederick Elton had reposed in him, as to communicate to her
-all he knew of his attachment to the fair Adelina at the villa
-Marinella; and concluded by proposing, in the most guarded and delicate
-_terms_ to her Ladyship, that she should befriend him instead of
-Elton--offering, if she would procure for him Selina's hand, either on
-the day of their marriage to give her a large sum of money, or to
-settle an annuity on her for the remainder of her life.
-
-The information thus conveyed to Lady Eltondale of Mr. Elton's
-attachment to a foreigner did not very much surprise her. She suspected
-that the reluctance he had expressed about two years before, to accept
-an honourable and lucrative employment in the diplomatical line, which
-his father had procured for him, and which had obliged him to leave
-Catania to reside in Paris--his subsequent return thither, and his
-protracted stay on the continent, had all proceeded from some such
-motive.
-
-But on the other hand Mr. Elton had, in his letter to his father, stated
-explicitly, "that he was not only willing, but anxious, to make every
-endeavour to gain Miss Seymour's affections, and bestow his own on her;
-convinced, on mature deliberation, that such an attachment would
-effectually conduce to his happiness, by filling that void in his heart,
-which so much militated against it." And as he was expected to return
-very shortly to England, she hesitated to accept Mr. Sedley's offer,
-although it was a temptation she could scarcely resist. The result,
-therefore, of her deliberations was, that she would remain neuter; and
-whichever of the candidates Selina's unbiassed judgment made choice of,
-she would endeavour to persuade owed their happiness to her influence.
-She therefore wrote an equivocal answer to Mr. Sedley, which he
-construed of course in the sense most favourable to his wishes, and
-hastened to Cheltenham, where he used all his rhetoric to secure her
-friendship; and she, with many a subtle argument, endeavoured to
-persuade him not to propose for Selina till after Frederick's arrival;
-and as he was by no means confident of the place he held in Miss
-Seymour's estimation, he probably would have postponed his declaration
-till time had more matured the regard he flattered himself she felt for
-him, had he not been irresistibly impelled by circumstances, as has been
-before related. Her refusal, however, did not entirely extinguish his
-hopes, although it changed his plans; and as the public prints had,
-about a fortnight before Lord Eltondale's death, given notice of Mr.
-Elton's departure from Paris, on his return to England, Sedley
-determined to repair to London immediately, for the purpose of meeting
-him, as he knew business would require his presence there. Nor was he
-disappointed; in about three weeks Lord Eltondale arrived; and Sedley
-sedulously sought to renew their intimacy, as much then from interested
-motives, as he had once done from inclination and preference. But though
-these two young men associated as much as they had been accustomed
-previous to Lord Eltondale's residence abroad, little remained of their
-original friendship, except its familiarity of intercourse, which a
-_habit_ of intimacy will long preserve. Yet Frederick was scarcely
-conscious of this aberration of regard, which was, on the part of
-Sedley, produced by a rivalship Lord Eltondale was unsuspicious of; and
-on his own was principally owing to the gradual change, that had taken
-place in their characters. Sedley, by the influence of dissipated
-companions, had converted his natural vivacity of spirits into levity of
-principle. Lord Eltondale, by the peculiar circumstances which had led
-him to self-communion, study, and reflection, had turned the energies of
-his nature to pursuits worthy of the powers of his mind, and of the rank
-he was by nature and fortune destined to hold amongst the sons, which
-England proudly boasts as truly noble.
-
-Lord Eltondale had written to the Viscountess, that it was his intention
-to pay his compliments to her and Miss Seymour immediately on his
-arrival in England; but he, from one day to another, sought excuses for
-delaying this visit to Deane Hall; and Sedley was not unwilling to
-assist in the search, for he still hoped to gain by delay. When he had
-first met Frederick, he had inquired, with as much indifference as he
-could assume, whether there was any foundation in the newspaper report
-of his marriage with Miss Seymour; to which his Lordship replied, in a
-peremptory tone, "Yes, if she will have me;" and immediately changed the
-conversation in such a manner, that Sedley had not again the courage to
-renew it. However, at last his Lordship fixed the day for the
-commencement of his journey to Yorkshire, and the evening before he as
-usual spent in his friend's society. They were conversing of far
-different matters, when Sedley abruptly said, in a tone of marked pique,
-"Well, Eltondale, so you have at last determined to do Miss Seymour the
-honour of proposing for her. Upon my soul, a great condescension!
-Notwithstanding your damned lecturing letters, I knew you would forget
-your 'charming Sicilian maid, fairer than Proserpine,' and all that pack
-of metaphysical stuff you used to write to me. I knew well enough from
-the first it was only an ideal Laura you fancied yourself Petrarch to;
-and if, while you were dreaming of her, you had lost the incomparable
-_heiress_ your designing step-mother intended for you, it would only
-have been what you deserved." "For Heaven's sake, Sedley, what do you
-mean?" said Lord Eltondale, colouring deeply. "Is the incomparable
-_heiress_ the Laura of your dreams?" "No, no, my Lord," answered Sedley,
-with a composure produced alike by envy and mortification, "I leave it
-to _you_ to play the part of sleeper awakened--I never lost my senses
-for any _Adelina_." "Sedley!" replied Lord Eltondale, with the serious
-energy of deep feeling, "if any spark of our former friendship remains
-in your bosom, I conjure you never to mention that name again. I can
-never forget _her_, but she refused _me_." "Refused you!" exclaimed
-Sedley, in a tone of unfeigned surprise; "well, no doubt your pride has
-cured your love; but upon my soul I almost pity you; for when a man is
-once fascinated by a pretty woman, it is devilish hard to get out of her
-toils." "So far from my pride being my cure, her refusal raised my love
-to a pitch that made my former attachment seem cold in comparison. You
-may smile, Sedley, but if you have a heart to be moved, it must be
-touched when I tell you of her noble conduct on that occasion. I believe
-I told you of my intention of proposing myself to her; but I never could
-summon fortitude to acquaint you with the result. I had perceived a
-marked change in her manner to me some time before I wrote you the last
-letter concerning her; but I attributed it entirely to her father's
-influence, as I had not come to a direct explanation, and therefore took
-an opportunity of demanding an interview for that purpose, when I knew
-him to be absent.
-
-"When she entered the room where I was waiting in breathless expectation
-of her arrival, she was enveloped in the most icy coldness of manner,
-which, however, I was not dismayed by, but poured forth my love with all
-the ardour I felt. She changed colour many times, and was silent for a
-few moments; but when she did speak, rejected my addresses with such
-dignified politeness, and with so much calm self-possession, that,
-mortified to the very soul, I, without reply or remonstrance, walked out
-of the house. That I might hide my wounded feelings from every eye, I
-struck into a private path which led through a flower-garden Adelina's
-sitting-room opened into. I instinctively turned to look in, when I
-beheld her kneeling, evidently in the act of prayer, her eyes streaming
-with tears. To see her weep, and retain self-control or resentment, was
-impossible. I was at her side in an instant;--she started up, and
-endeavoured to fly, but I forcibly detained her; and as the expression
-of her countenance was not to be misunderstood as to the cause of her
-grief, I implored her not to destroy our happiness by harbouring any
-false impressions of me or my family; entreated her to tell me the
-impediments to our union, that if it were possible, by any exertion of
-mine, to do them away, they might cease to exist. She turned aside her
-head to hide the gushing tears, and in a faltering voice desired me to
-leave her.--'Leave me,' said she, 'only for a few moments, that I may
-recover composure to tell you all.'
-
-"I respected her feelings sufficiently to remain in the garden till she
-made a sign to me to return.
-
-"When I entered, grief, in her calmest attitude, was seated on her brow.
-No tear dimmed the majesty of her commanding eye, but a convulsive smile
-sometimes passed over her pallid lip. She told me that her father,
-though a German Baron, was a British subject by birth, but that some
-unfortunate circumstances induced him to condemn himself to perpetual
-exile from his native land; that she could not desert her duties by
-leaving him, in the evening of his days, to sad solitude in a foreign
-country; nor would she ever consent to obscure the morning of my life by
-suffering me, if I were so inclined, to quit my country, and leave my
-high calling unfulfilled, to waste my hours at her side in unavailing
-regret for my lost character: and addressing me with the utmost
-solemnity, said in conclusion, 'Frederick, if you really love me, as I
-think you do; if you are the noble being I believe you to be--you will
-not, after this meeting, try my feelings by any further solicitation. My
-resolution is unalterable--do not deprive me of my self-esteem, by
-making me feel the sacrifice I make to filial duty too painful.'
-
-"I then told her, if she would promise to be mine when these obstacles
-to our union were at an end, I would wait in joyful thankfulness any
-length of time.
-
-"'No, no,' said she, 'I could not, in justice to you, enter into such an
-engagement. Our affections are involuntary--you _cannot_ answer for the
-continuance of your attachment. Time, absence, your country, your
-family, will estrange your heart from _me_; and honour alone would
-continue to bind you to me when love had fled. I should, when too late
-for recall, be doomed to inconsolable misery, by finding your sense of
-duty had destroyed your happiness. As for myself, I could not live
-under such a load of hopes and fears. No, Frederick, from this day I
-will endeavour to destroy every memento of our having ever met. Hope
-must be completely eradicated.' Irritated by the misery of my mind, I
-had the _inhumanity_ to upbraid her in words that I would now give
-worlds to recall, with being cold and unfeeling. 'Would to Heaven I
-were!' exclaimed she, and abruptly leaving the room, forbid my following
-her.--I never saw her afterwards."
-
-Here Lord Eltondale started up, and paced the room in an agony of
-feeling difficult to describe. Even Sedley was moved with compassion.
-"Poor fellow!" said he, in a suppressed tone, "And did you make no
-further attempt to change her resolution?" "I wrote several letters from
-Catania, and returned from Paris after my second visit there to see her
-once more, but the villa was deserted--Baron Wildenheim and his daughter
-had gone no one knew whither."
-
-"Wildenheim!" exclaimed Sedley, "Good God, is it possible!--Wildenheim
-did you say?" Frederick repeated this name, and he, on hearing it a
-second time, danced about the room like a madman. "Sedley, are you
-absolutely and entirely insane?" exclaimed his friend, indignant at the
-levity of his behaviour--"Beware!--by Heavens, you trifle too much with
-my feelings!" "Well, you shall judge of the justice of my conjectures;
-but if you give me the smallest interruption, I will leave you in the
-state of blessed ignorance you at present enjoy," replied Sedley,
-wringing his hand rather than shaking it. "First, then, to describe your
-charmer, for I spent a month in the house with her last autumn.
-_Imprimis_--her mind I know nothing about; she was so damned shy,
-sitting alone all morning writing amatory odes to your Lordship I
-suppose--there now, if you interrupt me I have done."
-
-Here Sedley made a short pause. He felt that all was at stake: the
-effects of a few minutes' conversation might decide his fate for life.
-He hastily revolved in his mind Lord Eltondale's Sicilian letters, which
-he had lately read for the base purpose of divulging their contents to
-the Viscountess, and calling to mind the points on which Frederick's
-admiration had been founded, endeavoured to paint Miss Wildenheim's
-charms in those terms which he judged most likely to raise his friend's
-love and regrets to their _acmé_, and thus for ever defeat Lady
-Eltondale's schemes for uniting him to Selina. In reply to Frederick's
-entreaties to proceed, he continued with affected carelessness, "I can
-scarcely give you a more minute description of her person than of her
-mind. Her beauty is not to be compared to ----" (Miss Seymour's, he
-would have said with well acted indifference, had he not timely
-recollected her name was a "word of fear," not only to himself but his
-auditor)--"that of some of our reigning belles; but 'the charm of Celia
-altogether' is so captivating, so _touching_, that no one ever thought
-of _beauty_ in her presence; nor is admiration the sentiment she
-excites, that, like her attractions, can only be felt, not described.
-Come, don't be jealous; her indifference to me, and every other man she
-associated with, was too marked to encourage that love it would have
-been impossible not to have felt but for this coldness. Her form and
-motions were so graceful, that my attention was too completely engrossed
-by their exquisite elegance to observe her stature; nor was I more at
-liberty to remark the _minutiæ_ of her features, rivetted as I was by
-the enchanting expression of her countenance, where softness is ennobled
-by dignity, and animated by intellect.
-
-"In short, I no longer wonder at what I once termed infatuation, if '_la
-bella Adelina_' be (as I verily believe she is) the lovely Adelaide
-Wildenheim----" "Where is she, for God's sake where is she?" "Why, your
-Venus is at this moment--not rising from the sea, but--enjoying the
-delights of a mud bath in a bog in Ireland. I will furnish you with
-proper directions to find her. I advise you to lose no time; I assure
-you, you have a dangerous rival in the son of the lady she resides
-with;--a year may have made a great change in her sentiments though."
-Here a severe and long continued fit of coughing saved Sedley from
-betraying the laughter he was almost convulsed by, at the thought of the
-rival he had terrified Lord Eltondale with, in the person of Mr.
-Webberly. "Better, my dear fellow, better," said he at last, in answer
-to Frederick's earnest concern on his behalf: "though, to continue my
-speech, her aversion even to him was so decided, I have no doubt her
-constancy to you would stand a much greater probation." At first Lord
-Eltondale's joy was too great for him to believe all this was not a
-dream; and he questioned Sedley over and over again as to every
-particular regarding Miss Wildenheim. The latter had profited
-considerably by the lessons he had received during his intercourse with
-the Viscountess, in the science of insinuation and _finesse_, and now
-therefore artfully related every circumstance likely to strengthen his
-friend's passion for the "divine Adelaide;" but perceiving at last from
-Frederick's countenance that he was in danger of over-acting his part,
-he abruptly discontinued a _tirade_ on her perfections, by exclaiming,
-"All this comes of romancing, Eltondale; if you could have condescended
-to have designated your dearly beloved by any more specific term than
-'the fair Adelina,' this _quid pro quo_ would never have occurred.--Why
-the devil did you never tell me she was plain Adelaide Wildenheim?" "I
-had very strong reasons for my silence as to her surname. Though I never
-knew a man more highly endowed in mind than Baron Wildenheim, or whose
-manners bore the stamp of more refined elegance, more impressive
-dignity, yet there was something extremely mysterious in the manner in
-which he sometimes avoided, sometimes sought, conversation on English
-affairs; in a moment he would interrupt a discussion he had seemed much
-interested in, with a perturbation that excited unfavourable
-suspicions, which were confirmed in my mind by a variety of minute
-circumstances.--None made a stronger impression than the following
-occurrence:--I one evening unexpectedly met him and Adelina walking
-through a beautiful grove in the neighbourhood of their villa. They were
-conversing earnestly, and, to my astonishment, in English--he with that
-pure accent a native only can possess, which was forcibly contrasted by
-the pronunciation of his daughter. I claimed him as my countryman, and
-rallied her for concealing her knowledge of my native language. She,
-evidently embarrassed, blushed deeply, (how beautiful she looked!)
-whilst the Baron, with a haughty austerity, only answered my compliment
-by a profound bow; and, after some trifling remark, pointedly addressed
-to me in _French_, alleged the lateness of the hour for taking their
-leave, and expressed a flattering wish to see me the following morning;
-thus politely giving me to understand my presence was not at that moment
-particularly agreeable. This confirmed my former surmise, that in the
-revolutionary period he had been engaged in some dark affair inimical to
-the interests of Great Britain, and that Baron Wildenheim was merely a
-_nom de guerre_, to cover the _incognito_ he found it expedient to
-assume; therefore I purposely avoided mentioning it to you. Now as for
-Adelina--that is the Italian diminutive of Adelaide, which her father
-always called her; it was the first I heard her addressed by; it is one,
-in short, that has a charm in my ear, which none who has not loved,
-_approved_ as I do, can conceive." "It is strange enough, Eltondale,"
-remarked Sedley; "but you and Miss Wildenheim must have been in Paris at
-the same time; for she related to me one day a whimsical occurrence,
-which took place in the Chamber of Deputies, that one of your letters
-informed me you had also witnessed." "Is it possible!" exclaimed
-Frederick, "how unfortunate we did not meet! I now recollect, I once
-thought I saw her at the _Théâtre François_; if so, she had contrived to
-forget me in a great hurry; for though it was but three months after a
-parting that was almost death to me, she was looking as gay and as happy
-as possible." Here Sedley made an involuntary grimace, internally
-exclaiming, "The devil she did! That agrees but badly with the _Il
-penseroso_ I have described with such effect." "Baron Wildenheim,"
-continued Lord Eltondale, "I certainly did see, but could not ascertain
-whether the lady who was with him was Adelina or not; for when I
-approached near enough to put the matter out of doubt, either by
-accident or design, she threw a large shawl over her, so as effectually
-to conceal her figure from my sight; and before I could push through the
-crowd to speak to them, they had left the theatre. However I trust,
-thanks to you, my dear friend, we shall soon meet; and if her heart is
-still mine, what happiness!--Gracious Heaven! Miss Seymour!"--and the
-recollection of his situation regarding Selina glanced through his mind,
-turning all the past to pain--"I must not, dare not, think of her now."
-"And why not?" replied Sedley, with an agitation little inferior to his
-own, "You are not irrevocably engaged to Miss Seymour, Eltondale?" "I am
-as much as a man of honour can be, who has not received the lady's own
-consent from her own mouth. But my poor father got Sir Henry Seymour's
-consent to our marriage above a year ago--read those two letters,
-Sedley, the last I received from Lady Eltondale immediately after my
-father's death. You will see by the tenor of it, that she considers the
-business as concluded; and though she does not positively tell me Miss
-Seymour's opinion, she distinctly says she has no doubt of our mutual
-happiness!"
-
-The first of these letters gave Sedley the most unequivocal proofs of
-Lady Eltondale's double-dealing, in speaking of Selina to Frederick as
-decidedly his future wife, at the very moment when she seemed to favour
-his own pretensions. He dashed the letters, one after the other, on the
-table, with a violence that made it resound, and internally imprecated
-"the treachery, the artifice, of this damned dissembling woman!"
-
-A sense of the moral rectitude, which should guide the conduct of
-_others_, grows surprisingly acute, even in the breast of the most
-worthless, when they themselves begin to suffer from the effects of
-dissimulation in their associates. At that moment Sedley could have
-demonstrated sincerity to be "the first of virtues"--in theory at
-least--deferring the _practice_ of it to a more convenient season.
-
-For some time both these young men remained absorbed in their own
-reflections; till at last Sedley endeavoured to persuade Lord Eltondale,
-that it was not incumbent on him to pay his addresses to Miss Seymour:
-but neither the sophistry of his friend, nor still more the pleadings of
-his own unconquered passion, could make him swerve from the rectitude of
-his principles. He knew that even in his very last letter to his
-stepmother, he had mentioned his intention of proposing for Selina, and
-therefore, under all the circumstances considering himself as pledged
-to do so, he endeavoured to find solace in what would once have been the
-_acmé_ of misery--a belief that Adelaide no longer cherished any regard
-for him.
-
-On the other hand Sedley, passing at once from hope to despair,
-conceived it impossible Selina could refuse an offer so unexceptionable;
-and attributing her indifference to himself to her ambitious views,
-internally vowed revenge on both. The rival friends separated with
-feelings, which resembled only in their poignancy and defiance of
-control; and the next morning Lord Eltondale left London, pursuing, with
-agitated haste, his journey to Deane Hall.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE FOURTHoe.
-
-
-And where meantime were Lord Osselstone and Mordaunt?--It may be
-recollected, that they had left London, previous to Lady Eltondale's
-great ball, on a tour to the continent--a journey which was not
-undertaken solely from motives of amusement. One of Lord Osselstone's
-brothers had many years previous to that period left England; and though
-the Earl had, by means of a mutual friend, a Mr. Austin, learned from
-time to time that he was still in existence, he had never succeeded in
-discovering his retreat; but for the last eighteen months he could learn
-no tidings whatever of his brother, as during that time Mr. Austin had
-been at the Madeiras with an invalide daughter; and as from some
-circumstances he was induced to think he might gain satisfactory
-intelligence on this subject at Vienna, he, accompanied by Augustus,
-proceeded thither for the purpose of procuring it.
-
-The late Lord Osselstone had married twice. His first wife brought him
-two sons, namely, the present Earl, and Charles Mordaunt, father to
-Augustus. But his second lady, a German by birth, only one child, called
-Reginald, who, becoming an orphan at the age of sixteen, was left by his
-father to the sole guardianship of his eldest brother.
-
-Reginald, as his mother's heir, inherited German estates of considerable
-value, which unfortunately deprived him of the happy necessity of
-applying the powers of his ardent mind to any determinate pursuit, and
-also made him an object of speculation to those vicious beings, that lie
-in wait for the unwary youth, who is sufficiently wealthy to recompense
-the trouble of destroying him.
-
-Never were two brothers more sincerely attached to each other than
-Reginald and Lord Osselstone. The Earl cherished a twin soul in the
-aspiring spirit and lofty genius of his youthful charge, whilst he was
-himself the model and the pride of his admiring ward. Though Lord
-Osselstone's father had, by sage precepts and example, compressed,
-rather than exalted the energies of his nature, yet he was unfortunately
-too young to serve as a Mentor to his brother, at the critical period in
-which he was confided to his care. In truth, his partiality saw in him
-no fault; but if he had, his experience was insufficient to teach him
-how to control his restless spirit: and thus, though the affections of
-Reginald's heart were excited by the warmth of fraternal love; though
-his talents were improved, and the deep feelings of his soul rendered
-still more intense by his strengthened intellect; yet his reason, as it
-regarded the conduct of life, was totally uncultivated; and in place of
-steady, well-defined principle regulating his thoughts and actions, he
-was _impelled_, rather than guided by his imagination and his feelings,
-which taught him to cherish a mistaken species of honour, that made him
-more tenacious of his _fame_ than careful of his conduct. As long as he
-was "no man's enemy but his own," he thought himself blameless. But no
-accountable being should dare to wage this civil war against itself. The
-man who is his own _enemy_, is nobody's _friend_, and almost always a
-pest of society.
-
-Shortly after Reginald came of age, Lord Osselstone was grieved and
-terrified to see him follow the steps of Charles Mordaunt, who led the
-impetuous youth into a vortex of dissipation. The acuteness of the
-Earl's feelings giving a corresponding tone to his reproofs, their
-asperity only served to make Reginald shun his society, and seek, with
-more avidity, that of his second brother; by whom he was initiated into
-all the agitating, destructive pleasures of the gaming table; and soon
-became entangled with a set of gamblers, who, in a short time, brought
-his finances into a state of considerable embarrassment. The chief of
-this depraved crew was a Mr. Mortimer, who, by the attractions of a
-beautiful daughter, lured young men to their destruction at the
-gaming-table, where she, with all the fascinations of the most
-accomplished Syren, favoured his schemes. But her charms were more
-generally acknowledged than her claims to respect; and her reputation
-being on the decline, her father was anxious to marry her to some of his
-victims, in order to give her, under another name, that station in
-society she was on the verge of forfeiting in her own. She made an easy
-conquest of Reginald, who was so bewitched by her attractions, that,
-playing with even less than his usual skill, he lost in a few nights at
-the faro table a sum he feared would complete his ruin, by rendering the
-sale of the greater part of his maternal inheritance absolutely
-necessary. He therefore lent a delighted ear to Mr. Mortimer's proposal
-of allowing this honourable debt as a portion to his captivating
-daughter. Reginald, overjoyed to obtain at once the woman he
-passionately loved, and the relief of his embarrassments, without a
-_public_ exposure of his follies, sought his brother Charles, to
-communicate to him the gratifying intelligence. Charles Mordaunt was
-horror-struck on hearing it, fearing it would be impossible now to
-withdraw Reginald from that labyrinth, into which he had unwarily led
-him; and knowing full well, that, if he was once connected with
-Mortimer, no effort could save him from entire destruction. However,
-concealing his distress from his unsuspicious brother, he immediately
-communicated the circumstance to Lord Osselstone, making a candid
-confession of his own share in the transaction, and painting, in the
-most forcible terms, the impending danger of Reginald. The Earl, without
-an hour's delay, discharged Mortimer's claim, threatening him with the
-utmost vengeance of the law if he ever admitted either of his brothers
-to his house again, and, in the most peremptory manner, insisted on his
-writing a letter, acknowledging the payment of Reginald's debt, and
-stating that Miss Mortimer declined the honour of his addresses. Lord
-Osselstone then repaired to Reginald, when, unfolding Miss Mortimer's
-true character, he accompanied his assertions with such "damning proof,"
-that her hitherto infatuated lover could not refuse to acknowledge his
-conviction of their truth. But now, in a paroxysm of rage, accusing the
-Earl of the most savage cruelty in undeceiving him, he said, his honour
-was engaged, there was no retreat; but he must, like a second Decius,
-plunge into the gulf with his eyes opened to all its horrors.
-
-Lord Osselstone suffered him for a time to _feel_ and express all his
-distraction; and when he had, in idea, raised himself to a pitch of
-insupportable misery, he gave him the letter he had extorted from
-Mortimer. Reginald's joy and gratitude were then as unbounded as his
-anguish of mind had so lately been, and he willingly acceded to Lord
-Osselstone's propositions. These were, first, that he should accept a
-commission in a regiment, then stationed in distant country quarters, by
-which he hoped to separate him effectually from all his worthless
-associates, and break the chain of his destructive habits. Secondly,
-that he should resign the conduct of his affairs to Mr. Austin, a lawyer
-of probity and talent, and consent to receive, for some years, only a
-limited stipend from his extensive German estates, of whose value the
-Earl was better informed than their possessor; but he wished, by this
-means, to make Reginald feel the deprivations his follies deserved;
-knowing also, that the most probable method of destroying his habit of
-prodigality would be to limit his power of expenditure. To gratify his
-brother's feelings, the Earl consented to receive, by yearly
-instalments, the large sum he had advanced for his benefit; but, at the
-same time, generously resolved to restore it at a future period, when
-the gift would run no risk of proving a curse.
-
-Reginald rigidly kept his promise of for ever renouncing the
-gaming-table, giving, in the regularity of his conduct, the best proof
-of his lasting gratitude to his brother, and the most delightful reward
-that brother could receive for his almost paternal solicitude. Three
-years after this period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to Ireland,
-where he was stationed at Limerick. He admired, in turn, several of the
-beautiful women that place was then famous for; but finally fixed his
-affections on Rose O'Sullivan, the only child of the present proprietor
-of Ballinamoyle. This lovely girl was at that time entrusted to the care
-of an aunt, who resided at Limerick, her father being anxious to vary
-the retirement of her home, by what was to her, from the effect of
-comparison, a scene of extreme gaiety. Perhaps few women could have
-boasted of equal beauty, the effect of which was to Reginald rendered
-irresistible by the vivacity of her artless manners. Soon seeing her
-innocent partiality to himself expressed in her speaking eyes, any
-doubt he had before entertained of the expediency of proposing for her
-was set aside by this discovery.
-
-When she returned home, he followed her to Ballinamoyle; and on the day
-in which she completed her seventeenth year, he received her hand, which
-her father gave with mingled joy and sorrow. Happily his regrets at
-resigning his idolized Rose were not rendered insupportable, by
-foreseeing that this act would for ever deprive him of his blooming
-child, and condemn her to an untimely grave!
-
-At no very distant period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to the
-neighbourhood of London; and the tears of heartfelt grief which Rose
-shed on bidding adieu to her father, and the scenes of her happy
-childhood, were dried by her husband's fondness, and by his descriptions
-of the pleasures London would afford her. But in proportion as
-Reginald's eye became familiarized to his wife's personal graces, he
-deplored, with keener perception, the rusticity of those very manners,
-which had at first delighted him from their bearing the stamp of
-unsophisticated nature, and forcibly contrasting with the artful
-blandishments of the worthless Miss Mortimer. His pride could not brook,
-that fastidious elegance should find aught in his wife to ridicule or
-disapprove. He therefore determined for some time to seclude her from
-the world, till he should, by the aid of the best masters and his own
-assiduity, cultivate her talents and polish her manners; for which
-purpose he purchased a beautiful cottage in the neighbourhood of London.
-Though her extreme quickness of parts, stimulated by her unceasing
-anxiety to please Reginald, enabled Rose to make a rapid progress in the
-various accomplishments her masters taught her; yet she reflected with
-sorrow, that she "never dreamed of having her schooling renewed by her
-marriage." When Reginald, with ill-concealed chagrin, criticized her
-every word, her slightest movement, she would say to herself, whilst her
-beautiful eyes swam in tears, "My poor father thought all I said was
-right; and so did Reginald too when I was at Limerick;" whilst the
-reflections that kept pace with these in his mind were, "By Heavens, her
-brogue is incurable! I despair of ever breaking her of calling me
-'Reginald dear, and darling.' Thank God, Lord Osselstone is at
-Athens!--She never will be presentable!"
-
-In short, he was still more weary of instructing than she was of
-learning; and it would be difficult to say, whether pride or
-mortification predominated, when he came at last to the conclusion, that
-there was no reason why he should seclude himself from the world,
-because his wife was not sufficiently polished to be introduced to those
-brilliant circles of fashion, in which alone he would suffer her to
-move. The result of these deliberations was, his establishing himself in
-the most fashionable lodgings in town, leaving the young and lovely Rose
-to improve her mind, and "mend her manners," in almost total solitude.
-
-One day, in Bond-street, he accidentally met an old friend of the name
-of Montague, who took him home to introduce him to his new married lady;
-who proved, to Reginald's astonishment, to be no other than the
-_ci-devant_ Miss Mortimer.
-
-The fascinations of her wit, the polished elegance of her manners, again
-bewitched him, and he indulged without restraint, though equally without
-design, in the dangerous pleasure of associating with her. He became a
-constant guest at Montague's table, flattering himself "there could be
-no impropriety in their intercourse--she was married, and so was he."
-The consequence of this renewed intimacy was the revival of their former
-attachment. His respect for the laws of honour, his regard for his
-friend, and some latent compassion, if not love, for his deserted wife,
-kept him for a short period hovering on the borders of virtue, sometimes
-slightly passing its bounds, sometimes retiring far within. But Mrs.
-Montague, led on by her passion for him, as well as an undefined mixture
-of good and evil in her natural disposition, revealed the plan her
-husband, in conjunction with her father, was following, to make him once
-more a victim to his former passion for gaming; for Mr. Montague's
-fortune and character were alike ruined by his connection with Mortimer.
-
-Reginald's rage knew no bounds at this discovery of his supposed
-friend's perfidy; and hurried on by love and revenge, he persuaded Mrs.
-Montague to elope with him. Montague was equally exasperated at being
-made the dupe of his own arts; and by the idea, that while he had
-employed his wife to delude his intended victim, she had only deceived,
-betrayed himself. Pursuing the fugitives without delay, he unfortunately
-overtook Reginald. Their mutual recriminations produced a duel, in which
-all the usual forms were set aside, and Montague's life fell a sacrifice
-to his own and his antagonist's dereliction of principle. All sparks of
-virtue were not yet extinct in Mrs. Montague's heart;--horror-struck at
-hearing the dreadful catastrophe, she told Reginald their guilty
-connection must from that moment cease, and enjoined him to seek his
-safety in immediate flight. Unknowing what course best to pursue;
-impelled at one moment, by his distracted conscience, to deliver himself
-up to justice; withdrawn the next from this resolution, by the love of
-life and the suggestions of pride; wavering between the two, he almost
-mechanically returned to his lodgings in London. Here retiring to his
-usual sitting-room, he threw himself in a state of distraction on a
-sofa, eyeing from time to time, with varying intent, a pair of pistols
-he had laid on the table. At last, startled by a noise he heard in an
-inner room, he sprung up, and was in a moment locked in the arms of his
-fond wife, who, alarmed at his long-protracted absence, had timidly
-ventured hither to seek him, and had just heard of his elopement with
-Mrs. Montague. "I _knew_ it wasn't true!" said she, "My darling
-Reginald, you could never have the cruelty to break my heart by leaving
-me: you will come back to Richmond with me, and then I shall be happy
-again." "Never, never!" exclaimed he, in an agony of despair: "No
-happiness for me, Rose!" Then, with a look and action bordering on
-madness, he whispered in her ear, "I have killed Montague!"
-
-Rose was one of those women, whose fortitude and strength of mind are
-scarcely even suspected, till they are called forth by the hour of
-trial. Though these few words had sent a death blow to her heart, as
-soon as she recovered from their first shock, she thought of them only
-as demanding immediate exertion for the preservation of her husband's
-life. As the first step, she proceeded to remove the pistols. Reginald,
-roused by the attempt, desired her to desist. "You do not _dare_ to
-die," said she, looking at him with steadfast earnestness. "You shall be
-satisfied; justice shall take its course, and then you will be
-sufficiently revenged! Rose, begone!--this is no scene for you!--Go!"
-continued he, stamping with vehement fury on the floor--"By the eternal
-God I _will_ be obeyed." "No," said she, calmly, "never will I part from
-you more, Reginald. In breaking your marriage vows, you have forfeited
-your right to my obedience. Even to the grave will I follow you!" She
-then threw herself at his feet, imploring him, by every tender name, to
-consult his safety without delay; represented that, in a foreign
-country, he might, by years of future happiness, repay her for the
-sufferings of the dreadful present. Overcome by his feelings, he had not
-power to interrupt her; and at last, in a state of stupefaction, allowed
-himself to be disposed of as she pleased: he was conveyed from London
-that night, and by the exertions of Mr. Austin was enabled to reach
-Hamburgh in safety, where they took up their residence. Here Rose used
-every exertion to soothe the anguish of her miserable husband's mind.
-Neither in thought, word, or look, did she make one selfish reproach;
-her very prayers were breathed more for him than for herself. His love
-and admiration far exceeded what he had ever before felt. When he looked
-back to the few preceding months, he wondered how he could, for a
-moment, have slighted this angelic being, whose superiority to himself
-he now with tears acknowledged; but his tenderness came too late. She
-had suppressed her feelings on hearing his fatal communication, to save
-the object who excited them; and she now, with merciful affection,
-concealed all those melancholy forebodings so natural to the timid
-female in her anxious situation, though she felt her health rapidly
-declining, and anticipated with regret her approaching doom. She sighed
-to think she must, in all her blooming charms, bid adieu to the world,
-its brilliant pleasures yet untasted. She daily besought Heaven to spare
-her, to sweeten the bitter cup Reginald had prepared for himself;
-implored that she might again bless her father's eyes, once more receive
-the fervent benediction of the instructor of her early years, and
-confess her errors to his pious ear; and dearer than all, she longed to
-bestow a mother's love on her babe--to welcome its first smile, to
-return its endearing caresses. But with the patient resignation of a
-saint, she submitted to her fate. When Reginald beheld with rapture the
-tremulous lustre of her eye, the fatal hue that glowed on her cheek, and
-crimsoned her love-breathing lip, he knew not what they too plainly
-indicated!
-
-Three months after they reached Hamburgh, the innocent, lovely Rose
-expired a few hours after giving birth to a daughter, whom almost in her
-last moments she presented, with smiles of anxious pity, to her
-unfortunate husband, saying, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I
-do. You are dearer to me now than ever. You have been but too
-indulgent;--I have lately repented of many trifling offences--forgive
-them when I am gone." Here exhausted, she paused for a few minutes; then
-once again addressed him: "Don't weep, Reginald; 'tis fitting I should
-die; my erring fondness would have injured this dear babe.--Comfort my
-poor father!" She feebly pressed his hand, and her dying accents
-murmured a half audible "Bless you!"
-
-She was lovely in death! The clay-cold hand he with unutterable anguish
-pressed to his lips, mocked the statuary's art. The ministering angel
-who received her parting spirit, seemed to have shed celestial light on
-her countenance, whilst the bloom of earthly beauty yet lingered on her
-soft cheek and smiling lip. One dark lock lay on her alabaster bosom.
-Alas! motionless it lay--the warm heart had ceased to beat. Gaze,
-wretched Reginald, on thy heart's treasure! Soon shall the grave close
-for ever on all her charms! The despair of his soul, as he looked on her
-seraphic smile, and vainly watched to see her eye once more open with
-love's beam, was for a time lost in insensibility. When again, conscious
-that she was indeed no more, his agonized feelings led his mind to the
-very verge of frenzy.
-
-In his first distraction, he wrote a letter of penitence and grief to
-his father-in-law, deploring his heart-rending loss, but omitting to
-state precisely, that this infant had survived her mother; and from the
-ambiguous expressions of this incoherent communication, the afflicted
-parent concluded, that Rose and her child had perished together.
-Irritated by the misery her loss occasioned him, Mr. O'Sullivan made no
-reply, sending only a notification by Father Dermoody, that it had been
-received, with a request that his feelings might not again be wounded by
-further correspondence with the man, whom he not unjustly accused of
-having shortened his daughter's days by his unworthy conduct.
-
-Reginald had in this letter humbled himself as much as it was in his
-nature to do to mortal man; and indignant at the asperity of such a
-reply, he made no second attempt to move O'Sullivan to forgiveness. The
-ill success of this endeavour to soften the heart of the most benevolent
-of human beings discouraging him from any further efforts, either of
-atonement or conciliation, he adopted the resolution of withdrawing
-himself from the knowledge of all his connections. To his brother, Lord
-Osselstone, of all mankind he could least brook making any overtures,
-now that he was "fallen, fallen from his high estate." When he pictured
-to himself how he had disappointed that brother's exalted hopes and
-anxious cares, his pride and his better feelings alike prevented his
-submitting to receive either reproof from the austerity of his virtues,
-or that compassion from his affection, "which stabs as it forgives."
-
-As a preparatory step to avoiding any future intercourse with his native
-land, he entreated his friend Mr. Austin to meet him, without delay, at
-Meurs, on the Belgic frontiers of Westphalia, near which his estates
-were situated, that by disposing of some of them, he might finally
-arrange his affairs, and discharge all his English debts. Mr. Austin
-immediately obeyed the summons, and found Reginald in a state of the
-utmost wretchedness, occupied with the wildest schemes for carrying his
-ideas into execution; proposing, with feverish restlessness, to fly for
-ever from civilized society, in order to join some tribe of Bedouin
-Arabs, Mamelucks, Tartars, or North American Indians. The counsels of
-this wise and judicious friend did much to bring back his erring mind,
-to submit to the calm dictates of reason. Mr. Austin combated, in turn,
-all these chimeras; opened his eyes to his duties as a father; and
-finally finding him unalterable as to his determination of concealment,
-suggested the most advisable means of carrying it into effect, which
-were, to avail himself of the facilities circumstances afforded for
-adopting the name and character of a German subject. From his mother,
-Reginald had learned to speak the language with the fluency of a native;
-and his friend now reminded him of a circumstance he had informed him of
-a week before his fatal elopement from London, which at that time he
-slighted, namely, that one of his estates, being part of an ancient
-feudal tenure, entitled him to the rank of Baron by its own
-appellation; the adopting which would not only procure him station
-amongst a people of all others the most tenacious on the subject of
-birth, but effectually conceal him, as the circumstance was yet unknown
-to all his English friends.
-
-On hearing this proposition, Reginald with vehement joy, exclaimed,
-"Thank you, thank you, Austin; I shall know something like peace when my
-ears are not tortured by the detested name I now bear. Though I am
-outlawed because Osselstone was not in England to interfere with his
-powerful interest, though that damned Gazette has declared me for ever
-incapable of serving in the British armies, though it has stamped my
-name with indelible disgrace, yet will I cover this new appellation with
-fame in the field of glory."
-
-Reginald accordingly availed himself of this expedient; and all legal
-forms prescribed by German jurisprudence being gone through, his
-daughter at the Chateau of Wildenheim was enrolled on the family
-records by the name of Adelaide, which was that borne by the last
-heiress of that house; her mother's finding too sad an echo in her
-father's bosom, to be heard or pronounced by him without the most
-afflicting feelings. All his estates, except the Barony of Wildenheim,
-were sold; and the surplus, which remained after discharging his various
-debts, was remitted to Vienna, where he repaired with his infant
-daughter, on parting with Mr. Austin. Here he felt himself completely
-alone in the world; and his feelings being too agonizing to render a
-life of inaction supportable, he entered the Austrian armies. His rank,
-his fortune, and his talents, soon procured him a command, which he
-filled with honour, and redeemed the promise he had made to cover his
-new appellation "with fame in the field of glory." Amongst the officers
-placed under his orders were Maurice O'Sullivan, the uncle of his wife,
-and Edward Desmond; he took a melancholy pleasure in serving the former
-with his purse and his interest, for the sake of his beloved Rose, and
-the virtues of the latter made Reginald no less zealously his friend;
-but from both he most carefully concealed his country and his parentage.
-They fought side by side at the battles of Hohenlinden, Rastadt, and
-other desperate engagements, that fatally signalized the disastrous
-campaign, which was concluded by the peace of Luneville. Reginald's
-remaining estate was unfortunately situated in the territory ceded by
-that treaty to France, and was by its new masters bestowed on a soldier
-of fortune. He was by this event reduced from affluence to mediocrity,
-and broken in fortune, health, and spirits, he proceeded to Vienna to
-visit his daughter, then in her sixth year. He found her as beautiful as
-a cherub, and the image of her mother. When she twined her arms round
-his neck, calling him by the endearing appellations infancy bestows, he
-felt that the world yet contained a being that would fondly cherish him;
-and remembered, with sad delight, what now seemed the prophetic words
-of his dying Rose, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I do."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-    When I am forgotten, as I shall be,
-    And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
-    Of me must be heard--say then I taught thee.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE EIGHTHoe.
-
-
-During the period Reginald had served in the Austrian armies, his mind
-had undergone a complete revolution. His proud spirit had been subdued
-by misfortune. In his professional career he had learned to submit to
-human control. In the field of danger the daring energies of his nature
-had been fully excited; and, by the frequency of that very excitation,
-exhausted, whilst the aspect of death, in its various horrors, led him
-to serious meditation. Often has he passed from the stunning tumult of
-the field of battle, to the awful stillness of midnight solitude in his
-own tent; and here he first acknowledged the justice and mercy of
-Heaven, whose avenging arm had awakened him from the giddy dream of
-presumptuous passion, to the dreadful consciousness that he had
-perverted the best gifts of Providence, intended for the benefit and
-ornament of society, to be its bane and its disgrace. He had previously
-thought more of forfeited reputation than of violated virtue; and,
-though what he might have been rose to his mind in agonizing contrast
-with what he was, yet he mourned rather for the internal sentiment of
-degradation than of guilt. But he gradually acquired a more fitting
-penitence, becoming at last resigned even to the ever present sense of
-his former misdeeds, and submitting to it as their just punishment; at
-the same time forming the virtuous resolution of endeavouring to atone,
-if possible, for the past by the future.
-
-Accusing himself of having deprived his child of her inestimable mother,
-he felt in justice bound to fulfil towards her more than the common duty
-of a father, and therefore resolved to give up the profession of arms
-for her sake, in order to devote his existence to her welfare. He would
-often, as he pressed the little smiling Adelaide to his heart, put forth
-a prayer that the virtues of the daughter might plead at the bar of
-offended Heaven, in mitigation of the vices of the father; and would
-soothe his grief with the hope of giving her that virtuous firmness of
-character, the want of which had rendered all the blessings of his early
-lot of no avail to himself. Summoning religion and reason to his aid, he
-wisely executed the task he had laudably undertaken, of forming his
-daughter to emulate the perfections of her mother; whilst of the errors
-he instructed her to shun, he was too fatally enlightened by his
-intercourse with Mrs. Montague, on the causes of whose defects he had
-made many deep and painful reflections. Convinced by these that
-imagination, which is naturally too ardent in the generality of women,
-is cultivated to a fatal excess by the usual mode of education,
-confined, as this almost exclusively is, to the study of music,
-painting, and poetry; he therefore, after establishing the grand
-principles of religion and morality in his daughter's mind, directed his
-attention principally to forming her _judgment_; limiting her fancy to
-the subordinate office of _attendant_ on reason, never suffering it to
-usurp the place of guide. He had also observed, that vanity is still
-more dangerous to the female mind than even imagination. But it is only
-a long and steadily pursued course of exertion that can reduce this
-passion, so natural to the human heart, to exercise in its native
-kingdom only its just power. Solicitous that no latent vanity of his own
-should counteract his endeavours to limit its dangerous empire in his
-daughter's mind, he was sparing in the use of that powerful stimulant
-_praise_, which, though a very happy _consequence_, is too often a
-dangerous motive. As Adelaide had no domestic companion, her vanity was
-neither excited nor mortified by comparison; and it is one of those
-enemies to our peace, that suffer more from neglect than defeat. Nor
-was the baneful passion of envy introduced to her heart under the
-specious name of _emulation_, of which all ought to know it is the
-illegitimate sister, though the friends of emulation do not acknowledge
-the relationship. Her mind was endowed with knowledge, extensive enough
-to enable her to estimate justly the insufficiency of all human science,
-and to show her how far short of the _acmé_ of even that imperfect
-wisdom her own attainments fell. Being taught never to court display,
-she was thereby exempted from the torments of envious mortification, and
-early understood she was educated, not to bring forth her acquirements
-like a holiday suit, in which to shine occasionally, but to keep them in
-constant every-day use, to promote her own happiness, and the pleasures
-of those with whom she associated.
-
-Adelaide's docility, rather than her talents, enabled her to be every
-thing her father desired (for she was not, in truth, more highly
-endowed by nature than the generality of well-organized children); and
-he returned her enthusiastic love and veneration, by an affection little
-short of idolatry. But a father's too ardent love was beginning to
-wither in its bloom the plant it had so successfully reared; for
-Adelaide, when grown up, insensibly acquired an influence dangerous to a
-young female to possess over the mind of any man, and which is never so
-unlimited as over that of a father's in the decline of life. The virtues
-of the parent and child were alike dangerous to the future peace and
-well-being of the latter. He was too reasonable to subject her to those
-occasional acts of injustice, or fits of caprice, which every woman in
-her intercourse with mankind must expect and submit to, as inseparable
-from her condition. She, from the most laudable motives, was unceasingly
-occupied in the embellishment of her mind, which, though far preferable
-to an equally constant attention to externals, will, by a very
-different route, terminate one part of their course in the same
-end--_selfishness_. And as woman owes every thing that is admirable in
-her nature to a constant sacrifice of self, no acquirements can
-compensate for the perfection of character she can alone derive from
-this source. But in truth, the very best education a man alone can
-bestow on a woman must be defective. He may adorn her with the virtues
-of his own sex, but he cannot teach her the charities, the decencies,
-the proprieties of life, which it is the peculiar lot of hers to
-exercise. A female mind adorned with greater virtues only, without their
-connecting links, resembles a beautiful country, where the traveller
-passes from one bright region to another, over deep chasms, where,
-perhaps, he may fall to inevitable destruction. With all the generous
-virtues of her heart, with all the high endowments of her mind, Adelaide
-had yet one more necessary lesson to learn, which was painfully taught
-her when she lost her father; namely that, however imperative her
-welfare was to his happiness, she was of small consequence to the world
-in general, which would go on nearly as well whether she was living or
-dead, happy or miserable; and that she must thenceforward derive her
-felicity rather from her attention to the feelings of others, than from
-theirs to her own.
-
-Until Adelaide was seventeen, Baron Wildenheim resided principally at
-Vienna: here associating with the most distinguished characters of the
-day, to whom his talents and his various knowledge made him an
-acceptable companion; a select number were admitted to his own house, in
-order to promote the improvement of his daughter by such intercourse.
-Profiting by the facility which his German rank afforded for the
-purpose, he visited, in the short intervals of peace which Gallic
-ambition permitted, Italy, France, and most of the other Continental
-states; occasional change of scene being almost as necessary for the
-amusement of his mind, as advantageous for the improvement of his
-daughter's. But though for this latter purpose it was successful beyond
-his hopes, yet the slow but constant progress of disease was not thus to
-be warded off; and a residence in a mild and equable climate being
-pronounced by the physicians of Vienna absolutely necessary for the
-preservation of his life, about two years before Adelaide's arrival in
-England they removed to Sicily, where he made choice of Catania for his
-residence.
-
-Here for the first time in her life Adelaide enjoyed the pleasures and
-advantages of female society. The Catanese are amongst the most elegant
-women in Europe; and the attractive graces of their manners appearing to
-her with all the force of novelty, she quickly and involuntarily made
-them her own. Her youthful beauty--her artless elegance, and her
-cultivation of mind, caused her to be admired to an excess, which gave
-her father as much pain as pleasure, as he trembled lest it should call
-forth that vanity and inordinate desire of pleasing, which he had so
-earnestly laboured to repress, too well aware of its having been the
-cause of Mrs. Montague's destruction.
-
-"_La bella Adelina_" was the object, to which the young Catanian
-nobility paid the most flattering attention, the most exaggerated
-compliments. Luckily for her she felt so little awe of her father, that
-she told him without reserve all the feelings this new scene excited in
-her mind. And he, appealing to her good sense, pointed out to her notice
-the hyperbole of the praises she received, thus rendering them in a
-short time more tiresome than agreeable. The Baron had early suffered
-his daughter to know she was handsome. She had hitherto been as much
-accustomed and as indifferent to the beauty of the robe in which her
-soul was enveloped, as she was to the habitual elegance of her every-day
-apparel.
-
-He now went still further; and as piety was the main spring of all her
-thoughts and feelings, he taught her to be religiously thankful for a
-gift, which pre-disposed her fellow creatures in her favour;
-representing also that it ought to make her still more desirous to
-retain an approbation thus gratuitously bestowed. By this means her very
-beauty made her humble; as, in her estimate of her own character, she
-always attributed the praises she received but to a premature and
-therefore exaggerated opinion of her merit, which she consequently
-endeavoured to make in intrinsic worth equal to its received value.
-
-About this period in the formation of Adelaide's character, Frederick
-Elton arrived at Catania. Though he was perhaps the most ardent of her
-admirers, his peculiar ideas regarding women in general led him rather
-to call forth the powers of her mind by rational conversation, than to
-weaken it by flattery. He was luckily not able, like his Sicilian
-rivals, to write sonnets, or make improviso stanzas by the hour "to her
-eye-brow;" and therefore had the less inducement to emulate the laudable
-endeavours of his competitors, to make her frivolous and silly solely
-to display their own abilities.
-
-Oh! that her guardian angel would sometimes whisper in exulting beauty's
-ear, that man is often only enraptured with his own genius, when he
-seems most to adulate her charms!
-
-Baron Wildenheim directed all his penetration to the investigation of
-Frederick's character; and, fearing to trust entirely to his own
-observation on a point of so much importance, resumed his correspondence
-with Mr. Austin, from whom he received the most satisfactory
-confirmation of the honourable opinion his judgment had previously led
-him to form of the lover, on whom his daughter had unconsciously
-bestowed her affections. He therefore resolved, that whenever Mr. Elton
-should demand her hand, he would restore her to all her rights, by
-accomplishing her introduction to her mother's family and his own. His
-satisfaction at the prospect of securing Adelaide's happiness, by
-uniting her to a man worthy of his highest approbation, reconciled him
-to the idea of losing the only solace of that life, which he felt would
-not be much longer a burthen to him. Not less generous was his
-daughter--and from the moment she was aware of Frederick's love, she
-determined to discourage it, for the reasons he related to Sedley. The
-Baron's indignation at Frederick's abrupt departure was as great, as the
-satisfaction his love for Adelaide had afforded him. She endeavoured to
-preserve her usual cheerfulness; but his penetration soon discovered she
-had feelings, that were not communicated to him. One day, on perceiving
-her ill suppressed agitation, as the subject of conversation glanced on
-Elton, he muttered, "Villain! rascal! how he has abused my confidence!"
-Adelaide, hurt at this undeserved censure, entered warmly into his
-defence, and her father soon extorted from her, that she had refused his
-offers, though she still concealed, or thought she concealed, her
-motives and her regrets. "Adelina!" exclaimed he, with unusual asperity,
-"is this the reward of an existence devoted to your welfare? I could
-not have believed that you would have set at naught my authority; nay
-worse, have _deceived_ me." When she however threw herself into his
-arms, imploring his forgiveness, all the tenderness of his feelings
-returned with redoubled force; and penetrating her motives, he pressed
-her fondly to his heart, making a silent vow that his "too generous
-child should not sacrifice her happiness to his." The name of Elton was
-never again articulated by either; but the rapid progress of Baron
-Wildenheim's complaint warned him he must quickly put his design in
-execution, or that his lovely daughter would shortly be left in a
-foreign country, without relation or protector; Sicily being perhaps of
-all others the most dreadful to leave her in thus situated, from the
-depravity of its inhabitants, and its corrupt, ill administered
-government.
-
-When he informed Adelaide of his intention of taking her to England, her
-joy was extravagant; but on perceiving the mournful expression of her
-father's countenance, she ceased to display her pleasure, and
-affectionately embracing him, said, "You know, my beloved father, you
-are all the world to me; my greatest delight in the prospect of going to
-England is, that I shall there see you in your native country, with your
-own friends: I can never be happier than I have been with you; but I
-often mourn, that all my exertions are insufficient to make you so."
-"Adelina, I charge you, be silent on that subject," replied the
-afflicted parent; and, overcome by the torturing reflections she had
-unconsciously conjured up, retired to compose his mind in solitude.
-
-A few days after this conversation they proceeded to Paris. From whence
-Baron Wildenheim wrote an earnest request to Mr. Austin and Maurice
-O'Sullivan to meet him at Dover, for which place he immediately set out
-when their answers reached him; and there without delay delivered to the
-former a will, appointing him trustee to all that remained of the wreck
-of his fortune, for the benefit of Adelaide, with the exception of a
-small annuity reserved for his own life, but nominating Maurice
-O'Sullivan her guardian. The unhappy father then went through the
-distressing task of disclosing to his former friend and fellow soldier
-the principal events, which had marked his life previous to the
-commencement of their acquaintance, beseeching him to relate them
-hereafter to Adelaide as delicately as possible, and also to introduce
-her to her grandfather and Lord Osselstone. Both these injunctions
-Maurice willingly promised to fulfil, happy to have any means of serving
-a man to whom he owed many obligations. The Baron had never told his
-daughter the history of his early years: he could not in her childhood,
-and when she was capable of accurately distinguishing right from wrong,
-he feared it might irreparably injure her character, to have her respect
-diminished for the person engaged in forming it. Perhaps his reluctance
-to be his own accuser to his child was not the least powerful motive
-for silence on this subject: he could not bear to think she should ever
-in his presence be obliged to appeal to her affection, to silence the
-censures her judgment must pass on his conduct--such voluntary
-self-abasement, in a mind of this high tone, was indeed almost more than
-human nature is equal to. He therefore had contented himself with
-informing Adelaide, that some disagreeable circumstances had made him
-prefer residing in the country in which his estates were situated, to
-that of which he was a native. He would sometimes converse with her of
-Lord Osselstone, whom he early taught her to love and revere; but never
-made the most distant allusion to her mother's name or connexions,
-partly because the subject was too afflicting to himself, partly because
-he could not in that case account for his having concealed his
-relationship from the uncle of Rose, with whom he had been so many years
-associated, and with whom he had subsequently maintained a constant
-correspondence, having resolved to resign his daughter, in the first
-instance, to the protection of Maurice, whenever the effects of
-unextinguishable grief should indicate the probable termination of his
-own life.
-
-When Mr. Austin met the Baron at Dover, he entreated him to leave
-England as speedily as possible, lest the friends of Montague, who
-resided in the neighbourhood of that town, should, by some fortuitous
-occurrence, make out his identity; a circumstance by no means
-improbable, as his person must be recognised should he meet the brother
-of his unfortunate antagonist, who not unfrequently visited the very
-hotel they inhabited, and which they could not quit without exciting
-observations that might prove dangerous in their consequences. Though
-Wildenheim cared not for life on his own account, and would willingly
-have resigned it to satisfy the laws of his country; yet he trembled in
-every nerve for his daughter's peace, should he fall a sacrifice to
-their justice; and therefore fixed the third day after their landing to
-bid her an eternal adieu!
-
-Though he had sufficient strength of mind to resolve on tearing himself
-from his child, yet he felt totally unequal to the trial of witnessing
-her affliction on first hearing the dreadful intelligence. Mr. Austin
-therefore undertook the task; and on the morning preceding the day
-appointed, informed Adelaide of the indispensable necessity of their
-separation, and of the arrangement made with Maurice O'Sullivan, to
-introduce her to Lord Osselstone, presenting her with a packet of
-letters her father had written for her benefit, which she was to make
-use of when she came of age, in case any unforeseen occurrence should
-prevent her appointed guardian fulfilling his promise; adding, that
-should her relations refuse to receive her, he was in possession of the
-necessary testimonials of her birth. Of all these particulars the
-afflicted girl at the moment only understood she was to be deprived of
-her father! The thinking faculty within her was almost suspended by the
-agony of this idea. She offered no remonstrance to Mr. Austin; and
-making a sign of acquiescence, instantly sought her father, to try those
-powers of persuasion which never yet had failed in procuring from him
-every wish of her heart: but on seeing the despair of his countenance,
-she was wholly overcome; the hope, which had supported, now forsook her,
-and she sunk senseless in his arms.
-
-When she revived, she implored his pity in the most moving terms; asked
-how she had merited this dreadful separation; and finding him, though
-deeply affected, inexorable in his determination, at last departed from
-her usual docility, saying, "Of what would promote your happiness, my
-dearest father, there can be no doubt; I am the best judge of my own and
-_will_ not leave you: to lose you in the course of nature would be
-sufficiently dreadful; but this living death is tenfold more horrible:
-oh! can you desert your child, who lives but in you, whose only joy is
-in your approving smiles?"
-
-Her miserable auditor now did violence to his feelings, by assuming, for
-the first time in his life, all the sternness of parental command.
-Adelaide convulsively sobbed on his shoulder. "Pardon me, pardon me; I
-submit, though my heart will break: that angry look would kill me to
-think of; smile on me, my father." "Smile! oh, my God! I shall never
-smile again;" exclaimed the wretched parent: then fondly caressing her,
-said, "My child, have mercy on your unfortunate father; my own feelings
-are those of desperation; spare me the sight of yours. By your present
-affliction I secure your future happiness; but mine--Adelina, I
-entreat--in a few hours we part: do not speak of what is yet to come."
-He was obeyed; and that day passed in the sullen calm which precedes
-expected misery.
-
-Adelaide retired at a late hour to her own apartment, but not to bed;
-for she had perceived with terror how alarmingly ill her father looked;
-and fearing the return of a spasmodic complaint he was subject to, sat
-up, to be able to apply the necessary remedies at a moment's warning.
-
-He in the mean time prepared to set out immediately on his voyage,
-wishing to spare her a parting he felt his own fortitude unequal to. Her
-room was inside his, and supposing her to be at rest, he entered it to
-take a last look of his lovely child!
-
-She was sitting half asleep, overcome by drowsiness and anxiety--the
-light flashed across her eyes--she started up in wild affright, and
-forcibly impressed by the feelings of her agitating dreams, clasped him
-in her arms, saying, "We will never, never part, whilst life remains."
-His fortitude utterly forsook him; and with a deep groan he sank in the
-arms of his child.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-His countenance in death was impressed with the happy consciousness,
-that his last look on earth had been blessed with her image; and with
-the pious hope, that sincere and protracted penitence had made his peace
-with Heaven.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-    In my last humble pray'r to the Spirit above,
-    Thy name shall be mingled with mine.
-
-    oeMOOREoe.
-
-
-Oh! how did Adelaide now wish she could obtain that separation she had
-so lately thought worse than death itself! No tear escaped her
-bewildered eye; no complaint issued from her lacerated bosom; mute and
-motionless she sat, unconscious of all that passed around, musing on the
-fearful, fathomless void within! Her constitution could not long support
-this existence of silent horror; and a violent fever, which for several
-days endangered her life, and reduced her to a state of extreme
-weakness, saved her mind from destruction. When she recovered, her
-grief, though deep, was placid, and her mild dejection won her the love
-and pity of all whose hearts were not harder than adamant. As soon as
-she was able to bear the journey, her guardian brought her to Webberly
-House, and, during the short time he survived her father, endeavoured to
-soothe her sorrow by the most affectionate kindness. His delay in
-executing the promise he had given, of presenting her to Mr. O'Sullivan
-and Lord Osselstone, arose not from any intention of ultimately
-defrauding her of her rights, but from an anticipation of the
-mortifications his doing so would probably occasion him to experience in
-his domestic circle. He knew the respect with which he was treated by
-the Webberlys was principally owing to the idea that he or his daughter
-would one day possess a valuable estate; and though in his own person he
-could, from the manly firmness of his manners, command a sufficient
-degree of consideration for the common purposes of every day
-intercourse; yet he was well aware, that when he was not present, his
-little portionless Caroline would be treated by his wife's children
-with the utmost contumely; and he was moreover weak enough to dread the
-first explosion of Mrs. O'Sullivan's violent temper, when her hopes of
-increased wealth should be disappointed by the establishment of
-Adelaide's claims. He therefore, from day to day, shunned the expected
-storm. At night he would sink to sleep, in the firm determination of
-informing his wife on the morrow of Adelaide's relationship, as a
-preliminary to his writing to her grandfather on the subject; but when
-the morrow came, he either thought Mrs. O'Sullivan in such good humour,
-it was a pity to spoil the short-lived pleasure arising from it, or else
-that she was so much the reverse, it was impolitic to choose that very
-time to irritate her further. On other mornings, when convinced she had
-attained that happy medium most favourable to his important
-communication, business or company interfered; and in the evening he had
-too frequent recourse to intoxication, to drown the pains of
-recollection. Thus, in impotent resolve and fruitless repentance, passed
-the few months he survived after Adelaide was committed to his care. On
-his death, Mr. Austin would have done what this spirit of
-procrastination had prevented; had he not found, on examining the papers
-put into his hands by Adelaide's father, that, though there was enough
-to convince willing relatives of their truth, yet the evidence they
-contained fell far short of legal testimony. Every necessary formality
-to prove her parentage had been neglected at Hamburgh--a circumstance
-easily accounted for, by the distraction of her father's mind on leaving
-that place; and the name of Wildenheim, which she had received at Meurs,
-made it still more difficult to prove her identity as the child of Rose;
-for which purpose Mr. Austin then entered into a correspondence with
-various people resident in different parts of the Continent. From the
-apparent frigidity of Lord Osselstone's character, he had no hopes of
-his interesting himself for his orphan niece; whilst from her mother's
-family he expected open opposition. He therefore enjoined Adelaide to
-remain unknown to her relations, till the period prescribed by her
-father for her acting for herself, in case her guardian should fail to
-fulfil his promise, by which time, if ever, he hoped to obtain every
-necessary proof in support of her claims; and lest any youthful
-imprudence should betray her into a premature disclosure, he carefully
-concealed from her her relationship to the O'Sullivans, though with her
-affinity to Lord Osselstone he knew she was already acquainted.
-
-The time appointed for terminating Miss Wildenheim's suspense at length
-arrived, and found her under the roof of her only remaining parent,
-though as yet totally unconscious of their relationship. On the eve of
-the day on which her minority expired, she retired to her own apartment
-in Mr. O'Sullivan's house, sorrowfully reflecting, that in two more she
-should part most probably for ever from this interesting old man. But
-this feeling was soon lost in the joy with which she remembered, that
-on the morrow she should make the first step to claim the love and
-protection of her uncle, and the rest of her paternal relatives. She
-fondly anticipated the praises which would delight her ear, as due to
-her beloved father's virtues and talents; and with heartfelt pleasure
-recollected, that Augustus Mordaunt was almost her brother. But the
-happiness of these thoughts was damped by the idea, that he and Lord
-Osselstone were then abroad; and she reflected with sorrow, that were it
-not for Mr. and Mrs. Temple, she should, on her return to England, be as
-desolate as ever. "But God," thought she, "tempers the wind to the shorn
-lamb;" and her heart dilated with gratitude to earth and Heaven, on the
-remembrance of what she humbly felt to be unmerited friendship. Her
-first feelings led her to open the portfolio, which contained the packet
-of letters Mr. Austin had charged her not to unseal till this period;
-but at the sight of her father's writing, the agony of the moment in
-which she had received it, with all the dreadful scenes which
-immediately followed, rose to her mind in all their first horror; and,
-completely overcome, she felt the dreadful consciousness, that none now
-existing on earth could fill that vacuum, which the loss of this beloved
-father would ever leave in her heart. The vision of happiness, which a
-few moments before had appeared so vivid, now seemed to have been but a
-vain illusion, that had mocked her with a dream of bliss. At that
-instant earth had no consolation to offer for her sorrows; but she
-turned to Heaven and found it there.
-
-When she rose from her supplications, she hastily returned the packet to
-her portfolio. "I will not trust myself with it again," thought she; "I
-have here no friend to soothe, to _control_ my mind.--In a few days I
-shall be with Mrs. Temple."
-
-There are minds, which are capable of an intensity of regret, that
-others can scarcely conceive. Long after it has lost the more
-tumultuous character of grief, it lies deep in the recesses of the
-heart. The cares, the pleasures of the world, may for a time conceal it,
-even from self-consciousness; but there it ever endures. The vigour of a
-strong mind may reduce it to temporary inertness, but it will at times
-break every bond, and vindicate its empire. Like the Genius of the
-eastern tale, who, though for ages confined in the casket by the seal of
-Solomon, rose when the signet of wisdom was broken, in the same awful
-might he had possessed, before reduced to submission by its coercive
-power.
-
-Whilst in one room at Ballinamoyle a daughter mourned her father, in
-another a son defied his mother. Mr. Webberly was at that moment
-informing Mrs. O'Sullivan, he would, on the morrow, make his
-long-meditated proposal to Miss Wildenheim: he had fulfilled his promise
-of waiting till she was of age; and said, that if she was so
-unreasonable as to require still further delay, he could no longer
-comply, as the difference of a day might deprive him of Adelaide for
-ever. The Desmonds were to take their farewell on Caroline's birth-day;
-Miss Wildenheim would commence her journey to England on the following
-morning; and it was not at all likely Colonel Desmond would suffer her
-to depart, without making those offers some people thought would be
-accepted. This very idea made Mrs. O'Sullivan more eager in her
-entreaties, more authoritative in her commands to her son, to defer his
-intentions till their arrival at Webberly House. The conference ended in
-passion on both sides, he exclaiming, "By Gad, mother, you are never to
-be satisfied;--be damned if I stand shilly shally any longer!" "Then,
-Jack, you shan't have my blessing for an _opthalmia_; and you know
-that's better worth than the priest's, as the song says."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-    And if there be a human tear
-    From passion's dross refin'd and clear--
-    A tear so limpid and so meek,
-    It would not stain an angel's cheek;
-    'Tis that which pious fathers shed
-    Upon a duteous daughter's head.
-
-    oeLADY OF THE LAKEoe.
-
-
-That day which had nineteen times been passed at Ballinamoyle in solemn
-sadness, as the anniversary of the death of its lovely heiress, arrived
-once again--and was again marked by those outward signs of woe, which
-gratified the feelings of a disconsolate father, as a tribute of respect
-to the memory of her, who still in the freshest youth lived in his
-heart.
-
-No stranger on that day approached the desolate mansion, to partake of
-its hospitality, or receive its charity. The domestics, habited in deep
-mourning, flitted about the halls and passages in total silence; every
-countenance was impressed by a dejection, that affected the most
-thoughtless with unusual seriousness--even Mrs. O'Sullivan's servants
-spoke in a whisper.
-
-When the visitors assembled in the breakfast-room, neither their host
-nor the priest appeared; and Theresa informed her guests, that the
-former always passed this day in solitude. The same depression which
-pervaded the rest of the house, seemed to exert its saturnine influence
-in this apartment also. Mrs. O'Sullivan and her son were both too much
-irritated, and each too completely engrossed in forming plans to
-circumvent the intentions of the other, to offer a single word of
-conversation. Adelaide and Miss Fitzcarril were occupied by a train of
-distressing reflections, little aware, that they were caused in the mind
-of each by the same event. The Miss Webberlys only interrupted the
-general silence, by occasionally indulging in that pettish crossness,
-which the sight of unparticipated sorrow always produces in weak and
-selfish minds, whilst their fretful words and looks terrified the timid
-little Caroline.
-
-In the mean time Mr. O'Sullivan, after assisting in that service, by
-which the Catholic Church permits the living relative, with fond
-anxiety, to extend its cares beyond the grave, retired with the reverend
-priest to his own apartment.
-
-"Oh, my friend," said the afflicted parent, "you received my child into
-the bosom of our holy church; you heard her first innocent confession,
-you sanctified her fatal marriage vows, and how soon after did you offer
-up the prayers of my broken heart for the repose of her departed soul!"
-
-"She was almost as much the child of my affections as of yours," replied
-the priest, greatly moved: "and how graciously did Heaven reward my
-endeavours to form her mind to the practice of every virtue! Never did a
-purer spirit inhabit a human form! Let us rejoice in this," continued
-he, his countenance beaming with the cheering hopes of devotion; "we
-have both hitherto offended by a grief that 'would not be comforted.'
-Shall we, standing on the brink of the grave, still presume to murmur?
-Let me exhort you to break through the accustomed indulgence of
-unavailing sorrow, that would vainly strive against the will of Heaven:
-you have always shunned consolation, seek it humbly and sincerely, and
-it will be sent from above!"
-
-The old man sighed deeply, and made that devotional sign which marks the
-pious Catholic. His eyes were cast upwards, and his lips moved as if in
-prayer. Whilst the creature addressed his Creator, the holy minister of
-religion paused in reverential silence; but when the spontaneous
-supplication had ceased, he again addressed his friend. "I would fain
-impose a trial on you--a bitter one I confess; but could you accomplish
-it, you would hereafter feel as becomes a mortal sufferer. The solitude,
-the lugubrious forms of this day, nourish the grief it behoves you to
-struggle against. The presence of strangers is a fortunate circumstance,
-and will afford you an assistance your own domestic circle is incapable
-of. Return to society; receive your guests as if this were to-morrow and
-to-morrow will rise with a feeling of satisfaction, to which you have
-long been a stranger."
-
-Though O'Sullivan afterwards pondered on these words till he almost
-believed them to have been an inspiration from Heaven, he at the moment
-vehemently asserted the impossibility of his making such an exertion. A
-considerable time elapsed, before the remonstrances of Father Dermoody
-could overcome his reluctance to wrestle with "this cherished woe, this
-loved despair;" but at last the advice of the friend, the admonitions of
-the pastor, prevailed; and Mr. O'Sullivan, accompanied by his reverend
-guide, appeared amongst his visitors, who were still assembled in the
-breakfast-room. On entering, he bowed profoundly to all, then seated
-himself in silence, with a mournful sternness that repelled every body
-from addressing him, farther than to manifest that respect, which was
-always involuntarily testified towards him. Miss Fitzcarril could
-scarcely have been more surprised, had she seen the apparition of Rose
-herself, than she was by the sight of her father on this morning;
-lifting up her hands and eyes, she whispered her astonishment to Father
-Dermoody, who requested her to abstain from exhibiting any further token
-of it. Some of the party continued their occupations, some their
-idleness, but no one spoke; and all, from time to time, anxiously looked
-towards the windows, to judge from the increasing gloom of the sky, how
-near the tempest it foreboded approached.
-
-The aspect of nature was at that moment as dreary as O'Sullivan's heart.
-That stillness, which sometimes precedes the coming storm, reigned
-unbroken. Clouds of portentous blackness were slowly congregating, to
-dart the forked lightning; but not a leaf moved, not a bird flitted in
-the motionless air; and as the dark veil hung over the lake, its dormant
-waters gave but the idea of fearful profundity. The silence of night is
-awful, yet the soul confesses it the repose of nature; but when this
-dread torpor appals the joyous day, every animate and inanimate object
-seems fearfully resigned to await her dissolution. While the ear paused
-in expectation of the hollow thunder, and the eye half closed as it
-anticipated the vivid flash, a wild cry arose--"Good God! what's that?"
-was the general exclamation. It was the wail, with which the children of
-this mountain region deplored their dead. No softening gale lent it
-beauty; the winds that were wont to sport with the accents of human woe,
-wafting them to the mountain's rugged brow, or saddening the smiling
-valley at its foot, now slumbered in the slowly rolling clouds. Horrible
-and harsh the lamenting voice of hundreds smote the ear. Once it was
-reverberated from rocks as lifeless as the being it bemoaned, whilst
-the mourners and their sad burden were hidden from the view.
-
-O'Sullivan started, and his eyes rested on the figure of Adelaide. As
-she had compassionately viewed his sorrowful countenance, memory had too
-faithfully depicted to her mind the anguish, which had always marked
-this eventful day to her father. The sudden doleful lamentation had
-completely overcome her spirits, and with her hands clasped in agony,
-torrents of tears were streaming down her cheeks, whilst, as the chilled
-blood recoiled to her heart, her dark hair threw a melancholy shade on
-her palid face. The impulse of humanity overcame the silence of sorrow;
-O'Sullivan instantly seized her hand, and as her eyes mournfully met
-his, exclaimed, "Desmond has told me all; you grieve for your father, I
-for my child. A desolate old man like me has little comfort to offer.
-But for her sake, whose living image you are, in my heart's core could I
-hide you from all trouble." Adelaide, leaning her head on his shoulder,
-sobbed aloud.
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, inflamed by anger at her son, and by jealousy of the
-tenderness expressed in her brother-in-law's countenance for the lovely
-mourner, whose confiding attitudes seemed to repose her affliction on
-his solacing compassion, now whispered to Amelia, "This is _too_ bad;
-that artful baggage has got him under her thumb too;--mayhap he may
-devize his fortin to _her_ instead of Caroline, after all--I'll tell him
-what she is." So saying, passion accelerating her utterance and
-crimsoning her face, she addressed Mr. O'Sullivan with, "Sir, sir, that
-Miss that's putting a sham upon you is a wagabond; and if she doesn't
-look to her ways, I'll have her sent home by the alien act, as Meely
-bids me. She tells up about English relations; but in two years she's
-lived with me, she wouldn't never tell me who they were: she's an
-imposter, and vill make a cat's paw of you, as she did of your brother,
-and----" "Gad zooks, mother" interrupted Webberly, "what odds is it
-who's her relations; when she marries, her husband's family is all she
-has to look to." "Jacky! Jacky! you'll never come to no good--you're an
-undutiful son! I'll get her packed off to Germany as sure as----"
-"What's all this, madam?" said Mr. O'Sullivan, with a look of
-contemptuous displeasure, that produced instant silence: "I will stand
-in the place of my brother to this young lady, if she will honour me by
-committing herself to my protection. Your threats against the
-unoffending ward of your husband are shameful." "Sir," said Adelaide,
-commanding herself to composure, "the gratitude I feel is inexpressible!
-But on this day there is no impediment, to prevent my satisfying Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's desire to know my parentage; of this she is well aware. My
-father, madam," continued she, with grave steadiness, "Reginald Baron
-Wildenheim, was the youngest brother of the present Earl of Osselstone.
-Soon after my birth, he renounced his family name of Mordaunt, and
-adopted his German title." O'Sullivan essayed to speak in vain; his lip
-quivered, but no sound met the ear of man; and his half palsied hand
-trembled as it passed a sign of deepest import to the priest, who
-darting forward, exclaimed, "Your mother's name, young lady--speak, did
-she die at Hamburgh?" "Alas! yes, on the day I was born; her name was
-one which, honoured and lamented here, I trembled to pronounce--it was
-Rose!" The old man uttered an hysterical laugh, and clasping her in his
-arms, faltered out, "Her child then was saved!" "Produce your proofs!"
-exclaimed the priest; "by every sacred name I conjure you, produce your
-proofs!" Mrs. O'Sullivan, raging with passion, vociferated, "She is an
-impostor; an artful minx, come to cheat Caroline." The Miss Webberlys
-screamed in Adelaide's ear, "Produce your proofs if you dare!" Their
-brother, with equal fury, interfered on her behalf. Little Caroline
-clung crying to her knees, "They shan't hurt you, dear Adele, they
-shan't hurt you!" Whilst Theresa, with terror in her looks, went from
-one to the other, saying, "For God's sake have done; leave the room if
-you can't be quiet; Mr. O'Sullivan will never get over such a piece of
-work on this day, of all days in the year!" But Adelaide was unconscious
-of all; she had taken her grandfather's agitated laugh, his
-unintelligible words, for a wandering of reason, on hearing a name
-resembling his daughter's unexpectedly mentioned; and, horror-struck,
-had sunk lifeless in his arms. When he saw the paleness of death in her
-cold cheek and blanched lip, stamping on the floor, he exclaimed, "You
-have killed her! Unfeeling wretches, you have killed her!" Father
-Dermoody and Theresa hastily stepped forward to offer that assistance he
-was incapable of bestowing, and immediately removed her to a
-neighbouring apartment, excluding every body else.
-
-It was long ere Adelaide revived. When consciousness returned, she found
-herself in a strange apartment. The gloom almost of midnight was
-around; the storm had burst, and was raging with awful fury; the thunder
-rolled tremendously above her head, and a vivid flash of lightning
-illuminated the countenance of one kneeling at her side, on which she
-saw despair--the despair of venerable age, depicted. With an involuntary
-shudder she averted her head, and raised both her hands, as if to save
-her from the terrific vision. "Father of mercy!" exclaimed O'Sullivan,
-"I lost my child, and lived--lived but to see hers shun me." "Oh, my
-God!" ejaculated the agonized girl, "have mercy on him!--poor old man!
-poor old man!" and she burst into a paroxysm of tears. When she
-recovered a little from the racking emotions which tortured her, she
-mournfully took his hand, and said, "I do not shun you; God knows to
-console yours would be a delightful solace to my own afflictions. But I
-implore you to pause before you cherish these delusive ideas; a few
-minutes will suffice to convince you of the fatal error you have fallen
-into." She then, in a whisper, entreated Miss Fitzcarril to procure her
-portfolio, as she feared to irritate Mr. O'Sullivan's mind, by leaving
-him herself. Theresa fulfilled her request, and then with true delicacy
-retired.
-
-Adelaide eagerly tore open the important packet, and the first paper
-that presented itself was one directed to Mr. O'Sullivan, which, with
-inconceivable trepidation, she presented to him; but at the sight of the
-writing he dashed it from him with looks of fury--"Never will I read
-another from that detested hand, that last blasted my every hope of
-earthly happiness!" The priest seizing the letter, hurried him out of
-the room. "Unfortunate man!" exclaimed Adelaide; "Oh, why did I mention
-his daughter's name, after the warning I received from Colonel Desmond?"
-In an agony of mind not to be described, she attempted to read a letter
-addressed by her father to herself; but when it informed her of such of
-the particulars of his life as were necessary to explain her
-relationship to her present venerable protector, she was so bewildered,
-that she half despairingly pressed the letter to her heart, and silently
-implored a supporting power from above. When she had again composed her
-mind sufficiently to comprehend its contents, she was so stunned with
-surprise, that she had scarcely power to feel how happy she ought to be,
-as she repeated, "My grandfather! can it indeed be possible?" But she
-was roused to a painful sense of anxiety and acute perception of sorrow,
-when she came to the following paragraph, "Let it be your consolation,
-my beloved child, that all the happiness I have known since your angelic
-mother's death, has been your boon. Heaven permitted her to leave you to
-me, as a gift of love, as a pledge of its mercy. I bequeath that filial
-piety, which has been the solace of my existence, to her father, as a
-reparation for the loss of his daughter. For my sake he may be harsh to
-you, perhaps refuse to receive you; but pardon him, and, if he will
-permit you, soothe the sorrows of his old age; he has much to forgive
-your erring father." With indignation she now recollected how his letter
-had been received, and every softer feeling, every selfish
-consideration, was swallowed up in offended filial affection, as she
-thought, "Never will I accept of kindness from one, who could spurn me
-from resentment to my adored father!"
-
-At that moment she heard O'Sullivan's step. Oh, who shall tell the tide
-of tumultuous thoughts that overwhelmed her soul, as his hand
-tremulously turned the lock of the door? 'twas but an instant--but how
-much of misery cannot the human heart suffer in this short earthly
-denomination of time!
-
-He entered; and, as he approached, her heart seemed to die within her.
-At first she could not move, but gazed almost unconsciously on his face,
-and seeing there the mildness of grief, the benevolence of pity, the
-warmth of paternal love, she knelt at his feet in speechless emotion,
-whilst her looks, her attitude, implored his benediction. "Oh, may the
-God of mercy bestow those blessings on you, that were denied your
-mother!" He pressed her in his arms, and wept as he said, "My child, my
-beloved child, I have not lived these years of misery in vain! Bless
-you, bless you!" And now "joy and sorrow strove which should paint her
-goodliest. You have seen sunshine and rain at once--her smiles and tears
-were like a better May--those happy smiles, which played on her ripe
-lip, seemed not to know what guests were in her eyes, which parted
-thence as pearls from diamonds dropp'd."
-
-When the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, the anxious parent
-looked at his loved treasure, first fearfully, and then a happy smile
-seemed to say, "Thank God, here at least she is safe from every storm!"
-with that a closer embrace pressed her to his heart. "My father!" were
-the first words she attempted to articulate. "Adelaide," interrupted
-the old man, "whatever may have been his errors, you will, on reading
-that letter, easily believe I no longer resent them. I erred deeply,
-sinfully, in not receiving the prodigal son when he first implored my
-forgiveness; but passion blinded me, and I have been severely punished.
-I knew him not then! Oh! did he live now, my heart would warmly open to
-him." Adelaide was nearly suffocated with her sobs. O'Sullivan supported
-her to the window for air: for the elemental strife was now over, and
-the rushing torrents had ceased to fall. The rippling waters of the lake
-laughed in the beams of the sun, and softly rolled on their verdant
-banks. Every bough waved in the wanton air, and from bush and brake
-innumerable birds poured forth joyful melody. The cottage cur once more
-barked at the stranger, and the peaceful herds again grazed the green
-islets. Adelaide felt the composing power of the scene, and, drying her
-tears, read the letter she had received.
-
-     oeTO CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN, ESQUIREoe.
-
-     The misery I feel at this moment is not less, than that which rent
-     my heart when last I addressed you. Time has but made the
-     remembrance of my beloved Rose dearer, more afflicting to my soul;
-     and her child, who for nineteen years has been my only earthly
-     happiness, I now resign, as the sole reparation I can make, to
-     Heaven and to you, for the errors of that guilty course, which have
-     not been expiated by years of misery and penitence. I once again
-     implore your forgiveness for all the sufferings I have occasioned
-     you. Oh, my God! what a wreck of happiness I have made for myself
-     and others! I have been a misfortune to all connected with me. What
-     a stab must I not give to my daughter's heart, when I tell her we
-     part _to meet no more_! What tears of bitter anguish will she not
-     shed, when she hears the recital of those misdeeds, so degrading to
-     the memory of the father, whom she fondly thinks the first of human
-     beings! Yet the misery of her mind on hearing my errors would be
-     felicity compared to the anguish mine has endured, when, for her
-     sake, I have undergone the martyrdom of her praises. My lovely
-     child!--Had you seen the happy smiles, the endearing caresses, with
-     which she bid me good night, but a few minutes ago, and known the
-     _despair_ of my soul, as I thought, never shall I behold that
-     unclouded smile again; but once more hear those words, you would
-     say, the forfeit of his guilt is paid; and lament for the
-     unfortunate being you have hitherto cursed. By every sacred name,
-     by the memory of her sainted mother, by the agonies of a wretched
-     father, I conjure you, protect, cherish, and console my child. All
-     that a parent's heart could wish, all that the daughter of Rose
-     should be, she is--and we part for ever. I shall not survive to
-     have my miserable days cheered by the affection, with which I know
-     you will treat the inheritor of the virtues of your beloved Rose,
-     but my last moments will be brightened by the joyous hope----
-
-     "Enclosed you will find papers written at a calmer moment, for the
-     benefit of Adelaide--pardon him you once called son. As you value
-     your eternal hopes, I charge you to be kind to my child. She has
-     never offended you; her mother's form is renewed in hers; her
-     mother's virtues perpetuated in her mind. Say not that Rose exists
-     no more--in Adelaide she is again restored to your arms."
-
-Adelaide had wept, when there was something of consolation, of
-tenderness, in her emotions. But now her anguish admitted not of tears;
-the universe presented but one idea to her mind--the agony of her
-father's soul when his hand traced the words her eyes rested on.
-O'Sullivan addressed her in accents of the tenderest affection; she
-answered him but by that bitter smile, with which misery sometimes loves
-to make her devoted victims confess her empire. He was alarmed by her
-fixed looks, and said, "Rouse yourself, Adelaide; I will leave you to
-compose your agitated feelings, but not in solitude: come with me to the
-companion of many a sad moment." He opened an inner door, and grasping
-her hand with convulsive earnestness, said, "There is your mother's
-portrait; and at the foot of that altar she daily poured forth her
-grateful thanksgivings. There the supplications of her father daily
-ascend to the throne of grace." He hurried away, and Adelaide long and
-fervently prayed in a spot so hallowed. Her tears again flowed, as she
-turned to gaze on the resemblance of that form, which had never blessed
-her conscious sight, and mournfully exclaimed, "Both, both lost to me!"
-
-Rose had been drawn as Astarte inscribing her lover's name on the sand.
-The dejected expression of her heavenly countenance sadly contrasted the
-brilliant beauty of her youthful charms. Was it the melancholy of
-_Astarte_ the painter's art depicted? or had the fair being, whose form
-he traced, been already struck by the hand of sorrow? O'Sullivan's
-grief was daily renewed as his heart whispered, "Not thus my child
-looked under this roof.--So soon was all her innocent gaiety gone?"
-
-Adelaide was so absorbed by the ideas which rose in her mind, that she
-did not perceive the entrance of nurse, who came to perform her diurnal
-task of dressing the altar, and who standing behind her, now said,
-"That's the picture, dear, that Mr. Mordaunt sent his honour from
-London, six months after Miss Rose married him--an unlucky day that
-same! And a black-hearted false man he was, to leave my sweet angel, and
-run away wid another woman." Fire flashed from Adelaide's eye; the
-indignation which deprived her of utterance was expressed in her whole
-figure. Nurse awed, and as it were fascinated, by a look from which she
-could not withdraw her gaze, stared at her for a second or two, and then
-evidently terrified, exclaimed, "The blessed powers presarve me!--Who
-are you?--What are you? You're the very moral of Miss Rose! What brings
-you in her room this day of the year? No mortal has ever darkened the
-door since she died but myself and his honour. You're like enough to be
-her fetch, come in the storm to take him away from us. I pray God I may
-die first," continued she, weeping bitterly: "my heart was broke when I
-lost my sweet child. I trust in his mercy I haven't lived on these weary
-years, to drag my ould bones to his grave!"
-
-"Dear, dear nurse," said Adelaide, kissing her affectionately, smiles
-and tears struggling for mastery in her eyes, "I'm not come to take him
-away from you, but to make you both happy--I'm your own Rose's
-daughter." The old woman set up a shout of joy, and kissed her, and
-hugged her, and drew back to a little distance, resting her hands on
-Adelaide's shoulders to look at her from time to time, saying, "The very
-moral of her! the very moral of her! Her daughter! You wouldn't be so
-mischievous as to make an ould body crazy? It's not joking you are,
-jewel?"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-    Half a loaf is better than no bread.
-
-    oeOLD PARRoe.
-
-
-"So Caroline may do with the twenty thousand?"----This was Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's reflection as her carriage, for the last time, drove out of
-the demesne of Ballinamoyle. How she came to this conclusion, the reader
-must now be informed. Neither Miss Wildenheim nor her grandfather was
-visible for the remainder of the day, on which the trying scenes, that
-have just been related, occurred. But immediate steps were taken to
-prevent the celebration of Caroline's birthday, as had been intended, on
-the following morning; and Mr. Dermoody waited on her mother, to explain
-the reasons for this disappointment. He accomplished this task with
-much difficulty, as she interrupted him every three minutes with, "I
-can't understand nothing about it, Sir. She's an odorous imposter--I
-tell you, Sir, she's an abominable imposter." And she, in fine,
-threatened to take the law of Mr. O'Sullivan:--she'd see her child
-righted, cost what it would, and bring that artful baggage to shame. Mr.
-Dermoody then reminded her, that Caroline had no _right_ to her uncle's
-estate, who had given her father a large sum to cut off the entail; so
-that if Miss Wildenheim's claims were absolutely nugatory, it was
-entirely in his own disposal; but that as this transaction had taken
-place since her birth, it was invalid, as Adelaide was the heir at law
-in preference to Caroline's father; but that, to put the matter beyond
-doubt, the present proprietor intended to bequeath his estate
-immediately to his grandaughter, who would thus inherit it by a double
-tenure. He was too much incensed at that moment to tell her his belief,
-that Mr. O'Sullivan would also provide for his favourite little
-Caroline. "Wery vell, Sir, wery vell, I see how it is; she has set you
-up to cheat me. All these outgoings for nothing! I'd have seen your
-shabby old place at the dickens before I'd have come so far, if I'd
-guessed how it would have turned out. Me and mine will be off to-morrow,
-Sir;" so saying, she flounced out of the room.
-
-Father Dermoody had scarcely finished this discussion with one
-unreasonable woman, when he had to encounter a second with another. Miss
-Fitzcarril way-laid him in the passage from Mrs. O'Sullivan's apartment,
-to remonstrate on the folly of suffering all the expense and trouble,
-which had been incurred in the preparations made to entertain the
-tenantry, to go for nothing: "Why put off the meeting?--Wasn't Adelaide
-as good an heiress as Caroline? Another sort, on my conscience! I vow
-and declare I think it's very hard there shouldn't be just as much made
-of her as the other." "But you don't consider the indelicacy of such a
-thing; Mrs. O'Sullivan's feelings are sufficiently mortified."
-"Indelicacy, indeed!" retorted Theresa, sputtering, as she always did in
-the heat of an argument; "she knows just as much about delicacy as my
-foot does; and I should like to see her mortified just for her
-impertinence." The priest muttered something about an unchristian
-spirit, and rather gravely said, "If you won't listen to reason, madam,
-I must inform you in brief, that Mr. O'Sullivan won't suffer it; his
-pleasure you know is final." Theresa walked off, gesticulating with both
-her hands, and muttering, "Good Lord! was there ever any thing half so
-provoking! These men never have the least consideration, after all the
-trouble I have had! I'm sure I don't know what's to be done with the
-_loads_ of things that have been got!"
-
-The following morning Caroline did not, as usual, come to Adelaide's
-room. She rightly guessed she had been prohibited; but as she was
-proceeding to obey a message from Mr. O'Sullivan, to breakfast with him
-in his study, as he was too unwell to see more than one or two people
-at a time, she saw the little girl leaning over the bannisters of the
-stairs, sobbing as if her heart would break. "What's the matter, my
-darling?" said she, taking her fondly in her arms. "Unkind Adele!"
-sobbed out the afflicted child, "I wouldn't have hurt you for the world;
-and mama says you're my bitterest enemy. This is a dismal birthday to
-me; mama's going away, and I shall never see you again, Adele; and
-nobody loves me but you." Here the poor child, throwing her arms about
-her friend's neck, cried bitterly. "Dearest little Caroline, every body
-loves you." "No, no, Adele, my heart will break when I leave you." "We
-will not part," said Adelaide, straining her to her heart; "come with
-me." And taking Caroline to her grandfather, she placed her on his knee,
-and drew forth a repetition of her artless tale. "Mr. Dermoody has told
-me," said the generous girl, "that you have changed your intentions in
-her favour. How it would grieve me to injure her prospects! I am amply
-provided for; I do not desire any increase of fortune; all my heart
-requires is some being whom I may _securely_ love and be cherished by;
-and in you is not all this granted? Look at this little angel, and pity
-her, my dear parent. Oh! her heart will be either broken, or I should
-never forgive myself the destruction of this lovely creature, whom
-Providence has, I trust, employed me to save. On condition of your
-giving her your estate, I'm sure her mother would resign her to my
-charge till her minority expires." "Adelaide," said the old man, whilst
-the tears stood in her eyes, "you are as like your mother in mind as in
-person. Till now I thought no mortal could be as perfect as she was.
-Caroline shall stay with us, if I can accomplish it. My estate I cannot,
-will not, give her; but I have much to bestow besides, which I will
-offer her mother, on the conditions you mention." He proceeded
-immediately to Mrs. O'Sullivan, to execute this benevolent commission.
-Pride, and some remains of natural affection, made her hesitate to
-accept his offers. She retired to consult her elder children, and
-promised to return an answer in an hour. When she informed them of Mr.
-O'Sullivan's proposition, Mr. Webberly said, "As far as a few thousands
-goes, I have no objection to humour the old Don; and Caroline would be
-welcome to live with us. You needn't fret, mother; if this new heiress
-marries me, isn't the estate ours after all?" "That's true, so it is,
-Jack; you'd best make her an offer with all speed." "Do, brother," said
-Miss Cecilia Webberly, with an eagerness that little accorded with her
-usual languid delivery; "as I understand the matter, you'd be nephew to
-Lord Osselstone, and then Meely and I would be _fier ton_." When Mr.
-Webberly went in search of Miss Wildenheim, he was told she was in her
-own room, and could not be seen. "What was to be done?" As there was no
-time to lose, it was then settled in the family conclave, that Mrs.
-O'Sullivan should endeavour to gain admittance to the lady, who was
-now, like Dr. Lenitive's mistress, possessed of "ten thousand charms,"
-for the purpose of _soliciting_ that hand for her son, which four and
-twenty hours before she had so openly disdained!
-
-When she entered, Adelaide naturally supposing she came on no very
-friendly errand, received her with a curtsy of the most repulsive
-dignity; and with a cold gravity of manner, that made her visitor feel
-she had undertaken a commission she should find great difficulty in
-executing. She fluttered, and coloured, and hemmed, and played with the
-costly seals of the watch she always ostentatiously wore on the most
-conspicuous part of her person, till Adelaide, advancing towards her,
-said, "May I beg to know your commands, Madam? I own, I scarcely
-expected the honor of this visit." "Why, Miss Wildenheim, I just vanted
-to speak to you about my little Carline." "I shall be happy to hear any
-thing you have to say regarding my dear Caroline, Madam: will you do me
-the favour to sit down?" Adelaide, taking a chair opposite to the one
-on which Mrs. O'Sullivan deposited herself, fixed her dark eyes
-attentively on her face, whilst the former, in a style and dialect that
-almost conquered her command of countenance, proposed that she should
-not only take charge of Caroline, but commit herself to the guidance of
-Mr. Webberly. Offering her as a _douceur_, to have all her
-_grandfather's_ estate settled on herself; and also half the sum he
-intended to give Caroline; and promising moreover to "make Jack a fit
-husband for ere a duchess in the land." The astonished girl, rather
-doubting her ability to fulfil this latter gracious promise, and highly
-amused by the attempt to bribe her with Mr. O'Sullivan's fortune,
-replied, as soon as she could speak with proper decorum of feature and
-tone, "I cannot pretend to say that I have not perceived the polite
-attentions which Mr. Webberly has been in the habit of favouring me
-with; you will, I hope, Madam, do me the justice to acknowledge that I
-have never encouraged them: you might have been spared much unnecessary
-uneasiness, if you had looked on my conduct with unprejudiced eyes; for,
-(pardon me, Mrs. O'Sullivan,) your son was not a man that I could, under
-any circumstances, have married. I should not make these observations,
-but that I am anxious you should understand, that the occurrences of
-yesterday have made no change in my sentiments; and though--" "Forget
-and forgive ought to be the word amongst _friends_," hastily interrupted
-her auditor. "Some things I _cannot_ forget," returned Adelaide; "I can
-never forget, that you are the widow of an uncle from whom I received so
-much affectionate kindness; nor, that to yourself I owe many personal
-obligations, for affording me an asylum in my hour of adversity, when I
-had none other to fly to!" And then, in all the winning charms of her
-captivating manner, she held out her hand, saying, "Though I cannot
-consent to any nearer connexion, whenever you are inclined to consider
-yourself my aunt, I shall be happy to show you the duty of a niece."
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, quite overcome, said, "You were always a good girl; I
-wasn't as kind to you as I ought to have been, but--" "I do not wonder,"
-interrupted Adelaide, "that you should have been inclined to dislike me;
-it was very natural, under all the circumstances; but we are quite
-cordial now; so pray don't distress me, by referring to a period when
-you were less my friend than at this moment. If you will confide in me,
-so far as to resign Caroline to my care, I shall owe you an everlasting
-obligation." "I will leave her with you," replied the poor woman,
-bursting into tears; "for I know you will breed her up to be more
-dutiful to me than the rest; but that's all my own fault. God bless you,
-if you make my child a comfort to me in my old age." Adelaide said every
-thing to console her; and Mrs. O'Sullivan, on retiring to her children,
-addressed her son, with "She wont have you, Jack, and I'm sorry for it;
-she's the best girl in the world, after all; but your cousin Hannah
-Leatherly, is a sweet cretur too." When the hour appointed for the
-departure of the Webberly family arrived, Caroline, while she held fast
-hold of Adelaide with one hand, lest she should be torn from her, clung
-with the other to "her own mama," weeping to part with her; and perhaps,
-if her mother had not been hurried away by her elder daughters, she
-could not have withstood this demonstration of her child's awakened
-affection; but they took care she should not have time to reflect on
-what she was doing. Adelaide, and her quondam guardian separated in
-perfect amity, but the Miss Webberlys to the last kept up their envious
-dislike, and scarcely curtsied whilst they refused her offered hand.
-Their brother, on the contrary, could not conceal his sorrow, as he bid
-her good bye; and, touched by it, she cordially shook his hand, and with
-much sincerity, wishing him every happiness, thanked him for the
-good-natured attention he had always shown her. When Miss Fitzcarril
-saw him depart, she said to herself, "Well, well! Judy Stewart didn't
-spey it _all_ right, after all; but, to be sure, _winter_ is not come
-yet!" At the moment in which Mrs. O'Sullivan made the reflection with
-which this chapter commences, Colonel Desmond rode past, and her son's
-spirits were not much enlivened, as he pictured to himself his mission
-to Ballinamoyle, and its probable success.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-                    Nobly he yokes
-    A smiling with a sigh: as if the sigh
-    Was that it was, for not being such a smile.
-
-    oeCYMBELINEoe.
-
-
-About the time of Adelaide's arrival at Ballinamoyle, Lord Osselstone
-and Augustus sailed from Dover, and took the direct road to Brussels,
-intending to stay in the principal towns through which their route lay,
-as long as would afford them opportunity of seeing such curiosities as
-principally deserved their attention. From Brussels they proceeded to
-Liege, and stopping a few days at Spa, crossed to Bonn, and from thence
-enjoyed the delightful scenery which the banks of the Rhine presented.
-The melancholy with which the remembrance of his brother was connected
-in the Earl's mind, threw a softened shade of sadness on his manners,
-which perhaps won more on the affections of his nephew, than the most
-brilliant sallies of wit or imagination could have done. For every sigh
-that escaped Lord Osselstone found an echo in the heart of Augustus. The
-concentrated susceptibility of his natural disposition, and the peculiar
-turn of his education, had equally contributed to give a stability to
-his feelings, beyond what his age would have promised: impressions made
-on a mind so formed were not easily to be effaced; as the marble, though
-impervious to slight incisions, if once impressed, loses the form but
-with its own existence.
-
-He had never known the endearing cares of a sister,--never had enjoyed
-the blessing of maternal smiles. In Selina Seymour alone all his first
-affections were centred, and as his matured reason watched her opening
-charms, his judgment sanctioned his love.
-
-It was true, that in the vortex of dissipation into which she had lately
-been plunged, he had found something to reprove in her manners, and a
-great deal to deplore in her conduct to himself; yet with the lenity
-which belongs to true affection, he sought excuses for what he most
-condemned; and though with the resignation of despondency he had given
-up all hope of being dear to her, he did not endeavour to discover flaws
-in the chrysolite, because the precious jewel was not to grace his
-coronet. But the contending emotions of his soul preyed on his health;
-and in his faded cheek and saddened brow Lord Osselstone read the too
-plain indications of a grief smothered, but not subdued.
-
-It was towards the end of July when the travellers reached Bonn, and the
-beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of that town, where they first
-saw the Rhine, tempted them to prolong their stay in it for some days.
-At length however they pursued their journey, and as the weather was
-sultry, preferred travelling in the cool of the evening. The shades of
-night are however little adapted to German roads or German drivers.
-They had scarcely traversed half the distance between Andernach and
-Coblentz, when their postillions carelessly drove against the roots of a
-tree, and overturned the carriage. Fortunately neither of the gentlemen
-received any injury, but the accident occasioned a considerable delay,
-as the carriage was much shattered, and they were obliged considerably
-to lighten it of its luggage, before it could reassume its proper
-position. At last, after the drivers had indulged themselves in a
-variety of oaths and ejaculations, and the two gentlemen, aided by their
-servants, had made use of more effectual means of repairing the
-disaster, they were enabled to proceed, though at a greatly retarded
-pace; and at last reached Coblentz, without further accident.
-
-The master of the hotel, but too happy to receive once more "_Des milors
-Anglais_" as his guests, with alacrity provided them the best supper his
-house could afford, and the Earl and Augustus were congratulating each
-other on their escape, when the door suddenly opened, and Lord
-Osselstone's gray-headed valet burst into the room, rage and dismay
-struggling for pre-eminence in his countenance; "There, my Lord,"
-bellowed he, "there, I knew how it would be. I told you you'd get no
-good by travelling in this damned country: they have robbed you; they
-have stolen it, that's all;" and he was leaving the room with as much
-precipitation as he had entered it, when his master called him back, to
-inquire calmly what was lost. "Only your red box, that I know you
-wouldn't part with for a thousand pounds." In an instant, to Augustus's
-inexpressible astonishment, he beheld Lord Osselstone's countenance
-convulsed with contending passions--he started up, and seizing the
-trembling old man by the collar, "Find it, find it, villain, or never
-see me more," said he, in a voice of thunder; and with one thrust pushed
-him out of the door. Then holding his burning forehead with both his
-hands, he traversed the room with hurried steps, and soon retired
-precipitately to his own chamber. This scene was perfectly
-incomprehensible to Augustus; but instead of bewildering himself in
-conjecture, he, with his usual promptitude, immediately exerted himself
-to repair the loss which so much agitated his uncle. Conceiving it
-possible the box might have fallen out of the carriage when it was
-overturned, he instantly dispatched one of the postillions in search of
-it, offering a large reward for its recovery. After about two hours of
-suspense, during which time he did not venture to intrude on the Earl,
-the messenger returned with the lost treasure, which was almost broken
-to pieces. Augustus however joyfully seizing it, hastened with it to his
-uncle, who opened the door, and snatched it from him in silence. But the
-box was so shattered that in doing so the bottom of it gave way, and
-most of its contents, consisting principally of letters, fell to the
-floor. A miniature case rolled to some distance, and lay open on the
-ground. Augustus ran to pick it up, but on viewing it, exclaimed
-abruptly, "Good God! my mother! this surely is a copy of the portrait of
-her my father left me;" and turning with an inquiring look to Lord
-Osselstone, he perceived his lip trembling with emotion, the cold drops
-of agony bursting from his forehead, and his frenzied eyes fixed on
-Mordaunt, with an expression which made him shudder. "Audacious boy!" at
-last muttered the earl, in the deep tone of smothered passion, "how dare
-you seek to know the sorrows of my heart?" Augustus, pitying his evident
-suffering, approached him, and laying his hand on his, with involuntary
-affection, said, "I do not seek to know them, I only wish to soothe
-them: consider me as a friend, as a son, who--" "Son!" exclaimed Lord
-Osselstone, shrinking from him with horror; "Son! God of Heaven! do I
-live to hear the child of Emma Dormer mock me with the name of father?
-leave me," continued he sternly, "and never again blast me with your
-presence. Fool, fool that I have been to cherish the viper that stings
-my heart; your cradle was the grave of my happiness; and you have but
-lived to fester the wounds your parents made." Indignant at such
-unmerited reproaches, Mordaunt hastened to leave the room, but turning
-to take a parting look at his last surviving relation, who thus spurned
-him, he beheld the man, whose calm unbending dignity had so often awed
-the wondering crowd, trembling with unconquerable feelings, whilst the
-scalding tears chased each other down his face. He stopped--"I cannot
-leave you thus," said he; "to-morrow will be time enough to part." Lord
-Osselstone turned towards him in silence. The look was not to be
-misunderstood; and in an instant Augustus was pressed to his bosom. A
-long pause ensued. At last the Earl, wringing Mordaunt's hand;
-"Augustus!" said he, "I believe you sincere in the regard you profess
-for me: but beware of deceiving me." He stopped to recover himself, then
-proceeded, in a hurried tone: "When I was about your age, with a heart
-as warm as yours is now, and feelings even more susceptible, I fixed my
-affections on Emma Dormer. I believed her mind as faultless as her
-person; and loved her to adoration. She pretended to return my passion;
-and her father was happy, nay eager, to see her share my title and
-fortune. The time was fixed for our marriage; but two days before the
-one appointed for it, she eloped with the man she had the cruelty to
-tell me was her first, her only love. My own brother was my rival!" A
-deep groan burst from the Earl; at length, he continued, "I never saw
-her afterwards; though, when her extravagance and my brother's
-dissipation hurried them into ruin, she often wrote to me, _yes_, _to
-me_, for assistance; and I have the satisfaction of thinking, that I
-relieved the wretchedness of her who plunged my life in misery. She died
-four years afterwards, and my brother survived her but ten months. Even
-in death he wronged me; for, mistrusting my feelings towards you, he
-chose Sir Henry Seymour for your guardian. When I first saw you,
-Augustus, your hated likeness to both your parents froze my blood. When
-you came to Oxford, I was a constant though secret observer of your
-actions; and, prejudiced as I was, I thought I saw in your youthful
-follies and marked alienation from myself, the errors of your father's
-character hereditary in yours. Accident and time changed my opinion of
-you; and, contrary to my predetermination, nay, even against my
-inclination, my heart has once more been open to feelings of interest
-and affection; if I am again betrayed----however the poison will find
-its own antidote. Now, Augustus, good night.--Yet, one word more.--I
-charge you, as you value my friendship, as you regard my peace, never
-recur to this subject again--never recall the occurrences of this
-night."
-
-It would be impossible to describe the various feelings this recital
-occasioned in the heart of Augustus. He retired to rest, but his
-thoughts were entirely engrossed by the Earl; and while he shuddered at
-the duplicity and ingratitude of his parents, he bitterly lamented his
-own precipitancy, which had led him so much to misjudge his uncle's
-character. When however they met the next morning, all trace of the
-storm had vanished. The surface of the wave, that had so lately been
-agitated almost to fury, was again calmly bright, if not transparent.
-Augustus could almost have believed the scene of the night before was
-but a vision of his distempered fancy, had it not been for the silent
-and almost imperceptible pressure of his hand, which accompanied his
-uncle's first salutation.
-
-One other change was also apparent. They had scarcely commenced
-breakfast, when Lord Osselstone sent for his valet, to desire him to
-make some other coffee, as his Lordship had just recollected that he
-always preferred what he prepared to any other. The alacrity with which
-the old man obeyed the command, showed how much he valued the
-compliment thus paid to the very point of his character on which he most
-valued himself, next to his talent for arranging full-bottomed periwigs,
-which he always contended were the most becoming dresses ever invented
-for young gentlemen. When he returned with the coffee, "There," said he,
-with a look of triumph, "I have taken pains with that, and you'll find
-it ten times better than these jabbering Frenchmen can make, here in the
-heart of Germany; but you'll get nothing fit to eat till you get back to
-Old England; I always told you so." His expostulations were however
-unavailing, as the travellers pursued their journey towards Vienna,
-where they arrived in the beginning of September. Not the most distant
-allusion was made by either to the confidence Lord Osselstone had
-reposed in Augustus, though the almost indefinable tokens of increased
-kindness, that now marked the Earl's manner to his companion, showed
-that, however painful the communication had been at first, yet his grief
-in being shared was lightened. As when the soft breath of spring
-dissolves the icy chain that binds the torrent, though it may at first
-burst in desolating fury, yet its streams gradually subside in peace,
-and glide in smoother currents, blessed and blessing on their way.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-    Could I, not prizing thee, give thee my hand,
-    I should despise myself--and how not prize thee?
-
-    oeLLOYDoe.
-
-
-Immediately on their arrival at Vienna, Lord Osselstone commenced his
-researches after his brother; and, through the active exertions of the
-gentleman who had formerly been Reginald's banker, first ascertained the
-existence of Adelaide, and also other testimony concerning her and her
-father, that served most satisfactorily to corroborate the intelligence
-that now reached him from Ballinamoyle, as Mr. O'Sullivan, even more
-anxious than Adelaide herself to receive the sanction of Lord Osselstone
-for the child of his beloved Rose, had prevailed on Mr. Dermoody to be
-himself the bearer of the letters addressed to the Earl; and the
-venerable priest, with unwearied zeal, followed the travellers from
-London to Vienna, where he finally was more than rewarded for his
-anxiety by the cordiality and readiness with which both his Lordship and
-Augustus acknowledged her claims.
-
-The purpose for which Lord Osselstone had undertaken this journey being
-thus accomplished, though in a very unexpected manner, he and Augustus
-immediately prepared to return to England, both anxious to be introduced
-as relatives to Adelaide, whom Augustus recollected having admired when
-he only knew her as the ward of Mrs. Sullivan, but for whom he now
-already felt the partiality of a cousin; and his description of her
-elegant person and captivating manners prepossessed Lord Osselstone in
-her favour, even more than the exaggerated, though sincere encomiums of
-Father Dermoody. He willingly accepted the Earl's proposal to accompany
-them back to London in his carriage, from whence it was settled he
-should hasten home for the purpose of escorting Adelaide to Osselstone
-House, provided she accepted her uncle's invitation of coming to reside
-with him for a few months, and that Mr. O'Sullivan could be prevailed
-upon to part with her. When they reached Calais, they found a packet
-ready to sail by the following tide for Dover, in which they secured
-their passage; and Mr. Dermoody meantime profited by the opportunity
-afforded him by a few hours' delay, of visiting some of his early
-friends; whilst the Earl and Augustus beguiled their time in reading a
-variety of English newspapers of different dates, which their host
-procured for them.
-
-They had not very long been thus engaged, when Lord Osselstone's
-attention was attracted by the evident agitation of Augustus, who,
-starting with a convulsive shudder, threw down the paper he was reading,
-and paced up and down the room with quick and uneven steps. Lord
-Osselstone glanced his eye on the rejected newspaper, and immediately
-attributed his emotion to the following paragraph:
-
-     "Viscount Eltondale left town this morning for Deane Hall,
-     preparatory to the celebration of his Lordship's nuptials with its
-     lovely and accomplished heiress."
-
-For some minutes he only expressed by looks his commiseration for his
-nephew's feelings; but at length addressing him, "I own," said he, "I
-did not expect Lady Eltondale would have succeeded in her designs on
-Miss Seymour. I watched her closely and unremittingly while in London,
-and from some trifling circumstances I was led to believe, she would
-have made a far different choice. But my dear boy," continued he, with
-parental kindness, "though we have both been deceived, your misery is
-not aggravated as mine was. Do not despond; if Selina was capable of
-being either the tool or the dupe of Lady Eltondale, she was unworthy of
-you. Perhaps it is all for the best; perhaps the charming Adelaide you
-already so much admire, may yet repay you for all your sufferings."
-Though Augustus was incapable of receiving consolation, or listening
-even to reason at the first moment, yet he could not long remain
-insensible to the deep interest Lord Osselstone's looks and manner
-evinced; and in unburthening to him his whole soul, he felt a temporary
-relief from the grief that oppressed him; and thus, from a strange
-coincidence of circumstances and similarity of situation, the only
-confidant of his passion, except Mr. Temple, was the very man whose
-usual impenetrability of character repulsed all intimacy, and forbid
-even approach. Augustus, feeling the impossibility of communicating,
-even by letter, with Lord Eltondale on the subject of Selina's property,
-determined immediately to resign his charge as trustee, and was no less
-impatient for their arrival in London than his companions, in hopes, if
-possible, of anticipating in that respect the hated marriage. The very
-evening on which they reached town, Augustus hastened to
-Portman-square, to inquire whether his Lordship were still at Deane. He
-there learned that the Viscount had left it a few days before; and the
-servant, with agonizing precision, informed him, that orders had that
-day been received for the house in town being without delay put in
-order, as his Lordship expected to be married immediately, and he
-believed he was then at Eltondale, making similar preparations. Poor
-Augustus scarcely heard the concluding sentence, and returned to Lord
-Osselstone in a state almost of distraction. "I will go myself to Deane
-to-night," said he; "most of the papers are there in my bureau. I may
-get in time to deliver them to Mr. Temple before Lord Eltondale returns
-there.--It will be my last visit."
-
-In prosecution of this plan, Augustus left London that night in the York
-mail; and such was his agitated impatience, that he scarcely thought
-even that conveyance sufficiently rapid. Anxious to avoid being either
-recognized or impeded in passing through the village of Deane, he
-alighted from the mail at a few miles distance from that place, and by a
-more unfrequented road entered the Park at one of the most retired
-gates. His feelings rose to agony as he again viewed all the well-known
-haunts of his infancy; and more especially when he recollected, that
-nearly at the same time the year before he had returned thither, to
-receive the dying benediction of the kind-hearted Sir Henry. Wishing to
-escape these sad remembrances, and desirous, if possible, to fly even
-from himself, he sprang forward, and darting into a neighbouring grove,
-was scarcely conscious of his near approach to the house. A rustling in
-the trees at last attracted his attention, and he turned towards the
-place from whence it came. In a few moments he perceived his favourite
-dog Carlo bounding towards him, and in an instant the faithful creature
-lay panting at his feet. A little basket, filled with chesnuts, was hung
-round his neck, in which, in former days, the dog had often carried the
-flowers Selina used to gather in their rambles. But almost before
-Augustus could caress him, Selina's voice calling "Carlo," thrilled to
-his heart, and springing from behind a fence with no less activity than
-the truant animal she pursued, she stood beside him like a bright vision
-of former days. "Selina!" "Augustus!" each exclaimed at once; and looks
-more eloquent than words told their mutual feelings.
-
-But soon Selina endeavoured by language also to express her pleasure at
-once more beholding Mordaunt; and, forgetting at the moment all her
-disappointments, all her resentment for his apparent neglects, she gave
-her cordial and artless welcome with unembarrassed joy. Not so Augustus.
-Her unconcern he attributed to indifference, her evident happiness to
-her approaching marriage; and thus to his distempered judgment her
-vivacity almost appeared an insult. Selina quickly and resentfully
-perceived the coldness of his manners, and turning her head aside to
-hide the starting tears, invited him, with formal politeness, to
-accompany her to the house. But there the delighted Mrs. Galton was
-waiting to receive Augustus. She had seen him from the windows, and
-hastened to express her happiness at once more beholding him. The
-faithful old servants crowded round to bid him welcome. All
-congratulated him on his return to Deane, except its mistress. "And
-where has Selina flown to?" exclaimed Mrs. Galton; "we shall no doubt
-find her in her favourite room. Come, Augustus, I will introduce you,
-though you are already acquainted with it." His heart palpitated as he
-followed her through the well-known cedar hall, and up the massy
-staircase he so well remembered. But what were his emotions when she led
-him into what was once their school-room, and had been afterwards his
-own study! Selina had fitted it up with every elegance of modern
-improvement, arranged with her own peculiar taste, and in it she had
-assembled her various occupations of work, drawing, music, and books.
-When they entered, she was herself standing at a writing-table; her
-bonnet lay beside her, and her luxuriant hair, discomposed by her race,
-fell in loose ringlets on her shoulders; whilst the tear of wounded
-feeling stood on her beaming cheek. Augustus stopped, and casting his
-eyes around the altered room, "Is _this_ your favourite apartment,
-Selina?" said he, while love, joy, and gratitude glowed in his
-countenance. "I sometimes sit here to enjoy the morning sun," answered
-she, blushing deeply; whilst his ardent and penetrating gaze increased
-her confusion. At last withdrawing the glance that evidently distressed
-her, his eye rested on the bronze _garde de feuille_, which represented
-Carlo. He took it up, and was examining it attentively, when Selina,
-with an expression of pique, observed, "That is scarcely worth looking
-at, Mr. Mordaunt; it is as trifling as the donor; I really forgot both,
-or I should not have kept it here;" and with an air of unusual dignity
-she left the room. "Incomprehensible, girl!" exclaimed Mordaunt, after
-a pause. "Tell me, Mrs. Galton, what am I to understand?" "Nothing,"
-said she, "but that Selina refused Mr. Sedley, who gave her that dog:
-for the same reason she has since refused Lord Eltondale." "Refused Lord
-Eltondale?" repeated Augustus, quite bewildered. "Yes;" replied Mrs.
-Galton, "his Lordship came here express, hoping to say _Veni, vidi,
-vici_; and proposed himself to Selina before he was three days in the
-house. Of course, even if she had been actuated by no other motive, she
-would have declined a proposal that could only be for her fortune, and
-she accordingly refused it almost with resentment. Lady Eltondale
-manoeuvred, and stormed, and raved, but to no purpose; and finally,
-much to our satisfaction, set off for Brighton." Mrs. Galton might have
-continued her discourse _ad infinitum_. Augustus had turned to the
-window to conceal his emotion. There he caught a glimpse of Selina
-passing towards the shrubbery; seizing his hat, he rushed past Mrs.
-Galton, exclaiming, "There she is!" She smiled, and took up her book;
-but anxiety scarcely permitted her to comprehend one word of its
-contents. At length, after an absence of two hours, which to her
-appeared an age, and to them a second, Selina and Augustus returned arm
-in arm. Mrs. Galton looked up through her spectacles, and guessing the
-result of their conversation from Selina's blushes and Mordaunt's
-countenance, "Thank God!" exclaimed she, clasping her hands, whilst the
-tears rolled down her cheeks, "I have lived to see my two dear children
-happy!"
-
-Lord Osselstone was scarcely less rejoiced than Mrs. Galton, at
-receiving Mordaunt's letter, informing him of Selina's having promised
-him her hand. In his answer to it he said, "I have myself written to the
-very charming niece you are going to bestow on me, to express a part of
-the joy I feel on the occasion; but as I have much more to say on the
-subject, will you obtain her permission for me to pay my compliments to
-her and Mrs. Galton, in person, at Deane Hall, when I hope to make my
-peace with Miss Seymour, for having told you the story of Carlo's
-portrait, as you have no doubt already obtained her forgiveness for
-obtruding his little bronze duplicate into her cabinet."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-    J'ai vu beaucoup d'hymens, aucuns d'eux ne me tentent,
-    Cependant des humains presque les quatre parts
-    S'exposent hardiment au plus grand des hasards,
-    Les quatre parts aussi des humains se repentent[10].
-
-    oeLA FONTAINEoe
-
-[Footnote 10:
-
-      Many weddings have I seen,
-      By none of them I'm tempted;
-    Yet still full three fourths of mankind
-    Incur the risk--and still we find
-      Full three fourths have repented.
-]
-
-
-To return to Ballinamoyle:----One day Mr. O'Sullivan was sitting in his
-study, examining some old family writings, and rather wearied with his
-task, was not displeased to hear that familiar knock at his room door,
-which announces the approach of a friend. "Pray come in," said he: "Oh,
-Edward, is it you? I am happy to see you." "I should not have intruded
-into this _sanctum sanctorum_," replied Colonel Desmond; "but that I
-have in vain visited the library, and the parlour, and the drawing-room,
-without seeing a living creature, except the great dog who is lying
-asleep before the fire in the breakfast-room; and yet when Phelim took
-my horse, he said you were all at home." "That only means," rejoined Mr.
-O'Sullivan, laughing, "that with the aid of a telescope you might be
-able to discover all the party within a circuit of two or three miles:
-any thing on this side Tuberdonny he calls home. Miss Fitzcarril and
-Caroline are gone to cure Mrs. Cassady with some infallible remedy for
-the rheumatism; and Adelaide has rode with Mr. Dermoody, to see a
-curious ruin, that attracted his notice as he came from visiting a sick
-penitent yesterday. But it is late," continued he, looking at an old
-fashioned time-piece that stood on a bracket over the fire-place; "they
-will soon return."
-
-In the conversation which ensued, Colonel Desmond appeared extremely
-absent, answering "Yes," or "No," at random to Mr. O'Sullivan's various
-inquiries; and his usual florid complexion was much heightened as at
-every little noise he looked towards the door, or eagerly gazed out of
-the window. At last Adelaide's mellifluous voice met his ear, gaily
-singing one of the cadences of that exquisite strain of Guglielmi's:
-
-    Del mio sen la dolce calma liete eventi al corpredice,
-    Son contento son felice, altro il cor bramar non sa.
-
-He started up, but the melody had ceased, and he was again disappointed
-in his expectation of seeing her, for she had entered at the back of the
-house, and crossing one of the halls, ascended the stair-case which led
-to her own apartment. "Lovely creature!" exclaimed he. "She is indeed a
-lovely girl," replied the delighted old man; "I never knew but one her
-equal. Do you know, Desmond, I am quite happy, now I feel that the
-evening of my days will go down in peace. But," continued he, after a
-short pause, "I shall feel rather dull at first after Adelaide leaves
-me." "Leaves you, my dear Sir!--when! where!" "She goes next week to her
-uncle Lord Osselstone. Dermoody has strongly impressed me with the
-necessity of this step; and indeed the only reparation her father's
-family can now make for the wrongs of my poor Rose, is to show the world
-they are proud of her child. Lord Osselstone, as the most public
-acknowledgement he can make of his niece, is anxious to have her
-presented as soon as possible; until something of this sort is done, a
-shade of doubt might hang over her birth, which my pride could not
-brook. We only wait till the last formalities have been gone through, to
-enable her to bear the name of Wildenheim in England. It appears that
-her father requested Lord Osselstone to use his interest to have this
-accomplished in the letters we sent to Vienna. It is certainly most
-prudent; for her dropping the appellation by which she has been known to
-so many people abroad, whom she may probably meet in London, would call
-forth much distressing inquiry." "And what have Miss Wildenheim's own
-wishes been respecting this journey?" eagerly demanded Colonel Desmond.
-"Notwithstanding her anxiety to see her uncle, I could scarcely prevail
-on her to leave me till the winter was over. She said I should miss her
-less in summer, when I could go out--Oh how like her mother she is! I at
-last represented that a thousand unforeseen events might prevent her
-ever again visiting her uncle; and that her acceptance of his present
-kindness was due to the memory of her father. She then consented, for
-she loves that father as much as----poor Rose loved him." The gentlemen
-were both silent a few moments, when Colonel Desmond said in a hurried
-tone, "No doubt with _her_ charms, fortune, and connections, she will
-make a splendid alliance; you will rejoice----"--"Rejoice!" interrupted
-his auditor, "what to have her heart broken by some fashionable
-profligate like----No, Edward, my utmost wish would be to see her
-married to one of my own countrymen, who would not only be a fond
-husband to her, but, by residing here, would also prove a bountiful
-landlord to the poor people, who for so many years have stood in the
-place of children to me." "Is it possible?" said Colonel Desmond,
-seizing his hand, whilst his countenance brightened with his new-born
-happiness; "Is it possible, my dearest friend, you could be inclined to
-favour the wishes--alas! I dare scarcely call them hopes--of one who has
-nothing but a devoted heart and an honourable name to offer." "Edward,"
-replied the old man, "your virtues would render you worthy the
-acceptance of an Empress; my happiness would be inexpressible to see you
-her husband. Would to God I had bestowed her mother on such a man!"
-
-In a few minutes Colonel Desmond was conducted by O'Sullivan to Miss
-Wildenheim's sitting-room; and when the anxious parent retired, pleaded
-his passion with love's own eloquence. Adelaide, much agitated, moved
-almost to tears, which she could scarcely restrain as she spoke,
-expressed her esteem, her gratitude, for this long-continued
-kindness--her regard for him as her father's friend, as her own: yet
-concluded by saying, "An insuperable obstacle divides us; generously
-spare me the distressing recital wherefore. I implore your forgiveness
-if my conduct has unintentionally deceived you." "No, no," interrupted
-he, "you twice before conveyed your sentiments to me in a manner I could
-not mistake; but I have acted like an idiot--nothing has deceived me but
-my cursed folly and presumption." "Oh, do not say so," exclaimed
-Adelaide, with earnest kind anxiety to soothe his wounded feelings; "my
-judgment tells me, that, of all men living, I should be happiest with
-you, if my affections----" The sentence remained unfinished; but her
-swimming eyes and mournful tones were sufficiently expressive.
-
-Colonel Desmond instantly retired, for he was too noble-minded to pain
-her feelings by further solicitation, and much too proud to have
-accepted her pity in place of her love. As he passed through the hall,
-he met his venerable friend, and pressing his hand, said, "Your kindness
-is of no avail. Melicent will now be my only consolation. When you are
-alone, you shall see me again;" then drawing down his hat over his
-brows, hastily left the house.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan proceeded to Adelaide, and sorrowfully remonstrated with
-her on her rejection of his friend. To satisfy his feelings, and justify
-herself, she detailed all the circumstances that related to her regard
-for Frederick Elton. "But, my dear parent," said she in conclusion,
-"this attachment, once so strong in my father's sanction and my own
-feelings, is now inert; if, as is most probable, he has bestowed his
-affections elsewhere, I trust I am too just to resent, too proud to
-repine. All I exacted from him, and promised for myself, was complete
-forgetfulness. I thought I had succeeded, but, forgive my weakness,
-every word Colonel Desmond spoke recalled the idea of Frederick from
-the oblivion I had condemned it to. We will never mention his name
-again, my dear Sir." She faltered, and throwing her arms about her
-grandfather's neck, wept bitterly. When again composed, she continued,
-"I know you think I ought to struggle against this romantic folly;
-believe me I do, I always have; never, even to my beloved father, did I
-expose the weakness of my heart as I have this day to you. For the last
-two years I have divorced myself from my own feelings, and my mind has
-dwelt with the thoughts of others. Time will do much; but I have not
-that ardent affection for Colonel Desmond necessary to make either of us
-happy." "I do not now wish, my dearest child, to influence your choice,"
-replied O'Sullivan; "but his affection for you is unbounded, and with
-the high estimation you hold his character in, you could not fail to
-return it in time." "I fear, my dear Sir," said Adelaide, "that to have
-any rational expectation of happiness in marriage, a woman ought rather
-to depend on the love she feels for a man, than on his for her, as on
-her own sentiments alone she can depend with certainty. But I, of all my
-sex, have surely the least temptation to marry, who am so happy as a
-daughter. My future husband, whoever he may be," said she, with assumed
-gravity, "will have small reason to thank you for your indulgence; none
-of the lords of the creation will ever again treat such a little
-undeserving subject with the same lenity." The old man kissed her
-affectionately, and forbore any further solicitation for his friend.
-
-On the day preceding that fixed for Adelaide's departure, she was
-sitting with her grandfather, examining the route he had traced out for
-her, and promising obedience to his injunctions not to catch cold: "I
-would not have Lord Osselstone see you for the first time with red eyes,
-swelled nose, and chapped lips, not for half the barony of
-Aughrakillynch; and I beg you won't wear any of the trumpery Mrs.
-O'Sullivan bought you in London last summer, but put on my favourite
-black satin dress you brought from Naples; you look like a queen in
-that. You said you'd wear it to-day, dear. God knows if ever I
-shall----" The accents died on his lips, and, ringing the bell with
-agitated vehemence, he ordered Miss Wildenheim's new travelling carriage
-to be driven round the ring in front of the house, that he might see how
-it ran. The trampling of horses soon announced the approach of the
-carriage. "Adelaide, dear, look for the seal you gave me, that I may see
-if the arms are done right," said Mr. O'Sullivan, who, in the mean time,
-went to the window to look out, exclaiming an instant afterwards, "It
-was well I had it round, that lazy rascal Phelim has never cleaned it
-since it came; it is splashed all over! And what the devil has he been
-doing with my horses--they are jaded to death! Hey day! who have we got
-here? Why, Adelaide, there's the handsomest young man I ever saw has
-opened the door for himself from the inside, and jumped out actually
-before the horses stopped."
-
-At that instant she heard her own name pronounced, in the hall, by a
-voice which thrilled to her heart, as she instantly recognized it to be
-that of the handsomest young man _she_ ever saw. She flew towards the
-door, but if with an intention to escape, was too late, for the stranger
-entered at the same instant, and seizing both her hands, presented
-Frederick to her view!
-
-Her first emotion was that of delighted surprise; joy sparkled in her
-eyes, and irradiated her whole figure. His looks, his tones, his
-incoherent words, betrayed his inexpressible feelings. Mr. O'Sullivan
-stood gazing on the youthful pair in mute astonishment. Adelaide, in a
-few minutes recollecting herself, turned towards him, and, covered with
-blushes, introduced "Mr. Elton;" and, whilst the gentlemen were making
-their bows, retired from the room, but so lightly and swiftly made good
-her retreat, that till she was out of hearing, they did not perceive she
-had attempted it. The old man looked on Frederick with the deepest
-emotion, for Adelaide had turned to him with the same melting glance
-that Rose first entreated his approval of her beloved Reginald. Too much
-agitated to speak, "thought on thought rolled over his soul," impressing
-their melancholy seriousness on his countenance. Lord Eltondale, though
-a man of fashion, and a man of the world, was no coxcomb, and could feel
-embarrassed sometimes, as on the present occasion, when his eyes rested
-on the venerable figure that, excited by the feeling of the moment, rose
-from the slight bend with which age and sorrow usually tempered its
-commanding loftiness; and, with the dignity that fancy lends to the
-chieftains of ancient story, stood tacitly demanding explanation and
-apology. Frederick felt indescribably awed, and, with a feeling of
-painful confusion, wished himself out of the house, almost as earnestly
-as he had but a few minutes before wished himself in it. After making
-one or two more profound bows than were absolutely necessary, he stooped
-to pick up his hat from the floor, where he had dropped it at the sight
-of Adelaide, and then, with his colour nearly as much heightened as hers
-had been, addressing Mr. O'Sullivan, said, "I know not what apology to
-offer for this abrupt intrusion, Sir; will you pardon it, and permit me
-to pay my compliments to you and Miss Wildenheim to-morrow morning?" Mr.
-O'Sullivan's national and characteristic hospitality quickly banished
-the involuntary repugnance with which he had at first regarded the
-unexpected visitor, nor indeed could he long look with coldness on a
-countenance illuminated by his beloved grandchild's smiles; and
-therefore, on being thus addressed, extended his hand in sign of cordial
-welcome, whilst he replied, "Willingly, Sir, on the condition that you
-remain here to-night. I should be guilty of little less than homicide,
-in suffering you to drive over those mountains again this evening;--'tis
-almost dark at this instant." "Thank you, thank you a thousand times, my
-dear Sir!" exclaimed Lord Eltondale, if possible still more grateful
-for the manner in which it was granted, than for the much-coveted
-permission itself. "Could you but know the happiness your invitation
-gives me. I see you can pity the feelings of a young man." "I can _pity_
-them," said O'Sullivan, smiling. "When I know you better, young
-gentleman, I will tell you whether I wish to encourage them. In the mean
-time I consider you only as my guest; and in that light, Sir, you are
-heartily welcome to Ballinamoyle." Mr. O'Sullivan soon terminated the
-forced conversation which then took place between him and his guest, by
-offering to have the latter conducted to his room to change his boots
-before dinner, which proposition was willingly accepted.
-
-All the family party had reassembled in the drawing room, with the
-exception of Miss Wildenheim, when her maid came to inform her dinner
-would be served immediately; she looked once more in the glass, to see
-if the profuse expenditure of rose water she had indulged in had been
-effectual in effacing all traces of tears; for she was perhaps not less
-anxious to avoid appearing before Frederick "with red eyes, and a
-swelled nose," than her grandfather was that she should not thus
-encounter Lord Osselstone. When she entered the drawing room, O'Sullivan
-smiled with pleasure, to see her "look like a queen," in the favourite
-robe, that, in many a silken fold, "giving and stealing grace," flowed
-round her exquisite form. Her luxuriant hair, as it wound in plaited
-lustre round her fair brows, seemed indeed to crown them with the diadem
-of beauty. But more than beauty adorned her angelic countenance; she had
-seen the dawn of felicity arise; its brilliant beam trembled in her soft
-eye, whilst its tenderest hues of roseate red tinged her cheek. As she
-drew near the circle, each, by some involuntary token of kindness,
-welcomed her approach; and the bewitching smile which played at hide and
-seek with her ruby lip, when she returned the greetings of affection,
-at once rewarded and excited them.
-
-But no air of pretty consciousness spoke her prepared to act "_L'Idola
-bella_," or that she expected Lord Eltondale to fall at her feet, and
-worship her at the first gracious signal. Her manner had that
-self-possession, which was due to her own dignity, and under which every
-woman of true delicacy would shroud her feelings in a similar situation.
-Frederick forebore, by word or look, to cause her the least confusion;
-he was too generous to inflict the pain of distressed modesty on the
-woman he loved; perhaps also his love was so deeply, so anxiously felt,
-that it shrunk from the gaze of other eyes than hers who excited it.
-Neither of them addressed the other directly, but he soon managed, with
-well-bred ease, to introduce general conversation, which banished all
-appearance of constraint.
-
-When dinner was announced, Mr. O'Sullivan, who always insisted on giving
-Adelaide precedence of Miss Fitzcarril, notwithstanding her
-representation of that lady's seniority, now formally requested Lord
-Eltondale to conduct her to the dining parlour; as her beautiful hand
-lay on Frederick's arm he took it in his, and would have pressed it to
-his heart, had not a half-reproving glance recalled to his recollection,
-that they were closely observed by several servants, who stood in goodly
-row, almost forgetting what for, in their eager scrutiny of his face and
-figure. Mr. O'Sullivan followed, leading Miss Fitzcarril in all the
-stateliness of _la vieille cour_; little Caroline skipped gaily along,
-playing tricks with Captain Cormac and Mr. Dermoody, whilst the former,
-by a wise shake of the head, prevented her touching his patron's silver
-locks, which were tied with a black riband, in an old fashioned tail,
-that reached half way-down his back, and daily tempted the merry
-sprite's ivory fingers.
-
-A well lighted room, with a blazing fire and an excellent dinner, made
-the party almost rejoice to hear the whistling wind and driving
-showers, that foreboded a stormy night. Lord Eltondale was so overjoyed
-to find himself once more seated beside Adelaide, unshackled by any
-engagement, and almost certain of her regard, that all his former and
-characteristic vivacity returned; and his lively sallies infecting every
-body with his own gaiety, she talked to him with that flow of spirits,
-which her delight at seeing him naturally excited in her mind; and
-whilst his admiration increased every moment, she did not fail to
-remark, that "he was more intelligent in conversation, more elegant in
-manner and figure, than any man she had ever seen, except her father,"
-who was still her model of perfection.
-
-When the gentlemen unwillingly suffered the ladies to retire to the
-drawing-room, Mr. O'Sullivan called his granddaughter to him, and as she
-bent her head in a listening position; her brilliant countenance
-confirmed the cheerful acquiescence her words conveyed to his proposal.
-Frederick rightly guessing it was a request to defer her journey, as he
-opened the door for her to pass, said, in a low tone, with a sort of
-happy playful assurance in his looks, "Thank you, Adelina." She
-coloured, and her head was fast rising to the true altitude of feminine
-pride; when he, standing so as to impede her escape, without seeming to
-do so, whispered, "Forgive me; I presumed on former recollections; I had
-flattered myself the spell was broken, that separated me and happiness."
-One of Adelaide's enchanting smiles dissipated the uneasiness, that had
-quickly clouded his features.
-
-It is not to be supposed, that all this escaped Miss Fitzcarril's
-notice; accordingly the drawing-room door was scarcely closed, when,
-with a significant wink, she proposed taking Caroline to assist her in
-settling her closet, when any of the gentlemen should return from the
-parlour, where she rightly conjectured Mr. O'Sullivan's fine claret
-would not long detain some of the party. Adelaide, with an imploring
-look, took her hand, saying, "I entreat you, my dear Madam, if you have
-the least regard for me, not to think of such a thing; I would not lose
-your society an instant this evening for the world."
-
-The ancient maiden understood her, but thought she was only going to do
-as she would be done by; and recollected, with a sigh, that this was not
-at all the solution she expected of Judy Stewart's prophecy.
-
-Adelaide's journey was postponed but one day; and she soon had the
-happiness of finding in Lord Osselstone almost a second father in mind,
-manner, and person, hourly reminding her of the beloved parent, that,
-till she knew her uncle, she thought none on earth had ever resembled.
-
-Amongst the young men of fashion, that now seek the smiles of "the
-beautiful and accomplished" (according to the technical term which
-designates every high-born heiress) niece of the Earl of Osselstone,
-none seems to meet his Lordship's approval so decidedly as Viscount
-Eltondale, who, we may safely prophesy, will soon win on the regard of
-his Adelina's noble uncle, as much as he gained on that of her venerable
-grandfather, during his short visit to Ballinamoyle.
-
-    "Tant que Phillis eut un destin prospère,
-    Plus d'un amant lui dit d'un ton sincère,
-              Que vos beaux yeux
-                Sont gracieux,
-              L'amour pour eux
-                Fixe mes voeux,
-    Chaque instant redouble mes feux,
-    Le temps n'y peut rien faire."
-
-
-THE END.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Printed by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations within volume and between volumes
-left as printed.]
-
-
-
-
-
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Vol 3 of 3, by Frances Brooke
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Manners, Vol 3 of 3
-       A Novel
-
-Author: Frances Brooke
-
-Release Date: July 7, 2012 [EBook #40160]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANNERS, VOL 3 OF 3 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                      MANNERS:
-
-                      A NOVEL.
-
-
-            ----Dicas hic forsitan unde
-    Ingenium par materiae.
-
-                                     JUVENAL.
-
-    Je sais qu'un sot trouve toujours un plus sot pour le lire.
-
-                                     FRED. LE GRAND.
-
-
-    IN THREE VOLUMES.
-    VOL. III.
-
-    LONDON:
-    PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
-    PATERNOSTER ROW.
-
-    1817.
-
-
-
-
-MANNERS.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-    ----Whose birth beyond all question springs
-    From great and glorious, though forgotten, kings.
-
-    oeCHURCHILL.oe
-
-
-The lady who did the honours of Mr. O'Sullivan's house to our English
-travellers, on the night of their arrival at Ballinamoyle, Miss
-Fitzcarril by name, was in person extremely tall; and a carriage of
-extraordinary uprightness gave her, with a stiffness, a dignity also of
-appearance. Her face, though good natured in expression, was, at that
-period, rather plain; but yet sufficient evidence remained to
-corroborate her own frequent assertion, that "she had once been a fine
-woman;" in making which she flattered herself her auditors would imply,
-that she took the same license which the structure of a venerable
-language sometimes permits, of understanding, at pleasure, different
-tenses by the same word; and that they would from the past infer the
-present. In dress and manner she was old fashioned, but stately,
-generally wearing garments made of the antique tabinets and satins she
-inherited from her grandmother, and which, from the unbending nature of
-the material, would have stood alone, nearly in as erect a posture as
-that they maintained when encompassing her perpendicular figure; a
-double clear starched handkerchief, which Mr. Desmond wickedly called
-her transparency, enveloped her neck; and the costume of her person was
-completed by a fine muslin apron of curious work, derived from her own,
-or her progenitors' industry. Her headdress was the only part of her
-attire which was ever varied, and in this she was fantastic in the
-extreme, composing it of the most showy materials, and wearing in her
-caps and turbans colours only fit for the young and beautiful. Every
-acquaintance who visited Galway, Limerick, or Clare, was sure to have a
-commission to buy a cap or bonnet for Miss Fitzcarril; and the more
-_outre_ in form and colour, the better pleased she was with their
-purchase. She was, in mind, the most singular mixture of pride and
-parsimony that was perhaps ever compounded; the one she derived from her
-highly valued ancestry, the other from her own peculiar fate, and a
-mistaken idea of principle; and she reconciled her frugality and her
-dignity, by declaring that "the Fitzcarrils and O'Sullivans needn't
-trouble their heads about what any one said of them; _every body_ knew
-they were come of the kings of Connaught, and had a good right to do as
-they pleased." In early life she had lived in extreme poverty, and then
-had learned the ideas of management she afterwards laboured to enforce
-at Ballinamoyle. Mr. O'Sullivan had been deprived of his wife a few
-years before he had also the misfortune to lose his only child; and on
-the death of this beloved daughter, he chose Theresa Fitzcarril from
-amongst his female relatives, to superintend his establishment, at the
-same time settling a comfortable provision on her, in case she should
-survive himself; which he considered a mere act of justice, for he
-foresaw that the retirement of his residence would condemn her to a life
-of solitude and celibacy, the two precise circumstances which least
-accorded with her own wishes. Theresa, on her part, actuated by an
-excess of pride, resolved she would cancel her pecuniary obligations,
-not only to her original benefactor, but to his heir, by saving for the
-family a sum more than equivalent to all she should ever receive from
-it. She therefore endeavoured (though without much success) to introduce
-a system of penury at Ballinamoyle, that, had its owner been aware of
-her proceedings, he would not have suffered, as it was diametrically
-opposite to his wishes; he seldom however inquired into the _minutiae_
-of his household; and indifferent to every thing, after the loss of his
-daughter, he permitted Theresa to do nearly as she pleased; and when he
-did object to any of her practices, she was so obstinate, that he found
-he must, to get rid of them, get rid of herself also with them, and this
-he never could resolve on; but consoled himself with the usual
-reflection of his countrymen, when trouble is necessary to avoid any
-thing unpleasant, "It will do well enough, my time won't be long." Miss
-Fitzcarril sought to relieve the monotony of her life by indulging in
-constant speculation. In every lottery she had a sixteenth share of a
-ticket; and to ascertain what she might possess in the _matrimonial
-lottery_, had frequent and protracted conferences with all the tribes of
-cup-tossers, card-cutters, and deaf and dumb men and women, who infested
-the country as fortune-tellers,--"Who blind could every thing
-foresee"--"Who dumb could every thing foretell." This pleasure however
-Miss Fitzcarril was obliged to indulge in secret, as Mr. O'Sullivan and
-the worthy priest, who was his domestic pastor, used their best
-endeavours to banish this race of vagabonds from every place they had
-influence in; so that when she consulted any of these oracles, she was
-obliged to conceal herself and them in some remote cabin; but perhaps
-the impediment thus thrown in the way of this favourite indulgence made
-her but the more keenly enjoy and still more pertinaciously persist in
-the practice, notwithstanding the reiterated penances imposed for this
-offence by the good father Dermoody, which, though she ventured to
-commit, she did not dare to suppress at confessional. A family of the
-name of Stewart wandered about the country, presenting papers signed by
-respectable names, setting forth, that "their progenitors had been
-shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland, about a century ago--that the whole
-race were deaf and dumb--but that Providence, in compensation, had
-bestowed on them the gift of second sight." To the predictions of a dumb
-woman, who claimed this name, and proved she was deaf, by showing that
-nature had left her unprovided with ears[1], Theresa gave the most
-implicit credit. This Pythoness had learned to write the printed
-character, and to draw rude representations of ships, trees, men, and
-animals, which she described on a board with a piece of white chalk; and
-of these hieroglyphics those who consulted her made what sense best
-pleased them. A sharp boy, who had all his senses in full activity,
-never failed to accompany her; apparently to assist in expounding her
-text, but, in reality, to collect information, which, by the language of
-signs, he certainly conveyed to his fellow conjuror, at the most
-_a-propos_ moment, as no body concealed from him the information she was
-supposed to be (humanly speaking) ignorant of;
-
-    "Tout cela bien souvent faisoit crier miracle!
-    Enfin quoique ignorant a vingt et trois carats,
-    Elle passoit pour un oracle!"
-
-[Footnote 1: This account of the Stewart family is not fictitious,
-either as to name or circumstance.]
-
-In their last conference Judy Stewart had given Miss Fitzcarril the
-following enigma:--A rose rudely drawn, followed by the words "of
-vargins,"--then, a ship in full sail--then, three suns--and lastly, a
-man, four times as big as the ship, holding a candle in one hand, and a
-ring in the other. The exposition Barny and the curious spinster gave of
-this was as follows:--"The flower of virgins," that is, the eldest
-daughter of the direct branch of the O'Sullivan family, was coming from
-beyond sea, and would arrive at Ballinamoyle, as soon as the sun had
-risen three times, bringing in her train a great personage (expressed by
-his extraordinary size,) who would, in winter, designated by the candle,
-bestow the wedding ring on the fair Theresa Fitzcarril. Judy Stewart's
-credit was luckily saved by the horses, which our travellers so
-unexpectedly procured at Tuberdonny, fulfilling the first part of the
-prediction; and in Mr. Webberly the credulous maiden saw the hero, who
-was to accomplish that part which related to herself.
-
-Extremes are popularly said to meet, which, we suppose, may naturally
-account for the Connaught sibyls' most zealous friend and powerful enemy
-residing at Ballinamoyle. The latter was the reverend father Dermoody,
-who filled the office of spiritual guide to its owner. He was well
-informed in mind, and gentlemanly in manners; two circumstances but
-rarely united in the Irish priests, who are generally taken from a low
-order in society, and do not usually carry an appearance impressive of
-the respect, to which most of them are entitled by their real worth. Mr.
-Dermoody was a relation of the late Mrs. O'Sullivan, and had embraced
-the priesthood from the influence of early disappointment, which had
-disgusted him with the world, and led him to devote himself to a
-religious life for consolation. He pursued his theological studies in
-one of the French colleges, and was deliberating on entering into a
-monastic order of great austerity, when he received a letter from his
-present patron, acquainting him with his marriage, and offering him the
-situation of chaplain to his family, which Dermoody's better stars
-induced him to accept. For many years he bestowed on the education of
-his relative's lovely daughter all of his time and thoughts, which were
-not devoted to his sacred functions; and, since her death, he had been
-the consolation of her desolate father, and a blessing to the poor of
-the vicinity. As he however avoided society in general, he was not
-introduced to our travellers on the night of their arrival, but they
-then made acquaintance with Miss Fitzcarril's constant and obsequious
-attendant, Captain Cormac, so called by common consent, though he had
-never risen in the army higher than a lieutenant, the half pay of which
-rank was his only subsistence, independent of Mr. O'Sullivan's bounty.
-Though of a different religious persuasion, his family had long been
-tenants and retainers of that at Ballinamoyle; and this member of it, on
-the strength of his red coat, was considered a gentleman, and, as such,
-was every day admitted to Mr. O'Sullivan's table, and made up his card
-party in the winter's evenings, generally returning at night to the
-house of a better sort of steward, living on the demesne, who managed
-the Ballinamoyle property, its owner charging himself with the expenses
-there incurred by Captain Cormac.
-
-This son of Mars, conscious of the deficiency of his pedigree, very
-unknowingly endeavoured to prove his title to the character of a
-gentleman, by paying the most anxious and unremitting attention to the
-fair sex in general, and to Miss Fitzcarril in particular; for, in
-consequence of his living in this sequestered situation, he was totally
-unsuspicious of the improvements in modern manners, which lead so many
-of our youth to suppose, that a neglect of the ladies they associate
-with, not unfrequently amounting almost to rudeness, is an indispensable
-requisite in the deportment of every fashionable beau; but perhaps some
-of our readers will suggest an excuse for Captain Cormac's ignorant
-simplicity, by acknowledging that beau and gentleman are not always
-synonymous terms. Mr. O'Sullivan for instance, was certainly no beau,
-though perfectly a gentleman. As this word, in our humble opinion,
-conveys a character that is almost all "that the eye looks for," or "the
-heart desires" in man, we will not weaken its inexpressible worth by
-paraphrase, but hope the actions of the person it has here been applied
-to will establish his claim to the most noble appellation the English
-language boasts of.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-    O! live--and deeply cherish still
-      The sweet remembrance of the past;
-    Rely on Heav'n's unchanging will
-                        For peace at last!
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-On the morning after her arrival at Ballinamoyle, Adelaide was forcibly
-struck with the strange coincidence of circumstances that had conducted
-her to this place, so remote from the scenes in which she had once
-expected to have passed her life. That day two years, she had no
-expectation of becoming an inhabitant of the British isles; and one
-fortnight had just elapsed since she received Mrs. O'Sullivan's letter,
-announcing her intention of undertaking the journey they had
-accomplished. Her meeting with Colonel Desmond seemed like seeing an
-inhabitant of another world, who could dive into thoughts, and was
-acquainted with occurrences unknown to those she was surrounded by.
-Though but four years had revolved since they last met, from the
-unexpected nature of the events that had marked them, they seemed, to
-memory, longer in duration than all those which had smoothly rolled
-away, ere their giant days rose on the wheel of fate, robed in the
-strongest hues of joy or sorrow. She felt grieved her journey was now at
-an end, as she had derived much amusement from it, and knew she should,
-in future, associate much less with Colonel Desmond. "I wonder, (thought
-she,) what description of being this Mr. O'Sullivan is, we have come so
-far to see--Poor little Caroline! I hope he will be more affectionate to
-her than her mother and sisters are."
-
-When Adelaide repaired to the breakfast room, and proceeded to open the
-door, her hand trembled on the lock, for she heard Caroline's joyous
-voice within, followed by an expression of fondness; and recollected,
-with bitterness of heart, that in that room was no relative, who would
-greet her entrance with a face of gladness.--She could not go in at that
-moment, and retreated a few steps. "Why am I so overpowered this
-morning? (thought she,) I ought to be more than usually happy, in
-reflecting, that dearest Caroline is this day introduced to her father's
-family; the happy one will soon arrive, when I shall be restored to
-mine, so _coute qui coute_, I go in." Armed with this magnanimous
-resolution, she entered the room, and her eyes were instantly attracted
-by one of the most venerable figures she had ever beheld. An old
-gentleman, dressed in mourning, was sitting with little Caroline on his
-knee; his face, as he bent his gray head to gaze on her infant beauties,
-was expressive of every benevolent feeling, whilst his dignified figure
-impressed the beholder with an awe, which was tempered, but not entirely
-removed, by the benignity of his countenance. In him was seen all that
-was reverend in age--in the cherub he caressed all that was blooming in
-youth. Her silken hair hung, in waving ringlets, on a cheek that mocked
-the rose's hue; her transparent skin showed the blue veins, that
-meandered on a brow as spotless as the mountain snow. The dark blue eye,
-that threw its melting ray on his, seemed to call forth fires that long
-had slept beneath those silver brows; and as her ivory arm hung round
-his neck, the youthful softness of her hand was more than usually
-apparent from the contrast it formed with the withered cheek it pressed.
-"Dearest Caroline! may he prove a fond parent to you!" was the ardent
-wish of Adelaide's heart, as she gazed on the happy child, and her
-venerable relative. Mr. O'Sullivan, looking up, rose to receive her; and
-the little girl, springing gaily forward, took her hand, saying, "This
-is my own dear Adele Wildenheim, I told you about, uncle; I love her
-better than any body in the world; if you will let me live with you, and
-will keep her too, I shall be so happy!" Whilst Caroline looked
-inquiringly up in his face to read the success of her proposition; the
-old man smiled on the lovely girl thus introduced to him, and holding
-out his hand cordially to her, said, "Your name is well known to me,
-Miss Wildenheim. Baron Wildenheim was the friend and benefactor of my
-deceased brother, and his child is truly welcome to my roof." Adelaide's
-cheek glowed with the most vivid blushes as she felt a tear trickle
-down; the accents faltered on her lips when she attempted to speak, and
-a deep sigh burst from Mr. O'Sullivan's breast as he recollected, that
-the daughter he had lost in the bloom of youth was, in his eyes at
-least, as lovely as the beautiful girl they now rested on.
-
-At this moment Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan entered the room; the
-latter acting the amicable, aspired to rest her fat hand on the bony arm
-of the stately Theresa, who, with smiles of unconscious exultation at
-her own towering height, and with an air of condescension, bent her long
-neck over her right shoulder, towards her rotund companion, as if the
-words she addressed to her would not otherwise be within hearing
-distance. The one stalked forward, sweeping after her a long train of
-the thickest tabinet; the other (though certainly not a figure for a
-Zephyr) fluttered in gauze, whose transparent texture a Roman would have
-compared to "the woven wind," her habiliment being about as long as that
-of the sapient dame well known in nursery history, after her unfortunate
-rencontre with the mischievous pedler.
-
-When Mrs. O'Sullivan espied her brother-in-law, she bustled up to him
-with an appearance of lively pleasure; but an observer, with half the
-penetration of Adelaide, might have seen a temporary expression of
-disappointment cloud his features, as from his brother he had never
-received the slightest hint, that might lead him to form an idea of what
-she really was, either in manner or appearance; and the beauty of her
-daughter and elegance of her ward had made him expect to find her far
-different in both; however, this expression was but transient, and he
-received her with his usual hospitality, and told her with much warmth
-and sincerity, how much he admired the charming little Caroline. The
-Miss Webberlys and their brother made their appearance shortly after
-Mrs. O'Sullivan's entrance; and the groupe were all assembled round the
-breakfast-table when Father Dermoody came into the room, whom Miss
-Fitzcarril and the master of the house rose to receive with the utmost
-respect, whilst his manner united the humility he felt as a man with the
-dignity he derived from his sacred office. When he approached them, the
-motion of his hand, and the raised expression of his countenance, told
-Adelaide that he passed that silent benediction she had so often
-witnessed abroad. His benevolent looks seemed to extend it to all,
-though a slight tinge on his cheek, and a half mournful glance of his
-eye, betrayed that he felt it would be scorned by some. A reverential
-bend of Adelaide's graceful figure, and the mild seriousness that
-chastened her smile of acknowledgement as her eye met his, conveyed to
-the venerable priest that she at least understood him, and thankfully
-received his pious aspirations. He looked in vain for the sign, that
-should have marked their conformity of faith, and sighed deeply, then
-muttered half under his breath, "In all else how like!"
-
-The English ladies soon found Miss Fitzcarril's gunpowder tea quite too
-potent for their nerves, and diluted it in a manner that astonished her;
-for this good lady, in her extensive patronage of vagrants, included
-smugglers and pedlers, from whom she procured the finest teas and
-brandies, for to these articles her ideas of parsimony did not extend;
-and as she kept the latter entirely for her male friends, she thought
-the former in their utmost strength the peculiar beverage of the fair
-sex, and now wondered where these ladies could have been brought up, not
-to understand the merits of gunpowder tea at a guinea a pound!
-
-In the course of the morning Mr. O'Sullivan took his usual promenade in
-front of his house; and here he appeared in all his glory. In one
-promiscuous groupe were assembled the heads of the families his tenantry
-comprised, with every other man, woman, or child, that could leave home
-to get a peep at the newly-arrived guests, whose appearance at
-Ballinamoyle had been looked for with more curiosity than pleasure. For
-Mr. O'Sullivan was universally beloved, and the superstitious ideas of
-his tenantry made them regard the arrival of his heiress as an omen of
-his own death; besides they very naturally dreaded this property being
-given to people unattached to them, and unacquainted with their customs.
-As the ladies stood at the open windows in front of the house to gaze at
-the strange assemblage, many were the remarks their appearance called
-forth. According to custom, every domestic went out in turn to
-"collogue," as they call it, with their favourite Judy or Barny; and as
-Caroline stood on the window-seat with Adelaide's protecting arm round
-her waist, she was repeatedly pointed out to the inquirers. But as the
-Irish seldom have patience to listen to more than half a sentence, when
-their minds are intent on any new subject, Caroline's companion was by
-most of the crowd taken for the object of their search. "She is a
-beautiful young lady, and looks loving and kind." "She's about the
-height of poor Miss Rose." "Ochone, she was the darling! Sun or moon
-will ne'er shine on the likes of her again; and while grass grows and
-water runs, she'll ne'er be forgot out of Ballinamoyle!" These and many
-similar expressions proceeded from the lips of the elder part of the
-assembly, whilst the unconscious object of their remarks entertained
-herself in viewing the various groupes it consisted of.
-
-Close after Mr. O'Sullivan walked his steward, hat in hand, to receive
-his orders, or answer his questions respecting the numerous petitioners
-who from time to time approached him. Whenever he turned towards the
-crowd, every man's hat was instantaneously taken off in the most
-respectful manner--every woman's petticoat, however short, touched the
-ground in her curtsy. Sundry sturdy little urchins were thumped on the
-back for being rather tardy in paying his honour proper respect; and a
-sulky reverence brought more than one little girl to the ground, as her
-mother used no very gentle means to expedite her motions; whilst many a
-rosy child had its plump cheek or white head stroked for being
-"mannerly." When Mr. O'Sullivan's levee had lasted as long as he wished,
-and when he had granted potato ground, and grazing ground, and firing
-ground, and had remitted fines for trespasses innumerable, his steward
-gave the usual signal, and the crowd dispersed to idle away the rest of
-the morning:--an idle evening was a thing of course.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril now proceeded to perform that ceremony always observed
-in a country house--of showing it, however unworthy it may be of
-exhibition. This old-fashioned edifice had been built by the present
-proprietor's grandfather with the materials of an ancient monastery,
-which had fallen to ruin on its site, which was made choice of for the
-convenience of communicating by a covered passage with the remaining
-chapel--a venerable and beautiful structure, that had been preserved in
-perfect repair. Over the hall door, at the top of the house, appeared
-the family arms cut in stone, and underneath the name of the builder and
-the date of the year when it was finished, in order, as Miss Webberly
-wittily remarked, "to claim the stolen goods by, should any one take it
-up on their backs and run away with it." The rooms were large and well
-built, and as uniformly square as a bricklayer's line could make them.
-The furniture was substantial, and, like Miss Fitzcarril, had been
-handsome in its day; but it survived its contemporaries, and the present
-race thought it heavy and sombre. The house had altogether a desolate
-appearance, and, like the Canal Inn, could rarely boast of a perfect
-bell or lock. In the part of the house which adjoined the chapel, Mrs.
-O'Sullivan frequently turned the lock of a door she passed by in
-traversing the various passages; and her guide always said with unusual
-seriousness, "You can't go in there, madam;" at last the question was
-asked "Why?" and was answered, with a deep sigh, "That was _poor Rose's_
-apartment; nobody has ever been in it since she died but her father and
-poor nurse." "Then what a pity," rejoined Mrs. O'Sullivan, "not to block
-up the windows; let me see, three rooms back to the chapel, one, two,
-three, four, five, six windows--all that much taxes for nothing!" "Block
-up the windows of poor Rose's apartment! Blessed powers defend
-me!--Child!" said the angry Theresa turning to Caroline, with a
-vehemence of gesture and sternness of aspect that made the trembling
-infant, while she looked fearfully up in her face, tightly clasp her
-arms round Adelaide, "if you ever own this place, take care that you pay
-respect to every relict of your cousin; it would be as much as any
-one's life's worth to put an affront upon her memory."
-
-Though Mrs. O'Sullivan could not see this apartment, she was resolved to
-inspect every other nook of the house, kitchens and store-rooms
-inclusive. In the latter she was surprised to see huge barrels of oaten
-meal and dried fish, with numerous casks of whisky. Suspended over head
-hung the cured carcases of three cows and five pigs, ready to supply the
-place of their fellows in the principal kitchen. As they passed down one
-of the back stair-cases, they saw in the court yard a number of men and
-boys, waiting for the chance of casual employment about the house. The
-men were muffled up in great coats, buttoned about their necks, the
-empty sleeves hanging at their sides; some leaning against the walls,
-some lying on their stomachs basking in the sun; others asleep in
-various postures; the boys dancing, or playing backgammon, which they
-managed by squares traced on the ground, whilst one called out the
-numbers at random, which answered the purpose of dice; others wrestling,
-sometimes throwing each other down on the sleepers, who just raised
-their heads to give a volley of oaths, and turned to sleep again. The
-unexpected entrance of the ladies into the kitchen put to flight a covey
-of char-women, who seemed to think they had all the business of the
-world on their hands. As strange servants were in the house, they had
-determined to keep up the "dacency of Ballinamoyle," by dressing
-themselves in their best; but being now at their work (that is, running
-in each other's way, at the same time talking unceasingly) all their
-petticoats were pinned up about their middle, except a very short dicky;
-their shoes and stockings were--not on their feet and legs, but on the
-kitchen tables and hot hearths, and the ears of their mob caps were
-pinned over the crowns of their heads to keep them clean and the wearers
-cool. There was a constant shouting to the boys in the yard to run
-incessant messages. At the moment of Mrs. O'Sullivan's first
-appearance, the cook called out of the kitchen window, "Do you hear,
-Barny, make aff to Jarge Quin for a slip of parsley:--do you mind, be
-back in a crack." No sooner was Barny dispatched than she shouted again:
-"Jimmy! Jimmy Maloony I say, rin for your life, and make ould Jarge sind
-the fruit for the pies." When the ladies proceeded to the servants'
-hall, there was an old piper playing, and three girls dancing, that Miss
-Fitzcarril thought were busy spinning and sewing. "Get along, you
-incorrigibly idle sluts," said she, and they were off in a trice; but it
-was out of Scylla into Charybdis, for two or three of the "cutty sarks,"
-who had been muddling in the kitchen, met them in the passage, where
-they had been drawn by hearing "the mistress spaking mad angry;" and
-each seizing her own daughter, and thumping her well, said, "I'll pay
-you for your jigging, indeed my lady!" Close to the servants' hall was a
-man cleaning knives; he had taken off his coat and waistcoat, one
-shoulder appeared through a great hole in the back of his shirt, the
-sleeves of which were rolled up to the elbow, and it was open down to
-the waist. He had neither shoes nor stockings on, and thus his legs and
-arms, with the greater part of his back and breast, were naked; the skin
-that covered them was nearly of a copper colour; his head was crowned
-with thick, short, curly, black hair, and his unshaved face presented a
-luxuriant crop of the same sable material. "What a number of men
-servants you keep! pray what compacity does that one fill?" inquired
-Mrs. O'Sullivan. "Madam," replied her _cicerone_ (all her pride
-colouring her face) "since the world was a world, no such sarving man as
-that ever belonged to the name of O'Sullivan! That's Black Frank, the
-fool, who comes in to do odd jobs now and again." Black Frank was an
-itinerant "innocent," who scoured knives, cleared out ashes, or did any
-job the servants of the houses he frequented were too lazy to perform
-themselves. He was capricious in his fancies, and never staid long in
-any one place, but blessed all his acquaintance in turn. As Mrs.
-O'Sullivan went up stairs, she said to herself, "It will be another
-guess matter when Caroline rules the roast; I'll soon pack off all these
-here wagabonds and ramscallions about their business; she'd be a sight
-the richer if these warlets didn't eat up her uncle's fortin. There's
-one comfort, he can't live long; when he dies, I'll make this stately
-madam and all take to their heels!"
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, however, was aware of but a small part of what she
-considered her daughter's wrongs; for her brother-in-law, though he had
-renounced all society himself, except that of a few distant relatives,
-and his friends the Desmonds, authorized his servants to bring their
-kindred and "cronies" to his servants' hall, to eat, drink, and be
-merry. From twenty to thirty people sat down to dinner there every day,
-and on Saturdays and holydays a great many more. And the song and the
-jest went round amongst the careless crew, accompanied by the boisterous
-laugh of rustic mirth. The young men and women amused themselves of a
-winter's evening dancing jigs, whilst their elders "kept the fire warm,"
-telling stories of the days of old, superstitious legends, or recounting
-the omens each had observed previous to the death of the ever lamented
-Miss Rose.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-    When wilt thou rise in thy beauty, first of Erin's maids?
-    Thy sleep is long in the tomb, and the morning distant far.
-    The Sun shall not come to thy bed and say, "Awake, Darthula!
-    Awake, thou first of women!"
-
-    oeDARTHULA.oe
-
-
-When the ladies retired to the drawing-room after dinner, Miss
-Fitzcarril proposed walking. Mrs. O'Sullivan was anxious that Adelaide
-and Caroline should study the good of their health by this exercise, but
-pleaded fatigue as an excuse for declining the promenade herself,
-wishing to profit by the opportunity their absence would afford, to
-interrogate Theresa as to the nature and extent of the Ballinamoyle
-property, and a thousand other _et cetera_. Her two elder daughters, to
-whom she had before dinner mentioned her distress at having her anxiety
-for information on this subject so _long_ unsatisfied, understood her
-manoeuvre, and remained to assist in the gratification of their mutual
-curiosity. Adelaide and Caroline accordingly set out on their ramble.
-Miss Fitzcarril, in her anxious civility, attended them as far as the
-hall door; she had scarcely reached it, when a voice accosted her with
-"I want to spake a word to you, Miss Teree--za." "Well, nurse!" "Will
-you be plased to give me some whisky for Jimmy Maloony--the paltry
-fellow! he let the dinner fall bringing it up, and the spalpeen has cut
-his leg very bad; but it was God saved the puddin, Miss!" Adelaide's
-eyes were attracted towards the speaker, and she saw a fresh coloured
-old woman, dressed in a rich flowered silk gown, underneath which
-appeared a pair of coarse shoes and worsted stockings. The gown was open
-before, and would have trailed on the ground, had it not been turned
-back and pinned up behind, just to touch the edge of a striped green
-stuff petticoat, which was surmounted in front with a fine linen apron
-as white as snow. Her gray hair was rolled back over a cushion, and a
-mob cap was pinned under her chin, the head piece ornamented with a
-cherry coloured riband put once round her head, the ends turned back
-again just to the ears, and a flat bow pinned on in front. It was not
-surprising that the silk gown, which nurse wore in honour of the
-strangers' arrival, should be old fashioned in make and texture, as she
-had received it, according to custom, on the day Mr. O'Sullivan's
-daughter had cut her first tooth. Miss Fitzcarril, before she complied
-with the old woman's demands, directed Adelaide how best to proceed from
-the hall door, to the following effect: "Do you see that walk to the
-right? well, then you're not to go down that, only just as far as the
-old oak, and then there is another to the left, mind you don't take
-that, it leads to the shaking bog, but keep strait forward, and that
-will bring you round and round to the back of the house." From which it
-appeared that they were neither to turn to the right nor the left, but
-to proceed in a strait line, which would conduct them home in a circle
-from the front to the back of the house!
-
-When the two young ladies set off, Miss Fitzcarril returned to nurse;
-and while she felt for a key, amongst its numerous fellows at the bottom
-of a pocket long enough to cover _her_ arm up to the elbow, shaking it
-two or three times in a manner that showed what metal she carried; the
-ancient dame said to her, "Our young lady that is to be, is the making
-of a pretty girl, God bless her! But I'd rather it was her comrade, she
-has more of the portly air and jaunteel walk of the O'Sullivans than any
-of them. The others are no great shakes of ladies. But it's none of them
-all would be a patch upon my sweet Rose if she was alive! Och Rose dear,
-why did you lave your ould mammy to go wid a foreigner? Wouldn't his
-honour have given ye gould to eat if ye chose it, and weren't you as
-merry as a grig the live long day? It's but little you're happier, now
-you're a blessed angel in Heaven, for you lament ye for your poor father
-and ould nurse; and you're not a whit beautifuller or better than you
-were here. Many's the mass we say for your sowl; but ye're fitter to
-pray for us poor sinful craturs than we for you. Weary on ye, Limerick,
-that ever ye rose on the face of God's earth, for ye lost me my sweet
-child." The poor old woman beat her breast as this burst of sorrow
-escaped her lips, and the tears rolled down the furrows of her aged
-cheeks in torrents. "Nurse! nurse!" said Theresa, sobbing, "don't take
-on so; if your master sees or hears you, you'll make him ill again: you
-know what trouble he was in this morning, and that he wouldn't have the
-first sight of the little girl before mortal breathing, but sent for her
-to his own room." "Well, well, I'll soon lay my gray head in under the
-sod; it isn't fit a poor cratur like me should mislist his honour." When
-Miss Fitzcarril had composed herself, and dispatched nurse with a "drap
-of comfort" to the kitchen, she returned to the drawing-room, and then
-answered the interrogatories her visitors put to her in such a manner,
-as much to strengthen the favourable impression, which the marshalling
-of the tenantry had made on their minds in the morning; and, without
-giving any one direct answer, managed to exalt her own and her cousin's
-consequence considerably in their estimation.
-
-Theresa, keeping ever in mind the fortune-teller's prediction, which she
-graciously interpreted in young Webberly's favour, was extremely anxious
-to ingratiate herself with his mother and sisters, and therefore had by
-this time almost forgiven the former her proposition of blocking up the
-windows of the revered apartment, as well as the affronting supposition,
-that Black Frank appertained to the regular establishment of
-Ballinamoyle; and the wheedling civility Mrs. O'Sullivan showed her,
-encouraged her hopes and her efforts; more especially as Jack, in
-compliance with his parent's wishes, had been particularly attentive to
-her in the course of the day. Mrs. O'Sullivan had that morning convinced
-her children it was for their interest, that Caroline should be her
-uncle's heiress, as she promised in that case not to leave her any of
-her own riches. She had been induced to hold out this bribe to them,
-from perceiving the extreme rudeness with which they were inclined to
-treat all around them, which she feared would disgust their host, whose
-uniform urbanity was not less conspicuous.
-
-With the Miss Webberlys, interest was scarcely a counterpoise to ill
-temper, conceit, and _ennui_; and therefore their deportment varied
-every half hour, according to the feeling of the moment. But in the
-composition of their brother, ill nature had not been added to folly and
-presumption; he was therefore constant in his endeavours to please, in
-which he was also encouraged by the hopes, that the success of this
-scheme might "put the old lady in a good humour, and make her come down
-handsomely when he married Miss Wildenheim, which he would as soon as
-they returned to England, please the pigs." Of the young lady's being
-pleased he had little doubt; "her being so confoundedly shy was all a
-sham."
-
-Whilst Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan were playing against each
-other, in the conversation which took place between them in the
-drawing-room, Adelaide and Caroline pursued their ramble. At a little
-distance from the house, one of the most beautiful scenes in nature
-presented itself to their view.--A lake, of considerable extent, rose
-from the bosom of rocky hills, whose bold forms were reflected in its
-pellucid waters. It contained several islands, some with fine trees,
-some grazed by cattle, and covered with the most brilliant verdure. On
-the centre island stood the ruins of an old castle half covered with
-ivy. To the south of the lake was a fine champaign country, and behind
-the house rose a beautiful hill of great height, covered from the base
-to the summit with an indigenous wood. To the right a narrow defile
-opened into a wild and romantic country, showing mountains of the most
-picturesque forms. The varied lights, which the declining sun threw on
-this enchanting scene, gave it every beauty of exquisite colouring. "Oh!
-look there, Adele!" said Caroline, "doesn't the lake and its islands
-look as if it was let down from Heaven by that beautiful rainbow that
-touches it at both sides? Oh, how I should like to walk up it!" "And
-then," thought Adelaide, as she looked at the lovely child, "you might
-join the company of the sylphs, whilst they 'pleas'd untwist the
-sevenfold threads of light.'" Just at this moment an odd looking man
-came close up, and taking off an old regimental cap, said, "I see you're
-some of the strange quality ladies; you're quite out of the right
-track,"--(rather surprising after Miss Fitzcarril's explicit
-directions.) "I'll show ye'z round the place, and take ye'z to the
-garden, if you're agreeable." "Thank you, my good man, I shall be much
-obliged to you: pray may I ask your name?"--"They call me Jarge Quin at
-the big house, Miss, because I was so long at the wars, where I lost my
-right eye. I'm his honour's gardiner; and a brave kind master he is til
-me, the Lord love him!" Jarge proceeded to do the honours; and delighted
-by the questions Adelaide asked, became more than usually loquacious.
-"Thon mountain that's foreninst ye, Miss, (said he,) is Croagh Patrick;
-on the top of it is an altar, where many a good Christian goes to tell
-their padereenes, on Patricksmas day. It's the very self same spot where
-St. Patrick stood, when he called all the snakes and toads, and varmint
-of all sorts, up the one side, and bid them, and their heirs for ever,
-go down the t'other intil the sea, and be aff till Inglant; and that's
-the rason the folks over the water have been so hard with us, ever since
-that blessed day, no blame to you, Miss." "And what's that mountain,
-shaped like a sugar loaf, more to the south?" "I don't know what name
-the quality give it, Miss; but we semples call it, _Altoir na
-Griene_[2], the name they say it had in ould times, afore St. Patrick
-stood on the other mountain."
-
-[Footnote 2: "The altar of the sun." Grieneus was one of the names of
-Apollo in the Grecian temples.]
-
-"Do you see that ould castle there, over aginst ye, in the lake? That's
-where the family used to live, afore the new house was built, seventy
-year agone next Hollontide; and now the good people dance in it every
-moonlight night." "And, pray, who are the good people?" "The little
-people, Miss, the fairies.--Many's the time Judy Maloony sees them
-chasing each other, when they slide down the moon beams, to play swing
-swang on the stalks of the ivy leaves.--And, she says, they sail across
-the lake in butter cups, to the lavender hedge in the garden, when it's
-in flower, to make themselves caps and jackets; and she gathers the
-thistle's beard, to sarve them for threads, afore the sun sets, and as
-sure as you live, there's never a bit of it there in the morning.
-
-"Do you see that big stone, Miss, a little up the mountain there? That
-by the side of the stream they call the goulden river; and that's the
-place the boys and girls sit, of a summer's evening, to steal unknownst
-upon the Loughrie men--ould men, about as big as my hand, looking as
-sour as you plase; but if you'll thrape it out to them, ye won't let
-them aff when ye catch them--they'll show you a power of gould they've
-hid in under the earth."
-
-Adelaide, though highly amused herself, thought she would give audience
-to Jarge another time, not thinking his conversation very edifying to
-Caroline, who, with "locks thrown back, and lips apart," was eagerly
-listening to every word he said; and therefore proposed returning home.
-But Jarge, looking much disappointed, said,--"Och! and won't ye be
-plased just to step intil the gardin? it's in iligant order for ye'z
-just now; I doubt ye'll never see it as nate again." Accordingly they
-were ushered into a walled garden, three _Irish_ acres in extent, well
-stocked with vegetables; but at least one third of it was planted with
-potatoes. It however produced a quantity of fruit, which almost
-exhausted Theresa's patience in preserving for herself and her friends
-the Desmonds; for he would have been a bold wight, that would have
-ventured to suggest to one of the name of O'Sullivan the propriety of
-selling fruit. It was much more consonant to their dignity to let, what
-they or their friends could not consume, rot under the trees. A great
-gate opened on a gravel walk (besides the entrance door) on which Mr.
-O'Sullivan's father had driven his coach and four all round the walks.
-But these walks, though just then, as Jarge Quin said, in "iligant
-order," were not usually remarkable for neatness. In their progress
-round the garden, they came to a very beautiful flower bed, and Adelaide
-put out her hand to pull a rose that tempted her sight.--Jarge hastily
-stopped her, saying, "You're welcome, as the flowers of May, to any
-thing, but that, at Ballinamoyle; his honour will have that himself the
-morra. Before I went to the wars, I dug the place for Miss Rose to plant
-the tree with her own beautiful hands. In the bed we always put the same
-sorting of flowers, after the very moral of what she left them; and no
-soul ever pulls them but his honour, and nurse Delany, who dresses the
-altar, in Miss Rose's room, with them; and lays them about her monument
-in the chapel, where she's cut out in white marble more nat'ral than the
-life."
-
-Adelaide made many apologies for the sacrilege she had been about to
-commit; and as she entered the house felt all the wounds of her heart
-bleed afresh, as she thought, "so would my beloved father have mourned
-for me."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-
-    And do I live to hear the tale!
-    And will ambition then prevail,
-    Can sordid schemes of wealth assail,
-                    A heart so true as his?
-
-    oeIL PERDUTO BEN.oe
-
-
-As Mr. O'Sullivan's guests were rising from the breakfast table the
-following morning, a peremptory ringing of the hall door bell announced
-the welcome arrival of the gray headed postman, who travelled on foot at
-all seasons of the year, visiting in turn the scattered dwellings of the
-gentry of this mountainous region. Adelaide, with sparkling eyes and
-eager fingers, opened a letter from Mrs. Temple, in answer to hers from
-Shrewsbury, which, besides much domestic intelligence, contained the
-following paragraph:--
-
-"I know you are much interested for Augustus Mordaunt, and therefore
-will be glad to hear that he is just gone abroad, with his uncle, Lord
-Osselstone, who, I am convinced, must grow proud, nay fond of him, as he
-has, by this means, an opportunity of being acquainted with the fine
-qualities of this noble young man. I am afraid my favourite wish, of his
-marrying Selina Seymour, is never likely to be gratified. Mr. Temple
-writes to me from London, that it is confidently reported she is engaged
-to Mr. Elton, Lord Eltondale's son and heir. He says, no young man in
-England bears a finer character (though it is impossible we could ever
-compare him to Augustus): a gentleman from Paris told Mr. Temple, that,
-instead of entering into the dissipation of that gay metropolis, he
-lives quite retired, absorbed in study; also that he had been acquainted
-with Mr. Elton in Sicily, where he was desperately in love with a lady
-of that country, whom he believed he had married: if this be the case,
-it is surely very dishonourable of him not to put an immediate stop to
-his engagement with Miss Seymour.--Augustus would never be guilty of
-such conduct."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Adelaide did indeed take a much deeper interest in Augustus Mordaunt's
-fate, than Mrs. Temple imagined; and little did that kind friend suspect
-the misery her letter had caused on the perusal. "Gone abroad!"
-exclaimed Adelaide, in thought; "perhaps for years."--A deadly paleness
-overspread her face, and she precipitately sought the solitude of her
-own chamber. Let us not intrude on the privacy she has chosen; but turn
-to survey the motley groupes that are now assembling about Mr.
-O'Sullivan's door.
-
-This day, being Saturday, Miss Fitzcarril held _her_ levee, which was as
-numerously, though not quite so respectably, attended as her host's had
-been on the day before. On this day of the week she gave audience, and a
-halfpenny apiece, to all the beggars in the country, with many charges
-not to spend their money idly. On these occasions she stood at the
-breakfast room window; from which spot she inquired into all their
-complaints, without scruple; and, with the assistance of nurse,
-prescribed for them, and gave medicines, wine, spirits, or black currant
-jam, as their wants demanded: this affair being at an end, they all
-adjourned to the kitchen door, where each received a pitcher of broth,
-and a huge oaten cake, to bake which had been the principal employment
-of the women assembled there the day before. An English reader might
-suppose, that the amount of Miss Fitzcarril's donation in money had been
-limited to a halfpenny to each beggar, from her own inclination to
-parsimony; but it was in fact what was customary, a sort of toll, paid
-by the gentry to the mendicants, on condition of receiving which, they
-forbore to infest their abodes at other times. The country families
-generally gave something additional, in the way of provision, according
-to their ability; but the inhabitants of towns and villages literally
-paid only this new species of poll tax; which, when received from
-numbers, amounts to something considerable to each individual. It is a
-lamentable truth, that an undue proportion of the Irish population are
-beggars, either from necessity or inclination; and the predilection for
-this mode of living is encouraged by the extraordinary charity of the
-lower order to each other: no suppliant ever leaves the door of the most
-miserable cabin, without receiving a handful of oaten meal, or two or
-three potatoes, which are put into bags carried for the purpose; nor is
-a night's lodging and the use of the turf fire ever denied. The form of
-application, and admittance, is as follows:--The beggar stands on the
-threshold, and says, "Peace be to this house! Any good Christian
-within?"--"What do you want, poor sowl?"--"The blessing of the Lord, and
-the holy powers, be about ye; and give a desolate cratur a night's
-lodging."--"In the name of the holy Vargin, and the blessed saints,
-kindly welcome." After this formula, the beggar, and his or her family,
-take up their abode, as long as the neighbourhood affords them
-subsistence. In summer, hordes of people travel about the country in
-this manner. They plant their potatoes, and sow their oats in spring;
-then locking up their houses, repair, like their betters, to the
-watering places, where they remain till the season arrives for digging
-the one and reaping the other. To the beggars that are acknowledged to
-be hale in body and sound in mind must be added those, who draw on the
-charity of the working members of the community, as "innocents,"
-"crouls," "spey" men or women, those afflicted with fits, dumb people,
-and lunatics. Whether it be, that the high premium that is given for any
-defect, mental or bodily, induces the fortunate possessor to bring it
-forward to publick view, and others, not so distinguished, to
-counterfeit infirmity; certain it is, that the eye of a stranger from
-England, where such objects are shut up in appropriate asylums, is as
-much shocked as surprised at the number of the above mentioned
-unfortunate beings, that are seen in the country parts of Ireland.
-There are numerous impostors, but still they are the exceptions, whilst
-the real sufferers form the rule.
-
-Ere the beggars dispersed, Adelaide returned to the breakfast parlour.
-And is this proud and brilliant beauty the gentle, placid Adelaide? A
-vivid, perhaps a feverish glow, mantled her cheeks, and gave her eyes a
-dazzling lustre, that was almost as repelling as it was beautiful. The
-dignity of her carriage approached to majesty. She seemed to walk
-triumphantly, as if she led misfortune by the hand, and awed her by
-
-    "The strange powers which lie
-    Within the magic circle of the eye."
-
-But had she thus quickly subdued all the rebel feelings, that so lately
-had mocked the calm control of reason? Oh, no! The smile that quivers
-round the trembling lip may play but to conceal the throb of agony. Even
-the melancholy sepulchre sometimes looks bright in the splendid beam of
-the sun; and the admiring spectator thinks not of the darkness and
-horror that reign within. At that moment Adelaide's heart was the tomb
-of hope. When she entered the breakfast room, Mr. Webberly stared at her
-like another Cymon, when Iphigenia first appeared to his wondering view.
-After gazing at her for some moments, he drew his breath, which had been
-repressed by his admiration, so as to give utterance to a most audible
-sigh; at the same time resolving, that, when she was Mrs. Webberly, she
-should always wear rouge. "When she has a colour (thought he) there is
-not a handsomer woman in all Lunnon.--At this very instant she looks as
-grand as Madame Catalani, when she acts that Di--Di--that virago queen,
-that burned herself like a fool. What a figure we shall cut when I drive
-her round the ring at the Park, in an open landaulet, with four dashing
-horses, and two out-riders, in smart liveries! No; I think I'll sit
-beside her; the fellows will envy me so! and have two postilions, with
-purple velvet caps, and jackets trimmed with gold lace!" Having thus
-settled his equipage to his satisfaction, he came up to the intended
-mistress of it, saying, with all the tenderness of accent he could
-command, "There is no body, Miss Wildenheim, I envy so much as Mrs.
-Temple; you used always to be so glad when you saw her; I should be the
-happiest man alive, if a letter from me would make you look so gay as
-hers has done."
-
-A deeper hue painted Adelaide's cheek, and a still brighter beam
-sparkled in her eye. "What strange figure is that?" said she, laughing,
-and avoiding any direct reply; "mounted like the farrier of Tamworth,
-'on a mare of four shilling?'" The equestrian, that thus attracted her
-notice, was one of a most unusual description. A sallow, meagre object
-was mounted on one of the rough mountain horses of the country; a straw
-rope served as bridle; and, instead of saddle, he sat on a well filled
-sack, wearing a coarse blanket, fastened under his chin, not to serve
-as a garment, as she unknowingly supposed, but to hide the good
-condition of those it concealed. "What's your business, good man?"
-inquired Miss Fitzcarril.--"I'm a stranger, and ye have a good name in
-the country, lady dear; and I'm just come to seek your charity, in God's
-name."--"What's that you've got in the sack?"--"Pratees and meal,
-honey."--"And where did you get that horse?"--"Troth, I bought him at
-the fair, last Tursday was tree weeks." "I've nothing for you, good man:
-many's the time I've heard of setting a beggar on horseback, but I never
-saw one till now." The following Saturday this hero returned on the same
-errand, but without his horse, still however retaining his blanket. Miss
-Fitzcarril's lynx's eye recognized him instantly; indeed such a peculiar
-figure could hardly have escaped the notice of the most casual observer.
-She inquired where he had left his horse? He very quietly answered, "Ye
-were no ways agreeable to him, jewel, the last time I was here, so I
-just hitched him up at the gate there below[3]!"
-
-[Footnote 3: _Verbatim._]
-
-In the middle of this assembly of beggars, four gentlemen and a lady
-rode up to the door; and Mr. Webberly turned away with an expression of
-mortification, when he saw Adelaide kiss her hand to Colonel Desmond,
-who jumped off his horse, and, with his niece and Mr. Donolan, quickly
-entered the house; whilst his brother, with his characteristic
-jocularity, stopped to jest with the women on the outside, his son
-standing by in silence to enjoy the fun. When they, in a few minutes'
-time, joined their party within, the mendicant dames said one to
-another, "God bless his merry honour, but master Harry is a hearty
-gentleman[4]!"
-
-[Footnote 4: The lower Irish, to the end of life, continue to call every
-body by the appellation they knew them in youth. Many a "Master Billy
-and Miss Jenny" are, with all propriety, fathers and mothers of large
-families. The wives of the peasantry are always called by their maiden
-names amongst their equals; and parents speak of "the boy," or "the
-girl," even when past the grand climacteric.]
-
-Mr. Desmond was a very handsome man, tall, stout, and well made; his
-face, manner, and words expressive of the greatest _bonhomie_, mirth,
-and joviality. He had no pretensions whatsoever, but was one of the few,
-who openly dare to appear precisely what they are. He went through the
-world finding amusement in every person he met, whether beggar or king;
-laughing at himself, and with every body else: he danced, rode, and sung
-admirably; and particularly excelled in the composition of
-electioneering songs and squibs. His family had, for centuries, lost
-their blood and their property, in every rebellion Ireland was agitated
-by; but, about sixty years ago, had become protestants and loyalists in
-the same day; and, as the Irish are never lukewarm in any thing, Mr.
-Desmond now figured as Orange-man, captain of a yeomanry corps,
-freemason, and magistrate of the most approved zeal, which, however, his
-natural good disposition kept within the pale of humanity. Miss Desmond,
-who accompanied her father and uncle in this visit, was mentally and
-personally a softened resemblance of the former. She was just then
-fifteen, but so extremely tall and womanly in stature, that the
-spectator was constantly obliged to refer to her face, to correct the
-false calendar expressed by her figure. The _dilettante_, in the true
-spirit of hypercriticism, congratulated himself on having discovered,
-that she was not symmetrically formed; but though some said, "She would
-be a fine woman," and some that "She would be a coarse woman," all were
-agreed, that in the mean time she was a very lovely girl. Her features
-were not perfect, but her countenance was frank, good natured, and
-vivacious: a pair of laughing eyes sent forth from beneath their shading
-lashes fairy messengers of mirth, to dimple her blooming cheek, or
-pucker up the corners of her eye-lids. In manner, though she was not
-impudent, she was not bashful, perhaps from the total absence of
-self-conceit, which never led her to suppose she occupied a place in the
-thoughts of those who did not love her; and on the partiality of those
-who did she relied implicitly. Until her uncle fixed his residence at
-her father's house, she was nearly as wild as the heaths that surrounded
-it. But the observer of nature is well aware, that in such uncultivated
-regions blooms many a flower, whose beauty is more exquisite than that
-of those the art of man raises in the brilliant parterre. Some happy
-star seemed to rule over Melicent Desmond, that saved her from the very
-verge of what was unlovely in woman. She was so tall, she would have
-looked masculine, but for the fairest complexion in the world, which
-gave her face, neck, and arms a most feminine appearance. The expression
-of her countenance was so droll, it would have been satirical, but for
-the kindness of heart it beamed with. She was so lively she was almost
-boisterous; and any other girl, equally careless of her attire, would
-have seemed untidy. But all her looks, words, and actions had a peculiar
-charm, that, though none would or could have imitated them, few were so
-harsh as to condemn; and, in the very act of censure, the face of the
-speaker expressed fondness and admiration, of which nobody could define
-to themselves the cause: she seized upon the affections with a sort of
-arbitrary power, which defied the remonstrances of reason, when it did
-not receive her sanction. This dear girl was the idol of her parents and
-her uncle: but the latter, though most anxious to see her all that was
-delightful in a female character, was extremely cautious in the line of
-conduct he adopted towards her; he rather sought to add, than to change,
-and was not a little fearful of "improving for the worse," as his
-countrymen emphatically express the effects arising from a spirit of
-false refinement:
-
-    "Many are spoil'd by that pedantic throng,
-    Who with great pains teach youth to reason wrong:
-    Tutors, like virtuosoes, oft inclin'd,
-    By strange transfusion to improve the mind,
-    Draw off the sense we have, to pour in new,
-    Which yet with all their skill they ne'er could do."
-
-He more judiciously confined his endeavours to furnishing her with ideas
-and examples, leaving it to her unbiassed judgment to choose amongst
-them, and make what she pleased her own. He now wished to give her the
-advantage of associating, as much as possible, with Adelaide, noticing
-her perfections but generally, and trusting to Melicent's discernment to
-analyse each particular charm, unaided, save by the happy benevolence of
-disposition, which would make such an exercise of her faculties the
-first of all pleasures. He had accordingly lost no time in making his
-brother call on the strangers, for the purpose of inviting them to
-Bogberry Hall. It was settled, in this visit, that the party from
-Ballinamoyle should dine at Mr. Desmond's house early in the ensuing
-week, where they should remain till the following day, as the distance
-was too great to permit of returning at night.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan prevailed on the Desmonds to join his family circle at
-dinner; and when they prepared to return home in the evening, Colonel
-Desmond said to Adelaide, in a low voice, "I hope Melicent has not
-shocked you by her brogue; I find it most difficult to cure." "Oh, don't
-try to alter her accent, (replied she) she speaks the prettiest Irish!
-Any thing that would make her less original, would take from her charms:
-she is one of the most captivating creatures I ever saw." His only
-answer was a parting pressure of her hand, which conveyed his thanks for
-her admiration of his niece, and meant more than he yet ventured to
-express in words. "How different she is from Melicent, (thought he), yet
-how charming!"
-
-A lover and an uncle could not be supposed to be expert at definition,
-otherwise he might have said, that the one amused the fancy, whilst the
-other touched the heart.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-                 Be my plan,
-    To live as merry as I can,
-    Regardless how the fashions go,
-    Whether there's reason for't, or no.
-    Be my employment here on earth,
-    To give a lib'ral scope to mirth.
-
-    oeCHURCHILLoe.
-
-Bogberry Hall was the abode of mirth and glee: there was nothing but
-rattling, and ranting, and singing, and dancing, from morning till
-night. The family living in it, consisted of nine happy children, with
-an indulgent, tender mother, remarkable for nothing, except her good
-nature, and careful attention to their wants and pleasures. This house
-was never without company staying in it, principally relations; for the
-Desmonds had first, second, and third cousins innumerable. The actual
-income of the family was not large, in proportion to their numbers; but
-the advantage of situation supplied them with almost every thing they
-consumed at a low rate; and many rents, that a non-resident would have
-found it impossible to get, were compounded for, partly in kind, partly
-in labour. When any body condoled with Mr. Desmond on his large family,
-he used to say, "The more the merrier; there never was a child sent into
-the world, that it did not bring its portion with it; I wish I had
-thirty of them." Calming his mind with this idea, he determined to make
-them, as long as he was alive, as merry as possible; for, in his
-vocabulary, merriment and happiness were synonymous. A very necessary
-part of his establishment, for this purpose, were two fiddlers and a
-piper. One of the former was then absent on rather a singular
-errand.--Miss Sophy Desmond had been put to school at Galway, and he was
-sent to board in the same house, that he might play for her to dance
-every evening, and "keep her from thinking long after home." The cause
-of Sophy's being sent to school was as singular as her strange
-accompaniment. One of Melicent's favourite pastimes the year before had
-been to get up on the horses that carried fish, poultry, or eggs, in a
-sort of open panniers called creels, to her father's house for sale; and
-whilst her mother was giving a dram, or buying chickens three to the
-couple, away she went "o'er moor and mountain," amusing herself with the
-alarm she should cause, and the hunt there would be after her. One day a
-horse was brought to Bogberry Hall, carrying two wooden churns, one
-containing eggs, the other buttermilk. Melicent scrambled up the side,
-and seating herself between them, off she set; but while she was
-galloping along much to her satisfaction, in making a leap over a pit in
-the bog before her father's gate, the covers of the churns came off, and
-she was soused with the milk on one side, and pelted with the eggs on
-the other. The horse took fright, and carried her in this condition
-miles round the country, without hat or cloak. She was at last met by
-some gentlemen, who brought her home, her clothes dripping wet, and her
-face and hair stiff with the contents of the egg shells. The conclusion
-her friends drew from this adventure was, that as _Melicent_ was quite
-spoiled, _Sophy_ must be sent to school directly. Miss Desmond's
-coadjutor in all such pranks (which however she had much intermitted
-since the above-mentioned unlucky day) was her brother Launcelot, an
-arch boy, one year younger than herself, who, to plague his cousin
-"Dilly," as he called Mr. Donolan, now pretended to be yet more
-unpolished than he really was. These two were standing in the window of
-their mother's drawing-room, on the day on which she expected the party
-from Ballinamoyle to dinner, when they espied Mrs. O'Sullivan's gaudy
-equipage at some distance. "There, Melicent," said Launcelot, "there
-comes Tidy-ideldy and Big bow bow," as he had christened the two Miss
-Webberlys. "I declare, Lanty," replied his sister, "when I saw that
-ugly Miss Webberly at dinner the other day, with half a rose tree on her
-head, I could scarcely keep from saying to you, that she was 'the devil
-in a bush.'" "Oh fie, Melicent!" said Colonel Desmond, with an
-ill-suppressed smile, "such a great girl as you ought not to encourage
-that rude boy; it would be much more becoming for you to think of
-receiving your guests with politeness, than to employ yourself in
-finding names for them." "Don't be angry, uncle dear," said Melicent,
-coaxingly, "and I'll call her London Pride; and that dear beautiful Miss
-Wildenheim is Venus's looking-glass:--you have no objection to be Flos
-Adonis, uncle, I'm sure. Oh! I wish I was like her, and then you'd be
-quite pleas'd with me." "My dearest Melicent," said he, fondly, "I don't
-wish you to be like any body but yourself; only control your spirits
-to-day, that's a good girl."
-
-In another window Mr. Donolan was expatiating on the merits of frogs
-stewed in _red_ champaigne, as he had eat them at the _Cafe de mille
-Colonnes_; whilst his auditor, Mr. Desmond, was assiduously drawing up
-his mouth into a whistle, his usual preventive of _mal a propos_
-laughter. His lady was preparing to receive her guests on their
-entrance, which she did with much kindness, and with the ease of a
-person well accustomed to the office. The ladies from Ballinamoyle were
-escorted only by Captain Cormac, as Mr. Webberly had unfortunately
-sprained his ancle that morning too severely to admit of his moving off
-a couch, and his host remained at home in order to show him proper
-attention, and Father Dermoody never formed one of so large a party.
-
-The company, when assembled, besides the party from Ballinamoyle and the
-Desmond family, consisted of the curate of the parish, the physician of
-the neighbourhood, a music-master, occasionally resident at Bogberry
-Hall, two smart beaux on a visit there from Limerick, and three very
-handsome girls of the name of Nevil, whom Mr. Desmond introduced to the
-English ladies as "Battle, Murder, and Sudden Death."
-
-Miss Fitzcarril had hoped much from the effects of a rose-coloured
-satin gown and orange turban, on the heart of her promised spouse; and
-therefore great was her disappointment, and unfeigned were her
-expressions of regret, when she lamented the accident, which deprived
-the party of his "agreeable society." Miss Webberly, resolving to take
-the _dilettante's_ affections by a _coup de main_, had that day employed
-herself in a reperusal of the portable Cyclopaedia, and had no less
-attended to the embellishment of her person, which she attired _a la
-Minerve_, to give him a delicate proof of her just appreciation of his
-compliments.
-
-But Cecilia Webberly lost no time in commencing a flirtation with him,
-for the sole purpose of plaguing her "sweet Meely." In this however she
-was disappointed, for he complimented the mind of the one nearly as much
-as the person of the other, hoping thus to earn an equal portion of the
-"diet of good humour" for himself, which was as necessary to the comfort
-of his moral existence, as the daily aliments which were required for
-his physical being. For the purpose of receiving and bestowing flattery,
-he took a favourable opportunity, afforded by a pause in conversation,
-of producing a gold fillagree case, in which a few yards of pink riband
-were rolled up, which some milliner of the _Palais Royal_ had persuaded
-him to buy, in order to mark them with the dimensions of the celebrated
-statues in the _Louvre_; and he had thus indefatigably measured every
-wrist, waist, head, and ancle of the collection; and now as
-unremittingly solicited every lady of his acquaintance to apply this
-test of symmetry to the corresponding parts of her own person. And many
-a female heart beat with anxious expectation as she passed the girdle of
-various Venuses round Her waist, in hopes some one might prove a fit
-cestus for herself.
-
-By a little false play, Felix now proved Cecilia to be the exact
-counterpart of the celebrated Amazon of the Hall of the Laocoon, which
-considerably raised her in his and her own estimation. Mr. Desmond,
-seeing him preparing to roll this new _line of beauty_ up, called him
-over, and whispered loud enough for Adelaide, who was sitting close by,
-to hear, "The ladies will be affronted if you don't measure them all,
-Dilly; it looks as if you didn't think they would be the right
-fit:--begin with Miss Wildenheim; I'll be bound the belt of the _Venus
-de Medici_ will fit her as 'nate as a Limerick glove.'"
-
-When the _dilettante_, in the most affected manner possible, presented
-Adelaide with the portion of the riband he had passed round the waist of
-the Medicean Venus, she politely, but gravely declined the honour with a
-dignity that repelled the officious fop; and turning to Melicent with a
-kind and anxious glance, by a half sentence conveyed to the intelligent
-girl her contempt and disapprobation of the erudite trifling. Colonel
-Desmond met her eye, and by looks thanked her both for the example and
-advice; and then said, "Why, Felix, if you were to measure wrists and
-waists by spherical trigonometry; indeed it would afford a laudable
-display of your science. I'm sure Miss Wildenheim would not suffer the
-dimensions of her arm to be found in any way less sublime." "Yes,
-indeed," exclaimed Melicent, "you're no better, Cousin Dilly, than a
-common habit-maker with that little yard. Why don't you make a surtout
-for the Venus you are so fond of talking about?" Though Mr. Desmond had
-set young Donolan on in hopes of seeing a high scene of comic effect
-take place between him and the ladies, as he never let pass any
-opportunity of quizzing him, in revenge for the contempt he on all
-occasions expressed for that country, which was the object of his own
-enthusiastic love; he grinned with delight to see him so mortified,
-whilst he at the same time felt much obliged to Adelaide for the good
-natured hint she had given to Melicent, which he had predetermined to
-convey himself, when it came to her turn to make the ridiculous
-exhibition. However, this votary of Momus could not consent to lose his
-fun entirely, and therefore said to the discontented connoisseur, "Don't
-be dash'd, Dilly, if the young ones are too shy, we'll try the old
-ladies;" and snapping the fillagree case out of his hand, he began with
-his own wife, and with much laughter found her circumference out of all
-just proportion. He then proceeded to Mrs. O'Sullivan, saying, "I'm
-shocked, madam, at my nephew's want of gallantry in not ascertaining the
-proportions of your figure before he took those of lesser beauties."
-"You're wastly polite, sir, but I bant so slim as I used to be; that ere
-belt wouldn't compress me now, though time was, Mr. Desmond, when I was
-the pride of Bagnigge Wells--I could show shapes with any of 'em." "But,
-my dear ma'am, if one won't do, two of them put together will, and then
-we can safely say, you have double the beauty of the best French Venus
-amongst them all. Here's for the honour of Old England," holding up the
-riband; and as she passed it round her waist, "I knew that," continued
-he, "it's allowed that one English can beat three Frenchmen; and I could
-have laid my life, that one full grown British beauty was at least equal
-to two of the first in France." Miss Fitzcarril simperingly anticipated
-her triumph, when she should give incontestable proof, that her waist
-was smaller than that of the finest model of sculptured symmetry. After
-making the modest, she consented to give ocular demonstration of the
-fact; and then, holding out one long bony fore-finger, put the tip of
-the other on its knuckle, saying, with the utmost exultation, "All that
-much less:" which circumstance she related with conscious pride to Mr.
-Webberly, the first time she saw him afterwards; and it will long afford
-an agreeable subject for Captain Cormac's compliments, who, in truth,
-had lately been rather at a loss for novelties of this kind.
-
-The _dilettante_, in an agony of tasteful horror, that the silk, which
-had encircled the divine form of the Medicean Venus, should have been
-contaminated by touching that of the stiffest old maid in _Connaught_,
-shuddered as he internally groaned, "Oh! the she Vandal! But what can a
-man of taste expect, who ventures to amalgamate in society with these
-modern Boeotians! May the genius of sculpture never again display her
-_chefs d'oeuvre_ to my enlightened gaze, if I ever make any further
-attempt to give these demi-savages a specimen of the _beau ideal_." He
-had scarcely rolled up his riband with undissembled indignation, when
-dinner was announced. Had the tables on which it was served been as
-animated as Homer's, they would have groaned with the weight of
-supernumerary dishes, in all which, however, Mr. Donolan could not, with
-the aid of his glass, find any thing he could recommend Miss Cecilia
-Webberly to eat. "Not a particle of French cookery," said he,
-despairingly shrugging his shoulders, "except, perhaps, that _bashamele
-de veau roti_--the piper and the fiddler make such a confounded noise,
-no one can be heard. Launcelot! you're next your father, ask him for
-some of it." "Anan!" said the youth, pretending to look quite stupid,
-"Ask your father to send Miss Cecilia Webberly some of that _bashamele
-de veau roti_." "What in the name of the Lord does he mean, Milly?" said
-Lanty, turning to his sister; "faith and honour he never spakes legible
-now." "Legible, Lanty! indeed I think he speaks copperplate," replied
-Melicent; "it's some larded veal he wants."
-
-All this time the piper and the fiddler were playing furiously out of
-tune in the hall. Mr. Desmond, addressing Adelaide, said, "I always make
-them play up a tune at dinner--it makes it sit light." "What a
-satisfaction it must be to you to support those poor blind men!" "Yes,
-and their being blind has an advantage you don't think of;--if I have a
-potato and herring for my dinner, they don't know but I sport three
-courses and a dessert." The noise of the piper and fiddler, of
-incessant laughing and talking, the clatter of knives and forks, joined
-to the giggling and chattering of the maid servants employed in washing
-plates, spoons, forks, and knives, in one common bucket, behind the
-half-closed parlour door, with occasional dialogues between them, such
-as, "Oh Jasus! I have brok the big dish, and my mistress will be
-raving!" "The devil mend you! what cale had you to be peeping in at the
-quality, with your face as black as my shoe; and when the master turned
-his head, ye made off in such a flusteration, ye let go your load."
-"Sarra matter! I'll get Miss Milly to spake a good word for me, and
-there'll be nothing about it." All these noises united were too much for
-Mr. Donolan, whose "nerves were finer than a spider's web," and he
-became quite cross. When Melicent complained of the heat, he said very
-gruffly, "It's no wonder you're hot, when you appear in _bear skin_."
-She pretended not to understand him:--he retorted--"Really, Melicent, if
-you have not _gumption_ enough to understand them, I cannot be
-dictionary to my own _bon mots_." "Glossary, rather," thought Adelaide,
-"for I'm sure they are barbarous wit."
-
-Whilst Mr. Donolan conveyed to his _inamorata_, who was sitting beside
-him, by winks, and shrugs, and contortions of countenance, his knowledge
-of the _savoir vivre_, he and she both, as well as the rest of the
-company, gave incontestable proof--(at least if there be any truth in
-the proverb, which tells us, "That the proof of the pudding is in the
-eating")--that Mrs. Desmond's bill of fare, though "gothic to the last
-degree"--was very palatable. They even condescended, after demolishing
-fish, flesh, fowl, and pastry, to partake of her floating island, served
-in a flat cut glass dish, which occupied the place of a modern plateau.
-After the ladies had given the dessert "honour due," and the gentlemen
-had drank "The king," and "All our true friends, and the devil take the
-false ones," and the "Ladies' inclinations," the fair part of the
-company retired to the drawing-room. Here Melicent, in great delight,
-showed her friends the new grand piano forte her uncle had bought for
-her in Dublin. "It was thoroughly well tuned," said she to Adelaide, "by
-Mr. Ingham this morning, that we might have the pleasure of hearing you
-play. My uncle says you are a perfect musician." Miss Cecilia Webberly
-bit her lips, but quickly consoled herself with the recollection, that
-he had never heard her sing; and, to turn the conversation, asked Miss
-Desmond if she drew; she replied in the negative, but produced a
-port-folio of fine drawings of her uncle's. Adelaide had seen most of
-them before, and looked at them with the deepest interest, as they
-brought past scenes to her memory. Melicent held up one that was quite
-new to her;--a lovely female figure, in the freshest bloom of youth, was
-depicted holding a scroll, which she was reading with evident pleasure.
-The painter had caught one of the softest blushes and most bewitching
-smiles, that ever gave to beauty her least resistible charm; whilst the
-drapery, which flowed round a form of perfect symmetry, seemed to have
-been arranged by the hand of the Graces. This drawing had been executed
-by one of the first masters at Vienna, from a sketch of Colonel
-Desmond's. On the margin of the drawing were the following verses, the
-first few words of which were written on the scroll the fair creature
-was supposed to read:
-
-        Adelaide
-    Paroit faite-expres pour charmer;
-    Et mieux que le galant Ovide,
-    Ses yeux enseignent l'art d'aimer
-        Adelaide.
-
-        D'Adelaide
-    Ah! que l'empire semble doux!
-    Qu'on me donne un nouvel Alcide,
-    Je gage qu'il file aux genoux
-        D'Adelaide.
-
-        D'Adelaide
-    Fuyez le dangereux accueil:
-    Tous les enchantemens d'Armide
-    Sont moins a craindre qu'un coup d'oeil
-        D'Adelaide.
-
-        D'Adelaide
-    Quand l'Amour eut forme les traits,
-    Ma fois, dit-il, la cour de Gnide
-    N'a rien de pareil aux attraits
-        D'Adelaide.
-
-        Adelaide,
-    Lui dit-il, ne nous quittons pas:
-    Je suis aveugle, sois mon guide;
-    Je suivrai partout pas a pas
-        Adelaide.
-
-
-    TRANSLATION.
-
-        Adelaide
-    Was surely form'd all hearts to move,
-    And more than Ovid we can prove
-    By speaking eyes, the art of love
-        In Adelaide.
-
-        Than Adelaide
-    No softer thraldom could we meet:
-    Alcides' self would think it sweet,
-    To spin his task out at the feet
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        From Adelaide
-    And all her dang'rous beauties fly;--
-    Armida's charms and witchery
-    Were far less fatal than the eye
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        Of Adelaide
-    When Cupid first the features fram'd,
-    "In Cnidus' court," he loud proclaim'd,
-    "Not one for beauty shall be fam'd
-        Like Adelaide."
-
-        "O Adelaide!"
-    The sightless boy enraptur'd cried,
-    "Alas, I'm blind! Be thou my guide;
-    From henceforth I'll ne'er leave the side
-        Of Adelaide."
-
-Miss Wildenheim quickly recollected, that these lines were written in a
-fine edition of Klopstock's works Colonel Desmond had given her, as a
-_gage d'amitie_, the last day she had seen him at Vienna; and when Miss
-Nevil turned to trace the resemblance she perceived in the drawing--the
-blush, the smile, the attitude, the graceful form, struck her so
-forcibly, that she exclaimed, "It _is_ yourself, Miss Wildenheim; I
-thought it was the image of you, the instant I saw it." Melicent, with
-intuitive propriety, sought to relieve Adelaide's embarrassment, and
-said, "Here's a far more beautiful figure; this, Miss Webberly, is my
-last production--a charming Paul and Virginia, I assure you. Do admire
-Paul's leg, it is thicker than the tree he is sitting under:--I wonder
-he doesn't kick Virginia, she squints so abominably."
-
-When this singular specimen of the fine arts was first displayed to the
-partial eyes of Melicent's parents, it met with no small admiration from
-them. A showy frame was bought, in which it was hung up over the
-chimney-piece of their usual sitting-room, and the fond mother gazed at
-it from morning till night. When Colonel Desmond returned from abroad,
-this was the first object, that, after showing her nine healthy,
-handsome children, she directed his attention to. He did not then
-express all the horror he felt at the contrast it afforded; but in about
-six months' negociation with considerable difficulty accomplished its
-being safely deposited in his port-folio.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-        Qu'Adelaide
-    Met d'ame et de gout dans son chant!
-    Aux accens de sa voix timide
-    Chacun dit rien n'est si touchant,
-        Qu'Adelaide[5]!
-
-    oeMARMONTELoe.
-
-[Footnote 5:
-
-        Adelaide
-    Whilst singing steals each list'ner's heart,
-    'Tis melody's refined part,
-    None can such melting strains impart,
-        As Adelaide.
-]
-
-
-As soon as the gentlemen returned to the drawing room, and tea was over,
-the mistress of the house proposed music.
-
-The Desmonds, in general, were considerable proficients in this
-delightful art; and a trio for the violin, flute, and piano forte, was
-charmingly played by Melicent, and her father, and uncle. Though the
-former failed so lamentably in drawing, she had a fine genius for music,
-which was made the most of by constant practice; it was the only thing
-her father had ever studied, and in it he had acquired considerable
-knowledge, whilst her uncle had gained, in Germany, a fine style of
-playing on the violin; and to their instructions she was more indebted
-for her excellence, than to those of Mr. Ingham, who taught her the mere
-mechanical part of the science, and even that very imperfectly. As soon
-as, according to the rules of etiquette, the young lady of the house had
-made a commencement, her guests were in turn requested to display their
-talents. Colonel Desmond had whispered about that Adelaide sung
-enchantingly; and there was a general impatience expressed to hear her,
-which she, in her usual unaffected manner, consented to gratify.
-
-The tones of her voice were exquisitely touching, and they took the
-shortest road to the heart, without stopping on the way to tickle the
-ear by the tricks of mere execution; each ornament seemed to rise in
-its own proper place, by a sort of "happy necessity," and, like the
-temple of taste, her singing "always charmed, never surprised." Her
-vocal excellences were most called forth in the highest style of Italian
-music. In the detached scenes of an opera she was inimitable: her divine
-voice painted, as it were, every shade of feeling; and the composer
-might have rejoiced to hear the Proserpine or Elfrida, not of his music,
-but of his imagination. Still more enchanting than her voice when she
-sang was her countenance, which the soul seemed to irradiate with that
-immortal light only seen on earth in "the human face divine;" and there
-were expressed all those indescribable charms, the offspring of genius
-and feeling, which the most melodious sounds are insufficient to convey
-to the sense. As she was however too rational, to be sublime out of
-place, she did not attempt to introduce the "grand opera" at Bogberry
-Hall, but apologizing for her deficiency in English music, which she
-feared to disfigure by her peculiar accent, sang a playful foreign
-ballad, which perhaps displayed the fascinating graces of her flexible
-voice, and polished manner, almost as delightfully as a finer
-composition would have done. She was rapturously _encored_, and was
-detained singing, till, quite distressed at the idea of excluding every
-other lady from the piano forte, she pleaded fatigue, as her excuse for
-retiring from the instrument. As the company crowded round her to bestow
-their praises, the winning expression with which her soft eyes met the
-general gaze, as they seemed imploringly to ask the forgiveness of her
-unsought superiority, and which her graceful gestures no less eloquently
-entreated, drew from the heart touched by her sweetness and modesty that
-exclamation of "charming! charming!" which the lips had opened to apply
-to her captivating talents.
-
-During the time Adelaide was singing, Melicent stood beside her uncle in
-almost breathless delight, her hand resting on his arm, which she
-pressed with earnestness as any note of peculiar beauty met her ear. He
-was so completely lost in a reverie, (a most unusual circumstance with
-him,) that even after the melody had ceased, he stood in the same spot,
-and in the same attitude, as before. Melicent roused him from his
-reflections, as she looked up in his face, and said, "How enchanting!
-her voice is 'pleasant as the gale of spring, that sighs on the hunter's
-ear when he wakens from dreams of joy, and has heard the music of the
-spirits of the Hill.'" "I perceive," replied he, almost starting at her
-first address, "that you read Ossian as incessantly as ever, Melicent: I
-have just been thinking how superior Miss Wildenheim is to her own
-acquirements." "I don't exactly understand you, uncle." "If you had ever
-mixed in the world, my love, you would without difficulty; you would
-there meet with many of both sexes, in whom the painter, or the poet, or
-the musician, stand forth so prominently, that the individual character
-is lost in the background, indeed, sometimes, with advantage. I'm sure,
-when Miss Wildenheim occurs to your mind to-morrow morning, you won't
-think _first_ of her singing, though you do admire it so much." "Oh,
-no!" replied Melicent, "I shall think of her charming smiles, as she is
-endeavouring to persuade Miss Cecilia Webberly to sing the air she
-thinks she most excels in.--They are looking for the music; I must go
-and assist them." Cecilia now did her utmost to eclipse Adelaide, by
-displaying twice the power of voice in songs of greater execution, which
-every body confessed she sang _well_, though no one _felt_ she sang
-charmingly. After two or three solos, it was proposed, that Mr. Ingham
-should join her in a duet. She purposely chose one, which should be a
-trial of skill between the performers. It was that style of music, which
-Colonel Desmond called the "florid Gothick," from its profuse ornament
-and defective taste; it had triplets, volatas, and trills without end.
-Poor Mr. Ingham, in more than one sense of the word, _shook_ for his
-fame; the merciless Cecilia forgot, that on it depended his bread; she
-did not read in his countenance, "He who filches from me my good name,
-takes that which not enricheth him, and makes me poor indeed!" But when
-they came to the final cadence, impelled by the "glorious fault of
-angels and of gods," she aspired higher than fate permitted her to
-attain with honour; and in a precipitate fall from D sharp in alt was
-hurled on the flat seventh, instead of the perfect third of the key,
-which made an unfortunate discord with the note intended to harmonize
-with said perfect third in a simultaneous trill; and on this unlucky
-seventh she continued to shake without pity or remorse, till the poor
-man, in emulation, was nearly black in the face, and was obliged to take
-breath twice, in a most audible manner, before she would have done. But
-at last she ceased, and the mortified musician's good-natured patron,
-seeing his vexation, and being himself shocked at the discord, clapped
-him on the back, saying, "Well done, Ingham; both parts famously sung:"
-and, with a significant wink, added, "By Heavens! she shook the cat out
-of the bag that time; she did you up there, man alive!" Lanty, who had
-thought the shake wondrous queer, he did not know why, understanding the
-drift of his father's observation, burst into a loud fit of laughter,
-which was followed by a peremptory order from his mother to quit the
-room. In the mean time the rest of the company were variously occupied:
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and Miss Fitzcarril, with the physician and curate,
-formed a party at _short whist_, which the former, to assist her claims
-to fashion, played at a rate that was much higher than accorded with her
-frugal propensities, and which the pride of her companions prevented
-from confessing was much beyond what suited their finances. The
-physician, who was losing, internally grumbled at this new method of
-playing the good old game of whist, by which twice as much may be lost
-in the same space of time; and muttered, as he sorted his cards, a
-barbarous parody of Shakspeare, "There comes the last scene of
-all:--short sight, short gowns, short whist, short every thing!" Leaning
-over "John of Gaunt's" chair, (the agnomen Mr. Desmond had been pleased
-to bestow on the stupendous Theresa,) stood Captain Cormac, to rejoice
-in the goodly row of kings, queens, and aces, which the hand of his
-liege sometimes contained, and which was graciously pointed out to him
-with an accompanying smile; or to pick up the glove, card, or
-handkerchief that fell to the ground, not always undesignedly. Mrs.
-Desmond kept herself disengaged to be kind and civil to every body,
-sometimes condoling with the losers at whist, sometimes laughing with
-the young people, as they played at "consequences," "what's my thought
-like?" or "dressing the poor soldier." Miss Webberly was in earnest
-conversation with Mr. Donolan, of which Mrs. Desmond's ear, unwilling,
-caught one or two sentences. In answer to an observation from Amelia, he
-said "A very good match for _him_," with a sort of conceited emphasis on
-the word _him_, which insinuated "it would be a very bad match for
-_me_." "Scarcely even for _him_," retorted Miss Webberly, "German gentry
-are but sma." This quotation was followed by a laugh of affected
-vehemence from both; and when Cecilia, exulting in her triumph over Mr.
-Ingham, came up to them, the witticism was repeated; and they then, in a
-playhouse whisper, extended their strictures to all the company in turn,
-only interrupted by fits of laughter. Mrs. Desmond turned away in
-disgust, and, looking for Melicent, proudly thought, "My little mountain
-girl may want polish, as Edward says, but, with all her wildness, she is
-still the lady." The object of her thoughts was, at that moment, in
-conversation with her uncle and Adelaide, whom they had joined, when
-Cecilia Webberly sat down to the piano forte. When she had finished her
-duet, in the manner before mentioned, Miss Desmond said, "What a pity it
-is, Miss Wildenheim, that people, in the attempt to astonish, will
-insist upon showing what they _cannot_ do." "My dear Melicent,"
-interrupted her uncle, "you may take it as a pretty general rule, that
-when a lady attempts or even succeeds in _astonishing_, all is not
-exactly as it ought to be; am I not right?" continued he, turning to
-Adelaide, "Oh, perfectly," replied she; "but, indeed, Miss Webberly
-executed her songs extremely well, with the exception of that
-unfortunate shake." "I have heard my uncle say," rejoined Melicent,
-"that an _execution_ is sometimes a _murder_; in that sense, I allow she
-has executed them well; but, surely, music that is not pleasing, can
-never be good." As Melicent never spoke _sotto voce_, her uncle was
-afraid her observations would be heard, and therefore, to divert her
-mind from Miss Webberly's singing, took up a book of poems, which was
-lying on the table they were standing near, and addressing Adelaide,
-said, "I condemned these verses this morning, as being unnatural:
-Melicent, to all my objections, only answered, 'Oh! dear uncle, I
-delight in them.' Do be our umpire, and show her, that something more
-is necessary to prove her admiration to be well founded, than the bare
-assertion that she does admire; when she dislikes, she has reasons
-enough at command, but when she approves, it is with an extravagance of
-enthusiasm, that admits of no analysis." Adelaide read as follows:--
-
-    The sigh of her heart was sincere,
-      When blushing she whisper'd her love,
-    A sound of delight in my ear;
-      Her voice was the voice of a dove.
-    Ah! who could from Phillida fly?
-      Yet I sought other nymphs of the vale,
-    Forgot her sweet blush and her sigh!
-      Forgot that I told her my tale.
-
-    In sorrow I wish'd to return,
-      And the tale of my passion renew;
-    Go, Shepherd, she answer'd with scorn,
-      False Shepherd, for ever adieu!
-    For thee no more tears will I shed,
-      From thee to fair Friendship I go;
-    The bird by a wound that has bled,
-      Is happy to fly from its foe.
-
-"What can she find so affecting in those lines?" thought Colonel
-Desmond, as he marked Adelaide's changing countenance. Memory had
-raised the shades of departed joys, which appeared in her eyes not clad
-in their original brightness, but wrapped in sorrow's watery veil;
-reason quickly bade them be gone, but not ere her attentive observer had
-marked their shadowy footsteps as they crossed her brow. When she looked
-up, his penetrating glance read her mind, and expressed his own. She
-painfully felt her heart was open to his view, that there was now no
-retreat, and therefore calmly said to Melicent, "I agree with you, Miss
-Desmond, the feelings of Phillida are perfectly natural." "But,"
-interrupted Colonel Desmond, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken,
-"don't you think, that though she might turn in scorn from the unworthy
-object of her first attachment, she might solace her wounded heart by
-admitting the love of another?" "Never!" replied Adelaide: "even in
-endeavouring to view him with indifference, her mind must have been too
-long filled with his idea, not to feel the impossibility of its ever
-being possessed by a second choice." Colonel Desmond knew the human
-heart better, and flattered himself, not unjustly, that if he had
-patience to play the friend, and did not too quickly assume the lover,
-he might imperceptibly win her regard in that character. He was not
-hurried away by the imprudent warmth of feeling, which would have
-deprived a younger man of his self-possession, but determined to destroy
-the impression of what the seriousness of his looks and tones had
-conveyed to her mind; and therefore with apparent carelessness, asked
-her how she liked Ireland. This question a stranger is plagued with in
-every company, from the day he lands in that country till the one he
-leaves it; which with its twin tormentor, "Do you like England or
-Ireland best?" serves to commence that sort of conversation, which
-begins in Great Britain with observations on the weather. By the way, it
-is strange that no moralist has ever remarked how providential it is,
-that the climate of this latter island is so variable, considering the
-propensity its inhabitants have to talk of it. It certainly affords a
-beautiful illustration of the doctrine of compensation.
-
-But to return to our friend Desmond:--he was too well bred to have asked
-such an unfair question, had he not been completely _distrait_. When the
-mind is absent without leave, the deputy it leaves behind to secure its
-unmolested retreat most resembles that apish faculty, memory, and
-mechanically imitates the manners, and repeats the phrases of others.
-Adelaide, more embarrassed, though not so _distrait_ as her
-interrogator, replied, that she was even more pleased with the country
-than she had expected to be from the favourable picture held forth in
-some late publications. He agreed to the justice of these
-representations; while his brother, happening to hear him, was nettled,
-to the quick, and abruptly said, "Not a bit like, Ned; quite too
-ridiculous." "But, my dear Harry, there is nothing in the world so
-tiresome as direct panegyric; you must allow a little for the malice of
-human nature, to make an individual or a national character loved, its
-virtues must be relieved by its foibles." "I'll tell you what, Ned, the
-devil a good there is in dressing us up in a fool's cap and bells, to
-make a set of fat English squires laugh who have eat themselves stupid."
-"How can you be so illiberal, brother? That des----"--"By the piper that
-danced before Moses," interrupted the elder Desmond; "it's themselves
-that's illiberal.--There's the two Webberlys, and that airified nephew
-of my wife's, mocking us all, by the Lord! and all the time of tea, and
-while Milly was playing on the forte, they were laughing as if their
-sides would burst. I'm bothered from the head to the tail with them,
-that's the truth of it. But come, Miss Wildenheim, a tune from you would
-save any man from being in a passion--give us 'God save the King,' and
-that will remind me that I ought to comport myself as becomes a
-peaceable subject."
-
-In nothing did Adelaide excel more than in playing an air, in a manner
-that seemed to give it beauties that it was not before suspected of
-possessing. She called to her aid all the powers of harmony, and united
-boldness of execution with tenderness of expression. She now played "God
-save the King," in a manner that electrified the company; the card
-players had dispersed, and there was such a nodding of heads, and
-marching, and whistling, and singing, and drumming on tables, and
-rattling watch chains, and beating time, that the performance of a
-person who could not have brought forth all the power of the "forte," as
-Mr. Desmond called it, would have been lost amongst all these various
-noises. The tune was played and replayed, till Adelaide laughingly said
-her fingers ached; and then dancing was proposed, and being agreed to,
-the company repaired to a large hall for the purpose. Here Mr. Desmond
-vented the remnant of his spleen against the Webberlys, by calling to
-the piper, "Play up the humours of Ludgate Hill there!" with a
-significant wink to the music master, (who, by the by, was more of a
-wag than an Orpheus), and though the wink was of no use to the blind
-piper and fiddler, the tone of his voice was sufficiently understood by
-them to need no second order; and they accordingly struck up their
-favourite tune of "Jig Polthogue," to which Mr. Desmond amused himself
-by mimicking, in turn, the dancing of all the set; and his imitations,
-being general, offended nobody in particular, but in truth he even
-satirized with so much good humour, that he hardly ever gave offence. It
-seemed always to be the fashions of the times he quizzed, rather than
-the people who exhibited them. "What an entertaining, exhilarating
-people the Irish are!" said Adelaide to Colonel Desmond. "Yes," replied
-he; "but yet, with all their cleverness, how strangely inconsistent is
-their conduct! If Melicent Desmond was a sovereign princess, her father
-could not have had more pride about her than he has; and yet here she is
-associating with her music-master, dancing in the very set with him;
-and I never can persuade him there is any impropriety in it." "How well
-she does dance!" remarked his fair partner. "And what a capital
-caricature Captain Cormac and Miss Fitzcarril would make--he all
-flourishes, she as stiff as the genealogical tree that hangs up in the
-hall at Ballinamoyle. Do you observe," resumed he, "how much of the
-'_incedo regina_' there is in her manner to him occasionally! This good
-lady is a singular being, I can assure you. She can be 'proud with
-meanness, and be mean with pride.'" "Such a character," rejoined
-Adelaide, "reminds me of Homer's princesses, who, from doing the honours
-of the palace, proceed to wash the clothes of its inhabitants in the
-neighbouring river, to which pleasant employment they drive right
-regally." Mr. Desmond now coming up to turn her in the dance, took that
-opportunity of saying, "I tried to touch you up, but I couldn't--it's a
-shame for you to bear away the _bell_ in every thing:--I never saw any
-one in my life _handle their feet_ as you do."
-
-After two or three dances the company adjourned to the supper table, and
-here again all was mirth and glee. Colonel and Mr. Desmond sung comical
-songs, and told droll stories, till the whole party were in fits of
-laughter. Three of the children, younger than Melicent and Launcelot,
-were kept up to supper, and they sang catches and glees with their
-father and uncle, in a manner that surprised every body who heard their
-sweet voices and saw their childish faces. Before they began, a dispute
-arose between Mr. Desmond and the music-master, relative to the key
-note; the one sounded one, and the other another; when, to settle the
-matter, the former called to his second son, "Do you hear, George, take
-this note out in your mouth to the forte, strike it, and bring me word
-if I'm not right, and be sure you don't drop it by the way." How far
-George was an impartial testimony, or how much the note lost or gained
-in its ascent or descent, must ever remain in doubt; but, like a dutiful
-child, when he returned, he said, "_You_ were right to be sure,
-father--listen here;" and sounding the octave above as clear as a bell,
-and as sweetly as possible, they all set to, the little performers
-keeping time and tune admirably; whilst the mellow base of the
-gentlemen, and the enchanting soprano of their sister, contrasted
-delightfully with the juvenile strains of these "young-eyed cherubim."
-Melicent's fine notes made most of the party express a wish to hear her
-in a solo, and she sang the "Exile of Erin," with a pathos that drew
-tears from many present. Adelaide seemed particularly to feel it; which
-Mr. Desmond perceiving, he said, "Come, Melicent, that's too
-dismal--I'll tune you up a lilt;" and he immediately sang, in a most
-comical manner, a ballad he had written himself, entitled, "Miss Jenny's
-lament for the loss of her petticoat;" in which was ably satirized the
-present style of _undress_. Soon after this the party separated with as
-much hilarity as they had met.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-    Jeunes beautes qui venez dans ces lieux,
-    Fouler d'un pied leger l'herbe tendre et fleurie,
-    Comme vous je connus les plaisirs de la vie,
-    Vos fetes, vos transports, et vos aimables jeux.
-    L'Amour bercoit mon coeur de ses douces chimeres,
-    Et l'Hymen me flattoit du destin le plus beau,
-    Un instant detruisit ces erreurs mensongeres,
-    Que me reste-t-il? Le tombeau![6]
-
-    oeLEVIZACoe.
-
-[Footnote 6:
-
-    Ye fair ones that, with agile bound,
-    Dance o'er this turf in frolick round,
-    Whose tender flowers scarce bend their head,
-    Beneath your footstep's airy tread;
-    Like you I once, with sportive mien,
-    Join'd laughing Pleasure's joyous train:
-    Then life and all its hopes were new,
-    And love its brightest visions drew:
-    Those joys are past--the vision's flown:
-    What now remains?--The tomb alone.
-]
-
-
-When Adelaide returned to Ballinamoyle, she thought of the day she had
-spent at Bogberry Hall with the most lively pleasure; the unrefined
-good-natured gaiety of its inmates had seized her with so strong a
-grasp, that it had dragged her along with the general current of mirth,
-and, leading her thoughts out of their ordinary course, had, with no
-unwelcome violence, broken the chain of their painful associations. Her
-eye had early been accustomed to the animation of foreign countenances
-and gestures; and as she had only been acquainted with English manners
-in a very retired country place, it is perhaps not surprising, that she
-should have felt chilled by their apparent monotony, and abashed by the
-half-reproving look she sometimes met with; when, pausing for an instant
-to consider what she had done wrong, she found she had, in the
-earnestness of conversation, raised her hand and arm full six inches
-from her side, where it was arrested in its graceful action, and
-remanded by the blushing offender to its former quiescent station. But
-censure was not even thus avoided, for in the very effort to please,
-she had committed a second error, by moving that beautiful brow, which
-expressed every feeling of her heart; and her dismay, at perceiving her
-observer still unsatisfied, produced some other involuntary gesture
-still more reprehensible than the first.
-
-She now therefore saw the Irishmen change from one leg to another,
-flourish their arms, rattle their watch chains, and swing their chairs,
-without the horror so elegant a female was bound to experience on
-beholding such ungraceful motions, for which no sanctioning precedent
-could be produced at St. James's. And she even granted absolution to the
-varying expression of the women's countenances, which sometimes bordered
-on grimace; and extended it to their voices, running through half the
-gamut in the changes of the most decided brogue that ever offended ears
-polite.
-
-To speak seriously, she found very great amusement in observing a
-national character, so dissimilar to any that had ever before fallen
-under her observation, and which presented itself with so many comical
-and so many amiable traits. In every individual she had met, there was
-something strongly characteristic, from Moll Kelly on the strand at
-Dunleary, to the proprietor of Bogberry Hall; and, with the exception of
-Mr. Donolan, who was spoiled in an attempt at refinement, warmth of
-feeling and good nature seemed to be the portion of each. In order to
-become better acquainted with this national character, which so much
-interested her, she determined, during her residence at Ballinamoyle, to
-visit the cottages in its neighbourhood, and to cultivate the
-acquaintance of her friend Jarge Quin, hoping to learn from him the
-peculiar customs and superstitions of the country, while to the
-venerable Father Dermoody she applied for their explanation and origin.
-She did not now feel quite so much at ease in referring for information
-to her former _cicerone_, Colonel Desmond, as she had done previous to
-their ambiguous conversation in his brother's drawing-room: but his
-guarded conduct the remainder of the evening tended much to destroy her
-first impression; and she felt the utmost confusion, whenever those few
-sentences came across her mind, accusing herself of the most egregious
-vanity in annexing a sense to his words that he did not mean to give
-them; and asking herself, time after time, whether he could have
-perceived her mistake. However, these unpleasant ideas soon wore away,
-and Colonel Desmond played the part of friend so well, that she
-convinced herself he had not understood her; and in a short time this
-circumstance, which made her at first feel so embarrassed in his
-presence, was erased from her mind. And indeed he so dexterously availed
-himself of all the advantages he possessed to make his society agreeable
-to her, that she soon began to feel almost uncomfortable without it. He
-would talk to her of the scenes of her infancy; and she would then
-gratefully recollect the pains he had taken to teach her the English
-language, which she now felt of such essential advantage; and would
-sometimes remind him of the good-natured patience he had also shown,
-when he first condescended to accompany on the violin her childish
-performance of concertos and sonatas, and the remembrance of many an
-inveterately ill-timed passage afforded them now considerable diversion.
-There was one subject of the deepest interest, that he, and he alone, of
-all her associates, was master of the virtues and talents of her father;
-and this, in her enthusiastic filial affection, and his regrets and
-admiration, was inexhaustible. At first Baron Wildenheim's name was but
-slightly glanced at; but by degrees she could bear to hear his
-sentiments and his words repeated, and her heart warmly thanked the man,
-who had so carefully treasured them in his. Colonel Desmond's humanity
-and fine feeling told him exactly where to stop. He would,
-
-    "When the soft tear stole silently down from the eye,
-    Take no note of its course, nor detect the slow sigh;"
-
-and the sympathy he showed in her affliction tended much to restore her
-mind to its wonted serenity, by gently drawing forth all those agonizing
-reflections and remembrances that had fled to hide themselves from human
-knowledge, to the most secret recesses of her heart. Under all these
-circumstances a penetrating observer would, perhaps, have pronounced,
-that if Colonel Desmond steadily pursued his present plan, it would
-ultimately be crowned with success. At least it is contrary to all
-experience, that a young woman can long continue to feel _friendship
-alone_ for an unmarried man, who is in all things a lover, except in the
-declaration of his passion;--nay, if there is no love on either side at
-first, it is highly probable there will be on both at no distant period,
-whenever a similarity of taste, ideas, and pursuits, induces a desire of
-association and intimacy, which circumstances permit to be gratified.
-Every inexperienced female should be thoroughly aware of the high
-probability which exists of her bestowing her affections on the man
-with whom she is so situated.
-
-The second evening after their return from Bogberry Hall, Mr.
-O'Sullivan's guests were assembled at tea, when they heard the sound of
-music in the open air; and looking out, saw a gay groupe of young men
-and women dressed in their best, two fiddlers playing merrily before
-them, one of the party carrying a pole, on which were tied small hoops
-covered with garlands of flowers, intermixed with finery of various
-sorts, and gloves cut out in white and coloured papers; after them
-followed the elder members of their families, and, lastly, a crowd of
-children. The Miss Webberlys saw, with surprise, that not one of the
-females of the assembly had hat or bonnet. All the young women, except
-the queen of the garland, wore white round caps, ornamented with some
-gay riband; some had open gowns of a brilliant calico, others of white
-linen, with a stuff petticoat, blue, yellow, red, or green, according to
-the fancy of the wearer; white aprons, handkerchiefs, and stockings,
-completed their attire. Their showy dress, rosy complexions, and
-animated countenances, had altogether a most lively effect.
-
-The dress of the old women was rather different. It consisted of a white
-mob cap, with a black silk handkerchief brought over the crown, crossed
-under the chin, and tied behind; a calico gown, with a large and gaudy
-pattern; and, in addition to the handkerchief and apron, a white dimity
-bed-gown, with short sleeves, and the skirt reaching half way to their
-knees; with a bright scarlet cloak hanging on one arm. All the men who
-were not dancers wore a great coat, of the peculiar frieze of their
-country. In the dress of the young men there was nothing remarkable,
-except that each had on a showy waistcoat, or silk handkerchief, to make
-him look as smart as his sweetheart in her gay gown and petticoat.
-
-Adelaide was delightedly viewing the joyous scene, when she suddenly
-heard Colonel Desmond's voice returning Mrs. O'Sullivan's salutation,
-"It's midsummer's eve," said he, addressing her, "and I could not resist
-coming to witness your surprise at the curious customs observed here on
-this night." "I should think Miss Wildenheim wouldn't be such a fool as
-to go trapesing out on the damp grass with such a set of vagabonds,"
-said Mr. Webberly, who was himself confined to the sofa. Colonel
-Desmond's attention was too much engrossed by the sweet smiles and
-tones, with which Adelaide thanked him for his kind recollection of her,
-to notice the morose look which accompanied this observation; and he
-acknowledged the speaker no otherwise than by a distant bow, as the fair
-object of his solicitude left the room to join the rest of the party at
-the hall door. The crowd had by this time ranged themselves in a
-semicircle, in the centre of which stood the king and queen of the
-garland, the former carrying the pole. The rustic queen was the
-handsomest young girl of the country--
-
-    "Health in her motion, the wild grace
-    Of Pleasure speaking in her face."
-
-Her head was crowned with a chaplet of flowers, whilst her long hair,
-which is highly prized in Ireland as a part of female beauty, flowed in
-profusion down her back, and its raven hue contrasted well with her
-snow-white linen gown. A sky-blue petticoat appeared under her apron in
-front, and from her girdle hung a wreath of flowers, forming a festoon
-of varied tints. The temporary king was the best dancer, wrestler, and
-cudgel-player, and the "tightest and clanest boy in all Ballinamoyle
-town land." On the right stood the fiddlers, playing Plansety
-O'Sullivan. When the venerable possessor of this name came forward to
-welcome the crowd, the united strength of all their lungs sent forth a
-heart-felt wish of "Long life to his honour, and God bless him, hurra!
-hurra!" There is perhaps nothing more overcoming than the voice of a
-rejoicing multitude. The old man felt the present and the past, as he
-thought how his beloved Rose was hailed on such anniversaries; and
-whilst he made his bows of acknowledgement, the tear stood on his aged
-cheek. When silence was proclaimed, the village schoolmaster stepped
-forward, and presented him with a song he had written on his honour, and
-which "Brian Murdoch would make bould for to sing." Brian began with an
-"Och--" half a second in duration, and then proceeded as follows:--
-
-          In Connaught, my deer,
-          Did you walk far and neer,
-          At a poor man's requist,
-          His honour's the best
-            Of all in the land, of all in the land!
-          When poverty's near,
-          He ne'er turns a dafe ear,
-          But is free wid his store,
-          Gives kind words galliore,
-            Wid a bountiful hand, a bountiful hand!
-    Och!--Wheresomdiver he goes
-          A blessing there flows,
-          Like a beam of the sun
-          Or the soft shining moon,
-            The joy of our heart, the joy of our heart!
-          Then long may he rain
-          Widout sorrow or pane,
-          And in Heaven be blist,
-          When he takes his last rist,
-            Tho' we to the heart rue the day he depart!
-
-The intention of this composition was certainly better than the metre;
-but for once a poet did not flatter, for Mr. O'Sullivan exercised all
-the benevolence of his kind heart, in making his tenants happy; and they
-would in return, to use their own expression, have "gone through fire
-and water at the dead hour of the night, to sarve his honour. They had a
-good right to lay the hair of their head in under his feet."
-
-Brian's performance was applauded and encored, and when it was over,
-there was a little murmur amongst the crowd as if to settle the next
-act. "Which is her?" asked the king of the garland. "Why, that beautiful
-lady to be sure, talking to the fat madam in the lavender blossom dress,
-with the borders all figured out in white," replied an ancient matron,
-who had been one of the first assembly at Ballinamoyle. The young man
-now walked up to Adelaide, and with a bow down to the ground, begged the
-honour of dancing with her; and she, perceiving it was a national
-custom, instantly complied; and hearing from Captain Cormac, who handed
-her to the spot she was to dance on, that the figure of the jig she was
-expected to perform, was that of a minuet danced quick, she went through
-it with a spirit and grace, that were unalloyed by any airs of exalted
-languor.
-
-What! danced with an Irish peasant, and with spirit to! Look down, ye
-German Barons of sixteen quarters, and ye noble British Peers, on your
-descendant, and--behold her with pride! for she could be dignified
-without haughtiness, and complaisant without familiarity--perfectly
-understanding the art of adapting herself to her associates, without
-thereby assimilating her manners or ideas to theirs; always preserving
-that elegance, which "was around her as light," giving to her
-performance of the trifles of every day intercourse a charm peculiarly
-her own, and which as invariably adorned her in the humblest cottage, as
-it would have done in the most brilliant court, dancing with this king
-of a rustic pageant, as with the Autocrat of all the Russias; and had
-she been one of those selected for that honour, she would perhaps,
-whilst she paid due homage to the rank of the Emperor, have no less
-forcibly impressed her august partner with the _dignity of the lady_.
-
-However, the most scrupulous belle need not be much annoyed by the
-contamination she would suffer, by dancing with the king of the garland;
-for actuated by that respect, which the lower Irish so strongly feel for
-their superiors, he never presumes to take her hand, but contents
-himself with dancing opposite to her with all his might and main, at
-about three feet distance. Thus Adelaide's partner beat the batter on
-the ground, sprung, capered, hit the sole of his foot with his hand,
-danced the garland, beat the batter again, set, shuffled, and capered
-in turn. Every now and then there was clapping of hands, and "Well done,
-Lary, keep it up, keep it up!" and a murmur of approbation for Adelaide
-went round: "She's a beautiful cratur; and what kindly ways she has with
-her," said one. "The Lord love her little canny feet, how they do humour
-the music!" remarked another; and so on, till she made her curtsy when
-the jig was ended; and then there was a general shout of "Huzza! for the
-young lady and Lary for ever." "Arrah, whist wid your noisy tongues,"
-said an old woman; "you'll trouble his honour, and mind him of Miss
-Rose. This day two and twenty year she danced on this very spot of
-ground, and the sarra lady has done the same since from that day till
-this. Do you see old Dennis there, Cisly?" continued she to her
-daughter: "Well, Miss Rose smiled so sweet, (I mind it as if it was but
-yesterday), and said, 'What a wonderful old man Dennis is, to be able to
-tire me in a dance, at sixty years of age! I hope he'll live to see
-many a midsummer's eve.' They say the prayers of them that's soon going
-to their long home is uncommon lucky; so she left these words for a
-blessing to ould Dennis, though she was too good to live herself." The
-old woman's caution was unnecessary--Mr. O'Sullivan had pleaded the
-damps of the evening and retired, but begged of Colonel Desmond to take
-his place, and keep the dancers as long as they afforded amusement, as
-his room was at so distant a part of the house, his _sleep_ would not be
-disturbed. "Alas, no!" thought his friend, "poor man, he will never
-cease to grieve for his angelic daughter, till she smiles on him once
-more in another world."
-
-Colonel Desmond perceived there was a stop in the proceedings of the
-crowd, and recollected that it was customary for the master of the
-house, or some one in the place, to dance with the queen of the garland,
-and therefore requested Captain Cormac would do the honours the
-_etiquette_ of such occasions demanded. At another time he would have
-enjoyed doing so himself; but at this moment his head was too full of
-Rose and her father, to think of dancing--or even of Adelaide! Captain
-Cormac took the garland, as every man was bound to do, and flourished it
-about, and out-capered Lary himself; whilst his pretty partner, at
-stated times, cast her fine eyes on the ground, and was swung round by
-him with averted head, then danced boldly up with one arm akimbo,
-alternately took the garland, followed, or was chased by him. Little
-Caroline was wild with spirits, when the crowd, finding out their
-mistake with regard to Adelaide, raised her on a stout man's shoulders,
-and pressed round to shake hands with her in turn, while she received
-their greetings with the utmost cordiality; and, when let down again,
-she danced and capered about, as Jarge Quin said, "as merry and as
-pretty as the little people trip it on the blossoms on May morning."
-
-Mr. Webberly had by this time nearly recovered from the ill humour the
-sight of Colonel Desmond had put him into, and had been wheeled in a
-large chair to the window, for the double purpose of viewing the festive
-scene, and watching the proceedings of Adelaide. He was evidently in
-pain either of body or mind, and looked so mournful, so deserted, that
-she could not resist the impulse of compassion, and addressed to him,
-from time to time, some casual remark on the groupe before them. For
-many months she had not voluntarily spoken so much to him; and as
-Colonel Desmond observed his satisfaction, some painful reflections
-crossed his mind: "He deceives himself," thought he, "and so do I--she
-has no love for me either. I ought to tear myself from her; yet a faint
-heart never won a fair lady, and I see as little cause to despair as to
-hope." But with an inconsistency, that the agitation of his feelings
-alone could account for, he whispered to Adelaide, "Be more stern, and
-you will be more humane; your heavenly sweetness undoes your victim."
-She looked up surprised, and read that in his countenance, which
-immediately gave to hers a degree of gravity which he had never before
-seen her features wear; and bowing slightly in answer, addressed herself
-to Mrs. O'Sullivan. He soon found an opportunity of speaking to her
-again: "Adelaide," said he, sorrowfully, "you are offended; are you like
-all the rest of the world, capricious and fickle? Do you _reject_ the
-friend of your infancy?" "Colonel Desmond," said she calmly, "I must be
-frank--infancy does not last forever, '_altri tempi, altre maniere_.'"
-In these few words she had spoken volumes. To recover himself, he talked
-sentiment and science to the two Miss Webberlys, and in doing so, heard
-and made such a display of _esprit_, that it soon deadened his feelings,
-and in a few minutes he _appeared_ as much at ease as ever.
-
-In the mean time the merry rustics performed Quaker minuets, which
-consist of a mixture of quick and slow movements, a sort of strathspey
-called petticoatties, and some well executed handkerchief dances, the
-figures of which are of the same kind as the shawl-dances of the opera,
-and admit six or eight at pleasure. It is surprising with what a degree
-of natural dexterity and vivacity the lower Irish dance: Adelaide
-thought, "If Horace had been an Irishman, he would not have described
-the dancing of the Nymphs and Graces in the spiritless manner he has
-done:--
-
-    "Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus, imminente Luna,
-    Junctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes,
-    Alterno terram quatiunt pede.[7]"
-
-[Footnote 7: Literally nearly thus:
-
-Now beneath the beaming moon, Cytherean Venus leads forth the band. The
-decent Graces, joined by the Nymphs, strike the earth with alternate
-foot.]
-
-But profiting by Mrs. Temple's hint, she never now said any thing that
-might lead to the supposition of her being a "learned lady;" at the same
-time, she heartily joined in the praises, which even Mrs. O'Sullivan and
-her daughters bestowed on the groupe before them. "It is not all pure
-nature, however," said Colonel Desmond; "itinerant dancing-masters go
-about the country, and there is no lad or lass so poor, that once in
-their lives, at least, can't afford half a crown for the benefit of
-their education in this particular. They all gather together in some
-waste building, or on the level turf; and the scenes that take place in
-these assemblies are ludicrous beyond description. It is said, that one
-of our Connaught Vestrises found it necessary, to tie a straw rope about
-the right leg of his pupils, calling it suggar, and the other gad; and
-that he used to sing this rhyme to a tune that marks the time
-inimitably, beating it all the time with his foot: only conceive the
-bodily and mental labour of such a task!
-
-    "'Out with your suggar, my girl,
-    Right fal la fal la di dy,
-    Then the gad you must twirl,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Shuffle your suggar and gad,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Then you must set to the lad,
-    Right fal la, &c.'
-
-"It is not surprising," continued he, "that some such contrivance should
-sometimes be necessary on our Irish mountains, when the Scripture
-informs us, that a hundred and twenty thousand Ninevese could not
-discern between their right hand and their left." Adelaide was much
-entertained by this allusion. And here let us advise those, who regret
-any accidental coldness that may have arisen with a friend, if they have
-drollery enough in their composition, to make him or her laugh by all
-means. It is the surest way in the world to restore familiarity of
-manner; for we cannot look suddenly cross at the person, who has, in
-spite of our best endeavours at sullenness, excited the unwilling smile.
-Those who are "too dull for a wit, too grave for a joker," may try the
-pathetic; and if they can draw forth sympathetic tears at any horrible
-story, it will answer the purpose nearly as well, though our experience
-certainly inclines to the former method.
-
-Whilst the smile yet played on Adelaide's countenance, old Dennis
-walked up to her, and said, with a look where pleasure and regret strove
-for preeminence, "Faith, Miss dear, when I see your teeth as white as
-the water-lily, and your eyes dancing like the sunbeams on the lake, ye
-mind me of Miss Rose; you're the sauciest lady I've seen since she
-parted us, when she was in her fifteenth! The sweetest Rose was she in
-all Ireland, and the like will ne'er bloom again in Ballinamoyle."
-Adelaide graciously received the old man's compliment; and her eyes
-filled with tears, as she said to Colonel Desmond, "How much I feel
-interested for this Rose! She must have been most amiable, to be so long
-loved and remembered by these grateful people." "She was indeed,"
-replied he, "one of those beings, that would lead a fanciful imagination
-to suppose, they had nearly arrived at perfection in some pre-existent
-state, and had been sent on earth, for a short space, to complete their
-probation, and show what a superior nature might be, even clogged with
-our corporeal infirmities. Mr. O'Sullivan never breathes his daughter's
-name, nor is it ever mentioned before him, except by nurse, whom it is
-impossible to restrain. His life has passed away so monotonously, that
-it seems but as yesterday since he lost her, and she now rises again
-forcibly to the remembrance of the elder inhabitants of this
-neighbourhood, from the circumstance of Caroline O'Sullivan being
-brought, as it were, to take her place; which, I assure you, they
-consider as a sort of sacrilegious usurpation, and feel no small
-indignation at her having been born in England. Poor Rose! hers was a
-fatal marriage!--But this is not a fit time to sadden you with the
-details of her melancholy story."
-
-It was now dark, and some of the dancers came forward to receive the
-customary donations, after which they proceeded in a body elsewhere.
-They were in the act of setting up their last "hurra!" when, as if by
-appointed signal, all the hills were instantly illuminated with
-innumerable fires. In the distance blazed the altar of the sun, like a
-pyramid of light; the nearer flames were reflected in the still waters
-of the lake. Every island was gay with moving figures and bonfires.
-Within the spacious walls of the old castle in the centre islet was the
-largest of all, which was seen brightly beaming through the arched
-windows and dilapidated walls, while round it a groupe of merry boys and
-girls were dancing; and a sudden blaze showed here and there similar
-circles on every hill. Rejoicing voices rose and fell on the gales of
-night, which also conveyed, from time to time, the music of various
-instruments. "I never beheld so beautiful a scene," said Adelaide; "what
-is the origin of this custom?" "It descends to us from our pagan
-ancestry," replied Colonel Desmond, "who on this evening offered
-sacrifices to the sun on every hill. A similar custom was observed on
-the first of May and on the last of October, on which night we keep up
-the same ceremonies, which Burns has so beautifully described in his
-'Hallow E'en.' At this moment the whole of this island is gay with
-garlands, and dancing, and music; and her numerous population are poured
-forth on every hill in their best attire, accompanied by mirth and glee,
-leaving all their cares behind them at their cottage doors." "I hope,"
-said Caroline, "the fires in the castle won't hurt the little fairies
-Jarge Quin told us of, Adele; I dare say they ran in a great hurry up
-the walls; or may be the lake is covered with their tiny boats to take
-them away. When I live here, I never will let a single cobweb be swept."
-"Why, my dear child, have you so suddenly fallen in love with the spider
-tribe, as well as the fairies?" "Oh, nurse says they steal in at night
-through the keyhole, to take the cobwebs to make sails of them; and,
-when the wind blows them off, they stick to the trees and every thing,
-and they are twice as good for cuts as those in the house. I have been
-gathering a whole heap of them to take to England. Oh, Adele! I wish
-you would come and hear the beautiful stories nurse tells about kings,
-and queens, and giants. She puts her spectacles on her nose, and reads
-all morning out of a book she calls the 'Rabby Night's Intertinmant.' I
-run down to her every night before I go to bed, and she takes me on her
-knee, and tells it to me, and gives me cakes. Sometimes she cries when I
-kiss her, and then she talks to me of my _dear_ papa, what a fine young
-gentleman he was before he went to be a soldier. I'll marry a soldier
-when I grow big. I think nurse and uncle love me better than any body
-but you, Adele." It was in vain that Caroline's best beloved
-endeavoured, in a low voice, to assure her of the warmth of her mother's
-and sister's affection; she said little in reply, but felt all the pain
-of being convinced against her will.
-
-The party, when tired of admiring the admirable night scene the
-surrounding country presented, retired to the house; and by this time
-the rustic assembly had repaired to an empty barn, where they danced
-till sunrise, and then went out to make hay.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-    Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
-    I'll sweeten thy sad grave.
-
-    oeCYMBELINE.oe
-
-
-The remainder of the month of June and July passed at Ballinamoyle in
-various degrees of pleasure or tedium to its unusual inmates. Mrs.
-O'Sullivan and her three elder children saw the time originally fixed
-for their departure approach, with almost undissembled pleasure.
-Notwithstanding the anxious endeavours of their host and his circle, to
-show them the utmost respect and kindness, and to procure them every
-amusement within their reach, nothing pleased, nothing interested them;
-but if they could find little to admire in England beyond Hyde Park
-Corner, could they be expected to tolerate Irish barbarism? They
-associated much with the Desmond family; but, though this circumstance
-saved them many hours of _ennui_, it gave them none of real enjoyment.
-The Miss Webberlys saw Melicent's natural graces with too much contempt
-to envy them, and for once they associated with a lovely girl without
-being tormented by this passion. But her father and uncle they little
-short of hated; the one for his successful raillery, the other for his
-admiration of Adelaide; which circumstance rendered the latter equally
-obnoxious to their brother, who attributed to him the bad success of his
-suit to Miss Wildenheim, still more than to his sprained ancle, which
-had kept him a close prisoner, and enabled her effectually to shun his
-society. At home--Mr. O'Sullivan was dismal, Miss Fitzcarril
-insufferably proud; a Catholic priest was of course an object of
-illiberal aversion; and of all their associates, young Donolan was the
-only individual who found favour in their sight; but he had, by his
-heartless gallantries and fulsome flattery, ingratiated himself so much
-with both sisters, that he was a source of constant bickering between
-them.
-
-They therefore so plagued and prejudiced their weak mother, that she was
-as much out of humour as themselves. She and Miss Fitzcarril almost
-quarrelled, though the one was nearly as anxious to court the cousin, as
-the other to win the son; and the ridiculous pride of ancestry in the
-spinster kept pace with the narrow-minded pride of riches in the matron.
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and her amiable children vented all their ill humour on
-their servants, who, in revenge, quarrelled with the domestics of the
-house, and expressed their own and their superiors' contempt of every
-person and thing they saw, without reserve. All this Miss Fitzcarril was
-mean enough to suffer to be repeated to her with those additional
-charges scandal-mongers are certain to lay on their retail goods; and
-she came sometimes full primed with rage from the kitchen, ready to
-discharge her fire-arms in the parlour, which would not unfrequently
-have happened, had not Adelaide dexterously managed to unload the
-offensive weapon.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril found the amenity of her manners as invariable as the
-benignity of her heart. She would, boiling with passion, confide to her
-friendly ear some tale of horror she had been told by nurse, or the
-cook, the housemaid, or Black Frank himself; and always heard, in
-return, some extenuation of the offence, or expression of sorrow that
-purchased its forgiveness.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan's guests did not venture to treat him with disrespect,
-nor Miss Fitzcarril to annoy him with the recital of her various
-_brouilleries_; his uniformly dignified deportment preserved him from
-both: yet Mr. Webberly and his sisters he disliked for their airs of
-affected superiority to others; and had Caroline depended on her
-_mother's_ powers of pleasing, to obtain her uncle's estate, her claims
-would not have met with much success. An Irish country gentleman,
-however unpolished he may be himself, is to an extreme fastidious in
-his ideas of female gentility. Every one has a code of his own, which he
-thinks it necessary a woman should follow, to be what he calls
-"_ladylike_." His punctilios are frequently unreasonable, and
-excessively troublesome to the female relatives, who are obliged to
-conform to them; but the warm affection, from which they derive so much
-happiness, is also the source of that pride they sometimes find so
-annoying. A writer of eminence has clearly shown the difference between
-_rusticity_ and _vulgarity_. Many an unpolished rustic girl Mr.
-O'Sullivan might think _ladylike_: but a vulgar woman, such as his
-sister-in-law, was perhaps the object in the world the most disgusting
-to him; and it required all his good-nature, and all his hospitality, to
-make him conquer his involuntary repugnance sufficiently to treat her
-with the kindness due to his brother's widow. Though Maurice O'Sullivan
-had been only his step-brother by their father's marriage, very late in
-life, and there was twenty years' difference in their ages, he had
-always felt for him even more than the usual warmth of fraternal
-affection; and had, for a long series of years, been bountiful to him in
-a degree that but encouraged his extravagant dissipation; till the elder
-brother, at last provoked by his career of folly, finally discharged his
-debts, on condition of the entail being cut off, to enable him to bestow
-the family estate on some more worthy member of it. But the grave had
-now closed on all the faults of Maurice's character, whilst memory
-exaggerated all its virtues; and O'Sullivan would frequently contrast
-Caroline with her mother, saying in the pride of his heart, "How much of
-the _father_ she has in her! She shows good blood runs in her veins."
-
-To Adelaide Mr. O'Sullivan was unconsciously as kind as to Caroline.
-Before she had been many days in his house, he had made up his mind that
-she was "_quite the lady_," and of course possessed of every good
-quality necessarily consequent on that, in his mind, highly valued
-character. Besides he was much gratified by her inclination to be
-pleased with every thing that was worthy of commendation in his place,
-and in his country generally; and with the proper feeling and good
-breeding, which restrained her from wounding his pride by those
-offensive remarks he constantly heard from his sister-in-law and her
-elder children, which however were at least equalled by those of Mr.
-Donolan. Adelaide had moreover a strong claim on his gratitude for the
-kindness she showed to his niece. Caroline's father had lavished on her
-the most unlimited fondness, whilst her mother treated her with
-comparative coldness. Had she been left to herself, there is no doubt
-she would have felt the same love for her as for her other children; but
-she was unfortunately entirely guided by the Miss Webberlys. Cecilia she
-loved, and Amelia she also feared; and they contrived to alienate her
-affection from Caroline, whom they considered as an intruder, who would
-unjustly deprive them of a part of their lawful inheritance. It is not
-surprising, therefore, that Adelaide, mourning for the loss of a fond
-father, should see in Caroline a fellow-sufferer, and should bestow her
-affections on the only object around her that would receive or return
-them. The child, repulsed by every body else, flew into her open arms,
-and loved her with the most doting fondness. She could not bear now to
-lose sight of her, was the first that entered her room in the morning,
-and when she was busy, would sit for hours at her side, occupied in any
-employment Adelaide charitably provided for her. This little girl had
-naturally a fine understanding, which her friend's judicious management
-prevented running to waste. It was now with the utmost pain that friend
-thought of their approaching separation on her return to England; and
-this idea gave an increased tenderness to her looks, when she gazed with
-regret on the lovely child, and anticipated the probable blight of the
-fair promise, internally adding, "Alas! I may not venture to love any
-one; it is my fate to be torn from all my heart has ever cherished!" In
-consequence of this reciprocal attachment, every one associated Adelaide
-and Caroline in idea together; those who loved the one loved the other,
-and their united attractions gained them the good-will of every
-individual at Ballinamoyle.
-
-But with none of its inmates was the former a greater favourite than
-with the venerable Father Dermoody: her manners to him were expressive
-of that deference she had been accustomed to see the Catholic clergy
-treated with abroad, and she willingly granted that respect, which the
-impressive, though mild sanctity of his deportment extorted from others;
-and when he saw once more under Mr. O'Sullivan's roof a young and lovely
-female all sweetness and intellect, he thought of his beloved pupil,
-Rose, and sometimes looked at Adelaide, till he fancied he traced a
-strong resemblance to her who had been the adopted child of his
-heart--his only earthly pride! He loved to converse with Adelaide as to
-the recent state of countries, he had visited in his youth, and he still
-more delightedly answered her inquiries regarding the history or customs
-of Ireland, or the antiquities the neighbouring country abounded with,
-to visit which, Mr. O'Sullivan had induced his guests to make many
-excursions, as one of the best means of amusing their time. To
-illustrate these remains, Father Dermoody produced from his patron's
-library many a musty manuscript and fabulous legend of ancient fame,
-which he read and explained to Adelaide, with an enthusiastic admiration
-that was delightful to her to behold; though she was sometimes almost
-tempted to smile at the excess of his patriotic credulity; for there is
-scarcely any thing on the subject of national glory too extravagant for
-ancient Irish manuscripts to assert, or for modern Irish feeling to
-believe. Adelaide and her venerable friend went one morning to the
-above-mentioned library, in search of a work relative to "Conaro the
-turbulent and swift footed," whose tomb at the foot of the altar of the
-sun they had lately visited. They long looked for the precious relick in
-vain, but at last Mr. Dermoody descried it on the very top shelf; it was
-out of his reach, but by the help of a number of boxes piled on one of
-the heavy old mahogany chairs, Adelaide possessed herself of the
-treasure, and was preparing to descend, when she heard a gentleman's
-voice and step in the passage leading to the room. This made her prefer
-the quickest method of reaching _terra firma_, and she instantly leaped
-into the middle of the floor; and Colonel Desmond entering at the same
-instant, exclaimed, "Inimitable, by Jove! Why, Miss Wildenheim, if the
-principal _sauteuse_ of the Parisian opera had seen that graceful
-flight, she would, through all her rouge, have turned pale with envy. I
-should think you must find that preliminary much the pleasantest part of
-the proceedings attendant on the studies those loaded tables tell me you
-have lately been engaged in." "I hope," said Adelaide, laughing and
-blushing at his raillery, "you, as a true Milesian, are not inclined to
-slight their contents?" "Except to you, my revered friend," rejoined he,
-addressing himself to the priest, "who have charity to forgive even
-greater offences, I never dare own what a capacity of unbelief I have on
-such subjects; but, Miss Wildenheim," he continued, "I am at this moment
-much more anxious to hear what you think of the modern Irish, than to
-dive into the best accredited accounts of our ancient history. Come,
-confess to this worthy father--did you not expect to find us a set of
-demisavages, for whom you could feel little else but disgust?" "I am
-more than half affronted," replied Adelaide, "that you could possibly
-suppose me to be so illiberal." "And with justice," replied the priest;
-"wherever the human form is seen, there, I am sure, you find objects to
-love and reverence;--the Supreme has impressed on every being he has
-created some marks of his majesty and goodness." "Yes, my dear sir,"
-rejoined his youthful auditor; "but the proud heart of man draws a line
-of circumvallation round the cities he has erected, within which he
-confines every thing that is admirable in the human race. Surely we
-should rather imitate the liberality of the ancient poets, who peopled
-every hill and dale with superior natures." "You must however
-acknowledge," said Colonel Desmond, "that those classic favourites of
-yours never imagined any thing half so beautiful as our northern
-fairies! I don't know which of those ill-behaved scolds, the goddesses,
-it would not be an affront to compare a modern _elegante_ to; and pray
-what are all the accomplishments of Minerva, the best amongst them, to
-those of a girl of fashion, unless indeed she could plume herself on
-speaking Greek, in the style of the simpleton who was lost in admiration
-at the acquirements of the Gallic ladies, who could all converse in
-French with so much fluency? But the pure, elegant Queen of Fairies is
-the very prototype of female loveliness! I suffer considerable
-uneasiness on your account, Miss Wildenheim," continued he, with much
-gravity. "On my account, Colonel Desmond?" "Yes; for I am informed by
-those most in her majesty's confidence, that, 'when to the banks of the
-dark rolling Danube fair Adela hied,' she was seen by some of the fairy
-court; and that very evening, 'late, late in the gloamin, Hillmerry came
-hame,' being thought insipid in comparison of the more charming Adela.
-And now behold her conducted to the chief seat of the fairy power! But
-if she could be tempted to show that a small portion of human malice
-lurks in her heart, we might hope to keep her still; therefore I am more
-than ever anxious she should answer the question I put regarding the
-mortal inhabitants of this island." "I could not presume," replied
-Adelaide, colouring as she spoke, "on a casual acquaintance, to suppose
-myself qualified to estimate fully the merits or defects of the Irish
-nation; perhaps national character is of all subjects the one on which
-a woman is least competent to form a correct judgment;--but the Irish
-character, as it has presented itself to my view, is one I most
-sincerely and warmly love." Colonel Desmond seizing her hand in delight,
-shook it almost unconsciously for a second or two, whilst Father
-Dermoody, in an emphatic tone, and with a complimentary bow, said--
-
-    "La sagesse est sublime, on le dit, mais, helas!
-    Tous ses admirateurs souvent ne l'aiment guere;
-    Et sans vous nous ne saurions pas,
-    Combien la sagesse peut plaire."[8]
-
-[Footnote 8:
-
-      Wisdom's sublime, we still are told it,
-    Yet few admire, though all uphold it;
-    And but for thee we ne'er had prov'd,
-    How much e'en wisdom may be lov'd.
-]
-
-Gentle reader, if you are _not_ Irish, you will be perhaps much puzzled
-to find out what Adele said on this occasion, so marvellously wise. If
-you are an Hibernian, you will say, "The dear creature!" Be that as it
-may, Miss Wildenheim pleased her auditors better than if she had
-uttered three pages of Socratic sense. Poor Colonel Desmond felt but too
-deeply the admiration the priest had expressed; and putting up a prayer,
-that she might one day descend from generals to particulars, in the
-application of these sentiments, was suddenly most assiduous in the
-examination of the contemned manuscripts.
-
-Adelaide, curtsying her thanks for Mr. Dermoody's flattering application
-of the lines he had repeated, was alleging some trifling excuse for
-retiring, when Mr. O'Sullivan came into the room to make his daily
-request, that she would join him and Caroline in a saunter round the
-garden, where he went every morning with them to gather the nicest fruit
-it contained for his two favourites.
-
-The party had not proceeded many paces from the house, when they were
-joined by Mr. Webberly, who was now sufficiently recovered from his
-sprain to persecute Adelaide once more with his attentions. Mr.
-O'Sullivan, addressing him with much civility, said, "I am happy to
-say, Mr. Webberly, that your mother has consented to remain with me till
-after the first of September, in order to celebrate my dear little
-Caroline's birth-day; and bespeak for her the good wishes of my
-tenantry, who will assemble to congratulate us on the occasion." "Dear
-uncle, how I love you!" said the little girl, twisting her arms round
-him; "only for Adele, I think I should break my heart when I go away
-from you." He pressed her fondly in his arms, and said, "What will be
-your consolation, Caroline, will be an additional grief to me! My dear
-young lady," continued he, turning to Adelaide, "you know not the sorrow
-the idea that I may never see you again causes me; your society has
-given me more pleasure, than I thought I ever should have felt again.
-Your sweet attentive manners have reminded me of one whom even you might
-be proud to be compared with!"--He paused--his faltering voice had told
-how deeply he was affected, and a general silence prevailed for a few
-minutes, which was interrupted Mr. Webberly saying, "I'm sure you'll
-have no objection to celebrate Miss Wildenheim's birth-day too,
-Sir;--she will be of age on the thirty-first of August; that day
-one-and-twenty years, Sir, was a happy day for the world, Miss
-Adelaide!" "Happy! Good God!" exclaimed the old man; and dropping
-Adele's arm, which he had slipped within his, retreated to the house. "I
-had almost forgot--" said Colonel Desmond to the priest, much moved,
-"was that the day----" "Yes, the day," interrupted he: "Alas! a father's
-heart never forgets."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Vous etes belle, et votre soeur est belle,
-    Entre vous deux tout choix seroit bien doux,
-    L'Amour etoit blond, comme vous,
-    Mais il aimoit une brune, comme elle.[9]
-
-    oeBERNIS.oe
-
-[Footnote 9:
-
-    Thou art lovely--so is she,
-      Say, which should my heart prefer?
-    Cupid sure was fair like thee.
-      But his love was brown like her.
-]
-
-
-Whilst these scenes passed in Ireland, Lady Eltondale and Miss Seymour
-arrived at Cheltenham. At first, Selina's delight at breathing once more
-the pure air of the country made her almost wonder at the pleasure she
-had so lately found in the feverish amusements of London. Her step was
-still more elastic, as she trod the beautiful meadows that lay along
-the banks of the Chelt; and when, mounted on her favourite mare, she
-extended her rides to the surrounding hills, she seemed to regain a
-fresh existence.
-
-The picturesque beauties of Dodswell, the magnificent panorama of
-Lackington Hill, the curious remains of Sudeley castle, all were in time
-explored and admired by Selina; and often did she prefer a solitary walk
-amongst the sheltered lanes of Alstone, to accompanying Lady Eltondale
-to the morning mall, where crowds assembled at the Wells ostensibly in
-search of health, but really in pursuit of pleasure. In one of these
-morning walks, as she rested under the shadow of a gigantic oak, while
-the fresh breeze played on her glowing cheek, and the song of earliest
-birds alone interrupted the general silence, her thoughts involuntarily
-turned to those days which had glided by in similar scenes, when she
-used to bound like the fawns she chased through the park at Deane, or
-with more measured steps, though not less buoyant spirits, attended her
-father, as in his Bath chair he took his morning exercise on the broad
-smooth terrace, that stretched along the south front of the venerable
-mansion. The whole scene rose to her mind's eye, and she saw, in
-imagination, the lawns, the fields, the gardens, in which she had spent
-so many happy hours, and which were
-
-    "Once the calm scene of many a simple sport,
-    When nature pleas'd, for life itself was new,
-    And the heart promis'd what the fancy drew."
-
-She dwelt with a melancholy pleasure on the recollection of all the
-beloved companions of her earlier years, and sighed to think, that those
-moments of innocent delights would never again return to her. From this
-painfully pleasing reverie she was roused by the crying of a child, and
-the sound of an angry voice, exclaiming in a harsh key, "Hold your
-tongue, you little devil--ban't I going as fast as I can?" It seemed as
-if manual correction followed this expostulation, as the infant's cries
-were redoubled, and Selina heard its little voice, saying in a plaintive
-tone, "Mammy, mammy, me be a-hungry, me be tired." At that moment a turn
-in the road presented the speakers to her view, and she beheld a young
-woman, in whose pallid cheeks disease and wretchedness struggled for
-preeminence. A few coarse black locks strayed from under a cap, which
-might once have been white, but now in dirt and yellowness rivalled the
-complexion of the wearer, whilst it served to contrast a gaudy riband,
-by which it was encircled; a ragged, coloured handkerchief scarcely
-concealed her shrivelled bosom; and a cotton gown, which in its
-variegated pattern showed all the hues of the parterre, trained in the
-dust, and was partly caught up under her arm, below which appeared a
-tattered stuff petticoat, that scarcely reached to her knees. Her
-countenance was, if possible, more disgusting than her dress: her dark
-black eyes and oval forehead showed still some trace of beauty; but an
-expression of unblushing vice called forth sensations rather of disgust
-than of compassion. The little ragged urchin, that trotted by her side,
-endeavoured, on seeing Selina, to hide its head beneath her gown; but
-after a moment's deliberation, she dragged him from his concealment, and
-pushing him forward, desired him to demand charity. Selina, pitying the
-infant, more from the appearance of its associate than even from its own
-wretchedness, could not deny its request; and while she gave the poor
-child all the silver her purse contained, she inquired if the woman was
-its mother. "To be sure I am, my lady," replied she, in a tone of
-impertinent carelessness; "else what do you think I'd be troubled with
-such a brat as that for?" "It seems a fine boy," returned Selina,
-willing to rouse the maternal feelings that seemed so nearly extinct.
-"And where do you live?" "Down in that hut yonder, and a pretty penny I
-pay for it. Our landlord never comes to these here parts; if he did, he
-wouldn't let us be so racked; but he never thinks of us when he is
-away, and Mr. Smart, his agent, raises our rents just as he pleases; but
-he has our curses for his gains;" so saying, she seized the child
-roughly by the arm, and pursued her way, muttering imprecations Selina
-shuddered to hear. She also proceeded towards home; but her thoughts now
-took a more unpleasant turn. She recollected with sorrow how many poor
-cottages on her estate might also, with reason, lament the loss of a
-landlord, who had always inquired into their distresses and relieved
-their wants. But she, though possessed of such extensive means of being
-useful to her fellow-creatures, had hitherto seemed to consider the
-possession of fortune only as affording her a more ample opportunity for
-selfish gratification. She called to mind the happiness she had formerly
-experienced in charitable occupations; and reflected, with remorse, that
-since she had plunged into the vortex of dissipation, no tear had been
-wiped from the cheek of indigence by her generous aid--no smile of
-gratitude had hailed her approach to the couch of misery or pain. Of the
-many hours she had wasted in the pursuit of pleasure, not one had been
-devoted to the purposes of benevolence; and while she had lavished
-uncalculated sums in extravagance and folly, she had never purchased the
-inestimable benefit of a poor man's blessing.
-
-This trifling incident served to awaken in Selina's mind feelings and
-reflections that had long lain dormant. The whole tenour of Lady
-Eltondale's conduct had been calculated to efface all the impressions
-formerly made on her, both by the precepts and example of the admirable
-Mrs. Galton; and while her Ladyship contrived, by cautious degrees, to
-impede, and finally almost destroy the correspondence with her, which
-might have served occasionally to recall the first, the latter was
-almost totally obliterated from her mind by the entirely new scenes,
-into which she had been introduced. As to the habits of charity, to
-which both from inclination and instruction she had been early
-habituated, but little opportunity for their exercise had occurred since
-her residence with the Viscountess; for the very servants at Eltondale
-were too polite to admit a vulgar beggar within its gates; and in London
-she had been taught to consider all vagrants indiscriminately as
-impostors, whom it was almost a crime to relieve.
-
-But are those aware, who are anxious to find plausible excuses for
-delaying or omitting the fulfilment of the duties of charity, that the
-feelings of the human heart, though inflamed by casual restraint, are
-extinguished by a continued suppression? And wo be to that breast, in
-which the sentiments of benevolence and compassion are destroyed! The
-virtues of humanity, as they are those which most peculiarly belong to
-this present state of existence, so is the exercise of them most
-necessary to our individual happiness in this world; for he, whose heart
-has never melted at the sorrows of others, will assuredly, sooner or
-later, know the agony of seeking in vain for one sympathising bosom on
-which to repose the burden of his own.
-
-When Selina returned home, she was scarcely less pleased than surprised
-to find Mr. Sedley seated at breakfast with Lady Eltondale. They were so
-deeply engaged in conversation, that her entrance was unnoticed by
-either; and as her astonishment at perceiving so unexpected a guest made
-her pause for a moment at the door, she heard Lady Eltondale say,
-apparently in continuation of a previous speech, "And have you proof of
-this from himself, Mr. Sedley?" "Yes; proofs such as must convince even
-your Ladyship; otherwise I would never have made the proposal I have
-done." Selina here interrupted him, but her appearance was so sudden,
-that it was many minutes before he could collect his thoughts to address
-her with any composure. Lady Eltondale, however, showed no
-embarrassment; she inquired most kindly what had so long detained
-Selina; said that she and Mr. Sedley, whom she had accidentally met at
-the well, had walked miles in search of her; and finally joined in her
-vivacious raillery against Mr. Sedley for his visible confusion. In
-answer to Selina's inquiries when he arrived at Cheltenham, "Only
-yesterday," said he; "I was quite disappointed at not meeting you at the
-rooms last night. How is the detestable head-ache that Lady Eltondale
-told me prevented your accompanying her there?" While Selina hastily
-dismissed the subject of her casual indisposition, which, in truth, she
-had hardly remembered, a momentary surprise glanced across her mind at
-the recollection, that Lady Eltondale had not mentioned to her having
-seen Mr. Sedley; but she had not time to dwell on the thought, as the
-Viscountess immediately renewed her inquiries as to what could have so
-unusually prolonged Selina's walk; and the beggar woman and her boy
-recurring to her mind, she forgot all her doubts and past reflections,
-in the earnestness with which she entered into the description of all
-the wretchedness, which she "was sure the poor infant must suffer from
-its unfeeling mother." Lady Eltondale seemed to take uncommon interest
-in the relation, which she prolonged by apposite questions and remarks
-of "Poor child!--Of course you gave it something.--No wonder you
-returned so late.--I suppose you were just come home, just opened this
-door, as I perceived you.--Dear infant, I should like to have seen it!"
-And thus continued the conversation, while Mr. Sedley took a turn or two
-across the room; put into his pocket a letter-case that lay beside his
-coffee-cup, and regained all his customary self-possession. With his
-usual manners he resumed his place in Selina's estimation; and the hours
-flew by unnoticed, as he entertained her with the relation of a thousand
-ridiculous adventures, all of which had occurred either to himself or
-"his particular friends," during the space of three weeks, which he
-called an age, since they parted. And in truth he did not much
-exaggerate, when he described his regret at their having been so long
-separated. Like the unguarded moth, he had flitted round the flame till
-he actually suffered for his folly; for his improved acquaintance with
-Selina, during the latter part of their stay in London, had so far
-increased his admiration of her, that what was at first merely a
-preference chiefly influenced by pecuniary considerations, had now
-become a passion almost too powerful to be controlled. He had yet
-however sufficient command over his feelings, to avoid any verbal
-expression of them; and, while he carefully demonstrated how interesting
-to him had been all her observations, by delightedly referring to their
-former conversations, and recapitulating even her most trifling remarks,
-his present adulation was so delicately conveyed by inferred compliment
-alone, that, while Selina was gratified by the flattering attention,
-thus obviously paid her, she felt it would have but compromised her own
-modesty, had she, by disclaiming praise thus subtilely offered,
-appropriated to herself an admiration that was only insinuated. And how
-did Lady Eltondale approve of this? In truth she was not aware of the
-whole tendency of Mr. Sedley's discourse; a stolen glance or a peculiar
-emphasis explained his application of a particular sentence to her, who
-alone he meant should understand him; _et au reste_, the Viscountess,
-like a skilful navigator, always floated down a stream she found it
-impossible to stem.
-
-Selina almost persuaded herself, that every clock and watch in the house
-was out of order, when Lady Eltondale asserted, that the hour was come
-for Fazani's raffle, which she had particularly patronized; and as,
-accompanied by the Viscountess and Sedley, Selina walked under the dark
-avenue, that led to that fashionable rendezvous, she could not help
-internally observing, "how much Mr. Sedley's vivacity and good-nature
-enlivened every society of which he was a member."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-     _Lady Sneerwell._--You are partial, Snake.
-
-     _Snake._--Not in the least; every body will allow, that Lady
-     Sneerwell can do more with a word or a look, than many others with
-     the most laboured detail.
-
-     oeSCHOOL FOR SCANDAL.oe
-
-
-When they entered Fazani's, the raffle was only waiting for the arrival
-of the Viscountess. The prize was a beautiful work-box, and Fortune, who
-at that moment seemed to smile with peculiar benignity on Sedley, chose
-him to be the successful adventurer. As soon as he was declared victor,
-he immediately brought the treasure towards Lady Eltondale and Selina,
-and the latter, with pardonable vanity, flattered herself that he
-intended it as a present for her. But in this she was mistaken. He
-addressed himself to Lady Eltondale, and in a low tone said, with
-peculiar emphasis, "Will your ladyship accept this from me as a _gage
-d'amitie_?" "I take it as a flag of truce," replied she in a similar
-tone. "Then from henceforward you are my friend," exclaimed Sedley,
-seizing her hand with unusual vehemence. "At least not your enemy,"
-answered the Viscountess.--"But this is not a proper place to settle our
-preliminaries."
-
-This conversation was unintelligible to Selina, yet not uninteresting,
-as she felt a vague consciousness, that it in some way related to
-herself, and a momentary distrust of both speakers glanced across her
-mind. But her attention was quickly attracted by Lady Hammersley, who,
-on perceiving Lady Eltondale, had advanced from amongst the crowd to pay
-her compliments. The Viscountess was as minute in her inquiries
-regarding all that could concern Lady Hammersley, as if she had been
-sincere in her professions of being glad to meet her; and though Lady
-Hammersley's eyes were fixed on Selina, it was some minutes before she
-was sufficiently disengaged to accost her; at length she abruptly
-exclaimed, "Miss Seymour has, to all appearance, profited as much by her
-residence in London, as I prophesied she would; possibly amongst her
-other acquirements she may have learned the art of forgetting old
-acquaintances." Selina's colour rose, and the implied rebuke checking at
-once the friendly salutation with which she had prepared to address her,
-she returned her recognizance with an elegant but frigid compliment,
-worthy a pupil of Lady Eltondale. "Admirable!" retorted Lady Hammersley
-with a scornful smile: "My penetration is not baffled. I must write to
-Mrs. Galton, to notice the improvement _I_ always anticipated." "Why,
-does your Ladyship know Mrs. Galton?" inquired Selina anxiously; while
-Lady Eltondale, leaning on Mr. Sedley, took the opportunity of escaping
-from her "Dear Lady Hammersley." "I do know Mrs. Galton," replied she;
-"we were together all last winter at Bath; and she, Miss Seymour, was
-so convinced of your perfection, that she never would believe it was
-even in Lady Eltondale's power to _improve_ you, as I guessed she would,
-and see she has done." "Dear, dear aunt Mary!" exclaimed Selina,
-bursting into tears, as she heard this instance of a disinterested
-partiality, to which she had lately been unused, even though the recital
-had been made with more of acrimony than of benevolence. Lady Hammersley
-looked for some moments steadily at Selina, and then continued in her
-usual cynical tone, "Pray, Miss Seymour, compose yourself; Lady
-Eltondale will be shocked at my having betrayed you into so gross an
-impropriety. I had not the slightest idea that the mention of Mrs.
-Galton would have roused your feelings, and still less that you could
-have been tempted to exhibit them." Selina felt hurt at the undeserved
-censure, which both Lady Hammersley's words and manner expressed, and,
-with a look of dignity, replied, "I am indeed ashamed of betraying them
-where they can be so little understood;" and took leave of her Ladyship
-with a proud politeness, which admitted of no reply. Lady Hammersley for
-some moments looked after Selina, as she moved to a distant part of the
-room, where Lady Eltondale was waiting for her. "That girl is still
-worth knowing," thought she; and for once she turned an unprejudiced eye
-on the lovely form and heavenly countenance of the innocent girl, who
-had hitherto so undeservedly shared in the contempt and hatred, which
-her Ladyship had always been accustomed to feel for every thing, that in
-the remotest degree appertained to Lady Eltondale.
-
-Meantime Selina joined the Viscountess, while "disdain and scorn rode
-sparkling in her eyes." "Has Lady Hammersley been entertaining you with
-any sententious aphorisms?" asked Lady Eltondale. "No," replied Selina,
-laughing. "For once she has been talking on a subject she does not
-understand." The Viscountess was not sufficiently interested in her
-Ladyship's harangues to inquire further, and they continued their walk
-till it was time to separate for dinner.
-
-The amusement allotted for that evening was a public concert, and Lady
-Eltondale and Selina had acceded to Sedley's earnest entreaty of
-attending it. He accordingly took post in the outside room, waiting for
-their arrival, and anxiously inspecting every passing groupe, as the
-different parties entered, in hopes of recognizing them. But his
-expectations were disappointed; no Lady Eltondale or Selina made their
-appearance: he bewildered himself in conjectures; and at last, in a
-moment of pique, attributing their delay to caprice, he left the rooms
-before the concert was finished, cursing woman's inconsistency, and his
-own folly, in ever having suffered himself to be interested about any.
-This sage reflection was however chased long before morning, not only by
-the recollection of Selina's manifold charms, but of his own manifold
-creditors; and at an early hour he repaired to the well, where he and
-Lady Eltondale had agreed to meet, in order to finish a conversation
-neither was particularly anxious Selina should witness.
-
-But Lady Eltondale was not to be found; and when the hour for the
-general dispersion of the company arrived without his seeing her, he
-lost patience, and hastened to her house to inquire the cause of her
-protracted absence.
-
-But there, to his utmost consternation, he learned that an express had
-arrived, just as the ladies were preparing to go to the rooms the night
-before, to inform the Viscountess, that Lord Eltondale had suddenly
-expired at Eltondale, after having partaken of a turtle feast with more
-enjoyment, and even less restraint, than ordinary. Of course neither
-Selina nor Lady Eltondale was visible, and Sedley returned home agitated
-by a thousand conjectures and emotions.
-
-It was not to be expected, that Lady Eltondale would deeply lament the
-death of a husband, who, notwithstanding his uniform indulgence to her,
-had never possessed either her esteem or affection; but nevertheless
-Selina could not help being shocked at the total apathy and ingratitude
-she displayed; as without even assuming a grief, which it would have
-been almost more a virtue to dissemble, than thus openly to contemn, she
-only thought of, only lamented, the change of her circumstances the
-event would inevitably produce. Selina listened in astonishment to the
-calm retrospection of past extravagance, and the despairing anticipation
-of future poverty, in which she indulged even in those first moments of
-widowhood; and disdaining to offer consolation to the only sorrows she
-could hear unmoved, at an early hour retired to her own room.
-
-There far, far different reflections agitated her bosom. There is a
-certain sympathy in misfortune, which, touching a chord that has once
-jarred, finds an echo in our own breast;
-
-    "Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows,
-    Which show like grief itself."
-
-Thus the sudden dissolution of Lord Eltondale recalled to Selina's mind
-all the circumstances of her father's death; and though neither in her
-judgment nor affection they could ever have been compared, yet the last
-sad scene of mortality blended her recollections of both, and with
-unrestrained tears she gave way to all the poignancy of regret, in the
-solitude of her chamber, which the freezing insensibility of Lady
-Eltondale would have repressed, in the presence of her who should have
-been the greatest mourner.
-
-In the morning her swollen eyes and pallid cheeks bore testimony to her
-sleepless night; and as from Lady Eltondale she expected reproof rather
-than sympathy, she was not sorry to receive a message, stating that her
-Ladyship wished to breakfast alone, as she was engaged in writing
-letters.
-
-Selina, lost in reflection, unconsciously prolonged her solitary and
-almost untasted meal, till she was roused by the abrupt entrance of Lady
-Hammersley, who, profiting by her plea of relationship, had come to
-inquire all the particulars of the Viscount's death. Though Selina now
-felt a degree of repugnance to Lady Hammersley, which her almost
-impertinent remarks had provoked, yet she could not with propriety
-refuse the details she demanded; and she accordingly answered her
-numerous questions with as much brevity as politeness permitted. But her
-auditor seemed to attend more to her countenance than to her words, and
-at last abruptly exclaimed, "I certainly did not expect to see so much
-real sorrow in this house of mourning; you are a good girl, I believe,
-after all; and I like you for having at least _some_ feeling left."
-Though Selina was always grateful for advice, and even reproof, dictated
-by affection, yet she did not feel, that Lady Hammersley was in any way
-authorized to offer her either; and therefore she replied, with an air
-of _hauteur_, which the recollection of her observations the day before
-increased, "My acquaintance with your Ladyship has been so short, that
-neither my feelings nor character can be known to you: have you any
-commands, madam, to Lady Eltondale?" and rising as she spoke, she
-prepared to quit the room. But Lady Hammersley, taking hold of her hand,
-exclaimed, "What, proud too! well, I like you the more for it; come, sit
-down, you and I must be better acquainted. For once I am inclined to
-think I have been mistaken. When first I saw you at Eltondale,"
-continued she, in a tone of unusual kindness, "I was interested by your
-personal appearance; but above all, by your simplicity of character: but
-as I knew these were the two precise points, which must infallibly be
-most changed by your residence with Lady Eltondale, I looked upon you
-only as a fine piece of plaster of Paris, which she would probably mould
-to external perfection, but leave all hollow within. I should therefore
-(forgive my frankness, Miss Seymour), most likely, never have thought of
-you again, had I not met Mrs. Galton; who spoke of you in such terms,
-that I own I was curious to learn whether my prognostics were verified
-or not. Circumstances have accelerated my knowledge of you; and since I
-find, at least to all appearance, that Lady Eltondale's arts have not
-entirely spoiled your character, I am anxious that her schemes should
-not militate against your happiness." "Schemes! Lady Hammersley, I am at
-a loss to understand you." "Her favourite scheme," returned her
-Ladyship, "is this,--she intends you should marry her step-son Frederick
-Elton, now Lord Eltondale; and her visit to Deane Hall, which you may
-remember this time twelvemonth, was to procure your father's consent to
-the match, in which she succeeded." "My father's consent!" exclaimed the
-agitated girl. "But Mr. Elton and I are unacquainted; we have never even
-seen each other. You must be mistaken, my dear madam." "No, there is no
-mistake; both your late uncle and Mrs. Galton were my authorities." "And
-do you say my father gave his consent?" "I do say so: and I also know,
-that Frederick is now on his return to England, intending to propose
-for you. Come, my dear, do not be so agitated: he is one of the finest
-young men of the day: his character amiable, and his manners attractive;
-so perhaps you cannot do better than make choice of him, provided your
-affections are not otherwise engaged." A pause of some minutes ensued.
-Lady Hammersley then continued: "But in telling you Lady Eltondale's
-scheme, it is fit I should explain her motive; for be assured, Miss
-Seymour, no action of hers can ever be disinterested. The fact is, she
-has long known, that the Eltondale estates are as much encumbered as the
-entail permits them to be; and in securing your property for Frederick,
-she flatters herself she has secured an increased jointure for herself."
-Selina shuddered, but could make no reply. And Lady Hammersley rising,
-said, "I have now, my dear Miss Seymour, told you all I know: you may
-think me an impertinent old woman, but, be assured, I only wished to be
-a kind one. God bless you! perhaps we may never meet again; for I
-suppose Lady Eltondale will leave this place immediately. But don't
-forget the key I have given you to her character; and believe me it is
-not a false one." So saying, she affectionately kissed Selina, who took
-leave of her with a gratitude and cordiality, she would a few hours
-before have believed it scarcely possible she could ever have
-experienced for Lady Hammersley.
-
-It may be supposed this conversation made a deep impression on her mind;
-and one of the most painful feelings it excited was the insight it gave
-her into Lady Eltondale's selfish and dissembling character, confirmed
-as it was by her own previous observations. But even these feelings had
-not long power to withdraw her attention from that part of Lady
-Hammersley's communication which related to Frederick, and which was
-also corroborated by her recollection of several remarks and casual
-speeches of Lady Eltondale, which, at the time they were made, had
-seemed to her accidental and undesigned, but each of which, on
-retrospection, appeared "squared and fitted to its use." Nor did the
-circumstance of her deceased father having given his consent to the
-match serve, as with some romantic ladies it might have done, to
-determine her against it; on the contrary, it rather served to prejudice
-her in its favour; and a long train of reflections was concluded in her
-own mind by Lady Hammersley's observation, "So perhaps you cannot do
-better, provided your affections are not otherwise engaged."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-                        Why she, even she--
-    Oh! Heav'ns! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
-    Would have mourn'd longer.
-
-    oeHAMLET.oe
-
-
-Selina's meditations were disturbed by a summons to Lady Eltondale's
-dressing-room, on a subject of no less importance than the choice of
-mourning: a mixed sentiment of contempt and indignation took possession
-of her mind, as she saw every feeling, that should have been called
-forth in that of the recent loss, absorbed in the more momentous
-reflections suggested by the comparative merits of the bombasins. But
-when the bevy of milliners left the room, and Lady Eltondale, hiding her
-face with her handkerchief, gave way to an outrageous burst of grief,
-Selina condemned herself for her premature judgment. "That is fortitude,
-which I have cruelly termed insensibility," thought she; and softened by
-her tears, the first she had ever seen her shed, she kindly took her
-hand, and addressed her in terms of condolence. But Lady Eltondale
-interrupting her in a tone, which from contending passions almost
-approached a scream: "Spare me, spare me," exclaimed she, "I can bear
-any thing but _pity_. Good God! is it come to this! am I, the envied,
-flattered Lady Eltondale, born to be _pitied_?" Then turning to Selina,
-with a countenance distorted with rage, and her figure distended into
-more than common loftiness, "You mistake me, Miss Seymour," she
-continued; "though that man of sloth, that dormouse, Lord Eltondale, has
-left me almost pennyless; though all my entreaties, all my reasons,
-could never rouse him from his indolence, to make him active for or
-against ministers, either of which would have procured me a pension; yet
-do not fancy I am yet to be despised. My spirit is independent, be my
-circumstances what they may, and they may still be bettered."
-
-Selina was thunderstruck at this address. She could scarcely recognise
-the calm, dignified Lady Eltondale, in the being convulsed with rage,
-that writhed beneath her steady gaze. In the contortion of uncontrolled
-passion, the veil had dropped, and the delusion vanished. A silence of a
-few moments ensued, and both the ladies recovered themselves; Selina to
-explain the condolences she had meant to offer as kindnesses, and Lady
-Eltondale to receive them with that degree of gratitude, she timely
-recollected it was most prudent to profess. And now,
-
-    "Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
-    That in a spleen unfolds both Heav'n and earth,"
-
-did the Viscountess reassume all her usual calmness, and more than her
-usual charms. Stretching out one white hand towards Selina, whilst she
-pressed the other on her forehead, "Forgive me, my love," exclaimed
-she, "this sudden misfortune has quite overpowered me. But you, Selina,
-I know will bear with me; you will not forsake me."
-
-Selina gave her every assurance, that duty and compassion, if not
-affection, could suggest; and Lady Eltondale, with that feverish
-restlessness of mind, which was no less distinguishable in her, than the
-calm self-possession of her external deportment, immediately proceeded
-to arrange the plans for her future life. "We will leave this directly,"
-said she, "as I am anxious to return to Eltondale as soon as possible,
-after the funeral of my poor dear Lord is over. I want to arrange my
-papers, and my jewels, and a thousand little trifles that are my own
-property, and may be useful to me hereafter; and then we can be decided
-by Lord Eltondale's answer to the letters I have written to him, whether
-to await his return at Eltondale, or to spend the intervening time at
-Brighton." "Or suppose, my dear Lady Eltondale, we return to Deane, I
-shall be so delighted----" "Impossible, my love," interrupted the
-Viscountess; "in my present weak spirits such a retirement would kill
-me." But this selfish, unfeeling woman was yet to learn by deprivation
-the value of those blessings she had hitherto disregarded, and of that
-kindness she had only despised. Before she could decide at which of the
-gay watering places it would be most advisable for her to pass the first
-months of mourning, Lord Eltondale's steward arrived, in the utmost
-consternation, with the agonizing intelligence, that the Viscount's
-creditors had seized on all his personal property, to pay some part of
-the debts her extravagance had so largely contributed to contract. They
-had possessed themselves both of the house at Eltondale and in Portman
-Square; and mercilessly stripped them of all they could lay claim to of
-their splendid furniture, not even sparing her Ladyship's "jewels, and
-the thousand little trifles," which she had determined to appropriate to
-herself. Bitterly did she now inveigh against the memory of him, whose
-inconsiderate compliance with all her unreasonable demands had
-principally occasioned the distress of which she so unfeelingly
-complained. At last, having exhausted her passion in invective, she next
-employed herself in suggesting and debating on a variety of schemes for
-her immediate residence: and at length being convinced, that a few
-months of the very retirement at Deane, which she had at first so
-indignantly rejected, was the most advantageous measure she could now
-adopt, she endeavoured to make a virtue of necessity, and accepted
-Selina's proposition in such a manner, as would have convinced a
-stranger, that her sole reason for doing so was compliance with Selina's
-wishes.
-
-The delighted girl did not, however, pause to investigate the motives of
-the Viscountess's assent to her plan. With a little of the vivacity,
-which once had marked her every impression, did she now anticipate with
-fond delight her return to those beloved scenes of her happy infancy.
-Her heart beat high as in swiftest thought she pictured to herself being
-once more pressed to the maternal bosom of Mrs. Galton, and once more
-enjoying the calm unembittered pleasures of her earlier years. Overcome
-by the various emotions these thoughts gave birth to, she retired to her
-own room, to regain composure, and to write to persuade her dearest aunt
-to meet her there.
-
-But an unforeseen difficulty arose to their quitting Cheltenham. Lady
-Eltondale, with her usual inconsiderate extravagance, had run into debt
-with almost every shopkeeper in the town; and the tradesmen, from the
-moment her departure was announced, sent in their demands with what she
-was pleased to call impertinent importunity. Her own resources had been
-long exhausted; and perhaps of all her mortifications, none was to her
-so severe as being under the necessity of applying to Selina for
-pecuniary assistance. But notwithstanding Selina's accession of
-fortune, when she lost her habits of early economy, she with them lost
-the power of being generous. The last letter she had received from her
-banker had informed her, that her account was so much overdrawn, he
-could no longer accept her frequent drafts: and when she was obliged to
-refuse Lady Eltondale's request for money, she received a practical
-lesson on the folly of extravagance, which was more effectual than any
-precepts could have been. But Lady Eltondale was not to be repulsed by
-trifling difficulties; her brain, ever fruitful in expedients, suggested
-the possibility of Selina anticipating her rents, by drawing a bill on
-her agent in Yorkshire. Impatient of delay, and dreading the demands
-which her other numerous creditors in London and elsewhere might bring
-forward against her, she prevailed on Selina to go the next day to
-Mr. ----'s bank to negotiate the transaction in person, and fixed to
-leave Cheltenham as soon as possible afterwards.
-
-Accordingly, very early the following morning, she proceeded to obey
-Lady Eltondale's directions, having desired the steward, who professed
-to be well versed in such business, to meet her at the bank, in order to
-explain all that was necessary for her to do: she however needed no
-introduction, the wealth of the great Yorkshire heiress was too well
-known to require any confirmation; and on signing a paper which she
-scarcely looked at, she joyfully received the sum she desired, without
-stopping to calculate at what price the banker and the steward had
-agreed she was to purchase the accommodation.
-
-Elated by her success, she sent the money to Lady Eltondale by the
-steward, while she proceeded to take a farewell ramble amongst her
-favourite walks, and to indulge in their retirement the pleasing
-reveries the idea of returning to Deane Hall had excited. Her solitude
-however was soon interrupted: Sedley, who for the last three days had
-with restless anxiety hovered round her door, had followed her unseen,
-and now hastily overtook her. On first seeing him she was half tempted
-to return, but he, perceiving her intention, half seriously and half
-carelessly, put her arm within his, and led her forward. At first he
-paid her the common compliments of condolence; but when, in answer to
-his inquiries, she told him she and Lady Eltondale were to leave
-Cheltenham that day, his surprise and disappointment overcame all his
-resolutions, and with a vehemence of manner and expression, that almost
-terrified Selina, he declared his passion in the strongest terms. So
-little had Selina been accustomed to think of him as her lover, that at
-first she considered his address merely as an effusion of gallantry, and
-as such returned it with careless _badinage_. But his renewed
-protestations convincing her he was in earnest, her trepidation
-increased, nor would she probably soon have recovered her composure, had
-she not perceived that he misconstrued her prolonged silence. As soon
-therefore as he would permit her, she interrupted him, by politely
-thanking him for his good opinion of her: "But," continued she, "it
-distresses me even more than it flatters me: I cannot encourage a
-partiality I feel I do not return." With an agitated countenance, and
-looks almost of menace, he now inquired who was the favoured mortal she
-preferred. "It is not that I prefer another," replied she, "but I do not
-sufficiently prefer you. I think the only way I can repay your kindness
-is by treating you with perfect frankness. Do not therefore think me
-harsh when I say, that though I certainly prefer your society more than
-that of most others, and though I prize your friendship most highly, I
-by no means feel for you that exclusive partiality, of which I know my
-heart is capable; and without which, in my opinion, there can be no
-happiness in married life." "But may not time and assiduity win your
-affections, dear, dearest Selina; let me still hope." And then, with all
-the eloquence he was master of, did he implore her to consider him
-still as her friend; and to permit him in that character to enjoy her
-society, and at least endeavour to gain her love.
-
-But the delicacy of Selina's mind shrunk from the idea of encouraging an
-attachment she never meant to return; and scorning the little arts by
-which so many women gratify their own vanity, at the expense of those
-feelings which they seem to soothe, she steadily refused to give him any
-ground for expecting her to change her present sentiments: for within
-the last few days she had "communed with her own heart," and understood
-it better than she had ever done before. However her refusal though firm
-was gentle; and when Sedley parted from her at Lady Eltondale's door,
-the tempered smile that played on her lip, and the tear that gemm'd her
-eye, spoke so much of female softness and benevolence, that he departed
-more enamoured than ever; and, hastening home, shut himself up in his
-chamber, to indulge in a variety of schemes and reflections, which all
-concluded by his determining never to relinquish her pursuit, and by a
-natural consequence persuading himself his case was not yet desperate:
-
-    "None without hope e'er lov'd the brightest fair,
-    But love will hope where reason would despair."
-
-When Selina entered the drawing room, she found Lady Eltondale too much
-engrossed by her preparations for departure, to notice her protracted
-absence and agitated appearance. And when a few hours afterwards Selina
-actually found herself seated in the carriage, which was to convey her
-to her own home, her thoughts became so entirely occupied by painfully
-pleasing retrospection connected with it, that for a time all others
-faded from her mind. Orders had been dispatched for its being prepared
-for their arrival. And as they travelled but slowly, sufficient time was
-afforded for their execution. For the last few miles Selina preserved an
-uninterrupted silence, her whole attention being occupied in
-endeavouring to recognize every well known object; and as each
-succeeding tree, and cottage, and spire, met her view, a sentiment of
-pleasure, amounting almost to agony, oppressed her. At last, when the
-carriage turned up the long avenue, her feelings could no longer be
-repressed. She sobbed aloud, and concealed her face in her handkerchief,
-which she did not remove till she found herself pressed to the
-palpitating heart of Mrs. Galton, who having received Selina's letter
-when on a visit in Lancashire, had succeeded in anticipating her arrival
-by a few hours.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-    Thou yet shalt know how sweet, how dear,
-      To gaze on beauty's glistening eye,
-    To ask and pause in hope and fear,
-                                  Till she reply.
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-Immediately after the departure of Lady Eltondale and Selina from
-Cheltenham, Sedley had also quitted it, as he could not bear to remain
-in a place, which had been to him the scene of his fondest hopes--his
-bitterest disappointment. In fact his having met Miss Seymour there was
-by no means the effect of accident. When she and the Viscountess had
-left London in June, he had found such a loss in her society, especially
-in those particular hours, which he had of late been accustomed to pass
-in his daily visits to Portman Square, that life appeared a blank, and
-his regrets for her absence first taught him the extent of his regard.
-Not however that his mind, tainted as it was by so many of the
-fashionable follies, if not vices of the day, was capable of truly
-comprehending all the chaste and simple beauties of hers. His admiration
-was confined to her personal charms; and though, had she been fated to
-move in a humbler sphere, he would perhaps have sought her as a
-substitute for the pretty little opera dancer, that was now under his
-_protection_, as it is elegantly termed; yet with all Selina's
-loveliness, his aversion to matrimony would scarcely have been subdued
-by any less powerful motives than those suggested by her riches. For,
-like all spendthrifts, Sedley was avaricious; and these united
-interests, confirmed by habits of association, and increased by vanity,
-led him by degrees to feel for her an attachment, of which at first he
-could scarcely have supposed his heart to have been susceptible. Having
-once convinced himself, that the possession of Miss Seymour's hand and
-fortune would contribute to his own individual happiness, (for of hers
-he did not stop to think,) his next object was to determine how to
-procure it; nor did he consider her being the destined wife of his
-friend as any impediment to the accomplishment of his own wishes. He,
-however, was well aware, that it was of the utmost consequence to him to
-obtain the countenance and support of the Viscountess; and as he
-possessed sufficient penetration to discover the master passion of her
-soul, he took his measures accordingly. Soon after she went to
-Cheltenham he wrote her a letter, in which he so far betrayed the
-confidence Frederick Elton had reposed in him, as to communicate to her
-all he knew of his attachment to the fair Adelina at the villa
-Marinella; and concluded by proposing, in the most guarded and delicate
-_terms_ to her Ladyship, that she should befriend him instead of
-Elton--offering, if she would procure for him Selina's hand, either on
-the day of their marriage to give her a large sum of money, or to
-settle an annuity on her for the remainder of her life.
-
-The information thus conveyed to Lady Eltondale of Mr. Elton's
-attachment to a foreigner did not very much surprise her. She suspected
-that the reluctance he had expressed about two years before, to accept
-an honourable and lucrative employment in the diplomatical line, which
-his father had procured for him, and which had obliged him to leave
-Catania to reside in Paris--his subsequent return thither, and his
-protracted stay on the continent, had all proceeded from some such
-motive.
-
-But on the other hand Mr. Elton had, in his letter to his father, stated
-explicitly, "that he was not only willing, but anxious, to make every
-endeavour to gain Miss Seymour's affections, and bestow his own on her;
-convinced, on mature deliberation, that such an attachment would
-effectually conduce to his happiness, by filling that void in his heart,
-which so much militated against it." And as he was expected to return
-very shortly to England, she hesitated to accept Mr. Sedley's offer,
-although it was a temptation she could scarcely resist. The result,
-therefore, of her deliberations was, that she would remain neuter; and
-whichever of the candidates Selina's unbiassed judgment made choice of,
-she would endeavour to persuade owed their happiness to her influence.
-She therefore wrote an equivocal answer to Mr. Sedley, which he
-construed of course in the sense most favourable to his wishes, and
-hastened to Cheltenham, where he used all his rhetoric to secure her
-friendship; and she, with many a subtle argument, endeavoured to
-persuade him not to propose for Selina till after Frederick's arrival;
-and as he was by no means confident of the place he held in Miss
-Seymour's estimation, he probably would have postponed his declaration
-till time had more matured the regard he flattered himself she felt for
-him, had he not been irresistibly impelled by circumstances, as has been
-before related. Her refusal, however, did not entirely extinguish his
-hopes, although it changed his plans; and as the public prints had,
-about a fortnight before Lord Eltondale's death, given notice of Mr.
-Elton's departure from Paris, on his return to England, Sedley
-determined to repair to London immediately, for the purpose of meeting
-him, as he knew business would require his presence there. Nor was he
-disappointed; in about three weeks Lord Eltondale arrived; and Sedley
-sedulously sought to renew their intimacy, as much then from interested
-motives, as he had once done from inclination and preference. But though
-these two young men associated as much as they had been accustomed
-previous to Lord Eltondale's residence abroad, little remained of their
-original friendship, except its familiarity of intercourse, which a
-_habit_ of intimacy will long preserve. Yet Frederick was scarcely
-conscious of this aberration of regard, which was, on the part of
-Sedley, produced by a rivalship Lord Eltondale was unsuspicious of; and
-on his own was principally owing to the gradual change, that had taken
-place in their characters. Sedley, by the influence of dissipated
-companions, had converted his natural vivacity of spirits into levity of
-principle. Lord Eltondale, by the peculiar circumstances which had led
-him to self-communion, study, and reflection, had turned the energies of
-his nature to pursuits worthy of the powers of his mind, and of the rank
-he was by nature and fortune destined to hold amongst the sons, which
-England proudly boasts as truly noble.
-
-Lord Eltondale had written to the Viscountess, that it was his intention
-to pay his compliments to her and Miss Seymour immediately on his
-arrival in England; but he, from one day to another, sought excuses for
-delaying this visit to Deane Hall; and Sedley was not unwilling to
-assist in the search, for he still hoped to gain by delay. When he had
-first met Frederick, he had inquired, with as much indifference as he
-could assume, whether there was any foundation in the newspaper report
-of his marriage with Miss Seymour; to which his Lordship replied, in a
-peremptory tone, "Yes, if she will have me;" and immediately changed the
-conversation in such a manner, that Sedley had not again the courage to
-renew it. However, at last his Lordship fixed the day for the
-commencement of his journey to Yorkshire, and the evening before he as
-usual spent in his friend's society. They were conversing of far
-different matters, when Sedley abruptly said, in a tone of marked pique,
-"Well, Eltondale, so you have at last determined to do Miss Seymour the
-honour of proposing for her. Upon my soul, a great condescension!
-Notwithstanding your damned lecturing letters, I knew you would forget
-your 'charming Sicilian maid, fairer than Proserpine,' and all that pack
-of metaphysical stuff you used to write to me. I knew well enough from
-the first it was only an ideal Laura you fancied yourself Petrarch to;
-and if, while you were dreaming of her, you had lost the incomparable
-_heiress_ your designing step-mother intended for you, it would only
-have been what you deserved." "For Heaven's sake, Sedley, what do you
-mean?" said Lord Eltondale, colouring deeply. "Is the incomparable
-_heiress_ the Laura of your dreams?" "No, no, my Lord," answered Sedley,
-with a composure produced alike by envy and mortification, "I leave it
-to _you_ to play the part of sleeper awakened--I never lost my senses
-for any _Adelina_." "Sedley!" replied Lord Eltondale, with the serious
-energy of deep feeling, "if any spark of our former friendship remains
-in your bosom, I conjure you never to mention that name again. I can
-never forget _her_, but she refused _me_." "Refused you!" exclaimed
-Sedley, in a tone of unfeigned surprise; "well, no doubt your pride has
-cured your love; but upon my soul I almost pity you; for when a man is
-once fascinated by a pretty woman, it is devilish hard to get out of her
-toils." "So far from my pride being my cure, her refusal raised my love
-to a pitch that made my former attachment seem cold in comparison. You
-may smile, Sedley, but if you have a heart to be moved, it must be
-touched when I tell you of her noble conduct on that occasion. I believe
-I told you of my intention of proposing myself to her; but I never could
-summon fortitude to acquaint you with the result. I had perceived a
-marked change in her manner to me some time before I wrote you the last
-letter concerning her; but I attributed it entirely to her father's
-influence, as I had not come to a direct explanation, and therefore took
-an opportunity of demanding an interview for that purpose, when I knew
-him to be absent.
-
-"When she entered the room where I was waiting in breathless expectation
-of her arrival, she was enveloped in the most icy coldness of manner,
-which, however, I was not dismayed by, but poured forth my love with all
-the ardour I felt. She changed colour many times, and was silent for a
-few moments; but when she did speak, rejected my addresses with such
-dignified politeness, and with so much calm self-possession, that,
-mortified to the very soul, I, without reply or remonstrance, walked out
-of the house. That I might hide my wounded feelings from every eye, I
-struck into a private path which led through a flower-garden Adelina's
-sitting-room opened into. I instinctively turned to look in, when I
-beheld her kneeling, evidently in the act of prayer, her eyes streaming
-with tears. To see her weep, and retain self-control or resentment, was
-impossible. I was at her side in an instant;--she started up, and
-endeavoured to fly, but I forcibly detained her; and as the expression
-of her countenance was not to be misunderstood as to the cause of her
-grief, I implored her not to destroy our happiness by harbouring any
-false impressions of me or my family; entreated her to tell me the
-impediments to our union, that if it were possible, by any exertion of
-mine, to do them away, they might cease to exist. She turned aside her
-head to hide the gushing tears, and in a faltering voice desired me to
-leave her.--'Leave me,' said she, 'only for a few moments, that I may
-recover composure to tell you all.'
-
-"I respected her feelings sufficiently to remain in the garden till she
-made a sign to me to return.
-
-"When I entered, grief, in her calmest attitude, was seated on her brow.
-No tear dimmed the majesty of her commanding eye, but a convulsive smile
-sometimes passed over her pallid lip. She told me that her father,
-though a German Baron, was a British subject by birth, but that some
-unfortunate circumstances induced him to condemn himself to perpetual
-exile from his native land; that she could not desert her duties by
-leaving him, in the evening of his days, to sad solitude in a foreign
-country; nor would she ever consent to obscure the morning of my life by
-suffering me, if I were so inclined, to quit my country, and leave my
-high calling unfulfilled, to waste my hours at her side in unavailing
-regret for my lost character: and addressing me with the utmost
-solemnity, said in conclusion, 'Frederick, if you really love me, as I
-think you do; if you are the noble being I believe you to be--you will
-not, after this meeting, try my feelings by any further solicitation. My
-resolution is unalterable--do not deprive me of my self-esteem, by
-making me feel the sacrifice I make to filial duty too painful.'
-
-"I then told her, if she would promise to be mine when these obstacles
-to our union were at an end, I would wait in joyful thankfulness any
-length of time.
-
-"'No, no,' said she, 'I could not, in justice to you, enter into such an
-engagement. Our affections are involuntary--you _cannot_ answer for the
-continuance of your attachment. Time, absence, your country, your
-family, will estrange your heart from _me_; and honour alone would
-continue to bind you to me when love had fled. I should, when too late
-for recall, be doomed to inconsolable misery, by finding your sense of
-duty had destroyed your happiness. As for myself, I could not live
-under such a load of hopes and fears. No, Frederick, from this day I
-will endeavour to destroy every memento of our having ever met. Hope
-must be completely eradicated.' Irritated by the misery of my mind, I
-had the _inhumanity_ to upbraid her in words that I would now give
-worlds to recall, with being cold and unfeeling. 'Would to Heaven I
-were!' exclaimed she, and abruptly leaving the room, forbid my following
-her.--I never saw her afterwards."
-
-Here Lord Eltondale started up, and paced the room in an agony of
-feeling difficult to describe. Even Sedley was moved with compassion.
-"Poor fellow!" said he, in a suppressed tone, "And did you make no
-further attempt to change her resolution?" "I wrote several letters from
-Catania, and returned from Paris after my second visit there to see her
-once more, but the villa was deserted--Baron Wildenheim and his daughter
-had gone no one knew whither."
-
-"Wildenheim!" exclaimed Sedley, "Good God, is it possible!--Wildenheim
-did you say?" Frederick repeated this name, and he, on hearing it a
-second time, danced about the room like a madman. "Sedley, are you
-absolutely and entirely insane?" exclaimed his friend, indignant at the
-levity of his behaviour--"Beware!--by Heavens, you trifle too much with
-my feelings!" "Well, you shall judge of the justice of my conjectures;
-but if you give me the smallest interruption, I will leave you in the
-state of blessed ignorance you at present enjoy," replied Sedley,
-wringing his hand rather than shaking it. "First, then, to describe your
-charmer, for I spent a month in the house with her last autumn.
-_Imprimis_--her mind I know nothing about; she was so damned shy,
-sitting alone all morning writing amatory odes to your Lordship I
-suppose--there now, if you interrupt me I have done."
-
-Here Sedley made a short pause. He felt that all was at stake: the
-effects of a few minutes' conversation might decide his fate for life.
-He hastily revolved in his mind Lord Eltondale's Sicilian letters, which
-he had lately read for the base purpose of divulging their contents to
-the Viscountess, and calling to mind the points on which Frederick's
-admiration had been founded, endeavoured to paint Miss Wildenheim's
-charms in those terms which he judged most likely to raise his friend's
-love and regrets to their _acme_, and thus for ever defeat Lady
-Eltondale's schemes for uniting him to Selina. In reply to Frederick's
-entreaties to proceed, he continued with affected carelessness, "I can
-scarcely give you a more minute description of her person than of her
-mind. Her beauty is not to be compared to ----" (Miss Seymour's, he
-would have said with well acted indifference, had he not timely
-recollected her name was a "word of fear," not only to himself but his
-auditor)--"that of some of our reigning belles; but 'the charm of Celia
-altogether' is so captivating, so _touching_, that no one ever thought
-of _beauty_ in her presence; nor is admiration the sentiment she
-excites, that, like her attractions, can only be felt, not described.
-Come, don't be jealous; her indifference to me, and every other man she
-associated with, was too marked to encourage that love it would have
-been impossible not to have felt but for this coldness. Her form and
-motions were so graceful, that my attention was too completely engrossed
-by their exquisite elegance to observe her stature; nor was I more at
-liberty to remark the _minutiae_ of her features, rivetted as I was by
-the enchanting expression of her countenance, where softness is ennobled
-by dignity, and animated by intellect.
-
-"In short, I no longer wonder at what I once termed infatuation, if '_la
-bella Adelina_' be (as I verily believe she is) the lovely Adelaide
-Wildenheim----" "Where is she, for God's sake where is she?" "Why, your
-Venus is at this moment--not rising from the sea, but--enjoying the
-delights of a mud bath in a bog in Ireland. I will furnish you with
-proper directions to find her. I advise you to lose no time; I assure
-you, you have a dangerous rival in the son of the lady she resides
-with;--a year may have made a great change in her sentiments though."
-Here a severe and long continued fit of coughing saved Sedley from
-betraying the laughter he was almost convulsed by, at the thought of the
-rival he had terrified Lord Eltondale with, in the person of Mr.
-Webberly. "Better, my dear fellow, better," said he at last, in answer
-to Frederick's earnest concern on his behalf: "though, to continue my
-speech, her aversion even to him was so decided, I have no doubt her
-constancy to you would stand a much greater probation." At first Lord
-Eltondale's joy was too great for him to believe all this was not a
-dream; and he questioned Sedley over and over again as to every
-particular regarding Miss Wildenheim. The latter had profited
-considerably by the lessons he had received during his intercourse with
-the Viscountess, in the science of insinuation and _finesse_, and now
-therefore artfully related every circumstance likely to strengthen his
-friend's passion for the "divine Adelaide;" but perceiving at last from
-Frederick's countenance that he was in danger of over-acting his part,
-he abruptly discontinued a _tirade_ on her perfections, by exclaiming,
-"All this comes of romancing, Eltondale; if you could have condescended
-to have designated your dearly beloved by any more specific term than
-'the fair Adelina,' this _quid pro quo_ would never have occurred.--Why
-the devil did you never tell me she was plain Adelaide Wildenheim?" "I
-had very strong reasons for my silence as to her surname. Though I never
-knew a man more highly endowed in mind than Baron Wildenheim, or whose
-manners bore the stamp of more refined elegance, more impressive
-dignity, yet there was something extremely mysterious in the manner in
-which he sometimes avoided, sometimes sought, conversation on English
-affairs; in a moment he would interrupt a discussion he had seemed much
-interested in, with a perturbation that excited unfavourable
-suspicions, which were confirmed in my mind by a variety of minute
-circumstances.--None made a stronger impression than the following
-occurrence:--I one evening unexpectedly met him and Adelina walking
-through a beautiful grove in the neighbourhood of their villa. They were
-conversing earnestly, and, to my astonishment, in English--he with that
-pure accent a native only can possess, which was forcibly contrasted by
-the pronunciation of his daughter. I claimed him as my countryman, and
-rallied her for concealing her knowledge of my native language. She,
-evidently embarrassed, blushed deeply, (how beautiful she looked!)
-whilst the Baron, with a haughty austerity, only answered my compliment
-by a profound bow; and, after some trifling remark, pointedly addressed
-to me in _French_, alleged the lateness of the hour for taking their
-leave, and expressed a flattering wish to see me the following morning;
-thus politely giving me to understand my presence was not at that moment
-particularly agreeable. This confirmed my former surmise, that in the
-revolutionary period he had been engaged in some dark affair inimical to
-the interests of Great Britain, and that Baron Wildenheim was merely a
-_nom de guerre_, to cover the _incognito_ he found it expedient to
-assume; therefore I purposely avoided mentioning it to you. Now as for
-Adelina--that is the Italian diminutive of Adelaide, which her father
-always called her; it was the first I heard her addressed by; it is one,
-in short, that has a charm in my ear, which none who has not loved,
-_approved_ as I do, can conceive." "It is strange enough, Eltondale,"
-remarked Sedley; "but you and Miss Wildenheim must have been in Paris at
-the same time; for she related to me one day a whimsical occurrence,
-which took place in the Chamber of Deputies, that one of your letters
-informed me you had also witnessed." "Is it possible!" exclaimed
-Frederick, "how unfortunate we did not meet! I now recollect, I once
-thought I saw her at the _Theatre Francois_; if so, she had contrived to
-forget me in a great hurry; for though it was but three months after a
-parting that was almost death to me, she was looking as gay and as happy
-as possible." Here Sedley made an involuntary grimace, internally
-exclaiming, "The devil she did! That agrees but badly with the _Il
-penseroso_ I have described with such effect." "Baron Wildenheim,"
-continued Lord Eltondale, "I certainly did see, but could not ascertain
-whether the lady who was with him was Adelina or not; for when I
-approached near enough to put the matter out of doubt, either by
-accident or design, she threw a large shawl over her, so as effectually
-to conceal her figure from my sight; and before I could push through the
-crowd to speak to them, they had left the theatre. However I trust,
-thanks to you, my dear friend, we shall soon meet; and if her heart is
-still mine, what happiness!--Gracious Heaven! Miss Seymour!"--and the
-recollection of his situation regarding Selina glanced through his mind,
-turning all the past to pain--"I must not, dare not, think of her now."
-"And why not?" replied Sedley, with an agitation little inferior to his
-own, "You are not irrevocably engaged to Miss Seymour, Eltondale?" "I am
-as much as a man of honour can be, who has not received the lady's own
-consent from her own mouth. But my poor father got Sir Henry Seymour's
-consent to our marriage above a year ago--read those two letters,
-Sedley, the last I received from Lady Eltondale immediately after my
-father's death. You will see by the tenor of it, that she considers the
-business as concluded; and though she does not positively tell me Miss
-Seymour's opinion, she distinctly says she has no doubt of our mutual
-happiness!"
-
-The first of these letters gave Sedley the most unequivocal proofs of
-Lady Eltondale's double-dealing, in speaking of Selina to Frederick as
-decidedly his future wife, at the very moment when she seemed to favour
-his own pretensions. He dashed the letters, one after the other, on the
-table, with a violence that made it resound, and internally imprecated
-"the treachery, the artifice, of this damned dissembling woman!"
-
-A sense of the moral rectitude, which should guide the conduct of
-_others_, grows surprisingly acute, even in the breast of the most
-worthless, when they themselves begin to suffer from the effects of
-dissimulation in their associates. At that moment Sedley could have
-demonstrated sincerity to be "the first of virtues"--in theory at
-least--deferring the _practice_ of it to a more convenient season.
-
-For some time both these young men remained absorbed in their own
-reflections; till at last Sedley endeavoured to persuade Lord Eltondale,
-that it was not incumbent on him to pay his addresses to Miss Seymour:
-but neither the sophistry of his friend, nor still more the pleadings of
-his own unconquered passion, could make him swerve from the rectitude of
-his principles. He knew that even in his very last letter to his
-stepmother, he had mentioned his intention of proposing for Selina, and
-therefore, under all the circumstances considering himself as pledged
-to do so, he endeavoured to find solace in what would once have been the
-_acme_ of misery--a belief that Adelaide no longer cherished any regard
-for him.
-
-On the other hand Sedley, passing at once from hope to despair,
-conceived it impossible Selina could refuse an offer so unexceptionable;
-and attributing her indifference to himself to her ambitious views,
-internally vowed revenge on both. The rival friends separated with
-feelings, which resembled only in their poignancy and defiance of
-control; and the next morning Lord Eltondale left London, pursuing, with
-agitated haste, his journey to Deane Hall.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE FOURTHoe.
-
-
-And where meantime were Lord Osselstone and Mordaunt?--It may be
-recollected, that they had left London, previous to Lady Eltondale's
-great ball, on a tour to the continent--a journey which was not
-undertaken solely from motives of amusement. One of Lord Osselstone's
-brothers had many years previous to that period left England; and though
-the Earl had, by means of a mutual friend, a Mr. Austin, learned from
-time to time that he was still in existence, he had never succeeded in
-discovering his retreat; but for the last eighteen months he could learn
-no tidings whatever of his brother, as during that time Mr. Austin had
-been at the Madeiras with an invalide daughter; and as from some
-circumstances he was induced to think he might gain satisfactory
-intelligence on this subject at Vienna, he, accompanied by Augustus,
-proceeded thither for the purpose of procuring it.
-
-The late Lord Osselstone had married twice. His first wife brought him
-two sons, namely, the present Earl, and Charles Mordaunt, father to
-Augustus. But his second lady, a German by birth, only one child, called
-Reginald, who, becoming an orphan at the age of sixteen, was left by his
-father to the sole guardianship of his eldest brother.
-
-Reginald, as his mother's heir, inherited German estates of considerable
-value, which unfortunately deprived him of the happy necessity of
-applying the powers of his ardent mind to any determinate pursuit, and
-also made him an object of speculation to those vicious beings, that lie
-in wait for the unwary youth, who is sufficiently wealthy to recompense
-the trouble of destroying him.
-
-Never were two brothers more sincerely attached to each other than
-Reginald and Lord Osselstone. The Earl cherished a twin soul in the
-aspiring spirit and lofty genius of his youthful charge, whilst he was
-himself the model and the pride of his admiring ward. Though Lord
-Osselstone's father had, by sage precepts and example, compressed,
-rather than exalted the energies of his nature, yet he was unfortunately
-too young to serve as a Mentor to his brother, at the critical period in
-which he was confided to his care. In truth, his partiality saw in him
-no fault; but if he had, his experience was insufficient to teach him
-how to control his restless spirit: and thus, though the affections of
-Reginald's heart were excited by the warmth of fraternal love; though
-his talents were improved, and the deep feelings of his soul rendered
-still more intense by his strengthened intellect; yet his reason, as it
-regarded the conduct of life, was totally uncultivated; and in place of
-steady, well-defined principle regulating his thoughts and actions, he
-was _impelled_, rather than guided by his imagination and his feelings,
-which taught him to cherish a mistaken species of honour, that made him
-more tenacious of his _fame_ than careful of his conduct. As long as he
-was "no man's enemy but his own," he thought himself blameless. But no
-accountable being should dare to wage this civil war against itself. The
-man who is his own _enemy_, is nobody's _friend_, and almost always a
-pest of society.
-
-Shortly after Reginald came of age, Lord Osselstone was grieved and
-terrified to see him follow the steps of Charles Mordaunt, who led the
-impetuous youth into a vortex of dissipation. The acuteness of the
-Earl's feelings giving a corresponding tone to his reproofs, their
-asperity only served to make Reginald shun his society, and seek, with
-more avidity, that of his second brother; by whom he was initiated into
-all the agitating, destructive pleasures of the gaming table; and soon
-became entangled with a set of gamblers, who, in a short time, brought
-his finances into a state of considerable embarrassment. The chief of
-this depraved crew was a Mr. Mortimer, who, by the attractions of a
-beautiful daughter, lured young men to their destruction at the
-gaming-table, where she, with all the fascinations of the most
-accomplished Syren, favoured his schemes. But her charms were more
-generally acknowledged than her claims to respect; and her reputation
-being on the decline, her father was anxious to marry her to some of his
-victims, in order to give her, under another name, that station in
-society she was on the verge of forfeiting in her own. She made an easy
-conquest of Reginald, who was so bewitched by her attractions, that,
-playing with even less than his usual skill, he lost in a few nights at
-the faro table a sum he feared would complete his ruin, by rendering the
-sale of the greater part of his maternal inheritance absolutely
-necessary. He therefore lent a delighted ear to Mr. Mortimer's proposal
-of allowing this honourable debt as a portion to his captivating
-daughter. Reginald, overjoyed to obtain at once the woman he
-passionately loved, and the relief of his embarrassments, without a
-_public_ exposure of his follies, sought his brother Charles, to
-communicate to him the gratifying intelligence. Charles Mordaunt was
-horror-struck on hearing it, fearing it would be impossible now to
-withdraw Reginald from that labyrinth, into which he had unwarily led
-him; and knowing full well, that, if he was once connected with
-Mortimer, no effort could save him from entire destruction. However,
-concealing his distress from his unsuspicious brother, he immediately
-communicated the circumstance to Lord Osselstone, making a candid
-confession of his own share in the transaction, and painting, in the
-most forcible terms, the impending danger of Reginald. The Earl, without
-an hour's delay, discharged Mortimer's claim, threatening him with the
-utmost vengeance of the law if he ever admitted either of his brothers
-to his house again, and, in the most peremptory manner, insisted on his
-writing a letter, acknowledging the payment of Reginald's debt, and
-stating that Miss Mortimer declined the honour of his addresses. Lord
-Osselstone then repaired to Reginald, when, unfolding Miss Mortimer's
-true character, he accompanied his assertions with such "damning proof,"
-that her hitherto infatuated lover could not refuse to acknowledge his
-conviction of their truth. But now, in a paroxysm of rage, accusing the
-Earl of the most savage cruelty in undeceiving him, he said, his honour
-was engaged, there was no retreat; but he must, like a second Decius,
-plunge into the gulf with his eyes opened to all its horrors.
-
-Lord Osselstone suffered him for a time to _feel_ and express all his
-distraction; and when he had, in idea, raised himself to a pitch of
-insupportable misery, he gave him the letter he had extorted from
-Mortimer. Reginald's joy and gratitude were then as unbounded as his
-anguish of mind had so lately been, and he willingly acceded to Lord
-Osselstone's propositions. These were, first, that he should accept a
-commission in a regiment, then stationed in distant country quarters, by
-which he hoped to separate him effectually from all his worthless
-associates, and break the chain of his destructive habits. Secondly,
-that he should resign the conduct of his affairs to Mr. Austin, a lawyer
-of probity and talent, and consent to receive, for some years, only a
-limited stipend from his extensive German estates, of whose value the
-Earl was better informed than their possessor; but he wished, by this
-means, to make Reginald feel the deprivations his follies deserved;
-knowing also, that the most probable method of destroying his habit of
-prodigality would be to limit his power of expenditure. To gratify his
-brother's feelings, the Earl consented to receive, by yearly
-instalments, the large sum he had advanced for his benefit; but, at the
-same time, generously resolved to restore it at a future period, when
-the gift would run no risk of proving a curse.
-
-Reginald rigidly kept his promise of for ever renouncing the
-gaming-table, giving, in the regularity of his conduct, the best proof
-of his lasting gratitude to his brother, and the most delightful reward
-that brother could receive for his almost paternal solicitude. Three
-years after this period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to Ireland,
-where he was stationed at Limerick. He admired, in turn, several of the
-beautiful women that place was then famous for; but finally fixed his
-affections on Rose O'Sullivan, the only child of the present proprietor
-of Ballinamoyle. This lovely girl was at that time entrusted to the care
-of an aunt, who resided at Limerick, her father being anxious to vary
-the retirement of her home, by what was to her, from the effect of
-comparison, a scene of extreme gaiety. Perhaps few women could have
-boasted of equal beauty, the effect of which was to Reginald rendered
-irresistible by the vivacity of her artless manners. Soon seeing her
-innocent partiality to himself expressed in her speaking eyes, any
-doubt he had before entertained of the expediency of proposing for her
-was set aside by this discovery.
-
-When she returned home, he followed her to Ballinamoyle; and on the day
-in which she completed her seventeenth year, he received her hand, which
-her father gave with mingled joy and sorrow. Happily his regrets at
-resigning his idolized Rose were not rendered insupportable, by
-foreseeing that this act would for ever deprive him of his blooming
-child, and condemn her to an untimely grave!
-
-At no very distant period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to the
-neighbourhood of London; and the tears of heartfelt grief which Rose
-shed on bidding adieu to her father, and the scenes of her happy
-childhood, were dried by her husband's fondness, and by his descriptions
-of the pleasures London would afford her. But in proportion as
-Reginald's eye became familiarized to his wife's personal graces, he
-deplored, with keener perception, the rusticity of those very manners,
-which had at first delighted him from their bearing the stamp of
-unsophisticated nature, and forcibly contrasting with the artful
-blandishments of the worthless Miss Mortimer. His pride could not brook,
-that fastidious elegance should find aught in his wife to ridicule or
-disapprove. He therefore determined for some time to seclude her from
-the world, till he should, by the aid of the best masters and his own
-assiduity, cultivate her talents and polish her manners; for which
-purpose he purchased a beautiful cottage in the neighbourhood of London.
-Though her extreme quickness of parts, stimulated by her unceasing
-anxiety to please Reginald, enabled Rose to make a rapid progress in the
-various accomplishments her masters taught her; yet she reflected with
-sorrow, that she "never dreamed of having her schooling renewed by her
-marriage." When Reginald, with ill-concealed chagrin, criticized her
-every word, her slightest movement, she would say to herself, whilst her
-beautiful eyes swam in tears, "My poor father thought all I said was
-right; and so did Reginald too when I was at Limerick;" whilst the
-reflections that kept pace with these in his mind were, "By Heavens, her
-brogue is incurable! I despair of ever breaking her of calling me
-'Reginald dear, and darling.' Thank God, Lord Osselstone is at
-Athens!--She never will be presentable!"
-
-In short, he was still more weary of instructing than she was of
-learning; and it would be difficult to say, whether pride or
-mortification predominated, when he came at last to the conclusion, that
-there was no reason why he should seclude himself from the world,
-because his wife was not sufficiently polished to be introduced to those
-brilliant circles of fashion, in which alone he would suffer her to
-move. The result of these deliberations was, his establishing himself in
-the most fashionable lodgings in town, leaving the young and lovely Rose
-to improve her mind, and "mend her manners," in almost total solitude.
-
-One day, in Bond-street, he accidentally met an old friend of the name
-of Montague, who took him home to introduce him to his new married lady;
-who proved, to Reginald's astonishment, to be no other than the
-_ci-devant_ Miss Mortimer.
-
-The fascinations of her wit, the polished elegance of her manners, again
-bewitched him, and he indulged without restraint, though equally without
-design, in the dangerous pleasure of associating with her. He became a
-constant guest at Montague's table, flattering himself "there could be
-no impropriety in their intercourse--she was married, and so was he."
-The consequence of this renewed intimacy was the revival of their former
-attachment. His respect for the laws of honour, his regard for his
-friend, and some latent compassion, if not love, for his deserted wife,
-kept him for a short period hovering on the borders of virtue, sometimes
-slightly passing its bounds, sometimes retiring far within. But Mrs.
-Montague, led on by her passion for him, as well as an undefined mixture
-of good and evil in her natural disposition, revealed the plan her
-husband, in conjunction with her father, was following, to make him once
-more a victim to his former passion for gaming; for Mr. Montague's
-fortune and character were alike ruined by his connection with Mortimer.
-
-Reginald's rage knew no bounds at this discovery of his supposed
-friend's perfidy; and hurried on by love and revenge, he persuaded Mrs.
-Montague to elope with him. Montague was equally exasperated at being
-made the dupe of his own arts; and by the idea, that while he had
-employed his wife to delude his intended victim, she had only deceived,
-betrayed himself. Pursuing the fugitives without delay, he unfortunately
-overtook Reginald. Their mutual recriminations produced a duel, in which
-all the usual forms were set aside, and Montague's life fell a sacrifice
-to his own and his antagonist's dereliction of principle. All sparks of
-virtue were not yet extinct in Mrs. Montague's heart;--horror-struck at
-hearing the dreadful catastrophe, she told Reginald their guilty
-connection must from that moment cease, and enjoined him to seek his
-safety in immediate flight. Unknowing what course best to pursue;
-impelled at one moment, by his distracted conscience, to deliver himself
-up to justice; withdrawn the next from this resolution, by the love of
-life and the suggestions of pride; wavering between the two, he almost
-mechanically returned to his lodgings in London. Here retiring to his
-usual sitting-room, he threw himself in a state of distraction on a
-sofa, eyeing from time to time, with varying intent, a pair of pistols
-he had laid on the table. At last, startled by a noise he heard in an
-inner room, he sprung up, and was in a moment locked in the arms of his
-fond wife, who, alarmed at his long-protracted absence, had timidly
-ventured hither to seek him, and had just heard of his elopement with
-Mrs. Montague. "I _knew_ it wasn't true!" said she, "My darling
-Reginald, you could never have the cruelty to break my heart by leaving
-me: you will come back to Richmond with me, and then I shall be happy
-again." "Never, never!" exclaimed he, in an agony of despair: "No
-happiness for me, Rose!" Then, with a look and action bordering on
-madness, he whispered in her ear, "I have killed Montague!"
-
-Rose was one of those women, whose fortitude and strength of mind are
-scarcely even suspected, till they are called forth by the hour of
-trial. Though these few words had sent a death blow to her heart, as
-soon as she recovered from their first shock, she thought of them only
-as demanding immediate exertion for the preservation of her husband's
-life. As the first step, she proceeded to remove the pistols. Reginald,
-roused by the attempt, desired her to desist. "You do not _dare_ to
-die," said she, looking at him with steadfast earnestness. "You shall be
-satisfied; justice shall take its course, and then you will be
-sufficiently revenged! Rose, begone!--this is no scene for you!--Go!"
-continued he, stamping with vehement fury on the floor--"By the eternal
-God I _will_ be obeyed." "No," said she, calmly, "never will I part from
-you more, Reginald. In breaking your marriage vows, you have forfeited
-your right to my obedience. Even to the grave will I follow you!" She
-then threw herself at his feet, imploring him, by every tender name, to
-consult his safety without delay; represented that, in a foreign
-country, he might, by years of future happiness, repay her for the
-sufferings of the dreadful present. Overcome by his feelings, he had not
-power to interrupt her; and at last, in a state of stupefaction, allowed
-himself to be disposed of as she pleased: he was conveyed from London
-that night, and by the exertions of Mr. Austin was enabled to reach
-Hamburgh in safety, where they took up their residence. Here Rose used
-every exertion to soothe the anguish of her miserable husband's mind.
-Neither in thought, word, or look, did she make one selfish reproach;
-her very prayers were breathed more for him than for herself. His love
-and admiration far exceeded what he had ever before felt. When he looked
-back to the few preceding months, he wondered how he could, for a
-moment, have slighted this angelic being, whose superiority to himself
-he now with tears acknowledged; but his tenderness came too late. She
-had suppressed her feelings on hearing his fatal communication, to save
-the object who excited them; and she now, with merciful affection,
-concealed all those melancholy forebodings so natural to the timid
-female in her anxious situation, though she felt her health rapidly
-declining, and anticipated with regret her approaching doom. She sighed
-to think she must, in all her blooming charms, bid adieu to the world,
-its brilliant pleasures yet untasted. She daily besought Heaven to spare
-her, to sweeten the bitter cup Reginald had prepared for himself;
-implored that she might again bless her father's eyes, once more receive
-the fervent benediction of the instructor of her early years, and
-confess her errors to his pious ear; and dearer than all, she longed to
-bestow a mother's love on her babe--to welcome its first smile, to
-return its endearing caresses. But with the patient resignation of a
-saint, she submitted to her fate. When Reginald beheld with rapture the
-tremulous lustre of her eye, the fatal hue that glowed on her cheek, and
-crimsoned her love-breathing lip, he knew not what they too plainly
-indicated!
-
-Three months after they reached Hamburgh, the innocent, lovely Rose
-expired a few hours after giving birth to a daughter, whom almost in her
-last moments she presented, with smiles of anxious pity, to her
-unfortunate husband, saying, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I
-do. You are dearer to me now than ever. You have been but too
-indulgent;--I have lately repented of many trifling offences--forgive
-them when I am gone." Here exhausted, she paused for a few minutes; then
-once again addressed him: "Don't weep, Reginald; 'tis fitting I should
-die; my erring fondness would have injured this dear babe.--Comfort my
-poor father!" She feebly pressed his hand, and her dying accents
-murmured a half audible "Bless you!"
-
-She was lovely in death! The clay-cold hand he with unutterable anguish
-pressed to his lips, mocked the statuary's art. The ministering angel
-who received her parting spirit, seemed to have shed celestial light on
-her countenance, whilst the bloom of earthly beauty yet lingered on her
-soft cheek and smiling lip. One dark lock lay on her alabaster bosom.
-Alas! motionless it lay--the warm heart had ceased to beat. Gaze,
-wretched Reginald, on thy heart's treasure! Soon shall the grave close
-for ever on all her charms! The despair of his soul, as he looked on her
-seraphic smile, and vainly watched to see her eye once more open with
-love's beam, was for a time lost in insensibility. When again, conscious
-that she was indeed no more, his agonized feelings led his mind to the
-very verge of frenzy.
-
-In his first distraction, he wrote a letter of penitence and grief to
-his father-in-law, deploring his heart-rending loss, but omitting to
-state precisely, that this infant had survived her mother; and from the
-ambiguous expressions of this incoherent communication, the afflicted
-parent concluded, that Rose and her child had perished together.
-Irritated by the misery her loss occasioned him, Mr. O'Sullivan made no
-reply, sending only a notification by Father Dermoody, that it had been
-received, with a request that his feelings might not again be wounded by
-further correspondence with the man, whom he not unjustly accused of
-having shortened his daughter's days by his unworthy conduct.
-
-Reginald had in this letter humbled himself as much as it was in his
-nature to do to mortal man; and indignant at the asperity of such a
-reply, he made no second attempt to move O'Sullivan to forgiveness. The
-ill success of this endeavour to soften the heart of the most benevolent
-of human beings discouraging him from any further efforts, either of
-atonement or conciliation, he adopted the resolution of withdrawing
-himself from the knowledge of all his connections. To his brother, Lord
-Osselstone, of all mankind he could least brook making any overtures,
-now that he was "fallen, fallen from his high estate." When he pictured
-to himself how he had disappointed that brother's exalted hopes and
-anxious cares, his pride and his better feelings alike prevented his
-submitting to receive either reproof from the austerity of his virtues,
-or that compassion from his affection, "which stabs as it forgives."
-
-As a preparatory step to avoiding any future intercourse with his native
-land, he entreated his friend Mr. Austin to meet him, without delay, at
-Meurs, on the Belgic frontiers of Westphalia, near which his estates
-were situated, that by disposing of some of them, he might finally
-arrange his affairs, and discharge all his English debts. Mr. Austin
-immediately obeyed the summons, and found Reginald in a state of the
-utmost wretchedness, occupied with the wildest schemes for carrying his
-ideas into execution; proposing, with feverish restlessness, to fly for
-ever from civilized society, in order to join some tribe of Bedouin
-Arabs, Mamelucks, Tartars, or North American Indians. The counsels of
-this wise and judicious friend did much to bring back his erring mind,
-to submit to the calm dictates of reason. Mr. Austin combated, in turn,
-all these chimeras; opened his eyes to his duties as a father; and
-finally finding him unalterable as to his determination of concealment,
-suggested the most advisable means of carrying it into effect, which
-were, to avail himself of the facilities circumstances afforded for
-adopting the name and character of a German subject. From his mother,
-Reginald had learned to speak the language with the fluency of a native;
-and his friend now reminded him of a circumstance he had informed him of
-a week before his fatal elopement from London, which at that time he
-slighted, namely, that one of his estates, being part of an ancient
-feudal tenure, entitled him to the rank of Baron by its own
-appellation; the adopting which would not only procure him station
-amongst a people of all others the most tenacious on the subject of
-birth, but effectually conceal him, as the circumstance was yet unknown
-to all his English friends.
-
-On hearing this proposition, Reginald with vehement joy, exclaimed,
-"Thank you, thank you, Austin; I shall know something like peace when my
-ears are not tortured by the detested name I now bear. Though I am
-outlawed because Osselstone was not in England to interfere with his
-powerful interest, though that damned Gazette has declared me for ever
-incapable of serving in the British armies, though it has stamped my
-name with indelible disgrace, yet will I cover this new appellation with
-fame in the field of glory."
-
-Reginald accordingly availed himself of this expedient; and all legal
-forms prescribed by German jurisprudence being gone through, his
-daughter at the Chateau of Wildenheim was enrolled on the family
-records by the name of Adelaide, which was that borne by the last
-heiress of that house; her mother's finding too sad an echo in her
-father's bosom, to be heard or pronounced by him without the most
-afflicting feelings. All his estates, except the Barony of Wildenheim,
-were sold; and the surplus, which remained after discharging his various
-debts, was remitted to Vienna, where he repaired with his infant
-daughter, on parting with Mr. Austin. Here he felt himself completely
-alone in the world; and his feelings being too agonizing to render a
-life of inaction supportable, he entered the Austrian armies. His rank,
-his fortune, and his talents, soon procured him a command, which he
-filled with honour, and redeemed the promise he had made to cover his
-new appellation "with fame in the field of glory." Amongst the officers
-placed under his orders were Maurice O'Sullivan, the uncle of his wife,
-and Edward Desmond; he took a melancholy pleasure in serving the former
-with his purse and his interest, for the sake of his beloved Rose, and
-the virtues of the latter made Reginald no less zealously his friend;
-but from both he most carefully concealed his country and his parentage.
-They fought side by side at the battles of Hohenlinden, Rastadt, and
-other desperate engagements, that fatally signalized the disastrous
-campaign, which was concluded by the peace of Luneville. Reginald's
-remaining estate was unfortunately situated in the territory ceded by
-that treaty to France, and was by its new masters bestowed on a soldier
-of fortune. He was by this event reduced from affluence to mediocrity,
-and broken in fortune, health, and spirits, he proceeded to Vienna to
-visit his daughter, then in her sixth year. He found her as beautiful as
-a cherub, and the image of her mother. When she twined her arms round
-his neck, calling him by the endearing appellations infancy bestows, he
-felt that the world yet contained a being that would fondly cherish him;
-and remembered, with sad delight, what now seemed the prophetic words
-of his dying Rose, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I do."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-    When I am forgotten, as I shall be,
-    And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
-    Of me must be heard--say then I taught thee.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE EIGHTHoe.
-
-
-During the period Reginald had served in the Austrian armies, his mind
-had undergone a complete revolution. His proud spirit had been subdued
-by misfortune. In his professional career he had learned to submit to
-human control. In the field of danger the daring energies of his nature
-had been fully excited; and, by the frequency of that very excitation,
-exhausted, whilst the aspect of death, in its various horrors, led him
-to serious meditation. Often has he passed from the stunning tumult of
-the field of battle, to the awful stillness of midnight solitude in his
-own tent; and here he first acknowledged the justice and mercy of
-Heaven, whose avenging arm had awakened him from the giddy dream of
-presumptuous passion, to the dreadful consciousness that he had
-perverted the best gifts of Providence, intended for the benefit and
-ornament of society, to be its bane and its disgrace. He had previously
-thought more of forfeited reputation than of violated virtue; and,
-though what he might have been rose to his mind in agonizing contrast
-with what he was, yet he mourned rather for the internal sentiment of
-degradation than of guilt. But he gradually acquired a more fitting
-penitence, becoming at last resigned even to the ever present sense of
-his former misdeeds, and submitting to it as their just punishment; at
-the same time forming the virtuous resolution of endeavouring to atone,
-if possible, for the past by the future.
-
-Accusing himself of having deprived his child of her inestimable mother,
-he felt in justice bound to fulfil towards her more than the common duty
-of a father, and therefore resolved to give up the profession of arms
-for her sake, in order to devote his existence to her welfare. He would
-often, as he pressed the little smiling Adelaide to his heart, put forth
-a prayer that the virtues of the daughter might plead at the bar of
-offended Heaven, in mitigation of the vices of the father; and would
-soothe his grief with the hope of giving her that virtuous firmness of
-character, the want of which had rendered all the blessings of his early
-lot of no avail to himself. Summoning religion and reason to his aid, he
-wisely executed the task he had laudably undertaken, of forming his
-daughter to emulate the perfections of her mother; whilst of the errors
-he instructed her to shun, he was too fatally enlightened by his
-intercourse with Mrs. Montague, on the causes of whose defects he had
-made many deep and painful reflections. Convinced by these that
-imagination, which is naturally too ardent in the generality of women,
-is cultivated to a fatal excess by the usual mode of education,
-confined, as this almost exclusively is, to the study of music,
-painting, and poetry; he therefore, after establishing the grand
-principles of religion and morality in his daughter's mind, directed his
-attention principally to forming her _judgment_; limiting her fancy to
-the subordinate office of _attendant_ on reason, never suffering it to
-usurp the place of guide. He had also observed, that vanity is still
-more dangerous to the female mind than even imagination. But it is only
-a long and steadily pursued course of exertion that can reduce this
-passion, so natural to the human heart, to exercise in its native
-kingdom only its just power. Solicitous that no latent vanity of his own
-should counteract his endeavours to limit its dangerous empire in his
-daughter's mind, he was sparing in the use of that powerful stimulant
-_praise_, which, though a very happy _consequence_, is too often a
-dangerous motive. As Adelaide had no domestic companion, her vanity was
-neither excited nor mortified by comparison; and it is one of those
-enemies to our peace, that suffer more from neglect than defeat. Nor
-was the baneful passion of envy introduced to her heart under the
-specious name of _emulation_, of which all ought to know it is the
-illegitimate sister, though the friends of emulation do not acknowledge
-the relationship. Her mind was endowed with knowledge, extensive enough
-to enable her to estimate justly the insufficiency of all human science,
-and to show her how far short of the _acme_ of even that imperfect
-wisdom her own attainments fell. Being taught never to court display,
-she was thereby exempted from the torments of envious mortification, and
-early understood she was educated, not to bring forth her acquirements
-like a holiday suit, in which to shine occasionally, but to keep them in
-constant every-day use, to promote her own happiness, and the pleasures
-of those with whom she associated.
-
-Adelaide's docility, rather than her talents, enabled her to be every
-thing her father desired (for she was not, in truth, more highly
-endowed by nature than the generality of well-organized children); and
-he returned her enthusiastic love and veneration, by an affection little
-short of idolatry. But a father's too ardent love was beginning to
-wither in its bloom the plant it had so successfully reared; for
-Adelaide, when grown up, insensibly acquired an influence dangerous to a
-young female to possess over the mind of any man, and which is never so
-unlimited as over that of a father's in the decline of life. The virtues
-of the parent and child were alike dangerous to the future peace and
-well-being of the latter. He was too reasonable to subject her to those
-occasional acts of injustice, or fits of caprice, which every woman in
-her intercourse with mankind must expect and submit to, as inseparable
-from her condition. She, from the most laudable motives, was unceasingly
-occupied in the embellishment of her mind, which, though far preferable
-to an equally constant attention to externals, will, by a very
-different route, terminate one part of their course in the same
-end--_selfishness_. And as woman owes every thing that is admirable in
-her nature to a constant sacrifice of self, no acquirements can
-compensate for the perfection of character she can alone derive from
-this source. But in truth, the very best education a man alone can
-bestow on a woman must be defective. He may adorn her with the virtues
-of his own sex, but he cannot teach her the charities, the decencies,
-the proprieties of life, which it is the peculiar lot of hers to
-exercise. A female mind adorned with greater virtues only, without their
-connecting links, resembles a beautiful country, where the traveller
-passes from one bright region to another, over deep chasms, where,
-perhaps, he may fall to inevitable destruction. With all the generous
-virtues of her heart, with all the high endowments of her mind, Adelaide
-had yet one more necessary lesson to learn, which was painfully taught
-her when she lost her father; namely that, however imperative her
-welfare was to his happiness, she was of small consequence to the world
-in general, which would go on nearly as well whether she was living or
-dead, happy or miserable; and that she must thenceforward derive her
-felicity rather from her attention to the feelings of others, than from
-theirs to her own.
-
-Until Adelaide was seventeen, Baron Wildenheim resided principally at
-Vienna: here associating with the most distinguished characters of the
-day, to whom his talents and his various knowledge made him an
-acceptable companion; a select number were admitted to his own house, in
-order to promote the improvement of his daughter by such intercourse.
-Profiting by the facility which his German rank afforded for the
-purpose, he visited, in the short intervals of peace which Gallic
-ambition permitted, Italy, France, and most of the other Continental
-states; occasional change of scene being almost as necessary for the
-amusement of his mind, as advantageous for the improvement of his
-daughter's. But though for this latter purpose it was successful beyond
-his hopes, yet the slow but constant progress of disease was not thus to
-be warded off; and a residence in a mild and equable climate being
-pronounced by the physicians of Vienna absolutely necessary for the
-preservation of his life, about two years before Adelaide's arrival in
-England they removed to Sicily, where he made choice of Catania for his
-residence.
-
-Here for the first time in her life Adelaide enjoyed the pleasures and
-advantages of female society. The Catanese are amongst the most elegant
-women in Europe; and the attractive graces of their manners appearing to
-her with all the force of novelty, she quickly and involuntarily made
-them her own. Her youthful beauty--her artless elegance, and her
-cultivation of mind, caused her to be admired to an excess, which gave
-her father as much pain as pleasure, as he trembled lest it should call
-forth that vanity and inordinate desire of pleasing, which he had so
-earnestly laboured to repress, too well aware of its having been the
-cause of Mrs. Montague's destruction.
-
-"_La bella Adelina_" was the object, to which the young Catanian
-nobility paid the most flattering attention, the most exaggerated
-compliments. Luckily for her she felt so little awe of her father, that
-she told him without reserve all the feelings this new scene excited in
-her mind. And he, appealing to her good sense, pointed out to her notice
-the hyperbole of the praises she received, thus rendering them in a
-short time more tiresome than agreeable. The Baron had early suffered
-his daughter to know she was handsome. She had hitherto been as much
-accustomed and as indifferent to the beauty of the robe in which her
-soul was enveloped, as she was to the habitual elegance of her every-day
-apparel.
-
-He now went still further; and as piety was the main spring of all her
-thoughts and feelings, he taught her to be religiously thankful for a
-gift, which pre-disposed her fellow creatures in her favour;
-representing also that it ought to make her still more desirous to
-retain an approbation thus gratuitously bestowed. By this means her very
-beauty made her humble; as, in her estimate of her own character, she
-always attributed the praises she received but to a premature and
-therefore exaggerated opinion of her merit, which she consequently
-endeavoured to make in intrinsic worth equal to its received value.
-
-About this period in the formation of Adelaide's character, Frederick
-Elton arrived at Catania. Though he was perhaps the most ardent of her
-admirers, his peculiar ideas regarding women in general led him rather
-to call forth the powers of her mind by rational conversation, than to
-weaken it by flattery. He was luckily not able, like his Sicilian
-rivals, to write sonnets, or make improviso stanzas by the hour "to her
-eye-brow;" and therefore had the less inducement to emulate the laudable
-endeavours of his competitors, to make her frivolous and silly solely
-to display their own abilities.
-
-Oh! that her guardian angel would sometimes whisper in exulting beauty's
-ear, that man is often only enraptured with his own genius, when he
-seems most to adulate her charms!
-
-Baron Wildenheim directed all his penetration to the investigation of
-Frederick's character; and, fearing to trust entirely to his own
-observation on a point of so much importance, resumed his correspondence
-with Mr. Austin, from whom he received the most satisfactory
-confirmation of the honourable opinion his judgment had previously led
-him to form of the lover, on whom his daughter had unconsciously
-bestowed her affections. He therefore resolved, that whenever Mr. Elton
-should demand her hand, he would restore her to all her rights, by
-accomplishing her introduction to her mother's family and his own. His
-satisfaction at the prospect of securing Adelaide's happiness, by
-uniting her to a man worthy of his highest approbation, reconciled him
-to the idea of losing the only solace of that life, which he felt would
-not be much longer a burthen to him. Not less generous was his
-daughter--and from the moment she was aware of Frederick's love, she
-determined to discourage it, for the reasons he related to Sedley. The
-Baron's indignation at Frederick's abrupt departure was as great, as the
-satisfaction his love for Adelaide had afforded him. She endeavoured to
-preserve her usual cheerfulness; but his penetration soon discovered she
-had feelings, that were not communicated to him. One day, on perceiving
-her ill suppressed agitation, as the subject of conversation glanced on
-Elton, he muttered, "Villain! rascal! how he has abused my confidence!"
-Adelaide, hurt at this undeserved censure, entered warmly into his
-defence, and her father soon extorted from her, that she had refused his
-offers, though she still concealed, or thought she concealed, her
-motives and her regrets. "Adelina!" exclaimed he, with unusual asperity,
-"is this the reward of an existence devoted to your welfare? I could
-not have believed that you would have set at naught my authority; nay
-worse, have _deceived_ me." When she however threw herself into his
-arms, imploring his forgiveness, all the tenderness of his feelings
-returned with redoubled force; and penetrating her motives, he pressed
-her fondly to his heart, making a silent vow that his "too generous
-child should not sacrifice her happiness to his." The name of Elton was
-never again articulated by either; but the rapid progress of Baron
-Wildenheim's complaint warned him he must quickly put his design in
-execution, or that his lovely daughter would shortly be left in a
-foreign country, without relation or protector; Sicily being perhaps of
-all others the most dreadful to leave her in thus situated, from the
-depravity of its inhabitants, and its corrupt, ill administered
-government.
-
-When he informed Adelaide of his intention of taking her to England, her
-joy was extravagant; but on perceiving the mournful expression of her
-father's countenance, she ceased to display her pleasure, and
-affectionately embracing him, said, "You know, my beloved father, you
-are all the world to me; my greatest delight in the prospect of going to
-England is, that I shall there see you in your native country, with your
-own friends: I can never be happier than I have been with you; but I
-often mourn, that all my exertions are insufficient to make you so."
-"Adelina, I charge you, be silent on that subject," replied the
-afflicted parent; and, overcome by the torturing reflections she had
-unconsciously conjured up, retired to compose his mind in solitude.
-
-A few days after this conversation they proceeded to Paris. From whence
-Baron Wildenheim wrote an earnest request to Mr. Austin and Maurice
-O'Sullivan to meet him at Dover, for which place he immediately set out
-when their answers reached him; and there without delay delivered to the
-former a will, appointing him trustee to all that remained of the wreck
-of his fortune, for the benefit of Adelaide, with the exception of a
-small annuity reserved for his own life, but nominating Maurice
-O'Sullivan her guardian. The unhappy father then went through the
-distressing task of disclosing to his former friend and fellow soldier
-the principal events, which had marked his life previous to the
-commencement of their acquaintance, beseeching him to relate them
-hereafter to Adelaide as delicately as possible, and also to introduce
-her to her grandfather and Lord Osselstone. Both these injunctions
-Maurice willingly promised to fulfil, happy to have any means of serving
-a man to whom he owed many obligations. The Baron had never told his
-daughter the history of his early years: he could not in her childhood,
-and when she was capable of accurately distinguishing right from wrong,
-he feared it might irreparably injure her character, to have her respect
-diminished for the person engaged in forming it. Perhaps his reluctance
-to be his own accuser to his child was not the least powerful motive
-for silence on this subject: he could not bear to think she should ever
-in his presence be obliged to appeal to her affection, to silence the
-censures her judgment must pass on his conduct--such voluntary
-self-abasement, in a mind of this high tone, was indeed almost more than
-human nature is equal to. He therefore had contented himself with
-informing Adelaide, that some disagreeable circumstances had made him
-prefer residing in the country in which his estates were situated, to
-that of which he was a native. He would sometimes converse with her of
-Lord Osselstone, whom he early taught her to love and revere; but never
-made the most distant allusion to her mother's name or connexions,
-partly because the subject was too afflicting to himself, partly because
-he could not in that case account for his having concealed his
-relationship from the uncle of Rose, with whom he had been so many years
-associated, and with whom he had subsequently maintained a constant
-correspondence, having resolved to resign his daughter, in the first
-instance, to the protection of Maurice, whenever the effects of
-unextinguishable grief should indicate the probable termination of his
-own life.
-
-When Mr. Austin met the Baron at Dover, he entreated him to leave
-England as speedily as possible, lest the friends of Montague, who
-resided in the neighbourhood of that town, should, by some fortuitous
-occurrence, make out his identity; a circumstance by no means
-improbable, as his person must be recognised should he meet the brother
-of his unfortunate antagonist, who not unfrequently visited the very
-hotel they inhabited, and which they could not quit without exciting
-observations that might prove dangerous in their consequences. Though
-Wildenheim cared not for life on his own account, and would willingly
-have resigned it to satisfy the laws of his country; yet he trembled in
-every nerve for his daughter's peace, should he fall a sacrifice to
-their justice; and therefore fixed the third day after their landing to
-bid her an eternal adieu!
-
-Though he had sufficient strength of mind to resolve on tearing himself
-from his child, yet he felt totally unequal to the trial of witnessing
-her affliction on first hearing the dreadful intelligence. Mr. Austin
-therefore undertook the task; and on the morning preceding the day
-appointed, informed Adelaide of the indispensable necessity of their
-separation, and of the arrangement made with Maurice O'Sullivan, to
-introduce her to Lord Osselstone, presenting her with a packet of
-letters her father had written for her benefit, which she was to make
-use of when she came of age, in case any unforeseen occurrence should
-prevent her appointed guardian fulfilling his promise; adding, that
-should her relations refuse to receive her, he was in possession of the
-necessary testimonials of her birth. Of all these particulars the
-afflicted girl at the moment only understood she was to be deprived of
-her father! The thinking faculty within her was almost suspended by the
-agony of this idea. She offered no remonstrance to Mr. Austin; and
-making a sign of acquiescence, instantly sought her father, to try those
-powers of persuasion which never yet had failed in procuring from him
-every wish of her heart: but on seeing the despair of his countenance,
-she was wholly overcome; the hope, which had supported, now forsook her,
-and she sunk senseless in his arms.
-
-When she revived, she implored his pity in the most moving terms; asked
-how she had merited this dreadful separation; and finding him, though
-deeply affected, inexorable in his determination, at last departed from
-her usual docility, saying, "Of what would promote your happiness, my
-dearest father, there can be no doubt; I am the best judge of my own and
-_will_ not leave you: to lose you in the course of nature would be
-sufficiently dreadful; but this living death is tenfold more horrible:
-oh! can you desert your child, who lives but in you, whose only joy is
-in your approving smiles?"
-
-Her miserable auditor now did violence to his feelings, by assuming, for
-the first time in his life, all the sternness of parental command.
-Adelaide convulsively sobbed on his shoulder. "Pardon me, pardon me; I
-submit, though my heart will break: that angry look would kill me to
-think of; smile on me, my father." "Smile! oh, my God! I shall never
-smile again;" exclaimed the wretched parent: then fondly caressing her,
-said, "My child, have mercy on your unfortunate father; my own feelings
-are those of desperation; spare me the sight of yours. By your present
-affliction I secure your future happiness; but mine--Adelina, I
-entreat--in a few hours we part: do not speak of what is yet to come."
-He was obeyed; and that day passed in the sullen calm which precedes
-expected misery.
-
-Adelaide retired at a late hour to her own apartment, but not to bed;
-for she had perceived with terror how alarmingly ill her father looked;
-and fearing the return of a spasmodic complaint he was subject to, sat
-up, to be able to apply the necessary remedies at a moment's warning.
-
-He in the mean time prepared to set out immediately on his voyage,
-wishing to spare her a parting he felt his own fortitude unequal to. Her
-room was inside his, and supposing her to be at rest, he entered it to
-take a last look of his lovely child!
-
-She was sitting half asleep, overcome by drowsiness and anxiety--the
-light flashed across her eyes--she started up in wild affright, and
-forcibly impressed by the feelings of her agitating dreams, clasped him
-in her arms, saying, "We will never, never part, whilst life remains."
-His fortitude utterly forsook him; and with a deep groan he sank in the
-arms of his child.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-His countenance in death was impressed with the happy consciousness,
-that his last look on earth had been blessed with her image; and with
-the pious hope, that sincere and protracted penitence had made his peace
-with Heaven.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-    In my last humble pray'r to the Spirit above,
-    Thy name shall be mingled with mine.
-
-    oeMOOREoe.
-
-
-Oh! how did Adelaide now wish she could obtain that separation she had
-so lately thought worse than death itself! No tear escaped her
-bewildered eye; no complaint issued from her lacerated bosom; mute and
-motionless she sat, unconscious of all that passed around, musing on the
-fearful, fathomless void within! Her constitution could not long support
-this existence of silent horror; and a violent fever, which for several
-days endangered her life, and reduced her to a state of extreme
-weakness, saved her mind from destruction. When she recovered, her
-grief, though deep, was placid, and her mild dejection won her the love
-and pity of all whose hearts were not harder than adamant. As soon as
-she was able to bear the journey, her guardian brought her to Webberly
-House, and, during the short time he survived her father, endeavoured to
-soothe her sorrow by the most affectionate kindness. His delay in
-executing the promise he had given, of presenting her to Mr. O'Sullivan
-and Lord Osselstone, arose not from any intention of ultimately
-defrauding her of her rights, but from an anticipation of the
-mortifications his doing so would probably occasion him to experience in
-his domestic circle. He knew the respect with which he was treated by
-the Webberlys was principally owing to the idea that he or his daughter
-would one day possess a valuable estate; and though in his own person he
-could, from the manly firmness of his manners, command a sufficient
-degree of consideration for the common purposes of every day
-intercourse; yet he was well aware, that when he was not present, his
-little portionless Caroline would be treated by his wife's children
-with the utmost contumely; and he was moreover weak enough to dread the
-first explosion of Mrs. O'Sullivan's violent temper, when her hopes of
-increased wealth should be disappointed by the establishment of
-Adelaide's claims. He therefore, from day to day, shunned the expected
-storm. At night he would sink to sleep, in the firm determination of
-informing his wife on the morrow of Adelaide's relationship, as a
-preliminary to his writing to her grandfather on the subject; but when
-the morrow came, he either thought Mrs. O'Sullivan in such good humour,
-it was a pity to spoil the short-lived pleasure arising from it, or else
-that she was so much the reverse, it was impolitic to choose that very
-time to irritate her further. On other mornings, when convinced she had
-attained that happy medium most favourable to his important
-communication, business or company interfered; and in the evening he had
-too frequent recourse to intoxication, to drown the pains of
-recollection. Thus, in impotent resolve and fruitless repentance, passed
-the few months he survived after Adelaide was committed to his care. On
-his death, Mr. Austin would have done what this spirit of
-procrastination had prevented; had he not found, on examining the papers
-put into his hands by Adelaide's father, that, though there was enough
-to convince willing relatives of their truth, yet the evidence they
-contained fell far short of legal testimony. Every necessary formality
-to prove her parentage had been neglected at Hamburgh--a circumstance
-easily accounted for, by the distraction of her father's mind on leaving
-that place; and the name of Wildenheim, which she had received at Meurs,
-made it still more difficult to prove her identity as the child of Rose;
-for which purpose Mr. Austin then entered into a correspondence with
-various people resident in different parts of the Continent. From the
-apparent frigidity of Lord Osselstone's character, he had no hopes of
-his interesting himself for his orphan niece; whilst from her mother's
-family he expected open opposition. He therefore enjoined Adelaide to
-remain unknown to her relations, till the period prescribed by her
-father for her acting for herself, in case her guardian should fail to
-fulfil his promise, by which time, if ever, he hoped to obtain every
-necessary proof in support of her claims; and lest any youthful
-imprudence should betray her into a premature disclosure, he carefully
-concealed from her her relationship to the O'Sullivans, though with her
-affinity to Lord Osselstone he knew she was already acquainted.
-
-The time appointed for terminating Miss Wildenheim's suspense at length
-arrived, and found her under the roof of her only remaining parent,
-though as yet totally unconscious of their relationship. On the eve of
-the day on which her minority expired, she retired to her own apartment
-in Mr. O'Sullivan's house, sorrowfully reflecting, that in two more she
-should part most probably for ever from this interesting old man. But
-this feeling was soon lost in the joy with which she remembered, that
-on the morrow she should make the first step to claim the love and
-protection of her uncle, and the rest of her paternal relatives. She
-fondly anticipated the praises which would delight her ear, as due to
-her beloved father's virtues and talents; and with heartfelt pleasure
-recollected, that Augustus Mordaunt was almost her brother. But the
-happiness of these thoughts was damped by the idea, that he and Lord
-Osselstone were then abroad; and she reflected with sorrow, that were it
-not for Mr. and Mrs. Temple, she should, on her return to England, be as
-desolate as ever. "But God," thought she, "tempers the wind to the shorn
-lamb;" and her heart dilated with gratitude to earth and Heaven, on the
-remembrance of what she humbly felt to be unmerited friendship. Her
-first feelings led her to open the portfolio, which contained the packet
-of letters Mr. Austin had charged her not to unseal till this period;
-but at the sight of her father's writing, the agony of the moment in
-which she had received it, with all the dreadful scenes which
-immediately followed, rose to her mind in all their first horror; and,
-completely overcome, she felt the dreadful consciousness, that none now
-existing on earth could fill that vacuum, which the loss of this beloved
-father would ever leave in her heart. The vision of happiness, which a
-few moments before had appeared so vivid, now seemed to have been but a
-vain illusion, that had mocked her with a dream of bliss. At that
-instant earth had no consolation to offer for her sorrows; but she
-turned to Heaven and found it there.
-
-When she rose from her supplications, she hastily returned the packet to
-her portfolio. "I will not trust myself with it again," thought she; "I
-have here no friend to soothe, to _control_ my mind.--In a few days I
-shall be with Mrs. Temple."
-
-There are minds, which are capable of an intensity of regret, that
-others can scarcely conceive. Long after it has lost the more
-tumultuous character of grief, it lies deep in the recesses of the
-heart. The cares, the pleasures of the world, may for a time conceal it,
-even from self-consciousness; but there it ever endures. The vigour of a
-strong mind may reduce it to temporary inertness, but it will at times
-break every bond, and vindicate its empire. Like the Genius of the
-eastern tale, who, though for ages confined in the casket by the seal of
-Solomon, rose when the signet of wisdom was broken, in the same awful
-might he had possessed, before reduced to submission by its coercive
-power.
-
-Whilst in one room at Ballinamoyle a daughter mourned her father, in
-another a son defied his mother. Mr. Webberly was at that moment
-informing Mrs. O'Sullivan, he would, on the morrow, make his
-long-meditated proposal to Miss Wildenheim: he had fulfilled his promise
-of waiting till she was of age; and said, that if she was so
-unreasonable as to require still further delay, he could no longer
-comply, as the difference of a day might deprive him of Adelaide for
-ever. The Desmonds were to take their farewell on Caroline's birth-day;
-Miss Wildenheim would commence her journey to England on the following
-morning; and it was not at all likely Colonel Desmond would suffer her
-to depart, without making those offers some people thought would be
-accepted. This very idea made Mrs. O'Sullivan more eager in her
-entreaties, more authoritative in her commands to her son, to defer his
-intentions till their arrival at Webberly House. The conference ended in
-passion on both sides, he exclaiming, "By Gad, mother, you are never to
-be satisfied;--be damned if I stand shilly shally any longer!" "Then,
-Jack, you shan't have my blessing for an _opthalmia_; and you know
-that's better worth than the priest's, as the song says."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-    And if there be a human tear
-    From passion's dross refin'd and clear--
-    A tear so limpid and so meek,
-    It would not stain an angel's cheek;
-    'Tis that which pious fathers shed
-    Upon a duteous daughter's head.
-
-    oeLADY OF THE LAKEoe.
-
-
-That day which had nineteen times been passed at Ballinamoyle in solemn
-sadness, as the anniversary of the death of its lovely heiress, arrived
-once again--and was again marked by those outward signs of woe, which
-gratified the feelings of a disconsolate father, as a tribute of respect
-to the memory of her, who still in the freshest youth lived in his
-heart.
-
-No stranger on that day approached the desolate mansion, to partake of
-its hospitality, or receive its charity. The domestics, habited in deep
-mourning, flitted about the halls and passages in total silence; every
-countenance was impressed by a dejection, that affected the most
-thoughtless with unusual seriousness--even Mrs. O'Sullivan's servants
-spoke in a whisper.
-
-When the visitors assembled in the breakfast-room, neither their host
-nor the priest appeared; and Theresa informed her guests, that the
-former always passed this day in solitude. The same depression which
-pervaded the rest of the house, seemed to exert its saturnine influence
-in this apartment also. Mrs. O'Sullivan and her son were both too much
-irritated, and each too completely engrossed in forming plans to
-circumvent the intentions of the other, to offer a single word of
-conversation. Adelaide and Miss Fitzcarril were occupied by a train of
-distressing reflections, little aware, that they were caused in the mind
-of each by the same event. The Miss Webberlys only interrupted the
-general silence, by occasionally indulging in that pettish crossness,
-which the sight of unparticipated sorrow always produces in weak and
-selfish minds, whilst their fretful words and looks terrified the timid
-little Caroline.
-
-In the mean time Mr. O'Sullivan, after assisting in that service, by
-which the Catholic Church permits the living relative, with fond
-anxiety, to extend its cares beyond the grave, retired with the reverend
-priest to his own apartment.
-
-"Oh, my friend," said the afflicted parent, "you received my child into
-the bosom of our holy church; you heard her first innocent confession,
-you sanctified her fatal marriage vows, and how soon after did you offer
-up the prayers of my broken heart for the repose of her departed soul!"
-
-"She was almost as much the child of my affections as of yours," replied
-the priest, greatly moved: "and how graciously did Heaven reward my
-endeavours to form her mind to the practice of every virtue! Never did a
-purer spirit inhabit a human form! Let us rejoice in this," continued
-he, his countenance beaming with the cheering hopes of devotion; "we
-have both hitherto offended by a grief that 'would not be comforted.'
-Shall we, standing on the brink of the grave, still presume to murmur?
-Let me exhort you to break through the accustomed indulgence of
-unavailing sorrow, that would vainly strive against the will of Heaven:
-you have always shunned consolation, seek it humbly and sincerely, and
-it will be sent from above!"
-
-The old man sighed deeply, and made that devotional sign which marks the
-pious Catholic. His eyes were cast upwards, and his lips moved as if in
-prayer. Whilst the creature addressed his Creator, the holy minister of
-religion paused in reverential silence; but when the spontaneous
-supplication had ceased, he again addressed his friend. "I would fain
-impose a trial on you--a bitter one I confess; but could you accomplish
-it, you would hereafter feel as becomes a mortal sufferer. The solitude,
-the lugubrious forms of this day, nourish the grief it behoves you to
-struggle against. The presence of strangers is a fortunate circumstance,
-and will afford you an assistance your own domestic circle is incapable
-of. Return to society; receive your guests as if this were to-morrow and
-to-morrow will rise with a feeling of satisfaction, to which you have
-long been a stranger."
-
-Though O'Sullivan afterwards pondered on these words till he almost
-believed them to have been an inspiration from Heaven, he at the moment
-vehemently asserted the impossibility of his making such an exertion. A
-considerable time elapsed, before the remonstrances of Father Dermoody
-could overcome his reluctance to wrestle with "this cherished woe, this
-loved despair;" but at last the advice of the friend, the admonitions of
-the pastor, prevailed; and Mr. O'Sullivan, accompanied by his reverend
-guide, appeared amongst his visitors, who were still assembled in the
-breakfast-room. On entering, he bowed profoundly to all, then seated
-himself in silence, with a mournful sternness that repelled every body
-from addressing him, farther than to manifest that respect, which was
-always involuntarily testified towards him. Miss Fitzcarril could
-scarcely have been more surprised, had she seen the apparition of Rose
-herself, than she was by the sight of her father on this morning;
-lifting up her hands and eyes, she whispered her astonishment to Father
-Dermoody, who requested her to abstain from exhibiting any further token
-of it. Some of the party continued their occupations, some their
-idleness, but no one spoke; and all, from time to time, anxiously looked
-towards the windows, to judge from the increasing gloom of the sky, how
-near the tempest it foreboded approached.
-
-The aspect of nature was at that moment as dreary as O'Sullivan's heart.
-That stillness, which sometimes precedes the coming storm, reigned
-unbroken. Clouds of portentous blackness were slowly congregating, to
-dart the forked lightning; but not a leaf moved, not a bird flitted in
-the motionless air; and as the dark veil hung over the lake, its dormant
-waters gave but the idea of fearful profundity. The silence of night is
-awful, yet the soul confesses it the repose of nature; but when this
-dread torpor appals the joyous day, every animate and inanimate object
-seems fearfully resigned to await her dissolution. While the ear paused
-in expectation of the hollow thunder, and the eye half closed as it
-anticipated the vivid flash, a wild cry arose--"Good God! what's that?"
-was the general exclamation. It was the wail, with which the children of
-this mountain region deplored their dead. No softening gale lent it
-beauty; the winds that were wont to sport with the accents of human woe,
-wafting them to the mountain's rugged brow, or saddening the smiling
-valley at its foot, now slumbered in the slowly rolling clouds. Horrible
-and harsh the lamenting voice of hundreds smote the ear. Once it was
-reverberated from rocks as lifeless as the being it bemoaned, whilst
-the mourners and their sad burden were hidden from the view.
-
-O'Sullivan started, and his eyes rested on the figure of Adelaide. As
-she had compassionately viewed his sorrowful countenance, memory had too
-faithfully depicted to her mind the anguish, which had always marked
-this eventful day to her father. The sudden doleful lamentation had
-completely overcome her spirits, and with her hands clasped in agony,
-torrents of tears were streaming down her cheeks, whilst, as the chilled
-blood recoiled to her heart, her dark hair threw a melancholy shade on
-her palid face. The impulse of humanity overcame the silence of sorrow;
-O'Sullivan instantly seized her hand, and as her eyes mournfully met
-his, exclaimed, "Desmond has told me all; you grieve for your father, I
-for my child. A desolate old man like me has little comfort to offer.
-But for her sake, whose living image you are, in my heart's core could I
-hide you from all trouble." Adelaide, leaning her head on his shoulder,
-sobbed aloud.
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, inflamed by anger at her son, and by jealousy of the
-tenderness expressed in her brother-in-law's countenance for the lovely
-mourner, whose confiding attitudes seemed to repose her affliction on
-his solacing compassion, now whispered to Amelia, "This is _too_ bad;
-that artful baggage has got him under her thumb too;--mayhap he may
-devize his fortin to _her_ instead of Caroline, after all--I'll tell him
-what she is." So saying, passion accelerating her utterance and
-crimsoning her face, she addressed Mr. O'Sullivan with, "Sir, sir, that
-Miss that's putting a sham upon you is a wagabond; and if she doesn't
-look to her ways, I'll have her sent home by the alien act, as Meely
-bids me. She tells up about English relations; but in two years she's
-lived with me, she wouldn't never tell me who they were: she's an
-imposter, and vill make a cat's paw of you, as she did of your brother,
-and----" "Gad zooks, mother" interrupted Webberly, "what odds is it
-who's her relations; when she marries, her husband's family is all she
-has to look to." "Jacky! Jacky! you'll never come to no good--you're an
-undutiful son! I'll get her packed off to Germany as sure as----"
-"What's all this, madam?" said Mr. O'Sullivan, with a look of
-contemptuous displeasure, that produced instant silence: "I will stand
-in the place of my brother to this young lady, if she will honour me by
-committing herself to my protection. Your threats against the
-unoffending ward of your husband are shameful." "Sir," said Adelaide,
-commanding herself to composure, "the gratitude I feel is inexpressible!
-But on this day there is no impediment, to prevent my satisfying Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's desire to know my parentage; of this she is well aware. My
-father, madam," continued she, with grave steadiness, "Reginald Baron
-Wildenheim, was the youngest brother of the present Earl of Osselstone.
-Soon after my birth, he renounced his family name of Mordaunt, and
-adopted his German title." O'Sullivan essayed to speak in vain; his lip
-quivered, but no sound met the ear of man; and his half palsied hand
-trembled as it passed a sign of deepest import to the priest, who
-darting forward, exclaimed, "Your mother's name, young lady--speak, did
-she die at Hamburgh?" "Alas! yes, on the day I was born; her name was
-one which, honoured and lamented here, I trembled to pronounce--it was
-Rose!" The old man uttered an hysterical laugh, and clasping her in his
-arms, faltered out, "Her child then was saved!" "Produce your proofs!"
-exclaimed the priest; "by every sacred name I conjure you, produce your
-proofs!" Mrs. O'Sullivan, raging with passion, vociferated, "She is an
-impostor; an artful minx, come to cheat Caroline." The Miss Webberlys
-screamed in Adelaide's ear, "Produce your proofs if you dare!" Their
-brother, with equal fury, interfered on her behalf. Little Caroline
-clung crying to her knees, "They shan't hurt you, dear Adele, they
-shan't hurt you!" Whilst Theresa, with terror in her looks, went from
-one to the other, saying, "For God's sake have done; leave the room if
-you can't be quiet; Mr. O'Sullivan will never get over such a piece of
-work on this day, of all days in the year!" But Adelaide was unconscious
-of all; she had taken her grandfather's agitated laugh, his
-unintelligible words, for a wandering of reason, on hearing a name
-resembling his daughter's unexpectedly mentioned; and, horror-struck,
-had sunk lifeless in his arms. When he saw the paleness of death in her
-cold cheek and blanched lip, stamping on the floor, he exclaimed, "You
-have killed her! Unfeeling wretches, you have killed her!" Father
-Dermoody and Theresa hastily stepped forward to offer that assistance he
-was incapable of bestowing, and immediately removed her to a
-neighbouring apartment, excluding every body else.
-
-It was long ere Adelaide revived. When consciousness returned, she found
-herself in a strange apartment. The gloom almost of midnight was
-around; the storm had burst, and was raging with awful fury; the thunder
-rolled tremendously above her head, and a vivid flash of lightning
-illuminated the countenance of one kneeling at her side, on which she
-saw despair--the despair of venerable age, depicted. With an involuntary
-shudder she averted her head, and raised both her hands, as if to save
-her from the terrific vision. "Father of mercy!" exclaimed O'Sullivan,
-"I lost my child, and lived--lived but to see hers shun me." "Oh, my
-God!" ejaculated the agonized girl, "have mercy on him!--poor old man!
-poor old man!" and she burst into a paroxysm of tears. When she
-recovered a little from the racking emotions which tortured her, she
-mournfully took his hand, and said, "I do not shun you; God knows to
-console yours would be a delightful solace to my own afflictions. But I
-implore you to pause before you cherish these delusive ideas; a few
-minutes will suffice to convince you of the fatal error you have fallen
-into." She then, in a whisper, entreated Miss Fitzcarril to procure her
-portfolio, as she feared to irritate Mr. O'Sullivan's mind, by leaving
-him herself. Theresa fulfilled her request, and then with true delicacy
-retired.
-
-Adelaide eagerly tore open the important packet, and the first paper
-that presented itself was one directed to Mr. O'Sullivan, which, with
-inconceivable trepidation, she presented to him; but at the sight of the
-writing he dashed it from him with looks of fury--"Never will I read
-another from that detested hand, that last blasted my every hope of
-earthly happiness!" The priest seizing the letter, hurried him out of
-the room. "Unfortunate man!" exclaimed Adelaide; "Oh, why did I mention
-his daughter's name, after the warning I received from Colonel Desmond?"
-In an agony of mind not to be described, she attempted to read a letter
-addressed by her father to herself; but when it informed her of such of
-the particulars of his life as were necessary to explain her
-relationship to her present venerable protector, she was so bewildered,
-that she half despairingly pressed the letter to her heart, and silently
-implored a supporting power from above. When she had again composed her
-mind sufficiently to comprehend its contents, she was so stunned with
-surprise, that she had scarcely power to feel how happy she ought to be,
-as she repeated, "My grandfather! can it indeed be possible?" But she
-was roused to a painful sense of anxiety and acute perception of sorrow,
-when she came to the following paragraph, "Let it be your consolation,
-my beloved child, that all the happiness I have known since your angelic
-mother's death, has been your boon. Heaven permitted her to leave you to
-me, as a gift of love, as a pledge of its mercy. I bequeath that filial
-piety, which has been the solace of my existence, to her father, as a
-reparation for the loss of his daughter. For my sake he may be harsh to
-you, perhaps refuse to receive you; but pardon him, and, if he will
-permit you, soothe the sorrows of his old age; he has much to forgive
-your erring father." With indignation she now recollected how his letter
-had been received, and every softer feeling, every selfish
-consideration, was swallowed up in offended filial affection, as she
-thought, "Never will I accept of kindness from one, who could spurn me
-from resentment to my adored father!"
-
-At that moment she heard O'Sullivan's step. Oh, who shall tell the tide
-of tumultuous thoughts that overwhelmed her soul, as his hand
-tremulously turned the lock of the door? 'twas but an instant--but how
-much of misery cannot the human heart suffer in this short earthly
-denomination of time!
-
-He entered; and, as he approached, her heart seemed to die within her.
-At first she could not move, but gazed almost unconsciously on his face,
-and seeing there the mildness of grief, the benevolence of pity, the
-warmth of paternal love, she knelt at his feet in speechless emotion,
-whilst her looks, her attitude, implored his benediction. "Oh, may the
-God of mercy bestow those blessings on you, that were denied your
-mother!" He pressed her in his arms, and wept as he said, "My child, my
-beloved child, I have not lived these years of misery in vain! Bless
-you, bless you!" And now "joy and sorrow strove which should paint her
-goodliest. You have seen sunshine and rain at once--her smiles and tears
-were like a better May--those happy smiles, which played on her ripe
-lip, seemed not to know what guests were in her eyes, which parted
-thence as pearls from diamonds dropp'd."
-
-When the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, the anxious parent
-looked at his loved treasure, first fearfully, and then a happy smile
-seemed to say, "Thank God, here at least she is safe from every storm!"
-with that a closer embrace pressed her to his heart. "My father!" were
-the first words she attempted to articulate. "Adelaide," interrupted
-the old man, "whatever may have been his errors, you will, on reading
-that letter, easily believe I no longer resent them. I erred deeply,
-sinfully, in not receiving the prodigal son when he first implored my
-forgiveness; but passion blinded me, and I have been severely punished.
-I knew him not then! Oh! did he live now, my heart would warmly open to
-him." Adelaide was nearly suffocated with her sobs. O'Sullivan supported
-her to the window for air: for the elemental strife was now over, and
-the rushing torrents had ceased to fall. The rippling waters of the lake
-laughed in the beams of the sun, and softly rolled on their verdant
-banks. Every bough waved in the wanton air, and from bush and brake
-innumerable birds poured forth joyful melody. The cottage cur once more
-barked at the stranger, and the peaceful herds again grazed the green
-islets. Adelaide felt the composing power of the scene, and, drying her
-tears, read the letter she had received.
-
-     oeTO CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN, ESQUIREoe.
-
-     The misery I feel at this moment is not less, than that which rent
-     my heart when last I addressed you. Time has but made the
-     remembrance of my beloved Rose dearer, more afflicting to my soul;
-     and her child, who for nineteen years has been my only earthly
-     happiness, I now resign, as the sole reparation I can make, to
-     Heaven and to you, for the errors of that guilty course, which have
-     not been expiated by years of misery and penitence. I once again
-     implore your forgiveness for all the sufferings I have occasioned
-     you. Oh, my God! what a wreck of happiness I have made for myself
-     and others! I have been a misfortune to all connected with me. What
-     a stab must I not give to my daughter's heart, when I tell her we
-     part _to meet no more_! What tears of bitter anguish will she not
-     shed, when she hears the recital of those misdeeds, so degrading to
-     the memory of the father, whom she fondly thinks the first of human
-     beings! Yet the misery of her mind on hearing my errors would be
-     felicity compared to the anguish mine has endured, when, for her
-     sake, I have undergone the martyrdom of her praises. My lovely
-     child!--Had you seen the happy smiles, the endearing caresses, with
-     which she bid me good night, but a few minutes ago, and known the
-     _despair_ of my soul, as I thought, never shall I behold that
-     unclouded smile again; but once more hear those words, you would
-     say, the forfeit of his guilt is paid; and lament for the
-     unfortunate being you have hitherto cursed. By every sacred name,
-     by the memory of her sainted mother, by the agonies of a wretched
-     father, I conjure you, protect, cherish, and console my child. All
-     that a parent's heart could wish, all that the daughter of Rose
-     should be, she is--and we part for ever. I shall not survive to
-     have my miserable days cheered by the affection, with which I know
-     you will treat the inheritor of the virtues of your beloved Rose,
-     but my last moments will be brightened by the joyous hope----
-
-     "Enclosed you will find papers written at a calmer moment, for the
-     benefit of Adelaide--pardon him you once called son. As you value
-     your eternal hopes, I charge you to be kind to my child. She has
-     never offended you; her mother's form is renewed in hers; her
-     mother's virtues perpetuated in her mind. Say not that Rose exists
-     no more--in Adelaide she is again restored to your arms."
-
-Adelaide had wept, when there was something of consolation, of
-tenderness, in her emotions. But now her anguish admitted not of tears;
-the universe presented but one idea to her mind--the agony of her
-father's soul when his hand traced the words her eyes rested on.
-O'Sullivan addressed her in accents of the tenderest affection; she
-answered him but by that bitter smile, with which misery sometimes loves
-to make her devoted victims confess her empire. He was alarmed by her
-fixed looks, and said, "Rouse yourself, Adelaide; I will leave you to
-compose your agitated feelings, but not in solitude: come with me to the
-companion of many a sad moment." He opened an inner door, and grasping
-her hand with convulsive earnestness, said, "There is your mother's
-portrait; and at the foot of that altar she daily poured forth her
-grateful thanksgivings. There the supplications of her father daily
-ascend to the throne of grace." He hurried away, and Adelaide long and
-fervently prayed in a spot so hallowed. Her tears again flowed, as she
-turned to gaze on the resemblance of that form, which had never blessed
-her conscious sight, and mournfully exclaimed, "Both, both lost to me!"
-
-Rose had been drawn as Astarte inscribing her lover's name on the sand.
-The dejected expression of her heavenly countenance sadly contrasted the
-brilliant beauty of her youthful charms. Was it the melancholy of
-_Astarte_ the painter's art depicted? or had the fair being, whose form
-he traced, been already struck by the hand of sorrow? O'Sullivan's
-grief was daily renewed as his heart whispered, "Not thus my child
-looked under this roof.--So soon was all her innocent gaiety gone?"
-
-Adelaide was so absorbed by the ideas which rose in her mind, that she
-did not perceive the entrance of nurse, who came to perform her diurnal
-task of dressing the altar, and who standing behind her, now said,
-"That's the picture, dear, that Mr. Mordaunt sent his honour from
-London, six months after Miss Rose married him--an unlucky day that
-same! And a black-hearted false man he was, to leave my sweet angel, and
-run away wid another woman." Fire flashed from Adelaide's eye; the
-indignation which deprived her of utterance was expressed in her whole
-figure. Nurse awed, and as it were fascinated, by a look from which she
-could not withdraw her gaze, stared at her for a second or two, and then
-evidently terrified, exclaimed, "The blessed powers presarve me!--Who
-are you?--What are you? You're the very moral of Miss Rose! What brings
-you in her room this day of the year? No mortal has ever darkened the
-door since she died but myself and his honour. You're like enough to be
-her fetch, come in the storm to take him away from us. I pray God I may
-die first," continued she, weeping bitterly: "my heart was broke when I
-lost my sweet child. I trust in his mercy I haven't lived on these weary
-years, to drag my ould bones to his grave!"
-
-"Dear, dear nurse," said Adelaide, kissing her affectionately, smiles
-and tears struggling for mastery in her eyes, "I'm not come to take him
-away from you, but to make you both happy--I'm your own Rose's
-daughter." The old woman set up a shout of joy, and kissed her, and
-hugged her, and drew back to a little distance, resting her hands on
-Adelaide's shoulders to look at her from time to time, saying, "The very
-moral of her! the very moral of her! Her daughter! You wouldn't be so
-mischievous as to make an ould body crazy? It's not joking you are,
-jewel?"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-    Half a loaf is better than no bread.
-
-    oeOLD PARRoe.
-
-
-"So Caroline may do with the twenty thousand?"----This was Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's reflection as her carriage, for the last time, drove out of
-the demesne of Ballinamoyle. How she came to this conclusion, the reader
-must now be informed. Neither Miss Wildenheim nor her grandfather was
-visible for the remainder of the day, on which the trying scenes, that
-have just been related, occurred. But immediate steps were taken to
-prevent the celebration of Caroline's birthday, as had been intended, on
-the following morning; and Mr. Dermoody waited on her mother, to explain
-the reasons for this disappointment. He accomplished this task with
-much difficulty, as she interrupted him every three minutes with, "I
-can't understand nothing about it, Sir. She's an odorous imposter--I
-tell you, Sir, she's an abominable imposter." And she, in fine,
-threatened to take the law of Mr. O'Sullivan:--she'd see her child
-righted, cost what it would, and bring that artful baggage to shame. Mr.
-Dermoody then reminded her, that Caroline had no _right_ to her uncle's
-estate, who had given her father a large sum to cut off the entail; so
-that if Miss Wildenheim's claims were absolutely nugatory, it was
-entirely in his own disposal; but that as this transaction had taken
-place since her birth, it was invalid, as Adelaide was the heir at law
-in preference to Caroline's father; but that, to put the matter beyond
-doubt, the present proprietor intended to bequeath his estate
-immediately to his grandaughter, who would thus inherit it by a double
-tenure. He was too much incensed at that moment to tell her his belief,
-that Mr. O'Sullivan would also provide for his favourite little
-Caroline. "Wery vell, Sir, wery vell, I see how it is; she has set you
-up to cheat me. All these outgoings for nothing! I'd have seen your
-shabby old place at the dickens before I'd have come so far, if I'd
-guessed how it would have turned out. Me and mine will be off to-morrow,
-Sir;" so saying, she flounced out of the room.
-
-Father Dermoody had scarcely finished this discussion with one
-unreasonable woman, when he had to encounter a second with another. Miss
-Fitzcarril way-laid him in the passage from Mrs. O'Sullivan's apartment,
-to remonstrate on the folly of suffering all the expense and trouble,
-which had been incurred in the preparations made to entertain the
-tenantry, to go for nothing: "Why put off the meeting?--Wasn't Adelaide
-as good an heiress as Caroline? Another sort, on my conscience! I vow
-and declare I think it's very hard there shouldn't be just as much made
-of her as the other." "But you don't consider the indelicacy of such a
-thing; Mrs. O'Sullivan's feelings are sufficiently mortified."
-"Indelicacy, indeed!" retorted Theresa, sputtering, as she always did in
-the heat of an argument; "she knows just as much about delicacy as my
-foot does; and I should like to see her mortified just for her
-impertinence." The priest muttered something about an unchristian
-spirit, and rather gravely said, "If you won't listen to reason, madam,
-I must inform you in brief, that Mr. O'Sullivan won't suffer it; his
-pleasure you know is final." Theresa walked off, gesticulating with both
-her hands, and muttering, "Good Lord! was there ever any thing half so
-provoking! These men never have the least consideration, after all the
-trouble I have had! I'm sure I don't know what's to be done with the
-_loads_ of things that have been got!"
-
-The following morning Caroline did not, as usual, come to Adelaide's
-room. She rightly guessed she had been prohibited; but as she was
-proceeding to obey a message from Mr. O'Sullivan, to breakfast with him
-in his study, as he was too unwell to see more than one or two people
-at a time, she saw the little girl leaning over the bannisters of the
-stairs, sobbing as if her heart would break. "What's the matter, my
-darling?" said she, taking her fondly in her arms. "Unkind Adele!"
-sobbed out the afflicted child, "I wouldn't have hurt you for the world;
-and mama says you're my bitterest enemy. This is a dismal birthday to
-me; mama's going away, and I shall never see you again, Adele; and
-nobody loves me but you." Here the poor child, throwing her arms about
-her friend's neck, cried bitterly. "Dearest little Caroline, every body
-loves you." "No, no, Adele, my heart will break when I leave you." "We
-will not part," said Adelaide, straining her to her heart; "come with
-me." And taking Caroline to her grandfather, she placed her on his knee,
-and drew forth a repetition of her artless tale. "Mr. Dermoody has told
-me," said the generous girl, "that you have changed your intentions in
-her favour. How it would grieve me to injure her prospects! I am amply
-provided for; I do not desire any increase of fortune; all my heart
-requires is some being whom I may _securely_ love and be cherished by;
-and in you is not all this granted? Look at this little angel, and pity
-her, my dear parent. Oh! her heart will be either broken, or I should
-never forgive myself the destruction of this lovely creature, whom
-Providence has, I trust, employed me to save. On condition of your
-giving her your estate, I'm sure her mother would resign her to my
-charge till her minority expires." "Adelaide," said the old man, whilst
-the tears stood in her eyes, "you are as like your mother in mind as in
-person. Till now I thought no mortal could be as perfect as she was.
-Caroline shall stay with us, if I can accomplish it. My estate I cannot,
-will not, give her; but I have much to bestow besides, which I will
-offer her mother, on the conditions you mention." He proceeded
-immediately to Mrs. O'Sullivan, to execute this benevolent commission.
-Pride, and some remains of natural affection, made her hesitate to
-accept his offers. She retired to consult her elder children, and
-promised to return an answer in an hour. When she informed them of Mr.
-O'Sullivan's proposition, Mr. Webberly said, "As far as a few thousands
-goes, I have no objection to humour the old Don; and Caroline would be
-welcome to live with us. You needn't fret, mother; if this new heiress
-marries me, isn't the estate ours after all?" "That's true, so it is,
-Jack; you'd best make her an offer with all speed." "Do, brother," said
-Miss Cecilia Webberly, with an eagerness that little accorded with her
-usual languid delivery; "as I understand the matter, you'd be nephew to
-Lord Osselstone, and then Meely and I would be _fier ton_." When Mr.
-Webberly went in search of Miss Wildenheim, he was told she was in her
-own room, and could not be seen. "What was to be done?" As there was no
-time to lose, it was then settled in the family conclave, that Mrs.
-O'Sullivan should endeavour to gain admittance to the lady, who was
-now, like Dr. Lenitive's mistress, possessed of "ten thousand charms,"
-for the purpose of _soliciting_ that hand for her son, which four and
-twenty hours before she had so openly disdained!
-
-When she entered, Adelaide naturally supposing she came on no very
-friendly errand, received her with a curtsy of the most repulsive
-dignity; and with a cold gravity of manner, that made her visitor feel
-she had undertaken a commission she should find great difficulty in
-executing. She fluttered, and coloured, and hemmed, and played with the
-costly seals of the watch she always ostentatiously wore on the most
-conspicuous part of her person, till Adelaide, advancing towards her,
-said, "May I beg to know your commands, Madam? I own, I scarcely
-expected the honor of this visit." "Why, Miss Wildenheim, I just vanted
-to speak to you about my little Carline." "I shall be happy to hear any
-thing you have to say regarding my dear Caroline, Madam: will you do me
-the favour to sit down?" Adelaide, taking a chair opposite to the one
-on which Mrs. O'Sullivan deposited herself, fixed her dark eyes
-attentively on her face, whilst the former, in a style and dialect that
-almost conquered her command of countenance, proposed that she should
-not only take charge of Caroline, but commit herself to the guidance of
-Mr. Webberly. Offering her as a _douceur_, to have all her
-_grandfather's_ estate settled on herself; and also half the sum he
-intended to give Caroline; and promising moreover to "make Jack a fit
-husband for ere a duchess in the land." The astonished girl, rather
-doubting her ability to fulfil this latter gracious promise, and highly
-amused by the attempt to bribe her with Mr. O'Sullivan's fortune,
-replied, as soon as she could speak with proper decorum of feature and
-tone, "I cannot pretend to say that I have not perceived the polite
-attentions which Mr. Webberly has been in the habit of favouring me
-with; you will, I hope, Madam, do me the justice to acknowledge that I
-have never encouraged them: you might have been spared much unnecessary
-uneasiness, if you had looked on my conduct with unprejudiced eyes; for,
-(pardon me, Mrs. O'Sullivan,) your son was not a man that I could, under
-any circumstances, have married. I should not make these observations,
-but that I am anxious you should understand, that the occurrences of
-yesterday have made no change in my sentiments; and though--" "Forget
-and forgive ought to be the word amongst _friends_," hastily interrupted
-her auditor. "Some things I _cannot_ forget," returned Adelaide; "I can
-never forget, that you are the widow of an uncle from whom I received so
-much affectionate kindness; nor, that to yourself I owe many personal
-obligations, for affording me an asylum in my hour of adversity, when I
-had none other to fly to!" And then, in all the winning charms of her
-captivating manner, she held out her hand, saying, "Though I cannot
-consent to any nearer connexion, whenever you are inclined to consider
-yourself my aunt, I shall be happy to show you the duty of a niece."
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, quite overcome, said, "You were always a good girl; I
-wasn't as kind to you as I ought to have been, but--" "I do not wonder,"
-interrupted Adelaide, "that you should have been inclined to dislike me;
-it was very natural, under all the circumstances; but we are quite
-cordial now; so pray don't distress me, by referring to a period when
-you were less my friend than at this moment. If you will confide in me,
-so far as to resign Caroline to my care, I shall owe you an everlasting
-obligation." "I will leave her with you," replied the poor woman,
-bursting into tears; "for I know you will breed her up to be more
-dutiful to me than the rest; but that's all my own fault. God bless you,
-if you make my child a comfort to me in my old age." Adelaide said every
-thing to console her; and Mrs. O'Sullivan, on retiring to her children,
-addressed her son, with "She wont have you, Jack, and I'm sorry for it;
-she's the best girl in the world, after all; but your cousin Hannah
-Leatherly, is a sweet cretur too." When the hour appointed for the
-departure of the Webberly family arrived, Caroline, while she held fast
-hold of Adelaide with one hand, lest she should be torn from her, clung
-with the other to "her own mama," weeping to part with her; and perhaps,
-if her mother had not been hurried away by her elder daughters, she
-could not have withstood this demonstration of her child's awakened
-affection; but they took care she should not have time to reflect on
-what she was doing. Adelaide, and her quondam guardian separated in
-perfect amity, but the Miss Webberlys to the last kept up their envious
-dislike, and scarcely curtsied whilst they refused her offered hand.
-Their brother, on the contrary, could not conceal his sorrow, as he bid
-her good bye; and, touched by it, she cordially shook his hand, and with
-much sincerity, wishing him every happiness, thanked him for the
-good-natured attention he had always shown her. When Miss Fitzcarril
-saw him depart, she said to herself, "Well, well! Judy Stewart didn't
-spey it _all_ right, after all; but, to be sure, _winter_ is not come
-yet!" At the moment in which Mrs. O'Sullivan made the reflection with
-which this chapter commences, Colonel Desmond rode past, and her son's
-spirits were not much enlivened, as he pictured to himself his mission
-to Ballinamoyle, and its probable success.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-                    Nobly he yokes
-    A smiling with a sigh: as if the sigh
-    Was that it was, for not being such a smile.
-
-    oeCYMBELINEoe.
-
-
-About the time of Adelaide's arrival at Ballinamoyle, Lord Osselstone
-and Augustus sailed from Dover, and took the direct road to Brussels,
-intending to stay in the principal towns through which their route lay,
-as long as would afford them opportunity of seeing such curiosities as
-principally deserved their attention. From Brussels they proceeded to
-Liege, and stopping a few days at Spa, crossed to Bonn, and from thence
-enjoyed the delightful scenery which the banks of the Rhine presented.
-The melancholy with which the remembrance of his brother was connected
-in the Earl's mind, threw a softened shade of sadness on his manners,
-which perhaps won more on the affections of his nephew, than the most
-brilliant sallies of wit or imagination could have done. For every sigh
-that escaped Lord Osselstone found an echo in the heart of Augustus. The
-concentrated susceptibility of his natural disposition, and the peculiar
-turn of his education, had equally contributed to give a stability to
-his feelings, beyond what his age would have promised: impressions made
-on a mind so formed were not easily to be effaced; as the marble, though
-impervious to slight incisions, if once impressed, loses the form but
-with its own existence.
-
-He had never known the endearing cares of a sister,--never had enjoyed
-the blessing of maternal smiles. In Selina Seymour alone all his first
-affections were centred, and as his matured reason watched her opening
-charms, his judgment sanctioned his love.
-
-It was true, that in the vortex of dissipation into which she had lately
-been plunged, he had found something to reprove in her manners, and a
-great deal to deplore in her conduct to himself; yet with the lenity
-which belongs to true affection, he sought excuses for what he most
-condemned; and though with the resignation of despondency he had given
-up all hope of being dear to her, he did not endeavour to discover flaws
-in the chrysolite, because the precious jewel was not to grace his
-coronet. But the contending emotions of his soul preyed on his health;
-and in his faded cheek and saddened brow Lord Osselstone read the too
-plain indications of a grief smothered, but not subdued.
-
-It was towards the end of July when the travellers reached Bonn, and the
-beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of that town, where they first
-saw the Rhine, tempted them to prolong their stay in it for some days.
-At length however they pursued their journey, and as the weather was
-sultry, preferred travelling in the cool of the evening. The shades of
-night are however little adapted to German roads or German drivers.
-They had scarcely traversed half the distance between Andernach and
-Coblentz, when their postillions carelessly drove against the roots of a
-tree, and overturned the carriage. Fortunately neither of the gentlemen
-received any injury, but the accident occasioned a considerable delay,
-as the carriage was much shattered, and they were obliged considerably
-to lighten it of its luggage, before it could reassume its proper
-position. At last, after the drivers had indulged themselves in a
-variety of oaths and ejaculations, and the two gentlemen, aided by their
-servants, had made use of more effectual means of repairing the
-disaster, they were enabled to proceed, though at a greatly retarded
-pace; and at last reached Coblentz, without further accident.
-
-The master of the hotel, but too happy to receive once more "_Des milors
-Anglais_" as his guests, with alacrity provided them the best supper his
-house could afford, and the Earl and Augustus were congratulating each
-other on their escape, when the door suddenly opened, and Lord
-Osselstone's gray-headed valet burst into the room, rage and dismay
-struggling for pre-eminence in his countenance; "There, my Lord,"
-bellowed he, "there, I knew how it would be. I told you you'd get no
-good by travelling in this damned country: they have robbed you; they
-have stolen it, that's all;" and he was leaving the room with as much
-precipitation as he had entered it, when his master called him back, to
-inquire calmly what was lost. "Only your red box, that I know you
-wouldn't part with for a thousand pounds." In an instant, to Augustus's
-inexpressible astonishment, he beheld Lord Osselstone's countenance
-convulsed with contending passions--he started up, and seizing the
-trembling old man by the collar, "Find it, find it, villain, or never
-see me more," said he, in a voice of thunder; and with one thrust pushed
-him out of the door. Then holding his burning forehead with both his
-hands, he traversed the room with hurried steps, and soon retired
-precipitately to his own chamber. This scene was perfectly
-incomprehensible to Augustus; but instead of bewildering himself in
-conjecture, he, with his usual promptitude, immediately exerted himself
-to repair the loss which so much agitated his uncle. Conceiving it
-possible the box might have fallen out of the carriage when it was
-overturned, he instantly dispatched one of the postillions in search of
-it, offering a large reward for its recovery. After about two hours of
-suspense, during which time he did not venture to intrude on the Earl,
-the messenger returned with the lost treasure, which was almost broken
-to pieces. Augustus however joyfully seizing it, hastened with it to his
-uncle, who opened the door, and snatched it from him in silence. But the
-box was so shattered that in doing so the bottom of it gave way, and
-most of its contents, consisting principally of letters, fell to the
-floor. A miniature case rolled to some distance, and lay open on the
-ground. Augustus ran to pick it up, but on viewing it, exclaimed
-abruptly, "Good God! my mother! this surely is a copy of the portrait of
-her my father left me;" and turning with an inquiring look to Lord
-Osselstone, he perceived his lip trembling with emotion, the cold drops
-of agony bursting from his forehead, and his frenzied eyes fixed on
-Mordaunt, with an expression which made him shudder. "Audacious boy!" at
-last muttered the earl, in the deep tone of smothered passion, "how dare
-you seek to know the sorrows of my heart?" Augustus, pitying his evident
-suffering, approached him, and laying his hand on his, with involuntary
-affection, said, "I do not seek to know them, I only wish to soothe
-them: consider me as a friend, as a son, who--" "Son!" exclaimed Lord
-Osselstone, shrinking from him with horror; "Son! God of Heaven! do I
-live to hear the child of Emma Dormer mock me with the name of father?
-leave me," continued he sternly, "and never again blast me with your
-presence. Fool, fool that I have been to cherish the viper that stings
-my heart; your cradle was the grave of my happiness; and you have but
-lived to fester the wounds your parents made." Indignant at such
-unmerited reproaches, Mordaunt hastened to leave the room, but turning
-to take a parting look at his last surviving relation, who thus spurned
-him, he beheld the man, whose calm unbending dignity had so often awed
-the wondering crowd, trembling with unconquerable feelings, whilst the
-scalding tears chased each other down his face. He stopped--"I cannot
-leave you thus," said he; "to-morrow will be time enough to part." Lord
-Osselstone turned towards him in silence. The look was not to be
-misunderstood; and in an instant Augustus was pressed to his bosom. A
-long pause ensued. At last the Earl, wringing Mordaunt's hand;
-"Augustus!" said he, "I believe you sincere in the regard you profess
-for me: but beware of deceiving me." He stopped to recover himself, then
-proceeded, in a hurried tone: "When I was about your age, with a heart
-as warm as yours is now, and feelings even more susceptible, I fixed my
-affections on Emma Dormer. I believed her mind as faultless as her
-person; and loved her to adoration. She pretended to return my passion;
-and her father was happy, nay eager, to see her share my title and
-fortune. The time was fixed for our marriage; but two days before the
-one appointed for it, she eloped with the man she had the cruelty to
-tell me was her first, her only love. My own brother was my rival!" A
-deep groan burst from the Earl; at length, he continued, "I never saw
-her afterwards; though, when her extravagance and my brother's
-dissipation hurried them into ruin, she often wrote to me, _yes_, _to
-me_, for assistance; and I have the satisfaction of thinking, that I
-relieved the wretchedness of her who plunged my life in misery. She died
-four years afterwards, and my brother survived her but ten months. Even
-in death he wronged me; for, mistrusting my feelings towards you, he
-chose Sir Henry Seymour for your guardian. When I first saw you,
-Augustus, your hated likeness to both your parents froze my blood. When
-you came to Oxford, I was a constant though secret observer of your
-actions; and, prejudiced as I was, I thought I saw in your youthful
-follies and marked alienation from myself, the errors of your father's
-character hereditary in yours. Accident and time changed my opinion of
-you; and, contrary to my predetermination, nay, even against my
-inclination, my heart has once more been open to feelings of interest
-and affection; if I am again betrayed----however the poison will find
-its own antidote. Now, Augustus, good night.--Yet, one word more.--I
-charge you, as you value my friendship, as you regard my peace, never
-recur to this subject again--never recall the occurrences of this
-night."
-
-It would be impossible to describe the various feelings this recital
-occasioned in the heart of Augustus. He retired to rest, but his
-thoughts were entirely engrossed by the Earl; and while he shuddered at
-the duplicity and ingratitude of his parents, he bitterly lamented his
-own precipitancy, which had led him so much to misjudge his uncle's
-character. When however they met the next morning, all trace of the
-storm had vanished. The surface of the wave, that had so lately been
-agitated almost to fury, was again calmly bright, if not transparent.
-Augustus could almost have believed the scene of the night before was
-but a vision of his distempered fancy, had it not been for the silent
-and almost imperceptible pressure of his hand, which accompanied his
-uncle's first salutation.
-
-One other change was also apparent. They had scarcely commenced
-breakfast, when Lord Osselstone sent for his valet, to desire him to
-make some other coffee, as his Lordship had just recollected that he
-always preferred what he prepared to any other. The alacrity with which
-the old man obeyed the command, showed how much he valued the
-compliment thus paid to the very point of his character on which he most
-valued himself, next to his talent for arranging full-bottomed periwigs,
-which he always contended were the most becoming dresses ever invented
-for young gentlemen. When he returned with the coffee, "There," said he,
-with a look of triumph, "I have taken pains with that, and you'll find
-it ten times better than these jabbering Frenchmen can make, here in the
-heart of Germany; but you'll get nothing fit to eat till you get back to
-Old England; I always told you so." His expostulations were however
-unavailing, as the travellers pursued their journey towards Vienna,
-where they arrived in the beginning of September. Not the most distant
-allusion was made by either to the confidence Lord Osselstone had
-reposed in Augustus, though the almost indefinable tokens of increased
-kindness, that now marked the Earl's manner to his companion, showed
-that, however painful the communication had been at first, yet his grief
-in being shared was lightened. As when the soft breath of spring
-dissolves the icy chain that binds the torrent, though it may at first
-burst in desolating fury, yet its streams gradually subside in peace,
-and glide in smoother currents, blessed and blessing on their way.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-    Could I, not prizing thee, give thee my hand,
-    I should despise myself--and how not prize thee?
-
-    oeLLOYDoe.
-
-
-Immediately on their arrival at Vienna, Lord Osselstone commenced his
-researches after his brother; and, through the active exertions of the
-gentleman who had formerly been Reginald's banker, first ascertained the
-existence of Adelaide, and also other testimony concerning her and her
-father, that served most satisfactorily to corroborate the intelligence
-that now reached him from Ballinamoyle, as Mr. O'Sullivan, even more
-anxious than Adelaide herself to receive the sanction of Lord Osselstone
-for the child of his beloved Rose, had prevailed on Mr. Dermoody to be
-himself the bearer of the letters addressed to the Earl; and the
-venerable priest, with unwearied zeal, followed the travellers from
-London to Vienna, where he finally was more than rewarded for his
-anxiety by the cordiality and readiness with which both his Lordship and
-Augustus acknowledged her claims.
-
-The purpose for which Lord Osselstone had undertaken this journey being
-thus accomplished, though in a very unexpected manner, he and Augustus
-immediately prepared to return to England, both anxious to be introduced
-as relatives to Adelaide, whom Augustus recollected having admired when
-he only knew her as the ward of Mrs. Sullivan, but for whom he now
-already felt the partiality of a cousin; and his description of her
-elegant person and captivating manners prepossessed Lord Osselstone in
-her favour, even more than the exaggerated, though sincere encomiums of
-Father Dermoody. He willingly accepted the Earl's proposal to accompany
-them back to London in his carriage, from whence it was settled he
-should hasten home for the purpose of escorting Adelaide to Osselstone
-House, provided she accepted her uncle's invitation of coming to reside
-with him for a few months, and that Mr. O'Sullivan could be prevailed
-upon to part with her. When they reached Calais, they found a packet
-ready to sail by the following tide for Dover, in which they secured
-their passage; and Mr. Dermoody meantime profited by the opportunity
-afforded him by a few hours' delay, of visiting some of his early
-friends; whilst the Earl and Augustus beguiled their time in reading a
-variety of English newspapers of different dates, which their host
-procured for them.
-
-They had not very long been thus engaged, when Lord Osselstone's
-attention was attracted by the evident agitation of Augustus, who,
-starting with a convulsive shudder, threw down the paper he was reading,
-and paced up and down the room with quick and uneven steps. Lord
-Osselstone glanced his eye on the rejected newspaper, and immediately
-attributed his emotion to the following paragraph:
-
-     "Viscount Eltondale left town this morning for Deane Hall,
-     preparatory to the celebration of his Lordship's nuptials with its
-     lovely and accomplished heiress."
-
-For some minutes he only expressed by looks his commiseration for his
-nephew's feelings; but at length addressing him, "I own," said he, "I
-did not expect Lady Eltondale would have succeeded in her designs on
-Miss Seymour. I watched her closely and unremittingly while in London,
-and from some trifling circumstances I was led to believe, she would
-have made a far different choice. But my dear boy," continued he, with
-parental kindness, "though we have both been deceived, your misery is
-not aggravated as mine was. Do not despond; if Selina was capable of
-being either the tool or the dupe of Lady Eltondale, she was unworthy of
-you. Perhaps it is all for the best; perhaps the charming Adelaide you
-already so much admire, may yet repay you for all your sufferings."
-Though Augustus was incapable of receiving consolation, or listening
-even to reason at the first moment, yet he could not long remain
-insensible to the deep interest Lord Osselstone's looks and manner
-evinced; and in unburthening to him his whole soul, he felt a temporary
-relief from the grief that oppressed him; and thus, from a strange
-coincidence of circumstances and similarity of situation, the only
-confidant of his passion, except Mr. Temple, was the very man whose
-usual impenetrability of character repulsed all intimacy, and forbid
-even approach. Augustus, feeling the impossibility of communicating,
-even by letter, with Lord Eltondale on the subject of Selina's property,
-determined immediately to resign his charge as trustee, and was no less
-impatient for their arrival in London than his companions, in hopes, if
-possible, of anticipating in that respect the hated marriage. The very
-evening on which they reached town, Augustus hastened to
-Portman-square, to inquire whether his Lordship were still at Deane. He
-there learned that the Viscount had left it a few days before; and the
-servant, with agonizing precision, informed him, that orders had that
-day been received for the house in town being without delay put in
-order, as his Lordship expected to be married immediately, and he
-believed he was then at Eltondale, making similar preparations. Poor
-Augustus scarcely heard the concluding sentence, and returned to Lord
-Osselstone in a state almost of distraction. "I will go myself to Deane
-to-night," said he; "most of the papers are there in my bureau. I may
-get in time to deliver them to Mr. Temple before Lord Eltondale returns
-there.--It will be my last visit."
-
-In prosecution of this plan, Augustus left London that night in the York
-mail; and such was his agitated impatience, that he scarcely thought
-even that conveyance sufficiently rapid. Anxious to avoid being either
-recognized or impeded in passing through the village of Deane, he
-alighted from the mail at a few miles distance from that place, and by a
-more unfrequented road entered the Park at one of the most retired
-gates. His feelings rose to agony as he again viewed all the well-known
-haunts of his infancy; and more especially when he recollected, that
-nearly at the same time the year before he had returned thither, to
-receive the dying benediction of the kind-hearted Sir Henry. Wishing to
-escape these sad remembrances, and desirous, if possible, to fly even
-from himself, he sprang forward, and darting into a neighbouring grove,
-was scarcely conscious of his near approach to the house. A rustling in
-the trees at last attracted his attention, and he turned towards the
-place from whence it came. In a few moments he perceived his favourite
-dog Carlo bounding towards him, and in an instant the faithful creature
-lay panting at his feet. A little basket, filled with chesnuts, was hung
-round his neck, in which, in former days, the dog had often carried the
-flowers Selina used to gather in their rambles. But almost before
-Augustus could caress him, Selina's voice calling "Carlo," thrilled to
-his heart, and springing from behind a fence with no less activity than
-the truant animal she pursued, she stood beside him like a bright vision
-of former days. "Selina!" "Augustus!" each exclaimed at once; and looks
-more eloquent than words told their mutual feelings.
-
-But soon Selina endeavoured by language also to express her pleasure at
-once more beholding Mordaunt; and, forgetting at the moment all her
-disappointments, all her resentment for his apparent neglects, she gave
-her cordial and artless welcome with unembarrassed joy. Not so Augustus.
-Her unconcern he attributed to indifference, her evident happiness to
-her approaching marriage; and thus to his distempered judgment her
-vivacity almost appeared an insult. Selina quickly and resentfully
-perceived the coldness of his manners, and turning her head aside to
-hide the starting tears, invited him, with formal politeness, to
-accompany her to the house. But there the delighted Mrs. Galton was
-waiting to receive Augustus. She had seen him from the windows, and
-hastened to express her happiness at once more beholding him. The
-faithful old servants crowded round to bid him welcome. All
-congratulated him on his return to Deane, except its mistress. "And
-where has Selina flown to?" exclaimed Mrs. Galton; "we shall no doubt
-find her in her favourite room. Come, Augustus, I will introduce you,
-though you are already acquainted with it." His heart palpitated as he
-followed her through the well-known cedar hall, and up the massy
-staircase he so well remembered. But what were his emotions when she led
-him into what was once their school-room, and had been afterwards his
-own study! Selina had fitted it up with every elegance of modern
-improvement, arranged with her own peculiar taste, and in it she had
-assembled her various occupations of work, drawing, music, and books.
-When they entered, she was herself standing at a writing-table; her
-bonnet lay beside her, and her luxuriant hair, discomposed by her race,
-fell in loose ringlets on her shoulders; whilst the tear of wounded
-feeling stood on her beaming cheek. Augustus stopped, and casting his
-eyes around the altered room, "Is _this_ your favourite apartment,
-Selina?" said he, while love, joy, and gratitude glowed in his
-countenance. "I sometimes sit here to enjoy the morning sun," answered
-she, blushing deeply; whilst his ardent and penetrating gaze increased
-her confusion. At last withdrawing the glance that evidently distressed
-her, his eye rested on the bronze _garde de feuille_, which represented
-Carlo. He took it up, and was examining it attentively, when Selina,
-with an expression of pique, observed, "That is scarcely worth looking
-at, Mr. Mordaunt; it is as trifling as the donor; I really forgot both,
-or I should not have kept it here;" and with an air of unusual dignity
-she left the room. "Incomprehensible, girl!" exclaimed Mordaunt, after
-a pause. "Tell me, Mrs. Galton, what am I to understand?" "Nothing,"
-said she, "but that Selina refused Mr. Sedley, who gave her that dog:
-for the same reason she has since refused Lord Eltondale." "Refused Lord
-Eltondale?" repeated Augustus, quite bewildered. "Yes;" replied Mrs.
-Galton, "his Lordship came here express, hoping to say _Veni, vidi,
-vici_; and proposed himself to Selina before he was three days in the
-house. Of course, even if she had been actuated by no other motive, she
-would have declined a proposal that could only be for her fortune, and
-she accordingly refused it almost with resentment. Lady Eltondale
-manoeuvred, and stormed, and raved, but to no purpose; and finally,
-much to our satisfaction, set off for Brighton." Mrs. Galton might have
-continued her discourse _ad infinitum_. Augustus had turned to the
-window to conceal his emotion. There he caught a glimpse of Selina
-passing towards the shrubbery; seizing his hat, he rushed past Mrs.
-Galton, exclaiming, "There she is!" She smiled, and took up her book;
-but anxiety scarcely permitted her to comprehend one word of its
-contents. At length, after an absence of two hours, which to her
-appeared an age, and to them a second, Selina and Augustus returned arm
-in arm. Mrs. Galton looked up through her spectacles, and guessing the
-result of their conversation from Selina's blushes and Mordaunt's
-countenance, "Thank God!" exclaimed she, clasping her hands, whilst the
-tears rolled down her cheeks, "I have lived to see my two dear children
-happy!"
-
-Lord Osselstone was scarcely less rejoiced than Mrs. Galton, at
-receiving Mordaunt's letter, informing him of Selina's having promised
-him her hand. In his answer to it he said, "I have myself written to the
-very charming niece you are going to bestow on me, to express a part of
-the joy I feel on the occasion; but as I have much more to say on the
-subject, will you obtain her permission for me to pay my compliments to
-her and Mrs. Galton, in person, at Deane Hall, when I hope to make my
-peace with Miss Seymour, for having told you the story of Carlo's
-portrait, as you have no doubt already obtained her forgiveness for
-obtruding his little bronze duplicate into her cabinet."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-    J'ai vu beaucoup d'hymens, aucuns d'eux ne me tentent,
-    Cependant des humains presque les quatre parts
-    S'exposent hardiment au plus grand des hasards,
-    Les quatre parts aussi des humains se repentent[10].
-
-    oeLA FONTAINEoe
-
-[Footnote 10:
-
-      Many weddings have I seen,
-      By none of them I'm tempted;
-    Yet still full three fourths of mankind
-    Incur the risk--and still we find
-      Full three fourths have repented.
-]
-
-
-To return to Ballinamoyle:----One day Mr. O'Sullivan was sitting in his
-study, examining some old family writings, and rather wearied with his
-task, was not displeased to hear that familiar knock at his room door,
-which announces the approach of a friend. "Pray come in," said he: "Oh,
-Edward, is it you? I am happy to see you." "I should not have intruded
-into this _sanctum sanctorum_," replied Colonel Desmond; "but that I
-have in vain visited the library, and the parlour, and the drawing-room,
-without seeing a living creature, except the great dog who is lying
-asleep before the fire in the breakfast-room; and yet when Phelim took
-my horse, he said you were all at home." "That only means," rejoined Mr.
-O'Sullivan, laughing, "that with the aid of a telescope you might be
-able to discover all the party within a circuit of two or three miles:
-any thing on this side Tuberdonny he calls home. Miss Fitzcarril and
-Caroline are gone to cure Mrs. Cassady with some infallible remedy for
-the rheumatism; and Adelaide has rode with Mr. Dermoody, to see a
-curious ruin, that attracted his notice as he came from visiting a sick
-penitent yesterday. But it is late," continued he, looking at an old
-fashioned time-piece that stood on a bracket over the fire-place; "they
-will soon return."
-
-In the conversation which ensued, Colonel Desmond appeared extremely
-absent, answering "Yes," or "No," at random to Mr. O'Sullivan's various
-inquiries; and his usual florid complexion was much heightened as at
-every little noise he looked towards the door, or eagerly gazed out of
-the window. At last Adelaide's mellifluous voice met his ear, gaily
-singing one of the cadences of that exquisite strain of Guglielmi's:
-
-    Del mio sen la dolce calma liete eventi al corpredice,
-    Son contento son felice, altro il cor bramar non sa.
-
-He started up, but the melody had ceased, and he was again disappointed
-in his expectation of seeing her, for she had entered at the back of the
-house, and crossing one of the halls, ascended the stair-case which led
-to her own apartment. "Lovely creature!" exclaimed he. "She is indeed a
-lovely girl," replied the delighted old man; "I never knew but one her
-equal. Do you know, Desmond, I am quite happy, now I feel that the
-evening of my days will go down in peace. But," continued he, after a
-short pause, "I shall feel rather dull at first after Adelaide leaves
-me." "Leaves you, my dear Sir!--when! where!" "She goes next week to her
-uncle Lord Osselstone. Dermoody has strongly impressed me with the
-necessity of this step; and indeed the only reparation her father's
-family can now make for the wrongs of my poor Rose, is to show the world
-they are proud of her child. Lord Osselstone, as the most public
-acknowledgement he can make of his niece, is anxious to have her
-presented as soon as possible; until something of this sort is done, a
-shade of doubt might hang over her birth, which my pride could not
-brook. We only wait till the last formalities have been gone through, to
-enable her to bear the name of Wildenheim in England. It appears that
-her father requested Lord Osselstone to use his interest to have this
-accomplished in the letters we sent to Vienna. It is certainly most
-prudent; for her dropping the appellation by which she has been known to
-so many people abroad, whom she may probably meet in London, would call
-forth much distressing inquiry." "And what have Miss Wildenheim's own
-wishes been respecting this journey?" eagerly demanded Colonel Desmond.
-"Notwithstanding her anxiety to see her uncle, I could scarcely prevail
-on her to leave me till the winter was over. She said I should miss her
-less in summer, when I could go out--Oh how like her mother she is! I at
-last represented that a thousand unforeseen events might prevent her
-ever again visiting her uncle; and that her acceptance of his present
-kindness was due to the memory of her father. She then consented, for
-she loves that father as much as----poor Rose loved him." The gentlemen
-were both silent a few moments, when Colonel Desmond said in a hurried
-tone, "No doubt with _her_ charms, fortune, and connections, she will
-make a splendid alliance; you will rejoice----"--"Rejoice!" interrupted
-his auditor, "what to have her heart broken by some fashionable
-profligate like----No, Edward, my utmost wish would be to see her
-married to one of my own countrymen, who would not only be a fond
-husband to her, but, by residing here, would also prove a bountiful
-landlord to the poor people, who for so many years have stood in the
-place of children to me." "Is it possible?" said Colonel Desmond,
-seizing his hand, whilst his countenance brightened with his new-born
-happiness; "Is it possible, my dearest friend, you could be inclined to
-favour the wishes--alas! I dare scarcely call them hopes--of one who has
-nothing but a devoted heart and an honourable name to offer." "Edward,"
-replied the old man, "your virtues would render you worthy the
-acceptance of an Empress; my happiness would be inexpressible to see you
-her husband. Would to God I had bestowed her mother on such a man!"
-
-In a few minutes Colonel Desmond was conducted by O'Sullivan to Miss
-Wildenheim's sitting-room; and when the anxious parent retired, pleaded
-his passion with love's own eloquence. Adelaide, much agitated, moved
-almost to tears, which she could scarcely restrain as she spoke,
-expressed her esteem, her gratitude, for this long-continued
-kindness--her regard for him as her father's friend, as her own: yet
-concluded by saying, "An insuperable obstacle divides us; generously
-spare me the distressing recital wherefore. I implore your forgiveness
-if my conduct has unintentionally deceived you." "No, no," interrupted
-he, "you twice before conveyed your sentiments to me in a manner I could
-not mistake; but I have acted like an idiot--nothing has deceived me but
-my cursed folly and presumption." "Oh, do not say so," exclaimed
-Adelaide, with earnest kind anxiety to soothe his wounded feelings; "my
-judgment tells me, that, of all men living, I should be happiest with
-you, if my affections----" The sentence remained unfinished; but her
-swimming eyes and mournful tones were sufficiently expressive.
-
-Colonel Desmond instantly retired, for he was too noble-minded to pain
-her feelings by further solicitation, and much too proud to have
-accepted her pity in place of her love. As he passed through the hall,
-he met his venerable friend, and pressing his hand, said, "Your kindness
-is of no avail. Melicent will now be my only consolation. When you are
-alone, you shall see me again;" then drawing down his hat over his
-brows, hastily left the house.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan proceeded to Adelaide, and sorrowfully remonstrated with
-her on her rejection of his friend. To satisfy his feelings, and justify
-herself, she detailed all the circumstances that related to her regard
-for Frederick Elton. "But, my dear parent," said she in conclusion,
-"this attachment, once so strong in my father's sanction and my own
-feelings, is now inert; if, as is most probable, he has bestowed his
-affections elsewhere, I trust I am too just to resent, too proud to
-repine. All I exacted from him, and promised for myself, was complete
-forgetfulness. I thought I had succeeded, but, forgive my weakness,
-every word Colonel Desmond spoke recalled the idea of Frederick from
-the oblivion I had condemned it to. We will never mention his name
-again, my dear Sir." She faltered, and throwing her arms about her
-grandfather's neck, wept bitterly. When again composed, she continued,
-"I know you think I ought to struggle against this romantic folly;
-believe me I do, I always have; never, even to my beloved father, did I
-expose the weakness of my heart as I have this day to you. For the last
-two years I have divorced myself from my own feelings, and my mind has
-dwelt with the thoughts of others. Time will do much; but I have not
-that ardent affection for Colonel Desmond necessary to make either of us
-happy." "I do not now wish, my dearest child, to influence your choice,"
-replied O'Sullivan; "but his affection for you is unbounded, and with
-the high estimation you hold his character in, you could not fail to
-return it in time." "I fear, my dear Sir," said Adelaide, "that to have
-any rational expectation of happiness in marriage, a woman ought rather
-to depend on the love she feels for a man, than on his for her, as on
-her own sentiments alone she can depend with certainty. But I, of all my
-sex, have surely the least temptation to marry, who am so happy as a
-daughter. My future husband, whoever he may be," said she, with assumed
-gravity, "will have small reason to thank you for your indulgence; none
-of the lords of the creation will ever again treat such a little
-undeserving subject with the same lenity." The old man kissed her
-affectionately, and forbore any further solicitation for his friend.
-
-On the day preceding that fixed for Adelaide's departure, she was
-sitting with her grandfather, examining the route he had traced out for
-her, and promising obedience to his injunctions not to catch cold: "I
-would not have Lord Osselstone see you for the first time with red eyes,
-swelled nose, and chapped lips, not for half the barony of
-Aughrakillynch; and I beg you won't wear any of the trumpery Mrs.
-O'Sullivan bought you in London last summer, but put on my favourite
-black satin dress you brought from Naples; you look like a queen in
-that. You said you'd wear it to-day, dear. God knows if ever I
-shall----" The accents died on his lips, and, ringing the bell with
-agitated vehemence, he ordered Miss Wildenheim's new travelling carriage
-to be driven round the ring in front of the house, that he might see how
-it ran. The trampling of horses soon announced the approach of the
-carriage. "Adelaide, dear, look for the seal you gave me, that I may see
-if the arms are done right," said Mr. O'Sullivan, who, in the mean time,
-went to the window to look out, exclaiming an instant afterwards, "It
-was well I had it round, that lazy rascal Phelim has never cleaned it
-since it came; it is splashed all over! And what the devil has he been
-doing with my horses--they are jaded to death! Hey day! who have we got
-here? Why, Adelaide, there's the handsomest young man I ever saw has
-opened the door for himself from the inside, and jumped out actually
-before the horses stopped."
-
-At that instant she heard her own name pronounced, in the hall, by a
-voice which thrilled to her heart, as she instantly recognized it to be
-that of the handsomest young man _she_ ever saw. She flew towards the
-door, but if with an intention to escape, was too late, for the stranger
-entered at the same instant, and seizing both her hands, presented
-Frederick to her view!
-
-Her first emotion was that of delighted surprise; joy sparkled in her
-eyes, and irradiated her whole figure. His looks, his tones, his
-incoherent words, betrayed his inexpressible feelings. Mr. O'Sullivan
-stood gazing on the youthful pair in mute astonishment. Adelaide, in a
-few minutes recollecting herself, turned towards him, and, covered with
-blushes, introduced "Mr. Elton;" and, whilst the gentlemen were making
-their bows, retired from the room, but so lightly and swiftly made good
-her retreat, that till she was out of hearing, they did not perceive she
-had attempted it. The old man looked on Frederick with the deepest
-emotion, for Adelaide had turned to him with the same melting glance
-that Rose first entreated his approval of her beloved Reginald. Too much
-agitated to speak, "thought on thought rolled over his soul," impressing
-their melancholy seriousness on his countenance. Lord Eltondale, though
-a man of fashion, and a man of the world, was no coxcomb, and could feel
-embarrassed sometimes, as on the present occasion, when his eyes rested
-on the venerable figure that, excited by the feeling of the moment, rose
-from the slight bend with which age and sorrow usually tempered its
-commanding loftiness; and, with the dignity that fancy lends to the
-chieftains of ancient story, stood tacitly demanding explanation and
-apology. Frederick felt indescribably awed, and, with a feeling of
-painful confusion, wished himself out of the house, almost as earnestly
-as he had but a few minutes before wished himself in it. After making
-one or two more profound bows than were absolutely necessary, he stooped
-to pick up his hat from the floor, where he had dropped it at the sight
-of Adelaide, and then, with his colour nearly as much heightened as hers
-had been, addressing Mr. O'Sullivan, said, "I know not what apology to
-offer for this abrupt intrusion, Sir; will you pardon it, and permit me
-to pay my compliments to you and Miss Wildenheim to-morrow morning?" Mr.
-O'Sullivan's national and characteristic hospitality quickly banished
-the involuntary repugnance with which he had at first regarded the
-unexpected visitor, nor indeed could he long look with coldness on a
-countenance illuminated by his beloved grandchild's smiles; and
-therefore, on being thus addressed, extended his hand in sign of cordial
-welcome, whilst he replied, "Willingly, Sir, on the condition that you
-remain here to-night. I should be guilty of little less than homicide,
-in suffering you to drive over those mountains again this evening;--'tis
-almost dark at this instant." "Thank you, thank you a thousand times, my
-dear Sir!" exclaimed Lord Eltondale, if possible still more grateful
-for the manner in which it was granted, than for the much-coveted
-permission itself. "Could you but know the happiness your invitation
-gives me. I see you can pity the feelings of a young man." "I can _pity_
-them," said O'Sullivan, smiling. "When I know you better, young
-gentleman, I will tell you whether I wish to encourage them. In the mean
-time I consider you only as my guest; and in that light, Sir, you are
-heartily welcome to Ballinamoyle." Mr. O'Sullivan soon terminated the
-forced conversation which then took place between him and his guest, by
-offering to have the latter conducted to his room to change his boots
-before dinner, which proposition was willingly accepted.
-
-All the family party had reassembled in the drawing room, with the
-exception of Miss Wildenheim, when her maid came to inform her dinner
-would be served immediately; she looked once more in the glass, to see
-if the profuse expenditure of rose water she had indulged in had been
-effectual in effacing all traces of tears; for she was perhaps not less
-anxious to avoid appearing before Frederick "with red eyes, and a
-swelled nose," than her grandfather was that she should not thus
-encounter Lord Osselstone. When she entered the drawing room, O'Sullivan
-smiled with pleasure, to see her "look like a queen," in the favourite
-robe, that, in many a silken fold, "giving and stealing grace," flowed
-round her exquisite form. Her luxuriant hair, as it wound in plaited
-lustre round her fair brows, seemed indeed to crown them with the diadem
-of beauty. But more than beauty adorned her angelic countenance; she had
-seen the dawn of felicity arise; its brilliant beam trembled in her soft
-eye, whilst its tenderest hues of roseate red tinged her cheek. As she
-drew near the circle, each, by some involuntary token of kindness,
-welcomed her approach; and the bewitching smile which played at hide and
-seek with her ruby lip, when she returned the greetings of affection,
-at once rewarded and excited them.
-
-But no air of pretty consciousness spoke her prepared to act "_L'Idola
-bella_," or that she expected Lord Eltondale to fall at her feet, and
-worship her at the first gracious signal. Her manner had that
-self-possession, which was due to her own dignity, and under which every
-woman of true delicacy would shroud her feelings in a similar situation.
-Frederick forebore, by word or look, to cause her the least confusion;
-he was too generous to inflict the pain of distressed modesty on the
-woman he loved; perhaps also his love was so deeply, so anxiously felt,
-that it shrunk from the gaze of other eyes than hers who excited it.
-Neither of them addressed the other directly, but he soon managed, with
-well-bred ease, to introduce general conversation, which banished all
-appearance of constraint.
-
-When dinner was announced, Mr. O'Sullivan, who always insisted on giving
-Adelaide precedence of Miss Fitzcarril, notwithstanding her
-representation of that lady's seniority, now formally requested Lord
-Eltondale to conduct her to the dining parlour; as her beautiful hand
-lay on Frederick's arm he took it in his, and would have pressed it to
-his heart, had not a half-reproving glance recalled to his recollection,
-that they were closely observed by several servants, who stood in goodly
-row, almost forgetting what for, in their eager scrutiny of his face and
-figure. Mr. O'Sullivan followed, leading Miss Fitzcarril in all the
-stateliness of _la vieille cour_; little Caroline skipped gaily along,
-playing tricks with Captain Cormac and Mr. Dermoody, whilst the former,
-by a wise shake of the head, prevented her touching his patron's silver
-locks, which were tied with a black riband, in an old fashioned tail,
-that reached half way-down his back, and daily tempted the merry
-sprite's ivory fingers.
-
-A well lighted room, with a blazing fire and an excellent dinner, made
-the party almost rejoice to hear the whistling wind and driving
-showers, that foreboded a stormy night. Lord Eltondale was so overjoyed
-to find himself once more seated beside Adelaide, unshackled by any
-engagement, and almost certain of her regard, that all his former and
-characteristic vivacity returned; and his lively sallies infecting every
-body with his own gaiety, she talked to him with that flow of spirits,
-which her delight at seeing him naturally excited in her mind; and
-whilst his admiration increased every moment, she did not fail to
-remark, that "he was more intelligent in conversation, more elegant in
-manner and figure, than any man she had ever seen, except her father,"
-who was still her model of perfection.
-
-When the gentlemen unwillingly suffered the ladies to retire to the
-drawing-room, Mr. O'Sullivan called his granddaughter to him, and as she
-bent her head in a listening position; her brilliant countenance
-confirmed the cheerful acquiescence her words conveyed to his proposal.
-Frederick rightly guessing it was a request to defer her journey, as he
-opened the door for her to pass, said, in a low tone, with a sort of
-happy playful assurance in his looks, "Thank you, Adelina." She
-coloured, and her head was fast rising to the true altitude of feminine
-pride; when he, standing so as to impede her escape, without seeming to
-do so, whispered, "Forgive me; I presumed on former recollections; I had
-flattered myself the spell was broken, that separated me and happiness."
-One of Adelaide's enchanting smiles dissipated the uneasiness, that had
-quickly clouded his features.
-
-It is not to be supposed, that all this escaped Miss Fitzcarril's
-notice; accordingly the drawing-room door was scarcely closed, when,
-with a significant wink, she proposed taking Caroline to assist her in
-settling her closet, when any of the gentlemen should return from the
-parlour, where she rightly conjectured Mr. O'Sullivan's fine claret
-would not long detain some of the party. Adelaide, with an imploring
-look, took her hand, saying, "I entreat you, my dear Madam, if you have
-the least regard for me, not to think of such a thing; I would not lose
-your society an instant this evening for the world."
-
-The ancient maiden understood her, but thought she was only going to do
-as she would be done by; and recollected, with a sigh, that this was not
-at all the solution she expected of Judy Stewart's prophecy.
-
-Adelaide's journey was postponed but one day; and she soon had the
-happiness of finding in Lord Osselstone almost a second father in mind,
-manner, and person, hourly reminding her of the beloved parent, that,
-till she knew her uncle, she thought none on earth had ever resembled.
-
-Amongst the young men of fashion, that now seek the smiles of "the
-beautiful and accomplished" (according to the technical term which
-designates every high-born heiress) niece of the Earl of Osselstone,
-none seems to meet his Lordship's approval so decidedly as Viscount
-Eltondale, who, we may safely prophesy, will soon win on the regard of
-his Adelina's noble uncle, as much as he gained on that of her venerable
-grandfather, during his short visit to Ballinamoyle.
-
-    "Tant que Phillis eut un destin prospere,
-    Plus d'un amant lui dit d'un ton sincere,
-              Que vos beaux yeux
-                Sont gracieux,
-              L'amour pour eux
-                Fixe mes voeux,
-    Chaque instant redouble mes feux,
-    Le temps n'y peut rien faire."
-
-
-THE END.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Printed by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations within volume and between volumes
-left as printed.]
-
-
-
-
-
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Vol 3 of 3, by Frances Brooke
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Manners, Vol 3 of 3
-       A Novel
-
-Author: Frances Brooke
-
-Release Date: July 7, 2012 [EBook #40160]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANNERS, VOL 3 OF 3 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                      MANNERS:
-
-                      A NOVEL.
-
-
-            ----Dicas hîc forsitan unde
-    Ingenium par materiæ.
-
-                                     JUVENAL.
-
-    Je sais qu'un sot trouve toujours un plus sot pour le lire.
-
-                                     FRED. LE GRAND.
-
-
-    IN THREE VOLUMES.
-    VOL. III.
-
-    LONDON:
-    PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
-    PATERNOSTER ROW.
-
-    1817.
-
-
-
-
-MANNERS.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-    ----Whose birth beyond all question springs
-    From great and glorious, though forgotten, kings.
-
-    oeCHURCHILL.oe
-
-
-The lady who did the honours of Mr. O'Sullivan's house to our English
-travellers, on the night of their arrival at Ballinamoyle, Miss
-Fitzcarril by name, was in person extremely tall; and a carriage of
-extraordinary uprightness gave her, with a stiffness, a dignity also of
-appearance. Her face, though good natured in expression, was, at that
-period, rather plain; but yet sufficient evidence remained to
-corroborate her own frequent assertion, that "she had once been a fine
-woman;" in making which she flattered herself her auditors would imply,
-that she took the same license which the structure of a venerable
-language sometimes permits, of understanding, at pleasure, different
-tenses by the same word; and that they would from the past infer the
-present. In dress and manner she was old fashioned, but stately,
-generally wearing garments made of the antique tabinets and satins she
-inherited from her grandmother, and which, from the unbending nature of
-the material, would have stood alone, nearly in as erect a posture as
-that they maintained when encompassing her perpendicular figure; a
-double clear starched handkerchief, which Mr. Desmond wickedly called
-her transparency, enveloped her neck; and the costume of her person was
-completed by a fine muslin apron of curious work, derived from her own,
-or her progenitors' industry. Her headdress was the only part of her
-attire which was ever varied, and in this she was fantastic in the
-extreme, composing it of the most showy materials, and wearing in her
-caps and turbans colours only fit for the young and beautiful. Every
-acquaintance who visited Galway, Limerick, or Clare, was sure to have a
-commission to buy a cap or bonnet for Miss Fitzcarril; and the more
-_outré_ in form and colour, the better pleased she was with their
-purchase. She was, in mind, the most singular mixture of pride and
-parsimony that was perhaps ever compounded; the one she derived from her
-highly valued ancestry, the other from her own peculiar fate, and a
-mistaken idea of principle; and she reconciled her frugality and her
-dignity, by declaring that "the Fitzcarrils and O'Sullivans needn't
-trouble their heads about what any one said of them; _every body_ knew
-they were come of the kings of Connaught, and had a good right to do as
-they pleased." In early life she had lived in extreme poverty, and then
-had learned the ideas of management she afterwards laboured to enforce
-at Ballinamoyle. Mr. O'Sullivan had been deprived of his wife a few
-years before he had also the misfortune to lose his only child; and on
-the death of this beloved daughter, he chose Theresa Fitzcarril from
-amongst his female relatives, to superintend his establishment, at the
-same time settling a comfortable provision on her, in case she should
-survive himself; which he considered a mere act of justice, for he
-foresaw that the retirement of his residence would condemn her to a life
-of solitude and celibacy, the two precise circumstances which least
-accorded with her own wishes. Theresa, on her part, actuated by an
-excess of pride, resolved she would cancel her pecuniary obligations,
-not only to her original benefactor, but to his heir, by saving for the
-family a sum more than equivalent to all she should ever receive from
-it. She therefore endeavoured (though without much success) to introduce
-a system of penury at Ballinamoyle, that, had its owner been aware of
-her proceedings, he would not have suffered, as it was diametrically
-opposite to his wishes; he seldom however inquired into the _minutiæ_
-of his household; and indifferent to every thing, after the loss of his
-daughter, he permitted Theresa to do nearly as she pleased; and when he
-did object to any of her practices, she was so obstinate, that he found
-he must, to get rid of them, get rid of herself also with them, and this
-he never could resolve on; but consoled himself with the usual
-reflection of his countrymen, when trouble is necessary to avoid any
-thing unpleasant, "It will do well enough, my time won't be long." Miss
-Fitzcarril sought to relieve the monotony of her life by indulging in
-constant speculation. In every lottery she had a sixteenth share of a
-ticket; and to ascertain what she might possess in the _matrimonial
-lottery_, had frequent and protracted conferences with all the tribes of
-cup-tossers, card-cutters, and deaf and dumb men and women, who infested
-the country as fortune-tellers,--"Who blind could every thing
-foresee"--"Who dumb could every thing foretell." This pleasure however
-Miss Fitzcarril was obliged to indulge in secret, as Mr. O'Sullivan and
-the worthy priest, who was his domestic pastor, used their best
-endeavours to banish this race of vagabonds from every place they had
-influence in; so that when she consulted any of these oracles, she was
-obliged to conceal herself and them in some remote cabin; but perhaps
-the impediment thus thrown in the way of this favourite indulgence made
-her but the more keenly enjoy and still more pertinaciously persist in
-the practice, notwithstanding the reiterated penances imposed for this
-offence by the good father Dermoody, which, though she ventured to
-commit, she did not dare to suppress at confessional. A family of the
-name of Stewart wandered about the country, presenting papers signed by
-respectable names, setting forth, that "their progenitors had been
-shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland, about a century ago--that the whole
-race were deaf and dumb--but that Providence, in compensation, had
-bestowed on them the gift of second sight." To the predictions of a dumb
-woman, who claimed this name, and proved she was deaf, by showing that
-nature had left her unprovided with ears[1], Theresa gave the most
-implicit credit. This Pythoness had learned to write the printed
-character, and to draw rude representations of ships, trees, men, and
-animals, which she described on a board with a piece of white chalk; and
-of these hieroglyphics those who consulted her made what sense best
-pleased them. A sharp boy, who had all his senses in full activity,
-never failed to accompany her; apparently to assist in expounding her
-text, but, in reality, to collect information, which, by the language of
-signs, he certainly conveyed to his fellow conjuror, at the most
-_à-propos_ moment, as no body concealed from him the information she was
-supposed to be (humanly speaking) ignorant of;
-
-    "Tout cela bien souvent faisoit crier miracle!
-    Enfin quoique ignorant à vingt et trois carats,
-    Elle passoit pour un oracle!"
-
-[Footnote 1: This account of the Stewart family is not fictitious,
-either as to name or circumstance.]
-
-In their last conference Judy Stewart had given Miss Fitzcarril the
-following enigma:--A rose rudely drawn, followed by the words "of
-vargins,"--then, a ship in full sail--then, three suns--and lastly, a
-man, four times as big as the ship, holding a candle in one hand, and a
-ring in the other. The exposition Barny and the curious spinster gave of
-this was as follows:--"The flower of virgins," that is, the eldest
-daughter of the direct branch of the O'Sullivan family, was coming from
-beyond sea, and would arrive at Ballinamoyle, as soon as the sun had
-risen three times, bringing in her train a great personage (expressed by
-his extraordinary size,) who would, in winter, designated by the candle,
-bestow the wedding ring on the fair Theresa Fitzcarril. Judy Stewart's
-credit was luckily saved by the horses, which our travellers so
-unexpectedly procured at Tuberdonny, fulfilling the first part of the
-prediction; and in Mr. Webberly the credulous maiden saw the hero, who
-was to accomplish that part which related to herself.
-
-Extremes are popularly said to meet, which, we suppose, may naturally
-account for the Connaught sibyls' most zealous friend and powerful enemy
-residing at Ballinamoyle. The latter was the reverend father Dermoody,
-who filled the office of spiritual guide to its owner. He was well
-informed in mind, and gentlemanly in manners; two circumstances but
-rarely united in the Irish priests, who are generally taken from a low
-order in society, and do not usually carry an appearance impressive of
-the respect, to which most of them are entitled by their real worth. Mr.
-Dermoody was a relation of the late Mrs. O'Sullivan, and had embraced
-the priesthood from the influence of early disappointment, which had
-disgusted him with the world, and led him to devote himself to a
-religious life for consolation. He pursued his theological studies in
-one of the French colleges, and was deliberating on entering into a
-monastic order of great austerity, when he received a letter from his
-present patron, acquainting him with his marriage, and offering him the
-situation of chaplain to his family, which Dermoody's better stars
-induced him to accept. For many years he bestowed on the education of
-his relative's lovely daughter all of his time and thoughts, which were
-not devoted to his sacred functions; and, since her death, he had been
-the consolation of her desolate father, and a blessing to the poor of
-the vicinity. As he however avoided society in general, he was not
-introduced to our travellers on the night of their arrival, but they
-then made acquaintance with Miss Fitzcarril's constant and obsequious
-attendant, Captain Cormac, so called by common consent, though he had
-never risen in the army higher than a lieutenant, the half pay of which
-rank was his only subsistence, independent of Mr. O'Sullivan's bounty.
-Though of a different religious persuasion, his family had long been
-tenants and retainers of that at Ballinamoyle; and this member of it, on
-the strength of his red coat, was considered a gentleman, and, as such,
-was every day admitted to Mr. O'Sullivan's table, and made up his card
-party in the winter's evenings, generally returning at night to the
-house of a better sort of steward, living on the demesne, who managed
-the Ballinamoyle property, its owner charging himself with the expenses
-there incurred by Captain Cormac.
-
-This son of Mars, conscious of the deficiency of his pedigree, very
-unknowingly endeavoured to prove his title to the character of a
-gentleman, by paying the most anxious and unremitting attention to the
-fair sex in general, and to Miss Fitzcarril in particular; for, in
-consequence of his living in this sequestered situation, he was totally
-unsuspicious of the improvements in modern manners, which lead so many
-of our youth to suppose, that a neglect of the ladies they associate
-with, not unfrequently amounting almost to rudeness, is an indispensable
-requisite in the deportment of every fashionable beau; but perhaps some
-of our readers will suggest an excuse for Captain Cormac's ignorant
-simplicity, by acknowledging that beau and gentleman are not always
-synonymous terms. Mr. O'Sullivan for instance, was certainly no beau,
-though perfectly a gentleman. As this word, in our humble opinion,
-conveys a character that is almost all "that the eye looks for," or "the
-heart desires" in man, we will not weaken its inexpressible worth by
-paraphrase, but hope the actions of the person it has here been applied
-to will establish his claim to the most noble appellation the English
-language boasts of.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-    O! live--and deeply cherish still
-      The sweet remembrance of the past;
-    Rely on Heav'n's unchanging will
-                        For peace at last!
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-On the morning after her arrival at Ballinamoyle, Adelaide was forcibly
-struck with the strange coincidence of circumstances that had conducted
-her to this place, so remote from the scenes in which she had once
-expected to have passed her life. That day two years, she had no
-expectation of becoming an inhabitant of the British isles; and one
-fortnight had just elapsed since she received Mrs. O'Sullivan's letter,
-announcing her intention of undertaking the journey they had
-accomplished. Her meeting with Colonel Desmond seemed like seeing an
-inhabitant of another world, who could dive into thoughts, and was
-acquainted with occurrences unknown to those she was surrounded by.
-Though but four years had revolved since they last met, from the
-unexpected nature of the events that had marked them, they seemed, to
-memory, longer in duration than all those which had smoothly rolled
-away, ere their giant days rose on the wheel of fate, robed in the
-strongest hues of joy or sorrow. She felt grieved her journey was now at
-an end, as she had derived much amusement from it, and knew she should,
-in future, associate much less with Colonel Desmond. "I wonder, (thought
-she,) what description of being this Mr. O'Sullivan is, we have come so
-far to see--Poor little Caroline! I hope he will be more affectionate to
-her than her mother and sisters are."
-
-When Adelaide repaired to the breakfast room, and proceeded to open the
-door, her hand trembled on the lock, for she heard Caroline's joyous
-voice within, followed by an expression of fondness; and recollected,
-with bitterness of heart, that in that room was no relative, who would
-greet her entrance with a face of gladness.--She could not go in at that
-moment, and retreated a few steps. "Why am I so overpowered this
-morning? (thought she,) I ought to be more than usually happy, in
-reflecting, that dearest Caroline is this day introduced to her father's
-family; the happy one will soon arrive, when I shall be restored to
-mine, so _coûte qui coûte_, I go in." Armed with this magnanimous
-resolution, she entered the room, and her eyes were instantly attracted
-by one of the most venerable figures she had ever beheld. An old
-gentleman, dressed in mourning, was sitting with little Caroline on his
-knee; his face, as he bent his gray head to gaze on her infant beauties,
-was expressive of every benevolent feeling, whilst his dignified figure
-impressed the beholder with an awe, which was tempered, but not entirely
-removed, by the benignity of his countenance. In him was seen all that
-was reverend in age--in the cherub he caressed all that was blooming in
-youth. Her silken hair hung, in waving ringlets, on a cheek that mocked
-the rose's hue; her transparent skin showed the blue veins, that
-meandered on a brow as spotless as the mountain snow. The dark blue eye,
-that threw its melting ray on his, seemed to call forth fires that long
-had slept beneath those silver brows; and as her ivory arm hung round
-his neck, the youthful softness of her hand was more than usually
-apparent from the contrast it formed with the withered cheek it pressed.
-"Dearest Caroline! may he prove a fond parent to you!" was the ardent
-wish of Adelaide's heart, as she gazed on the happy child, and her
-venerable relative. Mr. O'Sullivan, looking up, rose to receive her; and
-the little girl, springing gaily forward, took her hand, saying, "This
-is my own dear Adele Wildenheim, I told you about, uncle; I love her
-better than any body in the world; if you will let me live with you, and
-will keep her too, I shall be so happy!" Whilst Caroline looked
-inquiringly up in his face to read the success of her proposition; the
-old man smiled on the lovely girl thus introduced to him, and holding
-out his hand cordially to her, said, "Your name is well known to me,
-Miss Wildenheim. Baron Wildenheim was the friend and benefactor of my
-deceased brother, and his child is truly welcome to my roof." Adelaide's
-cheek glowed with the most vivid blushes as she felt a tear trickle
-down; the accents faltered on her lips when she attempted to speak, and
-a deep sigh burst from Mr. O'Sullivan's breast as he recollected, that
-the daughter he had lost in the bloom of youth was, in his eyes at
-least, as lovely as the beautiful girl they now rested on.
-
-At this moment Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan entered the room; the
-latter acting the amicable, aspired to rest her fat hand on the bony arm
-of the stately Theresa, who, with smiles of unconscious exultation at
-her own towering height, and with an air of condescension, bent her long
-neck over her right shoulder, towards her rotund companion, as if the
-words she addressed to her would not otherwise be within hearing
-distance. The one stalked forward, sweeping after her a long train of
-the thickest tabinet; the other (though certainly not a figure for a
-Zephyr) fluttered in gauze, whose transparent texture a Roman would have
-compared to "the woven wind," her habiliment being about as long as that
-of the sapient dame well known in nursery history, after her unfortunate
-rencontre with the mischievous pedler.
-
-When Mrs. O'Sullivan espied her brother-in-law, she bustled up to him
-with an appearance of lively pleasure; but an observer, with half the
-penetration of Adelaide, might have seen a temporary expression of
-disappointment cloud his features, as from his brother he had never
-received the slightest hint, that might lead him to form an idea of what
-she really was, either in manner or appearance; and the beauty of her
-daughter and elegance of her ward had made him expect to find her far
-different in both; however, this expression was but transient, and he
-received her with his usual hospitality, and told her with much warmth
-and sincerity, how much he admired the charming little Caroline. The
-Miss Webberlys and their brother made their appearance shortly after
-Mrs. O'Sullivan's entrance; and the groupe were all assembled round the
-breakfast-table when Father Dermoody came into the room, whom Miss
-Fitzcarril and the master of the house rose to receive with the utmost
-respect, whilst his manner united the humility he felt as a man with the
-dignity he derived from his sacred office. When he approached them, the
-motion of his hand, and the raised expression of his countenance, told
-Adelaide that he passed that silent benediction she had so often
-witnessed abroad. His benevolent looks seemed to extend it to all,
-though a slight tinge on his cheek, and a half mournful glance of his
-eye, betrayed that he felt it would be scorned by some. A reverential
-bend of Adelaide's graceful figure, and the mild seriousness that
-chastened her smile of acknowledgement as her eye met his, conveyed to
-the venerable priest that she at least understood him, and thankfully
-received his pious aspirations. He looked in vain for the sign, that
-should have marked their conformity of faith, and sighed deeply, then
-muttered half under his breath, "In all else how like!"
-
-The English ladies soon found Miss Fitzcarril's gunpowder tea quite too
-potent for their nerves, and diluted it in a manner that astonished her;
-for this good lady, in her extensive patronage of vagrants, included
-smugglers and pedlers, from whom she procured the finest teas and
-brandies, for to these articles her ideas of parsimony did not extend;
-and as she kept the latter entirely for her male friends, she thought
-the former in their utmost strength the peculiar beverage of the fair
-sex, and now wondered where these ladies could have been brought up, not
-to understand the merits of gunpowder tea at a guinea a pound!
-
-In the course of the morning Mr. O'Sullivan took his usual promenade in
-front of his house; and here he appeared in all his glory. In one
-promiscuous groupe were assembled the heads of the families his tenantry
-comprised, with every other man, woman, or child, that could leave home
-to get a peep at the newly-arrived guests, whose appearance at
-Ballinamoyle had been looked for with more curiosity than pleasure. For
-Mr. O'Sullivan was universally beloved, and the superstitious ideas of
-his tenantry made them regard the arrival of his heiress as an omen of
-his own death; besides they very naturally dreaded this property being
-given to people unattached to them, and unacquainted with their customs.
-As the ladies stood at the open windows in front of the house to gaze at
-the strange assemblage, many were the remarks their appearance called
-forth. According to custom, every domestic went out in turn to
-"collogue," as they call it, with their favourite Judy or Barny; and as
-Caroline stood on the window-seat with Adelaide's protecting arm round
-her waist, she was repeatedly pointed out to the inquirers. But as the
-Irish seldom have patience to listen to more than half a sentence, when
-their minds are intent on any new subject, Caroline's companion was by
-most of the crowd taken for the object of their search. "She is a
-beautiful young lady, and looks loving and kind." "She's about the
-height of poor Miss Rose." "Ochone, she was the darling! Sun or moon
-will ne'er shine on the likes of her again; and while grass grows and
-water runs, she'll ne'er be forgot out of Ballinamoyle!" These and many
-similar expressions proceeded from the lips of the elder part of the
-assembly, whilst the unconscious object of their remarks entertained
-herself in viewing the various groupes it consisted of.
-
-Close after Mr. O'Sullivan walked his steward, hat in hand, to receive
-his orders, or answer his questions respecting the numerous petitioners
-who from time to time approached him. Whenever he turned towards the
-crowd, every man's hat was instantaneously taken off in the most
-respectful manner--every woman's petticoat, however short, touched the
-ground in her curtsy. Sundry sturdy little urchins were thumped on the
-back for being rather tardy in paying his honour proper respect; and a
-sulky reverence brought more than one little girl to the ground, as her
-mother used no very gentle means to expedite her motions; whilst many a
-rosy child had its plump cheek or white head stroked for being
-"mannerly." When Mr. O'Sullivan's levee had lasted as long as he wished,
-and when he had granted potato ground, and grazing ground, and firing
-ground, and had remitted fines for trespasses innumerable, his steward
-gave the usual signal, and the crowd dispersed to idle away the rest of
-the morning:--an idle evening was a thing of course.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril now proceeded to perform that ceremony always observed
-in a country house--of showing it, however unworthy it may be of
-exhibition. This old-fashioned edifice had been built by the present
-proprietor's grandfather with the materials of an ancient monastery,
-which had fallen to ruin on its site, which was made choice of for the
-convenience of communicating by a covered passage with the remaining
-chapel--a venerable and beautiful structure, that had been preserved in
-perfect repair. Over the hall door, at the top of the house, appeared
-the family arms cut in stone, and underneath the name of the builder and
-the date of the year when it was finished, in order, as Miss Webberly
-wittily remarked, "to claim the stolen goods by, should any one take it
-up on their backs and run away with it." The rooms were large and well
-built, and as uniformly square as a bricklayer's line could make them.
-The furniture was substantial, and, like Miss Fitzcarril, had been
-handsome in its day; but it survived its contemporaries, and the present
-race thought it heavy and sombre. The house had altogether a desolate
-appearance, and, like the Canal Inn, could rarely boast of a perfect
-bell or lock. In the part of the house which adjoined the chapel, Mrs.
-O'Sullivan frequently turned the lock of a door she passed by in
-traversing the various passages; and her guide always said with unusual
-seriousness, "You can't go in there, madam;" at last the question was
-asked "Why?" and was answered, with a deep sigh, "That was _poor Rose's_
-apartment; nobody has ever been in it since she died but her father and
-poor nurse." "Then what a pity," rejoined Mrs. O'Sullivan, "not to block
-up the windows; let me see, three rooms back to the chapel, one, two,
-three, four, five, six windows--all that much taxes for nothing!" "Block
-up the windows of poor Rose's apartment! Blessed powers defend
-me!--Child!" said the angry Theresa turning to Caroline, with a
-vehemence of gesture and sternness of aspect that made the trembling
-infant, while she looked fearfully up in her face, tightly clasp her
-arms round Adelaide, "if you ever own this place, take care that you pay
-respect to every relict of your cousin; it would be as much as any
-one's life's worth to put an affront upon her memory."
-
-Though Mrs. O'Sullivan could not see this apartment, she was resolved to
-inspect every other nook of the house, kitchens and store-rooms
-inclusive. In the latter she was surprised to see huge barrels of oaten
-meal and dried fish, with numerous casks of whisky. Suspended over head
-hung the cured carcases of three cows and five pigs, ready to supply the
-place of their fellows in the principal kitchen. As they passed down one
-of the back stair-cases, they saw in the court yard a number of men and
-boys, waiting for the chance of casual employment about the house. The
-men were muffled up in great coats, buttoned about their necks, the
-empty sleeves hanging at their sides; some leaning against the walls,
-some lying on their stomachs basking in the sun; others asleep in
-various postures; the boys dancing, or playing backgammon, which they
-managed by squares traced on the ground, whilst one called out the
-numbers at random, which answered the purpose of dice; others wrestling,
-sometimes throwing each other down on the sleepers, who just raised
-their heads to give a volley of oaths, and turned to sleep again. The
-unexpected entrance of the ladies into the kitchen put to flight a covey
-of char-women, who seemed to think they had all the business of the
-world on their hands. As strange servants were in the house, they had
-determined to keep up the "dacency of Ballinamoyle," by dressing
-themselves in their best; but being now at their work (that is, running
-in each other's way, at the same time talking unceasingly) all their
-petticoats were pinned up about their middle, except a very short dicky;
-their shoes and stockings were--not on their feet and legs, but on the
-kitchen tables and hot hearths, and the ears of their mob caps were
-pinned over the crowns of their heads to keep them clean and the wearers
-cool. There was a constant shouting to the boys in the yard to run
-incessant messages. At the moment of Mrs. O'Sullivan's first
-appearance, the cook called out of the kitchen window, "Do you hear,
-Barny, make aff to Jarge Quin for a slip of parsley:--do you mind, be
-back in a crack." No sooner was Barny dispatched than she shouted again:
-"Jimmy! Jimmy Maloony I say, rin for your life, and make ould Jarge sind
-the fruit for the pies." When the ladies proceeded to the servants'
-hall, there was an old piper playing, and three girls dancing, that Miss
-Fitzcarril thought were busy spinning and sewing. "Get along, you
-incorrigibly idle sluts," said she, and they were off in a trice; but it
-was out of Scylla into Charybdis, for two or three of the "cutty sarks,"
-who had been muddling in the kitchen, met them in the passage, where
-they had been drawn by hearing "the mistress spaking mad angry;" and
-each seizing her own daughter, and thumping her well, said, "I'll pay
-you for your jigging, indeed my lady!" Close to the servants' hall was a
-man cleaning knives; he had taken off his coat and waistcoat, one
-shoulder appeared through a great hole in the back of his shirt, the
-sleeves of which were rolled up to the elbow, and it was open down to
-the waist. He had neither shoes nor stockings on, and thus his legs and
-arms, with the greater part of his back and breast, were naked; the skin
-that covered them was nearly of a copper colour; his head was crowned
-with thick, short, curly, black hair, and his unshaved face presented a
-luxuriant crop of the same sable material. "What a number of men
-servants you keep! pray what compacity does that one fill?" inquired
-Mrs. O'Sullivan. "Madam," replied her _cicerone_ (all her pride
-colouring her face) "since the world was a world, no such sarving man as
-that ever belonged to the name of O'Sullivan! That's Black Frank, the
-fool, who comes in to do odd jobs now and again." Black Frank was an
-itinerant "innocent," who scoured knives, cleared out ashes, or did any
-job the servants of the houses he frequented were too lazy to perform
-themselves. He was capricious in his fancies, and never staid long in
-any one place, but blessed all his acquaintance in turn. As Mrs.
-O'Sullivan went up stairs, she said to herself, "It will be another
-guess matter when Caroline rules the roast; I'll soon pack off all these
-here wagabonds and ramscallions about their business; she'd be a sight
-the richer if these warlets didn't eat up her uncle's fortin. There's
-one comfort, he can't live long; when he dies, I'll make this stately
-madam and all take to their heels!"
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, however, was aware of but a small part of what she
-considered her daughter's wrongs; for her brother-in-law, though he had
-renounced all society himself, except that of a few distant relatives,
-and his friends the Desmonds, authorized his servants to bring their
-kindred and "cronies" to his servants' hall, to eat, drink, and be
-merry. From twenty to thirty people sat down to dinner there every day,
-and on Saturdays and holydays a great many more. And the song and the
-jest went round amongst the careless crew, accompanied by the boisterous
-laugh of rustic mirth. The young men and women amused themselves of a
-winter's evening dancing jigs, whilst their elders "kept the fire warm,"
-telling stories of the days of old, superstitious legends, or recounting
-the omens each had observed previous to the death of the ever lamented
-Miss Rose.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-    When wilt thou rise in thy beauty, first of Erin's maids?
-    Thy sleep is long in the tomb, and the morning distant far.
-    The Sun shall not come to thy bed and say, "Awake, Darthula!
-    Awake, thou first of women!"
-
-    oeDARTHULA.oe
-
-
-When the ladies retired to the drawing-room after dinner, Miss
-Fitzcarril proposed walking. Mrs. O'Sullivan was anxious that Adelaide
-and Caroline should study the good of their health by this exercise, but
-pleaded fatigue as an excuse for declining the promenade herself,
-wishing to profit by the opportunity their absence would afford, to
-interrogate Theresa as to the nature and extent of the Ballinamoyle
-property, and a thousand other _et cetera_. Her two elder daughters, to
-whom she had before dinner mentioned her distress at having her anxiety
-for information on this subject so _long_ unsatisfied, understood her
-manoeuvre, and remained to assist in the gratification of their mutual
-curiosity. Adelaide and Caroline accordingly set out on their ramble.
-Miss Fitzcarril, in her anxious civility, attended them as far as the
-hall door; she had scarcely reached it, when a voice accosted her with
-"I want to spake a word to you, Miss Teree--za." "Well, nurse!" "Will
-you be plased to give me some whisky for Jimmy Maloony--the paltry
-fellow! he let the dinner fall bringing it up, and the spalpeen has cut
-his leg very bad; but it was God saved the puddin, Miss!" Adelaide's
-eyes were attracted towards the speaker, and she saw a fresh coloured
-old woman, dressed in a rich flowered silk gown, underneath which
-appeared a pair of coarse shoes and worsted stockings. The gown was open
-before, and would have trailed on the ground, had it not been turned
-back and pinned up behind, just to touch the edge of a striped green
-stuff petticoat, which was surmounted in front with a fine linen apron
-as white as snow. Her gray hair was rolled back over a cushion, and a
-mob cap was pinned under her chin, the head piece ornamented with a
-cherry coloured riband put once round her head, the ends turned back
-again just to the ears, and a flat bow pinned on in front. It was not
-surprising that the silk gown, which nurse wore in honour of the
-strangers' arrival, should be old fashioned in make and texture, as she
-had received it, according to custom, on the day Mr. O'Sullivan's
-daughter had cut her first tooth. Miss Fitzcarril, before she complied
-with the old woman's demands, directed Adelaide how best to proceed from
-the hall door, to the following effect: "Do you see that walk to the
-right? well, then you're not to go down that, only just as far as the
-old oak, and then there is another to the left, mind you don't take
-that, it leads to the shaking bog, but keep strait forward, and that
-will bring you round and round to the back of the house." From which it
-appeared that they were neither to turn to the right nor the left, but
-to proceed in a strait line, which would conduct them home in a circle
-from the front to the back of the house!
-
-When the two young ladies set off, Miss Fitzcarril returned to nurse;
-and while she felt for a key, amongst its numerous fellows at the bottom
-of a pocket long enough to cover _her_ arm up to the elbow, shaking it
-two or three times in a manner that showed what metal she carried; the
-ancient dame said to her, "Our young lady that is to be, is the making
-of a pretty girl, God bless her! But I'd rather it was her comrade, she
-has more of the portly air and jaunteel walk of the O'Sullivans than any
-of them. The others are no great shakes of ladies. But it's none of them
-all would be a patch upon my sweet Rose if she was alive! Och Rose dear,
-why did you lave your ould mammy to go wid a foreigner? Wouldn't his
-honour have given ye gould to eat if ye chose it, and weren't you as
-merry as a grig the live long day? It's but little you're happier, now
-you're a blessed angel in Heaven, for you lament ye for your poor father
-and ould nurse; and you're not a whit beautifuller or better than you
-were here. Many's the mass we say for your sowl; but ye're fitter to
-pray for us poor sinful craturs than we for you. Weary on ye, Limerick,
-that ever ye rose on the face of God's earth, for ye lost me my sweet
-child." The poor old woman beat her breast as this burst of sorrow
-escaped her lips, and the tears rolled down the furrows of her aged
-cheeks in torrents. "Nurse! nurse!" said Theresa, sobbing, "don't take
-on so; if your master sees or hears you, you'll make him ill again: you
-know what trouble he was in this morning, and that he wouldn't have the
-first sight of the little girl before mortal breathing, but sent for her
-to his own room." "Well, well, I'll soon lay my gray head in under the
-sod; it isn't fit a poor cratur like me should mislist his honour." When
-Miss Fitzcarril had composed herself, and dispatched nurse with a "drap
-of comfort" to the kitchen, she returned to the drawing-room, and then
-answered the interrogatories her visitors put to her in such a manner,
-as much to strengthen the favourable impression, which the marshalling
-of the tenantry had made on their minds in the morning; and, without
-giving any one direct answer, managed to exalt her own and her cousin's
-consequence considerably in their estimation.
-
-Theresa, keeping ever in mind the fortune-teller's prediction, which she
-graciously interpreted in young Webberly's favour, was extremely anxious
-to ingratiate herself with his mother and sisters, and therefore had by
-this time almost forgiven the former her proposition of blocking up the
-windows of the revered apartment, as well as the affronting supposition,
-that Black Frank appertained to the regular establishment of
-Ballinamoyle; and the wheedling civility Mrs. O'Sullivan showed her,
-encouraged her hopes and her efforts; more especially as Jack, in
-compliance with his parent's wishes, had been particularly attentive to
-her in the course of the day. Mrs. O'Sullivan had that morning convinced
-her children it was for their interest, that Caroline should be her
-uncle's heiress, as she promised in that case not to leave her any of
-her own riches. She had been induced to hold out this bribe to them,
-from perceiving the extreme rudeness with which they were inclined to
-treat all around them, which she feared would disgust their host, whose
-uniform urbanity was not less conspicuous.
-
-With the Miss Webberlys, interest was scarcely a counterpoise to ill
-temper, conceit, and _ennui_; and therefore their deportment varied
-every half hour, according to the feeling of the moment. But in the
-composition of their brother, ill nature had not been added to folly and
-presumption; he was therefore constant in his endeavours to please, in
-which he was also encouraged by the hopes, that the success of this
-scheme might "put the old lady in a good humour, and make her come down
-handsomely when he married Miss Wildenheim, which he would as soon as
-they returned to England, please the pigs." Of the young lady's being
-pleased he had little doubt; "her being so confoundedly shy was all a
-sham."
-
-Whilst Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan were playing against each
-other, in the conversation which took place between them in the
-drawing-room, Adelaide and Caroline pursued their ramble. At a little
-distance from the house, one of the most beautiful scenes in nature
-presented itself to their view.--A lake, of considerable extent, rose
-from the bosom of rocky hills, whose bold forms were reflected in its
-pellucid waters. It contained several islands, some with fine trees,
-some grazed by cattle, and covered with the most brilliant verdure. On
-the centre island stood the ruins of an old castle half covered with
-ivy. To the south of the lake was a fine champaign country, and behind
-the house rose a beautiful hill of great height, covered from the base
-to the summit with an indigenous wood. To the right a narrow defile
-opened into a wild and romantic country, showing mountains of the most
-picturesque forms. The varied lights, which the declining sun threw on
-this enchanting scene, gave it every beauty of exquisite colouring. "Oh!
-look there, Adele!" said Caroline, "doesn't the lake and its islands
-look as if it was let down from Heaven by that beautiful rainbow that
-touches it at both sides? Oh, how I should like to walk up it!" "And
-then," thought Adelaide, as she looked at the lovely child, "you might
-join the company of the sylphs, whilst they 'pleas'd untwist the
-sevenfold threads of light.'" Just at this moment an odd looking man
-came close up, and taking off an old regimental cap, said, "I see you're
-some of the strange quality ladies; you're quite out of the right
-track,"--(rather surprising after Miss Fitzcarril's explicit
-directions.) "I'll show ye'z round the place, and take ye'z to the
-garden, if you're agreeable." "Thank you, my good man, I shall be much
-obliged to you: pray may I ask your name?"--"They call me Jarge Quin at
-the big house, Miss, because I was so long at the wars, where I lost my
-right eye. I'm his honour's gardiner; and a brave kind master he is til
-me, the Lord love him!" Jarge proceeded to do the honours; and delighted
-by the questions Adelaide asked, became more than usually loquacious.
-"Thon mountain that's foreninst ye, Miss, (said he,) is Croagh Patrick;
-on the top of it is an altar, where many a good Christian goes to tell
-their padereenes, on Patricksmas day. It's the very self same spot where
-St. Patrick stood, when he called all the snakes and toads, and varmint
-of all sorts, up the one side, and bid them, and their heirs for ever,
-go down the t'other intil the sea, and be aff till Inglant; and that's
-the rason the folks over the water have been so hard with us, ever since
-that blessed day, no blame to you, Miss." "And what's that mountain,
-shaped like a sugar loaf, more to the south?" "I don't know what name
-the quality give it, Miss; but we semples call it, _Altoir na
-Griene_[2], the name they say it had in ould times, afore St. Patrick
-stood on the other mountain."
-
-[Footnote 2: "The altar of the sun." Grieneus was one of the names of
-Apollo in the Grecian temples.]
-
-"Do you see that ould castle there, over aginst ye, in the lake? That's
-where the family used to live, afore the new house was built, seventy
-year agone next Hollontide; and now the good people dance in it every
-moonlight night." "And, pray, who are the good people?" "The little
-people, Miss, the fairies.--Many's the time Judy Maloony sees them
-chasing each other, when they slide down the moon beams, to play swing
-swang on the stalks of the ivy leaves.--And, she says, they sail across
-the lake in butter cups, to the lavender hedge in the garden, when it's
-in flower, to make themselves caps and jackets; and she gathers the
-thistle's beard, to sarve them for threads, afore the sun sets, and as
-sure as you live, there's never a bit of it there in the morning.
-
-"Do you see that big stone, Miss, a little up the mountain there? That
-by the side of the stream they call the goulden river; and that's the
-place the boys and girls sit, of a summer's evening, to steal unknownst
-upon the Loughrie men--ould men, about as big as my hand, looking as
-sour as you plase; but if you'll thrape it out to them, ye won't let
-them aff when ye catch them--they'll show you a power of gould they've
-hid in under the earth."
-
-Adelaide, though highly amused herself, thought she would give audience
-to Jarge another time, not thinking his conversation very edifying to
-Caroline, who, with "locks thrown back, and lips apart," was eagerly
-listening to every word he said; and therefore proposed returning home.
-But Jarge, looking much disappointed, said,--"Och! and won't ye be
-plased just to step intil the gardin? it's in iligant order for ye'z
-just now; I doubt ye'll never see it as nate again." Accordingly they
-were ushered into a walled garden, three _Irish_ acres in extent, well
-stocked with vegetables; but at least one third of it was planted with
-potatoes. It however produced a quantity of fruit, which almost
-exhausted Theresa's patience in preserving for herself and her friends
-the Desmonds; for he would have been a bold wight, that would have
-ventured to suggest to one of the name of O'Sullivan the propriety of
-selling fruit. It was much more consonant to their dignity to let, what
-they or their friends could not consume, rot under the trees. A great
-gate opened on a gravel walk (besides the entrance door) on which Mr.
-O'Sullivan's father had driven his coach and four all round the walks.
-But these walks, though just then, as Jarge Quin said, in "iligant
-order," were not usually remarkable for neatness. In their progress
-round the garden, they came to a very beautiful flower bed, and Adelaide
-put out her hand to pull a rose that tempted her sight.--Jarge hastily
-stopped her, saying, "You're welcome, as the flowers of May, to any
-thing, but that, at Ballinamoyle; his honour will have that himself the
-morra. Before I went to the wars, I dug the place for Miss Rose to plant
-the tree with her own beautiful hands. In the bed we always put the same
-sorting of flowers, after the very moral of what she left them; and no
-soul ever pulls them but his honour, and nurse Delany, who dresses the
-altar, in Miss Rose's room, with them; and lays them about her monument
-in the chapel, where she's cut out in white marble more nat'ral than the
-life."
-
-Adelaide made many apologies for the sacrilege she had been about to
-commit; and as she entered the house felt all the wounds of her heart
-bleed afresh, as she thought, "so would my beloved father have mourned
-for me."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-
-    And do I live to hear the tale!
-    And will ambition then prevail,
-    Can sordid schemes of wealth assail,
-                    A heart so true as his?
-
-    oeIL PERDUTO BEN.oe
-
-
-As Mr. O'Sullivan's guests were rising from the breakfast table the
-following morning, a peremptory ringing of the hall door bell announced
-the welcome arrival of the gray headed postman, who travelled on foot at
-all seasons of the year, visiting in turn the scattered dwellings of the
-gentry of this mountainous region. Adelaide, with sparkling eyes and
-eager fingers, opened a letter from Mrs. Temple, in answer to hers from
-Shrewsbury, which, besides much domestic intelligence, contained the
-following paragraph:--
-
-"I know you are much interested for Augustus Mordaunt, and therefore
-will be glad to hear that he is just gone abroad, with his uncle, Lord
-Osselstone, who, I am convinced, must grow proud, nay fond of him, as he
-has, by this means, an opportunity of being acquainted with the fine
-qualities of this noble young man. I am afraid my favourite wish, of his
-marrying Selina Seymour, is never likely to be gratified. Mr. Temple
-writes to me from London, that it is confidently reported she is engaged
-to Mr. Elton, Lord Eltondale's son and heir. He says, no young man in
-England bears a finer character (though it is impossible we could ever
-compare him to Augustus): a gentleman from Paris told Mr. Temple, that,
-instead of entering into the dissipation of that gay metropolis, he
-lives quite retired, absorbed in study; also that he had been acquainted
-with Mr. Elton in Sicily, where he was desperately in love with a lady
-of that country, whom he believed he had married: if this be the case,
-it is surely very dishonourable of him not to put an immediate stop to
-his engagement with Miss Seymour.--Augustus would never be guilty of
-such conduct."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Adelaide did indeed take a much deeper interest in Augustus Mordaunt's
-fate, than Mrs. Temple imagined; and little did that kind friend suspect
-the misery her letter had caused on the perusal. "Gone abroad!"
-exclaimed Adelaide, in thought; "perhaps for years."--A deadly paleness
-overspread her face, and she precipitately sought the solitude of her
-own chamber. Let us not intrude on the privacy she has chosen; but turn
-to survey the motley groupes that are now assembling about Mr.
-O'Sullivan's door.
-
-This day, being Saturday, Miss Fitzcarril held _her_ levee, which was as
-numerously, though not quite so respectably, attended as her host's had
-been on the day before. On this day of the week she gave audience, and a
-halfpenny apiece, to all the beggars in the country, with many charges
-not to spend their money idly. On these occasions she stood at the
-breakfast room window; from which spot she inquired into all their
-complaints, without scruple; and, with the assistance of nurse,
-prescribed for them, and gave medicines, wine, spirits, or black currant
-jam, as their wants demanded: this affair being at an end, they all
-adjourned to the kitchen door, where each received a pitcher of broth,
-and a huge oaten cake, to bake which had been the principal employment
-of the women assembled there the day before. An English reader might
-suppose, that the amount of Miss Fitzcarril's donation in money had been
-limited to a halfpenny to each beggar, from her own inclination to
-parsimony; but it was in fact what was customary, a sort of toll, paid
-by the gentry to the mendicants, on condition of receiving which, they
-forbore to infest their abodes at other times. The country families
-generally gave something additional, in the way of provision, according
-to their ability; but the inhabitants of towns and villages literally
-paid only this new species of poll tax; which, when received from
-numbers, amounts to something considerable to each individual. It is a
-lamentable truth, that an undue proportion of the Irish population are
-beggars, either from necessity or inclination; and the predilection for
-this mode of living is encouraged by the extraordinary charity of the
-lower order to each other: no suppliant ever leaves the door of the most
-miserable cabin, without receiving a handful of oaten meal, or two or
-three potatoes, which are put into bags carried for the purpose; nor is
-a night's lodging and the use of the turf fire ever denied. The form of
-application, and admittance, is as follows:--The beggar stands on the
-threshold, and says, "Peace be to this house! Any good Christian
-within?"--"What do you want, poor sowl?"--"The blessing of the Lord, and
-the holy powers, be about ye; and give a desolate cratur a night's
-lodging."--"In the name of the holy Vargin, and the blessed saints,
-kindly welcome." After this formula, the beggar, and his or her family,
-take up their abode, as long as the neighbourhood affords them
-subsistence. In summer, hordes of people travel about the country in
-this manner. They plant their potatoes, and sow their oats in spring;
-then locking up their houses, repair, like their betters, to the
-watering places, where they remain till the season arrives for digging
-the one and reaping the other. To the beggars that are acknowledged to
-be hale in body and sound in mind must be added those, who draw on the
-charity of the working members of the community, as "innocents,"
-"crouls," "spey" men or women, those afflicted with fits, dumb people,
-and lunatics. Whether it be, that the high premium that is given for any
-defect, mental or bodily, induces the fortunate possessor to bring it
-forward to publick view, and others, not so distinguished, to
-counterfeit infirmity; certain it is, that the eye of a stranger from
-England, where such objects are shut up in appropriate asylums, is as
-much shocked as surprised at the number of the above mentioned
-unfortunate beings, that are seen in the country parts of Ireland.
-There are numerous impostors, but still they are the exceptions, whilst
-the real sufferers form the rule.
-
-Ere the beggars dispersed, Adelaide returned to the breakfast parlour.
-And is this proud and brilliant beauty the gentle, placid Adelaide? A
-vivid, perhaps a feverish glow, mantled her cheeks, and gave her eyes a
-dazzling lustre, that was almost as repelling as it was beautiful. The
-dignity of her carriage approached to majesty. She seemed to walk
-triumphantly, as if she led misfortune by the hand, and awed her by
-
-    "The strange powers which lie
-    Within the magic circle of the eye."
-
-But had she thus quickly subdued all the rebel feelings, that so lately
-had mocked the calm control of reason? Oh, no! The smile that quivers
-round the trembling lip may play but to conceal the throb of agony. Even
-the melancholy sepulchre sometimes looks bright in the splendid beam of
-the sun; and the admiring spectator thinks not of the darkness and
-horror that reign within. At that moment Adelaide's heart was the tomb
-of hope. When she entered the breakfast room, Mr. Webberly stared at her
-like another Cymon, when Iphigenia first appeared to his wondering view.
-After gazing at her for some moments, he drew his breath, which had been
-repressed by his admiration, so as to give utterance to a most audible
-sigh; at the same time resolving, that, when she was Mrs. Webberly, she
-should always wear rouge. "When she has a colour (thought he) there is
-not a handsomer woman in all Lunnon.--At this very instant she looks as
-grand as Madame Catalani, when she acts that Di--Di--that virago queen,
-that burned herself like a fool. What a figure we shall cut when I drive
-her round the ring at the Park, in an open landaulet, with four dashing
-horses, and two out-riders, in smart liveries! No; I think I'll sit
-beside her; the fellows will envy me so! and have two postilions, with
-purple velvet caps, and jackets trimmed with gold lace!" Having thus
-settled his equipage to his satisfaction, he came up to the intended
-mistress of it, saying, with all the tenderness of accent he could
-command, "There is no body, Miss Wildenheim, I envy so much as Mrs.
-Temple; you used always to be so glad when you saw her; I should be the
-happiest man alive, if a letter from me would make you look so gay as
-hers has done."
-
-A deeper hue painted Adelaide's cheek, and a still brighter beam
-sparkled in her eye. "What strange figure is that?" said she, laughing,
-and avoiding any direct reply; "mounted like the farrier of Tamworth,
-'on a mare of four shilling?'" The equestrian, that thus attracted her
-notice, was one of a most unusual description. A sallow, meagre object
-was mounted on one of the rough mountain horses of the country; a straw
-rope served as bridle; and, instead of saddle, he sat on a well filled
-sack, wearing a coarse blanket, fastened under his chin, not to serve
-as a garment, as she unknowingly supposed, but to hide the good
-condition of those it concealed. "What's your business, good man?"
-inquired Miss Fitzcarril.--"I'm a stranger, and ye have a good name in
-the country, lady dear; and I'm just come to seek your charity, in God's
-name."--"What's that you've got in the sack?"--"Pratees and meal,
-honey."--"And where did you get that horse?"--"Troth, I bought him at
-the fair, last Tursday was tree weeks." "I've nothing for you, good man:
-many's the time I've heard of setting a beggar on horseback, but I never
-saw one till now." The following Saturday this hero returned on the same
-errand, but without his horse, still however retaining his blanket. Miss
-Fitzcarril's lynx's eye recognized him instantly; indeed such a peculiar
-figure could hardly have escaped the notice of the most casual observer.
-She inquired where he had left his horse? He very quietly answered, "Ye
-were no ways agreeable to him, jewel, the last time I was here, so I
-just hitched him up at the gate there below[3]!"
-
-[Footnote 3: _Verbatim._]
-
-In the middle of this assembly of beggars, four gentlemen and a lady
-rode up to the door; and Mr. Webberly turned away with an expression of
-mortification, when he saw Adelaide kiss her hand to Colonel Desmond,
-who jumped off his horse, and, with his niece and Mr. Donolan, quickly
-entered the house; whilst his brother, with his characteristic
-jocularity, stopped to jest with the women on the outside, his son
-standing by in silence to enjoy the fun. When they, in a few minutes'
-time, joined their party within, the mendicant dames said one to
-another, "God bless his merry honour, but master Harry is a hearty
-gentleman[4]!"
-
-[Footnote 4: The lower Irish, to the end of life, continue to call every
-body by the appellation they knew them in youth. Many a "Master Billy
-and Miss Jenny" are, with all propriety, fathers and mothers of large
-families. The wives of the peasantry are always called by their maiden
-names amongst their equals; and parents speak of "the boy," or "the
-girl," even when past the grand climacteric.]
-
-Mr. Desmond was a very handsome man, tall, stout, and well made; his
-face, manner, and words expressive of the greatest _bonhomie_, mirth,
-and joviality. He had no pretensions whatsoever, but was one of the few,
-who openly dare to appear precisely what they are. He went through the
-world finding amusement in every person he met, whether beggar or king;
-laughing at himself, and with every body else: he danced, rode, and sung
-admirably; and particularly excelled in the composition of
-electioneering songs and squibs. His family had, for centuries, lost
-their blood and their property, in every rebellion Ireland was agitated
-by; but, about sixty years ago, had become protestants and loyalists in
-the same day; and, as the Irish are never lukewarm in any thing, Mr.
-Desmond now figured as Orange-man, captain of a yeomanry corps,
-freemason, and magistrate of the most approved zeal, which, however, his
-natural good disposition kept within the pale of humanity. Miss Desmond,
-who accompanied her father and uncle in this visit, was mentally and
-personally a softened resemblance of the former. She was just then
-fifteen, but so extremely tall and womanly in stature, that the
-spectator was constantly obliged to refer to her face, to correct the
-false calendar expressed by her figure. The _dilettante_, in the true
-spirit of hypercriticism, congratulated himself on having discovered,
-that she was not symmetrically formed; but though some said, "She would
-be a fine woman," and some that "She would be a coarse woman," all were
-agreed, that in the mean time she was a very lovely girl. Her features
-were not perfect, but her countenance was frank, good natured, and
-vivacious: a pair of laughing eyes sent forth from beneath their shading
-lashes fairy messengers of mirth, to dimple her blooming cheek, or
-pucker up the corners of her eye-lids. In manner, though she was not
-impudent, she was not bashful, perhaps from the total absence of
-self-conceit, which never led her to suppose she occupied a place in the
-thoughts of those who did not love her; and on the partiality of those
-who did she relied implicitly. Until her uncle fixed his residence at
-her father's house, she was nearly as wild as the heaths that surrounded
-it. But the observer of nature is well aware, that in such uncultivated
-regions blooms many a flower, whose beauty is more exquisite than that
-of those the art of man raises in the brilliant parterre. Some happy
-star seemed to rule over Melicent Desmond, that saved her from the very
-verge of what was unlovely in woman. She was so tall, she would have
-looked masculine, but for the fairest complexion in the world, which
-gave her face, neck, and arms a most feminine appearance. The expression
-of her countenance was so droll, it would have been satirical, but for
-the kindness of heart it beamed with. She was so lively she was almost
-boisterous; and any other girl, equally careless of her attire, would
-have seemed untidy. But all her looks, words, and actions had a peculiar
-charm, that, though none would or could have imitated them, few were so
-harsh as to condemn; and, in the very act of censure, the face of the
-speaker expressed fondness and admiration, of which nobody could define
-to themselves the cause: she seized upon the affections with a sort of
-arbitrary power, which defied the remonstrances of reason, when it did
-not receive her sanction. This dear girl was the idol of her parents and
-her uncle: but the latter, though most anxious to see her all that was
-delightful in a female character, was extremely cautious in the line of
-conduct he adopted towards her; he rather sought to add, than to change,
-and was not a little fearful of "improving for the worse," as his
-countrymen emphatically express the effects arising from a spirit of
-false refinement:
-
-    "Many are spoil'd by that pedantic throng,
-    Who with great pains teach youth to reason wrong:
-    Tutors, like virtuosoes, oft inclin'd,
-    By strange transfusion to improve the mind,
-    Draw off the sense we have, to pour in new,
-    Which yet with all their skill they ne'er could do."
-
-He more judiciously confined his endeavours to furnishing her with ideas
-and examples, leaving it to her unbiassed judgment to choose amongst
-them, and make what she pleased her own. He now wished to give her the
-advantage of associating, as much as possible, with Adelaide, noticing
-her perfections but generally, and trusting to Melicent's discernment to
-analyse each particular charm, unaided, save by the happy benevolence of
-disposition, which would make such an exercise of her faculties the
-first of all pleasures. He had accordingly lost no time in making his
-brother call on the strangers, for the purpose of inviting them to
-Bogberry Hall. It was settled, in this visit, that the party from
-Ballinamoyle should dine at Mr. Desmond's house early in the ensuing
-week, where they should remain till the following day, as the distance
-was too great to permit of returning at night.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan prevailed on the Desmonds to join his family circle at
-dinner; and when they prepared to return home in the evening, Colonel
-Desmond said to Adelaide, in a low voice, "I hope Melicent has not
-shocked you by her brogue; I find it most difficult to cure." "Oh, don't
-try to alter her accent, (replied she) she speaks the prettiest Irish!
-Any thing that would make her less original, would take from her charms:
-she is one of the most captivating creatures I ever saw." His only
-answer was a parting pressure of her hand, which conveyed his thanks for
-her admiration of his niece, and meant more than he yet ventured to
-express in words. "How different she is from Melicent, (thought he), yet
-how charming!"
-
-A lover and an uncle could not be supposed to be expert at definition,
-otherwise he might have said, that the one amused the fancy, whilst the
-other touched the heart.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-                 Be my plan,
-    To live as merry as I can,
-    Regardless how the fashions go,
-    Whether there's reason for't, or no.
-    Be my employment here on earth,
-    To give a lib'ral scope to mirth.
-
-    oeCHURCHILLoe.
-
-Bogberry Hall was the abode of mirth and glee: there was nothing but
-rattling, and ranting, and singing, and dancing, from morning till
-night. The family living in it, consisted of nine happy children, with
-an indulgent, tender mother, remarkable for nothing, except her good
-nature, and careful attention to their wants and pleasures. This house
-was never without company staying in it, principally relations; for the
-Desmonds had first, second, and third cousins innumerable. The actual
-income of the family was not large, in proportion to their numbers; but
-the advantage of situation supplied them with almost every thing they
-consumed at a low rate; and many rents, that a non-resident would have
-found it impossible to get, were compounded for, partly in kind, partly
-in labour. When any body condoled with Mr. Desmond on his large family,
-he used to say, "The more the merrier; there never was a child sent into
-the world, that it did not bring its portion with it; I wish I had
-thirty of them." Calming his mind with this idea, he determined to make
-them, as long as he was alive, as merry as possible; for, in his
-vocabulary, merriment and happiness were synonymous. A very necessary
-part of his establishment, for this purpose, were two fiddlers and a
-piper. One of the former was then absent on rather a singular
-errand.--Miss Sophy Desmond had been put to school at Galway, and he was
-sent to board in the same house, that he might play for her to dance
-every evening, and "keep her from thinking long after home." The cause
-of Sophy's being sent to school was as singular as her strange
-accompaniment. One of Melicent's favourite pastimes the year before had
-been to get up on the horses that carried fish, poultry, or eggs, in a
-sort of open panniers called creels, to her father's house for sale; and
-whilst her mother was giving a dram, or buying chickens three to the
-couple, away she went "o'er moor and mountain," amusing herself with the
-alarm she should cause, and the hunt there would be after her. One day a
-horse was brought to Bogberry Hall, carrying two wooden churns, one
-containing eggs, the other buttermilk. Melicent scrambled up the side,
-and seating herself between them, off she set; but while she was
-galloping along much to her satisfaction, in making a leap over a pit in
-the bog before her father's gate, the covers of the churns came off, and
-she was soused with the milk on one side, and pelted with the eggs on
-the other. The horse took fright, and carried her in this condition
-miles round the country, without hat or cloak. She was at last met by
-some gentlemen, who brought her home, her clothes dripping wet, and her
-face and hair stiff with the contents of the egg shells. The conclusion
-her friends drew from this adventure was, that as _Melicent_ was quite
-spoiled, _Sophy_ must be sent to school directly. Miss Desmond's
-coadjutor in all such pranks (which however she had much intermitted
-since the above-mentioned unlucky day) was her brother Launcelot, an
-arch boy, one year younger than herself, who, to plague his cousin
-"Dilly," as he called Mr. Donolan, now pretended to be yet more
-unpolished than he really was. These two were standing in the window of
-their mother's drawing-room, on the day on which she expected the party
-from Ballinamoyle to dinner, when they espied Mrs. O'Sullivan's gaudy
-equipage at some distance. "There, Melicent," said Launcelot, "there
-comes Tidy-ideldy and Big bow bow," as he had christened the two Miss
-Webberlys. "I declare, Lanty," replied his sister, "when I saw that
-ugly Miss Webberly at dinner the other day, with half a rose tree on her
-head, I could scarcely keep from saying to you, that she was 'the devil
-in a bush.'" "Oh fie, Melicent!" said Colonel Desmond, with an
-ill-suppressed smile, "such a great girl as you ought not to encourage
-that rude boy; it would be much more becoming for you to think of
-receiving your guests with politeness, than to employ yourself in
-finding names for them." "Don't be angry, uncle dear," said Melicent,
-coaxingly, "and I'll call her London Pride; and that dear beautiful Miss
-Wildenheim is Venus's looking-glass:--you have no objection to be Flos
-Adonis, uncle, I'm sure. Oh! I wish I was like her, and then you'd be
-quite pleas'd with me." "My dearest Melicent," said he, fondly, "I don't
-wish you to be like any body but yourself; only control your spirits
-to-day, that's a good girl."
-
-In another window Mr. Donolan was expatiating on the merits of frogs
-stewed in _red_ champaigne, as he had eat them at the _Café de mille
-Colonnes_; whilst his auditor, Mr. Desmond, was assiduously drawing up
-his mouth into a whistle, his usual preventive of _mal à propos_
-laughter. His lady was preparing to receive her guests on their
-entrance, which she did with much kindness, and with the ease of a
-person well accustomed to the office. The ladies from Ballinamoyle were
-escorted only by Captain Cormac, as Mr. Webberly had unfortunately
-sprained his ancle that morning too severely to admit of his moving off
-a couch, and his host remained at home in order to show him proper
-attention, and Father Dermoody never formed one of so large a party.
-
-The company, when assembled, besides the party from Ballinamoyle and the
-Desmond family, consisted of the curate of the parish, the physician of
-the neighbourhood, a music-master, occasionally resident at Bogberry
-Hall, two smart beaux on a visit there from Limerick, and three very
-handsome girls of the name of Nevil, whom Mr. Desmond introduced to the
-English ladies as "Battle, Murder, and Sudden Death."
-
-Miss Fitzcarril had hoped much from the effects of a rose-coloured
-satin gown and orange turban, on the heart of her promised spouse; and
-therefore great was her disappointment, and unfeigned were her
-expressions of regret, when she lamented the accident, which deprived
-the party of his "agreeable society." Miss Webberly, resolving to take
-the _dilettante's_ affections by a _coup de main_, had that day employed
-herself in a reperusal of the portable Cyclopædia, and had no less
-attended to the embellishment of her person, which she attired _à la
-Minerve_, to give him a delicate proof of her just appreciation of his
-compliments.
-
-But Cecilia Webberly lost no time in commencing a flirtation with him,
-for the sole purpose of plaguing her "sweet Meely." In this however she
-was disappointed, for he complimented the mind of the one nearly as much
-as the person of the other, hoping thus to earn an equal portion of the
-"diet of good humour" for himself, which was as necessary to the comfort
-of his moral existence, as the daily aliments which were required for
-his physical being. For the purpose of receiving and bestowing flattery,
-he took a favourable opportunity, afforded by a pause in conversation,
-of producing a gold fillagree case, in which a few yards of pink riband
-were rolled up, which some milliner of the _Palais Royal_ had persuaded
-him to buy, in order to mark them with the dimensions of the celebrated
-statues in the _Louvre_; and he had thus indefatigably measured every
-wrist, waist, head, and ancle of the collection; and now as
-unremittingly solicited every lady of his acquaintance to apply this
-test of symmetry to the corresponding parts of her own person. And many
-a female heart beat with anxious expectation as she passed the girdle of
-various Venuses round Her waist, in hopes some one might prove a fit
-cestus for herself.
-
-By a little false play, Felix now proved Cecilia to be the exact
-counterpart of the celebrated Amazon of the Hall of the Laocoon, which
-considerably raised her in his and her own estimation. Mr. Desmond,
-seeing him preparing to roll this new _line of beauty_ up, called him
-over, and whispered loud enough for Adelaide, who was sitting close by,
-to hear, "The ladies will be affronted if you don't measure them all,
-Dilly; it looks as if you didn't think they would be the right
-fit:--begin with Miss Wildenheim; I'll be bound the belt of the _Venus
-de Medici_ will fit her as 'nate as a Limerick glove.'"
-
-When the _dilettante_, in the most affected manner possible, presented
-Adelaide with the portion of the riband he had passed round the waist of
-the Medicean Venus, she politely, but gravely declined the honour with a
-dignity that repelled the officious fop; and turning to Melicent with a
-kind and anxious glance, by a half sentence conveyed to the intelligent
-girl her contempt and disapprobation of the erudite trifling. Colonel
-Desmond met her eye, and by looks thanked her both for the example and
-advice; and then said, "Why, Felix, if you were to measure wrists and
-waists by spherical trigonometry; indeed it would afford a laudable
-display of your science. I'm sure Miss Wildenheim would not suffer the
-dimensions of her arm to be found in any way less sublime." "Yes,
-indeed," exclaimed Melicent, "you're no better, Cousin Dilly, than a
-common habit-maker with that little yard. Why don't you make a surtout
-for the Venus you are so fond of talking about?" Though Mr. Desmond had
-set young Donolan on in hopes of seeing a high scene of comic effect
-take place between him and the ladies, as he never let pass any
-opportunity of quizzing him, in revenge for the contempt he on all
-occasions expressed for that country, which was the object of his own
-enthusiastic love; he grinned with delight to see him so mortified,
-whilst he at the same time felt much obliged to Adelaide for the good
-natured hint she had given to Melicent, which he had predetermined to
-convey himself, when it came to her turn to make the ridiculous
-exhibition. However, this votary of Momus could not consent to lose his
-fun entirely, and therefore said to the discontented connoisseur, "Don't
-be dash'd, Dilly, if the young ones are too shy, we'll try the old
-ladies;" and snapping the fillagree case out of his hand, he began with
-his own wife, and with much laughter found her circumference out of all
-just proportion. He then proceeded to Mrs. O'Sullivan, saying, "I'm
-shocked, madam, at my nephew's want of gallantry in not ascertaining the
-proportions of your figure before he took those of lesser beauties."
-"You're wastly polite, sir, but I bant so slim as I used to be; that ere
-belt wouldn't compress me now, though time was, Mr. Desmond, when I was
-the pride of Bagnigge Wells--I could show shapes with any of 'em." "But,
-my dear ma'am, if one won't do, two of them put together will, and then
-we can safely say, you have double the beauty of the best French Venus
-amongst them all. Here's for the honour of Old England," holding up the
-riband; and as she passed it round her waist, "I knew that," continued
-he, "it's allowed that one English can beat three Frenchmen; and I could
-have laid my life, that one full grown British beauty was at least equal
-to two of the first in France." Miss Fitzcarril simperingly anticipated
-her triumph, when she should give incontestable proof, that her waist
-was smaller than that of the finest model of sculptured symmetry. After
-making the modest, she consented to give ocular demonstration of the
-fact; and then, holding out one long bony fore-finger, put the tip of
-the other on its knuckle, saying, with the utmost exultation, "All that
-much less:" which circumstance she related with conscious pride to Mr.
-Webberly, the first time she saw him afterwards; and it will long afford
-an agreeable subject for Captain Cormac's compliments, who, in truth,
-had lately been rather at a loss for novelties of this kind.
-
-The _dilettante_, in an agony of tasteful horror, that the silk, which
-had encircled the divine form of the Medicean Venus, should have been
-contaminated by touching that of the stiffest old maid in _Connaught_,
-shuddered as he internally groaned, "Oh! the she Vandal! But what can a
-man of taste expect, who ventures to amalgamate in society with these
-modern Boeotians! May the genius of sculpture never again display her
-_chefs d'oeuvre_ to my enlightened gaze, if I ever make any further
-attempt to give these demi-savages a specimen of the _beau idéal_." He
-had scarcely rolled up his riband with undissembled indignation, when
-dinner was announced. Had the tables on which it was served been as
-animated as Homer's, they would have groaned with the weight of
-supernumerary dishes, in all which, however, Mr. Donolan could not, with
-the aid of his glass, find any thing he could recommend Miss Cecilia
-Webberly to eat. "Not a particle of French cookery," said he,
-despairingly shrugging his shoulders, "except, perhaps, that _bashamele
-de veau roti_--the piper and the fiddler make such a confounded noise,
-no one can be heard. Launcelot! you're next your father, ask him for
-some of it." "Anan!" said the youth, pretending to look quite stupid,
-"Ask your father to send Miss Cecilia Webberly some of that _bashamele
-de veau roti_." "What in the name of the Lord does he mean, Milly?" said
-Lanty, turning to his sister; "faith and honour he never spakes legible
-now." "Legible, Lanty! indeed I think he speaks copperplate," replied
-Melicent; "it's some larded veal he wants."
-
-All this time the piper and the fiddler were playing furiously out of
-tune in the hall. Mr. Desmond, addressing Adelaide, said, "I always make
-them play up a tune at dinner--it makes it sit light." "What a
-satisfaction it must be to you to support those poor blind men!" "Yes,
-and their being blind has an advantage you don't think of;--if I have a
-potato and herring for my dinner, they don't know but I sport three
-courses and a dessert." The noise of the piper and fiddler, of
-incessant laughing and talking, the clatter of knives and forks, joined
-to the giggling and chattering of the maid servants employed in washing
-plates, spoons, forks, and knives, in one common bucket, behind the
-half-closed parlour door, with occasional dialogues between them, such
-as, "Oh Jasus! I have brok the big dish, and my mistress will be
-raving!" "The devil mend you! what cale had you to be peeping in at the
-quality, with your face as black as my shoe; and when the master turned
-his head, ye made off in such a flusteration, ye let go your load."
-"Sarra matter! I'll get Miss Milly to spake a good word for me, and
-there'll be nothing about it." All these noises united were too much for
-Mr. Donolan, whose "nerves were finer than a spider's web," and he
-became quite cross. When Melicent complained of the heat, he said very
-gruffly, "It's no wonder you're hot, when you appear in _bear skin_."
-She pretended not to understand him:--he retorted--"Really, Melicent, if
-you have not _gumption_ enough to understand them, I cannot be
-dictionary to my own _bon mots_." "Glossary, rather," thought Adelaide,
-"for I'm sure they are barbarous wit."
-
-Whilst Mr. Donolan conveyed to his _inamorata_, who was sitting beside
-him, by winks, and shrugs, and contortions of countenance, his knowledge
-of the _savoir vivre_, he and she both, as well as the rest of the
-company, gave incontestable proof--(at least if there be any truth in
-the proverb, which tells us, "That the proof of the pudding is in the
-eating")--that Mrs. Desmond's bill of fare, though "gothic to the last
-degree"--was very palatable. They even condescended, after demolishing
-fish, flesh, fowl, and pastry, to partake of her floating island, served
-in a flat cut glass dish, which occupied the place of a modern plateau.
-After the ladies had given the dessert "honour due," and the gentlemen
-had drank "The king," and "All our true friends, and the devil take the
-false ones," and the "Ladies' inclinations," the fair part of the
-company retired to the drawing-room. Here Melicent, in great delight,
-showed her friends the new grand piano forte her uncle had bought for
-her in Dublin. "It was thoroughly well tuned," said she to Adelaide, "by
-Mr. Ingham this morning, that we might have the pleasure of hearing you
-play. My uncle says you are a perfect musician." Miss Cecilia Webberly
-bit her lips, but quickly consoled herself with the recollection, that
-he had never heard her sing; and, to turn the conversation, asked Miss
-Desmond if she drew; she replied in the negative, but produced a
-port-folio of fine drawings of her uncle's. Adelaide had seen most of
-them before, and looked at them with the deepest interest, as they
-brought past scenes to her memory. Melicent held up one that was quite
-new to her;--a lovely female figure, in the freshest bloom of youth, was
-depicted holding a scroll, which she was reading with evident pleasure.
-The painter had caught one of the softest blushes and most bewitching
-smiles, that ever gave to beauty her least resistible charm; whilst the
-drapery, which flowed round a form of perfect symmetry, seemed to have
-been arranged by the hand of the Graces. This drawing had been executed
-by one of the first masters at Vienna, from a sketch of Colonel
-Desmond's. On the margin of the drawing were the following verses, the
-first few words of which were written on the scroll the fair creature
-was supposed to read:
-
-        Adélaïde
-    Paroît faite-exprès pour charmer;
-    Et mieux que le galant Ovide,
-    Ses yeux enseignent l'art d'aimer
-        Adélaïde.
-
-        D'Adélaïde
-    Ah! que l'empire semble doux!
-    Qu'on me donne un nouvel Alcide,
-    Je gage qu'il file aux genoux
-        D'Adélaïde.
-
-        D'Adélaïde
-    Fuyez le dangereux accueil:
-    Tous les enchantemens d'Armide
-    Sont moins à craindre qu'un coup d'oeil
-        D'Adélaïde.
-
-        D'Adélaïde
-    Quand l'Amour eut formé les traits,
-    Ma fois, dit-il, la cour de Gnide
-    N'a rien de pareil aux attraits
-        D'Adélaïde.
-
-        Adélaïde,
-    Lui dit-il, ne nous quittons pas:
-    Je suis aveugle, sois mon guide;
-    Je suivrai partout pas à pas
-        Adélaïde.
-
-
-    TRANSLATION.
-
-        Adelaide
-    Was surely form'd all hearts to move,
-    And more than Ovid we can prove
-    By speaking eyes, the art of love
-        In Adelaide.
-
-        Than Adelaide
-    No softer thraldom could we meet:
-    Alcides' self would think it sweet,
-    To spin his task out at the feet
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        From Adelaide
-    And all her dang'rous beauties fly;--
-    Armida's charms and witchery
-    Were far less fatal than the eye
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        Of Adelaide
-    When Cupid first the features fram'd,
-    "In Cnidus' court," he loud proclaim'd,
-    "Not one for beauty shall be fam'd
-        Like Adelaide."
-
-        "O Adelaide!"
-    The sightless boy enraptur'd cried,
-    "Alas, I'm blind! Be thou my guide;
-    From henceforth I'll ne'er leave the side
-        Of Adelaide."
-
-Miss Wildenheim quickly recollected, that these lines were written in a
-fine edition of Klopstock's works Colonel Desmond had given her, as a
-_gage d'amitié_, the last day she had seen him at Vienna; and when Miss
-Nevil turned to trace the resemblance she perceived in the drawing--the
-blush, the smile, the attitude, the graceful form, struck her so
-forcibly, that she exclaimed, "It _is_ yourself, Miss Wildenheim; I
-thought it was the image of you, the instant I saw it." Melicent, with
-intuitive propriety, sought to relieve Adelaide's embarrassment, and
-said, "Here's a far more beautiful figure; this, Miss Webberly, is my
-last production--a charming Paul and Virginia, I assure you. Do admire
-Paul's leg, it is thicker than the tree he is sitting under:--I wonder
-he doesn't kick Virginia, she squints so abominably."
-
-When this singular specimen of the fine arts was first displayed to the
-partial eyes of Melicent's parents, it met with no small admiration from
-them. A showy frame was bought, in which it was hung up over the
-chimney-piece of their usual sitting-room, and the fond mother gazed at
-it from morning till night. When Colonel Desmond returned from abroad,
-this was the first object, that, after showing her nine healthy,
-handsome children, she directed his attention to. He did not then
-express all the horror he felt at the contrast it afforded; but in about
-six months' negociation with considerable difficulty accomplished its
-being safely deposited in his port-folio.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-        Qu'Adélaïde
-    Met d'ame et de gout dans son chant!
-    Aux accens de sa voix timide
-    Chacun dit rien n'est si touchant,
-        Qu'Adélaïde[5]!
-
-    oeMARMONTELoe.
-
-[Footnote 5:
-
-        Adelaide
-    Whilst singing steals each list'ner's heart,
-    'Tis melody's refined part,
-    None can such melting strains impart,
-        As Adelaide.
-]
-
-
-As soon as the gentlemen returned to the drawing room, and tea was over,
-the mistress of the house proposed music.
-
-The Desmonds, in general, were considerable proficients in this
-delightful art; and a trio for the violin, flute, and piano forte, was
-charmingly played by Melicent, and her father, and uncle. Though the
-former failed so lamentably in drawing, she had a fine genius for music,
-which was made the most of by constant practice; it was the only thing
-her father had ever studied, and in it he had acquired considerable
-knowledge, whilst her uncle had gained, in Germany, a fine style of
-playing on the violin; and to their instructions she was more indebted
-for her excellence, than to those of Mr. Ingham, who taught her the mere
-mechanical part of the science, and even that very imperfectly. As soon
-as, according to the rules of etiquette, the young lady of the house had
-made a commencement, her guests were in turn requested to display their
-talents. Colonel Desmond had whispered about that Adelaide sung
-enchantingly; and there was a general impatience expressed to hear her,
-which she, in her usual unaffected manner, consented to gratify.
-
-The tones of her voice were exquisitely touching, and they took the
-shortest road to the heart, without stopping on the way to tickle the
-ear by the tricks of mere execution; each ornament seemed to rise in
-its own proper place, by a sort of "happy necessity," and, like the
-temple of taste, her singing "always charmed, never surprised." Her
-vocal excellences were most called forth in the highest style of Italian
-music. In the detached scenes of an opera she was inimitable: her divine
-voice painted, as it were, every shade of feeling; and the composer
-might have rejoiced to hear the Proserpine or Elfrida, not of his music,
-but of his imagination. Still more enchanting than her voice when she
-sang was her countenance, which the soul seemed to irradiate with that
-immortal light only seen on earth in "the human face divine;" and there
-were expressed all those indescribable charms, the offspring of genius
-and feeling, which the most melodious sounds are insufficient to convey
-to the sense. As she was however too rational, to be sublime out of
-place, she did not attempt to introduce the "grand opera" at Bogberry
-Hall, but apologizing for her deficiency in English music, which she
-feared to disfigure by her peculiar accent, sang a playful foreign
-ballad, which perhaps displayed the fascinating graces of her flexible
-voice, and polished manner, almost as delightfully as a finer
-composition would have done. She was rapturously _encored_, and was
-detained singing, till, quite distressed at the idea of excluding every
-other lady from the piano forte, she pleaded fatigue, as her excuse for
-retiring from the instrument. As the company crowded round her to bestow
-their praises, the winning expression with which her soft eyes met the
-general gaze, as they seemed imploringly to ask the forgiveness of her
-unsought superiority, and which her graceful gestures no less eloquently
-entreated, drew from the heart touched by her sweetness and modesty that
-exclamation of "charming! charming!" which the lips had opened to apply
-to her captivating talents.
-
-During the time Adelaide was singing, Melicent stood beside her uncle in
-almost breathless delight, her hand resting on his arm, which she
-pressed with earnestness as any note of peculiar beauty met her ear. He
-was so completely lost in a reverie, (a most unusual circumstance with
-him,) that even after the melody had ceased, he stood in the same spot,
-and in the same attitude, as before. Melicent roused him from his
-reflections, as she looked up in his face, and said, "How enchanting!
-her voice is 'pleasant as the gale of spring, that sighs on the hunter's
-ear when he wakens from dreams of joy, and has heard the music of the
-spirits of the Hill.'" "I perceive," replied he, almost starting at her
-first address, "that you read Ossian as incessantly as ever, Melicent: I
-have just been thinking how superior Miss Wildenheim is to her own
-acquirements." "I don't exactly understand you, uncle." "If you had ever
-mixed in the world, my love, you would without difficulty; you would
-there meet with many of both sexes, in whom the painter, or the poet, or
-the musician, stand forth so prominently, that the individual character
-is lost in the background, indeed, sometimes, with advantage. I'm sure,
-when Miss Wildenheim occurs to your mind to-morrow morning, you won't
-think _first_ of her singing, though you do admire it so much." "Oh,
-no!" replied Melicent, "I shall think of her charming smiles, as she is
-endeavouring to persuade Miss Cecilia Webberly to sing the air she
-thinks she most excels in.--They are looking for the music; I must go
-and assist them." Cecilia now did her utmost to eclipse Adelaide, by
-displaying twice the power of voice in songs of greater execution, which
-every body confessed she sang _well_, though no one _felt_ she sang
-charmingly. After two or three solos, it was proposed, that Mr. Ingham
-should join her in a duet. She purposely chose one, which should be a
-trial of skill between the performers. It was that style of music, which
-Colonel Desmond called the "florid Gothick," from its profuse ornament
-and defective taste; it had triplets, volatas, and trills without end.
-Poor Mr. Ingham, in more than one sense of the word, _shook_ for his
-fame; the merciless Cecilia forgot, that on it depended his bread; she
-did not read in his countenance, "He who filches from me my good name,
-takes that which not enricheth him, and makes me poor indeed!" But when
-they came to the final cadence, impelled by the "glorious fault of
-angels and of gods," she aspired higher than fate permitted her to
-attain with honour; and in a precipitate fall from D sharp in alt was
-hurled on the flat seventh, instead of the perfect third of the key,
-which made an unfortunate discord with the note intended to harmonize
-with said perfect third in a simultaneous trill; and on this unlucky
-seventh she continued to shake without pity or remorse, till the poor
-man, in emulation, was nearly black in the face, and was obliged to take
-breath twice, in a most audible manner, before she would have done. But
-at last she ceased, and the mortified musician's good-natured patron,
-seeing his vexation, and being himself shocked at the discord, clapped
-him on the back, saying, "Well done, Ingham; both parts famously sung:"
-and, with a significant wink, added, "By Heavens! she shook the cat out
-of the bag that time; she did you up there, man alive!" Lanty, who had
-thought the shake wondrous queer, he did not know why, understanding the
-drift of his father's observation, burst into a loud fit of laughter,
-which was followed by a peremptory order from his mother to quit the
-room. In the mean time the rest of the company were variously occupied:
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and Miss Fitzcarril, with the physician and curate,
-formed a party at _short whist_, which the former, to assist her claims
-to fashion, played at a rate that was much higher than accorded with her
-frugal propensities, and which the pride of her companions prevented
-from confessing was much beyond what suited their finances. The
-physician, who was losing, internally grumbled at this new method of
-playing the good old game of whist, by which twice as much may be lost
-in the same space of time; and muttered, as he sorted his cards, a
-barbarous parody of Shakspeare, "There comes the last scene of
-all:--short sight, short gowns, short whist, short every thing!" Leaning
-over "John of Gaunt's" chair, (the agnomen Mr. Desmond had been pleased
-to bestow on the stupendous Theresa,) stood Captain Cormac, to rejoice
-in the goodly row of kings, queens, and aces, which the hand of his
-liege sometimes contained, and which was graciously pointed out to him
-with an accompanying smile; or to pick up the glove, card, or
-handkerchief that fell to the ground, not always undesignedly. Mrs.
-Desmond kept herself disengaged to be kind and civil to every body,
-sometimes condoling with the losers at whist, sometimes laughing with
-the young people, as they played at "consequences," "what's my thought
-like?" or "dressing the poor soldier." Miss Webberly was in earnest
-conversation with Mr. Donolan, of which Mrs. Desmond's ear, unwilling,
-caught one or two sentences. In answer to an observation from Amelia, he
-said "A very good match for _him_," with a sort of conceited emphasis on
-the word _him_, which insinuated "it would be a very bad match for
-_me_." "Scarcely even for _him_," retorted Miss Webberly, "German gentry
-are but sma." This quotation was followed by a laugh of affected
-vehemence from both; and when Cecilia, exulting in her triumph over Mr.
-Ingham, came up to them, the witticism was repeated; and they then, in a
-playhouse whisper, extended their strictures to all the company in turn,
-only interrupted by fits of laughter. Mrs. Desmond turned away in
-disgust, and, looking for Melicent, proudly thought, "My little mountain
-girl may want polish, as Edward says, but, with all her wildness, she is
-still the lady." The object of her thoughts was, at that moment, in
-conversation with her uncle and Adelaide, whom they had joined, when
-Cecilia Webberly sat down to the piano forte. When she had finished her
-duet, in the manner before mentioned, Miss Desmond said, "What a pity it
-is, Miss Wildenheim, that people, in the attempt to astonish, will
-insist upon showing what they _cannot_ do." "My dear Melicent,"
-interrupted her uncle, "you may take it as a pretty general rule, that
-when a lady attempts or even succeeds in _astonishing_, all is not
-exactly as it ought to be; am I not right?" continued he, turning to
-Adelaide, "Oh, perfectly," replied she; "but, indeed, Miss Webberly
-executed her songs extremely well, with the exception of that
-unfortunate shake." "I have heard my uncle say," rejoined Melicent,
-"that an _execution_ is sometimes a _murder_; in that sense, I allow she
-has executed them well; but, surely, music that is not pleasing, can
-never be good." As Melicent never spoke _sotto voce_, her uncle was
-afraid her observations would be heard, and therefore, to divert her
-mind from Miss Webberly's singing, took up a book of poems, which was
-lying on the table they were standing near, and addressing Adelaide,
-said, "I condemned these verses this morning, as being unnatural:
-Melicent, to all my objections, only answered, 'Oh! dear uncle, I
-delight in them.' Do be our umpire, and show her, that something more
-is necessary to prove her admiration to be well founded, than the bare
-assertion that she does admire; when she dislikes, she has reasons
-enough at command, but when she approves, it is with an extravagance of
-enthusiasm, that admits of no analysis." Adelaide read as follows:--
-
-    The sigh of her heart was sincere,
-      When blushing she whisper'd her love,
-    A sound of delight in my ear;
-      Her voice was the voice of a dove.
-    Ah! who could from Phillida fly?
-      Yet I sought other nymphs of the vale,
-    Forgot her sweet blush and her sigh!
-      Forgot that I told her my tale.
-
-    In sorrow I wish'd to return,
-      And the tale of my passion renew;
-    Go, Shepherd, she answer'd with scorn,
-      False Shepherd, for ever adieu!
-    For thee no more tears will I shed,
-      From thee to fair Friendship I go;
-    The bird by a wound that has bled,
-      Is happy to fly from its foe.
-
-"What can she find so affecting in those lines?" thought Colonel
-Desmond, as he marked Adelaide's changing countenance. Memory had
-raised the shades of departed joys, which appeared in her eyes not clad
-in their original brightness, but wrapped in sorrow's watery veil;
-reason quickly bade them be gone, but not ere her attentive observer had
-marked their shadowy footsteps as they crossed her brow. When she looked
-up, his penetrating glance read her mind, and expressed his own. She
-painfully felt her heart was open to his view, that there was now no
-retreat, and therefore calmly said to Melicent, "I agree with you, Miss
-Desmond, the feelings of Phillida are perfectly natural." "But,"
-interrupted Colonel Desmond, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken,
-"don't you think, that though she might turn in scorn from the unworthy
-object of her first attachment, she might solace her wounded heart by
-admitting the love of another?" "Never!" replied Adelaide: "even in
-endeavouring to view him with indifference, her mind must have been too
-long filled with his idea, not to feel the impossibility of its ever
-being possessed by a second choice." Colonel Desmond knew the human
-heart better, and flattered himself, not unjustly, that if he had
-patience to play the friend, and did not too quickly assume the lover,
-he might imperceptibly win her regard in that character. He was not
-hurried away by the imprudent warmth of feeling, which would have
-deprived a younger man of his self-possession, but determined to destroy
-the impression of what the seriousness of his looks and tones had
-conveyed to her mind; and therefore with apparent carelessness, asked
-her how she liked Ireland. This question a stranger is plagued with in
-every company, from the day he lands in that country till the one he
-leaves it; which with its twin tormentor, "Do you like England or
-Ireland best?" serves to commence that sort of conversation, which
-begins in Great Britain with observations on the weather. By the way, it
-is strange that no moralist has ever remarked how providential it is,
-that the climate of this latter island is so variable, considering the
-propensity its inhabitants have to talk of it. It certainly affords a
-beautiful illustration of the doctrine of compensation.
-
-But to return to our friend Desmond:--he was too well bred to have asked
-such an unfair question, had he not been completely _distrait_. When the
-mind is absent without leave, the deputy it leaves behind to secure its
-unmolested retreat most resembles that apish faculty, memory, and
-mechanically imitates the manners, and repeats the phrases of others.
-Adelaide, more embarrassed, though not so _distrait_ as her
-interrogator, replied, that she was even more pleased with the country
-than she had expected to be from the favourable picture held forth in
-some late publications. He agreed to the justice of these
-representations; while his brother, happening to hear him, was nettled,
-to the quick, and abruptly said, "Not a bit like, Ned; quite too
-ridiculous." "But, my dear Harry, there is nothing in the world so
-tiresome as direct panegyric; you must allow a little for the malice of
-human nature, to make an individual or a national character loved, its
-virtues must be relieved by its foibles." "I'll tell you what, Ned, the
-devil a good there is in dressing us up in a fool's cap and bells, to
-make a set of fat English squires laugh who have eat themselves stupid."
-"How can you be so illiberal, brother? That des----"--"By the piper that
-danced before Moses," interrupted the elder Desmond; "it's themselves
-that's illiberal.--There's the two Webberlys, and that airified nephew
-of my wife's, mocking us all, by the Lord! and all the time of tea, and
-while Milly was playing on the forte, they were laughing as if their
-sides would burst. I'm bothered from the head to the tail with them,
-that's the truth of it. But come, Miss Wildenheim, a tune from you would
-save any man from being in a passion--give us 'God save the King,' and
-that will remind me that I ought to comport myself as becomes a
-peaceable subject."
-
-In nothing did Adelaide excel more than in playing an air, in a manner
-that seemed to give it beauties that it was not before suspected of
-possessing. She called to her aid all the powers of harmony, and united
-boldness of execution with tenderness of expression. She now played "God
-save the King," in a manner that electrified the company; the card
-players had dispersed, and there was such a nodding of heads, and
-marching, and whistling, and singing, and drumming on tables, and
-rattling watch chains, and beating time, that the performance of a
-person who could not have brought forth all the power of the "forte," as
-Mr. Desmond called it, would have been lost amongst all these various
-noises. The tune was played and replayed, till Adelaide laughingly said
-her fingers ached; and then dancing was proposed, and being agreed to,
-the company repaired to a large hall for the purpose. Here Mr. Desmond
-vented the remnant of his spleen against the Webberlys, by calling to
-the piper, "Play up the humours of Ludgate Hill there!" with a
-significant wink to the music master, (who, by the by, was more of a
-wag than an Orpheus), and though the wink was of no use to the blind
-piper and fiddler, the tone of his voice was sufficiently understood by
-them to need no second order; and they accordingly struck up their
-favourite tune of "Jig Polthogue," to which Mr. Desmond amused himself
-by mimicking, in turn, the dancing of all the set; and his imitations,
-being general, offended nobody in particular, but in truth he even
-satirized with so much good humour, that he hardly ever gave offence. It
-seemed always to be the fashions of the times he quizzed, rather than
-the people who exhibited them. "What an entertaining, exhilarating
-people the Irish are!" said Adelaide to Colonel Desmond. "Yes," replied
-he; "but yet, with all their cleverness, how strangely inconsistent is
-their conduct! If Melicent Desmond was a sovereign princess, her father
-could not have had more pride about her than he has; and yet here she is
-associating with her music-master, dancing in the very set with him;
-and I never can persuade him there is any impropriety in it." "How well
-she does dance!" remarked his fair partner. "And what a capital
-caricature Captain Cormac and Miss Fitzcarril would make--he all
-flourishes, she as stiff as the genealogical tree that hangs up in the
-hall at Ballinamoyle. Do you observe," resumed he, "how much of the
-'_incedo regina_' there is in her manner to him occasionally! This good
-lady is a singular being, I can assure you. She can be 'proud with
-meanness, and be mean with pride.'" "Such a character," rejoined
-Adelaide, "reminds me of Homer's princesses, who, from doing the honours
-of the palace, proceed to wash the clothes of its inhabitants in the
-neighbouring river, to which pleasant employment they drive right
-regally." Mr. Desmond now coming up to turn her in the dance, took that
-opportunity of saying, "I tried to touch you up, but I couldn't--it's a
-shame for you to bear away the _bell_ in every thing:--I never saw any
-one in my life _handle their feet_ as you do."
-
-After two or three dances the company adjourned to the supper table, and
-here again all was mirth and glee. Colonel and Mr. Desmond sung comical
-songs, and told droll stories, till the whole party were in fits of
-laughter. Three of the children, younger than Melicent and Launcelot,
-were kept up to supper, and they sang catches and glees with their
-father and uncle, in a manner that surprised every body who heard their
-sweet voices and saw their childish faces. Before they began, a dispute
-arose between Mr. Desmond and the music-master, relative to the key
-note; the one sounded one, and the other another; when, to settle the
-matter, the former called to his second son, "Do you hear, George, take
-this note out in your mouth to the forte, strike it, and bring me word
-if I'm not right, and be sure you don't drop it by the way." How far
-George was an impartial testimony, or how much the note lost or gained
-in its ascent or descent, must ever remain in doubt; but, like a dutiful
-child, when he returned, he said, "_You_ were right to be sure,
-father--listen here;" and sounding the octave above as clear as a bell,
-and as sweetly as possible, they all set to, the little performers
-keeping time and tune admirably; whilst the mellow base of the
-gentlemen, and the enchanting soprano of their sister, contrasted
-delightfully with the juvenile strains of these "young-eyed cherubim."
-Melicent's fine notes made most of the party express a wish to hear her
-in a solo, and she sang the "Exile of Erin," with a pathos that drew
-tears from many present. Adelaide seemed particularly to feel it; which
-Mr. Desmond perceiving, he said, "Come, Melicent, that's too
-dismal--I'll tune you up a lilt;" and he immediately sang, in a most
-comical manner, a ballad he had written himself, entitled, "Miss Jenny's
-lament for the loss of her petticoat;" in which was ably satirized the
-present style of _undress_. Soon after this the party separated with as
-much hilarity as they had met.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-    Jeunes beautés qui venez dans ces lieux,
-    Fouler d'un pied léger l'herbe tendre et fleurie,
-    Comme vous je connus les plaisirs de la vie,
-    Vos fêtes, vos transports, et vos aimables jeux.
-    L'Amour berçoit mon coeur de ses douces chimères,
-    Et l'Hymen me flattoit du destin le plus beau,
-    Un instant détruisit ces erreurs mensongères,
-    Que me reste-t-il? Le tombeau![6]
-
-    oeLEVIZACoe.
-
-[Footnote 6:
-
-    Ye fair ones that, with agile bound,
-    Dance o'er this turf in frolick round,
-    Whose tender flowers scarce bend their head,
-    Beneath your footstep's airy tread;
-    Like you I once, with sportive mien,
-    Join'd laughing Pleasure's joyous train:
-    Then life and all its hopes were new,
-    And love its brightest visions drew:
-    Those joys are past--the vision's flown:
-    What now remains?--The tomb alone.
-]
-
-
-When Adelaide returned to Ballinamoyle, she thought of the day she had
-spent at Bogberry Hall with the most lively pleasure; the unrefined
-good-natured gaiety of its inmates had seized her with so strong a
-grasp, that it had dragged her along with the general current of mirth,
-and, leading her thoughts out of their ordinary course, had, with no
-unwelcome violence, broken the chain of their painful associations. Her
-eye had early been accustomed to the animation of foreign countenances
-and gestures; and as she had only been acquainted with English manners
-in a very retired country place, it is perhaps not surprising, that she
-should have felt chilled by their apparent monotony, and abashed by the
-half-reproving look she sometimes met with; when, pausing for an instant
-to consider what she had done wrong, she found she had, in the
-earnestness of conversation, raised her hand and arm full six inches
-from her side, where it was arrested in its graceful action, and
-remanded by the blushing offender to its former quiescent station. But
-censure was not even thus avoided, for in the very effort to please,
-she had committed a second error, by moving that beautiful brow, which
-expressed every feeling of her heart; and her dismay, at perceiving her
-observer still unsatisfied, produced some other involuntary gesture
-still more reprehensible than the first.
-
-She now therefore saw the Irishmen change from one leg to another,
-flourish their arms, rattle their watch chains, and swing their chairs,
-without the horror so elegant a female was bound to experience on
-beholding such ungraceful motions, for which no sanctioning precedent
-could be produced at St. James's. And she even granted absolution to the
-varying expression of the women's countenances, which sometimes bordered
-on grimace; and extended it to their voices, running through half the
-gamut in the changes of the most decided brogue that ever offended ears
-polite.
-
-To speak seriously, she found very great amusement in observing a
-national character, so dissimilar to any that had ever before fallen
-under her observation, and which presented itself with so many comical
-and so many amiable traits. In every individual she had met, there was
-something strongly characteristic, from Moll Kelly on the strand at
-Dunleary, to the proprietor of Bogberry Hall; and, with the exception of
-Mr. Donolan, who was spoiled in an attempt at refinement, warmth of
-feeling and good nature seemed to be the portion of each. In order to
-become better acquainted with this national character, which so much
-interested her, she determined, during her residence at Ballinamoyle, to
-visit the cottages in its neighbourhood, and to cultivate the
-acquaintance of her friend Jarge Quin, hoping to learn from him the
-peculiar customs and superstitions of the country, while to the
-venerable Father Dermoody she applied for their explanation and origin.
-She did not now feel quite so much at ease in referring for information
-to her former _cicerone_, Colonel Desmond, as she had done previous to
-their ambiguous conversation in his brother's drawing-room: but his
-guarded conduct the remainder of the evening tended much to destroy her
-first impression; and she felt the utmost confusion, whenever those few
-sentences came across her mind, accusing herself of the most egregious
-vanity in annexing a sense to his words that he did not mean to give
-them; and asking herself, time after time, whether he could have
-perceived her mistake. However, these unpleasant ideas soon wore away,
-and Colonel Desmond played the part of friend so well, that she
-convinced herself he had not understood her; and in a short time this
-circumstance, which made her at first feel so embarrassed in his
-presence, was erased from her mind. And indeed he so dexterously availed
-himself of all the advantages he possessed to make his society agreeable
-to her, that she soon began to feel almost uncomfortable without it. He
-would talk to her of the scenes of her infancy; and she would then
-gratefully recollect the pains he had taken to teach her the English
-language, which she now felt of such essential advantage; and would
-sometimes remind him of the good-natured patience he had also shown,
-when he first condescended to accompany on the violin her childish
-performance of concertos and sonatas, and the remembrance of many an
-inveterately ill-timed passage afforded them now considerable diversion.
-There was one subject of the deepest interest, that he, and he alone, of
-all her associates, was master of the virtues and talents of her father;
-and this, in her enthusiastic filial affection, and his regrets and
-admiration, was inexhaustible. At first Baron Wildenheim's name was but
-slightly glanced at; but by degrees she could bear to hear his
-sentiments and his words repeated, and her heart warmly thanked the man,
-who had so carefully treasured them in his. Colonel Desmond's humanity
-and fine feeling told him exactly where to stop. He would,
-
-    "When the soft tear stole silently down from the eye,
-    Take no note of its course, nor detect the slow sigh;"
-
-and the sympathy he showed in her affliction tended much to restore her
-mind to its wonted serenity, by gently drawing forth all those agonizing
-reflections and remembrances that had fled to hide themselves from human
-knowledge, to the most secret recesses of her heart. Under all these
-circumstances a penetrating observer would, perhaps, have pronounced,
-that if Colonel Desmond steadily pursued his present plan, it would
-ultimately be crowned with success. At least it is contrary to all
-experience, that a young woman can long continue to feel _friendship
-alone_ for an unmarried man, who is in all things a lover, except in the
-declaration of his passion;--nay, if there is no love on either side at
-first, it is highly probable there will be on both at no distant period,
-whenever a similarity of taste, ideas, and pursuits, induces a desire of
-association and intimacy, which circumstances permit to be gratified.
-Every inexperienced female should be thoroughly aware of the high
-probability which exists of her bestowing her affections on the man
-with whom she is so situated.
-
-The second evening after their return from Bogberry Hall, Mr.
-O'Sullivan's guests were assembled at tea, when they heard the sound of
-music in the open air; and looking out, saw a gay groupe of young men
-and women dressed in their best, two fiddlers playing merrily before
-them, one of the party carrying a pole, on which were tied small hoops
-covered with garlands of flowers, intermixed with finery of various
-sorts, and gloves cut out in white and coloured papers; after them
-followed the elder members of their families, and, lastly, a crowd of
-children. The Miss Webberlys saw, with surprise, that not one of the
-females of the assembly had hat or bonnet. All the young women, except
-the queen of the garland, wore white round caps, ornamented with some
-gay riband; some had open gowns of a brilliant calico, others of white
-linen, with a stuff petticoat, blue, yellow, red, or green, according to
-the fancy of the wearer; white aprons, handkerchiefs, and stockings,
-completed their attire. Their showy dress, rosy complexions, and
-animated countenances, had altogether a most lively effect.
-
-The dress of the old women was rather different. It consisted of a white
-mob cap, with a black silk handkerchief brought over the crown, crossed
-under the chin, and tied behind; a calico gown, with a large and gaudy
-pattern; and, in addition to the handkerchief and apron, a white dimity
-bed-gown, with short sleeves, and the skirt reaching half way to their
-knees; with a bright scarlet cloak hanging on one arm. All the men who
-were not dancers wore a great coat, of the peculiar frieze of their
-country. In the dress of the young men there was nothing remarkable,
-except that each had on a showy waistcoat, or silk handkerchief, to make
-him look as smart as his sweetheart in her gay gown and petticoat.
-
-Adelaide was delightedly viewing the joyous scene, when she suddenly
-heard Colonel Desmond's voice returning Mrs. O'Sullivan's salutation,
-"It's midsummer's eve," said he, addressing her, "and I could not resist
-coming to witness your surprise at the curious customs observed here on
-this night." "I should think Miss Wildenheim wouldn't be such a fool as
-to go trapesing out on the damp grass with such a set of vagabonds,"
-said Mr. Webberly, who was himself confined to the sofa. Colonel
-Desmond's attention was too much engrossed by the sweet smiles and
-tones, with which Adelaide thanked him for his kind recollection of her,
-to notice the morose look which accompanied this observation; and he
-acknowledged the speaker no otherwise than by a distant bow, as the fair
-object of his solicitude left the room to join the rest of the party at
-the hall door. The crowd had by this time ranged themselves in a
-semicircle, in the centre of which stood the king and queen of the
-garland, the former carrying the pole. The rustic queen was the
-handsomest young girl of the country--
-
-    "Health in her motion, the wild grace
-    Of Pleasure speaking in her face."
-
-Her head was crowned with a chaplet of flowers, whilst her long hair,
-which is highly prized in Ireland as a part of female beauty, flowed in
-profusion down her back, and its raven hue contrasted well with her
-snow-white linen gown. A sky-blue petticoat appeared under her apron in
-front, and from her girdle hung a wreath of flowers, forming a festoon
-of varied tints. The temporary king was the best dancer, wrestler, and
-cudgel-player, and the "tightest and clanest boy in all Ballinamoyle
-town land." On the right stood the fiddlers, playing Plansety
-O'Sullivan. When the venerable possessor of this name came forward to
-welcome the crowd, the united strength of all their lungs sent forth a
-heart-felt wish of "Long life to his honour, and God bless him, hurra!
-hurra!" There is perhaps nothing more overcoming than the voice of a
-rejoicing multitude. The old man felt the present and the past, as he
-thought how his beloved Rose was hailed on such anniversaries; and
-whilst he made his bows of acknowledgement, the tear stood on his aged
-cheek. When silence was proclaimed, the village schoolmaster stepped
-forward, and presented him with a song he had written on his honour, and
-which "Brian Murdoch would make bould for to sing." Brian began with an
-"Och--" half a second in duration, and then proceeded as follows:--
-
-          In Connaught, my deer,
-          Did you walk far and neer,
-          At a poor man's requist,
-          His honour's the best
-            Of all in the land, of all in the land!
-          When poverty's near,
-          He ne'er turns a dafe ear,
-          But is free wid his store,
-          Gives kind words galliore,
-            Wid a bountiful hand, a bountiful hand!
-    Och!--Wheresomdiver he goes
-          A blessing there flows,
-          Like a beam of the sun
-          Or the soft shining moon,
-            The joy of our heart, the joy of our heart!
-          Then long may he rain
-          Widout sorrow or pane,
-          And in Heaven be blist,
-          When he takes his last rist,
-            Tho' we to the heart rue the day he depart!
-
-The intention of this composition was certainly better than the metre;
-but for once a poet did not flatter, for Mr. O'Sullivan exercised all
-the benevolence of his kind heart, in making his tenants happy; and they
-would in return, to use their own expression, have "gone through fire
-and water at the dead hour of the night, to sarve his honour. They had a
-good right to lay the hair of their head in under his feet."
-
-Brian's performance was applauded and encored, and when it was over,
-there was a little murmur amongst the crowd as if to settle the next
-act. "Which is her?" asked the king of the garland. "Why, that beautiful
-lady to be sure, talking to the fat madam in the lavender blossom dress,
-with the borders all figured out in white," replied an ancient matron,
-who had been one of the first assembly at Ballinamoyle. The young man
-now walked up to Adelaide, and with a bow down to the ground, begged the
-honour of dancing with her; and she, perceiving it was a national
-custom, instantly complied; and hearing from Captain Cormac, who handed
-her to the spot she was to dance on, that the figure of the jig she was
-expected to perform, was that of a minuet danced quick, she went through
-it with a spirit and grace, that were unalloyed by any airs of exalted
-languor.
-
-What! danced with an Irish peasant, and with spirit to! Look down, ye
-German Barons of sixteen quarters, and ye noble British Peers, on your
-descendant, and--behold her with pride! for she could be dignified
-without haughtiness, and complaisant without familiarity--perfectly
-understanding the art of adapting herself to her associates, without
-thereby assimilating her manners or ideas to theirs; always preserving
-that elegance, which "was around her as light," giving to her
-performance of the trifles of every day intercourse a charm peculiarly
-her own, and which as invariably adorned her in the humblest cottage, as
-it would have done in the most brilliant court, dancing with this king
-of a rustic pageant, as with the Autocrat of all the Russias; and had
-she been one of those selected for that honour, she would perhaps,
-whilst she paid due homage to the rank of the Emperor, have no less
-forcibly impressed her august partner with the _dignity of the lady_.
-
-However, the most scrupulous belle need not be much annoyed by the
-contamination she would suffer, by dancing with the king of the garland;
-for actuated by that respect, which the lower Irish so strongly feel for
-their superiors, he never presumes to take her hand, but contents
-himself with dancing opposite to her with all his might and main, at
-about three feet distance. Thus Adelaide's partner beat the batter on
-the ground, sprung, capered, hit the sole of his foot with his hand,
-danced the garland, beat the batter again, set, shuffled, and capered
-in turn. Every now and then there was clapping of hands, and "Well done,
-Lary, keep it up, keep it up!" and a murmur of approbation for Adelaide
-went round: "She's a beautiful cratur; and what kindly ways she has with
-her," said one. "The Lord love her little canny feet, how they do humour
-the music!" remarked another; and so on, till she made her curtsy when
-the jig was ended; and then there was a general shout of "Huzza! for the
-young lady and Lary for ever." "Arrah, whist wid your noisy tongues,"
-said an old woman; "you'll trouble his honour, and mind him of Miss
-Rose. This day two and twenty year she danced on this very spot of
-ground, and the sarra lady has done the same since from that day till
-this. Do you see old Dennis there, Cisly?" continued she to her
-daughter: "Well, Miss Rose smiled so sweet, (I mind it as if it was but
-yesterday), and said, 'What a wonderful old man Dennis is, to be able to
-tire me in a dance, at sixty years of age! I hope he'll live to see
-many a midsummer's eve.' They say the prayers of them that's soon going
-to their long home is uncommon lucky; so she left these words for a
-blessing to ould Dennis, though she was too good to live herself." The
-old woman's caution was unnecessary--Mr. O'Sullivan had pleaded the
-damps of the evening and retired, but begged of Colonel Desmond to take
-his place, and keep the dancers as long as they afforded amusement, as
-his room was at so distant a part of the house, his _sleep_ would not be
-disturbed. "Alas, no!" thought his friend, "poor man, he will never
-cease to grieve for his angelic daughter, till she smiles on him once
-more in another world."
-
-Colonel Desmond perceived there was a stop in the proceedings of the
-crowd, and recollected that it was customary for the master of the
-house, or some one in the place, to dance with the queen of the garland,
-and therefore requested Captain Cormac would do the honours the
-_etiquette_ of such occasions demanded. At another time he would have
-enjoyed doing so himself; but at this moment his head was too full of
-Rose and her father, to think of dancing--or even of Adelaide! Captain
-Cormac took the garland, as every man was bound to do, and flourished it
-about, and out-capered Lary himself; whilst his pretty partner, at
-stated times, cast her fine eyes on the ground, and was swung round by
-him with averted head, then danced boldly up with one arm akimbo,
-alternately took the garland, followed, or was chased by him. Little
-Caroline was wild with spirits, when the crowd, finding out their
-mistake with regard to Adelaide, raised her on a stout man's shoulders,
-and pressed round to shake hands with her in turn, while she received
-their greetings with the utmost cordiality; and, when let down again,
-she danced and capered about, as Jarge Quin said, "as merry and as
-pretty as the little people trip it on the blossoms on May morning."
-
-Mr. Webberly had by this time nearly recovered from the ill humour the
-sight of Colonel Desmond had put him into, and had been wheeled in a
-large chair to the window, for the double purpose of viewing the festive
-scene, and watching the proceedings of Adelaide. He was evidently in
-pain either of body or mind, and looked so mournful, so deserted, that
-she could not resist the impulse of compassion, and addressed to him,
-from time to time, some casual remark on the groupe before them. For
-many months she had not voluntarily spoken so much to him; and as
-Colonel Desmond observed his satisfaction, some painful reflections
-crossed his mind: "He deceives himself," thought he, "and so do I--she
-has no love for me either. I ought to tear myself from her; yet a faint
-heart never won a fair lady, and I see as little cause to despair as to
-hope." But with an inconsistency, that the agitation of his feelings
-alone could account for, he whispered to Adelaide, "Be more stern, and
-you will be more humane; your heavenly sweetness undoes your victim."
-She looked up surprised, and read that in his countenance, which
-immediately gave to hers a degree of gravity which he had never before
-seen her features wear; and bowing slightly in answer, addressed herself
-to Mrs. O'Sullivan. He soon found an opportunity of speaking to her
-again: "Adelaide," said he, sorrowfully, "you are offended; are you like
-all the rest of the world, capricious and fickle? Do you _reject_ the
-friend of your infancy?" "Colonel Desmond," said she calmly, "I must be
-frank--infancy does not last forever, '_altri tempi, altre maniere_.'"
-In these few words she had spoken volumes. To recover himself, he talked
-sentiment and science to the two Miss Webberlys, and in doing so, heard
-and made such a display of _esprit_, that it soon deadened his feelings,
-and in a few minutes he _appeared_ as much at ease as ever.
-
-In the mean time the merry rustics performed Quaker minuets, which
-consist of a mixture of quick and slow movements, a sort of strathspey
-called petticoatties, and some well executed handkerchief dances, the
-figures of which are of the same kind as the shawl-dances of the opera,
-and admit six or eight at pleasure. It is surprising with what a degree
-of natural dexterity and vivacity the lower Irish dance: Adelaide
-thought, "If Horace had been an Irishman, he would not have described
-the dancing of the Nymphs and Graces in the spiritless manner he has
-done:--
-
-    "Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus, imminente Luná,
-    Junctæque Nymphis Gratiæ decentes,
-    Alterno terram quatiunt pede.[7]"
-
-[Footnote 7: Literally nearly thus:
-
-Now beneath the beaming moon, Cytherean Venus leads forth the band. The
-decent Graces, joined by the Nymphs, strike the earth with alternate
-foot.]
-
-But profiting by Mrs. Temple's hint, she never now said any thing that
-might lead to the supposition of her being a "learned lady;" at the same
-time, she heartily joined in the praises, which even Mrs. O'Sullivan and
-her daughters bestowed on the groupe before them. "It is not all pure
-nature, however," said Colonel Desmond; "itinerant dancing-masters go
-about the country, and there is no lad or lass so poor, that once in
-their lives, at least, can't afford half a crown for the benefit of
-their education in this particular. They all gather together in some
-waste building, or on the level turf; and the scenes that take place in
-these assemblies are ludicrous beyond description. It is said, that one
-of our Connaught Vestrises found it necessary, to tie a straw rope about
-the right leg of his pupils, calling it suggar, and the other gad; and
-that he used to sing this rhyme to a tune that marks the time
-inimitably, beating it all the time with his foot: only conceive the
-bodily and mental labour of such a task!
-
-    "'Out with your suggar, my girl,
-    Right fal la fal la di dy,
-    Then the gad you must twirl,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Shuffle your suggar and gad,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Then you must set to the lad,
-    Right fal la, &c.'
-
-"It is not surprising," continued he, "that some such contrivance should
-sometimes be necessary on our Irish mountains, when the Scripture
-informs us, that a hundred and twenty thousand Ninevese could not
-discern between their right hand and their left." Adelaide was much
-entertained by this allusion. And here let us advise those, who regret
-any accidental coldness that may have arisen with a friend, if they have
-drollery enough in their composition, to make him or her laugh by all
-means. It is the surest way in the world to restore familiarity of
-manner; for we cannot look suddenly cross at the person, who has, in
-spite of our best endeavours at sullenness, excited the unwilling smile.
-Those who are "too dull for a wit, too grave for a joker," may try the
-pathetic; and if they can draw forth sympathetic tears at any horrible
-story, it will answer the purpose nearly as well, though our experience
-certainly inclines to the former method.
-
-Whilst the smile yet played on Adelaide's countenance, old Dennis
-walked up to her, and said, with a look where pleasure and regret strove
-for preeminence, "Faith, Miss dear, when I see your teeth as white as
-the water-lily, and your eyes dancing like the sunbeams on the lake, ye
-mind me of Miss Rose; you're the sauciest lady I've seen since she
-parted us, when she was in her fifteenth! The sweetest Rose was she in
-all Ireland, and the like will ne'er bloom again in Ballinamoyle."
-Adelaide graciously received the old man's compliment; and her eyes
-filled with tears, as she said to Colonel Desmond, "How much I feel
-interested for this Rose! She must have been most amiable, to be so long
-loved and remembered by these grateful people." "She was indeed,"
-replied he, "one of those beings, that would lead a fanciful imagination
-to suppose, they had nearly arrived at perfection in some pre-existent
-state, and had been sent on earth, for a short space, to complete their
-probation, and show what a superior nature might be, even clogged with
-our corporeal infirmities. Mr. O'Sullivan never breathes his daughter's
-name, nor is it ever mentioned before him, except by nurse, whom it is
-impossible to restrain. His life has passed away so monotonously, that
-it seems but as yesterday since he lost her, and she now rises again
-forcibly to the remembrance of the elder inhabitants of this
-neighbourhood, from the circumstance of Caroline O'Sullivan being
-brought, as it were, to take her place; which, I assure you, they
-consider as a sort of sacrilegious usurpation, and feel no small
-indignation at her having been born in England. Poor Rose! hers was a
-fatal marriage!--But this is not a fit time to sadden you with the
-details of her melancholy story."
-
-It was now dark, and some of the dancers came forward to receive the
-customary donations, after which they proceeded in a body elsewhere.
-They were in the act of setting up their last "hurra!" when, as if by
-appointed signal, all the hills were instantly illuminated with
-innumerable fires. In the distance blazed the altar of the sun, like a
-pyramid of light; the nearer flames were reflected in the still waters
-of the lake. Every island was gay with moving figures and bonfires.
-Within the spacious walls of the old castle in the centre islet was the
-largest of all, which was seen brightly beaming through the arched
-windows and dilapidated walls, while round it a groupe of merry boys and
-girls were dancing; and a sudden blaze showed here and there similar
-circles on every hill. Rejoicing voices rose and fell on the gales of
-night, which also conveyed, from time to time, the music of various
-instruments. "I never beheld so beautiful a scene," said Adelaide; "what
-is the origin of this custom?" "It descends to us from our pagan
-ancestry," replied Colonel Desmond, "who on this evening offered
-sacrifices to the sun on every hill. A similar custom was observed on
-the first of May and on the last of October, on which night we keep up
-the same ceremonies, which Burns has so beautifully described in his
-'Hallow E'en.' At this moment the whole of this island is gay with
-garlands, and dancing, and music; and her numerous population are poured
-forth on every hill in their best attire, accompanied by mirth and glee,
-leaving all their cares behind them at their cottage doors." "I hope,"
-said Caroline, "the fires in the castle won't hurt the little fairies
-Jarge Quin told us of, Adele; I dare say they ran in a great hurry up
-the walls; or may be the lake is covered with their tiny boats to take
-them away. When I live here, I never will let a single cobweb be swept."
-"Why, my dear child, have you so suddenly fallen in love with the spider
-tribe, as well as the fairies?" "Oh, nurse says they steal in at night
-through the keyhole, to take the cobwebs to make sails of them; and,
-when the wind blows them off, they stick to the trees and every thing,
-and they are twice as good for cuts as those in the house. I have been
-gathering a whole heap of them to take to England. Oh, Adele! I wish
-you would come and hear the beautiful stories nurse tells about kings,
-and queens, and giants. She puts her spectacles on her nose, and reads
-all morning out of a book she calls the 'Rabby Night's Intertinmant.' I
-run down to her every night before I go to bed, and she takes me on her
-knee, and tells it to me, and gives me cakes. Sometimes she cries when I
-kiss her, and then she talks to me of my _dear_ papa, what a fine young
-gentleman he was before he went to be a soldier. I'll marry a soldier
-when I grow big. I think nurse and uncle love me better than any body
-but you, Adele." It was in vain that Caroline's best beloved
-endeavoured, in a low voice, to assure her of the warmth of her mother's
-and sister's affection; she said little in reply, but felt all the pain
-of being convinced against her will.
-
-The party, when tired of admiring the admirable night scene the
-surrounding country presented, retired to the house; and by this time
-the rustic assembly had repaired to an empty barn, where they danced
-till sunrise, and then went out to make hay.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-    Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
-    I'll sweeten thy sad grave.
-
-    oeCYMBELINE.oe
-
-
-The remainder of the month of June and July passed at Ballinamoyle in
-various degrees of pleasure or tedium to its unusual inmates. Mrs.
-O'Sullivan and her three elder children saw the time originally fixed
-for their departure approach, with almost undissembled pleasure.
-Notwithstanding the anxious endeavours of their host and his circle, to
-show them the utmost respect and kindness, and to procure them every
-amusement within their reach, nothing pleased, nothing interested them;
-but if they could find little to admire in England beyond Hyde Park
-Corner, could they be expected to tolerate Irish barbarism? They
-associated much with the Desmond family; but, though this circumstance
-saved them many hours of _ennui_, it gave them none of real enjoyment.
-The Miss Webberlys saw Melicent's natural graces with too much contempt
-to envy them, and for once they associated with a lovely girl without
-being tormented by this passion. But her father and uncle they little
-short of hated; the one for his successful raillery, the other for his
-admiration of Adelaide; which circumstance rendered the latter equally
-obnoxious to their brother, who attributed to him the bad success of his
-suit to Miss Wildenheim, still more than to his sprained ancle, which
-had kept him a close prisoner, and enabled her effectually to shun his
-society. At home--Mr. O'Sullivan was dismal, Miss Fitzcarril
-insufferably proud; a Catholic priest was of course an object of
-illiberal aversion; and of all their associates, young Donolan was the
-only individual who found favour in their sight; but he had, by his
-heartless gallantries and fulsome flattery, ingratiated himself so much
-with both sisters, that he was a source of constant bickering between
-them.
-
-They therefore so plagued and prejudiced their weak mother, that she was
-as much out of humour as themselves. She and Miss Fitzcarril almost
-quarrelled, though the one was nearly as anxious to court the cousin, as
-the other to win the son; and the ridiculous pride of ancestry in the
-spinster kept pace with the narrow-minded pride of riches in the matron.
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and her amiable children vented all their ill humour on
-their servants, who, in revenge, quarrelled with the domestics of the
-house, and expressed their own and their superiors' contempt of every
-person and thing they saw, without reserve. All this Miss Fitzcarril was
-mean enough to suffer to be repeated to her with those additional
-charges scandal-mongers are certain to lay on their retail goods; and
-she came sometimes full primed with rage from the kitchen, ready to
-discharge her fire-arms in the parlour, which would not unfrequently
-have happened, had not Adelaide dexterously managed to unload the
-offensive weapon.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril found the amenity of her manners as invariable as the
-benignity of her heart. She would, boiling with passion, confide to her
-friendly ear some tale of horror she had been told by nurse, or the
-cook, the housemaid, or Black Frank himself; and always heard, in
-return, some extenuation of the offence, or expression of sorrow that
-purchased its forgiveness.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan's guests did not venture to treat him with disrespect,
-nor Miss Fitzcarril to annoy him with the recital of her various
-_brouilleries_; his uniformly dignified deportment preserved him from
-both: yet Mr. Webberly and his sisters he disliked for their airs of
-affected superiority to others; and had Caroline depended on her
-_mother's_ powers of pleasing, to obtain her uncle's estate, her claims
-would not have met with much success. An Irish country gentleman,
-however unpolished he may be himself, is to an extreme fastidious in
-his ideas of female gentility. Every one has a code of his own, which he
-thinks it necessary a woman should follow, to be what he calls
-"_ladylike_." His punctilios are frequently unreasonable, and
-excessively troublesome to the female relatives, who are obliged to
-conform to them; but the warm affection, from which they derive so much
-happiness, is also the source of that pride they sometimes find so
-annoying. A writer of eminence has clearly shown the difference between
-_rusticity_ and _vulgarity_. Many an unpolished rustic girl Mr.
-O'Sullivan might think _ladylike_: but a vulgar woman, such as his
-sister-in-law, was perhaps the object in the world the most disgusting
-to him; and it required all his good-nature, and all his hospitality, to
-make him conquer his involuntary repugnance sufficiently to treat her
-with the kindness due to his brother's widow. Though Maurice O'Sullivan
-had been only his step-brother by their father's marriage, very late in
-life, and there was twenty years' difference in their ages, he had
-always felt for him even more than the usual warmth of fraternal
-affection; and had, for a long series of years, been bountiful to him in
-a degree that but encouraged his extravagant dissipation; till the elder
-brother, at last provoked by his career of folly, finally discharged his
-debts, on condition of the entail being cut off, to enable him to bestow
-the family estate on some more worthy member of it. But the grave had
-now closed on all the faults of Maurice's character, whilst memory
-exaggerated all its virtues; and O'Sullivan would frequently contrast
-Caroline with her mother, saying in the pride of his heart, "How much of
-the _father_ she has in her! She shows good blood runs in her veins."
-
-To Adelaide Mr. O'Sullivan was unconsciously as kind as to Caroline.
-Before she had been many days in his house, he had made up his mind that
-she was "_quite the lady_," and of course possessed of every good
-quality necessarily consequent on that, in his mind, highly valued
-character. Besides he was much gratified by her inclination to be
-pleased with every thing that was worthy of commendation in his place,
-and in his country generally; and with the proper feeling and good
-breeding, which restrained her from wounding his pride by those
-offensive remarks he constantly heard from his sister-in-law and her
-elder children, which however were at least equalled by those of Mr.
-Donolan. Adelaide had moreover a strong claim on his gratitude for the
-kindness she showed to his niece. Caroline's father had lavished on her
-the most unlimited fondness, whilst her mother treated her with
-comparative coldness. Had she been left to herself, there is no doubt
-she would have felt the same love for her as for her other children; but
-she was unfortunately entirely guided by the Miss Webberlys. Cecilia she
-loved, and Amelia she also feared; and they contrived to alienate her
-affection from Caroline, whom they considered as an intruder, who would
-unjustly deprive them of a part of their lawful inheritance. It is not
-surprising, therefore, that Adelaide, mourning for the loss of a fond
-father, should see in Caroline a fellow-sufferer, and should bestow her
-affections on the only object around her that would receive or return
-them. The child, repulsed by every body else, flew into her open arms,
-and loved her with the most doting fondness. She could not bear now to
-lose sight of her, was the first that entered her room in the morning,
-and when she was busy, would sit for hours at her side, occupied in any
-employment Adelaide charitably provided for her. This little girl had
-naturally a fine understanding, which her friend's judicious management
-prevented running to waste. It was now with the utmost pain that friend
-thought of their approaching separation on her return to England; and
-this idea gave an increased tenderness to her looks, when she gazed with
-regret on the lovely child, and anticipated the probable blight of the
-fair promise, internally adding, "Alas! I may not venture to love any
-one; it is my fate to be torn from all my heart has ever cherished!" In
-consequence of this reciprocal attachment, every one associated Adelaide
-and Caroline in idea together; those who loved the one loved the other,
-and their united attractions gained them the good-will of every
-individual at Ballinamoyle.
-
-But with none of its inmates was the former a greater favourite than
-with the venerable Father Dermoody: her manners to him were expressive
-of that deference she had been accustomed to see the Catholic clergy
-treated with abroad, and she willingly granted that respect, which the
-impressive, though mild sanctity of his deportment extorted from others;
-and when he saw once more under Mr. O'Sullivan's roof a young and lovely
-female all sweetness and intellect, he thought of his beloved pupil,
-Rose, and sometimes looked at Adelaide, till he fancied he traced a
-strong resemblance to her who had been the adopted child of his
-heart--his only earthly pride! He loved to converse with Adelaide as to
-the recent state of countries, he had visited in his youth, and he still
-more delightedly answered her inquiries regarding the history or customs
-of Ireland, or the antiquities the neighbouring country abounded with,
-to visit which, Mr. O'Sullivan had induced his guests to make many
-excursions, as one of the best means of amusing their time. To
-illustrate these remains, Father Dermoody produced from his patron's
-library many a musty manuscript and fabulous legend of ancient fame,
-which he read and explained to Adelaide, with an enthusiastic admiration
-that was delightful to her to behold; though she was sometimes almost
-tempted to smile at the excess of his patriotic credulity; for there is
-scarcely any thing on the subject of national glory too extravagant for
-ancient Irish manuscripts to assert, or for modern Irish feeling to
-believe. Adelaide and her venerable friend went one morning to the
-above-mentioned library, in search of a work relative to "Conaro the
-turbulent and swift footed," whose tomb at the foot of the altar of the
-sun they had lately visited. They long looked for the precious relick in
-vain, but at last Mr. Dermoody descried it on the very top shelf; it was
-out of his reach, but by the help of a number of boxes piled on one of
-the heavy old mahogany chairs, Adelaide possessed herself of the
-treasure, and was preparing to descend, when she heard a gentleman's
-voice and step in the passage leading to the room. This made her prefer
-the quickest method of reaching _terra firma_, and she instantly leaped
-into the middle of the floor; and Colonel Desmond entering at the same
-instant, exclaimed, "Inimitable, by Jove! Why, Miss Wildenheim, if the
-principal _sauteuse_ of the Parisian opera had seen that graceful
-flight, she would, through all her rouge, have turned pale with envy. I
-should think you must find that preliminary much the pleasantest part of
-the proceedings attendant on the studies those loaded tables tell me you
-have lately been engaged in." "I hope," said Adelaide, laughing and
-blushing at his raillery, "you, as a true Milesian, are not inclined to
-slight their contents?" "Except to you, my revered friend," rejoined he,
-addressing himself to the priest, "who have charity to forgive even
-greater offences, I never dare own what a capacity of unbelief I have on
-such subjects; but, Miss Wildenheim," he continued, "I am at this moment
-much more anxious to hear what you think of the modern Irish, than to
-dive into the best accredited accounts of our ancient history. Come,
-confess to this worthy father--did you not expect to find us a set of
-demisavages, for whom you could feel little else but disgust?" "I am
-more than half affronted," replied Adelaide, "that you could possibly
-suppose me to be so illiberal." "And with justice," replied the priest;
-"wherever the human form is seen, there, I am sure, you find objects to
-love and reverence;--the Supreme has impressed on every being he has
-created some marks of his majesty and goodness." "Yes, my dear sir,"
-rejoined his youthful auditor; "but the proud heart of man draws a line
-of circumvallation round the cities he has erected, within which he
-confines every thing that is admirable in the human race. Surely we
-should rather imitate the liberality of the ancient poets, who peopled
-every hill and dale with superior natures." "You must however
-acknowledge," said Colonel Desmond, "that those classic favourites of
-yours never imagined any thing half so beautiful as our northern
-fairies! I don't know which of those ill-behaved scolds, the goddesses,
-it would not be an affront to compare a modern _élégante_ to; and pray
-what are all the accomplishments of Minerva, the best amongst them, to
-those of a girl of fashion, unless indeed she could plume herself on
-speaking Greek, in the style of the simpleton who was lost in admiration
-at the acquirements of the Gallic ladies, who could all converse in
-French with so much fluency? But the pure, elegant Queen of Fairies is
-the very prototype of female loveliness! I suffer considerable
-uneasiness on your account, Miss Wildenheim," continued he, with much
-gravity. "On my account, Colonel Desmond?" "Yes; for I am informed by
-those most in her majesty's confidence, that, 'when to the banks of the
-dark rolling Danube fair Adela hied,' she was seen by some of the fairy
-court; and that very evening, 'late, late in the gloamin, Hillmerry came
-hame,' being thought insipid in comparison of the more charming Adela.
-And now behold her conducted to the chief seat of the fairy power! But
-if she could be tempted to show that a small portion of human malice
-lurks in her heart, we might hope to keep her still; therefore I am more
-than ever anxious she should answer the question I put regarding the
-mortal inhabitants of this island." "I could not presume," replied
-Adelaide, colouring as she spoke, "on a casual acquaintance, to suppose
-myself qualified to estimate fully the merits or defects of the Irish
-nation; perhaps national character is of all subjects the one on which
-a woman is least competent to form a correct judgment;--but the Irish
-character, as it has presented itself to my view, is one I most
-sincerely and warmly love." Colonel Desmond seizing her hand in delight,
-shook it almost unconsciously for a second or two, whilst Father
-Dermoody, in an emphatic tone, and with a complimentary bow, said--
-
-    "La sagesse est sublime, on le dit, mais, hélas!
-    Tous ses admirateurs souvent ne l'aiment guère;
-    Et sans vous nous ne saurions pas,
-    Combien la sagesse peut plaire."[8]
-
-[Footnote 8:
-
-      Wisdom's sublime, we still are told it,
-    Yet few admire, though all uphold it;
-    And but for thee we ne'er had prov'd,
-    How much e'en wisdom may be lov'd.
-]
-
-Gentle reader, if you are _not_ Irish, you will be perhaps much puzzled
-to find out what Adele said on this occasion, so marvellously wise. If
-you are an Hibernian, you will say, "The dear creature!" Be that as it
-may, Miss Wildenheim pleased her auditors better than if she had
-uttered three pages of Socratic sense. Poor Colonel Desmond felt but too
-deeply the admiration the priest had expressed; and putting up a prayer,
-that she might one day descend from generals to particulars, in the
-application of these sentiments, was suddenly most assiduous in the
-examination of the contemned manuscripts.
-
-Adelaide, curtsying her thanks for Mr. Dermoody's flattering application
-of the lines he had repeated, was alleging some trifling excuse for
-retiring, when Mr. O'Sullivan came into the room to make his daily
-request, that she would join him and Caroline in a saunter round the
-garden, where he went every morning with them to gather the nicest fruit
-it contained for his two favourites.
-
-The party had not proceeded many paces from the house, when they were
-joined by Mr. Webberly, who was now sufficiently recovered from his
-sprain to persecute Adelaide once more with his attentions. Mr.
-O'Sullivan, addressing him with much civility, said, "I am happy to
-say, Mr. Webberly, that your mother has consented to remain with me till
-after the first of September, in order to celebrate my dear little
-Caroline's birth-day; and bespeak for her the good wishes of my
-tenantry, who will assemble to congratulate us on the occasion." "Dear
-uncle, how I love you!" said the little girl, twisting her arms round
-him; "only for Adele, I think I should break my heart when I go away
-from you." He pressed her fondly in his arms, and said, "What will be
-your consolation, Caroline, will be an additional grief to me! My dear
-young lady," continued he, turning to Adelaide, "you know not the sorrow
-the idea that I may never see you again causes me; your society has
-given me more pleasure, than I thought I ever should have felt again.
-Your sweet attentive manners have reminded me of one whom even you might
-be proud to be compared with!"--He paused--his faltering voice had told
-how deeply he was affected, and a general silence prevailed for a few
-minutes, which was interrupted Mr. Webberly saying, "I'm sure you'll
-have no objection to celebrate Miss Wildenheim's birth-day too,
-Sir;--she will be of age on the thirty-first of August; that day
-one-and-twenty years, Sir, was a happy day for the world, Miss
-Adelaide!" "Happy! Good God!" exclaimed the old man; and dropping
-Adele's arm, which he had slipped within his, retreated to the house. "I
-had almost forgot--" said Colonel Desmond to the priest, much moved,
-"was that the day----" "Yes, the day," interrupted he: "Alas! a father's
-heart never forgets."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Vous êtes belle, et votre soeur est belle,
-    Entre vous deux tout choix seroit bien doux,
-    L'Amour étoit blond, comme vous,
-    Mais il aimoit une brune, comme elle.[9]
-
-    oeBERNIS.oe
-
-[Footnote 9:
-
-    Thou art lovely--so is she,
-      Say, which should my heart prefer?
-    Cupid sure was fair like thee.
-      But his love was brown like her.
-]
-
-
-Whilst these scenes passed in Ireland, Lady Eltondale and Miss Seymour
-arrived at Cheltenham. At first, Selina's delight at breathing once more
-the pure air of the country made her almost wonder at the pleasure she
-had so lately found in the feverish amusements of London. Her step was
-still more elastic, as she trod the beautiful meadows that lay along
-the banks of the Chelt; and when, mounted on her favourite mare, she
-extended her rides to the surrounding hills, she seemed to regain a
-fresh existence.
-
-The picturesque beauties of Dodswell, the magnificent panorama of
-Lackington Hill, the curious remains of Sudeley castle, all were in time
-explored and admired by Selina; and often did she prefer a solitary walk
-amongst the sheltered lanes of Alstone, to accompanying Lady Eltondale
-to the morning mall, where crowds assembled at the Wells ostensibly in
-search of health, but really in pursuit of pleasure. In one of these
-morning walks, as she rested under the shadow of a gigantic oak, while
-the fresh breeze played on her glowing cheek, and the song of earliest
-birds alone interrupted the general silence, her thoughts involuntarily
-turned to those days which had glided by in similar scenes, when she
-used to bound like the fawns she chased through the park at Deane, or
-with more measured steps, though not less buoyant spirits, attended her
-father, as in his Bath chair he took his morning exercise on the broad
-smooth terrace, that stretched along the south front of the venerable
-mansion. The whole scene rose to her mind's eye, and she saw, in
-imagination, the lawns, the fields, the gardens, in which she had spent
-so many happy hours, and which were
-
-    "Once the calm scene of many a simple sport,
-    When nature pleas'd, for life itself was new,
-    And the heart promis'd what the fancy drew."
-
-She dwelt with a melancholy pleasure on the recollection of all the
-beloved companions of her earlier years, and sighed to think, that those
-moments of innocent delights would never again return to her. From this
-painfully pleasing reverie she was roused by the crying of a child, and
-the sound of an angry voice, exclaiming in a harsh key, "Hold your
-tongue, you little devil--ban't I going as fast as I can?" It seemed as
-if manual correction followed this expostulation, as the infant's cries
-were redoubled, and Selina heard its little voice, saying in a plaintive
-tone, "Mammy, mammy, me be a-hungry, me be tired." At that moment a turn
-in the road presented the speakers to her view, and she beheld a young
-woman, in whose pallid cheeks disease and wretchedness struggled for
-preeminence. A few coarse black locks strayed from under a cap, which
-might once have been white, but now in dirt and yellowness rivalled the
-complexion of the wearer, whilst it served to contrast a gaudy riband,
-by which it was encircled; a ragged, coloured handkerchief scarcely
-concealed her shrivelled bosom; and a cotton gown, which in its
-variegated pattern showed all the hues of the parterre, trained in the
-dust, and was partly caught up under her arm, below which appeared a
-tattered stuff petticoat, that scarcely reached to her knees. Her
-countenance was, if possible, more disgusting than her dress: her dark
-black eyes and oval forehead showed still some trace of beauty; but an
-expression of unblushing vice called forth sensations rather of disgust
-than of compassion. The little ragged urchin, that trotted by her side,
-endeavoured, on seeing Selina, to hide its head beneath her gown; but
-after a moment's deliberation, she dragged him from his concealment, and
-pushing him forward, desired him to demand charity. Selina, pitying the
-infant, more from the appearance of its associate than even from its own
-wretchedness, could not deny its request; and while she gave the poor
-child all the silver her purse contained, she inquired if the woman was
-its mother. "To be sure I am, my lady," replied she, in a tone of
-impertinent carelessness; "else what do you think I'd be troubled with
-such a brat as that for?" "It seems a fine boy," returned Selina,
-willing to rouse the maternal feelings that seemed so nearly extinct.
-"And where do you live?" "Down in that hut yonder, and a pretty penny I
-pay for it. Our landlord never comes to these here parts; if he did, he
-wouldn't let us be so racked; but he never thinks of us when he is
-away, and Mr. Smart, his agent, raises our rents just as he pleases; but
-he has our curses for his gains;" so saying, she seized the child
-roughly by the arm, and pursued her way, muttering imprecations Selina
-shuddered to hear. She also proceeded towards home; but her thoughts now
-took a more unpleasant turn. She recollected with sorrow how many poor
-cottages on her estate might also, with reason, lament the loss of a
-landlord, who had always inquired into their distresses and relieved
-their wants. But she, though possessed of such extensive means of being
-useful to her fellow-creatures, had hitherto seemed to consider the
-possession of fortune only as affording her a more ample opportunity for
-selfish gratification. She called to mind the happiness she had formerly
-experienced in charitable occupations; and reflected, with remorse, that
-since she had plunged into the vortex of dissipation, no tear had been
-wiped from the cheek of indigence by her generous aid--no smile of
-gratitude had hailed her approach to the couch of misery or pain. Of the
-many hours she had wasted in the pursuit of pleasure, not one had been
-devoted to the purposes of benevolence; and while she had lavished
-uncalculated sums in extravagance and folly, she had never purchased the
-inestimable benefit of a poor man's blessing.
-
-This trifling incident served to awaken in Selina's mind feelings and
-reflections that had long lain dormant. The whole tenour of Lady
-Eltondale's conduct had been calculated to efface all the impressions
-formerly made on her, both by the precepts and example of the admirable
-Mrs. Galton; and while her Ladyship contrived, by cautious degrees, to
-impede, and finally almost destroy the correspondence with her, which
-might have served occasionally to recall the first, the latter was
-almost totally obliterated from her mind by the entirely new scenes,
-into which she had been introduced. As to the habits of charity, to
-which both from inclination and instruction she had been early
-habituated, but little opportunity for their exercise had occurred since
-her residence with the Viscountess; for the very servants at Eltondale
-were too polite to admit a vulgar beggar within its gates; and in London
-she had been taught to consider all vagrants indiscriminately as
-impostors, whom it was almost a crime to relieve.
-
-But are those aware, who are anxious to find plausible excuses for
-delaying or omitting the fulfilment of the duties of charity, that the
-feelings of the human heart, though inflamed by casual restraint, are
-extinguished by a continued suppression? And wo be to that breast, in
-which the sentiments of benevolence and compassion are destroyed! The
-virtues of humanity, as they are those which most peculiarly belong to
-this present state of existence, so is the exercise of them most
-necessary to our individual happiness in this world; for he, whose heart
-has never melted at the sorrows of others, will assuredly, sooner or
-later, know the agony of seeking in vain for one sympathising bosom on
-which to repose the burden of his own.
-
-When Selina returned home, she was scarcely less pleased than surprised
-to find Mr. Sedley seated at breakfast with Lady Eltondale. They were so
-deeply engaged in conversation, that her entrance was unnoticed by
-either; and as her astonishment at perceiving so unexpected a guest made
-her pause for a moment at the door, she heard Lady Eltondale say,
-apparently in continuation of a previous speech, "And have you proof of
-this from himself, Mr. Sedley?" "Yes; proofs such as must convince even
-your Ladyship; otherwise I would never have made the proposal I have
-done." Selina here interrupted him, but her appearance was so sudden,
-that it was many minutes before he could collect his thoughts to address
-her with any composure. Lady Eltondale, however, showed no
-embarrassment; she inquired most kindly what had so long detained
-Selina; said that she and Mr. Sedley, whom she had accidentally met at
-the well, had walked miles in search of her; and finally joined in her
-vivacious raillery against Mr. Sedley for his visible confusion. In
-answer to Selina's inquiries when he arrived at Cheltenham, "Only
-yesterday," said he; "I was quite disappointed at not meeting you at the
-rooms last night. How is the detestable head-ache that Lady Eltondale
-told me prevented your accompanying her there?" While Selina hastily
-dismissed the subject of her casual indisposition, which, in truth, she
-had hardly remembered, a momentary surprise glanced across her mind at
-the recollection, that Lady Eltondale had not mentioned to her having
-seen Mr. Sedley; but she had not time to dwell on the thought, as the
-Viscountess immediately renewed her inquiries as to what could have so
-unusually prolonged Selina's walk; and the beggar woman and her boy
-recurring to her mind, she forgot all her doubts and past reflections,
-in the earnestness with which she entered into the description of all
-the wretchedness, which she "was sure the poor infant must suffer from
-its unfeeling mother." Lady Eltondale seemed to take uncommon interest
-in the relation, which she prolonged by apposite questions and remarks
-of "Poor child!--Of course you gave it something.--No wonder you
-returned so late.--I suppose you were just come home, just opened this
-door, as I perceived you.--Dear infant, I should like to have seen it!"
-And thus continued the conversation, while Mr. Sedley took a turn or two
-across the room; put into his pocket a letter-case that lay beside his
-coffee-cup, and regained all his customary self-possession. With his
-usual manners he resumed his place in Selina's estimation; and the hours
-flew by unnoticed, as he entertained her with the relation of a thousand
-ridiculous adventures, all of which had occurred either to himself or
-"his particular friends," during the space of three weeks, which he
-called an age, since they parted. And in truth he did not much
-exaggerate, when he described his regret at their having been so long
-separated. Like the unguarded moth, he had flitted round the flame till
-he actually suffered for his folly; for his improved acquaintance with
-Selina, during the latter part of their stay in London, had so far
-increased his admiration of her, that what was at first merely a
-preference chiefly influenced by pecuniary considerations, had now
-become a passion almost too powerful to be controlled. He had yet
-however sufficient command over his feelings, to avoid any verbal
-expression of them; and, while he carefully demonstrated how interesting
-to him had been all her observations, by delightedly referring to their
-former conversations, and recapitulating even her most trifling remarks,
-his present adulation was so delicately conveyed by inferred compliment
-alone, that, while Selina was gratified by the flattering attention,
-thus obviously paid her, she felt it would have but compromised her own
-modesty, had she, by disclaiming praise thus subtilely offered,
-appropriated to herself an admiration that was only insinuated. And how
-did Lady Eltondale approve of this? In truth she was not aware of the
-whole tendency of Mr. Sedley's discourse; a stolen glance or a peculiar
-emphasis explained his application of a particular sentence to her, who
-alone he meant should understand him; _et au reste_, the Viscountess,
-like a skilful navigator, always floated down a stream she found it
-impossible to stem.
-
-Selina almost persuaded herself, that every clock and watch in the house
-was out of order, when Lady Eltondale asserted, that the hour was come
-for Fazani's raffle, which she had particularly patronized; and as,
-accompanied by the Viscountess and Sedley, Selina walked under the dark
-avenue, that led to that fashionable rendezvous, she could not help
-internally observing, "how much Mr. Sedley's vivacity and good-nature
-enlivened every society of which he was a member."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-     _Lady Sneerwell._--You are partial, Snake.
-
-     _Snake._--Not in the least; every body will allow, that Lady
-     Sneerwell can do more with a word or a look, than many others with
-     the most laboured detail.
-
-     oeSCHOOL FOR SCANDAL.oe
-
-
-When they entered Fazani's, the raffle was only waiting for the arrival
-of the Viscountess. The prize was a beautiful work-box, and Fortune, who
-at that moment seemed to smile with peculiar benignity on Sedley, chose
-him to be the successful adventurer. As soon as he was declared victor,
-he immediately brought the treasure towards Lady Eltondale and Selina,
-and the latter, with pardonable vanity, flattered herself that he
-intended it as a present for her. But in this she was mistaken. He
-addressed himself to Lady Eltondale, and in a low tone said, with
-peculiar emphasis, "Will your ladyship accept this from me as a _gage
-d'amitié_?" "I take it as a flag of truce," replied she in a similar
-tone. "Then from henceforward you are my friend," exclaimed Sedley,
-seizing her hand with unusual vehemence. "At least not your enemy,"
-answered the Viscountess.--"But this is not a proper place to settle our
-preliminaries."
-
-This conversation was unintelligible to Selina, yet not uninteresting,
-as she felt a vague consciousness, that it in some way related to
-herself, and a momentary distrust of both speakers glanced across her
-mind. But her attention was quickly attracted by Lady Hammersley, who,
-on perceiving Lady Eltondale, had advanced from amongst the crowd to pay
-her compliments. The Viscountess was as minute in her inquiries
-regarding all that could concern Lady Hammersley, as if she had been
-sincere in her professions of being glad to meet her; and though Lady
-Hammersley's eyes were fixed on Selina, it was some minutes before she
-was sufficiently disengaged to accost her; at length she abruptly
-exclaimed, "Miss Seymour has, to all appearance, profited as much by her
-residence in London, as I prophesied she would; possibly amongst her
-other acquirements she may have learned the art of forgetting old
-acquaintances." Selina's colour rose, and the implied rebuke checking at
-once the friendly salutation with which she had prepared to address her,
-she returned her recognizance with an elegant but frigid compliment,
-worthy a pupil of Lady Eltondale. "Admirable!" retorted Lady Hammersley
-with a scornful smile: "My penetration is not baffled. I must write to
-Mrs. Galton, to notice the improvement _I_ always anticipated." "Why,
-does your Ladyship know Mrs. Galton?" inquired Selina anxiously; while
-Lady Eltondale, leaning on Mr. Sedley, took the opportunity of escaping
-from her "Dear Lady Hammersley." "I do know Mrs. Galton," replied she;
-"we were together all last winter at Bath; and she, Miss Seymour, was
-so convinced of your perfection, that she never would believe it was
-even in Lady Eltondale's power to _improve_ you, as I guessed she would,
-and see she has done." "Dear, dear aunt Mary!" exclaimed Selina,
-bursting into tears, as she heard this instance of a disinterested
-partiality, to which she had lately been unused, even though the recital
-had been made with more of acrimony than of benevolence. Lady Hammersley
-looked for some moments steadily at Selina, and then continued in her
-usual cynical tone, "Pray, Miss Seymour, compose yourself; Lady
-Eltondale will be shocked at my having betrayed you into so gross an
-impropriety. I had not the slightest idea that the mention of Mrs.
-Galton would have roused your feelings, and still less that you could
-have been tempted to exhibit them." Selina felt hurt at the undeserved
-censure, which both Lady Hammersley's words and manner expressed, and,
-with a look of dignity, replied, "I am indeed ashamed of betraying them
-where they can be so little understood;" and took leave of her Ladyship
-with a proud politeness, which admitted of no reply. Lady Hammersley for
-some moments looked after Selina, as she moved to a distant part of the
-room, where Lady Eltondale was waiting for her. "That girl is still
-worth knowing," thought she; and for once she turned an unprejudiced eye
-on the lovely form and heavenly countenance of the innocent girl, who
-had hitherto so undeservedly shared in the contempt and hatred, which
-her Ladyship had always been accustomed to feel for every thing, that in
-the remotest degree appertained to Lady Eltondale.
-
-Meantime Selina joined the Viscountess, while "disdain and scorn rode
-sparkling in her eyes." "Has Lady Hammersley been entertaining you with
-any sententious aphorisms?" asked Lady Eltondale. "No," replied Selina,
-laughing. "For once she has been talking on a subject she does not
-understand." The Viscountess was not sufficiently interested in her
-Ladyship's harangues to inquire further, and they continued their walk
-till it was time to separate for dinner.
-
-The amusement allotted for that evening was a public concert, and Lady
-Eltondale and Selina had acceded to Sedley's earnest entreaty of
-attending it. He accordingly took post in the outside room, waiting for
-their arrival, and anxiously inspecting every passing groupe, as the
-different parties entered, in hopes of recognizing them. But his
-expectations were disappointed; no Lady Eltondale or Selina made their
-appearance: he bewildered himself in conjectures; and at last, in a
-moment of pique, attributing their delay to caprice, he left the rooms
-before the concert was finished, cursing woman's inconsistency, and his
-own folly, in ever having suffered himself to be interested about any.
-This sage reflection was however chased long before morning, not only by
-the recollection of Selina's manifold charms, but of his own manifold
-creditors; and at an early hour he repaired to the well, where he and
-Lady Eltondale had agreed to meet, in order to finish a conversation
-neither was particularly anxious Selina should witness.
-
-But Lady Eltondale was not to be found; and when the hour for the
-general dispersion of the company arrived without his seeing her, he
-lost patience, and hastened to her house to inquire the cause of her
-protracted absence.
-
-But there, to his utmost consternation, he learned that an express had
-arrived, just as the ladies were preparing to go to the rooms the night
-before, to inform the Viscountess, that Lord Eltondale had suddenly
-expired at Eltondale, after having partaken of a turtle feast with more
-enjoyment, and even less restraint, than ordinary. Of course neither
-Selina nor Lady Eltondale was visible, and Sedley returned home agitated
-by a thousand conjectures and emotions.
-
-It was not to be expected, that Lady Eltondale would deeply lament the
-death of a husband, who, notwithstanding his uniform indulgence to her,
-had never possessed either her esteem or affection; but nevertheless
-Selina could not help being shocked at the total apathy and ingratitude
-she displayed; as without even assuming a grief, which it would have
-been almost more a virtue to dissemble, than thus openly to contemn, she
-only thought of, only lamented, the change of her circumstances the
-event would inevitably produce. Selina listened in astonishment to the
-calm retrospection of past extravagance, and the despairing anticipation
-of future poverty, in which she indulged even in those first moments of
-widowhood; and disdaining to offer consolation to the only sorrows she
-could hear unmoved, at an early hour retired to her own room.
-
-There far, far different reflections agitated her bosom. There is a
-certain sympathy in misfortune, which, touching a chord that has once
-jarred, finds an echo in our own breast;
-
-    "Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows,
-    Which show like grief itself."
-
-Thus the sudden dissolution of Lord Eltondale recalled to Selina's mind
-all the circumstances of her father's death; and though neither in her
-judgment nor affection they could ever have been compared, yet the last
-sad scene of mortality blended her recollections of both, and with
-unrestrained tears she gave way to all the poignancy of regret, in the
-solitude of her chamber, which the freezing insensibility of Lady
-Eltondale would have repressed, in the presence of her who should have
-been the greatest mourner.
-
-In the morning her swollen eyes and pallid cheeks bore testimony to her
-sleepless night; and as from Lady Eltondale she expected reproof rather
-than sympathy, she was not sorry to receive a message, stating that her
-Ladyship wished to breakfast alone, as she was engaged in writing
-letters.
-
-Selina, lost in reflection, unconsciously prolonged her solitary and
-almost untasted meal, till she was roused by the abrupt entrance of Lady
-Hammersley, who, profiting by her plea of relationship, had come to
-inquire all the particulars of the Viscount's death. Though Selina now
-felt a degree of repugnance to Lady Hammersley, which her almost
-impertinent remarks had provoked, yet she could not with propriety
-refuse the details she demanded; and she accordingly answered her
-numerous questions with as much brevity as politeness permitted. But her
-auditor seemed to attend more to her countenance than to her words, and
-at last abruptly exclaimed, "I certainly did not expect to see so much
-real sorrow in this house of mourning; you are a good girl, I believe,
-after all; and I like you for having at least _some_ feeling left."
-Though Selina was always grateful for advice, and even reproof, dictated
-by affection, yet she did not feel, that Lady Hammersley was in any way
-authorized to offer her either; and therefore she replied, with an air
-of _hauteur_, which the recollection of her observations the day before
-increased, "My acquaintance with your Ladyship has been so short, that
-neither my feelings nor character can be known to you: have you any
-commands, madam, to Lady Eltondale?" and rising as she spoke, she
-prepared to quit the room. But Lady Hammersley, taking hold of her hand,
-exclaimed, "What, proud too! well, I like you the more for it; come, sit
-down, you and I must be better acquainted. For once I am inclined to
-think I have been mistaken. When first I saw you at Eltondale,"
-continued she, in a tone of unusual kindness, "I was interested by your
-personal appearance; but above all, by your simplicity of character: but
-as I knew these were the two precise points, which must infallibly be
-most changed by your residence with Lady Eltondale, I looked upon you
-only as a fine piece of plaster of Paris, which she would probably mould
-to external perfection, but leave all hollow within. I should therefore
-(forgive my frankness, Miss Seymour), most likely, never have thought of
-you again, had I not met Mrs. Galton; who spoke of you in such terms,
-that I own I was curious to learn whether my prognostics were verified
-or not. Circumstances have accelerated my knowledge of you; and since I
-find, at least to all appearance, that Lady Eltondale's arts have not
-entirely spoiled your character, I am anxious that her schemes should
-not militate against your happiness." "Schemes! Lady Hammersley, I am at
-a loss to understand you." "Her favourite scheme," returned her
-Ladyship, "is this,--she intends you should marry her step-son Frederick
-Elton, now Lord Eltondale; and her visit to Deane Hall, which you may
-remember this time twelvemonth, was to procure your father's consent to
-the match, in which she succeeded." "My father's consent!" exclaimed the
-agitated girl. "But Mr. Elton and I are unacquainted; we have never even
-seen each other. You must be mistaken, my dear madam." "No, there is no
-mistake; both your late uncle and Mrs. Galton were my authorities." "And
-do you say my father gave his consent?" "I do say so: and I also know,
-that Frederick is now on his return to England, intending to propose
-for you. Come, my dear, do not be so agitated: he is one of the finest
-young men of the day: his character amiable, and his manners attractive;
-so perhaps you cannot do better than make choice of him, provided your
-affections are not otherwise engaged." A pause of some minutes ensued.
-Lady Hammersley then continued: "But in telling you Lady Eltondale's
-scheme, it is fit I should explain her motive; for be assured, Miss
-Seymour, no action of hers can ever be disinterested. The fact is, she
-has long known, that the Eltondale estates are as much encumbered as the
-entail permits them to be; and in securing your property for Frederick,
-she flatters herself she has secured an increased jointure for herself."
-Selina shuddered, but could make no reply. And Lady Hammersley rising,
-said, "I have now, my dear Miss Seymour, told you all I know: you may
-think me an impertinent old woman, but, be assured, I only wished to be
-a kind one. God bless you! perhaps we may never meet again; for I
-suppose Lady Eltondale will leave this place immediately. But don't
-forget the key I have given you to her character; and believe me it is
-not a false one." So saying, she affectionately kissed Selina, who took
-leave of her with a gratitude and cordiality, she would a few hours
-before have believed it scarcely possible she could ever have
-experienced for Lady Hammersley.
-
-It may be supposed this conversation made a deep impression on her mind;
-and one of the most painful feelings it excited was the insight it gave
-her into Lady Eltondale's selfish and dissembling character, confirmed
-as it was by her own previous observations. But even these feelings had
-not long power to withdraw her attention from that part of Lady
-Hammersley's communication which related to Frederick, and which was
-also corroborated by her recollection of several remarks and casual
-speeches of Lady Eltondale, which, at the time they were made, had
-seemed to her accidental and undesigned, but each of which, on
-retrospection, appeared "squared and fitted to its use." Nor did the
-circumstance of her deceased father having given his consent to the
-match serve, as with some romantic ladies it might have done, to
-determine her against it; on the contrary, it rather served to prejudice
-her in its favour; and a long train of reflections was concluded in her
-own mind by Lady Hammersley's observation, "So perhaps you cannot do
-better, provided your affections are not otherwise engaged."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-                        Why she, even she--
-    Oh! Heav'ns! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
-    Would have mourn'd longer.
-
-    oeHAMLET.oe
-
-
-Selina's meditations were disturbed by a summons to Lady Eltondale's
-dressing-room, on a subject of no less importance than the choice of
-mourning: a mixed sentiment of contempt and indignation took possession
-of her mind, as she saw every feeling, that should have been called
-forth in that of the recent loss, absorbed in the more momentous
-reflections suggested by the comparative merits of the bombasins. But
-when the bevy of milliners left the room, and Lady Eltondale, hiding her
-face with her handkerchief, gave way to an outrageous burst of grief,
-Selina condemned herself for her premature judgment. "That is fortitude,
-which I have cruelly termed insensibility," thought she; and softened by
-her tears, the first she had ever seen her shed, she kindly took her
-hand, and addressed her in terms of condolence. But Lady Eltondale
-interrupting her in a tone, which from contending passions almost
-approached a scream: "Spare me, spare me," exclaimed she, "I can bear
-any thing but _pity_. Good God! is it come to this! am I, the envied,
-flattered Lady Eltondale, born to be _pitied_?" Then turning to Selina,
-with a countenance distorted with rage, and her figure distended into
-more than common loftiness, "You mistake me, Miss Seymour," she
-continued; "though that man of sloth, that dormouse, Lord Eltondale, has
-left me almost pennyless; though all my entreaties, all my reasons,
-could never rouse him from his indolence, to make him active for or
-against ministers, either of which would have procured me a pension; yet
-do not fancy I am yet to be despised. My spirit is independent, be my
-circumstances what they may, and they may still be bettered."
-
-Selina was thunderstruck at this address. She could scarcely recognise
-the calm, dignified Lady Eltondale, in the being convulsed with rage,
-that writhed beneath her steady gaze. In the contortion of uncontrolled
-passion, the veil had dropped, and the delusion vanished. A silence of a
-few moments ensued, and both the ladies recovered themselves; Selina to
-explain the condolences she had meant to offer as kindnesses, and Lady
-Eltondale to receive them with that degree of gratitude, she timely
-recollected it was most prudent to profess. And now,
-
-    "Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
-    That in a spleen unfolds both Heav'n and earth,"
-
-did the Viscountess reassume all her usual calmness, and more than her
-usual charms. Stretching out one white hand towards Selina, whilst she
-pressed the other on her forehead, "Forgive me, my love," exclaimed
-she, "this sudden misfortune has quite overpowered me. But you, Selina,
-I know will bear with me; you will not forsake me."
-
-Selina gave her every assurance, that duty and compassion, if not
-affection, could suggest; and Lady Eltondale, with that feverish
-restlessness of mind, which was no less distinguishable in her, than the
-calm self-possession of her external deportment, immediately proceeded
-to arrange the plans for her future life. "We will leave this directly,"
-said she, "as I am anxious to return to Eltondale as soon as possible,
-after the funeral of my poor dear Lord is over. I want to arrange my
-papers, and my jewels, and a thousand little trifles that are my own
-property, and may be useful to me hereafter; and then we can be decided
-by Lord Eltondale's answer to the letters I have written to him, whether
-to await his return at Eltondale, or to spend the intervening time at
-Brighton." "Or suppose, my dear Lady Eltondale, we return to Deane, I
-shall be so delighted----" "Impossible, my love," interrupted the
-Viscountess; "in my present weak spirits such a retirement would kill
-me." But this selfish, unfeeling woman was yet to learn by deprivation
-the value of those blessings she had hitherto disregarded, and of that
-kindness she had only despised. Before she could decide at which of the
-gay watering places it would be most advisable for her to pass the first
-months of mourning, Lord Eltondale's steward arrived, in the utmost
-consternation, with the agonizing intelligence, that the Viscount's
-creditors had seized on all his personal property, to pay some part of
-the debts her extravagance had so largely contributed to contract. They
-had possessed themselves both of the house at Eltondale and in Portman
-Square; and mercilessly stripped them of all they could lay claim to of
-their splendid furniture, not even sparing her Ladyship's "jewels, and
-the thousand little trifles," which she had determined to appropriate to
-herself. Bitterly did she now inveigh against the memory of him, whose
-inconsiderate compliance with all her unreasonable demands had
-principally occasioned the distress of which she so unfeelingly
-complained. At last, having exhausted her passion in invective, she next
-employed herself in suggesting and debating on a variety of schemes for
-her immediate residence: and at length being convinced, that a few
-months of the very retirement at Deane, which she had at first so
-indignantly rejected, was the most advantageous measure she could now
-adopt, she endeavoured to make a virtue of necessity, and accepted
-Selina's proposition in such a manner, as would have convinced a
-stranger, that her sole reason for doing so was compliance with Selina's
-wishes.
-
-The delighted girl did not, however, pause to investigate the motives of
-the Viscountess's assent to her plan. With a little of the vivacity,
-which once had marked her every impression, did she now anticipate with
-fond delight her return to those beloved scenes of her happy infancy.
-Her heart beat high as in swiftest thought she pictured to herself being
-once more pressed to the maternal bosom of Mrs. Galton, and once more
-enjoying the calm unembittered pleasures of her earlier years. Overcome
-by the various emotions these thoughts gave birth to, she retired to her
-own room, to regain composure, and to write to persuade her dearest aunt
-to meet her there.
-
-But an unforeseen difficulty arose to their quitting Cheltenham. Lady
-Eltondale, with her usual inconsiderate extravagance, had run into debt
-with almost every shopkeeper in the town; and the tradesmen, from the
-moment her departure was announced, sent in their demands with what she
-was pleased to call impertinent importunity. Her own resources had been
-long exhausted; and perhaps of all her mortifications, none was to her
-so severe as being under the necessity of applying to Selina for
-pecuniary assistance. But notwithstanding Selina's accession of
-fortune, when she lost her habits of early economy, she with them lost
-the power of being generous. The last letter she had received from her
-banker had informed her, that her account was so much overdrawn, he
-could no longer accept her frequent drafts: and when she was obliged to
-refuse Lady Eltondale's request for money, she received a practical
-lesson on the folly of extravagance, which was more effectual than any
-precepts could have been. But Lady Eltondale was not to be repulsed by
-trifling difficulties; her brain, ever fruitful in expedients, suggested
-the possibility of Selina anticipating her rents, by drawing a bill on
-her agent in Yorkshire. Impatient of delay, and dreading the demands
-which her other numerous creditors in London and elsewhere might bring
-forward against her, she prevailed on Selina to go the next day to
-Mr. ----'s bank to negotiate the transaction in person, and fixed to
-leave Cheltenham as soon as possible afterwards.
-
-Accordingly, very early the following morning, she proceeded to obey
-Lady Eltondale's directions, having desired the steward, who professed
-to be well versed in such business, to meet her at the bank, in order to
-explain all that was necessary for her to do: she however needed no
-introduction, the wealth of the great Yorkshire heiress was too well
-known to require any confirmation; and on signing a paper which she
-scarcely looked at, she joyfully received the sum she desired, without
-stopping to calculate at what price the banker and the steward had
-agreed she was to purchase the accommodation.
-
-Elated by her success, she sent the money to Lady Eltondale by the
-steward, while she proceeded to take a farewell ramble amongst her
-favourite walks, and to indulge in their retirement the pleasing
-reveries the idea of returning to Deane Hall had excited. Her solitude
-however was soon interrupted: Sedley, who for the last three days had
-with restless anxiety hovered round her door, had followed her unseen,
-and now hastily overtook her. On first seeing him she was half tempted
-to return, but he, perceiving her intention, half seriously and half
-carelessly, put her arm within his, and led her forward. At first he
-paid her the common compliments of condolence; but when, in answer to
-his inquiries, she told him she and Lady Eltondale were to leave
-Cheltenham that day, his surprise and disappointment overcame all his
-resolutions, and with a vehemence of manner and expression, that almost
-terrified Selina, he declared his passion in the strongest terms. So
-little had Selina been accustomed to think of him as her lover, that at
-first she considered his address merely as an effusion of gallantry, and
-as such returned it with careless _badinage_. But his renewed
-protestations convincing her he was in earnest, her trepidation
-increased, nor would she probably soon have recovered her composure, had
-she not perceived that he misconstrued her prolonged silence. As soon
-therefore as he would permit her, she interrupted him, by politely
-thanking him for his good opinion of her: "But," continued she, "it
-distresses me even more than it flatters me: I cannot encourage a
-partiality I feel I do not return." With an agitated countenance, and
-looks almost of menace, he now inquired who was the favoured mortal she
-preferred. "It is not that I prefer another," replied she, "but I do not
-sufficiently prefer you. I think the only way I can repay your kindness
-is by treating you with perfect frankness. Do not therefore think me
-harsh when I say, that though I certainly prefer your society more than
-that of most others, and though I prize your friendship most highly, I
-by no means feel for you that exclusive partiality, of which I know my
-heart is capable; and without which, in my opinion, there can be no
-happiness in married life." "But may not time and assiduity win your
-affections, dear, dearest Selina; let me still hope." And then, with all
-the eloquence he was master of, did he implore her to consider him
-still as her friend; and to permit him in that character to enjoy her
-society, and at least endeavour to gain her love.
-
-But the delicacy of Selina's mind shrunk from the idea of encouraging an
-attachment she never meant to return; and scorning the little arts by
-which so many women gratify their own vanity, at the expense of those
-feelings which they seem to soothe, she steadily refused to give him any
-ground for expecting her to change her present sentiments: for within
-the last few days she had "communed with her own heart," and understood
-it better than she had ever done before. However her refusal though firm
-was gentle; and when Sedley parted from her at Lady Eltondale's door,
-the tempered smile that played on her lip, and the tear that gemm'd her
-eye, spoke so much of female softness and benevolence, that he departed
-more enamoured than ever; and, hastening home, shut himself up in his
-chamber, to indulge in a variety of schemes and reflections, which all
-concluded by his determining never to relinquish her pursuit, and by a
-natural consequence persuading himself his case was not yet desperate:
-
-    "None without hope e'er lov'd the brightest fair,
-    But love will hope where reason would despair."
-
-When Selina entered the drawing room, she found Lady Eltondale too much
-engrossed by her preparations for departure, to notice her protracted
-absence and agitated appearance. And when a few hours afterwards Selina
-actually found herself seated in the carriage, which was to convey her
-to her own home, her thoughts became so entirely occupied by painfully
-pleasing retrospection connected with it, that for a time all others
-faded from her mind. Orders had been dispatched for its being prepared
-for their arrival. And as they travelled but slowly, sufficient time was
-afforded for their execution. For the last few miles Selina preserved an
-uninterrupted silence, her whole attention being occupied in
-endeavouring to recognize every well known object; and as each
-succeeding tree, and cottage, and spire, met her view, a sentiment of
-pleasure, amounting almost to agony, oppressed her. At last, when the
-carriage turned up the long avenue, her feelings could no longer be
-repressed. She sobbed aloud, and concealed her face in her handkerchief,
-which she did not remove till she found herself pressed to the
-palpitating heart of Mrs. Galton, who having received Selina's letter
-when on a visit in Lancashire, had succeeded in anticipating her arrival
-by a few hours.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-    Thou yet shalt know how sweet, how dear,
-      To gaze on beauty's glistening eye,
-    To ask and pause in hope and fear,
-                                  Till she reply.
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-Immediately after the departure of Lady Eltondale and Selina from
-Cheltenham, Sedley had also quitted it, as he could not bear to remain
-in a place, which had been to him the scene of his fondest hopes--his
-bitterest disappointment. In fact his having met Miss Seymour there was
-by no means the effect of accident. When she and the Viscountess had
-left London in June, he had found such a loss in her society, especially
-in those particular hours, which he had of late been accustomed to pass
-in his daily visits to Portman Square, that life appeared a blank, and
-his regrets for her absence first taught him the extent of his regard.
-Not however that his mind, tainted as it was by so many of the
-fashionable follies, if not vices of the day, was capable of truly
-comprehending all the chaste and simple beauties of hers. His admiration
-was confined to her personal charms; and though, had she been fated to
-move in a humbler sphere, he would perhaps have sought her as a
-substitute for the pretty little opera dancer, that was now under his
-_protection_, as it is elegantly termed; yet with all Selina's
-loveliness, his aversion to matrimony would scarcely have been subdued
-by any less powerful motives than those suggested by her riches. For,
-like all spendthrifts, Sedley was avaricious; and these united
-interests, confirmed by habits of association, and increased by vanity,
-led him by degrees to feel for her an attachment, of which at first he
-could scarcely have supposed his heart to have been susceptible. Having
-once convinced himself, that the possession of Miss Seymour's hand and
-fortune would contribute to his own individual happiness, (for of hers
-he did not stop to think,) his next object was to determine how to
-procure it; nor did he consider her being the destined wife of his
-friend as any impediment to the accomplishment of his own wishes. He,
-however, was well aware, that it was of the utmost consequence to him to
-obtain the countenance and support of the Viscountess; and as he
-possessed sufficient penetration to discover the master passion of her
-soul, he took his measures accordingly. Soon after she went to
-Cheltenham he wrote her a letter, in which he so far betrayed the
-confidence Frederick Elton had reposed in him, as to communicate to her
-all he knew of his attachment to the fair Adelina at the villa
-Marinella; and concluded by proposing, in the most guarded and delicate
-_terms_ to her Ladyship, that she should befriend him instead of
-Elton--offering, if she would procure for him Selina's hand, either on
-the day of their marriage to give her a large sum of money, or to
-settle an annuity on her for the remainder of her life.
-
-The information thus conveyed to Lady Eltondale of Mr. Elton's
-attachment to a foreigner did not very much surprise her. She suspected
-that the reluctance he had expressed about two years before, to accept
-an honourable and lucrative employment in the diplomatical line, which
-his father had procured for him, and which had obliged him to leave
-Catania to reside in Paris--his subsequent return thither, and his
-protracted stay on the continent, had all proceeded from some such
-motive.
-
-But on the other hand Mr. Elton had, in his letter to his father, stated
-explicitly, "that he was not only willing, but anxious, to make every
-endeavour to gain Miss Seymour's affections, and bestow his own on her;
-convinced, on mature deliberation, that such an attachment would
-effectually conduce to his happiness, by filling that void in his heart,
-which so much militated against it." And as he was expected to return
-very shortly to England, she hesitated to accept Mr. Sedley's offer,
-although it was a temptation she could scarcely resist. The result,
-therefore, of her deliberations was, that she would remain neuter; and
-whichever of the candidates Selina's unbiassed judgment made choice of,
-she would endeavour to persuade owed their happiness to her influence.
-She therefore wrote an equivocal answer to Mr. Sedley, which he
-construed of course in the sense most favourable to his wishes, and
-hastened to Cheltenham, where he used all his rhetoric to secure her
-friendship; and she, with many a subtle argument, endeavoured to
-persuade him not to propose for Selina till after Frederick's arrival;
-and as he was by no means confident of the place he held in Miss
-Seymour's estimation, he probably would have postponed his declaration
-till time had more matured the regard he flattered himself she felt for
-him, had he not been irresistibly impelled by circumstances, as has been
-before related. Her refusal, however, did not entirely extinguish his
-hopes, although it changed his plans; and as the public prints had,
-about a fortnight before Lord Eltondale's death, given notice of Mr.
-Elton's departure from Paris, on his return to England, Sedley
-determined to repair to London immediately, for the purpose of meeting
-him, as he knew business would require his presence there. Nor was he
-disappointed; in about three weeks Lord Eltondale arrived; and Sedley
-sedulously sought to renew their intimacy, as much then from interested
-motives, as he had once done from inclination and preference. But though
-these two young men associated as much as they had been accustomed
-previous to Lord Eltondale's residence abroad, little remained of their
-original friendship, except its familiarity of intercourse, which a
-_habit_ of intimacy will long preserve. Yet Frederick was scarcely
-conscious of this aberration of regard, which was, on the part of
-Sedley, produced by a rivalship Lord Eltondale was unsuspicious of; and
-on his own was principally owing to the gradual change, that had taken
-place in their characters. Sedley, by the influence of dissipated
-companions, had converted his natural vivacity of spirits into levity of
-principle. Lord Eltondale, by the peculiar circumstances which had led
-him to self-communion, study, and reflection, had turned the energies of
-his nature to pursuits worthy of the powers of his mind, and of the rank
-he was by nature and fortune destined to hold amongst the sons, which
-England proudly boasts as truly noble.
-
-Lord Eltondale had written to the Viscountess, that it was his intention
-to pay his compliments to her and Miss Seymour immediately on his
-arrival in England; but he, from one day to another, sought excuses for
-delaying this visit to Deane Hall; and Sedley was not unwilling to
-assist in the search, for he still hoped to gain by delay. When he had
-first met Frederick, he had inquired, with as much indifference as he
-could assume, whether there was any foundation in the newspaper report
-of his marriage with Miss Seymour; to which his Lordship replied, in a
-peremptory tone, "Yes, if she will have me;" and immediately changed the
-conversation in such a manner, that Sedley had not again the courage to
-renew it. However, at last his Lordship fixed the day for the
-commencement of his journey to Yorkshire, and the evening before he as
-usual spent in his friend's society. They were conversing of far
-different matters, when Sedley abruptly said, in a tone of marked pique,
-"Well, Eltondale, so you have at last determined to do Miss Seymour the
-honour of proposing for her. Upon my soul, a great condescension!
-Notwithstanding your damned lecturing letters, I knew you would forget
-your 'charming Sicilian maid, fairer than Proserpine,' and all that pack
-of metaphysical stuff you used to write to me. I knew well enough from
-the first it was only an ideal Laura you fancied yourself Petrarch to;
-and if, while you were dreaming of her, you had lost the incomparable
-_heiress_ your designing step-mother intended for you, it would only
-have been what you deserved." "For Heaven's sake, Sedley, what do you
-mean?" said Lord Eltondale, colouring deeply. "Is the incomparable
-_heiress_ the Laura of your dreams?" "No, no, my Lord," answered Sedley,
-with a composure produced alike by envy and mortification, "I leave it
-to _you_ to play the part of sleeper awakened--I never lost my senses
-for any _Adelina_." "Sedley!" replied Lord Eltondale, with the serious
-energy of deep feeling, "if any spark of our former friendship remains
-in your bosom, I conjure you never to mention that name again. I can
-never forget _her_, but she refused _me_." "Refused you!" exclaimed
-Sedley, in a tone of unfeigned surprise; "well, no doubt your pride has
-cured your love; but upon my soul I almost pity you; for when a man is
-once fascinated by a pretty woman, it is devilish hard to get out of her
-toils." "So far from my pride being my cure, her refusal raised my love
-to a pitch that made my former attachment seem cold in comparison. You
-may smile, Sedley, but if you have a heart to be moved, it must be
-touched when I tell you of her noble conduct on that occasion. I believe
-I told you of my intention of proposing myself to her; but I never could
-summon fortitude to acquaint you with the result. I had perceived a
-marked change in her manner to me some time before I wrote you the last
-letter concerning her; but I attributed it entirely to her father's
-influence, as I had not come to a direct explanation, and therefore took
-an opportunity of demanding an interview for that purpose, when I knew
-him to be absent.
-
-"When she entered the room where I was waiting in breathless expectation
-of her arrival, she was enveloped in the most icy coldness of manner,
-which, however, I was not dismayed by, but poured forth my love with all
-the ardour I felt. She changed colour many times, and was silent for a
-few moments; but when she did speak, rejected my addresses with such
-dignified politeness, and with so much calm self-possession, that,
-mortified to the very soul, I, without reply or remonstrance, walked out
-of the house. That I might hide my wounded feelings from every eye, I
-struck into a private path which led through a flower-garden Adelina's
-sitting-room opened into. I instinctively turned to look in, when I
-beheld her kneeling, evidently in the act of prayer, her eyes streaming
-with tears. To see her weep, and retain self-control or resentment, was
-impossible. I was at her side in an instant;--she started up, and
-endeavoured to fly, but I forcibly detained her; and as the expression
-of her countenance was not to be misunderstood as to the cause of her
-grief, I implored her not to destroy our happiness by harbouring any
-false impressions of me or my family; entreated her to tell me the
-impediments to our union, that if it were possible, by any exertion of
-mine, to do them away, they might cease to exist. She turned aside her
-head to hide the gushing tears, and in a faltering voice desired me to
-leave her.--'Leave me,' said she, 'only for a few moments, that I may
-recover composure to tell you all.'
-
-"I respected her feelings sufficiently to remain in the garden till she
-made a sign to me to return.
-
-"When I entered, grief, in her calmest attitude, was seated on her brow.
-No tear dimmed the majesty of her commanding eye, but a convulsive smile
-sometimes passed over her pallid lip. She told me that her father,
-though a German Baron, was a British subject by birth, but that some
-unfortunate circumstances induced him to condemn himself to perpetual
-exile from his native land; that she could not desert her duties by
-leaving him, in the evening of his days, to sad solitude in a foreign
-country; nor would she ever consent to obscure the morning of my life by
-suffering me, if I were so inclined, to quit my country, and leave my
-high calling unfulfilled, to waste my hours at her side in unavailing
-regret for my lost character: and addressing me with the utmost
-solemnity, said in conclusion, 'Frederick, if you really love me, as I
-think you do; if you are the noble being I believe you to be--you will
-not, after this meeting, try my feelings by any further solicitation. My
-resolution is unalterable--do not deprive me of my self-esteem, by
-making me feel the sacrifice I make to filial duty too painful.'
-
-"I then told her, if she would promise to be mine when these obstacles
-to our union were at an end, I would wait in joyful thankfulness any
-length of time.
-
-"'No, no,' said she, 'I could not, in justice to you, enter into such an
-engagement. Our affections are involuntary--you _cannot_ answer for the
-continuance of your attachment. Time, absence, your country, your
-family, will estrange your heart from _me_; and honour alone would
-continue to bind you to me when love had fled. I should, when too late
-for recall, be doomed to inconsolable misery, by finding your sense of
-duty had destroyed your happiness. As for myself, I could not live
-under such a load of hopes and fears. No, Frederick, from this day I
-will endeavour to destroy every memento of our having ever met. Hope
-must be completely eradicated.' Irritated by the misery of my mind, I
-had the _inhumanity_ to upbraid her in words that I would now give
-worlds to recall, with being cold and unfeeling. 'Would to Heaven I
-were!' exclaimed she, and abruptly leaving the room, forbid my following
-her.--I never saw her afterwards."
-
-Here Lord Eltondale started up, and paced the room in an agony of
-feeling difficult to describe. Even Sedley was moved with compassion.
-"Poor fellow!" said he, in a suppressed tone, "And did you make no
-further attempt to change her resolution?" "I wrote several letters from
-Catania, and returned from Paris after my second visit there to see her
-once more, but the villa was deserted--Baron Wildenheim and his daughter
-had gone no one knew whither."
-
-"Wildenheim!" exclaimed Sedley, "Good God, is it possible!--Wildenheim
-did you say?" Frederick repeated this name, and he, on hearing it a
-second time, danced about the room like a madman. "Sedley, are you
-absolutely and entirely insane?" exclaimed his friend, indignant at the
-levity of his behaviour--"Beware!--by Heavens, you trifle too much with
-my feelings!" "Well, you shall judge of the justice of my conjectures;
-but if you give me the smallest interruption, I will leave you in the
-state of blessed ignorance you at present enjoy," replied Sedley,
-wringing his hand rather than shaking it. "First, then, to describe your
-charmer, for I spent a month in the house with her last autumn.
-_Imprimis_--her mind I know nothing about; she was so damned shy,
-sitting alone all morning writing amatory odes to your Lordship I
-suppose--there now, if you interrupt me I have done."
-
-Here Sedley made a short pause. He felt that all was at stake: the
-effects of a few minutes' conversation might decide his fate for life.
-He hastily revolved in his mind Lord Eltondale's Sicilian letters, which
-he had lately read for the base purpose of divulging their contents to
-the Viscountess, and calling to mind the points on which Frederick's
-admiration had been founded, endeavoured to paint Miss Wildenheim's
-charms in those terms which he judged most likely to raise his friend's
-love and regrets to their _acmé_, and thus for ever defeat Lady
-Eltondale's schemes for uniting him to Selina. In reply to Frederick's
-entreaties to proceed, he continued with affected carelessness, "I can
-scarcely give you a more minute description of her person than of her
-mind. Her beauty is not to be compared to ----" (Miss Seymour's, he
-would have said with well acted indifference, had he not timely
-recollected her name was a "word of fear," not only to himself but his
-auditor)--"that of some of our reigning belles; but 'the charm of Celia
-altogether' is so captivating, so _touching_, that no one ever thought
-of _beauty_ in her presence; nor is admiration the sentiment she
-excites, that, like her attractions, can only be felt, not described.
-Come, don't be jealous; her indifference to me, and every other man she
-associated with, was too marked to encourage that love it would have
-been impossible not to have felt but for this coldness. Her form and
-motions were so graceful, that my attention was too completely engrossed
-by their exquisite elegance to observe her stature; nor was I more at
-liberty to remark the _minutiæ_ of her features, rivetted as I was by
-the enchanting expression of her countenance, where softness is ennobled
-by dignity, and animated by intellect.
-
-"In short, I no longer wonder at what I once termed infatuation, if '_la
-bella Adelina_' be (as I verily believe she is) the lovely Adelaide
-Wildenheim----" "Where is she, for God's sake where is she?" "Why, your
-Venus is at this moment--not rising from the sea, but--enjoying the
-delights of a mud bath in a bog in Ireland. I will furnish you with
-proper directions to find her. I advise you to lose no time; I assure
-you, you have a dangerous rival in the son of the lady she resides
-with;--a year may have made a great change in her sentiments though."
-Here a severe and long continued fit of coughing saved Sedley from
-betraying the laughter he was almost convulsed by, at the thought of the
-rival he had terrified Lord Eltondale with, in the person of Mr.
-Webberly. "Better, my dear fellow, better," said he at last, in answer
-to Frederick's earnest concern on his behalf: "though, to continue my
-speech, her aversion even to him was so decided, I have no doubt her
-constancy to you would stand a much greater probation." At first Lord
-Eltondale's joy was too great for him to believe all this was not a
-dream; and he questioned Sedley over and over again as to every
-particular regarding Miss Wildenheim. The latter had profited
-considerably by the lessons he had received during his intercourse with
-the Viscountess, in the science of insinuation and _finesse_, and now
-therefore artfully related every circumstance likely to strengthen his
-friend's passion for the "divine Adelaide;" but perceiving at last from
-Frederick's countenance that he was in danger of over-acting his part,
-he abruptly discontinued a _tirade_ on her perfections, by exclaiming,
-"All this comes of romancing, Eltondale; if you could have condescended
-to have designated your dearly beloved by any more specific term than
-'the fair Adelina,' this _quid pro quo_ would never have occurred.--Why
-the devil did you never tell me she was plain Adelaide Wildenheim?" "I
-had very strong reasons for my silence as to her surname. Though I never
-knew a man more highly endowed in mind than Baron Wildenheim, or whose
-manners bore the stamp of more refined elegance, more impressive
-dignity, yet there was something extremely mysterious in the manner in
-which he sometimes avoided, sometimes sought, conversation on English
-affairs; in a moment he would interrupt a discussion he had seemed much
-interested in, with a perturbation that excited unfavourable
-suspicions, which were confirmed in my mind by a variety of minute
-circumstances.--None made a stronger impression than the following
-occurrence:--I one evening unexpectedly met him and Adelina walking
-through a beautiful grove in the neighbourhood of their villa. They were
-conversing earnestly, and, to my astonishment, in English--he with that
-pure accent a native only can possess, which was forcibly contrasted by
-the pronunciation of his daughter. I claimed him as my countryman, and
-rallied her for concealing her knowledge of my native language. She,
-evidently embarrassed, blushed deeply, (how beautiful she looked!)
-whilst the Baron, with a haughty austerity, only answered my compliment
-by a profound bow; and, after some trifling remark, pointedly addressed
-to me in _French_, alleged the lateness of the hour for taking their
-leave, and expressed a flattering wish to see me the following morning;
-thus politely giving me to understand my presence was not at that moment
-particularly agreeable. This confirmed my former surmise, that in the
-revolutionary period he had been engaged in some dark affair inimical to
-the interests of Great Britain, and that Baron Wildenheim was merely a
-_nom de guerre_, to cover the _incognito_ he found it expedient to
-assume; therefore I purposely avoided mentioning it to you. Now as for
-Adelina--that is the Italian diminutive of Adelaide, which her father
-always called her; it was the first I heard her addressed by; it is one,
-in short, that has a charm in my ear, which none who has not loved,
-_approved_ as I do, can conceive." "It is strange enough, Eltondale,"
-remarked Sedley; "but you and Miss Wildenheim must have been in Paris at
-the same time; for she related to me one day a whimsical occurrence,
-which took place in the Chamber of Deputies, that one of your letters
-informed me you had also witnessed." "Is it possible!" exclaimed
-Frederick, "how unfortunate we did not meet! I now recollect, I once
-thought I saw her at the _Théâtre François_; if so, she had contrived to
-forget me in a great hurry; for though it was but three months after a
-parting that was almost death to me, she was looking as gay and as happy
-as possible." Here Sedley made an involuntary grimace, internally
-exclaiming, "The devil she did! That agrees but badly with the _Il
-penseroso_ I have described with such effect." "Baron Wildenheim,"
-continued Lord Eltondale, "I certainly did see, but could not ascertain
-whether the lady who was with him was Adelina or not; for when I
-approached near enough to put the matter out of doubt, either by
-accident or design, she threw a large shawl over her, so as effectually
-to conceal her figure from my sight; and before I could push through the
-crowd to speak to them, they had left the theatre. However I trust,
-thanks to you, my dear friend, we shall soon meet; and if her heart is
-still mine, what happiness!--Gracious Heaven! Miss Seymour!"--and the
-recollection of his situation regarding Selina glanced through his mind,
-turning all the past to pain--"I must not, dare not, think of her now."
-"And why not?" replied Sedley, with an agitation little inferior to his
-own, "You are not irrevocably engaged to Miss Seymour, Eltondale?" "I am
-as much as a man of honour can be, who has not received the lady's own
-consent from her own mouth. But my poor father got Sir Henry Seymour's
-consent to our marriage above a year ago--read those two letters,
-Sedley, the last I received from Lady Eltondale immediately after my
-father's death. You will see by the tenor of it, that she considers the
-business as concluded; and though she does not positively tell me Miss
-Seymour's opinion, she distinctly says she has no doubt of our mutual
-happiness!"
-
-The first of these letters gave Sedley the most unequivocal proofs of
-Lady Eltondale's double-dealing, in speaking of Selina to Frederick as
-decidedly his future wife, at the very moment when she seemed to favour
-his own pretensions. He dashed the letters, one after the other, on the
-table, with a violence that made it resound, and internally imprecated
-"the treachery, the artifice, of this damned dissembling woman!"
-
-A sense of the moral rectitude, which should guide the conduct of
-_others_, grows surprisingly acute, even in the breast of the most
-worthless, when they themselves begin to suffer from the effects of
-dissimulation in their associates. At that moment Sedley could have
-demonstrated sincerity to be "the first of virtues"--in theory at
-least--deferring the _practice_ of it to a more convenient season.
-
-For some time both these young men remained absorbed in their own
-reflections; till at last Sedley endeavoured to persuade Lord Eltondale,
-that it was not incumbent on him to pay his addresses to Miss Seymour:
-but neither the sophistry of his friend, nor still more the pleadings of
-his own unconquered passion, could make him swerve from the rectitude of
-his principles. He knew that even in his very last letter to his
-stepmother, he had mentioned his intention of proposing for Selina, and
-therefore, under all the circumstances considering himself as pledged
-to do so, he endeavoured to find solace in what would once have been the
-_acmé_ of misery--a belief that Adelaide no longer cherished any regard
-for him.
-
-On the other hand Sedley, passing at once from hope to despair,
-conceived it impossible Selina could refuse an offer so unexceptionable;
-and attributing her indifference to himself to her ambitious views,
-internally vowed revenge on both. The rival friends separated with
-feelings, which resembled only in their poignancy and defiance of
-control; and the next morning Lord Eltondale left London, pursuing, with
-agitated haste, his journey to Deane Hall.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE FOURTHoe.
-
-
-And where meantime were Lord Osselstone and Mordaunt?--It may be
-recollected, that they had left London, previous to Lady Eltondale's
-great ball, on a tour to the continent--a journey which was not
-undertaken solely from motives of amusement. One of Lord Osselstone's
-brothers had many years previous to that period left England; and though
-the Earl had, by means of a mutual friend, a Mr. Austin, learned from
-time to time that he was still in existence, he had never succeeded in
-discovering his retreat; but for the last eighteen months he could learn
-no tidings whatever of his brother, as during that time Mr. Austin had
-been at the Madeiras with an invalide daughter; and as from some
-circumstances he was induced to think he might gain satisfactory
-intelligence on this subject at Vienna, he, accompanied by Augustus,
-proceeded thither for the purpose of procuring it.
-
-The late Lord Osselstone had married twice. His first wife brought him
-two sons, namely, the present Earl, and Charles Mordaunt, father to
-Augustus. But his second lady, a German by birth, only one child, called
-Reginald, who, becoming an orphan at the age of sixteen, was left by his
-father to the sole guardianship of his eldest brother.
-
-Reginald, as his mother's heir, inherited German estates of considerable
-value, which unfortunately deprived him of the happy necessity of
-applying the powers of his ardent mind to any determinate pursuit, and
-also made him an object of speculation to those vicious beings, that lie
-in wait for the unwary youth, who is sufficiently wealthy to recompense
-the trouble of destroying him.
-
-Never were two brothers more sincerely attached to each other than
-Reginald and Lord Osselstone. The Earl cherished a twin soul in the
-aspiring spirit and lofty genius of his youthful charge, whilst he was
-himself the model and the pride of his admiring ward. Though Lord
-Osselstone's father had, by sage precepts and example, compressed,
-rather than exalted the energies of his nature, yet he was unfortunately
-too young to serve as a Mentor to his brother, at the critical period in
-which he was confided to his care. In truth, his partiality saw in him
-no fault; but if he had, his experience was insufficient to teach him
-how to control his restless spirit: and thus, though the affections of
-Reginald's heart were excited by the warmth of fraternal love; though
-his talents were improved, and the deep feelings of his soul rendered
-still more intense by his strengthened intellect; yet his reason, as it
-regarded the conduct of life, was totally uncultivated; and in place of
-steady, well-defined principle regulating his thoughts and actions, he
-was _impelled_, rather than guided by his imagination and his feelings,
-which taught him to cherish a mistaken species of honour, that made him
-more tenacious of his _fame_ than careful of his conduct. As long as he
-was "no man's enemy but his own," he thought himself blameless. But no
-accountable being should dare to wage this civil war against itself. The
-man who is his own _enemy_, is nobody's _friend_, and almost always a
-pest of society.
-
-Shortly after Reginald came of age, Lord Osselstone was grieved and
-terrified to see him follow the steps of Charles Mordaunt, who led the
-impetuous youth into a vortex of dissipation. The acuteness of the
-Earl's feelings giving a corresponding tone to his reproofs, their
-asperity only served to make Reginald shun his society, and seek, with
-more avidity, that of his second brother; by whom he was initiated into
-all the agitating, destructive pleasures of the gaming table; and soon
-became entangled with a set of gamblers, who, in a short time, brought
-his finances into a state of considerable embarrassment. The chief of
-this depraved crew was a Mr. Mortimer, who, by the attractions of a
-beautiful daughter, lured young men to their destruction at the
-gaming-table, where she, with all the fascinations of the most
-accomplished Syren, favoured his schemes. But her charms were more
-generally acknowledged than her claims to respect; and her reputation
-being on the decline, her father was anxious to marry her to some of his
-victims, in order to give her, under another name, that station in
-society she was on the verge of forfeiting in her own. She made an easy
-conquest of Reginald, who was so bewitched by her attractions, that,
-playing with even less than his usual skill, he lost in a few nights at
-the faro table a sum he feared would complete his ruin, by rendering the
-sale of the greater part of his maternal inheritance absolutely
-necessary. He therefore lent a delighted ear to Mr. Mortimer's proposal
-of allowing this honourable debt as a portion to his captivating
-daughter. Reginald, overjoyed to obtain at once the woman he
-passionately loved, and the relief of his embarrassments, without a
-_public_ exposure of his follies, sought his brother Charles, to
-communicate to him the gratifying intelligence. Charles Mordaunt was
-horror-struck on hearing it, fearing it would be impossible now to
-withdraw Reginald from that labyrinth, into which he had unwarily led
-him; and knowing full well, that, if he was once connected with
-Mortimer, no effort could save him from entire destruction. However,
-concealing his distress from his unsuspicious brother, he immediately
-communicated the circumstance to Lord Osselstone, making a candid
-confession of his own share in the transaction, and painting, in the
-most forcible terms, the impending danger of Reginald. The Earl, without
-an hour's delay, discharged Mortimer's claim, threatening him with the
-utmost vengeance of the law if he ever admitted either of his brothers
-to his house again, and, in the most peremptory manner, insisted on his
-writing a letter, acknowledging the payment of Reginald's debt, and
-stating that Miss Mortimer declined the honour of his addresses. Lord
-Osselstone then repaired to Reginald, when, unfolding Miss Mortimer's
-true character, he accompanied his assertions with such "damning proof,"
-that her hitherto infatuated lover could not refuse to acknowledge his
-conviction of their truth. But now, in a paroxysm of rage, accusing the
-Earl of the most savage cruelty in undeceiving him, he said, his honour
-was engaged, there was no retreat; but he must, like a second Decius,
-plunge into the gulf with his eyes opened to all its horrors.
-
-Lord Osselstone suffered him for a time to _feel_ and express all his
-distraction; and when he had, in idea, raised himself to a pitch of
-insupportable misery, he gave him the letter he had extorted from
-Mortimer. Reginald's joy and gratitude were then as unbounded as his
-anguish of mind had so lately been, and he willingly acceded to Lord
-Osselstone's propositions. These were, first, that he should accept a
-commission in a regiment, then stationed in distant country quarters, by
-which he hoped to separate him effectually from all his worthless
-associates, and break the chain of his destructive habits. Secondly,
-that he should resign the conduct of his affairs to Mr. Austin, a lawyer
-of probity and talent, and consent to receive, for some years, only a
-limited stipend from his extensive German estates, of whose value the
-Earl was better informed than their possessor; but he wished, by this
-means, to make Reginald feel the deprivations his follies deserved;
-knowing also, that the most probable method of destroying his habit of
-prodigality would be to limit his power of expenditure. To gratify his
-brother's feelings, the Earl consented to receive, by yearly
-instalments, the large sum he had advanced for his benefit; but, at the
-same time, generously resolved to restore it at a future period, when
-the gift would run no risk of proving a curse.
-
-Reginald rigidly kept his promise of for ever renouncing the
-gaming-table, giving, in the regularity of his conduct, the best proof
-of his lasting gratitude to his brother, and the most delightful reward
-that brother could receive for his almost paternal solicitude. Three
-years after this period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to Ireland,
-where he was stationed at Limerick. He admired, in turn, several of the
-beautiful women that place was then famous for; but finally fixed his
-affections on Rose O'Sullivan, the only child of the present proprietor
-of Ballinamoyle. This lovely girl was at that time entrusted to the care
-of an aunt, who resided at Limerick, her father being anxious to vary
-the retirement of her home, by what was to her, from the effect of
-comparison, a scene of extreme gaiety. Perhaps few women could have
-boasted of equal beauty, the effect of which was to Reginald rendered
-irresistible by the vivacity of her artless manners. Soon seeing her
-innocent partiality to himself expressed in her speaking eyes, any
-doubt he had before entertained of the expediency of proposing for her
-was set aside by this discovery.
-
-When she returned home, he followed her to Ballinamoyle; and on the day
-in which she completed her seventeenth year, he received her hand, which
-her father gave with mingled joy and sorrow. Happily his regrets at
-resigning his idolized Rose were not rendered insupportable, by
-foreseeing that this act would for ever deprive him of his blooming
-child, and condemn her to an untimely grave!
-
-At no very distant period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to the
-neighbourhood of London; and the tears of heartfelt grief which Rose
-shed on bidding adieu to her father, and the scenes of her happy
-childhood, were dried by her husband's fondness, and by his descriptions
-of the pleasures London would afford her. But in proportion as
-Reginald's eye became familiarized to his wife's personal graces, he
-deplored, with keener perception, the rusticity of those very manners,
-which had at first delighted him from their bearing the stamp of
-unsophisticated nature, and forcibly contrasting with the artful
-blandishments of the worthless Miss Mortimer. His pride could not brook,
-that fastidious elegance should find aught in his wife to ridicule or
-disapprove. He therefore determined for some time to seclude her from
-the world, till he should, by the aid of the best masters and his own
-assiduity, cultivate her talents and polish her manners; for which
-purpose he purchased a beautiful cottage in the neighbourhood of London.
-Though her extreme quickness of parts, stimulated by her unceasing
-anxiety to please Reginald, enabled Rose to make a rapid progress in the
-various accomplishments her masters taught her; yet she reflected with
-sorrow, that she "never dreamed of having her schooling renewed by her
-marriage." When Reginald, with ill-concealed chagrin, criticized her
-every word, her slightest movement, she would say to herself, whilst her
-beautiful eyes swam in tears, "My poor father thought all I said was
-right; and so did Reginald too when I was at Limerick;" whilst the
-reflections that kept pace with these in his mind were, "By Heavens, her
-brogue is incurable! I despair of ever breaking her of calling me
-'Reginald dear, and darling.' Thank God, Lord Osselstone is at
-Athens!--She never will be presentable!"
-
-In short, he was still more weary of instructing than she was of
-learning; and it would be difficult to say, whether pride or
-mortification predominated, when he came at last to the conclusion, that
-there was no reason why he should seclude himself from the world,
-because his wife was not sufficiently polished to be introduced to those
-brilliant circles of fashion, in which alone he would suffer her to
-move. The result of these deliberations was, his establishing himself in
-the most fashionable lodgings in town, leaving the young and lovely Rose
-to improve her mind, and "mend her manners," in almost total solitude.
-
-One day, in Bond-street, he accidentally met an old friend of the name
-of Montague, who took him home to introduce him to his new married lady;
-who proved, to Reginald's astonishment, to be no other than the
-_ci-devant_ Miss Mortimer.
-
-The fascinations of her wit, the polished elegance of her manners, again
-bewitched him, and he indulged without restraint, though equally without
-design, in the dangerous pleasure of associating with her. He became a
-constant guest at Montague's table, flattering himself "there could be
-no impropriety in their intercourse--she was married, and so was he."
-The consequence of this renewed intimacy was the revival of their former
-attachment. His respect for the laws of honour, his regard for his
-friend, and some latent compassion, if not love, for his deserted wife,
-kept him for a short period hovering on the borders of virtue, sometimes
-slightly passing its bounds, sometimes retiring far within. But Mrs.
-Montague, led on by her passion for him, as well as an undefined mixture
-of good and evil in her natural disposition, revealed the plan her
-husband, in conjunction with her father, was following, to make him once
-more a victim to his former passion for gaming; for Mr. Montague's
-fortune and character were alike ruined by his connection with Mortimer.
-
-Reginald's rage knew no bounds at this discovery of his supposed
-friend's perfidy; and hurried on by love and revenge, he persuaded Mrs.
-Montague to elope with him. Montague was equally exasperated at being
-made the dupe of his own arts; and by the idea, that while he had
-employed his wife to delude his intended victim, she had only deceived,
-betrayed himself. Pursuing the fugitives without delay, he unfortunately
-overtook Reginald. Their mutual recriminations produced a duel, in which
-all the usual forms were set aside, and Montague's life fell a sacrifice
-to his own and his antagonist's dereliction of principle. All sparks of
-virtue were not yet extinct in Mrs. Montague's heart;--horror-struck at
-hearing the dreadful catastrophe, she told Reginald their guilty
-connection must from that moment cease, and enjoined him to seek his
-safety in immediate flight. Unknowing what course best to pursue;
-impelled at one moment, by his distracted conscience, to deliver himself
-up to justice; withdrawn the next from this resolution, by the love of
-life and the suggestions of pride; wavering between the two, he almost
-mechanically returned to his lodgings in London. Here retiring to his
-usual sitting-room, he threw himself in a state of distraction on a
-sofa, eyeing from time to time, with varying intent, a pair of pistols
-he had laid on the table. At last, startled by a noise he heard in an
-inner room, he sprung up, and was in a moment locked in the arms of his
-fond wife, who, alarmed at his long-protracted absence, had timidly
-ventured hither to seek him, and had just heard of his elopement with
-Mrs. Montague. "I _knew_ it wasn't true!" said she, "My darling
-Reginald, you could never have the cruelty to break my heart by leaving
-me: you will come back to Richmond with me, and then I shall be happy
-again." "Never, never!" exclaimed he, in an agony of despair: "No
-happiness for me, Rose!" Then, with a look and action bordering on
-madness, he whispered in her ear, "I have killed Montague!"
-
-Rose was one of those women, whose fortitude and strength of mind are
-scarcely even suspected, till they are called forth by the hour of
-trial. Though these few words had sent a death blow to her heart, as
-soon as she recovered from their first shock, she thought of them only
-as demanding immediate exertion for the preservation of her husband's
-life. As the first step, she proceeded to remove the pistols. Reginald,
-roused by the attempt, desired her to desist. "You do not _dare_ to
-die," said she, looking at him with steadfast earnestness. "You shall be
-satisfied; justice shall take its course, and then you will be
-sufficiently revenged! Rose, begone!--this is no scene for you!--Go!"
-continued he, stamping with vehement fury on the floor--"By the eternal
-God I _will_ be obeyed." "No," said she, calmly, "never will I part from
-you more, Reginald. In breaking your marriage vows, you have forfeited
-your right to my obedience. Even to the grave will I follow you!" She
-then threw herself at his feet, imploring him, by every tender name, to
-consult his safety without delay; represented that, in a foreign
-country, he might, by years of future happiness, repay her for the
-sufferings of the dreadful present. Overcome by his feelings, he had not
-power to interrupt her; and at last, in a state of stupefaction, allowed
-himself to be disposed of as she pleased: he was conveyed from London
-that night, and by the exertions of Mr. Austin was enabled to reach
-Hamburgh in safety, where they took up their residence. Here Rose used
-every exertion to soothe the anguish of her miserable husband's mind.
-Neither in thought, word, or look, did she make one selfish reproach;
-her very prayers were breathed more for him than for herself. His love
-and admiration far exceeded what he had ever before felt. When he looked
-back to the few preceding months, he wondered how he could, for a
-moment, have slighted this angelic being, whose superiority to himself
-he now with tears acknowledged; but his tenderness came too late. She
-had suppressed her feelings on hearing his fatal communication, to save
-the object who excited them; and she now, with merciful affection,
-concealed all those melancholy forebodings so natural to the timid
-female in her anxious situation, though she felt her health rapidly
-declining, and anticipated with regret her approaching doom. She sighed
-to think she must, in all her blooming charms, bid adieu to the world,
-its brilliant pleasures yet untasted. She daily besought Heaven to spare
-her, to sweeten the bitter cup Reginald had prepared for himself;
-implored that she might again bless her father's eyes, once more receive
-the fervent benediction of the instructor of her early years, and
-confess her errors to his pious ear; and dearer than all, she longed to
-bestow a mother's love on her babe--to welcome its first smile, to
-return its endearing caresses. But with the patient resignation of a
-saint, she submitted to her fate. When Reginald beheld with rapture the
-tremulous lustre of her eye, the fatal hue that glowed on her cheek, and
-crimsoned her love-breathing lip, he knew not what they too plainly
-indicated!
-
-Three months after they reached Hamburgh, the innocent, lovely Rose
-expired a few hours after giving birth to a daughter, whom almost in her
-last moments she presented, with smiles of anxious pity, to her
-unfortunate husband, saying, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I
-do. You are dearer to me now than ever. You have been but too
-indulgent;--I have lately repented of many trifling offences--forgive
-them when I am gone." Here exhausted, she paused for a few minutes; then
-once again addressed him: "Don't weep, Reginald; 'tis fitting I should
-die; my erring fondness would have injured this dear babe.--Comfort my
-poor father!" She feebly pressed his hand, and her dying accents
-murmured a half audible "Bless you!"
-
-She was lovely in death! The clay-cold hand he with unutterable anguish
-pressed to his lips, mocked the statuary's art. The ministering angel
-who received her parting spirit, seemed to have shed celestial light on
-her countenance, whilst the bloom of earthly beauty yet lingered on her
-soft cheek and smiling lip. One dark lock lay on her alabaster bosom.
-Alas! motionless it lay--the warm heart had ceased to beat. Gaze,
-wretched Reginald, on thy heart's treasure! Soon shall the grave close
-for ever on all her charms! The despair of his soul, as he looked on her
-seraphic smile, and vainly watched to see her eye once more open with
-love's beam, was for a time lost in insensibility. When again, conscious
-that she was indeed no more, his agonized feelings led his mind to the
-very verge of frenzy.
-
-In his first distraction, he wrote a letter of penitence and grief to
-his father-in-law, deploring his heart-rending loss, but omitting to
-state precisely, that this infant had survived her mother; and from the
-ambiguous expressions of this incoherent communication, the afflicted
-parent concluded, that Rose and her child had perished together.
-Irritated by the misery her loss occasioned him, Mr. O'Sullivan made no
-reply, sending only a notification by Father Dermoody, that it had been
-received, with a request that his feelings might not again be wounded by
-further correspondence with the man, whom he not unjustly accused of
-having shortened his daughter's days by his unworthy conduct.
-
-Reginald had in this letter humbled himself as much as it was in his
-nature to do to mortal man; and indignant at the asperity of such a
-reply, he made no second attempt to move O'Sullivan to forgiveness. The
-ill success of this endeavour to soften the heart of the most benevolent
-of human beings discouraging him from any further efforts, either of
-atonement or conciliation, he adopted the resolution of withdrawing
-himself from the knowledge of all his connections. To his brother, Lord
-Osselstone, of all mankind he could least brook making any overtures,
-now that he was "fallen, fallen from his high estate." When he pictured
-to himself how he had disappointed that brother's exalted hopes and
-anxious cares, his pride and his better feelings alike prevented his
-submitting to receive either reproof from the austerity of his virtues,
-or that compassion from his affection, "which stabs as it forgives."
-
-As a preparatory step to avoiding any future intercourse with his native
-land, he entreated his friend Mr. Austin to meet him, without delay, at
-Meurs, on the Belgic frontiers of Westphalia, near which his estates
-were situated, that by disposing of some of them, he might finally
-arrange his affairs, and discharge all his English debts. Mr. Austin
-immediately obeyed the summons, and found Reginald in a state of the
-utmost wretchedness, occupied with the wildest schemes for carrying his
-ideas into execution; proposing, with feverish restlessness, to fly for
-ever from civilized society, in order to join some tribe of Bedouin
-Arabs, Mamelucks, Tartars, or North American Indians. The counsels of
-this wise and judicious friend did much to bring back his erring mind,
-to submit to the calm dictates of reason. Mr. Austin combated, in turn,
-all these chimeras; opened his eyes to his duties as a father; and
-finally finding him unalterable as to his determination of concealment,
-suggested the most advisable means of carrying it into effect, which
-were, to avail himself of the facilities circumstances afforded for
-adopting the name and character of a German subject. From his mother,
-Reginald had learned to speak the language with the fluency of a native;
-and his friend now reminded him of a circumstance he had informed him of
-a week before his fatal elopement from London, which at that time he
-slighted, namely, that one of his estates, being part of an ancient
-feudal tenure, entitled him to the rank of Baron by its own
-appellation; the adopting which would not only procure him station
-amongst a people of all others the most tenacious on the subject of
-birth, but effectually conceal him, as the circumstance was yet unknown
-to all his English friends.
-
-On hearing this proposition, Reginald with vehement joy, exclaimed,
-"Thank you, thank you, Austin; I shall know something like peace when my
-ears are not tortured by the detested name I now bear. Though I am
-outlawed because Osselstone was not in England to interfere with his
-powerful interest, though that damned Gazette has declared me for ever
-incapable of serving in the British armies, though it has stamped my
-name with indelible disgrace, yet will I cover this new appellation with
-fame in the field of glory."
-
-Reginald accordingly availed himself of this expedient; and all legal
-forms prescribed by German jurisprudence being gone through, his
-daughter at the Chateau of Wildenheim was enrolled on the family
-records by the name of Adelaide, which was that borne by the last
-heiress of that house; her mother's finding too sad an echo in her
-father's bosom, to be heard or pronounced by him without the most
-afflicting feelings. All his estates, except the Barony of Wildenheim,
-were sold; and the surplus, which remained after discharging his various
-debts, was remitted to Vienna, where he repaired with his infant
-daughter, on parting with Mr. Austin. Here he felt himself completely
-alone in the world; and his feelings being too agonizing to render a
-life of inaction supportable, he entered the Austrian armies. His rank,
-his fortune, and his talents, soon procured him a command, which he
-filled with honour, and redeemed the promise he had made to cover his
-new appellation "with fame in the field of glory." Amongst the officers
-placed under his orders were Maurice O'Sullivan, the uncle of his wife,
-and Edward Desmond; he took a melancholy pleasure in serving the former
-with his purse and his interest, for the sake of his beloved Rose, and
-the virtues of the latter made Reginald no less zealously his friend;
-but from both he most carefully concealed his country and his parentage.
-They fought side by side at the battles of Hohenlinden, Rastadt, and
-other desperate engagements, that fatally signalized the disastrous
-campaign, which was concluded by the peace of Luneville. Reginald's
-remaining estate was unfortunately situated in the territory ceded by
-that treaty to France, and was by its new masters bestowed on a soldier
-of fortune. He was by this event reduced from affluence to mediocrity,
-and broken in fortune, health, and spirits, he proceeded to Vienna to
-visit his daughter, then in her sixth year. He found her as beautiful as
-a cherub, and the image of her mother. When she twined her arms round
-his neck, calling him by the endearing appellations infancy bestows, he
-felt that the world yet contained a being that would fondly cherish him;
-and remembered, with sad delight, what now seemed the prophetic words
-of his dying Rose, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I do."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-    When I am forgotten, as I shall be,
-    And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
-    Of me must be heard--say then I taught thee.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE EIGHTHoe.
-
-
-During the period Reginald had served in the Austrian armies, his mind
-had undergone a complete revolution. His proud spirit had been subdued
-by misfortune. In his professional career he had learned to submit to
-human control. In the field of danger the daring energies of his nature
-had been fully excited; and, by the frequency of that very excitation,
-exhausted, whilst the aspect of death, in its various horrors, led him
-to serious meditation. Often has he passed from the stunning tumult of
-the field of battle, to the awful stillness of midnight solitude in his
-own tent; and here he first acknowledged the justice and mercy of
-Heaven, whose avenging arm had awakened him from the giddy dream of
-presumptuous passion, to the dreadful consciousness that he had
-perverted the best gifts of Providence, intended for the benefit and
-ornament of society, to be its bane and its disgrace. He had previously
-thought more of forfeited reputation than of violated virtue; and,
-though what he might have been rose to his mind in agonizing contrast
-with what he was, yet he mourned rather for the internal sentiment of
-degradation than of guilt. But he gradually acquired a more fitting
-penitence, becoming at last resigned even to the ever present sense of
-his former misdeeds, and submitting to it as their just punishment; at
-the same time forming the virtuous resolution of endeavouring to atone,
-if possible, for the past by the future.
-
-Accusing himself of having deprived his child of her inestimable mother,
-he felt in justice bound to fulfil towards her more than the common duty
-of a father, and therefore resolved to give up the profession of arms
-for her sake, in order to devote his existence to her welfare. He would
-often, as he pressed the little smiling Adelaide to his heart, put forth
-a prayer that the virtues of the daughter might plead at the bar of
-offended Heaven, in mitigation of the vices of the father; and would
-soothe his grief with the hope of giving her that virtuous firmness of
-character, the want of which had rendered all the blessings of his early
-lot of no avail to himself. Summoning religion and reason to his aid, he
-wisely executed the task he had laudably undertaken, of forming his
-daughter to emulate the perfections of her mother; whilst of the errors
-he instructed her to shun, he was too fatally enlightened by his
-intercourse with Mrs. Montague, on the causes of whose defects he had
-made many deep and painful reflections. Convinced by these that
-imagination, which is naturally too ardent in the generality of women,
-is cultivated to a fatal excess by the usual mode of education,
-confined, as this almost exclusively is, to the study of music,
-painting, and poetry; he therefore, after establishing the grand
-principles of religion and morality in his daughter's mind, directed his
-attention principally to forming her _judgment_; limiting her fancy to
-the subordinate office of _attendant_ on reason, never suffering it to
-usurp the place of guide. He had also observed, that vanity is still
-more dangerous to the female mind than even imagination. But it is only
-a long and steadily pursued course of exertion that can reduce this
-passion, so natural to the human heart, to exercise in its native
-kingdom only its just power. Solicitous that no latent vanity of his own
-should counteract his endeavours to limit its dangerous empire in his
-daughter's mind, he was sparing in the use of that powerful stimulant
-_praise_, which, though a very happy _consequence_, is too often a
-dangerous motive. As Adelaide had no domestic companion, her vanity was
-neither excited nor mortified by comparison; and it is one of those
-enemies to our peace, that suffer more from neglect than defeat. Nor
-was the baneful passion of envy introduced to her heart under the
-specious name of _emulation_, of which all ought to know it is the
-illegitimate sister, though the friends of emulation do not acknowledge
-the relationship. Her mind was endowed with knowledge, extensive enough
-to enable her to estimate justly the insufficiency of all human science,
-and to show her how far short of the _acmé_ of even that imperfect
-wisdom her own attainments fell. Being taught never to court display,
-she was thereby exempted from the torments of envious mortification, and
-early understood she was educated, not to bring forth her acquirements
-like a holiday suit, in which to shine occasionally, but to keep them in
-constant every-day use, to promote her own happiness, and the pleasures
-of those with whom she associated.
-
-Adelaide's docility, rather than her talents, enabled her to be every
-thing her father desired (for she was not, in truth, more highly
-endowed by nature than the generality of well-organized children); and
-he returned her enthusiastic love and veneration, by an affection little
-short of idolatry. But a father's too ardent love was beginning to
-wither in its bloom the plant it had so successfully reared; for
-Adelaide, when grown up, insensibly acquired an influence dangerous to a
-young female to possess over the mind of any man, and which is never so
-unlimited as over that of a father's in the decline of life. The virtues
-of the parent and child were alike dangerous to the future peace and
-well-being of the latter. He was too reasonable to subject her to those
-occasional acts of injustice, or fits of caprice, which every woman in
-her intercourse with mankind must expect and submit to, as inseparable
-from her condition. She, from the most laudable motives, was unceasingly
-occupied in the embellishment of her mind, which, though far preferable
-to an equally constant attention to externals, will, by a very
-different route, terminate one part of their course in the same
-end--_selfishness_. And as woman owes every thing that is admirable in
-her nature to a constant sacrifice of self, no acquirements can
-compensate for the perfection of character she can alone derive from
-this source. But in truth, the very best education a man alone can
-bestow on a woman must be defective. He may adorn her with the virtues
-of his own sex, but he cannot teach her the charities, the decencies,
-the proprieties of life, which it is the peculiar lot of hers to
-exercise. A female mind adorned with greater virtues only, without their
-connecting links, resembles a beautiful country, where the traveller
-passes from one bright region to another, over deep chasms, where,
-perhaps, he may fall to inevitable destruction. With all the generous
-virtues of her heart, with all the high endowments of her mind, Adelaide
-had yet one more necessary lesson to learn, which was painfully taught
-her when she lost her father; namely that, however imperative her
-welfare was to his happiness, she was of small consequence to the world
-in general, which would go on nearly as well whether she was living or
-dead, happy or miserable; and that she must thenceforward derive her
-felicity rather from her attention to the feelings of others, than from
-theirs to her own.
-
-Until Adelaide was seventeen, Baron Wildenheim resided principally at
-Vienna: here associating with the most distinguished characters of the
-day, to whom his talents and his various knowledge made him an
-acceptable companion; a select number were admitted to his own house, in
-order to promote the improvement of his daughter by such intercourse.
-Profiting by the facility which his German rank afforded for the
-purpose, he visited, in the short intervals of peace which Gallic
-ambition permitted, Italy, France, and most of the other Continental
-states; occasional change of scene being almost as necessary for the
-amusement of his mind, as advantageous for the improvement of his
-daughter's. But though for this latter purpose it was successful beyond
-his hopes, yet the slow but constant progress of disease was not thus to
-be warded off; and a residence in a mild and equable climate being
-pronounced by the physicians of Vienna absolutely necessary for the
-preservation of his life, about two years before Adelaide's arrival in
-England they removed to Sicily, where he made choice of Catania for his
-residence.
-
-Here for the first time in her life Adelaide enjoyed the pleasures and
-advantages of female society. The Catanese are amongst the most elegant
-women in Europe; and the attractive graces of their manners appearing to
-her with all the force of novelty, she quickly and involuntarily made
-them her own. Her youthful beauty--her artless elegance, and her
-cultivation of mind, caused her to be admired to an excess, which gave
-her father as much pain as pleasure, as he trembled lest it should call
-forth that vanity and inordinate desire of pleasing, which he had so
-earnestly laboured to repress, too well aware of its having been the
-cause of Mrs. Montague's destruction.
-
-"_La bella Adelina_" was the object, to which the young Catanian
-nobility paid the most flattering attention, the most exaggerated
-compliments. Luckily for her she felt so little awe of her father, that
-she told him without reserve all the feelings this new scene excited in
-her mind. And he, appealing to her good sense, pointed out to her notice
-the hyperbole of the praises she received, thus rendering them in a
-short time more tiresome than agreeable. The Baron had early suffered
-his daughter to know she was handsome. She had hitherto been as much
-accustomed and as indifferent to the beauty of the robe in which her
-soul was enveloped, as she was to the habitual elegance of her every-day
-apparel.
-
-He now went still further; and as piety was the main spring of all her
-thoughts and feelings, he taught her to be religiously thankful for a
-gift, which pre-disposed her fellow creatures in her favour;
-representing also that it ought to make her still more desirous to
-retain an approbation thus gratuitously bestowed. By this means her very
-beauty made her humble; as, in her estimate of her own character, she
-always attributed the praises she received but to a premature and
-therefore exaggerated opinion of her merit, which she consequently
-endeavoured to make in intrinsic worth equal to its received value.
-
-About this period in the formation of Adelaide's character, Frederick
-Elton arrived at Catania. Though he was perhaps the most ardent of her
-admirers, his peculiar ideas regarding women in general led him rather
-to call forth the powers of her mind by rational conversation, than to
-weaken it by flattery. He was luckily not able, like his Sicilian
-rivals, to write sonnets, or make improviso stanzas by the hour "to her
-eye-brow;" and therefore had the less inducement to emulate the laudable
-endeavours of his competitors, to make her frivolous and silly solely
-to display their own abilities.
-
-Oh! that her guardian angel would sometimes whisper in exulting beauty's
-ear, that man is often only enraptured with his own genius, when he
-seems most to adulate her charms!
-
-Baron Wildenheim directed all his penetration to the investigation of
-Frederick's character; and, fearing to trust entirely to his own
-observation on a point of so much importance, resumed his correspondence
-with Mr. Austin, from whom he received the most satisfactory
-confirmation of the honourable opinion his judgment had previously led
-him to form of the lover, on whom his daughter had unconsciously
-bestowed her affections. He therefore resolved, that whenever Mr. Elton
-should demand her hand, he would restore her to all her rights, by
-accomplishing her introduction to her mother's family and his own. His
-satisfaction at the prospect of securing Adelaide's happiness, by
-uniting her to a man worthy of his highest approbation, reconciled him
-to the idea of losing the only solace of that life, which he felt would
-not be much longer a burthen to him. Not less generous was his
-daughter--and from the moment she was aware of Frederick's love, she
-determined to discourage it, for the reasons he related to Sedley. The
-Baron's indignation at Frederick's abrupt departure was as great, as the
-satisfaction his love for Adelaide had afforded him. She endeavoured to
-preserve her usual cheerfulness; but his penetration soon discovered she
-had feelings, that were not communicated to him. One day, on perceiving
-her ill suppressed agitation, as the subject of conversation glanced on
-Elton, he muttered, "Villain! rascal! how he has abused my confidence!"
-Adelaide, hurt at this undeserved censure, entered warmly into his
-defence, and her father soon extorted from her, that she had refused his
-offers, though she still concealed, or thought she concealed, her
-motives and her regrets. "Adelina!" exclaimed he, with unusual asperity,
-"is this the reward of an existence devoted to your welfare? I could
-not have believed that you would have set at naught my authority; nay
-worse, have _deceived_ me." When she however threw herself into his
-arms, imploring his forgiveness, all the tenderness of his feelings
-returned with redoubled force; and penetrating her motives, he pressed
-her fondly to his heart, making a silent vow that his "too generous
-child should not sacrifice her happiness to his." The name of Elton was
-never again articulated by either; but the rapid progress of Baron
-Wildenheim's complaint warned him he must quickly put his design in
-execution, or that his lovely daughter would shortly be left in a
-foreign country, without relation or protector; Sicily being perhaps of
-all others the most dreadful to leave her in thus situated, from the
-depravity of its inhabitants, and its corrupt, ill administered
-government.
-
-When he informed Adelaide of his intention of taking her to England, her
-joy was extravagant; but on perceiving the mournful expression of her
-father's countenance, she ceased to display her pleasure, and
-affectionately embracing him, said, "You know, my beloved father, you
-are all the world to me; my greatest delight in the prospect of going to
-England is, that I shall there see you in your native country, with your
-own friends: I can never be happier than I have been with you; but I
-often mourn, that all my exertions are insufficient to make you so."
-"Adelina, I charge you, be silent on that subject," replied the
-afflicted parent; and, overcome by the torturing reflections she had
-unconsciously conjured up, retired to compose his mind in solitude.
-
-A few days after this conversation they proceeded to Paris. From whence
-Baron Wildenheim wrote an earnest request to Mr. Austin and Maurice
-O'Sullivan to meet him at Dover, for which place he immediately set out
-when their answers reached him; and there without delay delivered to the
-former a will, appointing him trustee to all that remained of the wreck
-of his fortune, for the benefit of Adelaide, with the exception of a
-small annuity reserved for his own life, but nominating Maurice
-O'Sullivan her guardian. The unhappy father then went through the
-distressing task of disclosing to his former friend and fellow soldier
-the principal events, which had marked his life previous to the
-commencement of their acquaintance, beseeching him to relate them
-hereafter to Adelaide as delicately as possible, and also to introduce
-her to her grandfather and Lord Osselstone. Both these injunctions
-Maurice willingly promised to fulfil, happy to have any means of serving
-a man to whom he owed many obligations. The Baron had never told his
-daughter the history of his early years: he could not in her childhood,
-and when she was capable of accurately distinguishing right from wrong,
-he feared it might irreparably injure her character, to have her respect
-diminished for the person engaged in forming it. Perhaps his reluctance
-to be his own accuser to his child was not the least powerful motive
-for silence on this subject: he could not bear to think she should ever
-in his presence be obliged to appeal to her affection, to silence the
-censures her judgment must pass on his conduct--such voluntary
-self-abasement, in a mind of this high tone, was indeed almost more than
-human nature is equal to. He therefore had contented himself with
-informing Adelaide, that some disagreeable circumstances had made him
-prefer residing in the country in which his estates were situated, to
-that of which he was a native. He would sometimes converse with her of
-Lord Osselstone, whom he early taught her to love and revere; but never
-made the most distant allusion to her mother's name or connexions,
-partly because the subject was too afflicting to himself, partly because
-he could not in that case account for his having concealed his
-relationship from the uncle of Rose, with whom he had been so many years
-associated, and with whom he had subsequently maintained a constant
-correspondence, having resolved to resign his daughter, in the first
-instance, to the protection of Maurice, whenever the effects of
-unextinguishable grief should indicate the probable termination of his
-own life.
-
-When Mr. Austin met the Baron at Dover, he entreated him to leave
-England as speedily as possible, lest the friends of Montague, who
-resided in the neighbourhood of that town, should, by some fortuitous
-occurrence, make out his identity; a circumstance by no means
-improbable, as his person must be recognised should he meet the brother
-of his unfortunate antagonist, who not unfrequently visited the very
-hotel they inhabited, and which they could not quit without exciting
-observations that might prove dangerous in their consequences. Though
-Wildenheim cared not for life on his own account, and would willingly
-have resigned it to satisfy the laws of his country; yet he trembled in
-every nerve for his daughter's peace, should he fall a sacrifice to
-their justice; and therefore fixed the third day after their landing to
-bid her an eternal adieu!
-
-Though he had sufficient strength of mind to resolve on tearing himself
-from his child, yet he felt totally unequal to the trial of witnessing
-her affliction on first hearing the dreadful intelligence. Mr. Austin
-therefore undertook the task; and on the morning preceding the day
-appointed, informed Adelaide of the indispensable necessity of their
-separation, and of the arrangement made with Maurice O'Sullivan, to
-introduce her to Lord Osselstone, presenting her with a packet of
-letters her father had written for her benefit, which she was to make
-use of when she came of age, in case any unforeseen occurrence should
-prevent her appointed guardian fulfilling his promise; adding, that
-should her relations refuse to receive her, he was in possession of the
-necessary testimonials of her birth. Of all these particulars the
-afflicted girl at the moment only understood she was to be deprived of
-her father! The thinking faculty within her was almost suspended by the
-agony of this idea. She offered no remonstrance to Mr. Austin; and
-making a sign of acquiescence, instantly sought her father, to try those
-powers of persuasion which never yet had failed in procuring from him
-every wish of her heart: but on seeing the despair of his countenance,
-she was wholly overcome; the hope, which had supported, now forsook her,
-and she sunk senseless in his arms.
-
-When she revived, she implored his pity in the most moving terms; asked
-how she had merited this dreadful separation; and finding him, though
-deeply affected, inexorable in his determination, at last departed from
-her usual docility, saying, "Of what would promote your happiness, my
-dearest father, there can be no doubt; I am the best judge of my own and
-_will_ not leave you: to lose you in the course of nature would be
-sufficiently dreadful; but this living death is tenfold more horrible:
-oh! can you desert your child, who lives but in you, whose only joy is
-in your approving smiles?"
-
-Her miserable auditor now did violence to his feelings, by assuming, for
-the first time in his life, all the sternness of parental command.
-Adelaide convulsively sobbed on his shoulder. "Pardon me, pardon me; I
-submit, though my heart will break: that angry look would kill me to
-think of; smile on me, my father." "Smile! oh, my God! I shall never
-smile again;" exclaimed the wretched parent: then fondly caressing her,
-said, "My child, have mercy on your unfortunate father; my own feelings
-are those of desperation; spare me the sight of yours. By your present
-affliction I secure your future happiness; but mine--Adelina, I
-entreat--in a few hours we part: do not speak of what is yet to come."
-He was obeyed; and that day passed in the sullen calm which precedes
-expected misery.
-
-Adelaide retired at a late hour to her own apartment, but not to bed;
-for she had perceived with terror how alarmingly ill her father looked;
-and fearing the return of a spasmodic complaint he was subject to, sat
-up, to be able to apply the necessary remedies at a moment's warning.
-
-He in the mean time prepared to set out immediately on his voyage,
-wishing to spare her a parting he felt his own fortitude unequal to. Her
-room was inside his, and supposing her to be at rest, he entered it to
-take a last look of his lovely child!
-
-She was sitting half asleep, overcome by drowsiness and anxiety--the
-light flashed across her eyes--she started up in wild affright, and
-forcibly impressed by the feelings of her agitating dreams, clasped him
-in her arms, saying, "We will never, never part, whilst life remains."
-His fortitude utterly forsook him; and with a deep groan he sank in the
-arms of his child.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-His countenance in death was impressed with the happy consciousness,
-that his last look on earth had been blessed with her image; and with
-the pious hope, that sincere and protracted penitence had made his peace
-with Heaven.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-    In my last humble pray'r to the Spirit above,
-    Thy name shall be mingled with mine.
-
-    oeMOOREoe.
-
-
-Oh! how did Adelaide now wish she could obtain that separation she had
-so lately thought worse than death itself! No tear escaped her
-bewildered eye; no complaint issued from her lacerated bosom; mute and
-motionless she sat, unconscious of all that passed around, musing on the
-fearful, fathomless void within! Her constitution could not long support
-this existence of silent horror; and a violent fever, which for several
-days endangered her life, and reduced her to a state of extreme
-weakness, saved her mind from destruction. When she recovered, her
-grief, though deep, was placid, and her mild dejection won her the love
-and pity of all whose hearts were not harder than adamant. As soon as
-she was able to bear the journey, her guardian brought her to Webberly
-House, and, during the short time he survived her father, endeavoured to
-soothe her sorrow by the most affectionate kindness. His delay in
-executing the promise he had given, of presenting her to Mr. O'Sullivan
-and Lord Osselstone, arose not from any intention of ultimately
-defrauding her of her rights, but from an anticipation of the
-mortifications his doing so would probably occasion him to experience in
-his domestic circle. He knew the respect with which he was treated by
-the Webberlys was principally owing to the idea that he or his daughter
-would one day possess a valuable estate; and though in his own person he
-could, from the manly firmness of his manners, command a sufficient
-degree of consideration for the common purposes of every day
-intercourse; yet he was well aware, that when he was not present, his
-little portionless Caroline would be treated by his wife's children
-with the utmost contumely; and he was moreover weak enough to dread the
-first explosion of Mrs. O'Sullivan's violent temper, when her hopes of
-increased wealth should be disappointed by the establishment of
-Adelaide's claims. He therefore, from day to day, shunned the expected
-storm. At night he would sink to sleep, in the firm determination of
-informing his wife on the morrow of Adelaide's relationship, as a
-preliminary to his writing to her grandfather on the subject; but when
-the morrow came, he either thought Mrs. O'Sullivan in such good humour,
-it was a pity to spoil the short-lived pleasure arising from it, or else
-that she was so much the reverse, it was impolitic to choose that very
-time to irritate her further. On other mornings, when convinced she had
-attained that happy medium most favourable to his important
-communication, business or company interfered; and in the evening he had
-too frequent recourse to intoxication, to drown the pains of
-recollection. Thus, in impotent resolve and fruitless repentance, passed
-the few months he survived after Adelaide was committed to his care. On
-his death, Mr. Austin would have done what this spirit of
-procrastination had prevented; had he not found, on examining the papers
-put into his hands by Adelaide's father, that, though there was enough
-to convince willing relatives of their truth, yet the evidence they
-contained fell far short of legal testimony. Every necessary formality
-to prove her parentage had been neglected at Hamburgh--a circumstance
-easily accounted for, by the distraction of her father's mind on leaving
-that place; and the name of Wildenheim, which she had received at Meurs,
-made it still more difficult to prove her identity as the child of Rose;
-for which purpose Mr. Austin then entered into a correspondence with
-various people resident in different parts of the Continent. From the
-apparent frigidity of Lord Osselstone's character, he had no hopes of
-his interesting himself for his orphan niece; whilst from her mother's
-family he expected open opposition. He therefore enjoined Adelaide to
-remain unknown to her relations, till the period prescribed by her
-father for her acting for herself, in case her guardian should fail to
-fulfil his promise, by which time, if ever, he hoped to obtain every
-necessary proof in support of her claims; and lest any youthful
-imprudence should betray her into a premature disclosure, he carefully
-concealed from her her relationship to the O'Sullivans, though with her
-affinity to Lord Osselstone he knew she was already acquainted.
-
-The time appointed for terminating Miss Wildenheim's suspense at length
-arrived, and found her under the roof of her only remaining parent,
-though as yet totally unconscious of their relationship. On the eve of
-the day on which her minority expired, she retired to her own apartment
-in Mr. O'Sullivan's house, sorrowfully reflecting, that in two more she
-should part most probably for ever from this interesting old man. But
-this feeling was soon lost in the joy with which she remembered, that
-on the morrow she should make the first step to claim the love and
-protection of her uncle, and the rest of her paternal relatives. She
-fondly anticipated the praises which would delight her ear, as due to
-her beloved father's virtues and talents; and with heartfelt pleasure
-recollected, that Augustus Mordaunt was almost her brother. But the
-happiness of these thoughts was damped by the idea, that he and Lord
-Osselstone were then abroad; and she reflected with sorrow, that were it
-not for Mr. and Mrs. Temple, she should, on her return to England, be as
-desolate as ever. "But God," thought she, "tempers the wind to the shorn
-lamb;" and her heart dilated with gratitude to earth and Heaven, on the
-remembrance of what she humbly felt to be unmerited friendship. Her
-first feelings led her to open the portfolio, which contained the packet
-of letters Mr. Austin had charged her not to unseal till this period;
-but at the sight of her father's writing, the agony of the moment in
-which she had received it, with all the dreadful scenes which
-immediately followed, rose to her mind in all their first horror; and,
-completely overcome, she felt the dreadful consciousness, that none now
-existing on earth could fill that vacuum, which the loss of this beloved
-father would ever leave in her heart. The vision of happiness, which a
-few moments before had appeared so vivid, now seemed to have been but a
-vain illusion, that had mocked her with a dream of bliss. At that
-instant earth had no consolation to offer for her sorrows; but she
-turned to Heaven and found it there.
-
-When she rose from her supplications, she hastily returned the packet to
-her portfolio. "I will not trust myself with it again," thought she; "I
-have here no friend to soothe, to _control_ my mind.--In a few days I
-shall be with Mrs. Temple."
-
-There are minds, which are capable of an intensity of regret, that
-others can scarcely conceive. Long after it has lost the more
-tumultuous character of grief, it lies deep in the recesses of the
-heart. The cares, the pleasures of the world, may for a time conceal it,
-even from self-consciousness; but there it ever endures. The vigour of a
-strong mind may reduce it to temporary inertness, but it will at times
-break every bond, and vindicate its empire. Like the Genius of the
-eastern tale, who, though for ages confined in the casket by the seal of
-Solomon, rose when the signet of wisdom was broken, in the same awful
-might he had possessed, before reduced to submission by its coercive
-power.
-
-Whilst in one room at Ballinamoyle a daughter mourned her father, in
-another a son defied his mother. Mr. Webberly was at that moment
-informing Mrs. O'Sullivan, he would, on the morrow, make his
-long-meditated proposal to Miss Wildenheim: he had fulfilled his promise
-of waiting till she was of age; and said, that if she was so
-unreasonable as to require still further delay, he could no longer
-comply, as the difference of a day might deprive him of Adelaide for
-ever. The Desmonds were to take their farewell on Caroline's birth-day;
-Miss Wildenheim would commence her journey to England on the following
-morning; and it was not at all likely Colonel Desmond would suffer her
-to depart, without making those offers some people thought would be
-accepted. This very idea made Mrs. O'Sullivan more eager in her
-entreaties, more authoritative in her commands to her son, to defer his
-intentions till their arrival at Webberly House. The conference ended in
-passion on both sides, he exclaiming, "By Gad, mother, you are never to
-be satisfied;--be damned if I stand shilly shally any longer!" "Then,
-Jack, you shan't have my blessing for an _opthalmia_; and you know
-that's better worth than the priest's, as the song says."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-    And if there be a human tear
-    From passion's dross refin'd and clear--
-    A tear so limpid and so meek,
-    It would not stain an angel's cheek;
-    'Tis that which pious fathers shed
-    Upon a duteous daughter's head.
-
-    oeLADY OF THE LAKEoe.
-
-
-That day which had nineteen times been passed at Ballinamoyle in solemn
-sadness, as the anniversary of the death of its lovely heiress, arrived
-once again--and was again marked by those outward signs of woe, which
-gratified the feelings of a disconsolate father, as a tribute of respect
-to the memory of her, who still in the freshest youth lived in his
-heart.
-
-No stranger on that day approached the desolate mansion, to partake of
-its hospitality, or receive its charity. The domestics, habited in deep
-mourning, flitted about the halls and passages in total silence; every
-countenance was impressed by a dejection, that affected the most
-thoughtless with unusual seriousness--even Mrs. O'Sullivan's servants
-spoke in a whisper.
-
-When the visitors assembled in the breakfast-room, neither their host
-nor the priest appeared; and Theresa informed her guests, that the
-former always passed this day in solitude. The same depression which
-pervaded the rest of the house, seemed to exert its saturnine influence
-in this apartment also. Mrs. O'Sullivan and her son were both too much
-irritated, and each too completely engrossed in forming plans to
-circumvent the intentions of the other, to offer a single word of
-conversation. Adelaide and Miss Fitzcarril were occupied by a train of
-distressing reflections, little aware, that they were caused in the mind
-of each by the same event. The Miss Webberlys only interrupted the
-general silence, by occasionally indulging in that pettish crossness,
-which the sight of unparticipated sorrow always produces in weak and
-selfish minds, whilst their fretful words and looks terrified the timid
-little Caroline.
-
-In the mean time Mr. O'Sullivan, after assisting in that service, by
-which the Catholic Church permits the living relative, with fond
-anxiety, to extend its cares beyond the grave, retired with the reverend
-priest to his own apartment.
-
-"Oh, my friend," said the afflicted parent, "you received my child into
-the bosom of our holy church; you heard her first innocent confession,
-you sanctified her fatal marriage vows, and how soon after did you offer
-up the prayers of my broken heart for the repose of her departed soul!"
-
-"She was almost as much the child of my affections as of yours," replied
-the priest, greatly moved: "and how graciously did Heaven reward my
-endeavours to form her mind to the practice of every virtue! Never did a
-purer spirit inhabit a human form! Let us rejoice in this," continued
-he, his countenance beaming with the cheering hopes of devotion; "we
-have both hitherto offended by a grief that 'would not be comforted.'
-Shall we, standing on the brink of the grave, still presume to murmur?
-Let me exhort you to break through the accustomed indulgence of
-unavailing sorrow, that would vainly strive against the will of Heaven:
-you have always shunned consolation, seek it humbly and sincerely, and
-it will be sent from above!"
-
-The old man sighed deeply, and made that devotional sign which marks the
-pious Catholic. His eyes were cast upwards, and his lips moved as if in
-prayer. Whilst the creature addressed his Creator, the holy minister of
-religion paused in reverential silence; but when the spontaneous
-supplication had ceased, he again addressed his friend. "I would fain
-impose a trial on you--a bitter one I confess; but could you accomplish
-it, you would hereafter feel as becomes a mortal sufferer. The solitude,
-the lugubrious forms of this day, nourish the grief it behoves you to
-struggle against. The presence of strangers is a fortunate circumstance,
-and will afford you an assistance your own domestic circle is incapable
-of. Return to society; receive your guests as if this were to-morrow and
-to-morrow will rise with a feeling of satisfaction, to which you have
-long been a stranger."
-
-Though O'Sullivan afterwards pondered on these words till he almost
-believed them to have been an inspiration from Heaven, he at the moment
-vehemently asserted the impossibility of his making such an exertion. A
-considerable time elapsed, before the remonstrances of Father Dermoody
-could overcome his reluctance to wrestle with "this cherished woe, this
-loved despair;" but at last the advice of the friend, the admonitions of
-the pastor, prevailed; and Mr. O'Sullivan, accompanied by his reverend
-guide, appeared amongst his visitors, who were still assembled in the
-breakfast-room. On entering, he bowed profoundly to all, then seated
-himself in silence, with a mournful sternness that repelled every body
-from addressing him, farther than to manifest that respect, which was
-always involuntarily testified towards him. Miss Fitzcarril could
-scarcely have been more surprised, had she seen the apparition of Rose
-herself, than she was by the sight of her father on this morning;
-lifting up her hands and eyes, she whispered her astonishment to Father
-Dermoody, who requested her to abstain from exhibiting any further token
-of it. Some of the party continued their occupations, some their
-idleness, but no one spoke; and all, from time to time, anxiously looked
-towards the windows, to judge from the increasing gloom of the sky, how
-near the tempest it foreboded approached.
-
-The aspect of nature was at that moment as dreary as O'Sullivan's heart.
-That stillness, which sometimes precedes the coming storm, reigned
-unbroken. Clouds of portentous blackness were slowly congregating, to
-dart the forked lightning; but not a leaf moved, not a bird flitted in
-the motionless air; and as the dark veil hung over the lake, its dormant
-waters gave but the idea of fearful profundity. The silence of night is
-awful, yet the soul confesses it the repose of nature; but when this
-dread torpor appals the joyous day, every animate and inanimate object
-seems fearfully resigned to await her dissolution. While the ear paused
-in expectation of the hollow thunder, and the eye half closed as it
-anticipated the vivid flash, a wild cry arose--"Good God! what's that?"
-was the general exclamation. It was the wail, with which the children of
-this mountain region deplored their dead. No softening gale lent it
-beauty; the winds that were wont to sport with the accents of human woe,
-wafting them to the mountain's rugged brow, or saddening the smiling
-valley at its foot, now slumbered in the slowly rolling clouds. Horrible
-and harsh the lamenting voice of hundreds smote the ear. Once it was
-reverberated from rocks as lifeless as the being it bemoaned, whilst
-the mourners and their sad burden were hidden from the view.
-
-O'Sullivan started, and his eyes rested on the figure of Adelaide. As
-she had compassionately viewed his sorrowful countenance, memory had too
-faithfully depicted to her mind the anguish, which had always marked
-this eventful day to her father. The sudden doleful lamentation had
-completely overcome her spirits, and with her hands clasped in agony,
-torrents of tears were streaming down her cheeks, whilst, as the chilled
-blood recoiled to her heart, her dark hair threw a melancholy shade on
-her palid face. The impulse of humanity overcame the silence of sorrow;
-O'Sullivan instantly seized her hand, and as her eyes mournfully met
-his, exclaimed, "Desmond has told me all; you grieve for your father, I
-for my child. A desolate old man like me has little comfort to offer.
-But for her sake, whose living image you are, in my heart's core could I
-hide you from all trouble." Adelaide, leaning her head on his shoulder,
-sobbed aloud.
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, inflamed by anger at her son, and by jealousy of the
-tenderness expressed in her brother-in-law's countenance for the lovely
-mourner, whose confiding attitudes seemed to repose her affliction on
-his solacing compassion, now whispered to Amelia, "This is _too_ bad;
-that artful baggage has got him under her thumb too;--mayhap he may
-devize his fortin to _her_ instead of Caroline, after all--I'll tell him
-what she is." So saying, passion accelerating her utterance and
-crimsoning her face, she addressed Mr. O'Sullivan with, "Sir, sir, that
-Miss that's putting a sham upon you is a wagabond; and if she doesn't
-look to her ways, I'll have her sent home by the alien act, as Meely
-bids me. She tells up about English relations; but in two years she's
-lived with me, she wouldn't never tell me who they were: she's an
-imposter, and vill make a cat's paw of you, as she did of your brother,
-and----" "Gad zooks, mother" interrupted Webberly, "what odds is it
-who's her relations; when she marries, her husband's family is all she
-has to look to." "Jacky! Jacky! you'll never come to no good--you're an
-undutiful son! I'll get her packed off to Germany as sure as----"
-"What's all this, madam?" said Mr. O'Sullivan, with a look of
-contemptuous displeasure, that produced instant silence: "I will stand
-in the place of my brother to this young lady, if she will honour me by
-committing herself to my protection. Your threats against the
-unoffending ward of your husband are shameful." "Sir," said Adelaide,
-commanding herself to composure, "the gratitude I feel is inexpressible!
-But on this day there is no impediment, to prevent my satisfying Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's desire to know my parentage; of this she is well aware. My
-father, madam," continued she, with grave steadiness, "Reginald Baron
-Wildenheim, was the youngest brother of the present Earl of Osselstone.
-Soon after my birth, he renounced his family name of Mordaunt, and
-adopted his German title." O'Sullivan essayed to speak in vain; his lip
-quivered, but no sound met the ear of man; and his half palsied hand
-trembled as it passed a sign of deepest import to the priest, who
-darting forward, exclaimed, "Your mother's name, young lady--speak, did
-she die at Hamburgh?" "Alas! yes, on the day I was born; her name was
-one which, honoured and lamented here, I trembled to pronounce--it was
-Rose!" The old man uttered an hysterical laugh, and clasping her in his
-arms, faltered out, "Her child then was saved!" "Produce your proofs!"
-exclaimed the priest; "by every sacred name I conjure you, produce your
-proofs!" Mrs. O'Sullivan, raging with passion, vociferated, "She is an
-impostor; an artful minx, come to cheat Caroline." The Miss Webberlys
-screamed in Adelaide's ear, "Produce your proofs if you dare!" Their
-brother, with equal fury, interfered on her behalf. Little Caroline
-clung crying to her knees, "They shan't hurt you, dear Adele, they
-shan't hurt you!" Whilst Theresa, with terror in her looks, went from
-one to the other, saying, "For God's sake have done; leave the room if
-you can't be quiet; Mr. O'Sullivan will never get over such a piece of
-work on this day, of all days in the year!" But Adelaide was unconscious
-of all; she had taken her grandfather's agitated laugh, his
-unintelligible words, for a wandering of reason, on hearing a name
-resembling his daughter's unexpectedly mentioned; and, horror-struck,
-had sunk lifeless in his arms. When he saw the paleness of death in her
-cold cheek and blanched lip, stamping on the floor, he exclaimed, "You
-have killed her! Unfeeling wretches, you have killed her!" Father
-Dermoody and Theresa hastily stepped forward to offer that assistance he
-was incapable of bestowing, and immediately removed her to a
-neighbouring apartment, excluding every body else.
-
-It was long ere Adelaide revived. When consciousness returned, she found
-herself in a strange apartment. The gloom almost of midnight was
-around; the storm had burst, and was raging with awful fury; the thunder
-rolled tremendously above her head, and a vivid flash of lightning
-illuminated the countenance of one kneeling at her side, on which she
-saw despair--the despair of venerable age, depicted. With an involuntary
-shudder she averted her head, and raised both her hands, as if to save
-her from the terrific vision. "Father of mercy!" exclaimed O'Sullivan,
-"I lost my child, and lived--lived but to see hers shun me." "Oh, my
-God!" ejaculated the agonized girl, "have mercy on him!--poor old man!
-poor old man!" and she burst into a paroxysm of tears. When she
-recovered a little from the racking emotions which tortured her, she
-mournfully took his hand, and said, "I do not shun you; God knows to
-console yours would be a delightful solace to my own afflictions. But I
-implore you to pause before you cherish these delusive ideas; a few
-minutes will suffice to convince you of the fatal error you have fallen
-into." She then, in a whisper, entreated Miss Fitzcarril to procure her
-portfolio, as she feared to irritate Mr. O'Sullivan's mind, by leaving
-him herself. Theresa fulfilled her request, and then with true delicacy
-retired.
-
-Adelaide eagerly tore open the important packet, and the first paper
-that presented itself was one directed to Mr. O'Sullivan, which, with
-inconceivable trepidation, she presented to him; but at the sight of the
-writing he dashed it from him with looks of fury--"Never will I read
-another from that detested hand, that last blasted my every hope of
-earthly happiness!" The priest seizing the letter, hurried him out of
-the room. "Unfortunate man!" exclaimed Adelaide; "Oh, why did I mention
-his daughter's name, after the warning I received from Colonel Desmond?"
-In an agony of mind not to be described, she attempted to read a letter
-addressed by her father to herself; but when it informed her of such of
-the particulars of his life as were necessary to explain her
-relationship to her present venerable protector, she was so bewildered,
-that she half despairingly pressed the letter to her heart, and silently
-implored a supporting power from above. When she had again composed her
-mind sufficiently to comprehend its contents, she was so stunned with
-surprise, that she had scarcely power to feel how happy she ought to be,
-as she repeated, "My grandfather! can it indeed be possible?" But she
-was roused to a painful sense of anxiety and acute perception of sorrow,
-when she came to the following paragraph, "Let it be your consolation,
-my beloved child, that all the happiness I have known since your angelic
-mother's death, has been your boon. Heaven permitted her to leave you to
-me, as a gift of love, as a pledge of its mercy. I bequeath that filial
-piety, which has been the solace of my existence, to her father, as a
-reparation for the loss of his daughter. For my sake he may be harsh to
-you, perhaps refuse to receive you; but pardon him, and, if he will
-permit you, soothe the sorrows of his old age; he has much to forgive
-your erring father." With indignation she now recollected how his letter
-had been received, and every softer feeling, every selfish
-consideration, was swallowed up in offended filial affection, as she
-thought, "Never will I accept of kindness from one, who could spurn me
-from resentment to my adored father!"
-
-At that moment she heard O'Sullivan's step. Oh, who shall tell the tide
-of tumultuous thoughts that overwhelmed her soul, as his hand
-tremulously turned the lock of the door? 'twas but an instant--but how
-much of misery cannot the human heart suffer in this short earthly
-denomination of time!
-
-He entered; and, as he approached, her heart seemed to die within her.
-At first she could not move, but gazed almost unconsciously on his face,
-and seeing there the mildness of grief, the benevolence of pity, the
-warmth of paternal love, she knelt at his feet in speechless emotion,
-whilst her looks, her attitude, implored his benediction. "Oh, may the
-God of mercy bestow those blessings on you, that were denied your
-mother!" He pressed her in his arms, and wept as he said, "My child, my
-beloved child, I have not lived these years of misery in vain! Bless
-you, bless you!" And now "joy and sorrow strove which should paint her
-goodliest. You have seen sunshine and rain at once--her smiles and tears
-were like a better May--those happy smiles, which played on her ripe
-lip, seemed not to know what guests were in her eyes, which parted
-thence as pearls from diamonds dropp'd."
-
-When the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, the anxious parent
-looked at his loved treasure, first fearfully, and then a happy smile
-seemed to say, "Thank God, here at least she is safe from every storm!"
-with that a closer embrace pressed her to his heart. "My father!" were
-the first words she attempted to articulate. "Adelaide," interrupted
-the old man, "whatever may have been his errors, you will, on reading
-that letter, easily believe I no longer resent them. I erred deeply,
-sinfully, in not receiving the prodigal son when he first implored my
-forgiveness; but passion blinded me, and I have been severely punished.
-I knew him not then! Oh! did he live now, my heart would warmly open to
-him." Adelaide was nearly suffocated with her sobs. O'Sullivan supported
-her to the window for air: for the elemental strife was now over, and
-the rushing torrents had ceased to fall. The rippling waters of the lake
-laughed in the beams of the sun, and softly rolled on their verdant
-banks. Every bough waved in the wanton air, and from bush and brake
-innumerable birds poured forth joyful melody. The cottage cur once more
-barked at the stranger, and the peaceful herds again grazed the green
-islets. Adelaide felt the composing power of the scene, and, drying her
-tears, read the letter she had received.
-
-     oeTO CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN, ESQUIREoe.
-
-     The misery I feel at this moment is not less, than that which rent
-     my heart when last I addressed you. Time has but made the
-     remembrance of my beloved Rose dearer, more afflicting to my soul;
-     and her child, who for nineteen years has been my only earthly
-     happiness, I now resign, as the sole reparation I can make, to
-     Heaven and to you, for the errors of that guilty course, which have
-     not been expiated by years of misery and penitence. I once again
-     implore your forgiveness for all the sufferings I have occasioned
-     you. Oh, my God! what a wreck of happiness I have made for myself
-     and others! I have been a misfortune to all connected with me. What
-     a stab must I not give to my daughter's heart, when I tell her we
-     part _to meet no more_! What tears of bitter anguish will she not
-     shed, when she hears the recital of those misdeeds, so degrading to
-     the memory of the father, whom she fondly thinks the first of human
-     beings! Yet the misery of her mind on hearing my errors would be
-     felicity compared to the anguish mine has endured, when, for her
-     sake, I have undergone the martyrdom of her praises. My lovely
-     child!--Had you seen the happy smiles, the endearing caresses, with
-     which she bid me good night, but a few minutes ago, and known the
-     _despair_ of my soul, as I thought, never shall I behold that
-     unclouded smile again; but once more hear those words, you would
-     say, the forfeit of his guilt is paid; and lament for the
-     unfortunate being you have hitherto cursed. By every sacred name,
-     by the memory of her sainted mother, by the agonies of a wretched
-     father, I conjure you, protect, cherish, and console my child. All
-     that a parent's heart could wish, all that the daughter of Rose
-     should be, she is--and we part for ever. I shall not survive to
-     have my miserable days cheered by the affection, with which I know
-     you will treat the inheritor of the virtues of your beloved Rose,
-     but my last moments will be brightened by the joyous hope----
-
-     "Enclosed you will find papers written at a calmer moment, for the
-     benefit of Adelaide--pardon him you once called son. As you value
-     your eternal hopes, I charge you to be kind to my child. She has
-     never offended you; her mother's form is renewed in hers; her
-     mother's virtues perpetuated in her mind. Say not that Rose exists
-     no more--in Adelaide she is again restored to your arms."
-
-Adelaide had wept, when there was something of consolation, of
-tenderness, in her emotions. But now her anguish admitted not of tears;
-the universe presented but one idea to her mind--the agony of her
-father's soul when his hand traced the words her eyes rested on.
-O'Sullivan addressed her in accents of the tenderest affection; she
-answered him but by that bitter smile, with which misery sometimes loves
-to make her devoted victims confess her empire. He was alarmed by her
-fixed looks, and said, "Rouse yourself, Adelaide; I will leave you to
-compose your agitated feelings, but not in solitude: come with me to the
-companion of many a sad moment." He opened an inner door, and grasping
-her hand with convulsive earnestness, said, "There is your mother's
-portrait; and at the foot of that altar she daily poured forth her
-grateful thanksgivings. There the supplications of her father daily
-ascend to the throne of grace." He hurried away, and Adelaide long and
-fervently prayed in a spot so hallowed. Her tears again flowed, as she
-turned to gaze on the resemblance of that form, which had never blessed
-her conscious sight, and mournfully exclaimed, "Both, both lost to me!"
-
-Rose had been drawn as Astarte inscribing her lover's name on the sand.
-The dejected expression of her heavenly countenance sadly contrasted the
-brilliant beauty of her youthful charms. Was it the melancholy of
-_Astarte_ the painter's art depicted? or had the fair being, whose form
-he traced, been already struck by the hand of sorrow? O'Sullivan's
-grief was daily renewed as his heart whispered, "Not thus my child
-looked under this roof.--So soon was all her innocent gaiety gone?"
-
-Adelaide was so absorbed by the ideas which rose in her mind, that she
-did not perceive the entrance of nurse, who came to perform her diurnal
-task of dressing the altar, and who standing behind her, now said,
-"That's the picture, dear, that Mr. Mordaunt sent his honour from
-London, six months after Miss Rose married him--an unlucky day that
-same! And a black-hearted false man he was, to leave my sweet angel, and
-run away wid another woman." Fire flashed from Adelaide's eye; the
-indignation which deprived her of utterance was expressed in her whole
-figure. Nurse awed, and as it were fascinated, by a look from which she
-could not withdraw her gaze, stared at her for a second or two, and then
-evidently terrified, exclaimed, "The blessed powers presarve me!--Who
-are you?--What are you? You're the very moral of Miss Rose! What brings
-you in her room this day of the year? No mortal has ever darkened the
-door since she died but myself and his honour. You're like enough to be
-her fetch, come in the storm to take him away from us. I pray God I may
-die first," continued she, weeping bitterly: "my heart was broke when I
-lost my sweet child. I trust in his mercy I haven't lived on these weary
-years, to drag my ould bones to his grave!"
-
-"Dear, dear nurse," said Adelaide, kissing her affectionately, smiles
-and tears struggling for mastery in her eyes, "I'm not come to take him
-away from you, but to make you both happy--I'm your own Rose's
-daughter." The old woman set up a shout of joy, and kissed her, and
-hugged her, and drew back to a little distance, resting her hands on
-Adelaide's shoulders to look at her from time to time, saying, "The very
-moral of her! the very moral of her! Her daughter! You wouldn't be so
-mischievous as to make an ould body crazy? It's not joking you are,
-jewel?"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-    Half a loaf is better than no bread.
-
-    oeOLD PARRoe.
-
-
-"So Caroline may do with the twenty thousand?"----This was Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's reflection as her carriage, for the last time, drove out of
-the demesne of Ballinamoyle. How she came to this conclusion, the reader
-must now be informed. Neither Miss Wildenheim nor her grandfather was
-visible for the remainder of the day, on which the trying scenes, that
-have just been related, occurred. But immediate steps were taken to
-prevent the celebration of Caroline's birthday, as had been intended, on
-the following morning; and Mr. Dermoody waited on her mother, to explain
-the reasons for this disappointment. He accomplished this task with
-much difficulty, as she interrupted him every three minutes with, "I
-can't understand nothing about it, Sir. She's an odorous imposter--I
-tell you, Sir, she's an abominable imposter." And she, in fine,
-threatened to take the law of Mr. O'Sullivan:--she'd see her child
-righted, cost what it would, and bring that artful baggage to shame. Mr.
-Dermoody then reminded her, that Caroline had no _right_ to her uncle's
-estate, who had given her father a large sum to cut off the entail; so
-that if Miss Wildenheim's claims were absolutely nugatory, it was
-entirely in his own disposal; but that as this transaction had taken
-place since her birth, it was invalid, as Adelaide was the heir at law
-in preference to Caroline's father; but that, to put the matter beyond
-doubt, the present proprietor intended to bequeath his estate
-immediately to his grandaughter, who would thus inherit it by a double
-tenure. He was too much incensed at that moment to tell her his belief,
-that Mr. O'Sullivan would also provide for his favourite little
-Caroline. "Wery vell, Sir, wery vell, I see how it is; she has set you
-up to cheat me. All these outgoings for nothing! I'd have seen your
-shabby old place at the dickens before I'd have come so far, if I'd
-guessed how it would have turned out. Me and mine will be off to-morrow,
-Sir;" so saying, she flounced out of the room.
-
-Father Dermoody had scarcely finished this discussion with one
-unreasonable woman, when he had to encounter a second with another. Miss
-Fitzcarril way-laid him in the passage from Mrs. O'Sullivan's apartment,
-to remonstrate on the folly of suffering all the expense and trouble,
-which had been incurred in the preparations made to entertain the
-tenantry, to go for nothing: "Why put off the meeting?--Wasn't Adelaide
-as good an heiress as Caroline? Another sort, on my conscience! I vow
-and declare I think it's very hard there shouldn't be just as much made
-of her as the other." "But you don't consider the indelicacy of such a
-thing; Mrs. O'Sullivan's feelings are sufficiently mortified."
-"Indelicacy, indeed!" retorted Theresa, sputtering, as she always did in
-the heat of an argument; "she knows just as much about delicacy as my
-foot does; and I should like to see her mortified just for her
-impertinence." The priest muttered something about an unchristian
-spirit, and rather gravely said, "If you won't listen to reason, madam,
-I must inform you in brief, that Mr. O'Sullivan won't suffer it; his
-pleasure you know is final." Theresa walked off, gesticulating with both
-her hands, and muttering, "Good Lord! was there ever any thing half so
-provoking! These men never have the least consideration, after all the
-trouble I have had! I'm sure I don't know what's to be done with the
-_loads_ of things that have been got!"
-
-The following morning Caroline did not, as usual, come to Adelaide's
-room. She rightly guessed she had been prohibited; but as she was
-proceeding to obey a message from Mr. O'Sullivan, to breakfast with him
-in his study, as he was too unwell to see more than one or two people
-at a time, she saw the little girl leaning over the bannisters of the
-stairs, sobbing as if her heart would break. "What's the matter, my
-darling?" said she, taking her fondly in her arms. "Unkind Adele!"
-sobbed out the afflicted child, "I wouldn't have hurt you for the world;
-and mama says you're my bitterest enemy. This is a dismal birthday to
-me; mama's going away, and I shall never see you again, Adele; and
-nobody loves me but you." Here the poor child, throwing her arms about
-her friend's neck, cried bitterly. "Dearest little Caroline, every body
-loves you." "No, no, Adele, my heart will break when I leave you." "We
-will not part," said Adelaide, straining her to her heart; "come with
-me." And taking Caroline to her grandfather, she placed her on his knee,
-and drew forth a repetition of her artless tale. "Mr. Dermoody has told
-me," said the generous girl, "that you have changed your intentions in
-her favour. How it would grieve me to injure her prospects! I am amply
-provided for; I do not desire any increase of fortune; all my heart
-requires is some being whom I may _securely_ love and be cherished by;
-and in you is not all this granted? Look at this little angel, and pity
-her, my dear parent. Oh! her heart will be either broken, or I should
-never forgive myself the destruction of this lovely creature, whom
-Providence has, I trust, employed me to save. On condition of your
-giving her your estate, I'm sure her mother would resign her to my
-charge till her minority expires." "Adelaide," said the old man, whilst
-the tears stood in her eyes, "you are as like your mother in mind as in
-person. Till now I thought no mortal could be as perfect as she was.
-Caroline shall stay with us, if I can accomplish it. My estate I cannot,
-will not, give her; but I have much to bestow besides, which I will
-offer her mother, on the conditions you mention." He proceeded
-immediately to Mrs. O'Sullivan, to execute this benevolent commission.
-Pride, and some remains of natural affection, made her hesitate to
-accept his offers. She retired to consult her elder children, and
-promised to return an answer in an hour. When she informed them of Mr.
-O'Sullivan's proposition, Mr. Webberly said, "As far as a few thousands
-goes, I have no objection to humour the old Don; and Caroline would be
-welcome to live with us. You needn't fret, mother; if this new heiress
-marries me, isn't the estate ours after all?" "That's true, so it is,
-Jack; you'd best make her an offer with all speed." "Do, brother," said
-Miss Cecilia Webberly, with an eagerness that little accorded with her
-usual languid delivery; "as I understand the matter, you'd be nephew to
-Lord Osselstone, and then Meely and I would be _fier ton_." When Mr.
-Webberly went in search of Miss Wildenheim, he was told she was in her
-own room, and could not be seen. "What was to be done?" As there was no
-time to lose, it was then settled in the family conclave, that Mrs.
-O'Sullivan should endeavour to gain admittance to the lady, who was
-now, like Dr. Lenitive's mistress, possessed of "ten thousand charms,"
-for the purpose of _soliciting_ that hand for her son, which four and
-twenty hours before she had so openly disdained!
-
-When she entered, Adelaide naturally supposing she came on no very
-friendly errand, received her with a curtsy of the most repulsive
-dignity; and with a cold gravity of manner, that made her visitor feel
-she had undertaken a commission she should find great difficulty in
-executing. She fluttered, and coloured, and hemmed, and played with the
-costly seals of the watch she always ostentatiously wore on the most
-conspicuous part of her person, till Adelaide, advancing towards her,
-said, "May I beg to know your commands, Madam? I own, I scarcely
-expected the honor of this visit." "Why, Miss Wildenheim, I just vanted
-to speak to you about my little Carline." "I shall be happy to hear any
-thing you have to say regarding my dear Caroline, Madam: will you do me
-the favour to sit down?" Adelaide, taking a chair opposite to the one
-on which Mrs. O'Sullivan deposited herself, fixed her dark eyes
-attentively on her face, whilst the former, in a style and dialect that
-almost conquered her command of countenance, proposed that she should
-not only take charge of Caroline, but commit herself to the guidance of
-Mr. Webberly. Offering her as a _douceur_, to have all her
-_grandfather's_ estate settled on herself; and also half the sum he
-intended to give Caroline; and promising moreover to "make Jack a fit
-husband for ere a duchess in the land." The astonished girl, rather
-doubting her ability to fulfil this latter gracious promise, and highly
-amused by the attempt to bribe her with Mr. O'Sullivan's fortune,
-replied, as soon as she could speak with proper decorum of feature and
-tone, "I cannot pretend to say that I have not perceived the polite
-attentions which Mr. Webberly has been in the habit of favouring me
-with; you will, I hope, Madam, do me the justice to acknowledge that I
-have never encouraged them: you might have been spared much unnecessary
-uneasiness, if you had looked on my conduct with unprejudiced eyes; for,
-(pardon me, Mrs. O'Sullivan,) your son was not a man that I could, under
-any circumstances, have married. I should not make these observations,
-but that I am anxious you should understand, that the occurrences of
-yesterday have made no change in my sentiments; and though--" "Forget
-and forgive ought to be the word amongst _friends_," hastily interrupted
-her auditor. "Some things I _cannot_ forget," returned Adelaide; "I can
-never forget, that you are the widow of an uncle from whom I received so
-much affectionate kindness; nor, that to yourself I owe many personal
-obligations, for affording me an asylum in my hour of adversity, when I
-had none other to fly to!" And then, in all the winning charms of her
-captivating manner, she held out her hand, saying, "Though I cannot
-consent to any nearer connexion, whenever you are inclined to consider
-yourself my aunt, I shall be happy to show you the duty of a niece."
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, quite overcome, said, "You were always a good girl; I
-wasn't as kind to you as I ought to have been, but--" "I do not wonder,"
-interrupted Adelaide, "that you should have been inclined to dislike me;
-it was very natural, under all the circumstances; but we are quite
-cordial now; so pray don't distress me, by referring to a period when
-you were less my friend than at this moment. If you will confide in me,
-so far as to resign Caroline to my care, I shall owe you an everlasting
-obligation." "I will leave her with you," replied the poor woman,
-bursting into tears; "for I know you will breed her up to be more
-dutiful to me than the rest; but that's all my own fault. God bless you,
-if you make my child a comfort to me in my old age." Adelaide said every
-thing to console her; and Mrs. O'Sullivan, on retiring to her children,
-addressed her son, with "She wont have you, Jack, and I'm sorry for it;
-she's the best girl in the world, after all; but your cousin Hannah
-Leatherly, is a sweet cretur too." When the hour appointed for the
-departure of the Webberly family arrived, Caroline, while she held fast
-hold of Adelaide with one hand, lest she should be torn from her, clung
-with the other to "her own mama," weeping to part with her; and perhaps,
-if her mother had not been hurried away by her elder daughters, she
-could not have withstood this demonstration of her child's awakened
-affection; but they took care she should not have time to reflect on
-what she was doing. Adelaide, and her quondam guardian separated in
-perfect amity, but the Miss Webberlys to the last kept up their envious
-dislike, and scarcely curtsied whilst they refused her offered hand.
-Their brother, on the contrary, could not conceal his sorrow, as he bid
-her good bye; and, touched by it, she cordially shook his hand, and with
-much sincerity, wishing him every happiness, thanked him for the
-good-natured attention he had always shown her. When Miss Fitzcarril
-saw him depart, she said to herself, "Well, well! Judy Stewart didn't
-spey it _all_ right, after all; but, to be sure, _winter_ is not come
-yet!" At the moment in which Mrs. O'Sullivan made the reflection with
-which this chapter commences, Colonel Desmond rode past, and her son's
-spirits were not much enlivened, as he pictured to himself his mission
-to Ballinamoyle, and its probable success.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-                    Nobly he yokes
-    A smiling with a sigh: as if the sigh
-    Was that it was, for not being such a smile.
-
-    oeCYMBELINEoe.
-
-
-About the time of Adelaide's arrival at Ballinamoyle, Lord Osselstone
-and Augustus sailed from Dover, and took the direct road to Brussels,
-intending to stay in the principal towns through which their route lay,
-as long as would afford them opportunity of seeing such curiosities as
-principally deserved their attention. From Brussels they proceeded to
-Liege, and stopping a few days at Spa, crossed to Bonn, and from thence
-enjoyed the delightful scenery which the banks of the Rhine presented.
-The melancholy with which the remembrance of his brother was connected
-in the Earl's mind, threw a softened shade of sadness on his manners,
-which perhaps won more on the affections of his nephew, than the most
-brilliant sallies of wit or imagination could have done. For every sigh
-that escaped Lord Osselstone found an echo in the heart of Augustus. The
-concentrated susceptibility of his natural disposition, and the peculiar
-turn of his education, had equally contributed to give a stability to
-his feelings, beyond what his age would have promised: impressions made
-on a mind so formed were not easily to be effaced; as the marble, though
-impervious to slight incisions, if once impressed, loses the form but
-with its own existence.
-
-He had never known the endearing cares of a sister,--never had enjoyed
-the blessing of maternal smiles. In Selina Seymour alone all his first
-affections were centred, and as his matured reason watched her opening
-charms, his judgment sanctioned his love.
-
-It was true, that in the vortex of dissipation into which she had lately
-been plunged, he had found something to reprove in her manners, and a
-great deal to deplore in her conduct to himself; yet with the lenity
-which belongs to true affection, he sought excuses for what he most
-condemned; and though with the resignation of despondency he had given
-up all hope of being dear to her, he did not endeavour to discover flaws
-in the chrysolite, because the precious jewel was not to grace his
-coronet. But the contending emotions of his soul preyed on his health;
-and in his faded cheek and saddened brow Lord Osselstone read the too
-plain indications of a grief smothered, but not subdued.
-
-It was towards the end of July when the travellers reached Bonn, and the
-beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of that town, where they first
-saw the Rhine, tempted them to prolong their stay in it for some days.
-At length however they pursued their journey, and as the weather was
-sultry, preferred travelling in the cool of the evening. The shades of
-night are however little adapted to German roads or German drivers.
-They had scarcely traversed half the distance between Andernach and
-Coblentz, when their postillions carelessly drove against the roots of a
-tree, and overturned the carriage. Fortunately neither of the gentlemen
-received any injury, but the accident occasioned a considerable delay,
-as the carriage was much shattered, and they were obliged considerably
-to lighten it of its luggage, before it could reassume its proper
-position. At last, after the drivers had indulged themselves in a
-variety of oaths and ejaculations, and the two gentlemen, aided by their
-servants, had made use of more effectual means of repairing the
-disaster, they were enabled to proceed, though at a greatly retarded
-pace; and at last reached Coblentz, without further accident.
-
-The master of the hotel, but too happy to receive once more "_Des milors
-Anglais_" as his guests, with alacrity provided them the best supper his
-house could afford, and the Earl and Augustus were congratulating each
-other on their escape, when the door suddenly opened, and Lord
-Osselstone's gray-headed valet burst into the room, rage and dismay
-struggling for pre-eminence in his countenance; "There, my Lord,"
-bellowed he, "there, I knew how it would be. I told you you'd get no
-good by travelling in this damned country: they have robbed you; they
-have stolen it, that's all;" and he was leaving the room with as much
-precipitation as he had entered it, when his master called him back, to
-inquire calmly what was lost. "Only your red box, that I know you
-wouldn't part with for a thousand pounds." In an instant, to Augustus's
-inexpressible astonishment, he beheld Lord Osselstone's countenance
-convulsed with contending passions--he started up, and seizing the
-trembling old man by the collar, "Find it, find it, villain, or never
-see me more," said he, in a voice of thunder; and with one thrust pushed
-him out of the door. Then holding his burning forehead with both his
-hands, he traversed the room with hurried steps, and soon retired
-precipitately to his own chamber. This scene was perfectly
-incomprehensible to Augustus; but instead of bewildering himself in
-conjecture, he, with his usual promptitude, immediately exerted himself
-to repair the loss which so much agitated his uncle. Conceiving it
-possible the box might have fallen out of the carriage when it was
-overturned, he instantly dispatched one of the postillions in search of
-it, offering a large reward for its recovery. After about two hours of
-suspense, during which time he did not venture to intrude on the Earl,
-the messenger returned with the lost treasure, which was almost broken
-to pieces. Augustus however joyfully seizing it, hastened with it to his
-uncle, who opened the door, and snatched it from him in silence. But the
-box was so shattered that in doing so the bottom of it gave way, and
-most of its contents, consisting principally of letters, fell to the
-floor. A miniature case rolled to some distance, and lay open on the
-ground. Augustus ran to pick it up, but on viewing it, exclaimed
-abruptly, "Good God! my mother! this surely is a copy of the portrait of
-her my father left me;" and turning with an inquiring look to Lord
-Osselstone, he perceived his lip trembling with emotion, the cold drops
-of agony bursting from his forehead, and his frenzied eyes fixed on
-Mordaunt, with an expression which made him shudder. "Audacious boy!" at
-last muttered the earl, in the deep tone of smothered passion, "how dare
-you seek to know the sorrows of my heart?" Augustus, pitying his evident
-suffering, approached him, and laying his hand on his, with involuntary
-affection, said, "I do not seek to know them, I only wish to soothe
-them: consider me as a friend, as a son, who--" "Son!" exclaimed Lord
-Osselstone, shrinking from him with horror; "Son! God of Heaven! do I
-live to hear the child of Emma Dormer mock me with the name of father?
-leave me," continued he sternly, "and never again blast me with your
-presence. Fool, fool that I have been to cherish the viper that stings
-my heart; your cradle was the grave of my happiness; and you have but
-lived to fester the wounds your parents made." Indignant at such
-unmerited reproaches, Mordaunt hastened to leave the room, but turning
-to take a parting look at his last surviving relation, who thus spurned
-him, he beheld the man, whose calm unbending dignity had so often awed
-the wondering crowd, trembling with unconquerable feelings, whilst the
-scalding tears chased each other down his face. He stopped--"I cannot
-leave you thus," said he; "to-morrow will be time enough to part." Lord
-Osselstone turned towards him in silence. The look was not to be
-misunderstood; and in an instant Augustus was pressed to his bosom. A
-long pause ensued. At last the Earl, wringing Mordaunt's hand;
-"Augustus!" said he, "I believe you sincere in the regard you profess
-for me: but beware of deceiving me." He stopped to recover himself, then
-proceeded, in a hurried tone: "When I was about your age, with a heart
-as warm as yours is now, and feelings even more susceptible, I fixed my
-affections on Emma Dormer. I believed her mind as faultless as her
-person; and loved her to adoration. She pretended to return my passion;
-and her father was happy, nay eager, to see her share my title and
-fortune. The time was fixed for our marriage; but two days before the
-one appointed for it, she eloped with the man she had the cruelty to
-tell me was her first, her only love. My own brother was my rival!" A
-deep groan burst from the Earl; at length, he continued, "I never saw
-her afterwards; though, when her extravagance and my brother's
-dissipation hurried them into ruin, she often wrote to me, _yes_, _to
-me_, for assistance; and I have the satisfaction of thinking, that I
-relieved the wretchedness of her who plunged my life in misery. She died
-four years afterwards, and my brother survived her but ten months. Even
-in death he wronged me; for, mistrusting my feelings towards you, he
-chose Sir Henry Seymour for your guardian. When I first saw you,
-Augustus, your hated likeness to both your parents froze my blood. When
-you came to Oxford, I was a constant though secret observer of your
-actions; and, prejudiced as I was, I thought I saw in your youthful
-follies and marked alienation from myself, the errors of your father's
-character hereditary in yours. Accident and time changed my opinion of
-you; and, contrary to my predetermination, nay, even against my
-inclination, my heart has once more been open to feelings of interest
-and affection; if I am again betrayed----however the poison will find
-its own antidote. Now, Augustus, good night.--Yet, one word more.--I
-charge you, as you value my friendship, as you regard my peace, never
-recur to this subject again--never recall the occurrences of this
-night."
-
-It would be impossible to describe the various feelings this recital
-occasioned in the heart of Augustus. He retired to rest, but his
-thoughts were entirely engrossed by the Earl; and while he shuddered at
-the duplicity and ingratitude of his parents, he bitterly lamented his
-own precipitancy, which had led him so much to misjudge his uncle's
-character. When however they met the next morning, all trace of the
-storm had vanished. The surface of the wave, that had so lately been
-agitated almost to fury, was again calmly bright, if not transparent.
-Augustus could almost have believed the scene of the night before was
-but a vision of his distempered fancy, had it not been for the silent
-and almost imperceptible pressure of his hand, which accompanied his
-uncle's first salutation.
-
-One other change was also apparent. They had scarcely commenced
-breakfast, when Lord Osselstone sent for his valet, to desire him to
-make some other coffee, as his Lordship had just recollected that he
-always preferred what he prepared to any other. The alacrity with which
-the old man obeyed the command, showed how much he valued the
-compliment thus paid to the very point of his character on which he most
-valued himself, next to his talent for arranging full-bottomed periwigs,
-which he always contended were the most becoming dresses ever invented
-for young gentlemen. When he returned with the coffee, "There," said he,
-with a look of triumph, "I have taken pains with that, and you'll find
-it ten times better than these jabbering Frenchmen can make, here in the
-heart of Germany; but you'll get nothing fit to eat till you get back to
-Old England; I always told you so." His expostulations were however
-unavailing, as the travellers pursued their journey towards Vienna,
-where they arrived in the beginning of September. Not the most distant
-allusion was made by either to the confidence Lord Osselstone had
-reposed in Augustus, though the almost indefinable tokens of increased
-kindness, that now marked the Earl's manner to his companion, showed
-that, however painful the communication had been at first, yet his grief
-in being shared was lightened. As when the soft breath of spring
-dissolves the icy chain that binds the torrent, though it may at first
-burst in desolating fury, yet its streams gradually subside in peace,
-and glide in smoother currents, blessed and blessing on their way.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-    Could I, not prizing thee, give thee my hand,
-    I should despise myself--and how not prize thee?
-
-    oeLLOYDoe.
-
-
-Immediately on their arrival at Vienna, Lord Osselstone commenced his
-researches after his brother; and, through the active exertions of the
-gentleman who had formerly been Reginald's banker, first ascertained the
-existence of Adelaide, and also other testimony concerning her and her
-father, that served most satisfactorily to corroborate the intelligence
-that now reached him from Ballinamoyle, as Mr. O'Sullivan, even more
-anxious than Adelaide herself to receive the sanction of Lord Osselstone
-for the child of his beloved Rose, had prevailed on Mr. Dermoody to be
-himself the bearer of the letters addressed to the Earl; and the
-venerable priest, with unwearied zeal, followed the travellers from
-London to Vienna, where he finally was more than rewarded for his
-anxiety by the cordiality and readiness with which both his Lordship and
-Augustus acknowledged her claims.
-
-The purpose for which Lord Osselstone had undertaken this journey being
-thus accomplished, though in a very unexpected manner, he and Augustus
-immediately prepared to return to England, both anxious to be introduced
-as relatives to Adelaide, whom Augustus recollected having admired when
-he only knew her as the ward of Mrs. Sullivan, but for whom he now
-already felt the partiality of a cousin; and his description of her
-elegant person and captivating manners prepossessed Lord Osselstone in
-her favour, even more than the exaggerated, though sincere encomiums of
-Father Dermoody. He willingly accepted the Earl's proposal to accompany
-them back to London in his carriage, from whence it was settled he
-should hasten home for the purpose of escorting Adelaide to Osselstone
-House, provided she accepted her uncle's invitation of coming to reside
-with him for a few months, and that Mr. O'Sullivan could be prevailed
-upon to part with her. When they reached Calais, they found a packet
-ready to sail by the following tide for Dover, in which they secured
-their passage; and Mr. Dermoody meantime profited by the opportunity
-afforded him by a few hours' delay, of visiting some of his early
-friends; whilst the Earl and Augustus beguiled their time in reading a
-variety of English newspapers of different dates, which their host
-procured for them.
-
-They had not very long been thus engaged, when Lord Osselstone's
-attention was attracted by the evident agitation of Augustus, who,
-starting with a convulsive shudder, threw down the paper he was reading,
-and paced up and down the room with quick and uneven steps. Lord
-Osselstone glanced his eye on the rejected newspaper, and immediately
-attributed his emotion to the following paragraph:
-
-     "Viscount Eltondale left town this morning for Deane Hall,
-     preparatory to the celebration of his Lordship's nuptials with its
-     lovely and accomplished heiress."
-
-For some minutes he only expressed by looks his commiseration for his
-nephew's feelings; but at length addressing him, "I own," said he, "I
-did not expect Lady Eltondale would have succeeded in her designs on
-Miss Seymour. I watched her closely and unremittingly while in London,
-and from some trifling circumstances I was led to believe, she would
-have made a far different choice. But my dear boy," continued he, with
-parental kindness, "though we have both been deceived, your misery is
-not aggravated as mine was. Do not despond; if Selina was capable of
-being either the tool or the dupe of Lady Eltondale, she was unworthy of
-you. Perhaps it is all for the best; perhaps the charming Adelaide you
-already so much admire, may yet repay you for all your sufferings."
-Though Augustus was incapable of receiving consolation, or listening
-even to reason at the first moment, yet he could not long remain
-insensible to the deep interest Lord Osselstone's looks and manner
-evinced; and in unburthening to him his whole soul, he felt a temporary
-relief from the grief that oppressed him; and thus, from a strange
-coincidence of circumstances and similarity of situation, the only
-confidant of his passion, except Mr. Temple, was the very man whose
-usual impenetrability of character repulsed all intimacy, and forbid
-even approach. Augustus, feeling the impossibility of communicating,
-even by letter, with Lord Eltondale on the subject of Selina's property,
-determined immediately to resign his charge as trustee, and was no less
-impatient for their arrival in London than his companions, in hopes, if
-possible, of anticipating in that respect the hated marriage. The very
-evening on which they reached town, Augustus hastened to
-Portman-square, to inquire whether his Lordship were still at Deane. He
-there learned that the Viscount had left it a few days before; and the
-servant, with agonizing precision, informed him, that orders had that
-day been received for the house in town being without delay put in
-order, as his Lordship expected to be married immediately, and he
-believed he was then at Eltondale, making similar preparations. Poor
-Augustus scarcely heard the concluding sentence, and returned to Lord
-Osselstone in a state almost of distraction. "I will go myself to Deane
-to-night," said he; "most of the papers are there in my bureau. I may
-get in time to deliver them to Mr. Temple before Lord Eltondale returns
-there.--It will be my last visit."
-
-In prosecution of this plan, Augustus left London that night in the York
-mail; and such was his agitated impatience, that he scarcely thought
-even that conveyance sufficiently rapid. Anxious to avoid being either
-recognized or impeded in passing through the village of Deane, he
-alighted from the mail at a few miles distance from that place, and by a
-more unfrequented road entered the Park at one of the most retired
-gates. His feelings rose to agony as he again viewed all the well-known
-haunts of his infancy; and more especially when he recollected, that
-nearly at the same time the year before he had returned thither, to
-receive the dying benediction of the kind-hearted Sir Henry. Wishing to
-escape these sad remembrances, and desirous, if possible, to fly even
-from himself, he sprang forward, and darting into a neighbouring grove,
-was scarcely conscious of his near approach to the house. A rustling in
-the trees at last attracted his attention, and he turned towards the
-place from whence it came. In a few moments he perceived his favourite
-dog Carlo bounding towards him, and in an instant the faithful creature
-lay panting at his feet. A little basket, filled with chesnuts, was hung
-round his neck, in which, in former days, the dog had often carried the
-flowers Selina used to gather in their rambles. But almost before
-Augustus could caress him, Selina's voice calling "Carlo," thrilled to
-his heart, and springing from behind a fence with no less activity than
-the truant animal she pursued, she stood beside him like a bright vision
-of former days. "Selina!" "Augustus!" each exclaimed at once; and looks
-more eloquent than words told their mutual feelings.
-
-But soon Selina endeavoured by language also to express her pleasure at
-once more beholding Mordaunt; and, forgetting at the moment all her
-disappointments, all her resentment for his apparent neglects, she gave
-her cordial and artless welcome with unembarrassed joy. Not so Augustus.
-Her unconcern he attributed to indifference, her evident happiness to
-her approaching marriage; and thus to his distempered judgment her
-vivacity almost appeared an insult. Selina quickly and resentfully
-perceived the coldness of his manners, and turning her head aside to
-hide the starting tears, invited him, with formal politeness, to
-accompany her to the house. But there the delighted Mrs. Galton was
-waiting to receive Augustus. She had seen him from the windows, and
-hastened to express her happiness at once more beholding him. The
-faithful old servants crowded round to bid him welcome. All
-congratulated him on his return to Deane, except its mistress. "And
-where has Selina flown to?" exclaimed Mrs. Galton; "we shall no doubt
-find her in her favourite room. Come, Augustus, I will introduce you,
-though you are already acquainted with it." His heart palpitated as he
-followed her through the well-known cedar hall, and up the massy
-staircase he so well remembered. But what were his emotions when she led
-him into what was once their school-room, and had been afterwards his
-own study! Selina had fitted it up with every elegance of modern
-improvement, arranged with her own peculiar taste, and in it she had
-assembled her various occupations of work, drawing, music, and books.
-When they entered, she was herself standing at a writing-table; her
-bonnet lay beside her, and her luxuriant hair, discomposed by her race,
-fell in loose ringlets on her shoulders; whilst the tear of wounded
-feeling stood on her beaming cheek. Augustus stopped, and casting his
-eyes around the altered room, "Is _this_ your favourite apartment,
-Selina?" said he, while love, joy, and gratitude glowed in his
-countenance. "I sometimes sit here to enjoy the morning sun," answered
-she, blushing deeply; whilst his ardent and penetrating gaze increased
-her confusion. At last withdrawing the glance that evidently distressed
-her, his eye rested on the bronze _garde de feuille_, which represented
-Carlo. He took it up, and was examining it attentively, when Selina,
-with an expression of pique, observed, "That is scarcely worth looking
-at, Mr. Mordaunt; it is as trifling as the donor; I really forgot both,
-or I should not have kept it here;" and with an air of unusual dignity
-she left the room. "Incomprehensible, girl!" exclaimed Mordaunt, after
-a pause. "Tell me, Mrs. Galton, what am I to understand?" "Nothing,"
-said she, "but that Selina refused Mr. Sedley, who gave her that dog:
-for the same reason she has since refused Lord Eltondale." "Refused Lord
-Eltondale?" repeated Augustus, quite bewildered. "Yes;" replied Mrs.
-Galton, "his Lordship came here express, hoping to say _Veni, vidi,
-vici_; and proposed himself to Selina before he was three days in the
-house. Of course, even if she had been actuated by no other motive, she
-would have declined a proposal that could only be for her fortune, and
-she accordingly refused it almost with resentment. Lady Eltondale
-manoeuvred, and stormed, and raved, but to no purpose; and finally,
-much to our satisfaction, set off for Brighton." Mrs. Galton might have
-continued her discourse _ad infinitum_. Augustus had turned to the
-window to conceal his emotion. There he caught a glimpse of Selina
-passing towards the shrubbery; seizing his hat, he rushed past Mrs.
-Galton, exclaiming, "There she is!" She smiled, and took up her book;
-but anxiety scarcely permitted her to comprehend one word of its
-contents. At length, after an absence of two hours, which to her
-appeared an age, and to them a second, Selina and Augustus returned arm
-in arm. Mrs. Galton looked up through her spectacles, and guessing the
-result of their conversation from Selina's blushes and Mordaunt's
-countenance, "Thank God!" exclaimed she, clasping her hands, whilst the
-tears rolled down her cheeks, "I have lived to see my two dear children
-happy!"
-
-Lord Osselstone was scarcely less rejoiced than Mrs. Galton, at
-receiving Mordaunt's letter, informing him of Selina's having promised
-him her hand. In his answer to it he said, "I have myself written to the
-very charming niece you are going to bestow on me, to express a part of
-the joy I feel on the occasion; but as I have much more to say on the
-subject, will you obtain her permission for me to pay my compliments to
-her and Mrs. Galton, in person, at Deane Hall, when I hope to make my
-peace with Miss Seymour, for having told you the story of Carlo's
-portrait, as you have no doubt already obtained her forgiveness for
-obtruding his little bronze duplicate into her cabinet."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-    J'ai vu beaucoup d'hymens, aucuns d'eux ne me tentent,
-    Cependant des humains presque les quatre parts
-    S'exposent hardiment au plus grand des hasards,
-    Les quatre parts aussi des humains se repentent[10].
-
-    oeLA FONTAINEoe
-
-[Footnote 10:
-
-      Many weddings have I seen,
-      By none of them I'm tempted;
-    Yet still full three fourths of mankind
-    Incur the risk--and still we find
-      Full three fourths have repented.
-]
-
-
-To return to Ballinamoyle:----One day Mr. O'Sullivan was sitting in his
-study, examining some old family writings, and rather wearied with his
-task, was not displeased to hear that familiar knock at his room door,
-which announces the approach of a friend. "Pray come in," said he: "Oh,
-Edward, is it you? I am happy to see you." "I should not have intruded
-into this _sanctum sanctorum_," replied Colonel Desmond; "but that I
-have in vain visited the library, and the parlour, and the drawing-room,
-without seeing a living creature, except the great dog who is lying
-asleep before the fire in the breakfast-room; and yet when Phelim took
-my horse, he said you were all at home." "That only means," rejoined Mr.
-O'Sullivan, laughing, "that with the aid of a telescope you might be
-able to discover all the party within a circuit of two or three miles:
-any thing on this side Tuberdonny he calls home. Miss Fitzcarril and
-Caroline are gone to cure Mrs. Cassady with some infallible remedy for
-the rheumatism; and Adelaide has rode with Mr. Dermoody, to see a
-curious ruin, that attracted his notice as he came from visiting a sick
-penitent yesterday. But it is late," continued he, looking at an old
-fashioned time-piece that stood on a bracket over the fire-place; "they
-will soon return."
-
-In the conversation which ensued, Colonel Desmond appeared extremely
-absent, answering "Yes," or "No," at random to Mr. O'Sullivan's various
-inquiries; and his usual florid complexion was much heightened as at
-every little noise he looked towards the door, or eagerly gazed out of
-the window. At last Adelaide's mellifluous voice met his ear, gaily
-singing one of the cadences of that exquisite strain of Guglielmi's:
-
-    Del mio sen la dolce calma liete eventi al corpredice,
-    Son contento son felice, altro il cor bramar non sa.
-
-He started up, but the melody had ceased, and he was again disappointed
-in his expectation of seeing her, for she had entered at the back of the
-house, and crossing one of the halls, ascended the stair-case which led
-to her own apartment. "Lovely creature!" exclaimed he. "She is indeed a
-lovely girl," replied the delighted old man; "I never knew but one her
-equal. Do you know, Desmond, I am quite happy, now I feel that the
-evening of my days will go down in peace. But," continued he, after a
-short pause, "I shall feel rather dull at first after Adelaide leaves
-me." "Leaves you, my dear Sir!--when! where!" "She goes next week to her
-uncle Lord Osselstone. Dermoody has strongly impressed me with the
-necessity of this step; and indeed the only reparation her father's
-family can now make for the wrongs of my poor Rose, is to show the world
-they are proud of her child. Lord Osselstone, as the most public
-acknowledgement he can make of his niece, is anxious to have her
-presented as soon as possible; until something of this sort is done, a
-shade of doubt might hang over her birth, which my pride could not
-brook. We only wait till the last formalities have been gone through, to
-enable her to bear the name of Wildenheim in England. It appears that
-her father requested Lord Osselstone to use his interest to have this
-accomplished in the letters we sent to Vienna. It is certainly most
-prudent; for her dropping the appellation by which she has been known to
-so many people abroad, whom she may probably meet in London, would call
-forth much distressing inquiry." "And what have Miss Wildenheim's own
-wishes been respecting this journey?" eagerly demanded Colonel Desmond.
-"Notwithstanding her anxiety to see her uncle, I could scarcely prevail
-on her to leave me till the winter was over. She said I should miss her
-less in summer, when I could go out--Oh how like her mother she is! I at
-last represented that a thousand unforeseen events might prevent her
-ever again visiting her uncle; and that her acceptance of his present
-kindness was due to the memory of her father. She then consented, for
-she loves that father as much as----poor Rose loved him." The gentlemen
-were both silent a few moments, when Colonel Desmond said in a hurried
-tone, "No doubt with _her_ charms, fortune, and connections, she will
-make a splendid alliance; you will rejoice----"--"Rejoice!" interrupted
-his auditor, "what to have her heart broken by some fashionable
-profligate like----No, Edward, my utmost wish would be to see her
-married to one of my own countrymen, who would not only be a fond
-husband to her, but, by residing here, would also prove a bountiful
-landlord to the poor people, who for so many years have stood in the
-place of children to me." "Is it possible?" said Colonel Desmond,
-seizing his hand, whilst his countenance brightened with his new-born
-happiness; "Is it possible, my dearest friend, you could be inclined to
-favour the wishes--alas! I dare scarcely call them hopes--of one who has
-nothing but a devoted heart and an honourable name to offer." "Edward,"
-replied the old man, "your virtues would render you worthy the
-acceptance of an Empress; my happiness would be inexpressible to see you
-her husband. Would to God I had bestowed her mother on such a man!"
-
-In a few minutes Colonel Desmond was conducted by O'Sullivan to Miss
-Wildenheim's sitting-room; and when the anxious parent retired, pleaded
-his passion with love's own eloquence. Adelaide, much agitated, moved
-almost to tears, which she could scarcely restrain as she spoke,
-expressed her esteem, her gratitude, for this long-continued
-kindness--her regard for him as her father's friend, as her own: yet
-concluded by saying, "An insuperable obstacle divides us; generously
-spare me the distressing recital wherefore. I implore your forgiveness
-if my conduct has unintentionally deceived you." "No, no," interrupted
-he, "you twice before conveyed your sentiments to me in a manner I could
-not mistake; but I have acted like an idiot--nothing has deceived me but
-my cursed folly and presumption." "Oh, do not say so," exclaimed
-Adelaide, with earnest kind anxiety to soothe his wounded feelings; "my
-judgment tells me, that, of all men living, I should be happiest with
-you, if my affections----" The sentence remained unfinished; but her
-swimming eyes and mournful tones were sufficiently expressive.
-
-Colonel Desmond instantly retired, for he was too noble-minded to pain
-her feelings by further solicitation, and much too proud to have
-accepted her pity in place of her love. As he passed through the hall,
-he met his venerable friend, and pressing his hand, said, "Your kindness
-is of no avail. Melicent will now be my only consolation. When you are
-alone, you shall see me again;" then drawing down his hat over his
-brows, hastily left the house.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan proceeded to Adelaide, and sorrowfully remonstrated with
-her on her rejection of his friend. To satisfy his feelings, and justify
-herself, she detailed all the circumstances that related to her regard
-for Frederick Elton. "But, my dear parent," said she in conclusion,
-"this attachment, once so strong in my father's sanction and my own
-feelings, is now inert; if, as is most probable, he has bestowed his
-affections elsewhere, I trust I am too just to resent, too proud to
-repine. All I exacted from him, and promised for myself, was complete
-forgetfulness. I thought I had succeeded, but, forgive my weakness,
-every word Colonel Desmond spoke recalled the idea of Frederick from
-the oblivion I had condemned it to. We will never mention his name
-again, my dear Sir." She faltered, and throwing her arms about her
-grandfather's neck, wept bitterly. When again composed, she continued,
-"I know you think I ought to struggle against this romantic folly;
-believe me I do, I always have; never, even to my beloved father, did I
-expose the weakness of my heart as I have this day to you. For the last
-two years I have divorced myself from my own feelings, and my mind has
-dwelt with the thoughts of others. Time will do much; but I have not
-that ardent affection for Colonel Desmond necessary to make either of us
-happy." "I do not now wish, my dearest child, to influence your choice,"
-replied O'Sullivan; "but his affection for you is unbounded, and with
-the high estimation you hold his character in, you could not fail to
-return it in time." "I fear, my dear Sir," said Adelaide, "that to have
-any rational expectation of happiness in marriage, a woman ought rather
-to depend on the love she feels for a man, than on his for her, as on
-her own sentiments alone she can depend with certainty. But I, of all my
-sex, have surely the least temptation to marry, who am so happy as a
-daughter. My future husband, whoever he may be," said she, with assumed
-gravity, "will have small reason to thank you for your indulgence; none
-of the lords of the creation will ever again treat such a little
-undeserving subject with the same lenity." The old man kissed her
-affectionately, and forbore any further solicitation for his friend.
-
-On the day preceding that fixed for Adelaide's departure, she was
-sitting with her grandfather, examining the route he had traced out for
-her, and promising obedience to his injunctions not to catch cold: "I
-would not have Lord Osselstone see you for the first time with red eyes,
-swelled nose, and chapped lips, not for half the barony of
-Aughrakillynch; and I beg you won't wear any of the trumpery Mrs.
-O'Sullivan bought you in London last summer, but put on my favourite
-black satin dress you brought from Naples; you look like a queen in
-that. You said you'd wear it to-day, dear. God knows if ever I
-shall----" The accents died on his lips, and, ringing the bell with
-agitated vehemence, he ordered Miss Wildenheim's new travelling carriage
-to be driven round the ring in front of the house, that he might see how
-it ran. The trampling of horses soon announced the approach of the
-carriage. "Adelaide, dear, look for the seal you gave me, that I may see
-if the arms are done right," said Mr. O'Sullivan, who, in the mean time,
-went to the window to look out, exclaiming an instant afterwards, "It
-was well I had it round, that lazy rascal Phelim has never cleaned it
-since it came; it is splashed all over! And what the devil has he been
-doing with my horses--they are jaded to death! Hey day! who have we got
-here? Why, Adelaide, there's the handsomest young man I ever saw has
-opened the door for himself from the inside, and jumped out actually
-before the horses stopped."
-
-At that instant she heard her own name pronounced, in the hall, by a
-voice which thrilled to her heart, as she instantly recognized it to be
-that of the handsomest young man _she_ ever saw. She flew towards the
-door, but if with an intention to escape, was too late, for the stranger
-entered at the same instant, and seizing both her hands, presented
-Frederick to her view!
-
-Her first emotion was that of delighted surprise; joy sparkled in her
-eyes, and irradiated her whole figure. His looks, his tones, his
-incoherent words, betrayed his inexpressible feelings. Mr. O'Sullivan
-stood gazing on the youthful pair in mute astonishment. Adelaide, in a
-few minutes recollecting herself, turned towards him, and, covered with
-blushes, introduced "Mr. Elton;" and, whilst the gentlemen were making
-their bows, retired from the room, but so lightly and swiftly made good
-her retreat, that till she was out of hearing, they did not perceive she
-had attempted it. The old man looked on Frederick with the deepest
-emotion, for Adelaide had turned to him with the same melting glance
-that Rose first entreated his approval of her beloved Reginald. Too much
-agitated to speak, "thought on thought rolled over his soul," impressing
-their melancholy seriousness on his countenance. Lord Eltondale, though
-a man of fashion, and a man of the world, was no coxcomb, and could feel
-embarrassed sometimes, as on the present occasion, when his eyes rested
-on the venerable figure that, excited by the feeling of the moment, rose
-from the slight bend with which age and sorrow usually tempered its
-commanding loftiness; and, with the dignity that fancy lends to the
-chieftains of ancient story, stood tacitly demanding explanation and
-apology. Frederick felt indescribably awed, and, with a feeling of
-painful confusion, wished himself out of the house, almost as earnestly
-as he had but a few minutes before wished himself in it. After making
-one or two more profound bows than were absolutely necessary, he stooped
-to pick up his hat from the floor, where he had dropped it at the sight
-of Adelaide, and then, with his colour nearly as much heightened as hers
-had been, addressing Mr. O'Sullivan, said, "I know not what apology to
-offer for this abrupt intrusion, Sir; will you pardon it, and permit me
-to pay my compliments to you and Miss Wildenheim to-morrow morning?" Mr.
-O'Sullivan's national and characteristic hospitality quickly banished
-the involuntary repugnance with which he had at first regarded the
-unexpected visitor, nor indeed could he long look with coldness on a
-countenance illuminated by his beloved grandchild's smiles; and
-therefore, on being thus addressed, extended his hand in sign of cordial
-welcome, whilst he replied, "Willingly, Sir, on the condition that you
-remain here to-night. I should be guilty of little less than homicide,
-in suffering you to drive over those mountains again this evening;--'tis
-almost dark at this instant." "Thank you, thank you a thousand times, my
-dear Sir!" exclaimed Lord Eltondale, if possible still more grateful
-for the manner in which it was granted, than for the much-coveted
-permission itself. "Could you but know the happiness your invitation
-gives me. I see you can pity the feelings of a young man." "I can _pity_
-them," said O'Sullivan, smiling. "When I know you better, young
-gentleman, I will tell you whether I wish to encourage them. In the mean
-time I consider you only as my guest; and in that light, Sir, you are
-heartily welcome to Ballinamoyle." Mr. O'Sullivan soon terminated the
-forced conversation which then took place between him and his guest, by
-offering to have the latter conducted to his room to change his boots
-before dinner, which proposition was willingly accepted.
-
-All the family party had reassembled in the drawing room, with the
-exception of Miss Wildenheim, when her maid came to inform her dinner
-would be served immediately; she looked once more in the glass, to see
-if the profuse expenditure of rose water she had indulged in had been
-effectual in effacing all traces of tears; for she was perhaps not less
-anxious to avoid appearing before Frederick "with red eyes, and a
-swelled nose," than her grandfather was that she should not thus
-encounter Lord Osselstone. When she entered the drawing room, O'Sullivan
-smiled with pleasure, to see her "look like a queen," in the favourite
-robe, that, in many a silken fold, "giving and stealing grace," flowed
-round her exquisite form. Her luxuriant hair, as it wound in plaited
-lustre round her fair brows, seemed indeed to crown them with the diadem
-of beauty. But more than beauty adorned her angelic countenance; she had
-seen the dawn of felicity arise; its brilliant beam trembled in her soft
-eye, whilst its tenderest hues of roseate red tinged her cheek. As she
-drew near the circle, each, by some involuntary token of kindness,
-welcomed her approach; and the bewitching smile which played at hide and
-seek with her ruby lip, when she returned the greetings of affection,
-at once rewarded and excited them.
-
-But no air of pretty consciousness spoke her prepared to act "_L'Idola
-bella_," or that she expected Lord Eltondale to fall at her feet, and
-worship her at the first gracious signal. Her manner had that
-self-possession, which was due to her own dignity, and under which every
-woman of true delicacy would shroud her feelings in a similar situation.
-Frederick forebore, by word or look, to cause her the least confusion;
-he was too generous to inflict the pain of distressed modesty on the
-woman he loved; perhaps also his love was so deeply, so anxiously felt,
-that it shrunk from the gaze of other eyes than hers who excited it.
-Neither of them addressed the other directly, but he soon managed, with
-well-bred ease, to introduce general conversation, which banished all
-appearance of constraint.
-
-When dinner was announced, Mr. O'Sullivan, who always insisted on giving
-Adelaide precedence of Miss Fitzcarril, notwithstanding her
-representation of that lady's seniority, now formally requested Lord
-Eltondale to conduct her to the dining parlour; as her beautiful hand
-lay on Frederick's arm he took it in his, and would have pressed it to
-his heart, had not a half-reproving glance recalled to his recollection,
-that they were closely observed by several servants, who stood in goodly
-row, almost forgetting what for, in their eager scrutiny of his face and
-figure. Mr. O'Sullivan followed, leading Miss Fitzcarril in all the
-stateliness of _la vieille cour_; little Caroline skipped gaily along,
-playing tricks with Captain Cormac and Mr. Dermoody, whilst the former,
-by a wise shake of the head, prevented her touching his patron's silver
-locks, which were tied with a black riband, in an old fashioned tail,
-that reached half way-down his back, and daily tempted the merry
-sprite's ivory fingers.
-
-A well lighted room, with a blazing fire and an excellent dinner, made
-the party almost rejoice to hear the whistling wind and driving
-showers, that foreboded a stormy night. Lord Eltondale was so overjoyed
-to find himself once more seated beside Adelaide, unshackled by any
-engagement, and almost certain of her regard, that all his former and
-characteristic vivacity returned; and his lively sallies infecting every
-body with his own gaiety, she talked to him with that flow of spirits,
-which her delight at seeing him naturally excited in her mind; and
-whilst his admiration increased every moment, she did not fail to
-remark, that "he was more intelligent in conversation, more elegant in
-manner and figure, than any man she had ever seen, except her father,"
-who was still her model of perfection.
-
-When the gentlemen unwillingly suffered the ladies to retire to the
-drawing-room, Mr. O'Sullivan called his granddaughter to him, and as she
-bent her head in a listening position; her brilliant countenance
-confirmed the cheerful acquiescence her words conveyed to his proposal.
-Frederick rightly guessing it was a request to defer her journey, as he
-opened the door for her to pass, said, in a low tone, with a sort of
-happy playful assurance in his looks, "Thank you, Adelina." She
-coloured, and her head was fast rising to the true altitude of feminine
-pride; when he, standing so as to impede her escape, without seeming to
-do so, whispered, "Forgive me; I presumed on former recollections; I had
-flattered myself the spell was broken, that separated me and happiness."
-One of Adelaide's enchanting smiles dissipated the uneasiness, that had
-quickly clouded his features.
-
-It is not to be supposed, that all this escaped Miss Fitzcarril's
-notice; accordingly the drawing-room door was scarcely closed, when,
-with a significant wink, she proposed taking Caroline to assist her in
-settling her closet, when any of the gentlemen should return from the
-parlour, where she rightly conjectured Mr. O'Sullivan's fine claret
-would not long detain some of the party. Adelaide, with an imploring
-look, took her hand, saying, "I entreat you, my dear Madam, if you have
-the least regard for me, not to think of such a thing; I would not lose
-your society an instant this evening for the world."
-
-The ancient maiden understood her, but thought she was only going to do
-as she would be done by; and recollected, with a sigh, that this was not
-at all the solution she expected of Judy Stewart's prophecy.
-
-Adelaide's journey was postponed but one day; and she soon had the
-happiness of finding in Lord Osselstone almost a second father in mind,
-manner, and person, hourly reminding her of the beloved parent, that,
-till she knew her uncle, she thought none on earth had ever resembled.
-
-Amongst the young men of fashion, that now seek the smiles of "the
-beautiful and accomplished" (according to the technical term which
-designates every high-born heiress) niece of the Earl of Osselstone,
-none seems to meet his Lordship's approval so decidedly as Viscount
-Eltondale, who, we may safely prophesy, will soon win on the regard of
-his Adelina's noble uncle, as much as he gained on that of her venerable
-grandfather, during his short visit to Ballinamoyle.
-
-    "Tant que Phillis eut un destin prospère,
-    Plus d'un amant lui dit d'un ton sincère,
-              Que vos beaux yeux
-                Sont gracieux,
-              L'amour pour eux
-                Fixe mes voeux,
-    Chaque instant redouble mes feux,
-    Le temps n'y peut rien faire."
-
-
-THE END.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Printed by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations within volume and between volumes
-left as printed.]
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Vol 3 of 3, by Frances Brooke
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Vol 3 of 3, by Frances Brooke
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Manners, Vol 3 of 3
-       A Novel
-
-Author: Frances Brooke
-
-Release Date: July 7, 2012 [EBook #40160]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANNERS, VOL 3 OF 3 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                      MANNERS:
-
-                      A NOVEL.
-
-
-            ----Dicas hic forsitan unde
-    Ingenium par materiae.
-
-                                     JUVENAL.
-
-    Je sais qu'un sot trouve toujours un plus sot pour le lire.
-
-                                     FRED. LE GRAND.
-
-
-    IN THREE VOLUMES.
-    VOL. III.
-
-    LONDON:
-    PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
-    PATERNOSTER ROW.
-
-    1817.
-
-
-
-
-MANNERS.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-    ----Whose birth beyond all question springs
-    From great and glorious, though forgotten, kings.
-
-    oeCHURCHILL.oe
-
-
-The lady who did the honours of Mr. O'Sullivan's house to our English
-travellers, on the night of their arrival at Ballinamoyle, Miss
-Fitzcarril by name, was in person extremely tall; and a carriage of
-extraordinary uprightness gave her, with a stiffness, a dignity also of
-appearance. Her face, though good natured in expression, was, at that
-period, rather plain; but yet sufficient evidence remained to
-corroborate her own frequent assertion, that "she had once been a fine
-woman;" in making which she flattered herself her auditors would imply,
-that she took the same license which the structure of a venerable
-language sometimes permits, of understanding, at pleasure, different
-tenses by the same word; and that they would from the past infer the
-present. In dress and manner she was old fashioned, but stately,
-generally wearing garments made of the antique tabinets and satins she
-inherited from her grandmother, and which, from the unbending nature of
-the material, would have stood alone, nearly in as erect a posture as
-that they maintained when encompassing her perpendicular figure; a
-double clear starched handkerchief, which Mr. Desmond wickedly called
-her transparency, enveloped her neck; and the costume of her person was
-completed by a fine muslin apron of curious work, derived from her own,
-or her progenitors' industry. Her headdress was the only part of her
-attire which was ever varied, and in this she was fantastic in the
-extreme, composing it of the most showy materials, and wearing in her
-caps and turbans colours only fit for the young and beautiful. Every
-acquaintance who visited Galway, Limerick, or Clare, was sure to have a
-commission to buy a cap or bonnet for Miss Fitzcarril; and the more
-_outre_ in form and colour, the better pleased she was with their
-purchase. She was, in mind, the most singular mixture of pride and
-parsimony that was perhaps ever compounded; the one she derived from her
-highly valued ancestry, the other from her own peculiar fate, and a
-mistaken idea of principle; and she reconciled her frugality and her
-dignity, by declaring that "the Fitzcarrils and O'Sullivans needn't
-trouble their heads about what any one said of them; _every body_ knew
-they were come of the kings of Connaught, and had a good right to do as
-they pleased." In early life she had lived in extreme poverty, and then
-had learned the ideas of management she afterwards laboured to enforce
-at Ballinamoyle. Mr. O'Sullivan had been deprived of his wife a few
-years before he had also the misfortune to lose his only child; and on
-the death of this beloved daughter, he chose Theresa Fitzcarril from
-amongst his female relatives, to superintend his establishment, at the
-same time settling a comfortable provision on her, in case she should
-survive himself; which he considered a mere act of justice, for he
-foresaw that the retirement of his residence would condemn her to a life
-of solitude and celibacy, the two precise circumstances which least
-accorded with her own wishes. Theresa, on her part, actuated by an
-excess of pride, resolved she would cancel her pecuniary obligations,
-not only to her original benefactor, but to his heir, by saving for the
-family a sum more than equivalent to all she should ever receive from
-it. She therefore endeavoured (though without much success) to introduce
-a system of penury at Ballinamoyle, that, had its owner been aware of
-her proceedings, he would not have suffered, as it was diametrically
-opposite to his wishes; he seldom however inquired into the _minutiae_
-of his household; and indifferent to every thing, after the loss of his
-daughter, he permitted Theresa to do nearly as she pleased; and when he
-did object to any of her practices, she was so obstinate, that he found
-he must, to get rid of them, get rid of herself also with them, and this
-he never could resolve on; but consoled himself with the usual
-reflection of his countrymen, when trouble is necessary to avoid any
-thing unpleasant, "It will do well enough, my time won't be long." Miss
-Fitzcarril sought to relieve the monotony of her life by indulging in
-constant speculation. In every lottery she had a sixteenth share of a
-ticket; and to ascertain what she might possess in the _matrimonial
-lottery_, had frequent and protracted conferences with all the tribes of
-cup-tossers, card-cutters, and deaf and dumb men and women, who infested
-the country as fortune-tellers,--"Who blind could every thing
-foresee"--"Who dumb could every thing foretell." This pleasure however
-Miss Fitzcarril was obliged to indulge in secret, as Mr. O'Sullivan and
-the worthy priest, who was his domestic pastor, used their best
-endeavours to banish this race of vagabonds from every place they had
-influence in; so that when she consulted any of these oracles, she was
-obliged to conceal herself and them in some remote cabin; but perhaps
-the impediment thus thrown in the way of this favourite indulgence made
-her but the more keenly enjoy and still more pertinaciously persist in
-the practice, notwithstanding the reiterated penances imposed for this
-offence by the good father Dermoody, which, though she ventured to
-commit, she did not dare to suppress at confessional. A family of the
-name of Stewart wandered about the country, presenting papers signed by
-respectable names, setting forth, that "their progenitors had been
-shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland, about a century ago--that the whole
-race were deaf and dumb--but that Providence, in compensation, had
-bestowed on them the gift of second sight." To the predictions of a dumb
-woman, who claimed this name, and proved she was deaf, by showing that
-nature had left her unprovided with ears[1], Theresa gave the most
-implicit credit. This Pythoness had learned to write the printed
-character, and to draw rude representations of ships, trees, men, and
-animals, which she described on a board with a piece of white chalk; and
-of these hieroglyphics those who consulted her made what sense best
-pleased them. A sharp boy, who had all his senses in full activity,
-never failed to accompany her; apparently to assist in expounding her
-text, but, in reality, to collect information, which, by the language of
-signs, he certainly conveyed to his fellow conjuror, at the most
-_a-propos_ moment, as no body concealed from him the information she was
-supposed to be (humanly speaking) ignorant of;
-
-    "Tout cela bien souvent faisoit crier miracle!
-    Enfin quoique ignorant a vingt et trois carats,
-    Elle passoit pour un oracle!"
-
-[Footnote 1: This account of the Stewart family is not fictitious,
-either as to name or circumstance.]
-
-In their last conference Judy Stewart had given Miss Fitzcarril the
-following enigma:--A rose rudely drawn, followed by the words "of
-vargins,"--then, a ship in full sail--then, three suns--and lastly, a
-man, four times as big as the ship, holding a candle in one hand, and a
-ring in the other. The exposition Barny and the curious spinster gave of
-this was as follows:--"The flower of virgins," that is, the eldest
-daughter of the direct branch of the O'Sullivan family, was coming from
-beyond sea, and would arrive at Ballinamoyle, as soon as the sun had
-risen three times, bringing in her train a great personage (expressed by
-his extraordinary size,) who would, in winter, designated by the candle,
-bestow the wedding ring on the fair Theresa Fitzcarril. Judy Stewart's
-credit was luckily saved by the horses, which our travellers so
-unexpectedly procured at Tuberdonny, fulfilling the first part of the
-prediction; and in Mr. Webberly the credulous maiden saw the hero, who
-was to accomplish that part which related to herself.
-
-Extremes are popularly said to meet, which, we suppose, may naturally
-account for the Connaught sibyls' most zealous friend and powerful enemy
-residing at Ballinamoyle. The latter was the reverend father Dermoody,
-who filled the office of spiritual guide to its owner. He was well
-informed in mind, and gentlemanly in manners; two circumstances but
-rarely united in the Irish priests, who are generally taken from a low
-order in society, and do not usually carry an appearance impressive of
-the respect, to which most of them are entitled by their real worth. Mr.
-Dermoody was a relation of the late Mrs. O'Sullivan, and had embraced
-the priesthood from the influence of early disappointment, which had
-disgusted him with the world, and led him to devote himself to a
-religious life for consolation. He pursued his theological studies in
-one of the French colleges, and was deliberating on entering into a
-monastic order of great austerity, when he received a letter from his
-present patron, acquainting him with his marriage, and offering him the
-situation of chaplain to his family, which Dermoody's better stars
-induced him to accept. For many years he bestowed on the education of
-his relative's lovely daughter all of his time and thoughts, which were
-not devoted to his sacred functions; and, since her death, he had been
-the consolation of her desolate father, and a blessing to the poor of
-the vicinity. As he however avoided society in general, he was not
-introduced to our travellers on the night of their arrival, but they
-then made acquaintance with Miss Fitzcarril's constant and obsequious
-attendant, Captain Cormac, so called by common consent, though he had
-never risen in the army higher than a lieutenant, the half pay of which
-rank was his only subsistence, independent of Mr. O'Sullivan's bounty.
-Though of a different religious persuasion, his family had long been
-tenants and retainers of that at Ballinamoyle; and this member of it, on
-the strength of his red coat, was considered a gentleman, and, as such,
-was every day admitted to Mr. O'Sullivan's table, and made up his card
-party in the winter's evenings, generally returning at night to the
-house of a better sort of steward, living on the demesne, who managed
-the Ballinamoyle property, its owner charging himself with the expenses
-there incurred by Captain Cormac.
-
-This son of Mars, conscious of the deficiency of his pedigree, very
-unknowingly endeavoured to prove his title to the character of a
-gentleman, by paying the most anxious and unremitting attention to the
-fair sex in general, and to Miss Fitzcarril in particular; for, in
-consequence of his living in this sequestered situation, he was totally
-unsuspicious of the improvements in modern manners, which lead so many
-of our youth to suppose, that a neglect of the ladies they associate
-with, not unfrequently amounting almost to rudeness, is an indispensable
-requisite in the deportment of every fashionable beau; but perhaps some
-of our readers will suggest an excuse for Captain Cormac's ignorant
-simplicity, by acknowledging that beau and gentleman are not always
-synonymous terms. Mr. O'Sullivan for instance, was certainly no beau,
-though perfectly a gentleman. As this word, in our humble opinion,
-conveys a character that is almost all "that the eye looks for," or "the
-heart desires" in man, we will not weaken its inexpressible worth by
-paraphrase, but hope the actions of the person it has here been applied
-to will establish his claim to the most noble appellation the English
-language boasts of.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-    O! live--and deeply cherish still
-      The sweet remembrance of the past;
-    Rely on Heav'n's unchanging will
-                        For peace at last!
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-On the morning after her arrival at Ballinamoyle, Adelaide was forcibly
-struck with the strange coincidence of circumstances that had conducted
-her to this place, so remote from the scenes in which she had once
-expected to have passed her life. That day two years, she had no
-expectation of becoming an inhabitant of the British isles; and one
-fortnight had just elapsed since she received Mrs. O'Sullivan's letter,
-announcing her intention of undertaking the journey they had
-accomplished. Her meeting with Colonel Desmond seemed like seeing an
-inhabitant of another world, who could dive into thoughts, and was
-acquainted with occurrences unknown to those she was surrounded by.
-Though but four years had revolved since they last met, from the
-unexpected nature of the events that had marked them, they seemed, to
-memory, longer in duration than all those which had smoothly rolled
-away, ere their giant days rose on the wheel of fate, robed in the
-strongest hues of joy or sorrow. She felt grieved her journey was now at
-an end, as she had derived much amusement from it, and knew she should,
-in future, associate much less with Colonel Desmond. "I wonder, (thought
-she,) what description of being this Mr. O'Sullivan is, we have come so
-far to see--Poor little Caroline! I hope he will be more affectionate to
-her than her mother and sisters are."
-
-When Adelaide repaired to the breakfast room, and proceeded to open the
-door, her hand trembled on the lock, for she heard Caroline's joyous
-voice within, followed by an expression of fondness; and recollected,
-with bitterness of heart, that in that room was no relative, who would
-greet her entrance with a face of gladness.--She could not go in at that
-moment, and retreated a few steps. "Why am I so overpowered this
-morning? (thought she,) I ought to be more than usually happy, in
-reflecting, that dearest Caroline is this day introduced to her father's
-family; the happy one will soon arrive, when I shall be restored to
-mine, so _coute qui coute_, I go in." Armed with this magnanimous
-resolution, she entered the room, and her eyes were instantly attracted
-by one of the most venerable figures she had ever beheld. An old
-gentleman, dressed in mourning, was sitting with little Caroline on his
-knee; his face, as he bent his gray head to gaze on her infant beauties,
-was expressive of every benevolent feeling, whilst his dignified figure
-impressed the beholder with an awe, which was tempered, but not entirely
-removed, by the benignity of his countenance. In him was seen all that
-was reverend in age--in the cherub he caressed all that was blooming in
-youth. Her silken hair hung, in waving ringlets, on a cheek that mocked
-the rose's hue; her transparent skin showed the blue veins, that
-meandered on a brow as spotless as the mountain snow. The dark blue eye,
-that threw its melting ray on his, seemed to call forth fires that long
-had slept beneath those silver brows; and as her ivory arm hung round
-his neck, the youthful softness of her hand was more than usually
-apparent from the contrast it formed with the withered cheek it pressed.
-"Dearest Caroline! may he prove a fond parent to you!" was the ardent
-wish of Adelaide's heart, as she gazed on the happy child, and her
-venerable relative. Mr. O'Sullivan, looking up, rose to receive her; and
-the little girl, springing gaily forward, took her hand, saying, "This
-is my own dear Adele Wildenheim, I told you about, uncle; I love her
-better than any body in the world; if you will let me live with you, and
-will keep her too, I shall be so happy!" Whilst Caroline looked
-inquiringly up in his face to read the success of her proposition; the
-old man smiled on the lovely girl thus introduced to him, and holding
-out his hand cordially to her, said, "Your name is well known to me,
-Miss Wildenheim. Baron Wildenheim was the friend and benefactor of my
-deceased brother, and his child is truly welcome to my roof." Adelaide's
-cheek glowed with the most vivid blushes as she felt a tear trickle
-down; the accents faltered on her lips when she attempted to speak, and
-a deep sigh burst from Mr. O'Sullivan's breast as he recollected, that
-the daughter he had lost in the bloom of youth was, in his eyes at
-least, as lovely as the beautiful girl they now rested on.
-
-At this moment Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan entered the room; the
-latter acting the amicable, aspired to rest her fat hand on the bony arm
-of the stately Theresa, who, with smiles of unconscious exultation at
-her own towering height, and with an air of condescension, bent her long
-neck over her right shoulder, towards her rotund companion, as if the
-words she addressed to her would not otherwise be within hearing
-distance. The one stalked forward, sweeping after her a long train of
-the thickest tabinet; the other (though certainly not a figure for a
-Zephyr) fluttered in gauze, whose transparent texture a Roman would have
-compared to "the woven wind," her habiliment being about as long as that
-of the sapient dame well known in nursery history, after her unfortunate
-rencontre with the mischievous pedler.
-
-When Mrs. O'Sullivan espied her brother-in-law, she bustled up to him
-with an appearance of lively pleasure; but an observer, with half the
-penetration of Adelaide, might have seen a temporary expression of
-disappointment cloud his features, as from his brother he had never
-received the slightest hint, that might lead him to form an idea of what
-she really was, either in manner or appearance; and the beauty of her
-daughter and elegance of her ward had made him expect to find her far
-different in both; however, this expression was but transient, and he
-received her with his usual hospitality, and told her with much warmth
-and sincerity, how much he admired the charming little Caroline. The
-Miss Webberlys and their brother made their appearance shortly after
-Mrs. O'Sullivan's entrance; and the groupe were all assembled round the
-breakfast-table when Father Dermoody came into the room, whom Miss
-Fitzcarril and the master of the house rose to receive with the utmost
-respect, whilst his manner united the humility he felt as a man with the
-dignity he derived from his sacred office. When he approached them, the
-motion of his hand, and the raised expression of his countenance, told
-Adelaide that he passed that silent benediction she had so often
-witnessed abroad. His benevolent looks seemed to extend it to all,
-though a slight tinge on his cheek, and a half mournful glance of his
-eye, betrayed that he felt it would be scorned by some. A reverential
-bend of Adelaide's graceful figure, and the mild seriousness that
-chastened her smile of acknowledgement as her eye met his, conveyed to
-the venerable priest that she at least understood him, and thankfully
-received his pious aspirations. He looked in vain for the sign, that
-should have marked their conformity of faith, and sighed deeply, then
-muttered half under his breath, "In all else how like!"
-
-The English ladies soon found Miss Fitzcarril's gunpowder tea quite too
-potent for their nerves, and diluted it in a manner that astonished her;
-for this good lady, in her extensive patronage of vagrants, included
-smugglers and pedlers, from whom she procured the finest teas and
-brandies, for to these articles her ideas of parsimony did not extend;
-and as she kept the latter entirely for her male friends, she thought
-the former in their utmost strength the peculiar beverage of the fair
-sex, and now wondered where these ladies could have been brought up, not
-to understand the merits of gunpowder tea at a guinea a pound!
-
-In the course of the morning Mr. O'Sullivan took his usual promenade in
-front of his house; and here he appeared in all his glory. In one
-promiscuous groupe were assembled the heads of the families his tenantry
-comprised, with every other man, woman, or child, that could leave home
-to get a peep at the newly-arrived guests, whose appearance at
-Ballinamoyle had been looked for with more curiosity than pleasure. For
-Mr. O'Sullivan was universally beloved, and the superstitious ideas of
-his tenantry made them regard the arrival of his heiress as an omen of
-his own death; besides they very naturally dreaded this property being
-given to people unattached to them, and unacquainted with their customs.
-As the ladies stood at the open windows in front of the house to gaze at
-the strange assemblage, many were the remarks their appearance called
-forth. According to custom, every domestic went out in turn to
-"collogue," as they call it, with their favourite Judy or Barny; and as
-Caroline stood on the window-seat with Adelaide's protecting arm round
-her waist, she was repeatedly pointed out to the inquirers. But as the
-Irish seldom have patience to listen to more than half a sentence, when
-their minds are intent on any new subject, Caroline's companion was by
-most of the crowd taken for the object of their search. "She is a
-beautiful young lady, and looks loving and kind." "She's about the
-height of poor Miss Rose." "Ochone, she was the darling! Sun or moon
-will ne'er shine on the likes of her again; and while grass grows and
-water runs, she'll ne'er be forgot out of Ballinamoyle!" These and many
-similar expressions proceeded from the lips of the elder part of the
-assembly, whilst the unconscious object of their remarks entertained
-herself in viewing the various groupes it consisted of.
-
-Close after Mr. O'Sullivan walked his steward, hat in hand, to receive
-his orders, or answer his questions respecting the numerous petitioners
-who from time to time approached him. Whenever he turned towards the
-crowd, every man's hat was instantaneously taken off in the most
-respectful manner--every woman's petticoat, however short, touched the
-ground in her curtsy. Sundry sturdy little urchins were thumped on the
-back for being rather tardy in paying his honour proper respect; and a
-sulky reverence brought more than one little girl to the ground, as her
-mother used no very gentle means to expedite her motions; whilst many a
-rosy child had its plump cheek or white head stroked for being
-"mannerly." When Mr. O'Sullivan's levee had lasted as long as he wished,
-and when he had granted potato ground, and grazing ground, and firing
-ground, and had remitted fines for trespasses innumerable, his steward
-gave the usual signal, and the crowd dispersed to idle away the rest of
-the morning:--an idle evening was a thing of course.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril now proceeded to perform that ceremony always observed
-in a country house--of showing it, however unworthy it may be of
-exhibition. This old-fashioned edifice had been built by the present
-proprietor's grandfather with the materials of an ancient monastery,
-which had fallen to ruin on its site, which was made choice of for the
-convenience of communicating by a covered passage with the remaining
-chapel--a venerable and beautiful structure, that had been preserved in
-perfect repair. Over the hall door, at the top of the house, appeared
-the family arms cut in stone, and underneath the name of the builder and
-the date of the year when it was finished, in order, as Miss Webberly
-wittily remarked, "to claim the stolen goods by, should any one take it
-up on their backs and run away with it." The rooms were large and well
-built, and as uniformly square as a bricklayer's line could make them.
-The furniture was substantial, and, like Miss Fitzcarril, had been
-handsome in its day; but it survived its contemporaries, and the present
-race thought it heavy and sombre. The house had altogether a desolate
-appearance, and, like the Canal Inn, could rarely boast of a perfect
-bell or lock. In the part of the house which adjoined the chapel, Mrs.
-O'Sullivan frequently turned the lock of a door she passed by in
-traversing the various passages; and her guide always said with unusual
-seriousness, "You can't go in there, madam;" at last the question was
-asked "Why?" and was answered, with a deep sigh, "That was _poor Rose's_
-apartment; nobody has ever been in it since she died but her father and
-poor nurse." "Then what a pity," rejoined Mrs. O'Sullivan, "not to block
-up the windows; let me see, three rooms back to the chapel, one, two,
-three, four, five, six windows--all that much taxes for nothing!" "Block
-up the windows of poor Rose's apartment! Blessed powers defend
-me!--Child!" said the angry Theresa turning to Caroline, with a
-vehemence of gesture and sternness of aspect that made the trembling
-infant, while she looked fearfully up in her face, tightly clasp her
-arms round Adelaide, "if you ever own this place, take care that you pay
-respect to every relict of your cousin; it would be as much as any
-one's life's worth to put an affront upon her memory."
-
-Though Mrs. O'Sullivan could not see this apartment, she was resolved to
-inspect every other nook of the house, kitchens and store-rooms
-inclusive. In the latter she was surprised to see huge barrels of oaten
-meal and dried fish, with numerous casks of whisky. Suspended over head
-hung the cured carcases of three cows and five pigs, ready to supply the
-place of their fellows in the principal kitchen. As they passed down one
-of the back stair-cases, they saw in the court yard a number of men and
-boys, waiting for the chance of casual employment about the house. The
-men were muffled up in great coats, buttoned about their necks, the
-empty sleeves hanging at their sides; some leaning against the walls,
-some lying on their stomachs basking in the sun; others asleep in
-various postures; the boys dancing, or playing backgammon, which they
-managed by squares traced on the ground, whilst one called out the
-numbers at random, which answered the purpose of dice; others wrestling,
-sometimes throwing each other down on the sleepers, who just raised
-their heads to give a volley of oaths, and turned to sleep again. The
-unexpected entrance of the ladies into the kitchen put to flight a covey
-of char-women, who seemed to think they had all the business of the
-world on their hands. As strange servants were in the house, they had
-determined to keep up the "dacency of Ballinamoyle," by dressing
-themselves in their best; but being now at their work (that is, running
-in each other's way, at the same time talking unceasingly) all their
-petticoats were pinned up about their middle, except a very short dicky;
-their shoes and stockings were--not on their feet and legs, but on the
-kitchen tables and hot hearths, and the ears of their mob caps were
-pinned over the crowns of their heads to keep them clean and the wearers
-cool. There was a constant shouting to the boys in the yard to run
-incessant messages. At the moment of Mrs. O'Sullivan's first
-appearance, the cook called out of the kitchen window, "Do you hear,
-Barny, make aff to Jarge Quin for a slip of parsley:--do you mind, be
-back in a crack." No sooner was Barny dispatched than she shouted again:
-"Jimmy! Jimmy Maloony I say, rin for your life, and make ould Jarge sind
-the fruit for the pies." When the ladies proceeded to the servants'
-hall, there was an old piper playing, and three girls dancing, that Miss
-Fitzcarril thought were busy spinning and sewing. "Get along, you
-incorrigibly idle sluts," said she, and they were off in a trice; but it
-was out of Scylla into Charybdis, for two or three of the "cutty sarks,"
-who had been muddling in the kitchen, met them in the passage, where
-they had been drawn by hearing "the mistress spaking mad angry;" and
-each seizing her own daughter, and thumping her well, said, "I'll pay
-you for your jigging, indeed my lady!" Close to the servants' hall was a
-man cleaning knives; he had taken off his coat and waistcoat, one
-shoulder appeared through a great hole in the back of his shirt, the
-sleeves of which were rolled up to the elbow, and it was open down to
-the waist. He had neither shoes nor stockings on, and thus his legs and
-arms, with the greater part of his back and breast, were naked; the skin
-that covered them was nearly of a copper colour; his head was crowned
-with thick, short, curly, black hair, and his unshaved face presented a
-luxuriant crop of the same sable material. "What a number of men
-servants you keep! pray what compacity does that one fill?" inquired
-Mrs. O'Sullivan. "Madam," replied her _cicerone_ (all her pride
-colouring her face) "since the world was a world, no such sarving man as
-that ever belonged to the name of O'Sullivan! That's Black Frank, the
-fool, who comes in to do odd jobs now and again." Black Frank was an
-itinerant "innocent," who scoured knives, cleared out ashes, or did any
-job the servants of the houses he frequented were too lazy to perform
-themselves. He was capricious in his fancies, and never staid long in
-any one place, but blessed all his acquaintance in turn. As Mrs.
-O'Sullivan went up stairs, she said to herself, "It will be another
-guess matter when Caroline rules the roast; I'll soon pack off all these
-here wagabonds and ramscallions about their business; she'd be a sight
-the richer if these warlets didn't eat up her uncle's fortin. There's
-one comfort, he can't live long; when he dies, I'll make this stately
-madam and all take to their heels!"
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, however, was aware of but a small part of what she
-considered her daughter's wrongs; for her brother-in-law, though he had
-renounced all society himself, except that of a few distant relatives,
-and his friends the Desmonds, authorized his servants to bring their
-kindred and "cronies" to his servants' hall, to eat, drink, and be
-merry. From twenty to thirty people sat down to dinner there every day,
-and on Saturdays and holydays a great many more. And the song and the
-jest went round amongst the careless crew, accompanied by the boisterous
-laugh of rustic mirth. The young men and women amused themselves of a
-winter's evening dancing jigs, whilst their elders "kept the fire warm,"
-telling stories of the days of old, superstitious legends, or recounting
-the omens each had observed previous to the death of the ever lamented
-Miss Rose.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-    When wilt thou rise in thy beauty, first of Erin's maids?
-    Thy sleep is long in the tomb, and the morning distant far.
-    The Sun shall not come to thy bed and say, "Awake, Darthula!
-    Awake, thou first of women!"
-
-    oeDARTHULA.oe
-
-
-When the ladies retired to the drawing-room after dinner, Miss
-Fitzcarril proposed walking. Mrs. O'Sullivan was anxious that Adelaide
-and Caroline should study the good of their health by this exercise, but
-pleaded fatigue as an excuse for declining the promenade herself,
-wishing to profit by the opportunity their absence would afford, to
-interrogate Theresa as to the nature and extent of the Ballinamoyle
-property, and a thousand other _et cetera_. Her two elder daughters, to
-whom she had before dinner mentioned her distress at having her anxiety
-for information on this subject so _long_ unsatisfied, understood her
-manoeuvre, and remained to assist in the gratification of their mutual
-curiosity. Adelaide and Caroline accordingly set out on their ramble.
-Miss Fitzcarril, in her anxious civility, attended them as far as the
-hall door; she had scarcely reached it, when a voice accosted her with
-"I want to spake a word to you, Miss Teree--za." "Well, nurse!" "Will
-you be plased to give me some whisky for Jimmy Maloony--the paltry
-fellow! he let the dinner fall bringing it up, and the spalpeen has cut
-his leg very bad; but it was God saved the puddin, Miss!" Adelaide's
-eyes were attracted towards the speaker, and she saw a fresh coloured
-old woman, dressed in a rich flowered silk gown, underneath which
-appeared a pair of coarse shoes and worsted stockings. The gown was open
-before, and would have trailed on the ground, had it not been turned
-back and pinned up behind, just to touch the edge of a striped green
-stuff petticoat, which was surmounted in front with a fine linen apron
-as white as snow. Her gray hair was rolled back over a cushion, and a
-mob cap was pinned under her chin, the head piece ornamented with a
-cherry coloured riband put once round her head, the ends turned back
-again just to the ears, and a flat bow pinned on in front. It was not
-surprising that the silk gown, which nurse wore in honour of the
-strangers' arrival, should be old fashioned in make and texture, as she
-had received it, according to custom, on the day Mr. O'Sullivan's
-daughter had cut her first tooth. Miss Fitzcarril, before she complied
-with the old woman's demands, directed Adelaide how best to proceed from
-the hall door, to the following effect: "Do you see that walk to the
-right? well, then you're not to go down that, only just as far as the
-old oak, and then there is another to the left, mind you don't take
-that, it leads to the shaking bog, but keep strait forward, and that
-will bring you round and round to the back of the house." From which it
-appeared that they were neither to turn to the right nor the left, but
-to proceed in a strait line, which would conduct them home in a circle
-from the front to the back of the house!
-
-When the two young ladies set off, Miss Fitzcarril returned to nurse;
-and while she felt for a key, amongst its numerous fellows at the bottom
-of a pocket long enough to cover _her_ arm up to the elbow, shaking it
-two or three times in a manner that showed what metal she carried; the
-ancient dame said to her, "Our young lady that is to be, is the making
-of a pretty girl, God bless her! But I'd rather it was her comrade, she
-has more of the portly air and jaunteel walk of the O'Sullivans than any
-of them. The others are no great shakes of ladies. But it's none of them
-all would be a patch upon my sweet Rose if she was alive! Och Rose dear,
-why did you lave your ould mammy to go wid a foreigner? Wouldn't his
-honour have given ye gould to eat if ye chose it, and weren't you as
-merry as a grig the live long day? It's but little you're happier, now
-you're a blessed angel in Heaven, for you lament ye for your poor father
-and ould nurse; and you're not a whit beautifuller or better than you
-were here. Many's the mass we say for your sowl; but ye're fitter to
-pray for us poor sinful craturs than we for you. Weary on ye, Limerick,
-that ever ye rose on the face of God's earth, for ye lost me my sweet
-child." The poor old woman beat her breast as this burst of sorrow
-escaped her lips, and the tears rolled down the furrows of her aged
-cheeks in torrents. "Nurse! nurse!" said Theresa, sobbing, "don't take
-on so; if your master sees or hears you, you'll make him ill again: you
-know what trouble he was in this morning, and that he wouldn't have the
-first sight of the little girl before mortal breathing, but sent for her
-to his own room." "Well, well, I'll soon lay my gray head in under the
-sod; it isn't fit a poor cratur like me should mislist his honour." When
-Miss Fitzcarril had composed herself, and dispatched nurse with a "drap
-of comfort" to the kitchen, she returned to the drawing-room, and then
-answered the interrogatories her visitors put to her in such a manner,
-as much to strengthen the favourable impression, which the marshalling
-of the tenantry had made on their minds in the morning; and, without
-giving any one direct answer, managed to exalt her own and her cousin's
-consequence considerably in their estimation.
-
-Theresa, keeping ever in mind the fortune-teller's prediction, which she
-graciously interpreted in young Webberly's favour, was extremely anxious
-to ingratiate herself with his mother and sisters, and therefore had by
-this time almost forgiven the former her proposition of blocking up the
-windows of the revered apartment, as well as the affronting supposition,
-that Black Frank appertained to the regular establishment of
-Ballinamoyle; and the wheedling civility Mrs. O'Sullivan showed her,
-encouraged her hopes and her efforts; more especially as Jack, in
-compliance with his parent's wishes, had been particularly attentive to
-her in the course of the day. Mrs. O'Sullivan had that morning convinced
-her children it was for their interest, that Caroline should be her
-uncle's heiress, as she promised in that case not to leave her any of
-her own riches. She had been induced to hold out this bribe to them,
-from perceiving the extreme rudeness with which they were inclined to
-treat all around them, which she feared would disgust their host, whose
-uniform urbanity was not less conspicuous.
-
-With the Miss Webberlys, interest was scarcely a counterpoise to ill
-temper, conceit, and _ennui_; and therefore their deportment varied
-every half hour, according to the feeling of the moment. But in the
-composition of their brother, ill nature had not been added to folly and
-presumption; he was therefore constant in his endeavours to please, in
-which he was also encouraged by the hopes, that the success of this
-scheme might "put the old lady in a good humour, and make her come down
-handsomely when he married Miss Wildenheim, which he would as soon as
-they returned to England, please the pigs." Of the young lady's being
-pleased he had little doubt; "her being so confoundedly shy was all a
-sham."
-
-Whilst Miss Fitzcarril and Mrs. O'Sullivan were playing against each
-other, in the conversation which took place between them in the
-drawing-room, Adelaide and Caroline pursued their ramble. At a little
-distance from the house, one of the most beautiful scenes in nature
-presented itself to their view.--A lake, of considerable extent, rose
-from the bosom of rocky hills, whose bold forms were reflected in its
-pellucid waters. It contained several islands, some with fine trees,
-some grazed by cattle, and covered with the most brilliant verdure. On
-the centre island stood the ruins of an old castle half covered with
-ivy. To the south of the lake was a fine champaign country, and behind
-the house rose a beautiful hill of great height, covered from the base
-to the summit with an indigenous wood. To the right a narrow defile
-opened into a wild and romantic country, showing mountains of the most
-picturesque forms. The varied lights, which the declining sun threw on
-this enchanting scene, gave it every beauty of exquisite colouring. "Oh!
-look there, Adele!" said Caroline, "doesn't the lake and its islands
-look as if it was let down from Heaven by that beautiful rainbow that
-touches it at both sides? Oh, how I should like to walk up it!" "And
-then," thought Adelaide, as she looked at the lovely child, "you might
-join the company of the sylphs, whilst they 'pleas'd untwist the
-sevenfold threads of light.'" Just at this moment an odd looking man
-came close up, and taking off an old regimental cap, said, "I see you're
-some of the strange quality ladies; you're quite out of the right
-track,"--(rather surprising after Miss Fitzcarril's explicit
-directions.) "I'll show ye'z round the place, and take ye'z to the
-garden, if you're agreeable." "Thank you, my good man, I shall be much
-obliged to you: pray may I ask your name?"--"They call me Jarge Quin at
-the big house, Miss, because I was so long at the wars, where I lost my
-right eye. I'm his honour's gardiner; and a brave kind master he is til
-me, the Lord love him!" Jarge proceeded to do the honours; and delighted
-by the questions Adelaide asked, became more than usually loquacious.
-"Thon mountain that's foreninst ye, Miss, (said he,) is Croagh Patrick;
-on the top of it is an altar, where many a good Christian goes to tell
-their padereenes, on Patricksmas day. It's the very self same spot where
-St. Patrick stood, when he called all the snakes and toads, and varmint
-of all sorts, up the one side, and bid them, and their heirs for ever,
-go down the t'other intil the sea, and be aff till Inglant; and that's
-the rason the folks over the water have been so hard with us, ever since
-that blessed day, no blame to you, Miss." "And what's that mountain,
-shaped like a sugar loaf, more to the south?" "I don't know what name
-the quality give it, Miss; but we semples call it, _Altoir na
-Griene_[2], the name they say it had in ould times, afore St. Patrick
-stood on the other mountain."
-
-[Footnote 2: "The altar of the sun." Grieneus was one of the names of
-Apollo in the Grecian temples.]
-
-"Do you see that ould castle there, over aginst ye, in the lake? That's
-where the family used to live, afore the new house was built, seventy
-year agone next Hollontide; and now the good people dance in it every
-moonlight night." "And, pray, who are the good people?" "The little
-people, Miss, the fairies.--Many's the time Judy Maloony sees them
-chasing each other, when they slide down the moon beams, to play swing
-swang on the stalks of the ivy leaves.--And, she says, they sail across
-the lake in butter cups, to the lavender hedge in the garden, when it's
-in flower, to make themselves caps and jackets; and she gathers the
-thistle's beard, to sarve them for threads, afore the sun sets, and as
-sure as you live, there's never a bit of it there in the morning.
-
-"Do you see that big stone, Miss, a little up the mountain there? That
-by the side of the stream they call the goulden river; and that's the
-place the boys and girls sit, of a summer's evening, to steal unknownst
-upon the Loughrie men--ould men, about as big as my hand, looking as
-sour as you plase; but if you'll thrape it out to them, ye won't let
-them aff when ye catch them--they'll show you a power of gould they've
-hid in under the earth."
-
-Adelaide, though highly amused herself, thought she would give audience
-to Jarge another time, not thinking his conversation very edifying to
-Caroline, who, with "locks thrown back, and lips apart," was eagerly
-listening to every word he said; and therefore proposed returning home.
-But Jarge, looking much disappointed, said,--"Och! and won't ye be
-plased just to step intil the gardin? it's in iligant order for ye'z
-just now; I doubt ye'll never see it as nate again." Accordingly they
-were ushered into a walled garden, three _Irish_ acres in extent, well
-stocked with vegetables; but at least one third of it was planted with
-potatoes. It however produced a quantity of fruit, which almost
-exhausted Theresa's patience in preserving for herself and her friends
-the Desmonds; for he would have been a bold wight, that would have
-ventured to suggest to one of the name of O'Sullivan the propriety of
-selling fruit. It was much more consonant to their dignity to let, what
-they or their friends could not consume, rot under the trees. A great
-gate opened on a gravel walk (besides the entrance door) on which Mr.
-O'Sullivan's father had driven his coach and four all round the walks.
-But these walks, though just then, as Jarge Quin said, in "iligant
-order," were not usually remarkable for neatness. In their progress
-round the garden, they came to a very beautiful flower bed, and Adelaide
-put out her hand to pull a rose that tempted her sight.--Jarge hastily
-stopped her, saying, "You're welcome, as the flowers of May, to any
-thing, but that, at Ballinamoyle; his honour will have that himself the
-morra. Before I went to the wars, I dug the place for Miss Rose to plant
-the tree with her own beautiful hands. In the bed we always put the same
-sorting of flowers, after the very moral of what she left them; and no
-soul ever pulls them but his honour, and nurse Delany, who dresses the
-altar, in Miss Rose's room, with them; and lays them about her monument
-in the chapel, where she's cut out in white marble more nat'ral than the
-life."
-
-Adelaide made many apologies for the sacrilege she had been about to
-commit; and as she entered the house felt all the wounds of her heart
-bleed afresh, as she thought, "so would my beloved father have mourned
-for me."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-
-    And do I live to hear the tale!
-    And will ambition then prevail,
-    Can sordid schemes of wealth assail,
-                    A heart so true as his?
-
-    oeIL PERDUTO BEN.oe
-
-
-As Mr. O'Sullivan's guests were rising from the breakfast table the
-following morning, a peremptory ringing of the hall door bell announced
-the welcome arrival of the gray headed postman, who travelled on foot at
-all seasons of the year, visiting in turn the scattered dwellings of the
-gentry of this mountainous region. Adelaide, with sparkling eyes and
-eager fingers, opened a letter from Mrs. Temple, in answer to hers from
-Shrewsbury, which, besides much domestic intelligence, contained the
-following paragraph:--
-
-"I know you are much interested for Augustus Mordaunt, and therefore
-will be glad to hear that he is just gone abroad, with his uncle, Lord
-Osselstone, who, I am convinced, must grow proud, nay fond of him, as he
-has, by this means, an opportunity of being acquainted with the fine
-qualities of this noble young man. I am afraid my favourite wish, of his
-marrying Selina Seymour, is never likely to be gratified. Mr. Temple
-writes to me from London, that it is confidently reported she is engaged
-to Mr. Elton, Lord Eltondale's son and heir. He says, no young man in
-England bears a finer character (though it is impossible we could ever
-compare him to Augustus): a gentleman from Paris told Mr. Temple, that,
-instead of entering into the dissipation of that gay metropolis, he
-lives quite retired, absorbed in study; also that he had been acquainted
-with Mr. Elton in Sicily, where he was desperately in love with a lady
-of that country, whom he believed he had married: if this be the case,
-it is surely very dishonourable of him not to put an immediate stop to
-his engagement with Miss Seymour.--Augustus would never be guilty of
-such conduct."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Adelaide did indeed take a much deeper interest in Augustus Mordaunt's
-fate, than Mrs. Temple imagined; and little did that kind friend suspect
-the misery her letter had caused on the perusal. "Gone abroad!"
-exclaimed Adelaide, in thought; "perhaps for years."--A deadly paleness
-overspread her face, and she precipitately sought the solitude of her
-own chamber. Let us not intrude on the privacy she has chosen; but turn
-to survey the motley groupes that are now assembling about Mr.
-O'Sullivan's door.
-
-This day, being Saturday, Miss Fitzcarril held _her_ levee, which was as
-numerously, though not quite so respectably, attended as her host's had
-been on the day before. On this day of the week she gave audience, and a
-halfpenny apiece, to all the beggars in the country, with many charges
-not to spend their money idly. On these occasions she stood at the
-breakfast room window; from which spot she inquired into all their
-complaints, without scruple; and, with the assistance of nurse,
-prescribed for them, and gave medicines, wine, spirits, or black currant
-jam, as their wants demanded: this affair being at an end, they all
-adjourned to the kitchen door, where each received a pitcher of broth,
-and a huge oaten cake, to bake which had been the principal employment
-of the women assembled there the day before. An English reader might
-suppose, that the amount of Miss Fitzcarril's donation in money had been
-limited to a halfpenny to each beggar, from her own inclination to
-parsimony; but it was in fact what was customary, a sort of toll, paid
-by the gentry to the mendicants, on condition of receiving which, they
-forbore to infest their abodes at other times. The country families
-generally gave something additional, in the way of provision, according
-to their ability; but the inhabitants of towns and villages literally
-paid only this new species of poll tax; which, when received from
-numbers, amounts to something considerable to each individual. It is a
-lamentable truth, that an undue proportion of the Irish population are
-beggars, either from necessity or inclination; and the predilection for
-this mode of living is encouraged by the extraordinary charity of the
-lower order to each other: no suppliant ever leaves the door of the most
-miserable cabin, without receiving a handful of oaten meal, or two or
-three potatoes, which are put into bags carried for the purpose; nor is
-a night's lodging and the use of the turf fire ever denied. The form of
-application, and admittance, is as follows:--The beggar stands on the
-threshold, and says, "Peace be to this house! Any good Christian
-within?"--"What do you want, poor sowl?"--"The blessing of the Lord, and
-the holy powers, be about ye; and give a desolate cratur a night's
-lodging."--"In the name of the holy Vargin, and the blessed saints,
-kindly welcome." After this formula, the beggar, and his or her family,
-take up their abode, as long as the neighbourhood affords them
-subsistence. In summer, hordes of people travel about the country in
-this manner. They plant their potatoes, and sow their oats in spring;
-then locking up their houses, repair, like their betters, to the
-watering places, where they remain till the season arrives for digging
-the one and reaping the other. To the beggars that are acknowledged to
-be hale in body and sound in mind must be added those, who draw on the
-charity of the working members of the community, as "innocents,"
-"crouls," "spey" men or women, those afflicted with fits, dumb people,
-and lunatics. Whether it be, that the high premium that is given for any
-defect, mental or bodily, induces the fortunate possessor to bring it
-forward to publick view, and others, not so distinguished, to
-counterfeit infirmity; certain it is, that the eye of a stranger from
-England, where such objects are shut up in appropriate asylums, is as
-much shocked as surprised at the number of the above mentioned
-unfortunate beings, that are seen in the country parts of Ireland.
-There are numerous impostors, but still they are the exceptions, whilst
-the real sufferers form the rule.
-
-Ere the beggars dispersed, Adelaide returned to the breakfast parlour.
-And is this proud and brilliant beauty the gentle, placid Adelaide? A
-vivid, perhaps a feverish glow, mantled her cheeks, and gave her eyes a
-dazzling lustre, that was almost as repelling as it was beautiful. The
-dignity of her carriage approached to majesty. She seemed to walk
-triumphantly, as if she led misfortune by the hand, and awed her by
-
-    "The strange powers which lie
-    Within the magic circle of the eye."
-
-But had she thus quickly subdued all the rebel feelings, that so lately
-had mocked the calm control of reason? Oh, no! The smile that quivers
-round the trembling lip may play but to conceal the throb of agony. Even
-the melancholy sepulchre sometimes looks bright in the splendid beam of
-the sun; and the admiring spectator thinks not of the darkness and
-horror that reign within. At that moment Adelaide's heart was the tomb
-of hope. When she entered the breakfast room, Mr. Webberly stared at her
-like another Cymon, when Iphigenia first appeared to his wondering view.
-After gazing at her for some moments, he drew his breath, which had been
-repressed by his admiration, so as to give utterance to a most audible
-sigh; at the same time resolving, that, when she was Mrs. Webberly, she
-should always wear rouge. "When she has a colour (thought he) there is
-not a handsomer woman in all Lunnon.--At this very instant she looks as
-grand as Madame Catalani, when she acts that Di--Di--that virago queen,
-that burned herself like a fool. What a figure we shall cut when I drive
-her round the ring at the Park, in an open landaulet, with four dashing
-horses, and two out-riders, in smart liveries! No; I think I'll sit
-beside her; the fellows will envy me so! and have two postilions, with
-purple velvet caps, and jackets trimmed with gold lace!" Having thus
-settled his equipage to his satisfaction, he came up to the intended
-mistress of it, saying, with all the tenderness of accent he could
-command, "There is no body, Miss Wildenheim, I envy so much as Mrs.
-Temple; you used always to be so glad when you saw her; I should be the
-happiest man alive, if a letter from me would make you look so gay as
-hers has done."
-
-A deeper hue painted Adelaide's cheek, and a still brighter beam
-sparkled in her eye. "What strange figure is that?" said she, laughing,
-and avoiding any direct reply; "mounted like the farrier of Tamworth,
-'on a mare of four shilling?'" The equestrian, that thus attracted her
-notice, was one of a most unusual description. A sallow, meagre object
-was mounted on one of the rough mountain horses of the country; a straw
-rope served as bridle; and, instead of saddle, he sat on a well filled
-sack, wearing a coarse blanket, fastened under his chin, not to serve
-as a garment, as she unknowingly supposed, but to hide the good
-condition of those it concealed. "What's your business, good man?"
-inquired Miss Fitzcarril.--"I'm a stranger, and ye have a good name in
-the country, lady dear; and I'm just come to seek your charity, in God's
-name."--"What's that you've got in the sack?"--"Pratees and meal,
-honey."--"And where did you get that horse?"--"Troth, I bought him at
-the fair, last Tursday was tree weeks." "I've nothing for you, good man:
-many's the time I've heard of setting a beggar on horseback, but I never
-saw one till now." The following Saturday this hero returned on the same
-errand, but without his horse, still however retaining his blanket. Miss
-Fitzcarril's lynx's eye recognized him instantly; indeed such a peculiar
-figure could hardly have escaped the notice of the most casual observer.
-She inquired where he had left his horse? He very quietly answered, "Ye
-were no ways agreeable to him, jewel, the last time I was here, so I
-just hitched him up at the gate there below[3]!"
-
-[Footnote 3: _Verbatim._]
-
-In the middle of this assembly of beggars, four gentlemen and a lady
-rode up to the door; and Mr. Webberly turned away with an expression of
-mortification, when he saw Adelaide kiss her hand to Colonel Desmond,
-who jumped off his horse, and, with his niece and Mr. Donolan, quickly
-entered the house; whilst his brother, with his characteristic
-jocularity, stopped to jest with the women on the outside, his son
-standing by in silence to enjoy the fun. When they, in a few minutes'
-time, joined their party within, the mendicant dames said one to
-another, "God bless his merry honour, but master Harry is a hearty
-gentleman[4]!"
-
-[Footnote 4: The lower Irish, to the end of life, continue to call every
-body by the appellation they knew them in youth. Many a "Master Billy
-and Miss Jenny" are, with all propriety, fathers and mothers of large
-families. The wives of the peasantry are always called by their maiden
-names amongst their equals; and parents speak of "the boy," or "the
-girl," even when past the grand climacteric.]
-
-Mr. Desmond was a very handsome man, tall, stout, and well made; his
-face, manner, and words expressive of the greatest _bonhomie_, mirth,
-and joviality. He had no pretensions whatsoever, but was one of the few,
-who openly dare to appear precisely what they are. He went through the
-world finding amusement in every person he met, whether beggar or king;
-laughing at himself, and with every body else: he danced, rode, and sung
-admirably; and particularly excelled in the composition of
-electioneering songs and squibs. His family had, for centuries, lost
-their blood and their property, in every rebellion Ireland was agitated
-by; but, about sixty years ago, had become protestants and loyalists in
-the same day; and, as the Irish are never lukewarm in any thing, Mr.
-Desmond now figured as Orange-man, captain of a yeomanry corps,
-freemason, and magistrate of the most approved zeal, which, however, his
-natural good disposition kept within the pale of humanity. Miss Desmond,
-who accompanied her father and uncle in this visit, was mentally and
-personally a softened resemblance of the former. She was just then
-fifteen, but so extremely tall and womanly in stature, that the
-spectator was constantly obliged to refer to her face, to correct the
-false calendar expressed by her figure. The _dilettante_, in the true
-spirit of hypercriticism, congratulated himself on having discovered,
-that she was not symmetrically formed; but though some said, "She would
-be a fine woman," and some that "She would be a coarse woman," all were
-agreed, that in the mean time she was a very lovely girl. Her features
-were not perfect, but her countenance was frank, good natured, and
-vivacious: a pair of laughing eyes sent forth from beneath their shading
-lashes fairy messengers of mirth, to dimple her blooming cheek, or
-pucker up the corners of her eye-lids. In manner, though she was not
-impudent, she was not bashful, perhaps from the total absence of
-self-conceit, which never led her to suppose she occupied a place in the
-thoughts of those who did not love her; and on the partiality of those
-who did she relied implicitly. Until her uncle fixed his residence at
-her father's house, she was nearly as wild as the heaths that surrounded
-it. But the observer of nature is well aware, that in such uncultivated
-regions blooms many a flower, whose beauty is more exquisite than that
-of those the art of man raises in the brilliant parterre. Some happy
-star seemed to rule over Melicent Desmond, that saved her from the very
-verge of what was unlovely in woman. She was so tall, she would have
-looked masculine, but for the fairest complexion in the world, which
-gave her face, neck, and arms a most feminine appearance. The expression
-of her countenance was so droll, it would have been satirical, but for
-the kindness of heart it beamed with. She was so lively she was almost
-boisterous; and any other girl, equally careless of her attire, would
-have seemed untidy. But all her looks, words, and actions had a peculiar
-charm, that, though none would or could have imitated them, few were so
-harsh as to condemn; and, in the very act of censure, the face of the
-speaker expressed fondness and admiration, of which nobody could define
-to themselves the cause: she seized upon the affections with a sort of
-arbitrary power, which defied the remonstrances of reason, when it did
-not receive her sanction. This dear girl was the idol of her parents and
-her uncle: but the latter, though most anxious to see her all that was
-delightful in a female character, was extremely cautious in the line of
-conduct he adopted towards her; he rather sought to add, than to change,
-and was not a little fearful of "improving for the worse," as his
-countrymen emphatically express the effects arising from a spirit of
-false refinement:
-
-    "Many are spoil'd by that pedantic throng,
-    Who with great pains teach youth to reason wrong:
-    Tutors, like virtuosoes, oft inclin'd,
-    By strange transfusion to improve the mind,
-    Draw off the sense we have, to pour in new,
-    Which yet with all their skill they ne'er could do."
-
-He more judiciously confined his endeavours to furnishing her with ideas
-and examples, leaving it to her unbiassed judgment to choose amongst
-them, and make what she pleased her own. He now wished to give her the
-advantage of associating, as much as possible, with Adelaide, noticing
-her perfections but generally, and trusting to Melicent's discernment to
-analyse each particular charm, unaided, save by the happy benevolence of
-disposition, which would make such an exercise of her faculties the
-first of all pleasures. He had accordingly lost no time in making his
-brother call on the strangers, for the purpose of inviting them to
-Bogberry Hall. It was settled, in this visit, that the party from
-Ballinamoyle should dine at Mr. Desmond's house early in the ensuing
-week, where they should remain till the following day, as the distance
-was too great to permit of returning at night.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan prevailed on the Desmonds to join his family circle at
-dinner; and when they prepared to return home in the evening, Colonel
-Desmond said to Adelaide, in a low voice, "I hope Melicent has not
-shocked you by her brogue; I find it most difficult to cure." "Oh, don't
-try to alter her accent, (replied she) she speaks the prettiest Irish!
-Any thing that would make her less original, would take from her charms:
-she is one of the most captivating creatures I ever saw." His only
-answer was a parting pressure of her hand, which conveyed his thanks for
-her admiration of his niece, and meant more than he yet ventured to
-express in words. "How different she is from Melicent, (thought he), yet
-how charming!"
-
-A lover and an uncle could not be supposed to be expert at definition,
-otherwise he might have said, that the one amused the fancy, whilst the
-other touched the heart.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-                 Be my plan,
-    To live as merry as I can,
-    Regardless how the fashions go,
-    Whether there's reason for't, or no.
-    Be my employment here on earth,
-    To give a lib'ral scope to mirth.
-
-    oeCHURCHILLoe.
-
-Bogberry Hall was the abode of mirth and glee: there was nothing but
-rattling, and ranting, and singing, and dancing, from morning till
-night. The family living in it, consisted of nine happy children, with
-an indulgent, tender mother, remarkable for nothing, except her good
-nature, and careful attention to their wants and pleasures. This house
-was never without company staying in it, principally relations; for the
-Desmonds had first, second, and third cousins innumerable. The actual
-income of the family was not large, in proportion to their numbers; but
-the advantage of situation supplied them with almost every thing they
-consumed at a low rate; and many rents, that a non-resident would have
-found it impossible to get, were compounded for, partly in kind, partly
-in labour. When any body condoled with Mr. Desmond on his large family,
-he used to say, "The more the merrier; there never was a child sent into
-the world, that it did not bring its portion with it; I wish I had
-thirty of them." Calming his mind with this idea, he determined to make
-them, as long as he was alive, as merry as possible; for, in his
-vocabulary, merriment and happiness were synonymous. A very necessary
-part of his establishment, for this purpose, were two fiddlers and a
-piper. One of the former was then absent on rather a singular
-errand.--Miss Sophy Desmond had been put to school at Galway, and he was
-sent to board in the same house, that he might play for her to dance
-every evening, and "keep her from thinking long after home." The cause
-of Sophy's being sent to school was as singular as her strange
-accompaniment. One of Melicent's favourite pastimes the year before had
-been to get up on the horses that carried fish, poultry, or eggs, in a
-sort of open panniers called creels, to her father's house for sale; and
-whilst her mother was giving a dram, or buying chickens three to the
-couple, away she went "o'er moor and mountain," amusing herself with the
-alarm she should cause, and the hunt there would be after her. One day a
-horse was brought to Bogberry Hall, carrying two wooden churns, one
-containing eggs, the other buttermilk. Melicent scrambled up the side,
-and seating herself between them, off she set; but while she was
-galloping along much to her satisfaction, in making a leap over a pit in
-the bog before her father's gate, the covers of the churns came off, and
-she was soused with the milk on one side, and pelted with the eggs on
-the other. The horse took fright, and carried her in this condition
-miles round the country, without hat or cloak. She was at last met by
-some gentlemen, who brought her home, her clothes dripping wet, and her
-face and hair stiff with the contents of the egg shells. The conclusion
-her friends drew from this adventure was, that as _Melicent_ was quite
-spoiled, _Sophy_ must be sent to school directly. Miss Desmond's
-coadjutor in all such pranks (which however she had much intermitted
-since the above-mentioned unlucky day) was her brother Launcelot, an
-arch boy, one year younger than herself, who, to plague his cousin
-"Dilly," as he called Mr. Donolan, now pretended to be yet more
-unpolished than he really was. These two were standing in the window of
-their mother's drawing-room, on the day on which she expected the party
-from Ballinamoyle to dinner, when they espied Mrs. O'Sullivan's gaudy
-equipage at some distance. "There, Melicent," said Launcelot, "there
-comes Tidy-ideldy and Big bow bow," as he had christened the two Miss
-Webberlys. "I declare, Lanty," replied his sister, "when I saw that
-ugly Miss Webberly at dinner the other day, with half a rose tree on her
-head, I could scarcely keep from saying to you, that she was 'the devil
-in a bush.'" "Oh fie, Melicent!" said Colonel Desmond, with an
-ill-suppressed smile, "such a great girl as you ought not to encourage
-that rude boy; it would be much more becoming for you to think of
-receiving your guests with politeness, than to employ yourself in
-finding names for them." "Don't be angry, uncle dear," said Melicent,
-coaxingly, "and I'll call her London Pride; and that dear beautiful Miss
-Wildenheim is Venus's looking-glass:--you have no objection to be Flos
-Adonis, uncle, I'm sure. Oh! I wish I was like her, and then you'd be
-quite pleas'd with me." "My dearest Melicent," said he, fondly, "I don't
-wish you to be like any body but yourself; only control your spirits
-to-day, that's a good girl."
-
-In another window Mr. Donolan was expatiating on the merits of frogs
-stewed in _red_ champaigne, as he had eat them at the _Cafe de mille
-Colonnes_; whilst his auditor, Mr. Desmond, was assiduously drawing up
-his mouth into a whistle, his usual preventive of _mal a propos_
-laughter. His lady was preparing to receive her guests on their
-entrance, which she did with much kindness, and with the ease of a
-person well accustomed to the office. The ladies from Ballinamoyle were
-escorted only by Captain Cormac, as Mr. Webberly had unfortunately
-sprained his ancle that morning too severely to admit of his moving off
-a couch, and his host remained at home in order to show him proper
-attention, and Father Dermoody never formed one of so large a party.
-
-The company, when assembled, besides the party from Ballinamoyle and the
-Desmond family, consisted of the curate of the parish, the physician of
-the neighbourhood, a music-master, occasionally resident at Bogberry
-Hall, two smart beaux on a visit there from Limerick, and three very
-handsome girls of the name of Nevil, whom Mr. Desmond introduced to the
-English ladies as "Battle, Murder, and Sudden Death."
-
-Miss Fitzcarril had hoped much from the effects of a rose-coloured
-satin gown and orange turban, on the heart of her promised spouse; and
-therefore great was her disappointment, and unfeigned were her
-expressions of regret, when she lamented the accident, which deprived
-the party of his "agreeable society." Miss Webberly, resolving to take
-the _dilettante's_ affections by a _coup de main_, had that day employed
-herself in a reperusal of the portable Cyclopaedia, and had no less
-attended to the embellishment of her person, which she attired _a la
-Minerve_, to give him a delicate proof of her just appreciation of his
-compliments.
-
-But Cecilia Webberly lost no time in commencing a flirtation with him,
-for the sole purpose of plaguing her "sweet Meely." In this however she
-was disappointed, for he complimented the mind of the one nearly as much
-as the person of the other, hoping thus to earn an equal portion of the
-"diet of good humour" for himself, which was as necessary to the comfort
-of his moral existence, as the daily aliments which were required for
-his physical being. For the purpose of receiving and bestowing flattery,
-he took a favourable opportunity, afforded by a pause in conversation,
-of producing a gold fillagree case, in which a few yards of pink riband
-were rolled up, which some milliner of the _Palais Royal_ had persuaded
-him to buy, in order to mark them with the dimensions of the celebrated
-statues in the _Louvre_; and he had thus indefatigably measured every
-wrist, waist, head, and ancle of the collection; and now as
-unremittingly solicited every lady of his acquaintance to apply this
-test of symmetry to the corresponding parts of her own person. And many
-a female heart beat with anxious expectation as she passed the girdle of
-various Venuses round Her waist, in hopes some one might prove a fit
-cestus for herself.
-
-By a little false play, Felix now proved Cecilia to be the exact
-counterpart of the celebrated Amazon of the Hall of the Laocoon, which
-considerably raised her in his and her own estimation. Mr. Desmond,
-seeing him preparing to roll this new _line of beauty_ up, called him
-over, and whispered loud enough for Adelaide, who was sitting close by,
-to hear, "The ladies will be affronted if you don't measure them all,
-Dilly; it looks as if you didn't think they would be the right
-fit:--begin with Miss Wildenheim; I'll be bound the belt of the _Venus
-de Medici_ will fit her as 'nate as a Limerick glove.'"
-
-When the _dilettante_, in the most affected manner possible, presented
-Adelaide with the portion of the riband he had passed round the waist of
-the Medicean Venus, she politely, but gravely declined the honour with a
-dignity that repelled the officious fop; and turning to Melicent with a
-kind and anxious glance, by a half sentence conveyed to the intelligent
-girl her contempt and disapprobation of the erudite trifling. Colonel
-Desmond met her eye, and by looks thanked her both for the example and
-advice; and then said, "Why, Felix, if you were to measure wrists and
-waists by spherical trigonometry; indeed it would afford a laudable
-display of your science. I'm sure Miss Wildenheim would not suffer the
-dimensions of her arm to be found in any way less sublime." "Yes,
-indeed," exclaimed Melicent, "you're no better, Cousin Dilly, than a
-common habit-maker with that little yard. Why don't you make a surtout
-for the Venus you are so fond of talking about?" Though Mr. Desmond had
-set young Donolan on in hopes of seeing a high scene of comic effect
-take place between him and the ladies, as he never let pass any
-opportunity of quizzing him, in revenge for the contempt he on all
-occasions expressed for that country, which was the object of his own
-enthusiastic love; he grinned with delight to see him so mortified,
-whilst he at the same time felt much obliged to Adelaide for the good
-natured hint she had given to Melicent, which he had predetermined to
-convey himself, when it came to her turn to make the ridiculous
-exhibition. However, this votary of Momus could not consent to lose his
-fun entirely, and therefore said to the discontented connoisseur, "Don't
-be dash'd, Dilly, if the young ones are too shy, we'll try the old
-ladies;" and snapping the fillagree case out of his hand, he began with
-his own wife, and with much laughter found her circumference out of all
-just proportion. He then proceeded to Mrs. O'Sullivan, saying, "I'm
-shocked, madam, at my nephew's want of gallantry in not ascertaining the
-proportions of your figure before he took those of lesser beauties."
-"You're wastly polite, sir, but I bant so slim as I used to be; that ere
-belt wouldn't compress me now, though time was, Mr. Desmond, when I was
-the pride of Bagnigge Wells--I could show shapes with any of 'em." "But,
-my dear ma'am, if one won't do, two of them put together will, and then
-we can safely say, you have double the beauty of the best French Venus
-amongst them all. Here's for the honour of Old England," holding up the
-riband; and as she passed it round her waist, "I knew that," continued
-he, "it's allowed that one English can beat three Frenchmen; and I could
-have laid my life, that one full grown British beauty was at least equal
-to two of the first in France." Miss Fitzcarril simperingly anticipated
-her triumph, when she should give incontestable proof, that her waist
-was smaller than that of the finest model of sculptured symmetry. After
-making the modest, she consented to give ocular demonstration of the
-fact; and then, holding out one long bony fore-finger, put the tip of
-the other on its knuckle, saying, with the utmost exultation, "All that
-much less:" which circumstance she related with conscious pride to Mr.
-Webberly, the first time she saw him afterwards; and it will long afford
-an agreeable subject for Captain Cormac's compliments, who, in truth,
-had lately been rather at a loss for novelties of this kind.
-
-The _dilettante_, in an agony of tasteful horror, that the silk, which
-had encircled the divine form of the Medicean Venus, should have been
-contaminated by touching that of the stiffest old maid in _Connaught_,
-shuddered as he internally groaned, "Oh! the she Vandal! But what can a
-man of taste expect, who ventures to amalgamate in society with these
-modern Boeotians! May the genius of sculpture never again display her
-_chefs d'oeuvre_ to my enlightened gaze, if I ever make any further
-attempt to give these demi-savages a specimen of the _beau ideal_." He
-had scarcely rolled up his riband with undissembled indignation, when
-dinner was announced. Had the tables on which it was served been as
-animated as Homer's, they would have groaned with the weight of
-supernumerary dishes, in all which, however, Mr. Donolan could not, with
-the aid of his glass, find any thing he could recommend Miss Cecilia
-Webberly to eat. "Not a particle of French cookery," said he,
-despairingly shrugging his shoulders, "except, perhaps, that _bashamele
-de veau roti_--the piper and the fiddler make such a confounded noise,
-no one can be heard. Launcelot! you're next your father, ask him for
-some of it." "Anan!" said the youth, pretending to look quite stupid,
-"Ask your father to send Miss Cecilia Webberly some of that _bashamele
-de veau roti_." "What in the name of the Lord does he mean, Milly?" said
-Lanty, turning to his sister; "faith and honour he never spakes legible
-now." "Legible, Lanty! indeed I think he speaks copperplate," replied
-Melicent; "it's some larded veal he wants."
-
-All this time the piper and the fiddler were playing furiously out of
-tune in the hall. Mr. Desmond, addressing Adelaide, said, "I always make
-them play up a tune at dinner--it makes it sit light." "What a
-satisfaction it must be to you to support those poor blind men!" "Yes,
-and their being blind has an advantage you don't think of;--if I have a
-potato and herring for my dinner, they don't know but I sport three
-courses and a dessert." The noise of the piper and fiddler, of
-incessant laughing and talking, the clatter of knives and forks, joined
-to the giggling and chattering of the maid servants employed in washing
-plates, spoons, forks, and knives, in one common bucket, behind the
-half-closed parlour door, with occasional dialogues between them, such
-as, "Oh Jasus! I have brok the big dish, and my mistress will be
-raving!" "The devil mend you! what cale had you to be peeping in at the
-quality, with your face as black as my shoe; and when the master turned
-his head, ye made off in such a flusteration, ye let go your load."
-"Sarra matter! I'll get Miss Milly to spake a good word for me, and
-there'll be nothing about it." All these noises united were too much for
-Mr. Donolan, whose "nerves were finer than a spider's web," and he
-became quite cross. When Melicent complained of the heat, he said very
-gruffly, "It's no wonder you're hot, when you appear in _bear skin_."
-She pretended not to understand him:--he retorted--"Really, Melicent, if
-you have not _gumption_ enough to understand them, I cannot be
-dictionary to my own _bon mots_." "Glossary, rather," thought Adelaide,
-"for I'm sure they are barbarous wit."
-
-Whilst Mr. Donolan conveyed to his _inamorata_, who was sitting beside
-him, by winks, and shrugs, and contortions of countenance, his knowledge
-of the _savoir vivre_, he and she both, as well as the rest of the
-company, gave incontestable proof--(at least if there be any truth in
-the proverb, which tells us, "That the proof of the pudding is in the
-eating")--that Mrs. Desmond's bill of fare, though "gothic to the last
-degree"--was very palatable. They even condescended, after demolishing
-fish, flesh, fowl, and pastry, to partake of her floating island, served
-in a flat cut glass dish, which occupied the place of a modern plateau.
-After the ladies had given the dessert "honour due," and the gentlemen
-had drank "The king," and "All our true friends, and the devil take the
-false ones," and the "Ladies' inclinations," the fair part of the
-company retired to the drawing-room. Here Melicent, in great delight,
-showed her friends the new grand piano forte her uncle had bought for
-her in Dublin. "It was thoroughly well tuned," said she to Adelaide, "by
-Mr. Ingham this morning, that we might have the pleasure of hearing you
-play. My uncle says you are a perfect musician." Miss Cecilia Webberly
-bit her lips, but quickly consoled herself with the recollection, that
-he had never heard her sing; and, to turn the conversation, asked Miss
-Desmond if she drew; she replied in the negative, but produced a
-port-folio of fine drawings of her uncle's. Adelaide had seen most of
-them before, and looked at them with the deepest interest, as they
-brought past scenes to her memory. Melicent held up one that was quite
-new to her;--a lovely female figure, in the freshest bloom of youth, was
-depicted holding a scroll, which she was reading with evident pleasure.
-The painter had caught one of the softest blushes and most bewitching
-smiles, that ever gave to beauty her least resistible charm; whilst the
-drapery, which flowed round a form of perfect symmetry, seemed to have
-been arranged by the hand of the Graces. This drawing had been executed
-by one of the first masters at Vienna, from a sketch of Colonel
-Desmond's. On the margin of the drawing were the following verses, the
-first few words of which were written on the scroll the fair creature
-was supposed to read:
-
-        Adelaide
-    Paroit faite-expres pour charmer;
-    Et mieux que le galant Ovide,
-    Ses yeux enseignent l'art d'aimer
-        Adelaide.
-
-        D'Adelaide
-    Ah! que l'empire semble doux!
-    Qu'on me donne un nouvel Alcide,
-    Je gage qu'il file aux genoux
-        D'Adelaide.
-
-        D'Adelaide
-    Fuyez le dangereux accueil:
-    Tous les enchantemens d'Armide
-    Sont moins a craindre qu'un coup d'oeil
-        D'Adelaide.
-
-        D'Adelaide
-    Quand l'Amour eut forme les traits,
-    Ma fois, dit-il, la cour de Gnide
-    N'a rien de pareil aux attraits
-        D'Adelaide.
-
-        Adelaide,
-    Lui dit-il, ne nous quittons pas:
-    Je suis aveugle, sois mon guide;
-    Je suivrai partout pas a pas
-        Adelaide.
-
-
-    TRANSLATION.
-
-        Adelaide
-    Was surely form'd all hearts to move,
-    And more than Ovid we can prove
-    By speaking eyes, the art of love
-        In Adelaide.
-
-        Than Adelaide
-    No softer thraldom could we meet:
-    Alcides' self would think it sweet,
-    To spin his task out at the feet
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        From Adelaide
-    And all her dang'rous beauties fly;--
-    Armida's charms and witchery
-    Were far less fatal than the eye
-        Of Adelaide.
-
-        Of Adelaide
-    When Cupid first the features fram'd,
-    "In Cnidus' court," he loud proclaim'd,
-    "Not one for beauty shall be fam'd
-        Like Adelaide."
-
-        "O Adelaide!"
-    The sightless boy enraptur'd cried,
-    "Alas, I'm blind! Be thou my guide;
-    From henceforth I'll ne'er leave the side
-        Of Adelaide."
-
-Miss Wildenheim quickly recollected, that these lines were written in a
-fine edition of Klopstock's works Colonel Desmond had given her, as a
-_gage d'amitie_, the last day she had seen him at Vienna; and when Miss
-Nevil turned to trace the resemblance she perceived in the drawing--the
-blush, the smile, the attitude, the graceful form, struck her so
-forcibly, that she exclaimed, "It _is_ yourself, Miss Wildenheim; I
-thought it was the image of you, the instant I saw it." Melicent, with
-intuitive propriety, sought to relieve Adelaide's embarrassment, and
-said, "Here's a far more beautiful figure; this, Miss Webberly, is my
-last production--a charming Paul and Virginia, I assure you. Do admire
-Paul's leg, it is thicker than the tree he is sitting under:--I wonder
-he doesn't kick Virginia, she squints so abominably."
-
-When this singular specimen of the fine arts was first displayed to the
-partial eyes of Melicent's parents, it met with no small admiration from
-them. A showy frame was bought, in which it was hung up over the
-chimney-piece of their usual sitting-room, and the fond mother gazed at
-it from morning till night. When Colonel Desmond returned from abroad,
-this was the first object, that, after showing her nine healthy,
-handsome children, she directed his attention to. He did not then
-express all the horror he felt at the contrast it afforded; but in about
-six months' negociation with considerable difficulty accomplished its
-being safely deposited in his port-folio.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-        Qu'Adelaide
-    Met d'ame et de gout dans son chant!
-    Aux accens de sa voix timide
-    Chacun dit rien n'est si touchant,
-        Qu'Adelaide[5]!
-
-    oeMARMONTELoe.
-
-[Footnote 5:
-
-        Adelaide
-    Whilst singing steals each list'ner's heart,
-    'Tis melody's refined part,
-    None can such melting strains impart,
-        As Adelaide.
-]
-
-
-As soon as the gentlemen returned to the drawing room, and tea was over,
-the mistress of the house proposed music.
-
-The Desmonds, in general, were considerable proficients in this
-delightful art; and a trio for the violin, flute, and piano forte, was
-charmingly played by Melicent, and her father, and uncle. Though the
-former failed so lamentably in drawing, she had a fine genius for music,
-which was made the most of by constant practice; it was the only thing
-her father had ever studied, and in it he had acquired considerable
-knowledge, whilst her uncle had gained, in Germany, a fine style of
-playing on the violin; and to their instructions she was more indebted
-for her excellence, than to those of Mr. Ingham, who taught her the mere
-mechanical part of the science, and even that very imperfectly. As soon
-as, according to the rules of etiquette, the young lady of the house had
-made a commencement, her guests were in turn requested to display their
-talents. Colonel Desmond had whispered about that Adelaide sung
-enchantingly; and there was a general impatience expressed to hear her,
-which she, in her usual unaffected manner, consented to gratify.
-
-The tones of her voice were exquisitely touching, and they took the
-shortest road to the heart, without stopping on the way to tickle the
-ear by the tricks of mere execution; each ornament seemed to rise in
-its own proper place, by a sort of "happy necessity," and, like the
-temple of taste, her singing "always charmed, never surprised." Her
-vocal excellences were most called forth in the highest style of Italian
-music. In the detached scenes of an opera she was inimitable: her divine
-voice painted, as it were, every shade of feeling; and the composer
-might have rejoiced to hear the Proserpine or Elfrida, not of his music,
-but of his imagination. Still more enchanting than her voice when she
-sang was her countenance, which the soul seemed to irradiate with that
-immortal light only seen on earth in "the human face divine;" and there
-were expressed all those indescribable charms, the offspring of genius
-and feeling, which the most melodious sounds are insufficient to convey
-to the sense. As she was however too rational, to be sublime out of
-place, she did not attempt to introduce the "grand opera" at Bogberry
-Hall, but apologizing for her deficiency in English music, which she
-feared to disfigure by her peculiar accent, sang a playful foreign
-ballad, which perhaps displayed the fascinating graces of her flexible
-voice, and polished manner, almost as delightfully as a finer
-composition would have done. She was rapturously _encored_, and was
-detained singing, till, quite distressed at the idea of excluding every
-other lady from the piano forte, she pleaded fatigue, as her excuse for
-retiring from the instrument. As the company crowded round her to bestow
-their praises, the winning expression with which her soft eyes met the
-general gaze, as they seemed imploringly to ask the forgiveness of her
-unsought superiority, and which her graceful gestures no less eloquently
-entreated, drew from the heart touched by her sweetness and modesty that
-exclamation of "charming! charming!" which the lips had opened to apply
-to her captivating talents.
-
-During the time Adelaide was singing, Melicent stood beside her uncle in
-almost breathless delight, her hand resting on his arm, which she
-pressed with earnestness as any note of peculiar beauty met her ear. He
-was so completely lost in a reverie, (a most unusual circumstance with
-him,) that even after the melody had ceased, he stood in the same spot,
-and in the same attitude, as before. Melicent roused him from his
-reflections, as she looked up in his face, and said, "How enchanting!
-her voice is 'pleasant as the gale of spring, that sighs on the hunter's
-ear when he wakens from dreams of joy, and has heard the music of the
-spirits of the Hill.'" "I perceive," replied he, almost starting at her
-first address, "that you read Ossian as incessantly as ever, Melicent: I
-have just been thinking how superior Miss Wildenheim is to her own
-acquirements." "I don't exactly understand you, uncle." "If you had ever
-mixed in the world, my love, you would without difficulty; you would
-there meet with many of both sexes, in whom the painter, or the poet, or
-the musician, stand forth so prominently, that the individual character
-is lost in the background, indeed, sometimes, with advantage. I'm sure,
-when Miss Wildenheim occurs to your mind to-morrow morning, you won't
-think _first_ of her singing, though you do admire it so much." "Oh,
-no!" replied Melicent, "I shall think of her charming smiles, as she is
-endeavouring to persuade Miss Cecilia Webberly to sing the air she
-thinks she most excels in.--They are looking for the music; I must go
-and assist them." Cecilia now did her utmost to eclipse Adelaide, by
-displaying twice the power of voice in songs of greater execution, which
-every body confessed she sang _well_, though no one _felt_ she sang
-charmingly. After two or three solos, it was proposed, that Mr. Ingham
-should join her in a duet. She purposely chose one, which should be a
-trial of skill between the performers. It was that style of music, which
-Colonel Desmond called the "florid Gothick," from its profuse ornament
-and defective taste; it had triplets, volatas, and trills without end.
-Poor Mr. Ingham, in more than one sense of the word, _shook_ for his
-fame; the merciless Cecilia forgot, that on it depended his bread; she
-did not read in his countenance, "He who filches from me my good name,
-takes that which not enricheth him, and makes me poor indeed!" But when
-they came to the final cadence, impelled by the "glorious fault of
-angels and of gods," she aspired higher than fate permitted her to
-attain with honour; and in a precipitate fall from D sharp in alt was
-hurled on the flat seventh, instead of the perfect third of the key,
-which made an unfortunate discord with the note intended to harmonize
-with said perfect third in a simultaneous trill; and on this unlucky
-seventh she continued to shake without pity or remorse, till the poor
-man, in emulation, was nearly black in the face, and was obliged to take
-breath twice, in a most audible manner, before she would have done. But
-at last she ceased, and the mortified musician's good-natured patron,
-seeing his vexation, and being himself shocked at the discord, clapped
-him on the back, saying, "Well done, Ingham; both parts famously sung:"
-and, with a significant wink, added, "By Heavens! she shook the cat out
-of the bag that time; she did you up there, man alive!" Lanty, who had
-thought the shake wondrous queer, he did not know why, understanding the
-drift of his father's observation, burst into a loud fit of laughter,
-which was followed by a peremptory order from his mother to quit the
-room. In the mean time the rest of the company were variously occupied:
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and Miss Fitzcarril, with the physician and curate,
-formed a party at _short whist_, which the former, to assist her claims
-to fashion, played at a rate that was much higher than accorded with her
-frugal propensities, and which the pride of her companions prevented
-from confessing was much beyond what suited their finances. The
-physician, who was losing, internally grumbled at this new method of
-playing the good old game of whist, by which twice as much may be lost
-in the same space of time; and muttered, as he sorted his cards, a
-barbarous parody of Shakspeare, "There comes the last scene of
-all:--short sight, short gowns, short whist, short every thing!" Leaning
-over "John of Gaunt's" chair, (the agnomen Mr. Desmond had been pleased
-to bestow on the stupendous Theresa,) stood Captain Cormac, to rejoice
-in the goodly row of kings, queens, and aces, which the hand of his
-liege sometimes contained, and which was graciously pointed out to him
-with an accompanying smile; or to pick up the glove, card, or
-handkerchief that fell to the ground, not always undesignedly. Mrs.
-Desmond kept herself disengaged to be kind and civil to every body,
-sometimes condoling with the losers at whist, sometimes laughing with
-the young people, as they played at "consequences," "what's my thought
-like?" or "dressing the poor soldier." Miss Webberly was in earnest
-conversation with Mr. Donolan, of which Mrs. Desmond's ear, unwilling,
-caught one or two sentences. In answer to an observation from Amelia, he
-said "A very good match for _him_," with a sort of conceited emphasis on
-the word _him_, which insinuated "it would be a very bad match for
-_me_." "Scarcely even for _him_," retorted Miss Webberly, "German gentry
-are but sma." This quotation was followed by a laugh of affected
-vehemence from both; and when Cecilia, exulting in her triumph over Mr.
-Ingham, came up to them, the witticism was repeated; and they then, in a
-playhouse whisper, extended their strictures to all the company in turn,
-only interrupted by fits of laughter. Mrs. Desmond turned away in
-disgust, and, looking for Melicent, proudly thought, "My little mountain
-girl may want polish, as Edward says, but, with all her wildness, she is
-still the lady." The object of her thoughts was, at that moment, in
-conversation with her uncle and Adelaide, whom they had joined, when
-Cecilia Webberly sat down to the piano forte. When she had finished her
-duet, in the manner before mentioned, Miss Desmond said, "What a pity it
-is, Miss Wildenheim, that people, in the attempt to astonish, will
-insist upon showing what they _cannot_ do." "My dear Melicent,"
-interrupted her uncle, "you may take it as a pretty general rule, that
-when a lady attempts or even succeeds in _astonishing_, all is not
-exactly as it ought to be; am I not right?" continued he, turning to
-Adelaide, "Oh, perfectly," replied she; "but, indeed, Miss Webberly
-executed her songs extremely well, with the exception of that
-unfortunate shake." "I have heard my uncle say," rejoined Melicent,
-"that an _execution_ is sometimes a _murder_; in that sense, I allow she
-has executed them well; but, surely, music that is not pleasing, can
-never be good." As Melicent never spoke _sotto voce_, her uncle was
-afraid her observations would be heard, and therefore, to divert her
-mind from Miss Webberly's singing, took up a book of poems, which was
-lying on the table they were standing near, and addressing Adelaide,
-said, "I condemned these verses this morning, as being unnatural:
-Melicent, to all my objections, only answered, 'Oh! dear uncle, I
-delight in them.' Do be our umpire, and show her, that something more
-is necessary to prove her admiration to be well founded, than the bare
-assertion that she does admire; when she dislikes, she has reasons
-enough at command, but when she approves, it is with an extravagance of
-enthusiasm, that admits of no analysis." Adelaide read as follows:--
-
-    The sigh of her heart was sincere,
-      When blushing she whisper'd her love,
-    A sound of delight in my ear;
-      Her voice was the voice of a dove.
-    Ah! who could from Phillida fly?
-      Yet I sought other nymphs of the vale,
-    Forgot her sweet blush and her sigh!
-      Forgot that I told her my tale.
-
-    In sorrow I wish'd to return,
-      And the tale of my passion renew;
-    Go, Shepherd, she answer'd with scorn,
-      False Shepherd, for ever adieu!
-    For thee no more tears will I shed,
-      From thee to fair Friendship I go;
-    The bird by a wound that has bled,
-      Is happy to fly from its foe.
-
-"What can she find so affecting in those lines?" thought Colonel
-Desmond, as he marked Adelaide's changing countenance. Memory had
-raised the shades of departed joys, which appeared in her eyes not clad
-in their original brightness, but wrapped in sorrow's watery veil;
-reason quickly bade them be gone, but not ere her attentive observer had
-marked their shadowy footsteps as they crossed her brow. When she looked
-up, his penetrating glance read her mind, and expressed his own. She
-painfully felt her heart was open to his view, that there was now no
-retreat, and therefore calmly said to Melicent, "I agree with you, Miss
-Desmond, the feelings of Phillida are perfectly natural." "But,"
-interrupted Colonel Desmond, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken,
-"don't you think, that though she might turn in scorn from the unworthy
-object of her first attachment, she might solace her wounded heart by
-admitting the love of another?" "Never!" replied Adelaide: "even in
-endeavouring to view him with indifference, her mind must have been too
-long filled with his idea, not to feel the impossibility of its ever
-being possessed by a second choice." Colonel Desmond knew the human
-heart better, and flattered himself, not unjustly, that if he had
-patience to play the friend, and did not too quickly assume the lover,
-he might imperceptibly win her regard in that character. He was not
-hurried away by the imprudent warmth of feeling, which would have
-deprived a younger man of his self-possession, but determined to destroy
-the impression of what the seriousness of his looks and tones had
-conveyed to her mind; and therefore with apparent carelessness, asked
-her how she liked Ireland. This question a stranger is plagued with in
-every company, from the day he lands in that country till the one he
-leaves it; which with its twin tormentor, "Do you like England or
-Ireland best?" serves to commence that sort of conversation, which
-begins in Great Britain with observations on the weather. By the way, it
-is strange that no moralist has ever remarked how providential it is,
-that the climate of this latter island is so variable, considering the
-propensity its inhabitants have to talk of it. It certainly affords a
-beautiful illustration of the doctrine of compensation.
-
-But to return to our friend Desmond:--he was too well bred to have asked
-such an unfair question, had he not been completely _distrait_. When the
-mind is absent without leave, the deputy it leaves behind to secure its
-unmolested retreat most resembles that apish faculty, memory, and
-mechanically imitates the manners, and repeats the phrases of others.
-Adelaide, more embarrassed, though not so _distrait_ as her
-interrogator, replied, that she was even more pleased with the country
-than she had expected to be from the favourable picture held forth in
-some late publications. He agreed to the justice of these
-representations; while his brother, happening to hear him, was nettled,
-to the quick, and abruptly said, "Not a bit like, Ned; quite too
-ridiculous." "But, my dear Harry, there is nothing in the world so
-tiresome as direct panegyric; you must allow a little for the malice of
-human nature, to make an individual or a national character loved, its
-virtues must be relieved by its foibles." "I'll tell you what, Ned, the
-devil a good there is in dressing us up in a fool's cap and bells, to
-make a set of fat English squires laugh who have eat themselves stupid."
-"How can you be so illiberal, brother? That des----"--"By the piper that
-danced before Moses," interrupted the elder Desmond; "it's themselves
-that's illiberal.--There's the two Webberlys, and that airified nephew
-of my wife's, mocking us all, by the Lord! and all the time of tea, and
-while Milly was playing on the forte, they were laughing as if their
-sides would burst. I'm bothered from the head to the tail with them,
-that's the truth of it. But come, Miss Wildenheim, a tune from you would
-save any man from being in a passion--give us 'God save the King,' and
-that will remind me that I ought to comport myself as becomes a
-peaceable subject."
-
-In nothing did Adelaide excel more than in playing an air, in a manner
-that seemed to give it beauties that it was not before suspected of
-possessing. She called to her aid all the powers of harmony, and united
-boldness of execution with tenderness of expression. She now played "God
-save the King," in a manner that electrified the company; the card
-players had dispersed, and there was such a nodding of heads, and
-marching, and whistling, and singing, and drumming on tables, and
-rattling watch chains, and beating time, that the performance of a
-person who could not have brought forth all the power of the "forte," as
-Mr. Desmond called it, would have been lost amongst all these various
-noises. The tune was played and replayed, till Adelaide laughingly said
-her fingers ached; and then dancing was proposed, and being agreed to,
-the company repaired to a large hall for the purpose. Here Mr. Desmond
-vented the remnant of his spleen against the Webberlys, by calling to
-the piper, "Play up the humours of Ludgate Hill there!" with a
-significant wink to the music master, (who, by the by, was more of a
-wag than an Orpheus), and though the wink was of no use to the blind
-piper and fiddler, the tone of his voice was sufficiently understood by
-them to need no second order; and they accordingly struck up their
-favourite tune of "Jig Polthogue," to which Mr. Desmond amused himself
-by mimicking, in turn, the dancing of all the set; and his imitations,
-being general, offended nobody in particular, but in truth he even
-satirized with so much good humour, that he hardly ever gave offence. It
-seemed always to be the fashions of the times he quizzed, rather than
-the people who exhibited them. "What an entertaining, exhilarating
-people the Irish are!" said Adelaide to Colonel Desmond. "Yes," replied
-he; "but yet, with all their cleverness, how strangely inconsistent is
-their conduct! If Melicent Desmond was a sovereign princess, her father
-could not have had more pride about her than he has; and yet here she is
-associating with her music-master, dancing in the very set with him;
-and I never can persuade him there is any impropriety in it." "How well
-she does dance!" remarked his fair partner. "And what a capital
-caricature Captain Cormac and Miss Fitzcarril would make--he all
-flourishes, she as stiff as the genealogical tree that hangs up in the
-hall at Ballinamoyle. Do you observe," resumed he, "how much of the
-'_incedo regina_' there is in her manner to him occasionally! This good
-lady is a singular being, I can assure you. She can be 'proud with
-meanness, and be mean with pride.'" "Such a character," rejoined
-Adelaide, "reminds me of Homer's princesses, who, from doing the honours
-of the palace, proceed to wash the clothes of its inhabitants in the
-neighbouring river, to which pleasant employment they drive right
-regally." Mr. Desmond now coming up to turn her in the dance, took that
-opportunity of saying, "I tried to touch you up, but I couldn't--it's a
-shame for you to bear away the _bell_ in every thing:--I never saw any
-one in my life _handle their feet_ as you do."
-
-After two or three dances the company adjourned to the supper table, and
-here again all was mirth and glee. Colonel and Mr. Desmond sung comical
-songs, and told droll stories, till the whole party were in fits of
-laughter. Three of the children, younger than Melicent and Launcelot,
-were kept up to supper, and they sang catches and glees with their
-father and uncle, in a manner that surprised every body who heard their
-sweet voices and saw their childish faces. Before they began, a dispute
-arose between Mr. Desmond and the music-master, relative to the key
-note; the one sounded one, and the other another; when, to settle the
-matter, the former called to his second son, "Do you hear, George, take
-this note out in your mouth to the forte, strike it, and bring me word
-if I'm not right, and be sure you don't drop it by the way." How far
-George was an impartial testimony, or how much the note lost or gained
-in its ascent or descent, must ever remain in doubt; but, like a dutiful
-child, when he returned, he said, "_You_ were right to be sure,
-father--listen here;" and sounding the octave above as clear as a bell,
-and as sweetly as possible, they all set to, the little performers
-keeping time and tune admirably; whilst the mellow base of the
-gentlemen, and the enchanting soprano of their sister, contrasted
-delightfully with the juvenile strains of these "young-eyed cherubim."
-Melicent's fine notes made most of the party express a wish to hear her
-in a solo, and she sang the "Exile of Erin," with a pathos that drew
-tears from many present. Adelaide seemed particularly to feel it; which
-Mr. Desmond perceiving, he said, "Come, Melicent, that's too
-dismal--I'll tune you up a lilt;" and he immediately sang, in a most
-comical manner, a ballad he had written himself, entitled, "Miss Jenny's
-lament for the loss of her petticoat;" in which was ably satirized the
-present style of _undress_. Soon after this the party separated with as
-much hilarity as they had met.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-    Jeunes beautes qui venez dans ces lieux,
-    Fouler d'un pied leger l'herbe tendre et fleurie,
-    Comme vous je connus les plaisirs de la vie,
-    Vos fetes, vos transports, et vos aimables jeux.
-    L'Amour bercoit mon coeur de ses douces chimeres,
-    Et l'Hymen me flattoit du destin le plus beau,
-    Un instant detruisit ces erreurs mensongeres,
-    Que me reste-t-il? Le tombeau![6]
-
-    oeLEVIZACoe.
-
-[Footnote 6:
-
-    Ye fair ones that, with agile bound,
-    Dance o'er this turf in frolick round,
-    Whose tender flowers scarce bend their head,
-    Beneath your footstep's airy tread;
-    Like you I once, with sportive mien,
-    Join'd laughing Pleasure's joyous train:
-    Then life and all its hopes were new,
-    And love its brightest visions drew:
-    Those joys are past--the vision's flown:
-    What now remains?--The tomb alone.
-]
-
-
-When Adelaide returned to Ballinamoyle, she thought of the day she had
-spent at Bogberry Hall with the most lively pleasure; the unrefined
-good-natured gaiety of its inmates had seized her with so strong a
-grasp, that it had dragged her along with the general current of mirth,
-and, leading her thoughts out of their ordinary course, had, with no
-unwelcome violence, broken the chain of their painful associations. Her
-eye had early been accustomed to the animation of foreign countenances
-and gestures; and as she had only been acquainted with English manners
-in a very retired country place, it is perhaps not surprising, that she
-should have felt chilled by their apparent monotony, and abashed by the
-half-reproving look she sometimes met with; when, pausing for an instant
-to consider what she had done wrong, she found she had, in the
-earnestness of conversation, raised her hand and arm full six inches
-from her side, where it was arrested in its graceful action, and
-remanded by the blushing offender to its former quiescent station. But
-censure was not even thus avoided, for in the very effort to please,
-she had committed a second error, by moving that beautiful brow, which
-expressed every feeling of her heart; and her dismay, at perceiving her
-observer still unsatisfied, produced some other involuntary gesture
-still more reprehensible than the first.
-
-She now therefore saw the Irishmen change from one leg to another,
-flourish their arms, rattle their watch chains, and swing their chairs,
-without the horror so elegant a female was bound to experience on
-beholding such ungraceful motions, for which no sanctioning precedent
-could be produced at St. James's. And she even granted absolution to the
-varying expression of the women's countenances, which sometimes bordered
-on grimace; and extended it to their voices, running through half the
-gamut in the changes of the most decided brogue that ever offended ears
-polite.
-
-To speak seriously, she found very great amusement in observing a
-national character, so dissimilar to any that had ever before fallen
-under her observation, and which presented itself with so many comical
-and so many amiable traits. In every individual she had met, there was
-something strongly characteristic, from Moll Kelly on the strand at
-Dunleary, to the proprietor of Bogberry Hall; and, with the exception of
-Mr. Donolan, who was spoiled in an attempt at refinement, warmth of
-feeling and good nature seemed to be the portion of each. In order to
-become better acquainted with this national character, which so much
-interested her, she determined, during her residence at Ballinamoyle, to
-visit the cottages in its neighbourhood, and to cultivate the
-acquaintance of her friend Jarge Quin, hoping to learn from him the
-peculiar customs and superstitions of the country, while to the
-venerable Father Dermoody she applied for their explanation and origin.
-She did not now feel quite so much at ease in referring for information
-to her former _cicerone_, Colonel Desmond, as she had done previous to
-their ambiguous conversation in his brother's drawing-room: but his
-guarded conduct the remainder of the evening tended much to destroy her
-first impression; and she felt the utmost confusion, whenever those few
-sentences came across her mind, accusing herself of the most egregious
-vanity in annexing a sense to his words that he did not mean to give
-them; and asking herself, time after time, whether he could have
-perceived her mistake. However, these unpleasant ideas soon wore away,
-and Colonel Desmond played the part of friend so well, that she
-convinced herself he had not understood her; and in a short time this
-circumstance, which made her at first feel so embarrassed in his
-presence, was erased from her mind. And indeed he so dexterously availed
-himself of all the advantages he possessed to make his society agreeable
-to her, that she soon began to feel almost uncomfortable without it. He
-would talk to her of the scenes of her infancy; and she would then
-gratefully recollect the pains he had taken to teach her the English
-language, which she now felt of such essential advantage; and would
-sometimes remind him of the good-natured patience he had also shown,
-when he first condescended to accompany on the violin her childish
-performance of concertos and sonatas, and the remembrance of many an
-inveterately ill-timed passage afforded them now considerable diversion.
-There was one subject of the deepest interest, that he, and he alone, of
-all her associates, was master of the virtues and talents of her father;
-and this, in her enthusiastic filial affection, and his regrets and
-admiration, was inexhaustible. At first Baron Wildenheim's name was but
-slightly glanced at; but by degrees she could bear to hear his
-sentiments and his words repeated, and her heart warmly thanked the man,
-who had so carefully treasured them in his. Colonel Desmond's humanity
-and fine feeling told him exactly where to stop. He would,
-
-    "When the soft tear stole silently down from the eye,
-    Take no note of its course, nor detect the slow sigh;"
-
-and the sympathy he showed in her affliction tended much to restore her
-mind to its wonted serenity, by gently drawing forth all those agonizing
-reflections and remembrances that had fled to hide themselves from human
-knowledge, to the most secret recesses of her heart. Under all these
-circumstances a penetrating observer would, perhaps, have pronounced,
-that if Colonel Desmond steadily pursued his present plan, it would
-ultimately be crowned with success. At least it is contrary to all
-experience, that a young woman can long continue to feel _friendship
-alone_ for an unmarried man, who is in all things a lover, except in the
-declaration of his passion;--nay, if there is no love on either side at
-first, it is highly probable there will be on both at no distant period,
-whenever a similarity of taste, ideas, and pursuits, induces a desire of
-association and intimacy, which circumstances permit to be gratified.
-Every inexperienced female should be thoroughly aware of the high
-probability which exists of her bestowing her affections on the man
-with whom she is so situated.
-
-The second evening after their return from Bogberry Hall, Mr.
-O'Sullivan's guests were assembled at tea, when they heard the sound of
-music in the open air; and looking out, saw a gay groupe of young men
-and women dressed in their best, two fiddlers playing merrily before
-them, one of the party carrying a pole, on which were tied small hoops
-covered with garlands of flowers, intermixed with finery of various
-sorts, and gloves cut out in white and coloured papers; after them
-followed the elder members of their families, and, lastly, a crowd of
-children. The Miss Webberlys saw, with surprise, that not one of the
-females of the assembly had hat or bonnet. All the young women, except
-the queen of the garland, wore white round caps, ornamented with some
-gay riband; some had open gowns of a brilliant calico, others of white
-linen, with a stuff petticoat, blue, yellow, red, or green, according to
-the fancy of the wearer; white aprons, handkerchiefs, and stockings,
-completed their attire. Their showy dress, rosy complexions, and
-animated countenances, had altogether a most lively effect.
-
-The dress of the old women was rather different. It consisted of a white
-mob cap, with a black silk handkerchief brought over the crown, crossed
-under the chin, and tied behind; a calico gown, with a large and gaudy
-pattern; and, in addition to the handkerchief and apron, a white dimity
-bed-gown, with short sleeves, and the skirt reaching half way to their
-knees; with a bright scarlet cloak hanging on one arm. All the men who
-were not dancers wore a great coat, of the peculiar frieze of their
-country. In the dress of the young men there was nothing remarkable,
-except that each had on a showy waistcoat, or silk handkerchief, to make
-him look as smart as his sweetheart in her gay gown and petticoat.
-
-Adelaide was delightedly viewing the joyous scene, when she suddenly
-heard Colonel Desmond's voice returning Mrs. O'Sullivan's salutation,
-"It's midsummer's eve," said he, addressing her, "and I could not resist
-coming to witness your surprise at the curious customs observed here on
-this night." "I should think Miss Wildenheim wouldn't be such a fool as
-to go trapesing out on the damp grass with such a set of vagabonds,"
-said Mr. Webberly, who was himself confined to the sofa. Colonel
-Desmond's attention was too much engrossed by the sweet smiles and
-tones, with which Adelaide thanked him for his kind recollection of her,
-to notice the morose look which accompanied this observation; and he
-acknowledged the speaker no otherwise than by a distant bow, as the fair
-object of his solicitude left the room to join the rest of the party at
-the hall door. The crowd had by this time ranged themselves in a
-semicircle, in the centre of which stood the king and queen of the
-garland, the former carrying the pole. The rustic queen was the
-handsomest young girl of the country--
-
-    "Health in her motion, the wild grace
-    Of Pleasure speaking in her face."
-
-Her head was crowned with a chaplet of flowers, whilst her long hair,
-which is highly prized in Ireland as a part of female beauty, flowed in
-profusion down her back, and its raven hue contrasted well with her
-snow-white linen gown. A sky-blue petticoat appeared under her apron in
-front, and from her girdle hung a wreath of flowers, forming a festoon
-of varied tints. The temporary king was the best dancer, wrestler, and
-cudgel-player, and the "tightest and clanest boy in all Ballinamoyle
-town land." On the right stood the fiddlers, playing Plansety
-O'Sullivan. When the venerable possessor of this name came forward to
-welcome the crowd, the united strength of all their lungs sent forth a
-heart-felt wish of "Long life to his honour, and God bless him, hurra!
-hurra!" There is perhaps nothing more overcoming than the voice of a
-rejoicing multitude. The old man felt the present and the past, as he
-thought how his beloved Rose was hailed on such anniversaries; and
-whilst he made his bows of acknowledgement, the tear stood on his aged
-cheek. When silence was proclaimed, the village schoolmaster stepped
-forward, and presented him with a song he had written on his honour, and
-which "Brian Murdoch would make bould for to sing." Brian began with an
-"Och--" half a second in duration, and then proceeded as follows:--
-
-          In Connaught, my deer,
-          Did you walk far and neer,
-          At a poor man's requist,
-          His honour's the best
-            Of all in the land, of all in the land!
-          When poverty's near,
-          He ne'er turns a dafe ear,
-          But is free wid his store,
-          Gives kind words galliore,
-            Wid a bountiful hand, a bountiful hand!
-    Och!--Wheresomdiver he goes
-          A blessing there flows,
-          Like a beam of the sun
-          Or the soft shining moon,
-            The joy of our heart, the joy of our heart!
-          Then long may he rain
-          Widout sorrow or pane,
-          And in Heaven be blist,
-          When he takes his last rist,
-            Tho' we to the heart rue the day he depart!
-
-The intention of this composition was certainly better than the metre;
-but for once a poet did not flatter, for Mr. O'Sullivan exercised all
-the benevolence of his kind heart, in making his tenants happy; and they
-would in return, to use their own expression, have "gone through fire
-and water at the dead hour of the night, to sarve his honour. They had a
-good right to lay the hair of their head in under his feet."
-
-Brian's performance was applauded and encored, and when it was over,
-there was a little murmur amongst the crowd as if to settle the next
-act. "Which is her?" asked the king of the garland. "Why, that beautiful
-lady to be sure, talking to the fat madam in the lavender blossom dress,
-with the borders all figured out in white," replied an ancient matron,
-who had been one of the first assembly at Ballinamoyle. The young man
-now walked up to Adelaide, and with a bow down to the ground, begged the
-honour of dancing with her; and she, perceiving it was a national
-custom, instantly complied; and hearing from Captain Cormac, who handed
-her to the spot she was to dance on, that the figure of the jig she was
-expected to perform, was that of a minuet danced quick, she went through
-it with a spirit and grace, that were unalloyed by any airs of exalted
-languor.
-
-What! danced with an Irish peasant, and with spirit to! Look down, ye
-German Barons of sixteen quarters, and ye noble British Peers, on your
-descendant, and--behold her with pride! for she could be dignified
-without haughtiness, and complaisant without familiarity--perfectly
-understanding the art of adapting herself to her associates, without
-thereby assimilating her manners or ideas to theirs; always preserving
-that elegance, which "was around her as light," giving to her
-performance of the trifles of every day intercourse a charm peculiarly
-her own, and which as invariably adorned her in the humblest cottage, as
-it would have done in the most brilliant court, dancing with this king
-of a rustic pageant, as with the Autocrat of all the Russias; and had
-she been one of those selected for that honour, she would perhaps,
-whilst she paid due homage to the rank of the Emperor, have no less
-forcibly impressed her august partner with the _dignity of the lady_.
-
-However, the most scrupulous belle need not be much annoyed by the
-contamination she would suffer, by dancing with the king of the garland;
-for actuated by that respect, which the lower Irish so strongly feel for
-their superiors, he never presumes to take her hand, but contents
-himself with dancing opposite to her with all his might and main, at
-about three feet distance. Thus Adelaide's partner beat the batter on
-the ground, sprung, capered, hit the sole of his foot with his hand,
-danced the garland, beat the batter again, set, shuffled, and capered
-in turn. Every now and then there was clapping of hands, and "Well done,
-Lary, keep it up, keep it up!" and a murmur of approbation for Adelaide
-went round: "She's a beautiful cratur; and what kindly ways she has with
-her," said one. "The Lord love her little canny feet, how they do humour
-the music!" remarked another; and so on, till she made her curtsy when
-the jig was ended; and then there was a general shout of "Huzza! for the
-young lady and Lary for ever." "Arrah, whist wid your noisy tongues,"
-said an old woman; "you'll trouble his honour, and mind him of Miss
-Rose. This day two and twenty year she danced on this very spot of
-ground, and the sarra lady has done the same since from that day till
-this. Do you see old Dennis there, Cisly?" continued she to her
-daughter: "Well, Miss Rose smiled so sweet, (I mind it as if it was but
-yesterday), and said, 'What a wonderful old man Dennis is, to be able to
-tire me in a dance, at sixty years of age! I hope he'll live to see
-many a midsummer's eve.' They say the prayers of them that's soon going
-to their long home is uncommon lucky; so she left these words for a
-blessing to ould Dennis, though she was too good to live herself." The
-old woman's caution was unnecessary--Mr. O'Sullivan had pleaded the
-damps of the evening and retired, but begged of Colonel Desmond to take
-his place, and keep the dancers as long as they afforded amusement, as
-his room was at so distant a part of the house, his _sleep_ would not be
-disturbed. "Alas, no!" thought his friend, "poor man, he will never
-cease to grieve for his angelic daughter, till she smiles on him once
-more in another world."
-
-Colonel Desmond perceived there was a stop in the proceedings of the
-crowd, and recollected that it was customary for the master of the
-house, or some one in the place, to dance with the queen of the garland,
-and therefore requested Captain Cormac would do the honours the
-_etiquette_ of such occasions demanded. At another time he would have
-enjoyed doing so himself; but at this moment his head was too full of
-Rose and her father, to think of dancing--or even of Adelaide! Captain
-Cormac took the garland, as every man was bound to do, and flourished it
-about, and out-capered Lary himself; whilst his pretty partner, at
-stated times, cast her fine eyes on the ground, and was swung round by
-him with averted head, then danced boldly up with one arm akimbo,
-alternately took the garland, followed, or was chased by him. Little
-Caroline was wild with spirits, when the crowd, finding out their
-mistake with regard to Adelaide, raised her on a stout man's shoulders,
-and pressed round to shake hands with her in turn, while she received
-their greetings with the utmost cordiality; and, when let down again,
-she danced and capered about, as Jarge Quin said, "as merry and as
-pretty as the little people trip it on the blossoms on May morning."
-
-Mr. Webberly had by this time nearly recovered from the ill humour the
-sight of Colonel Desmond had put him into, and had been wheeled in a
-large chair to the window, for the double purpose of viewing the festive
-scene, and watching the proceedings of Adelaide. He was evidently in
-pain either of body or mind, and looked so mournful, so deserted, that
-she could not resist the impulse of compassion, and addressed to him,
-from time to time, some casual remark on the groupe before them. For
-many months she had not voluntarily spoken so much to him; and as
-Colonel Desmond observed his satisfaction, some painful reflections
-crossed his mind: "He deceives himself," thought he, "and so do I--she
-has no love for me either. I ought to tear myself from her; yet a faint
-heart never won a fair lady, and I see as little cause to despair as to
-hope." But with an inconsistency, that the agitation of his feelings
-alone could account for, he whispered to Adelaide, "Be more stern, and
-you will be more humane; your heavenly sweetness undoes your victim."
-She looked up surprised, and read that in his countenance, which
-immediately gave to hers a degree of gravity which he had never before
-seen her features wear; and bowing slightly in answer, addressed herself
-to Mrs. O'Sullivan. He soon found an opportunity of speaking to her
-again: "Adelaide," said he, sorrowfully, "you are offended; are you like
-all the rest of the world, capricious and fickle? Do you _reject_ the
-friend of your infancy?" "Colonel Desmond," said she calmly, "I must be
-frank--infancy does not last forever, '_altri tempi, altre maniere_.'"
-In these few words she had spoken volumes. To recover himself, he talked
-sentiment and science to the two Miss Webberlys, and in doing so, heard
-and made such a display of _esprit_, that it soon deadened his feelings,
-and in a few minutes he _appeared_ as much at ease as ever.
-
-In the mean time the merry rustics performed Quaker minuets, which
-consist of a mixture of quick and slow movements, a sort of strathspey
-called petticoatties, and some well executed handkerchief dances, the
-figures of which are of the same kind as the shawl-dances of the opera,
-and admit six or eight at pleasure. It is surprising with what a degree
-of natural dexterity and vivacity the lower Irish dance: Adelaide
-thought, "If Horace had been an Irishman, he would not have described
-the dancing of the Nymphs and Graces in the spiritless manner he has
-done:--
-
-    "Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus, imminente Luna,
-    Junctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes,
-    Alterno terram quatiunt pede.[7]"
-
-[Footnote 7: Literally nearly thus:
-
-Now beneath the beaming moon, Cytherean Venus leads forth the band. The
-decent Graces, joined by the Nymphs, strike the earth with alternate
-foot.]
-
-But profiting by Mrs. Temple's hint, she never now said any thing that
-might lead to the supposition of her being a "learned lady;" at the same
-time, she heartily joined in the praises, which even Mrs. O'Sullivan and
-her daughters bestowed on the groupe before them. "It is not all pure
-nature, however," said Colonel Desmond; "itinerant dancing-masters go
-about the country, and there is no lad or lass so poor, that once in
-their lives, at least, can't afford half a crown for the benefit of
-their education in this particular. They all gather together in some
-waste building, or on the level turf; and the scenes that take place in
-these assemblies are ludicrous beyond description. It is said, that one
-of our Connaught Vestrises found it necessary, to tie a straw rope about
-the right leg of his pupils, calling it suggar, and the other gad; and
-that he used to sing this rhyme to a tune that marks the time
-inimitably, beating it all the time with his foot: only conceive the
-bodily and mental labour of such a task!
-
-    "'Out with your suggar, my girl,
-    Right fal la fal la di dy,
-    Then the gad you must twirl,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Shuffle your suggar and gad,
-    Right fal la, &c.
-    Then you must set to the lad,
-    Right fal la, &c.'
-
-"It is not surprising," continued he, "that some such contrivance should
-sometimes be necessary on our Irish mountains, when the Scripture
-informs us, that a hundred and twenty thousand Ninevese could not
-discern between their right hand and their left." Adelaide was much
-entertained by this allusion. And here let us advise those, who regret
-any accidental coldness that may have arisen with a friend, if they have
-drollery enough in their composition, to make him or her laugh by all
-means. It is the surest way in the world to restore familiarity of
-manner; for we cannot look suddenly cross at the person, who has, in
-spite of our best endeavours at sullenness, excited the unwilling smile.
-Those who are "too dull for a wit, too grave for a joker," may try the
-pathetic; and if they can draw forth sympathetic tears at any horrible
-story, it will answer the purpose nearly as well, though our experience
-certainly inclines to the former method.
-
-Whilst the smile yet played on Adelaide's countenance, old Dennis
-walked up to her, and said, with a look where pleasure and regret strove
-for preeminence, "Faith, Miss dear, when I see your teeth as white as
-the water-lily, and your eyes dancing like the sunbeams on the lake, ye
-mind me of Miss Rose; you're the sauciest lady I've seen since she
-parted us, when she was in her fifteenth! The sweetest Rose was she in
-all Ireland, and the like will ne'er bloom again in Ballinamoyle."
-Adelaide graciously received the old man's compliment; and her eyes
-filled with tears, as she said to Colonel Desmond, "How much I feel
-interested for this Rose! She must have been most amiable, to be so long
-loved and remembered by these grateful people." "She was indeed,"
-replied he, "one of those beings, that would lead a fanciful imagination
-to suppose, they had nearly arrived at perfection in some pre-existent
-state, and had been sent on earth, for a short space, to complete their
-probation, and show what a superior nature might be, even clogged with
-our corporeal infirmities. Mr. O'Sullivan never breathes his daughter's
-name, nor is it ever mentioned before him, except by nurse, whom it is
-impossible to restrain. His life has passed away so monotonously, that
-it seems but as yesterday since he lost her, and she now rises again
-forcibly to the remembrance of the elder inhabitants of this
-neighbourhood, from the circumstance of Caroline O'Sullivan being
-brought, as it were, to take her place; which, I assure you, they
-consider as a sort of sacrilegious usurpation, and feel no small
-indignation at her having been born in England. Poor Rose! hers was a
-fatal marriage!--But this is not a fit time to sadden you with the
-details of her melancholy story."
-
-It was now dark, and some of the dancers came forward to receive the
-customary donations, after which they proceeded in a body elsewhere.
-They were in the act of setting up their last "hurra!" when, as if by
-appointed signal, all the hills were instantly illuminated with
-innumerable fires. In the distance blazed the altar of the sun, like a
-pyramid of light; the nearer flames were reflected in the still waters
-of the lake. Every island was gay with moving figures and bonfires.
-Within the spacious walls of the old castle in the centre islet was the
-largest of all, which was seen brightly beaming through the arched
-windows and dilapidated walls, while round it a groupe of merry boys and
-girls were dancing; and a sudden blaze showed here and there similar
-circles on every hill. Rejoicing voices rose and fell on the gales of
-night, which also conveyed, from time to time, the music of various
-instruments. "I never beheld so beautiful a scene," said Adelaide; "what
-is the origin of this custom?" "It descends to us from our pagan
-ancestry," replied Colonel Desmond, "who on this evening offered
-sacrifices to the sun on every hill. A similar custom was observed on
-the first of May and on the last of October, on which night we keep up
-the same ceremonies, which Burns has so beautifully described in his
-'Hallow E'en.' At this moment the whole of this island is gay with
-garlands, and dancing, and music; and her numerous population are poured
-forth on every hill in their best attire, accompanied by mirth and glee,
-leaving all their cares behind them at their cottage doors." "I hope,"
-said Caroline, "the fires in the castle won't hurt the little fairies
-Jarge Quin told us of, Adele; I dare say they ran in a great hurry up
-the walls; or may be the lake is covered with their tiny boats to take
-them away. When I live here, I never will let a single cobweb be swept."
-"Why, my dear child, have you so suddenly fallen in love with the spider
-tribe, as well as the fairies?" "Oh, nurse says they steal in at night
-through the keyhole, to take the cobwebs to make sails of them; and,
-when the wind blows them off, they stick to the trees and every thing,
-and they are twice as good for cuts as those in the house. I have been
-gathering a whole heap of them to take to England. Oh, Adele! I wish
-you would come and hear the beautiful stories nurse tells about kings,
-and queens, and giants. She puts her spectacles on her nose, and reads
-all morning out of a book she calls the 'Rabby Night's Intertinmant.' I
-run down to her every night before I go to bed, and she takes me on her
-knee, and tells it to me, and gives me cakes. Sometimes she cries when I
-kiss her, and then she talks to me of my _dear_ papa, what a fine young
-gentleman he was before he went to be a soldier. I'll marry a soldier
-when I grow big. I think nurse and uncle love me better than any body
-but you, Adele." It was in vain that Caroline's best beloved
-endeavoured, in a low voice, to assure her of the warmth of her mother's
-and sister's affection; she said little in reply, but felt all the pain
-of being convinced against her will.
-
-The party, when tired of admiring the admirable night scene the
-surrounding country presented, retired to the house; and by this time
-the rustic assembly had repaired to an empty barn, where they danced
-till sunrise, and then went out to make hay.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-    Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
-    I'll sweeten thy sad grave.
-
-    oeCYMBELINE.oe
-
-
-The remainder of the month of June and July passed at Ballinamoyle in
-various degrees of pleasure or tedium to its unusual inmates. Mrs.
-O'Sullivan and her three elder children saw the time originally fixed
-for their departure approach, with almost undissembled pleasure.
-Notwithstanding the anxious endeavours of their host and his circle, to
-show them the utmost respect and kindness, and to procure them every
-amusement within their reach, nothing pleased, nothing interested them;
-but if they could find little to admire in England beyond Hyde Park
-Corner, could they be expected to tolerate Irish barbarism? They
-associated much with the Desmond family; but, though this circumstance
-saved them many hours of _ennui_, it gave them none of real enjoyment.
-The Miss Webberlys saw Melicent's natural graces with too much contempt
-to envy them, and for once they associated with a lovely girl without
-being tormented by this passion. But her father and uncle they little
-short of hated; the one for his successful raillery, the other for his
-admiration of Adelaide; which circumstance rendered the latter equally
-obnoxious to their brother, who attributed to him the bad success of his
-suit to Miss Wildenheim, still more than to his sprained ancle, which
-had kept him a close prisoner, and enabled her effectually to shun his
-society. At home--Mr. O'Sullivan was dismal, Miss Fitzcarril
-insufferably proud; a Catholic priest was of course an object of
-illiberal aversion; and of all their associates, young Donolan was the
-only individual who found favour in their sight; but he had, by his
-heartless gallantries and fulsome flattery, ingratiated himself so much
-with both sisters, that he was a source of constant bickering between
-them.
-
-They therefore so plagued and prejudiced their weak mother, that she was
-as much out of humour as themselves. She and Miss Fitzcarril almost
-quarrelled, though the one was nearly as anxious to court the cousin, as
-the other to win the son; and the ridiculous pride of ancestry in the
-spinster kept pace with the narrow-minded pride of riches in the matron.
-Mrs. O'Sullivan and her amiable children vented all their ill humour on
-their servants, who, in revenge, quarrelled with the domestics of the
-house, and expressed their own and their superiors' contempt of every
-person and thing they saw, without reserve. All this Miss Fitzcarril was
-mean enough to suffer to be repeated to her with those additional
-charges scandal-mongers are certain to lay on their retail goods; and
-she came sometimes full primed with rage from the kitchen, ready to
-discharge her fire-arms in the parlour, which would not unfrequently
-have happened, had not Adelaide dexterously managed to unload the
-offensive weapon.
-
-Miss Fitzcarril found the amenity of her manners as invariable as the
-benignity of her heart. She would, boiling with passion, confide to her
-friendly ear some tale of horror she had been told by nurse, or the
-cook, the housemaid, or Black Frank himself; and always heard, in
-return, some extenuation of the offence, or expression of sorrow that
-purchased its forgiveness.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan's guests did not venture to treat him with disrespect,
-nor Miss Fitzcarril to annoy him with the recital of her various
-_brouilleries_; his uniformly dignified deportment preserved him from
-both: yet Mr. Webberly and his sisters he disliked for their airs of
-affected superiority to others; and had Caroline depended on her
-_mother's_ powers of pleasing, to obtain her uncle's estate, her claims
-would not have met with much success. An Irish country gentleman,
-however unpolished he may be himself, is to an extreme fastidious in
-his ideas of female gentility. Every one has a code of his own, which he
-thinks it necessary a woman should follow, to be what he calls
-"_ladylike_." His punctilios are frequently unreasonable, and
-excessively troublesome to the female relatives, who are obliged to
-conform to them; but the warm affection, from which they derive so much
-happiness, is also the source of that pride they sometimes find so
-annoying. A writer of eminence has clearly shown the difference between
-_rusticity_ and _vulgarity_. Many an unpolished rustic girl Mr.
-O'Sullivan might think _ladylike_: but a vulgar woman, such as his
-sister-in-law, was perhaps the object in the world the most disgusting
-to him; and it required all his good-nature, and all his hospitality, to
-make him conquer his involuntary repugnance sufficiently to treat her
-with the kindness due to his brother's widow. Though Maurice O'Sullivan
-had been only his step-brother by their father's marriage, very late in
-life, and there was twenty years' difference in their ages, he had
-always felt for him even more than the usual warmth of fraternal
-affection; and had, for a long series of years, been bountiful to him in
-a degree that but encouraged his extravagant dissipation; till the elder
-brother, at last provoked by his career of folly, finally discharged his
-debts, on condition of the entail being cut off, to enable him to bestow
-the family estate on some more worthy member of it. But the grave had
-now closed on all the faults of Maurice's character, whilst memory
-exaggerated all its virtues; and O'Sullivan would frequently contrast
-Caroline with her mother, saying in the pride of his heart, "How much of
-the _father_ she has in her! She shows good blood runs in her veins."
-
-To Adelaide Mr. O'Sullivan was unconsciously as kind as to Caroline.
-Before she had been many days in his house, he had made up his mind that
-she was "_quite the lady_," and of course possessed of every good
-quality necessarily consequent on that, in his mind, highly valued
-character. Besides he was much gratified by her inclination to be
-pleased with every thing that was worthy of commendation in his place,
-and in his country generally; and with the proper feeling and good
-breeding, which restrained her from wounding his pride by those
-offensive remarks he constantly heard from his sister-in-law and her
-elder children, which however were at least equalled by those of Mr.
-Donolan. Adelaide had moreover a strong claim on his gratitude for the
-kindness she showed to his niece. Caroline's father had lavished on her
-the most unlimited fondness, whilst her mother treated her with
-comparative coldness. Had she been left to herself, there is no doubt
-she would have felt the same love for her as for her other children; but
-she was unfortunately entirely guided by the Miss Webberlys. Cecilia she
-loved, and Amelia she also feared; and they contrived to alienate her
-affection from Caroline, whom they considered as an intruder, who would
-unjustly deprive them of a part of their lawful inheritance. It is not
-surprising, therefore, that Adelaide, mourning for the loss of a fond
-father, should see in Caroline a fellow-sufferer, and should bestow her
-affections on the only object around her that would receive or return
-them. The child, repulsed by every body else, flew into her open arms,
-and loved her with the most doting fondness. She could not bear now to
-lose sight of her, was the first that entered her room in the morning,
-and when she was busy, would sit for hours at her side, occupied in any
-employment Adelaide charitably provided for her. This little girl had
-naturally a fine understanding, which her friend's judicious management
-prevented running to waste. It was now with the utmost pain that friend
-thought of their approaching separation on her return to England; and
-this idea gave an increased tenderness to her looks, when she gazed with
-regret on the lovely child, and anticipated the probable blight of the
-fair promise, internally adding, "Alas! I may not venture to love any
-one; it is my fate to be torn from all my heart has ever cherished!" In
-consequence of this reciprocal attachment, every one associated Adelaide
-and Caroline in idea together; those who loved the one loved the other,
-and their united attractions gained them the good-will of every
-individual at Ballinamoyle.
-
-But with none of its inmates was the former a greater favourite than
-with the venerable Father Dermoody: her manners to him were expressive
-of that deference she had been accustomed to see the Catholic clergy
-treated with abroad, and she willingly granted that respect, which the
-impressive, though mild sanctity of his deportment extorted from others;
-and when he saw once more under Mr. O'Sullivan's roof a young and lovely
-female all sweetness and intellect, he thought of his beloved pupil,
-Rose, and sometimes looked at Adelaide, till he fancied he traced a
-strong resemblance to her who had been the adopted child of his
-heart--his only earthly pride! He loved to converse with Adelaide as to
-the recent state of countries, he had visited in his youth, and he still
-more delightedly answered her inquiries regarding the history or customs
-of Ireland, or the antiquities the neighbouring country abounded with,
-to visit which, Mr. O'Sullivan had induced his guests to make many
-excursions, as one of the best means of amusing their time. To
-illustrate these remains, Father Dermoody produced from his patron's
-library many a musty manuscript and fabulous legend of ancient fame,
-which he read and explained to Adelaide, with an enthusiastic admiration
-that was delightful to her to behold; though she was sometimes almost
-tempted to smile at the excess of his patriotic credulity; for there is
-scarcely any thing on the subject of national glory too extravagant for
-ancient Irish manuscripts to assert, or for modern Irish feeling to
-believe. Adelaide and her venerable friend went one morning to the
-above-mentioned library, in search of a work relative to "Conaro the
-turbulent and swift footed," whose tomb at the foot of the altar of the
-sun they had lately visited. They long looked for the precious relick in
-vain, but at last Mr. Dermoody descried it on the very top shelf; it was
-out of his reach, but by the help of a number of boxes piled on one of
-the heavy old mahogany chairs, Adelaide possessed herself of the
-treasure, and was preparing to descend, when she heard a gentleman's
-voice and step in the passage leading to the room. This made her prefer
-the quickest method of reaching _terra firma_, and she instantly leaped
-into the middle of the floor; and Colonel Desmond entering at the same
-instant, exclaimed, "Inimitable, by Jove! Why, Miss Wildenheim, if the
-principal _sauteuse_ of the Parisian opera had seen that graceful
-flight, she would, through all her rouge, have turned pale with envy. I
-should think you must find that preliminary much the pleasantest part of
-the proceedings attendant on the studies those loaded tables tell me you
-have lately been engaged in." "I hope," said Adelaide, laughing and
-blushing at his raillery, "you, as a true Milesian, are not inclined to
-slight their contents?" "Except to you, my revered friend," rejoined he,
-addressing himself to the priest, "who have charity to forgive even
-greater offences, I never dare own what a capacity of unbelief I have on
-such subjects; but, Miss Wildenheim," he continued, "I am at this moment
-much more anxious to hear what you think of the modern Irish, than to
-dive into the best accredited accounts of our ancient history. Come,
-confess to this worthy father--did you not expect to find us a set of
-demisavages, for whom you could feel little else but disgust?" "I am
-more than half affronted," replied Adelaide, "that you could possibly
-suppose me to be so illiberal." "And with justice," replied the priest;
-"wherever the human form is seen, there, I am sure, you find objects to
-love and reverence;--the Supreme has impressed on every being he has
-created some marks of his majesty and goodness." "Yes, my dear sir,"
-rejoined his youthful auditor; "but the proud heart of man draws a line
-of circumvallation round the cities he has erected, within which he
-confines every thing that is admirable in the human race. Surely we
-should rather imitate the liberality of the ancient poets, who peopled
-every hill and dale with superior natures." "You must however
-acknowledge," said Colonel Desmond, "that those classic favourites of
-yours never imagined any thing half so beautiful as our northern
-fairies! I don't know which of those ill-behaved scolds, the goddesses,
-it would not be an affront to compare a modern _elegante_ to; and pray
-what are all the accomplishments of Minerva, the best amongst them, to
-those of a girl of fashion, unless indeed she could plume herself on
-speaking Greek, in the style of the simpleton who was lost in admiration
-at the acquirements of the Gallic ladies, who could all converse in
-French with so much fluency? But the pure, elegant Queen of Fairies is
-the very prototype of female loveliness! I suffer considerable
-uneasiness on your account, Miss Wildenheim," continued he, with much
-gravity. "On my account, Colonel Desmond?" "Yes; for I am informed by
-those most in her majesty's confidence, that, 'when to the banks of the
-dark rolling Danube fair Adela hied,' she was seen by some of the fairy
-court; and that very evening, 'late, late in the gloamin, Hillmerry came
-hame,' being thought insipid in comparison of the more charming Adela.
-And now behold her conducted to the chief seat of the fairy power! But
-if she could be tempted to show that a small portion of human malice
-lurks in her heart, we might hope to keep her still; therefore I am more
-than ever anxious she should answer the question I put regarding the
-mortal inhabitants of this island." "I could not presume," replied
-Adelaide, colouring as she spoke, "on a casual acquaintance, to suppose
-myself qualified to estimate fully the merits or defects of the Irish
-nation; perhaps national character is of all subjects the one on which
-a woman is least competent to form a correct judgment;--but the Irish
-character, as it has presented itself to my view, is one I most
-sincerely and warmly love." Colonel Desmond seizing her hand in delight,
-shook it almost unconsciously for a second or two, whilst Father
-Dermoody, in an emphatic tone, and with a complimentary bow, said--
-
-    "La sagesse est sublime, on le dit, mais, helas!
-    Tous ses admirateurs souvent ne l'aiment guere;
-    Et sans vous nous ne saurions pas,
-    Combien la sagesse peut plaire."[8]
-
-[Footnote 8:
-
-      Wisdom's sublime, we still are told it,
-    Yet few admire, though all uphold it;
-    And but for thee we ne'er had prov'd,
-    How much e'en wisdom may be lov'd.
-]
-
-Gentle reader, if you are _not_ Irish, you will be perhaps much puzzled
-to find out what Adele said on this occasion, so marvellously wise. If
-you are an Hibernian, you will say, "The dear creature!" Be that as it
-may, Miss Wildenheim pleased her auditors better than if she had
-uttered three pages of Socratic sense. Poor Colonel Desmond felt but too
-deeply the admiration the priest had expressed; and putting up a prayer,
-that she might one day descend from generals to particulars, in the
-application of these sentiments, was suddenly most assiduous in the
-examination of the contemned manuscripts.
-
-Adelaide, curtsying her thanks for Mr. Dermoody's flattering application
-of the lines he had repeated, was alleging some trifling excuse for
-retiring, when Mr. O'Sullivan came into the room to make his daily
-request, that she would join him and Caroline in a saunter round the
-garden, where he went every morning with them to gather the nicest fruit
-it contained for his two favourites.
-
-The party had not proceeded many paces from the house, when they were
-joined by Mr. Webberly, who was now sufficiently recovered from his
-sprain to persecute Adelaide once more with his attentions. Mr.
-O'Sullivan, addressing him with much civility, said, "I am happy to
-say, Mr. Webberly, that your mother has consented to remain with me till
-after the first of September, in order to celebrate my dear little
-Caroline's birth-day; and bespeak for her the good wishes of my
-tenantry, who will assemble to congratulate us on the occasion." "Dear
-uncle, how I love you!" said the little girl, twisting her arms round
-him; "only for Adele, I think I should break my heart when I go away
-from you." He pressed her fondly in his arms, and said, "What will be
-your consolation, Caroline, will be an additional grief to me! My dear
-young lady," continued he, turning to Adelaide, "you know not the sorrow
-the idea that I may never see you again causes me; your society has
-given me more pleasure, than I thought I ever should have felt again.
-Your sweet attentive manners have reminded me of one whom even you might
-be proud to be compared with!"--He paused--his faltering voice had told
-how deeply he was affected, and a general silence prevailed for a few
-minutes, which was interrupted Mr. Webberly saying, "I'm sure you'll
-have no objection to celebrate Miss Wildenheim's birth-day too,
-Sir;--she will be of age on the thirty-first of August; that day
-one-and-twenty years, Sir, was a happy day for the world, Miss
-Adelaide!" "Happy! Good God!" exclaimed the old man; and dropping
-Adele's arm, which he had slipped within his, retreated to the house. "I
-had almost forgot--" said Colonel Desmond to the priest, much moved,
-"was that the day----" "Yes, the day," interrupted he: "Alas! a father's
-heart never forgets."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Vous etes belle, et votre soeur est belle,
-    Entre vous deux tout choix seroit bien doux,
-    L'Amour etoit blond, comme vous,
-    Mais il aimoit une brune, comme elle.[9]
-
-    oeBERNIS.oe
-
-[Footnote 9:
-
-    Thou art lovely--so is she,
-      Say, which should my heart prefer?
-    Cupid sure was fair like thee.
-      But his love was brown like her.
-]
-
-
-Whilst these scenes passed in Ireland, Lady Eltondale and Miss Seymour
-arrived at Cheltenham. At first, Selina's delight at breathing once more
-the pure air of the country made her almost wonder at the pleasure she
-had so lately found in the feverish amusements of London. Her step was
-still more elastic, as she trod the beautiful meadows that lay along
-the banks of the Chelt; and when, mounted on her favourite mare, she
-extended her rides to the surrounding hills, she seemed to regain a
-fresh existence.
-
-The picturesque beauties of Dodswell, the magnificent panorama of
-Lackington Hill, the curious remains of Sudeley castle, all were in time
-explored and admired by Selina; and often did she prefer a solitary walk
-amongst the sheltered lanes of Alstone, to accompanying Lady Eltondale
-to the morning mall, where crowds assembled at the Wells ostensibly in
-search of health, but really in pursuit of pleasure. In one of these
-morning walks, as she rested under the shadow of a gigantic oak, while
-the fresh breeze played on her glowing cheek, and the song of earliest
-birds alone interrupted the general silence, her thoughts involuntarily
-turned to those days which had glided by in similar scenes, when she
-used to bound like the fawns she chased through the park at Deane, or
-with more measured steps, though not less buoyant spirits, attended her
-father, as in his Bath chair he took his morning exercise on the broad
-smooth terrace, that stretched along the south front of the venerable
-mansion. The whole scene rose to her mind's eye, and she saw, in
-imagination, the lawns, the fields, the gardens, in which she had spent
-so many happy hours, and which were
-
-    "Once the calm scene of many a simple sport,
-    When nature pleas'd, for life itself was new,
-    And the heart promis'd what the fancy drew."
-
-She dwelt with a melancholy pleasure on the recollection of all the
-beloved companions of her earlier years, and sighed to think, that those
-moments of innocent delights would never again return to her. From this
-painfully pleasing reverie she was roused by the crying of a child, and
-the sound of an angry voice, exclaiming in a harsh key, "Hold your
-tongue, you little devil--ban't I going as fast as I can?" It seemed as
-if manual correction followed this expostulation, as the infant's cries
-were redoubled, and Selina heard its little voice, saying in a plaintive
-tone, "Mammy, mammy, me be a-hungry, me be tired." At that moment a turn
-in the road presented the speakers to her view, and she beheld a young
-woman, in whose pallid cheeks disease and wretchedness struggled for
-preeminence. A few coarse black locks strayed from under a cap, which
-might once have been white, but now in dirt and yellowness rivalled the
-complexion of the wearer, whilst it served to contrast a gaudy riband,
-by which it was encircled; a ragged, coloured handkerchief scarcely
-concealed her shrivelled bosom; and a cotton gown, which in its
-variegated pattern showed all the hues of the parterre, trained in the
-dust, and was partly caught up under her arm, below which appeared a
-tattered stuff petticoat, that scarcely reached to her knees. Her
-countenance was, if possible, more disgusting than her dress: her dark
-black eyes and oval forehead showed still some trace of beauty; but an
-expression of unblushing vice called forth sensations rather of disgust
-than of compassion. The little ragged urchin, that trotted by her side,
-endeavoured, on seeing Selina, to hide its head beneath her gown; but
-after a moment's deliberation, she dragged him from his concealment, and
-pushing him forward, desired him to demand charity. Selina, pitying the
-infant, more from the appearance of its associate than even from its own
-wretchedness, could not deny its request; and while she gave the poor
-child all the silver her purse contained, she inquired if the woman was
-its mother. "To be sure I am, my lady," replied she, in a tone of
-impertinent carelessness; "else what do you think I'd be troubled with
-such a brat as that for?" "It seems a fine boy," returned Selina,
-willing to rouse the maternal feelings that seemed so nearly extinct.
-"And where do you live?" "Down in that hut yonder, and a pretty penny I
-pay for it. Our landlord never comes to these here parts; if he did, he
-wouldn't let us be so racked; but he never thinks of us when he is
-away, and Mr. Smart, his agent, raises our rents just as he pleases; but
-he has our curses for his gains;" so saying, she seized the child
-roughly by the arm, and pursued her way, muttering imprecations Selina
-shuddered to hear. She also proceeded towards home; but her thoughts now
-took a more unpleasant turn. She recollected with sorrow how many poor
-cottages on her estate might also, with reason, lament the loss of a
-landlord, who had always inquired into their distresses and relieved
-their wants. But she, though possessed of such extensive means of being
-useful to her fellow-creatures, had hitherto seemed to consider the
-possession of fortune only as affording her a more ample opportunity for
-selfish gratification. She called to mind the happiness she had formerly
-experienced in charitable occupations; and reflected, with remorse, that
-since she had plunged into the vortex of dissipation, no tear had been
-wiped from the cheek of indigence by her generous aid--no smile of
-gratitude had hailed her approach to the couch of misery or pain. Of the
-many hours she had wasted in the pursuit of pleasure, not one had been
-devoted to the purposes of benevolence; and while she had lavished
-uncalculated sums in extravagance and folly, she had never purchased the
-inestimable benefit of a poor man's blessing.
-
-This trifling incident served to awaken in Selina's mind feelings and
-reflections that had long lain dormant. The whole tenour of Lady
-Eltondale's conduct had been calculated to efface all the impressions
-formerly made on her, both by the precepts and example of the admirable
-Mrs. Galton; and while her Ladyship contrived, by cautious degrees, to
-impede, and finally almost destroy the correspondence with her, which
-might have served occasionally to recall the first, the latter was
-almost totally obliterated from her mind by the entirely new scenes,
-into which she had been introduced. As to the habits of charity, to
-which both from inclination and instruction she had been early
-habituated, but little opportunity for their exercise had occurred since
-her residence with the Viscountess; for the very servants at Eltondale
-were too polite to admit a vulgar beggar within its gates; and in London
-she had been taught to consider all vagrants indiscriminately as
-impostors, whom it was almost a crime to relieve.
-
-But are those aware, who are anxious to find plausible excuses for
-delaying or omitting the fulfilment of the duties of charity, that the
-feelings of the human heart, though inflamed by casual restraint, are
-extinguished by a continued suppression? And wo be to that breast, in
-which the sentiments of benevolence and compassion are destroyed! The
-virtues of humanity, as they are those which most peculiarly belong to
-this present state of existence, so is the exercise of them most
-necessary to our individual happiness in this world; for he, whose heart
-has never melted at the sorrows of others, will assuredly, sooner or
-later, know the agony of seeking in vain for one sympathising bosom on
-which to repose the burden of his own.
-
-When Selina returned home, she was scarcely less pleased than surprised
-to find Mr. Sedley seated at breakfast with Lady Eltondale. They were so
-deeply engaged in conversation, that her entrance was unnoticed by
-either; and as her astonishment at perceiving so unexpected a guest made
-her pause for a moment at the door, she heard Lady Eltondale say,
-apparently in continuation of a previous speech, "And have you proof of
-this from himself, Mr. Sedley?" "Yes; proofs such as must convince even
-your Ladyship; otherwise I would never have made the proposal I have
-done." Selina here interrupted him, but her appearance was so sudden,
-that it was many minutes before he could collect his thoughts to address
-her with any composure. Lady Eltondale, however, showed no
-embarrassment; she inquired most kindly what had so long detained
-Selina; said that she and Mr. Sedley, whom she had accidentally met at
-the well, had walked miles in search of her; and finally joined in her
-vivacious raillery against Mr. Sedley for his visible confusion. In
-answer to Selina's inquiries when he arrived at Cheltenham, "Only
-yesterday," said he; "I was quite disappointed at not meeting you at the
-rooms last night. How is the detestable head-ache that Lady Eltondale
-told me prevented your accompanying her there?" While Selina hastily
-dismissed the subject of her casual indisposition, which, in truth, she
-had hardly remembered, a momentary surprise glanced across her mind at
-the recollection, that Lady Eltondale had not mentioned to her having
-seen Mr. Sedley; but she had not time to dwell on the thought, as the
-Viscountess immediately renewed her inquiries as to what could have so
-unusually prolonged Selina's walk; and the beggar woman and her boy
-recurring to her mind, she forgot all her doubts and past reflections,
-in the earnestness with which she entered into the description of all
-the wretchedness, which she "was sure the poor infant must suffer from
-its unfeeling mother." Lady Eltondale seemed to take uncommon interest
-in the relation, which she prolonged by apposite questions and remarks
-of "Poor child!--Of course you gave it something.--No wonder you
-returned so late.--I suppose you were just come home, just opened this
-door, as I perceived you.--Dear infant, I should like to have seen it!"
-And thus continued the conversation, while Mr. Sedley took a turn or two
-across the room; put into his pocket a letter-case that lay beside his
-coffee-cup, and regained all his customary self-possession. With his
-usual manners he resumed his place in Selina's estimation; and the hours
-flew by unnoticed, as he entertained her with the relation of a thousand
-ridiculous adventures, all of which had occurred either to himself or
-"his particular friends," during the space of three weeks, which he
-called an age, since they parted. And in truth he did not much
-exaggerate, when he described his regret at their having been so long
-separated. Like the unguarded moth, he had flitted round the flame till
-he actually suffered for his folly; for his improved acquaintance with
-Selina, during the latter part of their stay in London, had so far
-increased his admiration of her, that what was at first merely a
-preference chiefly influenced by pecuniary considerations, had now
-become a passion almost too powerful to be controlled. He had yet
-however sufficient command over his feelings, to avoid any verbal
-expression of them; and, while he carefully demonstrated how interesting
-to him had been all her observations, by delightedly referring to their
-former conversations, and recapitulating even her most trifling remarks,
-his present adulation was so delicately conveyed by inferred compliment
-alone, that, while Selina was gratified by the flattering attention,
-thus obviously paid her, she felt it would have but compromised her own
-modesty, had she, by disclaiming praise thus subtilely offered,
-appropriated to herself an admiration that was only insinuated. And how
-did Lady Eltondale approve of this? In truth she was not aware of the
-whole tendency of Mr. Sedley's discourse; a stolen glance or a peculiar
-emphasis explained his application of a particular sentence to her, who
-alone he meant should understand him; _et au reste_, the Viscountess,
-like a skilful navigator, always floated down a stream she found it
-impossible to stem.
-
-Selina almost persuaded herself, that every clock and watch in the house
-was out of order, when Lady Eltondale asserted, that the hour was come
-for Fazani's raffle, which she had particularly patronized; and as,
-accompanied by the Viscountess and Sedley, Selina walked under the dark
-avenue, that led to that fashionable rendezvous, she could not help
-internally observing, "how much Mr. Sedley's vivacity and good-nature
-enlivened every society of which he was a member."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-     _Lady Sneerwell._--You are partial, Snake.
-
-     _Snake._--Not in the least; every body will allow, that Lady
-     Sneerwell can do more with a word or a look, than many others with
-     the most laboured detail.
-
-     oeSCHOOL FOR SCANDAL.oe
-
-
-When they entered Fazani's, the raffle was only waiting for the arrival
-of the Viscountess. The prize was a beautiful work-box, and Fortune, who
-at that moment seemed to smile with peculiar benignity on Sedley, chose
-him to be the successful adventurer. As soon as he was declared victor,
-he immediately brought the treasure towards Lady Eltondale and Selina,
-and the latter, with pardonable vanity, flattered herself that he
-intended it as a present for her. But in this she was mistaken. He
-addressed himself to Lady Eltondale, and in a low tone said, with
-peculiar emphasis, "Will your ladyship accept this from me as a _gage
-d'amitie_?" "I take it as a flag of truce," replied she in a similar
-tone. "Then from henceforward you are my friend," exclaimed Sedley,
-seizing her hand with unusual vehemence. "At least not your enemy,"
-answered the Viscountess.--"But this is not a proper place to settle our
-preliminaries."
-
-This conversation was unintelligible to Selina, yet not uninteresting,
-as she felt a vague consciousness, that it in some way related to
-herself, and a momentary distrust of both speakers glanced across her
-mind. But her attention was quickly attracted by Lady Hammersley, who,
-on perceiving Lady Eltondale, had advanced from amongst the crowd to pay
-her compliments. The Viscountess was as minute in her inquiries
-regarding all that could concern Lady Hammersley, as if she had been
-sincere in her professions of being glad to meet her; and though Lady
-Hammersley's eyes were fixed on Selina, it was some minutes before she
-was sufficiently disengaged to accost her; at length she abruptly
-exclaimed, "Miss Seymour has, to all appearance, profited as much by her
-residence in London, as I prophesied she would; possibly amongst her
-other acquirements she may have learned the art of forgetting old
-acquaintances." Selina's colour rose, and the implied rebuke checking at
-once the friendly salutation with which she had prepared to address her,
-she returned her recognizance with an elegant but frigid compliment,
-worthy a pupil of Lady Eltondale. "Admirable!" retorted Lady Hammersley
-with a scornful smile: "My penetration is not baffled. I must write to
-Mrs. Galton, to notice the improvement _I_ always anticipated." "Why,
-does your Ladyship know Mrs. Galton?" inquired Selina anxiously; while
-Lady Eltondale, leaning on Mr. Sedley, took the opportunity of escaping
-from her "Dear Lady Hammersley." "I do know Mrs. Galton," replied she;
-"we were together all last winter at Bath; and she, Miss Seymour, was
-so convinced of your perfection, that she never would believe it was
-even in Lady Eltondale's power to _improve_ you, as I guessed she would,
-and see she has done." "Dear, dear aunt Mary!" exclaimed Selina,
-bursting into tears, as she heard this instance of a disinterested
-partiality, to which she had lately been unused, even though the recital
-had been made with more of acrimony than of benevolence. Lady Hammersley
-looked for some moments steadily at Selina, and then continued in her
-usual cynical tone, "Pray, Miss Seymour, compose yourself; Lady
-Eltondale will be shocked at my having betrayed you into so gross an
-impropriety. I had not the slightest idea that the mention of Mrs.
-Galton would have roused your feelings, and still less that you could
-have been tempted to exhibit them." Selina felt hurt at the undeserved
-censure, which both Lady Hammersley's words and manner expressed, and,
-with a look of dignity, replied, "I am indeed ashamed of betraying them
-where they can be so little understood;" and took leave of her Ladyship
-with a proud politeness, which admitted of no reply. Lady Hammersley for
-some moments looked after Selina, as she moved to a distant part of the
-room, where Lady Eltondale was waiting for her. "That girl is still
-worth knowing," thought she; and for once she turned an unprejudiced eye
-on the lovely form and heavenly countenance of the innocent girl, who
-had hitherto so undeservedly shared in the contempt and hatred, which
-her Ladyship had always been accustomed to feel for every thing, that in
-the remotest degree appertained to Lady Eltondale.
-
-Meantime Selina joined the Viscountess, while "disdain and scorn rode
-sparkling in her eyes." "Has Lady Hammersley been entertaining you with
-any sententious aphorisms?" asked Lady Eltondale. "No," replied Selina,
-laughing. "For once she has been talking on a subject she does not
-understand." The Viscountess was not sufficiently interested in her
-Ladyship's harangues to inquire further, and they continued their walk
-till it was time to separate for dinner.
-
-The amusement allotted for that evening was a public concert, and Lady
-Eltondale and Selina had acceded to Sedley's earnest entreaty of
-attending it. He accordingly took post in the outside room, waiting for
-their arrival, and anxiously inspecting every passing groupe, as the
-different parties entered, in hopes of recognizing them. But his
-expectations were disappointed; no Lady Eltondale or Selina made their
-appearance: he bewildered himself in conjectures; and at last, in a
-moment of pique, attributing their delay to caprice, he left the rooms
-before the concert was finished, cursing woman's inconsistency, and his
-own folly, in ever having suffered himself to be interested about any.
-This sage reflection was however chased long before morning, not only by
-the recollection of Selina's manifold charms, but of his own manifold
-creditors; and at an early hour he repaired to the well, where he and
-Lady Eltondale had agreed to meet, in order to finish a conversation
-neither was particularly anxious Selina should witness.
-
-But Lady Eltondale was not to be found; and when the hour for the
-general dispersion of the company arrived without his seeing her, he
-lost patience, and hastened to her house to inquire the cause of her
-protracted absence.
-
-But there, to his utmost consternation, he learned that an express had
-arrived, just as the ladies were preparing to go to the rooms the night
-before, to inform the Viscountess, that Lord Eltondale had suddenly
-expired at Eltondale, after having partaken of a turtle feast with more
-enjoyment, and even less restraint, than ordinary. Of course neither
-Selina nor Lady Eltondale was visible, and Sedley returned home agitated
-by a thousand conjectures and emotions.
-
-It was not to be expected, that Lady Eltondale would deeply lament the
-death of a husband, who, notwithstanding his uniform indulgence to her,
-had never possessed either her esteem or affection; but nevertheless
-Selina could not help being shocked at the total apathy and ingratitude
-she displayed; as without even assuming a grief, which it would have
-been almost more a virtue to dissemble, than thus openly to contemn, she
-only thought of, only lamented, the change of her circumstances the
-event would inevitably produce. Selina listened in astonishment to the
-calm retrospection of past extravagance, and the despairing anticipation
-of future poverty, in which she indulged even in those first moments of
-widowhood; and disdaining to offer consolation to the only sorrows she
-could hear unmoved, at an early hour retired to her own room.
-
-There far, far different reflections agitated her bosom. There is a
-certain sympathy in misfortune, which, touching a chord that has once
-jarred, finds an echo in our own breast;
-
-    "Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows,
-    Which show like grief itself."
-
-Thus the sudden dissolution of Lord Eltondale recalled to Selina's mind
-all the circumstances of her father's death; and though neither in her
-judgment nor affection they could ever have been compared, yet the last
-sad scene of mortality blended her recollections of both, and with
-unrestrained tears she gave way to all the poignancy of regret, in the
-solitude of her chamber, which the freezing insensibility of Lady
-Eltondale would have repressed, in the presence of her who should have
-been the greatest mourner.
-
-In the morning her swollen eyes and pallid cheeks bore testimony to her
-sleepless night; and as from Lady Eltondale she expected reproof rather
-than sympathy, she was not sorry to receive a message, stating that her
-Ladyship wished to breakfast alone, as she was engaged in writing
-letters.
-
-Selina, lost in reflection, unconsciously prolonged her solitary and
-almost untasted meal, till she was roused by the abrupt entrance of Lady
-Hammersley, who, profiting by her plea of relationship, had come to
-inquire all the particulars of the Viscount's death. Though Selina now
-felt a degree of repugnance to Lady Hammersley, which her almost
-impertinent remarks had provoked, yet she could not with propriety
-refuse the details she demanded; and she accordingly answered her
-numerous questions with as much brevity as politeness permitted. But her
-auditor seemed to attend more to her countenance than to her words, and
-at last abruptly exclaimed, "I certainly did not expect to see so much
-real sorrow in this house of mourning; you are a good girl, I believe,
-after all; and I like you for having at least _some_ feeling left."
-Though Selina was always grateful for advice, and even reproof, dictated
-by affection, yet she did not feel, that Lady Hammersley was in any way
-authorized to offer her either; and therefore she replied, with an air
-of _hauteur_, which the recollection of her observations the day before
-increased, "My acquaintance with your Ladyship has been so short, that
-neither my feelings nor character can be known to you: have you any
-commands, madam, to Lady Eltondale?" and rising as she spoke, she
-prepared to quit the room. But Lady Hammersley, taking hold of her hand,
-exclaimed, "What, proud too! well, I like you the more for it; come, sit
-down, you and I must be better acquainted. For once I am inclined to
-think I have been mistaken. When first I saw you at Eltondale,"
-continued she, in a tone of unusual kindness, "I was interested by your
-personal appearance; but above all, by your simplicity of character: but
-as I knew these were the two precise points, which must infallibly be
-most changed by your residence with Lady Eltondale, I looked upon you
-only as a fine piece of plaster of Paris, which she would probably mould
-to external perfection, but leave all hollow within. I should therefore
-(forgive my frankness, Miss Seymour), most likely, never have thought of
-you again, had I not met Mrs. Galton; who spoke of you in such terms,
-that I own I was curious to learn whether my prognostics were verified
-or not. Circumstances have accelerated my knowledge of you; and since I
-find, at least to all appearance, that Lady Eltondale's arts have not
-entirely spoiled your character, I am anxious that her schemes should
-not militate against your happiness." "Schemes! Lady Hammersley, I am at
-a loss to understand you." "Her favourite scheme," returned her
-Ladyship, "is this,--she intends you should marry her step-son Frederick
-Elton, now Lord Eltondale; and her visit to Deane Hall, which you may
-remember this time twelvemonth, was to procure your father's consent to
-the match, in which she succeeded." "My father's consent!" exclaimed the
-agitated girl. "But Mr. Elton and I are unacquainted; we have never even
-seen each other. You must be mistaken, my dear madam." "No, there is no
-mistake; both your late uncle and Mrs. Galton were my authorities." "And
-do you say my father gave his consent?" "I do say so: and I also know,
-that Frederick is now on his return to England, intending to propose
-for you. Come, my dear, do not be so agitated: he is one of the finest
-young men of the day: his character amiable, and his manners attractive;
-so perhaps you cannot do better than make choice of him, provided your
-affections are not otherwise engaged." A pause of some minutes ensued.
-Lady Hammersley then continued: "But in telling you Lady Eltondale's
-scheme, it is fit I should explain her motive; for be assured, Miss
-Seymour, no action of hers can ever be disinterested. The fact is, she
-has long known, that the Eltondale estates are as much encumbered as the
-entail permits them to be; and in securing your property for Frederick,
-she flatters herself she has secured an increased jointure for herself."
-Selina shuddered, but could make no reply. And Lady Hammersley rising,
-said, "I have now, my dear Miss Seymour, told you all I know: you may
-think me an impertinent old woman, but, be assured, I only wished to be
-a kind one. God bless you! perhaps we may never meet again; for I
-suppose Lady Eltondale will leave this place immediately. But don't
-forget the key I have given you to her character; and believe me it is
-not a false one." So saying, she affectionately kissed Selina, who took
-leave of her with a gratitude and cordiality, she would a few hours
-before have believed it scarcely possible she could ever have
-experienced for Lady Hammersley.
-
-It may be supposed this conversation made a deep impression on her mind;
-and one of the most painful feelings it excited was the insight it gave
-her into Lady Eltondale's selfish and dissembling character, confirmed
-as it was by her own previous observations. But even these feelings had
-not long power to withdraw her attention from that part of Lady
-Hammersley's communication which related to Frederick, and which was
-also corroborated by her recollection of several remarks and casual
-speeches of Lady Eltondale, which, at the time they were made, had
-seemed to her accidental and undesigned, but each of which, on
-retrospection, appeared "squared and fitted to its use." Nor did the
-circumstance of her deceased father having given his consent to the
-match serve, as with some romantic ladies it might have done, to
-determine her against it; on the contrary, it rather served to prejudice
-her in its favour; and a long train of reflections was concluded in her
-own mind by Lady Hammersley's observation, "So perhaps you cannot do
-better, provided your affections are not otherwise engaged."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-                        Why she, even she--
-    Oh! Heav'ns! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
-    Would have mourn'd longer.
-
-    oeHAMLET.oe
-
-
-Selina's meditations were disturbed by a summons to Lady Eltondale's
-dressing-room, on a subject of no less importance than the choice of
-mourning: a mixed sentiment of contempt and indignation took possession
-of her mind, as she saw every feeling, that should have been called
-forth in that of the recent loss, absorbed in the more momentous
-reflections suggested by the comparative merits of the bombasins. But
-when the bevy of milliners left the room, and Lady Eltondale, hiding her
-face with her handkerchief, gave way to an outrageous burst of grief,
-Selina condemned herself for her premature judgment. "That is fortitude,
-which I have cruelly termed insensibility," thought she; and softened by
-her tears, the first she had ever seen her shed, she kindly took her
-hand, and addressed her in terms of condolence. But Lady Eltondale
-interrupting her in a tone, which from contending passions almost
-approached a scream: "Spare me, spare me," exclaimed she, "I can bear
-any thing but _pity_. Good God! is it come to this! am I, the envied,
-flattered Lady Eltondale, born to be _pitied_?" Then turning to Selina,
-with a countenance distorted with rage, and her figure distended into
-more than common loftiness, "You mistake me, Miss Seymour," she
-continued; "though that man of sloth, that dormouse, Lord Eltondale, has
-left me almost pennyless; though all my entreaties, all my reasons,
-could never rouse him from his indolence, to make him active for or
-against ministers, either of which would have procured me a pension; yet
-do not fancy I am yet to be despised. My spirit is independent, be my
-circumstances what they may, and they may still be bettered."
-
-Selina was thunderstruck at this address. She could scarcely recognise
-the calm, dignified Lady Eltondale, in the being convulsed with rage,
-that writhed beneath her steady gaze. In the contortion of uncontrolled
-passion, the veil had dropped, and the delusion vanished. A silence of a
-few moments ensued, and both the ladies recovered themselves; Selina to
-explain the condolences she had meant to offer as kindnesses, and Lady
-Eltondale to receive them with that degree of gratitude, she timely
-recollected it was most prudent to profess. And now,
-
-    "Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
-    That in a spleen unfolds both Heav'n and earth,"
-
-did the Viscountess reassume all her usual calmness, and more than her
-usual charms. Stretching out one white hand towards Selina, whilst she
-pressed the other on her forehead, "Forgive me, my love," exclaimed
-she, "this sudden misfortune has quite overpowered me. But you, Selina,
-I know will bear with me; you will not forsake me."
-
-Selina gave her every assurance, that duty and compassion, if not
-affection, could suggest; and Lady Eltondale, with that feverish
-restlessness of mind, which was no less distinguishable in her, than the
-calm self-possession of her external deportment, immediately proceeded
-to arrange the plans for her future life. "We will leave this directly,"
-said she, "as I am anxious to return to Eltondale as soon as possible,
-after the funeral of my poor dear Lord is over. I want to arrange my
-papers, and my jewels, and a thousand little trifles that are my own
-property, and may be useful to me hereafter; and then we can be decided
-by Lord Eltondale's answer to the letters I have written to him, whether
-to await his return at Eltondale, or to spend the intervening time at
-Brighton." "Or suppose, my dear Lady Eltondale, we return to Deane, I
-shall be so delighted----" "Impossible, my love," interrupted the
-Viscountess; "in my present weak spirits such a retirement would kill
-me." But this selfish, unfeeling woman was yet to learn by deprivation
-the value of those blessings she had hitherto disregarded, and of that
-kindness she had only despised. Before she could decide at which of the
-gay watering places it would be most advisable for her to pass the first
-months of mourning, Lord Eltondale's steward arrived, in the utmost
-consternation, with the agonizing intelligence, that the Viscount's
-creditors had seized on all his personal property, to pay some part of
-the debts her extravagance had so largely contributed to contract. They
-had possessed themselves both of the house at Eltondale and in Portman
-Square; and mercilessly stripped them of all they could lay claim to of
-their splendid furniture, not even sparing her Ladyship's "jewels, and
-the thousand little trifles," which she had determined to appropriate to
-herself. Bitterly did she now inveigh against the memory of him, whose
-inconsiderate compliance with all her unreasonable demands had
-principally occasioned the distress of which she so unfeelingly
-complained. At last, having exhausted her passion in invective, she next
-employed herself in suggesting and debating on a variety of schemes for
-her immediate residence: and at length being convinced, that a few
-months of the very retirement at Deane, which she had at first so
-indignantly rejected, was the most advantageous measure she could now
-adopt, she endeavoured to make a virtue of necessity, and accepted
-Selina's proposition in such a manner, as would have convinced a
-stranger, that her sole reason for doing so was compliance with Selina's
-wishes.
-
-The delighted girl did not, however, pause to investigate the motives of
-the Viscountess's assent to her plan. With a little of the vivacity,
-which once had marked her every impression, did she now anticipate with
-fond delight her return to those beloved scenes of her happy infancy.
-Her heart beat high as in swiftest thought she pictured to herself being
-once more pressed to the maternal bosom of Mrs. Galton, and once more
-enjoying the calm unembittered pleasures of her earlier years. Overcome
-by the various emotions these thoughts gave birth to, she retired to her
-own room, to regain composure, and to write to persuade her dearest aunt
-to meet her there.
-
-But an unforeseen difficulty arose to their quitting Cheltenham. Lady
-Eltondale, with her usual inconsiderate extravagance, had run into debt
-with almost every shopkeeper in the town; and the tradesmen, from the
-moment her departure was announced, sent in their demands with what she
-was pleased to call impertinent importunity. Her own resources had been
-long exhausted; and perhaps of all her mortifications, none was to her
-so severe as being under the necessity of applying to Selina for
-pecuniary assistance. But notwithstanding Selina's accession of
-fortune, when she lost her habits of early economy, she with them lost
-the power of being generous. The last letter she had received from her
-banker had informed her, that her account was so much overdrawn, he
-could no longer accept her frequent drafts: and when she was obliged to
-refuse Lady Eltondale's request for money, she received a practical
-lesson on the folly of extravagance, which was more effectual than any
-precepts could have been. But Lady Eltondale was not to be repulsed by
-trifling difficulties; her brain, ever fruitful in expedients, suggested
-the possibility of Selina anticipating her rents, by drawing a bill on
-her agent in Yorkshire. Impatient of delay, and dreading the demands
-which her other numerous creditors in London and elsewhere might bring
-forward against her, she prevailed on Selina to go the next day to
-Mr. ----'s bank to negotiate the transaction in person, and fixed to
-leave Cheltenham as soon as possible afterwards.
-
-Accordingly, very early the following morning, she proceeded to obey
-Lady Eltondale's directions, having desired the steward, who professed
-to be well versed in such business, to meet her at the bank, in order to
-explain all that was necessary for her to do: she however needed no
-introduction, the wealth of the great Yorkshire heiress was too well
-known to require any confirmation; and on signing a paper which she
-scarcely looked at, she joyfully received the sum she desired, without
-stopping to calculate at what price the banker and the steward had
-agreed she was to purchase the accommodation.
-
-Elated by her success, she sent the money to Lady Eltondale by the
-steward, while she proceeded to take a farewell ramble amongst her
-favourite walks, and to indulge in their retirement the pleasing
-reveries the idea of returning to Deane Hall had excited. Her solitude
-however was soon interrupted: Sedley, who for the last three days had
-with restless anxiety hovered round her door, had followed her unseen,
-and now hastily overtook her. On first seeing him she was half tempted
-to return, but he, perceiving her intention, half seriously and half
-carelessly, put her arm within his, and led her forward. At first he
-paid her the common compliments of condolence; but when, in answer to
-his inquiries, she told him she and Lady Eltondale were to leave
-Cheltenham that day, his surprise and disappointment overcame all his
-resolutions, and with a vehemence of manner and expression, that almost
-terrified Selina, he declared his passion in the strongest terms. So
-little had Selina been accustomed to think of him as her lover, that at
-first she considered his address merely as an effusion of gallantry, and
-as such returned it with careless _badinage_. But his renewed
-protestations convincing her he was in earnest, her trepidation
-increased, nor would she probably soon have recovered her composure, had
-she not perceived that he misconstrued her prolonged silence. As soon
-therefore as he would permit her, she interrupted him, by politely
-thanking him for his good opinion of her: "But," continued she, "it
-distresses me even more than it flatters me: I cannot encourage a
-partiality I feel I do not return." With an agitated countenance, and
-looks almost of menace, he now inquired who was the favoured mortal she
-preferred. "It is not that I prefer another," replied she, "but I do not
-sufficiently prefer you. I think the only way I can repay your kindness
-is by treating you with perfect frankness. Do not therefore think me
-harsh when I say, that though I certainly prefer your society more than
-that of most others, and though I prize your friendship most highly, I
-by no means feel for you that exclusive partiality, of which I know my
-heart is capable; and without which, in my opinion, there can be no
-happiness in married life." "But may not time and assiduity win your
-affections, dear, dearest Selina; let me still hope." And then, with all
-the eloquence he was master of, did he implore her to consider him
-still as her friend; and to permit him in that character to enjoy her
-society, and at least endeavour to gain her love.
-
-But the delicacy of Selina's mind shrunk from the idea of encouraging an
-attachment she never meant to return; and scorning the little arts by
-which so many women gratify their own vanity, at the expense of those
-feelings which they seem to soothe, she steadily refused to give him any
-ground for expecting her to change her present sentiments: for within
-the last few days she had "communed with her own heart," and understood
-it better than she had ever done before. However her refusal though firm
-was gentle; and when Sedley parted from her at Lady Eltondale's door,
-the tempered smile that played on her lip, and the tear that gemm'd her
-eye, spoke so much of female softness and benevolence, that he departed
-more enamoured than ever; and, hastening home, shut himself up in his
-chamber, to indulge in a variety of schemes and reflections, which all
-concluded by his determining never to relinquish her pursuit, and by a
-natural consequence persuading himself his case was not yet desperate:
-
-    "None without hope e'er lov'd the brightest fair,
-    But love will hope where reason would despair."
-
-When Selina entered the drawing room, she found Lady Eltondale too much
-engrossed by her preparations for departure, to notice her protracted
-absence and agitated appearance. And when a few hours afterwards Selina
-actually found herself seated in the carriage, which was to convey her
-to her own home, her thoughts became so entirely occupied by painfully
-pleasing retrospection connected with it, that for a time all others
-faded from her mind. Orders had been dispatched for its being prepared
-for their arrival. And as they travelled but slowly, sufficient time was
-afforded for their execution. For the last few miles Selina preserved an
-uninterrupted silence, her whole attention being occupied in
-endeavouring to recognize every well known object; and as each
-succeeding tree, and cottage, and spire, met her view, a sentiment of
-pleasure, amounting almost to agony, oppressed her. At last, when the
-carriage turned up the long avenue, her feelings could no longer be
-repressed. She sobbed aloud, and concealed her face in her handkerchief,
-which she did not remove till she found herself pressed to the
-palpitating heart of Mrs. Galton, who having received Selina's letter
-when on a visit in Lancashire, had succeeded in anticipating her arrival
-by a few hours.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-    Thou yet shalt know how sweet, how dear,
-      To gaze on beauty's glistening eye,
-    To ask and pause in hope and fear,
-                                  Till she reply.
-
-    oeMONTGOMERY.oe
-
-
-Immediately after the departure of Lady Eltondale and Selina from
-Cheltenham, Sedley had also quitted it, as he could not bear to remain
-in a place, which had been to him the scene of his fondest hopes--his
-bitterest disappointment. In fact his having met Miss Seymour there was
-by no means the effect of accident. When she and the Viscountess had
-left London in June, he had found such a loss in her society, especially
-in those particular hours, which he had of late been accustomed to pass
-in his daily visits to Portman Square, that life appeared a blank, and
-his regrets for her absence first taught him the extent of his regard.
-Not however that his mind, tainted as it was by so many of the
-fashionable follies, if not vices of the day, was capable of truly
-comprehending all the chaste and simple beauties of hers. His admiration
-was confined to her personal charms; and though, had she been fated to
-move in a humbler sphere, he would perhaps have sought her as a
-substitute for the pretty little opera dancer, that was now under his
-_protection_, as it is elegantly termed; yet with all Selina's
-loveliness, his aversion to matrimony would scarcely have been subdued
-by any less powerful motives than those suggested by her riches. For,
-like all spendthrifts, Sedley was avaricious; and these united
-interests, confirmed by habits of association, and increased by vanity,
-led him by degrees to feel for her an attachment, of which at first he
-could scarcely have supposed his heart to have been susceptible. Having
-once convinced himself, that the possession of Miss Seymour's hand and
-fortune would contribute to his own individual happiness, (for of hers
-he did not stop to think,) his next object was to determine how to
-procure it; nor did he consider her being the destined wife of his
-friend as any impediment to the accomplishment of his own wishes. He,
-however, was well aware, that it was of the utmost consequence to him to
-obtain the countenance and support of the Viscountess; and as he
-possessed sufficient penetration to discover the master passion of her
-soul, he took his measures accordingly. Soon after she went to
-Cheltenham he wrote her a letter, in which he so far betrayed the
-confidence Frederick Elton had reposed in him, as to communicate to her
-all he knew of his attachment to the fair Adelina at the villa
-Marinella; and concluded by proposing, in the most guarded and delicate
-_terms_ to her Ladyship, that she should befriend him instead of
-Elton--offering, if she would procure for him Selina's hand, either on
-the day of their marriage to give her a large sum of money, or to
-settle an annuity on her for the remainder of her life.
-
-The information thus conveyed to Lady Eltondale of Mr. Elton's
-attachment to a foreigner did not very much surprise her. She suspected
-that the reluctance he had expressed about two years before, to accept
-an honourable and lucrative employment in the diplomatical line, which
-his father had procured for him, and which had obliged him to leave
-Catania to reside in Paris--his subsequent return thither, and his
-protracted stay on the continent, had all proceeded from some such
-motive.
-
-But on the other hand Mr. Elton had, in his letter to his father, stated
-explicitly, "that he was not only willing, but anxious, to make every
-endeavour to gain Miss Seymour's affections, and bestow his own on her;
-convinced, on mature deliberation, that such an attachment would
-effectually conduce to his happiness, by filling that void in his heart,
-which so much militated against it." And as he was expected to return
-very shortly to England, she hesitated to accept Mr. Sedley's offer,
-although it was a temptation she could scarcely resist. The result,
-therefore, of her deliberations was, that she would remain neuter; and
-whichever of the candidates Selina's unbiassed judgment made choice of,
-she would endeavour to persuade owed their happiness to her influence.
-She therefore wrote an equivocal answer to Mr. Sedley, which he
-construed of course in the sense most favourable to his wishes, and
-hastened to Cheltenham, where he used all his rhetoric to secure her
-friendship; and she, with many a subtle argument, endeavoured to
-persuade him not to propose for Selina till after Frederick's arrival;
-and as he was by no means confident of the place he held in Miss
-Seymour's estimation, he probably would have postponed his declaration
-till time had more matured the regard he flattered himself she felt for
-him, had he not been irresistibly impelled by circumstances, as has been
-before related. Her refusal, however, did not entirely extinguish his
-hopes, although it changed his plans; and as the public prints had,
-about a fortnight before Lord Eltondale's death, given notice of Mr.
-Elton's departure from Paris, on his return to England, Sedley
-determined to repair to London immediately, for the purpose of meeting
-him, as he knew business would require his presence there. Nor was he
-disappointed; in about three weeks Lord Eltondale arrived; and Sedley
-sedulously sought to renew their intimacy, as much then from interested
-motives, as he had once done from inclination and preference. But though
-these two young men associated as much as they had been accustomed
-previous to Lord Eltondale's residence abroad, little remained of their
-original friendship, except its familiarity of intercourse, which a
-_habit_ of intimacy will long preserve. Yet Frederick was scarcely
-conscious of this aberration of regard, which was, on the part of
-Sedley, produced by a rivalship Lord Eltondale was unsuspicious of; and
-on his own was principally owing to the gradual change, that had taken
-place in their characters. Sedley, by the influence of dissipated
-companions, had converted his natural vivacity of spirits into levity of
-principle. Lord Eltondale, by the peculiar circumstances which had led
-him to self-communion, study, and reflection, had turned the energies of
-his nature to pursuits worthy of the powers of his mind, and of the rank
-he was by nature and fortune destined to hold amongst the sons, which
-England proudly boasts as truly noble.
-
-Lord Eltondale had written to the Viscountess, that it was his intention
-to pay his compliments to her and Miss Seymour immediately on his
-arrival in England; but he, from one day to another, sought excuses for
-delaying this visit to Deane Hall; and Sedley was not unwilling to
-assist in the search, for he still hoped to gain by delay. When he had
-first met Frederick, he had inquired, with as much indifference as he
-could assume, whether there was any foundation in the newspaper report
-of his marriage with Miss Seymour; to which his Lordship replied, in a
-peremptory tone, "Yes, if she will have me;" and immediately changed the
-conversation in such a manner, that Sedley had not again the courage to
-renew it. However, at last his Lordship fixed the day for the
-commencement of his journey to Yorkshire, and the evening before he as
-usual spent in his friend's society. They were conversing of far
-different matters, when Sedley abruptly said, in a tone of marked pique,
-"Well, Eltondale, so you have at last determined to do Miss Seymour the
-honour of proposing for her. Upon my soul, a great condescension!
-Notwithstanding your damned lecturing letters, I knew you would forget
-your 'charming Sicilian maid, fairer than Proserpine,' and all that pack
-of metaphysical stuff you used to write to me. I knew well enough from
-the first it was only an ideal Laura you fancied yourself Petrarch to;
-and if, while you were dreaming of her, you had lost the incomparable
-_heiress_ your designing step-mother intended for you, it would only
-have been what you deserved." "For Heaven's sake, Sedley, what do you
-mean?" said Lord Eltondale, colouring deeply. "Is the incomparable
-_heiress_ the Laura of your dreams?" "No, no, my Lord," answered Sedley,
-with a composure produced alike by envy and mortification, "I leave it
-to _you_ to play the part of sleeper awakened--I never lost my senses
-for any _Adelina_." "Sedley!" replied Lord Eltondale, with the serious
-energy of deep feeling, "if any spark of our former friendship remains
-in your bosom, I conjure you never to mention that name again. I can
-never forget _her_, but she refused _me_." "Refused you!" exclaimed
-Sedley, in a tone of unfeigned surprise; "well, no doubt your pride has
-cured your love; but upon my soul I almost pity you; for when a man is
-once fascinated by a pretty woman, it is devilish hard to get out of her
-toils." "So far from my pride being my cure, her refusal raised my love
-to a pitch that made my former attachment seem cold in comparison. You
-may smile, Sedley, but if you have a heart to be moved, it must be
-touched when I tell you of her noble conduct on that occasion. I believe
-I told you of my intention of proposing myself to her; but I never could
-summon fortitude to acquaint you with the result. I had perceived a
-marked change in her manner to me some time before I wrote you the last
-letter concerning her; but I attributed it entirely to her father's
-influence, as I had not come to a direct explanation, and therefore took
-an opportunity of demanding an interview for that purpose, when I knew
-him to be absent.
-
-"When she entered the room where I was waiting in breathless expectation
-of her arrival, she was enveloped in the most icy coldness of manner,
-which, however, I was not dismayed by, but poured forth my love with all
-the ardour I felt. She changed colour many times, and was silent for a
-few moments; but when she did speak, rejected my addresses with such
-dignified politeness, and with so much calm self-possession, that,
-mortified to the very soul, I, without reply or remonstrance, walked out
-of the house. That I might hide my wounded feelings from every eye, I
-struck into a private path which led through a flower-garden Adelina's
-sitting-room opened into. I instinctively turned to look in, when I
-beheld her kneeling, evidently in the act of prayer, her eyes streaming
-with tears. To see her weep, and retain self-control or resentment, was
-impossible. I was at her side in an instant;--she started up, and
-endeavoured to fly, but I forcibly detained her; and as the expression
-of her countenance was not to be misunderstood as to the cause of her
-grief, I implored her not to destroy our happiness by harbouring any
-false impressions of me or my family; entreated her to tell me the
-impediments to our union, that if it were possible, by any exertion of
-mine, to do them away, they might cease to exist. She turned aside her
-head to hide the gushing tears, and in a faltering voice desired me to
-leave her.--'Leave me,' said she, 'only for a few moments, that I may
-recover composure to tell you all.'
-
-"I respected her feelings sufficiently to remain in the garden till she
-made a sign to me to return.
-
-"When I entered, grief, in her calmest attitude, was seated on her brow.
-No tear dimmed the majesty of her commanding eye, but a convulsive smile
-sometimes passed over her pallid lip. She told me that her father,
-though a German Baron, was a British subject by birth, but that some
-unfortunate circumstances induced him to condemn himself to perpetual
-exile from his native land; that she could not desert her duties by
-leaving him, in the evening of his days, to sad solitude in a foreign
-country; nor would she ever consent to obscure the morning of my life by
-suffering me, if I were so inclined, to quit my country, and leave my
-high calling unfulfilled, to waste my hours at her side in unavailing
-regret for my lost character: and addressing me with the utmost
-solemnity, said in conclusion, 'Frederick, if you really love me, as I
-think you do; if you are the noble being I believe you to be--you will
-not, after this meeting, try my feelings by any further solicitation. My
-resolution is unalterable--do not deprive me of my self-esteem, by
-making me feel the sacrifice I make to filial duty too painful.'
-
-"I then told her, if she would promise to be mine when these obstacles
-to our union were at an end, I would wait in joyful thankfulness any
-length of time.
-
-"'No, no,' said she, 'I could not, in justice to you, enter into such an
-engagement. Our affections are involuntary--you _cannot_ answer for the
-continuance of your attachment. Time, absence, your country, your
-family, will estrange your heart from _me_; and honour alone would
-continue to bind you to me when love had fled. I should, when too late
-for recall, be doomed to inconsolable misery, by finding your sense of
-duty had destroyed your happiness. As for myself, I could not live
-under such a load of hopes and fears. No, Frederick, from this day I
-will endeavour to destroy every memento of our having ever met. Hope
-must be completely eradicated.' Irritated by the misery of my mind, I
-had the _inhumanity_ to upbraid her in words that I would now give
-worlds to recall, with being cold and unfeeling. 'Would to Heaven I
-were!' exclaimed she, and abruptly leaving the room, forbid my following
-her.--I never saw her afterwards."
-
-Here Lord Eltondale started up, and paced the room in an agony of
-feeling difficult to describe. Even Sedley was moved with compassion.
-"Poor fellow!" said he, in a suppressed tone, "And did you make no
-further attempt to change her resolution?" "I wrote several letters from
-Catania, and returned from Paris after my second visit there to see her
-once more, but the villa was deserted--Baron Wildenheim and his daughter
-had gone no one knew whither."
-
-"Wildenheim!" exclaimed Sedley, "Good God, is it possible!--Wildenheim
-did you say?" Frederick repeated this name, and he, on hearing it a
-second time, danced about the room like a madman. "Sedley, are you
-absolutely and entirely insane?" exclaimed his friend, indignant at the
-levity of his behaviour--"Beware!--by Heavens, you trifle too much with
-my feelings!" "Well, you shall judge of the justice of my conjectures;
-but if you give me the smallest interruption, I will leave you in the
-state of blessed ignorance you at present enjoy," replied Sedley,
-wringing his hand rather than shaking it. "First, then, to describe your
-charmer, for I spent a month in the house with her last autumn.
-_Imprimis_--her mind I know nothing about; she was so damned shy,
-sitting alone all morning writing amatory odes to your Lordship I
-suppose--there now, if you interrupt me I have done."
-
-Here Sedley made a short pause. He felt that all was at stake: the
-effects of a few minutes' conversation might decide his fate for life.
-He hastily revolved in his mind Lord Eltondale's Sicilian letters, which
-he had lately read for the base purpose of divulging their contents to
-the Viscountess, and calling to mind the points on which Frederick's
-admiration had been founded, endeavoured to paint Miss Wildenheim's
-charms in those terms which he judged most likely to raise his friend's
-love and regrets to their _acme_, and thus for ever defeat Lady
-Eltondale's schemes for uniting him to Selina. In reply to Frederick's
-entreaties to proceed, he continued with affected carelessness, "I can
-scarcely give you a more minute description of her person than of her
-mind. Her beauty is not to be compared to ----" (Miss Seymour's, he
-would have said with well acted indifference, had he not timely
-recollected her name was a "word of fear," not only to himself but his
-auditor)--"that of some of our reigning belles; but 'the charm of Celia
-altogether' is so captivating, so _touching_, that no one ever thought
-of _beauty_ in her presence; nor is admiration the sentiment she
-excites, that, like her attractions, can only be felt, not described.
-Come, don't be jealous; her indifference to me, and every other man she
-associated with, was too marked to encourage that love it would have
-been impossible not to have felt but for this coldness. Her form and
-motions were so graceful, that my attention was too completely engrossed
-by their exquisite elegance to observe her stature; nor was I more at
-liberty to remark the _minutiae_ of her features, rivetted as I was by
-the enchanting expression of her countenance, where softness is ennobled
-by dignity, and animated by intellect.
-
-"In short, I no longer wonder at what I once termed infatuation, if '_la
-bella Adelina_' be (as I verily believe she is) the lovely Adelaide
-Wildenheim----" "Where is she, for God's sake where is she?" "Why, your
-Venus is at this moment--not rising from the sea, but--enjoying the
-delights of a mud bath in a bog in Ireland. I will furnish you with
-proper directions to find her. I advise you to lose no time; I assure
-you, you have a dangerous rival in the son of the lady she resides
-with;--a year may have made a great change in her sentiments though."
-Here a severe and long continued fit of coughing saved Sedley from
-betraying the laughter he was almost convulsed by, at the thought of the
-rival he had terrified Lord Eltondale with, in the person of Mr.
-Webberly. "Better, my dear fellow, better," said he at last, in answer
-to Frederick's earnest concern on his behalf: "though, to continue my
-speech, her aversion even to him was so decided, I have no doubt her
-constancy to you would stand a much greater probation." At first Lord
-Eltondale's joy was too great for him to believe all this was not a
-dream; and he questioned Sedley over and over again as to every
-particular regarding Miss Wildenheim. The latter had profited
-considerably by the lessons he had received during his intercourse with
-the Viscountess, in the science of insinuation and _finesse_, and now
-therefore artfully related every circumstance likely to strengthen his
-friend's passion for the "divine Adelaide;" but perceiving at last from
-Frederick's countenance that he was in danger of over-acting his part,
-he abruptly discontinued a _tirade_ on her perfections, by exclaiming,
-"All this comes of romancing, Eltondale; if you could have condescended
-to have designated your dearly beloved by any more specific term than
-'the fair Adelina,' this _quid pro quo_ would never have occurred.--Why
-the devil did you never tell me she was plain Adelaide Wildenheim?" "I
-had very strong reasons for my silence as to her surname. Though I never
-knew a man more highly endowed in mind than Baron Wildenheim, or whose
-manners bore the stamp of more refined elegance, more impressive
-dignity, yet there was something extremely mysterious in the manner in
-which he sometimes avoided, sometimes sought, conversation on English
-affairs; in a moment he would interrupt a discussion he had seemed much
-interested in, with a perturbation that excited unfavourable
-suspicions, which were confirmed in my mind by a variety of minute
-circumstances.--None made a stronger impression than the following
-occurrence:--I one evening unexpectedly met him and Adelina walking
-through a beautiful grove in the neighbourhood of their villa. They were
-conversing earnestly, and, to my astonishment, in English--he with that
-pure accent a native only can possess, which was forcibly contrasted by
-the pronunciation of his daughter. I claimed him as my countryman, and
-rallied her for concealing her knowledge of my native language. She,
-evidently embarrassed, blushed deeply, (how beautiful she looked!)
-whilst the Baron, with a haughty austerity, only answered my compliment
-by a profound bow; and, after some trifling remark, pointedly addressed
-to me in _French_, alleged the lateness of the hour for taking their
-leave, and expressed a flattering wish to see me the following morning;
-thus politely giving me to understand my presence was not at that moment
-particularly agreeable. This confirmed my former surmise, that in the
-revolutionary period he had been engaged in some dark affair inimical to
-the interests of Great Britain, and that Baron Wildenheim was merely a
-_nom de guerre_, to cover the _incognito_ he found it expedient to
-assume; therefore I purposely avoided mentioning it to you. Now as for
-Adelina--that is the Italian diminutive of Adelaide, which her father
-always called her; it was the first I heard her addressed by; it is one,
-in short, that has a charm in my ear, which none who has not loved,
-_approved_ as I do, can conceive." "It is strange enough, Eltondale,"
-remarked Sedley; "but you and Miss Wildenheim must have been in Paris at
-the same time; for she related to me one day a whimsical occurrence,
-which took place in the Chamber of Deputies, that one of your letters
-informed me you had also witnessed." "Is it possible!" exclaimed
-Frederick, "how unfortunate we did not meet! I now recollect, I once
-thought I saw her at the _Theatre Francois_; if so, she had contrived to
-forget me in a great hurry; for though it was but three months after a
-parting that was almost death to me, she was looking as gay and as happy
-as possible." Here Sedley made an involuntary grimace, internally
-exclaiming, "The devil she did! That agrees but badly with the _Il
-penseroso_ I have described with such effect." "Baron Wildenheim,"
-continued Lord Eltondale, "I certainly did see, but could not ascertain
-whether the lady who was with him was Adelina or not; for when I
-approached near enough to put the matter out of doubt, either by
-accident or design, she threw a large shawl over her, so as effectually
-to conceal her figure from my sight; and before I could push through the
-crowd to speak to them, they had left the theatre. However I trust,
-thanks to you, my dear friend, we shall soon meet; and if her heart is
-still mine, what happiness!--Gracious Heaven! Miss Seymour!"--and the
-recollection of his situation regarding Selina glanced through his mind,
-turning all the past to pain--"I must not, dare not, think of her now."
-"And why not?" replied Sedley, with an agitation little inferior to his
-own, "You are not irrevocably engaged to Miss Seymour, Eltondale?" "I am
-as much as a man of honour can be, who has not received the lady's own
-consent from her own mouth. But my poor father got Sir Henry Seymour's
-consent to our marriage above a year ago--read those two letters,
-Sedley, the last I received from Lady Eltondale immediately after my
-father's death. You will see by the tenor of it, that she considers the
-business as concluded; and though she does not positively tell me Miss
-Seymour's opinion, she distinctly says she has no doubt of our mutual
-happiness!"
-
-The first of these letters gave Sedley the most unequivocal proofs of
-Lady Eltondale's double-dealing, in speaking of Selina to Frederick as
-decidedly his future wife, at the very moment when she seemed to favour
-his own pretensions. He dashed the letters, one after the other, on the
-table, with a violence that made it resound, and internally imprecated
-"the treachery, the artifice, of this damned dissembling woman!"
-
-A sense of the moral rectitude, which should guide the conduct of
-_others_, grows surprisingly acute, even in the breast of the most
-worthless, when they themselves begin to suffer from the effects of
-dissimulation in their associates. At that moment Sedley could have
-demonstrated sincerity to be "the first of virtues"--in theory at
-least--deferring the _practice_ of it to a more convenient season.
-
-For some time both these young men remained absorbed in their own
-reflections; till at last Sedley endeavoured to persuade Lord Eltondale,
-that it was not incumbent on him to pay his addresses to Miss Seymour:
-but neither the sophistry of his friend, nor still more the pleadings of
-his own unconquered passion, could make him swerve from the rectitude of
-his principles. He knew that even in his very last letter to his
-stepmother, he had mentioned his intention of proposing for Selina, and
-therefore, under all the circumstances considering himself as pledged
-to do so, he endeavoured to find solace in what would once have been the
-_acme_ of misery--a belief that Adelaide no longer cherished any regard
-for him.
-
-On the other hand Sedley, passing at once from hope to despair,
-conceived it impossible Selina could refuse an offer so unexceptionable;
-and attributing her indifference to himself to her ambitious views,
-internally vowed revenge on both. The rival friends separated with
-feelings, which resembled only in their poignancy and defiance of
-control; and the next morning Lord Eltondale left London, pursuing, with
-agitated haste, his journey to Deane Hall.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-    Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE FOURTHoe.
-
-
-And where meantime were Lord Osselstone and Mordaunt?--It may be
-recollected, that they had left London, previous to Lady Eltondale's
-great ball, on a tour to the continent--a journey which was not
-undertaken solely from motives of amusement. One of Lord Osselstone's
-brothers had many years previous to that period left England; and though
-the Earl had, by means of a mutual friend, a Mr. Austin, learned from
-time to time that he was still in existence, he had never succeeded in
-discovering his retreat; but for the last eighteen months he could learn
-no tidings whatever of his brother, as during that time Mr. Austin had
-been at the Madeiras with an invalide daughter; and as from some
-circumstances he was induced to think he might gain satisfactory
-intelligence on this subject at Vienna, he, accompanied by Augustus,
-proceeded thither for the purpose of procuring it.
-
-The late Lord Osselstone had married twice. His first wife brought him
-two sons, namely, the present Earl, and Charles Mordaunt, father to
-Augustus. But his second lady, a German by birth, only one child, called
-Reginald, who, becoming an orphan at the age of sixteen, was left by his
-father to the sole guardianship of his eldest brother.
-
-Reginald, as his mother's heir, inherited German estates of considerable
-value, which unfortunately deprived him of the happy necessity of
-applying the powers of his ardent mind to any determinate pursuit, and
-also made him an object of speculation to those vicious beings, that lie
-in wait for the unwary youth, who is sufficiently wealthy to recompense
-the trouble of destroying him.
-
-Never were two brothers more sincerely attached to each other than
-Reginald and Lord Osselstone. The Earl cherished a twin soul in the
-aspiring spirit and lofty genius of his youthful charge, whilst he was
-himself the model and the pride of his admiring ward. Though Lord
-Osselstone's father had, by sage precepts and example, compressed,
-rather than exalted the energies of his nature, yet he was unfortunately
-too young to serve as a Mentor to his brother, at the critical period in
-which he was confided to his care. In truth, his partiality saw in him
-no fault; but if he had, his experience was insufficient to teach him
-how to control his restless spirit: and thus, though the affections of
-Reginald's heart were excited by the warmth of fraternal love; though
-his talents were improved, and the deep feelings of his soul rendered
-still more intense by his strengthened intellect; yet his reason, as it
-regarded the conduct of life, was totally uncultivated; and in place of
-steady, well-defined principle regulating his thoughts and actions, he
-was _impelled_, rather than guided by his imagination and his feelings,
-which taught him to cherish a mistaken species of honour, that made him
-more tenacious of his _fame_ than careful of his conduct. As long as he
-was "no man's enemy but his own," he thought himself blameless. But no
-accountable being should dare to wage this civil war against itself. The
-man who is his own _enemy_, is nobody's _friend_, and almost always a
-pest of society.
-
-Shortly after Reginald came of age, Lord Osselstone was grieved and
-terrified to see him follow the steps of Charles Mordaunt, who led the
-impetuous youth into a vortex of dissipation. The acuteness of the
-Earl's feelings giving a corresponding tone to his reproofs, their
-asperity only served to make Reginald shun his society, and seek, with
-more avidity, that of his second brother; by whom he was initiated into
-all the agitating, destructive pleasures of the gaming table; and soon
-became entangled with a set of gamblers, who, in a short time, brought
-his finances into a state of considerable embarrassment. The chief of
-this depraved crew was a Mr. Mortimer, who, by the attractions of a
-beautiful daughter, lured young men to their destruction at the
-gaming-table, where she, with all the fascinations of the most
-accomplished Syren, favoured his schemes. But her charms were more
-generally acknowledged than her claims to respect; and her reputation
-being on the decline, her father was anxious to marry her to some of his
-victims, in order to give her, under another name, that station in
-society she was on the verge of forfeiting in her own. She made an easy
-conquest of Reginald, who was so bewitched by her attractions, that,
-playing with even less than his usual skill, he lost in a few nights at
-the faro table a sum he feared would complete his ruin, by rendering the
-sale of the greater part of his maternal inheritance absolutely
-necessary. He therefore lent a delighted ear to Mr. Mortimer's proposal
-of allowing this honourable debt as a portion to his captivating
-daughter. Reginald, overjoyed to obtain at once the woman he
-passionately loved, and the relief of his embarrassments, without a
-_public_ exposure of his follies, sought his brother Charles, to
-communicate to him the gratifying intelligence. Charles Mordaunt was
-horror-struck on hearing it, fearing it would be impossible now to
-withdraw Reginald from that labyrinth, into which he had unwarily led
-him; and knowing full well, that, if he was once connected with
-Mortimer, no effort could save him from entire destruction. However,
-concealing his distress from his unsuspicious brother, he immediately
-communicated the circumstance to Lord Osselstone, making a candid
-confession of his own share in the transaction, and painting, in the
-most forcible terms, the impending danger of Reginald. The Earl, without
-an hour's delay, discharged Mortimer's claim, threatening him with the
-utmost vengeance of the law if he ever admitted either of his brothers
-to his house again, and, in the most peremptory manner, insisted on his
-writing a letter, acknowledging the payment of Reginald's debt, and
-stating that Miss Mortimer declined the honour of his addresses. Lord
-Osselstone then repaired to Reginald, when, unfolding Miss Mortimer's
-true character, he accompanied his assertions with such "damning proof,"
-that her hitherto infatuated lover could not refuse to acknowledge his
-conviction of their truth. But now, in a paroxysm of rage, accusing the
-Earl of the most savage cruelty in undeceiving him, he said, his honour
-was engaged, there was no retreat; but he must, like a second Decius,
-plunge into the gulf with his eyes opened to all its horrors.
-
-Lord Osselstone suffered him for a time to _feel_ and express all his
-distraction; and when he had, in idea, raised himself to a pitch of
-insupportable misery, he gave him the letter he had extorted from
-Mortimer. Reginald's joy and gratitude were then as unbounded as his
-anguish of mind had so lately been, and he willingly acceded to Lord
-Osselstone's propositions. These were, first, that he should accept a
-commission in a regiment, then stationed in distant country quarters, by
-which he hoped to separate him effectually from all his worthless
-associates, and break the chain of his destructive habits. Secondly,
-that he should resign the conduct of his affairs to Mr. Austin, a lawyer
-of probity and talent, and consent to receive, for some years, only a
-limited stipend from his extensive German estates, of whose value the
-Earl was better informed than their possessor; but he wished, by this
-means, to make Reginald feel the deprivations his follies deserved;
-knowing also, that the most probable method of destroying his habit of
-prodigality would be to limit his power of expenditure. To gratify his
-brother's feelings, the Earl consented to receive, by yearly
-instalments, the large sum he had advanced for his benefit; but, at the
-same time, generously resolved to restore it at a future period, when
-the gift would run no risk of proving a curse.
-
-Reginald rigidly kept his promise of for ever renouncing the
-gaming-table, giving, in the regularity of his conduct, the best proof
-of his lasting gratitude to his brother, and the most delightful reward
-that brother could receive for his almost paternal solicitude. Three
-years after this period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to Ireland,
-where he was stationed at Limerick. He admired, in turn, several of the
-beautiful women that place was then famous for; but finally fixed his
-affections on Rose O'Sullivan, the only child of the present proprietor
-of Ballinamoyle. This lovely girl was at that time entrusted to the care
-of an aunt, who resided at Limerick, her father being anxious to vary
-the retirement of her home, by what was to her, from the effect of
-comparison, a scene of extreme gaiety. Perhaps few women could have
-boasted of equal beauty, the effect of which was to Reginald rendered
-irresistible by the vivacity of her artless manners. Soon seeing her
-innocent partiality to himself expressed in her speaking eyes, any
-doubt he had before entertained of the expediency of proposing for her
-was set aside by this discovery.
-
-When she returned home, he followed her to Ballinamoyle; and on the day
-in which she completed her seventeenth year, he received her hand, which
-her father gave with mingled joy and sorrow. Happily his regrets at
-resigning his idolized Rose were not rendered insupportable, by
-foreseeing that this act would for ever deprive him of his blooming
-child, and condemn her to an untimely grave!
-
-At no very distant period, Reginald's regiment was ordered to the
-neighbourhood of London; and the tears of heartfelt grief which Rose
-shed on bidding adieu to her father, and the scenes of her happy
-childhood, were dried by her husband's fondness, and by his descriptions
-of the pleasures London would afford her. But in proportion as
-Reginald's eye became familiarized to his wife's personal graces, he
-deplored, with keener perception, the rusticity of those very manners,
-which had at first delighted him from their bearing the stamp of
-unsophisticated nature, and forcibly contrasting with the artful
-blandishments of the worthless Miss Mortimer. His pride could not brook,
-that fastidious elegance should find aught in his wife to ridicule or
-disapprove. He therefore determined for some time to seclude her from
-the world, till he should, by the aid of the best masters and his own
-assiduity, cultivate her talents and polish her manners; for which
-purpose he purchased a beautiful cottage in the neighbourhood of London.
-Though her extreme quickness of parts, stimulated by her unceasing
-anxiety to please Reginald, enabled Rose to make a rapid progress in the
-various accomplishments her masters taught her; yet she reflected with
-sorrow, that she "never dreamed of having her schooling renewed by her
-marriage." When Reginald, with ill-concealed chagrin, criticized her
-every word, her slightest movement, she would say to herself, whilst her
-beautiful eyes swam in tears, "My poor father thought all I said was
-right; and so did Reginald too when I was at Limerick;" whilst the
-reflections that kept pace with these in his mind were, "By Heavens, her
-brogue is incurable! I despair of ever breaking her of calling me
-'Reginald dear, and darling.' Thank God, Lord Osselstone is at
-Athens!--She never will be presentable!"
-
-In short, he was still more weary of instructing than she was of
-learning; and it would be difficult to say, whether pride or
-mortification predominated, when he came at last to the conclusion, that
-there was no reason why he should seclude himself from the world,
-because his wife was not sufficiently polished to be introduced to those
-brilliant circles of fashion, in which alone he would suffer her to
-move. The result of these deliberations was, his establishing himself in
-the most fashionable lodgings in town, leaving the young and lovely Rose
-to improve her mind, and "mend her manners," in almost total solitude.
-
-One day, in Bond-street, he accidentally met an old friend of the name
-of Montague, who took him home to introduce him to his new married lady;
-who proved, to Reginald's astonishment, to be no other than the
-_ci-devant_ Miss Mortimer.
-
-The fascinations of her wit, the polished elegance of her manners, again
-bewitched him, and he indulged without restraint, though equally without
-design, in the dangerous pleasure of associating with her. He became a
-constant guest at Montague's table, flattering himself "there could be
-no impropriety in their intercourse--she was married, and so was he."
-The consequence of this renewed intimacy was the revival of their former
-attachment. His respect for the laws of honour, his regard for his
-friend, and some latent compassion, if not love, for his deserted wife,
-kept him for a short period hovering on the borders of virtue, sometimes
-slightly passing its bounds, sometimes retiring far within. But Mrs.
-Montague, led on by her passion for him, as well as an undefined mixture
-of good and evil in her natural disposition, revealed the plan her
-husband, in conjunction with her father, was following, to make him once
-more a victim to his former passion for gaming; for Mr. Montague's
-fortune and character were alike ruined by his connection with Mortimer.
-
-Reginald's rage knew no bounds at this discovery of his supposed
-friend's perfidy; and hurried on by love and revenge, he persuaded Mrs.
-Montague to elope with him. Montague was equally exasperated at being
-made the dupe of his own arts; and by the idea, that while he had
-employed his wife to delude his intended victim, she had only deceived,
-betrayed himself. Pursuing the fugitives without delay, he unfortunately
-overtook Reginald. Their mutual recriminations produced a duel, in which
-all the usual forms were set aside, and Montague's life fell a sacrifice
-to his own and his antagonist's dereliction of principle. All sparks of
-virtue were not yet extinct in Mrs. Montague's heart;--horror-struck at
-hearing the dreadful catastrophe, she told Reginald their guilty
-connection must from that moment cease, and enjoined him to seek his
-safety in immediate flight. Unknowing what course best to pursue;
-impelled at one moment, by his distracted conscience, to deliver himself
-up to justice; withdrawn the next from this resolution, by the love of
-life and the suggestions of pride; wavering between the two, he almost
-mechanically returned to his lodgings in London. Here retiring to his
-usual sitting-room, he threw himself in a state of distraction on a
-sofa, eyeing from time to time, with varying intent, a pair of pistols
-he had laid on the table. At last, startled by a noise he heard in an
-inner room, he sprung up, and was in a moment locked in the arms of his
-fond wife, who, alarmed at his long-protracted absence, had timidly
-ventured hither to seek him, and had just heard of his elopement with
-Mrs. Montague. "I _knew_ it wasn't true!" said she, "My darling
-Reginald, you could never have the cruelty to break my heart by leaving
-me: you will come back to Richmond with me, and then I shall be happy
-again." "Never, never!" exclaimed he, in an agony of despair: "No
-happiness for me, Rose!" Then, with a look and action bordering on
-madness, he whispered in her ear, "I have killed Montague!"
-
-Rose was one of those women, whose fortitude and strength of mind are
-scarcely even suspected, till they are called forth by the hour of
-trial. Though these few words had sent a death blow to her heart, as
-soon as she recovered from their first shock, she thought of them only
-as demanding immediate exertion for the preservation of her husband's
-life. As the first step, she proceeded to remove the pistols. Reginald,
-roused by the attempt, desired her to desist. "You do not _dare_ to
-die," said she, looking at him with steadfast earnestness. "You shall be
-satisfied; justice shall take its course, and then you will be
-sufficiently revenged! Rose, begone!--this is no scene for you!--Go!"
-continued he, stamping with vehement fury on the floor--"By the eternal
-God I _will_ be obeyed." "No," said she, calmly, "never will I part from
-you more, Reginald. In breaking your marriage vows, you have forfeited
-your right to my obedience. Even to the grave will I follow you!" She
-then threw herself at his feet, imploring him, by every tender name, to
-consult his safety without delay; represented that, in a foreign
-country, he might, by years of future happiness, repay her for the
-sufferings of the dreadful present. Overcome by his feelings, he had not
-power to interrupt her; and at last, in a state of stupefaction, allowed
-himself to be disposed of as she pleased: he was conveyed from London
-that night, and by the exertions of Mr. Austin was enabled to reach
-Hamburgh in safety, where they took up their residence. Here Rose used
-every exertion to soothe the anguish of her miserable husband's mind.
-Neither in thought, word, or look, did she make one selfish reproach;
-her very prayers were breathed more for him than for herself. His love
-and admiration far exceeded what he had ever before felt. When he looked
-back to the few preceding months, he wondered how he could, for a
-moment, have slighted this angelic being, whose superiority to himself
-he now with tears acknowledged; but his tenderness came too late. She
-had suppressed her feelings on hearing his fatal communication, to save
-the object who excited them; and she now, with merciful affection,
-concealed all those melancholy forebodings so natural to the timid
-female in her anxious situation, though she felt her health rapidly
-declining, and anticipated with regret her approaching doom. She sighed
-to think she must, in all her blooming charms, bid adieu to the world,
-its brilliant pleasures yet untasted. She daily besought Heaven to spare
-her, to sweeten the bitter cup Reginald had prepared for himself;
-implored that she might again bless her father's eyes, once more receive
-the fervent benediction of the instructor of her early years, and
-confess her errors to his pious ear; and dearer than all, she longed to
-bestow a mother's love on her babe--to welcome its first smile, to
-return its endearing caresses. But with the patient resignation of a
-saint, she submitted to her fate. When Reginald beheld with rapture the
-tremulous lustre of her eye, the fatal hue that glowed on her cheek, and
-crimsoned her love-breathing lip, he knew not what they too plainly
-indicated!
-
-Three months after they reached Hamburgh, the innocent, lovely Rose
-expired a few hours after giving birth to a daughter, whom almost in her
-last moments she presented, with smiles of anxious pity, to her
-unfortunate husband, saying, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I
-do. You are dearer to me now than ever. You have been but too
-indulgent;--I have lately repented of many trifling offences--forgive
-them when I am gone." Here exhausted, she paused for a few minutes; then
-once again addressed him: "Don't weep, Reginald; 'tis fitting I should
-die; my erring fondness would have injured this dear babe.--Comfort my
-poor father!" She feebly pressed his hand, and her dying accents
-murmured a half audible "Bless you!"
-
-She was lovely in death! The clay-cold hand he with unutterable anguish
-pressed to his lips, mocked the statuary's art. The ministering angel
-who received her parting spirit, seemed to have shed celestial light on
-her countenance, whilst the bloom of earthly beauty yet lingered on her
-soft cheek and smiling lip. One dark lock lay on her alabaster bosom.
-Alas! motionless it lay--the warm heart had ceased to beat. Gaze,
-wretched Reginald, on thy heart's treasure! Soon shall the grave close
-for ever on all her charms! The despair of his soul, as he looked on her
-seraphic smile, and vainly watched to see her eye once more open with
-love's beam, was for a time lost in insensibility. When again, conscious
-that she was indeed no more, his agonized feelings led his mind to the
-very verge of frenzy.
-
-In his first distraction, he wrote a letter of penitence and grief to
-his father-in-law, deploring his heart-rending loss, but omitting to
-state precisely, that this infant had survived her mother; and from the
-ambiguous expressions of this incoherent communication, the afflicted
-parent concluded, that Rose and her child had perished together.
-Irritated by the misery her loss occasioned him, Mr. O'Sullivan made no
-reply, sending only a notification by Father Dermoody, that it had been
-received, with a request that his feelings might not again be wounded by
-further correspondence with the man, whom he not unjustly accused of
-having shortened his daughter's days by his unworthy conduct.
-
-Reginald had in this letter humbled himself as much as it was in his
-nature to do to mortal man; and indignant at the asperity of such a
-reply, he made no second attempt to move O'Sullivan to forgiveness. The
-ill success of this endeavour to soften the heart of the most benevolent
-of human beings discouraging him from any further efforts, either of
-atonement or conciliation, he adopted the resolution of withdrawing
-himself from the knowledge of all his connections. To his brother, Lord
-Osselstone, of all mankind he could least brook making any overtures,
-now that he was "fallen, fallen from his high estate." When he pictured
-to himself how he had disappointed that brother's exalted hopes and
-anxious cares, his pride and his better feelings alike prevented his
-submitting to receive either reproof from the austerity of his virtues,
-or that compassion from his affection, "which stabs as it forgives."
-
-As a preparatory step to avoiding any future intercourse with his native
-land, he entreated his friend Mr. Austin to meet him, without delay, at
-Meurs, on the Belgic frontiers of Westphalia, near which his estates
-were situated, that by disposing of some of them, he might finally
-arrange his affairs, and discharge all his English debts. Mr. Austin
-immediately obeyed the summons, and found Reginald in a state of the
-utmost wretchedness, occupied with the wildest schemes for carrying his
-ideas into execution; proposing, with feverish restlessness, to fly for
-ever from civilized society, in order to join some tribe of Bedouin
-Arabs, Mamelucks, Tartars, or North American Indians. The counsels of
-this wise and judicious friend did much to bring back his erring mind,
-to submit to the calm dictates of reason. Mr. Austin combated, in turn,
-all these chimeras; opened his eyes to his duties as a father; and
-finally finding him unalterable as to his determination of concealment,
-suggested the most advisable means of carrying it into effect, which
-were, to avail himself of the facilities circumstances afforded for
-adopting the name and character of a German subject. From his mother,
-Reginald had learned to speak the language with the fluency of a native;
-and his friend now reminded him of a circumstance he had informed him of
-a week before his fatal elopement from London, which at that time he
-slighted, namely, that one of his estates, being part of an ancient
-feudal tenure, entitled him to the rank of Baron by its own
-appellation; the adopting which would not only procure him station
-amongst a people of all others the most tenacious on the subject of
-birth, but effectually conceal him, as the circumstance was yet unknown
-to all his English friends.
-
-On hearing this proposition, Reginald with vehement joy, exclaimed,
-"Thank you, thank you, Austin; I shall know something like peace when my
-ears are not tortured by the detested name I now bear. Though I am
-outlawed because Osselstone was not in England to interfere with his
-powerful interest, though that damned Gazette has declared me for ever
-incapable of serving in the British armies, though it has stamped my
-name with indelible disgrace, yet will I cover this new appellation with
-fame in the field of glory."
-
-Reginald accordingly availed himself of this expedient; and all legal
-forms prescribed by German jurisprudence being gone through, his
-daughter at the Chateau of Wildenheim was enrolled on the family
-records by the name of Adelaide, which was that borne by the last
-heiress of that house; her mother's finding too sad an echo in her
-father's bosom, to be heard or pronounced by him without the most
-afflicting feelings. All his estates, except the Barony of Wildenheim,
-were sold; and the surplus, which remained after discharging his various
-debts, was remitted to Vienna, where he repaired with his infant
-daughter, on parting with Mr. Austin. Here he felt himself completely
-alone in the world; and his feelings being too agonizing to render a
-life of inaction supportable, he entered the Austrian armies. His rank,
-his fortune, and his talents, soon procured him a command, which he
-filled with honour, and redeemed the promise he had made to cover his
-new appellation "with fame in the field of glory." Amongst the officers
-placed under his orders were Maurice O'Sullivan, the uncle of his wife,
-and Edward Desmond; he took a melancholy pleasure in serving the former
-with his purse and his interest, for the sake of his beloved Rose, and
-the virtues of the latter made Reginald no less zealously his friend;
-but from both he most carefully concealed his country and his parentage.
-They fought side by side at the battles of Hohenlinden, Rastadt, and
-other desperate engagements, that fatally signalized the disastrous
-campaign, which was concluded by the peace of Luneville. Reginald's
-remaining estate was unfortunately situated in the territory ceded by
-that treaty to France, and was by its new masters bestowed on a soldier
-of fortune. He was by this event reduced from affluence to mediocrity,
-and broken in fortune, health, and spirits, he proceeded to Vienna to
-visit his daughter, then in her sixth year. He found her as beautiful as
-a cherub, and the image of her mother. When she twined her arms round
-his neck, calling him by the endearing appellations infancy bestows, he
-felt that the world yet contained a being that would fondly cherish him;
-and remembered, with sad delight, what now seemed the prophetic words
-of his dying Rose, "Be consoled; my child will love you as I do."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-    When I am forgotten, as I shall be,
-    And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
-    Of me must be heard--say then I taught thee.
-
-    oeKING HENRY THE EIGHTHoe.
-
-
-During the period Reginald had served in the Austrian armies, his mind
-had undergone a complete revolution. His proud spirit had been subdued
-by misfortune. In his professional career he had learned to submit to
-human control. In the field of danger the daring energies of his nature
-had been fully excited; and, by the frequency of that very excitation,
-exhausted, whilst the aspect of death, in its various horrors, led him
-to serious meditation. Often has he passed from the stunning tumult of
-the field of battle, to the awful stillness of midnight solitude in his
-own tent; and here he first acknowledged the justice and mercy of
-Heaven, whose avenging arm had awakened him from the giddy dream of
-presumptuous passion, to the dreadful consciousness that he had
-perverted the best gifts of Providence, intended for the benefit and
-ornament of society, to be its bane and its disgrace. He had previously
-thought more of forfeited reputation than of violated virtue; and,
-though what he might have been rose to his mind in agonizing contrast
-with what he was, yet he mourned rather for the internal sentiment of
-degradation than of guilt. But he gradually acquired a more fitting
-penitence, becoming at last resigned even to the ever present sense of
-his former misdeeds, and submitting to it as their just punishment; at
-the same time forming the virtuous resolution of endeavouring to atone,
-if possible, for the past by the future.
-
-Accusing himself of having deprived his child of her inestimable mother,
-he felt in justice bound to fulfil towards her more than the common duty
-of a father, and therefore resolved to give up the profession of arms
-for her sake, in order to devote his existence to her welfare. He would
-often, as he pressed the little smiling Adelaide to his heart, put forth
-a prayer that the virtues of the daughter might plead at the bar of
-offended Heaven, in mitigation of the vices of the father; and would
-soothe his grief with the hope of giving her that virtuous firmness of
-character, the want of which had rendered all the blessings of his early
-lot of no avail to himself. Summoning religion and reason to his aid, he
-wisely executed the task he had laudably undertaken, of forming his
-daughter to emulate the perfections of her mother; whilst of the errors
-he instructed her to shun, he was too fatally enlightened by his
-intercourse with Mrs. Montague, on the causes of whose defects he had
-made many deep and painful reflections. Convinced by these that
-imagination, which is naturally too ardent in the generality of women,
-is cultivated to a fatal excess by the usual mode of education,
-confined, as this almost exclusively is, to the study of music,
-painting, and poetry; he therefore, after establishing the grand
-principles of religion and morality in his daughter's mind, directed his
-attention principally to forming her _judgment_; limiting her fancy to
-the subordinate office of _attendant_ on reason, never suffering it to
-usurp the place of guide. He had also observed, that vanity is still
-more dangerous to the female mind than even imagination. But it is only
-a long and steadily pursued course of exertion that can reduce this
-passion, so natural to the human heart, to exercise in its native
-kingdom only its just power. Solicitous that no latent vanity of his own
-should counteract his endeavours to limit its dangerous empire in his
-daughter's mind, he was sparing in the use of that powerful stimulant
-_praise_, which, though a very happy _consequence_, is too often a
-dangerous motive. As Adelaide had no domestic companion, her vanity was
-neither excited nor mortified by comparison; and it is one of those
-enemies to our peace, that suffer more from neglect than defeat. Nor
-was the baneful passion of envy introduced to her heart under the
-specious name of _emulation_, of which all ought to know it is the
-illegitimate sister, though the friends of emulation do not acknowledge
-the relationship. Her mind was endowed with knowledge, extensive enough
-to enable her to estimate justly the insufficiency of all human science,
-and to show her how far short of the _acme_ of even that imperfect
-wisdom her own attainments fell. Being taught never to court display,
-she was thereby exempted from the torments of envious mortification, and
-early understood she was educated, not to bring forth her acquirements
-like a holiday suit, in which to shine occasionally, but to keep them in
-constant every-day use, to promote her own happiness, and the pleasures
-of those with whom she associated.
-
-Adelaide's docility, rather than her talents, enabled her to be every
-thing her father desired (for she was not, in truth, more highly
-endowed by nature than the generality of well-organized children); and
-he returned her enthusiastic love and veneration, by an affection little
-short of idolatry. But a father's too ardent love was beginning to
-wither in its bloom the plant it had so successfully reared; for
-Adelaide, when grown up, insensibly acquired an influence dangerous to a
-young female to possess over the mind of any man, and which is never so
-unlimited as over that of a father's in the decline of life. The virtues
-of the parent and child were alike dangerous to the future peace and
-well-being of the latter. He was too reasonable to subject her to those
-occasional acts of injustice, or fits of caprice, which every woman in
-her intercourse with mankind must expect and submit to, as inseparable
-from her condition. She, from the most laudable motives, was unceasingly
-occupied in the embellishment of her mind, which, though far preferable
-to an equally constant attention to externals, will, by a very
-different route, terminate one part of their course in the same
-end--_selfishness_. And as woman owes every thing that is admirable in
-her nature to a constant sacrifice of self, no acquirements can
-compensate for the perfection of character she can alone derive from
-this source. But in truth, the very best education a man alone can
-bestow on a woman must be defective. He may adorn her with the virtues
-of his own sex, but he cannot teach her the charities, the decencies,
-the proprieties of life, which it is the peculiar lot of hers to
-exercise. A female mind adorned with greater virtues only, without their
-connecting links, resembles a beautiful country, where the traveller
-passes from one bright region to another, over deep chasms, where,
-perhaps, he may fall to inevitable destruction. With all the generous
-virtues of her heart, with all the high endowments of her mind, Adelaide
-had yet one more necessary lesson to learn, which was painfully taught
-her when she lost her father; namely that, however imperative her
-welfare was to his happiness, she was of small consequence to the world
-in general, which would go on nearly as well whether she was living or
-dead, happy or miserable; and that she must thenceforward derive her
-felicity rather from her attention to the feelings of others, than from
-theirs to her own.
-
-Until Adelaide was seventeen, Baron Wildenheim resided principally at
-Vienna: here associating with the most distinguished characters of the
-day, to whom his talents and his various knowledge made him an
-acceptable companion; a select number were admitted to his own house, in
-order to promote the improvement of his daughter by such intercourse.
-Profiting by the facility which his German rank afforded for the
-purpose, he visited, in the short intervals of peace which Gallic
-ambition permitted, Italy, France, and most of the other Continental
-states; occasional change of scene being almost as necessary for the
-amusement of his mind, as advantageous for the improvement of his
-daughter's. But though for this latter purpose it was successful beyond
-his hopes, yet the slow but constant progress of disease was not thus to
-be warded off; and a residence in a mild and equable climate being
-pronounced by the physicians of Vienna absolutely necessary for the
-preservation of his life, about two years before Adelaide's arrival in
-England they removed to Sicily, where he made choice of Catania for his
-residence.
-
-Here for the first time in her life Adelaide enjoyed the pleasures and
-advantages of female society. The Catanese are amongst the most elegant
-women in Europe; and the attractive graces of their manners appearing to
-her with all the force of novelty, she quickly and involuntarily made
-them her own. Her youthful beauty--her artless elegance, and her
-cultivation of mind, caused her to be admired to an excess, which gave
-her father as much pain as pleasure, as he trembled lest it should call
-forth that vanity and inordinate desire of pleasing, which he had so
-earnestly laboured to repress, too well aware of its having been the
-cause of Mrs. Montague's destruction.
-
-"_La bella Adelina_" was the object, to which the young Catanian
-nobility paid the most flattering attention, the most exaggerated
-compliments. Luckily for her she felt so little awe of her father, that
-she told him without reserve all the feelings this new scene excited in
-her mind. And he, appealing to her good sense, pointed out to her notice
-the hyperbole of the praises she received, thus rendering them in a
-short time more tiresome than agreeable. The Baron had early suffered
-his daughter to know she was handsome. She had hitherto been as much
-accustomed and as indifferent to the beauty of the robe in which her
-soul was enveloped, as she was to the habitual elegance of her every-day
-apparel.
-
-He now went still further; and as piety was the main spring of all her
-thoughts and feelings, he taught her to be religiously thankful for a
-gift, which pre-disposed her fellow creatures in her favour;
-representing also that it ought to make her still more desirous to
-retain an approbation thus gratuitously bestowed. By this means her very
-beauty made her humble; as, in her estimate of her own character, she
-always attributed the praises she received but to a premature and
-therefore exaggerated opinion of her merit, which she consequently
-endeavoured to make in intrinsic worth equal to its received value.
-
-About this period in the formation of Adelaide's character, Frederick
-Elton arrived at Catania. Though he was perhaps the most ardent of her
-admirers, his peculiar ideas regarding women in general led him rather
-to call forth the powers of her mind by rational conversation, than to
-weaken it by flattery. He was luckily not able, like his Sicilian
-rivals, to write sonnets, or make improviso stanzas by the hour "to her
-eye-brow;" and therefore had the less inducement to emulate the laudable
-endeavours of his competitors, to make her frivolous and silly solely
-to display their own abilities.
-
-Oh! that her guardian angel would sometimes whisper in exulting beauty's
-ear, that man is often only enraptured with his own genius, when he
-seems most to adulate her charms!
-
-Baron Wildenheim directed all his penetration to the investigation of
-Frederick's character; and, fearing to trust entirely to his own
-observation on a point of so much importance, resumed his correspondence
-with Mr. Austin, from whom he received the most satisfactory
-confirmation of the honourable opinion his judgment had previously led
-him to form of the lover, on whom his daughter had unconsciously
-bestowed her affections. He therefore resolved, that whenever Mr. Elton
-should demand her hand, he would restore her to all her rights, by
-accomplishing her introduction to her mother's family and his own. His
-satisfaction at the prospect of securing Adelaide's happiness, by
-uniting her to a man worthy of his highest approbation, reconciled him
-to the idea of losing the only solace of that life, which he felt would
-not be much longer a burthen to him. Not less generous was his
-daughter--and from the moment she was aware of Frederick's love, she
-determined to discourage it, for the reasons he related to Sedley. The
-Baron's indignation at Frederick's abrupt departure was as great, as the
-satisfaction his love for Adelaide had afforded him. She endeavoured to
-preserve her usual cheerfulness; but his penetration soon discovered she
-had feelings, that were not communicated to him. One day, on perceiving
-her ill suppressed agitation, as the subject of conversation glanced on
-Elton, he muttered, "Villain! rascal! how he has abused my confidence!"
-Adelaide, hurt at this undeserved censure, entered warmly into his
-defence, and her father soon extorted from her, that she had refused his
-offers, though she still concealed, or thought she concealed, her
-motives and her regrets. "Adelina!" exclaimed he, with unusual asperity,
-"is this the reward of an existence devoted to your welfare? I could
-not have believed that you would have set at naught my authority; nay
-worse, have _deceived_ me." When she however threw herself into his
-arms, imploring his forgiveness, all the tenderness of his feelings
-returned with redoubled force; and penetrating her motives, he pressed
-her fondly to his heart, making a silent vow that his "too generous
-child should not sacrifice her happiness to his." The name of Elton was
-never again articulated by either; but the rapid progress of Baron
-Wildenheim's complaint warned him he must quickly put his design in
-execution, or that his lovely daughter would shortly be left in a
-foreign country, without relation or protector; Sicily being perhaps of
-all others the most dreadful to leave her in thus situated, from the
-depravity of its inhabitants, and its corrupt, ill administered
-government.
-
-When he informed Adelaide of his intention of taking her to England, her
-joy was extravagant; but on perceiving the mournful expression of her
-father's countenance, she ceased to display her pleasure, and
-affectionately embracing him, said, "You know, my beloved father, you
-are all the world to me; my greatest delight in the prospect of going to
-England is, that I shall there see you in your native country, with your
-own friends: I can never be happier than I have been with you; but I
-often mourn, that all my exertions are insufficient to make you so."
-"Adelina, I charge you, be silent on that subject," replied the
-afflicted parent; and, overcome by the torturing reflections she had
-unconsciously conjured up, retired to compose his mind in solitude.
-
-A few days after this conversation they proceeded to Paris. From whence
-Baron Wildenheim wrote an earnest request to Mr. Austin and Maurice
-O'Sullivan to meet him at Dover, for which place he immediately set out
-when their answers reached him; and there without delay delivered to the
-former a will, appointing him trustee to all that remained of the wreck
-of his fortune, for the benefit of Adelaide, with the exception of a
-small annuity reserved for his own life, but nominating Maurice
-O'Sullivan her guardian. The unhappy father then went through the
-distressing task of disclosing to his former friend and fellow soldier
-the principal events, which had marked his life previous to the
-commencement of their acquaintance, beseeching him to relate them
-hereafter to Adelaide as delicately as possible, and also to introduce
-her to her grandfather and Lord Osselstone. Both these injunctions
-Maurice willingly promised to fulfil, happy to have any means of serving
-a man to whom he owed many obligations. The Baron had never told his
-daughter the history of his early years: he could not in her childhood,
-and when she was capable of accurately distinguishing right from wrong,
-he feared it might irreparably injure her character, to have her respect
-diminished for the person engaged in forming it. Perhaps his reluctance
-to be his own accuser to his child was not the least powerful motive
-for silence on this subject: he could not bear to think she should ever
-in his presence be obliged to appeal to her affection, to silence the
-censures her judgment must pass on his conduct--such voluntary
-self-abasement, in a mind of this high tone, was indeed almost more than
-human nature is equal to. He therefore had contented himself with
-informing Adelaide, that some disagreeable circumstances had made him
-prefer residing in the country in which his estates were situated, to
-that of which he was a native. He would sometimes converse with her of
-Lord Osselstone, whom he early taught her to love and revere; but never
-made the most distant allusion to her mother's name or connexions,
-partly because the subject was too afflicting to himself, partly because
-he could not in that case account for his having concealed his
-relationship from the uncle of Rose, with whom he had been so many years
-associated, and with whom he had subsequently maintained a constant
-correspondence, having resolved to resign his daughter, in the first
-instance, to the protection of Maurice, whenever the effects of
-unextinguishable grief should indicate the probable termination of his
-own life.
-
-When Mr. Austin met the Baron at Dover, he entreated him to leave
-England as speedily as possible, lest the friends of Montague, who
-resided in the neighbourhood of that town, should, by some fortuitous
-occurrence, make out his identity; a circumstance by no means
-improbable, as his person must be recognised should he meet the brother
-of his unfortunate antagonist, who not unfrequently visited the very
-hotel they inhabited, and which they could not quit without exciting
-observations that might prove dangerous in their consequences. Though
-Wildenheim cared not for life on his own account, and would willingly
-have resigned it to satisfy the laws of his country; yet he trembled in
-every nerve for his daughter's peace, should he fall a sacrifice to
-their justice; and therefore fixed the third day after their landing to
-bid her an eternal adieu!
-
-Though he had sufficient strength of mind to resolve on tearing himself
-from his child, yet he felt totally unequal to the trial of witnessing
-her affliction on first hearing the dreadful intelligence. Mr. Austin
-therefore undertook the task; and on the morning preceding the day
-appointed, informed Adelaide of the indispensable necessity of their
-separation, and of the arrangement made with Maurice O'Sullivan, to
-introduce her to Lord Osselstone, presenting her with a packet of
-letters her father had written for her benefit, which she was to make
-use of when she came of age, in case any unforeseen occurrence should
-prevent her appointed guardian fulfilling his promise; adding, that
-should her relations refuse to receive her, he was in possession of the
-necessary testimonials of her birth. Of all these particulars the
-afflicted girl at the moment only understood she was to be deprived of
-her father! The thinking faculty within her was almost suspended by the
-agony of this idea. She offered no remonstrance to Mr. Austin; and
-making a sign of acquiescence, instantly sought her father, to try those
-powers of persuasion which never yet had failed in procuring from him
-every wish of her heart: but on seeing the despair of his countenance,
-she was wholly overcome; the hope, which had supported, now forsook her,
-and she sunk senseless in his arms.
-
-When she revived, she implored his pity in the most moving terms; asked
-how she had merited this dreadful separation; and finding him, though
-deeply affected, inexorable in his determination, at last departed from
-her usual docility, saying, "Of what would promote your happiness, my
-dearest father, there can be no doubt; I am the best judge of my own and
-_will_ not leave you: to lose you in the course of nature would be
-sufficiently dreadful; but this living death is tenfold more horrible:
-oh! can you desert your child, who lives but in you, whose only joy is
-in your approving smiles?"
-
-Her miserable auditor now did violence to his feelings, by assuming, for
-the first time in his life, all the sternness of parental command.
-Adelaide convulsively sobbed on his shoulder. "Pardon me, pardon me; I
-submit, though my heart will break: that angry look would kill me to
-think of; smile on me, my father." "Smile! oh, my God! I shall never
-smile again;" exclaimed the wretched parent: then fondly caressing her,
-said, "My child, have mercy on your unfortunate father; my own feelings
-are those of desperation; spare me the sight of yours. By your present
-affliction I secure your future happiness; but mine--Adelina, I
-entreat--in a few hours we part: do not speak of what is yet to come."
-He was obeyed; and that day passed in the sullen calm which precedes
-expected misery.
-
-Adelaide retired at a late hour to her own apartment, but not to bed;
-for she had perceived with terror how alarmingly ill her father looked;
-and fearing the return of a spasmodic complaint he was subject to, sat
-up, to be able to apply the necessary remedies at a moment's warning.
-
-He in the mean time prepared to set out immediately on his voyage,
-wishing to spare her a parting he felt his own fortitude unequal to. Her
-room was inside his, and supposing her to be at rest, he entered it to
-take a last look of his lovely child!
-
-She was sitting half asleep, overcome by drowsiness and anxiety--the
-light flashed across her eyes--she started up in wild affright, and
-forcibly impressed by the feelings of her agitating dreams, clasped him
-in her arms, saying, "We will never, never part, whilst life remains."
-His fortitude utterly forsook him; and with a deep groan he sank in the
-arms of his child.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-His countenance in death was impressed with the happy consciousness,
-that his last look on earth had been blessed with her image; and with
-the pious hope, that sincere and protracted penitence had made his peace
-with Heaven.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-    In my last humble pray'r to the Spirit above,
-    Thy name shall be mingled with mine.
-
-    oeMOOREoe.
-
-
-Oh! how did Adelaide now wish she could obtain that separation she had
-so lately thought worse than death itself! No tear escaped her
-bewildered eye; no complaint issued from her lacerated bosom; mute and
-motionless she sat, unconscious of all that passed around, musing on the
-fearful, fathomless void within! Her constitution could not long support
-this existence of silent horror; and a violent fever, which for several
-days endangered her life, and reduced her to a state of extreme
-weakness, saved her mind from destruction. When she recovered, her
-grief, though deep, was placid, and her mild dejection won her the love
-and pity of all whose hearts were not harder than adamant. As soon as
-she was able to bear the journey, her guardian brought her to Webberly
-House, and, during the short time he survived her father, endeavoured to
-soothe her sorrow by the most affectionate kindness. His delay in
-executing the promise he had given, of presenting her to Mr. O'Sullivan
-and Lord Osselstone, arose not from any intention of ultimately
-defrauding her of her rights, but from an anticipation of the
-mortifications his doing so would probably occasion him to experience in
-his domestic circle. He knew the respect with which he was treated by
-the Webberlys was principally owing to the idea that he or his daughter
-would one day possess a valuable estate; and though in his own person he
-could, from the manly firmness of his manners, command a sufficient
-degree of consideration for the common purposes of every day
-intercourse; yet he was well aware, that when he was not present, his
-little portionless Caroline would be treated by his wife's children
-with the utmost contumely; and he was moreover weak enough to dread the
-first explosion of Mrs. O'Sullivan's violent temper, when her hopes of
-increased wealth should be disappointed by the establishment of
-Adelaide's claims. He therefore, from day to day, shunned the expected
-storm. At night he would sink to sleep, in the firm determination of
-informing his wife on the morrow of Adelaide's relationship, as a
-preliminary to his writing to her grandfather on the subject; but when
-the morrow came, he either thought Mrs. O'Sullivan in such good humour,
-it was a pity to spoil the short-lived pleasure arising from it, or else
-that she was so much the reverse, it was impolitic to choose that very
-time to irritate her further. On other mornings, when convinced she had
-attained that happy medium most favourable to his important
-communication, business or company interfered; and in the evening he had
-too frequent recourse to intoxication, to drown the pains of
-recollection. Thus, in impotent resolve and fruitless repentance, passed
-the few months he survived after Adelaide was committed to his care. On
-his death, Mr. Austin would have done what this spirit of
-procrastination had prevented; had he not found, on examining the papers
-put into his hands by Adelaide's father, that, though there was enough
-to convince willing relatives of their truth, yet the evidence they
-contained fell far short of legal testimony. Every necessary formality
-to prove her parentage had been neglected at Hamburgh--a circumstance
-easily accounted for, by the distraction of her father's mind on leaving
-that place; and the name of Wildenheim, which she had received at Meurs,
-made it still more difficult to prove her identity as the child of Rose;
-for which purpose Mr. Austin then entered into a correspondence with
-various people resident in different parts of the Continent. From the
-apparent frigidity of Lord Osselstone's character, he had no hopes of
-his interesting himself for his orphan niece; whilst from her mother's
-family he expected open opposition. He therefore enjoined Adelaide to
-remain unknown to her relations, till the period prescribed by her
-father for her acting for herself, in case her guardian should fail to
-fulfil his promise, by which time, if ever, he hoped to obtain every
-necessary proof in support of her claims; and lest any youthful
-imprudence should betray her into a premature disclosure, he carefully
-concealed from her her relationship to the O'Sullivans, though with her
-affinity to Lord Osselstone he knew she was already acquainted.
-
-The time appointed for terminating Miss Wildenheim's suspense at length
-arrived, and found her under the roof of her only remaining parent,
-though as yet totally unconscious of their relationship. On the eve of
-the day on which her minority expired, she retired to her own apartment
-in Mr. O'Sullivan's house, sorrowfully reflecting, that in two more she
-should part most probably for ever from this interesting old man. But
-this feeling was soon lost in the joy with which she remembered, that
-on the morrow she should make the first step to claim the love and
-protection of her uncle, and the rest of her paternal relatives. She
-fondly anticipated the praises which would delight her ear, as due to
-her beloved father's virtues and talents; and with heartfelt pleasure
-recollected, that Augustus Mordaunt was almost her brother. But the
-happiness of these thoughts was damped by the idea, that he and Lord
-Osselstone were then abroad; and she reflected with sorrow, that were it
-not for Mr. and Mrs. Temple, she should, on her return to England, be as
-desolate as ever. "But God," thought she, "tempers the wind to the shorn
-lamb;" and her heart dilated with gratitude to earth and Heaven, on the
-remembrance of what she humbly felt to be unmerited friendship. Her
-first feelings led her to open the portfolio, which contained the packet
-of letters Mr. Austin had charged her not to unseal till this period;
-but at the sight of her father's writing, the agony of the moment in
-which she had received it, with all the dreadful scenes which
-immediately followed, rose to her mind in all their first horror; and,
-completely overcome, she felt the dreadful consciousness, that none now
-existing on earth could fill that vacuum, which the loss of this beloved
-father would ever leave in her heart. The vision of happiness, which a
-few moments before had appeared so vivid, now seemed to have been but a
-vain illusion, that had mocked her with a dream of bliss. At that
-instant earth had no consolation to offer for her sorrows; but she
-turned to Heaven and found it there.
-
-When she rose from her supplications, she hastily returned the packet to
-her portfolio. "I will not trust myself with it again," thought she; "I
-have here no friend to soothe, to _control_ my mind.--In a few days I
-shall be with Mrs. Temple."
-
-There are minds, which are capable of an intensity of regret, that
-others can scarcely conceive. Long after it has lost the more
-tumultuous character of grief, it lies deep in the recesses of the
-heart. The cares, the pleasures of the world, may for a time conceal it,
-even from self-consciousness; but there it ever endures. The vigour of a
-strong mind may reduce it to temporary inertness, but it will at times
-break every bond, and vindicate its empire. Like the Genius of the
-eastern tale, who, though for ages confined in the casket by the seal of
-Solomon, rose when the signet of wisdom was broken, in the same awful
-might he had possessed, before reduced to submission by its coercive
-power.
-
-Whilst in one room at Ballinamoyle a daughter mourned her father, in
-another a son defied his mother. Mr. Webberly was at that moment
-informing Mrs. O'Sullivan, he would, on the morrow, make his
-long-meditated proposal to Miss Wildenheim: he had fulfilled his promise
-of waiting till she was of age; and said, that if she was so
-unreasonable as to require still further delay, he could no longer
-comply, as the difference of a day might deprive him of Adelaide for
-ever. The Desmonds were to take their farewell on Caroline's birth-day;
-Miss Wildenheim would commence her journey to England on the following
-morning; and it was not at all likely Colonel Desmond would suffer her
-to depart, without making those offers some people thought would be
-accepted. This very idea made Mrs. O'Sullivan more eager in her
-entreaties, more authoritative in her commands to her son, to defer his
-intentions till their arrival at Webberly House. The conference ended in
-passion on both sides, he exclaiming, "By Gad, mother, you are never to
-be satisfied;--be damned if I stand shilly shally any longer!" "Then,
-Jack, you shan't have my blessing for an _opthalmia_; and you know
-that's better worth than the priest's, as the song says."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-    And if there be a human tear
-    From passion's dross refin'd and clear--
-    A tear so limpid and so meek,
-    It would not stain an angel's cheek;
-    'Tis that which pious fathers shed
-    Upon a duteous daughter's head.
-
-    oeLADY OF THE LAKEoe.
-
-
-That day which had nineteen times been passed at Ballinamoyle in solemn
-sadness, as the anniversary of the death of its lovely heiress, arrived
-once again--and was again marked by those outward signs of woe, which
-gratified the feelings of a disconsolate father, as a tribute of respect
-to the memory of her, who still in the freshest youth lived in his
-heart.
-
-No stranger on that day approached the desolate mansion, to partake of
-its hospitality, or receive its charity. The domestics, habited in deep
-mourning, flitted about the halls and passages in total silence; every
-countenance was impressed by a dejection, that affected the most
-thoughtless with unusual seriousness--even Mrs. O'Sullivan's servants
-spoke in a whisper.
-
-When the visitors assembled in the breakfast-room, neither their host
-nor the priest appeared; and Theresa informed her guests, that the
-former always passed this day in solitude. The same depression which
-pervaded the rest of the house, seemed to exert its saturnine influence
-in this apartment also. Mrs. O'Sullivan and her son were both too much
-irritated, and each too completely engrossed in forming plans to
-circumvent the intentions of the other, to offer a single word of
-conversation. Adelaide and Miss Fitzcarril were occupied by a train of
-distressing reflections, little aware, that they were caused in the mind
-of each by the same event. The Miss Webberlys only interrupted the
-general silence, by occasionally indulging in that pettish crossness,
-which the sight of unparticipated sorrow always produces in weak and
-selfish minds, whilst their fretful words and looks terrified the timid
-little Caroline.
-
-In the mean time Mr. O'Sullivan, after assisting in that service, by
-which the Catholic Church permits the living relative, with fond
-anxiety, to extend its cares beyond the grave, retired with the reverend
-priest to his own apartment.
-
-"Oh, my friend," said the afflicted parent, "you received my child into
-the bosom of our holy church; you heard her first innocent confession,
-you sanctified her fatal marriage vows, and how soon after did you offer
-up the prayers of my broken heart for the repose of her departed soul!"
-
-"She was almost as much the child of my affections as of yours," replied
-the priest, greatly moved: "and how graciously did Heaven reward my
-endeavours to form her mind to the practice of every virtue! Never did a
-purer spirit inhabit a human form! Let us rejoice in this," continued
-he, his countenance beaming with the cheering hopes of devotion; "we
-have both hitherto offended by a grief that 'would not be comforted.'
-Shall we, standing on the brink of the grave, still presume to murmur?
-Let me exhort you to break through the accustomed indulgence of
-unavailing sorrow, that would vainly strive against the will of Heaven:
-you have always shunned consolation, seek it humbly and sincerely, and
-it will be sent from above!"
-
-The old man sighed deeply, and made that devotional sign which marks the
-pious Catholic. His eyes were cast upwards, and his lips moved as if in
-prayer. Whilst the creature addressed his Creator, the holy minister of
-religion paused in reverential silence; but when the spontaneous
-supplication had ceased, he again addressed his friend. "I would fain
-impose a trial on you--a bitter one I confess; but could you accomplish
-it, you would hereafter feel as becomes a mortal sufferer. The solitude,
-the lugubrious forms of this day, nourish the grief it behoves you to
-struggle against. The presence of strangers is a fortunate circumstance,
-and will afford you an assistance your own domestic circle is incapable
-of. Return to society; receive your guests as if this were to-morrow and
-to-morrow will rise with a feeling of satisfaction, to which you have
-long been a stranger."
-
-Though O'Sullivan afterwards pondered on these words till he almost
-believed them to have been an inspiration from Heaven, he at the moment
-vehemently asserted the impossibility of his making such an exertion. A
-considerable time elapsed, before the remonstrances of Father Dermoody
-could overcome his reluctance to wrestle with "this cherished woe, this
-loved despair;" but at last the advice of the friend, the admonitions of
-the pastor, prevailed; and Mr. O'Sullivan, accompanied by his reverend
-guide, appeared amongst his visitors, who were still assembled in the
-breakfast-room. On entering, he bowed profoundly to all, then seated
-himself in silence, with a mournful sternness that repelled every body
-from addressing him, farther than to manifest that respect, which was
-always involuntarily testified towards him. Miss Fitzcarril could
-scarcely have been more surprised, had she seen the apparition of Rose
-herself, than she was by the sight of her father on this morning;
-lifting up her hands and eyes, she whispered her astonishment to Father
-Dermoody, who requested her to abstain from exhibiting any further token
-of it. Some of the party continued their occupations, some their
-idleness, but no one spoke; and all, from time to time, anxiously looked
-towards the windows, to judge from the increasing gloom of the sky, how
-near the tempest it foreboded approached.
-
-The aspect of nature was at that moment as dreary as O'Sullivan's heart.
-That stillness, which sometimes precedes the coming storm, reigned
-unbroken. Clouds of portentous blackness were slowly congregating, to
-dart the forked lightning; but not a leaf moved, not a bird flitted in
-the motionless air; and as the dark veil hung over the lake, its dormant
-waters gave but the idea of fearful profundity. The silence of night is
-awful, yet the soul confesses it the repose of nature; but when this
-dread torpor appals the joyous day, every animate and inanimate object
-seems fearfully resigned to await her dissolution. While the ear paused
-in expectation of the hollow thunder, and the eye half closed as it
-anticipated the vivid flash, a wild cry arose--"Good God! what's that?"
-was the general exclamation. It was the wail, with which the children of
-this mountain region deplored their dead. No softening gale lent it
-beauty; the winds that were wont to sport with the accents of human woe,
-wafting them to the mountain's rugged brow, or saddening the smiling
-valley at its foot, now slumbered in the slowly rolling clouds. Horrible
-and harsh the lamenting voice of hundreds smote the ear. Once it was
-reverberated from rocks as lifeless as the being it bemoaned, whilst
-the mourners and their sad burden were hidden from the view.
-
-O'Sullivan started, and his eyes rested on the figure of Adelaide. As
-she had compassionately viewed his sorrowful countenance, memory had too
-faithfully depicted to her mind the anguish, which had always marked
-this eventful day to her father. The sudden doleful lamentation had
-completely overcome her spirits, and with her hands clasped in agony,
-torrents of tears were streaming down her cheeks, whilst, as the chilled
-blood recoiled to her heart, her dark hair threw a melancholy shade on
-her palid face. The impulse of humanity overcame the silence of sorrow;
-O'Sullivan instantly seized her hand, and as her eyes mournfully met
-his, exclaimed, "Desmond has told me all; you grieve for your father, I
-for my child. A desolate old man like me has little comfort to offer.
-But for her sake, whose living image you are, in my heart's core could I
-hide you from all trouble." Adelaide, leaning her head on his shoulder,
-sobbed aloud.
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, inflamed by anger at her son, and by jealousy of the
-tenderness expressed in her brother-in-law's countenance for the lovely
-mourner, whose confiding attitudes seemed to repose her affliction on
-his solacing compassion, now whispered to Amelia, "This is _too_ bad;
-that artful baggage has got him under her thumb too;--mayhap he may
-devize his fortin to _her_ instead of Caroline, after all--I'll tell him
-what she is." So saying, passion accelerating her utterance and
-crimsoning her face, she addressed Mr. O'Sullivan with, "Sir, sir, that
-Miss that's putting a sham upon you is a wagabond; and if she doesn't
-look to her ways, I'll have her sent home by the alien act, as Meely
-bids me. She tells up about English relations; but in two years she's
-lived with me, she wouldn't never tell me who they were: she's an
-imposter, and vill make a cat's paw of you, as she did of your brother,
-and----" "Gad zooks, mother" interrupted Webberly, "what odds is it
-who's her relations; when she marries, her husband's family is all she
-has to look to." "Jacky! Jacky! you'll never come to no good--you're an
-undutiful son! I'll get her packed off to Germany as sure as----"
-"What's all this, madam?" said Mr. O'Sullivan, with a look of
-contemptuous displeasure, that produced instant silence: "I will stand
-in the place of my brother to this young lady, if she will honour me by
-committing herself to my protection. Your threats against the
-unoffending ward of your husband are shameful." "Sir," said Adelaide,
-commanding herself to composure, "the gratitude I feel is inexpressible!
-But on this day there is no impediment, to prevent my satisfying Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's desire to know my parentage; of this she is well aware. My
-father, madam," continued she, with grave steadiness, "Reginald Baron
-Wildenheim, was the youngest brother of the present Earl of Osselstone.
-Soon after my birth, he renounced his family name of Mordaunt, and
-adopted his German title." O'Sullivan essayed to speak in vain; his lip
-quivered, but no sound met the ear of man; and his half palsied hand
-trembled as it passed a sign of deepest import to the priest, who
-darting forward, exclaimed, "Your mother's name, young lady--speak, did
-she die at Hamburgh?" "Alas! yes, on the day I was born; her name was
-one which, honoured and lamented here, I trembled to pronounce--it was
-Rose!" The old man uttered an hysterical laugh, and clasping her in his
-arms, faltered out, "Her child then was saved!" "Produce your proofs!"
-exclaimed the priest; "by every sacred name I conjure you, produce your
-proofs!" Mrs. O'Sullivan, raging with passion, vociferated, "She is an
-impostor; an artful minx, come to cheat Caroline." The Miss Webberlys
-screamed in Adelaide's ear, "Produce your proofs if you dare!" Their
-brother, with equal fury, interfered on her behalf. Little Caroline
-clung crying to her knees, "They shan't hurt you, dear Adele, they
-shan't hurt you!" Whilst Theresa, with terror in her looks, went from
-one to the other, saying, "For God's sake have done; leave the room if
-you can't be quiet; Mr. O'Sullivan will never get over such a piece of
-work on this day, of all days in the year!" But Adelaide was unconscious
-of all; she had taken her grandfather's agitated laugh, his
-unintelligible words, for a wandering of reason, on hearing a name
-resembling his daughter's unexpectedly mentioned; and, horror-struck,
-had sunk lifeless in his arms. When he saw the paleness of death in her
-cold cheek and blanched lip, stamping on the floor, he exclaimed, "You
-have killed her! Unfeeling wretches, you have killed her!" Father
-Dermoody and Theresa hastily stepped forward to offer that assistance he
-was incapable of bestowing, and immediately removed her to a
-neighbouring apartment, excluding every body else.
-
-It was long ere Adelaide revived. When consciousness returned, she found
-herself in a strange apartment. The gloom almost of midnight was
-around; the storm had burst, and was raging with awful fury; the thunder
-rolled tremendously above her head, and a vivid flash of lightning
-illuminated the countenance of one kneeling at her side, on which she
-saw despair--the despair of venerable age, depicted. With an involuntary
-shudder she averted her head, and raised both her hands, as if to save
-her from the terrific vision. "Father of mercy!" exclaimed O'Sullivan,
-"I lost my child, and lived--lived but to see hers shun me." "Oh, my
-God!" ejaculated the agonized girl, "have mercy on him!--poor old man!
-poor old man!" and she burst into a paroxysm of tears. When she
-recovered a little from the racking emotions which tortured her, she
-mournfully took his hand, and said, "I do not shun you; God knows to
-console yours would be a delightful solace to my own afflictions. But I
-implore you to pause before you cherish these delusive ideas; a few
-minutes will suffice to convince you of the fatal error you have fallen
-into." She then, in a whisper, entreated Miss Fitzcarril to procure her
-portfolio, as she feared to irritate Mr. O'Sullivan's mind, by leaving
-him herself. Theresa fulfilled her request, and then with true delicacy
-retired.
-
-Adelaide eagerly tore open the important packet, and the first paper
-that presented itself was one directed to Mr. O'Sullivan, which, with
-inconceivable trepidation, she presented to him; but at the sight of the
-writing he dashed it from him with looks of fury--"Never will I read
-another from that detested hand, that last blasted my every hope of
-earthly happiness!" The priest seizing the letter, hurried him out of
-the room. "Unfortunate man!" exclaimed Adelaide; "Oh, why did I mention
-his daughter's name, after the warning I received from Colonel Desmond?"
-In an agony of mind not to be described, she attempted to read a letter
-addressed by her father to herself; but when it informed her of such of
-the particulars of his life as were necessary to explain her
-relationship to her present venerable protector, she was so bewildered,
-that she half despairingly pressed the letter to her heart, and silently
-implored a supporting power from above. When she had again composed her
-mind sufficiently to comprehend its contents, she was so stunned with
-surprise, that she had scarcely power to feel how happy she ought to be,
-as she repeated, "My grandfather! can it indeed be possible?" But she
-was roused to a painful sense of anxiety and acute perception of sorrow,
-when she came to the following paragraph, "Let it be your consolation,
-my beloved child, that all the happiness I have known since your angelic
-mother's death, has been your boon. Heaven permitted her to leave you to
-me, as a gift of love, as a pledge of its mercy. I bequeath that filial
-piety, which has been the solace of my existence, to her father, as a
-reparation for the loss of his daughter. For my sake he may be harsh to
-you, perhaps refuse to receive you; but pardon him, and, if he will
-permit you, soothe the sorrows of his old age; he has much to forgive
-your erring father." With indignation she now recollected how his letter
-had been received, and every softer feeling, every selfish
-consideration, was swallowed up in offended filial affection, as she
-thought, "Never will I accept of kindness from one, who could spurn me
-from resentment to my adored father!"
-
-At that moment she heard O'Sullivan's step. Oh, who shall tell the tide
-of tumultuous thoughts that overwhelmed her soul, as his hand
-tremulously turned the lock of the door? 'twas but an instant--but how
-much of misery cannot the human heart suffer in this short earthly
-denomination of time!
-
-He entered; and, as he approached, her heart seemed to die within her.
-At first she could not move, but gazed almost unconsciously on his face,
-and seeing there the mildness of grief, the benevolence of pity, the
-warmth of paternal love, she knelt at his feet in speechless emotion,
-whilst her looks, her attitude, implored his benediction. "Oh, may the
-God of mercy bestow those blessings on you, that were denied your
-mother!" He pressed her in his arms, and wept as he said, "My child, my
-beloved child, I have not lived these years of misery in vain! Bless
-you, bless you!" And now "joy and sorrow strove which should paint her
-goodliest. You have seen sunshine and rain at once--her smiles and tears
-were like a better May--those happy smiles, which played on her ripe
-lip, seemed not to know what guests were in her eyes, which parted
-thence as pearls from diamonds dropp'd."
-
-When the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, the anxious parent
-looked at his loved treasure, first fearfully, and then a happy smile
-seemed to say, "Thank God, here at least she is safe from every storm!"
-with that a closer embrace pressed her to his heart. "My father!" were
-the first words she attempted to articulate. "Adelaide," interrupted
-the old man, "whatever may have been his errors, you will, on reading
-that letter, easily believe I no longer resent them. I erred deeply,
-sinfully, in not receiving the prodigal son when he first implored my
-forgiveness; but passion blinded me, and I have been severely punished.
-I knew him not then! Oh! did he live now, my heart would warmly open to
-him." Adelaide was nearly suffocated with her sobs. O'Sullivan supported
-her to the window for air: for the elemental strife was now over, and
-the rushing torrents had ceased to fall. The rippling waters of the lake
-laughed in the beams of the sun, and softly rolled on their verdant
-banks. Every bough waved in the wanton air, and from bush and brake
-innumerable birds poured forth joyful melody. The cottage cur once more
-barked at the stranger, and the peaceful herds again grazed the green
-islets. Adelaide felt the composing power of the scene, and, drying her
-tears, read the letter she had received.
-
-     oeTO CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN, ESQUIREoe.
-
-     The misery I feel at this moment is not less, than that which rent
-     my heart when last I addressed you. Time has but made the
-     remembrance of my beloved Rose dearer, more afflicting to my soul;
-     and her child, who for nineteen years has been my only earthly
-     happiness, I now resign, as the sole reparation I can make, to
-     Heaven and to you, for the errors of that guilty course, which have
-     not been expiated by years of misery and penitence. I once again
-     implore your forgiveness for all the sufferings I have occasioned
-     you. Oh, my God! what a wreck of happiness I have made for myself
-     and others! I have been a misfortune to all connected with me. What
-     a stab must I not give to my daughter's heart, when I tell her we
-     part _to meet no more_! What tears of bitter anguish will she not
-     shed, when she hears the recital of those misdeeds, so degrading to
-     the memory of the father, whom she fondly thinks the first of human
-     beings! Yet the misery of her mind on hearing my errors would be
-     felicity compared to the anguish mine has endured, when, for her
-     sake, I have undergone the martyrdom of her praises. My lovely
-     child!--Had you seen the happy smiles, the endearing caresses, with
-     which she bid me good night, but a few minutes ago, and known the
-     _despair_ of my soul, as I thought, never shall I behold that
-     unclouded smile again; but once more hear those words, you would
-     say, the forfeit of his guilt is paid; and lament for the
-     unfortunate being you have hitherto cursed. By every sacred name,
-     by the memory of her sainted mother, by the agonies of a wretched
-     father, I conjure you, protect, cherish, and console my child. All
-     that a parent's heart could wish, all that the daughter of Rose
-     should be, she is--and we part for ever. I shall not survive to
-     have my miserable days cheered by the affection, with which I know
-     you will treat the inheritor of the virtues of your beloved Rose,
-     but my last moments will be brightened by the joyous hope----
-
-     "Enclosed you will find papers written at a calmer moment, for the
-     benefit of Adelaide--pardon him you once called son. As you value
-     your eternal hopes, I charge you to be kind to my child. She has
-     never offended you; her mother's form is renewed in hers; her
-     mother's virtues perpetuated in her mind. Say not that Rose exists
-     no more--in Adelaide she is again restored to your arms."
-
-Adelaide had wept, when there was something of consolation, of
-tenderness, in her emotions. But now her anguish admitted not of tears;
-the universe presented but one idea to her mind--the agony of her
-father's soul when his hand traced the words her eyes rested on.
-O'Sullivan addressed her in accents of the tenderest affection; she
-answered him but by that bitter smile, with which misery sometimes loves
-to make her devoted victims confess her empire. He was alarmed by her
-fixed looks, and said, "Rouse yourself, Adelaide; I will leave you to
-compose your agitated feelings, but not in solitude: come with me to the
-companion of many a sad moment." He opened an inner door, and grasping
-her hand with convulsive earnestness, said, "There is your mother's
-portrait; and at the foot of that altar she daily poured forth her
-grateful thanksgivings. There the supplications of her father daily
-ascend to the throne of grace." He hurried away, and Adelaide long and
-fervently prayed in a spot so hallowed. Her tears again flowed, as she
-turned to gaze on the resemblance of that form, which had never blessed
-her conscious sight, and mournfully exclaimed, "Both, both lost to me!"
-
-Rose had been drawn as Astarte inscribing her lover's name on the sand.
-The dejected expression of her heavenly countenance sadly contrasted the
-brilliant beauty of her youthful charms. Was it the melancholy of
-_Astarte_ the painter's art depicted? or had the fair being, whose form
-he traced, been already struck by the hand of sorrow? O'Sullivan's
-grief was daily renewed as his heart whispered, "Not thus my child
-looked under this roof.--So soon was all her innocent gaiety gone?"
-
-Adelaide was so absorbed by the ideas which rose in her mind, that she
-did not perceive the entrance of nurse, who came to perform her diurnal
-task of dressing the altar, and who standing behind her, now said,
-"That's the picture, dear, that Mr. Mordaunt sent his honour from
-London, six months after Miss Rose married him--an unlucky day that
-same! And a black-hearted false man he was, to leave my sweet angel, and
-run away wid another woman." Fire flashed from Adelaide's eye; the
-indignation which deprived her of utterance was expressed in her whole
-figure. Nurse awed, and as it were fascinated, by a look from which she
-could not withdraw her gaze, stared at her for a second or two, and then
-evidently terrified, exclaimed, "The blessed powers presarve me!--Who
-are you?--What are you? You're the very moral of Miss Rose! What brings
-you in her room this day of the year? No mortal has ever darkened the
-door since she died but myself and his honour. You're like enough to be
-her fetch, come in the storm to take him away from us. I pray God I may
-die first," continued she, weeping bitterly: "my heart was broke when I
-lost my sweet child. I trust in his mercy I haven't lived on these weary
-years, to drag my ould bones to his grave!"
-
-"Dear, dear nurse," said Adelaide, kissing her affectionately, smiles
-and tears struggling for mastery in her eyes, "I'm not come to take him
-away from you, but to make you both happy--I'm your own Rose's
-daughter." The old woman set up a shout of joy, and kissed her, and
-hugged her, and drew back to a little distance, resting her hands on
-Adelaide's shoulders to look at her from time to time, saying, "The very
-moral of her! the very moral of her! Her daughter! You wouldn't be so
-mischievous as to make an ould body crazy? It's not joking you are,
-jewel?"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-    Half a loaf is better than no bread.
-
-    oeOLD PARRoe.
-
-
-"So Caroline may do with the twenty thousand?"----This was Mrs.
-O'Sullivan's reflection as her carriage, for the last time, drove out of
-the demesne of Ballinamoyle. How she came to this conclusion, the reader
-must now be informed. Neither Miss Wildenheim nor her grandfather was
-visible for the remainder of the day, on which the trying scenes, that
-have just been related, occurred. But immediate steps were taken to
-prevent the celebration of Caroline's birthday, as had been intended, on
-the following morning; and Mr. Dermoody waited on her mother, to explain
-the reasons for this disappointment. He accomplished this task with
-much difficulty, as she interrupted him every three minutes with, "I
-can't understand nothing about it, Sir. She's an odorous imposter--I
-tell you, Sir, she's an abominable imposter." And she, in fine,
-threatened to take the law of Mr. O'Sullivan:--she'd see her child
-righted, cost what it would, and bring that artful baggage to shame. Mr.
-Dermoody then reminded her, that Caroline had no _right_ to her uncle's
-estate, who had given her father a large sum to cut off the entail; so
-that if Miss Wildenheim's claims were absolutely nugatory, it was
-entirely in his own disposal; but that as this transaction had taken
-place since her birth, it was invalid, as Adelaide was the heir at law
-in preference to Caroline's father; but that, to put the matter beyond
-doubt, the present proprietor intended to bequeath his estate
-immediately to his grandaughter, who would thus inherit it by a double
-tenure. He was too much incensed at that moment to tell her his belief,
-that Mr. O'Sullivan would also provide for his favourite little
-Caroline. "Wery vell, Sir, wery vell, I see how it is; she has set you
-up to cheat me. All these outgoings for nothing! I'd have seen your
-shabby old place at the dickens before I'd have come so far, if I'd
-guessed how it would have turned out. Me and mine will be off to-morrow,
-Sir;" so saying, she flounced out of the room.
-
-Father Dermoody had scarcely finished this discussion with one
-unreasonable woman, when he had to encounter a second with another. Miss
-Fitzcarril way-laid him in the passage from Mrs. O'Sullivan's apartment,
-to remonstrate on the folly of suffering all the expense and trouble,
-which had been incurred in the preparations made to entertain the
-tenantry, to go for nothing: "Why put off the meeting?--Wasn't Adelaide
-as good an heiress as Caroline? Another sort, on my conscience! I vow
-and declare I think it's very hard there shouldn't be just as much made
-of her as the other." "But you don't consider the indelicacy of such a
-thing; Mrs. O'Sullivan's feelings are sufficiently mortified."
-"Indelicacy, indeed!" retorted Theresa, sputtering, as she always did in
-the heat of an argument; "she knows just as much about delicacy as my
-foot does; and I should like to see her mortified just for her
-impertinence." The priest muttered something about an unchristian
-spirit, and rather gravely said, "If you won't listen to reason, madam,
-I must inform you in brief, that Mr. O'Sullivan won't suffer it; his
-pleasure you know is final." Theresa walked off, gesticulating with both
-her hands, and muttering, "Good Lord! was there ever any thing half so
-provoking! These men never have the least consideration, after all the
-trouble I have had! I'm sure I don't know what's to be done with the
-_loads_ of things that have been got!"
-
-The following morning Caroline did not, as usual, come to Adelaide's
-room. She rightly guessed she had been prohibited; but as she was
-proceeding to obey a message from Mr. O'Sullivan, to breakfast with him
-in his study, as he was too unwell to see more than one or two people
-at a time, she saw the little girl leaning over the bannisters of the
-stairs, sobbing as if her heart would break. "What's the matter, my
-darling?" said she, taking her fondly in her arms. "Unkind Adele!"
-sobbed out the afflicted child, "I wouldn't have hurt you for the world;
-and mama says you're my bitterest enemy. This is a dismal birthday to
-me; mama's going away, and I shall never see you again, Adele; and
-nobody loves me but you." Here the poor child, throwing her arms about
-her friend's neck, cried bitterly. "Dearest little Caroline, every body
-loves you." "No, no, Adele, my heart will break when I leave you." "We
-will not part," said Adelaide, straining her to her heart; "come with
-me." And taking Caroline to her grandfather, she placed her on his knee,
-and drew forth a repetition of her artless tale. "Mr. Dermoody has told
-me," said the generous girl, "that you have changed your intentions in
-her favour. How it would grieve me to injure her prospects! I am amply
-provided for; I do not desire any increase of fortune; all my heart
-requires is some being whom I may _securely_ love and be cherished by;
-and in you is not all this granted? Look at this little angel, and pity
-her, my dear parent. Oh! her heart will be either broken, or I should
-never forgive myself the destruction of this lovely creature, whom
-Providence has, I trust, employed me to save. On condition of your
-giving her your estate, I'm sure her mother would resign her to my
-charge till her minority expires." "Adelaide," said the old man, whilst
-the tears stood in her eyes, "you are as like your mother in mind as in
-person. Till now I thought no mortal could be as perfect as she was.
-Caroline shall stay with us, if I can accomplish it. My estate I cannot,
-will not, give her; but I have much to bestow besides, which I will
-offer her mother, on the conditions you mention." He proceeded
-immediately to Mrs. O'Sullivan, to execute this benevolent commission.
-Pride, and some remains of natural affection, made her hesitate to
-accept his offers. She retired to consult her elder children, and
-promised to return an answer in an hour. When she informed them of Mr.
-O'Sullivan's proposition, Mr. Webberly said, "As far as a few thousands
-goes, I have no objection to humour the old Don; and Caroline would be
-welcome to live with us. You needn't fret, mother; if this new heiress
-marries me, isn't the estate ours after all?" "That's true, so it is,
-Jack; you'd best make her an offer with all speed." "Do, brother," said
-Miss Cecilia Webberly, with an eagerness that little accorded with her
-usual languid delivery; "as I understand the matter, you'd be nephew to
-Lord Osselstone, and then Meely and I would be _fier ton_." When Mr.
-Webberly went in search of Miss Wildenheim, he was told she was in her
-own room, and could not be seen. "What was to be done?" As there was no
-time to lose, it was then settled in the family conclave, that Mrs.
-O'Sullivan should endeavour to gain admittance to the lady, who was
-now, like Dr. Lenitive's mistress, possessed of "ten thousand charms,"
-for the purpose of _soliciting_ that hand for her son, which four and
-twenty hours before she had so openly disdained!
-
-When she entered, Adelaide naturally supposing she came on no very
-friendly errand, received her with a curtsy of the most repulsive
-dignity; and with a cold gravity of manner, that made her visitor feel
-she had undertaken a commission she should find great difficulty in
-executing. She fluttered, and coloured, and hemmed, and played with the
-costly seals of the watch she always ostentatiously wore on the most
-conspicuous part of her person, till Adelaide, advancing towards her,
-said, "May I beg to know your commands, Madam? I own, I scarcely
-expected the honor of this visit." "Why, Miss Wildenheim, I just vanted
-to speak to you about my little Carline." "I shall be happy to hear any
-thing you have to say regarding my dear Caroline, Madam: will you do me
-the favour to sit down?" Adelaide, taking a chair opposite to the one
-on which Mrs. O'Sullivan deposited herself, fixed her dark eyes
-attentively on her face, whilst the former, in a style and dialect that
-almost conquered her command of countenance, proposed that she should
-not only take charge of Caroline, but commit herself to the guidance of
-Mr. Webberly. Offering her as a _douceur_, to have all her
-_grandfather's_ estate settled on herself; and also half the sum he
-intended to give Caroline; and promising moreover to "make Jack a fit
-husband for ere a duchess in the land." The astonished girl, rather
-doubting her ability to fulfil this latter gracious promise, and highly
-amused by the attempt to bribe her with Mr. O'Sullivan's fortune,
-replied, as soon as she could speak with proper decorum of feature and
-tone, "I cannot pretend to say that I have not perceived the polite
-attentions which Mr. Webberly has been in the habit of favouring me
-with; you will, I hope, Madam, do me the justice to acknowledge that I
-have never encouraged them: you might have been spared much unnecessary
-uneasiness, if you had looked on my conduct with unprejudiced eyes; for,
-(pardon me, Mrs. O'Sullivan,) your son was not a man that I could, under
-any circumstances, have married. I should not make these observations,
-but that I am anxious you should understand, that the occurrences of
-yesterday have made no change in my sentiments; and though--" "Forget
-and forgive ought to be the word amongst _friends_," hastily interrupted
-her auditor. "Some things I _cannot_ forget," returned Adelaide; "I can
-never forget, that you are the widow of an uncle from whom I received so
-much affectionate kindness; nor, that to yourself I owe many personal
-obligations, for affording me an asylum in my hour of adversity, when I
-had none other to fly to!" And then, in all the winning charms of her
-captivating manner, she held out her hand, saying, "Though I cannot
-consent to any nearer connexion, whenever you are inclined to consider
-yourself my aunt, I shall be happy to show you the duty of a niece."
-
-Mrs. O'Sullivan, quite overcome, said, "You were always a good girl; I
-wasn't as kind to you as I ought to have been, but--" "I do not wonder,"
-interrupted Adelaide, "that you should have been inclined to dislike me;
-it was very natural, under all the circumstances; but we are quite
-cordial now; so pray don't distress me, by referring to a period when
-you were less my friend than at this moment. If you will confide in me,
-so far as to resign Caroline to my care, I shall owe you an everlasting
-obligation." "I will leave her with you," replied the poor woman,
-bursting into tears; "for I know you will breed her up to be more
-dutiful to me than the rest; but that's all my own fault. God bless you,
-if you make my child a comfort to me in my old age." Adelaide said every
-thing to console her; and Mrs. O'Sullivan, on retiring to her children,
-addressed her son, with "She wont have you, Jack, and I'm sorry for it;
-she's the best girl in the world, after all; but your cousin Hannah
-Leatherly, is a sweet cretur too." When the hour appointed for the
-departure of the Webberly family arrived, Caroline, while she held fast
-hold of Adelaide with one hand, lest she should be torn from her, clung
-with the other to "her own mama," weeping to part with her; and perhaps,
-if her mother had not been hurried away by her elder daughters, she
-could not have withstood this demonstration of her child's awakened
-affection; but they took care she should not have time to reflect on
-what she was doing. Adelaide, and her quondam guardian separated in
-perfect amity, but the Miss Webberlys to the last kept up their envious
-dislike, and scarcely curtsied whilst they refused her offered hand.
-Their brother, on the contrary, could not conceal his sorrow, as he bid
-her good bye; and, touched by it, she cordially shook his hand, and with
-much sincerity, wishing him every happiness, thanked him for the
-good-natured attention he had always shown her. When Miss Fitzcarril
-saw him depart, she said to herself, "Well, well! Judy Stewart didn't
-spey it _all_ right, after all; but, to be sure, _winter_ is not come
-yet!" At the moment in which Mrs. O'Sullivan made the reflection with
-which this chapter commences, Colonel Desmond rode past, and her son's
-spirits were not much enlivened, as he pictured to himself his mission
-to Ballinamoyle, and its probable success.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-                    Nobly he yokes
-    A smiling with a sigh: as if the sigh
-    Was that it was, for not being such a smile.
-
-    oeCYMBELINEoe.
-
-
-About the time of Adelaide's arrival at Ballinamoyle, Lord Osselstone
-and Augustus sailed from Dover, and took the direct road to Brussels,
-intending to stay in the principal towns through which their route lay,
-as long as would afford them opportunity of seeing such curiosities as
-principally deserved their attention. From Brussels they proceeded to
-Liege, and stopping a few days at Spa, crossed to Bonn, and from thence
-enjoyed the delightful scenery which the banks of the Rhine presented.
-The melancholy with which the remembrance of his brother was connected
-in the Earl's mind, threw a softened shade of sadness on his manners,
-which perhaps won more on the affections of his nephew, than the most
-brilliant sallies of wit or imagination could have done. For every sigh
-that escaped Lord Osselstone found an echo in the heart of Augustus. The
-concentrated susceptibility of his natural disposition, and the peculiar
-turn of his education, had equally contributed to give a stability to
-his feelings, beyond what his age would have promised: impressions made
-on a mind so formed were not easily to be effaced; as the marble, though
-impervious to slight incisions, if once impressed, loses the form but
-with its own existence.
-
-He had never known the endearing cares of a sister,--never had enjoyed
-the blessing of maternal smiles. In Selina Seymour alone all his first
-affections were centred, and as his matured reason watched her opening
-charms, his judgment sanctioned his love.
-
-It was true, that in the vortex of dissipation into which she had lately
-been plunged, he had found something to reprove in her manners, and a
-great deal to deplore in her conduct to himself; yet with the lenity
-which belongs to true affection, he sought excuses for what he most
-condemned; and though with the resignation of despondency he had given
-up all hope of being dear to her, he did not endeavour to discover flaws
-in the chrysolite, because the precious jewel was not to grace his
-coronet. But the contending emotions of his soul preyed on his health;
-and in his faded cheek and saddened brow Lord Osselstone read the too
-plain indications of a grief smothered, but not subdued.
-
-It was towards the end of July when the travellers reached Bonn, and the
-beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of that town, where they first
-saw the Rhine, tempted them to prolong their stay in it for some days.
-At length however they pursued their journey, and as the weather was
-sultry, preferred travelling in the cool of the evening. The shades of
-night are however little adapted to German roads or German drivers.
-They had scarcely traversed half the distance between Andernach and
-Coblentz, when their postillions carelessly drove against the roots of a
-tree, and overturned the carriage. Fortunately neither of the gentlemen
-received any injury, but the accident occasioned a considerable delay,
-as the carriage was much shattered, and they were obliged considerably
-to lighten it of its luggage, before it could reassume its proper
-position. At last, after the drivers had indulged themselves in a
-variety of oaths and ejaculations, and the two gentlemen, aided by their
-servants, had made use of more effectual means of repairing the
-disaster, they were enabled to proceed, though at a greatly retarded
-pace; and at last reached Coblentz, without further accident.
-
-The master of the hotel, but too happy to receive once more "_Des milors
-Anglais_" as his guests, with alacrity provided them the best supper his
-house could afford, and the Earl and Augustus were congratulating each
-other on their escape, when the door suddenly opened, and Lord
-Osselstone's gray-headed valet burst into the room, rage and dismay
-struggling for pre-eminence in his countenance; "There, my Lord,"
-bellowed he, "there, I knew how it would be. I told you you'd get no
-good by travelling in this damned country: they have robbed you; they
-have stolen it, that's all;" and he was leaving the room with as much
-precipitation as he had entered it, when his master called him back, to
-inquire calmly what was lost. "Only your red box, that I know you
-wouldn't part with for a thousand pounds." In an instant, to Augustus's
-inexpressible astonishment, he beheld Lord Osselstone's countenance
-convulsed with contending passions--he started up, and seizing the
-trembling old man by the collar, "Find it, find it, villain, or never
-see me more," said he, in a voice of thunder; and with one thrust pushed
-him out of the door. Then holding his burning forehead with both his
-hands, he traversed the room with hurried steps, and soon retired
-precipitately to his own chamber. This scene was perfectly
-incomprehensible to Augustus; but instead of bewildering himself in
-conjecture, he, with his usual promptitude, immediately exerted himself
-to repair the loss which so much agitated his uncle. Conceiving it
-possible the box might have fallen out of the carriage when it was
-overturned, he instantly dispatched one of the postillions in search of
-it, offering a large reward for its recovery. After about two hours of
-suspense, during which time he did not venture to intrude on the Earl,
-the messenger returned with the lost treasure, which was almost broken
-to pieces. Augustus however joyfully seizing it, hastened with it to his
-uncle, who opened the door, and snatched it from him in silence. But the
-box was so shattered that in doing so the bottom of it gave way, and
-most of its contents, consisting principally of letters, fell to the
-floor. A miniature case rolled to some distance, and lay open on the
-ground. Augustus ran to pick it up, but on viewing it, exclaimed
-abruptly, "Good God! my mother! this surely is a copy of the portrait of
-her my father left me;" and turning with an inquiring look to Lord
-Osselstone, he perceived his lip trembling with emotion, the cold drops
-of agony bursting from his forehead, and his frenzied eyes fixed on
-Mordaunt, with an expression which made him shudder. "Audacious boy!" at
-last muttered the earl, in the deep tone of smothered passion, "how dare
-you seek to know the sorrows of my heart?" Augustus, pitying his evident
-suffering, approached him, and laying his hand on his, with involuntary
-affection, said, "I do not seek to know them, I only wish to soothe
-them: consider me as a friend, as a son, who--" "Son!" exclaimed Lord
-Osselstone, shrinking from him with horror; "Son! God of Heaven! do I
-live to hear the child of Emma Dormer mock me with the name of father?
-leave me," continued he sternly, "and never again blast me with your
-presence. Fool, fool that I have been to cherish the viper that stings
-my heart; your cradle was the grave of my happiness; and you have but
-lived to fester the wounds your parents made." Indignant at such
-unmerited reproaches, Mordaunt hastened to leave the room, but turning
-to take a parting look at his last surviving relation, who thus spurned
-him, he beheld the man, whose calm unbending dignity had so often awed
-the wondering crowd, trembling with unconquerable feelings, whilst the
-scalding tears chased each other down his face. He stopped--"I cannot
-leave you thus," said he; "to-morrow will be time enough to part." Lord
-Osselstone turned towards him in silence. The look was not to be
-misunderstood; and in an instant Augustus was pressed to his bosom. A
-long pause ensued. At last the Earl, wringing Mordaunt's hand;
-"Augustus!" said he, "I believe you sincere in the regard you profess
-for me: but beware of deceiving me." He stopped to recover himself, then
-proceeded, in a hurried tone: "When I was about your age, with a heart
-as warm as yours is now, and feelings even more susceptible, I fixed my
-affections on Emma Dormer. I believed her mind as faultless as her
-person; and loved her to adoration. She pretended to return my passion;
-and her father was happy, nay eager, to see her share my title and
-fortune. The time was fixed for our marriage; but two days before the
-one appointed for it, she eloped with the man she had the cruelty to
-tell me was her first, her only love. My own brother was my rival!" A
-deep groan burst from the Earl; at length, he continued, "I never saw
-her afterwards; though, when her extravagance and my brother's
-dissipation hurried them into ruin, she often wrote to me, _yes_, _to
-me_, for assistance; and I have the satisfaction of thinking, that I
-relieved the wretchedness of her who plunged my life in misery. She died
-four years afterwards, and my brother survived her but ten months. Even
-in death he wronged me; for, mistrusting my feelings towards you, he
-chose Sir Henry Seymour for your guardian. When I first saw you,
-Augustus, your hated likeness to both your parents froze my blood. When
-you came to Oxford, I was a constant though secret observer of your
-actions; and, prejudiced as I was, I thought I saw in your youthful
-follies and marked alienation from myself, the errors of your father's
-character hereditary in yours. Accident and time changed my opinion of
-you; and, contrary to my predetermination, nay, even against my
-inclination, my heart has once more been open to feelings of interest
-and affection; if I am again betrayed----however the poison will find
-its own antidote. Now, Augustus, good night.--Yet, one word more.--I
-charge you, as you value my friendship, as you regard my peace, never
-recur to this subject again--never recall the occurrences of this
-night."
-
-It would be impossible to describe the various feelings this recital
-occasioned in the heart of Augustus. He retired to rest, but his
-thoughts were entirely engrossed by the Earl; and while he shuddered at
-the duplicity and ingratitude of his parents, he bitterly lamented his
-own precipitancy, which had led him so much to misjudge his uncle's
-character. When however they met the next morning, all trace of the
-storm had vanished. The surface of the wave, that had so lately been
-agitated almost to fury, was again calmly bright, if not transparent.
-Augustus could almost have believed the scene of the night before was
-but a vision of his distempered fancy, had it not been for the silent
-and almost imperceptible pressure of his hand, which accompanied his
-uncle's first salutation.
-
-One other change was also apparent. They had scarcely commenced
-breakfast, when Lord Osselstone sent for his valet, to desire him to
-make some other coffee, as his Lordship had just recollected that he
-always preferred what he prepared to any other. The alacrity with which
-the old man obeyed the command, showed how much he valued the
-compliment thus paid to the very point of his character on which he most
-valued himself, next to his talent for arranging full-bottomed periwigs,
-which he always contended were the most becoming dresses ever invented
-for young gentlemen. When he returned with the coffee, "There," said he,
-with a look of triumph, "I have taken pains with that, and you'll find
-it ten times better than these jabbering Frenchmen can make, here in the
-heart of Germany; but you'll get nothing fit to eat till you get back to
-Old England; I always told you so." His expostulations were however
-unavailing, as the travellers pursued their journey towards Vienna,
-where they arrived in the beginning of September. Not the most distant
-allusion was made by either to the confidence Lord Osselstone had
-reposed in Augustus, though the almost indefinable tokens of increased
-kindness, that now marked the Earl's manner to his companion, showed
-that, however painful the communication had been at first, yet his grief
-in being shared was lightened. As when the soft breath of spring
-dissolves the icy chain that binds the torrent, though it may at first
-burst in desolating fury, yet its streams gradually subside in peace,
-and glide in smoother currents, blessed and blessing on their way.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-    Could I, not prizing thee, give thee my hand,
-    I should despise myself--and how not prize thee?
-
-    oeLLOYDoe.
-
-
-Immediately on their arrival at Vienna, Lord Osselstone commenced his
-researches after his brother; and, through the active exertions of the
-gentleman who had formerly been Reginald's banker, first ascertained the
-existence of Adelaide, and also other testimony concerning her and her
-father, that served most satisfactorily to corroborate the intelligence
-that now reached him from Ballinamoyle, as Mr. O'Sullivan, even more
-anxious than Adelaide herself to receive the sanction of Lord Osselstone
-for the child of his beloved Rose, had prevailed on Mr. Dermoody to be
-himself the bearer of the letters addressed to the Earl; and the
-venerable priest, with unwearied zeal, followed the travellers from
-London to Vienna, where he finally was more than rewarded for his
-anxiety by the cordiality and readiness with which both his Lordship and
-Augustus acknowledged her claims.
-
-The purpose for which Lord Osselstone had undertaken this journey being
-thus accomplished, though in a very unexpected manner, he and Augustus
-immediately prepared to return to England, both anxious to be introduced
-as relatives to Adelaide, whom Augustus recollected having admired when
-he only knew her as the ward of Mrs. Sullivan, but for whom he now
-already felt the partiality of a cousin; and his description of her
-elegant person and captivating manners prepossessed Lord Osselstone in
-her favour, even more than the exaggerated, though sincere encomiums of
-Father Dermoody. He willingly accepted the Earl's proposal to accompany
-them back to London in his carriage, from whence it was settled he
-should hasten home for the purpose of escorting Adelaide to Osselstone
-House, provided she accepted her uncle's invitation of coming to reside
-with him for a few months, and that Mr. O'Sullivan could be prevailed
-upon to part with her. When they reached Calais, they found a packet
-ready to sail by the following tide for Dover, in which they secured
-their passage; and Mr. Dermoody meantime profited by the opportunity
-afforded him by a few hours' delay, of visiting some of his early
-friends; whilst the Earl and Augustus beguiled their time in reading a
-variety of English newspapers of different dates, which their host
-procured for them.
-
-They had not very long been thus engaged, when Lord Osselstone's
-attention was attracted by the evident agitation of Augustus, who,
-starting with a convulsive shudder, threw down the paper he was reading,
-and paced up and down the room with quick and uneven steps. Lord
-Osselstone glanced his eye on the rejected newspaper, and immediately
-attributed his emotion to the following paragraph:
-
-     "Viscount Eltondale left town this morning for Deane Hall,
-     preparatory to the celebration of his Lordship's nuptials with its
-     lovely and accomplished heiress."
-
-For some minutes he only expressed by looks his commiseration for his
-nephew's feelings; but at length addressing him, "I own," said he, "I
-did not expect Lady Eltondale would have succeeded in her designs on
-Miss Seymour. I watched her closely and unremittingly while in London,
-and from some trifling circumstances I was led to believe, she would
-have made a far different choice. But my dear boy," continued he, with
-parental kindness, "though we have both been deceived, your misery is
-not aggravated as mine was. Do not despond; if Selina was capable of
-being either the tool or the dupe of Lady Eltondale, she was unworthy of
-you. Perhaps it is all for the best; perhaps the charming Adelaide you
-already so much admire, may yet repay you for all your sufferings."
-Though Augustus was incapable of receiving consolation, or listening
-even to reason at the first moment, yet he could not long remain
-insensible to the deep interest Lord Osselstone's looks and manner
-evinced; and in unburthening to him his whole soul, he felt a temporary
-relief from the grief that oppressed him; and thus, from a strange
-coincidence of circumstances and similarity of situation, the only
-confidant of his passion, except Mr. Temple, was the very man whose
-usual impenetrability of character repulsed all intimacy, and forbid
-even approach. Augustus, feeling the impossibility of communicating,
-even by letter, with Lord Eltondale on the subject of Selina's property,
-determined immediately to resign his charge as trustee, and was no less
-impatient for their arrival in London than his companions, in hopes, if
-possible, of anticipating in that respect the hated marriage. The very
-evening on which they reached town, Augustus hastened to
-Portman-square, to inquire whether his Lordship were still at Deane. He
-there learned that the Viscount had left it a few days before; and the
-servant, with agonizing precision, informed him, that orders had that
-day been received for the house in town being without delay put in
-order, as his Lordship expected to be married immediately, and he
-believed he was then at Eltondale, making similar preparations. Poor
-Augustus scarcely heard the concluding sentence, and returned to Lord
-Osselstone in a state almost of distraction. "I will go myself to Deane
-to-night," said he; "most of the papers are there in my bureau. I may
-get in time to deliver them to Mr. Temple before Lord Eltondale returns
-there.--It will be my last visit."
-
-In prosecution of this plan, Augustus left London that night in the York
-mail; and such was his agitated impatience, that he scarcely thought
-even that conveyance sufficiently rapid. Anxious to avoid being either
-recognized or impeded in passing through the village of Deane, he
-alighted from the mail at a few miles distance from that place, and by a
-more unfrequented road entered the Park at one of the most retired
-gates. His feelings rose to agony as he again viewed all the well-known
-haunts of his infancy; and more especially when he recollected, that
-nearly at the same time the year before he had returned thither, to
-receive the dying benediction of the kind-hearted Sir Henry. Wishing to
-escape these sad remembrances, and desirous, if possible, to fly even
-from himself, he sprang forward, and darting into a neighbouring grove,
-was scarcely conscious of his near approach to the house. A rustling in
-the trees at last attracted his attention, and he turned towards the
-place from whence it came. In a few moments he perceived his favourite
-dog Carlo bounding towards him, and in an instant the faithful creature
-lay panting at his feet. A little basket, filled with chesnuts, was hung
-round his neck, in which, in former days, the dog had often carried the
-flowers Selina used to gather in their rambles. But almost before
-Augustus could caress him, Selina's voice calling "Carlo," thrilled to
-his heart, and springing from behind a fence with no less activity than
-the truant animal she pursued, she stood beside him like a bright vision
-of former days. "Selina!" "Augustus!" each exclaimed at once; and looks
-more eloquent than words told their mutual feelings.
-
-But soon Selina endeavoured by language also to express her pleasure at
-once more beholding Mordaunt; and, forgetting at the moment all her
-disappointments, all her resentment for his apparent neglects, she gave
-her cordial and artless welcome with unembarrassed joy. Not so Augustus.
-Her unconcern he attributed to indifference, her evident happiness to
-her approaching marriage; and thus to his distempered judgment her
-vivacity almost appeared an insult. Selina quickly and resentfully
-perceived the coldness of his manners, and turning her head aside to
-hide the starting tears, invited him, with formal politeness, to
-accompany her to the house. But there the delighted Mrs. Galton was
-waiting to receive Augustus. She had seen him from the windows, and
-hastened to express her happiness at once more beholding him. The
-faithful old servants crowded round to bid him welcome. All
-congratulated him on his return to Deane, except its mistress. "And
-where has Selina flown to?" exclaimed Mrs. Galton; "we shall no doubt
-find her in her favourite room. Come, Augustus, I will introduce you,
-though you are already acquainted with it." His heart palpitated as he
-followed her through the well-known cedar hall, and up the massy
-staircase he so well remembered. But what were his emotions when she led
-him into what was once their school-room, and had been afterwards his
-own study! Selina had fitted it up with every elegance of modern
-improvement, arranged with her own peculiar taste, and in it she had
-assembled her various occupations of work, drawing, music, and books.
-When they entered, she was herself standing at a writing-table; her
-bonnet lay beside her, and her luxuriant hair, discomposed by her race,
-fell in loose ringlets on her shoulders; whilst the tear of wounded
-feeling stood on her beaming cheek. Augustus stopped, and casting his
-eyes around the altered room, "Is _this_ your favourite apartment,
-Selina?" said he, while love, joy, and gratitude glowed in his
-countenance. "I sometimes sit here to enjoy the morning sun," answered
-she, blushing deeply; whilst his ardent and penetrating gaze increased
-her confusion. At last withdrawing the glance that evidently distressed
-her, his eye rested on the bronze _garde de feuille_, which represented
-Carlo. He took it up, and was examining it attentively, when Selina,
-with an expression of pique, observed, "That is scarcely worth looking
-at, Mr. Mordaunt; it is as trifling as the donor; I really forgot both,
-or I should not have kept it here;" and with an air of unusual dignity
-she left the room. "Incomprehensible, girl!" exclaimed Mordaunt, after
-a pause. "Tell me, Mrs. Galton, what am I to understand?" "Nothing,"
-said she, "but that Selina refused Mr. Sedley, who gave her that dog:
-for the same reason she has since refused Lord Eltondale." "Refused Lord
-Eltondale?" repeated Augustus, quite bewildered. "Yes;" replied Mrs.
-Galton, "his Lordship came here express, hoping to say _Veni, vidi,
-vici_; and proposed himself to Selina before he was three days in the
-house. Of course, even if she had been actuated by no other motive, she
-would have declined a proposal that could only be for her fortune, and
-she accordingly refused it almost with resentment. Lady Eltondale
-manoeuvred, and stormed, and raved, but to no purpose; and finally,
-much to our satisfaction, set off for Brighton." Mrs. Galton might have
-continued her discourse _ad infinitum_. Augustus had turned to the
-window to conceal his emotion. There he caught a glimpse of Selina
-passing towards the shrubbery; seizing his hat, he rushed past Mrs.
-Galton, exclaiming, "There she is!" She smiled, and took up her book;
-but anxiety scarcely permitted her to comprehend one word of its
-contents. At length, after an absence of two hours, which to her
-appeared an age, and to them a second, Selina and Augustus returned arm
-in arm. Mrs. Galton looked up through her spectacles, and guessing the
-result of their conversation from Selina's blushes and Mordaunt's
-countenance, "Thank God!" exclaimed she, clasping her hands, whilst the
-tears rolled down her cheeks, "I have lived to see my two dear children
-happy!"
-
-Lord Osselstone was scarcely less rejoiced than Mrs. Galton, at
-receiving Mordaunt's letter, informing him of Selina's having promised
-him her hand. In his answer to it he said, "I have myself written to the
-very charming niece you are going to bestow on me, to express a part of
-the joy I feel on the occasion; but as I have much more to say on the
-subject, will you obtain her permission for me to pay my compliments to
-her and Mrs. Galton, in person, at Deane Hall, when I hope to make my
-peace with Miss Seymour, for having told you the story of Carlo's
-portrait, as you have no doubt already obtained her forgiveness for
-obtruding his little bronze duplicate into her cabinet."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-    J'ai vu beaucoup d'hymens, aucuns d'eux ne me tentent,
-    Cependant des humains presque les quatre parts
-    S'exposent hardiment au plus grand des hasards,
-    Les quatre parts aussi des humains se repentent[10].
-
-    oeLA FONTAINEoe
-
-[Footnote 10:
-
-      Many weddings have I seen,
-      By none of them I'm tempted;
-    Yet still full three fourths of mankind
-    Incur the risk--and still we find
-      Full three fourths have repented.
-]
-
-
-To return to Ballinamoyle:----One day Mr. O'Sullivan was sitting in his
-study, examining some old family writings, and rather wearied with his
-task, was not displeased to hear that familiar knock at his room door,
-which announces the approach of a friend. "Pray come in," said he: "Oh,
-Edward, is it you? I am happy to see you." "I should not have intruded
-into this _sanctum sanctorum_," replied Colonel Desmond; "but that I
-have in vain visited the library, and the parlour, and the drawing-room,
-without seeing a living creature, except the great dog who is lying
-asleep before the fire in the breakfast-room; and yet when Phelim took
-my horse, he said you were all at home." "That only means," rejoined Mr.
-O'Sullivan, laughing, "that with the aid of a telescope you might be
-able to discover all the party within a circuit of two or three miles:
-any thing on this side Tuberdonny he calls home. Miss Fitzcarril and
-Caroline are gone to cure Mrs. Cassady with some infallible remedy for
-the rheumatism; and Adelaide has rode with Mr. Dermoody, to see a
-curious ruin, that attracted his notice as he came from visiting a sick
-penitent yesterday. But it is late," continued he, looking at an old
-fashioned time-piece that stood on a bracket over the fire-place; "they
-will soon return."
-
-In the conversation which ensued, Colonel Desmond appeared extremely
-absent, answering "Yes," or "No," at random to Mr. O'Sullivan's various
-inquiries; and his usual florid complexion was much heightened as at
-every little noise he looked towards the door, or eagerly gazed out of
-the window. At last Adelaide's mellifluous voice met his ear, gaily
-singing one of the cadences of that exquisite strain of Guglielmi's:
-
-    Del mio sen la dolce calma liete eventi al corpredice,
-    Son contento son felice, altro il cor bramar non sa.
-
-He started up, but the melody had ceased, and he was again disappointed
-in his expectation of seeing her, for she had entered at the back of the
-house, and crossing one of the halls, ascended the stair-case which led
-to her own apartment. "Lovely creature!" exclaimed he. "She is indeed a
-lovely girl," replied the delighted old man; "I never knew but one her
-equal. Do you know, Desmond, I am quite happy, now I feel that the
-evening of my days will go down in peace. But," continued he, after a
-short pause, "I shall feel rather dull at first after Adelaide leaves
-me." "Leaves you, my dear Sir!--when! where!" "She goes next week to her
-uncle Lord Osselstone. Dermoody has strongly impressed me with the
-necessity of this step; and indeed the only reparation her father's
-family can now make for the wrongs of my poor Rose, is to show the world
-they are proud of her child. Lord Osselstone, as the most public
-acknowledgement he can make of his niece, is anxious to have her
-presented as soon as possible; until something of this sort is done, a
-shade of doubt might hang over her birth, which my pride could not
-brook. We only wait till the last formalities have been gone through, to
-enable her to bear the name of Wildenheim in England. It appears that
-her father requested Lord Osselstone to use his interest to have this
-accomplished in the letters we sent to Vienna. It is certainly most
-prudent; for her dropping the appellation by which she has been known to
-so many people abroad, whom she may probably meet in London, would call
-forth much distressing inquiry." "And what have Miss Wildenheim's own
-wishes been respecting this journey?" eagerly demanded Colonel Desmond.
-"Notwithstanding her anxiety to see her uncle, I could scarcely prevail
-on her to leave me till the winter was over. She said I should miss her
-less in summer, when I could go out--Oh how like her mother she is! I at
-last represented that a thousand unforeseen events might prevent her
-ever again visiting her uncle; and that her acceptance of his present
-kindness was due to the memory of her father. She then consented, for
-she loves that father as much as----poor Rose loved him." The gentlemen
-were both silent a few moments, when Colonel Desmond said in a hurried
-tone, "No doubt with _her_ charms, fortune, and connections, she will
-make a splendid alliance; you will rejoice----"--"Rejoice!" interrupted
-his auditor, "what to have her heart broken by some fashionable
-profligate like----No, Edward, my utmost wish would be to see her
-married to one of my own countrymen, who would not only be a fond
-husband to her, but, by residing here, would also prove a bountiful
-landlord to the poor people, who for so many years have stood in the
-place of children to me." "Is it possible?" said Colonel Desmond,
-seizing his hand, whilst his countenance brightened with his new-born
-happiness; "Is it possible, my dearest friend, you could be inclined to
-favour the wishes--alas! I dare scarcely call them hopes--of one who has
-nothing but a devoted heart and an honourable name to offer." "Edward,"
-replied the old man, "your virtues would render you worthy the
-acceptance of an Empress; my happiness would be inexpressible to see you
-her husband. Would to God I had bestowed her mother on such a man!"
-
-In a few minutes Colonel Desmond was conducted by O'Sullivan to Miss
-Wildenheim's sitting-room; and when the anxious parent retired, pleaded
-his passion with love's own eloquence. Adelaide, much agitated, moved
-almost to tears, which she could scarcely restrain as she spoke,
-expressed her esteem, her gratitude, for this long-continued
-kindness--her regard for him as her father's friend, as her own: yet
-concluded by saying, "An insuperable obstacle divides us; generously
-spare me the distressing recital wherefore. I implore your forgiveness
-if my conduct has unintentionally deceived you." "No, no," interrupted
-he, "you twice before conveyed your sentiments to me in a manner I could
-not mistake; but I have acted like an idiot--nothing has deceived me but
-my cursed folly and presumption." "Oh, do not say so," exclaimed
-Adelaide, with earnest kind anxiety to soothe his wounded feelings; "my
-judgment tells me, that, of all men living, I should be happiest with
-you, if my affections----" The sentence remained unfinished; but her
-swimming eyes and mournful tones were sufficiently expressive.
-
-Colonel Desmond instantly retired, for he was too noble-minded to pain
-her feelings by further solicitation, and much too proud to have
-accepted her pity in place of her love. As he passed through the hall,
-he met his venerable friend, and pressing his hand, said, "Your kindness
-is of no avail. Melicent will now be my only consolation. When you are
-alone, you shall see me again;" then drawing down his hat over his
-brows, hastily left the house.
-
-Mr. O'Sullivan proceeded to Adelaide, and sorrowfully remonstrated with
-her on her rejection of his friend. To satisfy his feelings, and justify
-herself, she detailed all the circumstances that related to her regard
-for Frederick Elton. "But, my dear parent," said she in conclusion,
-"this attachment, once so strong in my father's sanction and my own
-feelings, is now inert; if, as is most probable, he has bestowed his
-affections elsewhere, I trust I am too just to resent, too proud to
-repine. All I exacted from him, and promised for myself, was complete
-forgetfulness. I thought I had succeeded, but, forgive my weakness,
-every word Colonel Desmond spoke recalled the idea of Frederick from
-the oblivion I had condemned it to. We will never mention his name
-again, my dear Sir." She faltered, and throwing her arms about her
-grandfather's neck, wept bitterly. When again composed, she continued,
-"I know you think I ought to struggle against this romantic folly;
-believe me I do, I always have; never, even to my beloved father, did I
-expose the weakness of my heart as I have this day to you. For the last
-two years I have divorced myself from my own feelings, and my mind has
-dwelt with the thoughts of others. Time will do much; but I have not
-that ardent affection for Colonel Desmond necessary to make either of us
-happy." "I do not now wish, my dearest child, to influence your choice,"
-replied O'Sullivan; "but his affection for you is unbounded, and with
-the high estimation you hold his character in, you could not fail to
-return it in time." "I fear, my dear Sir," said Adelaide, "that to have
-any rational expectation of happiness in marriage, a woman ought rather
-to depend on the love she feels for a man, than on his for her, as on
-her own sentiments alone she can depend with certainty. But I, of all my
-sex, have surely the least temptation to marry, who am so happy as a
-daughter. My future husband, whoever he may be," said she, with assumed
-gravity, "will have small reason to thank you for your indulgence; none
-of the lords of the creation will ever again treat such a little
-undeserving subject with the same lenity." The old man kissed her
-affectionately, and forbore any further solicitation for his friend.
-
-On the day preceding that fixed for Adelaide's departure, she was
-sitting with her grandfather, examining the route he had traced out for
-her, and promising obedience to his injunctions not to catch cold: "I
-would not have Lord Osselstone see you for the first time with red eyes,
-swelled nose, and chapped lips, not for half the barony of
-Aughrakillynch; and I beg you won't wear any of the trumpery Mrs.
-O'Sullivan bought you in London last summer, but put on my favourite
-black satin dress you brought from Naples; you look like a queen in
-that. You said you'd wear it to-day, dear. God knows if ever I
-shall----" The accents died on his lips, and, ringing the bell with
-agitated vehemence, he ordered Miss Wildenheim's new travelling carriage
-to be driven round the ring in front of the house, that he might see how
-it ran. The trampling of horses soon announced the approach of the
-carriage. "Adelaide, dear, look for the seal you gave me, that I may see
-if the arms are done right," said Mr. O'Sullivan, who, in the mean time,
-went to the window to look out, exclaiming an instant afterwards, "It
-was well I had it round, that lazy rascal Phelim has never cleaned it
-since it came; it is splashed all over! And what the devil has he been
-doing with my horses--they are jaded to death! Hey day! who have we got
-here? Why, Adelaide, there's the handsomest young man I ever saw has
-opened the door for himself from the inside, and jumped out actually
-before the horses stopped."
-
-At that instant she heard her own name pronounced, in the hall, by a
-voice which thrilled to her heart, as she instantly recognized it to be
-that of the handsomest young man _she_ ever saw. She flew towards the
-door, but if with an intention to escape, was too late, for the stranger
-entered at the same instant, and seizing both her hands, presented
-Frederick to her view!
-
-Her first emotion was that of delighted surprise; joy sparkled in her
-eyes, and irradiated her whole figure. His looks, his tones, his
-incoherent words, betrayed his inexpressible feelings. Mr. O'Sullivan
-stood gazing on the youthful pair in mute astonishment. Adelaide, in a
-few minutes recollecting herself, turned towards him, and, covered with
-blushes, introduced "Mr. Elton;" and, whilst the gentlemen were making
-their bows, retired from the room, but so lightly and swiftly made good
-her retreat, that till she was out of hearing, they did not perceive she
-had attempted it. The old man looked on Frederick with the deepest
-emotion, for Adelaide had turned to him with the same melting glance
-that Rose first entreated his approval of her beloved Reginald. Too much
-agitated to speak, "thought on thought rolled over his soul," impressing
-their melancholy seriousness on his countenance. Lord Eltondale, though
-a man of fashion, and a man of the world, was no coxcomb, and could feel
-embarrassed sometimes, as on the present occasion, when his eyes rested
-on the venerable figure that, excited by the feeling of the moment, rose
-from the slight bend with which age and sorrow usually tempered its
-commanding loftiness; and, with the dignity that fancy lends to the
-chieftains of ancient story, stood tacitly demanding explanation and
-apology. Frederick felt indescribably awed, and, with a feeling of
-painful confusion, wished himself out of the house, almost as earnestly
-as he had but a few minutes before wished himself in it. After making
-one or two more profound bows than were absolutely necessary, he stooped
-to pick up his hat from the floor, where he had dropped it at the sight
-of Adelaide, and then, with his colour nearly as much heightened as hers
-had been, addressing Mr. O'Sullivan, said, "I know not what apology to
-offer for this abrupt intrusion, Sir; will you pardon it, and permit me
-to pay my compliments to you and Miss Wildenheim to-morrow morning?" Mr.
-O'Sullivan's national and characteristic hospitality quickly banished
-the involuntary repugnance with which he had at first regarded the
-unexpected visitor, nor indeed could he long look with coldness on a
-countenance illuminated by his beloved grandchild's smiles; and
-therefore, on being thus addressed, extended his hand in sign of cordial
-welcome, whilst he replied, "Willingly, Sir, on the condition that you
-remain here to-night. I should be guilty of little less than homicide,
-in suffering you to drive over those mountains again this evening;--'tis
-almost dark at this instant." "Thank you, thank you a thousand times, my
-dear Sir!" exclaimed Lord Eltondale, if possible still more grateful
-for the manner in which it was granted, than for the much-coveted
-permission itself. "Could you but know the happiness your invitation
-gives me. I see you can pity the feelings of a young man." "I can _pity_
-them," said O'Sullivan, smiling. "When I know you better, young
-gentleman, I will tell you whether I wish to encourage them. In the mean
-time I consider you only as my guest; and in that light, Sir, you are
-heartily welcome to Ballinamoyle." Mr. O'Sullivan soon terminated the
-forced conversation which then took place between him and his guest, by
-offering to have the latter conducted to his room to change his boots
-before dinner, which proposition was willingly accepted.
-
-All the family party had reassembled in the drawing room, with the
-exception of Miss Wildenheim, when her maid came to inform her dinner
-would be served immediately; she looked once more in the glass, to see
-if the profuse expenditure of rose water she had indulged in had been
-effectual in effacing all traces of tears; for she was perhaps not less
-anxious to avoid appearing before Frederick "with red eyes, and a
-swelled nose," than her grandfather was that she should not thus
-encounter Lord Osselstone. When she entered the drawing room, O'Sullivan
-smiled with pleasure, to see her "look like a queen," in the favourite
-robe, that, in many a silken fold, "giving and stealing grace," flowed
-round her exquisite form. Her luxuriant hair, as it wound in plaited
-lustre round her fair brows, seemed indeed to crown them with the diadem
-of beauty. But more than beauty adorned her angelic countenance; she had
-seen the dawn of felicity arise; its brilliant beam trembled in her soft
-eye, whilst its tenderest hues of roseate red tinged her cheek. As she
-drew near the circle, each, by some involuntary token of kindness,
-welcomed her approach; and the bewitching smile which played at hide and
-seek with her ruby lip, when she returned the greetings of affection,
-at once rewarded and excited them.
-
-But no air of pretty consciousness spoke her prepared to act "_L'Idola
-bella_," or that she expected Lord Eltondale to fall at her feet, and
-worship her at the first gracious signal. Her manner had that
-self-possession, which was due to her own dignity, and under which every
-woman of true delicacy would shroud her feelings in a similar situation.
-Frederick forebore, by word or look, to cause her the least confusion;
-he was too generous to inflict the pain of distressed modesty on the
-woman he loved; perhaps also his love was so deeply, so anxiously felt,
-that it shrunk from the gaze of other eyes than hers who excited it.
-Neither of them addressed the other directly, but he soon managed, with
-well-bred ease, to introduce general conversation, which banished all
-appearance of constraint.
-
-When dinner was announced, Mr. O'Sullivan, who always insisted on giving
-Adelaide precedence of Miss Fitzcarril, notwithstanding her
-representation of that lady's seniority, now formally requested Lord
-Eltondale to conduct her to the dining parlour; as her beautiful hand
-lay on Frederick's arm he took it in his, and would have pressed it to
-his heart, had not a half-reproving glance recalled to his recollection,
-that they were closely observed by several servants, who stood in goodly
-row, almost forgetting what for, in their eager scrutiny of his face and
-figure. Mr. O'Sullivan followed, leading Miss Fitzcarril in all the
-stateliness of _la vieille cour_; little Caroline skipped gaily along,
-playing tricks with Captain Cormac and Mr. Dermoody, whilst the former,
-by a wise shake of the head, prevented her touching his patron's silver
-locks, which were tied with a black riband, in an old fashioned tail,
-that reached half way-down his back, and daily tempted the merry
-sprite's ivory fingers.
-
-A well lighted room, with a blazing fire and an excellent dinner, made
-the party almost rejoice to hear the whistling wind and driving
-showers, that foreboded a stormy night. Lord Eltondale was so overjoyed
-to find himself once more seated beside Adelaide, unshackled by any
-engagement, and almost certain of her regard, that all his former and
-characteristic vivacity returned; and his lively sallies infecting every
-body with his own gaiety, she talked to him with that flow of spirits,
-which her delight at seeing him naturally excited in her mind; and
-whilst his admiration increased every moment, she did not fail to
-remark, that "he was more intelligent in conversation, more elegant in
-manner and figure, than any man she had ever seen, except her father,"
-who was still her model of perfection.
-
-When the gentlemen unwillingly suffered the ladies to retire to the
-drawing-room, Mr. O'Sullivan called his granddaughter to him, and as she
-bent her head in a listening position; her brilliant countenance
-confirmed the cheerful acquiescence her words conveyed to his proposal.
-Frederick rightly guessing it was a request to defer her journey, as he
-opened the door for her to pass, said, in a low tone, with a sort of
-happy playful assurance in his looks, "Thank you, Adelina." She
-coloured, and her head was fast rising to the true altitude of feminine
-pride; when he, standing so as to impede her escape, without seeming to
-do so, whispered, "Forgive me; I presumed on former recollections; I had
-flattered myself the spell was broken, that separated me and happiness."
-One of Adelaide's enchanting smiles dissipated the uneasiness, that had
-quickly clouded his features.
-
-It is not to be supposed, that all this escaped Miss Fitzcarril's
-notice; accordingly the drawing-room door was scarcely closed, when,
-with a significant wink, she proposed taking Caroline to assist her in
-settling her closet, when any of the gentlemen should return from the
-parlour, where she rightly conjectured Mr. O'Sullivan's fine claret
-would not long detain some of the party. Adelaide, with an imploring
-look, took her hand, saying, "I entreat you, my dear Madam, if you have
-the least regard for me, not to think of such a thing; I would not lose
-your society an instant this evening for the world."
-
-The ancient maiden understood her, but thought she was only going to do
-as she would be done by; and recollected, with a sigh, that this was not
-at all the solution she expected of Judy Stewart's prophecy.
-
-Adelaide's journey was postponed but one day; and she soon had the
-happiness of finding in Lord Osselstone almost a second father in mind,
-manner, and person, hourly reminding her of the beloved parent, that,
-till she knew her uncle, she thought none on earth had ever resembled.
-
-Amongst the young men of fashion, that now seek the smiles of "the
-beautiful and accomplished" (according to the technical term which
-designates every high-born heiress) niece of the Earl of Osselstone,
-none seems to meet his Lordship's approval so decidedly as Viscount
-Eltondale, who, we may safely prophesy, will soon win on the regard of
-his Adelina's noble uncle, as much as he gained on that of her venerable
-grandfather, during his short visit to Ballinamoyle.
-
-    "Tant que Phillis eut un destin prospere,
-    Plus d'un amant lui dit d'un ton sincere,
-              Que vos beaux yeux
-                Sont gracieux,
-              L'amour pour eux
-                Fixe mes voeux,
-    Chaque instant redouble mes feux,
-    Le temps n'y peut rien faire."
-
-
-THE END.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Printed by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations within volume and between volumes
-left as printed.]
-
-
-
-
-
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