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THE 
 
 EXCLUSIVES 
 
 VOL. I. 
 

 ^' 
 
 
 THE 
 
 EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 vsu 
 
 £M v.^m iM^^^ 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 
 NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 1830. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 Printed by J, L. Cox, Great Queen Street, 
 
 Lincoln's-lnn Fields. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 CHAPTER I, 
 
 THE BOUDOIR. 
 
 The boudoir of a woman of fashion ex- 
 hibits in its history, if faithfully recorded, a 
 picture of the manners, modes, and morals of 
 the times; and, however little such things 
 in themselves might deserve to be handed 
 down, or registered as objects of imitation, 
 yet to chronicle them for the day would not 
 be without its use. The sensible part of 
 mankind would laugh at the follies, and won- 
 der at the extravagance, which the page of 
 such ephemeral history unfolded ; while the 
 actors in the scene might possibly view in the 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
THE EX CL US IVES. 
 
 mirror held up to them their own lives, and 
 their own actions, in a new and truer light. 
 
 Lady Tilney's boudoir, — the boudoir par 
 excellence^ — was not in fact a boudoir, according 
 to the old legitimate meaning of the word. 
 Indeed, Lady Tilney herself, the presiding 
 deity of the sanctuary, professed her contempt 
 of legitimacy in boudoirs, as well as in sove- 
 reigns; at least she did so in words, though, 
 like many other professors, her words and 
 actions frequently contradicted each other; 
 and it may be questioned if there are any 
 greater despots, than those who inveigh most 
 against despotism. 
 
 But to return from this digression to the 
 boudoir. Lady Tilney's boudoir was des- 
 tined to the reception of far other votaries 
 than those of the old rabattu god of love. 
 No : her boudoir was visited by persons of a 
 very different character from those who were 
 formerly the frequenters of such a scene. 
 Authors, poets, political intriguers, artists, 
 and committees for the management of the 
 state of society, formed the chief personages 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 3 
 
 among those who figured there, and their busi- 
 ness was of a very different complexion from 
 that of the supposed use, or original meaning 
 ascribed to a boudoir. 
 
 In the former, of old, the painted harpsi- 
 chord, the huge cabinet, the gigantic chimney- 
 piece, the tapestried wall, were suited to the 
 silken garb, and bag and sword, that formed 
 the attire of the male part of its visitants; as 
 well as to the hoop and fly-cap of the ladies 
 who presided there. In this modern tem- 
 ple of idolatry, only a few of the ancient 
 decorations were allow^ed a place, such as the 
 marquetry cabinet, the or-moulu clock, or vase 
 of China ; but for the rest, what a change ! 
 
 Volumes of worth, and works of merit and 
 deep learning, were now covered by the novels 
 of the day, or hidden by trivial elegancies 
 newly imported from Paris ; while on the 
 walls, the rare productions of Titian or Van- 
 dyck were intermingled with some chalky 
 portrait of the modern school, tricked out in 
 the millinery geer of the fashion of the day. 
 Scattered on the tables, however, there was a 
 B 2 
 
4. THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 redeeming feature in the character of the 
 decorative objects which met the eye, for 
 there lay some richly chased gold ornaments, 
 the works of Benvenuto Cellini, or some one 
 not less skilful, though it may be of forgotten 
 name ; and while these ornamented the apart- 
 ment, they served the double purpose of 
 affording Lady Tilney an opportunity, not 
 only to discourse on their beauty, but to enter 
 into all the particulars of Cellini's strange 
 life. 
 
 Add to this description of the boudoir and 
 its visitants, the occasional presence of Lady 
 Tilney's beautiful children, and its portraiture 
 is closed ; but not so the genius and history 
 of all the transactions, councils, and cabals 
 which took place there. These will be best 
 understood, by passing from the boudoir to 
 Lady Tilney's own character and pursuits ; 
 if to describe these by any means were indeed 
 possible : but it would be an endless, hopeless 
 task, to enumerate all that Lady Tilney did, 
 or fancied she did — still more what she said ; 
 for to do her justice, her's was no vapid exis- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 5 
 
 tence of the mere routine of a London lady*s 
 life. 
 
 No — indolence was not the besetting sin, 
 insipidity was not the vice of her morale or her 
 physique. But as to enumerating severally the 
 subjects which employed her care, and the 
 various branches of these subjects into which 
 she diverged, that indeed would be difficult. 
 Her life and occupations may, perhaps, be 
 best delineated by representing them as one 
 vast bazar of interests, all equally claiming 
 her attention — " the court, the camp, the 
 senate, and the field :" certainly the field of 
 Newmarket, where it is said she regulated her 
 husband's calculations and interests with great 
 success. 
 
 These objects, and many more than these, 
 which, as the charlatans say at the end of their 
 lists, are too tedious to mention, filled up the 
 life of this laborious and distinguished lady. 
 Nor were her labours less onerous in manafj- 
 ing the government of the society of ton. 
 Her rule was there despotic — her word was 
 law 5* — and if some few persons pretended to 
 
6 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Step aside, not following the fashionable mul- 
 titude in bowing the knee to Baal, or ventured 
 to think for themselves in the circle in which 
 she moved, immediately, as though by an 
 enchanter's wand, they were banished thence, 
 and some more amalgamating spirit was chosen 
 to fill up the vacancy. There was a kind of air- 
 gun fired, which was sure to hit the mark, 
 without betraying the hand that drew the 
 trigger : a sort of lettre-de-cachet, as effectual 
 as those promulgated in the times of Louis le 
 Grand, which consigned to oblivion the offend- 
 ing persons, while the victims themselves could 
 not fathom any cause or assign any parti- 
 cular reason for the sentence. 
 
 Nevertheless, in the very midst of this 
 ruling and reigning, this despotic sway in the 
 court of ton^ a secret dissatisfaction existed in 
 the breast of Lady Tilney. She, indeed, was 
 one of those haughty liberals who affect to 
 despise kings and courts ; not because they 
 dislike those necessary evils, as they call them, 
 but because they are themselves, or would be 
 if they could, the greatest of all sovereigns* 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 7 
 
 Notwithstanding, therefore, the high ground 
 of rank and situation on which she stood, it 
 rankled at her heart to have offended her sove- 
 reign, and to feel herself an object of just dis- 
 like to him ; for, however great the magnani- 
 mity shewn to her on the occasion of her 
 offence, still to be aware that, under circum- 
 stances, she could no longer be considered a 
 favourite at court, was in itself a source of the 
 deepest mortification. Impressed with this 
 consciousness, what was to be done ? Why, ren- 
 der all courts the subject of flippant raillery ; 
 vote them and their sovereigns old-fashioned 
 bores; erect herself into a queen, and have a 
 court of her own. In truth, this plan agreed 
 better with her self-love than any other ; be- 
 cause sovereigns and courts, in as far as re- 
 gards the outward decorum of forms, regulate 
 and keep society in its proper course ; whereas, 
 under the sham dynasty of ton, caprice bears 
 rule, and tyranny in its worst sense marks the 
 conduct of those who sit on its ephemeral 
 throne. 
 
8 THE EXCLUSIVES, 
 
 Connected with this system, the pride of an=- 
 cestry too was necessarily another subject of 
 ridicule with Lady Tilney, who thought that 
 those who, on such grounds, pretended to take 
 any lead in the world of fashion, had much 
 better retire to their castles, and there indulge 
 in dreams of their greatness. 
 
 Nor did Lady Tilney *s thirst for power end 
 with her effort for universal dominion in mat- 
 ters of ton — she had another ambition, that 
 of leading and controlling the political party 
 to which she had attached herself. Here, how- 
 ever, her sway was more imaginary than real ; 
 and often the long-headed politician, or crafty 
 diplomate, as they listened with apparent com- 
 placency to her advice, allowed her words to 
 fall unheeded on their ear, or laughed at her 
 in secret. With the young and uninformed 
 aspirants in the career of political life. Lady 
 Tilney had, perhaps, more success; and many 
 a rising scion of a noble house has been known 
 to adopt, under the influence of her smiles, 
 and from a foolish vanity of being noticed by 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. ^ 
 
 her, a line of conduct quite at variance with 
 the wishes of their parents, and to the sacrifice 
 of their own best interests. 
 
 In this grasp at power, however successfully 
 achieved, Lady Tilney felt herself ill at ease— 
 her mind was continually harassed by reflec- 
 tions on the tottering and uncertain tenure 
 of ton, and the possibility, nay, probability, 
 of some younger, newer person, climbing to 
 the envied seat which she then possessed. The 
 fear of a certain Duchess of Hermanton was 
 constantly before her imagination, as the em- 
 bodied object of her alarm; and she considered 
 it as a measure little short of self-preservation, 
 to secure her influence, if possible, on a still 
 firmer basis, by some decided act, or the in- 
 vention of some fresh folly. As to Almack's, 
 that circle of exclusiveness had been polluted ; 
 its brief course was run, and its brightness on 
 the decline. 
 
 The more Lady Tilney reflected on the 
 
 subject, the more she became convinced of the 
 
 expediency of her intentions ; and determined, 
 
 therefore, to mature her plan immediately. 
 
 b5 
 
10 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Having despatched her notes to the Com- 
 tesse Leinsengen, Lady Tenderden, and Lady 
 EUersby, she commanded that no one should 
 be admitted to her presence but themselves. 
 
 '' Yet stay, Destouches," she added to the 
 page, as she issued her orders ; " Prince Lut- 
 termanne by all means, should he call." And 
 then, having given audience to three cooks, 
 four painters, two authors, an authoress, and 
 several milliners, she finished w^ith advice to a 
 poet and a critique upon his work. 
 
 Lady Tilney, before the arrival of the per- 
 sonages she had written to (for Lady Tilney 
 knew the value of intervals), arranged her list 
 of engagements; tossing some into the fire— 
 with the velocity of one well practised in the 
 weight, measure, and value of names ; and ex- 
 amining others of more importance. She deter- 
 mined to mar all that might interfere with her 
 own views in society. — " Mrs. Annesly, truly 
 what a griffin ! and the Countess of Delamere, 
 and Lady Melcombe ! — but the Marchioness 
 of Borrowdale ! that indeed requires attention." 
 Lady Tilney rang the bell — Destouches ap- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 11 
 
 peared in a minute — the peculiar hasty touch ot 
 call was known to the well-appointed page. 
 " Send Arquimbeaud here !" and the distin- 
 guished Arquimbeaud soon obeyed the sum- 
 mons. " I have determined to have a party, 
 Arquimbeaud, next Thursday; see that cards 
 are issued for that day, according to this list." 
 
 As he withdrew, Comtesse Leinsengen was 
 announced. The immense bonnet and deep 
 veil — the splendid cashmere and still long pet- 
 ticoats (although they were generally worn 
 very much shortened), afforded a favourable 
 costume to the lady who now advanced ; cer- 
 tain defects were thus concealed, and imagina- 
 tion might lend that delicacy of slimness and 
 form to the feet and ancles which pervaded the 
 rest of the person, but which did not charac- 
 terize those of the Comtesse. 
 
 The rapid volubility of the one lady, and 
 the sharp short sentences of the other, began 
 the conference. Lady Tilney placed the most 
 luxurious of all the luxurious chairs close to 
 the fire, pushed forward the screen, and with 
 the eagerness of apparent friendship, seemed 
 
IS THE ESCLUSIVES'* 
 
 to wish to make her visitor quite at home r or, 
 as she expressed it, " dehciously comfortable." 
 *' You have learned that word now, dear Com- 
 tesse, — indeed you have adopted it ; and there 
 is no one who understands the thing so per- 
 fectly as yourself." 
 
 Midst all these courtesies and courtings the 
 Comtesse observed a sort of abstracted air, 
 though they were (and so far Lady Tilney was 
 sincere) things of course* 
 
 " My dear Comtesse, I am so glad we have 
 a minute alone, to discuss our plans. I have 
 many things of consequence to say to you ; but 
 before I begin I must speak to you of that 
 horrible affair of poor Lady Mailing's ; it is 
 quite impossible to support her any longer, 
 for you are aware her secret is publicly known. 
 So long as she was prudent, and observed ap- 
 pearances, it was all very well ; but now it will 
 be impossible for me to receive her. You know 
 I never did receive any body who placed them- 
 selves in a similar situation — not even my own 
 relations ; my character has always been irt- 
 tactCy and I cannot compromete myself, though I 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 13 
 
 am very sorry for poor Lady Mailing ; and had 
 she only avoided this esclandre» and managed 
 her affair prudently, I would have stood by her 
 to the end ; but as it is — " 
 
 " Oh, certainly not," interrupted the Com- 
 tesse ; " you must be conscious that every one 
 knows Lady Tilney's high reputation, and it 
 would never be supposed dat you would coun- 
 tenance a belle passion ; vraiment, quand on 
 est tellement dupe as to sacrifice sa position 
 dans le monde, to a man's vanity, or to be 
 playing de sentimentale at forty, it is quite 
 enough to make one sick, and she well deserves 
 to be vat you call blown. Mais, de grace, do not 
 let us prose more about her — vat sinifies f^ 
 
 *• Oh, very true," and then there are other 
 matters of so much greater consequence to con- 
 sider. Do you really think that this adminis- 
 tration will hold — you who are in all the 
 secrets ?— positively you must tell m^. I am 
 sure if that man (lowering her voice to a whis- 
 per) is at the head of affairs, all must go wrong 
 — poor England ! what will become of you ? 
 But we will never allow that — shall we?' 
 
14 THE EXCLUSIVLS. 
 
 " Oh ! treve de politiques, ma chere, si vous 
 m*aimez ; it is a subject quite marital, and 
 therefore, you know, not at all in my way. 
 What I want to revolutionize, or rather to re- 
 form, is your state of society." 
 
 " Precisely, my dear Comtesse, it is the very 
 subject on which I wished to talk to you, when 
 I wrote requesting to see you — you received 
 my note, did you not ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes; but it is an affair on which we 
 hold such very different opinions. My maxim 
 is, se bien amuser d'apres sa propre volonte — 
 that is what I want to do ; and to tell you the 
 truth, I am ennuye a la mort in your London 
 world — every thing is so stupid here ! Vat 
 signify dat tiresome Almack, after all ? It was 
 good enough at first, when it put people in 
 a passion, et pendant que se faisoit fureur ; 
 but now that, somehow or oder, you liberales 
 admitted every petite demoiselle vid her red 
 elbows, and vulgar mama to take care of her, 
 it has lost all its character, and I positively in- 
 tend to withdraw my name. Besides, de lady 
 patronesses cannot even maintain a seat at de 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 15 
 
 top of de room — de oder niglit I find Lady 
 Melcombe and her daughter perch up in my 
 seat; and though I walked over them and 
 stared them down, dey positively took no hint, 
 but sat still so comfortably vulgar it was quite 
 provoking. No, no, my dear, Almack's day is 
 finish and de thing must fall^ — so never stay by 
 a falling friend ; when a person or a ting 
 begins to totter, leave it." 
 
 " Very true," rejoined Lady Tilney ; " there 
 is much truth in what you advise (and she 
 looked very grave). But then, you know, my 
 dear Comtesse, you must consider the inde- 
 pendence of our constitution — which makes it 
 very difficult — " 
 
 " Not to have a stupid society. ~ Agreed." 
 
 " But the great number of our nobility," 
 rejoined Lady Tilney, " and the weight and 
 consequence of a still greater number of in- 
 fluential members in the other house " 
 
 ** Renders all your pretences of a societe 
 choisie mere pretence." 
 
 " Pardon me, Comtesse, you have yourself 
 owned that my parties are select; and you 
 
16 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 yourself, although in a public situation, con- 
 trive to leave out those who do not suit your 
 purpose. After all, what can tend more to 
 the preservation of society ? — than such im- 
 pertinence " was on Lady Tilney's tongue ; 
 but she checked herself^ and added with a 
 little cough that gave time for reflexion : 
 " What can tend more to the maintenance of 
 a societe distinguee than the exercise of this 
 choice, made without reference to the rank or 
 situation of the parties, but merely dependent 
 on the voice of the few who are formed to lead ?' ' 
 
 " Very true," rejoined the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen, " and if that system was properly up- 
 held, it is the only chance of not being ob- 
 sede by vulgars ; — but you do not act upon it 
 sufficiently. As to myself, I can no long bear 
 de whole ting; my health does not permit of 
 your late hours, and I generally go away 
 when your company are beginning to arrive. 
 And then these great routs of your Duchess 
 d' Herman tons and your Ladi Borrowdales and 
 Aveling, sont a dormir de bout." 
 
 " Agreed, my dear Comtesse, I do so agree 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 17 
 
 with you; it is the very matter I am longing 
 to discuss with you. Do let us settle something 
 amongst ourselves, that shall rid us of all these 
 evils, and establish a societe a part. I must 
 tell you what I have already done to effect this 
 purpose. You know that odious Lady Borrow- 
 dale has one of her everlasting At Homes next 
 Thursday, to meet their Royal Highnesses the 
 
 as usual, that vulgar decoy ; so I have 
 
 therefore countermanded my former invita- 
 tions, and issued my cards for that very day — 
 Nobody will go there, will they ?" 
 
 " Perhaps not many; and if some do, there 
 are plenty left.*' 
 
 " Yes," said Lady Tilney, with ill-concealed 
 anxiety, " but you know the royalties always 
 do accept her invitations." 
 
 " What matters dat — you do not care for 
 royalties." For an instant Lady Tilney*s com- 
 mand of language was checked — she almost 
 betrayed her vexation, when fortunately the 
 name of Lady Ellersby was announced, whose 
 dawdling drawl, as she entered the apartment, 
 smoothed over the asperities which began to 
 
18 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 mark the conversation, and which might have 
 rendered it in the end a little too piquante. 
 
 " My dear Lady Ellersby," said Lady Til- 
 ney, " how charmed I am to see you. . I was 
 dying to meet you, to consult you, to enjoy 
 your entertaining society." The Comtesse 
 Leinsengen smiied significantly, as she said, 
 " And so was L" 
 
 " Consult me ! La — well, that is something 
 quite new — nobody ever consulted me ; but 
 pray explain what you mean." 
 
 " Oh ! we want to establish some regula- 
 tions by which our society shall be distin- 
 guished, and which shall save us from the 
 inroads of all these people whom we are con- 
 stantly meeting, and obliged to be civil to, 
 whether we will or no — in short, something 
 that shall make us, as we ought to be — a race 
 a part." 
 
 " I thought," Lady Ellersby replied, " we 
 always were that." — " To be sure we were; but 
 then, my dear, you know abuses will creep in, 
 and all constitutions require from time to time 
 to be strengthened or reformed, according to 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 19 
 
 circumstances; and you know, iny clear Lady 
 Ellersby, that we have all of us long since 
 lamented that Almack's, which was excellent 
 in its way, has now, from the infringement on 
 its privileges, become quite corrupted from its 
 original design, and something positively must 
 be done, or we shall be overwhelmed en inasse 
 — something to stem this torrent, this inroad 
 of Goths and Vandals." 
 
 "Dear me, that sounds very alarming — you 
 quite frighten me ; I don't understand you — 
 pray tell me what it is you propose." 
 
 " Why," answered Lady Tilney, " we wish to 
 form a society entirely to ourselves, which shall 
 be quite exclusive — a society for which we shall 
 settle d'avance every particular and qualifica- 
 tion of the persons who may be admitted to it. 
 Thus you see (turning to the Comtesse Leinsen- 
 gen), my dear Comtesse, we shall never do any 
 thing but in concert with each other, and 
 never invite any one but those who entirely 
 suit us. You understand me now, don't you ?" 
 addressing Lady Ellersby. 
 
 " Oh dear, yes ! I think I do.'' 
 
20 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " No, no, you do not understand her. Per- 
 mettez — in one word I will explain vat Lady 
 Tilney mean to say : voici le mot de Tenigme 
 — you are all English, and though you do your 
 possible you cannot help being English. You 
 are all afraid in dis country to do vat you like 
 best ; and though Lady Tilney propose to ask 
 only de chosen few, you will none of you do so 
 in reality, take my word for dat. You talk free- 
 dom, but act in chains. Now we, au contraire, 
 chez nous — we women I mean — do de freedom, 
 and never tink of de chain at all ; but when- 
 ever you ladies make your lists for your parties 
 for instance; den comes — dis is not politic, 
 toder is not right, — dis is not my husband's 
 pleasure ; some scarecrow or anoder is always 
 driving you off de land of amusement. Now 
 you say you will open your doors only to 
 those you like, and you are right — dere is no 
 oder secret for to make pleasant society ; but 
 you will not do it nevertheless, ladies, for you 
 are all de cowards." 
 
 " Indeed, my dear Comtesse," rejoined Lady 
 Tilney, " you will find that we shall^ though — 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 21 
 
 and I think effectually; although there are cer- 
 tain principles in our constitution which extend 
 to the ruling even of private life — and these 
 the wives of certain nobles cannot wholly over- 
 look." Comtesse Leinsengen shrugged her 
 shoulders. 
 
 " Ah, dear, it is as I thought, you are de 
 woman I like best in dis country ; but you are 
 all over shackle, up to de ear in de qy!en dira 
 Von ! De plebe ought to be made of de noble's 
 opinion, not de noble constrained to dat of de 
 vulgar." 
 
 " That may do very well with you," rejoined 
 Lady Tilney, " but with us as an unqualified 
 maxim it will never do. I grant, Comtesse, 
 all that you say can be done in one's own 
 house, where one makes one's own laws and 
 rules in one's own way : so far it is only assert- 
 ing one's own right to liberty, and as far as 
 we can persuade people to be of the same way 
 of thinkinoj it is all rio^ht. But I have too much 
 liberty in my heart to desire to tyrannize as 
 you suggest; and, in fine, confess myself too 
 
22 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 much of an Englishwoman to wish to see 
 your system prevailing amongst us." 
 
 Lady Tilney said this in a tone of English 
 pride, w^hich proved that she had not forgotten 
 all that was best worth remembering, although 
 it was in contradiction to the spirit of what 
 had fallen from her a moment before. 
 
 Lady Tilney, however, dealt largely in con- 
 tradiction at all times. The Countess El- 
 lersby smiled ; the Comtesse Leinsengen again 
 shrugged her shoulders, drew her shawl around 
 her, and was preparing to depart, saying, 
 " Well ! mes cheres dames, I leave you to 
 the enjoyment of your liberty, and have 
 done." 
 
 " But I have not done," said Lady Tilney ; 
 " I am determined we shall have a society that 
 shall be quite our own, and yet not subversive 
 of principles w^e must uphold. (Another 
 shrug of the shoulders.) Allow me to say, that 
 if you, Comtesse, and you, my dear Lady 
 Ellersby, will but second me, I am sure we 
 shall not fail, and I know I may reckon on 
 
THE EXCLUilVES. 23 
 
 Prince Lutternmnne co-operating witii us ; — 
 so far so good." 
 
 " And Princesse Luttermanne?" inquired 
 Lady Ellersby. 
 
 " Oh, for the prince's sake we must have 
 her," replied the Comtesse Leinsengen, "D'ail- 
 leurs, dans ma position^ it could not be oderwise 
 — in all cases we must pass over des inconve- 
 niens — besides she is good-humoured, and has 
 her own fry to fish, and will not trouble us 
 much." 
 
 Lady Ellersby and Lady Tilney looked at 
 each other, and laughed. " And then," ob- 
 served Lady Tilney, " we have Princesse de la 
 Grange, and Mrs. Kirchoffer ; Ave must enrol 
 them on our list (although they are sufficiently 
 insipid), because they can be useful, and dare 
 not act but in subserviency to us. But, Lady 
 Boileau, what shall we do with her ? She in- 
 deed has a will of her own, and she has a mo- 
 ther very much de trop, whom however she 
 treats cavalierly enough (of which, by the way, 
 I do not approve) ; but, notwithstanding, I 
 
24 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 think we must have her, though we can by no 
 means be troubled with the mama." 
 
 " Certainment pas," cried the Comtesse, " for 
 the Irish mama with her vulgar repartee would 
 give a mauvaise tournure to de whole society." 
 
 "There you are right; and while we ad- 
 mit the daughter, remember, it is only on 
 sufferance, just on the same footing as we 
 admit Mrs. Kirchoffer, and as I propose that 
 we should also do Lady de Chere and Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon, and " 
 
 " Mais, que faire de la jeune lady," inter- 
 rupted the Comtesse, " qui parmi un certain 
 set is a good deal de vogue, Ladi — Ladi^ — 
 vat you name her ?" 
 
 " What, Lady Baskerville ?" asked Lady 
 Tilney; and then replied, " Oh she must be 
 one of us, to be sure, for I think we can 
 make use of her — she only longs to be in the 
 fashion, and her husband also. Flatter their 
 vanity, and you do with them what you chuse ; 
 make them believe they are of the ton^ and 
 you have them at command." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 25 
 
 " Well, den, now you have named all de 
 ladies I suppose, and dere is but one cava- 
 lier; do you mean us to be a convent, and 
 have no gentlemen ?" 
 
 " By no means, my dear Comtesse ; of 
 course there will be all our husbands." Here 
 the Comtesse Leinsengen had recourse to her 
 usual expressive gesture of contempt. '' And 
 then," proceeded Lady Tilney, '' there is 
 the Duke of Mercington, Lord Raynham, 
 Lord Tonnerre, Lesly Winyard, and Frank 
 Ombre, — Spencer Newcombe, — and we must 
 not forget Lord Glenmore; though I wish 
 he were more decided in his political creed. 
 Besides we cannot omit Lord Albert D'Es- 
 terre, whom we must have on probation, for 
 he is young and only just returned from 
 the Continent; but they say he is very 
 clever, and I think may in time become one 
 of us. But, ere we decide further on the 
 gentlemen, we must consult Prince Lutter- 
 manne." 
 
 " Ah ! bon chere ladi " (with a nod of 
 approval). " Quite so," added Lady Ellersby, 
 
 VOL. I. C 
 
26 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 languidly ; " for, though he is called good- 
 humoured, he can be as cross as is necessary. 
 I never saw any body walk over people better 
 than he does." 
 
 Lady Tilney, who had been for the last 
 minute or two busily employed with her pen 
 setting down the names which she had just 
 mentioned, interrupted Lady Ellersby, say- 
 ing, " By the bye, there is one rule very 
 necessary to be observed, which I am sure 
 we shall all agree in; that is, to admit no 
 unmarried ladies, unless something very par- 
 ticular indeed should make us waive our re- 
 solve. When I say this, I do not, of course, 
 mean to balls; but I mean to those coteries 
 which will in fact constitute the elite of our 
 society. And then I propose that we none 
 of us go to the old-established dullifications ; 
 but, on their nights, each one of us must in 
 turn take care to chuse that same evening for 
 our coteries." 
 
 " Dat vill do very well for de Lady Borrow- 
 dale, and de Lady Aveling, and dat old Mar- 
 chioness— vat you caliber — Feuille morte; but 
 
THE EXCLUSTVES. 27 
 
 La Duchesse d'Hermanton, vat vill you do 
 vid her ? it is not so easy to take dat lionne par 
 la barhe" 
 
 " Oh," rejoined Lady Tilney, for this was 
 a name she feared to offend, " the Duchess 
 is not one of us, it is true; but we need 
 only walk once a year through her apart- 
 ments ; and we can bear that — besides, she is a 
 sort of person " (apart) — and Lady Tilney 
 broke off abruptly from a subject, in itself 
 always disagreeable to her. 
 
 " And now," she went on to say, " having 
 formed the outline of our plan, we have only to 
 follow it up, and I am sure it will be successful. 
 I wonder Prince Luttermanne and Lady Ten- 
 derden are not come, for I wrote to them both ; 
 and I should have liked that we talked the 
 matter over altogether. However, I cannot 
 doubt but they will agree with us in our ar- 
 rangements; and if you, dear Comtesse, and 
 you Lady Ellersby, will see Princesse de la 
 Grange and Mrs. Kirchoffer, and Lady Basker- 
 ville, I will take care to speak to the other 
 c 2 
 
28 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 parties. Of course I shall see Prince Lutter- 
 manne some time or other this day, and Lady 
 Tenderden, for they must have received my 
 notes; and I will settle with him about our 
 gentlemen." Then addressing the Comtesse, 
 she added, " I need not, I am sure, remind 
 you, who are so discreet, that the success of 
 every thing which is to produce eclat depends 
 upon the secret combination of the move- 
 ments; and therefore, in speaking to the dif- 
 ferent parties, pray impress on their minds the 
 absolute necessity of privacy, and not to let our 
 designs be known beforehand by a premature 
 pubhcation of them, but rather let them be 
 developed by their effect ; and when their ex- 
 istence will have been confirmed beyond the 
 possibility of counteraction. 
 
 " Assurement laissez moi faire." — And here 
 Lady Ellersby, looking at her watch, started 
 from her chair, saying, " Dear me ! I had no 
 notion it was so late. I had an appointment 
 with my Lord, and it is past the time. Bless 
 me ! what shall I do ?" Then making her 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 29 
 
 adieu, with more vivacity than was her custom, 
 she departed in greater haste than she was 
 ever known to do before. 
 
 " Who is her Milord just now?" asked 
 Comtesse Leinsengen. 
 
 " Oh fie ! malicieuse," repHed Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Is it again dat little consequential per- 
 sonage who looks like a perdrix sante aux 
 truffes ? I fancy I saw something like a re- 
 chauffe getting up between them de oder night 
 at Lady De Chere's." 
 
 " Now really, my dear Comtesse, I must 
 defend my friend. People are always so ill- 
 natured — one must have some cavalier, you 
 know, to walk about with in public — and scan- 
 dal always ascribes evil where none exists. No, 
 no ; Lady Ellersby has too charming a husband 
 for this to gain credit for a moment." The 
 Comtesse's usual shrug implied comme vous 
 voulez, and she added, " it is truly extraordi- 
 nary how any body can call dat ladi handsome, 
 vid her drawn mouth and peevish expression !'* 
 " Surely she has a sweet smile?" — "When it is 
 not a bitter one," rejoined the Comtesse ; " but 
 
30 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 what sinifies? she does very well for what she 
 is good for. Now I must go, and you must be 
 de active agent in settling our Lady Parliament ; 
 as for me, I will have a sinecure post." 
 
 " You are quite delightful, Comtesse, and 
 ought to have every thing your own way ; so 
 good bye, if you must go. I will remember to 
 see Prince Luttermanne; I will not let the 
 matter rest — adieu," and they kissed each 
 other's cheeks on both sides, " adieu !" — " You 
 will not let de matter rest — no, I am sure you 
 will not — nor any oder ting or person," thought 
 the Comtesse, as she glided out of the room. 
 " How frightfully red her nose is become," 
 observed Lady Tilney, soliloquizing, as she 
 looked at her own smooth cream-coloured skin 
 in the glass. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Of Lady Tilney's character a hasty outline 
 has been attempted in the preceding chapter ; 
 faUing short, however, as it is confessed every 
 attempt must do, to delineate all its varied 
 features. Something, however, may have been 
 gathered, by viewing her in the midst of the 
 group assembled in her boudoir ; and the por- 
 traiture will be rendered still more distinct, as 
 the character of her associates are further de- 
 veloped. 
 
 Of Lady Tilney herself it may be said, that 
 that real or pretended contempt of rank which 
 she affected to entertain, arose from the cir- 
 cumstances of her own parentage, which, on 
 her mother's side at least, was not noble; to 
 the same cause, also, may perhaps be attributed 
 her anxious irritability, ill concealed under a 
 forced gaiety, lest the respect and homage 
 which she considered to be her due, should not 
 
32 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 be paid her. There was a restlessness in her 
 assumed tranquillity, wholly unlike the easy 
 natural languor of her friend Lady Ellersby, 
 to which she would gladly have attained, and 
 which it was always the object of her ambition 
 to imitate; but she never reached that perfec- 
 tibility of insoucimice, which marks a supe- 
 riority of birth and station. 
 
 Notwithstanding the part which she conse- 
 quently was obliged to play, there was still a 
 good deal of nature in her composition; much 
 more than in that of the person whose demea- 
 nour she envied; — and had not her character 
 been influenced by a life of dissipation, she 
 seemed designed to have passed through exist- 
 ence diffusing usefulness and cheerfulness 
 around her. Much might be said in extenuation 
 of Lady Tilney's faults and follies, courted and 
 caressed as she was; as indeed there is ever 
 much indulgence to be extended to all who, in 
 situations of power and of temptation (however 
 many their foibles) remain free from positive 
 vice. The voice of censure should be guarded 
 therefore in its condemnation ; remembering 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 33 
 
 that the inability to do wrong, or the want of 
 allurement to yiekl to it, are often the sole 
 preservatives against similar errors. 
 
 In commenting upon such characters as 
 Lady Tilney's, it is not for the purpose there- 
 fore of attaching blame to the defects of the 
 individual, so much as to point out the dangers 
 attendant on their peculiar stations, and to 
 shew how far even noble natures are liable to be 
 debased by constant exposure to a baneful in- 
 fluence. Were not this the object of a writer, 
 idle and contemptible indeed would be the 
 pen, which could waste its powers in tracing 
 the vanities and follies of a race which always 
 has existed in some shape or other, and possibly 
 will always continue to do so. 
 
 There is an indulgence of spleen, a silly 
 gossiping espionage, which delights in prying 
 into the faults of others, without any motive 
 but that of the gratification of its own mean 
 nature — but there is an investigation into the 
 habits and manners of the actors in the scene 
 of fashionable folly, which, by dispelling the 
 illusion, may preserve others from being heed- 
 c 5 
 
34 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 lessly drawn into the vortex of so dangerous 
 a career. A sermon would not, could not, 
 descend from its sacred dignity, to effect this 
 — a philosophical or moral discourse, would 
 have as little chance of working such an 
 end ; — but a narrative of actual occurrences 
 may perhaps give warning of a peril, which 
 is the greater because it bears outwardly, 
 and on a cursory view, no appearance of 
 future evil; for to the young, and indeed 
 to all, there is a charm, and a very great 
 charm too, in being something superior, some- 
 thing that others are not, or cannot be. No 
 one acquainted with human nature vvill ever 
 contradict this. The question of vital impor- 
 tance to be asked is — In what ouaht this dis- 
 tinction to consist ? and what will really give 
 it? Certainly not a life of dissipation, in 
 which the affectation of new modes and man- 
 ners constitute the business of existence ; cer- 
 tainly not the sacrifice of moral and religious 
 duty, to a courting of frivolous homage and 
 the pursuit of an empty tclat. 
 
 These, however, it is to be feared, are more 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 35 
 
 generally the spurious objects of ambition with 
 persons in fashionable life, than the solid 
 advantages, and lasting fame, which their 
 situations afford them the means of securing. 
 And if it is thus with the world of fashion in 
 general, how much more was it the case in 
 the circle in which Lady Tilney reigned ! 
 Herself and her friends had no thought that 
 tended to any specific moral purpose, in the 
 strict sense of the word. The duties that 
 were performed, were such only in a negative 
 sense; they went to church, they lived with 
 their husbands ; some of them, but not all, 
 had escaped scandal ; they were fond mothers, 
 at least in the eye of their world ; they were 
 alive to their offsprings' interests, at least their 
 worldly interests; and beyond this, it is to be 
 feared, neither for them, or for themselves, did 
 their views extend. 
 
 Here- may be closed the catalogue of their 
 moral possessions. Of their outward shew of 
 manner and courtesy, where so much in a.soi- 
 disant empire of ton might be expected, per- 
 haps, there was still less to praise : a brusquerie 
 
36 tht: exclusives. 
 
 of address took place of polished breedings 
 where intimacy permitted any address at all; 
 and where none was allowable, an insolent 
 carelessness marked the behaviour, instead of 
 that polite courtesy which is ever the distin- 
 guishing mark of really good manners. 
 
 Lady Tilney, had she not stood on the 
 'vantage ground of tmi, might have been 
 called vulgar : the loud and incessant talking, 
 the abrupt and supercilious glance and motion, 
 had it not been backed by title and an assumed 
 superiority, w^ould have been designated by a 
 very different name from that under which her 
 manners passed current; and even as it was, 
 they sometimes received a reproof which, how- 
 ever affectedly scorned, was deeply felt. An 
 instance of this occurred on the occasion of 
 her receiving the homage of a distinguished 
 foreigner; when, in the intoxication of the 
 moment's vanity, Lady Tilney forgot the 
 respect due to one of exalted station, rudely 
 turning her back, and brushing past him in the 
 dance, a disregard of etiquette which he 
 whose manners are all elegance and condes- 
 
 /j fC^ 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. St 
 
 censioii, would never in his station have shewn 
 to the meanest of his subjects, and whose sense 
 of delicacy and propriety is so acute, that 
 wherever female manners are concerned, none 
 could better know how to condemn whatever 
 derogated in the slightest degree from them. 
 
 It was to the displeasure incurred by this 
 circumstance, and to the loss of favour which all 
 who have ever lived in its sunshine cannot fail 
 to lament when withdrawn, that allusion was 
 made, in speaking of Lady Tilney's contempt 
 of sovereigns and courts. Here was to be 
 found one bad effect of a system which, while 
 false in every sense, arrogated to itself perfec- 
 tion in all. 
 
 There was no immorality to rebuke in this 
 instance of Lady Tilney's conduct; but it pro- 
 ceeded from a source, which if not in her, in 
 others at least, might be productive of serious 
 consequences; namely, from a contempt of 
 established rules and received opinions; and if, 
 in the midst of this arrogance there was a re- 
 deeming spirit of occasional kindness, — a smile 
 which took ,the heart captive for the moment, 
 
38 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 and gave promise of better things, — it only 
 caused a regret that the good which was there 
 should be thus choaked by the noxious weeds 
 of vanity. 
 
 Some of Lady Tilney*s companions in ton 
 had not, like her, escaped the breath of slander ; 
 one or more were supposed to have listened, 
 at least, to that corruptive voice of gallantry, 
 which withers the bloom and freshness of a 
 married woman's reputation ; whose error is 
 remembered long after its cause has passed 
 away — let it have been real or imaginary ; — in 
 either case the effect on a woman's character is 
 the same. It is in vain that in a certain sphere 
 there exists a tacit agreement to pass by, and 
 gloss over such defamatory tales ; the persons 
 coming under their degrading mark have a 
 seal set upon them, which, in spite of them- 
 selves, and maugre the usage of their world, 
 is nevertheless destructive of peace; and it 
 requires little penetration to see beneath the 
 forced smiles which are put on with the adorn- 
 ments of the toilette, the gnawing worm that 
 preys upon the heart. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 39 
 
 The fatal effects of such errors attach only 
 to those guilty of them ; the feeling inspired 
 for their situation would be one of pure com- 
 miseration ; but, alas ! the influence of example 
 is contagious, and whatever is felt for the indi- 
 vidual who thus errs, the sentence of condem- 
 nation must go forth against the crime. In 
 regard to the other members who formed Lady 
 Tilney's intimate circle, the Countess Tender- 
 den, Princesse de la Grange, Lady de Chere, 
 and Lady Boileau, for instance, there was equal 
 matter for remark, varying with the character 
 of each. The first of these, possessing nothing 
 decided in her composition, had been, from the 
 commencement, a follower in the track of 
 others, and it was owing to this laziness of dis- 
 position that she became the ready and obedient 
 slave of fashionable command, as well as from 
 her early initiation into the secrets of ton, 
 rather than from any other cause, that she 
 held the place she did in Lady Tilney's esti- 
 mation. 
 
 Lady Tenderden's unsatisfactory and frivo- 
 lous existence had thus been passed without 
 
4.0 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 any decided plan, except that of being gene- 
 rally impertinent, and of courting personal ad- 
 miration ; which, when it is paid to beauty 
 alone, ceases with the first cessation of youth : 
 the consciousness of which fact added no ge- 
 nuine sweetness to the smile of Lady Ten- 
 derden ; but left her, although in the posses- 
 sion of most of the outward circumstances 
 which could grace existence, with a fading per- 
 son and a dissatisfied mind. 
 
 Princesse de la Grange was a star in the 
 midst of this false galaxy of fe?i, in as much as 
 a strict regard to married duty, and a preser- 
 vation of moral and religious principle, gave to 
 her character a superior brightness ; but whe- 
 ther from the taint of the poisonous air she 
 breathed, or from a defect of strength of mind, 
 or from the situation she filled, or from all 
 these circumstances combined, the Princesse de 
 la Grange did not escape entirely the pollution 
 of folly, and she too delighted in the vanity of 
 being exclusive. 
 
 In the love of being distinguished above her 
 compeers. Lady de Chere, however, far ex- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 41 
 
 celled; attaining a perfection which her ex- 
 ceedingly clever and powerful understanding, 
 together with the management of her conduct, 
 and an appearance of general decorum, enabled 
 her to preserve. Nor were her moral qualities 
 alone conducive to her success : she had besides 
 the advantage of being able to set her face like 
 a flint (which indeed it resembled physically), 
 and she deemed all emotion or all expression 
 of natural feeling (even that of bodily kind) 
 to be a weakness unworthy of a woman of 
 fashion. Lady de Chere was once known on 
 an occasion of personal suffering, when a few 
 tears actually escaped her, to have exclaimed 
 to her attendant : " You are the first person 
 in the world who have ever seen me guilty of 
 such weakness." Nay, she even carried this 
 perfection of induration so far, as to boast of 
 having cut her own mother. 
 
 In this last instance of the perfectibility 
 of ton, Lady Boileau yielded not the palm — 
 she had remained a good many more years 
 than she had bargained for, unmarried— she 
 had studied under a mother, whose lessons 
 
42 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 eventually were but too well rewarded in kind 
 This mother, however, had loved her\ and 
 with much and unremitting labour, had effect- 
 ed for her an alliance of title — of wealth. 
 What more could either of them with their 
 views desire ? 
 
 Lady Marchmont had established her daugh- 
 ter greatly, and the daughter had accepted the 
 marriage upon certain calculations : such as 
 being her own mistress, independent of her 
 husband, or her mother ; who knew too well 
 de quel hois elle se chaiiffoit, for Lady Boileau 
 to like her surveillance. Lady Boileau had 
 then made no scruple of swearing to love, 
 honour, and obey him whom she loved not, 
 held cheap, and determined to resist. But these 
 words, and too many more, bear a totally dif- 
 ferent signification, it is well known, in the lan- 
 guage of to?z, from what they do in their com- 
 mon acceptation. 
 
 One of the first steps of Lady Boileau after 
 her marriage, was to gain admission into the 
 circle of Lady Tilney on a footing of intimacy ; 
 for although she had been on visiting terms 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 43 
 
 with her, yet she was aware that the mere in- 
 terchange of cards did not constitute her the 
 friend ox^ protege of Lady Tilney, to which 
 distinction she aspired. There were one or 
 two circumstances, however, which rendered 
 the attainment of this object rather difficult. 
 In the first place, Lady Boileau had a mother 
 whom it would require more decided measures 
 to detach from her than, as it has been seen, 
 Lady Tilney chose to countenance. The gene- 
 ral tenour of her conduct, too, was a thing yet 
 unproved, and it was, therefore, still unascer- 
 tained how far she might be true to their esprit 
 du corps, and be worthy of admission into this 
 circle. Lady Boileau was considered, not- 
 withstanding these impediments, to be a person 
 of promise, and she was accordingly admitted, 
 with the tacit understanding, however, that she 
 was not to push Lady Marchmont indiscreetly 
 on the scene ; where her wit and plain speak- 
 ing might break forth in corruscations too 
 potent for the tendre demi-jour, or rather dark- 
 ness, in which the proceedings of the ton par 
 excellence were invariably to be veiled. 
 
44 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 There was, however, one person whose name 
 has not yet figured in the catalogue, but whose 
 character of mixed good and evil, would re- 
 quire a powerful pencil to delineate ; for the 
 many amalgamating tints which united and 
 harmonised its opposing lights and shades w ere 
 any thing but an easy task to give — divested of 
 these, the portrait would become caricature. 
 How often does marriage, especially iai early 
 life, give a colour to the future conduct of 
 women. Had Lady Hamlet Vernon married 
 differently, she was possessed of qualities w^hich 
 would have rendered her estimable as well as 
 amiable ; and was mistress of talents which, if 
 properly directed and matured, would have ren- 
 dered her a being distinguished above her sex. 
 But this was not so ; she had married for situa- 
 tion, and soon found the burdien she had im- 
 posed upon herself far outweighed the advan- 
 tages she had contemplated in the step she had 
 taken. Unhappiness was the first natural re- 
 sult ; and in the absence of religious principle, 
 young, beauteous, and fascinating, she soon 
 found in the universal admiration paid her, a 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 45 
 
 delusive balm to alleviate the society of a hus- 
 band considerably older than herself, and who 
 had married her from the pride of calling a per- 
 son so admired his own. Under these circum- 
 stances, Lady Hamlet Vernon could not remain 
 without the stigma of slander attaching to her. 
 The early demise, however, of Lord Hamlet 
 Vernon liberated her from the hazard of her 
 situation, and at five-and- twenty she found 
 herself again free. Titled, and with great 
 wealth at her command, she was too clever for 
 the empty votaries of folly, but too clever also 
 to be entirely set aside by them. She was, at 
 the same time, too much siijette a caution to 
 be admitted on terms of unguarded intimacy 
 amongst those in her own sphere who were 
 observers of religrious and moral conduct, and 
 who happily form the aggregate of distinguished 
 society in England. Left without choice, there- 
 fore, as to who should be her associates. Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon was drawn into a society where 
 the errors of her early conduct were, by the 
 contagion of example, sure to be confirmed, 
 and the remainder of any good principles that 
 
46 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 she might have possessed, in danger of being 
 subverted ; for it was not the least evil arising 
 out of the system of the society alluded to, that 
 the persons composing it were under a com- 
 pact of exclusion of all who differed from them 
 in habit and opinions; and, thus deprived of 
 the power of comparison, their own conduct 
 wanted that useful touchstone of its rectitude. 
 
 We are all alive to impressions daily 
 made upon us; and if a life of carelessness 
 and dissipation is not to be checked by an oc- 
 casional example of what is truly excellent 
 and worthy in character, the moral perception 
 between right and wrong of its mistaken vota- 
 ries will soon be blunted, till at last both their 
 ears and eyes are closed to all remonstrance. 
 The riper in years, therefore, were sure to have 
 their false estimate of life confirmed ; they 
 could not return on their steps, even if they 
 wished it; while the young and the inconside- 
 rate were taught to believe, that those who had 
 so long followed in that destructive but glit- 
 tering career, were the only objects worthy of 
 imitation, and in their turn became hardened 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 47 
 
 actors in the scene. Although the characters 
 hitherto produced as slaves to this system have 
 been of the weaker sex alone, still let it not be 
 imagined that they were its only victims, or 
 that they alone played their part in upholding 
 it. 
 
 If possible, the men of the society were many 
 of them as frivolous, and more vicious ; and, 
 though here and there might be found a cha- 
 racter that, from family connection or ignorance 
 of the tendency of the society, mingled in its 
 contamination without infection, or making a 
 wreck of principle, yet, far from these solitary 
 instances detracting from the general truth of 
 what has been said, it will be found that such 
 persons, the moment they became aware of the 
 lurking evil, broke from it abruptly ; though 
 perhaps, saving themselves with difficulty from 
 the entanglement. 
 
 In the members, however, which swelled the 
 list of the male part of this circle, few indeed 
 were there who ever made an effort to with- 
 draw from it. Vice and folly, in manners and 
 in dress— male coquetry — ineffable imperti- 
 
48 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 nence — ignorance — detraction of virtue which 
 might have resisted, or talents which eclipsed 
 them — insipidity in mind, and effeminacy in 
 person — devotion to luxury, — these, and more 
 than these, if such could be catalogued, of the 
 immoralities and follies of man, were all to be 
 found here, in degree and kind, revolving in 
 their different orbits — and fulfilling their allot- 
 ted parts in the system, till their existence 
 closed. What though wdt might sometimes 
 play around their board, or the quick repartee 
 enliven the monotonous circle of the evening — 
 what though talent might be allowed, for a 
 brief season, to expatiate on higher topics, 
 and the deep discourse of great human learn- 
 ing mi«cht be suffered to dwell at intervals on 
 subjects more intellectual— yet what profited 
 this to those who listened or to those who 
 spoke? — The moment's amusement, the indul- 
 gence of mere curiosity, the establishing of 
 some political tenet or philosophical dogma, 
 were alone the objects looked to. Talents, 
 when found in this society, were in fact directed 
 to none but worldly views; and the feeling 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 49 
 
 which should have guided their possessors to 
 acknowledge the bounty of the Author who 
 bestowed them, and a faithful employment of 
 his gifts, was not only wanting, but the sacred 
 religion of that very Author was too fre- 
 quently made an exercise for tkem — a subject 
 of their scorn or cavil. 
 
 Though untitled, yet of noble family, there 
 was one, who figured first as most licentious 
 and unprincipled among the devotees of ton. 
 He was handsome, winning, specious ; but he 
 concealed under this attractive exterior a heart 
 of the blackest dye ; no sense of right or wrong 
 checked its impulses. All to him was lawful 
 that was attainable. Pleasure was his object; 
 and he had sailed down the short voyage of his 
 life unchecked by any of those reverses, un- 
 scared by any of those feelings of shame or 
 compunction, which would have operated on a 
 weaker mind; and if, for a moment, some 
 enormity of conduct made the more timid — 
 they could not be called the more virtuous — 
 of his associates recoil, the hardened face, the 
 laugh of carelessness, the ready excuse, soon 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
50 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 dissipated these transient feelings of shame : 
 and patronized, courted, upheld, in that true 
 esprit de corps v.hich bound each member of 
 the society to protect the other, his youthful 
 career had been run from excess to excess. 
 
 Although a person ^vhose weight and influ- 
 ence in themselves were not great, yet he 
 formed from his habits and opinions, and the 
 talents which (though perverted) he really 
 possessed, one of those ties in a fabric, which 
 being multiplied, keep the whole body com- 
 pact ; and, having once obtained a footing 
 in Lady Tilney's circle, it followed, as a 
 U'latter of course, that he should be employed 
 in that remodelling of her society, which it 
 has been seen Lady Tilney was so anxious to 
 effect, and his name therefore was not for- 
 gotten in the list, concerning which she 
 intended to consult Prince Luttermanne. 
 
 It is well for human nature, that many 
 characters such as have been just described are 
 not often found ; it certainly had no compeer 
 in the circle in which it moved. And though 
 the folly of dress — the waste of time — the use- 
 
THE^EXCLUSIVES. 51 
 
 lessness of life — indulgence in the excess of 
 luxury, are errors and faults that cannot be 
 too strongly held up to animadversion, yet 
 they are, by comparison, of a venial kind. 
 Their effects, however, ultimately do not prove 
 such; for degradation of intellect must follow a 
 course of indolence, and an obtuseness of con- 
 science must be the consequence of long- 
 neglected duties. Let it not be supposed, there- 
 fore, that because Lord Boileau, Lord Basker- 
 ville, Lord Marchmont, or Lord Tonnerre, 
 were younger and less matured in a vicious 
 course than another, that therefore their con- 
 duct was less deserving of moral censure — the 
 seed that is sown in spring time vvill grow up 
 to the harvest, and it must be reaped accord- 
 ingly. The pursuits of a careless life of 
 pleasure, the gaming-table, the society of 
 opera dancers, the intrigues of ton, are not 
 preparations for the maintenance of family 
 consequence and wealth, still less for the fulfil- 
 ment of the duties of married life, the protection 
 of a wife's conduct, or the education of their 
 offspring. Yet these, it is to be feared, were 
 d2 
 
62 THE EXCLUSIVES/ 
 
 the sole objects of Lord Boileau, of his com-^ 
 panions, and of many others. 
 
 Besides these, however, there were characters 
 intended to be included in Lady Tilney's ar- 
 rangements of a far different complexion, and 
 the very reverse of their inexistence — there 
 were noble politicians, whose lives were passed 
 in any thing but inactivity ; there were titled 
 wits, whose places were any thing but sinecures ; 
 poets, whose lays found frequent subjects in the 
 galaxy of beauty that surrounded them ; and 
 painters, whose talents and winning flatteries 
 constituted their patent of nobility. The admis- 
 sion of all the latter personages was a decided 
 evidence of Lady Tilney's supremacy ; for, 
 with few exceptions, she alone considered that 
 to be surrounded by talents was essential to 
 high station, since with the generality of her 
 coterie, the idea of mingling intellect in their 
 pleasures, was rather to destroy than heighten 
 them. 
 
 Lady Tilney, however, in the end prevailed, 
 and no society of ton was in future considered 
 complete without those appendages. But even 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 53 
 
 Lady Tilney's command of the suffrage of 
 talents was not always absolute ; and once, it 
 is said, a man of holy profession, whose celebrity 
 in his calling had led the London world in 
 crowds to be his auditors, though thrice bidden 
 to the shrine of fashion, declined, with steady 
 consistency, to form one of a circle whose con- 
 duct in life it was his duty to reprove. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that the list of cava- 
 liers is yet full with the names of the persons 
 just alluded to; there were many others too 
 insignificant to bear designation — and enough 
 of portraits. Catalogues of these can only be 
 interesting to a few curious collectors, and are 
 very unsatisfactory to the generality of persons. 
 It is living with the actors on the shifting scene, 
 which can alone, for any length of time, engage 
 the attention, or be productive of any just 
 understanding of the character. To note down 
 their actions as they occur, and to develope the 
 system by which their lives are regulated, will 
 be the easiest, as well as the most profitable 
 task ; for although there may be something 
 which at first appears unnatural, and scarcely 
 
54 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 to be recognised as triilh, in the idea that there 
 exists a regular and defined system in lives, 
 which at a hasty glance seem spent in the care- 
 less manner of the persons represented, never- 
 theless it is so — and there is a depth in their 
 folly, which requires to be sounded, — there is 
 a mischief in their apparent carelessness, which 
 it is wise to detect — there is a principle of 
 latent evil under this seeming incipiency of 
 conduct, which requires to be unfolded> and 
 shewn in its true colours. 
 
TITE EXCLUSIVES. 55 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED ASSExMBLY. 
 
 Although the outlines of Lady Tilney's 
 project had been generally settled, yet some of 
 its details were still wanting; and in the inter- 
 val, she determined on one of those movements 
 in the game, which a crafty adversary some- 
 times makes to cover an ultimate and deeper 
 end. The Marchioness of Feuillemerte held 
 one of her assemblies, and as it was admissible 
 to appear in such a circle once at least daring 
 the season, sans se compromettre, Lady Tilney 
 devoted herself for that evening to the unpa- 
 latable task, and engaged Lady Ellersby to 
 meet her. 
 
 After casting a glance of inquiry round the 
 room, " My dear," said she, "did you ever in 
 your life see such an heterogeneous multitude 
 (she loved long, hard words) as are assembled 
 here?" 
 
56 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " No, except here" — " Figures," continued 
 Lady Tilney, " renouvelles des Grecs — creatures 
 dug out of Herculaneum, only not so ele- 
 gant; all George the Third's court I be- 
 lieve; and then such a tiresome eternity of 
 royalty, persons who never die, and whom 
 Lady Feuillemerte, and Lady Borrowdale 
 have preserved, together with themselves, in 
 spirits, I believe, to exhibit on their great 
 nights." 
 
 " Yes," rejoined Mr. Frank Ombre, who 
 had been permitted to overhear the whisper, 
 and smiling with one of those doubtful ex- 
 pressions which might do for tragic or for 
 comic effect, " we do not want royalty now 
 to keep us in order, — that is quite an obsolete 
 idea. No, we have more enlarged views ; we 
 like to turn every thing, sans dessus dessous — 
 don't we Lady Tilney? I am sure I had ra- 
 ther bow to the sceptre of your beauty, than 
 to that of any prince or princess — and you 
 know I never flatter." At that moment a 
 royal personage entered the assembly, when 
 Lady Tilney, under pretence of going away. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 5^ 
 
 hurried to the door, saying, " oh, do let me 
 avoid this seceaturaJ* 
 
 " Do, Mr. Spencer Newcombe," addressing 
 this privileged friend of her own circle who 
 stood near her, " do call my carriage," — in 
 the meanwhile placing herself in a situation 
 that made it impossible, without rudeness, for 
 the person whose approach she would have 
 appeared to shun, to pass her by unregarded ; 
 a behaviour which, however consistent with 
 Lady Tilney's ill breeding, when she wished 
 to shew dislike, was never known to attach to 
 any of the family who were the objects of her 
 pretended contempt. 
 
 Lady Tilney did not, on the present occa- 
 sion, make her arrangements in vain, and was 
 not only spoken to, but held so long in con- 
 versation by the royal person who entered, 
 that she had the satisfaction of hearing her 
 carriage repeatedly announced, till every 
 individual of the assembly must have been 
 aware of the cause of her delay. The dense 
 crowd, however, which now encircled the 
 prince, seemed to oppress Lady Tilney, and 
 D 5 
 
58 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 affecting to be almost overcome by the pres- 
 sure, — a pressure which in fact she was herself 
 causing, by obstinately keeping her place, and 
 not allowing the conversation to drop— she 
 was at length gratified by an offer of the arm 
 of royalty to lead her to a seat, on which she 
 sank affectedly, while the prince took that 
 next to her. In one of the pauses of conver- 
 sation which ensued, Mr. Ombre chanced to 
 find himself exactly at the back of Lady 
 Tilney's chair, and she took an opportunity of 
 whispering to him, " how tiresome !" He 
 shrugged his shoulders, and replied in her ear, 
 " I pity you from the bottom of my heart," 
 (adding aside to Spencer Newcombe), *' As I 
 do every one who always succeeds in every 
 thing they wish." 
 
 Shortly after, the prince rose to depart to 
 speak to others, while Lady Tilney having 
 made good her right to royal attention, now 
 prepared to express her contumely of every 
 thing regal, and to resume the exercise of 
 lier own right to absolute power in her own 
 person. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 59 
 
 *' Do, Mr. Ombre, sit down and let me have 
 a little real conversation with you, for I am 
 sick of all i\\Q fadaises v^hich. have just passed." 
 " What a fortunate man," he rejoined, " shall 
 I be, if I have onl}^ a little conversation with 
 Lady Tilney ! — you know I never flatter, — 
 and besides that distinction, a seat," — dropping 
 carelessly into the one that was vacant. 
 
 But Lady Tilney did not read these words 
 otherwise than in the sense to which they were 
 agreeable to her, and immediately her hither- 
 to repressed eloquence broke forth. 
 
 " Have you read the Male Coquet ? Do tell 
 me, is it not exquisite ? Among all the trash 
 heaped upon people of fashion, this alone is 
 well done. It must be confessed that, in spite 
 of its severity, the whole is well drawn, and 
 though highly coloured, not a daub." 
 
 " Yes, 1 have read it, and I like it ; but 
 the world don't." 
 
 " No ! well I cannot conceive why — perhaps 
 you can tell me. — Not like it ! indeed you sur- 
 prise me ! Why, it has already gone through 
 three editions." 
 
60 THE EXCLUSJVES* 
 
 " YeSj in the advertisements ! but they say 
 the publisher is ruined, nevertheless.'* 
 
 " Well ! that is quite extraordinary ! I 
 thought all the vt^orld approved it." 
 
 " The world ! — the world, my dear Lady 
 Tilney, is a very ill-natured world, though 
 you have never found it so ; but you will some 
 day." 
 
 " Oh, do not imagine," cried Lady Tilney, 
 a little displeased at her supposed want of 
 discernment, " do not suppose that I am not 
 quite aware of the world's ill-nature — only — " 
 
 " Only you are bound, my dear friend, to 
 suppose it otherwise, since, in its opinion of 
 you, it does indeed make an exception." 
 
 " You know I hate flattery, Mr. Ombre." — 
 " Well, well, I have done ; but in some cases, 
 what appears flattery, is truth. Besides, I 
 never doflatterT 
 
 " Come, come," said Lady Tilney, *' never 
 mind ! let us return to the Male Coquet, 1 
 have not half done talking about it. What 
 do you think of the character of Lord Alger- 
 non, is it not delightful, is it not quite per- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES* 61 
 
 feet? — And for that very reason, quite 
 detestable." 
 
 " My dear lady, I never knew but one per- 
 fect person in the world whom I could bear; 
 do you guess who I mean ?" 
 
 " Dear me, are you still here ?" said Lady 
 Ellersby, approaching at the moment. 
 
 " Yes -you know when those royalties wiU 
 talk to one, it is impossible to get away." — 
 " Ah, true — and it is so fatiguing." — " Roy* 
 alties — dose royalties, and you mind dem f 
 said the Comtesse Leinsengen, who had caught 
 Lady Tilney's words as she passed, leaning on 
 the arm of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 " My dear Lady Tilney, I wonder to see 
 you here — but you always do de reverse of 
 what you talk, you know — I tell you so." 
 
 Lady Tilney was embarrassed, and looked 
 around for an escape from the conversation. 
 She saw the half-formed sentence preparing 
 by Lord Rainham ; which, however, she knew 
 must undergo the necessary process of pre- 
 ororanization and arran element before it was 
 addressed to her. Luckily the Comtesse Lein- 
 
62 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 sengen pressed forward before this could take 
 place, and Lady Tilney, to avoid any more 
 sarcasm on her inconsistency, willingly allowed 
 for once the witty Lord to pass without a word. 
 Mr. Ombre, who was still by her side, and 
 had lost nothing of the scene, gave his word 
 of consolation to Lady Tilney, as he re- 
 marked : 
 
 " How appropriate to the situation which 
 he fills; — the ready orator, the decided pro- 
 jector of measures and expedients, — how truly 
 great a minister ! You know. Lady Tilney, I 
 never flatter. I really think so." Lady Tilney 
 had no wish to continue the subject, and turn- 
 ing to Lady EUersby, remarked, 
 
 " Did you ever see such jewels as the 
 Duchess of Herman ton's ? How vulgar to w^ear 
 them in such quantities ; she is like a walking 
 chandelier. But, look, there is Lord Arling- 
 ford ; he is coming this way — I want to speak 
 to him, and if you move a step or two for- 
 ward, I shall be able to do so." Lord Arling- 
 ford was accordingly arrested on his passage, 
 for he had not intended to converse with Lady 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 6S 
 
 Tilney, but was looking on towards a group of 
 persons, in the midst of whom stood the 
 Duchess of Hermanton. " Well, Lord Ar- 
 lingford, how surprised I am to see you here ; 
 are you not bored to death?" 
 
 " Why, Lady Tilney," he asked, in return, 
 " should you be surprised to see me in an as- 
 sembly to which half London is invited ?" 
 
 " That is precisely the reason," she replied, 
 " I should have thought you never went to 
 these sort of things ; they are very tiresome, 
 and I am sure you must be dreadfully an- 
 noyed." 
 
 Lord Arlingford was not an apt eleve of 
 Lady Tilney's, although his high rank and 
 connexions had made her sedulously endea- 
 vour to direct his education in the world of 
 ton from his very first debut. 
 
 " Pardon me, not in the least ennuye. I 
 do not come often enough, or remain long 
 enough in these places, to be sickened by the 
 shew — and as a shew, it is a very splendid one, 
 and I like to see so much beauty as is here to- 
 night gather together." 
 
64 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 ** Fewer at a time," said Lady Tilney, 
 " would be more agreeable, I should think." 
 
 " Perhaps so, for habitual private society ; 
 but then that is quite another affair : all things 
 are good in their way, and in their proper 
 season and measure." Lady Tilney was mor- 
 tified at this very rational distinction of the 
 indocile Lord, but went on to say, " At least 
 you will allow that a circle more choisie is 
 preferable — and one comes to this sort of mob 
 only as a kind of disagreeable duty." — 
 " Duty ! that is quite a new idea of duty to 
 me — but I am happy to be taught by so fair 
 an instructress." As he spoke, Lord Arling- 
 ford's grave countenance (for it was a counte- 
 nance of gravity for so young a man) relaxed 
 into something like vivacity ; and Lady Til- 
 ney, profiting by the momentary gleam of ex- 
 pression, requested him to assist her through 
 the crowd, in order that she might speak to 
 the Duchess of Hermanton. 
 
 " You will come, will you not. Lady Ellers- 
 by ?" turning her head over her shoulder as 
 she spoke. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 65 
 
 " No (for at this moment the Duke of 
 Mercington was coming towards her), " I have 
 ah-eady seen the Duchess." Lady Tilney 
 would then have lingered, glad to have ex- 
 changed the arm on which she leant for that of 
 the man of still higher rank ; but the Duke only 
 making her the acknowledgment of a familiar 
 nod, offered his arm to Lady EUersby, and as 
 her friend walked away in a contrary direction, 
 Lady Tilney, mortified, bit her lip, and was 
 obliged to proceed. 
 
 The crowd in the door-way soon stopped 
 her progress, and turning lo her companion, 
 she observed, 
 
 " 1 wonder how many private couriers Lady 
 Borrowdale keeps in pay, to bring over the 
 newest fashions from Paris. Have you seen 
 her to-night? did you ever behold any thing 
 like the magnificence of her gown ?'' — ** I 
 think," replied Lord Arlingford, " that she is 
 a very fine-looking person, and in her youth 
 must have been perfectly beautiful; but I did 
 not observe her gown." The subject seemed 
 to inspire Lord Arlingford, who broke through 
 
66 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 the usual briefness of his sentences as he con- 
 tinued, " And her manner, I think, is excel- 
 lent; there is so much dignity in it, united with 
 so much courtesy ; and she is never, I am told, 
 capricious, or forgetful of good-breeding." 
 
 " Why, my dear Lord Arlingford, this is 
 an oration — you are quite eloquent ! But you 
 cannot really like that old-fashioned maniere 
 of curtseying." 
 
 " Indeed I am serious ; I like it very much : 
 and if I were to point out the person whose 
 manners I should like to see any one I loved 
 adopt, in public at least — for I have not the 
 honour of her intimate acquaintance — it would 
 be Lady Borrowdale's." 
 
 *' How singular you are ! Really, if you 
 entertain such opinions as these, we must 
 expel you from our circle. But if you are 
 determined to be extraordinary, I suppose 
 you will tell me that you cannot bear any 
 thing that is younger or more modern." 
 
 " Pardon me ; there is Lady Georgina Mel- 
 combe, and the Ladies Fitzmaurice, and their 
 cousins, the Ladies Partington, and many 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 6T 
 
 Others, who look as if they were every thing 
 which the young and lovely ought to be, — 
 unaffected, cheerful, and courteous." 
 
 "Oh, this is worse and worse; you are be- 
 coming quite insufferable. But do tell me 
 who is that person there, whose appearance is 
 so particular, and who has so extraordinary an 
 air — is he a foreigner?" 
 
 " No— that is Lord Albert d'Esterre. Are 
 you not acquainted with him? He is a very 
 charming person, — full of talent, and very 
 handsome, as you see. But I forget — you 
 cannot well recollect him, for he went to the 
 Continent as a boy, and is only lately re* 
 turned." 
 
 " True; I remember — I hear he is likely 
 to distinguish himself — pray present him to 
 me." 
 
 The presentation took place ; and, after a 
 few words, including an invitation to Lord 
 Albert to her soii^ees, Lady Tilney passed on 
 with Lord Arlingford to where the Duchess of 
 Hermanton was standintj. 
 
 To have taken pains thus to seek one whom 
 
68 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 she affected to despise, whose manners and right 
 to fashion she was perpetually calling in ques- 
 tion, might argue great inconsistency ; but in 
 this instance Lady Tilney's wishes to be well 
 with the Duchess of Hermanton, far from 
 being the result of any thing like the contra- 
 diction of a settled principle, were the absolute 
 fruits of it, and were influenced by a feeling of 
 fear— if she would have confessed it — by an 
 apprehension that that really amiable person, 
 possessing the envied superiority of united 
 rank and birth and talent, should assume her 
 proper place in society, and overthrow the 
 false rule to which Lady Tilney herself laid 
 claim. It was therefore conciliation rather ; 
 and, as she addressed the Duchess, she put on 
 her sweetest smiles, and laid aside those inde- 
 scribable airs which were displayed when she 
 intended to scorn or crush ; and, while utter- 
 ing those nothings which form the sum and 
 substance of what is said on such occasions, 
 her manners were almost servile. The sim- 
 plicity of unquestioned superiority is one of ils 
 most sure characteristics ; and the Duchess of 
 
ti:e exclusives. 69 
 
 Hermanton's mode of receivintj this homajre 
 was unaffected and courteous. But as the two 
 persons had little similarity in their natures, 
 the conference lasted only sufficiently long for 
 Lady Tilney to preserve that degree of fami- 
 liarity in acquaintance, which she determined 
 should prevent her being a stranger to one too 
 independent and distinguished to be altogether 
 passed over. 
 
 Meanwhile, Lord Arlingford having profited 
 by the opportunity to quit Lady Tilney, now 
 joined Lady Georgina Mel combe and some of 
 the persons standing together in another part 
 of the room ; and Lady Tilney, thus left alone, 
 had, for a few moments, leisure to behold the 
 splendour of the apartments and of the persons 
 met in them. In her heart she could not but 
 acknowledge that whatever London could boast 
 as being most distinguished was present, and 
 that the good and great predominated ; but it 
 was not exclusive — that is, it was an assembly 
 constituted of almost all those whose rank en- 
 titled them to be on the list of Lady Feuille- 
 merte*s visitors. 
 
70 THE EXCLUSlVES. 
 
 It was numerous, therefore, which is the very 
 essence of an assembly ; for what is so insipid as 
 public receptions where the members are few, 
 the rooms half filled, and the scene unenlivened 
 by those circumstances which a diversity of 
 ages, characters, and dresses cast around ? 
 
 Here all met the society which best accorded 
 with their tastes. The politician, the courtier, 
 the man of fashion, found here their associates 
 and their amusement, each in their diiferent 
 sphere, as they retired from the rest to discuss 
 some present topic of public interest, or glided 
 through the throng with that easy politeness 
 which breathed of the atmosphere they inhaled 
 in the presence of their Sovereign, paying the 
 well-timed compliment as they passed, or dis- 
 playing the refinement of wit and repartee in 
 their short and animated conversations. 
 
 Here, too, amidst the younger and fresher 
 forms, beauties of former days still shone in 
 the dignity of their manners, and of that air 
 and carriage which the fashion of their time 
 had rendered a portion of themselves ; which 
 lent a grace to their every movement, and 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. tl 
 
 might well have afforded a school of manners 
 and propriety of outward bearing for the young 
 who mingled with them — in counteraction of 
 the oblivion and extermination of all manners, 
 which the prevailing system of tlie sol-disa7it 
 members o^ ton would have enforced. 
 
 Such, at least, were the external features of 
 an old-fashioned assembly — in its moral cha- 
 racter the advantages were no less. Its honest 
 and avowed purpose was the interchange of 
 those courtesies which render life agreeable, 
 and the preservation of those general guards 
 in society which, as checks to profligacy, are 
 more useful than abstract theories of ethics, or 
 codes of moral laws. People, unless lost, sin 
 not so blindly in mixed communities — one in- 
 dividual forms a restraint on the others — chil- 
 dren stand in a we of parents, and these, in their 
 turn, acknowledge a wholesome control in the 
 presence of their offspring — the good are a 
 terror to the evil (for an alloy will ever exist); 
 while the one and the other mutually afford 
 examples of imitation, or beacons of danger to 
 be avoided, which every individual may, if 
 
72 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 there be the will, turn to profit, in the correc- 
 tion of some temper, the curbing of some 
 excess, the chastening of some wish, or the 
 abandonment of some folly. 
 
 The more intimate associations in life are 
 not here spoken of; but these in characters of 
 the same description as Lady Feuillemerte's, 
 would doubtless be founded on the same basis, 
 and have the same objects in view; for whether 
 in the cherishing of natural affections, the for- 
 mation of those friendships which spring up 
 in the domestic circle, the cultivation and ex- 
 ercise of talents which give a charm to exist- 
 ence, or the acquirement of more important 
 attainments, the system which holds out ex- 
 amples, and affords restraint, will ever be 
 best. 
 
 The " societe choisie,'* however, which Lady 
 Tilney desired to form, was, in its nature, the 
 very reverse of what has been described. Its 
 exclusive character was to consist, not in the 
 selection of what was amiable in nobility, or vir- 
 tuous in talent; it was not to be the circle 
 drawn within a narrower circumference, for a 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 73 
 
 more perfect enjoyment of private friendship, 
 or the cultivation of more intellectual pursuits 
 than the wide range of fashionable life could 
 afford ; it was not to be retirement from the 
 busier throng, for the purposes of a more 
 rational and purer existence; but it was to 
 consist of those whose follies in the pursuit of 
 pleasure, and whose weakness in the indul- 
 gence of all the empty toys of life, had given 
 them a distinction above their fellows ; of those 
 who judged immorality, when burnislied by 
 the tinsel of superficial acquirements, as venial 
 error;— of those, in short, who were either 
 senseless or wicked enough to consider life but 
 a bubble, to be blown down the current, 
 according to the dictates of the will, and whose 
 daily existence testified, that they were alike 
 without a thought or a fear for the morrow's 
 eternity. Such were to be its members, and 
 its seclusion from the general eye of the 
 world, its secession from all others but — ; its 
 rigid law, that unmarried women were not 
 eligible to its chosen meetings — for what pur- 
 pose, and to what end were these ? If for 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
74. THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 vanity of distinction, merely, it was weak ; if 
 for the purpose of indulging in pursuits and 
 conversation, which would receive a check in 
 a society less selected for the object — it was 
 wicked. In whichever point of view, a so- 
 ciety so constituted must be demoralizing, for 
 assuredly it would have the character of being, 
 if it even were not, really vicious — and its 
 example would have a contaminating effect in 
 the corruption of morals, and the overthrow 
 of the barriers of domestic peace. 
 
 It cannot be said that these were the reflec- 
 tions of Lady Tilney, as she stood for the few 
 moments alone in the crowd at Lady Feuille- 
 merte's. It would be injustice to her to sup- 
 pose that they were, or that she contemplated 
 in the formation of a coterie, according to her 
 own peculiar prejudices, any of the evils with 
 which the system was sure to be pregnant. It 
 is thus, however, with all reforms, entered 
 upon for private ends ; the individual sees but 
 the accomplishment of his own and his imme- 
 diate associates' views, in what is to be over- 
 turned; and the fatal result accruing to the 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 75 
 
 eommiinity, even if clearly distinguished, are 
 at the moment but as dust in the balance of 
 self. 
 
 It is more probable that, as Lady Tilney 
 gazed on the mingled group around her, blind 
 to the demerits of her projected revolution of 
 society, and proud of influence, which over a 
 certain portion of the London v/orld she had 
 succeeded in establishing, she became firmer 
 in her purpose; and as her eye fell on one 
 individual after another, whose mannersj mode 
 of life, dress, or very name were disagreeable 
 to her, or proved them wanting in the stamp 
 of ideal fashion, the necessity of the measure 
 she contemplated she conceived became more 
 and more imperative. Whatever might have 
 been Lady Tilney's reflections, she was not 
 long suffered to indulge them. In the tide 
 which passed before her appeared Lord Rain- 
 ham, unattended however, as previously, by the 
 Comtesse Leinsengen : Lady Tilney therefore 
 awaited his address, without any appearance of 
 recurrence to her professed distaste for roy- 
 alty. 
 
 E 2 
 
76 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " A marvel, I declare !" were the opening 
 words of a speech already polished, usque ad 
 jinguam, before Lord Rainham ventured to 
 give it utterance. — " Behold Lady Tilney 
 without a crowd of worshippers at her feet ! — 
 Explain me this phenomenon, and say, have 
 you been cruel to your slaves, and are they 
 gone themselves, or have they forgotten their 
 allegiance ? Such things have been, though 
 they ought not to be — and yet methinks you 
 would find it sufficiently dull, if all things 
 were as they ought to be, would you not? 
 tell me the truth, and give me your confidence ; 
 I have long wished to have the confidence of a 
 handsome woman, and I promise you indulgentia 
 plenaria" 
 
 " No, not for the world ! — I hold it to be 
 quite a false maxim to have any confidants: 
 besides I have nothing to confide." 
 
 " You are too wise to be so handsome," 
 said Lord Rainham abruptly, " and so 
 good night; for since you will not parley 
 with me, 'tis in vain I linger;" and as he 
 turned away, words of fresh impromptu on 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 77 
 
 some other subject began audibly to escape 
 his lips. 
 
 " III your orisons be all my sins remem- 
 bered," whispered Mr. Ombre as he passed, 
 and again found himself at Lady Tilney's side. 
 " It is high time such bookworms as I should 
 retire into our cells; so, lady sweet, good 
 night. — You know it is not I who speak, 
 but he, who would have been blest, could he 
 have poured all his sweetest lays into that 
 gentle ear." Lady Tilney considered the 
 homage of talent as peculiarly her own, and 
 would gladly have retained the speaker; but 
 gliding with the gentle undulation of some 
 shadowy form towards the door, he escaped 
 the infliction of a penalty, which even the 
 syren smiles which were his reward could 
 hardly at times repay. 
 
 It was now growing late— the assembly was 
 breaking up, and Lady Tilney looked anxi- 
 ously for some cavalier to attend her to her 
 carriage: but this was not a point of easy set- 
 tlement. In degree he must be either of rank, 
 or a dependent— one who was her equal, or 
 
78 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 one on whom she might confer distinction by 
 her choice of his services. Neither such re- 
 quisites, however, were to be found in the 
 group around, and Lady Tilney, whilst feehng 
 yet more and more the necessity of an exclu- 
 sive circle, w^iere such predicaments would be 
 avoided, was doomed still further mortification 
 in the approach of Colonel Temple, a person 
 whom she hardly ever considered recognizable, 
 and whose offer of assistance, made evidently 
 with sarcastic reference to her being alone, 
 came in a shape particularly offensive to her, 
 
 " Will you allow me to have the honour of 
 calling your carriage," he said, addressing her 
 with easy familiarity; " or if you are going to 
 walk through the rooms, allow me to escort 
 you ?" (offering his arm). 
 
 " No," said Lady Tilney, in a manner that 
 might have awed any one else ; " I am going 
 away immediately." 
 
 " Well, then, let me call your carriage," he 
 replied, with a tenacity that nothing could 
 evade — whilst Lady Tilney continued to move 
 on, terrified lest she should be seen so attended. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 79 
 
 This apparent anxiety to avoid him, was, 
 however, with Colonel Temple, the surest in- 
 citement to a continuance of his proffered at- 
 tentions. It might not have been exactly con- 
 sistent with the general high breeding and 
 politeness which distinguished Lady Feuille- 
 merte's assemblies, for any one to *have acted 
 under this influence perhaps ; but Col. Temple 
 was a character known to all the world as such, 
 and privileged to do things which no one else 
 did. He was a man, too, of family, and felt 
 his situation in society, in the midst of all his 
 eccentricities. His want of refinement had its 
 compensation in an honesty of disposition quite 
 at variance with the measured forms of fashion- 
 able exclusiveness, but which made him ire- 
 nerally beloved ; while his shrewd sense, mixed 
 with a certain vein of sarcastic humour, al- 
 ways penetrated the littleness of vanity, and 
 often inflicted on it its severest wounds. 
 
 Lady Tilney, from repeated slights, was a 
 darling object of his attacks, and could she 
 without compromise have purchased immu- 
 nity from their never-failing and success- 
 
80 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 fill arrogance, by an honourable truce, she 
 would gladly have done so. But Col. Temple 
 was too arrogant, too presumptuous, to be 
 checked by any defiance of ultra fashion— too 
 independent, too high-spirited, to suffer a cold 
 and haughty recognition, in place of the po- 
 liteness and courtesy due to him as a gentle- 
 man, and thus this warfare had become inter- 
 minable. 
 
 Enjoying his triumphs in the way in ques- 
 tion, he followed Lady Tilney from room to 
 room — even to the steps of her carriage, as- 
 suring her as they proceeded, that her appre- 
 hensions of being detected in his society were 
 compliments to him beyond price ; he was 
 aware that, to be of importance, the next thing 
 to being liked, was being feared — and bidding 
 her be sure to send him a card for her next 
 choice soiree^ he handed his victim into her 
 carriage, under a thousand half-pronounced 
 inuendos upon his insufferable vulgarity, and 
 the awful anathema of future exclusion. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 81 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A MODERN COTERIE. 
 
 If any circumstance had been wanting to 
 give strength to Lady Tilney's resolves on the 
 momentous question of social reform, the oc- 
 currences at LadyFeuillemerte's were in them- 
 selves sufficient — at least, they formed an ad- 
 dition to that kind of plausible excuse, sought 
 for on all occasions where the will is previously 
 set on a particular line of conduct, but which, 
 without a pretext, it would hardly be safe for 
 the individual to adopt. 
 
 The motley and unkindred assemblage of 
 the previous evening, with its royal restraints, 
 its want of organization in its inferior mem- 
 bers, and the consequent offences experienced 
 by those of higher order — for Lady Tilney, al- 
 though she did not divulge the stain inflicted by 
 Colonel Temple's assiduities, yet felt it deeply, 
 —were points she dwelt upon to her col- 
 E 5 
 
82 THE EXCL US rVES. 
 
 leagues on the following morning with that 
 extreme pathos and eloquence which the suf- 
 ferings of self never fail to produce, and 
 which could not but enforce on her auditors 
 conviction of the necessity of the measures 
 she proposed. 
 
 Closeted, therefore, with the leading cha- 
 racters in her own peculiar circle, the final 
 arrangements for that societe choisie which was 
 to eclipse courts and banish sovereigns, to 
 school rank, and bring to maturity all the yet 
 unripened follies of a soi-disant ton, were at 
 length concluded. The lists w^ere full — the 
 doors were closed to all but the secret repre- 
 sentatives of the system, and the anathema 
 went forth. Strange that St. James's did not 
 shake from its foundation, England's sovereign 
 resign his sceptre, and her lengthened line of 
 nobility crouch in the dust, under the awful 
 denunciation of such an ascendancy. But 
 though this were not so— yet must the loyalty 
 of many a high-born subject, and the purity 
 of many a noble and virtuous mind, have been 
 outraged, when the results of a system at once 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 8S 
 
 SO contemptuous and immoral began to be de- 
 veloped. 
 
 It will be remembered that Lady Tilney 
 had already fixed on the evening of Lady 
 Borrowdale's assembly as a fitting occasion 
 for the display of her own undivided rule in 
 the empire of flishion. Her cards had been 
 issued for that purpese, and these were now 
 followed by injunctions through various chan- 
 nels, requiring an early attendance — since the 
 two syrens of the day, Pasta and Sontag, it 
 was whispered, were engaged to give additional 
 effect to the opening charms of exclusiveness, 
 and render the blow struck at tlie existing 
 state of society at once decisive. 
 
 Lady Borrowdale's apartments, it was de- 
 creed, should possess only the canaille of the 
 fashionable world, and royalty be doomed to 
 oblivion there, in the surpassing lustre which 
 Lady Tilney's circle would display. To the 
 authority that called for this ready obedience, 
 none of the satellites of Lady Tilney's court 
 were ever known to offer resistance ; — and 
 though the chiefs of her party alone knew the 
 
84 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 real object of the summons, yet the uninitiated 
 hastened to obey it with the same alacrity as 
 their superiors, satisfied that in so doing they 
 were best consulting their views of advance- 
 ment to the distinction courted by them, as 
 well as securing a greater license in the indul- 
 gence of those follies and errors which made 
 the sum of their daily occupation. 
 
 To tell of the decoration of the apartments, 
 of the splendour and luxury which reigned 
 around the mansion of Lady Tilney, to dwell 
 on externals, would be to repeat descriptions 
 a thousand times given, and tend to no de- 
 velopement of import. A plant, under the 
 fairest guise of colour or of form, sometimes 
 contains within its fibres the deadliest poison ; 
 and in the scorching plains of the East, the 
 upas-tree extends an alluring shade over the 
 exhausted and unconscious traveller, who is 
 soon to sink beneath its deadly atmosphere 
 But what would it profit were the naturalist 
 to dwell only on the pencilling and texture of 
 the one, or the traveller describe vaguely the 
 outspreading branches and inviting coolness of 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 85 
 
 the other, and yet neglect to record the nox- 
 ious qualities and inherent dangers of each. 
 The plant and its virtues, not the scene in 
 which it is to be found, must first be re- 
 cognised and known, if escape from its con- 
 tagion be intended; — and it is to the habits 
 and system of a people, not to the country 
 they inhabit, that we must look, rightly to 
 understand the manner in which their lives 
 are passed. 
 
 To a casual observer, Lady Tilney's assem» 
 bly presented no distinguishing external, marks 
 at variance with received habits or customs. 
 The rooms were not darkened, the servants 
 passed through the apartments at intervals in 
 the performance of their respective duties 
 without constraint : the company, however, was 
 less numerous, and more scattered and divided 
 into detached parties. The conversation, with 
 the exception of Lady Tilney herself, was 
 carried on in a low tone, scarcely audible but 
 to the individual addressed ; the different mem- 
 bers of the coterie, when they moved about, 
 
86 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 seemed to do so under certain measured and 
 stated paces. 
 
 It was not, however, the step and air of real 
 dignity of fashion, but rather the mincing 
 minauderie of des petites maUresses, Whatever 
 was done or spoken (when for a moment some 
 general observation was hazarded), appeared as 
 if performed by rule, and under apprehension 
 of drawing down ridicule, which at once went 
 to destroy all natural grace of speech or de- 
 meanour. This sentiment attached more par- 
 ticularly to the younger and newer noviciates, 
 who felt that an unguarded expression, or a 
 movement at variance with the prescribed forms 
 of the circle, would render them the objects of 
 the malicious remarks and sneers of the more 
 experienced— an uneasy restraint, therefore, 
 was often the consequence; and had it not 
 been, that to form part of so chosen a society, 
 and under Lady Tilney's roof, was in itself an 
 indescribable satisfaction— some who were there 
 might have been suspected of suffering con- 
 siderable ennui, and of being ready to admit, 
 by the suppressed and ill-concealed yawn, that 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 87 
 
 although the honour of exclusiveness was great, 
 the pleasure was certainly small. 
 
 Not so, however, with the more initiated — 
 these appeared by habit to take the part at 
 once most to their tastes; to select the com- 
 panion most agreeable to them ; to remain 
 under the eye of observation, or retire from it, 
 as they chose, with indifference ; — for it was not 
 only in what was done or said, but in the 
 manner^ also, that the distinguishing charac- 
 teristics of this coterie were to be detected. All 
 things were lawful — but then under outward 
 forms (not however of propriety always, or of 
 morality), but of convention ; and whoever 
 attained fulfilment of these, had the privilege, 
 the indulgentia plenaria, as proposed by Lord 
 Rainham, to sin with impunity. 
 
 When it was said, therefore, that an assembly 
 composed as the present differed not in its 
 appearance from others passing under the 
 same generic name, it was premised to be only 
 under the impression of a first view ; — a more 
 intimate acquaintance with many of its laws 
 and practices, so opposed to received customs 
 
88 THE EXCLUSIV£S. 
 
 in the world, could not in the end fail to 
 astonish ! And first the observer (the moral 
 observer is meant) would have been struck by 
 the discovery, that the young and beautiful in 
 this magic circle were all married women, and 
 that the person who individually (for the 
 number was rarely more than singular) paid 
 his assiduous court, leant over the chair, and 
 whispered into the ear of the fair whom he 
 selected or was selected b}', was no aspirant to 
 her hand in marriage, no relative — neither was 
 he her husband — but a member of the privileged 
 sociely, which was alone sufficient. *^ 
 
 His astonishment would have been yet 
 stronger on discovering that for a season, till 
 mutual convenience, or disagreement dissolved 
 their familiar acquaintance, each party, similarly 
 paired, invariably met, conversed, and retired 
 at the same time, when the circle broke up, 
 or when they quitted it, apparently on the 
 same footing of intimacy which the most holy 
 ties could have sanctioned ; while those whom 
 such a tie actually bound to them were them- 
 selves pursuing a similar career. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 89 
 
 Had the conversation which for the most 
 part occupied this portion of the societe choisie 
 been reported, or reached the ear, it is possible 
 a considerate mind might have thought, not- 
 withstanding the singularity of a system which 
 excluded the unmarried from scenes of amuse- 
 ment, that it was well they formed no portion 
 of it ; but still, in an escape from its early in- 
 fluence, enjoyed the opportunity of attaining 
 to a degree of moral principle, and feminine 
 decorum, which must otherwise have been 
 swept away in the general license. 
 
 This, however, can unfortunately be said 
 only of the one sex — the unmarried in the 
 other, provided their attainments were of the 
 kind to authorize admission, were not on the 
 excluded list; and the young, well-principled, 
 and ingenuous perhaps at their outset, might, 
 in the examples constantly before them, have 
 found incentive to conduct, which at a future 
 day they would discover to have been the 
 great bane and poison of their existence. — 
 Of these the person who entered Lady Til- 
 ney's apartments when the coterie had nearly 
 
90 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 assembled, and who was new to most of them, 
 offered an instance, for whom the liveliest fears 
 with justice might have been entertained. 
 
 Young, strikingly handsome, talented, of 
 high rank, of widely extended interest, and 
 possessing all the means of gratifying every 
 wish, to what dangers was not Lord Albert 
 d'Esterre exposed, in such a scene as has been 
 described, and on which he was from that 
 evening to play a part ! He seemed, with the 
 impulse of nat; j al politeness, to look around 
 for Lady Tilney, as he entered, as if he would 
 pay his first homage to her, whose self and not 
 her house he visited ; in a manner directly the 
 reverse of that false refinement of modern ton, 
 which seeks a display of its scavoir viiTe, in a 
 pointed indifference to all the received forms 
 of society. 
 
 Before he had reached the second room he 
 was met by Lady Tilney, with a greater 
 degree of courtesy and empressement than was 
 usual in her receptions ; and his address 
 was listened to with more complacency and 
 patience than generally marked her manner 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 91 
 
 towards any one. — "Who is he?" passed in 
 whispers round the circle amongst those to 
 whom he was unknown. — " Did you hear his 
 name announced ?" — " No ! I have seen him 
 somewhere before, I think — is it not Lord 
 Albert d'Esterre, Lord 's son ?" 
 
 " Ah true, it is ! but what an extraordinary 
 lengthy speech he is making — surely Lady 
 Tilney must be ready to expire under its du- 
 ration." — " Not under its dulness, I am cer- 
 tain,'' said Lord Glenmore, as he caught Lady 
 Baskerville's remark to Lord Rainham, " for, 
 d'Esterre is too clever ever to say a dull thing." 
 " Or ever do a wise one, perhaps," added Lord 
 Kainham in his most caustic manner. 
 
 " Did you hear Rainham ?" wliispered 
 Spencer Newcombe to Ombre; " there was 
 no time for gestation there — it was really 
 well said." — " Then, if so," replied his neigh- 
 bour, " we may ' for once a miracle accept in- 
 stead of wit.' " 
 
 " No ; I do not allow of miracles now a 
 days," said Lord Rainham, turning sharply 
 round, having overheard the remark applied 
 
92 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 to him : " I do not believe in miracles — not 
 even in the resurrection of the Glacier man — 
 do you, Ombre?" The laugh was with the 
 latter speaker; but Mr. Ombre thought that, 
 in fact, miracles had not ceased when Lord 
 Rainham could thus improvise two good 
 things without incubation ; and so he whis- 
 pered into the ear of his friend Spencer New- 
 combe, as Lord Rainham moved away. 
 
 While Lord Albert D'Esterre was thus afford- 
 ing subject of remark to the coterie, and their 
 observations in turn made matter of ill-natured 
 review among themselves, he was addressing his 
 courteous excuse to Lady Tilney for having 
 disobeyed her commands, in arriving so late. 
 Lady Baskerville was probably right in her 
 conjecture, that Lady Tilney felt considerably 
 bored b}^ his doing so, and making reference 
 to injunctions which she had forgotten the 
 moment they were given, because certain they 
 would be generally obeyed, and Lady Bor- 
 rowdale's assembly be left untenanted by all 
 her early visitors. 
 
 She heard him, however, with smiles and 
 
THE EKCLUSIVES. 93 
 
 outward complaisance ; for Lord Albert was 
 of consequence enough in a political way, at 
 least, for Lady Tilney to court ; and as she as- 
 sured him that he was still in good time, and 
 that the Sontag had not yet sung, presented 
 him to several persons, whom, she remarked, 
 would be almost strangers to him after so long 
 an absence from England. 
 
 In all, however, that Lord Albert had said, 
 he had been sincere; and in his manner to- 
 wards the different persons he was made known 
 to, there was a genuine distinguished air of 
 high breeding and politeness, as much at va- 
 riance with the manners, as his ingenuousness 
 was with the minds and dispositions of those 
 who figured in the moral masquerade before 
 him. Although fresh in this scene, and there- 
 fore without contamination, he was powerful, 
 and, therefore, worth appropriation ; and what 
 w^as considered outre and too miniere in his 
 address, was partially overlooked at the mo- 
 ment, as certain to give way under the pow- 
 erful influence of better examples. 
 
 The Sontag now came forward and poured 
 
94 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 her liquid notes mellifluous through the as- 
 sembly. Every body was in raptures — indis- 
 criminate raptures;— for though raptures were 
 generally obsolete, there were a few short 
 seasons for a few new thino:s in which it was 
 permitted to be rapturous ; but woe to the un- 
 happy individual who, ignorant of the mark, 
 gave way to these ebullitions at unallowed 
 times, or beyond the peculiar limits prescribed 
 by ton. 
 
 When the aria was concluded, however, 
 the remarks among the younger votaries of 
 fashion were principally directed to the figure 
 and appearance of the singer, rather than to 
 her performance. Lesly Winyard admired her 
 foot ; Lady Boileau her eyes ; Lord Gascoyne 
 saw indescribable beauty in the delicacy of her 
 waist ; and Lord Tonnerre declared her neck to 
 be as fine drawn and as perfect as that of a 
 race-horse — a simile which was perhaps the 
 only figure of speech the latter lord could 
 have hazarded, consistently with his knowledge 
 of any subject. These by turns approached the 
 singer, and as they addressed her with an air of 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 95 
 
 familiar condescension, seemed in their un- 
 gentle gaze to seek an opportunity of confirm- 
 ing their previous judgments ; which, accord- 
 ing to the result, were signified in the presence 
 of the persons by a look, or a whisper, to one 
 another. 
 
 If a few ventured an observation on what 
 they had been listening to, it was in a tone 
 either of indiscriminate praise, founded on 
 some one's opinion in their own circle from 
 whose decree there was no appeal ; or else, 
 measuring things in themselves admitting not 
 of parallel, by one another, they drew an un- 
 fair comparison between the powers of Sontag 
 and of Pasta ; just in the same way as a pseudo 
 connoisseur would measure the merits of Paul 
 Veronese or Tintoretto by those of Raphael. 
 
 " I am surprised you waste so much time in 
 this discussion," said Mr. Ombre, who was 
 standing near the parties debating on the latter 
 point; " there can be no question as to the 
 merits of the case — Sontag is new." 
 
 " Is she not enchanting ?" asked Lady Til- 
 ney, addressing Lord Albert D'Esterre, who 
 
96 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 had been listening with the utmost attention — 
 " quite perfection !" He smiled; " I do not 
 know that I ever heard or saw any thing quiU 
 perfect ; at all events, I prefer Pasta." 
 
 " Well, you surprise me !" replied Lady 
 Baskerville ; " there is such brilliancy — such 
 lightness, such fluency in the Sontag." 
 
 " But there is more depth, more pathos, more 
 poetry in Pasta. Nevertheless I admire Ma- 
 demoiselle Sontag ; and because I prefer one, 
 I am not deaf to the powers of another singer 
 — a feelinfj of the sublime does not exclude the 
 lesser sense of the beautiful." — " What a pros- 
 ing, sententious popinjay; ay!" whispered 
 Ix)rd Baskerville to Lady Ellersby. 
 
 " But he is very handsome," she answered, 
 
 " I know not what you ladies may esteem 
 handsome" (and here Lord Baskerville put 
 himself in his best possible form, and bent his 
 cane against the ground) ; " but I can see no- 
 thing in that stiff conceited face and figure to 
 call handsome ; and I would not be doomed to 
 listen to his affected pretensions for half an 
 hour together on any condition whatever — no, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 97 
 
 not to hear Son tag sing three songs consecu- 
 tively — beautiful, charming, dear as she is !" 
 
 *• Does beauty enter in at the ears?" asked 
 Spencer Newcombe. 
 
 " Not exactly; but it goes a great way 
 towards making what does enter there agreea- 
 ble," replied Lord Baskerville. 
 
 <« What do you say, Sir Henry D'Aubigne," 
 addressing that celebrated artist : " is not the 
 Sontag exceedingly lovely ?*' 
 
 " Indeed I have not yet had an opportunity 
 of judging," was Sir Henry's discreet reply ; 
 for he gave offence to none. " There is consi- 
 derable grace and play of countenance cer- 
 tainly; a fine-cut eye; and on the whole I 
 should say she was a very pretty creature. But 
 really, in this land of beauty, (looking round 
 him as he spoke), one may be allowed to be 
 difficult, and where there is so much to dazzle, 
 confess oneself unable to decide." 
 
 " Sir Henry is almost as graceful in his 
 speech as in his portraits ; I wish I were such a 
 poet!" sighed Mr. Ombre, "and then I might 
 hope to turn all the ladies' hearts, for they ac- 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
98 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 cept yuur homage, but will not mine, although 
 I nevei flatter." 
 
 Thus did the poet and the painter mutuall}^ 
 pay their allotted fealties to the sovereigns of 
 ton, when the whisper ran round the room that 
 the Sontag was again about to sing. 
 
 During the performance, Lord Albert 
 D'Esterre was standing at the back of Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon's chair, addressing to her, at 
 intervals, his conversation on the merits of the 
 singer. 
 
 " I am told," said Lady Hamlet Vernon, 
 when the music ceased, " that the Sontag is 
 very like Lady Adeline Seymour. You will 
 know, Lord Albert D'Esterre ?" Lord Albert 
 coloured. 
 
 " I do not see the least resemblance to my 
 cousin ;'* and then he added : " I was not 
 aware that Lady Adeline had the advantage of 
 your acquaintance." 
 
 " I have not the pleasure of her's neither — 
 I hear she is a most delightful person !" Lord 
 Albert again coloured, and felt his heart beat 
 quicker at the mention of a name so dear to him. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 99 
 
 " Is Lady Dunmelraise expected in town 
 this year ?" continued Lady Hamlet Vernon ; 
 *' I understand she has very bad health. A 
 very intimate friend of mine, from whom I 
 sometimes receive a letter, Mr. George Foley 
 — ^you may perhaps know him — and who is at 
 present staying at Dunmelraise, informs me 
 that she is far from well." 
 
 Lord Albert d'Esterre found himself irre- 
 sistibly drawn towards Lady Hamlet Vernon, 
 by the circumstance of her knowledge of Lady 
 Adeline Seymour, and they continued for a 
 long while in conversation — till interrupted bv 
 Lord Rainham, who, quitting the circle of the 
 political characters of the day, with whom he 
 had been in apparently close discussion, ad- 
 dressed Lady Hamlet Vernon on some other 
 topic, and Lord Albert turned aside. 
 
 " Tell me what is your real opinion of the 
 person you have been conversing with ?" said 
 Lord Rainham, in a low voice, while his small 
 quick eye followed Lord Albert ; " is he clever ? 
 has he talent — tact, or any other serviceable 
 quality ?" — " I hardly know how to answer in- 
 F 2 
 
100 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 quiries of such depth," answered Lady Hamlet 
 Vei'non, sniihng ; " had you asked me if he 
 were agreeable, I could have answered yes. 
 But to what do your questions tend — are they 
 general or particular ; or are they political, or 
 what?" 
 
 " Oh, I mean, is he like other people, like 
 other young men — empty — and conceited? —or 
 has he wherewithal to make his conversation 
 endurable — worth listening to — point— repartee 
 — subject — does he talk of people or of things ?'* 
 " Of both. But shall I add another to your 
 list of inquiries — To what side of the question 
 does he lean ? Does not this sum up all you 
 would know from me ? And what if I should 
 tell you — I know nothing about the matter?" 
 
 " Psha ! well : that may be too — what do 
 you think — ?" 
 
 " Why I think him very handsome." 
 
 " Aye, may be so; I dare say he is — but -" 
 
 " But has he avowed his pohtical creed ? 
 
 will he support your favourite measures, or 
 
 oppose them ? I know that is all you wish me 
 
 to say," replied Lady Hamlet Vernon. 
 
TITF. FXCLUSIVES. 101 
 
 " Why, to be sure, one judges in these days 
 of a man's sense a little by his politics — one 
 learns whether he thinks at all, or follows his 
 interests." 
 
 " Oh, you all do that, my dear lord. But 
 come ; I will tell you what I think of Lord 
 Albert d'Esterre: I think he is worth winning 
 —and—'' 
 
 " You will try," said Lord Rainham. 
 
 " Fi done ! — now I will tell you no more." 
 And Lady Hamlet Vernon left the foiled diplo- 
 matist to lament the failure of his mission, and 
 learn to play his part better for the future. 
 
 The evening, or rather the night, was wear- 
 ing fast away ; the Sontag had sung three 
 times, and those who had formed part of Lady 
 Tilney's first soiree choisie were soon to be left 
 in possession only of the recollections — no — 
 not the recollections — the life of the aggregate 
 assembled there would banish such an exercise 
 of mental powers — but in possession of the fact, 
 that they had been of the chosen number ; that 
 they had heard the favourite of the hour, Tiot 
 in the too-frequented Opera, but in the privacy 
 
102 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 of the drawing-room ; and that they alone could 
 justly, therefore, weigh her merits, and deter- 
 mine her defects. 
 
 In follies such as these a large portion of Lady 
 Tilney's associates were sure to find gratifica- 
 tion on the morrow. And it might have been 
 well had all contented themselves with these, so 
 comparatively harmless, although such worth- 
 less, fruits oi exclusive ton; but it may be feared 
 that, with some, the result of that evening, 
 and the prospect of others to succeed it of the 
 same kind, held out objects of a far different 
 complexion, which a sure immunity from cen- 
 sure, and a complete freedom from obnoxious 
 comparisons, successfully tended to promote. 
 
 Lord Albert d'Esterre had turned away 
 from a group of young men with whom he had 
 been conversing, and whose discourse, assum- 
 ing a tone and character equally indelicate and 
 revolting to his feelings, he thus endeavoured 
 to avoid, when he found himself near Lady 
 Boileau. 
 
 " Lord Albert d'Esterre," she said, address- 
 ing him, " if you will excuse an invitation so 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. l03 
 
 destitute of form, will you do Lord Boileau 
 and myself the pleasure of dining with us on 
 Saturday — I will send you a card." Lord 
 Albert bowed with courtesy, and expressed 
 himself sorry that he was already engaged , 
 and, after some conversation of little interest, 
 as Lady Boileau 's carriage was announced, 
 she left the room. Lesly Winyard, with the 
 familiarity of one well acquainted, whispered 
 in Lord Albert's ear — 
 
 " You have echapped belle from that." . 
 " What do you mean 1" asked the latter. 
 " Why, I mean that you have escaped a most 
 uncomfortable concern by just refusing the 
 invitation to the Boileaus." 
 
 " I thought I heard you say to Lady 
 Boileau but now that you would be delighted 
 to wait upon her," 
 
 " Oh yes, certainly, one says those sort of 
 things ; and if nothing better occurs, one does 
 them; — but it does not always follow: for 
 instance, if any one were to ask me whom I 
 liked better, or if you, or some equally pleasant 
 
104 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 person, were to propose our dining together at 
 Crockford's — " 
 
 " I am not a member of Crockford's," said 
 Lord Albert d'Esterre, gravely. 
 
 " Oh ! but your name is down, and you are 
 certain of being admitted on the next ballot, 
 and — " Lord Albert attempted to reply, but 
 Lesly Winyard continued, " and, as I was 
 telling you, if a pleasant dinner was prepared 
 at Crockey's, I should, of course, not starve 
 myself at the Boileaus." 
 
 " I confess myself at a loss to comprehend 
 what you mean.'* 
 
 " Well then, some day go and try; find 
 yourself frozen in rooms where the fire is lit 
 only five minutes before the hour of your 
 expected arrival — starve at the hands of the 
 very worst cook in England, — and then, when 
 you hear that my Lady spends twelve guineas 
 on a new bonnet, squanders thousands on her 
 journies to Paris, and ruins Boileau in articles 
 for her toilette, marvel — but the thing is so." 
 
 " Is it possible ?" Lord Albert continued 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 105 
 
 saying to himself, as the person who had been 
 talking to him turned away, half in derision of 
 his unsophisticated expressions and manner of 
 receiving what he said,—" is it possible that so 
 much refinement of duplicity can exist, for an 
 end so trivial— where the gratification of the 
 spirit of falsehood, or the indulgence of an 
 ill-bred impertinence, is the only object ?" 
 
 Whilst thus musing, and preparing to leave 
 a scene which, as he became more acquainted 
 with the actors, appeared httle suited to his 
 tastes or modes of thinking, he saw Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon approach the door unattended. 
 A recollection that she alone, in the manner 
 she spoke of Lady Adeline Seymour, had 
 seemed to have any sentiment in common with 
 himself, made him move towards her, and 
 inquire if he could be of any service in seeing 
 her to her carriage. 
 
 " I do not know if it is up, ' was her reply, 
 " but perhaps you will have the goodness to 
 ask." He did so, and in the interval, before it 
 was announced, they continued conversing. 
 " Je vous felicite;' said Lord Rainham, ad- 
 f5 
 
106 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 dressing Lady Hamlet Vernon in a low tone 
 as he passed, and looking significantly at the 
 same time at Lord Albert d'Esterre. 
 
 " There is no cause" she replied, '• I am 
 waiting for my carriage, and I think it will never 
 come." 
 
 " Discrete,^' answered Lord Rainham, as 
 he moved towards the door, and signalled what 
 he had observed to Lesly Winyard, whose 
 answering nod expressed concurrence in his 
 suspicions. 
 
 It was long before Lady Hamlet Vernon's 
 carriage arrived, and she continued talking 
 with Lord Albert on various topics ; the 
 societies of Paris and Vienna, compared with 
 that of London ; the state of the Opera, and 
 the prevalent bad taste of music on the Conti- 
 nent. She inquired for many who in their 
 exile in this country had been known to her, 
 and with whom, in the splendour of restored 
 rank and fortunes, she found Lord Albert 
 had lived on terms of close intimacy. In 
 speaking of them he seemed to dwell with 
 pleasure on their recollection of the services 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 107 
 
 rendered them in England, as a bright trait in 
 the human character, which betokened feelings 
 that it was plain to see were in accordance 
 with his own generous and noble nature — and 
 which had formed the basis of that familiar 
 intercourse in which he had lived with them. 
 Although the reverse of this picture has been 
 ascribed to too many foreigners, who have 
 with justice been accused of ingratitude, it 
 ought not therefore to be recorded that all 
 were subject to such condemnation. Lord 
 Albert knew otherwise. 
 
 As he extolled their characters and perfec- 
 tions, and spoke of the charms which their 
 society had always possessed for him. Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon listened with increased atten- 
 tion, as if she would have gathered from his 
 discourse the individual sources of that satis- 
 faction, which he professed in so lively a man- 
 ner to have found. " You are warm and enthu- 
 siastic in your eulogiums," she said : " I hope 
 that in England, also, you may find those 
 whom, with the same reasons, and an equal 
 
108 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 ardour of attachment, you will be disposed to 
 admit to your friendship." 
 
 There was something in the tone in which 
 these words were addressed to him, that made 
 Lord Albert d'Esterre for a moment fix his 
 eyes on the speaker ; but they were as quickly 
 withdrawn, when he saw Lady Hamlet Vernon 
 blush, apparently confused, and then pluck a 
 flower from a vase near her, while she endea- 
 voured to hide her face by inhaling the per- 
 fume. There w^as an awkwardness in the 
 pause which ensued, which neither seemed at 
 the moment able to surmount; when fortu- 
 nately Lady Hamlet Vernon's carriage was 
 called, and as Lord Albert handed her to it, 
 he received an invitation to her house in the 
 evening, when Lady Tilney's coterie were to 
 assemble there. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 109 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " newspapers" — " THE PARK." 
 
 The newspapers of the following morning- 
 had devoted columns to the description of 
 Lady Borrowdale*s entertainment, and the 
 numbering of the distinguished persons assem- 
 bled there ; the dresses, the apartments, the 
 decorations, the viands, and every minute 
 arrangement, were all detailed with an accu- 
 racy which an eye-witness of the scene would 
 readily have acknowledged, and which none 
 but an eye-witness could possibly have suc- 
 ceeded in giving. 
 
 In a far less conspicuous and pretending man- 
 ner, did the announcement figure in the same 
 paper, that ''• Lady Tilney yesterday evening 
 received a select circle of her friends at her house 
 
 in Street, where the Sontag gave several 
 
 specimens of her unrivalled talents.'* An unin- 
 structed reader would have been misled by 
 
1 10 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 these harbingers of public events ; and from 
 the tone of the respective affiches feel justified 
 in the conclusion, that the one must have been 
 the production of Lady Borrowdale*s own 
 pen, or at least from her dictation, while the 
 other appeared naturally as the result of that 
 publicity, to which the actions of the great 
 ai'e always subjected. But this would have 
 been far from the fact, or rather the very 
 opposite to it; it was to the milliners, the con- 
 fectioners, the musicians, the maitre d^hotel^ and 
 the other individuals interested in affording 
 publicity to the dresses and entertainments of 
 their employers, that the long and circumstan- 
 tial details of Lady Borrowdale's, or any other 
 great assembly, are to be attributed ; free from 
 any petty interference, or the gratification of a 
 silly vanity on the part of the principals them- 
 selves. 
 
 That this was the fact, was a circumstance 
 which could not escape Lady Tilney ; and 
 aware that such evidence, if it reached the 
 public eye, would destroy at once all the 
 sacredness of her select coteries^ and the 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. Ill 
 
 charms of the societe choisie which she was 
 labouring to form, she determined on suppress- 
 ing it, and issued orders, not to be disobeyed 
 with impunity, for the effectual prevention of 
 any announcement of whom the circle con- 
 sisted of on the evening in question, and of its 
 proceedings, with the exception that it excelled 
 all other of the same date, by the possession 
 of Sontag's inimitable powers. A mystery, 
 which suited well with the ideas of Lady 
 Tilney and of her friends on the subject of 
 exclusive ton, would thus, she conceived, be 
 thrown over their actions, and the rites of the 
 supreme deity of fashion impenetrably veiled 
 from the prying, inquisitive eye, and vulgar 
 imitation of its pretending votaries. 
 
 Humility is a duty of as especial injunction 
 in the sacred volume, as its opposite is of strict 
 prohibition ; and let it not surprise, therefore, 
 that Lord Albert d'Esterre, young in the 
 world's masquerade, and imbued with feelings, 
 which if not religiously grounded, were at least, 
 from their purity, analogous to the moral doc- 
 trine which religion teaches, should be struck. 
 
1 12 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 as he perused the two paragraphs, by the ap- 
 parent vanity of the one compared with the 
 unostentatious wording of the other, and drew 
 his inferences accordingly. 
 
 " What silly pomp in Lady Borrowdale; 
 how unworthy her rank — how positively little, 
 thus to set forth the splendour of her enter- 
 tainment, which is worth nothing when it loses 
 the charact<:ir of being a natural consequence 
 of her station in society. What could be more 
 brilliant than Lady Tilney's assembly ; and yet 
 there is no parade — no catalogue raisonnee of 
 all that was seen, done, or said in her drawing- 
 rooms — how much more like a woman of real 
 fashion." 
 
 Had Lord Albert d'Esterre been acquainted 
 with the actual truth, in all probability the 
 opinion which he passed on this trivial circum- 
 stance, as he took his breakfast, would have 
 been the very reverse of what it was ,- and, 
 however he might hold cheap any silly osten- 
 tatious display of wealth or rank, he would 
 certainly have been more ready to overlook 
 Lady Borrowdale's carelessness whether her 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 113 
 
 assembly was reported accurately, or not at all, 
 than he would have been to forgive Lady 
 Tilney's over-anxiety and ultra tonism (if 
 such a word may be coined), to screen the 
 names and numbers of her guests, and give 
 celebrity to the coterie by making it a matter 
 of secrecy and of injunction to her domestics. 
 The mornings of Lord Albert, however, 
 were generally passed in reflections of much 
 more use and importance than such as news- 
 paper subjects could furnish. During the 
 whole of his residence abroad, his time had 
 been employed in acquirements of a solid kind. 
 He had studied men and things — had made 
 himself acquainted with the constitutions, go- 
 vernments, resources, and political importance 
 of all the great European states; had lived 
 amongst their inhabitants for the purpose of 
 acquiring that accurate knowledge of their 
 habits and dispositions, which tends so much 
 to a just appreciation of the line of policy to 
 be observed towards them, and which must 
 ever be influenced by an acquaintance with 
 national character. 
 
114 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 While receiving their instructions he had 
 formed friendships with some of their most dis- 
 tinguished literati in all the different branches 
 of knowledge, and had returned to England 
 fully prepared for the commencement of that 
 public career to which his inclination led him ; 
 and in which, amongst those who knew him 
 intimately, and could appreciate his abilities, 
 he was justly expected to shine. 
 
 The habit of occupation which he had formed 
 whilst thus pursuing his studies on the Conti- 
 nent, did not desert Lord Albert d'Esterre, 
 even in the noise and bustle of London society, 
 in the midst of which he now found himself; 
 but in the mass of business which now fell 
 upon him in consequence of his taking pos- 
 session of his large estates, in the conferences of 
 lawyers and agents, in the answering of letters 
 on these matters of varied interest which now- 
 occupied him, and in the attentions to those 
 minor cases of life, the etiquettes and formes of 
 the world, he still found leisure for serious and 
 studious application ; nor indulged in the idle- 
 ness of fashion till the duties of the morninfj 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 115 
 
 had been performed, when alone he availed 
 himself of them, for the purpose of relaxation 
 and the unbending of his mind. 
 
 It was the morning after Lady Tiney's 
 soiree, and when he had gone through his 
 usual course of occupations, that Lord Albert 
 recollected, with what would be called old- 
 fashioned politeness, " the propriety of leaving 
 his cards with the persons to whom he had been 
 presented the preceding evening, and more 
 particularly with Lady Tilney herself; and he 
 determined to do so on his way to the Park. 
 On arriving at Lady Tilney's door he was in- 
 formed that she was at home (for his name 
 was already on the list of those who had the 
 entree), and he was preparing to dismount 
 when he saw the carriage of the Countess Lein- 
 seno-en drive up. She bowed to him, and he 
 was presently at the portiere to hand her out ; 
 and offering her his arm, conducted her to 
 Lady Tilney's boudoir. " Comment 9a va-t-il 
 chere Comtesse," said the former addressing 
 her ; " I congratulate you on possessing de 
 acquaintance of de only polite Englishman I 
 
116 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 have ever known — Dere is milor Albert d'Es- 
 terre had vraiement de galanterie to get off 
 his horse and conduct me from my carriage. 
 N'est-ce pas merveilleux in dis country !" 
 
 Lord Albert bowed to the compliment ; but 
 added : " I am sure Lady Tilney will not allow 
 such a cruel sentence on our nation to pass 
 even your lips, Comtesse ; and will agree with 
 me, that though a few may have taken up a 
 false system, and assumed an air of disregard 
 to the courtesies of life, yet it is only such as 
 seek for distinction by false means, and by 
 doing the reverse of what others do : we can- 
 not, therefore, allow the censure to be general 
 on us all; indeed, I do my sex but justice I 
 hope, when I say, that they are in this country 
 invariably the friends and supporters of women, 
 and — " "Oh yes; perhaps if one tumble 
 down, or break one's leg, or meet vid any 
 personal danger or affront, dis may be so ; but 
 dese affairs do not arise every day : and for de 
 little cares of de men, les petits soins, I never 
 knew one of your countrymen who knew vat 
 dev meant." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 1]7 
 
 Lord Albert smiled at the manner In which 
 the argument in favour of his politeness was 
 maintained; but perceiving Lady Tilney little 
 inclined to keep up a conversation on the 
 subject of national manners, he refrained from 
 drawing the comparison, which would have 
 been just, between a natural politeness, arising 
 as much from feeling and imbued delicacy of 
 sentiment, as from habit, and the mere outward 
 forms of courtesy and etiquette, which in 
 those most profuse of them have seldom an}^ 
 tiling of sincerity. 
 
 " Well, I suppose ve must go to dat tire- 
 some Almack dis evening. You go ?" said the 
 Comtesse Leinsengen, addressing Lady Til- 
 ney ; " for my part I tink I shall viddraw my 
 name." 
 
 " Oh, certainly I shall go," replied the 
 latter, " for it is absolutely necessary you 
 know, my dear Comtesse, that some of us 
 should be there ; and besides I am of opinion 
 that as people must have something to keep 
 them quiet, and which they think recherche^ 
 Almack's is as good as any thing else, and 
 
118 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 therefore I shall support it — In regard to us, 
 I agree perfectly with you, it is passee, and 
 no longer what was intended." The Com- 
 tesse shrugged her shoulders: " You will l3<i 
 at Almack^s to-night," said Lady Tilney, 
 turning to Lord Albert D'Esterre, " although 
 we are giving it such a bad name, will you not ?'' 
 " Your hours of admission are limited you 
 know, and I scarcely think I can get away 
 
 in time from " 
 
 " There is no debate of consequence, is 
 there?" rejoined Lady Tilney with earnestness 
 — "I may forget, but should there be, of 
 
 course " 
 
 " I did not mean from the house," continued 
 Lord Albert, " but I am going to dine where 
 I shall meet Baron H. ; I have known him on 
 the continent, and his conversation is so very 
 interesting." — " And so very long," added the 
 Comtesse Leinsengen, interrupting him, and 
 with a look which was intended to repay many 
 discussions she had been constrained to endure 
 atLady Tilney's hands; " I wonder he ever 
 finds people to listen to him."—" But where 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 119 
 
 do you dine," said Lady Tilney, seeming to 
 disregard the opinion just uttered. " I know 
 Barnette, and he is very agreeable, very 
 clever, but I wonder he allows himself to be 
 so feted by people so little known in the world. 
 I shall be happy, I am sure — " 
 
 " I am to meet him at the Miss D.'s," re- 
 plied Lord Albert, interrupting her, and who 
 felt that this was the point he was called upon 
 to answer, and not that of who were or who 
 were not known in Lady Tilney's estimation. 
 
 " And do you really visit them ?" said the 
 latter with great surprise, " are you not 
 ennuyeio death at their parties?" 
 
 " Ennuye ! no — but then 1 must premise that 
 I never am so under any circumstances." 
 
 " Ah, hon! do tell me how that is, Milor," 
 said the Comtesse Leinsengen, " precisely, do 
 tell me how you avoid infection from dat preva- 
 lent disease of your island, dat hore you call it." 
 
 " Oh, I always do what I like," replied 
 J^ord Albert with a smile. 
 
 " Cela ne fait rien a I'affaire, one do not 
 always know vat von like." 
 
120 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " I have nothing to reply to that ; but for 
 myself, if I do not find exactly what I like 
 I always endeavour to extract entertainment 
 from the persons or place, where, or with 
 whom I may chance to be." 
 
 " Par exemple, at the Miss D.*s, what can 
 you find at their horrible conversaziones to 
 keep you awake,'' asked Lady Tilney, ''c'est 
 un ennui a perir, it makes me yawn to think 
 of it." 
 
 " Oh, he goes to do penance for his sins, 
 and purchase indulgence for dose to come, 
 n'est ce pas, Milor ?" 
 
 " Neither, I assure you ; I was really more 
 entertained during a soiree there last week than 
 I have been since my return to England." 
 
 " Ah, le beau compliment ! de grace do not 
 avow it," said the ComteSse. 
 
 Lady Tilney looked amazed at these opi- 
 nions, like one in doubt if she had not with 
 too much precipitation admitted an enemy 
 within the camp, in the person of Lord Albert; 
 and whilst canvassing the necessity of retriev- 
 ing her error, by his future exclusion, and at 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 1!21 
 
 the same time the policy of retaining one 
 of his interest and promise in her circle, with 
 a view to his reform, she directed her enquiries 
 to him in a tone almost dictatorial, as to the 
 ground of his faith in the merits of the so- 
 ciety he had been extolling. ^' Will you tell 
 me, Lord Albert, of whom are these parties 
 generally composed? I have yet to learn that 
 there are distinguished individuals capable of 
 creating such great interest apart from what is 
 generally termed the society of London ; or, 
 I must conclude — but I will not do that 
 hastily— that you yourself have imbibed ideas 
 quite foreign to propriety, and have given way 
 to associations quite unfitting your situation in 
 the world." 
 
 Lord Albert in his turn seemed astonished 
 at these categories, but answered with perfect 
 €ase : " I have found at the Miss D — 's many 
 whom I meet elsewhere and every where ; but 
 my chief attraction is the number of talented 
 persons who are often assembled in the circle, 
 and whose conversation affords me the greatest 
 interest, and much instruction." 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
122 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " One do not go into society to be in- 
 structed," said the Comtesse Leinsengen with 
 a sneer. 
 
 " Surely not," added Lady Tilney, " clever 
 people are well in their way, — I mean your 
 really learned persons — men who have read, 
 travelled, written all their lives, but then it is 
 in one's own apartment in the morning that 
 they are sufferable. I know but very few in- 
 deed, who are presentable, or who have the 
 true talent of turning their powers to account, 
 without torturing one to death with their 
 learning ; and then without great circumspec- 
 tion they become familiar, and one is obliged 
 to take so much trouble, and be so much on 
 one's guard, to keep them in their place. Be 
 assured. Lord Albert, you will find this to be 
 the case," continued Lady Tilney, " if you 
 give unlimited encouragement to gens de ce 
 grade — There is but one subject on which you 
 may listen to them, I mean politics ; but how 
 few there are of the class who are enlightened 
 enough to speak on that subject. We have, it 
 is true, D — and B~ C — , and the Count K — , 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 123 
 
 sometimes with us ; and among our own coun- 
 trymen, we have M — and a few others, but — " 
 
 The Countess Leinsengen's impatience was 
 here manifested by the usual shrug of her 
 shoulders, and as she perceived Lady Tilney 
 embarking on the interminable ocean of po- 
 'iitics, turning quickly to Lord Albert she 
 enquired, 
 
 " But who may be de very clever persons, 
 Milor, who give you so much amusement in 
 dis very charming society ?" 
 
 " Where there are so many to name, it is 
 hard to select," replied Lord Albert ; " but 
 there was the great traveller, who has been 
 further into the interior of Africa than any 
 one has yet penetrated. His descriptions of 
 deserts, and skies, and camels, conveyed me 
 beside him in his pilgrimage; the trackless 
 sands in which no insect can find subsistence ; 
 the well by which the caravan halted, the 
 only visible friend of the traveller throughout 
 the vast desert; the wide canopy of starry 
 heavens, spread out above ; those heavens and 
 those stars, of whose clear brightness we in 
 g2 
 
124 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 these cloudy regions have but a faint idea ; 
 the varied and picturesque garb of guides and 
 guards ; the meekness of the patient camel ; 
 the silence of the march, unless some alarm 
 from the fierce and wandering tribes of the 
 country disturbed its tranquillity; and then 
 the noise, and gesticulation, and activity, which 
 accompanied the pitching of the tents for the 
 night's or noon's repose, were circumstances 
 all described and dwelt upon by the traveller, 
 with a nervous strength and accuracy of deli- 
 neation which nothing but original description 
 can give, and which came to me with so much 
 force and truth, and such beauty of imagery, 
 that I thought, as he spoke, travelling was the 
 only delightful way of passing one's life." 
 
 Lady Tilney and the Comtesse Leinsengen 
 exchanged looks, -while Lord Albert was thus 
 giving way to the natural feelings of a mind 
 }^et untinctured with the follies of fashion, and 
 which saw no degradation to his rank in seek- 
 ing and finding amusement in the society of 
 enlightened persons. 
 
 " Tell me," at length asked Lady Tilney, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 125 
 
 with an expression something like contempt, 
 '' had you no changement de decoration ; was all 
 your talk about camels, and deserts, and wells, 
 and stars? — " Ah," cried the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen, " avoiiez moi^ Milor, que la nouvelle 
 dujour vaut hien mleux.''' Lord Albert smiled, 
 and allowed that this was amusing too in its 
 way ; but he added, 
 
 " We had a change of divertissement I assure 
 you, after dinner ; li cantar eke neV anima si 
 sente took the place of conversation for a time, 
 and Mr. M— " 
 
 " Oh he is well enough," said Lady Tilney, 
 *' in his place, and sings charmingly ;" (for the 
 person in question was the Anacreon of her 
 party, and sometimes tuned his lays to sub- 
 jects on which party feeling and political ani- 
 mosity loved to cast derision) — " he is well 
 enough." — " And sings, do you not think," 
 rejoined Lord Albert, " divinely ? I have 
 heard others sing finely — sweetly — scientifi- 
 cally — even feelingly; but such lightness, such 
 magic bursts of imagery, such painting of 
 sounds, I never heard but in his song." 
 
126 THE EXCLUSIVES, 
 
 " And you have heard de Sontag : you 
 heard her dis last evening ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, often ; I heard her at Vienna before 
 she came to England." 
 
 *' Well, and you prefer dis little gentleman 
 — tout les gens so7tt respectables ;'' and she 
 sneered, as if in contradiction to the words. 
 
 " Perhaps the parties will not bear a compa- 
 rison, '^ added Lady Tilney, jealous of one 
 whom she patronized, and whose merits she 
 had in a measure acknowledged; and then, 
 turning to Lord Albert, she continued — 
 
 " You must not mistake me, my dear lord ; I 
 have no objection to the sort of thing you have 
 been describing. 1 honour talent, and delight 
 in conversation ; but then it must be on a pro- 
 per footing; in circles v/here those persons 
 who talk, and talk very well I dare say, should 
 be under restraint; where they would feel them- 
 selves debarred entirely from undue license, and 
 a consideration that they formed part of the 
 society, and where they would appear in their 
 true characters — to direct and amuse others 
 when called upon; just as actors and singers 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 127 
 
 some upon the stage to play their parts, and 
 then retire. Now in the circle you allude to 
 all this necessary distinction is overthrown at 
 once — every one there, from the nature of 
 things, considers himself pair et compagnon of 
 the company, and behaves accordingly. In 
 small rooms — " 
 
 " On meurt de chaud ou de froid, par paren- 
 these,^ interrupted the Comtesse, who dreaded 
 one of Lady Tilney's long discussions; " for 
 dere is one moment a thorough air, and de 
 next all is shut up, and one fries vid de fire ; 
 but dat is always de case where dere is no poele 
 stove — However, adieu ma belle ; I must go 
 and leave you and Milor dere to settle all de 
 points about dat socicte which he likes so much 
 — adieu — au revoir^ Milor ^je vous salue" 
 
 Lord Albert would have followed his natu- 
 ral impulse of politeness, and handed the Com- 
 tesse Leinsengen to her carriage; disposed, 
 perhaps, also to escape further conversation 
 with Lady Tilney on topics where they seemed 
 to hold no ideas in common. This, however, 
 he was not permitted to do, the Comtesse de- 
 
128 THE EXCLUSIVES; 
 
 dining his offered arm, saying she should neve? 
 be forgiven if Lady Tilney were deprived of 
 the triumph of converting him from his errors ; 
 — and closing the door, as she insisted on his 
 remaining, Lord Albert v^^as left tete-a-tete 
 with Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Do you not think she is terribly gone off 
 this year ?' said the latter. 
 
 " I do not know if I understand you. If It 
 be that her beauty is gone off, I should say 
 yes — but I never heard she was handsome." 
 
 " No?" asked Lady Tilney, with an expres* 
 sion of satisfaction ; " but she is surely very 
 distingue looking." — " She has the advantage 
 of that species of polish which the world gives," 
 was Lord Albert's reply; "but this often covers 
 an unpolished mind — and I am not sure it is 
 the first thing I should look for." 
 
 " I like nature as much as you can do, my 
 
 dear lord; I ever stood up for that liberty and 
 
 freedom attendant on persons not quite ^lY an 
 
 feu; but I must confess that I like to have 
 
 them a little dressed, 7iot perfectly raw,^^ 
 
 How far Lord Albert might have found it 
 
THE F.XCLUSIVES. 129 
 
 possible to agree with Lady Tilney in this new 
 question, so suddenly started, it was not left 
 him to discover; for at that moment fresh 
 visitors were announced — and, as they entered, 
 Lord Albert prepared to depart. Not, how- 
 ever, till Lady Tilney — who, spite of what she 
 called his false theories, saw he ^vas a person by 
 no means to be hastily rejected — had bidden 
 him to her box at the Opera on Saturday even- 
 ing. " I am determined to be at the rising of 
 the curtain," she said, " to hear the Sontag — 
 only it is so difficult to be in time. Were you 
 ever in time in your life ?" — 
 
 '« Yes, I have," answered Lord Albert, 
 smiling. 
 
 " Then be at the very premier conge dHarche 
 on Saturday," added Lady Tilney, as he bowed 
 to her and left the apartment; glad to have 
 gotten over a visit of ceremony, where, from 
 the tone of conversation which had passed, he 
 augured that little in future would be found 
 consonant to his ideas or his tastes. 
 
 As he rode from the door. Lord Albert 
 turned his horse towards the Park. It was 
 g5 
 
ISO THE EXCLUSrvES, 
 
 one of the first Spring days that had shone in 
 the early year, and all the gayest of London 
 seemed hastening to enjoy its genial influence. 
 — Yes, even the weary and the blaze in life's 
 crooked paths appeared for a moment to ac- 
 knowledge the charm which the brilliancy of 
 the scene and the brightness of the atmosphere 
 combined to form. Smiles were in every face 
 and cheerfulness in every movement. 
 
 Than the throng of Hyde Park there is per- 
 haps no promenade in Europe more dazzling; 
 none where more magnificence of equipage, or 
 more beauty of human form is displayed; and 
 it is difficult for the young, and the handsome 
 more particularly, not to feel intoxicated as 
 they enter on a stage where the whole appear- 
 ance is so fair, and where a consciousness of 
 personal charms assures them they must them- 
 selves shine. — It is not probable that Lord 
 Albert d'Esterre, philosophical as he has just 
 appeared while discoursing with Lady Tilne}", 
 was altogether free from feelings so natural to 
 his years, or from that species of vanity which 
 seeks a display of personal beauty, or whatever 
 other quality may best glitter in such a scene. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 131 
 
 He was young, strikingly handsome, pos- 
 sessing a form of perfect symmetry, and more- 
 over one of the finest horsemen of his time. 
 What wonder then if, as he sought the crowded 
 road of the Park, something like self-love had 
 a share in the direction which he took, and the 
 choice made of the spot where he might breathe 
 the balmy air of such a day. As he joined some 
 of his acquaintances in the Ride, and stopped 
 to speak to others, passing from right to left 
 and from north to south in the gay and splen- 
 did crowd, his recollections were naturally 
 turned to similar parades in other countries, 
 and he felt pride as an Englishman in con- 
 sidering how far our national display of beauty 
 and of wealth outshone that of other capitals. 
 
 «* Neither Vienna, nor Paris, nor St. Peters- 
 burgh, can rival this, Glenmore," he said, in 
 the buoyancy of his gratification at the scene 
 — " nothing that we ever beheld there is com- 
 parable with this— now is it?'* 
 
 " You have chosen your day well," replied 
 the latter, " because, if it had been one of 
 those three hundred and sixty-five days of mist 
 
132 THE EXCLUSIVE^. 
 
 which we generally enjoy in this metropolis, I 
 should be disposed to dispute the point with 
 you, and set the sunshine of a Parisian Spring 
 against the brilliancy of our ladies' eyes and 
 the splendour of their retinues. And would 
 you not agree with me?*' 
 
 " Why, as a mere animal, I might, perhaps 
 ■ — climate does affect our physique, I will 
 allow ; but the national pride — " 
 
 " Oh, bah ! my dear d'Esterre your national 
 pride in this instance has nothing to do with 
 the matter; — and if the belles of Paris, or 
 Vienna, or the Calmuck beauties of St. Peters- 
 burgh, could rival ours, their horses and coach- 
 makers surpass what you see before you, and 
 their summers be eternal, your amour de la 
 patrie, I fear, would not long continue to bias 
 your judgment. No, no, d'Esterre, that feeling 
 does not live on food like this; but we have 
 other and better sources for it, as you well 
 know and feel." 
 
 Lord Albert's face shewed, in the generous 
 glow which suffused it^ a sense of his friend^s 
 appreciation of his sounder judgment ; but he 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 133 
 
 added, with a smile, " if you will not allow my 
 present admiration to proceed from such a 
 noble spring, at least do not accuse me of a 
 reverse of sentiment, if I draw a comparison, 
 in another respect, not at all favourable to my 
 countrymen. Do you observe that line of men 
 drawn up in battle array, and with impertinent 
 nonchalance passing judgment on the women 
 who drive before them ? It must, or ought to 
 be, at least, offensive to the pride and delicacy 
 of the former; it would shock any European, 
 and is a custom more suited to eastern despo- 
 tism, and to the rules of an Asiatic slave mart, 
 than to a civilized nation." 
 
 " But do you conclude, therefore, that the 
 men are alone to blame in this ?" asked Lord 
 Glenmore ; " and is it to be presumed that 
 they would have forgotten the courtesies and 
 respect due from them, if women in general 
 had been more true to the delicacies and 
 decencies of their own sex. Do justice to the 
 men while you blame the practice of the day, 
 and acknowledge, that if the nod, or motion of 
 the hand, or impertinent glance of recognition 
 
134 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 now takes place of the bow and respectful saluta- 
 tion of other times, yet that there must have been 
 a sufferance of the change, if not an encourage- 
 ment of it, and an equal alteration of manners on 
 the other hand, or it would never have been." 
 " I dare say you are right, Glenmore ; and 
 if so the more the pity. But altliough custom 
 sanctions all change in reciprocal demeanour 
 between men and women, yet because the stiff 
 and maniere address of the last century Vv^as 
 laid aside with the silk coat, and bag-wig, and 
 sword, I do not see why courtly manners should 
 have been exiled at the same time. So long as 
 society is to exist on a proper footing, there 
 must be an outward shew of proper feelings ; 
 and when all deference in minor points ceases, 
 it is quite certain that all consideration of 
 respect in more serious matters will cease too." 
 — " What is that I hear?^ cried Lesly Win- 
 yard, riding up to Lord Glenmore's side, and 
 nodding familiarly to his companion; — " what 
 is that I hear about proper feelings, and all 
 consideration of respect? You are not mo- 
 ralizing in Hyde Park I hope. ' 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 135 
 
 '' D'Esterre says that you men do very wrong 
 to sit on your horses, rank and file, and let the 
 ladies parade before you ; and I think what he 
 says is true." 
 
 " Indeed !" replied Mr. Lesly Winyard, and 
 looking round in Lord Albert d'Esterre's face 
 with a sneer, " I believe if we were not to do 
 so, you would have very few beauties to admire 
 in your ride, — the women only come here to 
 see us." — " And what do you come for?* 
 asked Lord Glenmore smiling. — " Oh, to shew 
 ourselves, certainly: to he admired." Before 
 he could reply to the insufferable impertinence 
 of this speech — if indeed he would have 
 deemed it worthy any reply — an equipage 
 caught the eye of Lord Glenmore as it entered 
 the gate, and putting spurs to his horse he was 
 at its side in a moment and speaking to the 
 ladies in it. '' Whose carriage is that ?" asked 
 Lord Albert of Lesly Winyard, who continued 
 to saunter his horse in company with him. 
 
 " It's the Melcombe's,'' he replied, after a 
 pause, and having put the handle of his whip, 
 which contained a glass, to his eye — " it's the 
 
136 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Melcombe's : Georgina is a d — d fine girl. 
 Don't you know Georgina ? they say Glenmore 
 is smitten, — I'll go and see the fun ;" and, with 
 these words, this model of the gallantry of the 
 nineteenth century rode off. " What can he 
 mean," said Lord Albert to himself, " by calling 
 any woman familiarly by her name in that 
 manner, unless she be his sister or near 
 relative ; but to me, a stranger almost to him- 
 self, and to the party utterly unknown, what 
 abominable vulgarity, what detestable inso- 
 lence !" 
 
 There is no saying how far Lord Albert might 
 have gone on in his animadversions on the man- 
 ners of his sex, if he had been left quite to him- 
 self, for there was enough around him, and be- 
 fore his eyes, to provoke remark even in a mind 
 less alive to the niceties and decorum of polished 
 life. But his attention was called another way, 
 and he in turn was to become a subject of flip- 
 pant ridicule ; to be set down as a person a pre- 
 tension^ by the young men whose manners he 
 had very justly condemned, and who chose to 
 attribute to coxcombry and to affectation, a de- 
 
fME EXCLUSIVES. 137 
 
 meanour and a bearing which they had not the 
 power to imitate. 
 
 A graceful inclination of the head from some 
 lady passing in the throng, and whose feathers 
 waved in unison with the movement, as she 
 bowed to Lord Albert, caught his eye. He 
 gazed for a moment, not recognizing the party, 
 but lifted his hat courteously from his head, 
 and as he looked back to ascertain better who 
 it was, perceived the carriage had stopped near 
 the gate. Turning his horse, therefore, he rode 
 in the direction, and discovered that it was Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon who had saluted him. He ap- 
 proached the carriage, with all the air and gal- 
 lantry of a really high bred person ; thanked 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon for the honour she had 
 done him, in recognizing him in the crowd ; 
 apologized for his own blindness, and continued 
 for some minutes in conversation with her on 
 the beauty and gaiety of the scene, and on the 
 current topics of the day. His back was turned 
 at the time to the phalanx of horsemen, whose 
 ranks, and avowed occupation, had given occa- 
 sion to his remarks on the bad manners of the 
 
138 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 age ; and who now, assembled in closer body by 
 the gate, were ready to give their last glance of 
 scrutiny or recognition to the departing car- 
 riages. 
 
 " That's a fine horse that man is upon," said 
 Lord Tonnerre, pointing to Lord Albert; "who 
 the devil is he ?" 
 
 " Oh ! its d'Esterre," said Lesly Winyard, 
 " do you not know him a mile off, by all his 
 bows and grimaces : for me, I could ' wind him 
 i'the lobby, any where.' " 
 
 " Damn the fellow, what business has he with 
 such a horse — can he ride ?" 
 
 " I should think not," drawled out Lord 
 Baskerville : " he is the most conceited animal 
 London has boasted for some centuries. I heard 
 him talk last night about that dear Sontag, till 
 I was sick." — " And, my lords and gentlemen," 
 said Lesly Winyard, in mock solemnity, '• he 
 talked not only most fancifullj^, as my Lord 
 Baskerville avers, last night, but on this 
 morning too : and upon what ? Divine, O ye 
 augurs ! declare it, ye soothsayers ! — Wliy he 
 discovered, in the very age and body of the 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 1S9 
 
 time — its forms and its complexion, and pro- 
 nounced our manners, rude ; our bearing, un- 
 like gentlemen ; our noble array here, barbaric 
 and uncivilized ; — in short, [assuming his natu- 
 ral tone] he is a d— d puppy. I caught him, 
 but now, preaching in this strain to Glenmore, 
 who, like a fool, said he agreed with him ! — A 
 general murmur burst from the circle which 
 had listened to Lesly Winyard, and the words 
 coxcomb, ass, puppy, poppinjay, and jacka- 
 napes, issued simultaneously from the lips of 
 these polished ultras of ton. 
 
 Lord Tonnerre alone was silent, but his fea- 
 tures shewed him to be as little in a mood 
 for gentleness as any of them. When having 
 grasped his rein, and put his horse on his 
 haunches, he glanced a look of intelligence to 
 those around him, and was off at full speed to- 
 wards the spot where Lord Albert, leaning from 
 his horse, was still conversing with Lady Ham- 
 let Vernon. Regardless of courtesy, or the con- 
 sequences of his impetuosity, he kept his violent 
 course till within half a neck of the carriage, 
 and then suddenly endeavoured to wheel round, 
 
140 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 and pass on the other side. Lord Albert's horse, 
 startled at this close and sudden approach, 
 plunged, and alarmed at the carriages and 
 noise, became, for a moment, unmanageable, 
 and broke away. His rider's admirable dexterity 
 and coolness, however, soon enabled him to rein 
 in this movement, and return towards the spot 
 from which he had started, and where his pre- 
 occupation had prevented his observing that a 
 crowd of horsemen had gathered, who partially 
 stood round, or were dismounting, seemingly 
 to assist in some accident. He moved at a 
 quicker pace, and found that Lord Tonnerre's 
 liorse, on being so roughly checked, had reared, 
 and fallen back on his rider. 
 
 Lord Albert was on his feet in an instant, 
 and making his way through the throng was 
 as eager in his inquiries, and prompt to render 
 assistance to the sufferer, as if he had been per- 
 sonally interested in him. He found, however, 
 no serious mischief had occurred. Lord Ton- 
 nere, with the exception of having been stun- 
 ned with the fall, and not yet able to rise, 
 seemed perfectly himself, and careless of what 
 had happened. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 141 
 
 His first inquiries were for his horse; and 
 having been assured by several of his friends 
 that no injury had been sustained in that 
 quarter, he swore loudly against the animal 
 for a fault which had been entirely his own, 
 gave way to the most violent gesticulations 
 of angry passion against the curiosity (as 
 he called it) of the by-standers, and so dis- 
 gusted Lord Albert d'Esterre by his want of 
 proper feeling under an accident that might 
 have ended fatally, that the latter mounted his 
 horse once more, rode round to the other side 
 of Lady Hamlet Vernon's carriage to assure 
 her that she need be under no apprehension 
 for Lord Tonnerre's safety, and continuing by 
 her side as she proceeded out of the Park, left 
 the actors of this paltry scene to bear their 
 discomfiture as they best could. 
 
142 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " THE OPERA." 
 
 It is not to be supposed that Lady Tilney 
 should keep a determination formed fully one 
 hundred and forty-four hours before the season 
 of its fulfilment, or retain on the Saturday 
 evening the same degree of passionate ad- 
 miration of the Son tag's powers, which she 
 had expressed on the previous Wednesday to 
 Lord Albert d'Esterre, when announcing her 
 intention of being present at the first scene of 
 the Opera. She did, however, reach the house, 
 on the evening in question, before the conclu- 
 sion of the third act, and found the Comtesse 
 Leinsengen already in her box. 
 
 " Eh bien, ma chere, a la fin vous voila ! have 
 you been ever since at dat tiresome dinner?" 
 
 " Oh no ; I drove home immediately after 
 you went away ; but I had a thousand things of 
 consequence to do, and could not positively ar- 
 rive sooner. Amongst other things there was a 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 1.13 
 
 great enormous card of invitation from the 
 d'Hermantons. It is quite outof the question my 
 going: and I think the affair ought to be over- 
 turned as much as possible— our cause should 
 be established without offence directly given, 
 but decidedly; and if we are engaged else- 
 where, you know, our excuse of ' exceedingly 
 sorry' will always effect this, and save us, in the 
 present instance, from the extensive and moral 
 acquaintances of the Duchess, and from the 
 fadeur of her evenings. I would myself send 
 out cards did I not think it would be too 
 marked; but some of us might do so. There 
 is Lady de Chere, I see, in her box ; would you 
 arrange the business with her to night in the 
 room— Do you agree with me, my dear Com- 
 tesse ?" Her friend nodded assent ; and in bet 
 abrupt rough voice said, « N'ayez pas peur ! 
 I can always hold up my head and tread down 
 deplebe—\YQ are used to dat; but for you, I 
 fear in dis country, you do not understand de 
 matter." — 
 
 " You know, my dear Comtesse, I have 
 often explained to you, that our constitution—" 
 
144 THE EXCLUSIVES» 
 
 '' Oh ! treve de politiques I implore," said 
 the Comtesse Leinsengen, turning her head 
 away, and looking towards the stage : " treve 
 de politiques je n'en puis plus ; but fiez vous 
 en a moi." — 
 
 " I am surely the last person you ought to 
 suspect unequal to that task ! It is quite unjust 
 to me, dear Comtesse ! Have you forgotten the 
 woman whom Lady Ellersby and myself 
 thought we could use ? whom we actually pa- 
 raded for a season, maintained she was a beauty, 
 and a person ' qui feroit fureur;* and after all, 
 when she failed, left her plante in the midst of 
 the promised honours ; actually ejected her 
 from Almack's, and if we met, walked over her 
 as a person whose face we had never seen ! — 
 Was not this carried with a proper spirit ?" 
 
 *' Yes, under my suggestion ; but I could 
 have told you from de first that her grand 
 nigaud de mari would be always a ses trousses, 
 and prevent her being of the least service to 
 us. It is quite a mistake to attempt such a 
 measure, ^a sent le roman, and I do hate all 
 romance — Dat young milor, (vat you name 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 145 
 
 him ?) dat was at your house de oder morning, 
 Lor — Lor Albert d'Esterre; I don't think, 
 upon my word, never I don't, dat he will do 
 us any good, I have my doubts dat he is only 
 UH espion, and — " Whilst the Comtesse was 
 speaking, the door of the box opened, and 
 there entered, with an air of affected refine- 
 ment, a person whose appearance ill suited 
 with his outward show of courtliness — his face 
 was red and large, with grey eyes, his hair in- 
 clining to flaxen, and his whole figure round 
 and ill-formed. 
 
 This physiognomy, however, if Sir William 
 Temple would have allowed himself to be 
 natural, was an index to his disposition, 
 for he was au fond good-natured ; but an 
 overweening vanity — a desire to be fine, 
 and be considered one of the beau°monde, 
 had spoilt the man, and he became insuffer- 
 ably pompous and conceited— in proportion 
 as his exertions in good dinners in the season, 
 a good country house out of it, and a vote in 
 parliament, made him successful in obtaining 
 the notice of people of rank, and of the minis- 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
146 THE EXCLUSIVES, 
 
 ter. The first thought his cook good, his 
 chateau, at an easy distance from London, 
 convenient — and the last, remembering the 
 old woman's adage, considered that every little 
 helped, and that Sir William's vote, so long 
 as it was on the right side, was as good as. any 
 other. He had made his way thus far with 
 tolerable facility, but his ambition grew by 
 feeding on, and was only to be satisfied, by 
 the attainment of the highest distinction of 
 the ton of the day; such as in his estimate, was 
 conferred by the protecting smile of Lady 
 Tilney, the Comtesse Leinsengen^ and others 
 of that elite body. 
 
 No opportunity therefore was lost, no. pains 
 omitted to arrive at this desirable end, and to 
 improve the recognition with which Sir Wil- 
 liam found himself at times honoured,- into 
 what should at least appear a footing of inti- 
 macy. An opera box was an outwork more 
 easy to be taken by a coup de main, than a 
 lodgment effected in the citadel itself; and 
 while unregistered on the favoured list of the 
 entre at Lady Tilney's mansion, the access to 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 147 
 
 her circle in the public theatre, which was not 
 denied him, appeared a license of the utmost 
 importance, and one which he was the last 
 man to let grow obsolete by neglect of usage, 
 or forget to turn to profit. 
 
 " Has not the Sontag outdone herself to 
 nights Lady Tilney ?" asked Sir William as he 
 entered the box." 
 
 " Yes, never was there such a singer — I 
 have been listening till ray very ears ache with 
 intense attention." 
 
 " I am so glad, Lady Tilney, to heai* you 
 say so, for I have been disputing the point 
 with Lord Albert d' Ester re, who maintains that 
 the Sontag's singing is not in the first style, 
 and a great deal more of the same sort ; but 
 he might as well endeavour to persuade me 
 that Ude is inferior to Doveton's. present man 
 Marine. I think Lord Albert d'Esterre wishes 
 to be thought an oracle, and the superior j udge 
 of all judges, and that without his decree there 
 can be no perfection." 
 
 " Vraiment" said the Gomtesse with a 
 shrug of her shoulders, " I thuik Milor might 
 H 2 
 
148 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 suspend his judgments till he heard if people 
 cared for dem." 
 
 " Ah, how delighted I am Comtesse to hear 
 you say so," cried Sir William, repeating the 
 words he had first addressed to Lady Tilney, 
 and which indeed he addressed to every one 
 of ton, let what might be the subject, or the 
 sense that fell from them. 
 
 " Vraiment P^ again came drily from the 
 lips of Comtesse Leinsengen, accompanied 
 with a look at the speaker, which told him 
 that the contempt conveyed in that expression, 
 when speaking of Lord Albert, attached 
 equally to himself. Fully understanding the 
 intended meaning, and conscious that with the 
 Comtesse Leinsengen he had made much less 
 way than with Lady Tilney, he turned once 
 more to the latter, and addressed her on a sub- 
 ject by which he knew well he should pay his 
 court successfully. 
 
 " You were not at Lady Borrowdale's the 
 other night. You never saw such a set as were 
 assembled there ; positively there was no 
 stirring without coming in contact with peo* 
 
THE EXCLUSIVEe. 149 
 
 pie whom one had never seen before — and 
 then it is such bad taste to collect such a 
 crowd — for my part, I got away after the first 
 glance at the aiFair." Lady Tilney smiled, and 
 Sir William, encouraged, continued, " Do you 
 dine at Doveton's ?" 
 
 " I believe so." 
 
 *' I am delighted to hear you say so. Lord 
 Osbalston asked me for the same day — but 
 Marine, you know, lives with Dove ton now, 
 and he could always turn the scale with 
 me" (laughing affectedly) ; " Apropos, might 
 1 venture to ask the honour of your partaking 
 of my rustic fare ? I am living, you know, quite 
 en garcon ; but it would be a variety, so diffe- 
 rent from all you meet elsewhere; so very 
 plain, and so very humble ; and you would of 
 course do me the honour to name your own 
 party. Might I hope that you too, Comtesse, 
 would condescend so far ?" 
 
 This was the boldest step Sir William Tem- 
 ple had yet taken ; and he stood in propor- 
 tionate anxiety, breathless and red, awaiting a 
 reply which was to confirm or crush his hopes. 
 
150 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 May be, like a second Caesar, he felt that he 
 had crossed the limits of the empire, and saw 
 that victory only could retrieve what he had 
 hazarded, and that he must rise er fall by that. 
 If victory did attend him, then, like another 
 Alexander, he might weep for fresh worlds to 
 conquer ; but if he fell, — " oh ! what a fall was 
 there, my friends !" Such feelings, no doubt, 
 did agitate his swelling breast when he saw the 
 interchange of looks pass between Lady Til- 
 ney and her fi'iend, as if they questioned each 
 other. 
 
 " Shall we gratify this man ? (this fool he 
 would have read, could he have interpreted 
 the Countess Leinsengen's expression) : " shall 
 we countenance him?" and in the tremendous 
 moment of suspense Sir William blest his stars 
 that there were none by to mark him. But 
 when the joyful sound of Lady Tilney's voice 
 pronounced an acceptance of his petition, he 
 would have given every thing, short of the 
 promised honour itself, that the whole Opefa 
 house had been present to witness his triumph. 
 " You will receive us en garfon^ Sir William, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 151 
 
 ^at will be very good," said the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen : " all I bargain for is dat there should 
 be no misses — dose unmarried women are 
 always in de way." 
 
 Sir William was too much intoxicated with 
 joy^too much absorbed with the prospect of 
 his increasing consequence in the eyes of the 
 fashionable world, when it should be announced 
 that he had entertained the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen, Lady Tilney, and a party of distin- 
 guished personages to dinner, at his house in 
 May Fair, to pay attention to any thing not 
 immediately connected with the results which 
 that dinner wolild produce. He had heard not 
 one word distinctly beyond the promised ac- 
 ceptance of his invitation; although he conti- 
 nued mechanically to reply, whenever he ima- 
 gined himself addressed. " I am so glad to 
 hear you say so! — I am delighted to hear 
 that !" At last, on recovering a little, he per- 
 ceived that Lady Tilney and her friend had 
 entered into an argument on the subject of the 
 unmarried ladies, to whom the Comtesse had 
 
152 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 alluded, and in which his dinner seemed en- 
 tirely forgotten, or likely to be so. 
 
 " Dey are always tinking of settlements, and 
 jewels, and have nothing to do but take notice 
 of what oders are doing," rejoined the Comtesse 
 Leinsengen, in her most thrilling tone: '' Our 
 way is much de better dan yours ; we marry our 
 children at once, or put them in de convents : 
 dat settles de matter, and make dem much 
 happier too." 
 
 " I am not quite so sure of that point, my 
 dear Comtesse," said Lady Tilney, " although 
 I own ladies are bores ; but we manage the 
 thing in our way, and as well at least : we 
 let them seem to please themselves, which 
 is half the battle towards making them satis- 
 fied with the lot they draw, and we ourselves 
 direct the entire marche du jeu. You know 
 I am for liberty in all things ; liberty of 
 choice as well as conscience; but very young 
 people do not know what they wish and 
 it is only when a little acquainted with the 
 world that any body can be said to have a 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 153 
 
 choice." Sir William Temple remained in 
 torture during this discussion, and more than 
 once wished all the unmarried ladies in Lon- 
 don, who thus seemed to step in between him- 
 self and fortune, at the bottom of the sea. At 
 length, tired, but not convinced, Lady Tilney 
 left her opponent in the middle of a sentence, 
 and turning to the unhappy Sir William, 
 asked, " for what day shall I make our party 
 at your house ?" 
 
 " I am delighted to hear you say that !" was 
 the prompt and very sincere answer of the 
 person addressed. " Oh, any day you do me 
 the honour to appoint." 
 
 " Dat dinner of your's. Sir William, oh 
 vraiment je me fais fete d'y penser," cried 
 the Comtesse Leinsengen, turning abruptly 
 round to him, and determined that her rival in 
 argument should not have even that subject 
 entirely her own. 
 
 " I hate vaiting and puts off; we vill fix de 
 day at once — vat say you to Sunday ? to-mor- 
 row — de Sunday is always frightful dull in 
 H 5 
 
154. THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 your country; 'tis the only day, besides, in 
 which I am disengaged." 
 
 " Fm so glad to hear you say so," replied 
 Sir William, " let it be to-morrow,'' turning 
 at the same time with a look of inquiry to Lady 
 Tilney. 
 
 " Oh, after church there is no objection to 
 diverting one's-self innocently ; it is impos- 
 sible to read and pray all day : besides I like 
 to make the Sunday, on principle,- a gay, 
 chearful day." 
 
 At this moment Lord Albert d'Esterre en- 
 tered. " Shall I ask him for to-morrow?" 
 eagerly whispered Sir William into Lad}^ Til- 
 ney'sear; afraid lest the subject nearest his 
 heart should again be usurped by some other 
 topic. 
 
 " Yes — no — yes, you may ;" replied Lady 
 Tilney ; whose answer in the affirmative was 
 decided by her wish to know more of Lord Al- 
 bert in society, and a little also by Comtesse 
 Leinsengen's having held cheap her penetra- 
 tion in regard to the qualifications of the for- 
 
ITHE EXCLUSIVES. 155 
 
 mer for their societe choisie. The invitation 
 was quickly given, and no excuse would be 
 admitted. While Lord Albert was endea- 
 vouring to extricate himself from this impor- 
 tunity, and Sir William to convince him of the 
 impossibility of disobeying Lady Tilney's com- 
 mands, which he advanced to strengthen his 
 cause, the Comtesse Leinsengen caught the 
 conversation : 
 
 " So, Milor, you will not be at de party to- 
 morrow ? an excuse vraiment ! when de peo- 
 ple make me exciise, I know what dat means, 
 and it is made up in my mind never to ask 
 dem again." 
 
 " When you have once expressed that hor- 
 rible sentence," answered Lord Albert, smiling, 
 " it would surely be impossible to incur so 
 great a danger ; but as I am really not able 
 to give my assent to the very obliging invita- 
 tion, I shall not, I hope, be deemed deserving 
 of the penalty." 
 
 " What ! then you will not accept?" asked 
 the Comtesse Leinsengen again, in her own 
 abrupt tone of command. 
 
156 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " No; I lament I cannot." The Comtesse 
 shrugged her shoulders, adding : 
 
 " What ! you will not accept, I suppose, 
 because it is Sunday; and you are engaged 
 all de day long to de Church ; is it not dat 
 — are you what dey call a saint?" Lord 
 Albert felt annoyed by the importunity with 
 which he had been assailed ; and conceiving, 
 according to his own ideas of good breeding, 
 that declining an invitation at first was suffi- 
 cient, he continued to look more grave and an- 
 noyed. Still as the Comtesse repeated the 
 question : 
 
 ** Are you what dey call a saint ?" 
 
 " No, a sinner certainly ; but would I were 
 indeed a saint." 
 
 '* So den you condemn us all, I suppose, 
 who do not keep de Sunday stupidly a la 
 fagon Angloise? Vill you tell me now, Milor, 
 vat you tink one may do on a Sunday ? I sup- 
 pose you would not hang your cat, />ar exem- 
 ple, if she killed her mouse on Sunday, vould 
 you ?" 
 
 Lord Albert d'Esterre looked still more 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 157 
 
 cold and grave, as he drew himself up and 
 leant against the back of the box, saying, that 
 " it was an unfitting time and place for such 
 discussions, and that he begged to be excused 
 from entering upon them." Then bending 
 forward to Lady Tilney, who had remained 
 silent, and saying a few words to her, he bowed 
 and retired. 
 
 " II est farouche et fanfaron au possible," 
 cried the Comtesse Leinsengen, as he closed 
 the door; '' after to-night I have done vid 
 him." 
 
 " He is only original; and it will be a 
 great thing to soften h's little prejudices, and 
 teach him to enjoy existence under your 
 tuition, if it were possible," said Sir William, 
 making as low a bow as his embonpoint would 
 permit, " ' to soften knotted oaks^ and bend the 
 rocks,* it would be done — " 
 
 Lady Tilney smiled at the mis-quotation, 
 while the Comtesse Leinsengen added in a 
 tone of impatience: " but Miladi, do vat 
 she vill, cannot make a bore agreeable ; but, 
 ah !" turning round, " dere is Milor Basker- 
 
158 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 ville, how glad I am to have something 
 humanized to talk to ! Milor, we have just had 
 a saint in our box; do you not smell de odour 
 of sanctity very strong ?" 
 
 " I am at a loss to know j^our meaning, 
 Comtesse — pray explain ;" and when she did 
 so, he replied; " Hem ! from the first moment 
 I saw him, I suspected that stiff unnatural 
 sort of manner had something sinister, (hem !) 
 I hope I am not worse than my neighbours, 
 (hem!) but whenever I hear any thing ap- 
 proaching to cant (Item !) I fly from it, (hem !) 
 as I would from all that I hold most detest- 
 able; (hem!) besides, since his conduct to 
 Tonnerre, I have considered him (hem !) 
 hardly in the light of a gentleman, (hem!) 
 You heard, Comtesse, did you not, of that 
 affair? (hem !)" 
 
 " No, vat affaire you speak of?" 
 
 " Oh, you know he nearly caused Tonnerre 
 a most serious accident, and (hem !) his 
 favourite horse Chester, it is feared, is entirely 
 ruined." 
 
 " No, I never heard one word of it, vat was 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 159 
 
 it for ?" — " Why, Tonnerre (hem !) was riding 
 up gently to speak (hem !) to Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon in the Park, (hem !) my Lord Albert 
 d'Esterre, who was by her carriage, (hem !) 
 chose to turn his horse short round, and to 
 shew his horsemanship, spurred the animal, 
 who plunged and kicked, and (hem !) Ton- 
 nerre's horse was driven against the carriage 
 and reared, and fell back — (hem !) and — " 
 
 " And what did de oder Milor do — did he 
 tumble off?" 
 
 " Yes, (hem !) at least I believe he did, but 
 I don't know — we were all so engaged, (hem !) 
 in assisting Tonnerre— the last I saw of him 
 was his horse going through the Park Gate 
 like a shot, for he can't ride." 
 
 '' Baskerville," interrupted Lord Glenmore, 
 who had entered the box, and, while talking 
 with Lady Tilney, had overheard the latter 
 part of this veracious history, — " Basker* 
 ville, you must pardon me if I correct 
 your statement a little. You may have 
 heard the circumstances only related, / saw 
 them - and if ever a man deserved having his 
 
160 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 neck broke, and losing a favourite horse, it 
 was Tonnerre. I never witnessed any thing 
 like the manner in which he rode, not to Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon's carriage, but at d' Ester re, 
 and if the latter had not been the excellent 
 horseman he is, I think there might have been 
 more serious results accruing to both than 
 actually happened. However, Tonnerre and 
 his horse are quite well, for I met both to-day." 
 Lord Baskerville had a mode of dropping the 
 corners of his mouth, raising his chin, and turn- 
 ing up his eyes, whenever he wished to shew 
 signs of contempt; but too discreet to offend 
 a person of Lord Glenmore's calibre, he 
 managed to suppress them in some measure ; 
 and having heard out what Lord Glenmore 
 had to say, turned without answering him to 
 the Comtesse Leinsengen. 
 
 " Do not talk more about dat man, I pray 
 you, I am tired to death of his name," said 
 the latter ; " but tell me, Milor, vill you and 
 Miladi Baskerville meet me to-morrow at din- 
 ner ? Miladi Tilney and myself are going to 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 161 
 
 do Sir William dere de honour to dine vid 
 him, and vid our own party." 
 
 Lord Baskerville looked amazed, and before 
 he could recover his surprise, Sir William 
 himself seemingly confirmed the strange an- 
 nouncement, by facing round and assuring 
 Baskerville, as he called him, on the strength of 
 many a good dinner before, that " he should 
 be delighted to see him ; and Lady Baskerville 
 too, I hope will confer the same honour 
 upon me as these ladies.'* Lord Basker- 
 ville, ere he answered, directed a look of 
 inquiry to the Comtesse Leinsengen, to as- 
 certain if the matter were really serious. — 
 " Oh, you must come vid me," said the 
 Comtesse, " I positively vill have no excuse." 
 
 " I am ever ready to obey your commands, 
 Comtesse, you know, and — " 
 
 " 1 am delighted to hear you say so," cried 
 Sir William. (Lord Baskerville drew up.) 
 " And Lady Baskerville ?" continued the for- 
 mer. 
 
 " Hem ! /cannot answer for Lady Basker- 
 ville, Sir William — but (hem ! hem !) I will 
 
162 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 certainly inform her of the invitation, and 
 (hem !) should she have no other engagement, 
 (hem !) doubtless she will be most happy, and 
 (hem !) will wait upon you ; (hem !) but dear 
 me the Opera is ended," looking at his watch, 
 and turning to Lady Tilney. " Oh those 
 tiresome bishops — really I wish people would 
 not meddle with what (hem !) they have no- 
 thing to do, — we are always now deprived of 
 half our ballet on the Saturdays." (hem !) 
 
 " Cest vraiment ridicule,'' murmured the 
 Comtesse Leinsengen : " dere is no country in 
 de world where dis sort of foolish ting takes 
 place but in England." 
 
 " It is rather an infringement upon our 
 liberties, I will allow," observed Lady Tilney, 
 " to turn us out of our Opera boxes at a parti- 
 cular hour." 
 
 " Liberty — liberty— dat liberty of the sub- 
 ject is all a farce, chere Miladi; it is all a make 
 believe, as I often have de honour of telling you. 
 Lord Baskerville, vill you be so obliging — my 
 schall." 
 
 Lady Tilney, however, would not suffer the 
 
THE EXCLUS IVES. 1^3 
 
 Comtesse to go till she had spoken to her again 
 on the subject of their smree at Lady de Chere's. 
 « The Duchess of Hermanton's night will be a 
 very good opportunity," she said, " to let the 
 world know that we do not mingle in societies 
 of the kind; all the regulars, as they consider 
 themselves, look upon d'Hermanton House as 
 head-quarters, and make a point of attending 
 like subalterns gaping for promotion ; and if we 
 are there it will have the worst possible effect. 
 Then again, such as we choose to invite to 
 Lady de Chere's, will understand what is meant, 
 sans nov.s compromettre, and hold off in fu- 
 ture from engagements like the d'Hermanton's. 
 You know it would be unwise and impolitic to 
 impart our intentions to all indiscriminately 
 who compose our circle ; but we must at the 
 same time afford some guide for conduct. If 
 we do as I propose the affair will be very well 
 understood, without our being unpleasantly 
 involved, and the system will answer well, 
 n'etesvous pa& de mon avis, chere Comtesse?" 
 — " Peut-etre qu'oui," was the Comtesse's an- 
 swer, accompanied by the habitual shrug of the 
 
164 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 shoulders; "and," continued Lady Tilney, 
 " I think there was every one at my house 
 the other night who ought to be invited. Shall 
 I send Lady de Chere my list ?" 
 
 "I will see about dat; but first we must 
 know if Miladi vil do as we wish. Laissez-moi 
 faire, j'arrangerai tout 9a," and taking Lord 
 Baskerville's arm, she was leaving the box — 
 
 " But what shall we do about dat dinner to- 
 morrow, chere Miladi ?" she added in a lower 
 tone to Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Oh go, by all means ; he is well enough 
 — will be so pleased that we may do hence- 
 forth as we like with him, and it allows others 
 to hope for the same honour." 
 
 " Veil, den, I vill go — remember Milor you 
 are engaged to me to-morrow." Lord Bas- 
 kerville made one of his most refined bows. 
 " And who else shall we have ?" asked the 
 Comtesse of Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Oh ! I don't know; there are the Boileaus 
 and Lord Gascoyne, and Prince Luttermanne, 
 and Lord Tonnerre." 
 
 " Dose vill do very well ; I vill tell dem if 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 165 
 
 I see dem in de room. Adieu, chere Miladi. 
 Ve shall dine vid you to-morrow. Sir William," 
 she added as she left the box. 
 
 " I am delighted to hear you say so !" re- 
 plied the happy Sir William Temple. 
 
 " May this be true ! — O may it — can it be; 
 — Is it by any wonder possible ?" whispered 
 Spencer Newcombe, who had heard the Com- 
 tesse Leinsengen's last words, and now ap- 
 proached Sir William with affected surprise. 
 
 " Come, my master ; if so, the great ones 
 shall not have you all to themselves," he con- 
 tinued : '• I too will dine with you to-morrow. 
 Lady Tilney, are you of the party?" 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 " Why, where is the sign now? have ye 
 e'er a calendar — where's the sign, trow you ?" 
 Spencer continued saying. 
 
 « The what?" asked Sir William. 
 
 " The sign — Believe me there's a most secret 
 power in that ! Court any woman in the right 
 sign. Sir WiUiam, as you have done, and you 
 shall not miss." 
 
 " I am delighted to hear you say so !'' re- 
 plied Sir William. 
 
166 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " I believe he thinks you allude to the sign- 
 post of an inn,'* whispered Lord Boileau, who 
 had joined the party, " and it suits well 
 enough to a dinner-giving man like him." 
 Lady Tilney now prepared to leave the box ; 
 and taking the arm of the Duke of Mercington, 
 was followed by all the men who had paid their 
 visit and their court to her. 
 
 Sir William seemed to look with pride on 
 the world behind him, as he mingled in the 
 crowd ; conscious of the mark of fashion which 
 would from the morrow be emblazoned on his 
 brow; and in the hurry of the throng, and in 
 the quiet of his pillow, the glory of his future 
 success and progress alike presented itself to 
 him that night in a thousand forms. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 167 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE DINNER. 
 
 When Lord Baskerville announced to Lady 
 Baskerville the names of those who composed 
 Sir William Temple's dinner party, she was 
 sufficiently astonished ; but felt there could be 
 no compromise in being present, and at once 
 accepted his invitation. The affair being con- 
 sidered rather in the light of a party to Rich- 
 mond, or some similar gaiety, several of the 
 guests went together. Prince Luttermanne 
 attended Lady Tilney ; the Boileaus joined 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon ; and Lord Baskerville 
 engaged his friend Lord Tonnerre to accom- 
 pany himself and Lady Baskerville. 
 
 As the carriage of the latter proceeded down 
 
 street, they passed the church at the 
 
 moment when Lord Albert D'Esterre was 
 leaving the door, after evening service. Lady 
 Baskerville's quick eye immediately recognized 
 
168 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 him, although mingled in a crowd of those 
 denominated the common people ; and point- 
 ing him out to Lord Tonnerre, the latter asked, 
 in his usual tone of command, 
 
 " What can he be doing in that crowd?" 
 
 " Isn't it Sunday ?" rejoined Lord Basker- 
 ville, yawning. " He. has been, I suppose, 
 (hem!) to some conventicle, (hem!)" 
 
 " Yes, he looks like one of those d — d Me- 
 thodists, w^ho would ring people to church 
 from morning to night, by G— ;" (Lord Ton- 
 nerre forgot that swearing was no longer a 
 fashionable vice) " they ought to be scout- 
 ed from society." 
 
 " True," replied Lord Baskervllle, " I think 
 (hem !) that it would do a great deal of good 
 to society, if (hem !) they were all run up, a la 
 lanterne." 
 
 " Ay, hang them — hang them as high as 
 you can see," continued Lord Tonnerre ; " rid 
 the land of them any how. There's my fa- 
 ther — I wish he had them for once in his 
 hands ; there's not a stricter person on earth 
 than my father; he'll suffer no immorality, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 169 
 
 he'll have no profligacy in the family ; but if 
 one of these canting rascals was ever known to 
 cross his door, or to be found on his estates, 
 he'd make short work with him — he'd send 
 him away with marks which the fellow would 
 carry to his grave, — by G — would he. All 
 this comes, however, from the manner in which 
 we pass our Sundays. I hate foreigners and 
 all their d — d ways ; but they act more sensibly 
 than we do in regard to Sunday : they let the 
 people amuse themselves after church. It's 
 right to go to church, and all that, — that I'll 
 allow; but I am sure the common people 
 would be much better afterwards with what 
 is fitting for them, quoits, or nine-holes, or 
 cricket, or something to busy them with, in- 
 stead of going to Methodist meetings, where 
 they turn saints, merely because they have no 
 better amusement; unless, indeed, it be the 
 alehouse." 
 
 " And there get drunk," remarked Lady 
 Baskerville ; " that would be vastly better, 
 vastly more moral. When you and Basker- 
 ville rule the state, things will be much better 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
ITO THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 managed, no doubt." This was said lialf sneer- 
 ingl}-; for Lady Baskerville for some reason 
 was not in very good humour. 
 
 " Hem!" rejoined Lord Baskerville; " 1 
 must beg your Ladyship would limit what you 
 say to yourself. It is (hem!) a liberty I 7ieve7^ 
 take with you, to say what you would or would 
 not do (hem !)" Upon this a silence ensued in 
 the trio ; when a few minutes broke the awk- 
 wardness occasioned by it, and they found 
 themselves arrived at Sir William Temple's 
 door. 
 
 Lord Tonnerre offered his arm to Lady Bas- 
 kerville as they alighted ; while Lord Basker- 
 ville, to avoid the unfashionable appearance of 
 entering the room with his wife, stopped, seem- 
 ingly for the purpose of giving orders to his 
 servants, till such time as he imagined he 
 could walk in alone. There were arrived of 
 the party only Lady Tilney and Prince Lut- 
 termanne. Lord Baskerville, having made his 
 bow, retired to a sofa, discomposed at find- 
 ing that the Comtesse Leinsengen, on whose 
 appearance he had staked the whole of his con- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. ITl 
 
 sequence, and the excuse of his presence, was 
 not yet come. Lord Tonnerre too, displeased 
 that Sir William Temple continued to occupy 
 Lady Baskerville with the profusion of his 
 acknowledgments for the honour done him, 
 and that Lady Tilney appeared too much en- 
 gaged to notice any one, stood for some mo- 
 ments in gloomy silence, when at length Lord 
 Somerton entered. 
 
 " How d'ye do, Somerton ? — glad to see 
 you," was Sir William's salutation to his guest, 
 as he held out a finger to him, and continued 
 talking to Lady Baskerville. 
 
 " Tonnerre," said Lord Somerton, turning 
 away from this brief reception with a degree of 
 contempt ; " come aside, I have something to 
 tell you ;" when a deep discussion on matters 
 interesting and intelligible to the former seemed 
 to ensue, since it was productive of a partial 
 relaxation of the scowl which generally cha- 
 racterized his face when he felt himself, as in 
 the present instance, overlooked, or when sub- 
 jects indifferent to him, or above his compre- 
 hension, were alluded to. 
 I 2 
 
172 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Lady Tilney, hitherto absorbed in her con- 
 versation with Prince Luttermanne, now looked 
 up, and addressing Lady Baskerville with an 
 air of protection, invited her to come and take 
 the seat next to her. " What a vastly pretty 
 cap you have on ! - do tell me where you got 
 it; and, my dear Lady Baskerville, if you have 
 nothing better to do, pray don't forget to come 
 to me to-morrow night. Have you seen any 
 thing of Lord Albert D'Esterre to-day ? What 
 do you think of him? /can hardly under- 
 stand him yet; sometimes I think one thing, 
 sometimes another. They say he is a Metho- 
 dist — how extraordinary ! if he was not young, 
 or not handsome, or not d^une honne tournure, 
 one might suppose such a thing ; but as it is I 
 don't believe it — do you ?" 
 
 " I have not seen enough of him to judge," 
 was the cautious reply (for Lady Baskerville 
 could be cautious where so deep a stake was at 
 hazard as fashionable consideration) ; " but I 
 think he rather affects singularity." 
 
 " Perhaps so; but then j^ou know he will 
 soon correct that fault when he has lived a 
 
THK EXCLUSIVES. 173 
 
 little longer amongst us. I have heard that he 
 is engaged to be married; — do you know if it 
 is true ?" 
 
 " I did hear," said Lady Baskerville, " some- 
 thing about a Lady Adeline Seymour, a cousin 
 of his who has been brought up in the shades, 
 and is said to be a world's wonder of beauty, 
 and purity, and perfection; but the engage- 
 ment was an aifair of the papa's and mamma's, 
 and probably the parties themselves will hate 
 each other in consequence." 
 
 At this moment the Comtesse Leinsengen 
 was announced, and then followed Lord and 
 Lady Boileau, Lady Hamlet Vernon, Mr. 
 Spencer Newcombe, and Lord Gascoigne, each 
 received with that portion and kind of wel- 
 come which marked a well-studied knowledge 
 of Debrett on the part of Sir William Tem- 
 ple, who felt himself the deity of the day, 
 and who, complimentary, facetious, pompous, 
 affaire, and familiar by turns, according to the 
 calibre of the person he addressed, moved about 
 the apartments like some presiding Joss or 
 Amsterdam Cupid. The whole party were at 
 
iT4 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 length assembled, the dinner announced, and 
 the company withdrew to enjoy the very best 
 artistes best efforts, put forth on an occasion so 
 replete with honour and distinction to his em- 
 ploye. Lord Baskerville contrived to place 
 himself next to the Comtesse Leinsenge!>, 
 whose hand, in her quality (f umbassadrice, the 
 master of the feast had shewn his skill in pre- 
 cedence by soliciting, as he led the way to the 
 dining-room ; a circumstance, by the way, for- 
 tunate for him on his debut, for although Lord 
 Baskerville's arm would have been far more 
 agreeable, yet the Comtesse v/ould never have 
 pardoned such a neglect of her grade in favour 
 of her dear friend Lady Tilney. 
 
 Of the other arrangements of the party it 
 would be unnecessary to speak, and equally use- 
 less to catalof^ue the dinner itself. It is known 
 to all that in London, after the first few weeks 
 of the season, every one's table who gives ^ 
 dinner is covered in exactly the same way — 
 there may be degrees of excellence in the fla- 
 vour and science of the dishes; but the things 
 themselves are, as the Geneva traveller said of 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 175 
 
 travelling, " toujour s la meme chose, toutes 
 ies villes sont les memes, vous avez des 7uaisons 
 a droite et des maisons a gauche — et la rue au 
 milieu— c' est toujour s la mime chose^* 
 
 It is true there are certain critical periods in 
 a spring season, in which nature's fruits, still 
 immatured, are brought to perfection by the 
 fostering hand of man ; and on these the deep 
 and skilful in gastronomy will seize as apt 
 occasions for a display of superior taste and 
 refinement ; then, and then only is it, as is well 
 known, that cucumbers are lawful, green peas 
 to be suffered, and strawberries and peaches tole- 
 rated ; but beyond this there is even yet another 
 point — '*' a grace beyond the reach of art" — 
 the very North Pole of elegance — the paradox, 
 it may be called, of the gastronomic system — it 
 is to display these productions when positively 
 they are not to be got. Happy the man who 
 so succeeds — thrice happy Sir William, that on 
 this day the stars so ordered it, that while Lon- 
 don was yet innocent of cucumbers or peas, 
 you should be profuse of both; — that when 
 
176 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 peaches and strawberries had not so much as 
 crossed the thoughts of the most refined, they 
 too in abundance graced your board. Oh ! 
 happy consummation of those honours, which 
 from the last evening seemed about to centre 
 round your head, and raise you to the pin- 
 nacle of gastronomy and of ton. During the 
 first moments of all dinners a very few mo- 
 nosyllables are uttered — a sort of murmur- 
 ing conversation then ensues between the 
 parties nearest each other, — till at last one indi- 
 vidual more gifted or more hardy than the rest 
 hazards a remark across the table, and the 
 talking becomes general. 
 
 It was Lady Tilney who on the present 
 occasion broke the monotony of those half- 
 audible sounds that whispered round the table. 
 " Lord Gascoigne," she said aloud, " I hope 
 you are really going to put down that vile 
 
 newspaper. The , it is a disgrace to 
 
 London." 
 
 " I should have thought that you. Lady 
 Tilney, would rather have upheld a paper of 
 
tthe exclusives. 177 
 
 Its principles, and which affords such a proof 
 of what you always profess to have so much at 
 heart — the liberty of the press." 
 
 " You must pardon me, it has nothing to do 
 with the liberty of the press,— but a great deal 
 with its abuse, — besides, the liberty of the press 
 applies only to politics — not to private affairs/' 
 
 " Cest selon^' replied Lord Gascoigne with 
 provoking suavity of manner ; " if we publish 
 ourselves what we do, we court public remark." 
 
 " She cannot forget or forgive," whispered 
 Spencer Newcombe to Lord Baskerville, " that 
 she herself was once the target at which some 
 of the severest shots of this paper were sent." 
 
 " How ?" asked the latter. 
 
 " Why, when, for party's sake, she was once 
 
 about to take a step I cannot tell 
 
 you about it now — some other time," he added, 
 as he turned to Lady Boileau, who had asked 
 the same question of him thrice. 
 
 " Publish ourselves ! my dear Lord," con- 
 tinued Lady Tilney to Lord Gascoigne, *' why 
 we never do that if our actions attract notice 
 from our situation." 
 
 I 5 
 
178 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " The}^ should be more looked to," was tFie 
 reply of the latter, interrupting her ; " if there 
 is nothing to censure, the satirist^s occupation 
 is gone»" 
 
 " Vraiment Milor treats de subject en 
 moraliste, and as if himself vas a paragon 
 of excellence dat could not err. Pray, Milor, 
 do you always tink so wisely on vat you do, dat 
 you never do nothing wrong j^ourself ?" 
 
 " Oh, do wrong — yes a thousand times a day, 
 Comtesse, — but when I do^I do not quarrel with 
 the world because it will not think me riglit, 
 nor if it call me a fool or a knave, am I angry 
 — for perhaps it is a truth — at any rate, other 
 and better men than I have been called the 
 same." 
 
 " It is an execrable paper," said Lady Til- 
 ney ; *'and ought to be burnt by the hangman." 
 
 " It is an abominable ting," said the Com- 
 tesse Leinsengen, and would not be suffered in 
 any countiy but England." — Lady Tilney 
 would have interrupted her, but the Comtesse 
 was bent on proceeding : " I repeat, as I have 
 oft3n had de honor to tell you, dat de English 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 179 
 
 are a people of contradictions ; dey talk always 
 of dere great purite, -dere virtue — and den 
 suffer so quietly all dose vile tings to be said of 
 dem in de public prints." Lord Gascoigne, 
 who did not care one straw what was said 
 either of himself or any one else, perceiving he 
 had sufficiently fanned the growing indignation 
 of Lady Tilney by his apparent callousness to 
 public attack, for a moment remained silent, 
 amused to hear the topic discussed in other 
 hands. Lady Tilney loved argument, and for 
 its sake often adopted opinions which at other 
 times she would as strongly have opposed. 
 
 " If the things alluded to are done,^' she con- 
 tinued, addressing herself to the Comtesse 
 Leinsengen, " they are better told — I always like 
 every thing to be told.'' 
 
 " Vid de exception always, ma chere amie, of 
 vat concerns one's-self,"' replied the Comtesse 
 sharply. 
 
 " But I deny that there is any truth," 
 rejoined Lady Tilney, not appearing to notice 
 this last remark ; " I deny that there is any 
 truth in any thing that comes through such 
 
180 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 an abominable channel as that paper; all it? 
 remarks are the offspring of impertinent 
 malice or envious vulgarity, and all it^ facts, 
 falsehoods.' ' 
 
 "Hem !" said Lord Baskerville, in his slowest 
 and most imposing tone, " these things have 
 always been, Lady Tilney, and always will be. 
 Some satirist or other, (hem !) has always lived 
 since the Flood, from Lycophron down to our 
 own day, to lash the vice and follies of the age? 
 as they say ; but in fact to indulge that spleen 
 which is common to the canaille at all periods. 
 A^nd after all, what does it signify ? Nobody 
 thinks about any thing that is said of any body 
 — hem !— nine days after it is said — hem !" 
 
 " If I ever saw my name in that d — d paper," 
 exclaimed Lord Tonnerre, while his brow was 
 knit in tremendous frowns, " if ever allusion 
 were made to me — the writer should eat his 
 words." 
 
 " My dear Tonnerre,'* rejoined Lord Gas- 
 coigne, once more taking up the conversation, 
 *' you would find he has an ostrich's stomach. 
 But why should such a toy trouble you ?" 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 181 
 
 *^ By G — , the writer shall suffer," replied 
 Lord Tonnerre, furiously, " he shall suffer — he 
 shall pay — " 
 
 " Who," asked Lady Boileau quietly, " who 
 shall pay?" 
 
 " The scoundrel — the who has dared 
 
 to use my name," answered Lord Tonnerre, 
 after several efforts at utterance, which his pas- 
 sion for some moments impeded. 
 
 " But you must discover who is the who^^ 
 replied Lord Gascoigne, with provoking calm- 
 ness of manner. — " Junius himself was never 
 hid so successfully as is this writer. You will 
 find it fencing in the dark, Tonnerre, if you 
 meddle with him. — But I see you are angry ; 
 now take my advice, when you are so use this 
 antidote — it is an excellent rule I learned 
 from my grandfather — repeat your alphabet; 
 and that being done, your anger will be over 
 too." Lord Tonnerre's face moved convul- 
 sively in every muscle, and his whole frame 
 seemed to writhe under the words of Lord 
 Gascoigne. 
 
182 THE EXCLUSIVE?. 
 
 "He boils like a pot," whispered Spencer 
 Newcombe. 
 
 " Oh, do not vex him, pray," said Lady Bas- 
 kerville; " he is only nervous.^' 
 
 " Mad, mad !" rejoined Lord Gascoigne, 
 "pray take heed." With many hems and ha's, 
 Sir William Temple remarked, that for his 
 part he thought it cruel to delight in mischief; 
 that to him it always appeared a most un- 
 charitable practice to wound another's feelings 
 — and somewhat rude too; fit only for the 
 vulgar. 
 
 ** The pleasure or amusement," he conti- 
 nued, " of saying ill-natured things is quite 
 beyond my comprehension — quite inconceiv- 
 able. I remember; when I used to live a good 
 deal at D House, there was a rule esta- 
 blished that no one should notice, remark, or 
 seem to observe what was passing; — it was 
 considered so very vulgar to interfere with 
 other people's affairs — all were left at large 
 without account or question — and the conse- 
 quence was, there never was any thing so en- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 183 
 
 chanting since the world began as that society 
 — so suave, so equal, so gentle, so serene ; — not 
 a voice ever heard louder than a whisper — every 
 one so well amused, every one so well employed, 
 that ennui was unknown. There never was 
 any thing to compare to that society." 
 
 " De graces!'^ exclaimed the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen," as Sir William concluded this effu- 
 sion of his reminiscences, '' de graces ! do not 
 tell us. Sir Villiam, of vat vas : to talk oi tings 
 gone being delightful is like telling a Woman 
 who is passee, ' I remember when you were so 
 admired.' De ting to talk of is to-day," 
 
 " Oh, of course," rejoined Sir William, 
 taking the Comtesse's last words au pied de la 
 lettre, " of course the society of to-day—the 
 society here— is par excellence, the most delight- 
 ful in the world." A nod here passed between 
 Spencer Newcombe and Lord Gascoigne, indi- 
 cative of Sir William having escaped from his 
 blunders with more adroitness than tliey had 
 given him credit for; and at the same moment 
 the ladies rose to depart. 
 
 " Vraiment" exclaimed the Comtesse Lein- 
 
184 THE EXCLUSLVE8. 
 
 sengen, as she entered the drawing-rooms, " I 
 do tink, as we are de deities of dis fete, ces 
 messieurs might for once have broken through 
 dere abominable customs, and accompanied 
 us ; but dat terrible Lord Somerton and dat 
 young milor Tonnerre would tink, I suppose, 
 de constitution in danger, if dey did not remain 
 at de table after de ladies. — I vonder, Miladi 
 Baskerville, comme Milor est votre eleve, dat 
 you do not teach him better." 
 
 " Dear Comtesse, not I, I assure you — it is 
 quite enoufrh to take care of one's-self ; I never 
 interfere with other people's aflPairs — nothing 
 would induce me to undertake any body's edu- 
 cation." 
 
 " I believe you are very wise," said Lady 
 Boileau ; " the laissezfaire and the laissez aller 
 is the best rule.'* 
 
 " I do not quite agree with you in that," 
 said Lady Tilney; " how could we have a 
 pleasant or a distinguished society if that 
 system was allowed to prevail ? how could 
 we-" 
 
 " La ! what sinifies dat?" said the Comtesse 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 185 
 
 Leinsengen, as she arranged her herin at the 
 glass; " Vos milliners ne valentrieii — I have just 
 sent to Paris, and then I shall have a coiffure 
 that will not be so hideous." 
 
 " Did you observe the Duchesse d'Herman- 
 ton's last dress?' asked Lady Baskerville ; 
 " she did think it was perfection ; one feather 
 on the top of another, flower upon flower, 
 flounce upon flounce, jewel upon jewel, till 
 she was one mass of moving millinery — I never 
 saw such a figure since the days of Lady Ave- 
 ling's ambassadress' glory." 
 
 " Vat sinifie vat dose women do ? D'ailleurs 
 les Angloises ont toujours singe les modes." 
 In this, and similar conversation, passed the 
 hour of separation in the drawing-rooms, 
 while at the dinner-table the subject of dis- 
 cussion possessed as little interest as is gene- 
 rally found in society so constituted. 
 
 " Baskerville, Boileau, Gascoigne," said 
 Sir William Temple, as he resumed his chair 
 after the departure of the ladies, " will you 
 not come up, and in the short absence we are 
 doomed to sufler from our fair companions, 
 
186 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 let Qs find comfort in this poor earthly Nectar ?" 
 (Sir William believed his wines to be the best 
 in creation.) " Baskerville, what wine do you 
 take ?" 
 
 " Claret," was the reply of the latter, ac- 
 companied by a look of surprise which seemed 
 to say, " of course."—" Did j^ou ever hear 
 such a question !" he added in an under-tone 
 to Lord Boileau. 
 
 " Never — he might as well have asked if 
 one would try Chambertin after Truites a 
 VAurore, or Clos de Voguet after Becasses a la 
 Liwulle!" rejoined Lord Baskerville. 
 
 " Fools were made for jests to men of sense," 
 whispered Spencer Newcomb, " and I know 
 of no one who affords more amusement than my 
 friend there. Sir William." 
 
 " How officious and affaire he was in con- 
 triving this party," said Lord Gascoigne. 
 
 " And how puzzled, lame, and lost in prose- 
 cuting it!" rejoined the odier. 
 
 *' He is a most substantial ass,'' said Lord 
 Baskerville. 
 
 " Tonnerre,'' asked Sir W^illiam at the 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 187 
 
 moment, and affecting to vary the theme, 
 according to the taste of the person, " Do you 
 know which is the favourite for the Derby ?" 
 
 " Gad, he turns his words as many ways as 
 a lathe," whispered Lord Gascoigne again — 
 " understands all subjects alike, and is as 
 learned as the occult philosopher of Hu- 
 dibras."" 
 
 " And as much renowned for profound and 
 solid stupidity," rejoined the latter. A laugh 
 escaped at these words; and as their " ha ! ha ! 
 ha!" passed round, Sir William laughed louder. 
 
 " Very good that, Spencer, I just caught 
 the end of it — the point is always in the tail 
 you know." 
 
 " He caught it," said Lord Gascoigne, re- 
 peating the words, and looking at Spencer 
 Newcomb ; " do you think he did ?" 
 
 " If it was with his mouth, he might certainly 
 — for it is large enough to catch any thing — 
 and he is welcome ; I give him my jest for his 
 dinner, it is the only return I ever make." 
 
 " And you thrive on your bargain generally> 
 Spencer, I should suppose*" 
 
188 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " How long do you think I took from Pen- 
 zance to town ?" said Lord Tonnerre aloud ; 
 and without waiting for any reply added, — 
 
 " Eighteen hours by , and in hack chaises 
 
 too, changing every stage." 
 
 " I do not conceive it much to do, ' rejoined 
 Lord Baskerville. " I remember, (hem !) once 
 leaving town seven hours after the mail ; and 
 though I had rips of horses, I arrived, (hem !) 
 at twenty minutes before his Majesty's stage 
 coach, (hem!)" 
 
 " Well," said Lord Gascoigne, " well, 
 Basky, that is excellent, — ha ! ha! ha! 
 that is excellent, — ha! ha ! ha !" The abbre- 
 viation of his patronymic was always distaste- 
 ful to Lord Baskerville, and on this occasion 
 he not only felt his dignity compromised by 
 the license of Lord Gascoigne's address, but 
 was himself offended by the covert suspicion 
 conveyed of the substantiality of the fact he 
 had related ; turning therefore away with an 
 air of contempt, he addressed himself to ano- 
 ther of the party. Lord Gascoigne, however, 
 was not so easily to be silenced, and exchang- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 1 S9 
 
 iiig looks with those who had watched the 
 scene, added, with very provoking calmness, 
 
 " Basky, you were not offended, I hope, 
 with any thing I said, I meant only — " 
 
 " Not at all," replied Lord Baskerville, the 
 corners of his mouth dropping in the exact 
 angle of scorn by which, as a mathematical 
 man of ton, he would have described his con- 
 tempt of the speaker, — " not at all, Gascoigne ; 
 I beg you won't think of it;" — and he turned 
 again to the party with whom he was con- 
 versing. 
 
 " Beat — beat, Gascoigne," exclaimed Spen- 
 cer Newcomb. — Lord Baskerville looked 
 around with a dignified air, and for a mo- 
 ment silence ensued, not however without 
 a wink passing from Spencer Newcomb, im- 
 plying that they had gone as far as was ad- 
 visable. But Lord Gascoigne was not to be 
 stopped without a farewell shot, as he added, 
 " Well, Baskerville, we start at eight, and 
 breakfast at nine, is it not so?" The latter 
 again tried to look grave, but obliged at 
 length in self-defence to join in the laugh 
 
190 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 which followed these words, he let fall for an 
 instant the mask that too often covered his 
 most trivial actions, and appeared the good- 
 hearted good-humoured creature nature had 
 made him. 
 
 " Somerton," said Sir William Temple, 
 breaking the subject of conversation, " do you 
 remember when you were at my chateau in the 
 north ?' 
 
 " Yes," was the dry reply he received from 
 one who, though he eat his dinners, held him 
 in the most sovereign disdain, and this " yes " 
 sounded harshly on the ears of Sir William, 
 living as he did in the praises bestowed on his 
 establishments, and never losing an oppor- 
 tunity of referring to the subject of them ; 
 nor was he less annoyed, as he observed a 
 whisper pass between his northern guest and 
 Lord Tonnerre, to whom Lord Somerton had 
 turned after his very short and laconic reply, 
 and added, 
 
 " The fellow had one covey of partridges, 
 two dozen of Burgundy, and a mistress ; I 
 made love to the one, drank the other, killed 
 the third, and then quitted." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 191 
 
 " Good/' said Spencer Newcomb, who bad 
 overbeard wbat passed ; "be would bave par- 
 doned you, bowever, tbe first, if you bad 
 praised tbe otbers." 
 
 " No doubt be would," replied Lord So- 
 merton, *' but on my conscience I could not do 
 it, and I presume be feels tbis as well as my- 
 self, for I sball make bim give me a dinner tbe 
 first day in tbe week I am disengaged." Tbus 
 fared Sir William Temple in tbe bands of 
 tbose for whom be bad lavished, and incessantly 
 lavished, an expense which, if properly di- 
 rected, would bave rendered bim an amiable, 
 respectable, and happy individual. As it was, 
 he spent bis money on objects despicable in 
 themselves, and for persons absolutely turning 
 liim into ridicule while enjoying his bounty. 
 
 The party from tbe dining-table soon after 
 arose, some having attained the object for 
 which alone they came, the enjoyment of a 
 dinner; otbers who bad yet a furtiier motive, 
 ascended to tbe drawing-rooms, and after pass- 
 ing there sufficient time to complete arrange- 
 ments, arrange departures, and fix dry points 
 
192 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 that needed discussion for the morrow's amuse- 
 ment or occupation, took their departure also, 
 leaving Sir William Temple to feed on the 
 empty honour which remained to him, of 
 having entertained in his house in May-fair 
 so distinguished a party ; none of whom, how- 
 ever, beyond the dinner-living Lord Somerton, 
 Spencer Newcomb, and one or two lordlings, 
 ever intended to think more of him for the 
 future. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 193 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 
 On the evening of Sir William Temple's 
 dinner-party, the invitation to which Lord 
 Albert had declined, he retired at an early 
 hour to his study; and having closed his door, 
 he sat some minutes widi his head rechning 
 on his hands, endeavouring to shut out the 
 frivolous insignificances of many late past 
 evenings, and to recal those of a very different 
 description and tendency. 
 
 A sweet and silvery tone of feeling analo- 
 gous to a fine Wilson that hung opposite to 
 his writing-table, shed a serene, self-satis- 
 fying sensation over his mind; it might be 
 a false complacency, yet complacency for 
 the time being it was— and he opened his 
 writing-box, in the lid of which was a 
 portrait. This portrait represented a very 
 youthful girl intently busied in copying a 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
194 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 bust, the likeness of himself. A flush passed 
 over his countenance, his eyes sparkled, and 
 a genuine sensation of rapture thrilled through 
 his heart, as he said, 
 
 " Oh ! how superior to all I now see around 
 me — young, innocent, intelligent, the dignity of 
 human nature is here ! Gazing at this image, I 
 can never err ; it would recal me to the path 
 of rectitude were I ever so inclined to swerve 
 from it." At that moment a letter caught his 
 attention ; it was still unanswered — again he 
 coloured, for it had remained so since the pre- 
 ceding morning ; and such a letter ! Now 
 with an eagerness that would have redeemed 
 the slight, he actually kissed the opened page ; 
 and previous to replying to it, re-perused the 
 following contents of 
 
 LADY ADELINE SEYMOUR's LETTER. 
 
 " I think it a long time, dearest Albert, since 
 I have heard from you. But then you are so 
 busy, and have so many things to do; whereas 
 I have nothing to do, but to count up minutes, 
 days, and hours ; yet this is so wrong, that I 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 195 
 
 blame myself even for thinking, much more 
 for writing tlie thought; and would blot out 
 the dissatisfied words, but that I promised you 
 should know truly, and without disguise, what 
 really passed in my mind. 
 
 " After what I heard good Mr. Adams 
 preach last Sunday, how dare I wish to hurry 
 on time, when I make so poor a use of it ? In- 
 deed, dear Albert, when I think seriously, I 
 do not wish it; but when I feel that we are 
 parted, and yield to that feeling, why then I 
 am a wayward creature. Does not this prove, 
 my dear Albert, how cautiously we ought to 
 look into our hearts, since out of them are the 
 issues of life ? I will do so ; I will try to do so, 
 if God will help me ; for it is only by this 
 watching that I shall render myself at all 
 worthy of you. Mamma said to me the other 
 day: 
 
 " ' My dear love, remember that marriage 
 is a state necessarily imposing many duties, 
 and accumulating many cares ; this in its hap- 
 piest instances must ever be the case; it is 
 wisely ordered that it should be so. But it is 
 K 2 
 
196 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 a state honoured by God and man, and opens 
 upon a wide field for self-improvement. If 
 entered upon in this view, it brings with its 
 pains many delights and consolations, both for 
 this world and the next; but if it is engaged in 
 rashly, merely for the purpose of running a 
 more unchecked career, or for the unworthy 
 purposes of aggrandizement in rank and for- 
 tune apart from nobler views, it never fails to 
 produce disappointment, and it may be, dis- 
 gust of life and endless misery.' 
 
 " What a terrible picture, my Albert ! But 
 I cannot conceive it possible . that any body 
 should marry from any motive but attachment, 
 and therefore I can hardly persuade myself 
 that any of these awful consequences are likely 
 to attend on marriage; only my Bible shews 
 me the insufficiency of all mere mortal trusts ; 
 and Mamma, I know, never says what she does 
 not think is true ; therefore I must try and 
 prepare myself for becoming such a wife to 
 you as will secure our mutual felicity. The 
 little book we exchanged on the day you left 
 us, I read morning and evening, and as soon as 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. J97 
 
 it is finished I begin it again; so when you are 
 reading yours, you may be certain we are pro- 
 nouncing the same words, thinking the same 
 thoughts, Kfting up our hearts together to the 
 God wlio made us. 
 
 " How thankful we ought to be for good 
 books ; are they not messengers from heaven ? 
 And yet how we sh'ght them. Often, when 
 engaged in my morning's duty of reading, my 
 wandering mind turns so frequently to draw- 
 ing, to music, or any other exercise, that at 
 length I have punished myself by determining 
 not to have recourse to these recreations till I 
 can moderate my ardour for them, and enjoy 
 them only as recreations ; they ought not to be 
 more— all beyond is idolatry. I have of late, 
 too, engaged myself in active duties among the 
 poor around our neighbourhood ; and my rides 
 to their different habitations give me such 
 additional health and spirits, that I am always 
 ready to laugh at all Mr. Foley's silly jokes. 
 My heart is so light, and I feel so happy— I 
 see no end to all the diverting things I have in 
 view, and some day or another when, please 
 
198 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 God, I am really your wife, all the schemes 1 
 form for the benefit of those within the circle 
 of my influence will be fully realized. 
 
 " What an extended sphere of usefulness 
 will then be mine, and oh ! my Albert ! what 
 an awful responsibility too will then attach 
 to my situation ! I pray daily that I may be 
 enabled to meet it as I ought. What I grudge 
 most is, the time which I am now frequently 
 forced to lose, in being civil to our dull 
 neighbours here; and I do confess that to sit 
 amused by Miss Grimsdale's side, while she 
 talks over the last county ball, or to listen to 
 old Lady Henniker's history of her menage 
 with becoming patience, is a trial for which 
 no self-complacency in the idea, that I am 
 making a sacrifice to oblige others, does in any 
 degree compensate. But Mamma smiles when 
 she hears me answering tout a rehours, and sees 
 my fingers entangling the silks, and tells me 
 afterwards that we are not to live to ourselves, 
 and that in fact to please others, when not 
 neglecting any positive duty, is a minor vir- 
 tue. I am sure she is right — but, dear Albert, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 199 
 
 I feel on such occasions how difficult it is to 
 be good ! Mr. Foley, to whom I expressed 
 myself thus the other day, told me, ' I talked 
 a great deal of nonsense, though I was '<i 
 very charming person altogether,' and ended 
 by asking me seriously — ' What wrong I 
 thought it possible I could do, living as I did? 
 How ignorant he must be of the state of the 
 human heart, not to know that our best efforts 
 are faulty, our purest actions imperfect ! I 
 stared at him, and then attempted to explain 
 to him that all our thoughts, words, and ac- 
 tions, are marked with inherent error. He 
 stared at me in return, and, looking at me 
 incredulously, asked ' do you really mean what 
 you say?' 
 
 " ' Most assuredly,' I replied ; ' can any one 
 mean otherwise ?' Then he looked very grave 
 indeed, sighed heavily, and said, * it was a 
 sad thing to see one so fair and young imbued 
 with such false ideas — ideas which in the end 
 would make me wretched.' I laughed, as I 
 assured him that it was he that was deceived, 
 and who would be wretched ; that as for my- 
 
200 THE EXCXUSIVES. 
 
 self, I was the gayest, happiest creature upoti 
 earth ; and all I had to dread was, loving the 
 world too well, and seeing it in too fair a 
 light. I had not a corner of my heart, I saidy 
 unoccupied, or a minute in the day unem- 
 ployed ; and besides that, my reliance upon 
 God made me feel as if I never could be 
 perfectly unhappy under any circumstances. 
 
 " But no sooner were these words uttered, 
 than my heart smote me, for I thought of you, 
 dear Albert, and suddenly a cloud seemed to 
 pass over me, and my deceitful heart sickened 
 at the thought of the possibility of losing you ; 
 and then I knew how ill I was prepared to 
 yield that perfect obedience which we are 
 called upon to yield to the will of heaven. — I 
 believe my countenance betrayed somewhat of 
 this self-condemning spirit, for ]Mr. Foley 
 quickly asked, whilst fixing his searching eyes 
 on mine, ' What, is there nothing which could 
 make you miserable?^ and I trembled, and 
 blushed, and felt a tear of shame rise in my 
 eye, as I answered : 
 
 " * Perhaps I deceive myself, and think of 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 201 
 
 5nyself too highly. Perhaps— in short — at all 
 events, I know that I am trying so to feel, and 
 so to think.' He laughed contemptuously, 
 saying : 
 
 " ' I guessed how it was — poor Lady Adeline ! 
 this false system is spreading fearfully indeed!' 
 What could he mean? Mamma told me on 
 my repeating to her this conversation, ' that to 
 many persons Mr. Foley would be a dangerous 
 man ; but not to you, my child ; and I have a 
 love for that wayward creature, the son of the 
 dearest friend I ever possessed, which makes 
 me incline to overlook his faults, and hope 
 that he will amend them. Who knows but 
 the mode of life we lead may be the means 
 of sowing some good seed in his heart ? How- 
 ever, my dear child, encourage not his con- 
 versation on such points.' I believe Mamma 
 is right, for notwithstanding my dislike of his 
 irreligious tenets, he is so well-informed, and 
 so very diverting, that I cannot help being 
 entertained by him. And in many respects 
 I assure you, Albert, he is a good man, and 
 general report bespeaks him such. He is 
 k5 
 
202 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 very charitable ; is kind to people in distress ; 
 and goes regularly to church, when he is with 
 us — is not all this very unaccountable with his 
 strange way of talking to me ? I do not un- 
 derstand it, and indeed it is not worth think- 
 insT much about, one wav or the other. Write 
 to me, dear Albert, and tell me what your 
 opinion is upon this subject. I wish in all 
 things to conform to your wishes, and to 
 model my opinion on yours : for I well know 
 your excellent principles and unerring judg- 
 ment. To-morrow, I allow myself to return 
 to the delight of copying your dear bust, ' O 
 che festal' — Sometimes (I am almost ashamed 
 of telling you) I divert myself with putting my 
 caps and hats on it, and please myself with 
 the idea that it is very like me— do not laugh 
 and call me ' foolish child !' Now I dislike 
 that you should call me child ; remember the 
 day you receive this I shall be seventeen, so 
 put on all your gravity and consider me with 
 due respect. 
 
 " The menagerie is thriving; I visit our 
 pets every day, and you will find them in fine 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 203 
 
 condition when you return, — when will that 
 
 be ? I wish the time were come, don't you ? 
 
 Good night, good night, for there is no end 
 
 to this writing. I must end. Again good night. 
 
 Dearest Albert, I am, heart and soul, your 
 
 own 
 
 " Adeline Seymour." 
 
 " Sweet, pure Adeline!" cried Lord Al- 
 bert, " how shall I answer this letter." He 
 seized a pen, and in the first glow of fond- 
 ness and admiration, which such a letter and 
 such a portrait before him inspired, he filled 
 two pages, not less tender or sincere than 
 those which had been addressed to himself: 
 when he was suddenly disturbed by hearing a 
 bustle and violent clattering of horses in the 
 street, and at the same time the voices of some 
 of his own servants. This increasing, he rang 
 the bell to inquire the cause, and no one an- 
 swering, he at length opened the door of an 
 apartment and called to the porter, asking 
 what was the matter ? He was answered, that 
 a carriage had been overturned opposite his 
 door, and it was wished to bring the lady who 
 
204 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Iiad suffered from the accident into his Lord- 
 ship's house. 
 
 " By all means, immediately," Lord Al- 
 bert exclaimed ; " afford every assistance pos- 
 sible;" and in a few instants a lady was borne 
 in by two domestics. She was immediately 
 placed, apparently insensible, on a couch in 
 an adjoining apartment. The female atten- 
 dants were summoned to her aid, and Lord 
 Albert himself supported her head on his 
 breast : " Good heavens !" he exclaimed, " it 
 is Lady Hamlet Vernon ! Send off directly for 
 Doctor Meynell." A stream of blood flowed 
 over her face, and in order to ascertain where 
 she was wounded it was necessary to let down 
 her hair, which fell in glossy masses over her 
 neck and shoulders. The glass of the carriage 
 window, against which Lady Hamlet Ver- 
 non had fldlen, was the cause of the catas- 
 trophe ; and though the injury was not found 
 to be dangerous, the wound had been suffi- 
 ciently severe to occasion a suffusion of blood. 
 The physician soon arrived, and having exa- 
 mined the extent of the evil, applied remedies 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 205 
 
 and administered restoratives to the terrified 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon, who was shortly after 
 restored to her senses, and enabled to explain 
 the cause of her having met with so dangerous 
 an accident. 
 
 " She was returning," she said, " from Sir 
 William Temple's dinner-party, when her 
 coachman, whom she supposed was intoxicated, 
 drove furiously, and the carriage coming in 
 contact with the curb-stone at the corner of the 
 street, overturned, was dashed with violence 
 against the pavement, and broken to pieces." 
 This account was corroborated by her foot- 
 men, who had miraculously escaped unhurt* 
 Lady Hamlet then expressed her thanks at 
 having received such prompt and kind assist- 
 ance, and Doctor Meynell having pronounced 
 it as his opinion, that if she remained quiet 
 for a few days, she would find no disagreeable 
 effects result from the accident, and that she 
 might with safety be removed to her own 
 house. Lord Albert's carriage was ordered to 
 convey her thither. " I am happy, indeed, to 
 think it is thus," said Lord Albert; " and 
 
206 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 that I have been of the least use is most gra- 
 tifying to me." 
 
 This adventure, related in a few words, 
 occupied an hour or more in its actual oc- 
 currence; and Lord Albert had had leisure 
 to remark the symmetry of form and feature 
 for which Lady Hamlet Vernon had been so 
 long celebrated. He might have beheld Lady 
 Hamlet for ever, rouged and dressed in public, 
 and have passed her by unnoticed ; but when 
 he beheld her pale, dishevelled, in pain, and 
 dependent on him at the moment for relief, 
 he thought her exquisitely fair, and there en- 
 tered a degree of romantic illusion in this ac- 
 cident which roused his fancy, while her suf- 
 ferings touched the friendly feelings of his na- 
 ture. 
 
 As he assisted her to her carriage, they pass- 
 ed through the room where he had been sit- 
 ting previous to her arrival ; the candles were 
 still burning, and his papers lay in confusion 
 around, the writing-box was open, in the lid 
 of which was the portrait of Lady Adeline. 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon pausing, complained of 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 207 
 
 a momentary feeling of faintness, and threw 
 herself on a chair close to the writing-table ; 
 her eyes in an instant were rivetted on the 
 picture, and at the same moment Lord Al- 
 bert's hand closed it from her view. There 
 was nothing that demanded secrecy in his pos- 
 sessing I^ady Adeline's picture. His engage- 
 ment to his cousin was generally known, and 
 his having her portrait, therefore, was no of- 
 fence against propriety ; but every body who 
 has loved will understand the feeling, that the 
 sacredness of their heart's affections is broken 
 in upon, if an indifferent or casual eye rest 
 upon a treasure of the kind. Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon spoke not, but her looks testified what 
 they had seen; while he remained confused, 
 and seemed glad when she proposed moving 
 again to the carriage. 
 
 " I am afraid," she said, her voice trem- 
 bling as she spoke, "I am afraid my accident 
 has been the occasion of breaking in upon your 
 retirement, and disturbing you out of a most 
 delightful reverie. I shall regret this the more 
 
203 THE EXCLUSIVE?. 
 
 if it makes you hate me altogether — but the 
 fault was not mine." 
 
 " Hate you ! Lady Hamlet Vernon — hatred 
 and Lady Hamlet Vernon are two words that 
 cannot by any accident be connected together." 
 
 " Ah ! would that your words were as true 
 as they are courteous," she replied mournfully; 
 " but courtesies, alas ! imply an interest that 
 they do not mean. Do not, however, let me 
 detain you, Lord Albert ; it rains" — As he 
 still lingered at the door of the carriage, which 
 they had reached, and in which she now entered, 
 he added, " You will at least give me leave to 
 enquire for you to-morrow?" which was all 
 he had time to say, as the carriage was driven 
 rapidly away. 
 
 Lord Albert returned to his room, with a 
 confusion of images chasing each other in such 
 quick succession through his mind, that though 
 he resumed his pen to finish his letter to Lady 
 Adeline, he found it difficult to do so; and he 
 was conscious that the few words which he 
 added were in such a different tone, and so 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 209 
 
 little in keeping with the previous part, that 
 he finished abruptly, and, folding and sealing 
 his letter, closed the box that contained the 
 miniature, and throwing himself back in his 
 chair, mused in vacancy of thought till slum- 
 ber was overpowering him. Without once 
 adverting to Lady Adeline's book, he hastened 
 to lose in sleep the feeling of dissatisfaction 
 which had so suddenly possessed him. 
 
 On the following morning, when Lady Ham- 
 let Vernon arose, feeling little of the accident 
 of the preceding evening, and having taken 
 particular pains with her toilette, she cast a 
 glance of complacency at her reflected image 
 in the mirror, and, descending to her boudoir, 
 placed herself on a sofa, spread with embroi- 
 dered cushions, folded a velvet couvre-pied over 
 her feet, ordered a table stored with books to 
 be placed within her reach, on which also 
 rested a guitar and a vase of flowers, and gave 
 way to a train of reflections and feelings un- 
 accountably called up by the occurrences of 
 the previous evening. Lady Hamlet Vernon 
 was a person who had read, and did read, at 
 
210 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 times; but. in the present instance, when calling 
 for her books, she intended no farther use of 
 them beyond casual allusion to their contents, 
 and what their appearance might avail to give 
 an interest in regard to herself. 
 
 She lay with her arm resting on a pillow, 
 and her ears attentively listening to every ca- 
 briolet that passed, eagerly anticipating a visit 
 from Lord Albert. She twice looked at her 
 watch ; once she struck it, to know if its sound 
 answered to the hour its hand designated. — 
 " Surely," she said, with some impatience, " he 
 must at least inquire for me ? — and it is late — 
 bite for a person of Lord Albert's early habitt 
 — it is really three o'clock." At that moment 
 a short decided knock at the door roused her 
 attention. Her hand was on the bell in an 
 instant, lest the servants might deny her — but 
 in another the door opened, and not Lord 
 Albert, but the pale and melancholy Frank 
 Ombre entered. The revulsion from pleasure 
 to disappointment occasioned by the appear- 
 ance of this visitor, and which displa; ed itself 
 in Lady Hamlet Vernon's features, was inge- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 211 
 
 niously ascribed by her to a sudden pain in 
 her head, the consequence, she said, of her 
 accident the preceding night; which accident 
 she hastened to detail, and was gratified by the 
 homage of regrets, most poetically expressed 
 by Mr. Ombre, who remarked that the danger 
 of this occurrence was transferred from her- 
 self to her admirers. 
 
 " The beautiful languor which it has cast 
 over your person has produced a varied charm 
 more inimical to our peace than even the light- 
 ning of your eyes. What a fortunate man that 
 Lord Albert was, to be on the very spot to 
 render you assistance ! There are some per- 
 sons, as we all know, who are born felicitous 
 — they please without caring to please ; they 
 render services without thinking what they 
 are doing, or even being interested in reality 
 about the persons whom they serve ; they are 
 reckoned handsome without one regularly beau- 
 tiful feature, and pronounced clever, superior, 
 talented, without ever doing any thing to prove 
 it. But in that, perhaps, lies their wisdom — 
 
212 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 one may be every thing so long as one never 
 proves one's-self nothing .^^ 
 
 " True, there are such people in the world, 
 I believe ; but do you really mean to say " — 
 (and she almost blushed.) 
 
 " I never mean, or can mean, to say any 
 thing that is disagreeable to you" 
 
 " Oh, it is not I who am interested in what 
 he is, or is not ; but, to confess the truth, a very 
 dear friend of mine, a charming young person, 
 takes an interest in him, and I should like to 
 know if he is worthy of that interest before her 
 affections are further engaged." 
 
 " Ah ! my dear Lady Hamlet Vernon," 
 replied Mr. Ombre, " there is nobody like you 
 — I always said so. You know / never flatter ; 
 but you are so disinterested, always thinking 
 about other people, always so kindly busy 
 where you can be of any use ; so unlike the 
 world in general, in short, that it quite spoils 
 one for living in it." 
 
 " Well, this is a point we shall not dispute 
 about, my dear Mr. Ombre, only tell me what 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 213 
 
 you know of Lord Albert D'Esterre ? what are 
 his tastes, his habits, his pursuits, his po- 
 h'tics?" 
 
 " Of himself I can tell you little ; with his 
 father I was very intimate long ago, and I 
 believe, somehow or other, people do always 
 contrive to be like either father or mother, 
 some time or another in their life. Of the 
 father I could tell you, that there did not exist 
 a more polished or high-bred man, a term 
 which you know is not always justly applicable 
 to persons of high rank ; one very well versed 
 in literature too, at least for the peerage in that 
 day, and so long as he continued in public life, 
 no one acted more to the general satisfaction 
 of people than my Lord Tresyllian. Of the 
 mother there is little to say, except that she 
 was— nay is, for aught I know to the contrary 
 — a very good sort of person ; who was never 
 known to make any noise, save once, in her 
 life, and that certainly was not on a judicious 
 occasion, for it was when the famous Bellina, 
 the dancer, was attacMe to the suite of her 
 husband during his embassy at . Then 
 
214 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 indeed Lady Tresyllian did make some very 
 unadvised stir, and contrived that the whole 
 court should remark upon the subject; but her 
 husband, who was the most polite man in the 
 world, as I have said before, represented to 
 her the inutility of such conduct, pointed out 
 how such a lady, and such a one, conducted 
 herself in similar situations ; stated that these 
 sort of things always happened, and were only 
 unpleasant when they were injudiciously ma- 
 naged, and in short the affair was amicably 
 adjusted; an affair which happened so long 
 ago, that it is only some old chroniclers like 
 myself who have any recollection of it. 
 
 " After Lord Tresyllian's return to England, 
 he continued to fill several official situations as 
 long as his friends, or his party rather, as 
 those are called who contrive to hang together 
 for some interest,— their own or their country's, 
 it matters not — continued in office — and on their 
 retiring, his Lordship retired also: I suppose to 
 preserve his consistency, or because his talents 
 were not needed in the new arrangement. 
 Since then, gout and disappointed ambition 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 215 
 
 have contributed to make him a recluse from 
 the busy world of fashion ; and in the magnifi- 
 cence of his princely fortune, and in the 
 society of a chosen few, who have shared his 
 fate, or depended on his interest in their 
 political career, his existence is now passed, 
 settling the balance of Europe in his closet, 
 opposing his Majesty's ministers (as long as 
 they shall not include- his own party) in the 
 senate, and on every other occasion, and haran- 
 guing every assembly of disappointed patriots 
 in his own county, of which he is lord lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 " Of Lord Tresyllian's patriotism I presume 
 none doubt — of his judgment and good taste 
 in politics, from the last-mentioned fact, while 
 holding his preseni situation, perhaps there 
 may be some question. But he has consider- 
 able parliamentary interest, and will therefore 
 always have some who will think all he says or 
 does right. His eldest son Osberton we all 
 know follows in his father's line of opposition ; 
 glad, I dare say, to be saved the trouble of 
 acting or thinking for himself. I need not 
 
216 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 tell you more of him — in short, there is nothing 
 to tell, but his party. What Lord Albert 
 D'Esterre's will be, remains to be proved; I 
 mean in the only way people think a man's 
 being any thing is of consequence, namely the 
 part he will take in public life. He inherits 
 wealth from Lady Tresyllian, and so far will 
 be independent of his father ; but he is too 
 young, I should think, to escape the toils that 
 will be laid for a young member, and therefore 
 we shall soon see him engaged on one side or 
 the other, as a tool of party. By the bye, what 
 says Lady Tilney of him for that ?" Here 
 another knock announced another arrival, and 
 Mr. Ombre rose to depart. 
 
 " Pray, my dear Mr. Ombre, do not run 
 away ; I should be so delighted if you would 
 stay and help to keep the conversation alive, 
 I am too weak to do any thing but listen. 
 Indeed my poor head tells me that I ought not 
 to do that." 
 
 " I would not stay a moment longer on any 
 account — not for the world," was Mr. Ombre's 
 reply, gently pressing her extended hand ; " I 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 217 
 
 am sure I have talked too much already. Lord 
 Albert D'Esterre," (for it was he who entered), 
 " I request you will not be so agreeable as you 
 usually are, for our fair friend feels the effect 
 of her accident last night; and I am sure she 
 ought not to be amused, unless being put to 
 sleep be called amusement. If Iwere her nurse 
 I would prescribe a quieting draught and bed, 
 as to a tired child ; and so I take my leave and 
 give my advice without any fee : it is always 
 the cheapest thing in the world you know;" 
 and he went away at the very proper moment, 
 having left behind him the character of being 
 the most agreeable man in the world. 
 
 " I should have come sooner," said Lord 
 Albert, " to inquire for you. Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon, but I was afraid of being too early ; 
 and I really put a restraint on my wishes in 
 not being at your door much sooner ; for I was 
 very anxious to know you had not suffered 
 from the shock you received last night." 
 
 " I have suffered, certainly," she replied, 
 blushing, "but not to any alarming degree; a 
 day or two of confinement to my sofa, and Dr. 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
218 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Meynell assures me I shall be quite able to go 
 about again as usual. In the mean time, here 
 are my friends," pointing to the books, "who 
 are ever at hand to entertain me." 
 
 " And surely," Lord D'Esterre replied, "there 
 are a thousand living friends also, alike ready 
 to endeavour to make the hours pass sweetly ; 
 nevertheless, I honour those wlio can be inde- 
 pendent of society for entertainment." 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon saw she had guessed 
 rightly, and went on to say, sighing as she 
 spoke, " The fact is, that London crov,7ds are 
 not society, that the whole routine of a town life 
 unsatisfactory; and that every circumstance, 
 depending upon a mere pursuit of dissipation, 
 is in itself necessarily an alienation, for the time 
 at least in which we are engaged in it, from all 
 our higher and better enjoyments; but then 
 when one has lost all on whom one depended 
 for comfort, and support, and advice; when 
 one is left alone, a heart-broken thing upon 
 the wide world, misjudged by some, con- 
 demned by many, flattered it may be by a few, 
 there is such a stormy ocean, such a desert 
 waste outspread to view, that the heart seeks 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 219 
 
 refuge from the alternative in a multitude of 
 minor trifles, which leave no leisure to feel, still 
 less to reflect ; and hurrying on from hour to 
 hour, one passes life away as chance directs." 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon did not know to whom 
 she was speaking, or she would have spoken in 
 a very different tone. She had heard of refine- 
 ment and morality, she could even admire 
 both; but to religious principle she was a 
 stranger. She paused after having uttered the 
 last words, and, looking in Lord Albert's coun- 
 tenance as she waited for a reply, read there a 
 varying expression, the meaning of which she 
 was at a loss to interpret. At last he spoke, and 
 said with deep earnestness, which failed not to 
 attract her attention, although she was not pre- 
 pared to understand the import of his words : 
 
 " Is it possible ! then I grieve for you in- 
 deed." As he uttered this brief sentence he 
 took up a book, unconscious of what he was 
 doing; and opening the title-page, read " Tre- 
 maine.'* Lady Hamlet Vernon had had re- 
 course to her salts, to her handkerchief; and 
 then, as if repressing her starting tears, she 
 L 2 
 
220 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 asked, " What do you think of Treniaine ? — 
 is it not charming? — Do you know I have 
 thought the hero was like you." 
 
 " I hope not ; I would not be like that man 
 on any account whatever." 
 
 " No !— and why ?" 
 
 " Why, because I think false refinement 
 the most wretched of human possessions ; and 
 all refinement is false which converts enjoy- 
 ment to pain ; nay, I deny that it is refine- 
 ment; it is only the sophistry of a diseased 
 mind, the excrescence of a beautiful plant ; 
 however, the work is a work of power, and its 
 intention pure, though I do not think it free 
 from dannjer. But tell me, Ladv Hamlet Ver- 
 non — that is, w^ill j^ou give me leave to ask you 
 a question ?" 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Did you ever read the third volume of 
 Tremaine attentively through ?" She blushed 
 a genuine blush as she replied : " ISlot quite: 
 I am afraid — I thought it heavy." 
 
 '' You do not surprise me ; the mind must 
 come tutored to the page to enjoy it as it ought 
 to be enjoyed; and perhaps the fault which 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 221 
 
 might be found is precisely this, that those who 
 would be most likely to read it, are those who 
 would be least likely to benefit by its perusal." 
 
 " You certainly converse. Lord Albert," said 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon, " very differently from 
 any person I ever conversed with ; your ideas 
 are quite extraordinary to me, quite new, and 
 you have made me lose myself in a world of 
 thought; you make me feel that every thing I 
 have hitherto thought was all mistake ; but you 
 must allow me to say, that, though willing to 
 become your pupil, I must be somewhat in- 
 structed in this novel language before I feel 
 myself competent to reply." 
 
 " What I said seems to me very simple; I 
 am not conscious of having expressed any ab- 
 struse or recondite thoughts: at all events, I 
 certainly did not mean to be affected, still less 
 impertinent — it was something you said, which 
 startled me, and made me feel concern, and it 
 might seem to you, that I evinced it with too 
 much freedom — if I have erred, pardon me." 
 
 " Pardon, my dear Lord ! there is no ques- 
 tion about pardoning; but I am curious to 
 know what made you look so very grave when 
 
222 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 I said I wished to forget my existence, and 
 lose all sense of what had befallen me, or what 
 might befall me, in the busy idleness of life — 
 do you attach any very dreadful idea to this 
 declaration ?" 
 
 " A \ery dreadful one indeed," was his 
 reply. 
 
 " Well, then, I do begin to believe that 
 what I heard of you was true — you are one of 
 the saints— I mean, one of the set of people 
 who go about preaching and praying all day 
 long. But then you frequent balls and assem- 
 blies, and are so charming, I cannot reconcile 
 this idea with your air, appearance, and de- 
 meanour, or with the character of those sour, 
 misanthropic beings: do explain to me this 
 mystery." 
 
 " I wish I were one of those whom you so de- 
 signate," said Lord Albert D'Esterre gravely, 
 — " but indeed I am far from being so. All I 
 can say to explain my meaning briefly is, that I 
 have received a Christian and religious educa- 
 tion, and consequently that I /ink to live by 
 chance, and to let accident sway our actions, 
 is a perilous state of delusion." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 223 
 
 *' What do you mean to say, Lord Albert, 
 that you regulate all your thoughts, words, 
 and actions, by some strictly self-drawn line of 
 rule?" 
 
 " Oh, Lady Hamlet Vernon, you probe my 
 conscience, and I am thankful to you : no, 
 indeed, I have never yet been enabled so to 
 do — but I wish I could — not indeed by any 
 self-drawn line or rule, but that by which all 
 ought to guide themselves." 
 
 " Well, at last I have met with one extraoi- 
 dinary person, and this our conversation must 
 be resumed ; but here comes some unwelcome 
 visitor, and for the moment the subject must 
 drop." 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by the 
 announcement of Mr. Temple Vernon. He has 
 been already noticed as the object of Lady 
 Tilney's particular dislike from his indepen- 
 dent, and, as she termed it, rude freedom 
 of character, and he must have been unpo- 
 pular in a coterie where studied deport- 
 ment and total absence of all nature form- 
 ed a requisite merit for admission. But he 
 was nearly allied by marriage to Lady Ham- 
 
224 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 let Vernon, having inherited that portion 
 of her late husband, Lord Hamlet Vernon's 
 property? which was not bequeathed to herself. 
 He was first cousin of the late Lord also, and 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon's jointure being paid 
 from estates that devolved to him, she had 
 been condemned to keep up an intercourse 
 which, under existing circumstances of his 
 mauvaise odeiir, in her particular circle, she 
 would gladly have dispensed with. She how- 
 ever endeavoured to maintain that kind of 
 friendly intercourse with him, which would 
 prevent any thing like collision in matters 
 where her own interest was concerned, and 
 with this view preferred exposing herself to 
 harsh remarks from Lady Tilney and others of 
 the society, as to his admission into her house. 
 " Ah, Mr. Vernon, is it you," said Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon to him as he entered ; " I 
 hope I see you well?" 
 
 " Allow me rather to inquire, Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon, about yourself; I have made a detour of 
 at least two miles to satisfy my anxiety con- 
 cerning you all. London is ringing with the 
 terrible acxjident which befel you last night 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 225 
 
 Pray tell me all the particulars, and tell me 
 too who was the fortunate knight-errant that 
 rendered you assistance ?" Lady Hamlet made 
 an inclination of her head towards Lord Al- 
 bert D'Esterre. 
 
 " Ah ! is it so ? well, he looks as if he 
 were made for adventures," directing his glance 
 towards Lord Albert. " Now, though I, poor 
 devil that I am, desire no happier chance, I 
 may drive about all day or night and no such 
 good fortune ever betide me as delivering a 
 lady from a perilous accident — really, Lord 
 Albert, I congratulate you." Lord Albert bow- 
 ed, as he replied, 
 
 " I am exceedingly happy that my servants 
 were of any use; but indeed I had not the 
 good fortune you ascribe to me : for I was sit- 
 ting occupied in my library, and wholly uncon- 
 scious of what passed in the street, till Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon was brought into the house." 
 
 " Indeed, is it so ? well, I have heard it said 
 
 through the whole town, that Lady Hamlet 
 
 Vernon's horses ran away, that the coachman 
 
 was dashed from his box, and that some preux 
 
 L 5 
 
226 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 chevalier had seized the horses in their course, 
 and though nearly annihilated himself, had 
 succeeded in his desperate efforts to stop them; 
 whereas I am happy to see my Lord is safe and 
 sound. Lady Hamlet, I rejoice to find very 
 little the worse, and the long paragraph in 
 the Morning Post all a lie. Well, there is 
 only one thing to be done under these circum- 
 stances, which is to set the story right by a 
 counter-statement, and therefore pray do tell 
 me all the particulars." 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon smiled, with constrain- 
 ed complacency, saying, " you may tell the fact, 
 Mr. Vernon, if you chuse to take the trouble, 
 which is simply this ; — that on returning home 
 my coachman was drunk, and upset my car- 
 riage; and the accident happened close to Lord 
 Albert DEsterre's door, so that I was borne 
 into his house, and received there every kind 
 attention." 
 
 " But," enquired Mr. Temple Vernon, who 
 had listened with evident eagerness to the 
 recital, " where were you going ? — whence 
 were you coming? — for all these particulars 
 are of importance." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 227 
 
 *« Oh ! home." 
 
 " Good heavens, home ! and at the earjy 
 hour of twelve?" 
 " Yes.'' 
 
 " But where were you coming from?" 
 " Oh ! we had been dining at Sir WilHam 
 Temple's." 
 
 " Ah, and is that really so ? was all that 
 Temple said at the clubs yesterday morn- 
 ing really true? Did you, and the Tilney, 
 and the Leinsengen, and I don't know who 
 else, dine with him ? Well, that is really too 
 good — why no room in London will hold 
 Temple after this. He was always insuffer- 
 able, even before he was promoted in the 
 world; and now that affairs have taken this 
 favourable turn, heav^en knows what he will 
 become; why he'll burst like the frog in the 
 fable. But I am very sorry, for his dinners 
 were good dinners in their way ; now, however, 
 they will be intolerable, for they will consist 
 in every course of rechauffes of what Lady 
 Tilney admired, or did, or said — do tell me 
 how the affair went off." 
 
 " Indeed, Mr. Temple Vernon, I cannot talk 
 
228 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 more to-day ; rather I pray you tell me some 
 news — how did the D'Hermanton's party end ?" 
 '^ Well then, if you so command it, let 
 us turn to my note book" — affecting to read, 
 as he counted over his fingers, " Lady Tilney 
 was not at the Duchess of D'Hermanton's; 
 Lady Ellersby was, but only walked through 
 the apartments ; Lady Boileau went no fur- 
 ther than the first room; item, Mr. Pier- 
 point did not either; neither did Com- 
 tesse Leinsengen, who sat all the evening 
 by Lord Baskerville, but spoke little; the 
 Duke of Mercington only shewed his waist- 
 coat, and then departed : all of which I hold to 
 be signs that portend dark doings in the court 
 of Denmark. Now this I think is a correct re- 
 sume of the Hermanton ' at home.' As to the 
 politics of the last evening, it is confidently 
 
 stated that the Duke of has some famous 
 
 bird-lime, called expediency, which will catch a 
 vast number of young birds," turning at the 
 same time to Lord Albert, " is it not so, my 
 Lord?" 
 
 " Mr. Temple Vernon seems so perfectly 
 master of every body's intentions and affairs, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 229 
 
 that I scarcely know, in his presence, whether 
 or not I am master of my own." 
 
 " The fact is, my good Lord, that nobody 
 knows what they are going to do (if they will 
 only confess the truth) for two minutes toge- 
 ther." 
 
 " In one sense that is true enough, Mr. 
 Temple Vernon, for we intend many things 
 which we never do, and vice versa ; neverthe- 
 less our will is free, and fortunately not always 
 under the direction of others to guide it for us.' 
 " Oh ! this is becoming too deep for me," in- 
 terrupted Lady Hamlet Vernon. 
 
 " And for me too," replied Mr. Temple Ver- 
 non, " as I have a thousand things to do before 
 seven, and it is now past four o'clock; however 
 I leave Lady Hamlet Vernon with less regret, 
 knowing she has so entertaining a companion 
 as Lord D'Esterre.'' This was said very ironi- 
 cally, and as the latter quickly perceived all the 
 monkey malice of the man, he disarmed it of 
 its sting by rising to depart, saying : 
 
 " Lady Hamlet Vernon has far more enter- 
 taining companions lying on her table, than 
 are generally to be met with among London 
 
230 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 idlers; and not to prove myself one of these, I 
 must make my bow without further delay, 
 trusting soon to have the pleasure of seeing 
 her once more, in the gay scenes in which shje 
 is so fair an ornament;" and a2;ain bovvinjr to 
 Mr. Temple Vernon, he departed before the 
 latter could leave the room. 
 
 " Well, my dear Lady, you owe me some- 
 thing, I am sure, for having rid you from the 
 presence of that formal personage." Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon did not look as if she agreed 
 with him, but forced a smile as she replied : 
 
 " I like variety in character and manners ; 
 the world would grow dull, if every one were 
 cut out on the same pattern." 
 
 " I am glad to hear you say that, my dear 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon, for that is exactly what 
 I think ; and, therefore, I have always held ofT 
 from the tyranny, which goes to make every 
 body subscribe to the same code in manners, 
 dress, hours, nay even language; and at least, 
 my coat, my neckcloth, my hair, is all after a 
 cut of my own, and I find all does vastly well; 
 for if the world does not approve the one or like 
 the other, they are at least afraid of me, be- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 231 
 
 cause I think for myself. This answers my 
 purpose precisely as well. But you look se- 
 rious, I see, and therefore I will follow my 
 Lord Albert D Esterre's inimitable example, 
 and leaving my last sentence in the tablets of 
 your memory, farewell, most fair and fasci- 
 nating lady. One word more I beg to add, 
 remember that I wish exceedingly to go to 
 Lady Tilney's next Friday, and I leave my 
 wish in the hands of the kindest and fairest of 
 the daughters of Eve. I depend upon your ma- 
 na^inof it for me." 
 
 " Oh .1 certainly, nothing is easier you know, 
 you are always le Men venu, I wonder that you 
 can make this request a favour.'' 
 
 " Ah ! all that is very well from your lips, 
 but you knovv', although I am the most admired 
 man about town, I am sometimes by some 
 chance forgotten. It is very odd that it should 
 be so, but nevertheless it is often unjustly the 
 case ; and I correct fortune by such applications 
 as the one I have just made to you ; and now 
 je vous baise les mains m the D'Esterre phraseo- 
 logy, though I would much rather do so in 
 reality, and so farewell most fair." 
 
232 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " Depend upon me," replied Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon, kissing her hand to him as he left the 
 room. ** Depend upon my hating you most 
 cordially," she said to herself, as her head 
 sank on the pillow of her sofa, and she tried 
 to shut out from her recollection all his ill- 
 timed bavardage^ and to recal the strange but 
 eloquent converse of the interesting Lord 
 D'Esterre. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 233 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PRIMA sera; LETTERS, SNARES. 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon, in consequence of 
 her recent accident, received society at home 
 instead of seeking it abroad ; and for several 
 evenings the elite of ton, passed their prima 
 sera at her house. Lord Albert D'Esterre. was 
 constant too in his attendance there, and was 
 evidently much occupied with Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon. His attentions did not escape re- 
 mark, and though Lady Tilney's object, in 
 wishing to possess an influence over Lord Al- 
 bert, was quite of another nature, still she felt 
 some disappointment at finding he was inte- 
 rested in another quarter, and therefore less 
 likely to yield to the designs which she had 
 formed upon his political independence. 
 
 " I'll tell you how that matt ir stands," re- 
 plied Lord Rainham, as she inquired his 
 opinion on the subject, " the love is at present 
 entirely on the lady's side ; Lord Albert is not 
 
234 THE EXCI-USIVES. 
 
 at all captive, and he has such obsolete ways of 
 thinking, that I imagine he will not be easilj 
 caught. I should recommend his being given 
 up altogether, he will never play apart among 
 us, depend upon that; and you will not find 
 liim worth the trouble of educating/' 
 
 " Oh ! as to playing a part, my dear Lord, 
 one does not want every body to play a part, 
 at least not a Jirst part you know ; and as for 
 educating them, that is quite out of the ques- 
 tion." 
 
 " But," rejoined Lord Rainham, "you forget 
 there is such a thing as persuasion ; and it is 
 said D'Esterre took his seat on the side of 
 ministers by some means of that sort. Now it 
 is possible, that although no liaison de coeur 
 exists between him and Lady Hamlet Vernon, 
 yet as a clever woman, she may have decided 
 his vacillating judgment ; to say the truth, I 
 believe she has." Lady Tilney bit her lip, 
 and something like the word provoking, es- 
 caped her, as she replied, " I would scorn to 
 persuade any body to any thing against his 
 will; there is nothing I have e^er maintained 
 more strenuously, than that every individual 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 235 
 
 iihouid have a free choice in all the different 
 elections of life." Lord Rainham smiled. 
 " But after all," slie added with an affected in- 
 difference, by which she attempted ineffec- 
 tually to conceal her mortification, " it is of 
 very little importance which side Lord Albert 
 has taken." 
 
 " One would have thougnt so indeed but 
 for the disappointment which is evident since 
 ne has declared himself," replied Lord Rain- 
 ham, drily. 
 
 However, much Lady Tilney felt chagrined 
 at the thought that anoiher had succeeded in 
 turning Lord Albert's mind in a direction 
 contrary to her wishes, yet she was too politic 
 to betray her disappointment to the person 
 who had triumphed; and therefore, on the 
 evening in question, she paid more than usual 
 attention to Lady Hamlet Vernon. 
 
 " Dear Lady Hamlet Vernon," said Lady 
 Tilney addressing her, as she took a seat by 
 her, you must not pretend to be ill any longer, 
 we positively cannot do without you;"' and 
 then turning to Comtesse Leinsengen, she 
 
236 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 added, "did you ever see any thing to equal 
 the beauty of her fairy foot r" 
 
 This was a sore subject, as the reverse of the 
 proposition always suggested itself to the Com- 
 tesse's fancy, in respect of her own ; and she 
 pretended on the present occasion not to hear 
 it, but tossing up her head, took Ladv Bas- 
 kerville's arm, who was sitting on the other side 
 of her, and whispered in her ear, " Lady Til- 
 ney does take such engouements^ and then is as 
 quickly tired of them, desfens depailles,'^ shrug- 
 ging her shoulders contemptuously ; " but I 
 wonder she like to recall dat old story of her 
 admiration for feet, when she made herself so 
 very ridiculous in her affected praises of dat 
 soidisant princesse. De lady who professes 
 to worship liberty, independence, and all dat 
 sort of ting, to sit holding anoder woman's foot 
 upon her knee, and making all dat sort of fuss, 
 for my part, je nai jamais pu confevoir ce plai- 
 sir Id. 
 
 " It does seem to me rather extraordi- 
 nary," replied Lady Baskerville ; " but then 
 Lady Tilney is so very good-humoured, she 
 always protects every body she thinks put 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 237 
 
 down or in distress/' This was a prudent 
 answer on Lady Baskerville's part, but not well 
 received, which on perceiving, she quickly 
 added : 
 
 " As to myself, I confess I do not take 
 any pleasure in those sort of out-of-the-way 
 admirations; I can admire beauty in other 
 women; but I cannot affect to be so exceed- 
 ingly enchanted by it as to turn Jille dechamhre 
 in its honour. But there are many things in 
 the world vastly ridiculous ; for instance, can 
 any thing be more so in its way than that 
 Duke and Duchess D'Hermanton, who have 
 been married 1 don't know how long, and are 
 still aux premiers amours ; one sees them eter- 
 nally dawdling about together, as if persons came 
 into company to be always setting a pattern of 
 conjugal felicity. It is pardonable, perhaps, 
 for very young people, during a few months to 
 fancy tl^emselves vastly in love ; but after 
 that time it is sickening— don't you think so 
 Comtesse ?" 
 
 *■ Oui, vraiment; aa reste it is only in dis 
 country that people do give themselves such 
 ridicule, and to say truth, not often, even here." 
 
238 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " But pardon me, Comtesse," said Lady 
 Baskerville, withdrawing from her; "I must 
 go away, for I see Lord Boileau waiting for me, 
 whom I had promised to take to Almack's, and 
 had nearly forgotten ;" so saying she passed into 
 an adjoining room, and addressing him said : 
 
 " Lord Boileau we are very late, and if we 
 do not make haste we shall be shut out." 
 
 "Oh, no— all that is left out of the eveninfr's 
 entertainment, I can assure you, for they begin 
 to be afraid that nobodv will go in, thoujjh 
 the doors ai'e left wide open all night." 
 
 " I am not surprised, for I hate the whole 
 thing, and think it is become quite detestable, 
 only I promised Lady Aveling to go to-night, 
 so if you are ready let us begone; —but I have 
 not made my curtsey to Lady Hamlet." 
 
 " Indeed, Lady Baskerville, you may spare 
 yourself that trouble, if you mean to be agree- 
 able, for do you not see she is enamoured par- 
 dessuslesyeux with thathord AlbertD'Esterre." 
 
 " Ah," rejoined Lady Baskerville, looking in 
 the direction where they sat, " is it so ? Well, 
 every one has her taste; but I cannot say such 
 a person would ever touch my heart." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 239 
 
 " Oil ! your lieart we all know is assailable 
 but by one, and that Baskerville is the man, the 
 most to be envied in all the world ; to be sure 
 there never was such a wife as you are, quite 
 perfect, Lady Baskerville, only too perfect." 
 Lady Baskerville cast back her head, and look- 
 ing at Lord Boileau with one of her intelligent 
 smiles, they passed on, and stepping into the 
 carriage, drove off to finish their evening 
 amusements in the insipid glitter of an Al- 
 mack's ball. 
 
 After the lapse of some weeks Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon was completely restored to health and 
 beauty, and again resumed her usual routine 
 of existence. She sought dissipation at all 
 times eagerly, from habit; but now there was 
 added to this impulse a restlessness of feeling, 
 an anxiety if alone, and a void in her heart, 
 from the evening in which her accident hap- 
 pened, such as she had never before ex- 
 perienced. It was in vain for her to conceal 
 from herself, that she had perhaps hitherto un- 
 oonsciously courted the society of Lord Albert 
 D'Esterre more than of any other person, without 
 considering how far she was yielding to the gra- 
 
240 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 tification consistently with any probable chance 
 of happiness to herself in the ultimate issue. 
 She certainly had a decided preference for Lord 
 Albert D'Esterre, or -why did she seek every 
 opportunity of seeing him ; or why feel un- 
 easy when she heard of his acknowledged 
 affiance to another ? These feelings prompted 
 her to know more of the appearance and cha- 
 racter of his intended bride, whom circum- 
 stances had as yet prevented from appearing 
 in the great world of London, and to whom 
 she was an utter stranger. 
 
 Under this influence, she determined to 
 address a letter to one with whom she was 
 in the habit of corresponding, and whom she 
 knew to be on a visit to Dunmelraise, the 
 seat of Lady Adeline's mother. She felt confi- 
 dent that she might take this step without com- 
 promising herself, and without her inquiries 
 being deemed strange, or indicative of any thing 
 beyond a natural curiosit}'. Shortly after this 
 letter had been written, the following reply 
 came from her friend, Mr. G. Foley ; the con- 
 tents of which were not at all calculated to 
 tranquillize Lady Hamlet Vernon's feehngs, 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 241 
 
 if she really had any affection for Lord Al- 
 bert. 
 
 Letter from Mr, Foley to Ladtj Hamlet Vernon. 
 
 " When one is not to write of that which 
 one is thinking about, it is the most difficult 
 thing in the world to write at all. But you 
 command, and I must endeavour to obey. 
 Let me see how am I to commence ? Per- 
 haps it is best that I do so by giving you 
 the history, as one young lady writing to ano- 
 ther would say, of the Lady Adeline Seymour. 
 You know that Lady Dunmelraise, her mother, 
 lost her husband and an only son soon after 
 Lady Adeline's birth; she then fell into low 
 spirits and bad health, but by degrees roused 
 herself to live for this child ; and I must do 
 her the justice to say, she has fulfilled her task 
 admirably. 
 
 " As to personal appearance. Lady Adeline 
 Seymour is of that height which just escapes 
 being too tall; of that slimness which just 
 escapes being too thin ; of that untutored man- 
 ner which is often nearly being gauche, were 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 it not that it is accompanied by a childish grace 
 which evades the charge. Quick of percep- 
 tion, and quicker still in feeling, she has a 
 peculiar way of checking these impulses so as 
 never to allow them to betray her into any 
 unbecoming harshness or abruptness of man- 
 ner; the very fear one entertains that she may 
 overstep the boundary of polished retenu gives 
 an additional zest to her, but gave a ceux qui 
 voudroit Vimiter — for she is perfectly original 
 and defies all copyists. As to her face it is not 
 marvellously beautiful, still less regularly so, 
 but it is of such love-like paleness, chased by 
 such sunny gleams of joyous youth continu- 
 ally playing over her features, that one could 
 not wish it changed even for a more regular 
 beauty. She is the very model of the poet's 
 dream when he wrote — 
 
 • ' Her pure and eloquent blood 
 
 Spoke in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought, 
 That one would almost say her body thought.' 
 
 " Thus much for Lady Adeline's appearance 
 and manners. In regard to the acquirements 
 and endowments of her mental being, 1 am 
 perhaps not myself qualified to speak — sl>e is 
 not precisely what the laborious educating 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 243 
 
 mammas would call accomplished, but she has 
 a master genius for one art and a love for 
 all. Her musical talent certainly requires much 
 instruction to bring it to any perfection, but 
 the scraps of airs she warbles as she flies about 
 the house, are in the best taste as far as they 
 go — and a few Venetian ballads which she sings 
 to her guitar, and which she says her cousin 
 taught her, are quite inebriating. 
 
 " She unfeignedly undervalues all she does; 
 perhaps too much so; but you read in her 
 countenance that she is perfectly sincere; that 
 all spoken praise distresses her; and you are 
 involuntarily led to seek to give her homage 
 in some more palatable shape. 
 
 " What do you think of this portrait of the 
 young Adeline ? It looks like that of a heroine 
 in romance, as I glance my eyes over the 
 words, and yet I have such a nausea at all the 
 persons bearing that designation, that I would 
 fain save the delightful one of whom I am 
 writing from that hacknied name. You must 
 have heard, of course, that she is engaged to 
 her cousin Lord Albert D'Esterre; but like 
 M 2 
 
244 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 ail those engagements made for people when 
 they are children, 1 do not think it will be 
 fulfilled con amo)e — not but what she blushes 
 whenever she speaks of him, and that she does 
 pretty frequently; and if he is grown up like 
 a certain bust (for I have not seen him these 
 three years, and bovs chan<xe so from eiojhteen 
 to one and twenty), he really must be in bel 
 Giovane. By the way, she lias made an exqui- 
 site drawing of mo7i beau cousin^ but that is 
 neither here nor there, the fiction of seventeen 
 is always beautiful. Pray in your next gra- 
 cious letter inform me what sort of man he 
 has become, for I feel a brotherly regard for 
 this very nice person, Lady Adeline Seymour, 
 and should like to think she had a chance of 
 happiness. Happiness, what a sound! but the 
 reality, where is it? 
 
 * Come L'Araba Fenice 
 Che ci sia, ciascim lo dice 
 Dove sia, nessun lo sa.' 
 
 " I should have told you, by the bye, that 
 with all the gaiety, which is one of her greatest 
 charms, Lady Adeline has a tincture of se- 
 riousness mingled with it, which some might 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 245 
 
 suppose approached to Methodism ; but even 
 if it is so, a son age elle en guerira, 
 
 " I have been a long time here : but it has 
 been a great gratification to me, and time 
 has glided softly by ; for in addition to the 
 charms of the daughter^ Lady Dunmelraise 
 is in all respects a very agreeable and sensi- 
 ble woman, has seen a great deal of the world, 
 and besides all that, honours your humble 
 servant with her very particular regard ; which 
 she tells me is bestowed entirely for the sake 
 of my mother, the friend whom she loved 
 most in the world next to her own family ; 
 but I am vain enough to flatter myself that 
 she likes me a little for mine own sake too. 
 And you, who understand every thing a dtmi 
 mo', will know how soothing it is to a sick 
 heart to receive kindness; this has induced 
 me hitherto to linger on from day to day ; 
 but I shall vary the scene soon, for I begin to 
 think that even I may be de trop ; for I hear 
 frequent mention made of Lord Albert D'Es- 
 terre's expected arrival ; so to-morrow I set 
 off for Luryddicath Park. Lord Tresyllian's ; 
 who, you know, is father to Lord Albert. 
 
246 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " And now, my dear Lady Hamlet Vernon, 
 having given you the particulars you required, 
 I w^ill not weary you with more of myself: 
 but in pity to me, seeing that I am still for a 
 time cut off from that only tolerable place in 
 England, London, do write me a brief, gra- 
 cious missive, that I may feast upon it till J 
 am once more restored to your presence, and 
 in the mean while believe me to be the most 
 devoted of your slaves. Can I say more ? 
 
 " G. Foley." 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon, after perusing this 
 letter, fell into a deep train of reflection, if 
 such can be called intense feeling usurping 
 the mind, to the exclusion of every other idea. 
 The image of Lady Adeline, thus vividly pour- 
 trayed by Mr. Foley^s pen, stood in actual pre- 
 sence before her; and combined with that 
 image, rose the vision of Lord Albert D'Es- 
 terre. The happiness which would be the 
 growth of an union between two such persons 
 as her knowledge of the one, and her fancied 
 knowledge of the other, represented them, was 
 embodied with forcible reality, and tears coursed 
 each other involuntarily down her cheeks as 
 
TilE EXCLUSIVES. 247 
 
 she sat, more like a marble image than a living- 
 being. 
 
 From this state she was suddenly roused by 
 the servants announcing Lord Albert D'Es- 
 terre himself; and making an effort to subdue 
 the feeling which either she was too much 
 ashamed, or too proud to own, she endeavour- 
 ed to receive him with as much composure as 
 she could assume. After the first words of 
 course had passed. Lady Hamlet Vernon was 
 too deeply absorbed in one subject for her 
 readily to turn to any indifferent topic ; and she 
 at length addressed Lord Albert on the subject 
 of her solicitude, saying, ''• Do you know I have 
 received a letter this morning full of the praises 
 of a person, in whom I believe you are much 
 interested; it is from a friend of mine now 
 staying at Dunmelraise, and who draws such 
 a picture of the charms of Lady Adeline Sey- 
 mour, that I wonder. Lord Albert, to see you 
 here — but you are going to Dunmelraise, are 
 you not, immediately?" Her tears almost 
 flowed afresh as she pronounced these words; 
 and unconsciously she cast a look of tender 
 intreaty on Lord Albert. The latter had invo- 
 
248 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 limtarily started, coloured, and hesitated tx) 
 reply to this unexpected question ; at length 
 he ansv/ered : 
 
 '' No, not immediately ; I am unable to 
 leave town yet," 
 
 " You are not in love," Lady Hamlet Ver- 
 non exclaimed, " no, you are not in love with 
 Lady Adeline Seymour — I read your heart in 
 the measured calmness of your words ; she is 
 not the mistress of your affections." 
 
 The sentence seemed to have escaped Lady- 
 Hamlet Vernon's lips without the power of 
 control, in a moment of excitement ; and her 
 eyes, which had been fixed on Lord Albert, 
 now as suddenly fell beneath his gaze as he 
 exclaimed with astonishment, 
 
 " What can you mean, what do you mean^ 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon?" At that moment 
 Lady Tilney was announced, and a minute 
 after Lord Gascoigne. Conversation became 
 general; but Lord Albert, evidently labouring 
 under some painful feeling, took no part in 
 it. Still he seemed determined to remain, to 
 await the departure of the others, when Lady 
 Tilney proposed to Lady Hamlet Vernon to 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 249 
 
 accompany her to the Park ; and the latter, 
 fearing that she had compromised herself in 
 the too open expression of her feelings relative 
 to Lord Albert and Lady Adeline Seymour, 
 availed herself of the opportunity to avoid 
 any renewal of the theme. With a heart 
 ill at ease, she prepared to attend Lady 
 Tilney to the dazzling throng of Hyde Park ; 
 while Lord Albert, seeing it was vain to look 
 for any explanation of Lady Hamlet Vernon's 
 extraordinary address to him at the moment, 
 reluctantly handed her to Lady Tilney's car- 
 riage ; and, trusting to some future opportunity 
 to ask an explanation, he mounted his horse 
 and rode off; but not with a mind so tranquil 
 or a heart so buoyant as he had possessed a 
 short time before. 
 
 In proposing to take Lady Hamlet Vernon 
 to the Park, Lady Tilney's real object was to 
 withdraw her from Lord Albert, whose anxiety 
 had not escaped her observation, and whose 
 political career she still had hopes might not 
 be positively decided; at any rate, if hope 
 remained, it was worth the trial; and should 
 M 5 
 
250 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 she have been correct hi her idea that Lord 
 Albert had not committed himself irrevocably, 
 no time was to be lost; that very moment per- 
 haps he waited only the voice of Lady Ham- 
 let's influence, to decide his wavering inten- 
 tions. Lady Tilney's part was therefore quickly 
 taken; and as they proceeded to the Park, she 
 endeavoured to turn Lady Hamlet Vernon's 
 mind from Lord Albert, if he really occupied 
 any share in it, by adverting to every topic of 
 the day ; among other things she said : 
 
 " What do you think ! Miss Melcomb's 
 marriage with Lord Glenmore is at length de- 
 clared. I had long had my suspicions that it 
 would be so; but I cannot say I approve of 
 the affair; and I am sure you will think with 
 me, Lord Glenmore is too great a card to be 
 played by that little miss, who has never left 
 her mamma's wing; and has, of course, im- 
 bibed all her prejudices. But although Lord 
 Glenmore has allied himself with this family, 
 we must not wholly give him up ; besides the 
 Georgina is pretty, and she may yet not prove 
 quite such a simpleton as she looks. Lady Til- 
 ney, however, in vain endeavoured to interest 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 251 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon in any subject she dis- 
 cussed ; the former acquiesced in every thing 
 her companion said, in order to avoid the ar- 
 gument which would have followed any dissent 
 from her opinion. Lady Hamlet Vernon's 
 remarks, when she made any, were short, and 
 little to the purpose; and at length, wearied 
 and ill at ease, she complained of a head-ache, 
 and besought Lady Tilney to set her down at 
 home. 
 
 When the carriage-door closed. Lady Til- 
 ney flung herself back, exclaiming as she drew 
 up the glass, " How provokingly discreet, she 
 did not once commit herself!" and Lady Tilney 
 drove once more back to the Park, in the hope 
 of seeing Lord Albert; and if possible, by court- 
 ing his attention, of counteracting any influence 
 which might have been exercised on his opi- 
 nion by Lady Hamlet Vernon. She looked, 
 however, in vain for him in the crowd; and at 
 length drove home, disappointed and displeased 
 at her want of success, and out of humour with 
 every thing. 
 
252 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FASHIONABLE FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 Lord Glenmore's marriage soon became the 
 subject of general conversation. The day of 
 the nuptials was already named, and the cere- 
 mony was to be in the most splendid style. 
 In compliment to Lord Glenmore, several of 
 his acquaintance were invited. Amongst these 
 was Lady Tilney and Lady Tenderden ; the 
 Comtesse Leinsengen of course ; and Lady 
 Ellersby, who on her mother's side was related 
 to the family of the Mel combs. The parties 
 named expressed themselves annoyed at the 
 idea of forming part of what they called the 
 Melcomh melange ; but a secret wish to retain 
 an influence with Lord Glenmore, whose mar- 
 riage it was intended should not, without a 
 trial of Miss Melcomb's aptitude for lov^ 
 banish him from their circle. 
 
 The whole affair, however, was sotto sugezione 
 in the opinion of Lady Tilney and her friends. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 253 
 
 " The strangest thing of all is," exclaimed the 
 former, as she was conversing on the subject 
 with Lady Tenderden and the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen, " that the marriage takes place in 
 church." 
 
 " In church ! quelle idee^ vraiment on mourra 
 defroid''* 
 
 " And pray how must one be dressed?" in- 
 quired Lady Tenderden. 
 
 " Oh, en costume de traineau, I presume, 
 since it is in von of your cold church ; but vat 
 sinifies how von dresses for it ?" 
 
 " If it rains I really must send my excuse," 
 said Lady Tilney, who wanted to be on a level 
 at least with the Comtesse in impertinence. 
 " Have you seen the trousseau ?" slie added. 
 
 " Yes, I have," replied Lady Tenderden. 
 Lady Tilney looked blank ; she could not bear 
 that others should precede her even in the 
 inspection of a trousseau. Lady Tenderden, 
 continued:—" Madame Duval brought me 
 every thing that was worth seeing; the laces 
 are magnificent, and the corbeille de noces, and 
 every thing is in good taste. But here is Lady 
 Ellersby," exclaimed Lady Tenderden, glad 
 
254 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 to break off from a subject which had been dis- 
 agreeable to her, " I do not suppose she will 
 approve of the programme of this ceremony.'* 
 
 " My dear Lady Ellersby," the ladies all 
 exclaimed, running up to her, " why did you 
 not exert your influence with Lady Melcomb 
 to prevent this baroque fancy of being mar- 
 ried in church ; surely your relationship would 
 have authorized j^our good advice on the oc- 
 casion." Lady Ellersby looked surprised, and 
 asked an explanation. 
 
 " Do you not know," answered Lady Til- 
 ney, " that the ceremony is to take place in a 
 church?" 
 
 " La! does it? What a strange fancy!" 
 drawled Lady Ellersby; "but I should never 
 think of giving any advice to Lady Melcomb 
 — I never do, to any body." 
 
 " Dat Mademoiselle Melcomb, vid all her 
 imbecile niaiserie, seems not to have played her 
 part amiss." 
 
 " I think she will turn out better than one 
 could have supposed," rejoined Lady Tender- 
 den, " when she becomes im peu plus fa^onne,^* 
 
 " Do tell me who are the invited ?" inter- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 255 
 
 rupted Lady Tilney, addressing Lady El- 
 lersby. 
 
 " Oh, half London, to be sure ; such a quan- 
 tity of tiresome relations, and so much pro- 
 perty, and family dignity, there will be no 
 end of all the cousins — don't you know they 
 are just the sort of people who teem with re- 
 lations ?" 
 
 "But who is there of the party that one 
 knows ?" replied Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Oh, there are ourselves, and the Duke of 
 Mercington, and the Boileaus, and Baskervilles, 
 I believe; I fancy too the Duke and Duchess 
 D'Hermanton, and some of that set, are also 
 among the pries, but I must go now e7i qnalitede 
 cmsine, and leave my card with the Melcombs, 
 and then I shall go on to Kitchener's, who has 
 the resetting of the family diamonds. I am 
 told they are magnificent; and I should so like 
 to persuade Lord Ellersby to let mine be reset 
 too, I have had them three years in their pre- 
 sent form, and am so tired of them as they are 
 — Jie, he, he! — well — adieu, we shall meet to- 
 night at Lady De Chere's ?" 
 
 " Avouez moi qiCelle passe la permission qu^ on 
 
256 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 a d etre hHe^^ observed Lady Tenderden, as she 
 left the room. 
 
 " May be so, but she is a very old friend of 
 mine, and besides, she is perfectly comme il 
 faut, and after all, that sort of thing gets 
 on in the world just as well as talent." 
 
 " Perhaps better," rejoined Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Precisement,'^ said the Comtesse Leinsen • 
 gen, " but, il faut que je pars, je vais voir le 
 iroNSseau, for oderwise I shall have nothing to 
 say to Lady Baskerville, who goes vid me to- 
 night to de Opera. Adieu les belles, adieu.'' 
 
 " I wonder how 6he can be at the trouble of 
 oroinsf to see that foolish trousseau.'' exclaimed 
 ' Lady Tilney, as soon as she was out of hearing, 
 " She is so inconsequente. Did Lady Ellersby 
 name the Baskervilles as being among the in- 
 vited ?" continued Lady Tilney. 
 
 " Oh yes, the Comtesse, depend upon it, has 
 taken care they shall be asked ; and my Lord 
 is always flattered in being reckoned a requisite 
 appendage to a woman of high rank ; but he will 
 soon find his error in depending on her smiles, 
 for except for the gratification of the moment's 
 vanity, she seeks no further aim, and at all 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 25T 
 
 times scruples not to sacrifice her ci-devant 
 friends to her new ones." 
 
 " Poor Lord Baskerville," replied Lady 
 Tilney, " was intended to be by nature le bon 
 enfant^ which she calls him ; but he has fallen 
 into the terrible mistake of thinking himself a 
 leader of ton^ which gives him a ridicule that 
 he would not otherwise have." 
 
 " How well you read characters, my dear 
 Lady Tilney ! But I thought he was ^protege 
 of yours." 
 
 " Oh, so he is; I like him of all things; 
 and he is often vastly useful. One must have 
 different characters at command to fill different 
 parts, or else nothing that one wants would go 
 on. But to return to the Melcombs, I do not re- 
 cover from my surprise about that marriage." 
 
 " It only shews what perseverance will do, 
 I wished to talk the matter over with you, and 
 to ascertain whether or not you meant to at- 
 tend ; so now I need not trouble you longer. 
 Your gown you say is to be rose-colour, mine 
 shall be jonquille." 
 
 " Ah, you always look divine in that golden 
 liglu : but what light do you not look divine in ?" 
 
258 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " I must positively run away, or you will 
 quite turn my head with flattery. Adieu, 
 adieu," and they parted well pleased with each 
 other. 
 
 When Lady Ellersby stopped at Lady Mel- 
 comb's door, where she had intended only to 
 leave her card, a multiplicity of people on the 
 sanie errand faisoit queue a la porte ; but to her 
 infinite dismay, just as her carriage drove up, 
 Lord Glenmore, who happened to be coming 
 out of the door, approached her with a coun- 
 tenance beaming happiness. 
 
 " I am sure Georgina will be at home to 
 you; do allow me to hand you out of your 
 carriage." 
 
 " Not for the w^orld, I would not intrude ; I 
 am sure Miss Melcomb has a thousand things 
 to do, and to arrange ; but — " 
 
 '' Nay, dear Lady Ellersby, ''continued Lord 
 Glenmore, pressingly (who thought every one 
 must be as anxious to see his bride, as he was 
 eager she should be seen), '^ Georgina will be 
 so disappointed if you do not go up stairs, that 
 I must entreat you will." And in short, for 
 once, what between curiosity to look at the 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 259 
 
 bridal paraphernalia, and a sort of awkward- 
 ness to do a decided thing, and say no. Lady 
 EUersby's indolence was overcome, and she 
 allowed herself to be handed up stairs into the 
 drawing room, where were assembled a host of 
 ladies {riot Miss Melcomb), who were busily 
 engaged admiring the various dresses and 
 finery which were displayed before them. 
 
 " You are just come in time. Lady Ellers- 
 by," exclaimed Lady Aveling, " for after to- 
 day, nobody is to be admitted." 
 
 " No ? well, la ! I am glad then ; but my dear 
 Lady Melcomb I came, I assure you, expressly 
 to wish you joy, and to leave my congratulations 
 also with Miss Melcomb, whom I hope, I am 
 to see, for Lord Glenmore insisted on my com- 
 ing in, otherwise I would not have done sc^— 
 knowing how tiresome visitors are at such a 
 moment; but since I am here, do me the 
 favour to mention to Miss Melcomb, how very 
 happy I am to have the opportunity of wishing 
 her joy." 
 
 " And do look," cried Lady Aveling, " at 
 this enchanting hat; it is just come from Paris 
 — was there ever any thing de meilleur gout 9 
 
260 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 — and then look at this, and that seduisante— 
 really, Lady Melcomb, your selection has been 
 exquisite. But here comes the bride." 
 
 Then ensued kisses, curtseys, and congratu- 
 lations, during which Lord Glenmore retired, 
 wearied with the nonsense of the female cote- 
 rie, and despairing of even catching a glance 
 from Miss Melcomb. 
 
 While the marriage ornaments continued to 
 absorb the attention of the other visitors. Miss 
 Melcomb took Lady Ellersby aside to shew 
 her what, she said, was infinitely better worth 
 looking at — a miniature of Lord Glenmore. 
 
 " So, my dear," said Lady Ellersby, " you 
 are really what they call in love? he, he, he!" 
 
 " I am fondly attached to Lord Glenmore, 
 and feel proud now in declaring it; — it has be- 
 come my happy duty," replied Miss Melcomb. 
 
 " Duty !" replied Lady Ellersby, opening 
 her mouth, and ouvrant des grands yeux, " he, 
 he, he ! — surely you are not serious ? Whoever 
 heard a young person going to be married, 
 that is, going to be her own mistress, talk of 
 duty ! Tell me, really are you not delighted at 
 the idea of having horses and equipages, aiul 
 
THE EXCLL'SlVEo. 261 
 
 doing exiictly what you like, and going out 
 every where you please ? That w as what I liked 
 and thought of, when I was going to be mar- 
 ried, and but then I was not in love — he, 
 
 he, he !" 
 
 " No ?" replied Miss Melcomb, somewhat 
 astonished. 
 
 " Certainly not— he, he, he !" 
 
 " I have no wish," rejoined Miss Melcomb, 
 " to be more my own mistress than I am at 
 present, I shall, on the contrary, feel myself 
 less at liberty, for of course a married woman 
 has a thousand things to think of which a girl 
 has not." 
 
 '' La, my dear, you talk in a way which it is 
 very right to teach children, but when people 
 act for themselves they think very difierently. 
 Every body, you know, marries to avoid being 
 governed." 
 
 " I never could have married for that reason, 
 for I have been the happiest of cL-eatures at 
 home." 
 
 " Well really, la! you dont say so ! But 
 now you will have an opera box, jeweL-, equi- 
 pages, and all sorts of delifrhtful things." 
 
262 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " I don't know — perhaps if Lord Glenmore 
 intends I should — " 
 
 " La, how droll you are; you don't really 
 mean to set out by asking his leave, or consult- 
 ing him on such trifling subjects as these, my 
 dear child, he, he, he ! you are enough to 
 spoil any husband. — Well, good morning — you 
 must correct yourself of such enfcmtillage — 
 remember what I say. Six months will not 
 have elapsed before you recant all this, and 
 change your present mode of thinking and 
 feeling." 
 
 Miss Melcomb smiled, and shook her head 
 in token of dissent. " Good morning," Lady 
 Ellersby repeated, " I have already intruded 
 too much upon your time; I shall be delighted 
 to cultivate your society when you come back 
 a gay bride; and pray tell Lady Melcomb 1 
 will not torment her any more just now. — 
 Once again accept my congratulations, and my 
 best compliments to Lord Melcomb, he, he, 
 he!" 
 
 It is a strange thing that in the happiest of 
 times there is often a word spoken, or a thing 
 occurs, which seems to interpose a dark spot 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 263 
 
 upon die brightness of happiness, as though 
 we were not to forget the nature of mortal 
 felicity. Lady Ellersby's words, of six months 
 will not elapse ere you have changed your 
 present feelings— sounded in Miss Melcomb's 
 ears long after they had been spoken ; and 
 though she strove to drive them from her re- 
 membrance, they remained fixed there like a 
 warning which she was not to disregard — a 
 foreboding of evil (for to the happy all change 
 has terror in it). Minor circumstances such as 
 this, have happened to every body in their 
 course through life, and have been like visions 
 which opened a vista to futurity. 
 
 The day at length came which was to unite 
 Miss Melcomb with Lord Glenmore, and the 
 various persons invited met at Lord Melcomb's 
 house, from whence their carriages followed in 
 the suite of that of the bride's. The ceremony 
 took place in St. James's Chapel, and it was a 
 beautiful sight to see the bride, with composed 
 bashfulness, in the long white robe and coronal 
 that bound her veiled brows, so fitly emble- 
 matic of her own purity, supported by her 
 father to the altar, and given from the paternal 
 
264 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 anus into those of a husband, who was hence- 
 forth to be all the world to her, and whom she 
 acknowledo'ed to be lord of her affections in the 
 seriousness of true and deep attachment, as the 
 chosen of her heart Her velvet pra3'er book 
 in one hand — the other folding her veil across 
 her person, which it but partially concealed, 
 she knelt down in that spirit of piety which 
 hallov/s and sanctifies the vows she was about 
 to take. The previous tremor v/hich had 
 shook her frame as she advanced to the altar, 
 was stilled into composure as she bent the knee, 
 and raised her thoughts to heaven. 
 
 Lord Glenmore, too, seemed imbued with 
 the same devout feelings, and all those who 
 came with lighter thoughts, appeared, outwardly 
 at least, impressed. 
 
 When the ceremony closed, the now Lady 
 Glenmore knelt before her parents, and as they 
 pressed her to their breast, blessed her with 
 silent fervour; and even the most insensible ac- 
 knowledf^ed a touch of feelin": at this scene. 
 Lady De Chere was heard to say, that she had 
 no idea it would be made such a serious affair of; 
 had she known it, she certainly would not have 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 265 
 
 been present. Congratulations having been 
 offered on every side, some with sincere good- 
 will, but the greater part with common-place 
 phrase ; the marriage party returned to Lady 
 Melcomb's, where a breakfast had been pre- 
 pared. 
 
 " What a melange of persons !*' observed 
 Lady Ellersby, as she stopped in the doorway 
 on entering, in order to reconnoitre. " If I 
 had not been obliged*' (she whispered to Lady 
 Tilney), " nothing should have brought me 
 here.*' 
 
 " And / most indubitably should not have 
 come," replied the latter, " had it not been to 
 oblige you ; and after all I would have given a 
 great deal that I had not : for I assure you, my 
 dear, as soon as the affair of the day is over, 
 we must none of us be seen here again ; what 
 we may do respecting Lord and Lady Glen- 
 mere, reste a savoir. But yonder is Lady Bas- 
 kerville and Lady Tenderden, let us join them, 
 and by keeping as much as possible together, 
 and talking to no one but in our own circle, 
 shew that we are not here even at present on 
 
 VOL.*r. N 
 
266 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 familiar footing." Lady Baskerville was eon- 
 versing with Lady Tenderden on one of those 
 square Ottomans dos-a-dos, with their several 
 cavaliers by them, Lord Tonnerre, Lord Gas- 
 coigne, Lord Boileau, &c. 
 
 " Well I am sure," said Lady Baskerville, 
 addressing Lord Boileau, "if I were Lady 
 Glenmore, I should heartily wish all this eti- 
 quette de noces was over ; when a marriage has 
 taken place, and it is known to all the world, 
 the amusement is ended, and there is nothing 
 to be wished for, but the comfortable arrange- 
 ment of two sensible persons, who know what 
 it is to live without being a charge to each 
 other." 
 
 " To be sure," replied Lord Boileau, " I 
 wonder how people can make this sort of fuss 
 and ttalage; it is assuming that one is inte- 
 rested for them — nobody cares whether any 
 body is happy or miserable, and it is a bad 
 taste to affiche their private feelings in this 
 public manner." 
 
 At this moment a general movement in one 
 of the apartments attracted every body's at- 
 tention. — " Lord Melcomb is dead !" " Lord 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 267 
 
 Melcomb is dying!" resounded in audible 
 whispers. 
 
 " Call my carriage." — *'* How shocking." 
 — " I would not be in the room with a corpse 
 for the world.*' — " Do let us get away." 
 
 " Who knows but it may be catching — how 
 fortunate for Glenmore," said Lord Boileau, 
 looking over the people's heads, as he beheld 
 Lord Melcomb apparently lifeless. " He will 
 have the pretty heiress and her fortune at the 
 same moment." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" asked some one who 
 stood near. 
 
 '•' Why, only if the old Lord dies, that Miss 
 Melcomb becomes immediate mistress of Mel- 
 comb Park, and an estate often thousand ayear." 
 
 " Does she ! you do not mean so; had I 
 known that, I would have proposed to the girl 
 myself," said Lord Tonnerre. 
 
 " But is he really in an apoplectic fit?" said 
 another. 
 
 " Perhaps, but sometimes people do out- 
 live these sort of things, and walk about 
 quite gaily many years." 
 ■ N 2 
 
268 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " Ah ! there is that chance to be sure," said 
 Lady Baskerville, laughing. It is lamenta- 
 ble to remark, how those who live in fashion's 
 fooleries become actually indifferent to every 
 thing, and to every circumstance, of what 
 mighty moment soever, that does not imme- 
 diately concern their interests and pleasures. 
 The most tremendous events, the most awful 
 dispensations, the most surprising occurrences 
 are to them so many little coloured bubbles, 
 that seem to blow about for their amusement, 
 or targets set up to shoot jokes at. Life and 
 death seem but as foot-balls for these puppets 
 to play with : it would be laughable if it were 
 not horrible. 
 
 Lord Melcomb had only a fainting fit, oc- 
 casioned by over fatigue, and the heat of the 
 room. The brilliant crowd, however, which 
 were assembled at his house, fled in dismay on 
 the first alarm of sickness or of sorrow ; and 
 their inquiries the next day for his health, were 
 influenced more by curiosity, than by any 
 feeling of humanity, or any real care whether 
 he were alive or dead. This event, however, 
 had a very different effect on the minds of Lord 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 269 
 
 Melcomb's sincere friends, who waited with 
 anxiety to learn the effects of this sudden illness. 
 On Lady Glenmore's mind it cast a cloud, which 
 seemed to overshadow the bright dawning of 
 her happiness ; and she trembled at the idea of 
 some unknown calamity, an idea which had once 
 before visited her, when called up by Lady El- 
 lersby's words, and wh^ch now again recurred 
 to her with painful intenseness. A short hour, 
 however, relieved every one from anxiety ; 
 Lord Melcomb was completely restored, and he 
 received the embraces of his child : when kiss- 
 ing away the tears, which she could not re- 
 strain, he entreated her to lay aside all fears 
 on his account. Once more the bridal pair 
 received the parental blessing; and taking 
 leave of the few dear friends that surrounded 
 them, stepped into their carriage and set off 
 for Lord Glenmore's villa, where after re- 
 maining a short time, and feeling quite re- 
 assured on Lord Melcomb's account, they 
 proceeded on a tour to Paris. 
 
270 THE EXCLUSIVE^, 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A FASHIONABLE EASTER. 
 
 The season was ap2>roaching when, in good 
 old times, the heads of great famihes left the 
 metropolis, and in the retirement of their 
 country seats or villas devoted the precious ' 
 hours of the solemn festival of Easter to reflec- 
 tion, apart from busy scenes of public life in 
 the bosoms of their families — thus setting an 
 example worthy of imitation : and overcoming, 
 in some degree, the difficulty with which we 
 know a rich man shall enter the Kingdom of 
 
 o 
 
 Heaven. 
 
 How widely different is it at the present day 
 with those who call themselves The Ton. They 
 go indeed, at this holy season^ to villas, and 
 country seats, but take with them there all the 
 follies, and vices, and habits of that daily 
 idleness and dissipation which can suffer no 
 pause in its riot, no diminution in its intoxica- 
 tion. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 271 
 
 Lady Ellersby had invited to Restormel 
 Lady Tilney and the more select of her coterie. 
 Some there were, the subalterns of their corps 
 Mite, who, however subservient and ready they 
 had proved themselves to adopt the follies of 
 exclusiveness, had as yet fliiled in estabhshing 
 themselves in its full rights and prerogatives, 
 and who, after the sacrifice of their own true 
 dignity, still found themselves but as tools in 
 the hands of others. These, often overlooked 
 in the more recherche amusements, h^a^d of the 
 party at Restormel, but only heard, and were 
 not among the invited. To be excluded on 
 such an occasion was a mortification of the 
 severest kind, and it became a matter of the 
 greatest importance to have their names 
 inserted, if possible, on the select list. To 
 obtain this point, the infinite pains and 
 ingenuity employed were worthy of a better 
 cause. The Baskervilles were of the number 
 overlooked; and, addressing his wife on the 
 subject with as much eagerness as it was per- 
 mitted one of his dignified refinement to dis- 
 play. Lord Baskerville said : 
 
 " Imagine what Boileau has just told me; 
 
272 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 Lady Ellersby has a party at Restormel next 
 week ! I do think we had a right to be asked ; 
 don't you ?" 
 
 " Oh certainly, /ore," replied Lady Bas- 
 kerville, a sweet-sounding epithet of affection 
 which but on few occasions passed between 
 them : " Certainly : and if we are not, I shall 
 think it quite rude ; but / iviU arrange the 
 matter." 
 
 That night Lady Baskerville went to the 
 Opera with Lady Boileau ; as soon as an op- 
 portunity presented itself. Lady Baskerville 
 turned suddenly round, and said, " Oh, there 
 is Lady Ellersby, I see, in her box : how well 
 she looks — of course you are going to Restor- 
 mel at Easter?" and she kissed her hand the 
 while, in her most smiling manner, to the lady 
 of whom she spoke. 
 
 *^ No, I am not invited," replied Lady Boi- 
 kau. " Are you ?" 
 
 " Yes," rejoined Lady Baskerville, (deter- 
 mined to hazard the lie at all events, and trust 
 to chance, or her own devices, to make it true 
 afterwards.) *•' But how very odd she should 
 have left you out; it must be some mistake." 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 2^3 
 
 ** Oh, no, it is not a mistake — it cannot be ; 
 for Lady EUersby, you know, makes all her 
 invitations on these occasions de vive voix. 
 Lady Baskerville almost betrayed herself as 
 she felt Lady Boileau's penetrating eyes fixed 
 upon her's, with a scrutiny she did not wish to 
 prolong ; however she rallied dexterously, and 
 turned off the discourse into some other 
 channel ; but Lady Boileau returned to the 
 charge, saying: 
 
 *' Well, my dear Lady Baskerville, as you 
 are asked, do you not think you could get us 
 invited also ? You know I hardly ever break 
 my rule of running the risk of compromising a 
 friend by tormenting her to procure invita- 
 tions, but for this once I think I may venture, 
 considering our long friendship, to entrust you 
 with the secret (for you know I would not 
 have it said for the world), that 1 wish to 
 be of the number of the Friees to Restormel — 
 now as I intend giving my first ball imme- 
 diately after Easter, I shall consult her to-night 
 about certain persons whom I am rather doubt- 
 ful whether I shall ask ol- not, and then by 
 N 5 
 
274 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 appealing to you, throw the conversation into 
 your hands, and give you an opportunity of 
 naming those who are invited to Restormel, 
 which will bring about the subject in such a 
 natural way, that either I must be asked or 
 she will commit herself by a rudeness which 
 she generally avoids." 
 
 Lady Baskerville sat on thorns, but during the 
 length of this speech she had leisure to collect her 
 scattered senses, and began a reply equally ela- 
 borate, professing herself to be exceedingly at- 
 tached and obliged to Lady Boileau, and for that 
 very reason declining all interference on the pre- 
 sent occasion — " for you know," she said, " it 
 makes one so very nervous to put a friend under 
 the unpleasant predicament of being refused. 
 Besides, the moment one lets the world know 
 that one has a friend who wants any thing, 
 people begin immediately to conclude that 
 they may want many things, and directly look 
 shy, and make an excuse, and get off, and 
 probably cut both the asker and the person for 
 whom they ask. However you know I will do 
 what / can do^ but only I entreat you will leave 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 275 
 
 me at liberty to chuse the mode of managing 
 this business." 
 
 " Yes," rejoined Lady Boileau, " most cer- 
 tainly ; but perhaps the best way of all will be 
 to say nothing about it, beforehand, and then 
 for me to arrive unexpectedly, and say ymi had 
 asked me, and had forgotten to mention to 
 Lady Ellersby that you had done so." 
 
 " Oh ! not for the worlds my dearest Lady 
 Boileau, not for the world, — besides, — I just 
 recollect — Lord Baskerville had some idea we 
 should not go at all ;" — at that instant arrives 
 Lord Baskerville himself, and forgetting his 
 acquired manner, he opened the box-door 
 somewhat abruptly, and in his natural gay 
 agreeable way, such as is his own when he 
 ceases to remember he is an exclusive, he said, 
 addressing Lady Baskerville, 
 
 " I have this instant had an invitation for you, 
 which I am sure you will accept with pleasure : 
 it is from Lady Ellersby to go to Restormel." 
 
 " Dear ! la ! Lord Baskerville, how odd 
 you are — that is so like you — to have forgot — 
 and Lady Ellersby too, she must have for- 
 
276 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 gotten, don't you know tve were asked a fort- 
 night ago." 
 
 " Ah — hem ! very true," and taking the 
 hint which Lady Baskerville had given him 
 by an expressive glance, " hem ! I had really 
 forgotten, I always forget those sort of things, 
 hem !" 
 
 " Yes, and you said then, if you remember, 
 that you would not go, for that you thought of 
 visiting Tunbridge, as you always conceived 
 Restormel to be a dull, damp place, and so 
 unwholesome, with its quantity of trees and 
 stagnant water." 
 
 " Ay — so I did, — hem ! very true, and so it 
 is, and now you put me in mind, I rather 
 suppose we, that is /, shall not go, for of 
 course your ladyship will do as you chuse." 
 
 Lady Boileau, though young in years, was 
 too old a bird of fashion to be caught with chaff, 
 she saw through this matrimonial manoeuvre, 
 but was too prudent to let her perception be 
 seen; and in regard to Lady Baskerville's 
 refusal on the subject of Restormfel, she 
 pretended to take it as the latter intended 
 it should be taken, and her outward appear- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 2*71 
 
 ance remained unruffled, but at the same time 
 it was marked in the tablets of her memory, as 
 a token of friendship not to be forgotten. 
 
 " Indeed," replied Lady Boileau, in answer 
 to Lord Baskerville's last remark, " you are 
 both quite right, Restormel is a dull place, and 
 I advise you to secure a party for Tunbridge, 
 in which I shall be most happy to join you." 
 
 " I will think about it, hem !" replied Lord 
 Baskerville, " and consult the Comtesse Lein- 
 sengen," and thus he bowed out of the box. 
 Shortly after, Lady Baskerville feigned a very 
 bad head-ache and retired before the end of 
 the ballet. Not so Lady Boileau ; she watched 
 Lady Ellersby's movements, and contrived to 
 meet her in the room just at the very moment 
 when the crowd prevented her escaping. 
 
 " What do you think I have been doing all 
 night?" Lady Boileau asked ? 
 
 " Not listening to the Opera, ' replied Mr. 
 Spencer Newcomb, who was handing Lady 
 Ellersby. 
 
 " As if any body ever really came to attend 
 to or listen to it !" she observed ; " it is the very 
 last thing one comes to the Opera for," yawning. 
 
S78 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " I have been much better employed," 
 rejoined Lady Boileau, " for I have been 
 defending the agremens of Restormel against 
 Lord and Lady Baskerville's assertion of its 
 being the dullest place in the world; they 
 both declared it always gave them the vapours.'' 
 
 " So it does me," replied Lady Ellersby, 
 again yawning, " and that is precisely the 
 reason why I take such special care never 
 to go there, without having it well filled. But 
 then all places in the country are alike, and 
 one must go out of town at Easter." 
 
 " Well, Lady Ellersby, that may be true 
 enough : all country places are insufferably 
 dull except it be to give a fete during the 
 lilac and laburnum season ; but I think 
 your friends might make some distinction 
 between you and your place, and as far as 
 I could observe there was none made by the 
 Baskervilles.' ' 
 
 " Oh v/as there not, he, he ! Oh if such 
 is the case I am sorry I asked them to-night." 
 
 " To-night ! did you not make Lady Bas- 
 kerville the invitation long before to-night ? 
 you will pardon my asking the question; I 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 2T9 
 
 have a particular reason, which I will explain 
 to you hereafter, for doing so." 
 
 " La, dear, no," yawning " I never thought 
 of asking any body long ago'' This, though 
 in contradiction to her former declaration of 
 taking care to secure a party, she was obliged 
 to say in order to avoid a marked rudeness to 
 Lady Boileau, " and," she continued, " now 
 I have the good fortune to meet you, dear 
 Lady Boileau, will you and Lord Boileau 
 have the charity to join us; and, notwith- 
 standing Lady Baskerville's terrific account of 
 Restormel, venture to come and egayer its 
 melancholy bowers; at all events it will be 
 better than remaining in town, and we will try 
 to do what we can to render ourselves asjreeable 
 to you." 
 
 " I shall be delighted ; we shall have the 
 greatest pleasure in waiting upon you, and an:i 
 certain we shall be extremely well amused." 
 
 The great object of Lady Boileau's day was 
 now successfully attained, and doubtless she 
 laid her head upon her pillow that night with 
 all the satisfaction which such success ought to 
 confer. Lady Baskerville, on her part rejoiced 
 
280 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 in having as she thought so completely out- 
 manoeuvred her friend, and enjoyed the triumph 
 which her superior skill in the management of 
 such matters, as well as her superior knowledge 
 of the world, had afforded her. Yet these 
 women called each oiher friends ! How is that 
 sacred name profaned, that name which can 
 have no embodied existence, but with the 
 sincere and good, yet which is polluted in the 
 world's mouth at every instant. 
 
 Restormel was, as it had been described 
 by Lady Baskerville, an exceedingly gloomy 
 place, but nil within the house was luxury; 
 be3'ond its walls, however, there were none oP 
 those moral circumstances which can give 
 interest even to the dullest spot. The scenery 
 was monotonous and insipid; but there might 
 have been an enlivening character thrown 
 over the gloom, in the happy countenances 
 and cheerful looks of dependents and re- 
 tainers, if such had been the will of the 
 |X)ssessors of Restormel. But this was not 
 the case, the cold calculating system of em- 
 ployment of the poor, merely when the pur- 
 pose of keeping up the grounds or other 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. ' 281 
 
 improvements made it necessary, and then 
 taking no further charge whatever of the 
 beings so employed, regarding them only as 
 the labourers of the hour, conspired to give 
 the place a moral, as well as a natural gloom. 
 
 No peasant's abode in these domains was 
 ever cheered by Lady Ellersby's presence ; no 
 sufferer in sickness or distress alleviated beyond 
 the donation of money, and that but seldom ; — 
 none of those heart-interests in short were 
 ever evinced, on her, or her Lord's part, which 
 confer a mutual delight on those who receive, 
 and on those who bestow them, and which 
 maintain that link between the higher and 
 lower classes, which is at once so beautiful 
 and so beneficial, and without which all the 
 luxuries in the world will never produce any 
 thing but a melancholy and unsatisfying 
 grandeur. 
 
 There certainly, however, were the means, 
 if they had been resorted to, for every lau- 
 dable gratification of interest and entertain- 
 ment at Restormel. And where is the coun- 
 try place in which, if its possessor fulfil the 
 various duties the possession entails on him, 
 
9S2 THE EXCLUSIVES, 
 
 the means are wanting; and even as it was, 
 if that sickly appetite for excitement which 
 characterised its present inhabitants could 
 ever have been satisfied, it must have been 
 here, where every thing connected with their 
 system of life was found in profusion ; but 
 the factitious smiles which gild the exterior 
 of such a circle as was generally to be met with 
 at Restormel is not the sunshine of real hap- 
 piness. 
 
 Easter was now arrived and the party 
 assembled at Restormel, consisted of the 
 Tilneys, the Tenderdens, the Baskervilles, 
 the Leinsengens, Luttermanns, Lord Ton- 
 nere, Lady Hamlet Vernon, Lord Albert 
 d'Esterre (who was asked on trial), Lord and 
 Lady Boileau, by the manoeuvre which has 
 been described, and one or two single men 
 like Mr. Leslie Winyard, Mr. Spencer New- 
 comb, &c. &c. 
 
 These persons all met on the first night of 
 their arrival at an eight o'clock dinner. Lord 
 Albert d'Esterre had been invited at Lady 
 Tilney's suggestion, who considered a country 
 house a good stage for the display of a new 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 283 
 
 debutant, and as affording no unpropitious 
 opportunity of forwarding her wishes in regard 
 to Lord Albert's political bias. These wishes, 
 however, were soon doomed to disappointment ; 
 Lord Albert had accepted the invitation under 
 the impression that in the country there was 
 more leisure and tranquillity than the hurry of 
 a London life allowed; but whether in the 
 country or town, he might have known, had 
 not the fatal mist of delusion which comes over 
 all who enter on a tortuous path begun to 
 blind him, that reflection and serenity of mind 
 do not depend on time or place; that power, 
 that calm, may be destroyed or may be 
 nurtured in cities, as in lonely wilds, it is true ; 
 but had he thought for a moment, he would 
 have felt that the gay assemblage in which he 
 was to mix at Restormel, was not calculated to 
 restore him to that state of mind which he 
 believed himself anxious to regain. 
 
 In the course of Lord Albert D'Esterre's 
 acquaintance with Lady Hamlet Vernon, he 
 had discovered much to charm, to dazzle, and 
 to lead a mind so young as his into a maze 
 of error. Sophistry had gradually drawn its 
 
284 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 veil before his perception of truth ; through this 
 he viewed her character ; and under the same 
 delusive influence, he persuaded himself that 
 the interest he took in her arose from the 
 purest motive, namely that of endeavouring to 
 free from error, one whose nature was natu- 
 rally endowed with capabilites for becoming 
 truly estimable. He listened to all her dange- 
 rous and seductive opinions, while he gazed on 
 her beauty, bewildered with the false convic- 
 tion that he did so to prove to her the error 
 of the one, and to point out the peril which, 
 with such unfixed tenets, the other would 
 most probably lead her into. 
 
 What a melancholy prospect, he inwardly 
 exclaimed, lies before that beautiful creature, 
 whose principles have never been formed to 
 virtue, and who has been cast among those 
 whose every axiom is contrary to the laws of 
 purity and truth ! What dehght in the re- 
 flection, what a good action it will be, to dis- 
 entangle such a being from the snares that 
 surround her, and restore her to a life of use- 
 fulness and happiness. My heart aches for 
 her, when I think how in early youth, before 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 285 
 
 she could know her own wishes, she was 
 married to an unprincipled husband, one who 
 could never have known her worth; she must not 
 be abandoned without an effort to save her. 
 Thus did Lord Albert parley with himself, 
 till a dangerous admixture of evil glided in with 
 his better feelings, and prevented that clear 
 perception between right and wrong, which 
 under his engagements should have made him 
 at once fly from Lady Hamlet Vernon, It 
 was not so, however, and Lady Hamlet Vernon 
 was more the object that led him to Restormel, 
 than any wish for, or sense of, the necessity of 
 retirement and reflection. 
 
 The mode of living at Restormel was what 
 Spencer Newcomb wittily called the foreign 
 system^ that is, every pleasure-giving circum- 
 stance was throughout the daily routine culti- 
 vated to the utmost point which art could reach. 
 To give an account of it in detail would be a 
 work of supererogation ; for it was a transfer 
 of London to the country, only with this dif- 
 ference, that the post town and high road took 
 place of the streets of the metropolis ; and the 
 shrubberies and gardens of Restormel, of those 
 
286 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 of Kensington and the Park ; with the excep- 
 tion, too, of a rather animated discussion be- 
 tween Lady Tilney and Lord Tonnerre on 
 the subject of female influence; and which 
 brought the parties into closer collision, than 
 was consistent with the outward harmony of 
 exclusive ton. 
 
 Little occurred during the first few days of 
 the retreat to Restormel to vary the monotony 
 of the scene. With reference to this latter 
 subject, Lady Tilney remarked to Lady Bas- 
 kerville, as they left the dining-room, on the 
 evening when the affair alluded to had taken 
 place, " I am very sorry, my dear Lady 
 Baskerville, very sorry indeed, that what I sait 
 should have taken such a desperate effect on 
 your friend Lord Tonnerre ; however, it does 
 every body good to hear the truth now an( 
 then, and as he seldom if ever hears it, 
 think I have done him service in sounding that 
 tocsin in his ears for once in his life, don't you, 
 my dear ?" 
 
 " He, he, he !" tittered Lady Baskerville, 
 who did not like to oflPend the speaker, though 
 she was really angry with her in her heart: 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 287 
 
 " I dare say you are quite right — but for my 
 part, I never wish to teach anybody any thing; 
 I was so tired of being taught myself, that 
 whatever reminds me of the dull days of being 
 a good girl, and having a governess, quite over- 
 comes me." 
 
 " Oh," observed the Comtesse Leinsen^en. 
 " what sinnify, whether dat Lord is in a pas- 
 sion or not, nothing will ever change him. 
 He knows but two phrases in the dictionary, 
 I will and / wo7i'f, you shall and you shan't, 
 and he do tink himself, and all dat belono- to 
 himself, quite perfect, c'est une ignorance crasse 
 a tout prendre, but what sinnjfy it ? He was 
 alway Milor Tonnerre, he is Milor Tonnerre, 
 he will alway be Milor Tonnerre; laisser le 
 grogner, c'est son metier : en qualite de Ton- 
 nerre ilgrognera toujours, quesque^a nous fait? 
 il nest pas notre mari laisse-le Id de graces,'' 
 and she looked at Lady Baskerville as she 
 spoke. 
 
 This affair, however, did not pass over quite 
 so easily as Lady Tilney would have had it; 
 and it ended in Lord Tonnerre's goingsuddenly 
 
288 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 to town ; and Lady Baskerville remaining in 
 exceedingly bad humour : for to be without an 
 attache quelconque was as bad as to be without 
 a hat from Herbot's. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FASCINATION — THE CHURCH-YARD, &C. 
 
 In a coniinued scene of frivolity, to call it by 
 no harsher name, and in the turmoil of petty 
 passions and jarring female interests, passed 
 the hours at Restormel that led on to the most 
 solemn period of the year. Amongst the actors 
 in it. Lord Albert D'Esterre cannot (with the 
 feelings and character which he still possessed) 
 be supposed to have held a part at all consis- 
 tent with his true wishes ; and, but for the in- 
 creasing and alarming fascination of his senses, 
 and the warping of his better judgment, by 
 the influence which Lady Hamlet Vernon 
 still, day by day, more effectually exercised 
 over him, he would have quitted a society 
 altogether, of which he could never really 
 form a component part, and from which, but 
 for the third power which held him in combi- 
 nation with it, he must have quickly separated 
 himself. 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
290 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 But, however much this fatal influence might 
 affect the general Une of his conduct, the good 
 seeds sown in early hfe, though sadly choaked 
 as they had been, were not yet totally eradi- 
 cated ; and on the morning of the Easter 
 festival, he took his way to the village to obey 
 the caUing bell of church. The service 
 had begun when he entered, and it was not 
 till the first lesson was commenced that he 
 lifted his eyes from the book, and beheld in 
 the family pev/ opposite Lady Hamlet Vernon. 
 A flush of various feelings coloured his cheek, 
 and suffused with a richer glow even the 
 whiteness of his forehead. She is then, he 
 thought, in despite of the example around 
 her, really good ; — she has listened to my 
 advice ; she has come to the fountain-head for 
 instruction — all is well ! He then endeavoured 
 to follow the service throughout its solemn 
 beauty ; but his mind was disturbed, and his 
 thoughts wandered. 
 
 When the congregation was dismissed, of 
 course he bowed and approached Lady Ham- 
 let Vernon with the greetings of the morning 
 salutations, and offering her his arm, they 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 291 
 
 walked slowly on into tlie church-yard; it 
 was one of those quiet gray days, which belong 
 neither to winter nor spring, but owned affi- 
 nity with both, and there was a freshness in the 
 odour of the new trodden grass, which might 
 have been deemed the precursor of flowers, 
 had not a frosty air chilled the sweet promise ; 
 — some fine old yews surrounded the church- 
 yard, and the gay colours of the country 
 peoples' ribbons and cloaks appeared in bril- 
 liant relief as they lingered beneath the dark 
 boughs. 
 
 The rustic curtsey, and abrupt inclination 
 of respect, which were offered in homage to 
 Lord D'Esterre and Lady Hamlet Vernon on 
 either side, as they passed through the village 
 throng, indicated that the actions of those in 
 the higher ranks of life can never be dis- 
 regarded by the lower ; a kind of deep re- 
 spect, and an apparent satisfaction, sat on the 
 countenances of these good people, and they 
 showed by their very looks and manner, that 
 they felt the hallowing of the sabbath to be a 
 link of sympathy existing between them and 
 o 2 
 
292 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 their superiors, which mutually allied them ii? 
 the bonds of christian fellowship. 
 
 These are feelings which, even in the unedu- 
 cated, are still indigenous to the human heart, 
 and, if cherished and preserved, become as 
 productive of good as, when neglected or con- 
 temned, they tend to incalculable evil. As 
 Lord Albert and Lady Hamlet Vernon passed 
 along, the latter observed : 
 
 " I love to linger here ; these rude memorials 
 of love and respect to the dead" (pointing to 
 the graves at their feet) " are a mournful grati- 
 fication to the living ; they tell us that in our 
 turn we may at least hope to remain some short 
 time in the memories of those whom we quit ; 
 but after all, tout passe,'' and she sighed 
 heavily; — " yes, here undoubtedly all that the 
 proudest trophies can do, is for a time to point 
 the moral of a good or bad character by the 
 stone that covers or decorates the tomb." 
 
 " But the tomb, dear Lady Hamlet, is only 
 the repository of the dust ; it will itself become 
 like the dust it covers; but never, like that 
 awakened dust, be infused witk new life, a 
 life far more gloriqus than all that we can form 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 293 
 
 an idea of; and we must look not vpon^ not 
 in the grave, but beyond it, where death is 
 swallowed up in victory," 
 
 " You can do this, and you are happy," she 
 replied. A cold revulsion struck on Lord 
 Albert's heart as she paused and breathed with 
 labouring breath, — " and can you not do so ?" 
 he asked in deep low tone and shuddered as 
 he spoke. She shook her head; and after a 
 moment's pause said, "all the happiness I 
 know is confined to a few brief moments — a few 
 electric gleams of pleasure, which vanish in 
 their birth ; a feverish uncertain and fearful 
 catching at delight, which yet eludes my grasp. 
 These are all the means which I possess to 
 obtain happiness; yet, such as they are, and 
 such as my success in them is, I would not 
 exchange them for yours — what ! exchange 
 your cold, leaden, measured theories of feelings, 
 for they are nothing more — or the beating 
 pulse of spontaneous joy, which even in this 
 moment of our communing is mine ; no, 
 Lord Albert, no— meanly as I think of my- 
 self when measured by your standard in the 
 general tenour of our existence, and in the 
 
294 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 scale of being, there are moments when I soar 
 above all that was ever dreamt of in your 
 philosophy,'' — and as she spoke her eyes danced 
 in a deceptive brilliancy that for the moment 
 turned lord Albert's brain. He shuddered as 
 he felt the pressure of her arm on his while she 
 uttered these words, and his uncertain footsteps 
 slid upon the base of a marble tomb. 
 
 In the action of recovering himself, a kind of 
 change seemed to pass through his frame ; so 
 much are we influenced by trivial circum- 
 stances, which yet are surely not the agents of 
 chance ; in so doing his eyes rested on an in- 
 scription engraven on the stone, and as if glad 
 to escape from answering her, he read the 
 following lines : 
 
 They were so one, it never could be said 
 Which of them ruled, or which of them obeyed ; 
 He ruled because she would obey, and she 
 By him obeying, ruled as well as he. 
 There ne'er was known betwixt them a dispute, 
 Save which the other's will should execute. 
 
 " The lines are indeed beautiful," said Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon, " and I could be content to be 
 the mould under that stone, if I had ever 
 enjoyed an existence to which they might with 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 295 
 
 truth have been applied — but as it is, non 
 ragionam di lor f' and she sprang lightly 
 forwards, adding in a tone of affected levity, 
 " let us make make haste back to Restormel ; 
 why, dear Lord Albert, we shall be laughed at 
 if it is known that we have been to church.'' 
 The spell was broken, he made no reply, and 
 they continued the remainder of their walk in 
 -silence. 
 
 "Hard, cold, insensate man!" cried Lady 
 Hamlet Vernon, when she reached her- own 
 apartment ; " but he shall be met with an equal 
 share of self-love. I will subdue this haughty 
 nature, and mock at him, when his hour of 
 suffering arrives. If he loved passionately 
 any thing, even that doll, that infant, that 
 piece of clock-work Lady Adeline Seymour, I 
 could forgive him ; but he does not, it is a sys- 
 tematical pursuit of an ideal perfection, that 
 leaves his heart always cold and untouched, 
 and fenced round as it were with adamant. 
 Proud D'Esterre, thou shalt weep for this" — 
 and she paused for a moment, then collecting all 
 her thoughts, her final resolution was taken, 
 and availing herself of a communication whicli 
 
296 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 she had to make to Mr. Foley, who she trusted 
 might be instrumental to her purpose, with a 
 breaking heart, and with contending feelings 
 she seized a pen, and traced the following 
 letter : 
 
 *' I am happy to inform you, my dear Mr. 
 Foley, that the official patronage, which you 
 have long wished me to procure for you, is 
 now actually obtained, and your arrival in town 
 is all that is wanted to arrange the necessary 
 preliminaries. A letter received yesterday in- 
 forms me of this ; but in the interim, I wish 
 you could make it convenient to pass a few 
 days here on your road to London ; for be- 
 tween ourselves, this place and its society is 
 insufferably dull; and were it not for tilt and 
 tournament between Lord Tonnerre and Lady 
 Tilney (who you know under the I'ose cannot 
 bear each other,) we must have all gone to 
 sleep, or torn one another to pieces, or eaten 
 our own paws, like antediluvian hyenas, from 
 the absolute want of mental nourishment. But 
 in this predicament, resembling people reduced 
 to starvation on a sea voyage, we cast lots to 
 see who should first be sacrificed for the bene- 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 297 
 
 St of the rest, and fortunately by the address 
 of Lady Tihiey, the lot was made to fall on 
 Lord Tonnerre, who finished his existence 
 amongst us, as he always lived, in a storm of 
 passion ; the only one of the party, I believe, 
 who regrets his absence, is Lady Baskerville, 
 who is now sans cavalier, and in the Roman 
 phraseology, d' impeccarsi. I advise you then 
 by all means to come quickly, and to supply 
 the vacancy. 
 
 ^* But to leave joking, I must tell yoii my 
 dear friend, that I languish for a rational com- 
 panion, and one who will kindly enter into 
 my feelings ; nobody understands me here ; — 
 too good, and too bad, I am like Mahomet's 
 tomb, hanecint]: between heaven and earth, and 
 I find no resting place for my sick soul, nor 
 shall I, 'till you come with your kindly smile, 
 to solace my weary spirit. Come, therefore, 
 4Uid that without delay, for you well know that 
 when any thing is to be done, it had best be 
 done quickly— all delays are dangerous, and 
 with me they are despair. 
 
 ^' Would you wish to knovv' something of 
 o 5 
 
298 TUE SXCLUSIVES. 
 
 those you will meet here ? I have only to men* 
 tion their names, and refer you to our old note 
 book; I see no great visible change in any of 
 them. Mr. Spencer Newcombe has been here 
 for a few days, and is certainly the most divert- 
 ing man in the world ; and well he may be, for 
 he lives entirely for that purpose. 
 
 " Lord Albert D'Esterre is here also; he 
 sets up for a censor and corrector of men, 
 manners, and things. He wall have enough 
 to do, if he persists in this unpopular walk ; 
 but I am much mistaken, if he will not soon 
 find it a very arduous undertaking, and one 
 indeed which is quite hopeless. If he were 
 but content to do as other people do, who live 
 in the world, and to be a little more like his 
 day and generation, and a little less of Don 
 Quixotte, he would really be a pleasant per» 
 son. He does not, par parentheses seem in a 
 hurry to join his betrothed, which I think is 
 rather a good sign ; for I should have but a 
 poor opinion of a man who did as papa and 
 mamma ordered, and fell in love precisely as 
 he had been desired to do in the days of his 
 childhood. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES* 299 
 
 "• The Tilney, the Leinsengen, the Basker- 
 ville, the Boileau, go on in their usual way ; 
 and like the old quotation, though they all 
 differ, yet they all agree in one thing at least, 
 which is wishing the society of your agreeable 
 self; so under pain of not only my displea- 
 sure, but that of all the world's, come quickly, 
 and delay not. Adieu, and believe me to be 
 the most true of your true friends. 
 
 " H. V." 
 
 In consequence of the occurrence of Lord 
 Albert's morning walk, he felt little inclined 
 to join the circle on his return to Restormel ; 
 and was in a mood too replete with contradic- 
 tory feelings, to allow him to reflect calmly, 
 still less to enable him to decide sanely upon 
 the only vigorous step he should have taken, 
 namely, to flee from temptation. He excused 
 himself under the plea of being unwell, from 
 leaving his own room ; and sitting down wuth a 
 determination of communing with his own 
 heart, he found not the habit so easy, after 
 long neglect; and was conscious that he 
 mused, without deriving any fruit from his 
 contemplations. 
 
300 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 But by degrees, this confusion of mind 
 subsided; and then came that soothing com- 
 posure, which, after a state of emotion, is al- 
 ways welcomed with something like pleasure. 
 He opened a favourite author, Owen Feltham ; 
 and he could not read long, without seeing his 
 own necessities reflected in the page, as in a 
 glass; this is one way by which to prove 
 whether a moral or relio^ious work be sterlino: 
 or not, does it apply to our necessities? does it 
 first probe, and then salve our wounds ? Lord 
 Albert D'Esterre found this book did both ; and 
 in its perusal, there was a sanctity of enjoyment 
 to which he had been lontj a stranofer. This 
 enjoyment was, however, too soon disturbed by 
 his servant bringing in a note; he felt it as an 
 unwelcome intrusion ; but it was opened after 
 a moment's hesitation, and contained the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 '• I am anxious to know how you really are. 
 I too am unwell, and I dread lest I should 
 have have said or done something this morn- 
 ing, which may have offended you — oh! if 
 you know how terrible it is for those who 
 have none to care for them, to suppose for an 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 301 
 
 instant that they have given pain (however, 
 unwittingly) to the only person whose good 
 opinion they are anxious to possess, and who 
 has evinced an interest in their welfare — you 
 would now feel for me. I am not of those 
 who make a display of their heart's feelings 
 — far from it, I am a miser of the few treasures 
 which lie hoarded there ; it is for that rea- 
 son that I mingle with the rest, as though 
 I were one of them ; and that I am now writing 
 these troubled lines in the midst of the insipid 
 turmoil which surrounds me ; tout comme si de 
 rien etoit. Aid me in bearing my grievous 
 burthen of existence, and send me one line 
 to be a cordial for the moment at least; the 
 present moment's ease is all I ever hope for." 
 
 What an overturn to all composure was 
 conveyed in this little bit of perfumed paper; 
 fifty commencements of reply were made and 
 torn ; at last he rang his bell, summoned his 
 valet, and having given a verbal answer to the 
 effect that he would shortly obey the com- 
 mands of Lady Hamlet Vernon, he appeared 
 in the drawing-room almost as soon as she 
 
302 THE EXCLUSIVKS. 
 
 could have expected a written reply. She was 
 sitting apart from the rest of the company 
 with a look of abstractedness and melancholy, 
 the effect of which was heightened by extreme 
 paleness; her beautiful dark hair was less care- 
 fully arranged than the laws of fashion de- 
 manded, but it was not the less beautiful for 
 that, and some stray tresses fell gracefully 
 upon her neck ; her air, her dress, the subdued 
 expression of her eyes, were all captivating, 
 and precisely in Lord Albert's oivn way. 
 
 There was a carelessness or scorn o^ fa- 
 shionable dress, which particularly suited his 
 theories on the subject, not that his practical 
 admiration had not fifty times been excited by 
 a very different mode of attire ; for the fact 
 is, that men's tastes in respect to the costume 
 of women are always regulated by that of the 
 person they are in love with. On this occa- 
 sion, however, it is certain that Lady Hamlet's 
 attire was in the letter and in the spirit pre- 
 cisely what Lord Albert D'Esterre pronounced 
 perfect. She held out her hand to him as he 
 entered the saloon with the composed air of 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 30S 
 
 friendship, and expressed her pleasure at see- 
 ing him, for she had feared his indisposition 
 would not have allowed him to leave his room : 
 and then motioning him to sii down by her 
 with that expression of calm interest, which 
 attracts without affording any plausible appli- 
 cation of the sentiment to a more vivid in- 
 terest, she secured her object, and he occupied 
 the vacant seat next to her's. Mr. Leslie Win- 
 yard, who was playing ecarte (even on the sacred 
 day) with Lady Boileau, while the rest were 
 studying and betting on the game, called to 
 Lord D'Esterre, " ah ! Lord Albert, we have 
 all been guessing the reason of your absence ; 
 one said writing letters of love, another sleep- 
 ing; but the successful guess was given to my 
 penetrating judgment, writing a sermon on 
 the vanities of human life, that is, holding 
 up to censure all that we your friends are 
 doing." 
 
 " 1 assure you, Mr. Leslie Winyard, that 
 you have not proved your judgment infallible; 
 for I do not plead guilty either to your charge, 
 or to any of the others." 
 
304 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 " Well, then, join in our game; Lady Boi- 
 kau intends to beat me, and I'll vacate my 
 seat in your favour, and, in parliamentary 
 phrase, accept at the same time as many hun- 
 dreds as you may choose to give me." 
 
 " Pardon me," said Lord Albert, " I can- 
 not." 
 
 " Did you suppose Lady Hamlet Vernon 
 would let him do so ?" whispered Lady Basker- 
 ville. 
 
 " That may be," replied Leslie Winyard, 
 '• but my life for it that is not his reason, he 
 will not play because it is Sunday." 
 
 " Sunday, is it?" yawned Lady Ellersl)y; 
 " dear me ! I did not know it v/as Sunday." 
 
 " Leslie Winyard declares you will not play 
 because it is Sunday, Lord Albert D'Esterre," 
 exclaimed Mr. Spencer Newcomb. 
 
 " Whatever may be my motive, or my 
 fancy for not playing," replied Lord Albert, 
 " I conceive that it is at variance with the 
 high good breeding of this circle to inquire 
 further into the matter, though, if it will afford 
 any satisfaction to Mr. Leslie Winvard, I have 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 305 
 
 not the smallest hesitation to give to him 
 those motives." 
 
 " I am bounden to you, my Lord," rejoined 
 the latter, putting his hand to his heart, " but 
 for the moment waive the honour of hearing 
 more, being at the very crisis of the game," 
 and so saying he turned to the card-table, and 
 left Lord D'Esterre to the undisturbed enjoy- 
 ment of his conversation with Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon. 
 
 She first broke silence (speaking in a low 
 tone). " How many misnomers there are in the 
 world ; this society considers itself the mode 
 and paragon of manners and of fashion — the 
 world par excellence ; and yet the members of it 
 are always doing or saying something to offend 
 the feelings of each other. Why was a being 
 like myself thrown amongst them? one who 
 sees their falsehood and folly, and yet cannot 
 escape from it. But on the contrary, every 
 day as it passes seems more and more to en- 
 tangle me. I possess indeed one friend, from 
 whom I look for consolation ; but/ie, like every 
 one in this world, has his own troubles^ and 
 
306 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 indeed I have sometimes feared, that is I fVar" 
 — she broke off abruptly as if to find a suitable 
 expression for what she would say, then again 
 continued after a pause - " that I did not al- 
 together act a generous part by him ; one may 
 excite a deeper interest than one intends, .or 
 it is so soothing to a desolate heart, to find any 
 one whom it can like, and rest upon, that it is 
 ^ easy to be betrayed into a conduct, that would 
 afterwards perhaps render one obnoxious to 
 the imputation of coquetry ; the character for 
 which of all others, I have the most decided 
 contempt. I have not yet learnt from you, Lord 
 Albert D'Esterre," laying particular emphasis 
 on her words, " that firm independence of 
 mind, which never yields under circumstances; 
 for whatever vain disputation I may hold with 
 myself, I find I am continually yielding to the 
 influence of events, and floating down the tide 
 of life, guided more by impulse, than by prin- 
 ciple. It will perhaps be as well in the end — 
 who knows ?" 
 
 Lord Albert DEsterre had listened with 
 evident pain to the sophistry tlie^e words 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 307 
 
 contained, and as Lady Hamlet Vernon paused, 
 added in his most impressive manner : 
 
 " Oh ! dear Lady Hamlet Vernon, I fear 
 it will undoubtedly not be well with us in the 
 end, if we live by chance ; and we may all 
 know, if we chuse to know, that so to live will 
 prove our condemnation." 
 
 " Persuade me of that^ teach me your know- 
 ledge, and I will act upon it ; give me your 
 conviction and I will bless you." 
 
 " Surely," thought Lord Albert D"Esterre, 
 " it is my duty to reclaim this person from the 
 unhappy and destructive errors into which she 
 has fallen ; it would be altogether wrong, it would 
 be barbarous, to abandon one, who calls upon 
 me for aid, who appeals to me for instruction." 
 Not but another view of the subject crossed 
 his mind, for thoughts, as we all know, flow in 
 from contradictory sources. 
 
 '' Surely the friend to whom you allude, 
 and on whom you say you rely, will be a far 
 more able instructor than I can be." 
 
 " Ay, so he might (she replied; if" " If 
 
 what?" " If I durst on all occasions apply 
 
308 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 to him — but — but there are existing reasons 
 to which I before alluded, and which I now 
 frankly tell you, have frequently made me deny 
 myself the consolation of his society. We shall 
 see how^ things are now, when we are to meet 
 again after a long absence." 
 
 Lord Albert D'Esterre could scarcely misun- 
 derstand the meaning which these words im- 
 plied, and he was too delicate to press the mat- 
 ter further ; but when they separated for the 
 night, the chief point which w^as impressed on 
 Lord Albert^s mind was, that Lady Hamlet 
 Vernon was beloved by Mr. Foley, and if she 
 did not positively return that sentiment in its 
 full degree, that she owned a preference in his 
 favour, to which it was very nearly allied. Yet 
 if it were so, why should that circumstance 
 cause him uneasiness ? It could only be from 
 the interest he had imbibed for a person, who 
 seemed intended for a higher and better career 
 than the one she was pursuing. 
 
 Men, even the very best of men, frequently 
 deceive themselves on similar occasions; they 
 are not, perhaps, m love, they do not mean 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 309 
 
 to be so ; still less is it their intention delibe- 
 rately to awaken an interest which they feel 
 they cannot return : but though they are few, 
 who would attempt to win a heart under these 
 circumstances, and merely for the triumph of 
 doing so ; all are not sufficiently free from va- 
 nity to refuse one, when spontaneously offered, 
 nor, while its possession can be valued for the 
 passing gratification of self-love only, volun- 
 tarily forego the distinction which its homage 
 affords. That such was the predicament in 
 which Lord Albert D'Esterre stood, or that 
 such was the train of his thoughts, it would be 
 difficult to say. 
 
 Lady Hamlet Vernon's conduct and man- 
 ners towards himself certainly betrayed par- 
 tiality, which it was impossible to avoid seeing ; 
 but it was equally impossible to attach to them 
 the decided character of love ; and even were 
 it so, Lord Albert stood pledged to an en- 
 gagement of the most sacred nature, and one 
 which had it been intimated to him he could 
 have abandoned, he would have started from 
 
310 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 the contemplation of its possibility; still, how- 
 ever, his mind was under delusion in regard 
 to Lady Hamlet Vernon, and the interest which 
 he would have persuaded himself was felt for 
 her sake only, was, it is to be feared, nearly al- 
 lied to a sentiment, which in his circumstances 
 never should have been entertained. 
 
 If, however, Lord Albert D'Esterre was 
 wandering in the maze of undefined resolu- 
 tion, and with an uncertainty of object, in all 
 his speculations, not so Lady Hamlet Ver- 
 non, who well marked the nature of the in- 
 terest she was gradually acquiring over him, 
 and which she hoped soon to see augmented 
 in a degree which would render him com- 
 pletely her own. 
 
 Many days did not elapse from this time 
 before Mr. Foley arrived. With that refine- 
 ment of tact which all women understand so 
 well. Lady Hamlet Vernon made her first ap- 
 proach towards the object she had in view, 
 by producing between Mr. Foley and Lord 
 Albert D'Esterre a mutual partiality. 
 
THE EXCLUSIVES. 311 
 
 She effected this, as is often successfully done, 
 by repeating favourable opinions respecting 
 each, which were uttered, or were not uttered, 
 as it chanced by the parties one of another; 
 " mais on ne s'avise jamais de tout,'^ and there 
 was one circumstance whicli operated against 
 her wishes whilst cementing their intimac}^ 
 Thus was the influence which Mr. Foley's vivid 
 description and praises of the attractions of 
 Lady Adeline Seymour produced on Lord 
 Albert D'Esterre's mind. Although some- 
 what diminished by absence and by the too 
 great security he felt of conceiving her 
 to be beyond the possibility of change, these 
 attractions still retained their power, and it 
 needed but the description which he more 
 tlian once listened to of her beauty and her 
 worth, as the theme was dwelt upon by Mr. 
 Foley, to revive in him all the latent feelings 
 of his love and admiration for her. After this 
 revival of the natural allegiance of his heart. 
 Lord Albert D'Esterre started from his way- 
 ward dream as though he had been warned by 
 
312 THE EXCLUSIVES. 
 
 his better angel. Shaking off the Hstless un- 
 accountable thraldom which had of late pal- 
 sied his resolution, he ordered post-horses, and 
 determined to set off for Dunmelraise the very 
 next day. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PKINTKn BV J. L. COS. GIVB.AT (iVf.Vi^ .STKFEf. 
 

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