J '^ifsun' -"SiiKw .'.'^itj'i »-v.?-i5P^'4''/>Y;3i3('; ix^ ^ I h ii III I 1 1 « ceived a plot that pervaded the whole houfhold of Devoniliire-place. Part was true — part was falfe ; for they involved the innocer^t and the guilty. In a very few days, and when new fcenes of pleafure had nearly obliterated the re- membrance of Lady Cottifbrooke's ball, there appeared in one or two of the leafl reputable but mofl fafliionable daily prints, fome paragraphs reflefting on the Greek iurbaned caps, and the emperor of the eaji, with a hint that included, more pointedly, the emprefs and the earl of S . Pcre^ grina was the firft of the family who faw thefe libels ; but never having had a Greek idea of her head-drefs, not guefllng who the emperor of the eajl could be, and having no natural turn for fcandal, fhe paffed over the paragraphs, and hunted for Irifh news. Mrs. Barnby was the next who read them ; and fhe, as Mrs. Haccombe had not then left her chainber, without telling Mifs Lamorne ( 9 ) Lamorne her intention, carried the papers thither. When breakfaft was ready, the ladies appeared with cloudy countenances, unin^ leliigible to incurious Peregrina. — A note was brought to Mrs. Haccombe : — fhe went away to anfwer it. — Mr. Haccombe came in, and aiked for the news papers. — Mrs. Barnby replied, they were not yet come, and trod on Percgrina's foot to keep her filenr. Sir Edward, who was prefent, contradidled her. — She bid him then feek them. — He rang, and alked afervant for them. — The man faid, they were not come. — Sir Edward, in a fury, called up another and another fervant ; but the anfwer was the fame, and helofdall patience. " They are come," faid he : *' I myfelf have read them; and fo have you, and burnt them, to hide your own dilgrace. — You know what the Greeks and the Emperor and £;;r- prefs mean. — I will not live with fuch an A 5 infernal ( 'o ) infernal troop as ye are — no, not another hour !" Mr. Haccombe, half riiing from the table to reprcfs what he fnppofed only a fit of frenzy, begged Sir Edward to be quiet, and not alarm Mifs Lamorne. — ** MifsLamorne !"he repeated more coolly, and with an ambiguous fneer. — " / alarm Mi's Lamorne! — No, Old Dad, it is not /who fhould alarm MifsLamorne ! — She would pity me, could fhe fee the wretch I am. — You leave me fcarcely my fenfes ; but 1 muft endure it, and be patient. — And fo," continued he, gulping down his tea," I muft be off; for I intend to have a glorious ride in Hyde- park this morning: and per- haps, Old Dad, you know, I mav meet my fweetheart — Hyde-park is a nice place you know. Old Dad, to meet one's fweet- heart ! — Good b'ye, ladies!" — Then turn- ing to the piano forte, where Peregrina had juft before fet up fome Scots ballads, he, with ( " ) with infinite tafte and the niceft correftnefs, fung and accompanied the plaintive air of Donald, and left Peregrina with the tears in her eyes, and Mrs. Barnby with new but very ill-founded fufpicions in her mind. Mr. Haccombe imputed all to the ftate of Sir Edward's mind, and, fortunately for fome of his connedtions, gave no credit to what he faid, but lamented the obligation impofed on him by his old friend's will, that this wardihould refide in his houfe till he was of age. Mrs. Haccombe came in, took her breakfaft, and then, on a wink from Mrs. Barnby, the aunt and niece re- tired together, leaving the nabob and Pere- grina to a fober tete-a-tete, from which the latter would have withdrawn; but Mr. Haccombe flopt her, by catching her hand as fhe palTed, and afking if ihe was in a hurry. She faid. No ; and taking her work-bag from the piano forte, Ihe fat down. A6 Mr. ( 12 ) Mr. Haccombe began the converfation. — " I am fearful my unhappy friend Berg- holt fometimes alarms you." She anfwered, by confcffing that ihe could not yet accuftom herfelf to his od- dity, and by expreffing her concern for his fituation. " It is to be fure, it mufl be owned, a very pitiable one — a very pitiable one indeed ! He will be of age, that is to fay, twenty- five, next year ; and then, by the flrange will of his father, he muft marry, and with my confent, or on his following birth-day his whole eftate lapfes to one of our public hofpitals." Peregrina joined in thinking this a very ftrange will. Mr. Haccombe d:d not tell her that it was a will he himfelf had dic- tated, when Sir Edward's father grew fo near his end as to be fcarcely cpnlcious of what he did. Indeed, this fevere claufe was ( >3 ) was not quite of his fabrication : he had contrived it fo, as that the valuable eftates of the Bergholts fhould have Aid over to the Haccombes ; but the dying baronet had juft fenfe enough to fee the virtues of cha- rity. He therefore, being at war with his other relations, named the firft public in- ftitution he thought on ; and fo the will flood. Fearing, perhaps, that Mifs Lamorne^s vifible fympathy might be followed by inquifitivenefs, he attempted to change the fubjeft of his difcourfe ; but her counte- nance expreffed fuch penfive intereft for the unhappy maniac, that Mr. Haccombc*s jealoufy was alarmed, and no more delicate way of fatisfying himfelf occurring, he, with a made-up countenance and aifedted archnefs, which fat wonderfully well on his Ganges complexion, began to rally her on a fuppofition that, notwithflanding his de- rangement. Sir Edward had found a place Jin her heart. Not ( 14 ) Not very well pleafed at an idea that Ihe thought impeached her prudence, fhe re- plied, in a manner that convinced him he was fafe and wrong, that, as a fellow- crea- ture fuffering under the greateft poflible calamity, fhe from her heart pitied Sir Edward ; but that fhe fhould fufped: her- felf as far more infane, could flie entertain a fentiment for him beyond thofe of refped: and commifcration. The eaftern chief could fcarce contain his rapture ; for, in the plenitude of his fclf-conceit, he fancied that the firmnefs with which (he fpoke indicated not only her indifference to Sir Edward, but fome- thing like a prediledion for himfelf — at leaft a wiQi that he Ihould be fatisfied he was without a rival. He then entered into a little flattering chit-chat, and ended with his ufual offers of liberality, which, as not needing then, Ihe declined. He ( '5 ) He withdrew to drefs for the minifter's levee; and Mrs. Barnby, as if waiting his exit, came in immediately, and, with lefs fmile than ulual on her countenance, de- fired Mifs Lamorne to be ready to go out with her exadlly at one o'clock. It was then about half paft eleven ; and Peregrina remained alone till the carriage came, when Mrs. Barnby again appeared, and, to her companion's aftoniihment, was at fuch a lofs whither to go, that (he ordered the coachman to drive for an airing to Hamp- ftead. Contrary to her ufual cuftom, (he fecmed little inclined to talk ; and Pere- grina willingly gave into her humor. CHAP, ( i6 ) CHAP. II. It was the morning's news-paper that had fo myfterioufly deranged tl^e family, and fent thele two ladies out on their un- plotted pilgrimage. Mrs. Barnby, whom Mrs. Haccombe had recently bribed almoft wholly to her intereft, had feen the dan- gerous paragraphs, and fliewn them in- flantly to her aunt, who now confidered herfclf as utterly ruined. In the utmoft defpair, (he prophefied that Mr. Haccombe would at leaft infift on a reparation, before it was in her power to fecure herfclf by re- criminating with any profpedl of credit; for her own late attentions, beftowed on Peregrina, took from her all hope of im- peaching her character : and a feparation, under circumftances fo much againft her, llie areaded ; not as reflcfting on her mo- rality. ( 17 ) rality, but as it would, ihe was certain, deprive her of the eclat Ihe now lived in, and in which her whole happinefs was cen- tered. She faw Lord Surchcfter was not to be truftedj for making good to her any lofs fhe might fuilain for his fake ; and (he had nothing but poverty and ignominy be- fore her. The earl was not at all more eafy in his mind ; for he had feen the libel, and having too frequently paid fm art money on fuch occafions, to the no fmall injury of his otherwlfe impaired income, he would inftantly have refuted the calumny by abfconding : but this violent method did not perfectly fuit his views ; for he had fufFered his paflion for Pcregrina to get the empire of his fickle heart, and, while Ihe remained in Devonfliire-place, he wilhed to have accefs there. In hafte, therefore, he had difpatched his trufty valet with a note to Mrs. Haccombe, in which he begged her to admit him, foon after one o'clockj ( '8 ) o'clock, to a private audience. He named that hour, becaufe he had fixed it with her hufband for meeting him at the Cockpit ; but him he could eafily bilk, and would willingly, on an occafion fo important to his happinefs. To keep the houfe clear of obfervers it was, therefore, that the obliging Mrs. Barnby went out with Peregrina. Lord Surchefter had opened the bufmefs with profeffions of never-dying love, and extreme concern that the divinejl creature on earth, the only woman that really had it in her power to blefs mankind, fhould, in return for the condefcending pity ftie had bellowed on a paffion that mull otherwifc have hurried him into a precipitate grave, be expofed to the ill- humour, and perhaps brutality, of a creature fo defpicable as her hufband. He talked as if he took it for granted that Mr. Haccombe had feen the libel and comprehended it, and as if his jealoufy, ( ^9 ) jcaloufy, his rage, and his reparation of the lovers, mufl be the neceffary confe- quence ; and to ail this his lordlhip, not- wirhftanding his fine (peeches, quietly talked of rubmitting : nor would he, per- haps, have been at the trouble of feeking an interview with the lady, had it not been to advife her not to fuffer unrevenged, but to i nil ft, when ilie was compelled to quit her friend, that Mr. Haccombe fhould dif- mifs from his houfe his protegee Mifs La* morne. Mrs. Haccombe, alarmed as flie was at firft, had, in the time of waiting for Lord Surchefter, duly confidered the impending danger ; and her terrors did not increafe with her inveftigation. She faw, indeed, that her fituation was critical; but fhe had refources in her cunning that fhe could rely on : fhe was convinced fhe muft be cau- tious, but fhe faw no reafon to defpair. Her ( 20 ) Her courage in fomc meafure balked the earl; and by arguments drawn from prudence, and fupported by his rejilejs anx- iety for her comfort, he endeavoured to get loofe; but finding that impoflible, he con- certed with her the befl means of efcaping obfervation ; and, as fhe was not inclined to give up any of his attendance on her, (he W.1S forced to approve of a plan he pro- pofed for her fccurity, though it was far from being agreeable to her : this was, that, for a blind to his views, he fliould feem, only feem, to addrefs himfelf more particularly than ever to Mits Lamorne. — Having obtained Mrs. Haccombe's pro- mife that fhe Ihould take no offence at hi-s condudl, which he called the univ^rfc to witnefs nothing but his devouring p^JJion for hef could induce him thus to alter, he took his leave, that he might be furnilhed by fome other engagement with a due apology to Mr. Haccombe for difappoint- ing him. On ( 21 ) On the return of the ladies from their airing, Mrs. Barnby flew to Mrs. Hac- combe, who was beginning to drcfs for the evening. She learnt the accommodation that had been agreed on, not at all to her fatisfadion ; for llie thought, if -Lord Sur- cherter found it neceflary to fet up a Ihani miftrefs in the family, Ihe herfelf was a much more proper objed: than Mifs La- morne. She therefore blamed the plaii, as likely to irritate Mr. Haccombe by ex- citing his jealoufy, and to bring about his difmiffion of Lord Surchefler from the houfe, where, as he had done all the dirty work the nabob at prefent wanted, his pre- fence would not be much coveted. Mrs. Barnby was not pleafed with Pere- grina, for her prefumption in being the firfl objed: of the earl's recolledtion. Mrs. Haccombe was angry with her, becaufe flie was to enjoy a few of thofe fmiles and falfhoods Ihe thought herfelf exclufively entitled to from her lover; and the two ladies ( 22 ) ladies fat down to dinner completely out of humor : but the aunt's interefls made hei difguife it, by extraordinary civility to her hufband ; and the niece, who faw the drift of her cringing, and knew her afcendency, feared difpleafing her or offending Pere- grina, either of which misfortunes might have ruined her farther fchemes. Mr. Haccombe appeared to be ignorant of what had fo alarmed them ; and Sir Edward, with a contracted brow and a fcrutinizing eye, ate his dinner in filence, and departed. They all met again at a fuperb private concert, where the ufual circle of their friends greeted them. The Lady Morays, without their mama, came to fee the effed: of their wit, and were loud in their unin- telligible titter when they faw Mifs La- morne, whom the alteration they had pro- cured her had rendered a little vain, drefled a la Grecque. Had fhe known the pointed farcafms they were uttering againft her, it would not have affeded her, now that (he faw ( 23 ) faw her party fo much the fuperlor ; but Ihe was very much hurt, when Sir Edward Bergholt came up, and leaning over the back of her chair, faid, in rather a low voice, ** Mi fs, what do you wear that foolifh head-drefs for ? I wifh you would give it me, and I would burn it." — He fpoke fc- rioufly ; and when he was ferious, what he faid carried weight. He faid with energy, " Promife me never to appear in it again !'* — The fear that he was growing violent, and would be heard, prevented her queftioning his authority ; and fhe haflily gave him her Word. The Mifs Affingtons joined her, and Ihe prefently forgot the circumftance. Between the ad:s, and while refrefhments were handing round, JLady Cotti{brooke beckoned her to a vacant feat clofe to her, and at a diftance from others. With an encouraging fmile, and fomething like timid hefitation, fhe faid, ** My dear Mifs Lamorne, will you forgive me, if 1 take an undue liberty with you ? May I beg of you to forbear diltinguifhing yourfelf by 2 the ( 24 ) the peculiarity of your drefs ? I am not fond of young people's trying their ftrength by a party ; the viftory is fcarcely worth having — and a defeat is irreparable." With aftonilliment and humility, Pcre- grina heard, and replied, that flie was ex- tremely forry the fingularity of her head- drefs, which had at firft been the eifed: of accident, Ihould have incurred cenfure ; — that fhe confeflcd herfelf wrong, and fliould be happy to corre(f>- her opinion by Lady Cottifbrooke's. .■• " That is juft the anfvver I expedted from your good fenfe," replied thecountefs. "You muft have feen already, my dear, the dif- agreeable predicament into which that fin- gularity has drawn you, otherwife I would not have ventured to fpeak thus freely." ^ " I fee it clearly," anfwered Peregrlna, imagining only that her ladyfhip meant Sir Edward's rough fpecch behind her chair, which fhe did not know had been overheard — " I am very much obliged to your lady- fhip, ( ^5 ) fhip, and hope you will always fpeak as freely ; for I know little of the world." " Since you give me permillion," returned Lady Cottifbrooke, " I will ufeit whenever I think my experience can be of fervice to you. You will find, my dear, fonle who will flatter you out of good-will towards you, many more who will do it from a lefs laudable motive; but of this be aflfured, that you will find none more fincere than myfelf, though multitudes will better re- commend themfelves to your favor; and remember, I fpeak from my heart, when I fay I fhould be happy to fcrve you, and that, whenever your rcfidence in Devon- Ihixe-place becomes either unpleafant or imprudent, I fhall be proud to receive you 'in New Norfolk-fl:rt•e^" Viotti's bow rapped Jjlefice on the delk, and the con^ veifation ended. — Sir Edward, who feemed to rife from the ground behind Lady Cot- tifbrookc's chair, cried out, " Bravo ! I am now refolved ;" and capering out of the room, appeared no more. Vol. III. B "Unpleafant ( -26 ) •■' Unpleafant Qv mprudent P^' repeated Pe* regrina to herfelf.— •" Liady Cottifbrooke's civilities are very flattering; but how is it poflible my being in Devonfliire-place can ever be unpleafant or imprudent ? — Unplea- fant I am fure it can never be ; but by im- prudex't, I fuppofe flie means that it may be a fituation too expenfive for me. Well, when I next fee her, I will tell her how generous Mr. Haccombe is to me." From this concert the party were en- gaged to a ball ; and here it was that Lord Surchefter commenced his plan o{ dijfembled dlffimulatioHj and leaving Mrs. Haccombe to dance with a commoner, fecured Perc- grina for the two firfl dances ; and was fo extremely diligent in making ufe of his tongue and eyes, and fo very lavilli of his adoration, that Peregrina fuppofed him tipfy, and felt quite comforted when fhe exchanged his peerlliip izx niched Hamil- t^;i Courtland. chap; ( %1 ) CHAP. III. From this period, an odd and unintel- ligible change feemed to take place in the condud: of the major part of the family towards their gueft ; who perceived it, but, chufing rather to diftruft her own judgment than the kindnefs of fuch friends, wifhed not to give the idea credit, by ruminating on it. Mrs. Haccombe, though not unci- vil in general, now and then, efpecially in public and in their large parties, indulged hcrfelf in fome of thofe bouncing airs to- wards Peregrina, with which flie feldom failed, fooner or later, to treat thofe fhe bad no interefl: in conciliating. Mrs. Barnby had got a pouting habit, v^'hich Peregrina called low fpirits, and attributed to Sir Edward's unhappy lituation ; and, reb?cing her afliduities, fhe frequently now B 2 gave ( ^8 ) gave Mifs Lamorne opportunities of exer- cifing herfelf m her favorite accomplifh- ments, by fuffering her to remain alone. But, whatever fear thefe changes might have produced in her mind, rcfpeding the propriety of her remaining the gueft of the Haccombe family, was done away by the redupHcated kindnefs of the mafter of the houfe, who, with an opennefs of attach- ment and a franknefsofcondud that wanted only a better motive than craft to have been highly laudable, literally behaved to her as to a daughter. Perceiving and approving her refumed fedulity in her elegant occu- pations, and looking forward to them for pleafure and the gratification of his vanity, whenever fate or the laws fhould unmarry him, he infiftedon Peregrina's having thofe affiflances that might facilitate her labors and perfect her fkill; and of which, on a comparifon of her attainments with thoTe of her friends, who had had greater op- portunities .•; L C 29 ) portiinitles of inllruftion, fhe conceived herfelf to (land very much in need. Her hours now paffed more pleafantly and more rationally than before : her morning engagements at home kept her from morning folly and diflipation : fhe enjoyed the evening amufement as a relax- ation from fevere attention ; Ihe feemed now to have fomething above the butterfy- charaEier; and flie received, with modeft pleafure, the praifes beftowed on her draw- ings and her mufical execution. She ob- ferved lefs Mrs. Haccombe's relaxed guard over her temper, and Mrs. Barnby*s grow- ing indifference ; and there were but two, and thofe apparently trifling particulars, which Ihe could wifh amended in her fitua- tion. The one was Lord Surchefter's at- tention to her in public ; the other was the wearifome impertinence of Sir Edward Bergholt, who, childifhly interfering with v/harever was going forward, would now incereft himfelf in her purfuits. Sometimes B3 he ( so ) he would for half an hour, when flie was drawing, fit down with her, and conveife moft ferioufly and moft agreeably, difco- vering to her pity intelleds incomparably formed by nature, and a heart whofe ftrong feelings were deftruftion to its poffeflbr. He would talk in a ftrain of melancholy till the tears trickled down her checks : he would then laugh aloud at her, and fcamper away to fome new trifle. Mrs. Haccombe, never a favorite wiih the maniac, was now worfe treated by him than ever ; and Lord Surchefter was fre- quently retrained from refentment at his farcaftic wit, by nothing but the privilege of his condition. No one efcaped the lafli of his fatire, or the teazingof his nonfenfe, at which it was impoffible always to forbear laughing ; a circumftance which never failed to render him ferious and violent. Matters went on thus for about three weeks, and, the town being at the fuUeft, ;: :. Peregrina ( S' ) Peregrlna was Introduced to every ipccies of diffipation and amufement ; but the gayer pleafurcs had loft their fcdudive d.mgers with their novelty; and, though delighted with all ihe faw, her heart conti- nued fteady to its early preferences; and an anxious thought, that would fometimes crofs her gayeft moments, how fhe was to live in future, or how, after fuch indul- gences, to accommodate herfelf to the comparative hardfhip of earning a liveli- hood, made her peniive when others were intoxicated with joy. It was one morning, after an evening f])ent at a mafked ball, when Lord Sur» chefter, heated with wine, and franked, as it were, by the charafter of the entertain- ment, had been fo troublefome as to make her angry and cautious, that Mr. Hac- combe requefted one of his not unfrequenc interviews in the library. She found him ft ill graver than ufual, and began to mif- conftrue the thoughtfulnefs of his afpeifV B 4 into ( 3^ ) into difpleafure. He drew a chair for her, and, with a degree of agitation that ftill more than his natural failure of ideas obftruded his fpeech, he began to beftow commendations, and to repeat thofe ex- preffions of intereft and parental regard with which he had commenced his in- fluence over her, and from which, to do hirn juftice, he had never, in his zvords or his a5fio}is, receded. With an apology for his prefumption in coming forward to give advice, he next proceeded to remark on the condudl of Lord Surchefter, of whom Peregrina was aflonifhed to hear him fpeak. in terms the mod vilifying : he hinted at that bond of union between them which he could not but know would fugged itfelf, even unmcntioned, to her mind, namely, the earl's aftive and unconcealed fervices ; bat he feemed to wifli it to be underllood, that for thefe acts of friendfliip he had paid, as he really had, to their full value. But ( 33 ) But the matter on which he wlfhed to fpcak, was that feature in his lordfhip's characfler by which, without caution, Pe- rcgrina might, either in her peace or her reputation, fuffer ; and on this point he Uibored with a degree of energy that made her regard him with incrcafed gratitude. She faw not that felfilhnefs, jealoufy, and a paflion fcarcely more juiVifiable than that of which he warned her, were, in this in- ftance, his dictators : fhe faw only that a man, who had no Himuluive to kindnefs but voluntary charity, no obligation to her bur that of his own generous heart, was Handing up, the monitor, the protedtor of a creature, who, but for him, might have been friendlefs and wretched. With diffi- culty fhe forbore, while thus warm with gratitude, and enamored of his goodnefs, to reveal to him every circumftance of her fituation ; and with ftill greater difficulty did the crafty champion of diftreffed dam- fels, when he faw her thus off her guard, ^ 5 adhere ( 34 ) adhere to the prudent refolution he had formed. She however, in her reply to his cautions, expreffcd fuch terror of going wrong, and fuch an unaffedted preference of a clear confcience to the trafh of the whole world, that he was not forry he had referved his fire. They parted Hill better pleafed than ever with each other, he af- furing her that during his life, and after his death, he would prove his care for her.' It gave Mr. Haccombe no pleafure to be forced thus to remove his vigilance from his wife, whom he wifhed to deteft, to Mifs Lamorne, v/hom it was his neareft concern to preferve. Still more inconve- nient was this real transfer of Lord Sur- chefter's attention, as it robbed him of the hope of getting fpeedily rid of his wife. However Mrs. Haccombe might be im- pofcd on, it was impoffiblc any one elfe Ihould be deceived, for the earl had made too great ufe of the liberality his duped miftrc fs ( 35 ) miftrefs had allowed him ; and though, la their now much lefs frequent tete-a- tetes, he always endeavoured to foothe her, and to make her of his counfel, by telling her to what lengths his anxiety for her fafety would prompt him to carry his diffimu- lation, fhe had fears not to be repreffed, and her brain was at work to eafe her heart. B 6 CHAP. ( 36 ) CHAP. IV. In two days afrer Peregrina's confe- rence with Mr. Haccombe, and before the impreffion it had made on her fcnfibi- hty was at all effaced, fhc received by the general poft a letter ! the firfl letter fhe had ever paid portage for; for it need not be obfcrved that n( ithcr Lady Jemima, nor the Mifs Byrams, had ever honored her with their notice. — The poft-mark was Oxford ; and opening it v/ith trembling curiofity, fhe read : ** Be prurient! be fccrct ! If yon do not deftroy this, keep the knowledge of it wholly to your own heart, and you may be j[>;fe — no otherwife, believe me. . :i «c Who ( 37 ) " Who I am, why I intercft myfclf for you, I need not tell you; and it is in vain for you to enquire. At this diftance, I am acquainted not only wiih your fituation, but with your adions, and not unfrequently with your thoughts ; and, as I mean to employ this knowledge folely for your be- nefit, I truft vou will return the obligation in the only way 1 wilh — by attention. " You think yourfelf one of the happiefl creatures on eaith ; but believe me, you are moll wretched. I know Icfs of y<^»-ir origin than of your n^rits ; but I under- ftand you were adcpted by, if not the off- spring of, that worthlefs woman Lady Je- mima Bvram. I find you now anew adopted by people as unworthy ; and, without ir.e inta'polition ot fuch a friend as mvfelf, I lee not how you can efcape their nets. •* Your chief friend, in the houfe you are in, is the malKrof it ; and in him vou h.ive the moll implicit confidence. 1 blame you C 38 ) you not; for, unlefs you had his evil etii- dowments, you could not detect his mo- tives. Never difpofed to the command of his affeftions, he has indulged them to fatiety ; and now, in his more advanced years, having acquired a habit of craft, the open field of pleafure has loft its charms, and he muft circumvent before he can enjoy., ,1, ** Chance has thrown you in his way ; but your dlfpofition, and the fteadinefs of your principles, awe him. What you, ia, the ingenuoufnefs of your heart, praife in him as fatherly tendernefs, is a paffion he dares not avow ; and, while you blefs him as a virtuous parent, you encourage him as a vicious lover. " Could you compare his manners now with what they were before your arrival, you would be alarmed. Home then had no charm for him ; now he is feldooi ab- fent from it. His amufements were then. among ( 39 > among men ; nozv he is of all your female parties, hovering over you, and grinning away your fair fame, while he flatteis you. His propenfity was gambling in all its mo- difications; on 'Change amongft the monied men, at Brookes's with the unraonied* Now he feems to have no enjoyment in the viciffitudes of chance : he boafts himfelf cured of his folly — he is laughed at for its remedy. " Of fuch a man beware ! 'Till you hear farther from me, make no vifible al- teration in your condudt, but rely on my vigilance for your fafety. Conceal, as you value your fafety, all knowledge of this dangerous character. Be chearf ul, be gay, but be innocent ; and if my fkill informs me you ad: as I wifh, you ihall fhortly hear again from your Good Gbnius." CHAP. i 40 ) CHAP. V. Peregrina was waiting: for her mufic- mailer when this letter was brought to her; and, excepting the p: efcnce of Sir Edward Bergholt, who was attentively reading a book he always carried in his pocket, fhe was alone. Not fufpeding that there was need of privacy in opening a letter that came by a conveyance fo little fecrct, (lie had broken the feal ; and, as fiie proceeded, grew too much abforbed by the contents to recoiled: the neceffity of quilting the room. Sir Edward feemed unconfcious of what paffed, and fhe re-perufed the letter with- out interruption ; and then, too much di- fturbed to continue her plriyiag, from which fhe had been called off, flie took up her work. .^Ai-y Sir ( 41 ) Sir Edward, like a man who thinks it mipolite to leave an only companion to their own thoughts, made her ftart from her re- verie by clapping the leaves of his book to- gether, and putting it up. He then began a converfation : " So, mifs, I fuppofe you have had a letter from your mama ! " " 1 have no mother ! " " O, what a fib ! — Well, then it is from your papa ! " " I have no father ! " ** O for fhame ! — Why, don't we all know that Lady Jemima Byram is your mama; and that old impudent jackanapes of a lord, that my mama is fo fond of, is your papa ! " " Good heaven ! Sir Edward," faid Pere- grina raifing her eyes from her work; " how can you talk fo ?~I beg your pardon,'' Ihe added ( 42 ) added more mildly ; *' I forgot myfeif." — Then recollediing her letter, and its un- comfortable contents, (he burft into tears; and he quitted the room. Clementi came prefently ; and with great diflicuky (he got through her lelTon, from which Ihe flew to her own apartment, to reconfider the caution Ihe had received. She could not doubt the good intention of the writer : it feemed inconfiftent with the charadlcr of an aflaffin. She was lofl in conjedlure, but Inclined to give all pof- lible credit to the monition. Here was now a fatal alloy infufed into every cup of pleafure the world could offer her; and, however fakitary it might prove in the end to herfelf, the beverage was ren- dered intolerably unpalatable. It was the hardeft tafk imaginable to learn to diftruil where fhe had had every reafon for confi- dence. The diflrefs of her mind would have operated loo forcibly on her fpirits, had ( 43 ) had not an engagement to a grand dinner, and the opera, obliged her to turn her thoughts towards her drefs. She again re- vifed her letter; and concluding, from its tenor and its injunftions, that Ihe was to perfift in her ufual habits of life, flie did not dare decline the party for the day. At night, when flie retired to refl:, the fingular event of the morning deftroyed all inclination to 13eep ; and llie could not for- bear cafting about in her mind who could be this unknown friend, who feemed fo well acquainted with her fituation, and boafted the fcrutiny of her thoughts. Lady Cottifbrooke was the perfon moft likely ; but flie was at Margate, for the benefit of Lady Eflex Courtland's health ; and it was hardly probable, either that fhe had re- moved to Oxford, or that {he. fliould fo conceal the intcreft flie had before avowed for her. Whether ( 44 ) Whether or not the advice came from her, (he had a great inclination to make her acquainted with it, and confult her on the fteps llie fhould purfue ; and, in hope oi hearing flie would foon be in town, fhe the next morning, meeting Sir Edward in her way to the drawing-room, aiked him when he had feen Captain Courtland. ** I faw him yeflerdaj/." " Do you know when Lady Cottifbrook* comes to town again ? " " No ; I do not." *' I wifli you would learn." «* Why, what is it to you, Mifs ? " " LadyCoitiforookc has alwajs been very kind to me, and I always wifh to fee her." " I do not think you will fee her before the winter. I told her not to come." " I wifli then I knew how to dire6l to her," fai(i Peregrina, a little off her guard. - Why, ( 45 ) ** Why, what have you got to fay ? " " O, nothing very particular ! '* replied flie, coloring at the want of caution fhe had betrayed ; — " only I think it would be re- fpediful to write to her; for fhe has always expreffed a friendfliip for me — and in my fituarion (flie continued with a deep figh) I may often want a friend, and a home." Sir Edward fkippcd up the {lone ftair- cafe four or five flairs at a time ; and Pere- grina favv he paid no attention to what (he faid. He had juft quirted her, when a fervant came with the ufual meffage from Mr. Haccombe, which fhe obeyed lefs willingly than ever. After the accuflomed etiquette and pro- feffions, he afked her how Lord Surchefler had behaved to her the preceding evening. " He was very troublefome at dinner; and I was fearful would have continued fo at the ( 46 ) the opera, had not the Lady Morays beck- oned him into their box, as you faw." '* Well, my dear Mifs Lamorne ! he has gone greater lengths than I thought any man would have dared to have gone, with a man of my — I mean, my charadiler, as a man of — you underftand me — a man of honor. — He had the affurance to make propofals to me for you, my dear Mifs Lamorne ! " " For me, fir ? — Sure it is impoflible ! ** ^' Don't mifunderfland me, my dear! — I do not mean propofals — honorable propo- fals : but he gave me to underftand, in fo many words, what was tantamount to^ — that if I chofe it he would make you a very handfome fettlement." *' Good God ! " exclaimed Peregrina — " am I reduced then fo low ? — And pray, Sir, what did you fay ? I hope you told him I fhould hear of it ; and that T would never meet him again." ii-^ *' No, ( 47 ) ^* No, no, my dear madam ! Fair and foftly ; that's always my way : it's the way 1 have got forward all my life. I always think of the oak and the willow. My motto is, J e pile et ne romps pas — that's my motto." " But, Sir, what anfwer did you give him ? I hope he underftands that it is an infult I never fhall forgive/' ^' Why, between friends, my dear madam, tho' I defpife Lord Surchefter as much as you can, and think him a very bad man — there is a little affair between lis juft now, that I want him to carry through for me; for he has very good borough intereft ; and it will be fome thoufands in my way, if it lucceeds. But, depend on me, I will take care of you. I fhould not chufe to make fuch a man my enemy, becaufe there is no faying what fuch a man will fay when pro- voked. But I told him in fo many words that you were under my protedtion, and 4 that ( 48 ) that I fhould on no confideration give up my intercft in you. And on this you may depend/' The peer himfelf was annoitnced at this moment; andPeregrina, with an increnfe of diftrefs, retired in hafte before Ihe was feen. The few hours that were pafled of this day had produced more than their Ihare of uneafinefs to her. She had learnt from Sir Edward, that an idea was abroad of her being the daughter of Lady Jemima and Lord Surchefter ; and now Ihe heard that Ihe was purfued by his lordlhip with the bafefl: intention. The former fuggeftion Ihe knew to be idle, and it might exift only in the wild conceit of the reporter; but what fhe had heard from Mr. Haccombe was important ; and when Ihe recolledcd that flie had no firmer a reliance, than on the honor of a man flie had been taught to diilruft, fhe became almoft Ittipificd with horror. ■.; CHAP' ( 4? ) CHAP. VI. It was fome relief to Peregrina's agitated mind, to hear, in the courfe of the day, that her volunteer guardian — the man flie was mod afraid of, was about to quit London for a few days: fuch a refpitc entirely prevented any new diftrefs from him; and {he had leifure at leaft for ru- mination; but rumination could do little where there were fo few firfl principles to work on. As an application to Lady Cot- tl'^rooke might poflibly betray her into a difclofure of what had awakened her fuf- picion, and forfeit the friendfhip of her ladyfhip, or whoever elfe might be the writer of the myfterious letter, fhe was, on confideration, fearful of rifquing the meafure, and could only refolve to wait patiently, in hope of the arrival of a fecond monitory epiftle; but how fhe was to merit Vol. III. C even ( 50 ) even that, (lie was ignorant — fhe was told it depended on hcrfelf — but how could ilie fquare her condudtby a rule not given her? which rule fhe was neverthelefs bound to obferve ! Mrs. Haccombe had continued her odd behaviour to Mifs Lamorne, with all the variation of polite difpleafure, till the even- ing of the day when Mr. Haccombe went into the country, and when at Ranelagh Lord Surch^fter's afliduities had been fo troublefome, and his tongue fo unreftrained, that, after having warned him not to oblige her to reprefent his behS,viour to her friends, fhe left that end of the party where he was, and getting clofe to Mrs. Hac- combe, fhe told her fhe believed Lord Surchefter had drank too much, and flic wifhed he might be kept at a diftance from her. Mrs. Haccombe, who had with no favorable fentiments feen him thus unnc- ceflarily cautious, if it was caution, will- ingly took Peregrina under her proteftion, tell- ( 5> ) telling her it was only people who were very much ufed to the world that could keep the men in order after dinner. She then configned her to the care of Mrs. Barnby, who had been between Mrs. Hac- combe and the earl ; and then dexteroufly flipping herfelf into that place, under pre- tence of keeping him away from Mifs Lamorne, but in reality to keep him to herfelf, fhe linked her arm within his, and continued thus vigilant in her duty towards her protegee aW the evening: but Mrs. Barn- by could not fo eaflly brook the removal. — She pouted all the night, and would fcarcely fpeak to Peregrina. When feated in the carriage to return home, Mifs La- morne made her acknowledgments to Mrs. Haccombe for her obliging care, and ex- prelTed herfelf, without referve, very much offended at Lord Surchefter's freedom of converfation, which was fuch as Ihe never before had heard. She felt not at all intimi- dated by perceiving that he had the good opinion of her protcambert's aggrandifemenr, and hated himfelf more than Lady Jemima. But his attorney, Laf- fiter, whoie interefl: it was to keep all his relations aloof, never fullered his rcfent- ment entirely to expire, and could talk the venerable penitent into a rage, which dif- fclved away in yearnings of rendernefs, as loon as he was left to the foftnefs of his own nature. ■-. :^ It ( 113 ) It was Sir Clifford who had taken Dennis Geoghegan into his lervice, and the faith- ful fellow would often have pleaded for Mifs Elizabeth, had he not been prohi- bited, under pain of an immediate dif- charge, the mention of any one of Mr. Byram's family. But he had penetration enough to perceive that his mafter dared not trufl his own heart for its firmnefs ; and hoping that, at fome favorable mo- ment or other, he might fucceed, he en- deavoured to furnilh himfelf with docu- ments refpeding her fituation; and liaving traced her to Devonfliire pl?ce, through the m.eans of Captain S , who had brou2.ht her over from Dublin, he had been ^ at the pains of a journey to town, and it was he who had fo aukwardly, in the ill- fuftained chara6ter of a gentleman, applied for a certificate of her good behaviour. Unable to comprehend the poftfcript which Ami Bonange, whoever that per- fonage might be, had added to contradiift xMr. ( i'4 ) Mr. Maccombc's intimations, he put t!ic letter in his pock> t, and the time he had aflied for hi^i journey to London having been confidcrably diminiilied by its plea- fures, and his fin.inces by its muhifarioiis allurements, he was forced to take thefirfl and chcapeft conveyance he could find for his return. This happening to be the roof of a flas;e-co?ich, where he found two of his countrymen, they all got drunk by the Vv'ay, and Dennis's pocket was picked of the very little money he had left, and of all the fruit of his expedition ; for he loft Mr. Haccombe's letter, and returned home in a ftate of riotous intoxication, that un- fortunately happened firft to offend, by opprobrious language, the dignity of the great Mr. Laffiter, who inftantly brought him by the collar into the prefence of his mafler, that he might improve the befl: opportunity he migut ever have, of fepa- rating from Sir Clifford a domeflic whofe fidelity was an obftacle and a terror to himfelf. • Poor C 115 ) Poor Dennis was dirmifled his maflei's fervice while in a (late that kept him igno- rant of his misfortune. In the deepeft woe he wer.t the next morning to the clergyman of the parilli, to beg his interceflion. He procured it ; but Sir Clifford remembered him in his drunkennefs, and LaiTitcr took care he fhould think of nothing favorable to the honefl fellow. The parfon, whofe good nature was hurt at Dennis's wailings for the lofs of his place, and who had had frequent opportunities of remarking his attachment to Sir Clifford, gave up unwillingly his hope of reinftating him ; but, having exerted ineffed:ually his urmoft endeavours, he was compelled, by his fears of ufelefsly difpleafing Sir Clifford, to give up the point, and advife Dennis to feck another fervice, and keep himfclf more fober. " Dear fir," anfv.ered Dennis to this friendly admoniiion, " fince I mufl not ferve ( ii6 ) ferve my dear kind harti-hcartctl mafler, would you have the gocdncls to plcafe to ]et mc be your Icrvant? and thus, you fee, if 1 ani not near my dear mailer, I Ihall be clofe by hhii." " No, no, Dennis r — you know I keep no fervant but a cow-boy and a carter." " Never mind, fir ! — Let me be cow- boy ! — I will come for juft almoft nothing ; for what can 1 do ? I have fpent more mo- ney than I had, in going up to that fame London, to feck a pretty little girl of my acquaintance that is a ftranger to me ; and I am here in a foreign country out of the king's dominions, and away from my own dear country and all my good friends, who could, as you may fay, affift me; and i know they can do nothing for me, becaufe I was always obliged to do for them. — Devi] fetch them all, for letting me be a poor fervant!" die ( in ) The clergyman was moved ; and hoping that, at feme futwre time^ Sir Clifford might relent, he promifed to retain Dennis, on condition his former mafter did not re- fcnt his interference, till lie could provide himfelf with a place better fuited to his more ufually'elevated notions. On application, Sir Clifford granted the rcquihte pcrmifl^on, and declaring that he had no other enmity towards Dennis than his delire for peace (the only bleffing he could now enjoy) obliged him to entertain, he authorized his friend the vicar to re- ceive hi:"n, and pay him, on bis account, his uiual flipend, promiiing at the end of a year, if he behaved well, to admit him again into his family. — The contract flood, notwithstanding Mr. Laffiter's many repre- feniations ngainft it; and poor Dennis was fober, hopeful, and happy. It was nearly at the tim.e of this event that Lady Jemima's fubmirlEve letter, for wane of • ( ii8 ) of Laffiter's knowing her hand-writing, reached Sir Clifford. The old man could not forget her ill condud ; and, on fhevving .his prime agent her petition, he was fully- reminded of all her faults : but no ma- lignity or argument could induce him to add to his poignsnt regrets thofcofcon- fcious inhumanity. He ft'nt her the im- mediate relief of one hundred pounds, with a promife of twice that fum annually, if Ihe would confent to retire into Wales, and give him no future difturbance. While waiting the return of the poll, her ladyfhip had made an acquaintance with a young heir, of whom fhe had, in a fortu- nate evening, won upwards of four hundred , pounds; and Ihe almoil repented the con- < ceffions file had made. But the young pigeon having been warned off the ftage, and her demands increafing daily, by the time Sir Clifford's donation arrived ilie was again hopelefs, and in a difpoHtion to ac- cept it. — Under pretence of benefiting l)y c ban rre 1 it ( 119 ) change of air, ihe negociated for a fmail houfe at Swan lea ; and in police, if not fincere terms of acknowledgment, (lie pro- feffed herfelf ready to adopt Sir Clifford's propofed plan of occonomy; and having honorably paid her debts, Ihe removed, with as little delay as pofTible, to her new abode, freed, by her in;)poririon on Lord Armathwaite, and by her advanced dif- burfemf^nts for her youngefl: daughter's maintenance, of all frefent care beyond herfelf. tHAP ( 120 ) CHAP. X. The fituatlon Lady Jemima had gained, defpicable as (he thought it, and ilub- bornly as flie bowed to it, was felicitous, compared to that in which (lie had, by a fraud not to be forgiven, placed Lord Ar- mathwaite, Joanna, and, by confequencc, her fympathifing friend Mrs. Halnaby. A very few hours acquaintance, with his tra- velling companion, had m.ade hisLordlliip apprehend, that In prcfenting to Joanna a daughter, he (liould fix a new thorn in the wounded bofom of her he was moft anxious to fcrve ; and the event proved his conjec- ture right ; for though he forbore relating any one of thofe ciicumftances that could beft afTid in forming an opinion of Mifs Byram, Joanna, in the fiift quarter of an hour, perceived that all the airy hopes Pne • ' had ( I^t ) had cherifhed of being repaid for the fuf- ferings of many, many years, by the virtues and filial affedion of her daughter. In truth, Joanna had, like mod of the world, formed her hopes too much on her wifhes : Ihe had figured to her imagination, while flie waited Lord Armathwaite's return, the delight of clafping to her bofom a creature all lovelinefs, and of finding, in this one tie to fociety, all the cruelties of the world atoned for. In her converfations with Mrs. Halnaby, which were inceflantly on the fubje36 ) wine, which flie obferved on, as being brought on a falver not fo hanthome as her .mama'th ; and fhe then bethought herfelfof her drefs, and aiked who wath to wait on her. The ofHce of attending on Mifs Byram, whenever fhe (hould arrive, had been be- fpoken by Joanna's Eleanor, who impa- tiently waited for the pleafure of aiking her ten thoufand queftions : fhe was now called; but as her new miftrefs rofe to leave the room, Mrs. Byram obferving fomething hung about her neck, in hopes 't might be a miniature of Lambert which (lie had been thus careful to truftonly to her own pcrfon, flopped her to look at it, but nothing more than the fufpending chain being in fight, ihe was obliged to alk permillion, which Mifs point blank refufed, by faying nobody thould thee what it wath. Mrs. Byram, in gentle terms, begged to be indulged. «* What ? ; ( 137 ) ** What? won't you be angry at it?" Mifs afked, with a look, that in one of lower life would have paffed for an impudent grin. " No, on my word/' faid Joanna, keeping hold on the chain. Urn! "I thought you would," faid Mifs, as Ihe fiirunk herfelf in to give the medal- lion liberty. Mrs. Byram was thunderftruck when flie faw on one fide an agnus, and on the other, a head of the Virgin Mary.—** Good God! Elizabeth," Ihe exclaimed, ** are you a papift?" " I thaid you would be angry," replied Mifs Byram ; " but I wore it to keep me t.bafe in the journey." ** And have you any faith in its power ?" interpofed Lord Armathwaite, defirous a little to fpare Joanna's feelings. ** My c >38 ; " My governelh told me it would keep me thafe,'' ihe replied. " What? had you a roman catholic gover- ncfs ?" Mrs. Halnaby afked. " Tethy' fhe replied—" the governeth we had before, had a little crim. con. with the butler, tho my man;a wath obliged to get tkomehody in a hurry." '* Crim, con.r repeated Mrs. Halnaby i " do you know, Mifs Byram, what you are talking about ?" " O yeth,'' (lie anfwered laughingly ; my lathi governeth uthed to thay what a pity it wath that other zvath not a Catholic, becauth then thee might have got abtholu- thiorij and nobody could have hurt her. " For heaven's fake, go and drefs," faid the half-di{lra6led Joanna. "What i ( ^39 ) • *' What, am I a figure?" fays Mifs, as Ihe went out of the room, not at all aware of IMrs. Byram's meaning. Joanna's grief was not to be reftrained any longer than till the caufe of it was out of hearing; nor was it in the power of Lord ,/Armathwaite or Mrs. Halnaby to offer her jany other confolation than a hope that a new mode of treatment might retrieve the unfortunate girl, " '* But," faid Joanna, " what ground is tthere for hope ? She has not only (hewn Iher total want of every external recom- [mendation, but (he has no heart — (he has no morality." !"^'** Let us, however, wait a few days," laid the Earl, " and fee whether thefe deficiencies, which perhaps are more in appearance than in reality, may not be in fome way fupplied." *^ They ( HO ) " They can never be fupplied," an- fwered Joanna emphatically. '* The girl, who at fcventeen has no heart, is very little likely to find one.— Good God ! what will my future life be?" ** Happy it would be, could I make it fo," faid Lord Armathvvaite. " Of that I am convinced," faid Joanna ; " but this is a misfortune we could not expe' But a greater pleafure than any thefe vidtories could afford her, and a greater compenfation than (he needed againil the childifli ill humor flie excited, was con- veyed to her in the frequent correfpondence of Ami Bonange, to whom, without re~ ferve, flie communicated all that refpedled her prefent fituation ; and who never failed to give her the bcft intelligence, the beft advice, and the mofl: encouraging appror bation. He v/as flill myfterious, bat wonderfully well informed of all that paf- fedy and more earneft than ever in his ex- preilions of deep intercft in her welfare. In two days after the arrival of the Af- fingtons, Captain Courtland joined them, on a day and at an hour Ami Bonange • • had ( i69 ) had predidted : he looked ill, and very much emaciated; and at meeting again Mifs Lamorne, whom he had fo fortu- nately refcued, he Ihewed a degree of joy which was varioufly conftrued. Lady Al- merina and Mifs Aflmgton decided on his heing violently attached to Mifs Lamorne. Harriet, his intended bride, knew too well the importance of her riches to him to believe his heart could fwerve, while Marianne, the youngeil and the prettied, ynd who had long wiflied herfelf Harriet, fiiw in it nothing more than common, but perceived very plainly that he cared not for her lifter; and on thefe {lender promifes founded the conclufion that it was not im- pofTible to attracfl him to herfelf. Far different from all thefe opinions was that of Ptregrina, who fancied, at the mo- ment of his addrefs to her, that (he had at length difcovered her fecrct friend and correfpondent, Ami Bonange. She knew he had been entered of the univerlity of Vol. III. H Oxford, ( I70 ) Oxford, which might give him connexions there : he was a fcampering young man, fcarcely ever two days in a place ; and no- thing that flie could recolle<3: ever entirely contradicting the poffibility of his being at Oxford or at Canterbury when her let- ters were dated, fhe decided on the point to her own fatisfadion, but refolved to be cautious in her condudt. All Lady Cottifbrooke's endeavours were direded towards amufing the Mifs Afling- tons, who received her civilities, and con- dufted themfelves in a way that Peregrina foon faw gave her ladyihip no pleafure; for fpirited up by Lady Almerina, one half of their gaiety was calculated to mor- tify the unoffending pro/fg-e^ ; and they had not been one week, in the houfe, before Lady Cottifbrooke, in a quarter of -jq hour's flolen converfation with her favo- rite, hinted at the little fatisfadtion their company gave her, and, with a figh, la- mented that Hamilton's narrow fortune «* made ( lyi ) made it neceflary he Ihould feck a wife with money. Indeed it was to be lamented ; tor it was but too plain, that however prudence, or deference for his mother's judgment, might difpofe docile Captain Courtland towards Harriet Affington, and fhe of the three was his favorite, yet he did not en- tertain for her thofe fentiments that pro- mifed happinefs in their union ; and the airs (he gave herfelf on the ftrength of their engagement, the contempt with which ic was her amufement to treat him, and the command all the. three lifters affeded to have over him, could neither be unob- ferved by common fagacity, nor borne by a liberal fpirir. Every day ftlU farther confirmed Pcre- grina's fufpicion of his being her good ge- nius ; and her receiving a letter from Can- terbury during his vifit, was no contradic- tion, as he generally rode over there,. H 2 with ( 17^ ) with his friend Bergholt, three or four times in a week. In her next reply fhe hinted that fhe thought herfelfin poflef- (ion of the fecret; but fearful of offend- ing, fhe added, that now he had fuch frequent opportunities of feeing her, fhe left it to him either to continue to ad: on the referve, or to receive thofe acknow- ledgements fhe fhould ever be happy to pay him. After his next vifit to Canterbury, where fhe fuppofed he would meet her letter, fhe mere intently watched him, and was flill farther convinced by the increafed intereft of his behavior to her. Indeed, whether right or wrong in this conjedture, Pere- grina might, had fhe not been defended by her fimplicity and humility, have been ferioufly alarmed at his deportment, which was fo ftrongly indicative of a very ardent palllon for her, that even Harriet Affing- ton, confident as fhe was in her own rikhes, and the fofter Marianne, who was always ( 173 ) always deeply in love with the lad man that had been civil to her, could not fhut their eyes againft the conviftion ; and Lady Cottifbrooke herfelf might have been fufpiciovis, had not Lady Almerina, be- fore any thing of the kind was vifible to eyes not fharpened by malignity, afTured her of the fadt with a degree of earneft- nefs that made her own intereftednefs in the flander a reafon for difbelieving it ; but Lady Cottifbrooke had the higheft re- liance on Hamilton's honor : (he had his word, that fince he faw it would give her pleafure, Harriet Affington fhould be his wife; and Ihe was therefore not only per- fe(5tly eafy on that head, but not difpleafed fometimes to fee the Aflingtons a little taken down by Hamilton's leaving them to efcort themfelves, and bellowing his attentions on her they feemed affiduous in negle(fl:ing. Seeing clearly Harriet's faults, fhe was glad to perceive that her fon underllood the art of managing her temper. H 3 CHAP. ( '74 ) CHAP. XIV. The party was again increafed, but in a way hot very pleafant to Peregrina ; for Hamilton brought home with him, on this return from Canterbury, Sir Edward Berg- holr, who in fome net had foon Quitted his boarding-houfe at Margate, and was living about the country, at alofs to fait hinifelf. — Lady Cottiibrooke received him, as fhe always did the friends of her fon, with hof- pitality and fmiles ; and, though he came with an intention of remaining but a few days, fhe prevailed on him not at prefent to feek another abode. He was much more rational and fleady than Peregrina had ever feen him ; and he foon proved himfelf an agreeable addition to the family. Peregrina could have no ,; J ; remaining ( 175 ) remaining fufpicion that he favored the Haccombes ; for, to her firft queftion after them, he replied, " Let us fafs Juch cha- ra^ers over in filence ! " She therefore for- bore again to mention them ; and it was not long before (lie had reafon to believe that he had developed the family iniquity, and broken fweet Mrs. Barn by 's fetters : for Mariannne Aflington^s Circaffian coun- tenance feemed to have charms for him ; .«rju he returned, if he did not encourage, the languiihing attraftions which, as the laft unmarried man ihe had popt on, were his due. Compared with Captain Courtland, Sir Edward Bergholt, though lefs admired by the mijfes, was an important conqueft, fhould he recover the perfect ufe of his reafon ; for he muft Ihortly come into a very fine income, fuch as would maintain a peerage ; a beautiful feat in the centre of the kingdom waited for him lo inhabit it ; his family was very ancient ; his connex- H 4 ions ( 176 ) ions were very great, and alienated from him only by his father's abfurd partiality for the new nabob Haccombe ; and the lady he fhould marry muft inftantly enjoy a title, that did not herd with the vulgar Mrs. Simkinfons and Mrs. Hodgkinfo?is, Thefe weighty confederations fhook Har-riefs hrmncfs, and fhe could not pa- tiently obferve her younger filler's chance. She treated Courtland worfe than ever, put herfelf eternally in Sir Edward's way, and having once heard him fay that, though he did not think very highly of Mifs La- morne's perfon or attractions, he liked her honefty and good temper, (lie became vaftly fond of Peregrina, and proportionably crois to Marianne. v.>.'f,-r They had proceeded thus jockeying and jarring for fome days. Sir Edward's atten- tions towards Marianne increafing, Captain Courtland taking advantage of Harriet's ill humor to attach himfelf to Mifs Lamorne, .: - and ( 177 ) and ihe giving him every opportunity of confeffing himfelf the perfon Ihe fuppofed him, when, without any other previous no- tice than a fervant on horfeback preceding a poft-chaife, juft as they were rifing from dinner one afternoon, entered the earl of Cottifbrooke, who was fuppofed by his fa- mily to have been then at Turin or Naples. The furprife of feeing him thus unex- peftcdly, was almofl too much for his mo- ther's fpirits ; and while Lady Almerina courted his notice by a familiar nod and an extension of her hand, and the Affingtons bridled to be fcen by the lord, Lady Eflex and Peregrina were endeavoring to quiet the agitation of his mother's joy. It was fome minutes before fhe could enquire the reafon of his fudden return ; and flie feemed much gratified to hear that it was a report of her ill health, and confequent retreat to Margate, that had occafioned his precipi- tate journey ; he faid, his fears had been H 5 relieved. ( 178 ) relieved, on his landing at Dover^ by the account he there procured of her; that his ftay would be Ihort, unlefs (he thought, as he did, that he had feen enough of foreign ponfenfe ; that his tutor waited at Calais, ^herc he had left him, either to proceed again with him, or to accompany another Englilh milord going his route. — Lady Cot- tifbrooke was fatisfied and pleafed : and well fl-.e might be fo ; for it was the firft inftance of filial affedion fhe had ever re- ceived from this fon, who had quitted England an impenetrable blockhead, but feemed to have returned fomething elfe — what it \vas, time was to difcover. His garb and £ifhion were entirely exotic. His perfon was diminutive, his complexion extremely dark, and his nofe and chin kept at due diflance only by a very wide mouth with thin lips and a more than commonly good fet of teeth. An odd twifl of his fi- gure made it queftionable whether he was perfectly ( 179 ) perfedly ftrait ; and every motion of his limbs evinced how great care had been re- quifite to preferve him, in his infancy, from the rickets. The coiitradted fagacity which marked his brow was increafed by the inceflant ap- plication of the glafs, which enabled him to difcern diftant objedts. He had a chat- tering volubility, and a decifion of empha' fis, that might impofe; but he feldom knew his own meaning, or could enable any one elfe to decypher it : — what his pur- fuits and paffions were, was not to be de- veloped in an interview. Finding the party engaged to the evening dance at the rooms, he fummoned his valet, who had travelled in the chaife with him ; and pre- pared to accompany them. Whatever might be Lady Almerlna's private opinion of her betrothed hufband, ihe exerted all the importance that her right H6 to ( i8o ) to him gave her, and, not chiifing to fee that he had bellowed very little notice on her at his entrance, llie was inflated with the eclat of her lituation when fhe had to exhibit him. Her exultation continued, to the annoy- ance of all that came in her way, till (he faw her friend, the negligent appointment- forgetting marquis, enter the room, who, making up to her, and not knowing Lord Cottifbrooke, protefted upon his foul, how grieved he zvas for the infernal accident that had deprived him of the celeflial felicity of attending her flattering commands. Seated between the two noblemen, not knowing yet how fhe liked the travelled man, but certain that it was a delightful thino- to be a duchefs, Ihe beftowed the far greater part of her attention on him who had the leaft claim to it ; and Lord Cottif- brooke might have been offended, had he been ( i8i ) been in the humor ; but he was othervvlfe occupied. Mir3 Aflington herfelf, who had till now fired at random amongft the rank and file of (ingle men, was this evening furni(hed with a mark to aim at ; for having been fufficicntly in Lady Almerina's councils, to know that (he thought it a delightful thing to be a duchefs^ (he had fome hopes of fuc- ceeding to her caft-off lover, (liould the (lender marquis caufe a breach between the contracting parties. Her height and figure, (he thought, counterbalanced the more flriking difadvantages of a bad com- plexion and difproportioned features ; and recoUefting the advantage of her money, (he had no fmall hope that, as Juch things had been, Juch things might be. On Mifs Lamorne, who in the confiifion of his entrance had not been introduced to him, and whofe name he learnt as it were by ( i82 ) by chance, Lord Cottifbrooke beftowed no attention that could give offence. In the arrangement for the firft dances, Hamilton Courtland engaged her; and though as earneft as poffible to improve the opportu- nity into converfation, and in a very fcrious if not melancholy mood, flie could get no fatisfaftion on the one point of doubt.— She thought him a finilhed piece of pru- dence : Ihe wondered at his retention : fhe gave him credit for fuperior abilities. — How little did (he think of her own power over him ! Lord Cottifbrooke had taken up, as form commanded him, with Lady Almerina : Sir Edward Bergholt had feized on Mari- anne Affington : Captain Courtland had aiked a friend to take Harriet ; and the elder Mifs Affington fat ftill by Lady Cot- tifbrooke and Lady EfTex, who, as being to bathe the next morning, was not allowed to dance. In the lottery of the amufement. Lord ( i83 ) Lord Cottifbrooke attached himfelf to thi^ elder of the three fatal lifters, and her hope was faft growing up into faith, while Lady Almerina, who wifhed much to be at an early certainty, played all her artillery againft the ftender perfon, and ftill more llender intelledts, of the llender marquis. The family- party now Teemed to have each their refpedlive parts afiigned them ; and, in their domeftic fcenes, they fup- ported them with tolerable propriety. It feemed almoft a fettled point that Lord Cottifbrooke, whom every revolving hour Ihewed more and more a petit ma'itre, and whofe ignorance of what he had been pur- pofely to fee >yas mofl ludicroully glaring, fhould diverge towards the v^^ealthy Mifs Affington, that Lady Almerina fhould ac- cept in his ftead the marquis, who had by degrees introduced himfelf at Lady Cottif- brooke*s, that Sir Edward Bergholt fhould take to gentle Marianne ; and, for want of another ( i84 ) another objed, Harriet was compelled to continue, at lead in fuppofition, the pro- perty of Captain Coiirtland. — For Lady EfTex, no one was laid our ; and as for poor Peregrina, though flie had many in her fuite, and fome that looked a little ferious, it was fuppofed, becaufe it was hoped, that a girl without a penny, and whom nobody knezv, hut as a kind of unpenfwned governefs or vice-deputy companion to Lady EfTex, could not poffibly have any acceptable offer from the fuperior ranks. While matters were in this flate, Pere- grina received a letter from Ami Bonange, in which her having made the difcovery was noticed ; and (he was told that if, at the next opportunity of their unwitnefTed converfaticn, fhe would exprefs a wijh for a developemcnty and would promife to be as Jecret as her friend was fincerCy flie (hould be gratifrcd. She ( i85 ) She waited fome days for this opportu- nity, fearful of taking any ftep that might endanger her; and in the meantime the {lender marquis left the fea-coaft in a hurry, to repair to his father's caftle, where awaited him the hand of beauty, wealth, and po- litical influence. — Lady Almerina was thunder-flruck ; but knowing full well the ridicule fhe fhould meet with, if clamorous, : (he very prudently took in her fails, and I coafted round again to Lord Cottifbrook^,'' juflling mod cruelly in her way the too ifanguine Mifs Affington, who with diffi- culty poftponed giving vent to the rancor ;of her difappointment. CHAP ( i86 ) CHAP, XV. Peregrina favv all this in filence, and, feeling no intereft in their fquabbles, with indifference. She recolleded AmiBonange's grediftions eoncerning the Affingtons, and •was comforted that ±z h^u nor been be- trayed into confidence or friendlhip. She was more intent on getting an audience of Captain Courtland ; and an opportunity of- fered when Ihe leaft expedted it; for as ihe was fitting one morning with Lady Ef- fex, endeavoring to make her underftand why fhe always favv the fun fet toward the weft, he opened the room door, and taking advantage of his fitter's fitting with her back towards him, he with a refpeftful motion of his hand beckoned Mifs Lamorne out. She made an excufe to her pupil, and quitting the room, faw him waiting on the ( x87 ) the flairs for her. She followed in feme "^ ' . . . '^ 'palpitation, but yet delighted with the idea of acknowledging, in perfon, fervices fo important, and a correfpondence fo confo- latory as that of Ami Bonange. Not queftioning the errand ihe came on, fhe fuffered Hamilton to turn the key in the door of the little parlor, to which he introduced her, without any oppofition from ner prudence; and with a Imile, ana a iittic hefitation that kept her filent, (he flood be- fore him in a pofture of attention. She perceived now, that his countenance was more difturbed than was adequate to the caufe — and Ihe (till was filent. Almoft breathlefs, he began : " My deareft Mifs Lamorne, forgive myrudenefs! — I have no excufe but the extremity I am driven to ! — I could not leave this place without fpeaking to you. —I am Cilled inftantly to my regiment ; and ( i88 ) and it is poffible our deflination raay be to the French coaft, or to the Weft Indies." " I am forry for it with all my heart, fir. —What a lofs 1 Ihall fuftain ! " " Tou will fuftain ! —Do I hear you fay fo ? — Do you, Mifs Lamorne, fay fo ? " Certainly," ihe replied with a falter- ing voice, ** it is of great importance to me, for you have been an invaluable friend. —I certainly wifh for the developement I now expedV from you ; and I give you my word to be as fecrct as you are fincere." " Then I am indeed happy ! " he re- plied, clapping his hands together with energy. — " My friendfliip for you, Mifs Lamorne, makes me more than ever anx- ious " Hafty footfteps interrupted the dialogue. Hamilton jumped through the window into the C 1S9 ) the garden. Peregrina, in trepidation, haftily unlocked the door, and took up the news-paper ; and in came Marianne Af- fington, in violent commotion. It was evident that (he had been In tears, and Peregrina begged to know what had diftrefled her. " My dear Lamorne," fhe replied, *' I am in the deepeft afflidtion poflible ; and nothing that I can think on, except your interference, can affiil me." Peregrina begged her to relieve her lanxiety, by telling her how (he could ferve her. "^ I muft firft," anfwered Marianne, fliutting the door, " entruft you with an important fecret —a fecret of great import- ance to me. — Sir Edward has a tendernefs for me ; and I have been fo unfortunate, by fome referve I perhaps carried too far, to C 190 ) to offend him. He is going away alniofi dire(fVly with Courdand ; and I cannot,** added flie, burfling into a roar of crying — '• ^' *' I cannot endure the thoughts of his go- ing away angry with me.'* *' I am extremely forry/* replied Pere- grina ; " but — but really 1 do not fee how it is in my power to prevent Sir Edward's going, or to-to-to '* Pereigrina had too much delicacy even to., fuggeji the mediation Marianne came to urge ; but the crying girl continued, ** Yes, yes, you can, and you mufi:. — I only want you to contrive to fee him, • and tell him he will break my heart — that you know he will break my heart, if he goes away angry with me." [Ill n.-rs^^ lo rjT.rji n— " Indeed — indeed, Mrfs Afllngton, you muft excufe me." ( 191 ) ** No,»no," fa'id Marianne, vehemently, •* you muft do it, and do it direftly." " Will it not have a very odd appoar- lance, coming from me ? — Had you not better fend to him, and fpeak yourfelf ? " j '* No, no ; there can be no impropriety injour going, becaufe you are nobody of confeqaaence." ** True! — But then how can I expedl aim to liften to me ? '* afked Mifs Lamorne, fmiling at the good reafon given her. ** Oh ! he will liflen to you, I am fure ; "or once, when Lady Cottifbrooke was oraifing your manner of fpeaking, I heard iiim fay, he hoped fuch a tongue as your's vculd never be fet to perfuade hun to do vrong." •' I am obliged to him for the compli- Qent, if it be one. — But who would truft to ( 19^ ) to the opinion of Sir Edward ? — You know he is not always in his right fenfes." " Oh ! but he is now, I am fure. — Now do, pray Mifs Lamorne, go ! — and I will give you — I will give you twenty guineas : —I do not mind money." " Now," faid Peregrina, turning from her with a rej«(fling wave of her hand, *' you have determined me to refufe you. — What my judgment forbids me to do, Mifs Marianne, no bribe Ihall ever tempt me to.'* " I beg your pardon, my deareft La- morne ! Indeed, I did not mean to otfendi you! — But, if you love me," added the < difconfolate lady, dropping on her knees, — " if you would not fee me die of a broken heart, do, God blefs you, only go to Edward, and tell him his unhappy Ma- rianne would rather die, than part from him in anger ! '* " Arc ( 193 ) " Are you fure," aiked Peregrina, with a fufpefting look, " that you are on terms rojuftify this?" " O yes," ihe anfwered, " upon my honor.-^I dare not tell you aU I could of his attachment to me; but " " You are not privately married to him : are you ? " " No : he cannot marry for fome months." " Well," faid Peregrina, after a paufe, -'* 1 think I am wrong, and I dare fay I fliall have reafon to repent my interference ; but I will go, rather than fee you fo un- happy." Marianne jumped up from her fuppli- cating pofture, and would havp fent her mediatrix, as a prfon of no confequence, without any previous warning ; but in this Vol. III. I parti- ( 194- ) particular (lie begged to have her own way, and fent a fervant to reqiieft to know where (lie might immediately fpeak with Sir Ed- ward Bergholt. He fent word, he would wait on her in- ftantly ; and Marianne withdrew. The moments of expectation were pain- ful. She thought of Courtland, 3nd (lie wiflied to think on him; and fhe had no great relifli for the interview fhe had been forced to requeft. Sir Edward entered the room, and feat- iY\ ( 211 ) fall in the next fervice he was fent on, as flie then would try for Edward Bergholt. This called up Marianne, who, defeated and detedted as flie had been, could not forbear coloring with rage at this new in- formation; and now interrogated Harriet as to the truth of what fhe had heard. " There," faid Lady Almerina, '' fee how warmly Marianne takes it up. I thought what all her languilhing and watch- " M)/ languijhing? madam," retorted Marianne. " If I watched Edward, as you call him, it was to fee how he efcaped the arts of fome other people," " Say whom you mean, dear Marianne," faid Lady Cottifbrooke ; " it is ilUberal to ufe fuch language." " Why, I mean, Lady Cottifbrooke—" faid ( 212 ) faid flie in fuch a fury, that ihe could get no farther. *^ Mi^" repeated her iadylhip laughing. '^ No, not you, but your mean, artful dependent, Mifs Lamorne, who has moft artfully and moft bafely been reprefenting me to Sir Edward as — as — as—" " As what, my dear?" faid Lady Cot- tifbrooke. « Why fhe told Sir Edward I was in love with him.^* «« Then I funcy," faid Lidy Cottif- brooke, with an arch fmile, " Ibe faid no more than is too true ; and I fliould have thought, from what I had obfcrvcd, that you would have thanked her." *^ What have you obferved, madam ?" was uttered by the four ladies militant, but^ ( 213 ) I but with very different emphafis and (meaning. " Mifs Lamorne is going to fpeak,'* faid iLady Cottifbrookc ; "hear her firfl, and II will tcilyou." : " I forbear," faid Peregrina, *' to juf- tlfy myfelf, becaufe it would be taking a cruel advantage of a weaknefs, perhaps it is only my humble ftation exempts mc from. But unlefs Mifs Marianne Affing- ton recalls her injurious expreflions towards me, I (hall beg that Sir Edward may be ;appcaled to." " And Hamilton, too," faid Lady Al- imerina, who had no pleafure equal to that iof flirring up the ftorm. " No, no," faid Lady Cottilbrooke, " do not make the men witnefTes of this filly bufinefs." " Then ( 214 ) '' Then I infift," faid Peregrina warm- ly, " on Mifs Marianne's producing the note I wrote to her juft before I went out, or on her acquitting me." «« I — T — I — " faid Marianne, fearching her pockets — " the note? — O, I defiroyed it." *' Then permit me, madam,*' faid Pe- regrina, *' to fliew Lady Cottifbrooke, for I would not degrade you too far, the rough copy of it, which I kept for my own juf- tification." She gave the paper to her friend, who read it alowd. No one could doubt its im- port — Harriet led the way in contemptuous language; the reft followed, and Ladyj Cottifbrooke then faid, that judging all by her own obfervation, Ihe thought the whole party of difputants, efpecially the three lifters, ought to extend mutual for givenefs towards each other on the plea ( 215 ) of general error. She had already recom- mended to Lady Almerina and Mifs Afling- ton lenity towards each other's failings. She wiflied Mifs Harriet to believe what ihe could aver to be the truth, that Court- land's fentiments for her were unchanged, and that if fhe had not experienced from him, while at Margate, thofe attentions fhe had a claim to, it was folely to be at- tributed to her own conduft, which had been unequivocally difcouraging. Mari- anne fhe gently admonifhed to be more on her guard in divulging her fentiments ; but in a manner as firm as her thorough good breeding would permit, fhe warned all the party againft revenging their own miilakes of condud by any reflections on Mifs La- morne, whom her ladyfhip declared ihe fhould never fcruple to defend to the ut- moft extent of truth and juftice. A fervant jufl: then opened the door, to fay the carriage was driving up : the rich ladies rofe, but Lady Almerina would not; they ( 2i6 ) they fliffly thanked Lady Cottilbrooke for her civilities — llie exprelTed her regret at their hafty departure, and advifed them to change their mind ; they heiitated, and looked at each other-— the two eldeft feemed propitious; but Marianne, with confufion in her countenance, urged them to be gone, and they again moved. Lady Cottilbrooke begged them only to wait till .'the gentlemen were informed they were going; but they declining even this acqui- efcence, flie promifed Harriet that Hamil- ton would fee her immediately on his reaching town, enquired how long they Ihould remain there before they went to Cheltenham, and wilhing them a pleafant journey, allowed them to depart. They could not bow their fpirits or their knees , to take notice of Peregrina; and they un- I fortunately loft, by being out of hearing, the impromptu of Lady Almerina's v/it, who bade adieu to the M'lfs Moneybags. Thus ended one of thofe unpleafant jtayiyig- C 217 ) Jiaying-boutSy by which thofe, whjo have it in ihcir power to amufe, are compelled pe- riodically to piirchafe temporary quiet. — Lady Cottifbrooke, till now, had had no opportunity of judging of the real temper of the Affingtonsi — for in the whirl of London all afperities are loft; — and it was chicily for the purpofe of better acquaint- ance, that Ihe had given them the invita- tion. The young heirefles, like magpies in a field, were feldom feen feparated ; this had given her a favorable impreffion of their harmony ; but when fhc faw that each was a fpy on tne others, and witneffed their petty ftrifes and emulations, fhe could not give fo flattering a conftruftion to that which originated only in a fear of being negleded or outwitted. She therefore, though hurt at the man- ner in which they had quitted her houfe, and fomewhat anxious on her dear Hamil- ton's account, law them depart without re- gret, while poor Peregrina felt moft deeply Vol. in. K their ( 2i8 ) their nnkindnefs towards her, and was earneft to acquit herfelf to Lady Cottif- brooke ; but both Ihe and Ladv Almerina, who in her hatred to the Affingtons forgot for a momrnt that fhe bore Mifs Lamorne, quieted her lears by the moil fatisfadtory acquitLal. C r»'ain Courtland and Sir Edward were to 'sE out at day-break the next morning. 1 hf family dined together ; Lady Alme- rina was ready c'r'il to Lord Cottifbrooke ; Sii Edward was uncommonly gloomy ; and Han.iiton ji),ned his brother and Lady A.mei ina, more warmly than his mother wif'eJ, m lidicu'e and cenf .re of the Af- fingtv'ins. Ir was in van that (he palliated ther faub"^. : juflice was ag'inft them ; and feir-intercfl was a fl.ai gei lo the breafl of Courdand. A wh)V w?s propofed in Oie evening; — -Lady CortTfbrooke had letters to write; and Sh- Edward declined the p^.ty. Find- ing ( 219 ) in^ the wind unpleafant on the pier, they ftrolled towards St. Peter's ; and Lady Ef- fex having in her way picked up her ufual dancing-partner, andLadyAlmefina think- ing it perhaps prudent to take care of the earl, Hamilton and Peregrina were of courfe thrown together, not much to the diffatif- fadtion of either. Confirmed, by the event 6f the morning, in her idea refpe6ling Ami Bonange, when Courtland again exprefled his regret that he muft quit England, ihe replied, " But you will flill write to me ? " He paufed for a moment, a'"»d hen an- fwered, " Undoubtedly, if 1 have your permiflion." " That you cannot queftion," faid (he, fmiling. — " But how am I to dired: to you ? " " I will give you the agent's addrefs, and he will forward your letters." K 2 « But ( 220 ) *■< But by what name fhall I dired ? " *' O ! by my own," he anfvvered.— " There can be no danger: you can con- trive to put your letters in at Hall's your- felf, in your walks ; and I will take care nobody fhall know my hand." This point being fettled, to avoid ob» feryation Ihe joined Lady ElTex. At the next opportunity he begged, as the great' ft favor (he could confer, to know with what fentiments he left her. " You ought to know me, by this time, t o well, to afl^," flie anfwered. — " Beheve mc, you have all my efteem, my frienJ- Ihip, and my gratitude : — and " More I do not aik," he replied, inter- rupting her — " Preferve fuch fentiments for me till I return." A re- ( 221 ) A reverted look from Lady Almerina made him cautious. They fpoke no more on this lubjeft. Adieus pafled after fup- per; and, on the part of the mother and filler, were moil afflifting. — The next morning the two gentlemen departed, and Peregrina felt, though fhc was forced to conceal it, that Ami Bonange had a deep intcrcft in her broken reft, and low fpirits when (he arole. Three days pafled in peace, rendered doubly valuable by the late domeftic ftorm. Lady Cottifbrooke, indeed, felt too deeply forheryoungcff fon's fituation, to be happy; but Lady Eilex feemed to have forgotten how recently he had departed ; and Lady Almerina, in her affiduity tov\ards her lover,- had buried her recolle<5tions and re- fentments. Peregrina, more than ever, wifhed for a letter from Ami Bonange ; and file was at this time gratified. The fame ftyle of admonition, and not all of it intel- l^ible, was continued. She was told, that K 3 the ( 222 ) the uncommon merit of her conduct had flill farther increafed the friendlhip (he (o profited by ; but the letter contained not the fmalleft allufion to the recent repara- tion. This {"he attributed to proper cau- tion ; and (lie determined to proceed on the fame plan. One of the leafl perfpicuous paffages was this : — '^ Danger azvaits you ; but fear not : I fa all be on the watch.— Tou are beloved by many, ?Hore pariicularly by tzvo ; fiill mere laudably by one. — One of izvo will bring you into jeopardy; the other may dljirejsyou. — 1 can fee no farther at prefent." Courtland had left with her his agent's addrefs, but had difpenfed with her mak- ing ufe of it till he could give her feme in- telligence as to the dedination of his regi- ment : (lie therefore had it not in her power to beg any light on this m) ftery. CHAT. ( 223 ) CHAP. XVI. It was now the fccond week In Augnft ; and Peregrina, when fhe accompanied Lady Effcx to the Tea, on her baching mornings, had lately feen at Surflen's an elderly lady, whofe face was new to her, but whofe ap- pearance was above the common rank, and whofe manners were remarkably prepof- feffing. While waiting for Lady Eflcx's return, Peregrina often fat down to the piano-forte in the room, and this lady fre- quently chatted with her on the topic of mufic, on the beauty of the fea-view, and the general landfcape of the ifland. This lady too waited for a friend, whom Peregrina felt an idle wilh to fee. She was foon gratified : the bathing lady one morn- ing appeared, and Peregrina was as much K 4 pleafed ( 224 ) pleafed with her as with her former ac*- quaintance. She fecmed in ill health, was very much fatigued, and fat in the room without appearing to notice any one but her friend. Her perfon was emaciated: her features retained vcftiges of beaury, which it was evident (icknefs, rather than years, had impaired : there was an intereft- ing melancholy about her ; and Peregrina felt forry, when Ihe faw the two ladies drive olf in a very handlbme but unemblazoned poft-chaife. She enquired who thefe ladies were, and learnt that the name of the elder was Halnaby, and of the younger i>/Vro«. They were fuppofed to be mother and daughter, and were fd'id to be widows : they lived in Hawley-fquare, but were never in public. Again and again Peregrina faw thefe in- terefting ladies; and it was foon evident that the elder had mentioned her favorably to the younger, who, mending a little in her ( 225 ) her health, took notice of her with the moft encouraging affability. They now met at church in the mifcellaneous groupe. of the chancel, and occafionally in their walks ; and Peregrina's head was fo full of Mrs. Halnaby and Mrs. Birr on ^ that Lady Cottifbrooke became curious to fee them ;, and introducing herfelf, they loon grew fociable, and came to viliting terms. The pleafure Peregrina promifed herfelf,, and derived from this new connexion, was fuperior to any f!ie had felt from tranfient friendfhips ; but her attention was foon. called off to another objeft. She received a letter in an unknown hand, figned Ami; Bonange; and, with inexpreffible diflrefs,, Ihc learnt from it that her faithful monitor, was fo ill as to be unable to write with his. own hand ; that he apprehended his life tO; be in imminent danger, and begged ear- neflly to fee her at the Fountain at Canter- bury, if Pne could get there without alarm- ing the family, K 5 lu ( 226 ) It was almofl impoffible for her to recol- iedl what fhe ought to do. If Courtland was in fuch danger, furely his mother ihould have been informed of it. — Why was he ftill at Canterbury ?— How could he expedl her to come to him ?— -She was diftradted with her doubts and fears, but very unwilling to negled his requeft, or to betray the important itcrtt. She dcier- minedj at length, that it was impoffible for her to comply, and that flie woulJ trufl to Lady Cottilbrooke's hearing this difagree- able news, by fome other channel. She could not, however, be cafy : fhe thought, with the fincereft grief, of lofing Ami Bonange ; and llie thought herfelf un- grateful in omitting the only mark of gra- titude it was in her power to be flow : but no poffibility of getting to Canterbury ap- peared till the evening, when Mrs.Halnaby and Mrs. Birron joined Lady Cctt'fbrooke on the pier, and accidentally afited Mifs Lamorne if ihe would the ne»t morning favor ( 227 ) favor them with her company to Canter- bury, whither they were going on bufinefs. She gladly accepted the offer, fandlioned by Lady Cottlfbrooke's approbation, and the hour was fixed. She was not without fcrnples as to thfc propriety of her acquicfcence, but flie hoped flie could eaiily reconcile her pru- dence to the neceffity, as the ladies had themfelves faid they ihould put up their carriage, and take a ihort dinner, at the very inn flic was dired:ed to. Ah! Peregrina, child of misfortune! fport of chance ! but ever fav-orite of the wor by ! defertedby thy natural protestors, . foftcred by ftrangers ! how near art thou now ro the difcovery of thy affedionate parent, and to a fituation that will abun- dantly repay thee for all thy troubles ?— Without doubt, the elder lady will not al- ways perfift in calling the youv.gcxjoiinna : —-thpu wilt catch the name of Byram, not K 6 Birrcn, ( 228 ) Birron, as ignorant tongues have taught thee :— thou wilt learn thy llory, and fink in rapture on the bolbm of thy faint-like mother. The anxiety of her mind, refpeding Courtland, kept Peregrina waking till after fun-rife, when dropping into a flumber, Ihe dreamt of all things horrible, woke in a fright, and rofe in perturbation. The time appointed for her fetting out was not till after the arrival of the poft ; and by it fhe had another letter from Ami Bonange, dire<5led, to her infinite confola- tion, by his own hand. With her ufual circumfpedlion, Ihe retired to read it ; and it contained the following valuable intelli- gence, dated from Canterbury i '^ It is my earneft prayer that this may not come too late:- -I am almoil tempted to be my own ambailador. Be cautious, Peregrina ! On no account come towards this • ( 229 ) this city for fome days ; or, if you do, let it be in company you can truft. ** I have difcovered a mod infernal" fcheme, in which C is the principal agent. His fervant, who is his jackall, has been fool enough to confide his mafter's fecrets. — His vifit to his mother was made with no other vicvv than to get accefs to you. The diredion of your letters to me has been remarked :— my fignature has been ufed to entrap you ; and you are to be prevailed on, under pretence of my dangerous illnefs, to be at the Fountain ia this city to-day. *' Come not ! Stir not, I befeech you ! — But left you (hould, in the great huma- nity I know you to poffefs, have fet out on this ch.iritable expedition, I will beat the road all the morning, to meet, to warn, to fave you. " I need ( K.o y " 1 need not tell voii what C- views are His charadter is well known. His condu<5l will Toon (hew you, that, tho* he IS net at boililities with vice, he has no' afFection for iluaifij..-rrli do nor fay, Ti iift no one; 'tis a tr.ifanthropic caution; but rely on him, who is for ever Your mod fuirhful Ami Bonange." What Vv'as now to be done was not diffi- cult to decide. Peiegrina excufed herfelf to her friends on the plea of indifpofition ; and her countenance bore the fame tidings to Lady Cottifbrooke, who approved her declining the jaunt. — But againft whom wiis flie to guard ? 'I he initial w hich Ami Bonarge had ufed as a defignation, was none ; for it might mean Lord Cottifbrooke or C^prain Courtland. His lordihip llie ever thought ill of; but it was painful to iier to admit a degrading thought of his brother. — Yet, had he not deceived hjer? Had 4 ( 231 ) Had he not paffed on her for Ami Bonange ? •—It muft be Courtland Ihe was to guard again ft. Under pretence of her illnefs, ihe ftaid within, and confined herfelf above ftairs almoft all day. The ladies only were at home; and good-natured Lady EflVx per- lifted in fharing her folitude; and though it was litrle in her power to amufe, (he was ufeful in fometimes diverting Peregrina's thoughts. At the fupper-hour, they went down to- gether. The earl only was in the parlor, and feemed newly arrived, and in deep thought. He abruptly afkcd his filler, if any letters had come by the morning's poft. She not being able to tell him, Peregrina embraced the opportunity, and faid, " It brought on^ for me, my lord,"---^* O ! yes, I remember," faid Lady EiTex, *' my mo- ther faid fhe feared it brought you bad news.".—" It was indeed bad news/' faid Fere- ( 232 ) Peregrina; "the worft in the world. It told me I had a fecret enemy !'* " Bat,'* lliid Lf)nl Cottifbrooke, " per- haps it told you how to guard . gaind that enemy." — His i^iKumed/ang f}-o:d could not entirely deceive her. She lliot at random; when ihe anfwercd, '* Yes, my lord, and how to expofe that enemy ; which I {hall not fail to do." She thought he changed countenance.-— Lady Cottifbrooke and Lady Almerina came in from a moon-lig-ht ftroll on the O cliff; and they fat down to fupper, from which Mifs Lamorne foon retired. The firft news fhe heard the next morn- ing was, that the carl had given up his in- tention of remaining in England, and meant to rejoin his tutor, who had waited for him till the laft moment.— He had fet off for London before the family met for breakfull ;. and thus Peregrina was at once confirined C 233 ) confirmed in her lurmlfe, and reJcafed from her danger. Lady Cottifbrooke re- gretted, Lady Almerina lamented, his fud- denw'him; but Peregrina could not join cither. She wrote immediately, in thofe terms her fenfe of gratitude prompted, to Ami Bonange. Her curiofity ftrongly urged her to enquire of him, what had incited Loid Cottifbrooke to take fo much trouble for the paltry purpofe of accefs to her; but the rcfpedl fhe entertained for her friend, in his myilerious charadler, re- flrained her. ClTA?-> f 234 ) CHAP. XVII. But there was another eircnmftance, not much corned'ed with her nn necef- fary to acquit her to Ilarnct, whom, on my honor, I am no way engaged to, fhe would ultimately be delighted wirh c' aim- ing you as her daughter. I intrea" you not to let fcruples on this point ruin my hopes. " Our ( 239 ) " Our embarkation is deferred for t\vo or three weeks. I write by this poll to my mother, but not on this fubjed. Unlefe vou are nTeconcileably offended at this ad- drefs, I ihall live in rhe hope of your ful- filling your promife, by writing to me. — At prefcnt, I can cive no other addrefs than to George's coffce-houfe, Hav market; but you may depend on it^ that whatever you may write will fafely nije% and coufer a lafting obligation on, madmi, Your nK)ft devcted humble fervant, Hamilton Courtland.'* Refp.'flful as was the ftyle of this letter, and flattering as was the prolpect it offered her, Peregrina could not rtft eafy under the errors its contents were founded on. She faw t'- ** I am ( 257 ) " I am not furprifed at this," faid her ladyihip drily. " But you mujl be offended at it, ma- dam ; and it is on that perfuafion that I come to intreat you to do with me what- ever will moil conduce to your peace of mind." ** You are a generous girl indeed j but why muJl I be offended ?" " Becaufe I am poor and obfcure." ** That may be a reafon why I cannot approve you as a daughter, but furely it can be none why I Ihould be angry with you.— ^ Tou, poor thing ! are not to blame for being captivating ; as little am I inclined to rail at you for being elegant and honeft; the circumftance I am the moft likely to quarrel at is, that Hamilton cannot afford to marry a wife without a fortune, and I have not a fortune to give him ; for at my death ( 258 ) death Cottlfbrooke has my jointure, and Hann has very little more, I affure you, than his bare pay, which he could not live on." " But are you then, madam, not offended with me ?" " Not at all, my dear. If I had not been fatisfied T might truft you, 1 ihould not have been as eafy as I have been ; but I thought well of you the firft moment I faw you, and my opinion has ever fince that time been improving. I faw you the other night receive a letter; and the con- fufion of your countenance made me fuf- ped: it was from Hamilton ; but I knew Peregrina Lamorne could have no difguifes with me; and I was certain I Ihouid hear of it." *' That letter, on my honor, was not from Captain Courtland. It was from a friend I never faw, but of whofe difinte- reiled ( ''59 ) refted attachment I have the highefl proofs, though I own I am not at hberty to reveal them." *' You have my higheft confidence, my dear; but with refped to my fon, tell me, has he not declared himfelf ?'* ** He has,** '* And what anfwer did you give him ?'* «« I requefted him for ever to be filent < on the fubjed ; and I have fince repre- I fented to him the madnefs of his wifh; I but he urged me fo violently, that I was I forced to requefl till night to confider on i it." " Well ! but then you muft next tell me how you ftand affefted towards him?'* " I can never be indifferent to any one of a family who have treated me with fo much ( 26o } much humanity — befides. Captain Court- land has conferred particular obligations on me, which I think I fhould very ill re- quite, and as ungratefully Iliould I repay your ladyfiiip's kindnefles, were I to place him in a fituation that muft embarrafs him, perhaps for life.'' •' You are a very good girl, and a very prudent girl. It would certainly be very hazardous for him to engage himfelf ; for though, while I live, 1 could find his fa- mily a comfortable home, that is far from a certainty. I wilhed him to marry Har- riet Affington, becaufe her large fortune would have fet him out in the world com- fortably and refpeftably ; but really while Ihe was here Ihe behaved fo oddly, that I cannot blame his indifference to her. It would, I confefs, diflrefs me extremely to fee him in difficulties I could not relieve; but I would rather break my heart than oppofe him. I wifh fomebody would give thee ten thoufand pounds, my Peregrina ; for C 261 ) for I am afraid, without it, whatever Court) and may talk of the power of love, you will find yourfelves very much ftrait- ened on all fides; but I beg in your deci- fion you will put me out of the queftion. I have told you how little I can contribute ; to your comfort, and you know my fenti- ments. If you choofe to come together, I \ will do my utmoft for you ; for I have now no wiQi but for my children's happinefs. I could do, perhaps, without fome of the conveniencies 1 enjoy; and readily would 1 part with them for a gratification fo far fuperior: only think of yourfelves when I am gone. Do not imagine, my love, that in thus candidly telling you my opi- nion, I mean any flight to you— I value you mod highly — as for pedigree, I care dot for it — as for money, I only wiih we :Quld do without it, or that I had it for ou. ,Lady Eflex now joining them, the con- |:erfation ended, and left Peregrina's heart over- ( 262 ) overflowing with love and gratitude to- wards Lady Cottifbrooke. But her ladyfhip's candor and kindnefs had, on the mind of her dependent, an effed far more forcible than the mofl ve- hement prohibition. In the fimplicity of her heart, Ihe weighed no contingencies, jlie calculated no chances : Ihe judged only from what flie faw; and fhe deter- mined that, however ehgible and honora- ble the connexion might be to her, it muft be difadvantageous to thofe fhe was moft indebted to, and therefore was to be re- jected by any perfon making the fmallcfl claim to gratitude or moral redtitude. In thisdifpofition of mind (and who (ball fay, not fomewhat doubting her own fteadi- nefs, when a flattering profpedt was offered of at lead calling her cares on another, to remain content in the chearlefs wild of de- pendence?) (he refolved, without waiting 2 the ( ^63 ) the expiration of lier truce, to inform Cap- tain Courtland of his fate. She went down to the fea vvith Lady EHex. Mrs. Birron was there without her friend, and, though nearly ready to de- part, propofed waiting Lady ElTex's return, that they might walk together. Peregiina's fpirits were not, this morn- ing, equal to her ufual amufement : (he attempted to touch the piano forte, but it was all difcord. Mrs. Birron feemed to grow interefted in her looks ; and flie was forced to aflume chearfulnefs, left fhe might excite curiofity. But whether Mrs. Birron was much accuftomed to read the index of the mind, or only kindly commiferating, Peregrina was unable to judge ; but her language and her attentions fhewed (he had penetration. She this morning fo far unbofomed her- felf as to fay, (he, by experience, knew how ( 264 ) how far all bodily fuffering was furpaffed by the world's vexations ; and catching Peregrina's hand, when Lady Effex was at a diftance playing with her dog, flie faid, ** Ah, Mifs Lamorne ) I have a daughter to whom I looked for the reward of a ftormy life. She fails my hopes: fhe adds to my affliftions. — Were flie like you! — I could almoft wilh I had never feen you ; for I fhall go home more difcontented than ever. The elegant folly I fee here, excites in me no fentiment of humiliation for my daugh- ter. — I could bear with her external de- feats. — But you feem the creature framed to my wilhes, — and I am wicked enough ^ to afk, Why v^txtyou not my daughter ?" Peregrina, fearing to increafe both her own and her friend's dejedtion, endeavored \\ to think lightly of her words; but they made an indelible impreffion on her mind, and flie felt that (he was connected with fociety by one more link — that of friend- ihip ( 265 ) fhip and affedlon for this excellent, intereft- ing woman. She met Courtland as fhe went into the houfe, and begged to fpeak to him at h*s firft leifure. He had no procraftinatioii about him at any time ; and now he could brook no delay. With artificial firmnefs, (he told him the refult of her meditations, and forcibly reprefented the embarraflment her acquiefcence in his views muft produce. He heard her impatiently, and lliut his ears againft convidion : he talked, lover-like, of the omnipotence of love againft all evils : he quoted an inftance or two, where Indif- cretion had been fuccefsful : he tried to extort from her a promife of waiting better days ; but this, as perhaps it might pre- vent the advancement of his fortune in the interim, (he declined, believing that with- out a promife, if he were fteady and events propitious, it would remain in his power to claim her: he vowed eternal conftancy: fhe declined accepting his vows ; and hav- VoL. III. M ing ( 266 ) ing made this facrifice to her integrity, (he retired to mourn her hard fats in fecret. Lady Cottifbrooke foon fought her, not fuppofing (he had uttered her decifion ; and her bufinefs was not to increafe, but to fmooth difficulties. Peregrina told her all that had paft, and concealed, as far as was in her power, the fhare her heart had in it ; but it was not to be wholly concealed ; and nothing prevented her noble friend's giving way to it, but the difintercfted fear that this beloved, this eftimable girl might, in the fortune of war and the chances of the world, be left unprovided for, to ftruggle with hardlhips ftill greater than thofe of dependence, " Till Captain Courtland has thought ferioufly on this fubjedt," faid Peregrina, half choaking with her feelings, " if I had any place to retire to, I would leave you, madam." " I would ( 26; ) ** 1 would rather wifh him to go ; but I know his temper too well to expeft any fa- crifice on his part. He is very fanguine : he win not believe you can be inflexible ; but, unlefs he is very much altered, he will wear off his chagrin by degrees, and fliit with the next pretty woman he meets with; for Ham, with all his merit, and few young men have more, has a heart generally at every fair one's fervice. He has been in love with all my friends' daughters, by turns, and never been free from fome vio- lent paffion fince he came from fchool ; fo that I cannot think, unlefs jo// have had the power of fixing him, he is in much danger of dying for love. However, your fepa- ration might be of ufe to both, though I know not how to part from you, even for the fliort time he will remain, poor fellow ! in England. — Your friend, Mrs. Birron, feems to wifli for your company : flie hinted it to me ; but fhe is not ytt going, and to remain here with her would be as bad al- mofl as being in my houfe." M 2 Peregrina, ( 268 ) Peregrina, young-woman like, felt her pride a little hurt at hearing it iuggefted that her lover might be fickle, though his ficklenefs was ihe mod likely means of ren- dering efficient her generous defign. She was not inclined to believeLadyCottifbrooke right : fhe had no idea that Hamilton would change his fentiments for her : for Mifs Harriet Affington, indeed, they had chang- ed ; but it was prudence, not love, that had dictated to him there ,* and Ihe had too far fported with her good fortune in attacking him. She therefore ftill wilhed fhe could for a (hort time abfent herfelf, and again urged it. Lady Cottifbrooke was called away to fome morning vifitors : (he excufed Pere- grina's appearance, and went alone to re- ceive them. Returning prefcntly, fhe told the flill-weeping girl that if fhe really, for her own eafe, wilhed to abfent herfelf, there was now a favorable opportunity for it. Mr. and Mrs. Blyford, and their fa- mily, ( ^69 ) mily, had called to take leave : thev were returning to their beautiful feat in Oxford- Ihire ; and Mrs. Blyford, on the part of her eldeft daughter, made it her bufinefs to urge a vifit from Mifs Lamorne, as foon as Lady Cottifbrooke could prevail on herfelf to part from her. Her ladylhip added, that fhe had fo far accepted it, as to fay that immediate change of air appeared to her necelTary for Mifs Lamorne's conflituuion, to which the fea was not friendly; and Mrs. Blyford had propofed her returning now with them to Frandifton park : but it ftill remained an open contracft, and fhe wifhed Peregrina could come down and fettle it. In the caprice of forrow, Peregrina, now that fhe faw it probable fhe ihould go, be- gan to repent her having propofed it ; but fhe foon conquered this weakncfs, and ac- cepting Mrs. B yford's kindnefs, fhe com- miflioned Lady Cottifbrooke to excufe her on the plea of indifpofnion, but to promife, M 3 for ( 270 ) for her, that llie would call at Mrs.Bl) forcVs in the evening, to arrange all preliminaries. She then endeavored, by exertion, to in- creafe her fortitude, and fucceeded better than fhe had expcffled, comforted by the refiedion that Ihe had adhered to her duty; but ftill, though fhe had thought on no- thing clfe all the time of dreffing, it was impolTible to believe Courtland could be fickle. CHAPi ( 27' ) CHAP. XIX. Poor Lady Almerina had remained in the dumps, and in difgrace, from the time of her return. She could neither go our, nor fee any vifitors; and Lady Cotrifbrooke's behavior increafed her troubles. It was very civil, but fo perfedly regular that her heart was evidently out of thequeftion; and there was a mvftery about her which none could penetrate, till the family were this day rifing from dinner. Captain Counland was «..; t, fo that the p^rty confifted only o^ l.dies, and to them u-as introduced a lit le thiLk-lVt womtn, dreft in an antique brocade, a lar^^^e flapp'ng black hat, a cap of the iail cen- tury, and with a cloak which, the heat of the weather difpenfing with it as a covering, flie carried hung upon her arm. M 4 The ( 27^ ) The fervant announced the name of Mrs. Lound; and Lady Almerina fliriek- ing faintly, feemed anxious only to efcape. " Tour Jar V ant, ladies ,* fa id the ftran- ger, curtfeying in her beft ftyle. — " Pray dunna let me dijlarb you,** ** No, no, Mrs. Lound, you do not di- fturb us," faid Lady Cottifbrooke encou- ragingly. ** Come, and fit next me." The dame obeyed. *' / comedy my lady, as foon as iver I coidd, after your tnola^tcholy letter : but our Jleage zvas fot off; Jo I were forced to take, you Jee, double horje as far as the Lord knows where." " Well, well, Mrs. Lound, you are come in very good time. — I thought it right to fend to you, though 1 am very forry to make you a party in this difagrec- able bufinefs." '' But ( 273 ) " But pray" faid Mrs. Lound, " which of thefe fmeart mijfes is my great niece ? for I have not feed her fin fhe were a babe in arms" " That is your niece/*, faid Lady Cot- tifbrooke, bowing towards Lady Almerina, who could fcarcely fupport her fituation. . Mrs. Lound, who was next to her, of- fered to take her hand, as if, by holding her faft, fhe could the better in vefti gate, her features. The indignant lady withdrew it, and haftened out of the room. Mifs Lamorne, imagining that, as this Mrs. Lound was a perfon whofe name fbe had never heard, her bufinefs might b& private, followed Lady Almerina ; and Lady Effcx, of courfe, went with her. With every expreffion of diftrefs and de» fpair. Lady Almerina beckoned Peregrina M 5 intQ> ( 274 ) into her apartment, and there dlfclofed to her the myftery of Mrs. Lound, intreating her moft earneftly to intercft herfelf once more for her, with Lady Cottilbrooke, a-, gainft the fate fhe faw impending over her devoted head. She ftated this Mrs. Lound to be the fifler of her grandfather's wife, and a woman of the loweft rank, vulgar and illiterate to the laft degree : {he faid, her grandfather had irreconcileably of- fended all his family by his marriage, which had nothing but the ruftic beauty of his wife to excufe ir, and that this woman had fcarcely ever been noticed by any of her great relations; that (he was, it was true, the only perfon in the world (lie was connefted with by confanguiniry ; and that ihe faw it was Lady Cottifbrooke's inten- tion moft cruelly to revenge her juvenile indifcietion, which was nothing more than happened every day, and which, in her idea, merited very little blame, fey giving her up to this great abominable aunt. And, ( 275 ) And, indeed, Lady Almerina's fagacitjr could not, in this inftance, be charged with mifleadingher ; for, before Peregrina could fuggeft either hope or confolation, herlady- iliip was fummoned to the parlor to hear her fcntence. She intreated her friend to go with her ; and Lady Cottifbrooke in the mildeft terms, bur with the mofl hopelefs firmnefs, informed her, that, as (he was at years of difcretion, her authority over her as a ward had ceafed, and that, as it was in vain to attempt protedling where there was no power of control, fhe muft beg to de- cline any farther charge of her, and recom- mend it to her, as her only furviving rela- tion, to accept of Mrs. Lound's willingnefs to admit her into her family. Lady Almerina was furious at the pro- pofition ; nor would her aunt have borne \i\i\\ patience the language her wounded feelings diftated, had (he not been flattered by the idea of exhibiting her right ho- M 6 norablc ( 276 ) norable relation to the farmers' wives who formed her fociety, and who fometimes treated her with contempt for her rigid parfimony and ungenteel manners ; nor was the good lady uninfluenced by the profped: of receiving for her ladyfliip's board what (he knew fhe could pinch into a very equi- table compenfation. With fondnefs, ftill more difgufling than the afperity of her natural deportment, fhe tried to coax her niece into a willing acquiefcence ; and find- ing that fail, ihe fet before the young lady the facrifice of charadicr fhe had made, in a way not much calculated to excite libe- rality of fentiment, or to chear the fufferer with hopes of lenity. Lady Almerina, half diftraded, took Peregrina's hand, and begged Lady Cot- tifbrooke to hear her in another room. — There, on hei knees, fhe intreated to be fparej the punifhment prepared for her; and, making Peregrina join her> fhe pro- mifed C 277 ) niifed the utmoll docility, duty, and af- fedion, might fhe but be permitted to re- main, even a prifoner, where Ihe was. She confefTed her follies ; Ihe vowed a thorough reformation of condudt : Ihe offered to write penitential letters to the marquis's father, and to Lord Cottifbrooke ; nay, there was nothing that was mean, that her ladyfhip's haughty tpirit would not have fubmitted to, rather than have pafled a winter on a Kentilh. farm with her aunt. Lady Cottifbrooke, aware of the elafti- city of hope, would not be too yielding; but having for fome time flood out, Ihe at length, after a very fenfible and afFedtionate admonition, confented again to receive the penitent on thefe conditions : — that the next ad: of levity, ftubbornnefs, or im- prudence, fhould be punifhed by rural exile ; that fhe, during a few days which it was defigned Mrs. Lound fhould pafs at Margate, fhould conduct herfelf refped- a fully ( 2/8 ) fully towards her; and that, for the future, fhe fliould acknowledge and be kind to her as a relation. With thefe terms Lady Alinerina joy- fully complied. She embraced Lady Cot- tifbrooke with tears of gratitude, and her intcrceflbr with affection : they rejoined the old lady; and Peregrina foon after left them, to make her p'-omifed call on Mrs. Blyford. Lady Almerina's diftrcffcs had fomewhat called off her attention from her own ; but in her folitary walk to Cecil-f(|uare, fhe could not but ruminate on the little good fn derived from the revolution of events. She was ftill as dependent as ever : fhe faw no end of dependence : accidents might fcparate her from the friends fhe relied on,' and where was fhe to feek others ? or how was it probable that (he could recommend herfelf ? — Ihe who had fo little to boaft, and fo C ^79 ) fo much to conceal ! Her heart funk, as flic waited for admiffion at Mr. Bly ford's ; for her vifit was a preliminary to a fepara- tlon from Lady Cottifbrooke ; but flie thought it a facrifice due to Courtland's peace ; and fhe did not hefitate, though flic reludantly yielded. The family, with whom flie was now about to conneft herfelf by intimacy, was one of the moft amiable defcri prion. It coniified of Mr. Blyford, a man of intel- lect and education, who carried on an im- portant mercantile concern in London ; Mrs. Blyford, who funk uncommon endow- ments of mind and perfon in the domeftic cares of a wife and mother ; and eight fons and daughters, the eldeft of whom had not attained her fixteenth year. They were Quakers, but of the mod liberal opinions, and feemed fo far to have improved on re- ligious diflTenfion, as to extrad from it all 4 that ( 28o ) that was good, with a juft rejcdion of its errors. Their houfe in Oxfordfliire, where they molt refided, was a temple facred to all the fecial virtues ; and, even in the hetero- geneous diffipation of a bathing-place, their fuavity of manners, the decency of their deportment, and the beneficence that marked their footfteps, diftinguillied them far more than the peculiarity of their fimple drefs, or their colloquial deviations from practice. It was impofhblc to fee them, without a wilh for acquaintance with them : . it was as impofTibleto be acquainted, with- out loving them ; and if Peregrina mujl be parted from Lady Cottifbrooke, and dear Mrs. B'lrron was othcrwife engaged, Ihe thought Ihe could be as tranquil with the Bly fords as with any family ; and tranquil- lity was all flie fought for, , Where ( >8i ) Where on one fide there was a fincerc defire, and on the other, if not a decided preference, at leaft an acquiefcence, there was not much to fettle. Mr. and Mrs. Bly- ford meant to fet out the next day but one; but, for Mlfs Lauiornc's convenience, of- fered to delay their journey. She, if her going was advifable, wilhed it to be fpeedy : the early appointment was therefore noob- jedlion ; and Martha Blyford, the eldeft of the young people, with delight obtained her promife not to fail her. The regard (he involuntarily paid Mrs. Hal n a by, and ftill more Mrs. Birr on, prompted her, before ihe turned towards Lady Cottifbrookc's, to call in Hawley- fquare, to acquaint them with her intended departure. She was not without fome hope of obtaining from the younger of thefe la- dies a promife of her correfpondence ; but all her wifhes were defeated, by hearing that they had been fuddenly called away at noon* ( 282 ) noon, by feme unforefeen accident at heme — what it was, the perfon remaining in the houfe knew not; but there was no chance of their return. More diflurbed than fhe herfelf thought reafonable on fuch an occafion, {h^ dragged homewards, and found Lady Almerina in^- patiently expeding her, to receive her re- iterated thanks, and toadvife with her as to the flyle of a letter ihe was manufadurin^ to appeafe Lord Cottifbrooke ; for ftill to lofe the carl, however little ihe /oved him, was the bittereft part of her punifh- nient. It was indeed a delicate bufinefs to frame fuch a letter ; but what Lady Almerina had written was very paffable, and Peregrina advifed her rather to make ufe of her own expreffions than to borrow ; but flic could not get a difpcnfation from adding a poft- fcript, which her ladylhip, with profufe acknow- ( 2^3 ) acknowledgments of a fuperiorlty never before admitted, befonght her to add, to propitiate the earl in her favor. Peregrina knew Ihe was in poffeffion of an argument that might have efficacy ; but this Ihe did aiot chufe to entruft to any one, more particularly was Ihe averfe to informing of his lordlhip's faults the woman who had fo many of her own. In covert language therefore flie obeyed her, and TVroLe : •* At Lady Almerina's earned requefl, Peregrina Lamorne prefumes to add her. petition for a candid allowance for, and forgivenefs of, the errors fo humbly ac- knowledged, and fo atoned for, by the penitence of this letter. She trufts Lord Cottifbrooke will not infift on her ufing ftronger arguments, which flie affures him fhe has in referve, and will not fail to make ufe of, to teftify her concern for Lady Almerina, fliould his lordfhip with- hold ( 284 ) hold the forgivenefs fhe condcfcends to folicit/' This duty of charity difcharged, (he de- voted the reft of the evening to writing to Ami Bonange; from whom the next morn- ing's poft brought her the following con- folatory letter : " I HAVE bcftowed, my deareft madam, the whole of my attention, and the ut- moft energies of my art, on your fitua- tion. I know what are the dictates of your prudence, and in what ftrid: con- formity to them you have afted : — what are thofe of your heart, you mufl teach me yourfelf. ** Do you love Hamilton Courtland ? — If you do, upon my honor, I will remove the obftacles to your union. — I have it in my power, and itjhall be in my inclination, if it is your wifli ; for I have no other than to ( 285 ) to make you, if happinefs could be con- ferred on mortals, happy. *' Be fincere with me, Peregrina. T believe Courtland deferves you ; for though he is laughed at for his univerfal adorations, and his gallery of beauties, I think you have fixed his heart. He is an honeft fel- low, and I am confident will deferve you, by his future condud:. *' I tell you, it is in my power to remove all impediments. — Truft me, then, I do not mean to add to them. — I only would fairly inform you, that hereafter y©u may not reproach me, that, Ihould you accept Courtland, as you fafely may — as you will no longer need my protecting care, I Ihall ceafe to trouble you. " Should you rejed Courtland, in pity to the feelings of a fincere, a guilelefs heart, I wilh you could, amongft any other ( 286 ) other of your friends than thofe you arc at prcfent with, pafs a few weeks. — Write immediately your real fentiments to Your ever faithful Ami Bonange." Here, in the generofuy of one fhe knew not otherwife than by a reiteration of the moll important kindnefles, were offered to her the means, not only of extricating her- felf from every difEculty, but of uniting herfelf for ever with thofe friends, of whofe regard Ihe was the beft afcertained. — The idea ralfcd her fpirits, and enabled her to continue, with more vigor than fhe had begun, the preparations for her removal, which her native delicacy would not fuffer her to difpenfe with. She could not fo im- mediately anfwer all parts of Ami Bonange's letter as by that pofi: : (he therefore only added, to that fbe had already written, a poftfcripr. ( 287 ) poflfcript, promiiing farther communica- tions as foon as fhe Ihould be fettled at if'randifton park, and then bent her thoughts wholly to her journey, which, fanCtioned as it would be, Ihe now knew, by Ami's approbation, appeared lefs a matter of compulfion than of choice. Nothing occurring to impede her fcheme ; and Courtland, either by his own or by his mother's contrivance, remaining from home, fhe bid a painful adieu to Lady Cottifbrooke. Poor Lady Effex could fcarcely be reftrained from follow- ing her, and Lady Almerina feemed af- fcftcd at the parting, and condefcended to enjoin Peregrina to write to her. With feelings which dccreafcd as (he increafed her difhance from thofe who had excited them, and very much comforted by refledting that, though fhe had on mo- tives of propriety removed from Margate, it ( 288 ) it was in her power to return and be at peace there, ihe reached London in company vith Mr. and Mrs. Blyford and their two 'Ideft daughters, the reft travelling in ■haifes that followed their carriage. They 'ere to remain in town only a few days, nd then to fet off for Frandifton park. CHAP. ( 289 ) CHAP. XX. The bufinefs which had recalled Mrs. Halnaby and Joanna to Chartham, was of the moft unpleafant kind. It was a letter from Lord Armathwait^, who was ftill in London, and who had been applied to by the governefs of the fchool at which he had placed Mifs Byram, with a requeft to fee him immediately. The young lady had, from the time of her admiffion, conduced herfelf in a way that led the governefs almoft to fufped: that her friends had conceived her houfe to be a repofitory for infanity. Nothing could be more perverfe than her condu6l ; and it was foon found, by experience, that no one of the methods, either of coercion Vol. III. N or ( 290 ) or indulgence, pradtifed in the fchool, at all applied to her peculiar cafe. HuPxian vigilance could not do more than was done to guard againft the difpolition flie, from the moment of her entrance, manifefted to get away ; but againft Mifs Byram the father of deceit himfelf could fcarcely have been prepared ; and Ihe was on the point of efcaping, when her intention was difcovered, and Lord Armathwaite was compelled to take her away, and reflore her to the unfortunate Joanna, who, with a heavy heart, went home to receive her. To fhame Mifs Byram was a flranger : no reproach could reach her ; punifliment ferved but to harden her ; indulgence made her inl'oient ; perfaafion fhe derided ; what flie nic^de others fuffer fhe fometinies took for hypocrify ; at other times for matter of fport : in fliort, a mind, in itfclf bad, was torally fubverted by negledl: in her education; and fcarcely any thing could exceed her depravity. Yet ( 291 ) Yet could not Joanna, to whom every tie of life, heart-rending as it was to her, was dear, entirely exclude this her fiip- pofed offspring from her care. When urged to leave her to herfelf, her conftant reply was, *^ I would, were ihe not fo like her father ; but wl^en I look at her, and recoil edt how dear fhe once, v/as to ray hopes, I forget the mifery Qie makes nic fuffer/' It was, however, become now abfo- lutely impoffible to treat her as one of the family ; and, under the care of a refolute woman, paid enormoufly for the purpofe, fhe was kept a fort of ftate prifoner, being allowed only to walk in the garden for ex- ercife, and compelled to do a certain por- tion of work or to fall:. On the leaft ap- pearance of merit, her fituarion was mend- ed ; but flie rarely put her friends to the trouble of altering their fyftem. N 2 Lord ( 292 ) Lord Armathwaite and Mrs. Halnaby perceiving the power this ill-conditioned girl ftili retained of tormenting Joanna, againft whom fiie feemed to have feme fecret fpite, difcufied with her the argu- ments for and againft indulging her bias in religion, and ridding themfelves of her by fending her to one of the few exiding convents on the Continent; but to this, t-hough the mod likely means of relealing herfelf, Ihe could not confent. She thought deeply of the immorality of encouraging her in what (he herfelf conceived to be religious error; and however indifferent it might appear of what clafs of Chriftians a ^ood mind might be, ihe faw that fuch a one as Mifs By ram's would find the moil pernicious fhelter in a religion that (lie thought afforded her almofl an impunity in finning. Befide, in the continental turbulences no inftitution was fafe; and flie fhuddercd at the idea of her being thrown on the world, though perhaps the young ( 293 ) young lady herfelf vvculd have wifhed for no better fport. On thcfe humane conli- derations (hr pret tried enduring her lot, and only wifhed llie could endure it alone. Such friends as her's were not to be driven from her by her misfortunes, or the gloom they produced; and Lord Arm.th- waite fort. feeing the probability that Ihe might need aftivc proredtion, no longer forbore to urge her fuifilliiig htr promlfe to him. She hiad no ph. a againll him; but for her own happinefs fhe had fo entirely loft all folicitudc, that in her acquiefcence fhe had no impulfe but a wifh to reward, as far as was in her power, the fteadinefs of his long attachment to her, and to calm the anxiety of Mrs. Hahiaby, left {he might, by fudden death, leave her fri.nd-- lefs. In Chartham church, therefore, with as much privacy as poftible, and with fcnfa- N 3 tions ( 294 ) tions fcarcely lefs painful than thofe which had accompanied her former marriage, fhe gave her hand to Lord Armathwaite the laft week in September ; and to divert her thoughts from the fcene of her anxieties, Mrs. Hahiaby propofed a vifit to her houfc in Berkfhire, a circumftance which, had poor Peregrina known it, would have be- yond meafure deHghted her, as it was but a few miles from Frandifton Park. But this remove was for the prefent de- ferred by the illnefs of Mifs Byram, who having efcaped her governcfs's vigilance, and wandered into the woods till flie was thoroughly cold and wet, had deflroyed the hopes of Mrs. Halnaby, and relieved the fears of Joanna, by returning late at night, when fhe had the pleafure of awak- ing the fervants to dry her clothes, and find her a fupper. She was fent to bed in difgrace ; and the next morning her fpirit feemed fomewhat fubdued by a violent cold, I ( 295 ) cold, which fhe was perfuaded muft kill her. In this fituation it was impofTible for humanity to quit her. She grew worfe every hour; and her obftinacy returning as her firft fright wore off, fhe perfilled in that refufal of medicine and difcipline which vvas the mod hkely to rid her friends of all farther trouble. Days and weeks Mifs Byram's exiftence hung on the mod doubtful thread, while fhe experienced from Lady Armathwaite, without the fmallell token of acknowledge- ment on her part, every affiduity that hu- manity or maternal care could prompt. It was diflraftion to her ill-requited friend to think on her dying m her prefent tem- per of mind; but it was impoflible to wake her out of it; for to all ferious fug- geflions of the importance of religion at all times, Ijut in particular in the hour of ficknefs, fhe replied by faying fhe fhould d9 C 296 ) do very well, and by ki/iinpj the Agnus. Dei Ihe wore as a charm ; and th s ridicu- lous act oi dcvo' ion w.is robb^ d even of the liitle credit due to fuperflition, by the. laiigiiage of her fia^iires which accompa- nied It, ai.d vv'nich fcemid .'o fiv. I am more cunnirsg t'ian any of you, for 1 know, how to chi^at Heaven itfelf. Can it be poffible, fiid Joanna to her- fcli, in th.^ agony of her heart, that this girl'.N int Tedls are found? — Can eighteen yi ars hive heaped up fuch a load of moral turpi ude? — Can there be fuch caufe, as I fancN , to fear for the eternal ftate of a creature who (o fnort a time has expe- rienced the corrupLion of the world? In eight and twenty days the matter- feemed almofl decided; and Lady Armath- w>nte, w«;rn to a ib-^-ce of weaknefs almoft as great as the patiti'ii's, was forced out of the room, that fhe might not fee her reco- ver. ( ^97 ) ver, for the laft time, from a ftate of in- fcnfibility, the precurfor of her diflblution. It was the dead of night when fhe quit- ted her; and on the flairs fhe met a fervant, who in hafle was bringing her a letter. She could attend to no bufinefs, and it was carried to Lord Armathwaite, who was fitting below flairs with Mrs. Halnaby. A fpecial meffenger had brought it, and mufb have an immediate anfwer; he was in a pofl chaife, and feemed to expeft fomeone to go back with him. The letter was from Lady Jemima to MIfs Byram, and in very few words requefled her to leave Chartham inftantly with the bearer, who would condu(fl her to Coventry, where Ihe waited to fee her on bufinefs of the utmoft importance. * Lord Armathwaite fufpedling this to be feme ill-executed plan of the dying girl's, in which his lifler might or might not be concerned. ( 298 ) concerned, returned as an anfwer only thefe words ; ** Mifs By ram lies at die point of death." END OF THE THIRD VOLVMEo JO A N ! ! ! NOVEL. BY MATILDA FITZyO HN. You have no great pfetenfions to wit or fprightlinefs of genius. — I grant it. MARC. ANTONIN. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. IV. LONDON-: PUNTED FOR HOOKHAM AND CARPENTER OLD BOND STREET. 1796. J O A N!!! CHAP. I. IT was a deep fcheme that had occa* jfioned the embaffy to Chartham ; and to explain it, we muft carry back our rea- ders to the time when poor intoxicated Dennis was difnliiTed from Sir ChtFord Byram's fervice. He liad been kindly re- ceived by the clergyman whom Sir Clifford had permitted to take him, and looked forward with eager expe6tation to the end of his year, when he was to return to a Vol, IV, B family ( ^ ) family his very foul, notwithllanding his occalional ill treatment, and his confe- quent refentments, loved. The name of his prefent mailer was Broome : Sir Clif- ford had lately called him to that part of the country, by bellowing on him the Jiving of A — ; induced to this kindnefs by recolledling him as Lambert's early friend, Broome found his good patron a valuable neighbor, and difpofed, as far as Mr. Laffiter would permit, to be every body's friend ; but he was obliged in all his tete-a- tete converfations with him to be particu- larly cautious, left he fhould betray an important fecret he bore in his bofom re- ipedling the deceafed Lambert By ram — no lefs a fecret than his having, while re- iident in Yorkfhire, nearly twenty years before married him and Joanna Doveridge. £ir Clifford's difinclination to fJDeak of his family, it is true, fjjared Broome much trouble ; but it at the fame time mortified him, as he wifhed much to have known fome particulars refpecTting the fate of Lambert's ( 3 ) Lambert's firft wife, and whether there remained any ilTue of that marriage. Mr. Broome, who In a hard itruggle through the world, had now and then feen the wrong tide of human nature, was not flow in decyphering the charadler of Mr. Lafliter : he had known Tome fuch men before ; and having generally ob- ferved that their own intereft was their fole objedl, and that in their contempt of reftri61ion they generally over-reached themfelves, he made himfelf mafl^er of this gentleman's particular views, and fufFered him to go on unmolefted, arguing from the dogmata of his tludies, that if cefttri- fugal viotion incre'afes as the fquares of the d'ljiances 'mcreafe, Mr. Laffiter's velocity mud, vice 'verfa^ increafc in the fame pro- portion as he drew near the centre of his wifhes, and that his celerity muft be, like that of Phaeton, his deftru6lion. He therefore heard all his hoaftings, when at a diftance hpm Sir CHfFord, o{ his B z unbouadci ( 4 ) tinbonrided influence aver that ivcah olJ vhiUy with {ilcnt comment ; and fufFered him at the book-club, thebowhng-grcen, and in the veltry, to give uninterrupted hints, that a few years, and his own iuduftry and genius, would render him the tirft man in the parifh. His tone, indeed, had been fomcwhat lowered by feme unfortunate fymptoms of wrong- headed politivenefs the weak old man \\2A fhewn in his qualified feverity towards ^hat profligate ivretch, Dennis Geoghegan, whom, in his great ajfiduity for ivorlhy Sir Clifford's intereft, he had wifhed to re- move entirely, as he gladly would have done all his other faithful fcrvants, from accefs to him. And, indeed, in this par- ticular he had been fortunate, for having loft his vcrife, who might have been a good fpy, he had placed her tiller, Mrs. Brown, for- merly Lady Jemima's fervant, at the head of Sir Clifford's domeftic arrangements ; and large would have been his profits from this eonp de main, had not the old gentla- I man ( 5 ) iiimi unfortunately very ibou fo far taken a diflikc to Mrs. Brown, that though he could not, after what Mr. Lalhter had faid of her, doubt her great merits, he fcldom wifhcd to fee her ; and his ears \Hihappily coinciding in fentiment with his perverfe eyes, he as teldom delired to hear her. But this prejudice, there was no doubt, time would conquer ; nothing more was neceffary than to keep bufy informers at a difl-ance ; and as Mr. LaiTitcr's convi- vial pleafimtry^ h\s good fong, \\\% dexterity in Carving, his deep information in politics, and his icniverfal talents, made him gene- rally necejfary in company, there was little danger that any thing he was not aware of ihould reach Sir Cliftbrd. Thus watched as was the oid gentleman by his worft enemy, and thus controuled by fear, as was his modell friend, it would have been impoffible for him to have ob- tained the leall information to be depended on concerning the companion of his ila- B 3 dies. ( 6 ) . dieS;, Lambert Byram, had it not been for the accident that made Dennis his doinef- tic; and even from him he could learn no- thing refpec^ling Mils Doveridge, not onlv whofe marriage, but whole name he dared not mention, lince it was evident that no firjl wife of Mr. Bjram's was known of. He could only learn from Dennis that there was a young female, fnppofed by the family to be a natural daughter of Mr. Byram's^ who was kept with the utmofl privacy at the houfe in the north, that fhe had no other name than Elizabeth, that Mr. Byram always feemed to love her more than either of his children by Lady Jemima ; but that her lituation was ren- dered more than ever myfterious by his having difclaimcd her as his natural dau^h- ier, and that he had expired in her arms. To this account, which Mr. Broome was ibrced to diftil at various times from the fog of Dennis's intellects, his informer was always prompt to add the molt en- thuliaftic commendation of this namelefs Elizabetii ; ( 7 ) Ellzp.beth ; but to bis Inquiries after her fate, fubfequent to tbe death of Lambert, he could only anfwer with tears, that to learn it was the purpofe of his fatal jour- ney to London, where fhe had been placed by Lady Jemima, but that he feared from the ill fuccefs of his refearches, that fhe had been a very naughty girl, and yet fomehow he thought folks belied her, for fhe was fuch ^fivaie crater. Early i n the month of September, Sir Clif- ford was feized with an illncfs that threat- ened his life, though not immediately ; and Mr, Broome was greatly terrified lell he might quit the world in the ignorance and indifference towards his family in which Lafliter had fo fcrupuloufly kept him. He therefore one day, when he vidted him to inquire after his night's refl, took the opportunity of Lafliter's abfence, and Mrs. Browne's petulant difmifTion from the lick-room, to exprefs an humble hope that Sir ClifTord did not retard his reco- B 4 ver^ ( 8 ) very by that anxiety of mind which gene- rally attends unfettled worldly affairs. He intreated pardon, but he thought it his duty to mention it. " I fee your motive, Mr. Broome, and am obliged to you for the hint. I know my cafe to be dangerous, and I have this morning fpoken to Lafliter, and given him inftru6Vions about my v/ill. It will l)e a very Ihort buiinefs ; I fhall leave al- moil all I have to one dill ant relation, for fuice I have loft rav fon. I have po bodv -/ ••— ? to care for : thofe he has left behind him, I am fare are not to be truftcd with mo- ncy. " Do you mean Lady Jemima and lici* daughter ?" li " Yes ; who elfc fnoukl I mean ?" « Forgive me, Sir ; there wns.- I am told, another young perfon who claimed Mr. Byram's ])rotcdio!j." " Yes, i 9 ) ♦* Yes, yes, as a ward, as a ward, fhe did — I have heard of her — but ilie was only a ward — nothhig more than award; and lyaffiter tells me her friends reclaimed her, and fhe is very well married ill India." *' I do not know. Sir ; I fhould be forry to offend you, or to doubt Mr. Laf- fiter's fuperior information, but I am per- fuaded this young perfon was Mr. By- ram's daughter, and an elder daughter too." " No, Sir, no fuch thing, I afTure you ; it was once, I know, fufpev^led, but my fon himielf denied it. I am con- vinced it was no fueh thing — the Byrams have known no blot in their efcutcheon, at Icafi: n/y branch of the family — no natural cliildren amongft us, Sir, I alTure you.'* *' Have patience with me, I befeech you. Sir Clifford ; I mean no injury to B5 the ( lO ) the honour of your family ; but as it is one of the firft offices of charity to plead the caufe of the fatherlefs, I hold it my peculiar duty to difcharge it." " You are a very confcientious man, Mr. Broome, and I like you the better for it ; I wifli we had more fuch— I will hear you. If the young woman, be flie who Ihe may, be unfortunate, I am difpofed. to- do what I can for her ; but T tell you, flie is well married, and no child of my fon's. I would rather be kind to her as aftranger^ than as an illegitimate branch of the By- ram family." *^ The perfon I allude to is no illegiti- mate branch, nor do I think any fiich ex- ifls in your family ; but I hear flie was brought up with, great privacy at Mr. By- ram's at Balla-craig, that he took great pains in her education, and was particu- InxU fond of her— that he died in her .' -. y. anas. ,( " ) arms. — Forgive me for recalling your grief, Sir — I was too impetuous." " Go on — it cuts me to the heart to tliink of my poor boy but go on, Mr^ Broome, I am obliged to you." " I too. Sir, have heard that Mr. By- ram denied to your man, Dennis, that this was his natural daughter; but /am convinced thefe were words intended only as a prelude to his avowing her to be, as from my foul I believe her, his legiti- mate daughter : and by all account, a. daughter to be boafted oL" " It is impoffible," replied Sir Clifford",.- in an univerfal terror. " It cannot be, Mr. Broome ; would to God it were fo t I might then have one comfort — -I fhould not then know them all to be wicked andE. cruel — but it cannot be.." " It c'c7n be, and my fpirit fays' it is» Can you,," added Broome, in. a foppli- B 6- asiirnz ( I^" ) eating tone and pofture, *^ forgive an in^ difcretion of your fon's ? Can you forgive me for aidins it ?" 'to *' Proceed ; he has long had my pat- don, and I forgive every thing." ** Then, Sir, near twenty years ago 1 married him when I was fettled in York- shire — I married him to a vouncr woman whofe attraction and various excellence might have claimed praife rather than par- don for his unfan6lioned love." " And who — who — who was this young woman ? you fliake my nerves to atoms." *'•' Be calm, good Sir, tlie llory is iimple, and ought not to agitate you. Her name was Doveridge — at leatl by that name I knew ker." " What, was fhe of the extind baron's family T\ ( 13 ) *' I believe fo.'* « Odfo ! Why did not Lambert tell mc he liked her ? it was a good family, an honourable family ; I could have had no obje<5lion. 1 think too I have feen her ; Ihe was at Bath about the time you men- tion, and a very pretty girl. Why did not Lambert lay he loved her ?" " She had no money." " O no — now I recoiled!: — her father died very poor — but Die was of a good fa- mily." ** You were bent on his match with Lady Jemima." " True, I remember, I thought well of her then. And what then became of my fon's wife ?" ^* Sh« ( '4 ) "^ She died, I fuppofc, previous to his confcnting to your wilh." '^ I am very forry for it ! — I remember he changed his mind all on a fiidden after being very obftinate — but I little thouglit, Mr. Broome, what I was doing, or, I af- fure you, 1 would not have done it." Sir Clifford then made Mr. Broome re- late all the particulars of his fon's iirfV marriage. The detail was jufl finifhcd when Lafliter entered, in a fright at hearing how long the parfon had been clofetted : he fcouled at him as he paid his fneaking compliments to his fick patron ;: and then having feen Mr. Broome out,, took his place by the bedlide, with a re- folution to keep a fharpcr look-out in fu- ture. Mr. Broome having -^xpreiTcd no wiik- that what he had related fhould be kept fecret, Sir Clifford immediately, and witb iiidubi.- ( 15 ) indubitable tokens of fatisfac^ion, com- municated the hopes be entertained that he might yet find one of ins family de- fcrving of his regard; and having related the circumftances he had jufl learnt, he waited Laffiter's anfwer. " Why, Sir,"" an{\vered the man of law, " I really thought better — I enter- tained a better opinion of Mr. Broome's underftanding, than to fuppofe he could have come to you with fuch a canting Hory as this : I could have told you as much long ago, if I had had lefs regard for Mr. Byram's credit, or the honour of your family ; but, in my idea, family reputation is a very ferious matter ; and I would no- more injure the character of an ancient family, fuch as your's, Sir Clifford, than my own."' *' You are a- ver)' honefl: man, Mr. Lafu iiter, and have uniformly fhewn yourfelf tlie friend of my family; but here is no- thing ( -6 ) tiling at all degrading; for Mr. Broome fays he hirafelf perfo''ined the marriage ceremony, and an alliance with the Do- Ter'idges is rather honourable than other- wiie 1 ■ " True, my dear Sir, provided the cha- rafter of the lady herfelf had been unim- peachcd !" " Why ! was it not ?" <' By no means, my dear Sir Clifford ; and rt was for that rcafbn I willicd you never to hear of this marriage. "Would it have been, do you think, the part of a friend, fuch as I am, to have told you, witho/ut the fmalloll plea of juflice, or profpe6l of benefit to any one, that your fon, at an age when young men are ex- cufable for loving indifcreetly, had married a woman of light charader, but whofe faults have been long lince buried in the grave : ** And I ( >7 ) *• And did B} nini do fo ?" '* Undoubtedly — I could call many wit- ncfTcs of it — Bctjy Doverldge, as \vc ufed always to call her, when I was a young fellow about the inns of court, was always to be feen in the gay lounges of the town. There was a young nobleman, a particular friend of mine, for whom I ufed to tranf- a6l a great deal of bufmefs in the money line, wanted fadly to have taken her as a chere am'ie ; but I believe your fon was the obfiacle, at leaft i^ he told me." " Did you know Ucr perfon ?'* *' O ye", perfei5\ly well ; fhe was pretty well known amongil us gay young tel- lows. " Her appearanc I " want your affiftance to prevent this." ^ • Dennis ( ^-9 ) . Dennis looked thoughtful; and then, • on a corroboratioji of Laffiter's fuppofi- tions, he rchited to him the far-othervvife in- tcntioncd inquiries Mr. Broome had made concerning the family, and particularly Mif^ Elizabeth. " Aye, aye, replied Laffiter, it was for no good purpofe depend on it, that he queflioned you ; but it is for the fake of this Mifs Elizabeth, whom you feem To to love, that I want your fervices." ** Sir, I will go through fire and water, or both together, to ferve her, a fwate an- gel !" *' Do you know, Dennis, what is be- come of her ?" " No, no," he anfwered, fhaking his head, and fighing deeply. " If you wo'nt tell, Sir, I will tell you a fecret. I hoped a little bit ago, that my mailer, Sir Clif- C 3 ford. ( 3° ) ibrcl, was going to be ill and die, and tlien he would alk me about my young lady ; fo I went up to London, you lee, on pur- pofe to look after her ; for I had heard where my lady, Devil burn her, had lent her ; but I got nothing by my foolifh head but a letter, with a partickler account of her, and that I loft when I loft my place." " Aye, Dennis, I was mighty forry for you then ; I did what I could for you with Sir Clifford, but he was in fuch a paffion he would not hear vie."" *' You, Sir ; why, I thought you fpoke again me !" ^' No, Dennis, never; I do not know what 7l/r. Broome mii^'ht do ; but /did not 1 alfure you — it is not my w ay to fpcak againft poor fcrvants — their character is their bread." " But, Sir, Sir, Mr. Broome took me." " Yes, ( 3' ) ** Yes, Dennis, he faw you was a good Icrv^ant, and an honcft fellow, fo he had a mind to you hiraiclf — io v;hat / faid went tor nothing." ** Lord love your fwatc face," cried Den- nis, in rapture, throwing his arms round Lafliter's neck, with a violence that Teemed to make the lawyer fufpedl he had met with fpeedy retribution, " why I did not think it had been yon.'* " Well, well, Dennis," cried Laffiter fhaking him off, and putting his difcom- pofed hair and linen to rights, " all I want to know of you, is, whether, to ferve this young lady you talk of, you Vv^ould take a journey into Wales." " I would take a journey even to Lon- don, Sir, again for her." " Well, then, 1 have reafon to believe that Lady Jemima is a very different kind C4 of ( 3^ ) of woman from what fhe was. She has been very ill treated, Dennis ; between friends I may tell jou fo." " She is a devil. Sir." " No, no, Dennis, the beft of us have our faults ; but Ihe has been very kind to your young lady lately." *' That's more than ever Hie was while I knew her." " Aye, but i^nt is very much altered ; and I knowlhe is the only perfon that can prevent Mr. Broome's dcligns, and give me what information is necclfary to pcr- fuade Sir Clifibrd to make this Elizabeth that you talk of, his hen*." '' What then, will Mifs Elizabeth be ricli?" '• She ( 33 ) " She ^rt// be, Dennis, if you will do exacSlly as I bid you, and keep yourfelf fobcr." " I will do any thing,'* cried penni§^ in ecftacy ; " I would kill myfelf for the fwate crater^ for I fliall be in havep if fhe is rich." He then, with tolerable patience, heard his inilrudions, which were to get ovej* to Coventry that evening with a letter, which Mr. Laffiter would prepare ; and there to take the mail, which would carry him to his dellination : he was then to find Lady Jemima, deliver the letter to Jier, aijd wait her aufwer. '* But wliat muft I fay to Mr. Broome ajjout leaving him, Sir ?" "Oh, that is the eafieil matter in tlie world; only tell him faucily, that you have heard of a better place, and chufe to be diiinilTed ; C 5 he ( 34 ) he will only fuppofe you drunk, and that, I fuppofe, honefl: Dennis, is no very great miracle. Bat be fure you fay nothing of having feen me — come, take another glafs of brandy." Dennis went away perfectly fatisfied, either with the arguments, or the liquor; and Mr. Broome not returning home by the time he was to meet Mr. Laffiter, he was too zealous in Mifs Elizabeth's caufe to wait; hethereforedidthemoft prudent thing he ever did in his life — he held his tongue ; and trufting that his intereil: with Sir Clif- ford was not in the leaft endangered by his ingratitude to fuch a rogue as he fuppofed his prefent mafter, he quitted his ferviee without remorfe. Mr. Laffiter had, againft his arrival, framed the following letter to Lady Je- mima : :' : ** Madam, ( 35 ) '' Madam, " When I confefs that my behaviour to you, while I had the honour to be em- ployed by Sir CHfFord Byram, in Dublin, was not only involuntary, but founded on the groffeil mifconception, I hope I need not add, that it has given me the lincerefl concern, and that I fhould be happy to make any compenfation in my power. An occation now offers, in which I can prove my lincerity, and render you a molt im- portant fervice ;. and gladly, very gladly,- do I embrace the opportunity. '' You are, I prefumey Madam, no ftranger to the indecifive chara61er of Sir Clifford, or to that weakncfs which ren- ders him the prey of every defigning fyco- phant. From a man of this defcription he is now in the utmcll danger; and I fee plainly that a very few w^eks, nay, a- few days, may convey the whole of his pro- perty into the hands of itrangcrs. Plis C 6 he:ilth ( 36 ) health Is rapidly declining, and his intel- leds have been long going. ** It is, as far as I can penetrate, the wifh of the perfon whofe art I dread, to fet up fome one to perfonate the natural daughter of Mr. Byram ; and for this pur- pofe a letter is to be difpatched to you by to-morrow's mail, for information rcfpedl- ing her : this letter, it is not to be doubt- ed, will be dicftated to Sir Clifford, if not written for him ; and fhould it, in ipite of art, reach you, the anfwer 1 am confident will never arrive. " I therefore difpatch a fpecial meiren- ger to advife you, on no account, to give any information refpccSting this illegitimate daughter, to whom 1 am certain, in Sir Clifford's prefent infatuation, he deligns, however he may be circumvented, to leave every thing. By difabling him from doing fo rafh an a6f, you probably infure his dy- ing without a will, which will ultimately, as 3 ^is ( 37 ) his property ftands, be much to the advan- tage of you, as Mr. ByTam's ^vidow, and of your daughters, as his co-hcircHes. *• The mefft^nger I trufl: on this bufinrfs is foohlli Dviunis Gtoghegan ; he kaovs nothing of its import, but fets out under the perfuafiou, that it is for the advantage of Mr. By;a;n's n^itural daughter, whole caule he warmly efpoufes. Should you be feartul of his evidence, he will now be in your power ; and as, from the place where you are, you ran very eafily get him on board a merchant-man, I think I conlalt your intereil in chufing him for the bearer of this. " I have only to add, that in whatever plan your Ladyfhip urupofes, I fhall be happy to aid you, and that you may de- pend on the fecrecy of " Tour's mod devotedly, "W.LASSITER/* ( 38 ) CHAP, iir. Lady Jemima, wLom this letter reached in due time, might, perhaps, have lb far been taken in, as to fupj^ofc Mr. Laiiitcr meant well to Sir Chfford, had it not been for the tineffe of chufirig Dennis for his meffenger, of whofc fidelity fhe had often, to her great ineonvenienre, been convinced. In that part of his letter which refpe61ed the dilpolal of him, fhe faw the cloven foot, and flie refolved, though the might be af- fifled by his ferviccs, not to be wholly guided by him. Impreffed with the idea of Sir Clifford's leaving the zvholc of his property to Eliza- beth, Hie thought his dying inteflate a contemptible chance ; the had greater plans in ( 39 ) in view, and a far deeper game to play, than that Mr. Laffiter had dealt for. She faw it would be far more prudent to fupport a claimant to his munifirencc, with whom, through fuperlor iufluence, fnc might fiiare the large oequefl. Had fhe known where to ictk Elizabeth, her na- tural hatred of her would L:;vc prevented her electing her again into her rightful fitu- ation ; her thoughts immediately iicw to- wards her own cldefi: daughter, whom flie fuppofed partaking all the advantages of Lord and Lady Armathwaite's mifplaced fondnefs. She believed it not impoffible to withdraw her from them for a time, to get Sir CliiFord's property privately fecured to her, without the fmallcfl recognition of her iuppofed mother ; and then to procure, by perluation or threats, from the young lady, fuch a portion for herfelf as would again fet her afloat on the ocean of folly and extravagance. She ( 4<^ ) She faw clearly, if not the moralliy the prudence of the meafure her correfpondent had recommended for the fecurity of Den- nis ; and receiving the letter while fhe was in company with the captain of a coafling veflel, who was a fmall candidate for her favour, flie mentioned to him the trou- ble fhe had frequent! v, and now more par- ticularly fiiirered, from an idle, drunken retainer to her late hufband's family. Tiic captain, between jell and earneft, advifed her to make the man drunk, and let him have him. The recipe was immediately followed ; and when poor Dennis, late at night, wearied with his fatigue, and over- come with liquor J was thanking three or four men for their kindnefs in efcorting him to his lodging, he found himfelf firfl hurried into a boat, and then hoifled on board a fhip. One impediment being thus removed, Lady Jemima had only one objedl to attend to, and fhe bent all the energy of her mind ( 41 ) mind towards It. Her rcfolution of recal- ling Mils Byram being formed, flie had only to do it in a way that might not de- feat her expectations from the fondnefs of Lord and Lady Armathwaite ; for flic, though the parent of the young lady, knew lefs of her temper than the lowefl: fervant of her family ; her pride would not have allowed her to fufpedl it ; and indeed Lady Jemima herfelf might be forgiven, if fhe had not fagacity enough to fuppofe any thing fo bad as the reality. She, there- fore, holding her brother's intellectual en- dowments very cheap ; for it mufl be con- fcffed he had not her Ladyfhip's talents; and taking it for granted, that the mother of Elizabeth mufl be Ibme filly doting wo- man, made no doubt of their joint attach- ment towards any thing that could boafl itfelf thus conneded with them ; and believing her daughter's interefl and her own to be the fame, fhe coveted for Mifs Byram, that fhe might herfelf participate her gains. To ( 42 ) To remove herrelf nearer to the fcene of nclion, that flic might at once watch Sir Chffordj her daughter, and Laffitcr, was the next itep fne retblvcd on. Waiting only the arrival of the morrow's mail, which brought her fuch a letter as Mr. Lailiter liad predicted, fhe wrote to her daughter Jemima, and difpatched a perfon llie could depend on, with orders to make the utmofl hafte, and to take a poft-chaife the lafl Hage. The letter contained only an ear- ned requell that Mifs Byram would, on bulinefs of the utmofl importance, meet her at Coventry ; and it was that to which Lord Armathwaite replied, by faying, that the young lady lay then at the point of death. HerLadyfhip then, having arranged her domellic affairs, without returning any anfwer to Sir Clifford's letter, fet oft', un- attended, in the ftage coach, for Coven- try ; and in the profpe6l before her, forgot the humiliating circumftances to which her arts. ( 43 ) arts had reduced Iicr ; for there was till now, no time of her life when, as Lady Jemima Fawley, or Lady Jemima Byram, ihe would not have difdalned mingling with the camiille of a Welcii flage coach. In the place of her retirement, where fhe had remained rather hophig than con- tented, and where flie lay perdue to watcji the world's revolutions, fhe had conducted herfelf, at leail with external credit. In the wane as were her perfonal charms, fhe ftill retained enough of the haiU ton to be looked up to as fom^e one of a fupcrior or- der of beings — her title founded grand ; flic M'as an oracle of the great world ; and having foon learnt, that unlets fhe abated fomewhat of the exaltation of her rank, Ilia had no chance for fociety, fhe conde- I'eendcd, rather than be left always to the company of her own refle6lions, to take up witli that the place afforded. The wo- men in her heart fhe detefled ; but for the men, flie had acquired fuch a ha]:)it of angling, that flie could not defill from it, even ( 44 ) even when they were not worth catching, and confeqiiently whatever the Swanfea belles might think of the lady of quality, tlie beaus all fworc to Gol ilie was a charm- ing laij\ To excufe the comparative penury of her lituation, fhe bad affected a relinquifh- ment of the world, and a pailion/or mral retirement ever fince the death of her adored Mr. Byram ; and always treating Swanfea as only a temporary abode, which the claims the world had on perfons of dlft'inc- i'lon^ would not fufFcr her long to enjoy, Ibe held herfclf andthe minds of ail who were admitted to her acquaintance in that fiate of preparation which prevented on her part all necefllty of punctilio, and on their's all furprife of any of her proceed- ings. When fhe departed therefore from Swanfea, flie was fuppofed only to be gone to fulfil Ibme of thofe claims the great world had on the great ; and her ac- cepting ib humble a conveyance, pafTed for ( 45 ) for her Ladyfhip's great humility; and every raodell girl in lower life, whofe de- licacy preferred flaying at home to tra- velling thus unprote6led, had it dinned in her ears, how much lefs pride the lady of quality had. At Coventry fhe took a private lodg- ing, hired a maid-fervant for a month, and adopted the name and flyle of Mrs, Bingha?}!, to whom, as to a friend, fhe was about to vifit, fhe ordered her letters to be inclofed. Here fhe immediately re- queftcd an interview with Mr. Laffiter, who having in the courfe of his journey admitted another proje61 into his overiiov.'- ing imagination, prepared himfelf with much fcrupulofity of drefs, and many flu- died fpeeches, to obey her commands. He chofe his deflination to be a fecret, even to his domeflics and to his privy coun- lellor, Mrs. Browne ; and (o it remained, not even Mr. Broome fufpeding it. Her ( 46 ) Her Ladyfhip was yet as in a ftate of un- certainty rcfpe6ling Mifs Byram's acquief- cence, which yet Ihe could not doubt ; but it determined her on no confideration to let Laliiter into her plan; fhe therefore only thanked him for his information, ob- ferved on the re6litude of Divine difpenfa- tionSjwhich always end in the reward of the unjufllyopprefTedj and very coolly declared her intention of producing to Sir Clifford's notice the young woman in queflion. " Your Ladylliip/' replied Laffiter, with a penetrating look, *' does not mean Elizabeth, the eldeft daughter of the late Mr. Byram?" " Certainly I do ; who elfc Ihould it be ?" i^i.- ^:,^ij i,t ,. " And from whence IsJIic to be fetched ?" « Fetched ?— fetched ? Mr. Laffiter, I do not underfland fuch queries. Where do ( 47 ) Jo yoLi fuppofe I mean to fetch her from ?" "^ Come, come, my Lady," replied Lailiter, whofe impudence was never ftun- ned for more than a minute, " you and I are friends ; and the fooner we underftand one another the better." *' Underfland !" repeated the lady; *' I am fure, Sir, I do n::)t underfiand you, and I fancy you chiife to m'lfunderjiand w^." ** Why, Madam, it is that I may un- derfland you that I afk for an explanation. I afk again from what place is this Eliza- beth to be fetched ?" " Why, from the friends fhe is with.'' " Who are thofe friends ?" " My brother." f*So ( 48 ) *' So I thought, my Lady. Now that was exad^ly what I wanted to know. I fee now what you are driving at." « Well, Sir?" '^ And well, Madam, too. I -would advife your Ladyfhip to be a little careful in this fcheme ; I told you you had better make a friend of me at once." '^ I defire, Sir, you will explain your- felf, or I lliall delire you may be fhewn out of the houfe. I thought, Mr. Laf- fiter, you talked of doing meferviceJ'' '^ Yes, Madam, but you mufl not think to trick me. You may as foon think of deceWing the devil himfelf as me. I know what your plot is ; I know you cannot produce this Elizabeth, for you have fent her to the Eall Indies. You have tranl- ferred the care of your own eldeft daugh- ter to your brother, doubtlefs with an in- tention ( 49 ) tention of paffing her off for Elizabeth, from whence I coiije6lure that the Mrs^ By ram Lord Armathvvaite is, I fee by the papers^ married to " ** My brother married ?" " 'Yes, Madam, married." *' And to whom did you fay ?" *^ To Mrs. Byram ; and much ado I had to prevent Sir ChfFord's hearing of it.'* ""' *• What, had the woman the impu- dence to afTume the name of Byram !" " Yes, my good Lady, and by all ac- count fhe had a better right to if than fome other folks, for Jhe was undoubtedly Mr. By ram's lawful wife." Vol. IV. D '^ What ! ( JO ) " What ! and had he the wickednels lo marry me when his former wife was liv- ** Had your Ladyfhip never any inti- mation before your marriage, that he was privately married ?" *' I heard, indeed, that he kept a mif- trefs ; but I could not have thought '* ** Come, come, Madam," faid Laf- iiter, famiharly taking her Ladyfhip's hand; " do not let us wafle time in fquab- bling ; you and I have but one intercfl. I will deal very plainly with you. My poor dear wife, who has been dead thefe three months, was lifter to your fervant, Mrs. Browne, who was not always perhaps as careful of your fecret affairs as fhe fhould have been. This Mrs. Browne is now at the head of Sir Clifford's family. 1 placed her there ; foY 1 can do any thing with the old man. Whca I have given you this information, I leave ( 5' ) I leave you to judge how far It Is prudent to introduce, witliout my acquletcence, a perfon whofe pretenlions are contro- vertible." Lady Jemima was overwhelmed by the torrent of power llie faw turned againft her. Slie repented mofl fincerely the hav- ing tak.cn any flep without Laffiter ; and laying aiide every appearance of referve, llie profeffed herfelf ready to concur in any fc.heme he fhould propofe for the fe- curing Sir Clifford's property from thofe vfho had the beit rldit to it. "to* Nothing could be done till the fate of the embaffy to Chartham was decided : the parties therefore could only agree in a general fcheme of aciion, which being fettled, Mr. Laffiter returned to his home with a pvomife to be again at Coventry on the day when the meffenger was expected, till whofe arrival no anfwer could be re- turned to Sir Clifford's letter. D a CHAP. ( 52 ) CHAP. IV. The neceflity of Laffiter's abfence gave his adverfary an opportunity no art could friiftrate, of pleading the caufe of Eliza- beth, whofe pretenfions might have fuf- fered by the unaccountable defection of her friend Dennis, had not Mr. Broome been always at hand to difpel her grand- father's doubts, and to controvert the conclutions he feemed difpofcd to draw. In fretful impatience. Sir Clifford waited Lady Jemima's anfwer, and raved at her delay : his head was now fo full of Elizabeth and his fchemes for her, that he gave little heed to what Laffiter had faid to ruin her and her mother in his eftimation. Mr. Broome honeltly preached the cmelty of prejudging a young perlbn by ( S3 ) l)y the failings of a parent, even fuppofing Mrs. Byram to have been the Bclfy Dwe- r'idge of Mr. Lafliter's acquaintance, which, to2;cLhcr with Mr. Dennis's having deferted his fervice to avoid the fangs of the laiv^ were two hardy affertions of that gentle- man's, which Mr. Broome contefled he could not fubfcribe to. Sir Clifford, though too much inclined to think the laft fpeaker right, and now fo habituated to the tyranny of his attorney, that he fcarcely thought any one elfe could prote6l him, flill felt very ilrongly how- much greater would be the pleallire of rendering, by his will, an opprefled or- phan independent and happv, than that of adding to the mifufcd wealth of a very diftant relation ; and his antipathy to Lady Jemima and her children being, however it flutluated, equal to his former doting partiality for her, he was refolved, let her reformation be ever fo complete, that a decent proviiion fhould be the whole D^ of ( 54 ) of their inheritance tVom him. This relb- lution, and his eagerEcis towards Eliza- beth, Laffiter foon found it fo impoflible to get rid of, that he began to think, it would be 'vvifer to adopt Lady Jemima's plan than his own, and to fet \\])Jome Eli- zabeth immediately. Never negligent, good man ! where his own interells were concerned, he was at Coventry early on the day appointed, and found Lady Jemima in the utmoft need of his advice and confolation. The mefTenger was returned — her daughter was dying. LaiTiter began to talk of the univerlality of death, his own relignation to the lofs of his wife, &c. he. He was proceeding moft pioufly. <* For Heaven's fake," interrupted the lady, " hold your tongue, Mr. Lafliter ; I Ihould not care a ruth about the girl's fitna- ( S5 ) fituation, but fhe cannot cofne — think what is now to be done." Laffiterwas outdone — he was awed — he feltfmall, for /ie once had loft a child, and he had /orroweJ for it. The lady's voice and philofophy rallied his fugitive wits, but he could only repeat, " ay, what ie now to be done ?" " Sir Clifford's letter muft b© put off^ no longer," faid her Ladyfhip — " it mufl be anfwered ; I could perhaps in it makfi fuch an apology as would procure me time enough to fend over to Dublin for Arabella ; fhe might anfwer the purpofe as well. " 'Tis a good thought ; but will Ih« not appear too young ?" ** No, fhe was always a very ft out girl of her age, and ufed to look as old as Eli- ;iabeth." D 4 « Can ( 56 ) ** Can fhe be depended on :'* " I think fhe might, if I had the tutor- ing her, and fhe was convinced it was for her own intereft." ^ This meafure was immediately con- cluded on. Lady Jemima difdaining the aid of Laffiter's fquare-nibbed pen, wrote herfelf to Sir CHlTord in fluent and refpe6l- ful language, lamenting the inevitable delay of her reply, profeffing herfelf ex- tremely happy that flie could give the befl account of Mifs Elizabeth, for whom fhe had difpatched a trufty friend, who would efcort her from the only retreat it had been in her power to procure for lier ; and pro- mifed to wait on Sir Clifford in perfon, as foon as fhe fhould arrive, which would not perhaps be in lefs than a fortnight. This letter, to fave delay, Lafliter was to carry back with him, and forward to By- ram Hall, as brought by a private con- veyance from Swanfea. .■. 'i Prefuminir ( 57 ) Prcfuming on the certainty of their fiic- cefs, the parties next planned their own fcveral advantages, having previoufly agreed that Mrs. Browne fhould be made privy to the butinefs, and promifed a fpe- cilic lum for her taciturnity. Lady Je- mima had imagined that Laffiter would be contented with large pay for his trouble, and felt not a little difconcerted when he talked firft o{ going halves, and then abat- ing, of dividing the property into three portions, with one of which he would be content. It was her Ladyfliip's plan to compel her daucrhter to engage herfelf in conlideralion of her maternal endeavours, to make her a lar«:e allowance out of her income, whenever it fhould be her's, and as the penalty of refufal would be the difclofure of the ruinous fecret, fhe did not doubt that this would fupply the want of efficacy in the contra(5t of a minor ; but Mr. Laffiter was fo flubborn in his de- mands, that he was utterly hnpradicahle. DS Each ( 58 ) Each was ruined if they did not agree ; a confidcration that was an admirable hint in their friendfhip. The lawyer talked liigh — the lady hehtated. " I have one other propofltion to make,"" faid Laffiter. " What is it ?'* faid Lady Jemima, eagerly. It was — and well did Laffiter evince- his knowledge of the world, wh€n he made it to Lady Jemima Byram : it was "no other than a propofal of marriage to be ]iad and holden between themfelves, by which their interefis would be cemented, all difputc about divifion would be ended, and their happinefs infured. There was in Laffiter's perfbn and man- »er that which too often indines the lefs- enducd part of mankind to luppofe them- felves conquered when they are only bul- 3 lied. ( 59 ) Jied. Her Ladyfhip, it is true, \v2i?> ah/oh kJy Rocked — fure Mr. Laflitcr forgot either who he waSf or Jhe had been. Did he not know her for the daughter of one Earl, and the fifler of another ? Could he ima- gine fhe would condefcend to give her hand to a country attorney ? All tliis was invincibly firong argument, but the dif^ cuflion, of two h'. urs duration, annihilated it, and a fecret treaty of alliance between the belligerent powers concluded eternal peace. The fcruples that remained on her Ladyfhlp's delicacy being entirely re- moved by Mr. Laffiter's pofitive airurance, that, by what means he did not care to explain, he fhould in a few mouths find himfelf in a htuation to brave the belt man in the country, and to fupport as well as \o pur chafe the diflinttion of a title. Lady Jemima's next care was to wnte to her daughter Arabella, at the fchool in Dublin, where fhe had Ictt her. Laf- liter found a meirenger, oae of his own D 6 clerks. ( 6o ) clerks, to ^o on the errand, and flrong was his temptation to give the fellow a fum of money to run away with Mifs Ara- bella, and by marrying her to ruin her hopes from Sir Clifford ; but as there was a chance that the old gentleman might in liis infatuation forgive even this, or that Lady Jemima might have addrefs enough to find it out, and betray him, he fufFered things to take their natural courfe for once, and Arabella was earneftly con- jured to return immediately to her mo- ther, on buiinefs of lingular urgency and importance. The fchool to which Arabella had been fent, was, as oeconomy di6tated, far from a Jif;^ rate \ and the young lady was very foon reconciled to her removal, by finding there was much lets com puj lion to dili- gence, and much more liberty of action than had been defcribed to her, as the lot of boarding fchool miffes. There were but two circumflances fhe felt inclined to complain ( 6i ) complain of: the one was confinement to the houfe; the other was a hmited appe- tite: for the firft of thcfe grievances fhe found fome confolation in fnendJJi'ip ; for the other tliere appeared at prefent no remedy. The fr'iendpiip fhe had formed was with a fcholar a. year older than hcrfelf, hut far more aged in experience of the world. She originated from London ; and not- withflanding the contradiction of an Irifh education, fhe talked largely of her family opulence and importance ,- and her parents having an humble conne(51:ion with a great houfe, in the nurftry of which fhe had been permitted to pafs part of her infancy, fhe talked fluently of Lord Robert, Lady Anne, and Lady Frances ; and prudently fuppreffing all eircumftances of degradation, the charmed Mils Arabella's heart, and made her think herfclf at home again. This ( 62 ) This fair feducer had a brother, born with no better hopes than that of being at the next vacancy elc6led valet where his father reigned as butler, and his mo- ther triumphed as houfekeeper. Having finifhcd his education, he had been fent over to Ireland on a vifit of prudence and forecaft to his grandfather, a fmall dealer in whifkey ; and fraternal affedion prompt- in 2: him to beftovv much notice o-n his iifter and her friends, he took fome p €HAP. V. The kindnels of the Blyford family, and the cordial regret Lady Cottifbrooke had expreflcd at parting, afforded Pere- grina every hope and confolation, that could aid her re^fon in reeonciling her to the exile her prudence had fuggefted ; and in a few days, having received a very kind and fatisfa6tory letter from the Coun- tefs, flie ceafed to feel anxious for Ha- milton's conftancy. Confidcring the ge- nerous offer made her by the incompara- ble Ami Bonange, as an appeal to her -lincerity, fhe aimed at the inveftigation of her own heart and its propenfities ; and feeling that fhe could really relt contented and be cowparaihely happy, provided fhe were affurcd of the welfare of her noble . . . \ friends ( n ) friends at Margate, and being more than lialf perfuaded that fhe could, without regret, hear that Captain Courtland had married to the fatisfa6lion of his mother and family, fhe had ingenuoufnefs enough to confcfs to herfelf, that this placid dif- polition was nearer of kin to friendfhip than to love, and was therefore convinced, fhe had no title to the proffered generolity of her incognito guardian : fhe therefore, at her firft leifure, wrote from Frandiflon Park to Ami, acknowledging, with the utmoft gratitude, his unmerited good^ nefs ; but declining all right to it, as ne- ceflary to her peace. Her fltuation with her new friends was fuch as took away all regret for the caufe, and aflbrded her a pleafure, almoft novel, that of purfuing, witii every encourage- ment, her favourite occupations. Mr^, Blyford, delighted with her accoiiiplifh- ments, and the diffidence which accom- |)anicd them, had no greater pleafure than Vol. IV. P: in ( 74 ) in furthering her progrefs ; and the elder young ladies, whofe religious reftridlions had prevented their entering the world in purfuit of its elegances, were happy to profit by her attainments. Their apart- ment was therefore, till dinner-time, a Ipecies of academy ; and their evenings were fpent either in vifits in the neigh- bourhood, with company at home, or in a domeftic circle where converfation never flagged, becaufe it was never forced ; •where every one was at liberty to follow their own purfuit, to requeft information, or to communicate knowledge. Martha Blyford, the eldefl of thefe 'amiable girls, was limplicity itfelf, as far as iimplicity conlifts with good fenfe and .the mofi: guarded conduft, wherever that conduct was liable to cenfure. In her gay iDomentSj for though a Quaker fhe was gay, no heart could wear lefs difguile — ^none ever needed it lefs ; and having not yet been deceived, fhe knew not that any one ( 75 ) one could attempt deceiving her. She had never experienced fa great a pleafure as that of Peregrina's company ; fhe was af- iiduous to deferve her friendfhip; and cold indeed muft have been that heart which could deny admiflion to fuch an affedlion as Martha Blyford's. Hisr perfon was lovely, her countenance ingenuous ; her features were animated, and a moft faithful index to her mind. It was from them that Peregrina, in lefs than a fortnight, learnt that Martha was not quite the happy girl fhe ftrove to appear. She dared not inquire, but flie was hurt to fee every day increafing teflimonials of forrow, and, file feared, of ra;)idly declining health, in her afpecl. It was impoflible, by general exprcfllons of concern, or the moft minute as well as afFc6lionate queries, to obtain from her any fatisfadlion : fhe was grateful for Mifs La- morne's attention — fhe fmiled, and aiTured E 2 her ( 76 ) her her looks were not to be rehed on, if they did not befpeak her well and happy. Peregrina would have perfuaded herfelf, that her own anxiety miflcd her ; but Mrs. Blyford grew alarmed at Martha's evident- ly-forced cheerfulnefs. Peregrina endea- voured to allay her fears, and at the fame time fet herfelf more earneftly to obtain the young lady's confidence. But all her en- deavours were fruitlefs, till one morning, when the cheering influence of an autumn fun having invited them to flroll together to the neighbouring village, in their return home, they took the path over the church- yard, where Martha's keen light was caught by a flone newly ere61ed to the memory of a young woman of the parifh, who was faid to have died of a lingering illnefs at the age of eighteen. She read the limple biography with intereft and energy, and then faid, as to herfelf, " I am not eighteen yet." . ^ "I am ( 77 ) ** I am forry to hear you make that oh- fervation," faid her companion, who had narrowly watched her. " What refem- blance can there be between your lituatioii and that of this young perfon ?" " O none — but why do thee afk ?'* '* Becaufe, my dear Martha, you feemed to think of yourfelf when you read the infcription." ** I never hear of a young perfon's dy- ing of a lingering illnefs, without thinking ofmyfelf." " Are you apprehenfive it will be your lot?" " I do not know ; but, dear Peregrina, I was acquainted with that young woman ; fhe was not of our fociety, but thee never knew a better creature — fhe loft her life by nurling fome lick relations, who reco- E 3 vered ( 78 ) vered only by her care, and my mother's goodners." rv " Well, but, my dear, why then fhould you particularly compare her uncommon fate with your lituation ? — ihe was Angu- larly ; unfortunate. ' ** No, no, Peregrina, not unfortunate, but very, very happy — ihc muft, lamfurCj; be happy ; fomething within me tells me fo ; and I am certain the mufl have gone to all thofe ftie loved, and that loved lier. It was a happinefs for her to die !" «' And is it not for all ?" " No, no, thee cannot think fo, T am Cure." ' " For all but the wicked, I mean." ; <' Yes; but there may be people not wicked^ who yet have caufe to fear pu- niHiment, for being weak and obftinate." "That ( 79 ) ** That cannot be your cafe, my dear Martha." " O yes ; thee can have no acquahitance Vv'hh me yet — thee would hale me. I am weak and obllinatc — 1 with for what can- not be — I am difcontented, and very weak, nay almoft wicked." " Why, what do you wifli for ? — Let me judge how far it is unreafonable." " Why, now, dearefl Peregrina — pray never tell — I wifh I was not a Quaker." " Well, that is no very great iin ; if your wifh arifes from refletftion and from confcience, why do you not communicate it to Mr. Blyford ? no one can be more li- beral in religious opinions." " No, no — it is not confcience, indeed. Can it be confcience that makes me dif- contented, v^'hen I have every thing this E 4 world ( «o ) world can give me ? — I have the kinidcj^ pa* rents pollible ; I love my brothers and lif- ters ; I have thee for my friend ; and yet I am fo difcontentcdi that I am certain if I pafs this winter as I have paffed the au- tumn, I fliall never fee the fpring ; and is not that unpardonable folly ? If I could but get over this — if I could but break my ftubborn fpirit, I fhould have no more fear of dying than that young woman." ** But what hinders your overcoming this difcontented difpofition ? Do you ufe your endeavours ?" " Indeed I do — I do allure tliee I have not looked at it once lince I came home" ■ •= ** Looked at what?" ** O, Peregrin a Lamorne, a Ik me no- thing further ! thee fees how little 1 have the command of my felf. Pity me, if thee can ; ( 8i ) can ; T die if thee blame me, and yet thee muft blame me." The tears gufhed from Martha's eyes ; and Pcregrina forbore all farther inquiry, contenting herfdf, in their way home, with endeavours to re-aifure her companion, and indulging her own guefles. Her friendly confolations were not loft ; for though Martha would then difclofe no more, fhe invited her friend to meet her in the dufk of the evening, in her own apart- ment, and promifcd there to tell her griefs. Peregrina was at a lofs to decide on what courfe fhe fhould take to eafe Mrs. Ely-* ford's hourly-increafing anxiety. She was almoft tempted to give her notice of the time when the important iecret was to be revealed ; but as their religious peculiari- ties were included in poor Alartha's diifi- culties, fhe feared hazarding tor her the JE 5 favour ( 8a ) favour of her parents, in an attempt to ferve her ; fhe, therefore, trufted to what Ihe Ihould be able to do for her, when fully informed of her diftrelTes ; and at- tended punctually at the hour appointed, to hear them ; but as fhe was making her way to Mifs Blyford's apartmeHts, flie met her maid, with an excufe from her, that having a bad head-ache fhe could not in- dulge herfelf with her company. But Peregrlna was too lincerely actuated by a defire to render her fervice, to attend to an excufe, which fhe knew originated only in Martha's rchnSlance to unbofora herfelf. She ventured circumfpeftly into her room, and found her in the dcepeft dejedlion, which was interrupted only by tears and reproaches on her own folly. " I cannot bear to fee you thus," faid Peregrina ; " you call me your friend, my Martha, and you treat me like your greateft enemy. Unlefs you will perform your pra- I Hiife ( 83 ) mife to me, without referve, I muft dlf- charge my duty to Mr. and Mrs. Blyford, by telling them what you this morning told me. *' Thee would not, I am certain/' fhe replied, with tolerable compofure. " I have thought of my folly, in indulging this fpirit of difcontent, and of my greater folly in revealing it. Were I to perform my promife to thee, Peregrina, 1 knov/ thee would tell my father and mother, in hopes to make me happy ; for thee art an angel of goodnefs: but I fl-iould then hate my- felf, even if they could and would do every thing poffible for me. I fhould defpile myfelf for being fo childifh. Pray, then, releafe me from my promife ; it was a rafh one ; and on my part I promife thee to Arive to live and be content : and if thee does not own, in a few days, that I am better, then I will tell thee all, and thee Iball hate me." E 6 Pcregrina, ( 84 ) Peregrlna, though fhe relu61antly gave up her hope of hearing Martha's fur- rows, and of contributing to her rehef could not but admire the greatnefs of her mind ; and finding it impoffible to fliake her refolution, fhe took the oppofite me- thod of encouraging her exertions to regain her peace, and hoped they would not prove JnefFedlual. CHAP. ( 85 ) CHAP. VI. Could anything have divefted Peregrl- na's heart of its focialfy mpathies, and cen- tered its concerns in herfelf, it would have been the following letter vv^hich Ihe re- ceived the next day : <* I HAVE done, I hope, my duty ; I have rifqued my heart's heft intereil. Surely more cannot be required of me. *' You affure me, my Peregrina, and who can doubt language fo lincere ? that gratitude and friendfhip are the predomi- nant fentiments you feel for Courtland; you fay that were worldly conliderations to induce you to liflen to his paffion, you Ihould ftill feel huvt at the difparity of your lituations. ( 86 ) iituations. Perhaps this is carrying the point of delicacy a little too far. I fhall only uriderfi and you, as meaning by it, that yourreafon is unclouded by the prejudices of love. " The grcateft pleafure I ever experi- enced was conveyed to me in that part of your ingenuous letter, which refts a large fhare of your regard for Courtland on the temporary fuppofition, that he and Ami Bonange were the fame perfon. May an. equal degree of ingenuoufnefs, on my part,^ be but. half as acceptable to you ! *^' As yet you mufl; know me only as your good genius; a farther communica- tion depends folely on yourfelf. But fup- pofe me not, I, befeech you, a being of anotherworld, or one who penetrates myf- teries or fees futurities. Love has been my motive, accident has been my friend ; my aim is to ihield from the malice and misfortunes of the world, heaven's heft gift ( 87 ) gift to man ; and fhould I fncceed in ob- taining policlHon of your heart, 1 will die to prove my title to it. " How can I recommend myfelf, thus veiled? how little likely am I to recom- mend myfelf, when I fhall unveil! I would not have your realbn or judgment my ene- my, yet their fuffrage would not content me ; by their decrees, however, I muft abide ; for to them only can I appeal. " The fmall fervices I have hitherto been able to render you, can convince you of nothing more than my regard for you ; and this regard may be llripped of all merit by being fclhlh. 1 may have faved you from others, to iecure you to myfelf. Perhaps I have been lefs dilinterefi:ed than I ought to have been — I have no means of proving the contrary. " What lituation of life would content you, I can judge only from my general know- ( 88 ) knowledge of your opinions ; whether mine would meet your wifhes is as doubt- ful ; but you have an option, and may ex- jercife it without endangering myfriendfliip for you. ** I can promlfe you little of the gew- ( 93 ) raanded, and he was in high fpirits, flirt- ing with every lady who came in his way. In ihovtj could Peregrina have heard news of the two friends fhe had met at Margate, Mr. Hahiaby and Mrs. Birram, the com- fort of her friends would, in fome mea- fure, have counterbalanced her private un- ealinefs. tJ.ii JiO Itil. ih * 'At length, after long waiting, which had fcarcely at all diminifhed her anxiety, fhe received another letter from Ami Bonange ; but it was brief, and without noticing her requefr, as myflerious as ever — it told her only, that Lady Jemima Byram was in quell of her, and advifed her, as fhe va- lued her fafety or reputation, to be on her i guard, and to pay no heed to any art fhe mificht ufe to feduce lier from her friends. •a* This, though mortifying, was impor- i'tant. She had by the next poft but two, a letter from Lady Cottiibrooke, incloling one from Lady Jemima. It contained a very ( 94 ) very kind and very carnell requefl to her immediately to meet her at Coventry, on bulinefs of the utmoft importance to her, the purport of which, Ihe had not then time to explain ; but Peregrina was rendered, though indeed now unjiijtlyy fufpicious, and Ihe returned no anfwer. Ami Bonange wrote foon again on the fubje^t of his more interefting letter, la- menting the neceflity he was under of re- maining a fhort time longer in enigma; and in language otherwife unreferved, evincing the moft honourable attachmemt to the object of his care, who far from being infenlible to his profelTions, began to grow extremely penfive without feeling melancholy, and to think that in the de- light of being lincerely beloved by one whofe merit warranted a return from her, fhe fhould find an abundant compenfa- tion for all the ills ihe had endured. . ; Her "-IT ( 95 ) Her mufing dirpofition was remarked, but not avowedly by any, except Martha Blyford, who feemed almoft to wifh Pere- grina fo far on equal terms with her as to wear an opprcfled heart. This certainly appeared neceflary to her confidence in her ; and to gain the caufe of Peregrina's dejection, fhe fo far revealed her own, as to difcover that it originated in the atten- tions of one of the other fex, with whom fhe had formed an intimacy while on a vilit to fome friends the preceding winter. Difpofed as Martha was to exculpate the young man, and charge herfelf with cre- dulity and prefumption, his condu6l ap- peared reprehenfible : he had been much at the houfe Ihe was at ; he had improved every opportunity of conciliating her re- gard ; and even if it could be fuppofed that a limple girl had taken nonfenfe for lincerity, flill he could not be wholly ac- quitted of an intention to miflead her ; ior he had talked away all the obftacles their religious difparity prefented, and had folemnly ( 96 ) folemnly afTured her of his delign to make a perfonal apphcation to her father, on the flrength of which fhe had accepted his pi6lure. It appeared that on her return home he had difcontinued every attention, and by his condudt ihevvn he thought no more of her ; and fhe, conlidering herfelf rather than him to blame, in having en- couraged him, had forborne every com- plaint, and was, though unequal to the flruggle, difpofed to llibmit. Who this capricious lover was, where fhe had met with him, or what had been his fate, Mifs Blyford would on no perfualions dif- clofe ; -nor would flie fliew the pi61ure, though Peregrina obferved there was little danger of difcovery, in fo far gratifying her curiolity, as to fhew what features and complexion had pleafed her. She feemed relieved by thus far difbur- thening her heart, though flic failed in .;..»u>-., pre- ( 97 ) prevailing on her friend to be equally communicative ; and Peregrina faw it was in vain to exert herfelf for the injured girl, as the oppofition would be fironger from her lover than from her parents. But fhe at every opportunity watched for fome new circumftance of her forrows from the lips of the fufferer ; and at laft having learnt as an argument for her fubmiffion, that the profpe6l of her happinefs was fiill farther oppofed than by the young man's being of the Church of England, by difparity of fituation, and above all by his being a foldier ! fhe faw no hope for poor Martha, who frequently fuggelled as an excufe for the volatility that had poifoned her peace, the circumftance of her beinir a Quaker. 'to From Mrs. Blyford, Peregrina learnt that it was at Norwich that her daughter had paffed the winter ; and the fufpicion this, and her knowledge of fome previous circumftances excited, was foon after con- firmed by Martha's want of caution in Vol. IV. i? telling ( 98 ) -telling Peregrina that Jhe was no firanger to the perfon of her lover. ** Then," re- plied her friend, '' you can keep me in ignorance no longer — it is — it can he only Captain Courtland, and from my heart I pity you." The guefs was right, and Martha feeing •it impoffibic to retract, in lilence and tears permitted Peregrina to urge every topic of confolation that her affection and inge- nuity fuggefted. To encourage her was to deceive her, for Hamilton had but too plainly fhewn the inllability, if not the coquetry of his amours. As it might have occasioned the Aveet girl ftill gi-eater pain to know that in her confidante llie had had a rival, fhe forbore mentioning Court- land's conduct towards herfelf, and con- fined her endeavours to the arming Mar- tha's pride again fl: her pallion. But, as foon as Hie was at liberty, fhe wroteto Lady Coltifbrooke, whom llie knew ' .. flic ( 99 ) ihe could tnift, a full account of the mif- chicf Hamilton had occafioncd, and its probable confequenccs. She expatiated on the uncommon prudence of Mifs Bly- ford, who, while at Margate, where Cap- tain Courtland occalionally met her, had never betrayed her feelings ; and fhe could not, though fhe knew his mother's partia-;, lity, forbear animadverting on his caprice and infeniibility. The month of [November was far ad- vanced when file wrote on this fuhject to Lady Cottifbrooke ; and flie v.'as impati- ently waiting in fecret an anfwer, endea* vouring to cheer drooping Martha by every affiduity of friendfiiip, when the poor girl's heart was afrcfh wounded by the necellity of parting with the lervan:| who had brought her up, and whofe ago and infirmities made it neccffary that flie fhould be dilcharged iVoni all labor. The woman having exprefled a wiili to retire to her own country and friends, a fuccef- F 2 {oi ( Aoo ) for had been fought, and one very well recommended, as a widow who had lived ivell, and fufFered by misfortunes, was hired by a friend of Mrs. Blyford for her ; and now to the no fmall difcomfort of the Mifs Blyfords, who could like no- body after old Margaret, fhe came to her place, three days fervice in which con- vinced the family that fhe had but fmall pretenfions to the excellent character given of her ; for flie was, to the laft degree, prcfuming and intruding, qualities which, in fpite of the levelling doctrines of Qua- kerifm, few Quakers are inclined to ap- plaud. It was part of her bufinefs to attend Mifs Lamorne, and confidering her as perhaps of a rank little fuperior to her own, fhe was never backward to aflift her with her advice and obfervations. This Peregrina bore with patience and good humour ; but Mifs Blyford, preju- diced againil her, could not endure it. 3 V ^ She ( loi ) she was often fecretly offended at her cri- tiques on her works, her drawings, &c. and nothing induced her to tolerate it, but Peregrina's reminding her that the woman had been unfortunate. Believing that the ignorant creature meant well, fhe endea- voured to learn from her fo much of her flory as might, when again related, intereft Mils Blyford for her; but here Sarah's pride oppofed the good intention, and ihe would reveal nothing. Mifs Blyford, being permitted by her parents to vary her employments by any elegant purfuit, was very delirous of paint- ing miniatures, and to facilitate her pro- grefs, which was more than equal to the infl:ru6lion fhe had had, Peregrina of- fered to lend her the miniature of her mo- ther, which fhe had received from Mr. Byram on his death-bed. The ivory oval was duly formed, and the friends were deeply engaged in the bulinefs of fixing -^es, nofe, and mouth, when Sarah coming F 3 into ( 102 ) into the room, could not reflrain her cu- rioiity, but with expreffions of vulgar ad- miration came up to the table, and taking up the miniature, which was to be copied, fhe cried out, '* Good Lord ! why, I am lure this is Joan." ,5. ^^Joan r repeated Mifs Blyford, fomewhat ftiffly, " I wiili, Sarah, thee would learn^a little more caution in fpeaking. Thee may fancy this like fome friend, but thee mult be miftaken ; for this is friend La- morne's mother." , " What is it you mean, Sarah ?" faid Feregrina, " fure you did not know my mother 1" ** No, Ma'am, I did not fay I knowed your mother; only that picture, I am fure, and I could fwear to, is Joan ; it was drawed, I zm potifive, when Ihe lived with us." « For ( 103 ) " I^bi" heaven's fake, who Is Joan ?" anfsvered Peregrina ; " you keep me on the rack, Sarah." " Rack or unrack," retorted Sarah faucily, ** I couU Iwear it to be Joan ; why, it is the very moral of her/' " But only tell us who thee means by Joan," faid Mifs Blyford mildly; " we know nothing of Joan»- Did thee fay {he lived with thee ?" " What, Mifs, I fuppofe you want to penerate into my family fecrets ; but though I aiii poor now, I am a gentlewo- man born and bred ; and I iha'n't fct my- felf up to be a laughing-flock for you, nor nobody." She then flounced out of the room, and Mifs Blyford, feeing Peregrina's agi- tation, though ihe knew not the caule, immediately went to her mother to com- F 4 plain ( 104 ) plain of Sarah's rudenefs, while flie who it moft afFe6led, could fcarcely be re- trained from following the maid, and begging a farther explanation, Mrs. Blyford returned almofl immedi- ately with her daughter, and began to apologife to her gueft for the prefumption of her fervant ; but Peregrina alTuring her friends that fhe was far from feeling it as an affront, and that it might aflill her in difcoverlng a parent fhe had never had the felicity of knowing, Mrs. Blyford, without farther inquiry, cheerfully ordered Sarah to be called, and by gentle words ftrove to fmooth the harflinefs of her re- fentment for the indignity fhe conceived offered her by the young ladies. Nothing lefs than a bribe could flop the inundating eloquence of her anger; but once appeafed, fhe with much preface, and words of great import as to her aho- rig'inal grandeur, was proceeding to fay, thcit ( I05 i that her father's name was RufFord, and that he was a clergyman in Berkfhire ; — when Peregrina recollecSling that as the name her father in his dying moments had mentioned, dropped on her knees before the homely oracle, and with fcarcely breath to articulate her wifhes, befought her to tell her in a moment all fhe knew of her mother. " Let me take Sarah into another room, my dear," faid Mrs. Blyford, tenderly feating and fupporting her in her chair. ** O no," faid Peregrina, " let me hear di really who was the Joan fhe fpeaks of?" " Why, Joan was Joan ; that's all I know of the matter," anfwered Sarah huffingly — " Mercy on me, what am I to be terrogated jull for all the world as if I was before a jus pece F' F 5 <' No, ( ia6 ) " No, no, good Sarah," fald Peregrins, '^ only tell me what was my mother's name." " Why Joan, to be fure/* ^' But her furname ?" " Doverldge — Joanna Doveridge ihe was chriflened, I believe." " And who did Ihe marry ?" faid Mrs. Blyford." " Why, I did not fay ihe married any body. " Ah !" lighed Peregrina, " fo I feared. You fay fhe lived with you — as a fervant, I fuppofe." '* No, not quite fo menial as a fervant ; out Ihe had very little money; flie had but one thoufand pounds, and I had three ; ? ■■ I and. ( 1^7 ) and fhe was as clumfy a creature as ever you fet your eyes on, and (o proud — mercv on me ! I ufcd to think, Well, Mifs, if all poor lords' daughters arc fo proud, I with they may all go to the — old gentle- man f " A lord's daughter!" reiterated Pere- grina ; " Who is it then you talk of Sa- rah ? mji mother could be no lord's daugh- ter." " I don't know, Mifs, who ycur mo- ther might be; but ?fime wzis a gentlewo- man, and never demeaned by loj^ir/g with fellows, like Joan." " Go, go away, Sarah," faid Mrs. Bly- ford ; " either anfwer properly fuch quef- tions as thee is alked, or thee fhall be dif- mified from my lervice." It was now become impoilible to get a word of fiirther inlormation from the cn- F 6 raged ( io8 ) raged milconception of one who, never either a reafonable or a benevolent being, was confufed by her fufpicions, and ex- afperated by her ill fuccefs in the world ; for Mifs RufFord, foon after the death of her father, had completed the climax of her folly, by beflowing herfelf and her three thoufand pounds upon a man whom Ihe knew only by his own report, and had become acquainted with in a Itage-coach. His conjugal attentions had lafted no longer than from the early hour of wed- lock till the clofe of the evening, in which time he had had addrefs enough to fecurc the whole of her property, even to her wardrobe ; and having performed this im- portant matter, he left the bride with her mother and retired to his native city, York^ to fhare the fruit of his induflry with a wife to whom limilarity of talents and difpolition had for fome years kept him faithful. Mifs RufFord, then flyling herfelf Mrs. Earle,betook herfelf in dudgeon to her hdplefs mother, who allowed her to ( 109 ) io participate the fcanty pittance the inte- rell; of her friends had raifed for her ; and the old lady, having lived til v^/ithin a few months of this time, it was but now th^itthe daughter had found it necefPary to fhlft for herielf. A friend of Mrs. Blyford's, who knew and compaffionated the hclplel's patience of the mother, had endeavoured to cafe her anxiety on her death-bed, by promiling fhe would not neglect her daughter ; and in lier regard for the de- ceafed, flie carried her friendfhip for the living to an excefs of injuflice, by vouch- ing for her merits beyond what her expe-» rience warranted ; and thus Mifs RufFord, who with much difficulty could brook the idea of fervitude, was placed in a Htuation which, had her wits incrcafed with her misfortunes, might have averted the con- fequences of her unpardonable indifcre- tion. But a temper fo unmanageable could be curbed only by fear; and relying wholly ( no ) wholly on the friendlhip that had place^ her thus happily, fhe forgot that her own endeavours were neceflary to the mam- taining her poft ; and whatever change in her name and condition this fooliili woman had experienced, or might experience, {he was and (he would be Mils Rufford flill. Her reftive temper rendered the little fhe had communicated to Percgrina only ago- nizing ; and fhe appeared too much de- lighted with the power of tormenting to be prevailed on to relinquifh it. Mrs. Blyford dil'mifled her from her prefence, and then attempted to calm the exeeffive perturbation of her young friend, by afr- furing her, that on Mr. Blyford's return home, which would be in a couple of hours, fome means fhould be found to- overcome the obflinacy of Sarah. CHAP. Ill CHAP. VIII. It was now become almoft necefliiry, that Mrs. Blyford fhould be enlruiled with more of Peregrhia's hiilorj- than any of her former friends had known ; and where fhc had met with fuch kindnefs, and faw inch relpe^l paid to moral integrity^ fhe had httle to oppofe her confidence. Nei- ther Mrs. Blyford nor Martha, intcreiied as they appeared for friend Lamorne, in- dulged the leail degree of curiolity after Sarah was difmifled. Peregrina fat weep- ing ; and her forrow was interrupted only by their kind and judicious efforts to foothe its agitations. In broken accents, and with tears that could not be fupprcffed, fhe thanked them for their goodnels, and faid : *' It ( 112 ) " It is fit, my dear ladies, that you fhould know fomething more of my fituation ; it would be an unhappy one, were it not for the extraordinary friendfhiip I have met with ; and I could never have troubled any one with my misfortunes—" " Do not call it troubling^'' interrupted Martha, in a convulfed voice, " I knew ■ thee was unliappy, but I dared not ever •afk thee." " Do notj I pray thee, my love," Mrs. Blyford interpofed, " imagine that we would take advantage of this accident to indulge our curiofity. Thee fhall talk to Sarah alone, perhaps thee can perfuade her." " My dear Madam," anfwered Pere- grina, '* you are indeed very indulgent ; but it will be pleaiing to me to think fuch friends know me for v/hat I am. Sarah talks of my mother, if it be my mother,.^ 1 ( 113 ) in terms that I can derive no credit from. I fear, from what {he fays of her rank in life, that /he muft have erred vohintarily, and then why fhould I wifh to know mora of her?" Mrs. Blyford advifed her to draw no conclulion till flie had farther information; and Peregrina, a httlc encouraged, pro- ceeded : " When I firfl remember myfelf, I lived at Mr. Byram's feat at Balla-craig, in the north of Ireland— « Byramr faid Mrs. Blyford; '< Was the Mrs. Byram who was at Margate any relative of his ?" '* I believe not ; I underftand her name svas Byron, for ihe was generally called JB/Vrow.'* *^ I interrupted thee ; go on." « Mr. ( 114 ) " Mr. Byram and his wife, Ladyjemima, and their two children, were frequently at Balla-craig, and IMr. Byram always called me his child, and treated me as fuch. I remember inquiring of my nurfe why I had not a mnma as well as the Mifs Byrams ; and Ihe told me my mama was a naughty woman, and gone to the pit- hoJe, My curiolity was not fatisiied ; and when I was about feven years old, I re- member alking Mr. Byram who was my mama ? I have a perfect recollc(5tion of his taking me in his arms, and faying with great emotion, * You have no mama, my love; but I will be papa and mama to you.' I then ufcd to interrogate my go- vernefs, who, I really believe, could give me no infight into the myllery : flie con- jectured that my mother had either treated Mr. Byram pertidioufly, or was dead ; but advifed me rather to reft fatisfied in igno- rance than to hazard Mr. Byram's favour, or deprefs his fpirits by my inquiries. I obeyed her ; for I reverenced her opinion, and ( tl5 ) and was convinced of her prudence. I endeavoured to be content with the kind- nefs I experienced from Mr. Byrani, which nothing could exceed ; aad as I had all my life been imprefied with the idea that I exifted only by fufFcrancc, I was little difpofed to competition with the Mifs Byrams, or to complain of the confine- ment I lived in. I was haj^py till I was lixteen, when my excellent governcfs died, and I was overwhelmed with grief; yet even then I felt with double force what I owed to Mr. By ram's goodnefs, which in- creafed tou ards me on that event ; but foon after, his health declined, and — the recolledlion of it is agony to my mind— • he died — but died acknowledging me for his daughter ; and with an intention, I have ever thought, of revealing to me who was my otlier parent. He did not fay fhe was dead ; he gave me that pi6lure which Mifs Blyford was going to copy, and faid to me, (for I never fhall forget his words) If any dcuht ever ar'ifcs refpe6iiiig your birth, look ( "6 ) look at that p'Uiure — he could articulate n« more. I han^e looked thoufands of times at the pitlure, but it cannot fatisfy my doubts ; and I can conclude only that I am very mnch like my mother, and that he thought the light of that pidlure would afcertain my being her daughter." " Thee is not like the pidlure,'* faid Mrs. Blyford, taking it up and intently comparing it. *' But why did thee leave Ireland ?'* faid Martha, a little curious. " It was necefTary I fhould feek my living ; Ibr Mr. By ram leaving no will, I had nothing." " What ! did he leave thee nothing ? — nothing to his daughter ?" repeated Martha indignantly. *^ I fcarcely know who I am," an- fwered Peregrina with afigh; "forilrange as ( "7 ) as it may feem, after all Mr Byram's pa- rental affedtion towards me, 1 am confi- dently affured that to one of his lervants he difowned me for his child ; and that thought breaks my heart." " Thee muft not believe it," faid Mrs» Blyford ; " it is not probable." i ** I am afTured of it by one who had ;my interefi; very much at heart. I had 1 better, therefore, never feck my mother, inor try to learn who fhe was." " Can thee recoiled," alked Mrs. Bly- 'ford, " m what words he difclaimed thee ?" ', ** A faithful fervant was pleading for me, as his natural daughter, I believe," 1' ** And I fuppofe then, he faid, thee kr&s not his natural daughter." " I be- ( ii8 ) *' I believe it was exa6tly io." " Then be comforted, Peregrina ; he meant it very differently from what thee undcrftands. The Spirit moves me to think he meant that thee was his legitimate child ; and thinking fo,I give thee my word that I will not reft, nor will John Blyford reft, till thee has found out thy mother, or who fhe was." " O Madam ! could I think fo, T fhould be too happy ; I never dared truft myfelf with the thought." "It becomes thee, and becomes us all indeed, Peregrina, to be cautious how we admit hope that may end in difappoint- ment ; thee is a very good young woman, and I need not tell Ihee how neceilary it is j while we hope the beft, always to be pre-' pared againft the worft. Truft me thee ftiall find a father and a mother in John and i Mary Blylbrd, if tlicy cannot find for thee ; a better ( 119 ) a better parent. Thee is a good young woman, and I love thee as my own." Peregrina could only weep her gratitude for tlie prote6lion offered her ; and com- forted by the affedlionate exprelTions of Martha, who would not quit her, they waited, in expecSlation ahnofl equal, the ; arrival of Mr. Biyford, who being in- i formed by his wife of what had happened, (Called up reftive Sarah, and in the mildeft tterms inculcated on her the duty llie owed llo fociety in revealing what fhe knew of Ithe perfon fhe had mentioned, and pointed out to her the important privilege allowed her of doing good. Whether male eloquence ftill poffeffed over the heart of Sarah its f jpcrior in- Buence, or whether Mr. Blyford addreffed iiimfelf lefs m'ljconcelvahly to her reafon, or ner purfe, is of no inlportance to guets ; is)ut Sarah ^^i off all her power of revela- l^on ; and having gone through the truth ii; . faith- ( 1 20 ) taitiifuUy, excepting a little vilifying na- tural to her, Ihe had volunteered an ap- pendix, which told how Joan, the clum- lieft creature in the world, after having loped the Lord knew with who, and fpent all her thoufand pounds in fine caps, and plays, and filks, and fattins, came to great want, and died a beggar, as all fuch proud mifles did who loped with men, and did not behave themfclves like gentlewomen born and bred. Mr. Blyford difmilfed Sarah, and came inftantly to make his report to the ladies. He prefaced what he had to fay by ex- preffions of the fincereft: concern for his young friend, and by every offer that pa- rental regard could prompt. It hurt hirti* 'to be the melfenger of a fad detail ; he wifhed Sarah had never been admitted into his family ; he could learn from her nothing more than that Joanna Doveridge, the only furvivor of Lord Doveridgc's fa- mily, H ( I^I ) mil}-, liad been a ward of her father's, — that fhe had clandellinely left his houfe, while under age ; and that having Hved a life of imprudence, ihe had died m ob- fcurity. Here ended Percgrina's hopes ; and little was the confolation fhe found in that cer- tainty which flie had till now thought muft be far preferable to the mifery of doubt and ignorance. The family con- curred in reprobating the conducl of Sa- rah, who, but at Peregrina'srequeft, would have been immediately removed from the houfe. She, curious to hear, if it were but a repetition of galling truths, all flie knew of her mother, begged flie might, at lea ft f(jr a iliort time, be tolerated. . , Tvlrs. Blyford, who had more at leifure than an}' one elfe, remarked the ill tem- per with which her fervant delivered hen tetlimony, was inclined to fufpe6l its ve- racity; and Jftill ruminating on Mr. Byram's Vol. IV. G fecming ( l'^2 ) feeming renunciation of Peregrina, fhe earneftly wifhed to inveftigate the whole affair ; and for the fake, at leaft, of Joajis memory, to difcover whether fhe had not been the %vife of Mr. Byram. A confultation was held on the means moft likely to effe<5l this valuable pur- pofe, in which the family fhewed a difpo- fition to undertake any trouble that pro- mifed fuccefs, and it was at laft agreed, that a vifit to the parifh of Milham, in Berkfhire, where Mr. RuiFord had lived and died, and where Joanna Doveridge muft be ft ill remembered, would be the mofl tfiicacious plan. It was on Monday that it w^as propoled, and the following Monday, asthefirft day Mr. BIyford, vv^ho was tlien going iato the well to vilit a dying relative, could make convenient, was named for the expedition. CllAP. ( i23 ) CHAP. IX. While the opprefTed Elizabeth, asPe- regnna Lamorne, was experiencing the re- ward of her undeviating integrity, in the voUintary attachment of friends her merit had made for her, Mifs Byrara was recovering from her fever, and by return- ing to ail her former habits, convinced thofe fhe feemed to hve only to torment, that her fuper/litious fear of dying had pro- duced no good effedt on her mind. The attention fhe had received from Lady Ar- mathwaite excited no gratitude in her ; 'nor did Ihe, when Ihe faw her laid up hy the fatigue fhe had undergone, in any ones in (lance offer to repay her kindnefs.- She only improved the opportunity to take ad- Tjantage of the relaxation it had produced G 2 in ( i^^4 ) in tliofc, vvbofe hufincfs it was to watch her. She ate moH: mifccllaneoufly, aud occafionallv folaced herfelf with a vifit to the butler's pantry, the tervants' hall, or the ilable. In the mean time a very different fccnc was a6ling at Coventry. Jufl: at the time when Lady Jemima began to dcfpair of any return from Peregrina, the love-fick Mifs Aral^ella Byram arrived, but not indeed clothed in the yellow and purple robe of JhiiieHy nor lighted by his faffron torch. She came in the Holyhead coach ; and, when introduced to her mother, had to prefent her, not with her Adonis of a fon- in-law, but with a detail of his barbarity, in having, in the mofl cruel, perfidious manner, dropped her on the road. Pre- tending that the confined air of a clofe car- riage did not agree with him, he had mounted himlelf on the box ; and, when the coach flopped laft, was reported io have betaken himlelf, with fomc expref- fions ( =^5 ) lions not quite becoming bis elegance, or the chaile rej>utalion of liis travelling com- panion, to another conveyance. I.aily Jemima, inore inclined to reficcl en her daughter's cxceffive folly, than to condole with her; and more defirous to probe, than to heal her wounded heart, with aflounding fharpnefs hoped Jhe was married ! ** Yes, my dear mother," anfwered Mifs, in a tragedy attitude, ** in the fight of Hea- ven we are one ; for what could be more holy than fuch vows ? and at the refurrcc- tion of the jnft, when love fhall claim its love, and hearts feraphic link in mutual blifs, ril call him hufband, lover, father, friend !" '' Nonfenfe, girl ; are you crazy ? tell me, are you really his wife ? his lawful wife ?" G 3 Mifs ( 126 ) Mifs replied, " By honour bound, by mutual love entwin'd; *' But holy church hath not pronounc'd ics blefliiig." " In the name of God," cried her Lady- ihip, in a rage, '^ do not talk luch infer- nal nonfenfe ; why, your charadler is gotie ! what do you come here for ?" Mifs fpouted, ** In fight of angels ftill we are virtuous ; " For thought of ill hath never foil'd our hearts ; *' But the tyrannic world's dark prejudice *' Who can withftand ? Receive me yet, dear mother; " And own me ftill for a forlorn Califta." " CiiTi/la, indeed !" retorted mama; '^you are a prelty Califta ! And what do you think I am to do with your Calilta-lT.ip ? If you think I v-'ill, or can maintain you, you are monllroufly miftaken : fo you may troop to yoia- heavenly huibantl ; for, by the living God, I will have nothing to fay to you." " You ( "7 ) '• You won't, won't 3^ou ?" taunted Ca- lifla ; *' well, its jufl as you plealc ; I did guefs as much ; but I have more ftrings than one to my bow, Madam — I know I am not far from my grandfather's; and I am fure if he once hears one half of what I can tell, he will, if it is only to plague v6u, be kind to me." Lady Jemima paufed — fhe knew Mifs Arabella well enough to be convinced, that with much lefs provocation than her prefcnt ditlrefs, flie dared do whatever fhe threatened ; and, forefeeing that a vilit from her to Sir Clifford might, more com- pletely than any thing elfe, ruin her own proje6ls, fhe lowered her tone, came to a parley, agreed on a truce, and at length made peace and an alliance. Even in Arabella's rage and nonfenfe, fhe faw talents that might more effectually aid an impofition on Sir Cluford, thau the nearer age, or more ripened unacrftanding G4 of ( 1-8 J of ilie elder fiftcr ; and Lafliter, who made her that day a vifit, and who dreaded iio- thini^ io mi.irli as the infro(hi(^tion ot EH- zabcth herlelf, gave his opinion in tavoiir of overlooking Mifs's mifdemeanors, and enliiliDg her into the fervice. f ' Covetonfnefs and docrlity being the only qualities requilite in the bufinefs ; and the former prcdneing the latter in the mind of Arabella, her immediate introduction, in due form, to her grand-father, who was a little recovered from his illnefs, was de- cided on, and Mr. Lalhtei, being then, in conlequence of the abfence of Mr. Broome, in the plenitude of power, he had addreis enough to perfuade Sir Clifford of the gcnerolity of forgivenefs, and to dil"- pofe him to lee Lady Jemima, v.dien flie came to introduce Mr. Byram's daughter. Arabella had been fo well tutored^ that fhe not only liad her part at her fingers' ends, but the entered into the very ipirit of ( 1^9 ) of it. She therefore was far lefs daunted than her mother, when they were ufhered into Sir Clifford's apartment ; and when the old man, agitated almofl to childifh- nefs, could only reacli out a hand to each, and iterate to his daughter-in-law, " I for- give you ;" and to his grand-child, ** I am glad at my heart to fee you." Mifs anfwered all queflions incompara- bly well ; and, being a fhewy girl, brought very forward by the lefTons fhe had learnt at fchool, Ihe neither betrayed her age, nor difappointed Sir Clifford's hopes ; and Lady J Teague was quite in a mood to think well ol his judgment. It was therefore no difhcuk matter to make him accept a letter of re- commendation to a friend of Mr. Laffi- ter'sin London;, who, he was afiured, would procure ( ^33 ) procure him a place, and in the mean time, if he took care not to mar his own intereft by premature appearance again in the neighbourhood, Mr. LafTiter undertook to overcome all his difficulties, and to re-in- ftate him with eclat in the family he was mofl anxious to ferve. This impediment removed, the trio teemed more firmly fixed than ever. La- dy Jemima's private marriage was known only to Mrs. Browne ; and her Ladyfhip conducted herfelf in a way that recom- mended her more and more to Sir Clifford, while Mif» Arabella won his heart by her vivacilies, and the credit flie did to his li- berality, llie old man, as if convinced that his prejudices were culpable, began to talk of tranfplanting Lady Jemima's two daughters into his family ; and thofe whona it concerned began fi:ill more cordially than ever, to wifh his rcJftlefs benevolence quiet in the grave. The 134 ) The month of November pafTcd in hal- cyon felicity ; and Mr. Broome, having flaid avv ay from his parifh without affigning any reafon, ti!l fome of his fiock were dif- pofed to join Mr. Laffiter's outcry againft his neghgence, and Sir Clifford himfelf be- gan to ft5l*pe6^ he fhould, during the win- ter, be entertained only by the curate, thd horiv.on of fnuid iiad not a cloud to threaten it with ; and ]:erhaps the ladies would foon, by relaxing, the one her reftraints, the other her affiduities, have marred all their good fortune, had not Mils Byram re- ceived an unexpc6led vifit from her quon- dam lover and fellow-traveller, Mr. Charles Grubb, who hearing accidentally, tliat the young lady bad got, as he termed it, hito good loaf, had withdrawn his fivc-fliilhng advertifement of, " Wants a place, as va^ let, a young man who Jrejfes hair, Jhaves^ ivrites a good hand, &c. and bellowed the ^lall remnant of his purfe in procuring an al frefco conveyance by a flage coach, from which he alighted at the gate of Byram I'ark, ( '35 ) Park, and thence boldly made his way to ihe north Jiar of his inwioveahh adorations^ as, in one of his letters he had chriitened Mifs Arabella. She was called from Sir Clifford, to at- tend the gentleman in the hall. Gladly would fhe have refufed him the requeued audience, but the experiment was dange- rous ; and as his meffage was refpe6tful, it betrayed nothing; and the doubted not that a few of the many guineas Sir Clif- ford's bounty enabled her to throw away, would quiet the fellow, and get rid of him. But the fcIJoiv was neither to be fo quieted ; nor by any means in her power, could fheget rid of him. He talked highly of her promifes, which his fitter, and her own many letters could prove — he re- minded her, how entirely her reputation depended on his filence ; and in this con- ference Mii^ Arabella fo far improved her know- ( 136 ) knowledge of the world, as to find out, that it is not always in the power of thofe who liave foftered impudencCj to reprefs it when it becomes troublefome. All depending on her appealing him, file endeavored to temporize, but he would not wait an hour for her refolution : he protefled that unlefs llie fufTered him to fhare her good fortune, he would inftantly divulge her ccndu6l, and ruin her with thofe file depended on ; and had not Ara- bella's fertile imagination fuggetted to her inmiedlately an expedient, her remaining at Byram Park, even the enfuing night, would have been doubtful. Having a little footheJ him by a fevy-- fair fpeeches, and gained his acquicfcence to her plan, by afTuring him that a very fliovt time, and Sir Clilford's certain death, rnuH put it in her power to place her dear Charles in the zenith of beati- tude, the went to her grandfather with a, coun- countenance of doubt, refpe^l, and hnmi- Jity, and fpcaking baflil)', as in great agi- tation, faid, '' My dear Sir, I am quite Irlghtened at what I have done. I have taken {uch a liberty, as even you, good as you arc to me^ cannot, I fear, pardon." " If my pardon, rhy dear child, can make you eafy, you have it. What has happened ?" ^' Why, dear Sir, here is a young man v/ho was brought up out of charity by the governefs I was with in Dublin ; fhe, poor woman ! is difappointed in her hope of getting a genteel proviiion for him, and he is come over to get a fervice : he has no friends in England, and he is come all this wav out of his road to afk me to interefl myfelf to get him a place. I have told him how good von arc, and I hiconfideratcly laid, without iirft confult- ing j-ou, that you would, I was certain, give iiim a niglit** lolging lierc." *' Trull ( '38 ) ** Truil me, my dear clilldj T fiiall never be offended with yon or any body for fupplying my place by doing -an att of benevolence. Let the young man (lay by all means. Is he a perfon of good clia- raaer ?" " Very good, indeed, Sir ; be has main- tained his mother and five fiflers for feve- ral years." *' How could he do that, my dear, if he has been out of all employment ?" ** Oh, he has been at fea, and fent his wages ; and he alv/ays goes to church confbantly, and reads the Bible for his amufement, and is fo good ! — you have no idea, Sir, how good he is." *' Well, my dear, if you give fo good an account of him, I am well inclined to think him defcrving. I have had no fer- vaiit ( 139 ) vant in Dennis's place, fuppofing I were to take him ?" " O that would be charming !" " Can he read and write ?" " O yes, vaflly well ; he can do any any thing. Sh-ill I go and tell him you will keep Lim f" " Let him come to me, my dear child; I will fpeak to him myfelf." Mifs flew to give Mr. Charles Grubb his cue: he pretended to think It extremely inconliftent with his genteel lituation in life to 'perfonate a fervant ; but his paffion at lad conquering his fcruples, he fol- ! lowed her, went through his interrogato- ,;ries perfc6tly to the fatisfacStion of his new jimailer; and immediately, before the leafl: ;hint of the bufinefs had even reached the I fervants'-hali, he was enrolled of their number. ( M-o ) number. lie had addrefs enough to pleale Sir Clifford. Lady Jemima, though too fa2;acious to be dehided bv her daucrhter's legend of Mr. Grubb, thought it prudent to be fdcnt ; and the young hidy licrrdf*, who was vallly fond of riding on horfe- back with only a fervant, and preferred the new footman to the old coachman, had fufficient opportunity of unwitnefTed converfation with him, to tutor liim and keep him in patience and good humor. CHAT. ( HI ) CHAP. X. Ladt Jemima in filence watched all this, and talked confidently to Mrs, Browne, now become nearly her equal, on the demolition all their hopes mufl ex- perience, Ihould Arabella be Sir Clifford's heir, and marry this indigent fellow, from whole JLiftice or generofity no advantage to themielves could be expecled. Sug- gellions fuch as thefe were not lofl on Mrs. Browne, who had as keen an eye as any one of the party to her own intercfl ; and who moreover had difcovered that Mr. Charles Grubb was very handfome, and likewife very genUel- behaved whenever he included himfelf into the houfekeeper's department. She was therefore commif- iioned by her half lifter-in-law, and half- Biifirefg, ( H2 ) miilrefs, to hint to Mr. Charles Gruhh. that Mifs Byram, notwithftanding appear- ances, would never have a Ihilling of Sir Clifford's property ; and on her own account fhe added to this comfortable piece of intel- ligence the light of legal fccurities, which fhe herfelf poireffed, to the value of five hundred pounds ; fhe faid, that whoever ilie married, fhould not be made to dance attendance on her or her grand -father ; and, in fhort, fhe fo diflra6led the poor young man between future contingencies and prefent advantages, that Mifs Byram detedled him wavering. She faw her danger, and prudently averted it, by a fhew of bank notes and jewels, prefents to her from Sir Clifford ; fhe then com- miffioned him to get the banns pub- liflicd in a difiant parifh, in his own name, and that of Arabella Bvram, which fhe trufled would deceive thofe w^ith whom it was her intent to pals for Elizabeth. I The ( H3 ) The concluHon of the match, which, however fufpc6led by Lady Jemima, fhe did not chuie to cavil at, left her own in- tcreft fhould fall to the ground, made little difference in the fttuation of affairs at Byram Park ; and Mrs. Gruhh ftill triumphed as Mifs Byram, every day in- crealing her impatience to fee herfelf re- leafed by Sir Clifford's death, from the mafquerade in which fhe bore fo fplendid a charadler. At length Mr. Broome returned, but not to the iituation of refpe6t and efteem he had poffeffed in the mind of Sir Clif- iford, who chid him feverely for his ab- t fence, and feemed ftill more diffatisfied 'when he declared the bufinefs that had (Called him awav, was not fuchas he could rreveal. It would, indeed, have been folly Ac reveal it, for he had been on a fruitlefs !&arch after fome traces of Joanna Dove- ridge ; and liaving confined his inquiries, dom of Ireland, by his firfi marriage with itshe Hon, Mifs Dove ridge, daughter and H6 fok ( 156 ) Jole heirefs of the laji haron of that fa- vi'dy ; and farther added, that the cere- mony was to be performed at tlie feat of Sir Clifford Byram, in Northamptonfhire. At the time when flie caft her eye or> the article, flie was going to put into exe- cution a deiign flie had ruminated on all night, that of imparting to Ami Bonange the whole of herhiilory and diftreffes, and interefling him in> the difcovery of her mother. She was now farther eneouraired to do fo, by the intelligence fhe had fo fort uitou fly lighted on, which perfuaded her, as ft^'ongly as Mrs, Blyford was be- fore perfuaded, that her mother was fri^ ViTteJy but laitfuUy the wife of Mr. Byram. She had inflantly communicated to her friends the news flie had met with ; and Mrs. Blyford had flrenuoufly recommended an immediate incpiiry as the only means of pr";venting fome unaccountable impo- £tion She reprefented to Peregrina, that " ■ were ( '57 ) were "^e, as- "Elizabctli ByraTu-, the hjgjti-' mate daughter of Mr. Byrain^ a large part of his property mull belong, to her, if her died intffiate : this advantage, Sir GiifFord being living, was not fo certain ; and Pe- regrJna fet againil it the hatred fhe v^»as taught to fuppofe her grand- father en t«r- tSiined towards her ; but to this Mrs. Bly- ford w-as not inelinod to pay much credit ;, Ihe was conA^inced Sir Cliiibrd was duped,, and had very bad people about him ; and libe thought very little of what had been adlerted was to be relied on. Percgrina wrote^ as flie had defigned,to Ami Bonajige a detail of all that had hap- pened, and of her own ftorv ; and con- jured him, by every fentiment of filial piety and common charity, to make all pollihle inquiry into the fate of Joanna Doveridge, who wasundoubtedly her fa- ther's wife and her mother; and whom {he could not believe to have lived or died, as Sarah Earle had;, ihe was peifuaded, ma- licioufly ( '58 > licioufly reprefented. She farther begged' him to learn who it was that the Marquis, whom ihe defcribed by his title, was about to marry. The next and far more arduous bufinefs- was to write to Sir Clifford Byram him-^ felf ; a meafure which Mrs. Blyford urged with all the force of reafon ; it was the hardeft tafk fhe had ever yet undertaken; for like all perfons in fuch a fituation, fhe forgot that her inabihty itfelf would plead more powerfully for her than any eloquence^ At I'afl, thinking it of importance to fave the pod, and finding her courage did not increafe by conlideration, Ibe haflily wrote : ** Honored Sir, " I AM told you hold me in utter ab- horrence ; I have been flri<5lly enjoined never to ufurp your name, or to boaft myfelf ( 159 ) myfclf of your family ; yet I fee myfelf defcribed in the public papers as enjoying your favour; and I am perfuaded fome one is mofl grofsly impoling on your goodnefs ; who it is I do not even wifh ta guefs ; I afk for no advantage to myfelf ;. but fiirely I am not obliged to reft filent, when I have every reafon to believe you are not as adverfe to me as you arc de- fcribed. " If, Sir, it is to Elizabeth, the only daugTi- ter of Mr. By ram, by his marriage with Joamia Doveridge, that you mean to be kind, I am Ihe ; though the commands I i received from you have compelled me to ; affume another name, and to conceal my (Origin. Do not, therefore, I befeech you, 1 countenance fraud; at leafr, let me entreat you to-know on whom you beftow your I parental regard. I envy no one the en- joyment of your favour, if it be their right ; but 1 fhouldbe aeceflary to the de- ception, were I to acquiefce in it. " Should ( t6o ) *' Should you, Sir, be fo far favourably diipofed towards me as to wifh for farther information, the diredtlon I fubjoin will find me as Your very datifal grand-child, Peregrina Lamorne/'* Mrs. Blyford, to whom Peregrina fhewcd her letter for her approbation, was con- vinced that it would ber followed by an immediate fummons for her to Byrani Park, if not by a vifit in perfon from her grand-father, and kindly offered, in either cafe, to accompany and fupport her. But Peregriria had far lefs fanguine hopes ; fhe had Icon wickednefs in glory, till the be- s[an to think it the ufual courfe of things. Her mind was now tortured beyond what fhe had hitherto experienced ; in vain fhe appealed to the itiiniature of her mother, and wept over it ; in fpite of the words that accompanied her receiving it, I Jhc could get no fatisfa6iion from it, and) ■ ihc ( i6i ) file was in an agony of doubt, as painfol to dircourfc on as to conceal. Her runn- nations fuggeficd ta I.cr no hope that could counterbalance the pr^fcntiment, that from her utmotl diiigence the fnould derive no other iatisfadlion than, perhaps, the knowledge of the fpot where her mo- ther was buried ; and fhe could not but apprehend, that by her application to Sir CliiTord, which llie faw no means of fup- porting to the proof of her identity, {he {liould only rank herielf in the number of detedted impoilors. Even fhould he be inclined to fulpend his opinion, how could :fTie prove herfelf the true Elizabeth ? the lpi6lure fhe pofleffed might have been pro- cured by any other method than that of !Mr. By ram's gift ; her governefs, who rould have detailed ber father's conducSt; towards her, was no more ; Lady Jemima feemed by all the world to be held in dif-* repute, even thould fhe, as was not pro- bable, againlt the intereft of her daughter, >e difpoled to ideatify their rivals littlo ti.i more ( '6» ) more probability was there that either of the young ladies would ferve, to their prejudice, one whom they had fo uniformly con- temned : Dennis Geoghegan, could he be found, was far more likely to avouch his maker's dereliction of her than her claim on the family : no one of the fervants of Mr. Byram was at all within her reach ; it did not appear to her that Lady Jemima had even confidentially difclofed to Mrs. Haccombe the relation fhe flood in to her deceafed hufband; fhe herfelf had Jtrength- ened an opinion againft any fuch claim by the adoption of another defignation, and by her pun6lilious regard to the com- mands Ihe had received ; commands of which Ihe now began to fee the artifice and the cruelty ; for in the tempeltuous retlleffnefs of her thoughts fhe had, with a convidion little lefs potent than that of truth, guefled that Lady Jemima had fuc- ceeded in making peace with Sir Clifford, and for fome reafon, unintelligible to her, who was too humble to fuppofe her own impor-' ( 1^3 ) importance, had irnpofed one of her own daughters on him as JNIr. Byram's eldefl offspring. On this luppofition fhe began to found a flill greater hope that her mo^ ther's charadler had been refcued from ignominy ; Jioiv^ fhe could not penetrate — ly ivhom, it was as impoffible to difcover, fo difficult was it to afcertain even her friends and enemies. Sometimes recolleding the letter fhe had received from Lady Jemima, Ihe was in- clined to think more favourably of her, and to fuppofe that ihe had fought her to re-inflate her in Sir Clifford's good opinion ; i and here, whatever was her ladyfhip's mo- ttive, fhe was not very wide of the truth ; ibut againf^ this fhe oppofed the omni^ fcience of Ami Bonange, and was then half inclined to think Lady Jemima had defigned only to remove her flill farther out of the way, before fhe brought for- ft'ard her own daughter in her Head. In ( i64 ) In anxiety that admitted of no rell, or of her taking any fuilenance, fheremaiued undifturbed by any event till the morning of Thurfday, when llie received from Lady Cottilbrooke a very afieiPiionate re- ply to her lafl communication, in v/hich Hie inclofed a letter from her fon Hamil- ton, expreffing the feverell concern forM the mifchief his volatihty had occationed, and befeeching her to ufe her intereft in the family Hie was then in, to procure him an introdu6lion to their favour, and to overcome the formidable obilacles that oppofed his atoning, as he wifhed, for his paft mifcondud : he fhewed that his heart, eafily iniprcltT-d, was eminently fafceptibk of pity, and that he had ,a mind that could not red under the idea of ha"sf- ing done a,n injury. ,^ Pcrco;rina's thouiiJits were called frotn her miferies by the wiili, natural to every ingentious mind, of aiding a friend ; h]^t to indulge tliat wifn required gnat cir- cumfpec^tioi^ ( "55 ) cumrpe(9:Ion and delicacy, as It was more than poffibic that the very firfl ftep taken to promote IVIartha Blyford's happinefs, would for ever preclude it. She had dcvifed no method, when Martha herfelf, with an unintelligible mixture of various paffions in her counte- nance, came to her with an open letter in her hand, which, as if too much inte- refted in its contents to repeat them, fhe put into friend Lamorne's hand. She read ' with an increafe of her vexations the firlt ^ paragraph, which fhewcd that it was not ^. as flie had at iirft imagined, from Ha- I'lmilton Courtland, but from Mr. BIyford, who laid, that he was m^oll: imwillingly obliged to poftpone the fcheme planned (for the enfuing week, as his uncle was tthen jufi: dead, and the management of "'his affairs would not admit of his kaving ^the place he was in, in lefs than ten days. tMr. Blyford then in the moft afFe6\ionate ananncr congratulated his daughter on the bequeit ( i66 ) bequcft of thirty thoufand pounds, to which, by the will of her deceafed rela- tive. Hie was inftantly and uncontrolabl)' entitled, and with expreffions of the firmeft reliance on her prudence, that the would fhew that, however young, fhe might be fafely trufted with one of the greateft of all worldly temptations, profpe- rjty, he hinted to her the numerous feli- cities her uncle's bounty would procure for her, in the ability it conferred to do good. Mortifying as was the firft intelligence of this letter to Peregrina, fhe could turn with heart-felt joy to congratulate her amiable friend on its contents ; but Mar- tha, far from exhibiting the ufual lymp- toms of delight on fuch an occalion, was in tears, for which fhe would give no rea- fon; and to avoid queflions, flic with- drew. Pere- ( i67 ) Peregrina wifhing much to found her difpoiition towards Courtland, whhout betraying her information of his fenti- ments, at their next meeting alked her, with affedled cheerfulnefs, what fhe in- tended to do with her wealth. She an- fvvered very ferioufly, " firil, to make thee happy, or, at leaft, if that cannot be, to prevent thee from ever wanting.*' Peregrina, repenting of a query to which fhe had expelled a very different anfwer, colored, and exculing her mo- mentary want of thought, fhe afTured [Martha her curiolity arofe folely from her I Avifh to find that the bequefl of her uncle *76 ) to be exhibited in public ; with velocity greater than herftrength, fhe ran up flairs, locked her door, and read, after a preface of the moft confolatory exprellions, this anfwer to her commiffion : " Witli regard to the much-talked-of bride elect, I can learn nothing more than you know ; report confirms it in all its circumftanccs. As to your other more important inquiry, I liave done all in my power, how fuccefsfully, time onlj^ can determine. I wrote to the only perlbn I could recollecil, as having any connedliou with Mr. Byram's family, and I am pro- Diifed the . fatisiattion you wifh for, on a condition I hope you will feel little rc- hit^tance in obeying, as it rec{uires no- thing more than your perlbnal appear- ance. • \ ■ " I commit this to the care of a man you may very fafely rely on, and have given him direv^f ions to efcort you with any friend ( 177 ) friend or friends you may tliink necefiary to your fafety, to London, where you will find thofe that can, better than jnyfelf, inform you. *V If it fhall have been in my power to contribute to your peace of mind, I fhall think myfelf abundantly requited, even ihould you be difpofed to feek your origin, and negfe6l me. Let me once fee you in fafety ; let me be affured you are above my care, and I will inllantly ceafe to trouble you. All felfiili confiderations fade, when compared to the pleafure of a dilinterefled action ; and I will fecure this pleafure to myfelf, by fufpending even my beft hopes, and till you command me to do otherwile, and my lituation admits of it, by ferving you in fecret. But remember, Peregrina, that were you environed by a hoft of lovers — were kings to lay down their crowns, and faints their crofles, to prove their fincerity, no one could boaft an honefter pallion for you than '* AMI BONANGE." I 4 " And ( .78 ) " And with equal lincerlty do I return thy honeft love," faid the heart of Pere- grina, as fhe read the conckiding words. But the letter required an immediate an- fv/cr ; nay, the bearer waited for it, and an aiifwer really required deliberation ; for however well difpofcd fhe might be to trufl Ami Bonange, fome regard was due to appearances, and fhe knew not how to fatisfy the kind anxiety of Mrs. Blyford, without revealing the myflery of her good genius, for which fhe had no permif- lion. She went down again to the hall to afk the man the extent of his orders : he faid that his mafter (but who his maftcr was he would not tell) had told him the lady would be in town that night, that he was, if necefTary, to procure a chaife for the purpofe, and that in tov/n her defiinatioa was Lady Cottiibrooke's, in New Norfolk Street. Peregrina ( 179 ) Peregrina was relieved from her doubts, but again embarrafTed. is ftje now coulcj not afk Mifs BIyford ♦•) accompany her, as ftie had wl'hcd. But vviih toljrable courige, though extremely agitated, fhe went in queil of tlie ladies, and informing them that fhe was called to Lady Cottif- brooke's in a hurry, in hopes of hearing of her mother, begged them to "expedite her journey. ** And who is to go with thee ?" faid Mrs. Blyford. " I mufl, I fear, go alone." ** I fhould not chufe, indeed, to go with thee, unaiked by friend Cottifbrooke; but flill thee fhall not go alone. Let Sarah Earle go with thee — thee does not like her, nor do I ; but fhe is honeft, and may be uleful," 1 5 Peregrina ( iSo ) Peregi'ina confenling, Sarah was or- dered to be in readinefs. Mr. Biy ford's carriage was to go the firft flage with her ; her efcort went forward to befpeak ?l. chaife on the road. Mrs. Blyford fent another man fervant, as an additional fe- curity, on her confeffing that fhc knew not the mefTcnger fent for her ; and with ten thoufand dreads, fhe was j\ill depart-, ing, whenMifs Blyford begged to fpeak tO' her in private. She was appreheniive that Peregrina might, in her zeal for her hap- pinefs, divulge what had pail betweeir them ; but againfl this fear fhe ealily pro- cured the fecurity of her word. " How art thee furnifhed with money ?" faid careful Martha ; " thee will want a, g-reat deal in fine London." *' I have a few guineas," faid Peregrina y " enough for my journey; and Lady Cot- tifljrooke never forgets my purfe." " I would' ( i8i ) " I would not intrude," replied Martha, " but thee muft remember that I fhould like to be of ufe to thee." With a cordial embrace they parted. Mrs. BIyford exprefled a with foon to fee her young friend again ; and the fet off, with a moft uneafy mind, and far from delighted with her companion. 16 CHAP. ( I82 ') CHAP, XII, At Byram Park, Mils Arabella, or ra- ther Mrs. Grubb, was whirling the wheel of fortune at a furious rate. The llender Marquis was every day more enamored. All Laihter's clerks were bufy about fet- tlements : he himfelf had got fo entirely into the good graces of the Duke and his fon, that he was looked on as an oracle : he taught gratis the art of racking tenants, and letting ejiates tithe- free: he preached Jhort leafes and quarterly rents: he pro- jedled indofuresy and talked of croivn- grants : he had a navigation Jcheme in his pocket, and a tontine in his head : he pof- lefled the noble art of alchymy for the fa- ther, and the cup of Circe for the fon, to whom he difcourfed of iUiheral reftraint, I f canty ( '83 ) fcanty allowance, fojl obits y and mortgages ; of nirrichs, phaetons, crppt hays, and damfels fair, till the young man believed mafiimony the gate by which he was to cfcape from parental avarice, and to gain all his foolifh head and throbbing heart had conceived and panted for Lady Je- mima had fo well made ufe of her faga- city refpe6ling Mr. Charles Grubb, and had fo well timed fome mal-a-propos vifits to Arabella, that the terror of her exert- ing any part of her dijclof.ng power, made her daughter as ductile as could be wifhed ; and fhe had repeatedly promifed that when fhe was a Duchcfs, dear mama ihould live like a queen ; nay, indeed, the Duke himfelf had faid fuch fine things of Lady Jemima, that if Mr. LalTiter could have proved his regard for his own interei^, as completely as Mr. Charles Grubb had done, it would not have been wonderful if the fame day had made the mother a Duchels and the daughter, by the cour- tefy of England, a MarchionelS. There was ( iS4 ) was but one circumilance that gave the party pain ; this was the obflinate vigor of Sir ChfFord, vvhofe renovated fpirits feem- ed to fullain him under his decaying llrength, to a degree that made it to be ap- prehended lliat lie would not releafe the expe61an(s. Poor Broome, who with tolerable accu-f racy read their chara(5iers, their intrigues^ and their diftrcfles, flill tretted in imbeci- lity. He law Sir Ciitibrd frequently, but found him inextricably fhacklcd by his partialities, and fo watched by his family, that had his doting afforded any lucid in- tervals, it was almoft impoffiblc to have availed himfelf of them. The ladies he faw looked on him with a jealous eye ; and the elder having lately talked to him in .a wonderfully civil itrain of a letter livings and her mtereji with the Duke, who had novv one vacant, he faw it was in contemplation to remove him^ which, had the advantage been ever fo great, was ^ , ,- benefit ( '85 ) benefit he did not at that time chute to accept, any more than the invitations given him repeatedly to the dances at By- ram Park, the dinners at Mr. Lafliter's, or they>7e'j- at the Duke's^ Of the letter which Peregrina had ad- dretTed to the juftice, as well as corapaf- iion of her grand-father, no one but Lafli- ter was informed ; for he, affiduous friend I perceiving Sir Clifford's declining facul- ties, and anxious to fpare him and his fer- vants trouble, was fo obliging as to inter- cept his letters at the poll-offi.ce, and thus efie6taall.y fecured the old gentleman from feeing fuch as might give him uneafinefs. Thole he detained,it muft be con fefTed, were feldom Inch as he thought of importance ; they were generally of the fupplicating clafs, and aimed at that weak fortrefs, Sir Clifford's humanity. Thus, if he did inr- advertently ruin an induftrious tenant, or get the Baronet a few curfes, for a flinty- hearted landlord, what then ? hefavedhis pocket. ( '8'5 ) pocket, and comforted himfelf in his pious concern for his eafe, by the old obferva- tion,tbat *'\vhatthe eye never fees the heart never rues." What ufe conld it be of to dillurb a man on his death-bed with com- plaints ? The letter from Mifs Lamorne had, to- gether with all other fulpedted papers, been carefully opened ; and as it was part of this diligent agent's policy, to truft, not even his wife, whom he already began to think too cunning for him, he had, with- out helitation, replied to it in a way that he doubted not would prevent all further application from that quarter. Thus were matters circumflranced ; and chafing Broome had made a rcfolution to let the parties go on a little farther, and then at once to overwhelm, at leaft Mrs. Grubb, when one morning, after a grand fupper given at Byram Park, to his Grace, bis Lordfliip, and alHhe admiring country J . gentle- ( 'S;. ) gentlemen of the neighbourhood, juft as the day began to dawn, Lady Jemima haf- tily entered her daughter's apartment, and very properly taking no notice that fhe was not alone, the bid her rile inllantly, for I dear Sir Clifford had rung his bell, and ' was found in a fit. i The young lady, however found afleep \when her mother began to call her, was lin no danger of another nap. While haf- itily putting on her clothes, fhe ran over in ^iher mind, probable confequences as cer- tain futurities, and really evinced no fmall prefcnce of mind. As little was her recol- ie6lion clouded, when, on entering Sir CliiTbrd's room, fhe faw his attendants hindered by their feelings, from the necef- Tary exertions for his recovery ; and when Lady Jemima, who flood at the foot of the )ed, holding up her ready handkerchief to Irown her voice, vvhifpered to her, " He annot live ten minutes ;" fhe was enough lerfelf to reply, * ' but, good God ! there ['- is. ( i88 ) is no will." Such a cbarmlnfr tliinc; is fclf- polieflion under fevere trials ! This confideration, which at the mo- ment was abforbed in Lady Jemima's ha- bitual hope, and mechanical certainty of happinefs in the old man's death at any rate, gave motion to her limbs, and drew her nearer to the moribond. Either the application of the apothecary,, the prayers of his fervants, or the; rallying vigour of his conftitution, faved Sir Clif- ford once again from the yawning grave ; and in a few hours his recolle6lion had returned, and he gave hopes of recovery ; for at prefent the company were unani- mous in hoping that he would live at leaft Ions enou'i'h to make a will ; which Laf- liter, who had bv^en duly roufed to his aid., aifured them with a phlegmatic certainty, was yet to be done. Who fliould prompt the bufmefs, was dcl^ated in the next room. Laffitcr, accuilomed to the workj . , ■ had ( iSc; ) l)ad no reluctance, but Lady Jemima thought it better to come from one of the family ; perhaps the rogues could not trufi: each other. Be that as it may, Ara- bella was appointed to vifit her grandfa- ther^ to beat up his pillow for him, and, handkerchief in hand, to do whatever could convince him of her great love, and his great danger ; two convi(Sions which fhe faw would forward his making a will without delay, and that in her favor. But either difdaininjr even the fliadow of felfiflmefs, or fearful that if dear mama was not duly and largely remem- bered, fhe might tell tales of Mr. Charles Grubb, when (he had, with the utmoft delicacy, hoped that her dear grand papa had fettled all his affairs ; fhe added, on her knees befeeching pardon, that fhe had no other motive for her inquifitivenefs, but her fear that that dear woman. Lady. Jemima, who had always been a mother to her, fliould again be left as Mr. Byrann hai ( 190 ) had left her, without a provliion. Sir Clifford in a faint voice applauded her goodnefs, and affurcd her her wifh fhould be fulfilled. The phyfician eoming to make his equally difinterefted vifit, Arabella with- drewj to report her progrefs. Next went Lady Jemima herfelf : fhe was forry to hear her beloved father thought of difturbing himfelf by making a will. Surely if Elizabeth's mother was, as was now proved, Mr. Byram's wife, a very fhort bequeft of his property was fuf- ficient. For herfelf, as Ihe knew fhe me- rited nothing, fhe expe6ted nothing ; fhe had experienced too much lindeferved kindnefs from him already, to afk for more : her girls muft learn to get their living, as their father had left them no- thing ; and for herfelf, Mifs Byram's at- tachment and promifes of aflillance were fufficicnt — it did not become her now, incon- ( 191 ) inconliderate as fhe had been, to aim at independence. Sir Clifford aflured her that both Ihe and her children ihould he benefitted by his will, which, if fhe would fend for Lafliter, he would give him direc- tions to make. The lawyer had gone home, and when fent for, came in no very pleafant agita- tion. That tirefome rafcal, Dennis, was again returned, and he had been detained half an hour to hear his tedious complaints of his London expedition in fearch of a friend, and in contriving fome means of locking him up till he could get rid of him, or Sir Chffoid. " And what have you done with the fool ?'* laid gracious Lady Jemima. " Why, I have perfuaded him that it Is death to him to be f iii abroad ; and as he can write a tolerable flourifhing hand, though 1 doubt whether he can read it when ( 19^ ) when he has done ; T have propofed to keep him as a clerk for a few days, and I have locked him up to make pot-hooks iand hangers by himfclf." . . i i '^ A good fcheme, verily — now go in to old CUff." Laffiter, an obedient hufband, obliged Ills lady, but not quite with the difpoiltion fhe fuppofed ; for finding Sir Cliifoi'd, as 'from his experic'^ice he expected, jufl: ca- pable to do an a6l, but hardly io judge of if; he took his dire61ions, and foon puz- zling him' with law cant about trnjls arul uJeSy he convinced him that it was necel- fary, if his will w^as defigned to be of any cife(9:, that he fhould be nominated fole truftee for thole, in whofe favour it was to be made. He then hied home, like a rat with a flice of bacon, to mumble his prey according to his own fafhion. ' ' The ( 193 ) The draft was made thnt afternoon, and read by Lailiter in due loriii to the teftator and the ladies ; he being; particularly- careful, as all his iraiifa6lions had been ever fair and above-board, that thofe whom it concerned fhould know what he had committed to paper ; he wifhed to be certain he had not miftaken Sir Clifford's meaning ; people could not be too careful in fuch important matters as deeds ; the interefts of whole families depended on their accuracy, and the honefly of thofe who made them ; for his part he always counted money after his own father, for the beft in the world might err, and he knew an inftance of a gentleman, a client I of his, &c. &c. &c. " We arc all perfectly fatisfied," faid : Sir Clifford, " I only wifh to make every t thing clear, that what I mean for the 'benefit of my family, may not be fpent in ilaw." ** Certainly ( 194 ) ^ Certainly-^certamly — a very proper conlideration, my good Sir — I wifh every body on their death-bed were as care- ful. Would you like any body elfe to overlook the papers ? Perhaps Mr. Broome, though, indeed, I am afraid his greedinefs would be hurt — he will think jfifty pounds very little, I fancy, if 1 may guefs from his talking fo largely^ " Let it be an hundred then, faid Sir Clifford," fearing he had not been liberal enough* " O, no, by no means," faid Laffiter ; *^ I only jufl thought how the Levite would like fifty pounds, after he had boafled that you deiigned him the advow- fon of the living.'* " I muft have mifled him, then," faid Sir Ciiffcid, " by fomething I may have faid ; for Broome is a very honeft man." The ( '93 ) Tlie Ichemc of getting poor Broome's name excluded with ignominy from the will, faihng, it would have been idle to have tried farther. Sir Clifford ratified by Iii'5 approbation what he had heard, and the ladies made proper faces to fhew their gratitude, the one tor the noble bequeft of fJ:e ivhole of her gnnndfather s p-operiy^ fubjecl: only to the payment offome annui- ties, and a few legacies of linall amount ; tiie other for a rent charge on the efiate, of five hundred pounds annually, during the life of lierlelf, or either of her daugh- ters, SirClifibrdintrcated that no time min-ht \ be lofi: in ingrolling the will, but thr^t, in as fi.mple a form as was confifient with the fafety of his property, it might be got ready immediately to be executed ; Lafiiter undertook to prepare it with his own : hand, and having in truth devoted the whole night to the important bufinefs, he Tv'ent the next morning with the will in ¥,0L. IV. K liis { 194 ) his pocket to wait at Byram Park a proper hour for executing. He heard that Sir ChfFord had pafled the night quietly ; and had he not ilopt the old butler in his career of eloquence^ he might probably have heard that there was lets chance than he wilhcd of his client's embarkation on the river Styx. Lady Jemima and Arabella, whom no- thing could prevail on to quit the cham- ber for a better repofe, and whom the joy in profpe6t had kept tolerably vigilant nurfes, met Laffiter, and open mouthed, began to report their obfervations : he flopped them to inquire what chance he had of admiflion, and hearing that Sir Clifford had already expreffed his impati- ence for his coming, he foon obtained an audience ; and having, as ftrenuoufly as he thouglit proper, urged the old gentle- man not to rely wholly on him, but again to hear the will in form, and being allured by his avoiding this delay, that he was ^ fafe. ( 19^ ) ihfe, he called in the witneiTes ks had brought with him, juft to fave time, and having put the pen into Sir Cliiford's hand, a will was executed in due form, by which, not in tj-iifl, but for his/oh ufe, Byram Park, and every part of the family property, except fome fmall legacies, left for a cover to his pretenlions, and a fop for any Cerberus, was bequeathed to Wil- liam Lafliter, attorney at law. The will, as fafell: in legal hands, was committed to the cuftodyof him who made it, who now cared not how foon that was in his iron cheft, or Sir Clifford in his coffin, Mr. Broome, whom his patron's fudden attack had more ferioufly and more diiin- tereftedlv alarmed, was amonefft the iirfl to make inquiries after his rcll, and learnt from the fervant that their mafter was then making his will ; he therefore fore- bore fending his meffage in, but in his return home, being overtaken by the apo- thecary, he learnt to his great comfort, K 2 that ( 19^ ) that Sir Clifford, though extremely dil- pofed to think himfelf at the point of death, was in reality much better, and would probably in a few days be at his ufual ave- rage of health. They parted, and Broome went towards home, deeply mufing. CH.v?. ( 197 ) CHAP. xin. All this time Dennis had fpent in du- rance or in fleep : he had been kept, un- der pretence of his own danger, locked into his mailer's own pecuhar office, where he had been employed in copying a ufelefs paper, till the time of reft : he had been depolited for the night in a clofet ad- joining to his mailer's room, and had been let out in the morning to purfue his oc- cupation, which not at all fuiting his ge- nius, efpecially unaffiiled by his morning dram, he began to think confinement a worfe punilliment than any Mr. Broome; or even Sir Clifford, would inflicil:, and at the fame time to meditate on the poffibi- lity of getting out at the window, and K 3 fijcaling ( I9S ) -ilealing over to the oppolilc public houtc for a little recruit offpirits, unoblerved. He fucceeded in his fcheme, fo far as to get his dram in peace ; but in cro fling the way to return, the only perfon he cfpied was Mr. Broome, who with folded arms, and eyes rivetted to the ground, was returning home from the Park. Occupied as Broome's mind then was, Dennis might have palTcd him unnoticed, had he not betrayed himfelf by a doleful exclamation on his own ill fortune. At- tra6led by his voice, his quondam mafler immediately recollected him, and in gentle terms inquired why he had abfented him- felf, and where he had been. Dennis hefitated and flamraered in a manner that fufficiently fhewed his contrivance to be at work on, and at a lofs for a faility. Mr. Broom.e relieved him from his diftrcfs, by alarming him about Sir Clifford, of whofc i ( 199 ) vvhofe increafed illnefs he was totally ig- norant. It was impoffible for the fimplicity of Dennis to conceive that any one who ex- prefled concern for another, could be re- ally uninterelled in the good or evil of their deftiny. He therefore, when Mr. Broome fpoke with dejection of Sir Clif- ford's iituation, and his own fears for his fafety, inftantly forgot the cautions of Mr. Lafliter, and faw in Broome one of his old mafler's befl friends. Soured by the confinement of his prefent employment, he was willing to rifk fomewhat of his fe- curity to efcape from it ; and confidering Mr. Lafhter's houfe as a place which no news of Sir Clifford reached, he promifed to confefs all that had paffed, would Mr. Broome once again admit him into his fa- mily. Tlie matter was nearly arranged, when La (Titer paffed by : Brooine ex- pe6lrd him to fpeak. Dennis awaited his wrath, but fcouling at both, he touched K 4 his ( 200 ) liis bat to tlic parlbn, and went on ; lie had gone only a few paces, when he paf- fed again, and returned towards the Park with a quicker pace. His builnefs there was to fpread tlie alarm among the fadion, and if poffible to ruin Broome in Sir Clifford's opinion. Having free accefs to the iick chamber, he boldly made his way thither, and report- ing the return of Dennis, and the counte- nance given by Broome to a vagabond, whofe defign could be nothing lets than the conducting a gang of his countrymen to pillage the manhon-houle, he re- queued Sir Clifford's authority for friglit- ening Mr. Dennis Geoghegan out of the place. '* I have no proof of his ill intention;^,"' faid Sir Clifford : " the rafcal is apt to get drunk ; but I believe he is honeft." ■• .:^... TllC ( 201 ) The credulity of the old gentleman's nature was the virtue by which Mr. Laf- fiter and his friends had fo greatly bene- fitted, and from which they promifed thcmfelves a golden harvcfl ; but in this inftance it proved a little inconvenient, for nothing lawyer Laffiter could fay had power to terrify Sir Clifford into a fufpi- cion of rafcal Doims. As little fncccfs had he in his C(jually moral attempt to deduce from Mr, Broome's liflening in the ftreet to Dennis, a natural propcnfity to harbour thieves, and promote the plans ot incendiaries. Thus failing, lie had no reran rfe bat in a confultation with Lady Jemima, in which thcv agreed to give fuch directions to the fervants as fnould effectually kceo Broome on the outadc ofihc b.oufe. Vv'licn. therefore, after a long continence with Dennis, the parfon went again to llie Park, vritii a refolution, whatever conleqneuov'S n>'ght await his [{ nierity, to tell Sir C'hf- ( 202 ) ford how grofsiy he had been impofed on, he was civilly informed that he could have no admiffion. He afked whofe order it was, and heard to his confolation that it was Lady Jemima's. He returned home again, refolvcd now on open v^ar. From the communications of Dennis, he was coniirmed in his belief that Mifs Byram was not the perfon fhe reprcfcnted ; and Dennis's obfervations next day at church, whither Sir Clifford compelled the ladies regularly to go, enabling him to fwear to the identity of Mifs Arabella, aluis Mrs. Gnthb, Mr. Broome taking him with him in a poU chaife, fet off for London to confult a legal friend on the method he fhould pur- fue. Danger was apprehended as foon as his departure was known; and it being un- derflood from his curate, that his flay would not exceed three or four days, all of ( 203 ) of the party, who could with any pro- priety fpeak on the occalion, _ urc^ed on the great wedding; but unforUiiiately for them, Sir ClifFordhad once, when pleated with hearing Mr, Broome read the mar- riage otiice, promifed him, that if ever he had a relation, wht)m he could influence, a candidate for matrimony, he and he only fliould perform the lervicc. A pro- mife, however flightly made, was uni- formly binding on the mind of the baro- net, and he did not feel his confcience at all relaxed by the near approach of that hour when its accounts were to be made up. All the eloquence of the world could not have moved liitn ; and as his opinion of thofe who urged him would have be^n far from improved by their perfeverance^. they were forced, for their own fakes, tO' reft contented with his fixing the follow- ing Saturday, provided Mr. Broome, whofe ablence and neglecl; had, not- witliltanding, a lilUe piqued him, liiouid be returned. K 6 CHAP, ( 204 ) CHAP. "XIV. PeregrinAj after a journey, the ex- treme anxiety of wliich had been varied only by tlic tirefome loquacity of Mrs. Earle, who knew nothing of her views or diflTefTcs, and who was ftill M'lfs Sally cnou2:h to think a iaunt to Lwinim a glorious thing, and a refidcnce amongft Tuuity Quakers a mifcry fhe might now very prudently fet at defiance, by engaging in another place. Her joy when fhe found that a lady of (|uality's lioufe was to be their refidcnce, vvoi;M have amufed a mind at eafe^ even withoiit penetrating the deep f<:lienics in lur head of rccominendinjr hcrfelf to tlie O great gentlemen cf whom fhe f;'.:icied tlic Coun- ( ^05 ) CoLinlefs's houfc c.ompofcd ; for -.had honefl: Sarah been told that Lady Cdttiibrooke maintained half a dozen fecretaries of ftate, and as many maders of the horfe, file would not have contradicted her in- former. When, therefore, Peregrina^s grateful exclamation of, " Thank God, we are ar- rived !" taught her that the door the ciiaife flopped at was Lady Cottifbrookc's, fne was difappointed at feeing a brick front that ranged with tl>c flreet, and a few windows refic^iing the light from the door lamps. Of London flie remembered only the great houfes of the nobility, and ihe began to think herfelf and her annihi- lated three thoufand pounds, little inferior to Lady Cottiibrooke and her preten- iions. A coach backed from the door to let the chaife come up ; but Pcregrina was infen- liblc of all but delay. The houfe door -svas { 206 ) was open ; fomc body lent her a hand to alight ; fhe did not know it to be Hamil- ton Courtland ; flie looked round for the ftranger cfcort, but he was gone ; and while Sarah, half in, half out of the chaife, was exclaiming, " My gcmini, what a poor place !" Peregrina Hipped up the well-known Hairs, and bounding into the drawing-room, threw herrv.^ll", unable to fpeak^ into Lady Cottilbrooke's extend- ed arms, while Lady Almerina and Lauy EHex felzed her hands, and Hamilton •waited a paufe to addrels her. Sarah in the mean time was conducted to the houfe- keeper's apartment. A hearty cry relieved Peregrina's fuf- pended faculties, and enabled lier to aik Lady Cottifbrooke if fhe had expecSled lier coming. She replied that the had, but that the caufe of it was very myftcrious ; *' for," faid fhe, " my information tame by a penny poll letter, witb.out a name, but v/hich Ham is certain comes from the fame ( 207 ) i'ame quarter as the warning that procured mc firft the plealure of your company. You lliall Tee it.'* Pcregrina took the billet, and read in the hand writing of Ami Bonange, thele words : *' YOU have an excellent heart^ — you can feel for the miferies of your fellow creatures — you can participate their felici- ties. Peregrina Lamorne is coming to you — fhe will be with you probably at an early hour this evening — be again a guar- dian to her — be the friend you have been. *' As foon as fhe arrives, without a moment's unneceflary delay, accompany her to the Royal Hotel, Pall Mall, there inquire for Lord Armathwaite's apart- ments ; fend in no name, but defire to fpeak with him alone." " Now," ( :^o3 ) f' Now," fold Lady Cottllbrookc, as •fhe received the myflerlous paper from Miis Lamorne, " 1 am ready to do exactly ^vhat I am enjoined, though I really do not underlland it. I liave the carriage at tlie door in waiting, and I think the iboncr 3':ou go the better. We will take Hamilton with us ; I ilippoie you know more of tlie matter than we do." '^ I only know," faid Peregrina, ''from a letter I had to-day at noon, and from the man who brought it, that 1 have Ibme chance of iiearing fome particulars refpe6i- ing my poor mother ; but I imagined it was liere I war, to learn them. I do no^t like going to Lord Armathwaite : he is brother to Lady Jemima Byrara, tD wiiom I am under no obligations ; for her treat- ment to me has been cruel. Mifs Byram, who never w\is kind to me, is in his fa- mily, and I dare fay I ihall experience Irom tlicoi nothing but contempt and liaoghrr ( 209 ) liauglitinels. What can Lord Arma- thwaite know of my mother ?" '* He is lately married/' faid Hamilton. " To whom?" faid Peregrina, with in- difFerence. " I forget her name — ihe was a widow— of no family, I believe." " Indeed, Madam," faid Mifs La- morne, " I do not like to go." " Shall I go and reconnoitre ?" faid Hamilton. " I would with all my heart j but I am a poor ambaflador, and with us you need not be afraid. I will not leave the room, and I am fure my mother would prevent your being treated cavalierly." Peregrina relu<5lantly yielded, and they fct out. Lord ( 210 ) Lord Armathwaite's part in this bufinefs had been allotted him by a billet which reached him at Chartham, where he and Mrs. Halnaby were painfully watching Joanna's recovery from the efFecls of her fed ulcus attendance on Mifs Byram, whofe ingratitude and obduracy made every fuc- ceeding day an addition of vexation. The billet contained only thefe words : *' DO you know any particulars con- cerning Joanna Doveridge, daughter to the lafl Lord Doveridge ? " Direct your anfwer to A. B. Parlia- ment coffee-houfe. ** Refl quiet — you will hear from mc again." This laconic query, as fomething to amufe the extreme deje6lion of Lady Ar- mathvvaite, the Earl ihev/cd to her : cu- rioiily was almofi extintl in her boibin : /be- ( 211 ) • Ihe could not believe that the world had aught but mifery to beftow ; for fhe judged, and furely fhe was exculablc, ihe judged from her own experience ; and ihe could call Heaven to vvitnefs, that though few, " evil had been her days." Lord Armathwaite, afTuming the flyle of his correfpondent, anfwa'ed by the return of the pofl, *' YES ; fhe is my wife. « ARMATHWAITE." And with lefs fang fro'id than his lady, waited farther communication. A fpecial meflenger on horfcback, more expeditious than the mail, on the follow- ing evening left another billet at Chart- ham, and galloped off, as if fearful ofdif- covery : the fervants faid he looked like a gentleman, but did not fay more than to aik if he was right. His billet was this : " IN- ( 212 ) ''- INSTANTLY fet out for London-- lake with you Joanna Doverldge — go to to the Royal Hotel, Pall Pall, and wait there till you are a Iked for." " / cannot go," faid Lady Arma- thwaite, wlien the Earl haflily read the injundion. " My exiftence can be of importance to no one — the world was al- ways my enemy, and I for ever have re- nounced it." ** You mufl not talk fo, my Joanna,'* faid Mrs. Halnaby ; " I fhall infift on your going. With ^'our hulband there can be no danger, and perhaps the happi- nefs of fome one clfe, if not yoisr own, may depend on it. I will go with you." " But what am I to do with my daugh- ter ?'' " She will be very fafc here ; or you may take her with you." '' I had ( 213 ) '^^ I had rather take her — I Ihall be afraid of ibme mhchief if fhe is left with the fervants." The point was prelently fettled — the coach was ordered for an early hour in the morninci;. Mrs. Lewis was taken to at- tend the ladies, and by live in the after- noon the party were in Pall Mall, and Mifs Byram was in raptures with the new exiftence Ihe was introduced to. Lady Armathwaite, difgufted with the buttle, and extremely fatigued with her journey, had retired after dinner to lie down. Mrs. Halnaby was fitting in her room watching her. Mifs Byram was '. committed to the care of Mrs. Lewis, and lolling out of the two pair of flairs win- I dow to regale her eyes with the lamps and ilambeaus, when Lord Armathwaite was liold that two ladies and a gentleman in- ■quired for him. He ( 214 ) He delired they might be introduced. Lady Cottilbrooke led the way ; Pere- grina in her morning drefs, and with her veil down, followed in the expectation of nothing pleafant. Captain Courtland, all curiolity, brought up the rear. Chairs being placed, the Earl begged the company to be feated ; he looked ear- ncfily at Pcregrina's figure, but her veil was, by candle-light impenetrable, and his ejes returning to Lady Cottilbrooke, he fa id, " you are a tlranger to me, Madam, may I know your bulinefs ?'* " I could almoft, my Lord, aik that quell ion of you : I come here with this young lady, in confequence of a letter I received this morning." The Countcfs then produced it: he read it, and Imiling, anfwered, " This feems the counterpart of that which brought me hither, which I will produce to you when we are a little better ( 215 ) better acquainted. On whofe account pray am I honored with this vifit ?" " On this young lady's," faid Lady Cottifbrooke. " Then may I afk yoii^"' faid he to Pe- regrina, ^' how I can affift you ? What hyoiir bulinefs ?" *' I come," faid fhe, throwing up her veil, and burfting into tears — " I come only to alk if you knew my mother." " Your mother ! Who was your mo- ther ?" *' Speak for me, Lady Cottifbrooke, for I cannot." Her Ladyfhip immediately related what Ihe had learnt of Mifs Lamorne, in their way to Pall Mall, which extended no farther than to inform Lord Armathwaite, 2 that ( 2l6 ) that by accident fhe had heard that her mother, whom Ihe fuppofed dead, was Joanna Doveridge ; that it was feared her conduA had been faulty, but that her daughter wifhed for every fatisfaclion re- fpe6ting her memory. ^' I can give her none,^' faid the Earl ; " there mud be fome miflake; Joanna, the dauii;hter of Lord Doveridge, had but one daughter, Elizabeth Byram, and fiie is now in the houfc." '^ There can be no Elizabeth Byram but myfelf," faid Peregrina. " I will fend to lady Armathwaitc, if you pleafe," faid his Lordfhip, " or Mifs Byram fliall come to you." •^^ Your lady I am a flranger to," faid Lady Cottlfbrooke ; " fhe cannot, I fup- pofe, fay any thing on this bufinefs." « If ( 217 ) *^ If you are Lady Cottifbrooke, and I think I heard this young lady call you fo, my wife is no ftrangcr to you. Let me fend to her." " Did fhe know my mother ?" faid Pe- regrina, crying. " Good God !" exclaimed Lord Arma- thwaite, *' what a ft range mifunderftand- ing ! Why, Lady Armathwaite was Joanna Doveridge — is that a fecret ?" ^' Be cautious," faid Hamilton, '' Mifs Lamorne is fainting." The door was opened, a fafh was thrown up, and with almoft: equal tendernefs on the part of her friends and the ftrange Earlj fhe was recovered. Is my mother your wife, my Lord? Did you fay fo ?" faid fhe eagerly, but faintly. Vol. IV. L "lam ( 2lS ) " I am fbrry to fay," he replied, '' fhc cannot be your mother, but fhe was Mifs JDoveridge, then Mrs, Byrara, now my wife." " Then ilie is — indeed fhe is my mo- ther." • . " I will fend for her — but pray, pray do not flatter yourfelf — you diilrefs me ex- tremely." He rang the bell. *' I do not flatter myfelf, indeed, my Lord," faid Peregrina, *' the mull be my raother — I am fure fhe is my mother." ** What proof have you of it ? I could almoft wilh it were fo ; for upon my life I am interefted in your diflrefs, but it is impoffible — O, here comes Lady Ar- mathwaite." Peregrina had at the moment in her hand the miniature of her mother, which : . fhe ( 219 ) fhc meant to produce as a proof; but on light of Lady Armathwaite, whom fhe in- flantly recognifed as her Margate friend, fhe rufhed forward in a diilradllon of allonifliment ; the piclure dropped on tlie carpet, and flie flood motionlefs as a l^atue, while Lady Armatliwaite, who had not yet been made acquainted with the ar- rival of the perfoDS expelled, with per- turbed joy welcomed them as her former acquaintance, and in her weak flate of health could fcarcely bear even this fhock. Being fcated on a fopha, whither Pcre- grina followed her, flie began to make the ullial inquiries ; but findhig Lady Cottif- brooke extremely at a lofs for words, and on cafting lier eyes towards Mifs I^,- morne, whole hand flie held, perceiving her in tears, fhe grew alarmed, and trembling begged to know whatfo agitated her. L ^ ?' Q,. y.OM ( 220 ) " O, you are my mother ; I am furci you arc my mother/* anlvvered Peregrina, recHning her achhig head on Lady Arma- Ihvvaite's fhoulder. *' \, your mother ! my dear," fhe re- plied, without emotion ; " you have heard mc fay, indeed, that I wifhed it, but it is not my happy lot. What can have made you imagine it ?" " O, the pidlure ! the pidure !" was all fhe could anfwer. Lord Armathwaite had picked up the miniature, examined it by a light at the farther end of the room, and then with- drawn. Peregrlna was in agonies at miffing him and the miniature : fhe could proceed no farther in her explanation, but raved for the pi(?lure ; and juft as Lady Arma- ihwaite, whom her violence terrified, had rung ( ^^-I ) rung a bell near her to inquire for the Earl, he entered, and requefted to fpeak in private with tlie young lady. Hamilton infifting on being allowed to accompany her : Lord Armathwaite fmiled at his cir- curalpe61ion, and permitted him to follow to the next apartment, where in great emotion ftood Mrs. Halnaby. She kindly embraced Mifs Lamornc, of wliofc errand fhe knew fcarcely the outline, but tried ta foothe her, as if fhe fufpedled a derange- ment of her intelledts. " You are very good," faid poor Pere- grina ; " indeed I am rejoiced to fee you ; but I am almoft diftra61ed — my heart will break, if I have not the pidlure again. Why did you take it away, Sir ? Pray give it me — my father gave it me when he died — he faid it would tell me who I was." " Good God !" faid Mrs. Halnaby, in a low voice, " fhe has lofl her fenfes." L 3 ^* Stay," ( 2,22 ) '' Stay,'* faid Lord Armathwaite, as he feated himfelf in a chair next to that in which he had placed Mils Lamorne ; *' be calm for your own fake, my dear young lady; here is your picSture — keep it yourfelf, and be afllired you are with thofe who will pay the utmofl attention to what you fay. Let me call for a glafs of wine for you, and then you fhall tell me as diftinclly as you can, what you mean by faying Lady Ar- mathwaite is your mother. She knows of no fuch daughter as you, though I am fare Hie would be proud to own you, for ihe often talks of you." " She vmji own me," faid Peregrina fliarply, ** for I am fure I am her daughter." She then with great difficulty, having fwal- lowcd the wine brought her, gave a tole- rably coherent account of all fliC knew of herfelf, and with inexpreilible joy Lord Armatliwaite owned her proofs fubftantial, though they fell fhort of afcertaining her identity. He told her that Lady Arma- thwaite's ( ^23 ) thwaite*s injured iiate of health rendered every precaution that could fave her fpi- rits necefTary : he repeated what he had before faid of the Ehzabeth Byram then in their family, and endeavoured to prepare her for a doubtful conteft, to which he candidly owned his previous acquaintance with her merits, by his lady's report, and the interefl he felt for her diftrefs, made him wifh fuccefs : hq then produced to her a fmall piece o( written paper, which in the fall of the miniature picture he faid had efcaped from it. Peregrina could not believe it had any fuch contents. *' I aflure you on my honor," faid he, *' the pi(5ture opened ; the back feparated on one fide from the fetting, and the pa- per is a certificate of your birth." " I want no forgeries," faid Peregrina, *' to lubftantiate my claim. I a(k only to be acknowledged, and then I will re- tire to the dependance I am, I fee, doomed L4 to ( 224 ) to 1 am fure Heaven will not permit me to be denied by my own mother." *' For my part," faid Lord Armar thv/aite, " I with all my foul with well to your caufe, though I fear your vehemence, if you are right, will be almoft fatal to my wife. If you fufpedl me of mocking you, only look at the picture, and when you are convinced it might contain this paper, I will ihew yoa the contents." She tock out the miniature, which in her diftradled terror of loiing it, fhe had dropped into her bofom, and fhe could not doubt Lord Armathwaite's veracity, when he taught her how to feparale the parts, and flie faw a ipace fufficient for the paper between the gold and the ivory. She now begged to fee what was written, and finding it a full recognition of Eliza- beth, as the daughter of Lambert Byram, and Joanna Doveridge, with the date of their marriage, and her birth, fhe ex- claimed, ( 225 ) claimed, *' This then it was that my dear father told me would certify my birth,'" and dropping on her knees, with flream- ing eyes and clafped hands, in frantic de- votion fhe begged " that he who left not himfelf without a witnefs, would regard the low ellate of his handmaid, and plead her caufe in the hearts of his creatures." Mrs. Halnaby, affe(9:ed even to tears, could fay nothing to calm her. Courtland^ in univerfal tremor, fpoke to her in accents of hope, while Lord Armathwaite, every fibre of whofe heart, accuHomed as it was from early days to fufFering, was wrung by the energy of her chara6ler, could no ©therwife be of fervice to her than by railing her from the ground, and befeech- ing her not to hinder her return to quiet, by giving way to fuch emotions. He ob- ferved to her, that her violence might be death to her mother, if fhe did not reprefs it, before he introduced her to Lady Ar- mathwaite. L 5 « Then,, ( 226 ) " Then, my Lord, you do acknow- knowledge me as the daughter of . O, Heavens ! I know not by what name to call my mother." *' You may call her very fafely 7ny wife,'* fald the Earl, endeavouring to cheer her by a fmile. — " Yes, from my foul, I do believe we have been grofsly impofed on, and that Providence will reftore us to happinefsinreftoring you to us ; but ceafe, my dearefl girl — try to corapofe yourfelf, that I may take you to Lady Armathwaitc, and haften a folution of tliis myf(.er)\ While you calm your fpirits, I will go and talk to your mother." *' My mother /" repeated Peregrina, as he quitted the room ; " O, my dear Ma- dam, even Lord Armathwaite himfelf, though the brother of cruel Lady Jemima, who would have buried me in the Eaft Indies, even he fays I have a mother. O, how proud I Ihall feel if I am allowed io caU ( 227 ) call her mother. I am fare Lady Arma- thvvaite feems too good to be afhamed of me. I have never done any harm^ though I know very little of the world. Where is the other Elizabeth? I fuppofe it is Mifs Bynim ; poor thing ! only think of being made to deceive ; I dare fay flie was obliged to it. I hope my mother will not be unkind to her — fhe will be fadly pu- nilhed'at heft — but I am fure my mother is too good to take any advantage of her — mv mother — O, my mother ! Captaia Courtland, indeed you are very patient with me and my folly — but only think what it is for me, who never knew I had a^ mother, to find mine now." Hamilton would have exprefled his fympathy, but her tongue was not to be flopped. " My dear Mrs. Halnaby," faid ihe, " I ditlrefs you ; but I cannot help it — indeed I am very happy ; for I am fure my mother will be convinced. But, O gra- cious heaven," faid fhe, linking in her chair, L 6 " it ( 228 ) *^ It is almofl too much for me.*' She then became quiet, and her tears, which Mrs. Halnaby could neither herfelf try to floj), nor permit Courtland to remonftrate againft, reheved her." While ihe was thus exhaufling her fpi- rits in the agitation of her mind, Lady Armathwaite remained in a fuUen oppoil- tion to every idea Lady Cottifbrooke would have awakened : fhe had been fo long habituated to the mifery of coniidering Mifs Byram as her own daughter, that Ihe feemed to prefer the evil ihe was acquaint- ed with, to a hope that might at laft de- ceive her ; but when Lord Armathwaite rejoined them, and to her queflions about the frantic girl, anfwered, that her prepof- feffion deferved confideration, and that he began to fufpedl very foul play on the part of Lady Jemima, fhe earneltly beg- ged that fhe might not be tortured with fufpenfe, or deluded with a vilion of un- real happinefs. The ( ^29 ) The Earl then coolly related what Mifs Lamorne had reported of herfelf; and fre- quently reminding her that nothing yet could prove her identity, he cautioufly communicated the circumftance of the pidlure, and remarked, that at leaft Mifs Byram, who it was pretended was beft en- titled to her father's kindnefs, had no fuch tefliraony to fhew. " But it maybe her right, and furrepti- tioufly obtained from her^" " Do you not think, with fuch a tern* per as her's, you would have heard of the outrage ?" *' She might not know of it ; I am igno- rant of the circumftances of Mr. Byram 's death, and previous illnefs — frequent frauds have been pra6lifed. If this young woman. Mils Lamorne, has any con.r uexion with the family, fhe muft be Mr. Byram's, and your lifter's eldeil daughter j and 4 ( 230 ) land I have little doubt that fhe is fo, and has clcaped from the care of her friendsi for you know Lady Jemima told you, when (he gave up Elizabeth to you, that her own daughter had been kept in the north, that fhe was called Elizabeth, and that fhe was in pcrfon and abilities what could be Wifhed. I believe too^ that Mi*. Byram died at his country houfe, where I fuppofe this girl then was. I have little doubt therefore that fhe is your filler's daughter, and I wifhicould pcrfuade myfelf ihe had been theperfon deceived, for then I fliould- think lefs ill of her than I do now. She muft be a vei*y bad young woman, and I dare fay well merits the chara6\er you had of her ; though I think had Lady Jemima, been as little partial to my daughter, fhe would have been more juft. Mifs Lamorne,. or Mifs Byram, or whatever fhe chufes to call herfelf, is a very beautiful and a very charming young woman, but fhe muft be very deceitful, and I have only to repent the accident that brought mc acquainted- with her." 3 *^WilI ( 231 ) '* Will you fee her yourfelf ?" faid Lord Armathwaite. " I had rather not, for It diftreffes me ;. but if you wifh it, I can have no objec- tion," His Lordfhip waiting for no other per- niilfion, fetched tlie exulting Peregiina,. whom Courtland and Mrs. Halnaby fol- lowed, not doubting that they were called to the delightful fcene of her acknowledg- ment. CHAP. ( 232 > CHAP. XV» But Lady Armathwaite was inflexible,, and when Peregrina on her knees intreated only her maternal benedi(^ion, fhe with averted eyes,^ and in convulfed agitation, begged that fhe might be releafed from an importunity her fpirits could not bear, and her judgment could not fandlion. *^ Surely," faid Lady Cottilbrooke, " this is unjuft prejudice. I do not fay that Mifs Lamorne^s identity is yet proved, but if I may judge of her from my ac- quaintance with her, and I have feen her in fome trying lituations,. ihe is incapa- ble of deception, and merits the utmoft refpe(5l and eftcem. I mufl not fee her fo treated : I am her voluntary guardian : ihe ( ^33 ) ilie relies on my care, and j aft Ice y^^?// be done her. If I had found her crafty, de- iigning, or felfifh, I might fufpedl as your Ladyfhip does, but fhe is an artlefs girl, and excepting the lingularity of her hav- ing fome presiding friend whom fhe cor- refponds with, and who I believe is not known to herfelf, I never faw any myllery about her that was not to be refolved by the misfortunes of her life, and that was not excufed by the delicacy every one mufl feel, whom the hand of necellity deprefles from their natural lituation." " I would not be thought pert," faid Courtland, " nor does it become me, in my Situation, to make the nature of my interell for our amiable friend a doubtful point; but it behoves me in her prefent dif- trefs,w4icn I fee her really treated with feve- rity, to vindicate her, as far as my know- ledge will enable me, from the fufpicions which I learn from my mother have been cafl on her. My acquaintance with Mifs Lamorne ( ^34 ) Lamome gave rife to a very tender regard for her, which I inconfiderately avowed. She was then, in her own judgment, en- tirely dependent on our family ; and my view was, I confefs, privately to have married her, and ri&ed all confequences* I knew that I pofleffed her friendfhip and her good opinion, and I hoped that this, together with the precarioufncfs of her comforts, might induce her to liften to me. She honorably confulted my mother, who, attached to her by her uncommon merit, and too earneft for my happinefs, would have made any facrifice to have brought about our union ; but Mifs La- morne herfelf oppofed it, left her want of fortune might dill rets my family : iTie quitted my mother's houfe to leffen my tmeafinefs : fhe moil difintereftedly re- called me from an error into which my paflion for her had led me ; and I may fay, fhe has facriliced her intcreltto her idea of jufticc. What were my fecrct rcafons for rciinquifliing her, I am not at liberty to divulge,.. ( 235 ) divulge, — fhe is ignorant of them : — but can fuch a young woman be fufpedled of fraud ? the man that intimates it muft prove it to w^." ** I am very willing to Aippofe," faid Lady Armathwaitc, *' that Mifs Lamorne has been deceived — fhe has been brought up under a falfe defcription — fhe may be, I grant, Lady Jemima Byram's daughter^ but fhe is not mine.'''' " Lady Jemima's!" repeated Peregrina ;. *' I, Lady Jemima's daughter ? I am fure fhe would not fay it." " But fhe has intimated it, my befl ; friend," faid Lord Armathwaite mildly to Iher, *^ you will therefore admit that there lis fome difficulty to be overcome. When II went, about a year ago, to inquire after lElizabeth, the daughter of Mr. By ram, iby his firll marriage, my fifter, Lady Je- mima, told me, and I am forry to be obliged C 236 ) obliged to mention it, that the perverfe- nets of her own daughter's, — her eldell: daughter's temper, had induced her and Mr. Byram to make an exchange ; to educate EKzabcth as her daughter, and to fend her daughter into the country as EUzabeth." " And who," faid Peregrina, with up- lifted hands and eyes — " who could be- lieve Lady Jemima ? Was it likely fhe would thus renounce her own daughter ?'* " As likely," faid Lady Armathwaite, " as that fhe fhould, as fhe muft in the other cafe have done, renounce her daughter to me, which I am as little inclined as you can be, to fuppofe any mother would do." " Come, my dear Madam," faid Pere- grina, weeping, and going up to Lady Cottifbrooke, '' I mufl flill be a burden to you ; take me away, I befeech you ; I expelled < 237 ) expct^cd cruelty, but not from Lady Ar* mathwaite." Lady Cottifbrooke rofe indignantly to " O, dear! dear!'' faid Mrs. Hal- naby, *' how diftreffing all' this is ! Sure, my Joanna, you are too ha fly ; why do you not fend for Mils Byram ?" " Send for her, if you pleafe," faid Lady Armathwaite ; " fhe can tell you no- thing more than that Ihe believes her jname to be Elizabeth Byram." " But fhe would know Mifs Lamorne,'*- ;faid Mrs. Halnaby. — " I will fetch her."^ i^> " You muft not tell her your errand,'* I (aid Lord Armathwaite. Mrs. Halnaby departed. Lady Cottif- Ibrooke and her fon tried to raife Pere- grina's ( ^3S ) grina's hopes ; and fhe was beginning t© cxpe6ljufiice from Mifs Byram's lips, when Mrs. Halnaby returned in the utmoll con- ilernation, and faid Mifs B)Tam was not to be found. Lady Armathwaite, confcious only of the prefent diflrefs, rang the bell furiouilvj and inquired for her fervant. Mrs. Lewis entered, with her Tipron at her inflamed eyes, and fobbing violently, fae declared fhe knew nothing of Mits : flie had only left lier to fetch her a glafs of water, and returning up tlairs, flir lotl her way, and before the could find it, Mifs was gone. The houfe was inftantlv in an uproar ; no one could give the fmalicll account of the mifling lady. I^dy Armathwaite could only repeat, that flie was certain tome in- terefted perlbn had taken Elizabeth out of the way ; and Lady Cottifbroolie perceiv- ( ^39 ) mg the efle(5l this fuggeftion was likely to have on Peregrina, inltantly prepared to leave the lioule with her. She told Lord Armathvvaite the fhould fend early in the morning, in hopes of hearing Mifs Byram was found ; and he, inclined to blame his lady's inflexibility, oiicred to call in New Norfolk-ftreet, to talk the matter further I over. The proportion was gladly ac- icepted by Peregrina's friends, but fhe her- liclf was almofl out of all condition of un- ;derflanding it. Captain Courtland lifted her into the coach, where flie remained, ■anable to rclift its motion, and nearly in a fl^ate of torpor, till fhe Hopped at Lady Cottitbrooke's. She was then lifted out by Hamilton and one of the fervants, and carried to the drawing-room, where her fi^upo" flill continuing, in Ipite of every ;ndeavor, fhe was foon conveyed to hec hamber, where Lady Almerina, no longer nfluenced by a diflinclion of rank, or hcF iwn luperiority, herfelf undrelledher, and palfed ( 240 ) pafTed the night in very meritorious endea- vors to mitigate her grief. Without the aid of fleep, and far more indebted to her own natural good temper, and her moral excellence, than to any ar- gument even the novel kindnefs of Lady Almerina could enforce, fhe was tolerably calm by the morning ; and when Lady Cottifbrooke at her firfl riling, came to make anxious inquiries, and to offer her every confolation in her power, flie found her rational and refigned, though ex- tremely dejecSled and exhauiled by the agi» tations of the preceding evening. " I have got a letter for you, my love,'* faid Lady Cottiibrooke ; " but as I have not prefumed to open it ; I am almofl afraid of its contents. Mrs. Blyford's man, who was at the door when it came, l^iys the meflenger was the fame that accompa- nied you part of the way to town. Peregrina 1 ( 241 ) Peregrina railing her head from the? pillow to look at the du'edion, knew the hand to he that of Ami Bonange ; and with trembling impatience read to hcrfelf thcfe words : " I AM lincercly grieved for yeflerday evening's fuccefs — I meant it better — I tremble for the confequences of your dif- appointment. My heart hied when I faw you hfted into your carriage. — But be comforted, my Peregrina — all may yet be w^ell. I have traced out Broome, who married your father and mother — for / have no doubts : lam now going to fetch him up from his living. Let me conjure you to wait patiently ; for though you may imagine that Broome's tcftimony can go no farther than to proving the marriage, ■1 have heard lately of fuch proceedings at Byram Park, as convince me he is, v/ithout knowing it, promoting your intereft. Vol IV. M " I dare ( 242 ) " I dare not fay, for 7ny fake be at peace ; b\it certainly till you forbid my hopes, I may afTure you, that fhould the whole world rile a^rainll you, you fhall ever find an unalterable friend in " AMI BONANGE." A little comforted, though flill fufpici- ous of all comfort, fhe left her bed, and prepared to receive Lord Armathwaite, who at an early hour was with them. " How is my mother, my Lord ? I low has Ihe pailed the nip;ht ?" were her firft quellions. ^' Do not, my dear," faid he, " indulge yourfelf in fuppolitions that it will bejjain- ful to corre(^t. My wife is far from well to-day ; but Mifs Byram was prefently found latl nii2;ht; fhe had, for fhe is a ter- riblc girl to manage — Ihe had got out for the childilh plcafure of looking into the ilr^et^ and a gentleman in the houfc, who bad ( 243 ) had been fo kind as to go out in quell ot her, foon brought her back : flic mull be watched hke a prifoner. But I am lorry to fay that I am difappolnted in a hope I had conceived from the ill-will flie has always appeared to me to bear us. T really did think {he would gladly have owned any thing to get away ; but flie fleadily per- liils ill it, that flie is the perlbn you think yourlclt." ^'^ Well,'' replied Peregrina, '• I refl content-^I had rather be the lufterer than the deceiver ; and if the proving my iden- tity is lb paintul to my mother, I would rather remain in dependence and obfcurity all my life." " You deferve a better fate," fa id Lord Armathwaite, turning from her to hide the expreffion of his features ; " I Ihall not fail to tell Lady Armathwaite how amiable y.Qur condu6l is." M 2 "Do ( 244 ) " Do you think," faid Peregrlna, " my Lord, that if Lady Armathwaite can be convinced I was not acceflary to the fraud, even fhould I be found in the wrong, {he w^ould forgive me, and allow me oc- calionally to fee her, for it would be a very great pleafure to me ?" " I will certainly mention your wifh, and you may depend on my befl of- fices." The matter was then difcufled fully. The Earl wasflill difpofed to belief, on the evidence of Peregrina's merit ; and perhaps not a little influenced by her perfonal re- commendations, and the comparifon be- tween her and the reigning princefs. With the kindell expreffions, and at leaft a luf- pcnded judgment, he left Mils Lamorne to ruminate on what had paft, and to puzzle herfelf to tind out how Ami Bo- nange could fee her come away from Pall Mall the night before. , And ( MS ) And now the yet unexperienced heart of Peregrina felt in all its force that na- tive fentiment which renders the approba- tion and protection of the one fex, as the mofl reqiiifite, the moft valuable poflef- lion of the other. On Ami Bonangc, whofoever he might be, for unworthy of her trufl fhe could not think him, the ilill in all its florms repofed her opprefTed mind. She knew herftlf not deflitute of a moft powerful friend : fhe knew all his adlions to be guided by that which gave them half their value, a lincere af- fe6lion, not fuch a paffion as could degrade her, or as fhe needed to fear, but one that had for its aim her happincfs, and which, fo far from endangering the moral fenfe in which fhe had been {o flridlly educated, was the befl fitted to encourage her againft the evils of this life, and to fortifv her againft its dclufions. She thought, that though Lady Arma- thwaite fhould prove inexorable, and fhould Lady Cottifbrooke's family arrange- ments oblige her to decline her prote6lion, M 3 as ( 246 ) as fhe imagined muft be, when the Earl returned, that fliould Martha Blyfojd overcome her fcruples, and on becoming Courtland's wife forget her, ftill when once Ami Bonange Ihould avow himfelf, flie could bear her misfortunes. Had not the intimation in his billet pro- hibited her, fhe would gladly have com- mitted the cffufions of her heart to paper for his perufal ; but not knowing how to addrefs him with any certainty of fuccefs, fhe amuled herlclf in writing to Mrs. Biy- ford ti detail of her woes, for her man, who was to fct out tliC next morning, to carry to her. She had juft fealed her letter, when J^ady Cottifbrooke came to her, and no longer able to po ft pone lier maternal intereft, fhe fpoke to her at large on the fubje(5l of Martha Blyford, and the chances of Hamilton's fuccefs. She — and furely if it was a fault, it was a venial one, faw her younger fon's me- 1 • rits ( 247 ) rhs in a light that reached not the defects Pcregrhia thought llie had ohferved in his cliaradler : the verfatility flic herfelf liad afcribed to him while at Margate, teemed now forgotten, though Ihe could no longer fancy Mifs Lamorne had fixed his wandering heart. Her Ladyfliip ap- peared to think her dear Hamilton could not err, at the fame time that her language implied a cenfure of his paffion for Pere- grine, who, however, little inclined to heap odium on one to whom fl '■ was certainly very highly indebted, could not compli- ment the fteadinefs of his partialities. Concerning Martha Blyford, fhe yevy frankly gave her opinion, faying as her heart dictated, whatever could make Lady Cot- tilbrooke wifli well to Hamilton, in his ap- plication to Mils Blytbrd ; flie could not difiipprove the plan propofed, which was that of Captain Courtland's feeing Mr. Blyford on the bufmels, at the firlt oppor- tunity ;, uor could Aie help admiring lla- M 4 milton's ( 248 ) miltoii's liumble penitence, when on join- ing them, and queilioning Mils Lamornc on the mifchlef he had done, and was in agonies to repair, he declared himielf ready, if his profeliion was the objediion, to part with his commiffion. His mother drily alTced him, if he would not go one ilep farther, and turn Quaker ; but he afilired himfelf that this would not be required, and hoped that one facrifice on each lide would bring them to an agreement. ; In a gloom of the moft diftreffing anxiety, which nothing but a vilit from Lord Arma- thwaite relieved, pafled Sunday and Mon- day, in which time Joanna, ftill dreading farther impolition, rejedled every offer of conviction from argument, and fecmed more than ever to fet her heart on Mils Byram, who, better tempered than ufual, condefcended to coax her into a compli- ance with all her wiflies. Accompanied by Mrs. Halnaby, who could refufe nothing to Joanna, llie was permitted to fpend th..' C 249 ) the morning of Monday, and a limited fum of money, in the purfuit and purchafe of trumpery ; and in the evening Lord Ar- mathwaite, whofe love for his wife would not allow him tohelitate, under certain re- flri(9:ions on the young lady's drefs, lan- guage, and deportment,, mortified himfelf by taking her to the theatre, while Joanna liftened to Mrs. Halnaby in lilence, or controverted with hopelefs lleadinefs the poffibilities fhe adduced. M 5 CHAP. ( 250 ) CHAP. XVI. Distressing as was the iituation ot poor Percgrina, thus rejedled, where fhc had placed her hopes of experiencing the iintaOcd pleafurcs of maternal tendernefs, and anxious as were all her friends for a decifion in her iavor, none of her or their iuffcrings were to be compared to the fufpicions, the mifgivings, the terrors^ the defpair, that lacerated and corroded the hearts of Lady Jemima and her party* The curate had been compelled to write to Mr. Broome, by the firft poft after his departure, to urge his return by the ap- pointed Saturday. The Duke and his fon were, in a civil way, watched like fuf- pec^ied perfons, IcH by any means un- pleafant tidings ihould reach their ears. Of ( 25. ) Of Sir Clifford there was little danger, for he as yet did not leave the houfe, and all his letters were properly examined ; but the greateft of all miferies confifted in the mutual kifpicion the party entertained one of another. Lady Jemima fufpecled from Lafliter's reluctance to produce the will, even to her, that it was not quite of the tenor he defcribed : he was not without fnfpicions that his right honorable wife, who he perceived lent no unwilling car to the fmooth compliments of the widower Duke, might, under liis protc(?lion, and in poffeffion of fecrcts ruinous to her luif- band, oppofe herfelf to his intereft, and become a formidable enemy. Both feared fome violent difturbance on the part of Arabella, whofe good underftanding with Mr. Charles Grubb was now a fccret to none but thofe whom it moft concerned : they imagined, for they did not believe it her intention to carry the fiirce to the church, by fuffcring the ceremony to be read there, that fhe relied on Sir Clifford's M 6 parti- ( ^5^ ) partiality for her,and had it in contemplation to throw herfelf on his mercy; and if flie was married to Grubb, it was thought not unlikely that fhe might procure a frefli will, accommodated to her circumflances, and utterly fubverfive of that the other le- gatees, for reafons beft known to them- felves, fo highly approved of. The fears of Arabella muft be confefled tljll better founded, and her dangers more to be appreliended. She knew it to be in the power of her mother to ruin her, and llie could not give her credit for forbear- ing, fhould opportunity prefcnt itfelf. She bore no great good will towards Mr. Lailitcr, with whofe near relationfhip to herfelf fhe was not acquainted; but fhe could not doubt from his forced civi- lities to her, that he confidered her as a rival in Sir Clifford's favor, whom he would gladly remove if it could be effe6led without danger to himfelf; and being aware of his privity to her deception, fne ■X hated. ( 253 ) hated, while fhe fneaked to him. Mrs. Browne, though not quite fo deep as the reft in the plot, had penetration enough to fee on how flight a bails of deception it was fupported, and feared all parties, even down to Mr. Charles Grubb, who was at prelent extremely fociable in the houfe- keeper's room, but who paffing ftill there for a gentleman of diftin6tion in his way^ and with MifsByramfor a rt'^?/ gentleman, in his turn feared, and every day expected his downfall. There was but one fentiment in which they all agreed, and that was in the utmoft dread of Mr. Broome, who, quiet in his deportment, humble in his manners, t^- mid in his temper, and endued with little beyond plain good fenfe, improved by learning, and made valuable by thorough integrity, was yet, though the ealieft de- prefTed, the lea ft likely to be fhaken from his duty»^ Of this feemingly powerlcfs being, who, Ihunning the world and its cabals. ( 254 ) cabals, could have lived ten years in a village without knowing the faces of the inhabitants, and who, in the general courle of things, detefted all inquiry into the tranfa6lions of his neighbors, who, in the abilraction of his fludies, might have been made to believe any thing of the fafliions of the world, — did a ganor, for they deferve no better appellation ! of the moft crafty, deep-witted impoflors, all aiming at their own feparate interefls, and pradtiting on a man the moft eafy of all the creation to be duped, ftand in awe ! and to the deflru6lion of their peace and rell did they guefs at his movements, and endeavour to fortify their omnipotence againfl his imbecihty. Mr. Broome had got about thirty miles on his way towards London, when a young gentleman in a poll-chaife, but unattended by a fervant, inquired for lilm at his lioafc, and hearing he was gone to town^ ( ^55 ) town, obtained a dirc6\ion for him, as if dcligning to follow him. While he ^Yaitcd for a frefh carnage and horfes, he al"ked many queftlons of the lervants re- fpec^ting the family at the Park ; and then dechning to leave his name or bulinefs, he, ])y favor of a clear moon, fet off again bv the way he came. Broon^e and Dennis getting fafe io town a little after midnight, took up their abode at an inn in Oxford Street, and not expecfting any inquiries after them io early, thought not of the genteeler cof- fee-houfe to which letters were to be for- warded, till the evening. The day was fpent in queft of law- yers, and after a variety of advice, it was decided that the bell tell of Mils By ram's claim to the honors flie enjoved at Byram Park, would be to court op- ponents by a public advertifement, for the produdlioa ( 256 ) produclion of Elizabeth, the daughter of the honorable Joanna Doveridge. On coming in the evening to his cofFee- houfe, Mr. Broome was told a gentleman, who had almolt every hour of the day in- quired for him, was then waiting up flairs. Broome, never paffionately fond of Itran- gers, would have got fome previous infor- mation before he introduced himfelf, but the gentleman had no peculiar marks, and the parfon rubbing his Ihoes on the mat at the foot of the flairs, could only proteft that he was a horrid dirty figure to fee a ilranger, and bolted forward to flun his riling timidity, leaving Dennis v/ith a ftridl; charge to drink nothing till he faw him. , . 'Their conference, it is to be prefumed, was important, for it lafted, notwithfland- ing Broome's fatigue, till the clock had ilruck one in the morning, when they parted^ •^si ) parted, with a proinile to meet again at ten o'clock : tlic flrange gentleman in no way divulging who he was, or how inte- relled in, or even acquainted with the bu- linefs of Mr. Broome's journey ; but giv- ing him every information he v/as in quefl of, refpecling Joanna Doveridge and iier daughter.' CHAP. ( 258 ) CHAP. XVll. After Lady Cottifbrooke*s hint at the myflerious intercourfe of Peregrina, with htr good genius, it was become almoft ne- ceffary to inform her of its nature ; and as it was on Ami Bonange alone, that her nearly expiring hopes depended, fhe found it impoffible, without a much larger fhare of hypocritical prudence than fhe pof- ft'iTijd, to be any longer refcn-ed on the fLibjedl:. She, therefore, fupprcfling only thefiatterino; opinion her /Wo p;///?? friend en- tertained of hicr, and his confequent predi- lection in her favor, dcfcribed to the Coun- itk the correfpondcnce that had fubfiftcd between them, not without hope that fhe might either guefs or betray to her to \\ l)om ilie was fo greatly indebted ; but Lady ( 259 ) Lady Cottifbrooke declared herfclf totally ignorant, with a dcgn-e of lerLoufnefs that cauld not be cjucftioncd. Some regimental orders, received late on Monday niglit, obliged Captain Court- land to lot off early the next morning to join his corps on the weftern road. Con- iidering the lituation of ilifpenle in which he left Mils Lamorne, interefting to all, and beloved by all, he felt this neceffity as a mortification, which nothing alleviated but the hope that before he returned, he f}i(;nM be able to fee Mr. Blyford, on whole acqniefcence he with more fleadinefs tlian Pcrcgrina's opinion of him had prog_ nofiicated, feemed to rely fur the future I quiet of his mind. '■ He fct out, before it was light, and wliilc tiie ladies were at breakfaft by thera- ifelves, a fmart knock at the ftreet door liawakened their attention. Lady Cottif- Jjrooke was all car for a mcflage from |-^ ■ ^ Pall ( 26o ) Pali Mall : Peregrina, though the hour, for the time of the year, was early, could not forbear fancying it was the poll with a letter from Ami Bonange, whole laft billet had taught her to fuppofe him fomewhere in the country. How v/ere they all difap- pointed, for even Lady Almerina had learnt to be interefled, and Lady EiTex, who could juft comprehend Peregrina's diftrefs, was ever ready to fympathize ; how difficult was it to put on civil faces, or for Mifs Lamorne to fupprefs the exclama- tion, " You tirefome creature !" when Sir Edward Bergholt was announced ; and as if difpofed for a morning's lounge, in fpite of Hamilton's abfence, trifled with the two young ladies of the family till the tea equipage was removed. To Peregrina, all vifitors would have: Appeared intruders ; for though her af- fuming cheerful nefs, or bearing any far- ther part in the converfation than replying to half a dozen common-place queries, was C 261 ) was difpenfed with, fhe felt as a painful reftraint the lofs of her privilege to figh, and to repeat to Lady CoftiiLrooke, who with unwearied patience liflened to her, her conje,6lures, her few hopes, and her many fears. Sir Edward's humor was fo various, that it did not particularly ftrike her attention that he was perfectly coherent, and might with moll people have palfed for agreeable (compapy. She had determined to quit (the room as foon as poffible, but forgot Iher Yefolution, when the fervants havinji retired, and Lady Cottilbrooke having taken up her work, he very gravely afkcd :her Ladyfhip if fhe had heard within a few days of her friends in Devonfhire Place. " The Haccombes, do you mean ?" ** YeS;, have you feen them lately ?'* ( 262 ) *' No, I ouglit to call there; but I have not taken any notice of them lince Mifs Lamorne left them, and I muck queftlon whether they have any greater wiili to fee me, than I to fee them." " Why, true, they did not, I confefs, Jh'ine there. I believe you may fpare the trouble of callinSir Edward \a ent into the next ■room, and fhe earneftiy begged they might jiotwait his return, as the incivihty was to be ( Z^7 ) be cxcufed under fuch circumftances ; but Lord Armathwalte feemcd to dread a rude adiion more than an unkind one. She was beginning to think of retreating fecretly with Lady Almerina, whom fhe knew Ihc could perfuade ; for ftill fhe had no idea of feeing her friend any where ])ut in Pall Mall, when the farther door was thrown open; and il/r. Bonange was an- no imced. P J CHAP; ( 3^8 ) CHAP. XX. Mr. Broome and Dennis performed their journey vvitl)Out interruption ; but, reaching their deftination at an hour when a vifit to Sir ChfFord could not be thought on, they retired to refl; ; and about ten the next morning, Broome, whofe anxiety had not fufFered him to cloie his eyes, pro- ceeded to the park, where, receiving a good account of the Baronet's health, but with it a civil and unwilling refufal to his requell of admilTion, he iirmly told the porter, that he knew it was not his mafier's wifh, though it might be Lady Jemima's order, that he fhould be denied : that he had been written to in London to hallen his return on bufinefs for SirCliflbrd ; and that, as a friend, he could aflure him, he would be much ( 3^9 ) much more In danger ot' tbrfeiting his jvlace by his obftinacy, than by his com- phance. This Cerberus not being by nature a growler, Mr. Broome prevailed on him, and going through the hall, he croffed on Arabella, who, in ecflacies at the fight of one fo neceflary to her happinefs, afTured Jiim gnuuVpa was much better, and wanted very much to fee him. She even took the trouble of introducing him ; and the par- fon trembling like an afpin leaf, found himfelf, without let or moleftation, in the apartment to which Sir Clifford had re- moved from his bed-chamber. The Baronet received him with frank- nefs and cordiality, perhaps improved by the re.nembrance of the danger he had been in of a final feparation from all his worldly conned^ions: he ftrctched out his hand, and kindly reproached him with abfenting himfelf, while Broome, firangled P4 by ( 320 > by his feelings, could indicate his ra- tionality only by the tears that flartcd in his eyes. Sir Clifford began with, ^' Where have you been r" He replied, " In London, on bulinels." " Aye," faid Sir Clifford, jocofely, " I fancy you have fome great bufincft in liand. I fhall not be llirprifed if we foon fee a fine London lady at the vicarage j but firil, my good friend, before I part from you again, you muft clear my con- fcience of its promifc to you, and tack my grand-daughter and this impatient trip- ling of a Marquis together. Mercy on us, they call ti^at thread-paper of a figure a grown-up man ! They were not fuch men when I was young, Mr. Broome. — No, indeed ! we were ft outer fellows. — r Why, what's the matter with you ? Am I rallying unreafonably ? — Forgive me," added the old man, half rifing in his chair; " I fear ( 321 ) " I fear you have been on feme fad buii^ nefs — forgive me, for I would not for the world knowingly wound your's, or any body's feelings." " My dear Sir," replied Broome, blowing his nofe violently ; " I am fen- lible of your goodnefs — my fpirits are {o agitated I can fcarcely fpeak — but I ara not unhappy. — I depend wholly on your difpolition to hear candidly and patiently what I come on purpofe to fay." " You may depend on me — but yoa alarm me." '' I Ihall, r fear, alarm, and perhapsr dlftrefs you ; but it is only to render you one of the happiefl beings in the world." *' In this world, do you mean V* " Yes — for I will put it in your power to be juft and kind, and then I know yon P5 v^il} ( 322 ) will be happy. — Prepare yourfelf, my dear Sir, to hear flrange things." ** I am all attention." " You tell mc. Sir Clifford, I am to have the honor of uniting the Marquis and your grand-daughter. — You will be iurpriled if I fay it is out of my power.'* ** Why, you ungrateful — " " Stay — you fald you would be patient, I mean no flight — the lady is already married." ** Married ! it is impoflible." ** She is married — married to Charles Grubb, your footman." " What proof have you of this ? Be careful, Mr. Broome.'* " Ileic ( 3^3 ) *' Here is a copy of the regifler. — Nay, fend, yourfelf, to the next parilli, and you will find, though I believe VVilles knows nothing of it ; his fcoundrel of a curate, Franklin, married them, according to this date." *^ You aflonifh me. — ^What is to be- come of me ? Does Lady Jemima know " I rufpc(9; fhe does — but it is of littb importance." " Bht what am I to do ? Will you fee the Duke for me ?" " I will do any thing to ferve you— but " " How fhall I ever get the better of this difgrace ? O, how foolifhly — how ideot-like I centered all my happinefs in this deceitful Elizabeth !" P 6 " Stay, ( 3H ) '•' Stay, Sir — call her not deceitful Eli- zabctli — Ihe is, I agree with you, deceitful -, but I deny that llic is Elizabeth — her nam€ is Arabella Grubb." " Piliaw — hold your tongue, Broome, you are harping on the old firing. If you have no better authority for your other alfertion than for this, you muft excule me if I pay no regard to either."' " I afic you 0D]y to hear me, Sir, and then if you do not think as I do, I will marry the Marquis and your grand-daugh- ter whenever you command it." Broome then proceeded with a circum- cumllantial detail of fa(51s, frequently paufing to give Sir Clifford time to rcco- yer from the extreme agitation of tottering belief, and flill fond partiality. Incredu- lity itfelf could not have oppofed his proof; and poor Sir Clifford was forced to own he had very bad people about }iim. ( 3^5 ) him ; for Lady Jemima, he was aware, mufl have been privy to the deceit. Laffiter having got intelligence of Broome's return, had pofted to the Park in hopes o'i oiiji'wg him ; but to his morti- fication, Sir Clifford cxcufed himfelf from receiving his vilit, and Broome was not interrupted before he had painted to the old gentleman's reviving imagination, the excellencies of his real frrand-dauirhter, and the refpeclability of thofe fhe was con- nected with. Sir Clifford begged ear- neftly that fhe and her friends might be inflantly fent for, by an exprefs. " O, haftcn them, halien them !" he cried ; " at my age, and with my infirmities^ I may be dead before they come." Broome delayed no longer than to plan with Sir Clifibrd the private introdu(:lion of the party to him the next day but one, when, fortunately, the bride-elecl and her friends, including Laliiter, were to dine C 526 ) dine with the Duke in form. It was agreed that nothing fhould be divulged till Saturday morning, when jufl before the time of fetting forward for church, where Sir Clifford inlifted on having the ceremony performed, it was propofed to treat the company with a new fpccies of ele6lrical fhock, to conclude with Mr, Laffiter's production of the will he had made, and his confequent difmiflion from all credit. Broome then went home to fend off Dennis ; and Sir Clifford betook himfelf to meditation, Laffiter fearing, but no one fufpe6ting the purpofe of this extraordinary vilit. CHAP^ ( 3^7 ) CHAP. XXI. Psregrina's eyes, fixed on the door, waited in flaring eagernefs the entrance of the perfon announced ; but her heart inilantly lickcned at the importance of what fhe had fo earneftly longed for. She had, as we all do in ignorance, framed to hcrfelf an idea, of the correct nefs of which fhe was now to judge ; but what were her feelings, when infiead of the ftrangcr fhe had expelled, the incognito friend fhe had fo wifhed to know, fhe faw only Sir Edward Bergholt, from whom fhe would have turned away difgufVed and difap- pointed, had not the circumilance of his being new-drefTed, firuck her as a_^lin- gularity. With- t 3^-8 ) Without being lenlible of changing her place, Ihe had got clofe to her mother, and had Unked her arm within her's, as if fearing fome magical deception. Sir Ed- ward's countenance indicated more than his return to the bufinefs he had quitted : . he law her amazement, and coming up to her, he faid with only an expreffive fmile, " Am I pundual ?" « Good God," ihe replied, " Sir Ed^ ward,, what can you mean ? — Surely " " Yes, furely," he replied, " you fee in me your obfcure friend. Ami Bonange, w^ho has loved you, watched you, and en- deavored to protect you, from the firfi: hour of his acquaintance with you. " In filence, and fcarccly confcious of lier own thoughts, fhe turned to Lady Arma- thwaite, and funk on her flioulder. The ( r~9 ) The Earl removed her to a Teat, whi- tlier Sir Edward followed her, and when tlie encouragement of her friends, who fcemed perfectly in the feeret, had a little revived her, Sir Edward fcarcely know- ing liow to conltrnc her emotion, gently reminded her that he had now performed his promiie, and offered to retreat for ever. '^ How can you be fo cruel ?'* llie re- plied, in a languid voice ; " will you not allow .me time to conne(^ two ideas that have till now ever been leparate in my mind ? How can I in a moment transfer the gratitude and affedion due to Ami Bonange to Sir Edward, to whom 1 have ignorantly refufed to liilen. 1 iliould hate myfclf, could I for a moment hefitate ii\ my conduct to fo good a friend ; and I am fijre in a very little time I fhall feel very glad that I can avoid adding to Sir Ed- ward's vexations and ill treatment. Only let ( 32>'^ ) let me go home now, and I will fee you as early as you pleaic to-morrow." Ilcr friends indulged her : in her way to Pall Mall fhe grew more compofcd, and was retiring to her chamber, without en- tering the drawing-room, when fhe was called back to hear of Dennis's arrival, and to fee the very favorable account he had brought from Sir Clifford. Sir Edward having appointed nine in the morning for being in Pall Mali ; the coach and a poil-chaife were ordered for eleven, when it was arranged that Lord and Lady Armathwaite, Mrs. Halnaby, and Percgrina fhould go in the former ; Mifs Byram, Mrs. Lewis, and Sarah Earle, in the latter. After this adjuftmcnt, Peregrina, ha- raffed by the rapidity of the day's events, retired to reft ; but to refi; was impoffible : file could think only of Sir Edward, and, thou^jh fatigued even when Ihe rofe, flie could ( 33' ) could think without rckid:ancc of their ex- pc(5led interview. She received him alone, and her heart, which pure integrity guided, had no dii- polition to exercifc the ufual privileges of tyrant heauty. She regretted only, that Iier jealoufy of the rights of ideal Ami Bonange made her appear for the iiril moment indifferent to liis embodied repre- fentative ; but for this he was inclined to make every poffible allowance, as well as to convert into a compliment the ileadi- nefs of her iirft idea. Mrs. Sarah Earle having been fent for early in the morning, the party fet off for Northampton ; from whence to Byram Park there was a dillance of only four miles, Sir Edward rcla6lantly remaining in town to fettle his affliirs with Mr. Hae- combc, who perfifled in his intention of gping again to the Indies. Broome met his friends at Northamp- ton, ( 2>^^ ) ton, and confirmed and amplified the communications of his letter. Two o'clock the next day was the time named for the interview with Sir Clifford ; Lord and Lady Armathwaite, with fenfations- of a mixed kind, and Peregrina,- with a throb- bing heart, prepared to meet the calum- niated, the pitied, the rcfpecled old man, who with more fieadinefs than was ex- pe6led, and with the fincerefi: repentance for errors, imputable in a great mealure to the mifguided goodnefs of his heart, welcomed his friends, embraced his fon's injured rcli6l, and bleffed his lovely off- tpring. They remained with him till the return of the family was expelled, and it was then propofed, in order to give greater force to the fhock of the morning, to im- pofc filencc on the fervants, w lio might be depended on, as Mr. Charles Grubb was on duty with his miftrcfs, had not Mrs. Brown been an unfortunate obftacle; how to fiill her tongue it was difficult to tell, till Broome, whole anxiety for the complete overthrow made him ingenious, thought of ( 2>o3 ) of taking her back to Northampton with them, there to remain in fafety till the next mornmg. She was called to hear the decree, for which Sir Clifford's requeil was to be the only reafon given ; but on entering the room, fhe difcovered a difpolition far from inimical to the new guelts. ** 1 have no dejei^kji, Sir," laid fhe, " to going where^'er you pleafe ; but you need not fear me : I knew Ibraething was in the wind, and I knew my young lady the moment I fee her come u]) the ftcps, and my Lord, too, I have feen before ; but as to v^hat is going forward, to be lure it is none of my bufincfs, but I fee fome folks will now have their deferts, and fome folks will have their rights ; and I am heartily glad of it, for I have net been well ufed among 'em — that's wliat I know. I fhall be very glad to be out of tli^e mcfsj and if I can lend a helping hand. ( 334 ) hand, God knows, I fhall be glad to do it — fori have no patience — here's my lifler- in-la\v, domineering over me, juftasifl knew nothing of what's what»" « Your fifter-in-law," faid Sir Clifford, *' pray whom do you mean ?" " Why, Lady Jemima, Sir," fhe re* plied. " Perhaps you did not know tliat I had fuch great relations ; but fhe is my fifter-in-law, as fure as God's in Heaven ; and as fure'asMifs Arabella is Mrs. Grubb ; and as fure as that old dog, Laffiter, has made himfelf your heir ; and as fure as Mifs Elizabeth wrote to you, Sir, which you never could have knowed ; and as fure as " " For Heaven's fake ft op," cried Lord Armathwaite, half diflraded with her ve- locity of communication ; " a little at a time, and we fhall underlland better." She ( 235 ) She then being diflin6lly interrogated, fet forth Ihe whole of her knowledge, to the amazement of her hearers. It was not perfectly clear whether fhe meant to ad- here to her friends in the long-boat, or only to fave hcrfelf from the fink'mg "cejfel ; but Ihe feemed thoroughly repentant, and evinced her iincerity, as far as was pof- lible, by offering to leave her place, and by preferring the removing for the night to Northampton, that fhe might not be inter- rogated by her former colleagues. Sir Clifford reluClantly fuffered his new-found relations to quit him : he fhed tears at their departure, and obtained their promife to be at the Park, accompanied by the elder Mifs Byram, and his old favo- rite, Mrs. Halnaby, at ten the next morn- ing. The fervants at Sir CHfFord's bearing no good will to Lady Jemima and her daugh- ter, preferved the filence enjoined; and not ( 336 ) not being acquainted with what was paflhig, began the preparations ordered for the wedding. The ladies, whom their dekided patron avoided feeing on their re- turn home, by going to bed, rofc early to decorate ; and mama, more as a bride than a mother ; and the bride, more like an eaftern princefs than a m'ldlami country belle, had approved each other, wlien they were inforrhed that the Duke and Marquis were come, and rcqueltcd their company. Lady Jemima remained undaunt-cd, but Arabella began to feel a little faint- hearted, now that the hour of compl-ete deception was fo near. She, how- ever, prudently fufpendcd her cogita- tions; and, as the pcrfon of mod importance, fwam iirlt into the room, where, to her infinite furprifc, flie found {^rancC pa had got a large company. Turn- ing about to Lady Jemima^ who was 2 clofe ( 331 ) Krlofe at her heels, fhe whifpered, " Who can all thefe people be ?" '^ Go forward," anfwered Mama, who could fee nothing over Mifs's fhoulders. The Marquis approached to meet his l>ride ; a paufe of a few leconds enfue4> which gave the laft- entered ladies fufficient tmie to recognife Lord Armathwaite, Mifs Byram, and Peregrina, the only perfons of the party, excepting Broome, that they were perfonally acquainted with. The Marquis's flourifhes could not attract the attention of Arabella ; the Duke's compliments ■were loft on her mother. At length Lady- Jemima, as if fancying a freak of good breeding would be the moft ufeful extri- -cation, pretended juft to recollecl her brother, and with polite exclamation, feigned great delight at their unexpe6ted meeting. Vol. IV, Q His ( 338 ) His lordfhlp was ftifFand filent. Mis Arabella, juft then come to her fenfes, ikipped up to her lifter, who like a mon- key watching the next command of his keeper, could only ftare in reply. She would next have noticed the agitated Pe- regrina, had not Mr. Laffiter juft then fneaked in, and Sir Clifford made a lign to Mr. Broome, who rofe from his feat and faid • *' When I take on myfelf the fun6lIon of a fpeaker, I wilh to be underftood only as the reprefentative of Sir Clifford Byram, and acting under his direction ; but when I affert the rights of innocence againfl the ufurpations of guilt, I would be believed to fpeak my own fentiments, and to a6t under my own fuggeflion : for all the in- jury I may appear to defign or offer, / only am refponfible ; for the integrity of my views I take Heaven to witnefs." He ( 339 ) He then, in a manly and concife ftate- mcnt, detailed and lammed up the ini- quity by which the partiahty of Sir Qif- ford had been gained, while the Duke in a rage called upon the coroneted manes of his anceilors, their llrawberry leaves and garters, to rife in vindication of his in- jured honors ; Lady Jemima went into hyfterics ; Arabella endeavored to look bold; the Marquis afFe6led to look grand; Mifs Jemima Byram wilhed to look un- concerned ; and Mr. Laffiter looked ra- ther worfe, as being rather more cowardly, than Milton's dark angel after his fall. He was perceived cafting one eye towards the door, and Broome inilantly occupied his retreat, while Lord Armathwaite taking up the caufe of his ftep-daughter, as an elucidating appendix to the preceding nar- rative, ftated the unpardonable hardfhips fhe had undergone, and the difficulties and dangers to which fhe had been expofed, by the machinations of one fhe had never in any way offended. Q 2 Mifs ( 340 ) Mifs Jemima By ram thus becoming in- volved in the queftion, and feeing all the fanguine hopes fhe had refted on a return to her mother, blafled by her equality of evil, {et up a genuine blubber, and pro- feffing her refoiution never to do tho any more, endeavored to obtain quarter for her- felf, and was not ealily Ulenced. As tlie lafl a6l, Laffiter was compelled to furrender his keys, and diredl his ene- mies to the proper place, from whence were foon brought, the will, together with Peregrina Lamorne's uncommuni- cated letter, to which letter Lady Jemima had not been privy ; and on this ground fhe declared war, eternal war, againfl him, as being the only chance of a peace with Sir Clifford. The will was cancelled. The four cul- prits were ordered, by the authoritative voice of Sir Clifford himfelf, to depart with ignominy ; and he then, addreffing the Duke^ ( 341 ) Duke, cxprefTed his fincerc concern for the error to which he had, through ignorance, been acceflary. His grace with infinite condefcenfion caft his eyes on Peregrina, and fi:ammered out a hope, that ftill he might not be baffled in his favorite wifh of an alhance with the houfe of Byram ; and even Sir ChfFord's eyes brightened at the idea ; but Lord Armathwaite declin- ing for her the high honor intended her, the peer by right, and the peer by cour- tefy, declared themfelves, however hurt, fatisfied with Sir Clifford's apology ; and the one ftrutting, and the other tripping, they withdrew. Nothing now impeding the peace and happinefs of Byram Park, Broome's bene- volent heart dilated with joy at the revo- lution he had effe6led, and Sir Clifford felt young and a6live, while with one hand extended to his daughter-in-law, and the ether holding that of his grand- daughter, he blcffed God with patriarchal piety that he had lived to fee that day. Q a But ( 342 ) But Peregrina, who could not but feci for the miferies of thofe whofe depreffion had elevated her, with energetic language intreated Sir Clifford to extend fome mercy to them, and fucceeded fo far, as after dinner to procure permiffion for a confe- rence with Lady Jemima, whofe high jpirit required even now a little coaxing : at laft perceiving that Peregrina alone had the power of befriending her, flie thought proper, with aliundance of tears, to con- fels her forlorn condition, and to declare her williugnefs to accept, as unmerited bounty, whatever Sir Clifford would vouchlafe. to refcueher and her daughters from the evils of poverty. She had been fetched from LafFiter'^s houfc to hear the tender commiferation of her injured relative : fhe had followed her hufband in expe6tation of at leaft fharing his fate ; but he, willing to get rid of all incumbrances, had declared that he would live no longer in a place where his cha- 2 ra6ler ( 343 ) racier was hJoiv?t, that he fhould go In- flantly to London, and thence to Ame- rica ; and that the folks at the Park, his ^vife, her brats, and all their connections, might, for aught he cared, go to the place whence he fuppofed fuch plagues came : he had then put together his money, and had departed. Little lefs than by this defertlon was her ladyfhip hurt by the condu6l of Mrs. Grubb, who waited only the receipt of her cloaths to fet off after her huiband, Charles having wifely tried to get the ftart of fame, by fetting off immediately, with aplaulible tale, to feek a fervice in London. After fome negociation, for Sir Clifford fhunned the balilifl?:. Lady Jemima had a promife of her former allowance of two hundred pounds a year, on which, and on an intimation from her brother, that he would not defert her, fhe decided to re- tire ( 344 ) tire with her eldefl daughter into the weft of England. A letter from Sir Clifford in a few days brought Sir Edward Bergholt to Byram Park, to receive the hand of Peregrina, and with him he brought accounts of the happipefs of her friends, in letters from the Blyford and Cottifbrooke families. In a very long letter from Hamilton Court- land, he claimed her commendation for having kept fome of Ami Bonange's fe- erets, and thanked her for the happincfs he enjoyed in the fanttion of Mr. Blyford, who approving his offer of quitting the army, had made no other obje(5i:Lon to his union with Martha. Thus ended the machinations of ma- lignity in the happinefs of thofe they were intended to ruin, and the oppreffion of innocence in the total defeat of its ene- mies, who bating each other as recipro- cally witneflcs of infamy, were at laft, whea ( 345 ) when worn out with difcontent, brought to confefs, that they could not have been more wretched, had they been honeft ; and that they had bartered for nothings that peace which the world cannot give, and without which its bell: gifts are not worth poffefling. If I N I ». ERRATA VOL. 1. t'age 64 Line a 2 dele to 93 — 18 — a 94 — 20 infert before Byramj Mr. 126 I (or favour read fen or I T I 8 — u/iiVw-^ircs read unaware 1^4 — 4 — /o ^cr read her to __ y — lie^-pe read deeper I eo 1 7 — Dan'Jnie read Dom'mc 216 — 20 — on read/// — 2j8 — 3 — recurred read occurred ERRATA VOL. IL 'age 10 Line 2 for ady read hdy j: — 20 — novels rt7\A marts -^6 — 16 — countcncr.cc read count encintt -jC) — II — Jemima read Joanna 81 — II — Chatham read Cbartham 98 — 6 — to read too 107 — 7 — ai read // — IIO — II — affeBionrz-\\ affeSiathn — 118 — 5 — he read be — 132 — 19 — vjho rzis.d v.-hom — 172 — . 14 — foh]y rezA luholly — 241 — 13 after //ow infert Too" — 252 — 7 for ro read to — 2 j8 — 2 repeat read repent ERRATA VOL. IIL ':ige 14 Line laft for then read them — 22 — 1 9 — alteration read attention — 120 — laft — perceived tkat read gave uj> — - 160 — II — fpirits read fpirit — ;68 — 12 — attacking read attaching ERRATA VOL. IV. Page 44 Line 18 {or of any read at any — 46 — I — yet a! read as yet — 78 — 6 dele ; — 89 — 10 for ;;j read ;'i — 104 — I — "^'ho read tuhont — 161 — 23 — daughter read daughters — 201 — 15 — reeourle read refc.irce - — 204 — I — s^her I'eregii'ui \nierX. reached tojv/t.