rini 
 
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 XI B R.AR.Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 623 
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 \A' 
 
 V" 

 
 BENTLET PRIOEY 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. HASTINGS PARKER. 
 
 us THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. L 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT. PUBLISHERS, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 1859. 
 
 Ine right ol Translation u reterted.
 
 ^ LONDON : 
 PRINTKD BY R. BORN, GLOUCESTER STREET. 
 REGENT'S PARK.
 
 v. I 
 
 
 It 
 
 BENTLET 
 
 PRIORY. 
 
 V 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 was towards the close of a sweet, 
 
 calm evening, about the end of August, 
 
 when the sun was sinking toward the 
 
 J, western hills, and the deepening twi- 
 
 "^ light had already tinged with its more 
 
 75 sober hues the rich livery of autumnal 
 
 >. green in which the woods of Bentley 
 
 Priory had arrayed themselves. Many 
 
 of the venerable oaks, whose gigantic 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
 ^^
 
 2 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 shadows were now flung in deep masses 
 athwart the hindscape, were coeval 
 with the old family mansion itself, the 
 date whereof might probably be re- 
 ferred to the close of the seventeenth 
 century, when the quaint characteristics 
 which mark the domestic erections of 
 the Elizabethan age ^gave place to the 
 heavy, substantial architecture peculiar 
 to the period of Louis the Fourteenth. 
 "The Priory," as it was commonly 
 designated — no one knew why — for nei- 
 ther monk nor prior had ever tenanted 
 its luxurious chambers, abounded in me- 
 mentos of the olden time, yet displayed 
 in its erection, decorations, and accom- 
 paniments, that singular union of antique 
 quaintness and modern luxury which 
 is so peculiarly English. Trees of pri-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 3 
 
 meval growth gave shelter to the red 
 deer which browsed in undisturbed secu- 
 rity beneath their shade, and at the same 
 time afforded a resting-place to ai? 
 ancient colony of rooks, whose length of 
 possession and right of tenure were 
 equally unknown and undisputed. A large 
 tract of woodland stretched far away 
 on every side, its thickets and copses 
 as amply supplied with game of all sorts, 
 as were the stables and the kennel 
 with horses and sporting dogs of ac- 
 knowledged superiority. 
 
 The house was approached by an an- 
 tique avenue, of some quarter of a 
 mile in length ; and this, as well as the 
 plantations and gardens — the productions 
 of which could challenge competition 
 with any in the county — was tended 
 
 b2
 
 4 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 and arranged with all the care and skill 
 which combined wealth and good taste 
 could command. The mansion itself 
 had its long stone terrace, with the 
 usual flight of many steps ; its old 
 hall decorated with family portraits, in 
 powdered wigs and stiff drapery ; its 
 wide-spreading hearths and dark oaken 
 wainscotting, the whole relieved by 
 every comfort which modern luxury has 
 invented, and embellished with all those 
 elegancies in which modern female taste 
 delights to display itself 
 
 On the evening above-mentioned. Bent- 
 ley Priory, with its extensive domain, lay 
 buried in that deep delicious repose, 
 which, in the abode of the opulent 
 English squire, we so frequently find, 
 combined with all that can charm the
 
 ' BENTLEY PRIORY. 5 
 
 eye and glad the heart. The gardens 
 were vacant, the numerous apartments 
 were untenanted ; books and musical in- 
 struments lay unopened, and the scat- 
 tered rustic seats, which were placed with 
 apparent negligence in the shadiest spots, 
 and near the most odoriferous shrubs 
 with which the velvet surface of the 
 lawn before the house was embroidered, 
 were unoccupied — all, save one, on which 
 reclined a young and very beautiful girl, 
 whose blue eyes, fair complexion, and 
 a profusion of sunny ringlets suffi- 
 ciently betokened the Saxon descent from 
 which her ancestors claimed their origin. 
 A half-open book lay beside her, on 
 which she had been striving to fix her 
 attention, but unsuccessfully, for in truth 
 her thoughts were at that moment far
 
 6 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 away, and busied rather with the dull 
 realities of life than with brightest fictions. 
 
 As she sat and gazed thoughtfully 
 on the now fast declining rays of the 
 setting sun, the surrounding silence was 
 suddenly broken by the long, heavy clang 
 of the great house-bell, and a few 
 moments afterward the distant tram- 
 pling of horses, and the merry sound 
 of many voices, caused her to rise hastily 
 from her seat, and, gathering together 
 some flowers which lay beside her, she 
 turned towards the house, and had 
 just reached her chamber as a large 
 group of equestrians galloped up the 
 avenue, and, alighting at the hall door, 
 dispersed in different directions to hasten 
 to the duties of the toilet. 
 
 ^' Mademoiselle, quelle coiffure veut-elle
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 7 
 
 aujourd'hui ? " said the silver-toned 
 voice of Mademoiselle Celestine, who, 
 having entered unperceived, now broke 
 the reverie of her young mistress, as, 
 placed near the open window of her 
 sleeping apartment, she sat, her cheek 
 resting on her hand, looking anxiously 
 forth towards the shady avenue beyond. 
 " Mademoiselle, desire-t-elle une coifiure 
 a la Grecque," continued the waiting- 
 maid, observing that her first address 
 was unheeded ; ^^ ou bien cette charmante 
 petite guirlande rose ?" 
 
 ^^ La guirlande rose, si vous la voulez, 
 Celestine," interrupted the young lady, 
 in a tone of marvellous indifference ; 
 and the smart little Frenchwoman pro- 
 ceeded to disinter from its hiding- 
 place the said '^guirlande -rose," won-
 
 8 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 dering the while at Mademoiselle's 
 apathy upon a subject which, to her 
 natural way of thinking, had always 
 appeared one of vast importance. As 
 she was thus employed, the sound of 
 approaching wheels was heard, and pre- 
 sently a travelling carriage drove rapidly 
 up the avenue, and, stopping short by 
 the flight of steps before mentioned, 
 the two persons within alighted just as 
 Miss Morton descended the great stair- 
 case, and flew across the hall to receive 
 and welcome them. The opportune ap- 
 pearance of sundry travelling cases, of 
 which the carriage had been disencum- 
 bered reminded the whole party that 
 the dinner hour was near at hand, and 
 while poor tired Aunt Dorothy made 
 her escape to her own apartment, Emily
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. d 
 
 carried off her sister to hers, there to 
 consign her, with all requisite dispatch, 
 to the careful adornment of Mademoiselle 
 Celestine. 
 
 Who is there that has not at one 
 time or other experienced the utter dis- 
 comfort of arriving in a Tvell-fitted 
 country house long after the dressing- 
 bell has sounded, and when the sum- 
 mons to dinner is every moment ex- 
 pected to peal forth its astounding 
 notes? On the present occasion, how- 
 ever, the dexterous fingers of !Made- 
 moiselle Celestine were so expert in 
 performing their office, that both the 
 sisters were enabled, much to the satis- 
 faction of their tirewoman, to descend 
 in due time to the drawing-room, 
 Emily having adopted the simple Grecian
 
 10 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 coiffure before mentioned, in order that 
 the " charmante petite guirlande rose " 
 might be transferred from her own 
 fair brow to that of her sister. 
 
 " You must let me be your cavaliere 
 servante for this one day, Emily,'' said 
 her cousin. Captain Grenville, of the 
 Guards, as he offered his arm to con- 
 duct her to the dining-room. "Tomor- 
 row I shall be obliged, you know, to 
 resign the privilege." 
 
 " Perhaps so." 
 
 " Perhaps ? Do you not then hope 
 to see Lord Errington to-morrow ? " 
 
 "I suppose I do. At all events, I 
 hope still to be allowed the right of 
 retaining you for my young chevalier if 
 I choose to do so. In fact," she con- 
 tinued, laughing, "as I am so soon to be
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 1 1 
 
 deprived of my liberty, I am resolved to 
 eDJoy it to the fullest extent as long as 
 I can/' 
 
 ** In 'other words, you mean to teach 
 Errington that those who are destined to 
 command must first learn to obey." 
 
 ^' Of course — exactly so." 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by 
 the arrangement of the guests at the 
 dinner-table, a ceremony which, on the 
 present occasion, was managed with a tact 
 that would have done honour to Beau 
 Nash himself. Mrs. Grenville Morton 
 found herself supported on the right by 
 old Lord Allington, whose estate joined 
 that of Mr. Morton, and on the left 
 by the Honourable Colonel Grantley, at 
 present commanding a squadron of dra- 
 goons quartered in the neighbouring
 
 12 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 town of , while her husband re- 
 joiced in the vicinity of the antiquated 
 Countess of Allington on one side, and 
 his pretty, lively little niece. Lady Wrex- 
 ham, on the other. Two gallant hussars, 
 who, in deference to the presence of 
 their commanding officer, had been com- 
 pelled, for this day, to do penance in 
 a brilliant uniform, were, in some degree, 
 compensated for the discomfort of their 
 stiff but gorgeous attire, by the wit and 
 beauty of the two Miss Grenvilles, whose 
 brother Charles, as we have seen, appro- 
 priated to himself the fascinations of his 
 cousin Emily. Her sister Gertrude, dear, 
 good Aunt Dorothy, and the eldest son 
 of Mr. Morton, just returned from Oxford, 
 completed the party. 
 
 "Are we to have the pleasure of see-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 13 
 
 ing you at the races next week ? " in- 
 quired the handsome and supereminently 
 exquisite Captain Seymour of the youngest 
 Miss Grenville, by whom he was seated. 
 
 "Oh, yes; I hope so," answered the 
 young lady, who had just made her dehut, 
 and to whom, consequently, the prospect of 
 the races, and more especially of the race 
 ball, presented a very attractive appear- 
 ance. 
 
 "Will the ball be well attended?" 
 pursued Captain Seymour, by *way of say- 
 ing something, but without raising his 
 eyes from his plate. 
 
 " Every one in the county will be 
 there, and Strauss is coming down from 
 town on purpose." 
 
 "Indeed! You are fond of dancing, 
 I suppose," and the hussar twirled his
 
 14 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 moustache, and turned a scrutinizing glance 
 upon his neighbour. 
 
 " Very — are not you? " 
 
 "Sometimes; but really — a — the rooms 
 are so hot — a — and one gets so much of 
 it in town — a — I scarcely ever dance, 
 except at Almack's.'' 
 
 The hope of a dance with the " gentil 
 houssard/' in his gay uniform, in which 
 Emmy Grenville had, in the innocence of 
 her heart, been indulging, in a moment 
 vanished. 
 
 "Champagne, sir?" whispered the but- 
 ler in the ear of the last speaker. 
 
 The son of Mars raised his glass, 
 quaffed off its contents, complacently re- 
 arranged his moustache — paused a moment 
 — turned one more glance towards his 
 neighbour, and having digested the reflec-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 15 
 
 tion that the repetition of so inimitable a 
 dinner, with such champagne, might, per- 
 haps, be purchased without sacrificing his 
 dignity at the expense of only a single 
 dance with the very pretty girl beside 
 him, he turned to his fair companion. 
 
 "You valse, of course?" 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 " Perhaps, then, at the race ball — 
 a — ," another twirl of the moustache, 
 and a slight pause ensued to give due 
 effect to what was coming — "you will 
 allow me the honour ? " 
 
 "I shall be most happy," answered 
 Miss Grenville, and, as she spoke, her 
 countenance was lighted up with a 
 beauty and animation which recom- 
 mended Captain Seymour to his self- 
 immolation on the ground of epicurism.
 
 16 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "Why would you not go with us 
 to-day, Emily ? " said Charles Grenville 
 to his cousin ; "we had such a beauti- 
 ful ride." 
 
 "I expected Aunt Dorothy and Ger- 
 trude would have been here earlier, 
 and I preferred waiting to receive 
 them." 
 
 "Come now, confess the truth, did 
 you not rather imagine that another 
 certain somebody might have made his 
 appearance ? " 
 
 "No, indeed," said Emily, quickly. 
 "I thought of them, and them only." 
 
 "Precisely what all young ladies say 
 on similar occasions. '' 
 
 "But few with equal sincerity, per- 
 
 Captain Grenville looked up inquir-
 
 BENTLEY PEIOEY. 17 
 
 inglj, for the tone in which Emily spoke 
 somewhat surprised him, but she had 
 ahready turned to answer some common- 
 place remark made by her neighbour 
 on the other side, and the conversation 
 was not renewed. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 18 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Miss Morton was an accomplished mu- 
 sician. Benedict and Garcia had both 
 pronounced her their best amateur pupil 
 — but the high reputation she had ac- 
 quired was perhaps less attributable to 
 an extensive knowledge of the science 
 than to the taste and tact by which 
 it was accompanied. No one ever 
 talked when Emily Morton was playing,
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 19 
 
 because she always strove to please, 
 rather than to astonish. Long fantasias, 
 those especially of the modern thunder- 
 and-lightning school, she particularly 
 avoided. 
 
 Whatever was beautiful, whether it 
 were new or old — an Italian cavatina, 
 or a simple English ballad — found its 
 way into Miss Morton's portfolio, and 
 the judicious selection she was enabled 
 to make imparted an ever-varying and 
 novel charm to her performance. 
 
 When the gentlemen entered the 
 drawing-room after dinner, the last full 
 rich notes, which alone reached them, 
 produced a general request for an en- 
 core, and with a grace peculiarly her 
 own, Emily reseated herself at the 
 instrument, and instantly complied. 
 
 c2
 
 20 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "I had no idea that Miss Morton 
 was so beautiful/' whispered Colonel 
 Grantley, when the song was ended, 
 to Lady Wrexham, whose acquaintance 
 he had made the preceding autumn when 
 quartered near Eock Castle, her hus- 
 band's seat in Ireland. 
 
 "You must surely have seen her fre- 
 quently in London — she came out the 
 year before last." 
 
 " I have unfortunately not been in 
 London the last two seasons." 
 
 " Very true ; I had forgotten how 
 long you had been in banishment 
 among the Goths in Ireland." 
 
 "She was amazingly admired last 
 season," pursued Lady Wrexham, " and 
 turned the heads of half the young men 
 in town. Lord Errington ought to
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 21 
 
 consider himself a very fortunate person, 
 I think.'' 
 
 "Is Miss Morton then engaged to be 
 married ? " inquired Colonel Grantley, 
 with an interest he found it difl&cult to 
 conceal. 
 
 " I thought I had told you so ; — almost 
 immediately, to Lord Errington.'' 
 
 ''The Lord Errington?'' 
 
 "And why not?'' 
 
 "You mean Lord Errington of Trent- 
 ham Abbey, of course ? " 
 
 " Precisely. Ah, I remember our 
 talking about him at the Eock Castle, 
 but that was before I knew him. You 
 have no idea how he was petted and 
 feted by all the mammas in London, 
 that is, as far as was practicable, for 
 they could rarely tempt the lion of
 
 22 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 the day from his den, and even when 
 they could, he was very intractable, I 
 must acknowledge. Every mamma was 
 au desespoir,'* continued Lady Wrexham, 
 without perceiving the curl on Colonel 
 Grantley's handsome lip, "when it was 
 discovered that Emily Morton had car- 
 ried off the prize." 
 
 "No doubt," and again the lip curled 
 with the same undefinable expression 
 as before. Lady Wrexham looked up, 
 but without vouchsafing an answer. She 
 was very fond of Emily, very well 
 pleased at the idea of the Countesses 
 coronet, a good deal puzzled, and a little 
 annoyed at Colonel Grantley's manner ; but 
 the announcement of Lord AUington's 
 equipage prevented any further conversa- 
 tion, and Colonel Grantley, after making
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 23 
 
 his adieus to herself, and the rest of 
 the party, mounted his horse, and pur- 
 sued his way homewards. 
 
 ^^ She is very lovely and very fas- 
 cinating," he soliloquized, as he rode 
 slowly through the avenue of Bentley 
 Priory. ^^Pity that so beautiful a vision 
 should thus in a moment be robbed of 
 its enchantment. But all women, nursed 
 in the same hotbed of dissipation, are 
 alike frivolous at heart, and worshippers 
 of Mammon.'' 
 
 How prone we all are to judge unre- 
 flectingly, and therefore hardly, of the 
 conduct of others ! How many a noble 
 and generous heart has been thus 
 accused — falsely accused — of feelings and 
 motives to which it is an utter stranger. 
 It is easy enough to judge the mere
 
 24 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 actions of others, but the motives 
 which influence them, the secret struggle 
 — the silent, and perhaps agonizing, 
 self-sacrifice, the thousand causes which 
 produce results often so apparently 
 unaccountable — -justly to estimate, or 
 even to comprehend, these, belongs to 
 Infinite Wisdom alone. I believe that 
 an unkind or erroneous judgment of 
 our fellow-beings proceeds quite as fre- 
 quently from thoughtlessness as from 
 malice. We are apt to judge hastily, 
 and therefore harshly. We forget how 
 often our own best actions are misin- 
 terpreted, our very words misconstrued. 
 We forget the bitterness of unmerited 
 censure till the lesson is brought home 
 to ourselves, and then we demand 
 from others that indulgence which
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 25 
 
 too frequently we concede so sparingly 
 in return. Happy were it for man- 
 kind in general, could we resolve to 
 estimate the conduct of those around 
 us by that beautiful standard of Chris- 
 tian benevolence which enjoins us to 
 judge of others as we would that 
 others should judge of us. And happier 
 still were it for ourselves, could we learn 
 the task of patient and cheerful submission, 
 which, by enabling us to base our 
 contentment upon the fulness of a 
 self-approving conscience — on a founda- 
 tion impervious alike to the shafts of 
 malice and the misconstructions of 
 error, would make motive at once the 
 spring of every action and the reward 
 of every sacrifice.
 
 26 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The guests had all departed; Emily and 
 Gertrude had retired to the chamber 
 which was allotted for their joint use; 
 Mademoiselle Celestine, after having 
 disrobed her young ladies for the night, 
 was dismissed from further attendance, and 
 the sisters were left alone together. 
 
 ^^At length this tedious evening is 
 ended, '^ exclaimed Gertrude, casting her
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 27 
 
 arms around her sister, as the door 
 closed upon their tirewoman. ^^ At 
 length, dearest Emily, we are alone, 
 and I can freely give you my con- 
 gratulations, and tell you how many 
 and how earnest have been my prayers 
 and wishes for your happiness." 
 
 "Thank you, thank you, dearest 
 Gertrude," said Emily, affectionately 
 returning the embrace of her sister — 
 " yours are indeed valuable ; for they 
 are amongst the very, very few on 
 whose sincerity I can really rely." 
 
 "Aunt Dorothy, too, has been more 
 anxious about you than you can 
 imagine, for you know her horror of 
 London and all its belongings," said 
 Gertrude, smiling. " I really believe 
 she has thought and talked of nothing
 
 28 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 else from the moment mamma's first 
 letter reached us, and is nearly as 
 impatient as I am to make Lord 
 Errington's acquaintance." 
 
 ^' You will both be gratified to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " So my cousin Charles tells me. 
 But have I not seen Lord Errington 
 already? It struck me that he had 
 passed two days at the Priory during 
 our visit last year." 
 
 "Did he? I think not," said Emily, 
 abstractedly, " or you would not fail to 
 remember him." 
 
 "Is he then so very handsome ? 
 But the question is not fair to you, 
 Emmy." 
 
 "To me ? Why not fair to me, dear 
 Gertrude?"
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 29 
 
 "And Caroline tells me lie is, besides, 
 the kindest, most excellent person in 
 the world. How happy you must be, 
 dearest sister." 
 
 "I suppose I must," said Emily, as 
 with a sigh she sank into a chair, and 
 continued abstractedly to remove the 
 fastening which bound her luxuriant 
 tresses. 
 
 " And you are happy, Emmy, are 
 you not ? " said Gertrude tenderly, as, 
 kneeliDg beside her, she wound her arms 
 round her sister, and looked anxiously 
 up into her face. 
 
 "Oh, yes — of course, dear — very 
 happy," said Emily, with a smile of 
 meaning so doubtful that the blood 
 froze in Gertrude's lips as she at- 
 tempted to answer ; " who could be
 
 30 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 otherwise, for does not all the world 
 say so ? " 
 
 "Emily!'' 
 
 " Well, dear — have I not said truly ? 
 The world is always right, you know," 
 and Emily gazed earnestly in her sister's 
 face as she knelt before her. 
 
 " The world is not always right," 
 said Gertrude, in an earnest tone. 
 *' Oh, no ; not if it says that. My 
 Emmy could never be happy in marry- 
 ing for mere rank and fortune; I know 
 she could not." 
 
 "Did I say so? Indeed I did not 
 mean it," said Emily, passing her hand 
 across her forehead. "Now do not look 
 so grave, my dear, sage little sister," 
 added she, resuming, but with some 
 effort, her own playful manner, " or
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 31 
 
 you will make me fancy my future 
 husband a Bluebeard, and myself a 
 Fatima. Lord Errington is all — yes all," 
 she added, earnestly, *^that is kind and 
 good — indeed he is." Again she paused. 
 ^*He will neither cut off my head, nor 
 even shut me up in a blue chamber," 
 and the same smile as before passed 
 over her features. "The truth is," she 
 continued, again raising her hand to her 
 temples, " that I have had a dreadful 
 headache all day, and am very tired. 
 I shall be quite well to-morrow ; indeed 
 I shall," she added, observing that 
 Gertrude remained silent and motionless, 
 " and very angry with myself too, dear- 
 est Gertrude, for having received your 
 felicitations so ungraciously." 
 
 "You do look both pale and tired.
 
 32 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 dearest. Let me gather up your hair 
 for you/' said Gertrude, rising, and 
 busying herself with her sister's attire, 
 to conceal a tear which was silently 
 stealing down her own cheek. 
 
 "Thank you, dearest; and then let 
 us to bed. A good night's rest will 
 refresh us both, I think."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 33 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 It was almost immediately after his 
 marriage that Mr. Grenville Morton had, 
 by the unexpected death of a cousin, 
 succeeded to the fine property to which 
 allusion has been made in the first 
 chapter. Increased possessions invariably 
 bring with them increased requirements, 
 and thus, after a few years spent in the 
 seclusion of Bentley Priory, Mrs. Morton 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 became suddenly aware that, for the ad- 
 vantage of her children, an annual migra- 
 tion to London was necessary. For their 
 benefit also, it was deemed requisite to 
 establish herself without loss of time on 
 the terra jirma of the world of fashion, 
 a task which, though involving some toil 
 and trouble, she nevertheless speedily 
 accomplished. No people, indeed, could 
 have been better qualified for insinuat- 
 ing themselves into the good graces 
 of the leaders of ton. Mr. Morton 
 was universally allowed to be gentle- 
 manly, good-looking, and well-dressed.' 
 Mrs. Morton was lady-like, pretty; 
 and her toilet, too, was at all times 
 perfect. Neither was very wise, but 
 both were good-tempered, yielding, and 
 inofiensive. In the appointment of
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 35 
 
 their establishment everything was per- 
 fect — their equipage was faultless, 
 their dinners equally so ; and though at 
 their balls the larger proportion of the 
 guests were untitled, yet still there 
 were always quite enough high-sounding 
 names to fill up a very respectable 
 paragraph in the Morning Post on the 
 following morning. The closing triumph 
 of the season, previous to Emily's pre- 
 sentation, was an invitation to a 
 
 grand fete, given at D House, and 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Morton had the satisfac- 
 tion, two days afterwards, of beholding 
 their names in the Morning Post and 
 Court Journal as among the noble and 
 distinguished guests there assembled. 
 
 Thus everything went smoothly. Their 
 means were ample, their tempers har- 
 
 d2
 
 o6 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 monious, their children as fine a group 
 as could well be seen. In the last 
 particular, indeed, they were generally 
 pronounced to be peculiarly fortunate. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Morton were said to be 
 at once the best and the happiest 
 parents in the world — and so they were, 
 according to the notions of their caste. 
 They were tenderly attached to their 
 children, and anxiously solicitous to see 
 them shine in the circles wherein they 
 were destined to move ; no expense was 
 therefore spared in their education — no 
 gratification was denied them. Mrs. 
 Morton herself regulated their dress, 
 which was as faultless as the most 
 perfect taste and the most elaborate 
 expenditure could make it. She hired 
 the nurses and selected the teacher to
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 37 
 
 whom their childhood was entrusted. 
 She would have watched over them in 
 sickness, and have mourned over them 
 in death, with all the yearnings of a 
 mother's heart. And they had warm 
 and affectionate hearts, and loved her 
 tenderly in return, but it was a love 
 unmingled with any deeper feeling. 
 There was no looking up to her as a 
 model of goodness, no cherishing of 
 precepts instilled by her all-persuasive 
 lips. Mrs. Morton had not time for 
 these things. She was an affectionate 
 mother, but she was a fashionable Lon- 
 don lady too. She forgot that the 
 duties of the one are incompatible with 
 an undue indulgence in the pleasures 
 of the other. 
 
 Does a fashionable fine-lady mother.
 
 o8 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 when thus delegating to others the 
 task which should be so peculiarly her 
 own, ever pause to reflect on the treas- 
 ure she is casting from her, or on 
 the sacred duty she is violating ? It 
 is a mistake to suppose that the minds 
 of very little children need no tending, 
 and are destitute both of thought and 
 memory. It is the indelible impressions 
 gathered during the years of infancy, 
 that stamp the character through life. 
 It is then peculiarly that a mother's 
 precepts sink into the young heart in 
 characters ineffaceable by time or ab- 
 sence ; and even though an early death 
 may blot out her features from our 
 childish recollection, yet still the gentle 
 accents from whence our first lessons 
 in virtue were imbibed — the tender
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 39 
 
 mother's voice that first taught our in- 
 fant heart to raise itself in prayer, will 
 rest on the memory with its sacred and 
 soothing influence, though long, long years 
 may have passed away, and all other traces 
 of her existence have been forgotten. The 
 impressions of our later years — our 
 closest Mendships — our most passionate 
 attachments, may, amid the thousand 
 varied excitements of the world, be 
 blotted out; but the deep love and 
 veneration wherein our childish fancy 
 was accustomed to enshrine the image 
 of her who was at once the tender 
 mother and the gentle monitor of our 
 infant years will cling round the heart 
 till the latest hour of existence. 
 
 From the preceptors, whose only du- 
 ties consisted in rendering Mrs. Mor-
 
 40 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ton's children accomplished young men 
 and young women of fashion, her boys 
 acquired such modes of thinking as 
 were deemed most suitable to the pur- 
 pose. They were taught that it was 
 ungentlemanlike to lie, and ungentle- 
 manlike to swear; and further, that to 
 c>mit certain forms, and to commit cer- 
 tain actions, was a sin against good 
 breeding; and as Nature had gifted 
 them with sunny tempers, generous 
 feelings, and a peculiarly prepossessing 
 appearance, the young Mortons, after a 
 few years spent between Eton and the 
 University — where they acquired as much 
 knowledge as was deemed requisite, and 
 got into fewer scrapes than most young 
 men — were generally pronounced to be 
 finished specimens of English gentlemen.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 41 
 
 Mrs. Morton's daughter was esteemed 
 a no less perfect model of successful 
 education. Her talents had been im- 
 proved under the tuition of first-rate 
 masters, and Emily's natural taste for music 
 not only rendered her a proficient in the 
 science, but imparted a peculiar charm to 
 her performance even of the simplest air. 
 Mrs. Morton was naturally anxious, too, 
 that her girls should speak with fluency 
 the language of foreign countries. 
 Their governess, therefore, was a French 
 woman ; so was the femme de chambrey 
 whose exclusive duty it was to wait 
 on the young ladies; while the bonne, 
 who was their constant attendant dur- 
 ing the years of childhood, was an 
 Italian. The French and Italian lan- 
 guages were thus as familiar to them
 
 42 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 as their own. To these attractions 
 were superadded a toilet of faultless 
 elegance, and a graceful ease of manner 
 — the result of early habitude with the 
 forms of society. In truth, there could 
 scarcely have been seen a lovelier crea- 
 ture than Emily Morton on the momen- 
 tous morning of her first presentation 
 at Court. Never was there a happier, 
 gentler, purer, more guileless heart than 
 hers, as she rose on that morning, full 
 of glad anticipations of the new world 
 of pleasure into which she was about 
 to enter.
 
 BENTLEY PEIORY. 43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "A QUARTER past eleven, and Isidore 
 not come yet," exclaimed Emily, as, lay- 
 ing down the last volume of the last 
 new novel, she rose once more to look 
 at the beautiful Parisian timepiece which 
 graced the mantel-piece of the drawing- 
 room in Portland Place. *^ Surely, 
 mamma, he is not going to disappoint 
 us."
 
 44 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Do sit still, my love ; you know 
 Isidore is never exact," said Mrs. Mor- 
 ton, who began to fancy that the in- 
 creased bloom on her daughter's cheek 
 was the shadow of a shade too deep 
 to be becoming. "You really must 
 keep yourself quiet, or I shall have 
 you look as if you were rouged." 
 
 "Well, my dear mamma," said she, 
 laughingly, " I will be quiet for the 
 next five minutes, at least, since you 
 wish it ; though surely, if people did 
 think I was rouged, it could not matter 
 much." 
 
 " My dear child, how silly you 
 are!" 
 
 " Well, but seriously, mamma, I 
 have often heard you say that Caro- 
 line would not look half so well with-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 45 
 
 out a little rouge. Surely there is no 
 harm in wearing it." 
 
 " None in the world, love ; but very 
 great harm in looking as if you wore 
 it. With Caroline the deception is per- 
 fect." And as Mrs. Morton spoke, 
 she stooped her own delicately tinted 
 cheek to kiss the offending one of her 
 daughter, which truly might have emu- 
 lated the colour of the rose. 
 
 Mrs. Morton was spared the neces- 
 sity of any more definite elucidation of 
 the maxim she had just inculcated, 
 which was fortunate, for Emily, who 
 was quite at a loss to comprehend the 
 distinction at which her mother had 
 hinted, might perchance have started 
 inquiries not very readily or satisfac- 
 torily answered.
 
 46 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 The stopping of a cabriolet at the 
 door drove the matter very opportunely 
 out of her head. 
 
 It was that of the prince of perru- 
 quiers himself, and in two minutes 
 more Emily's luxuriant light brown 
 tresses were undergoing the process of 
 transmogrification beneath his super -ex- 
 cellent and super-eminent fingers. 
 
 The Drawing-room, that day was very 
 full, for there had been an interreg- 
 num, during which the fairer portion 
 
 of the creation had been excluded 
 
 > 
 from the presence of Royalty, and thus, 
 
 before two o'clock, the state apartments 
 
 of St. James's became thronged with a 
 
 glittering crowd, presenting as brilliant 
 
 and beautiful a spectacle as can well 
 
 be imagined.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 47 
 
 ^'Ha! — you here," drawled Sir Geof- 
 fry Charlton, addressing a remarkably 
 handsome and distinguished-looking young 
 man, who, in the pressure of the crowd, 
 had been driven near him. " I had 
 no idea you were in England ; I 
 thought you had cut us altogether." 
 
 " I only landed two days ago." 
 
 ^•'For the season — eh?" 
 
 "Possibly. I came here thinking it 
 the best place to find out who is in 
 town." 
 
 "Why, all London is here, I should 
 think ; but as for seeing or speaking to 
 a human being in such a crowd as 
 this — it's really horrid." 
 
 No answer was vouchsafed, and Sir 
 Geoffry went on : — 
 
 " They manage these things much better
 
 48 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 abroad — in Paris, for instance. No 
 staring daylight there, and plenty of 
 room. Upon my honour, I wonder 
 the ladies here put up with it." 
 
 ^^ I do not suppose that it is left 
 to their decision," replied the other, with 
 a smile, half laughing, half contemptuous. 
 "We certainly could not find room at 
 St. James's for the citizen thousands of 
 the Tuileries." 
 
 "Are you just from Paris?" drawled 
 the dandy again. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Any one there now?" 
 
 "I only stayed a day, and therefore 
 do not know," and the young man con- 
 trived to make his way from Sir Geoffry's 
 side, and commenced scanning with the 
 eye of a connoisseur the blaze of beauty
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 49 
 
 around him. He was not slow in decid- 
 ing that, whatever the fascinations of 
 other countries, on the score of female 
 beauty England would yield to none. 
 
 " Seymour, can you tell me who is 
 that lovely girl standing in the middle 
 window ? " inquired he of an ensign in 
 the Guards, near whom he now found 
 himself. 
 
 ^^Ah, Mr. Mandeville in England! — 
 how do you do ? " exclaimed the voice 
 of a very pretty little lady, provokingly, 
 on the other side, and the last speaker 
 was compelled to turn his head and to 
 abandon all hope of an answer to his in- 
 quiry. 
 
 " I am so very glad to see you ; Lady 
 Emmeline is well, I hope." 
 
 " Quite." 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "And Sir William?" 
 
 " ' Grazie, sta benissimo ' — but I have 
 lost him in the crowd. You are here just 
 at the right moment. Pray have pity, and 
 be my preux chevalier until I can find 
 him again." 
 
 "I shall be too happy to do my best," 
 said Mr. Mandeville, who by this time 
 had forgotten the beauty in the middle 
 window. " If your ladyship will take my 
 arm, I think I can be of more ser- 
 
 vice." 
 
 " With many thanks ; and now tell me, 
 when did you arrive?" 
 
 " But yesterday, or I should have 
 been ere this to pay my respects in 
 Bruton Street." 
 
 '^Well, you must come and see me 
 to-morrow. I shall have half a thousand
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 51 
 
 questions to ask you about dear Eome 
 and delightful Naples. What a horrid 
 place London must appear to you after 
 them." 
 
 " Scarcely so, since I have the plea- 
 sure of finding you here," and the 
 words were accompanied by a certain 
 bow and smile, which plainly indicated 
 that they meant nothing. 
 
 "Nonsense," said the lively little 
 beauty, who perfectly understood the 
 value of the compliment, and yet would 
 not have dispensed with it for the world. 
 "Tell me, what have you been doing 
 in dear Italy since we left it? How 
 did you leave the dear old Marchese ? 
 Did he give any more of those delight- 
 ful festas at his beautiful villa after 
 we came away ? " 
 
 e2 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF lUfNOIS
 
 52 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "The Marchese was taken ill almost 
 immediately after your departure from 
 Naples," answered Mr. Mandeville ; " and 
 you will be- sorry to hear that he 
 died just before I left it." 
 
 " Oh, how sorry I am ! — what a 
 dear old man he was," exclaimed her 
 ladyship, with a momentary touch of 
 feeling, and for a minute or two she 
 was silent. " There, now ; how pro- 
 voking," continued she, almost in the 
 same breath; "my lappet has caught 
 again upon that odious epaulette. I 
 wish they would prohibit epaulettes 
 at Drawing-rooms," and she raised 
 her hand to extricate, if possible, 
 the delicate fabric from utter annihila- 
 tion. 
 
 "Mille pardons, madame," said the
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 53 
 
 very tall Polish colonel of Lancers behind 
 her, to whose shoulder the little beauty 
 found herself thus suddenly pinioned, and 
 who, having lately fallen from his na- 
 tive skis, on the fat of the land in 
 hospitable England, was about to sub- 
 mit the last new History of Poland to 
 the protection of royalty. 
 
 Mr. Mandeville raised his hand to 
 assist in the process of disentanglement, 
 but it proved beyond his skill; and the 
 difficult task was finally accomplished by 
 a good-natured lady on the other side, 
 without any apparent damage having been 
 sustained. The little beauty turned her 
 head to thank her deliverer, but in so 
 doing her feathers tickled the nose of a 
 lawyer behind her, who, jerking his head 
 back with a sudden movement to escape
 
 54 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 from the focus of titillation, caught his 
 wig on the right shoulder epaulette of 
 the before-named Polish colonel, which 
 wresting it completely away, upset the 
 centre of gravity, and discovered the 
 secret of the bald pate beneath. 
 
 ^' What the deuce, sir,'' exclaimed the 
 little lawyer, waxing very wroth and very 
 red, at the discomfiture of his pericra- 
 nium, while every fresh jerk, in his inef- 
 fectual efforts at emancipation, brought 
 him nearer to the fate of Johnny Gilpin. 
 
 "Pardon, monsieur — I am very sorry, 
 sare," said the luckless cause of the 
 disaster, with a tolerably grave face, for 
 being quite close to, and considerably 
 taller than, his victim, he was fortunately 
 prevented seeing the full extent of the 
 ludicrous change in his appearance.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 55 
 
 But the little lawyer's wrath was now 
 diverted from its original object by the 
 ill-concealed mirth visible on the counte- 
 nances of all those round him, for the 
 metamorphosis in his appearance was per- 
 fectly irresistible ; nor was its absurdity 
 diminished when, after having by two 
 more successive and violent jerks suc- 
 ceeded in effecting his deliverance, and 
 in re-instating his perruque in a tolerably 
 correct position, he looked round, half 
 stifled with indignation, for some open- 
 ing through which to effect his exit. 
 
 But there was no help for it. The 
 belligerent parties were so closely wedged 
 together, that for those to get out who 
 had once got in would have been little 
 short of an impossibility; for the dimi- 
 nutive lawyer it could have been effected
 
 56 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 only at the imminent risk of annihilation. 
 He was therefore fain to rest content with 
 gradually insinuating himself into a posi- 
 tion more remote from the dangers which 
 had lately threatened so woful a catas- 
 trophe — there to exercise his patience 
 by watching till the commencement of 
 the general presentations should, by di- 
 minishing of the pressure of the crowd, 
 lessen the chances of further annoy- 
 ance. 
 
 Never had there been so crowded a 
 Drawing-room; never so brilliant a dis- 
 play of female beauty, nor so costly an 
 array of sparkling jewels. The anterooms 
 to the Presence Chamber now presented 
 one vast mass of plumes, and gems, and 
 uniforms; but the effect of the brilliant 
 assembly was in some measure lost by
 
 BENTLEY FRIORY. 57 
 
 the density of the crowd, which, in con- 
 sequence of the doors giving entrance to 
 the Presence Chamber being still closed, 
 was unable to dispose itself through the 
 various apartments ; and as fresh arrivals 
 were at each moment taking place, the 
 heat and suffocation were gradually be- 
 coming scarcely endurable. 
 
 " Have they opened all the windows ? " 
 inquired Lady Wrexham of Mr. Mande- 
 ville, on whose arm she was leaning, really 
 in need of support, for the heated atmo- 
 sphere was quite overpowering. 
 
 *' I am afraid they have," said he, look- 
 ing round to ascertain if it were so, and 
 the movement revealed to him once more 
 the same beautiful features concerning 
 which he had been inquiring when the 
 voice of his volatile companion had driven
 
 58 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 them from his recollection; He was about 
 to renew his question, but Lady Wrexham 
 was evidently suffering. She had turned 
 very pale, and all his attention was, of 
 course, directed towards her. 
 
 ^^I fear you find the heat overpower- 
 ing," said he, in dread of the impending 
 scene, which, under existing circumstances, 
 would have been peculiarly inconvenient. 
 ^* Would you prefer going into the open 
 air? If you will permit me, I think I 
 
 can — " 
 
 ^^ Oh, no, thank you very much ; by no 
 means — I shall be better presently. See, 
 they are opening the doors now." 
 
 The fresh current of air thus admitted, 
 and the enlarged space and breathing-room 
 afforded by the flowing of the stream into 
 the adjoining apartments, on its way to the
 
 BENTLEr PRIORY 59 
 
 presence of royalty, was a source of equal 
 satisfaction to Mr. Mandeville and his com- 
 panion, and a few minutes brought back 
 the colour to her cheek, and the vivacity 
 to her manner. 
 
 ^' I really am very much obliged to you," 
 said she, " and would make you my very 
 best curtsey, were such a manoeuvre practi- 
 cable without the risk of further disaster. 
 What should I have done had I been re- 
 duced to seek the aid either of that grim- 
 looking Pole, or of the fierce little law- 
 yer?" 
 
 ^^Ah, there is Sir William, at last," 
 she continued, without waiting for an 
 answer, as she perceived her husband en- 
 deavouring to make his way through the 
 crowd towards them. *^ So now your de- 
 voirs for to-day are happily ended."
 
 60 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Pray, reward me by saying who is 
 that lady to whom Sir William is speak- 
 ing/^ 
 
 Lady Wrexham moved her head, and 
 raised herself on tiptoe, but all to no 
 purpose. A sea of waving plumes effec- 
 tually intercepted her vision. 
 
 '^ It must have been old Lady AUing- 
 ton, I think,'' said she. " I thought you 
 knew her." 
 
 "Oh, no; it was a young lady — very 
 young. This must be her first Drawing- 
 room, I think." 
 
 "I do not know who it could be ; 
 how was she dressed ? " 
 
 "Eeally, I do not know," said he, 
 smiling; "I am no great connoisseur in 
 ladies' dress." 
 
 " How provoking men are," exclaimed
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 61 
 
 Lady Wrexham, still moying her head 
 from side to side, to obtain a view of 
 the new beauty — ^^ Englishmen, at least ; 
 the most recherche toilet is quite thrown 
 away upon them, and that is the reason 
 why so many Englishwomen are perfect 
 dowdies. A Frenchman can tell the pre- 
 cise position of every one's bow on one's 
 bonnet, and even how many ells of silk 
 should be employed in the manufacture 
 of a dress." 
 
 " An enviable accomplishment," said 
 Mr. Mandeville, smiling; but he did not 
 attempt to combat her ladyship's asser- 
 tion. 
 
 Meanwhile, Lady Wrexham was com- 
 pelled to abandon any further scrutiny as 
 hopeless. The new beauty had vanished 
 with the brilliant throng passing through
 
 62 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 the opposite doorway, while Sir William 
 stood patiently beside it, awaiting his 
 pretty little wife's approach as she passed 
 on with the stream in the same direction. 
 
 " Ha ! Mandeville, how are you ? I 
 am very glad to see you," was the cor- 
 dial greeting of Sir William Wrexham, 
 a lieutenant-general of a certain age, 
 covered with orders and decorations, whose 
 worth, combined with particularly gentle- 
 manlike and pleasing manners, had won 
 for him the hand and heart of the giddy 
 little beauty, who, though considerably 
 younger than himself, loved him with 
 the warm affection which his kindness 
 and excellence could scarcely fail to in- 
 spire. 
 
 "You owe him infinite gratitude, Sir 
 William. Mr. Mandeville has a second
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 63 
 
 time saved me from the jaws of destruc- 
 tion/^ said Lady Wrexham to her hus- 
 band. 
 
 ^^ Indeed," said he, smiling. 
 
 '^ He will tell you all about it/' and 
 Lady Wrexham, with a little nod and a 
 smile, which Sir William, with great truth, 
 thought infinitely becoming, passed on to 
 make her obeisance to royalty with a 
 graver countenance and a more dignified 
 step than could have been well expected 
 from her previous manner. 
 
 On making her exit at the opposite 
 door, she joined a group of persons who 
 had just passed out before her. It was 
 that of her uncle, Mr. Morton, with his 
 pretty wife and her beautiftil daughter 
 Emily. Old Lord and Lady AUington were 
 of the party ; the former discussing with Mr.
 
 64 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Morton the propriety of his standing for 
 the borough of Bentley at the impending 
 election ; while the latter, who had suc- 
 ceeded in finding a seat, was engaged 
 in scrutinising through her eye-glass the 
 exquisite natural blush-roses with which 
 Emily's bodice and train were looped. 
 
 "Oh, no ; mamma had them over from 
 Paris on purpose for me," said the 
 debutante, in answer to some question from 
 the old lady, whose advanced age formed 
 a melancholy and most unbecoming con- 
 trast to the youthful fashion of her 
 attire. 
 
 "I should suppose so. We have no 
 such artificial flowers as these in England. 
 The French do certainly excel us in all 
 these things." 
 
 "They excel us in all that is artiji'
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 65 
 
 cialj'" interposed Lord Allington, with a 
 supercilious sniff, and who, being one of 
 the ultra-English school, had, on hearing 
 the preference accorded to anything 
 foreign, broken off his electioneering dis- 
 cussion in the pith of the argument, 
 for no other purpose than to give to his 
 antiquated but gaily-dressed lady countess 
 the retort w/zcourteous. 
 
 " Caught in the very fact," exclaimed 
 the lively voice of Lady Wrexham, who 
 joined them at the moment. *' Oh, fie ! 
 Lord Allington, after all your promises of 
 amendment." 
 
 The earl smiled. No one could have 
 been angry with Lady Wrexham. 
 
 "And so, the dreaded presentation is 
 over at last, ma belle cousine," said she 
 to Emily, " Je vous fais mon compliment, 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 6Q BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ma chere. The Court plume is wonder- 
 fully becoming, I never saw her look so 
 well/' said she, turning good-naturedly to 
 Mrs. Morton, "and her dress is perfect," 
 and she ran her eye over the various parts 
 of Emily's attire with an approving glance. 
 
 "I think it is pretty," said Mrs. 
 Morton, in her quiet, lady-like way. 
 
 "And now tell me, ma belle, did 
 any of the evils chance, which you seemed 
 to dread so much, while performing your 
 act of obeisance." 
 
 " Oh, no — not one," said Emily, laugh- 
 ing ; " but still I am very glad it is over, ' 
 for, do you know, I could think of nothing 
 the whole time but the history you 
 had given me of poor Lady Mandeville's 
 disasters on the slippery parquet at 
 Brussels."
 
 BENTLEY PRIOR Y. 67 
 
 *' Hush," whispered Lady Wrexham, and 
 the one word was accompanied by a com- 
 ical look of dismay, which plainly indi- 
 cated that the allusion to the history, which 
 no doubt had lost nothing in her lady- 
 ship's relation of it, was somewhat ill- 
 timed. Emily perceived that she had 
 done wrong, and her cheek, which had 
 before been somewhat pale from the heated 
 and nervous ordeal through which she 
 had just passed, became in a moment as 
 nearly akin to the colour of the rose as 
 possible. Not so Lady Wrexham, who was 
 too well accustomed to the little misad- 
 venture into which her thoughtless vola- 
 tility was constantly leading her, to feel 
 any embarrassment, though Mr. Mande- 
 ville, of whose mother. Lady Mandeville, 
 the incident alluded to had been related, 
 
 f2
 
 68 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 in the privacy of her ladyship's boudoir, 
 with a drollery which rendered it per- 
 fectly irresistible, had approached so near 
 as to be all but within hearing just at 
 the moment when the unlucky speech 
 was uttered. 
 
 *^Mr, Mandeville,'' said she, turning 
 towards him, with the same unembarrassed 
 manner as before, and determined at once 
 to crush all evil consequences. 
 
 The colour in poor Emily's cheek deep- 
 ened as the name was pronounced which 
 revealed to her her indiscretion, and her 
 eyes fell as they encountered the admir- 
 ing gaze of Mr. Mandeville, for in her 
 he instantly recognised the same lovely 
 face seen in the middle window, and con- 
 cerning which he had made so many fruit- 
 less inquiries.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 69 
 
 "Mr. Mandeville, I must present you 
 to my cousin, Miss Morton," said Lady 
 Wrexham ; and then left Mandeville to con- 
 quer her cousin^s obvious embarrassment in 
 his own peculiarly felicitous manner. 
 
 ^' I suppose you go to the opera, 
 to-night ? " said she, turning to Mrs. 
 Morton. 
 
 " I intended it ; but I am really so 
 tired, I fear I shall scarcely be able. I 
 must make the attempt, however, for I 
 know Emily wishes to go." 
 
 " Oh, give her to me, then, for to- 
 night," said Lady Wrexham. ^* Princess 
 Cesaria has given me her box ; and I shall 
 be too delighted to have her." 
 
 " With many thanks." 
 
 *^ Carina, you are coming with me to 
 the opera," she continued, turning to
 
 70 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Emily, who by this time had recovered 
 sufficiently to look up and answer some 
 remarks of Mr. Mandeville. " Princess 
 Cesaria has lent me her box, and the 
 opera will be magnificent. I will call 
 for you at half-past eight. Till then a 
 rivederla, carina," and passing her arm 
 through her husband's, she moved on to 
 wards the door. 
 
 The rest of the party soon followed. 
 Mandeville, as a matter of course, offering 
 his arm to conduct Miss Morton down- 
 stairs. 
 
 How often would the cup of present 
 happiness be embittered, could we read 
 the secrets of futurity.
 
 BENTLEY PEIORY. 71 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 Lady Wrexham's carriage was at the 
 door, in Portland Place, punctually at the 
 hour appointed, and Emily, who had dis- 
 encumbered herself of her train, but who 
 still wore the Court plume, which had, 
 with great justice, been pronounced emi- 
 nently becoming, in less than two min- 
 utes found herself seated in the other corner 
 of it, and on her way to the opera.
 
 72 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Oh, I am so much obliged to jou, 
 Caroline," exclaimed she ; " poor mamma 
 has such a dreadful head-ache, she would 
 have been quite unable to go, and I 
 could not miss the opera to-night for the 
 world." 
 
 " It would have been an unpardonable 
 sin to the world to have let you do so, 
 carina. I have no idea of your ' wasting 
 your sweetness on the desert air.'" 
 
 " Good gracious, Caroline, what an un- 
 lucky speech that was of mine this morn- 
 ing," exclaimed Emily, suddenly breaking 
 into the subject which was uppermost in' 
 her thoughts ; ^* why, you had told me Mr. 
 Mandeville was in Italy." 
 
 " I thought him so ; but he arrived in 
 town last night. A little mal-a-propos, 
 certainly," said Lady Wrexham, laughing ;
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 73 
 
 "but I do not suppose he heard 
 you." 
 
 " I am sure I hope not, or what must he 
 have thought of me ? " 
 
 " What must he have thought of me, 
 rather? But it is no great matter, 
 carina, I seemed to have made him an 
 ample amende honorable by introducing 
 him to a better acquaintance with your 
 beaux yeux'^ 
 
 "All I can say is, then, that he is 
 easily pacified. I had laughed so heartily 
 over your history of poor Lady Emme- 
 line's disasters, and felt so confused and 
 conscience-stricken, that I really hardly 
 knew what I was saying or doing when 
 he spoke to me." 
 
 "You would have laughed ten times 
 more had you been present at it. Lady
 
 74 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Emmeline is, as I told you, particularly- 
 stately in her manner, and has a perfect 
 horror of any breach of etiquette. Only 
 conceive, then, instead of the dignified 
 curtsey she had prepared, her falling flat 
 on her face, after sundry slippings and 
 slidings, before the whole Court, exactly as 
 the Queen came to speak to her. And 
 then her ineffectual struggles to rise, which, 
 entangled as she was with her train, was 
 next to an impossibility, for the parquet 
 was literally as slippery as a looking-glass. 
 I believe we should all have expired in our 
 efforts to preserve decorum, had it not 
 been for the boldness of one of the aids-de- 
 camp, who, in defiance of all etiquette, 
 stepped forward to her ladyship's assist- 
 ance, and thus put an end to our tor- 
 tures."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 75 
 
 " And who are these Mandevilles that I 
 have heard so much talk about ? " inquired 
 Emily; but as she spoke the carriage turned 
 the corner of Charles Street, and, dashing 
 up to the door of the Opera-house, Lady 
 Wrexham's beautiful bays were in a mo- 
 ment stopped short by one masterly touch 
 of London coachmanship. Sir William 
 was waiting to hand the two ladies from 
 the carriage, and in a few minutes the 
 trio found themselves ensconced in that 
 most luxurious of all luxurious places — a 
 first-rate opera-box. After waiting in silence 
 till the beautiful cavatina, which Grisi was 
 singing as they entered, had ended, and 
 then whispering a word of some engage- 
 ment at the club, and a promise to return 
 before the opera was over. Sir William 
 vanished, leaving his lady wife and Emily
 
 76 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 to the tete-a-tete enjoyment of the scene 
 before them. 
 
 ** Will you have mj lorgnette, Emily?" 
 said Lady Wrexham, as she transferred her 
 opera^glass from her own hand to that of 
 her cousin. 
 
 '^ Thank you," and Emily raised the 
 glass, and turned it towards the stage, for 
 Grisi was in the midst of one of her finest 
 scenas in *' Norma." 
 
 She returned it in a few moments to 
 Lady Wrexham, who immediately recom- 
 menced her reconnoitering of the several 
 boxes wherein she might expect to discover' 
 an acquaintance, for already from many 
 beamed forth the same lovely faces that had 
 graced the Reception of the morning, most 
 of them, like herself, wearing the graceful 
 plume and rich jewels which on a Court
 
 BENTLET PRIORY. 77 
 
 night render the opera so brilliant and beau- 
 tiful a spectacle. Emily, meanwhile, wholly 
 absorbed in the music, sat with her eyes 
 riveted on the stage, and utterly forgetful 
 of everything else around her. 
 
 " Hah ! le voila," exclaimed Lady Wrex- 
 ham, breaking mercilessly into the very 
 heart of Grisi's concluding roulade, 
 
 ^' Oh, yes — there he is," whispered 
 Emily, keeping her eyes still fixed on the 
 stage, on which, as the last song ended, the 
 hero of the piece, who was personated by 
 her favourite Mario, was making his appear- 
 ance. ^^ He is going to sing that lovely 
 duet with Grisi." 
 
 " Going to sing a duet with Grisi, ca- 
 rina ! What— Mr. Mandeville ! " 
 
 " No, no — Mario," said Emily, provoked 
 at any interruption to the delicious strains
 
 78 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 to which she would fain have been listen- 
 ing. 
 
 "But / was speaking of Mr. Mande- 
 ville/' whispered Lady Wrexham, mali- 
 ciously. 
 
 " Oh, in mercy, hush ! " exclaimed 
 Emily, who at that moment cared not for 
 all the Mr. Mandevilles on the face of the 
 earth, and her giddy little ladyship was 
 merciful enough to resume in silence the 
 exercise of her lorgnette, 
 
 "And now," said Emily, as the curtain 
 fell at the close of the act, and both drew 
 themselves back into the shade, to enjoy ar 
 quiet little tete-a-tSte, "and now I am 
 ready to listen to all you have to say con- 
 cerning this Mr. Mandeville, with whose 
 name you appear resolved to break my 
 peace. You have made me curious. To
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 79 
 
 begin from the beginning, then, who is 
 he?'' 
 
 *^ A nephew of Lord Trentham." 
 
 " Of Trentham Abbey ? " 
 
 " Yes ; his mother was the only daughter 
 of the old earl, from whom, very probably, 
 she acquired the stateliness of manner for 
 which he was so remarkable. She was, I 
 have heard, extremely beautiful, and had 
 half the best matches in England at her 
 feet; but unfortunately she preferred Mr. 
 Mandeville to them all, much to the indig- 
 nation of her father, who had set his heart 
 upon seeing her a duchess, whereas Mr. 
 Mandeville, who belonged to an ancient but 
 impoverished gentleman's family in Corn- 
 wall, and had, I believe, very little besides 
 his commission in the Guards, had of 
 course neither rank nor fortune to offer
 
 80 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 her. I believe Lord Trentham was very 
 much censured for the harshness of his 
 conduct, particularly as he had only one 
 other child, the present earl, and his fortune 
 was amply sufficient to have consulted his 
 daughter's happiness, had he chosen to do so." 
 
 " How strange ! " exclaimed Emily. 
 
 " Not strange in his case, for he was a 
 very proud, imperious man, accustomed to 
 implicit obedience, and incapable himself of 
 comprehending what love meant. At last 
 he wished to force Lady Emmeline into a 
 marriage with the Duke of Lisburne, and 
 then she consented to elope, and was pri- 
 vately married by her father's own 
 chaplain, which act of kindness, by 
 the bye, cost him his situation." 
 
 "And was she happy afterwards?" 
 'nterrupted Emily, earnestly.
 
 BENTLEY PEIORY. 81 
 
 ^^I fear not. I scarcely ever saw a 
 runaway match that was happy, Emily. 
 Her father not only would never see 
 her, but even carried his resentment so 
 far as not to name her in his will, so 
 that at his death she received no more 
 than the ten thousand pounds which, 
 as a younger child, had been settled 
 on her at her mother's marriage. This 
 obduracy was rendered doubly painful 
 by the early death of her husband, 
 who was killed at Waterloo, only a 
 few months after the birth of their first 
 child. She has continued to reside on 
 the Continent almost ever since, that 
 she might procure for her son those 
 advantages of education which of course 
 she could not have afforded for him m 
 England." 
 
 TOL. I. G
 
 82 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Poor thing ! " exclaimed Emily. 
 " What a sad history ! Then the present 
 Lord Trentham is Mr. Mandeville's 
 uncle?" 
 
 *^Yes; but I do not believe there ever 
 has been much cordiality between the 
 families. Lady Emmeline, I believe, 
 fancied that he had not acted quite a 
 brotherly part towards her ; and, added 
 to this, there may have been a feeling 
 of jealousy on the earFs part with 
 respect to his own heir, who is the 
 very antipodes of Mr. Mandeville in 
 everything. I never saw Lord Errington' 
 but once, long ago, when he was a 
 mere boy, and then I remember think- 
 ing him the most perfectly awkward, 
 unmannered person I had ever be- 
 held."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 83 
 
 " Poor Lady Emmeline," said Emily, 
 "I fancy I should like to know her 
 very much." 
 
 " She is not generally liked," said 
 Lady Wrexham. *^ Her manners are 
 cold and stately to the last degree, but 
 Heaven knows it is not wonderful, if 
 one remembers the sorrows she has 
 had, and the sacrifices she is still 
 compelled to make, which, to a proud 
 spirit like hers, must be very galling. 
 She always appeared to me to feel for 
 nothing on earth but her son, and 
 towards him her affection amounts to 
 positive idolatry, which, indeed, is not 
 very surprising, for his attention to 
 her is quite beautiful, and he is, 
 besides, a person that a mother might 
 well be proud of." 
 
 62
 
 84 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "You made their acquaintance in 
 Italy, did you not ? '' 
 
 "Yes; Lady Emmeline never went 
 out ; but he was with us daily ; and 
 abroad, you know, one has an opportu- 
 nity of becoming more intimate in a 
 few weeks than would be possible here 
 in as many months. We seemed quite 
 like old friends before the winter was 
 half over. Indeed, I do not know 
 what we should have done without him 
 at all our parties, for everything 
 
 seemed to go smoothly when he was 
 
 » 
 there. He was a sad slayer of hearts, 
 
 carina, so let me warn you — prenez 
 
 garde a vous ! " 
 
 "Oh, no fear," said Emily, laughing. 
 
 " After my escapade of this morning, and 
 
 with Mr. Mandeville's devotion to his
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 85 
 
 mother, too, of whom I was speaking so 
 disrespectfully, he will not take the trouble 
 to attempt any inroad on my peace of mind, 
 depend upon it." 
 
 " Che sara sara, carina. We shall see. 
 Only I say, prenez garde a vous. He is a 
 dangerous person ! " 
 
 " And in all these dangers, is it possible 
 that he himself has escaped without a 
 wound ? " 
 
 '^ I don't know — I am not sure of that. 
 At one time I used to think he bore a 
 charmed life ; but I suspect that before we 
 left Naples—" 
 
 Lady Wrexham was interrupted by a 
 gentle tap at the box-door, which, as the 
 two ladies simultaneously turned their 
 heads, was opened by their cousin, Charles 
 Grenville of the Guards. It would not have
 
 86 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 been very easy to define why the rose in 
 Emily's cheek deepened to the very hue so 
 much deprecated by her mother, when she 
 perceived that Mr. Mandeville was behind 
 him, for by no possibility could he have 
 heard a single word of the low-toned con- 
 versation that had just passed; neither could 
 she herself have explained the cause of her 
 disappointment, when her cousin, whose first 
 entrance had given him the privilege of 
 choosing his own position, placed himself in 
 the chair beside her, leaving Mr. Mande- 
 ville, as a matter of course, to take the cor- 
 responding seat near Lady Wrexham. 
 Emily was very fond of her cousin, and he 
 
 was very fond of her ; and there had always 
 been a brotherly and sisterly intercourse 
 
 between the families, which had of course 
 
 banished all restraint between them. More-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 87 
 
 over, Miss Morton, like most girls brought 
 up in her own circle, was by no means un- 
 accustomed to the world, though she had 
 nominally only made her debut that morning, 
 yet still on this evening she felt embar- 
 rassed a^er Cousin Charles began talking 
 to her in his own light way, without very 
 well knowing why. Her usual playful 
 answers to his sallies of wit were not forth- 
 coming, aud though she felt very much pro- 
 voked with herself, and tolerably certain 
 that he must observe the change in her 
 manner, and would certainly quiz her un- 
 mercifully for it afterwards, yet still every 
 effort to mend matters only seemed to make 
 them worse. The truth was, that Emily was 
 singularly indisposed to exhibit to the 
 strange eyes, which she felt were just then 
 fixed on her, the degree of intimacy which
 
 88 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 had always subsisted between herself and 
 her hair-brained cousin, and the symptoms 
 of which were, as she thought, on the pres- 
 ent occasion, vastly increased by the low 
 tone wherein, with due deference to decorum, 
 his conversation was carried on. 
 
 ** What are you thinking of, Emily ? " 
 whispered he. "I am certain you are in 
 love, for I never saw you so silent before.'' 
 
 " I believe I have been thinking more of 
 Grisi and Mario than of anything else to- 
 night, Charles," said she, smiling, and 
 colouring a little. 
 
 "Whoever dreams of coming to the' 
 opera to think of Grisi and Mario ? " 
 
 " / do, most certainly," said Emily, look- 
 ing up with much animation, in vindication 
 of her good taste. 
 
 " Nonsense ! People come to the opera to
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 89 
 
 see and be seen. You came to-night for no 
 other purpose than to show the world what 
 a miracle of beauty they had gained." 
 
 " Oh, hush, Charles," whispered Emily, 
 with a look which seemed to implore for 
 silence. 
 
 " I wish you would always wear that 
 head-dress, Emmy. It is so becoming ; I 
 like those long lace things — what do you 
 call them ? — lappits, is it not ? " 
 
 *^ Yes ; now do let me listen to the 
 music," said she, in a more audible tone, 
 as the curtain, drawing up, gave her an 
 excuse for turning from him, and fix- 
 ing her attention once more on the 
 stage. 
 
 Lady Wrexham and Mrs. Mandeville 
 had, in the meantime, been conversing 
 in the same light tone as before, but
 
 90 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 their voices likewise ceased as the opera 
 recommenced, for the little beauty was 
 beginning to feel somewhat fatigued with 
 the prolonged exertion of the day ; and 
 Mr. Mandeville was too enthusiastic a 
 lover of music not to profit very gladly 
 by the unusual spell of silence which 
 had enchained her. Miss Morton was 
 thus left during the whole of the next 
 act to the undisturbed enjoyment of the 
 scene before her. Save for an occasional 
 ejaculation of delight to Lady Wrexham, 
 at some particularly beautiful passage, 
 she never ventured to turn her head 
 from the stage, from a dread of the 
 renewal of her cousin's raillery ; and thus 
 it was not till the curtain fell again, 
 leaving her no further excuse for re- 
 taining her position, that on looking
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 91 
 
 round she perceived he had quitted the 
 box, and that Mr. Mandeville had taken 
 possession of the vacant seat behind her. 
 
 *^ You are a connoisseur in music, I 
 should think," said he, referring to the 
 evident interest and delight with which 
 she had been listening. 
 
 " Not in the least," said Emily, in 
 her own elegant, unembarrassed manner ; 
 "but I am passionately fond of it." 
 
 " You sing, I daresay ? '* 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Indeed she does, and very beauti- 
 fully," subjoined Lady Wrexham, with 
 good-natured earnestness. " Now don't 
 contradict me, Emmy, for it is all 
 true. Garcia himself told me so; and I 
 imagine that he is a better judge than 
 any of us."
 
 92 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " People are never fair judges of their 
 own performance," observed Mr. Mande- 
 ville, with a smile. " Have you any of 
 the music from Verdi's new opera ? " 
 inquired he ; " it is very beautiful." 
 
 ^'I do not remember to have met 
 with it." 
 
 "Probably not. I believe it has not 
 yet found its way into England. I 
 brought the whole opera with me from 
 Italy. If you will permit me, I will 
 send it for you to look over." 
 
 "You are very kind," said Emily, 
 scarcely knowing whether she shoul'd 
 say "Yes" or "No." 
 
 "And perhaps," added he, "if you 
 should find anything you particularly 
 admire, I may hope to hear you sing 
 it."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 93 
 
 ^^ You would scarcely recognise the 
 music, I fear, from my singing, after 
 haying been accustomed to listen to it 
 in Italy," said Emily, alarmed at the 
 ordeal through which she was expected 
 to pass, for she had heard from Lady 
 Wrexham of Mandeville's fastidious taste 
 and correct judgment. ** Nevertheless, 
 if you are content to listen to me, 
 faute de mieux — ^' 
 
 '^ Quite content, and with many thanks ;" 
 and as Mr. Mandeville ceased speaking, 
 he drew back a moment and looked 
 round, for the door had again opened, 
 giving entrance to Sir William Wrex- 
 ham and Captain Grenville; but the 
 same moment the curtain drawing up, 
 Emily's attention was again directed to- 
 wards the stage, but she did not find
 
 94 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 it necessary this time to change her 
 position as before, for Mr. Mandeville 
 appeared as well disposed to listen to 
 the music as herself. There was scarcely 
 a beautiful passage, indeed, which did not 
 elicit from him a whispered word of 
 admiration, for he had retained his 
 seat near Emily, and to which she in 
 the same tone did not assent ; but, 
 further than this, the enjoyment in 
 which they both seemed to participate 
 suffered little interruption. Lady Wrex- 
 ham was very tired ; Sir William rarely 
 talked at the opera, nor was he, at all 
 events, exactly the sort of person that 
 Charles Grenville would have selected 
 for a conversazione on such an occa- 
 sion, and Emily's gay cousin was there- 
 fore compelled, sorely against his will.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 95 
 
 to content himself with the silent ex- 
 ercise of Lady Wrexham's discarded opera- 
 glass. 
 
 " Do you wish to stay for the ballet, 
 Emily ? " said her ladyship, as the falling 
 of the curtain closed the miseries of 
 Norma. 
 
 ^^ By no means, if you are tired, dear." 
 
 " I am very tired, I own," and Lady 
 Wrexham's paleness proved the truth of 
 of what she said. " Are not you? " 
 
 *'Not in the least," said Emily, who 
 had perfectly recovered her animated, un- 
 embarrassed manner. ^^ But let us go, by 
 all means, or you will knock yourself up 
 for to-morrow." 
 
 "To-morrow — ah, true. Mr. Mande- 
 ville, do you go to Lady Courtney's 
 breakfast to-morrow ? " inquhred Lady
 
 96 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Wrexham, as she folded her magnificent 
 Cashmere round her. 
 
 "Alas, no. I did not arrive in time 
 to procure an invitation ; and I fear it is 
 now too late." 
 
 " Oh ! by no means. You shall go 
 under the shadow of my wing. Call on 
 me at one, to-morrow, and we will arrange 
 all about it." And while Sir William went 
 in search of the carriage, she passed out 
 of the box, leaning on the arm of Charles 
 Grenville, while Mr. Mandeville once more, 
 as a matter of course, offered his to Miss 
 Morton. 
 
 " Shall you be at Lady Courtney's to- 
 morrow ? " he inquired, as they descended 
 the stair together. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I hope so." 
 
 " Buona notte," said Lady Wrexham, as
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 97 
 
 the carriage-door closed on herself and 
 Emily. 
 
 ^^Buona notte, buona notte, amato 
 bene/' murmured Mr. Mandeville, at the 
 same time humming the air, but in a tone 
 inaudible, save to himself, for the carriage 
 had dashed off towards Portland Place ; 
 while, passing his arm through that of 
 Captain Grenville, the two young men 
 turned into St. James's Street, toward their 
 own lodgings. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Lady Courtney's dejeilner dansant, at her 
 ladyship's beautiful villa in the Regent's 
 Park, was to be a very elaborate affair — 
 quite as elaborate as the most accomplished 
 artistes and the most profuse expenditure 
 could make it. There were to be water- 
 works in the morning, and fireworks at 
 night ; a concert out of doors, and a ball 
 within; a supper, comprising all the deli-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 99 
 
 cacies in and out of season, with the finest 
 wines money could procure ; and to crown 
 all, as her ladyship herself expressed it, 
 '• lots of fine people to eat 'em/' 
 
 Never had there been such a hubbub on 
 the usually quiet road which led to ^' The 
 Pavilion," the name by which her lady- 
 ship chose to distinguish her newly-made 
 and very beautiful purchase ; never had 
 there been so great a commotion in the 
 establishment of Mr. Gunter and his coad- 
 jutors, to whose superior skill and know- 
 ledge Lady Courtney, aware of her own 
 inexperience in such matters, had wisely 
 confided the management of the whole 
 affair, merely stipulating that no expense 
 should be spared (a part of the agreement 
 which she afterwards learned might, with 
 some advantage, have been omitted) to 
 
 h2
 
 100 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 render everything as elegant and distingue 
 as possible. This particular fete consti- 
 tuted, in fact, a very important crisis in her 
 ladyship's destiny. 
 
 It was the " to be," or *^ not to be," of 
 her enrolment on the admitted list of 
 fashionable /^fe-givers ; and being, besides, 
 her first appearance on so large a scale, in 
 the capacity of hostess, on the London stage, 
 the flutter of agitation, by which the poor 
 lady was rendered considerably more un- 
 comfortable than she had ever been before 
 in the whole course of her existence, during 
 the time the preparations were going on,' 
 may very readily be conceived. That 
 Lady Courtney should feel somewhat 
 fluttered at the self-imposed ordeal through 
 which she was about to pass, was not 
 indeed surprising, considering how very
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 101 
 
 recent was her translation to the new and 
 imposing world of London, for, up to the 
 period in question, her life had been passed 
 in the purlieus of her husband's manufac- 
 tory at Birmingham, and in the sole occu- 
 pation of displaying to the little great 
 world, of which she was the queen, the 
 enormous wealth which his industry had 
 there amassed. The importance derivable 
 from this source had been considerably 
 augmented some years previously by the 
 acquisition of knighthood conferred on the 
 presentation of an address to royalty ; and, 
 to crown all, the knight's enormous riches 
 and popularity had carried everything at 
 the last election, and Lady Courtney had 
 the supreme satisfaction, not only of be- 
 holding ^LP. attached to his name, but 
 herself of dispensing franks right and
 
 102 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 left to all who chose to ask for 
 them. 
 
 It followed, as a matter of course, that 
 Sir John must attend his duties in Parlia- 
 ment ; and, as a matter of course, Lady- 
 Courtney went up to London for two suc- 
 cessive seasons, and was presented at 
 Court ; but nothing very remarkable came 
 of it, till the approach of the third, when 
 sundry rumours began to be afloat concern- 
 ing the member^s frequent fits of the gout, 
 and his consequent determination to resign 
 his seat. Then some of the leading men 
 in the county recollected, for the first time, ' 
 that it might be as well, in consideration of 
 the election impending, to secure the well- 
 known enormous influence of the sitting 
 member by any little harmless civilities in 
 their power. Cards were accordingly left
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 103 
 
 for Sir John and Lady Courtney in due 
 form ; a dinner was given for the nonce, 
 and Lady Courtney had not only the inex- 
 pressible delight of finding herself, for the 
 first time in her life, seated at the same 
 table with five live lords, and three live 
 ladies, but also of perceiving that the 
 magnificence of her diamonds, and the 
 brilliancy of the cherry-coloured velvet 
 dress she had selected expressly to do 
 honour to the occasion, far exceeded that 
 of any one of the said ladies who had been 
 invited to meet her. 
 
 ^^Well, Sir John," said her ladyship, 
 drawing up her portly person with an air 
 of increased dignity, as she sat sipping her 
 cofiee on the following morning in the luxu- 
 rious breakfast-room at the Pavilion, ^^ no 
 one shall ever say in my presence again
 
 104 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 that Lady Caroline Douglas is high. I'm 
 sure I never in my life saw anyone more 
 affable and condescending/' 
 
 " Why, what did you expect to find her, 
 Lady Courtney ? Did you think she would 
 ba rude to us in her own house ? " 
 
 " Lord, Sir John, I don't know. Those 
 great people do give themselves such airs 
 sometimes ; and, you know, she's a duke's 
 daughter.'' 
 
 ^^ So much the more likely to know what 
 good manners are," answered the knight, 
 who was as remarkable for his plain good 
 sense as for the honour and honesty so pe- 
 culiarly the characteristics of that most 
 noble class — our English merchants. Sir 
 John had, in fact, done but one foolish 
 thing in his life, he had married a very 
 kind-hearted, but superlatively silly wife.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 105 
 
 because she had a pretty face, and a sore 
 trial of temper it had been to him. 
 
 " Those great people never give them- 
 selves airs, Lady Courtney,'^ continued he ; 
 " it is only upstarts who do." 
 
 Lady Courtney fidgeted in her chair. 
 She did not very well understand Sir John's 
 reasoning, and therefore she said nothing. 
 Lords were lords, and ladies were ladies, 
 all the world over, she thought, and lords 
 and ladies must necessarily be great 
 people. 
 
 " Very true. Sir John/' replied she. 
 '^ Then there's Sir Charles, what a delight- 
 ful, elegant man he is, too ! " 
 
 *^ Sir Charles appears a very sensible, 
 straightforward man," replied the knight. 
 "I have no doubt he will be a useful 
 member in the House at some future time."
 
 106 BENTLEY TRIORY. 
 
 ^^ That seemed a very lively little lady 
 by whom you were seated, Sir John," con- 
 tinued the lady, as she replenished her 
 cup, alluding to Lady Wrexham, who had 
 been invited by the hostess as a most effi- 
 cient personage in assisting her to conquer 
 the difficulties of the duty-dinner, and who 
 had done her part to perfection. " Don't 
 you think she's something like our 
 Polly?" 
 
 If Lady Wrexham could only have heard 
 the comparison — and have seen her proto- 
 type! 
 
 Sir John gave a sniff, but said nothing. ' 
 
 '' How plainly she was dressed ! Nothing 
 better than a muslin gown, 1 declare. 
 How dreadful it must be for people who 
 are obliged to mix in the world to be poor. 
 Sir John."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 107 
 
 ^^It must, indeed," replied the knight, 
 whose thoughts were at that moment 
 wholly occupied with a reinforcement of 
 buttered toast which had just made its 
 appearance. 
 
 ^' Don't you think, Sir John, that we 
 ought to invite Sir Charles and Lady 
 Caroline to dinner in return ? " pursued 
 the lady. 
 
 ^^ Certainly, if you wish it, my dear." 
 
 " You know we owe the Thompsons and 
 the Smiths a dinner, and I am sure they 
 would like very much to meet — " 
 
 "No, no. Lady Courtney," interrupted 
 the knight, as he pushed his now empty 
 plate from him. " That will not do. If 
 you ask these great people, you must 
 ask them properly. We cannot have the 
 Smiths and Thompsons the same day,"
 
 108 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " La ! why not, Sir John ? I was think- 
 ing it would do vastly well ; for Mrs. Smith 
 would then have an opportunity of asking 
 them to her ball. One may as well be 
 civil, you know.^' 
 
 '^ Pshaw ! " said Sir John, impatiently. 
 
 "However, if you like it better, my 
 dear," she continued, perceiving her lord 
 vouchsafed no assent to the proposed ar- 
 rangement, " I can ask just the same party 
 we met yesterday. They have all left their 
 cards, you know. Only I thought, as it is 
 their business to ask us first — '^ 
 
 " No matter ; if you are determined to 
 invite Sir Charles and Lady Caroline, ask 
 the rest, by all means," and Sir John ended 
 the discussion by seizing one of the numer- 
 ous papers lying ready for his inspection, 
 while his lady sailed out of the room to indite.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 109 
 
 without delay, the various invitations to the 
 new lords and ladies of her acquaintance, 
 whose several addresses, as she laid them 
 in single file before her, and still more as 
 she deposited each separately on the silver 
 salver held out by the footman to receive 
 them, reading, in a sonorous voice, for his 
 especial benefit, the style and title of each 
 as it came, were certainly very dazzling and 
 delightful to the vision of the writer. 
 
 " Mmt we go, Charles ? " said Lady 
 Caroline Douglas to her husband, as, after 
 opening the profusely gilt envelope, and 
 reading its enclosure, she handed it to 
 him. ^^ I really think I have done very 
 handsomely by you, in having these people 
 here, and now the least you can do is to 
 make me the amende honorable — I may 
 write an excuse, may I not ? "
 
 110 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Not for the world/' answered Sir 
 Charles. "You must really oblige me 
 in this, Caroline ; you see, they have 
 sent us heaven knows how long an in- 
 vitation, so that there is no saying we 
 are engaged without the risk of incur- 
 ring that large lady's displeasure, which," 
 added he, "to speak seriously, I should 
 really be sorry for, for I suspect that 
 a general election is more nearly at 
 hand than most people are aware of." 
 
 Lady Caroline sighed. " If it must be 
 so, it must then, I suppose," said she, 
 looking very doleful. " But surely, 
 Charles, you do not mean to say that 
 we must keep up a regular visiting 
 acquaintance with these people ? Only 
 conceive the people we shall meet there." 
 
 "I suspect you will meet the very
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. Ill 
 
 same party we had here yesterday," 
 said her husband. ^^You know we all 
 left our cards the same day. At all 
 events, it will be but the penance of 
 a few hours." 
 
 "If it must be, it must then," re- 
 plied Lady Caroline, with the resigna- 
 tion of a martyr, as she turned to her 
 writing table and penned the required 
 acceptance. 
 
 " I really think I was wrong not to 
 make conditions," said she, laughing, 
 when the note was sealed and dis- 
 patched. " This act of self-immolation 
 positively deserves some recompense." 
 
 "It does, indeed, Caroline; I am 
 fully aware of it," answered her hus- 
 band, in the same strain. "But surely 
 it will be sufficient recompense when
 
 112 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 you see me by your exertions raised 
 to the dignity of an M.P., like Sir 
 William Courtney, for instance.'' 
 
 ^*0h, prithee, let there be no like- 
 ness between you of any sort," said 
 she, smiling at the idea of any pos- 
 sible resemblance between the knight of 
 Birmingham and her own elegant hus- 
 band. "I should say, Charles, that if 
 we are to have all these horrors, He 
 jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle.' How- 
 ever," continued she, " I know how 
 much you wish to get into Parliament, 
 and therefore, till the election which 
 you say is so near is past, I am ready 
 to brave all sorts of dangers for you; 
 but after that is over — " 
 
 "You shall follow your own will and 
 pleasure absolutely and for ever, Carry,"
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 113 
 
 interposed Sir Charles, in great good 
 humour, and snatching a kiss from the 
 fair cheek of his wife, he vanished from 
 her presence. 
 
 The dinner (like many other things 
 in this world) by no means fulfilled 
 Lady Caroline Douglas's evil anticipa- 
 tions. Nothing could have been in 
 better style than the whole entertain- 
 ment, for Lady Courtney had wisely 
 resigned the entire management of every- 
 thing to her maitre cPhotel, who was 
 an artist of the first class ; and as her 
 ladyship had taken care to impress him 
 duly with the importance of his task 
 on that especial day, in consideration 
 of the illustrious guests who were to 
 grace her table, he seemed to have 
 considered it as due to his own reputa- 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 BENTLEY PRIOEY. 
 
 tion, no less than to hers, that every- 
 thing should be conducted in the most 
 approved style of elegance. By Lady 
 Caroline's own dexterous management, too, 
 the party was, as Sir Charles had prog- 
 nosticated, the very same as that which had 
 met her at her own table, a few weeks 
 before, so that, what with these two re- 
 deeming points, the unobtrusive man- 
 ners of the host, and the perfect good- 
 humour and amusing qualities of the 
 hostess, the whole party quitted the 
 Pavilion with feelings of far greater 
 complacency than could possibly hav6 
 been expected. Meaniyhile, the imme- 
 diate prospect of an election seemed for 
 the present to be fading away, thus 
 giving opportunity for the interchange of 
 sundry little civilities, such as the leaving
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 115 
 
 of a card, or a bow of recognition in the 
 Park, where Lady Courtney failed not 
 daily to display herself and her magnifi- 
 cent equipage, or an occasional ticket for 
 Almack's, or anything else equally harm- 
 less. In short, things progressed so fa- 
 vourably, that Lady Courtney for the first 
 time discovered London to be a perfect 
 paradise ; and it was in the midst of all this 
 sublimity of happiness that a lazy little 
 devil, in the form of one of the before- 
 named Miss Smiths, put into her lady- 
 ships head the delighful idea of a fete at the 
 Pavilion, similar to that which had lately 
 been given at an adjoining villa by Lord 
 Somebody, the details of which had reached 
 her through an own maid, who was own 
 cousin to an own man of his lordship him- 
 self. 
 
 i2
 
 116 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 The only difficulty seemed the impossi- 
 bility of gathering together a sufficient 
 number of sufficiently important personages 
 to make the affair go off with the desired 
 eclat; but here the remembrance of her 
 newly- acquired friends, and of their great 
 kindness and affability on all occasions, 
 came opportunely to Lady Courtney's aid, 
 and without permitting herself to be at all 
 daunted by the boldness of such a proceed- 
 ing, she set out forthwith, in the innocence 
 of her heart, to consult *^her friend. Lady 
 Caroline Douglas," on the subject, to ask 
 her co-operation, and to offer carte Uanclie, 
 more especially on the score of invitations 
 in return. 
 
 Now all this was, as may readily be be- 
 lieved, a great deal more than either Sir 
 Charles or his lady had bargained for. To
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 117 
 
 be kind and affable, and so forth, all in a 
 quiet way, in consideration of the votes 
 expectant, was one thing, but to stand 
 sponsors for the result of an undertaking, 
 such as that proposed, was a sacrifice to 
 circumstances for which neither was at all 
 prepared. 
 
 "You really have got us into a sad 
 scrape, Charles," said Lady Caroline to her 
 husband, as, after having dismissed Lady 
 Courtney with a temporising answer, she 
 sought him in his library, to make known 
 the conversation that had just passed. 
 " What on earth shall 1 do ? " 
 
 " Upon my word, I scarcely know, Caro- 
 line," answered he, rising, and placing him- 
 self a TAnglaise, with his hands behind 
 him, on the rug, forgetting it was May. 
 " It is a deuced bore, certainly."
 
 118 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ^' It is very easy to refuse it. I must 
 make the best excuse I can," said Lady 
 Caroline, looking very much vexed, and 
 both stood for a minute or two silently 
 musing on the means of extrication from 
 the dilemma in which they found them- 
 selves placed. 
 
 "I see no way of getting out of it, 
 however," continued Sir Charles, with ready 
 submission to circumstances, for the indul- 
 gence of his favourite mania (as is the 
 case with all selfish people) reigned para- 
 mount ; " and, after all, perhaps it does not 
 much signify. Every one knows perfectly 
 well the origin of our acquaintance; and, 
 as you say, she has given you carte blanche 
 to invite whom you please, depend upon 
 it, every one will be very much obliged 
 to you, and very glad to go, particularly
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 119 
 
 as they can do so without compromising 
 themselves in the least. I have no doubt 
 the thing will be very well got up/^ 
 
 " Oh, I daresay it will," replied Lady 
 Caroline, who, her interest in the business not 
 being quite so strong as her husband's, coi Jd 
 not so immediately reconcile herself to her 
 misfortunes. "But what will become of 
 us in the midst of the inundation from 
 Birmingham, which will inevitably be 
 brought expres to witness her ladyship's 
 magnificence, and every individual of which 
 will, of course, pass as my protege on the 
 occasion." 
 
 " Think of all the smiles and civil speeches 
 I shall have an opportunity of dispensing 
 to my fiiture constituents, Caroline," said 
 Sir Charles, laughing at the rueful expres- 
 sion of her countenance. " Suppose you
 
 120 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 go and consult, Lady Wrexham concerning 
 this unexpected coup de tonnerre She 
 will suggest some means of turning it into 
 a pleasant adventure, if anyone can." 
 
 And Lady Caroline, who had been al- 
 ready prepared to go out, and whose carriage 
 was actually at the door when the unlucky 
 visitor was announced, set off instantly, 
 though in no very happy mood, to follow 
 up her husband's suggestion. 
 
 As he had surmised, Lady Wrexham 
 did turn the whole affair into a pleasant 
 adventure, for she was entirely of Sir 
 Charles's way of thinking, that every-' 
 body (of their own particular clique was 
 of course implied, and that did comprise 
 " everybody " in London) would hold 
 himself infinitely obliged to Lady 
 Caroline for procuring them a very
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 121 
 
 brilliant entertainment at the small cost 
 of a card thrust furtively in at the Pavilion 
 on the day after, for of course no one 
 would conceive himself at all obliged to 
 keep up any further acquaintance with the 
 lady of the feast than was perfectly con- 
 venient or agreeable. As to the dreaded 
 inundation from Birmingham, that, as Lady 
 Wrexham suggested, could very easily be 
 obviated by assuming, in the most extended 
 sense, the right of patronage, which Lady 
 Courtney herself had been the first to ofier, 
 and in conformity with which it was pro- 
 posed that the whole of the invitations, 
 with a reservation of twenty for the lady's 
 own especial friends, should be sent to the 
 "lady patronesses," to be filled up abso- 
 lutely at their will and pleasure. Fortu- 
 nately, the permitted twenty, with an
 
 122 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 additional dozen, who were surreptitiously 
 added to the number at the suggestion of 
 the before-named Miss Smith, were suffi- 
 cient for the very particular friends who 
 happened just then to be in London ; so 
 that, of the three hundred guests who were 
 invited on the occasion, by far the larger 
 number was really composed of the very 
 6lite of London society. A few there were, 
 indeed, of the ultra stiff-backed generation, 
 who could not be persuaded to grace the 
 fHe with their names, for, in most cases, of 
 grace their presence could have added none ; 
 but expectation and curiosity were too 
 busy, and Lady Caroline Douglas and 
 Lady Wrexham too powerful for the ex- 
 ample to be generally followed. Thus, 
 Lady Courtney's gratitude to her ^' two 
 dear friends " knew no bounds, for not only
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 123 
 
 had they suggested various improvements 
 in the order of things, which were to 
 render the fete at the Pavilion more perfect 
 than any fete that had ever gone before, 
 but they had likewise performed the far 
 more acceptable task of procuring for her 
 the " lots of fine people " who were to be- 
 hold them.
 
 124 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Nothing could be more lovely than the 
 eventful day — nothing more perfect than 
 the arrangements. In conformity with 
 Lady Courtney's express orders, no expense 
 had been spared ; and what with the bright 
 sunshine, the beauty of the gardens, the 
 splendour of the mansion, and the decora- 
 tions which had been superadded to it for 
 the occasion, the scene nearly resembled
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 125 
 
 fairy-land as can well be imagined. The 
 hostess herself had taken her station in a 
 temporary pavilion attached to the front of 
 the house, and communicating with the 
 ball-room, the principal entrance to both 
 being through a conservatory, which was 
 now as lovely as the most perfect beauty 
 and fragrance could make it, and which, at 
 night, was to be still further enlivened by a 
 brilliant illumination. There Lady Courtney 
 was prepared to receive her guests, arrayed 
 in a voluminous dress of bright airfber- 
 coloured satin, with a white hat and 
 paradise plume to correspond, the whole 
 being set off with as many of her 
 ladyship's diamonds as could conveni- 
 ently be employed, considering that 
 her attire was in some sort necessarily that 
 which is usually appropriated to the morn-
 
 126 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ing. Sir John was by her side, not 
 altogether displeased at what was going 
 on, but looking a little cross, and a little 
 fidgety, for sundry symptoms of impending 
 gout had rather inopportunely made their 
 appearance; while, running about hither and 
 thither, now examining this thing, and now 
 exclaiming at that, was a young lady of 
 some fifteen years, arrayed in bright pink, 
 the only daughter of Sir John's only brother, 
 and the destined heiress of her uncle's vast 
 possessions, who had arrived in London for 
 the first time three days previously. 
 
 Accustomed to the most unrestrained 
 freedom of speech and action. Miss Polly 
 (for it was she) gave vent to her wonder, 
 curiosity, and delight in scampering through 
 the whole suite of apartments; and it would 
 be difficult to tell to what pitch of extra-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 127 
 
 vagance the exuberance of her feelings 
 might have carried her, had not her atten- 
 tion been happily directed to other matters, 
 for the guests were now beginning to arrive; 
 indeed the greater part of mine hostess's 
 "very particular friends" had already 
 made their appearance, partly from a deter- 
 mination not to lose a single moment of the 
 day's enjoyment, and partly that they might 
 be present to witness the arrival of all the 
 '' fine folks." 
 
 Thus Lady Courtney's labours of rising 
 up and sitting down, and of adjusting the 
 voluminous folds of her amber satin, of 
 repeating the same words of welcome, and 
 the same shaking of hands (for her ladyship 
 shook hands with every individual of every 
 fresh party that arrived) were already be- 
 ginning to be somewhat fatiguing, when the
 
 128 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Douglas party, accompanied by Sir William 
 and Lady Wrexham, all of whom had 
 engaged to come early, were announced. 
 
 When the proper salutations on both 
 sides were over, Lady Wrexham proceeded 
 to present Mr. Mandeville, and Lady 
 Caroline went though the same ceremony 
 with the gentlemen of her immediate suite. 
 While this was going forward, the little lady 
 in pink took advantage of so favourable an 
 opportunity to steal to the side of her aunt, 
 and there, sheltered by the elaborate amber 
 drapery, to have a " good look" at the whole 
 party, with whose various supposed qualities 
 and characteristics her sharp ears, and still 
 sharper wits, had, thanks to Lady Court- 
 ney's volubility, during the last three 
 days, made her perfectly acquainted. Lady 
 Wrexham happened to be standing nearer
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 129 
 
 to her than any of the rest ; and as her 
 sunny countenance and style of dress 
 seemed to hold forth the best prospect of 
 intimacy, Miss Polly, after scrutinizing her 
 from head to foot with a glance from 
 which curiosity had banished every trace 
 of shyness, ventured to inquire : — 
 
 " What is your name ? Are you a lady, 
 too?'' 
 
 " My name is Lady Wrexham/' an- 
 swered she, with one of her own good- 
 humoured smiles. 
 
 ^< Oh— h— h— ! " ejaculated the child, 
 drawing out the monosyllable, and her own 
 countenance at the same time, with its 
 utmost power of elongation. 
 
 ^^ You have heard of me before, then ? " 
 said Lady Wrexham, under cover of the 
 hand-shakings and salutations which were 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 still going on, and much amused at the an- 
 ticipation of what was coming. 
 
 " Yes, I have heard a great deal about 
 you," answered Polly, encouraged into fur- 
 ther intimacy by the sweetness of manner 
 of her new acquaintance. " My aunt likes 
 you very much, indeed ; and she will be 
 very kind to you too, I know that." 
 
 " Indeed ! — what makes you think so ? " 
 inquired Lady Wrexham, smiling with in- 
 creased curiosity. 
 
 The young lady was silent for a moment, 
 restrained by some vague feeling, but either 
 the love of mischief or the love of talking 
 prevailed. 
 
 ^^ Because — because," said she, in a very 
 audible whisper, '^aunt is very kind to 
 poor people." 
 
 This unlucky speech, which distinctly
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 131 
 
 reached the ears of Lady Courtney, was 
 followed by a twitch of the pink dress, 
 which, though meant to be concealed by 
 her own flowing drapery, was so violent as 
 well nigh to have parted body and soul ; 
 while the poor lady's cheeks, which had 
 before been somewhat too blooming for 
 strict beauty (for the day was hot, and her 
 dress was hot, and the occasion was flurry- 
 ing) became in an instant of the colour of 
 the peony. 
 
 ^^Xow don't — I hate to be pulled about 
 so," exclaimed the spoiled child, aloud, at 
 the same time jerking herself away from 
 the point of attack, and setting herself to 
 rights again, for she was too much dis- 
 turbed at the discomfiture of the new pink 
 dress to care for the presence in which she 
 stood. 
 
 k2
 
 132 BENTLEY PRIORY, 
 
 Sir John took a large pinch of snuff (it 
 was his way when he was vexed), but said 
 nothing ; Lady Caroline gave something 
 between a sigh and a groan ; the rest of 
 the party moved on, to conceal the smile 
 which was irrepressible, and Lady Wrexham 
 was about to follow, when again the little 
 lady in pink detained her. 
 
 " Oh, my ! what a beauty ! '^ exclaimed 
 she, seizing the embroidered handkerchief 
 which Lady Wrexham carried in her 
 hand. 
 
 "Polly, I must positively send you to 
 bed, if you can't behave yourself,'^ inter- 
 posed Lady Courtney, in a tremulous whis- 
 per, for she was thoroughly vexed at this 
 commencement of the labours of the day ; 
 and the lace having been at last released 
 from the gripe of the young lady (whom at
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 133 
 
 that moment she wished back at Birming- 
 ham again), the party passed on, to make 
 room for fresh arrivals, which were now at 
 every moment pouring in. 
 
 This little incident was, however, the 
 concluding misfortune of the day ; and, in- 
 deed, had it been possible for Miss Polly to 
 fix her attention, during the remainder of 
 it, on any one person or thing sufficiently 
 to indulge in any more freaks of a similar 
 nature, her delinquency could without diffi- 
 culty have been concealed beneath the din 
 and bustle which now prevailed throughout 
 the whole domain. But no further maladven- 
 ture occurred to ruffle the full-blown satis- 
 faction of the lady of the feast, or to increase 
 the irritability of her husband; nor was 
 there a single lapse in propriety, to alarm 
 the fine ladyism of Lady Caroline Douglas,
 
 134 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 or awaken the mirth of Lady Wrexham. 
 It was one of those prosperous days when 
 everything goes smoothly; and though 
 there was probably the usual number of 
 heartburnings, and disappointed hopes, and 
 broken flirtations common to all such occa- 
 sions, yet the general expression was one 
 of unequivocal enjoyment. 
 
 Owing to some mistake, Mr. Morton's 
 carriage did not fall into the file for nearly 
 an hour after those of Lady Wrexham and 
 her party, so that, by the time that he and 
 Mrs. Morton, with his son and daughter, 
 passed from the reception pavilion into the 
 gardens beyond, they were already filleci 
 with gay-looking groups, scattered hither 
 and thither as chance or inclination might 
 lead them. 
 
 As the Mortons were acquainted with
 
 BENTLEY PRIOEY. 135 
 
 at least two-thirds of the guests as- 
 sembled, and as the leaders of the 
 party had no especial reason for seeking 
 out any one in particular, they went 
 loitering on, now stopping to speak to 
 one, and now discussing with another 
 the jets d'eau, or the flowery bowers, 
 or the general beauty of the scene 
 altogether ; and in this manner they 
 encountered in turn almost all those 
 whose curiosity, like their own, was 
 still sending them indiscriminately from 
 one point of attraction to the other. 
 To almost every group was attached 
 one or more of the numerous cavaliers 
 who were so fortunate as to find 
 themselves on the list of the '^Lady 
 Patronesses ; " and as Mr. Morton was to 
 the greater number of them personally
 
 136 BENTLEY PRIORI. 
 
 known as a ^^ capital dinner " giver, 
 as the family were, besides, really po- 
 pular, and Miss Morton was undeniably 
 very beautiful, Emily found herself in 
 a very short space of time encumbered 
 with considerably more engagements for 
 the ball of the evening than she very 
 well knew how to remember. 
 
 Now, had this been Emily's very 
 first ball, perhaps the certainty of the 
 enjoyment before her might, for the 
 moment, have obliterated the recollection 
 of everything else; but she had been 
 accustomed to something of the same' 
 sort at the numerous children's balls 
 of the many years since her tiny feet 
 had first been able to compass the 
 intricacies of a single figure ; and, con- 
 sequently, she received it entirely as a
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 137 
 
 matter of course, and without feeling 
 herself in the least flattered by the 
 homage thus profusely flung at her 
 feet. 
 
 The fact was, that Emily had (quite 
 unconsciously to herself), amid the antici- 
 pations of that delightful day, looked 
 forward to the meeting with Lady 
 Wrexham, and those by whom she might 
 chance to be accompanied, as the brightest 
 spot in its varied enjoyments. The delay 
 which had caused the Morton party to 
 arrive so late at the scene of festivity had 
 not tended to diminish the preponderance 
 of the ruling idea ; so that Emily, though 
 exceedingly delighted with the gay and 
 beautiful scene around her, still found 
 something wanting, without very well 
 knowing what it was, and though very well
 
 138 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 pleased at the prospect held forth by the 
 multiplicity of her evening engagements 
 (for she was an enthusiastic lover of 
 dancing), would yet very willingly have 
 held some of them in reservation, for the 
 benefit of any other candidate for her 
 favour who might chance to present 
 himself. 
 
 Perhaps, to speak still more plainly, 
 Emily Morton's thoughts had, during the 
 whole morning, been dwelling on the 
 possibility of meeting Mr. Mandeville at 
 Lady Courtney's breakfast, and on the 
 probability of his asking her to dance there, 
 though, as we have said, the idea was so 
 mixed up with all her other pleasurable anti- 
 cipations that she was herself wholly uncon- 
 scious of it. Neither would it have 
 appeared at all extraordinary, even had it
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 139 
 
 been otherwise ; for though they had, as 
 we have seen, met but twice, scarcely 
 could she be said to regard Mr. Mandeville 
 in the light of a stranger. From Lady 
 "Wrexham she had so frequently heard a 
 repetition of his agreeable qualities, 
 of his numerous acquirements, of his 
 general popularity, that she had long con- 
 nected the idea of Mr. Mandeville with 
 that of every possible attraction ; and it is 
 therefore scarcely surprising that his pe- 
 culiarly distinguished appearance and fasci- 
 nation of .manner should have completed 
 the picture which her fancy had conjured 
 up. Xot that Mandeville was, in the 
 common acceptation of the term, an ac- 
 complished man. It was true, he spoke 
 several of the continental languages with 
 fluency, and his own with an elegance
 
 140 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 which, added to the charm of a most me- 
 lodious voice, lent a peculiar grace to 
 everything he said; but though endowed 
 with a refined taste and judgment, which 
 enabled him to admire and appreciate ex- 
 cellence in others, he himself could neither 
 play, nor sing, nor draw. He was not, in 
 fact, what the world calls an accomplished 
 man — perhaps he might have been both 
 less agreeable and less popular had he 
 been so. 
 
 Very accomplished people — very accom- 
 plished men, particularly — are rarely either 
 very agreeable or very popular, which 
 appears a contradiction, but it is neverthe- 
 less true. But it is in themselves, and not 
 in their accomplishments, that the fault 
 lies when it is so. This is more especially 
 the case with regard to music, which may
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 141 
 
 be made either the most selfish or the 
 most wnselfish of all acquirements. Woe 
 to the fireside where a fiddlestick reigns 
 paramount ! Then comes the love of dis- 
 play — the desire to shine. Adulation 
 abroad begets selfishness at home, and the 
 sweetest sounds are carried away to the 
 market where the richest harvest of ap- 
 plause is to be gathered. 
 
 I do not think that the principle on 
 which every accomplishment should be 
 based, more especially by women, is ever 
 sufficiently inculcated. We can never 
 know too much, never have too many ac- 
 quirements, hut let us learn nothing vnth a 
 view to display. It is that very love of 
 display that has fostered the present un- 
 graceful style of — no, not music — it is not 
 music — the present railway fashion of flying
 
 142 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 over the instrument, which is very won- 
 derful, no doubt, but, for my part, I could 
 never discover either pleasure or advantage 
 in it. We cease to please when we strive 
 only to astonish ; people find out that we 
 are labouring for our own vanity, not for 
 their gratification. It should never be lost 
 sight of, that the best use to which talent 
 can be appropriated is to promote the en- 
 joyment of others, not in the world's wide 
 circle, and for the world's applause, but in 
 the quiet home, and amid the loving few, 
 with whom truth takes the place of adula- 
 tion, and the heart's homage alone responds' 
 to our most brilliant efforts. These are the 
 garlands which, when flung on the dull 
 stream of life, will send forth the richest 
 perfume to her who gathers them. 
 
 It was not, then, in showy accomplish-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 143 
 
 ments, not even in the superiority of his 
 mental cultivation, that lay concealed the 
 secret of Mandeville's popularity. It was 
 derived from a peculiar tact and fascina- 
 tion of manner, as natui-al to himself as it 
 would have been impossible of imitation by 
 others. There was in his manner toward the 
 softer sex (for it was over them that his in- 
 fluence was most peculiarly observable), a 
 desire to please, an appearance of devotion, 
 which could scarcely fail to captivate the 
 imagination. And yet there was no appa- 
 rent effort or premeditation in anything he 
 did. Hearts were lost, it is true ; but no 
 one ever accused Mr. Mandeville of having 
 designedly stolen them. Had he been a flirt 
 or a jilt, it might have been otherwise ; but 
 to all appearance he was neither. His at- 
 tentions were too general to bring him,
 
 144 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 strictly speaking, under the denomination 
 of a flirt. He had never, for a single even- 
 ing, been observed to devote himself exclu- 
 sively to any one of the many who would 
 so willingly have received his homage. 
 Whether he himself had escaped with a 
 whole heart, in the midst of so many dan- 
 gers, was an enigma which no one had ever 
 attempted to solve. Certain rumours there 
 had been, as Lady Wrexham had hinted, 
 during the winter at Naples ; but every 
 one was aware that to these no certainty 
 could be attached. All that she knew, or 
 just then cared to know, was, that Mr.' 
 Mandeville was again in England, as agree- 
 able and as fascinating as ever. 
 
 All this had been repeated to Emily 
 Morton over and over again; what then 
 so natural as that she should feel flattered
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 145 
 
 by the evident admiration, and desirous of 
 the favourable opinion, of one whom all the 
 world delighted to honour — one, too, whose 
 superior taste and judgment in all things 
 were so universally admitted ? 
 
 A time which appeared to Emily very 
 long (though it did not in reality exceed 
 three-quarters of an hour) had passed away, 
 during which the Grenvilles, with Lady 
 Allington, and one or two more, had joined 
 the Morton party, when a mimic gun, from 
 a little vessel moored on a piece of water 
 at the other extremity of the domain, gave 
 notice that the concert was about to com- 
 mence. The little craft, which was profusely 
 decorated, so as to present a similitude of 
 the barge of Cleopatra, was destined to 
 receive the performers, who, in appropriate 
 costumes, and with Grisi at their head, at- 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 tired as the Egyptian Queen, were at a 
 given signal to ascend the deck from a tem- 
 porary building on the shore, within which 
 they had hitherto been concealed. From 
 all directions groups were seen hurrying 
 towards the scene, for the music of the 
 procession was already making itself heard ; 
 and then, as they reached the water^s edge, 
 the Morton party, for the first time, en- 
 countered that of Sir Charles and Lady 
 Douglas, with the Wrexhams, Mr. Mande- 
 ville, the hostess herself, and a few more. 
 All became very naturally grouped together ; 
 but very little passed beyond a silent' 
 recognition, for the full rich notes of the 
 Queen of Song had hushed every other 
 sound, while the general attention was 
 completely riveted by the mimic scene that 
 was enacting.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 147 
 
 " We all thought you lost, carina," said 
 Lady Wrexham, in an under tone, when a 
 momentary pause in the music admitted of 
 her speaking. " How is it that you are so 
 late ? Here has Mr. Mandeville been wait- 
 ing for the last hour to engage you for the 
 first valse, on the strength of all the 
 fine things I have been saying about 
 you." 
 
 Emily was about to reply, when she 
 heard her name mentioned by a voice behind 
 her. " Not now, any other time will do 
 as well," were the words which reached 
 her; but they were apparently unheeded 
 by the first speaker, for again her name 
 was repeated, and on turning round she 
 perceived Lady Courtney standing close be- 
 side her, leaning on the arm of a stranger, 
 the expression of whose countenance was 
 
 l2
 
 148 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 at the moment clouded, or she fancied so, 
 by a shade of vexation at the ill-timed 
 manner in which his request for a presenta- 
 tion to Miss Morton had been followed up. 
 But Lady Courtney was unendowed with 
 those fine perceptions which ever bring 
 such a world of unimaginable agony to 
 their possessor. Deaf to the sweet sounds 
 she was interrupting, unobservant of the 
 discomposure visible on the countenances 
 of several of the group around her, she 
 resolutely persevered, and not only in due 
 form went through the presentation of Lord 
 Errington to Miss Morton, and Miss Mor- ' 
 ton to Lord Errington, but also, after saying 
 in a tolerably audible voice, " Well, now I 
 shall leave you to take care of the young 
 lady," withdrew her arm from that of her 
 companion, and, moving away, left him to
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 149 - 
 
 prosecute the acquaintance after his own 
 fashion. 
 
 Any one as well acquainted as Lady 
 Wrexham, or even Emily herself, with the 
 family history of Mr. Mandeville, would 
 readily have divined the feeling with which 
 he thus found himself suddenly, and for 
 the first time, in the presence of his cousin, 
 Lord Errington, and placed, as it were, in 
 direct juxtaposition with him. His first 
 impulse was to turn quickly round, as he 
 heard the name pronounced, and to 
 measure the figure before him from head 
 to foot with a glance, the result of 
 which, to judge by the expression of his 
 countenance, was anything but satisfactory ; 
 and then, as the colloquy we have recorded 
 went on, to turn away again with feelings 
 as nearly akin to aversion as possible.
 
 150 BENTLEY PRIORJ. 
 
 Lady Wrexham saw it all, but, as may be 
 supposed, without comment; and, indeed, 
 the music furnished to more than one of the 
 party a very welcome pretext for with- 
 drawing their attention from each other. 
 - Lord Errington, meanwhile, continued 
 standing where Lady Courtney had left 
 him, though with no apparent design of 
 taking advantage of his position to prose- 
 cute his acquaintance with Miss Morton, 
 for he did not address to her a single word, 
 though the music had now ended; and 
 Lady Wrexham, in the hope of breaking 
 the spell which appeared to have fallen on 
 the whole party, was running on in her 
 own light strain. But the task was be- 
 yond the invention even of her fertile brain. 
 Mandeville, though he answered, when 
 spoken to, with the same bland smile as before.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 151 
 
 was evidently chafed at the awkwardness of 
 this public meeting with his cousin, to whom 
 he was a perfect stranger. Lord Erring- 
 ton's vicinity had placed an effectual bar 
 against his approach to Miss Morton, while 
 Emily, at the same time, was as much 
 vexed as her gentle nature would admit 
 of. It was one of those contretemps 
 which, in all such scenes of gaiety, are so 
 frequent ; for it is an egregious mistake to 
 suppose that places of festivity must neces- 
 sarily be places of enjoyment. To complete 
 the disappointment of that day, the so- 
 norous sound of the gong, which announced 
 that the banquet was ready, now made it- 
 self heard ; and again, by one of those 
 strange chances to which even the most 
 beautiful and the most admired are liable, 
 Emily, on looking round, perceived that, in-
 
 152 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 stead of the numerous cavaliers who usually 
 swelled her train, Lord Errington alone 
 was sufficiently near to claim the privilege 
 of being her cavalier on the occasion. 
 Startled into something like animation, he 
 proffered his arm for Miss Morton's accep- 
 tance. Poor Emily cast one glance of de- 
 spair at Lady Wrexham. She heard the 
 voices of Captain Seymour, Lord Thomas 
 Grantham, of her merry cousin, Charles, 
 all approaching in the group behind her. 
 She knew that any one of them would very 
 willingly have constituted himself her 
 cavalier, during the process of the dejeuner, 
 which would occupy the next hour and a 
 half at least, and anyone would have been 
 preferred to the silent automaton beside 
 her ; but what could she do ? 
 
 "Thank you; — I believe I must join
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 153 
 
 mamma," said she, turning in despair from 
 the proffered arm, to take refuge under 
 Mrs. Morton's chaperonage. But Emily 
 was a bad diplomatist, and her mother 
 was exactly the reverse. Mrs. Morton was 
 too well pleased at seeing her daughter 
 leaning on the arm of the future Earl of 
 Trentham, to disarrange the order of march ; 
 she merely replied, therefore, " I am here, 
 my love, go on," and though Lord Erring - 
 ton's services were this time proffered quite 
 as silently, and somewhat more stiffly than 
 before, yet it was evident there was no 
 escape from them. 
 
 For so long a time as the important 
 business of the banquet might chance to 
 last, Emily must reconcile herself as she 
 best might to the companionship of him 
 who had been described to her by Lady
 
 154 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Wrexham, only the evening before, as the 
 most " un-mannered, awkward creature she 
 had ever beheld." Whether Lord Erring- 
 ton's appearance and manners coincided 
 with the description which had been given 
 of them, Emily, from her own personal ob- 
 servation would have found it difficult to 
 say, for scarcely more than a passing word 
 was exchanged between them during the 
 one hour and thirty-five minutes that he 
 was seated beside her. At last, a general 
 move took place; Lord Errington seemed 
 to consider his duties ended; and Emily 
 found herself released from the penance to' 
 which she had been subjected. 
 
 ^^ Come, carina," exclaimed Lady Wrex- 
 ham, who was determined to convert every 
 remaining moment into one of enjoyment, 
 both for herself and others, if she could,
 
 BENTLEY PKIORY. 155 
 
 ^^ prithee, let us breathe a little of the fresh 
 air again. I have been almost stifled for 
 the last half-hour ; and as for you, poverina, 
 I observed that you were long since re- 
 duced to a state of somnambidism." 
 
 *^ Something very like it/^ said Emily, 
 laughing. 
 
 " How ennuyants the English fetes are," 
 exclaimed Lady Wrexham, smothering a 
 yawn, for she was beginning to be very 
 tired. *^Mr. Mandeville, pray come and 
 bring our wits to life again, if you can ; 
 mine have positively taken flight among 
 all the wondrous devices for our amusement 
 which have been assembled together ;" and 
 as she spoke, the trio took possession of one 
 of the numerous resting-places which were 
 profusely scattered about. 
 
 *^This is all certainly very beautiful,"
 
 156 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 observed Emily, to whom the present scene 
 presented the added charm of contrast with 
 that she had just quitted. 
 
 ^*Yes; but one gets too much of it,'' 
 said Lady Wrexham, languidly. " There 
 is no fete in this country at all to be com- 
 pared in enjoyment with those one has 
 abroad — Italy, for instance," 
 
 " And is not the fault our own, when it 
 is so ? " said Mandeville. 
 
 ^* I suppose not ; or we should remedy 
 it." 
 
 ^' Excuse me. When people meet abroad, 
 they go predetermined to see everything 
 en rose^ merely for the enjoyment of society, 
 and caring comparatively little for those 
 accessories which with us are deemed in- 
 dispensable. They are, therefore, far less 
 liable to disappointment than we are."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 157 
 
 " And would bear it with a far better 
 grace if it came," said Lady Wrexham. 
 " The elasticity which makes every thing 
 there seem so bright and sunshiny is never, 
 or very rarely, to be met with in England. 
 How laboured and heavy our reunions in 
 this country appear, after the light and 
 airy forms of society on the continent. 
 
 " Our own fault, still," said Mandeville. 
 " Society in this country is a perpetual 
 struggle, wherein the love of display is the 
 first object, and amusement is the second; 
 whereas, abroad, no one ever dreams of the 
 one, and is perpetually dreaming of the other." 
 
 "I do not think so; at least, though 
 amusement may be the first object, yet 
 their fetes are often quite as magnificent as 
 
 ours." 
 
 ^^Yes; but not for the sake of display.
 
 158 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 It is an accessory with tliem — a necessity 
 with us ; because ostentation has become a 
 fashion here, which few are powerful 
 enough to struggle against. The natural 
 result is, that persons whose means are too 
 moderate to admit of their following the 
 prevailing mode, in nine cases out of ten, 
 prefer giving up society altogether, to en- 
 countering the ill-natured criticisms which, 
 the not being able to do like others seldom 
 fails to awaken." 
 
 "But surely no rational person," said 
 Emily, " could be wounded, still less could 
 he be influenced, by any criticism so unrea- 
 sonable." 
 
 " No rational person, perhaps," answered 
 Mandeville, " would admit that he could be 
 either wounded or influenced by it, and 
 no doubt there are some minds of so high
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 159 
 
 an order as entirely to despise what is, in 
 truth, thoroughly contemptible; but by far 
 the larger number, I fear, have not phi- 
 losophy enough to despise the world's dread 
 laugh, however they may affect to do so. 
 Do you think,'' continued he, addressing 
 Lady Wrexham, " that there is anyone in 
 London sufficiently powerful to establish 
 such soirees as those of our old friend, the 
 Contessa Camaldoli, at Naples ? " 
 
 "Good gracious! no; — she might live for 
 ever up in her little quatrierm, and not a 
 soul would ever go near her. She was the 
 most charming little creature you ever saw," 
 she added, turning to Emily; "and, though 
 nearly seventy, the most lively and agree- 
 able companion in the world. But she was 
 very, very poor ; and her style of living 
 more simple than anything you can conceive
 
 160 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 — and yet how delightful our Wednesday 
 evenings used to be ! " 
 
 "Delightful, indeed/' said Mandeville, 
 " though they were utterly devoid of those 
 'means and appliances,' which in this 
 country are considered indispensable to 
 the smallest reunion. '^ 
 
 " You appear to have a very contempti- 
 ble opinion of us all, Mr. Mandeville," said 
 Emily, smiling. 
 
 "All — indeed, no," replied he, gazing 
 with an expression of admiration not to be 
 mistaken into the beautiful eyes that were 
 turned towards him. "I am free from 
 thinking that the rule is without many ex- 
 ceptions," he continued, after a slight pause; 
 " but undeniably the general tone of society 
 in England is one of display, and this is one 
 reason why so many are compelled to fly
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 161 
 
 to the continent, where very moderate 
 means will suffice to place them (so far as 
 external appearance is concerned) on a 
 footing with the highest grades of society." 
 
 " I have often/' observed Lady Wrex- 
 ham, ''been quite astonished abroad at the 
 facility with which English people fall into 
 the earlier hours and the simple mode of 
 life that one leads there. Things that here 
 are thought impossible there appear per- 
 fectly natural. Who, for instance, at 
 Naples, could think of dining at eight 
 o'clock in the evening. Yet here we think 
 ourselves barbarous if we do otherwise." 
 
 " Fashion ! fashion ! what a despotic 
 queen she is ! " exclaimed Mandeville, 
 laughing. ''I am convinced that, could 
 anyone be found sufficiently bold, and suf- 
 ficiently powerful, to introduce the good 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 old hours and the merry old customs of our 
 ancestors, we should all, in a very short 
 time, confess ourselves infinitely obliged to 
 them/' 
 
 ^^ To be sure we should," exclaimed 
 Lady Wrexham; "provided always, how- 
 ever, that the armour of our ancestors 
 formed neither part nor parcel of the 
 revival. What would become of us if a 
 panoply of steel were superadded to the 
 ponderous shield of reserve behind which 
 we English people are so fond of sheltering 
 ourselves ? " 
 
 " You are perfectly incorrigible, Caro-' 
 line," said Emily, laughing.. " How I wish 
 Lord Allington were here to listen to 
 you." 
 
 " Grazie, carina — so do I, that I might 
 have the satisfaction of bringing him round
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 163 
 
 to ray side of the question at last. There 
 is nothing on earth like an example to 
 demonstrate the truth of an assertion," 
 pursued she, in a whisper, as Charles Gren- 
 ville, who had approached, was speaking to 
 Mr. Mandeville. *^ Do you not think that 
 tJiatj for instance, of your late cavalier would 
 be perfectly conclusive ? " 
 
 Emily smiled. 
 
 " Perfectly so, indeed, so far as he him- 
 self is concerned, but — " 
 
 ^^ But what, carina ? " 
 
 "But everyone is not like him," said 
 Emily, colouring slightly. 
 
 " E vero — e vero — Heaven forbid they 
 were," answered Lady Wrexham, in the 
 same low tone. 
 
 Very soon afterwards the ball commenced, 
 and from that time Miss Morton's whole 
 
 m2
 
 164 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 attention was necessarily confined to the 
 dancing-room. Lady Wrexham had appa- 
 rently vanished, for she saw no more either 
 of her or of Mandeville during the 
 remainder of the evening. How it was, 
 Emily herself would have found it difficult 
 to say, but it is certain that, though an 
 enthusiastic lover of dancing, though, more- 
 over, Lady Courtney's fete had failed in 
 none of the contrivances which might be 
 supposed to minister to enjoyment, yet it 
 was with a feeling very like disappointment 
 at the result of that day's anticipations, that 
 she threw herself into the corner of the' 
 carriage on her return home.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 165^ — 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Lord Errington drove the next day to 
 Portland Place, to leave his card, in an 
 equipage which might have rivaled any in 
 London for the perfection of its appoint- 
 ments. Lord Errington was thenceforth 
 pronounced a connoisseur in these matters. 
 Mr. Mandeville called there also, but he did 
 so in conformity with pennission obtained 
 the preceding evening, from Mrs. Morton,
 
 166 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 to hear some of the airs from Verdi's new 
 opera, which he had sent for her daughter 
 to look over. Mandeville was no less an 
 amateur than a connoisseur in music, and 
 Emily Morton's singing combined the won- 
 ders of science with the most perfect beauty 
 of expression. The morning was to him 
 one of unmixed enjoyment. 
 
 " Will you think me very unreasonable," 
 said he, when Emily for more than an hour 
 had been warbling in her own sweet and 
 unaffected manner — *^will you think me 
 very unreasonable, Miss Morton, if I ask 
 once more for this ? " 
 
 " Oh no — not in the least. I only fear 
 to have wearied you already," said she, as 
 unaffectedly as though her beautiful singing 
 had been a thing of no merit whatever. 
 
 ^^I will endeavour to be exigeant in
 
 BENTLEY PKIORY. 167 
 
 future, if you will only admit me some- 
 times," said he, as she began the sym- 
 phony; ^^this is really so rare an enjoy- 
 ment" — and everyone who could have lis- 
 tened to the exquisite pathos with which 
 she went through the required air would 
 have perfectly coincided with him. 
 
 '^ Beautiful, beautiful ! '^ exclaimed he, 
 when it was ended ; and the words were 
 uttered in a tone of sincerity not to be 
 mistaken. 
 
 That morning was one of unmixed en- 
 joyment to Emily Morton too. 
 
 I know not how it happened, but from 
 that time forward Mandeville became a con- 
 stant and ever- welcome visitor in Portland 
 Place. Lord Errington became a constant 
 visitor there likewise, but it was altogether 
 after a different fashion. Except when
 
 168 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 he accepted Mr. Morton's invitations to 
 dinner (which, in compliance with Mrs. 
 Morton's prudent suggestion, were now 
 of very frequent occurrence), Lord Erring- 
 ton had never yet ventured to enter 
 the doors. To maintain an uninter- 
 rupted conversation with the ladies of 
 the family, through the prescribed dura- 
 tion of a morning visit, would appear to 
 have been considered by him a task as for- 
 midable as to converse with a Cherokee 
 Indian in his own tongue. Mandeville, on 
 the contrary, was never many days with- 
 out finding an excuse for calling ; and ' 
 yet he contrived that his visits should 
 be always so perfectly a proj)os of some- 
 thing that nobody dreamed of seeing any- 
 thing extraordinary in their frequent repe- 
 tition. His manner was equally felicitous
 
 BENTLEY PPJORY. 169 
 
 to all, and with all he was an es- 
 pecial favourite, and thus, in a very short 
 space of time, it became as natural for him 
 to call Emily's little brother and sister 
 " Georgy " and " Carry," and for them to 
 call him their ^* dear Mr. Mandeville," as 
 it would have appeared extraordinary had 
 Lord Errington spoken a single word to 
 them, or had the children themselves 
 dreamed once of approaching the possessor 
 of the beautiful prancing white horse. 
 during the half hour which intervened 
 between the arrival of the guests and the 
 announcement of dinner. 
 
 Not that Lord Errington was deficient 
 in various indications of the result towards 
 which his thoughts were tending, but with 
 him, as with most very shy men, it was by 
 silent acts of homage, rather than by any
 
 170 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 outward demonstration of feeling, that his 
 intentions could be guessed at. Brought 
 up from earliest childhood in the seclusion 
 of Trentham Abbey, the very few years 
 passed between Eton and the University, 
 together with two devoted to the tour of 
 Europe, which were all that the bereaved 
 earl could be persuaded to spare from his 
 own gratification for the advantage of his 
 son, had not sufficed to blot out the im- 
 pressions which, at every fresh visit to his 
 paternal halls, were revived. 
 
 Thus, unaccustomed to female society, a 
 novice in the ways of that world into which' 
 he had lately been for the first time launched, 
 it is not surprising that Lady Wrexham, 
 accustomed as she was to the polished 
 ease and graceful flattery of continental 
 manners, should have pronounced Lord
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 171 
 
 Errington ^^ awkward and uiimannered." 
 Kor was the reception he met with in the 
 great world at all calculated to render him 
 other than she had described. Nothing 
 could have been more irksome or revolting to 
 one of his temperament than the ceaseless pur- 
 suit to which Lord Errington's position and' 
 prospects subjected him. He became more 
 silent, more reserved, more awkward than 
 ever. Yet the same pile of invitations lay each 
 day upon his table — the same smiles were 
 lavished — the same fascinations exercised, 
 as before. It is probable that Lord Erring- 
 ton would at last have been driven to seek 
 safety from his persecutors in flight, had not 
 a closer scrutiny revealed to him that, amid 
 all the sirens by whom he was surrounded, 
 there was one, the fairest, the most fascina- 
 ting, the most admired of them all, who
 
 172 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 was either too high-minded or too modest, 
 or perhaps both, to exercise her manifold at- 
 tractions in plotting against his peace. Who 
 could have dreamed that the '^apathetic — 
 the awkward" — the apparently unobservant 
 Lord Errington could have made such a com- 
 parison ? Not certainly any one of those who 
 beheld in his reappearance on the world^s 
 stage (for he had lately declined all invita- 
 tions) only a fresh opportunity for recom- 
 mencing those machinations which (how 
 little did they think so) had in fact driven 
 him from it. 
 
 Still, however. Lord Errington was nearly 
 as silent and undemonstrative as before. 
 He had not yet succeeded in conquering the 
 reserve which had grown with his growth, 
 and strengthened with his strength. Never- 
 theless, he did all that was possible, in the
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 173 
 
 way of cards duly transmitted, and in the 
 acceptance of Mr. Morton's invitations when- 
 ever that gentleman chose to send them. 
 Moreover, he consented to part with the 
 most beautiful horse in his stable, because 
 Charles Morton, who had just been gazetted 
 to the Life Guards, could find no other that 
 pleased him so well. And further, at the 
 numerous balls where Emily Morton had 
 now become the cynosure of every eye, 
 Lord Errington invariably went through 
 one quadrille for her, or rather for his own, 
 especial gratification. Lady Wrexham de- 
 clared that he once went so far as to hand 
 her down stairs, and to put on her shawl, 
 but that, after various unsuccessful efforts, 
 he turned it upside down, and the attempt 
 was never repeated. In this manner Lord 
 Errington came at last to be considered by
 
 174 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Charles Morton as a very good kind of 
 fellow ; by Mr. Morton as a quiet, gentle- 
 manlike young man; by Emily as a harmless 
 nonentity, and by Mrs. Morton (to whom 
 the single quadrille was a subject of silent 
 but very satisfactory observation) as heir 
 to the earldom of Trentham. 
 
 Between Lord Errington and his cousin 
 there was now as much friendly inter- 
 course as could be possible between two 
 persons so perfectly unsuited to each other; 
 for Mandeville had at once gone through 
 the forms of relationship with his uncle, 
 and been received in a manner as gracious' 
 as he had any reason either to care for or 
 to expect. The young men met almost 
 daily, and on one occasion had dined to- 
 gether at Mrs. Morton's, where, fortunately 
 for Emily's peace of mind. Lord Errington's
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 175 
 
 superior rank compelled him to accept his 
 proper station at the head of the table, be- 
 side the hostess. 
 
 " The best place for him, carina," whis- 
 pered Lady Wrexham, laughing, as they 
 ascended the stairs after dinner, for she 
 had not yet quite got over the misadven- 
 ture at the breakfast. 
 
 '^ What with carving and eating" — (things 
 were carved at table in those days, and 
 Lord Allington, who was seated on the 
 other side, hated carving) — "what with 
 carving and eating, there was as little leisure 
 left for conversation as any one could pos- 
 sibly desire." 
 
 "You are very unforgiving, Caroline," 
 said Emily, laughing in her turn. 
 
 " By no means, carina ; I forgive, but I 
 cannot forget, you know. However, I must
 
 176 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 acknowledge that, though certainly silent 
 enough for one of the seven sleepers, his 
 lordship is, after all, extremely gentleman- 
 like in his own way." 
 
 The whole party were to meet at a ball 
 in the evening. 
 
 " Your lordship is not fond of dancing, I 
 believe," ventured Emily, by way of saying 
 something while the single quadrille was in 
 progress. 
 
 ^' Not generally." 
 
 ^*Do you never valse?" inquired she, 
 perfectly secure in the absence of all danger 
 from the question. 
 
 ^^ Never." 
 
 And then the attempt at conversation 
 ended. 
 
 "Thank Heaven it is over," thought 
 Emily, as the last chassez croise was com-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 177 
 
 pleted ; and she crossed the room to a seat 
 near her mother. 
 
 "Do you know Lord Errington," said 
 Charles Morton, as his lordship resigned 
 his post by Emily's side. "I am afraid 
 there is something the matter with the 
 black horse. I have not been down to see 
 him myself, but my man tells me he went 
 lame this morning, and — " 
 
 " There was nothing the matter with him 
 that I know of when he left my stable ; 
 but if you have the least wish to return 
 him, pray do so. I shall be very glad to 
 have him back again." 
 
 " Take him at his word," whispered Sir 
 Geoffrey Charlton, as he passed on. 
 
 The black horse was returned the follow- 
 ing day. To Charles Morton's no small 
 mortification, Lord Errington was seen every 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 day in the park till the end of the season, 
 on the splendid animal which he had good- 
 naturedly consented to part with for little 
 more than half its value, while its place 
 was supplied by one of Sir GeofFry Charl- 
 ton's, which did really turn out lame, and 
 was not, in like manner, taken back. 
 
 " I believe our vis-a-vis has deserted 
 us," said Mandeville, as he stood up with 
 Emily to take his place in a quad- 
 rille. 
 
 " Shall I look for another ? Or," continued 
 he, with a look which sufficiently implied 
 what were his own wishes, " would you pre- 
 fer sitting down this dance ? " 
 
 " I should prefer it very much, for I am 
 really tired." 
 
 ^^We must not remain in this crowd 
 then," said he ; and leading her into an ad-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 179 
 
 joining apartment, now partially deserted, 
 for the music had attracted almost everyone 
 to the dancing rooms, they took possession 
 of one of its luxurious resting-places, and 
 there, for the next half-hour, the gay scene 
 around them, and all that it contained, was, 
 by one at least, forgotten. 
 
 ^^ Is there, then, any chance of Lady 
 Emmeline visiting England ? " inquired 
 Emily, in continuation of a previous con- 
 versation. 
 
 " I believe, and, indeed, I hope not," 
 said Mandeville. *^ My mother's return to 
 this country could only serve to awaken 
 many painful remembrances, which are far 
 better forgotten." 
 
 It was the first time that Mandeville had 
 ever alluded to the circumstances of his 
 family ; and as Emily could not, of course, 
 
 n2
 
 180 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 be supposed to be acquainted with them, 
 she was silent. 
 
 *^ And, besides,'' added he, " she has been 
 so long accustomed to the mode of living on 
 the continent, and to the ties she has formed 
 there, that she would scarcely feel herself at 
 home in England. I doubt whether she would 
 find a friend still living to welcome her." 
 
 "Among the friends of former days, 
 perhaps not ; but Lady Emmeline would not 
 find herself without a welcome either/' said 
 Emily, smiling ; " should she ever come to 
 England, we shall claim your promise, Mr. 
 Mandeville." 
 
 " I am not likely to forget it." 
 
 " Though I fear, after all," pursued she, 
 "you are right. Nothing can ever com- 
 pensate for the loss of those we have loved 
 in childhood."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 181 
 
 " Oh, I was far from meaning to say- 
 that. The affections of childhood are not 
 always those that make the deepest im- 
 pression." 
 
 And Mandeville at that moment really 
 felt what he said. 
 
 " Do you think not ? Surely they are the 
 deepest, the most lasting of any,'' said Emily. 
 
 " In many cases, perhaps so, because the 
 years of childhood are generally the hap- 
 piest of our existence, and we therefore 
 cling with peculiar fondness to every asso- 
 ciation connected with them, without 
 pausing to reflect on why we do so ; but 
 the affections of later years, to be enduring, 
 require to be based on something better 
 than mere association. They may change, 
 it is true, when the object is found to be 
 unworthy ; but when they are inspired by
 
 182 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 all that is most excellent, or all that is 
 most beautiful, they are quite as lasting as 
 those of childhood, and of a thousand 
 thousand-fold greater intensity." 
 
 ^^ Then how is it," said Emily, in a tone 
 of slight embarrassment, for Mandeville's 
 manner had involuntarily brought the colour 
 to her cheek, " that we so frequently see 
 the most enduring friendships fixed on an 
 object the most unworthy ; while another, 
 apparently possessed of every earthly per- 
 fection, is neglected and forgotten ? " 
 
 " We can only suppose," said Mandeville, 
 "that in the one case there must have 
 been some link wanting in the chain of 
 sympathy, while in the other it must im- 
 perceptibly have remained unbroken. For," 
 continued he, " to use the words of a 
 writer, who, for beauty of language and
 
 BENTLEY PRIOEY. 183 
 
 purity of sentiment has never been surpassed, 
 * sympathy is love ; examine love under 
 any other influence, and you will find it an 
 imperfect feeling. The passion of love, the 
 love of nature, of the arts, of all that is 
 good, great, or beautiful, is sympathy, and 
 cannot be heartfelt unless it be so,'* and," 
 he added, "if not heartfelt, it necessarily 
 ceases to be enduring." 
 
 " True ; but in what are we to suppose 
 that sympathy consists, when we see friend- 
 ships the most deep and enduring between 
 persons whose tastes and habits are diamet- 
 rically opposed to each other ? " 
 
 ^^ I think that such friendships never do 
 exist, unless where they have grown up 
 with us from childoood; they are then 
 cemented by association." 
 
 * Sketches in the Pyrenees.
 
 184 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "Which brings us to my conclusion at 
 last/^ said Emily, smiling, " that the affec- 
 tions of childhood are more enduring than 
 any others in the world." 
 
 " As enduring, I admit — but not more 
 so. It is true that what we have loved in 
 childhood we shall love through life ; and if 
 to the charm of association be superadded 
 that of excellence, we shall do so with in- 
 creased fervour ; but it will be equally the 
 same with the attachments of our later 
 years, provided the object be found worthy 
 of them. Who is there, for instance, that 
 does not delight, even from earliest youth, 
 in forming for himself a beau ideal of per- 
 fection, and in worshipping the idol that 
 his fancy has set up? And if, in after years, 
 he have the rare fortune to meet a being 
 in whom is combined the realisation of all
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 185 
 
 his brightest dreams, surely no feeling can 
 equal in intensity and in endurance the 
 attachment that is thus inspired ? " 
 
 Emily made no reply. She felt that his 
 eyes were fixed upon her. She felt, too, 
 that the rose was deepening on her cheek, 
 at last almost painfully. There was a min- 
 ute's silence, and then she rose and pro- 
 posed returning to the dancing-room.
 
 186 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Sympathy is love" — and the most perfect 
 sympathy would appear to have existed be- 
 tween Mandeville and Emily Morton. It 
 was a sympathy of intellect, of taste, of 
 love for the beautiful; and by each the 
 charm derived from its influence on their 
 now daily intercourse was felt and appre- 
 ciated in its fullest extent. In pouring 
 forth the intellectual treasures wherewith
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 187 
 
 his mind was so richly stored, Mandeville 
 knew that he did so to one who could com- 
 prehend their full value. In listening to 
 the rich flow of language which lent a pe- 
 culiar charm to every subject on which he 
 spoke, Emily felt that her superiority of in- 
 tellect was estimated as it deserved. It 
 was not so much the similarity of tastes, 
 as the consciousness of mutual appre- 
 ciation, that constituted the link be- 
 tween them. Emily's acquirements, it is 
 true, though she had read more than most 
 girls of her age, were immeasurably inferior 
 to those of Mandeville ; but where the capa- 
 bility existed of estimating his attainments, 
 though she might never hope to equal 
 them, was not this very inequality one of the 
 strongest bonds of union that could possibly 
 have existed ? There was in her a looking
 
 188 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 up to his opinion — a deference to his judg- 
 ment — a desire for his approval ; while to 
 him the study and the culture of a mind so 
 young, so fair, and yet withal so full of in- 
 tellect and feeling, was a source of interest 
 such as till now he never had experienced. 
 Perhaps there could scarcely have been a 
 position better calculated than was theirs 
 for awakening an attachment such as that 
 of whose endurance and intensity Mande- 
 ville had spoken. And there was yet an- 
 other spring by which the preference even 
 of the best and wisest are not uninfluenced. 
 Emily Morton was now the cynosure of 
 every eye. Mandeville was (with the fair 
 sex at leastj the most admired and popular 
 man in London; and it is amazing how our 
 admiration (more especially when it is based 
 on something better than mere personal
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 189 
 
 beauty) will increase in proportion Tvith 
 that of others. It is grateful to our vanity 
 to perceive that the fiat of public opinion 
 coincides with our own ; still more grateful 
 to our self-love, to find ourselves the chosen 
 object of attraction to one for whose smiles 
 all are contending. Such was precisely the 
 relative position of Edward Mandeville and 
 Emily Morton. There was the pride of 
 acknowledged superiority in their mutual 
 preference, that rendered it doubly attrac- 
 tive ; and of all the avenues through which 
 the dominion of love is established in the 
 human heart, there is not one more seduc- 
 tive, or perhaps more treacherous, than this. 
 And yet in Mandeville's manner when 
 they met, there was nothing that could 
 have called forth general remark. His 
 mode of address was at all times, and to all
 
 190 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 persons, peculiarly felicitous; and no one but 
 a very keen observer could have detected 
 any extraordinary expression of interest to- 
 wards any one in particular. His assiduities 
 towards Emily Morton were apparently far 
 less than those of half-a-dozen others; and 
 although it was pretty generally known 
 that Lord Thomas Grantham and Captain 
 Seymour had both vanished, nobody knew 
 where, all for the love of her beaucc yeiix, 
 and that the little French attach^ had not 
 yet recovered his amazement at Mademoi- 
 selle Emilie's bad taste in refusing to marry 
 him, no77i, titre, amour proj^re, and all, 
 yet, among the number of Miss Morton's 
 suitors, no one ever seemed to dream of 
 Mr. Mandeville. Public opinion, indeed, at 
 that moment, pointed towards Lord Erring- 
 ton; for the frequent visits and the single
 
 BENTLET PBIORT. 191 
 
 quadrille were both, in a person of his noto- 
 riety, too remarkable in their way to escape 
 observation; and this it was, probably, that 
 blinded even Emily's own family to the 
 state of affairs, and that induced Mrs. 
 Morton so immediately to acquiesce in her 
 daughter's rejection of Lord Thomas Gran- 
 tham, with his younger son's portion of 
 two thousand a year. With respect to 
 Lord Errington, his attentions were so un- 
 obtrusive, that Emily endured them with 
 the utmost equanimity, and this very pro- 
 bably led to a conclusion, both in his mind 
 and that of others^ very different from any- 
 thing she had intended. It was, in fact, 
 generally rumoured that the close of the 
 season would find Miss Morton converted 
 into the future Countess of Trentham. 
 " And a handsome couple they'll make,
 
 192 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 too — won't they, Sir John ? '^ said Lady- 
 Courtney, as they drove to the theatre, 
 where a box had been secured by the good- 
 natured aunt, for Miss Polly's especial 
 amusement. '^ What a nice young noble- 
 man he is ! " 
 
 " La ! aunt, is that the lord with the 
 pretty white horse ? " exclaimed Polly. 
 **Why, Fm sure he's as dull as an owl/' 
 
 ** Hush, my dear — don't speak so ; re- 
 collect who you're talking about," said Lady 
 Courtney, shocked at her niece's indiscre- 
 tion. 
 
 " Oh, dear," exclaimed the incorrigible 
 Polly, with something between a sigh and 
 a groan, " if all lords are like him, what a 
 precious set of dummies they must be." 
 
 Sir John tried to look angry, but the 
 coming reproof was checked by the opening
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 193 
 
 of the carriage door, and in two minutes 
 Polly had forgotten the ^^ dummy " lord in 
 the delights of the play enacting before 
 her. 
 
 " How lovely Emily Morton looked last 
 night," observed Lady Caroline Douglas to 
 Sir Charles, as they sat at breakfast the 
 morning after Lady Brenton's ball. 
 
 " She is very lovely. I never saw sym- 
 metry of feature and beauty of expression 
 so combined. Do you think Errington 
 will marry her, after all? I sometimes 
 fancy that he will never be able to get 
 through his apology for courtship." 
 
 "Do you think Miss Morton will marry 
 him?'' 
 
 " If he asks her, to be sure she will. 
 There are not three girls in London who 
 would refuse him. Three ! no, nor one, 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 194 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 probably. Why, do you know what Lord 
 Trentham^s rent-roll is ? " 
 
 " Why, really no," said Lady Caroline, 
 laughing; "but it must be very long indeed 
 to make amends for the penalty attached to 
 it." 
 
 " Lord Trentham has a clear forty thou- 
 sand a-year." 
 
 " And how much of it has been expended 
 on the civilization of his son ? " 
 
 " I assure you that Errington was both 
 at Eton and Oxford." 
 
 " Oh, no, Charles — impossible. Eton and 
 Oxford never sent forth anything so gauch'e 
 as that." 
 
 " You have no daughters old enough to 
 marry. Lady Caroline," said Sir Charles, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Thank heaven — no."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 195 
 
 " Or you would have found out before 
 this what it is that renders Lord Errington 
 so shy and intractable. If these lady 
 mammas, who are hunting him from morn- 
 ing till night, do not take care what they 
 are about, they will fairly drive him out of 
 the field at last, and then farewell to Trent- 
 ham Abbey." 
 
 In the dining-room in Bruton Street, at 
 the same moment. Sir William and Lady 
 Wrexham were seated at breakfast; the 
 former discussing his morning's meal, with 
 the last number of the United Service 
 Journal lying on the table beside him, its 
 envelope still unbroken, while his pretty 
 little wife went on prattling in her own 
 light and cheerful strain. 
 
 " Caro," said she, ^^ you have not relieved 
 me once since we sat down to breakfast ; and 
 
 02
 
 196 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 even the dear Journal there has been forgot- 
 ten. What can you be thinking of? I do 
 believe you have been dreaming all this 
 time of Emily Morton's bright eyes." 
 
 " Perhaps you were not very far wrong," 
 said Sir William. " I was thinking of 
 making you a request, Caroline." 
 
 " I would say — granted ; but you really 
 look so grave, I am afraid it must be some- 
 thing very terrible." 
 
 ^^Not very terrible," answered Sir 
 William, smiling. "I was only going to 
 ask you to give up some of those numerous 
 pic-nics and parties you have in contem-' 
 plation." 
 
 " E perche, caro ? " 
 
 " I will tell you why ; and I think you 
 will say my reason is sufficient. That sweet 
 girl, Emily Morton, is on the high road to
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 197. 
 
 much unhappiness, and I would not willingly 
 have you instrumental in hastening it. 
 Have you observed no symptoms of an 
 attachment between her and Mandeville ? " 
 
 " Oh, you are quite wrong there," said 
 Lady Wrexham, with a reassured look. 
 " In the first place, Emily knows perfectly 
 well from me the history of all his flirta- 
 tions, and more particularly of that with 
 Blanche Thomham, to whom most people 
 think he is engaged — and I am not quite 
 sure about it myself; and, in the second, 
 Mr. Mandeville has never paid her any 
 particular attention." 
 
 "I have more leisure for observation 
 than you have, Caroline, and, believe me, it 
 is you who are wrong, and not I. I do not 
 mean to say that there is any very serious 
 mischief done yet; but I should be very
 
 198 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 sorry to see tliem thrown much together, 
 for Mandeville is not a man to whom any 
 woman would attach herself by halves, and 
 particularly such a woman as Emily Morton. 
 The idea of his marrying her, would, you 
 know, be perfectly preposterous. I do not 
 suppose he has three hundred a-year in the 
 world." 
 
 " I do not suppose that he has ; but I am 
 convinced that neither of them has the 
 least thought of anything of the kind." 
 
 " So much the worse. If neither of them 
 had thought of it, they might have been 
 reminded of the impossibility of the thing, 
 and have avoided the danger of a hopeless 
 attachment." 
 
 " But indeed, caro, I do not think there 
 is any attachment in the case. You know 
 his manner to everyone, and as for Emily,
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 199 
 
 I really believe she means to marry Lord 
 Errington — she endures his proceedings 
 with such heroic fortitude/' 
 
 ^^ And why, if her affections were disen- 
 gaged, should she not marry Lord Erring- 
 ton ? '^ returned Sir William. " I know it 
 is the fashion amongst you ladies to abuse 
 him, but really I never heard anything but 
 good of the young man." 
 
 ^^ Why, really," said Lady Wrexham, "we 
 hear so little about him in any way, that it 
 is very difficult to tell what he may be. 
 We only know that as the companion of one 
 hour, he would be perfectly unendurable. 
 What then would he be as a companion for 
 life ? " 
 
 " My own dear little wife," said Sir Wil- 
 liam, "• many a woman destroys her own 
 happiness by arguing as you do. No wo-
 
 200 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 man can expect to meet with a combination 
 of every earthly good; and if, combined with 
 such advantages of position and fortune, 
 she can find an amiable, high principled 
 man, even though he be possessed of no 
 external acomplishment, it is quite as much 
 as she has a right to expect. She will 
 have a far better chance of happiness in 
 marrying a man of sterling worth, than had 
 she chosen one possessed of the most bril- 
 liant acquirements without it. Remember, 
 I am not arguing Lord Errington^s case in- 
 dividually, for I know him too little to form 
 an opinion ; but I think it a pity that 
 the chances of what is certainly a very 
 brilliant, and might be a very happy, mar- 
 riage should be cast away only for that 
 which must end in disappointment." 
 
 " But do you think that Emily could ever
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 201 
 
 be happy with Lord Errington ? He is so 
 gauche, so silent. Do you think, in fact, 
 that a woman could ever be happy with a 
 man whom she felt ashamed of presenting 
 to the world as her choice ? " 
 
 '^ Ashamed, Caroline — ashamed of Lord 
 Errington ! " 
 
 '^ Well, he is gentlemanlike, I acknow- 
 ledge, but then — " 
 
 *^But you are accustomed to continental 
 manners, and therefore cannot tolerate his," 
 interposed Sir William. ^^What woman, 
 my dear little wife, need ever be ashamed 
 of presenting to the world, as her husband, 
 any man whose principles and actions 
 are such as to command their respect and 
 her esteem. Where the brilliant acquire- 
 ments which adorn society can be combined 
 with those domestic virtues which alone will
 
 202 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ensure happiness to our own firesides, the 
 union is beautiful indeed; but it is very- 
 rare, because people who are accustomed to 
 be worshipped as stars by the world very 
 often do not find it worth their while to be 
 agreeable at home/' 
 
 Lady Wrexham was silent for a moment. 
 
 ^' Well, you will at least allow," said she, 
 " that to be proud of those we love — even 
 of their acquirements, I mean — of the admi- 
 ration they excite — is a very delightful 
 feeling." 
 
 " If combined with pride in their amiable 
 qualities, no doubt it is, and it becomes' 
 then a very happy feeling too ; otherwise, I 
 think it is too deeply mingled with regret 
 to be so. Believe me, Caroline, no woman 
 who values her own happiness should ever 
 choose her husband merely for his brilliant
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 203 
 
 acquirements. For the world, it is all well 
 enough ; but she may return from the scene 
 of his triumph, and of her own pride, to a 
 neglected home, and with an aching heart, 
 for all that." 
 
 " I daresay you are quite right, caro ; 
 but 1 know so little about either, that per- 
 haps I am an indifferent judge," said Lady 
 Wrexham, with an affectionate smile ; 
 " I think, however, you are mistaken con- 
 cerning this attachment between Emily and 
 Mr. Mandeville, but I will give up the pic- 
 nics if you think it better." 
 
 '^ I do think it better for Emily's sake ; 
 and you will not, I know, begrudge her the 
 sacrifice of a few hours' amusement." 
 
 " That, indeed, I shall not," replied Lady 
 Wrexham, with warmth ; " though I sus- 
 pect, caro," added she, after a moment's
 
 204 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 thought, "that in so doing we shall but 
 make matters worse. Mr. Mandeville will 
 inevitably pass the hours thus unemployed 
 in Portland Place." 
 
 " Why should you suppose so ? '* 
 
 "He is there almost every day, and re- 
 mains half the day," replied Lady Wrexham. 
 
 Sir William paused. 
 
 " Is Mrs. Morton aware of Mandeville's 
 prospects?" inquired he, after a few 
 moments' thought. 
 
 " Perfectly ; she knows his whole history 
 from myself." 
 
 " What are mothers dreaming of? — what 
 are mothers for ? " exclaimed Sir William. 
 "Let the pic-nics go on, Caroline. You 
 are right. The one danger is at least less 
 than the other. We will do what we can, 
 but that, I fear^ is little."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 205 
 
 And as Lady Wrexham left the room. 
 Sir William, with a sigh, broke the enve- 
 lope of the Journal, though, for full five 
 minutes afterwards, he sat with his eyes 
 fixed on the carpet, and his hand resting 
 on its unopened pages.
 
 206 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 And where was Mandeville, and what were 
 his thoughts, while opinions were 
 so rife and so varied on the little drama 
 that was enacting ? On the very day pref- 
 ceding that on which the conversation we 
 have just recorded took place, his progress 
 along Albemarle Street (when on his way 
 to the accustomed daily visit) had been 
 arrested by a travelling carriage which drew
 
 BENTLET PRIORY. 207 
 
 up at Crawley's Hotel exactly at the mo- 
 ment he was passing. Mandeville instmct- 
 ively turned his head to reconnoitre, 
 and the next moment he was at the carriage 
 door, assisting the two ladies that were 
 within to alight. Bright was the blush, 
 and sparkling the glance of recognition 
 that had arrested his attention. Warm 
 were the greetings, and eager the expres- 
 sions of delight at meeting that were now 
 mutually exchanged. 
 
 Mandeville accompanied the two ladies :Up- 
 stairs ; and, with great appearance of good 
 will, yielded to their expressed wish that he 
 would sit down, "if only for a minute," 
 which minute might have proved of very 
 indefinite duration, but that the opening 
 and shutting of doors, the depositing of 
 travellmg cases, and the inquiries for fur-
 
 208 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ther orders entirely precluded the possibi- 
 lity of anything like uninterrupted conver- 
 sation. After the lapse of a few minutes, 
 the younger lady took her station at the 
 middle window, with the ostensible pur- 
 pose of watching the safe transit of those 
 valuables still to be removed from the car- 
 riage, though apparently she was far more 
 intent on carrying on a very animated course 
 of question and answer with Mandeville, 
 who stood beside her ; while her mother was 
 too busily occupied, ordering this box here, 
 and that box there, in speaking to the 
 courier, and in giving orders to the waiter, to 
 offer any interruption to their conversation. 
 " I had no idea you were in England, 
 Mr. Mandeville," said the young lady, her 
 brilliant black eyes sparkling with delight. 
 "I did all I could to keep mamma abroad ;
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 209 
 
 but she insisted on coming to London to 
 have me presented at Court.'' 
 
 " I think she did quite right, for every 
 reason ; but as you disliked coming so very 
 much, it is selfish in me to say so." 
 
 " Oh, as for that, it was not that I so 
 very particularly disliked coming to Eng- 
 land, as that I wished to stay abroad." 
 
 ^^ Pour I'amour de qui? " — and Mandeville 
 fixed his eyes on hers with a sportive expres- 
 sion of inquiry. 
 
 ^^ V amour had nothing to say to it in 
 any way, I can assure you," replied the 
 young lady, laughing, as, with a rather 
 heightened colour, she shook back the 
 jetty ringlets that clustered round her face. 
 " Or, if it had, it was purely and entirely 
 the love of my own dear self." 
 
 *^ Blanche, my love, where shall they put 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 your cap-case ? *' inquired her mother, 
 breaking cruelly into the dialogue. 
 
 " Anywhere you like, mamma. In my 
 room, I suppose." 
 
 '^But which room will you have, my 
 love.^' And in spite of the " I do not care, 
 mamma," while the young lady retained her 
 position immovably in the window, in ex- 
 emplification of her indifference on the mat- 
 ter, and her desire not to be disturbed, 
 Mandeville perceived he was in the way, 
 and took up his hat. 
 
 " We shall be better able to talk over 
 old times the next time we meet, Mr.' 
 Mandeville," said the mamma. " We shall 
 be quite settled to-morrow, and delighted 
 to receive you." 
 
 Mandeville promised to call on the mor- 
 row, shook hands very cordially with both,
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 211 
 
 and, taking his leave, went on his way to 
 Portland Place. 
 
 Mrs. Thornham had done right in insist- 
 ing on her daughter's return to England — 
 right for her daughter's sake, no less than 
 for that of her own projects regarding her. 
 The continent was a dangerous place for a 
 very pretty girl, as wild and thoughtless as 
 the winds of heaven, and with fifty thou- 
 sand pounds in her pocket ; and though 
 Blanche Thornham had escaped from beneath 
 the shower of penniless princes, counts, 
 and barons, who had flung themselves for 
 acceptance at her feet, with only a few 
 slight wounds, healed almost as soon as in- 
 flicted, yet still the deliverance had not been 
 efiected without more heartburnings and dif- 
 ficulties of all kinds than Mrs. Thornham was 
 at all willing to encounter a second time. 
 
 p2
 
 212 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 The wish of her heart was to see her 
 daughter united to a man of worth, and (if 
 truth must be spoken) of rank too, could 
 the two be united; and the title of Princessa, 
 or Contessa, or anything else equally eu- 
 phonious, was no doubt very attractive ; but 
 she had too much plain good sense and 
 true maternal solicitude not to feel that 
 the bauble was as nothing when weighed 
 against the small chances of happiness such 
 marriages ordinarily hold forth, and she 
 was not at all sorry to perceive that Mr. 
 Mandeville's flirtation, throughout the win- 
 ter they passed together at Naples, acted 
 as a very salutary counterpoise in the scale 
 of her daughter's preferences. Whether 
 Blanche herself had any very particular 
 predisposition in that gentleman's favour, or 
 whether he felt disposed to take advantage
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 213 
 
 of it, was an enigma which the young lady's 
 habitually light-hearted manner, and her 
 general system of indiscriminate flirtation, 
 rendered very difficult of solution. There 
 was quite enough to serve as something 
 for idle people to talk about, though by no 
 means sufficient to nip the hopes of other 
 candidates for the smiles of the heiress, 
 whose fortune was, of course, magnified 
 to exactly double its real value. Thus, 
 while some thought Mandeville a ^^ devilish 
 lucky fellow,'^ others protested that Miss 
 Thornham cared not a rush more for him 
 than for a half a dozen others besides. While 
 Lady Emmeline, whom the report had 
 reached, was silently pondering on the pos- 
 sibility of her son attaching himself to an 
 Irish heiress of low degree, however rich, 
 or however pretty, and on the expediency
 
 214 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 of questioning him on the subject, Mrs. 
 Thornham was secretly weighing the mani- 
 fold attractions of Mr. Mandeville, toge- 
 ther with the remote chance of his suc- 
 ceeding to the estates and earldom of 
 Trentham, against the probability of meet- 
 ing with any more eligible marriage for 
 her daughter. In the midst of these con- 
 tending feelings and opinions, the whole of 
 the Wrexham party suddenly took their 
 departure from Naples ; and very soon after- 
 wards Mrs. Thornham followed up her reso- 
 lution of proceeding to England, not, how- 
 ever, in pursuit of Mandeville, but to seek 
 any still better fortune that Fate might send 
 her. 
 
 Mandeville was true to his engagement 
 on the following day. He found Miss Thorn- 
 ham again standing by the middle window
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 215 
 
 of their drawing-room, on the first floor, 
 from whence she was watching the pas- 
 sengers below. Her travelling dress had 
 now been exchanged for a chef dceuvre 
 fresh from Paris ; and if she had (as Man- 
 deville had assured her) looked remarkably 
 well the day before, Blanche undeniably 
 looked exceedingly beautiful now. She 
 was of the middle size, and beautifully 
 formed, with a profusion of glossy black 
 hair, eyes of the most sparkling brilliancy, 
 and lips that would have shamed the ruby. 
 There was no attempt at concealment, 
 either in Mandeville's manner, or in the 
 sparkling look of pleasure of Miss Thorn- 
 ham, as they advanced to meet each other. 
 As for Blanche, she had never disguised 
 any feeling in her life, and she would quite 
 as soon have dreamed of concealing her
 
 216 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 luxuriant tresses beneath a nun's cap, as of 
 doing so. 
 
 ^^ I hope I find you better reconciled to- 
 day than you were yesterday, to the prospect 
 of a season in London/' said Mandeville, 
 after their first greeting was over. 
 
 " Oh, I am quite reconciled already. I 
 am certain it will all be extremely de- 
 lightful ; though I sometimes can scarcely 
 believe that I am really in London, it 
 looks so like old times to find you 
 here.'' 
 
 " I had almost feared that, before this, 
 those pleasant old times would have been 
 forgotten." 
 
 ^^ Forgotten ! — you can hardly imagine 
 how delightful it was to see a face that I 
 knew, after passing through so many long, 
 straight, dismal-looking streets without
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 217 
 
 encountering a single creature that either 
 knew or cared a rush about me." 
 
 " My face is infinitely obliged to you," 
 said Mandeville, laughing ; " but I suppose 
 that anyone else's would have done equally 
 well. What say you, for instance, to that 
 of the little comte ? Do you not think 
 that its effect would have been far more 
 striking ? " 
 
 " In mercy spare me the recollection of 
 such horrors," exclaimed Blanche, while the 
 exuberance of her spirits lent additional 
 animation to her manner. 
 
 *'You are really very unreasonable, 
 Miss Thornham. The unfortunate little 
 comte at least did what he could to win 
 your favour, like a true and loyal knight ; 
 and if he did not succeed, it was certainly 
 not his fault."
 
 218 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " You are very provoking to remind me 
 of anything at all about him, Mr. Mande- 
 ville. I could almost wish that he were 
 seated here opposite to you, just to prove 
 what a horrible reminiscence you have con- 
 jured up.'' 
 
 " May the Fates protect me from so 
 dreadful an exchange," exclaimed Mande- 
 ville, as he rose to pick up the embroidered 
 handkerchief which Miss Thornham, after 
 having showered it with Eau de Cologne, 
 from a bottle on the table beside her, had 
 let fall at her feet. 
 
 " And now place yourself comfortably in' 
 that her g ere there, Mr. Mandeville," con- 
 tinued Blanche, pointing to an arm-chair 
 opposite to her, "for you have an enor- 
 mously long history to tell me of all you 
 have been doing since you left Naples."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 219 
 
 ^' In other words, I am to constitute you 
 my confessor. Will you promise to do the 
 same by me in return ? " 
 
 ** Good gracious, no ; I will have no con- 
 ditions, so pray go on — for you know of old 
 that my stock of patience is not a very 
 large one." 
 
 " Only one condition, and I am content," 
 said Mandeville, in a beseeching tone. 
 
 Blanche raised her sparkling black eyes 
 to his, with an expression at once mirthful 
 and inquiring. 
 
 " Only that you will not look at me too 
 often, or I shall inevitably forget what I 
 was saying." 
 
 '* Nonsense ! " said Blanche, dropping her 
 bright orbs upon the carpet, while the 
 colour rose in her cheek, and a beautiful 
 smile played round her mouth. ^^ Pray go
 
 220 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 on— I am all attention. In the first place, 
 what has become of Lady Wrexham ? " 
 
 " She has been in London for the last 
 two months, and will remain till the end of 
 the season. '^ 
 
 *^ Oh, how delighted I am ! How rejoiced 
 I shall be to see her ; and dear kind Sir 
 William, too,'^ and Blanche looked up, 
 utterly forgetful of Mandeville's prohibition, 
 and with an unfeigned expression of joy, 
 from whence every trace of coquetry was 
 banished. 
 
 ^^ And she will be delighted to see you, too, 
 I make no doubt. Shall I tell her where 
 you are ? " 
 
 ^* Oh, by all means. Mamma, you will 
 be so glad to hear that Lady Wrexham is 
 in London," said Blanche to her mother, 
 whose toilet had been less expeditiously
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 221 
 
 completed than that of her daughter, for 
 the packing-cases had not been disburdened 
 of their contents till the morning. 
 
 This was a fortunate occurrence indeed. 
 Lady Wrexham would present them at Court. 
 Lady Wrexham would assist them in every- 
 thing. Lady Wrexham was the most good- 
 natured person in the ^orld. In discuss- 
 ing the history which Blanche had required 
 of the past, and in planning agreeable 
 things for the future, Mandeville's visit in- 
 sensibly spun itself out into within three 
 minutes of an hour. He had risen, hat in 
 hand, when Mrs. Thornham's Italian ser- 
 vant brought in a large bouquet of moss 
 roses, in search of which the unfortunate 
 creature had been for two hours toiling half 
 over the town ; for Blanche, in her love for 
 flowers, had totally forgotten that poor
 
 222 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Carlo would find it no such easy task here 
 to obey her commands as in his own 
 native Naples, where they bloomed at 
 every turn. 
 
 " I tink I valk tree league to find 'em, 
 Signorina," said he, looking very hot and 
 very much disconcerted. "Dere be no 
 flower here plenty like as in Napoli ; and 
 dey cost very dear too. I give fiYe shillin 
 for derrij vat I get in Napoli for few car- 
 lini." 
 
 " I think I can tell you where to get 
 them more readily in future, Carlo," said 
 Mandeville, for they were old acquaintances. 
 
 *^ Tank ye, sir ; I be very glad. To-day 
 I lose my vay. De street be all so long and 
 so straight, I not know von from de oder.'^ 
 
 ^* I cannot live without flowers,'' said 
 Blanche, as Carlo closed the door ; I must
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 223 
 
 have my bouquet here, as usual, every 
 morning. Pray, do find out where we can 
 get them ; and let us know when you come 
 to-morrow.^' 
 
 Mandeville smiled inwardly at the cer- 
 tainty of his " coming to-morrow^ " implied 
 in the request, but he promised com- 
 pliance. 
 
 '' I can scarcely promise you more beau- 
 tiful roses than these, however," said he, 
 taking up the bouquet. '^ Carlo is cer- 
 tanly a judge of flowers." 
 
 *^ Will you have one?" said Blanche, 
 selecting a beautiful moss-rose, and holding 
 it towards him. " You need not be sur- 
 prised at my generosity, for you see I have 
 kept plenty here to last me till to-morrow." 
 
 " Bella quanto la rosa," said Mandeville, 
 looking up at her with one of his own
 
 224 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 graceful bows, as he placed the rose in his 
 button-hole. " What will Carlo say, after 
 all his toil, at my carrying off the pride of 
 his bouquet? We shall have the wars of 
 the roses over again, Miss Thornham." 
 
 The rose was by this time adjusted, and 
 Mrs. Thornham's arrangement of the bou- 
 quet in the flower-glass complete. 
 
 '' I will see lady Wrexham to-day, then, 
 and tell her that you are here," said Man- 
 deville. " Till to-morrow, a rivederle ; " 
 and holding out his hand to each, he 
 vanished, and passed on his way to Port- 
 land Place. 
 
 ^^Ah, ha! who you tink up stair wid 
 meessis, Meessis Smit ? " said Carlo, as he 
 hurried down from the drawing-room to 
 the dinner which had been waiting for him 
 a full half-hour.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 225 
 
 " La ! Carlo, how should I know ? I'm 
 too hungry to care about missis's 
 visitors." 
 
 " Ah, ha, who you tink do ? " 
 
 "Why, who? Can't you speak out, 
 Carlo, with your 'ah, ha's?'" snapped Mrs. 
 Smith, who was by this time very cross and 
 very hungry. 
 
 " Vat you give to know ? " responded 
 Carlo, placing his finger knowingly on the 
 side of his nose, and bringing his cheek 
 into rather close quarters with that of the 
 lady, as he strove to look into her averted 
 eyes. 
 
 ^'I wouldn't give a fig to know," ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Smith, as, with a toss of the 
 head, she bridled herself away from 
 Carlo's approximation, and plumped her- 
 self down at the dinner-table, as the 
 
 VOL. L Q
 
 226 BENTLET PRIORY. 
 
 best mode of concealing her bursting 
 curiosity. 
 
 " Oh, you leetle conning ting ! " said 
 Carlo, once more approaching his head 
 close to hers. " What you tink for — 
 Monsieur — Mandeville ? " 
 
 " Mr. Mandeville ! " echoed Mrs. Smith, 
 turning herself quite round in her chair, 
 and looking him directly in the face. ^^ My 
 stars, how glad I am! We shall have a 
 wedding as sure as fate." 
 
 " Ah, ha, yes, quite sure, von wedding 
 vera good ting. Let us have two, Meessis 
 Smit," whispered Carlo, in his most winning 
 tones, and bending his head down rather 
 closer than the lady liked, to receive her 
 answer. 
 
 "Nonsense, Carlo — eat your dinner. I 
 can^t think of two things at a time," was
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY 227 
 
 the ungracious reply, as the lady jerked her 
 head suddenly away, without vouchsafing 
 to look at him. 
 
 And Carlo, being a very submissive 
 lover, did as he was bid. 
 
 q2
 
 228 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Everything occurred as Mrs. Thornham had 
 prognosticated. 
 
 Lady Wrexham did present them at 
 Court. Lady Wrexham did assist them in' 
 everything. Lady Wrexham was the most 
 good-natured person in the world. Not that 
 it would have required any very great exer- 
 cise of self-denial, even had Lady Wrexham 
 been less good-natured than she really was,
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 229 
 
 for the case here was widely different from 
 that of poor Lady Courtney and her 
 dejeune. Had the " to be, or not to he/' 
 as regarded Mrs. and Miss Thornham, been 
 debated in a conclave of Lady Patron- 
 esses, the Ayes would unhesitatingly have 
 had it ; for Blanche was not only emi- 
 nently pretty and ornamental, but she was 
 besides an heiress; while in her mother's 
 appearance and manners there was nothing 
 in the least objectionable, even to the most 
 fastidious, though her youth had been 
 passed exclusively in a small country town 
 in Ireland, where Mr. Thornham, in the 
 double capacity of steward to Sir William 
 Wrexham, and lawyer to half the country 
 round, had contrived, in the space of a few 
 years, to increase his fortune sufficiently to 
 leave his widow independent, and his
 
 230 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 daughter an heiress. But Mrs. Thornham 
 possessed a vast amount of natural strong 
 sense, joined to a vast deal of the ready- 
 tact and talent peculiar to her country, so 
 that by the time she had passed a few years 
 at Bath, during Blanche^s childhood, and a 
 few more on the continent for the completion 
 of her daughter's education, her husband him- 
 self, poor man, could he have risen from the 
 dead, would scarcely have recognised his 
 own wife in the handsome, well-dressed, 
 and well-bred woman before him. 
 
 How great soever might have been 
 Blanche's delight at the prospect of meeting 
 Lady Wrexham, it certainly was, to a certain 
 extent, shared by Lady Wrexham herself 
 She was very fond of Blanche Thornham, 
 and none the less because Sir William took 
 a very kindly interest in her welfare.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 231 
 
 During a visit of some weeks at Kock Castle, 
 shortly after their marriage, Blanche's inex- 
 haustible spirits had been perfectly invalu- 
 able. Lady VTrexham was accustomed to 
 declare that she should have died of ennui 
 without her; and though, when they met 
 afterwards, amid the multiplied attractions 
 of Naples, all danger of a similar catas- 
 trophe was dispelled, yet still the ^'wild 
 Irish girl," as she was currently called, with 
 her sparkling black eyes, and her lively 
 manner, that operated like a sunbeam on all 
 with whom she came in contact, continued 
 as great a favourite as ever. 
 
 But in the present case there was still 
 another source of satisfaction to be derived 
 from Mrs. Thornham's arrival in London, 
 and Lady Wrexham determined to turn it 
 to the best account. She had no doubt
 
 232 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 that Blanche's flirtation with Mr. Mande- 
 ville would be renewed, though with- 
 out any danger to her own giddy little 
 heart, which, like the butterfly, could flit 
 from object to object without brushing one 
 hue of brightness from its wing; while, at 
 the same time, it might be converted into a 
 very efliectual shield for the preservation of 
 her Cousin Emily. On these thoughts 
 intent, Lady Wrexham flew to commu- 
 nicate the intelligence she had received to 
 Sir William. 
 
 " Beware what you are about, Caroline," 
 said he. "You are playing with edged 
 tools, and may do mischief before you are 
 aware of it. The game of hearts," con- 
 tinued he, smiling, " requires a vast deal of 
 diplomacy, to play it with safety; and I 
 am afraid, my dear little wife, with all her
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 233 
 
 perfections, would make but a sorry states- 
 woman." 
 
 '^ I am resolved to prove to the contrary, 
 in pure spite for your bad opinion of me," 
 said Lady Wrexham, laughing. "May I 
 ask the Thornhams to dine here next week, 
 to begin operations ? " 
 
 ^' Yes — and with all my heart. I shall 
 rejoice to see my little Blanche after her 
 escape from all the perils and dangers 
 which beset her at Naples ; and doubly so, if 
 we can find for her some good English hus- 
 band, who will know how to value her as 
 she deserves." 
 
 "Mr. Mandeville would do exactly for 
 Blanche," observed Lady Wrexham, who, 
 like most of her sex, loved a little bit of 
 diplomacy in her own way. " He wants 
 nothing but fortune, which she could
 
 234 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 give him. Shall I ask him to meet 
 them ? '^ 
 
 '' Do, if you like.'' 
 
 "And I must think of some others to 
 whom I can introduce them. I do not sup- 
 pose that Mrs. Thornham knows any one in 
 London, unless it may be a few stray foreign 
 acquaintances. The Mortons will not be in 
 town again till the beginning of the week 
 after — till Monday, I think Emily told me ; 
 so I must put them off till another time. 
 However, there will be no great difficulty, 
 for Blanche is really so pretty and elegant, 
 every one will be glad to know her. There 
 is the carriage," continued she, stepping to 
 the window; " I am going to Albemarle 
 Street now — shall I take you so far on 
 your way to the club, caro ? " 
 
 Sir William had not finished his paper.
 
 BENTLEY PBIORY. 235 
 
 and Lady Wrexham drove off -without 
 him. 
 
 During the whole of the following week, 
 the Mortons were absent at the Grange, 
 and Mandeville's mornings would have been 
 a good deal unoccupied (for the greater part 
 of them were now habitually passed in Port- 
 land Place), had it not been for the season- 
 able arrival of Mrs. Thornham and Blanche. 
 I do not mean to say that Mandeville was 
 without those resources which might, with 
 equal pleasure and profit, have whiled away 
 many more solitary hours than he was ever 
 likely to pass. Few men had so many; 
 but we are all, more or less, creatures of 
 habit ; and since his arrival in London, or, 
 more properly speaking, since the com- 
 mencement of his intimacy with the Morton 
 family, the habit of amusement had become
 
 236 BENTLEY FRIORY. 
 
 SO familiar to him, as to render everything 
 else distasteful. To an idle man, under 
 such circumstances, nothing could be more 
 inviting than Mrs. Thornham's drawing- 
 room. That Mandeville thought it so, 
 might very naturally be inferred from the 
 fact that each morning of the week, during 
 which the house in Portland Place remained 
 untenanted, found him sauntering, as a mat- 
 ter of course, into Crawley's, there to merge 
 his own ennui in Blanche's vivacity, and to 
 while away, in her lively sallies, the time till 
 Emily Morton's return. 
 
 Lady Wrexham's dinner turned out a 
 very agreeable affair. There were, besides 
 Mrs. Thornham and her daughter, the 
 Douglasses, and the Courtneys, and the 
 Grenvilles, with Lady Brenton (whose 
 second ball was already talked of) and her
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 237 
 
 daughter; while Mandeville, with two more 
 bachelor dancing-men, filled up the vacant 
 places. Mandeville, of course, took posses- 
 sion of Miss Thornham, and in so doing 
 won for himself the enyy of some, and the 
 remarks of all. Nothing could be pleas- 
 anter, or more animated, than the conver- 
 sation between them. There could be little 
 doubt that the report of their engagement 
 would very soon be confirmed, and Mande- 
 ville was once more pronounced a '' devilish 
 lucky fellow ;" while he, on his part, seemed 
 very well disposed to prove the truth of the 
 assertion. 
 
 ^^ You like the opera, do you not, 
 Blanche?" inquired Lady Wrexham, as 
 she followed the ladies with Blanche up- 
 stairs to the drawing-room, after dinner. 
 
 "I am so happy at this moment, dear
 
 238 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Lady Wrexham, that I like everythhig in 
 the world." 
 
 "I am very glad of it, my dear child; 
 but that was not exactly the answer I 
 wanted. You would like to go to the 
 opera, would you not ? " 
 
 " Better than anything." 
 
 " Very well ; you shall have my box 
 then on Saturday. I cannot go with you 
 myself, because I am engaged to Lady 
 Langley's concert ; but you shall have the 
 box to do what you like with." 
 
 ^* How kind you are," was all Blanche 
 had time to say, and she seized Lady Wrex-' 
 ham's hand, and kissed it a JItalienne, 
 as they reached the drawing-room 
 door. 
 
 Mandeville was engaged on the Saturday 
 to Lady Langley's concert, too ; but he
 
 BEXTLEY PRIORY. 239 
 
 could not find time to go to it. Blanche 
 had asked him in the morning, as a thing 
 perfectly natural, to be their escort to the 
 opera. She and Mrs. Thornham had never 
 been at the opera in London before, and 
 they had no cavalieri serventi here, as at 
 Naples, to take care of them ; and Mande- 
 ville had no ready plea for declining the 
 engagement, even had he felt disposed to 
 do so, which he was not. Besides, what 
 did it matter ? The Morton's could not be 
 at Lady Langley's, for they were not in 
 town ; — he gained a pleasant evening, 
 did an acceptable service, and lost noth- 
 ing. 
 
 And Emily Morton — what had been her 
 occupation — what the occupation of her 
 thoughts during the week of her absence at 
 the Grange ? Let the events of the day
 
 240 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 preceding her departure (it was that on 
 which Mandeville had paid his first visit to 
 the Thornham's — that also of Lady 
 Brenton's ball) speak for themselves.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 On quitting Crawley's, after paying his 
 first visit to the Thornhams, Mandeville 
 went on his way to Portland Place, with 
 thoughts, it might be, more pre-occupied 
 than usual, but still with the same light 
 step as before. On turning into Hanover 
 Square, he encountered Charles Grenville, 
 and had just shaken hands with him, when 
 Lord Errington drew up beside them. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 242 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " How are you, Mandeville ? How do 
 you do, Captain Grenville ? " said he, as he 
 endeavoured to restrain the impetuosity of 
 his horse. "I was just going to leave a 
 note for you, Mandeville. My father 
 wants you to dine with him before he 
 leaves town. He is off on Thursday. I 
 hope you are disengaged, and can come; 
 though, my father being so unwell, I fear 
 I can promise you only oursielves." 
 
 "Very happy," interrupted Mandeville, 
 rather stiffly, for the ice had not yet 
 thawed between himself and his cousin. 
 
 " Monday — shall it be Monday ? " 
 
 And as Mandeville assented. Lord Erring- 
 ton rode off. 
 
 " It is a wonder that my relation's head is 
 not turned with all the hearts that are laid 
 for acceptance at his feet," said Mande-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 243 
 
 ville, looking after him with a curl of the 
 lip which was quite irrepressible, for Lord 
 Errington had not improved in his good 
 graces, now that the report had spread far 
 and wide of his matrimonial inten- 
 tions. 
 
 " I daresay, if he would only let us know 
 a little more of him," said Charles Gren- 
 ville, who never thought or spoke ill of a 
 human being in his life, " we should find 
 out that he is a very good sort of fellow. 
 When is the coronet to be laid at Emily's 
 feet — eh ? — are you in the secret ? " 
 
 " Not I," said Mandeville drily. " I know 
 as little of his intentions as anyone. 
 Never, I should think, if we are to judge 
 from appearances." 
 
 " They are keeping it all very snug," 
 rattled on Captain Gren ville. '^ I asked 
 
 r2
 
 244 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 my aunt about it the other day, but she 
 only laughed, and said nothing/' 
 
 ^^ Do you think there is really anything 
 in it, then ? " 
 
 " As sure as a gun, as Georgy would say ; 
 and though she is my own cousin, I must 
 say that Emmy will grace His Lordship^s 
 coronet as much as any one I know. Do 
 you go to Lady Brenton^s to-night ? " 
 
 " Yes " — and each passed on his own 
 way. 
 
 Mandeville's glove was quite new, and 
 rather small, so that the impatient twitch 
 with which he attempted to draw it on' 
 caused a lamentable fracture. The rose in 
 his button-hole, too, had very nearly suf- 
 fered decapitation from the jerk with which 
 he readjusted its position ; but a thorn in 
 the stem wounded his finger, and though
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 245 
 
 calling forth a not very placable ejacula- 
 tion, saved it from further molestation. 
 
 " Nulle rose sans epine," was Mande- 
 ville's reflection. ^^ What a fool I am," 
 was his thought a moment after, " not to 
 judge for myself, instead of heeding these 
 idle reports. She will never marry him. 
 I know her better," and in a few moments 
 more, his well-known foot was ascending 
 the stair in Portland Place. 
 
 The same glad welcome met him as ever 
 — the same bright smile from Emily — the 
 same joyous greeting from the little ones. 
 Mrs. Morton was out, but Mandeville was 
 never denied admittance; and he sat chatting 
 on, unmindful of the lapse of time, with 
 Carry on one knee, and Georgy on 
 the other, till the stopping of a carriage, 
 and the prancing of a horse at the door,
 
 246 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 drew the children from their post to the 
 window, and in a minute both were clamber- 
 ing up on a chair, with the exclamation : — 
 " Oh, Emma, it is the man with the beau- 
 tiful prancing horse. Look, look, Mr. 
 Mandeville — do come and look at him ! " 
 
 *^ I believe the man with the beautiful 
 prancing horse is very fond of coming here," 
 said Mandeville, dryly, as he rose to obey 
 the child's summons, just as Lord Erring- 
 ton's equipage dashed from the door. 
 
 ^^ I'm sure I don't know what he comes 
 for then," said Georgy, " for he never 
 speaks a word to anybody." 
 
 ** I am afraid the man with the beautiful 
 prancing horse is no great favourite," said 
 Mandeville, laughing. 
 
 " I don't like him at all," said Georgy, 
 stoutly.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 247 
 
 "I don't like him much, either," said 
 Carry; " but," added she, shaking her little 
 head very knowingly, " I know something 
 about him though." 
 
 " And what do you know ? " inquired 
 Mandeville, almost angry with himself for 
 the importance he attached to the child's 
 answer. 
 
 ** Hush, Carry," said Emily, drawing her 
 little sister towards her, for she began to 
 feel very uncomfortable. " You must not 
 talk nonsense, dear." 
 
 " I will tell no one but my own dear 
 Mr. Mandeville," exclaimed the child, eager 
 to disburden herself of the great secret; 
 and disengaging herself from Emily's grasp, 
 she sprang towards him, and, putting her 
 little arms round his neck, drew his head 
 down, so that he could hear her whisper : —
 
 248 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " He wants to have Emmy for his wife," 
 were the words which reached Emily's ear. 
 " Now don't tell, for it is a great, great 
 secret," added the little girl aloud, as she 
 withdrew her arms from about his neck, 
 and, holding up her finger, darted back in 
 great glee to her sister. 
 
 " What have you been saying. Carry ? " 
 said Emily, bending her head over the 
 silken ringlets of her little sister to conceal 
 the colour which had risen almost painfully 
 into her cheek. 
 
 " Oh, I shall not tell you.'' And the child, 
 in happy unconsciousness of the train of 
 thought which her little prattle had 
 awakened, bounded back to her favourite 
 again, and was reinstated in her former place. 
 *^ What a pretty, pretty rose," said she, look- 
 ing at the flower in Mandeville's button -hole.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 249 
 
 " I believe you have been committing 
 theft, Mr. Mandeville," said Emily, smiling 
 as unconcernedly as she could, and glad of 
 any excuse to change a subject which was 
 too evidently painful. 
 
 For a moment Mande^dlle did not reply. 
 The electric chain had been touched, and 
 now, the various reports that had at dif- 
 ferent times reached him, the words uttered 
 by Charles Grenville only an hour before, 
 even the artless prattle of little Carry, all 
 were gradually concentrating themselves 
 into the conviction which he had long 
 dreaded. 
 
 " If I have," said he at last, in answer to 
 Emily's remark, " it is a very harmless one. 
 There are some thing which, once stolen, 
 can never be restored, and for the loss of 
 which nothing can make amends. How
 
 250 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 strange it is/' he continued, observing that 
 Emily remained silent, "that people can 
 never learn wisdom from the experience of 
 others. We all go on fixing our affections 
 on the most impossible things, and discover 
 the error only when too late to remedy it ; 
 and then we rail at fate, instead of blaming 
 our own blind infatuation. But I must not 
 speak to you, Miss Morton," he pursued, 
 with a bitter smile, and as if suddenly recol- 
 lecting himself, " of a subject you cannot 
 possibly comprehend. Those who have 
 never known disappointment cannot com- 
 prehend what it means.'' 
 
 "Indeed, you mistake," said Emily, in 
 some embarrassment. " I can fully com- 
 prehend the bitterness of the feeling." 
 
 "In its fullest extent? — impossible — 
 though, I doubt not," continued he, look-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 251 
 
 ing up for the first time, ** that you may 
 do so sufficiently to feel for it in an- 
 other." 
 
 Again the rose deepened in Emily's cheek, 
 and for a moment she was silent. 
 
 ^^ But do you not think," said she, evad- 
 ing the previous remark, and endeavouring 
 to generalize the subject, " that disappoint- 
 ment is very often proved to be far less 
 unendurable than people are disposed to 
 allow. I sometimes fancy there can be no 
 such thing in the world, from the many 
 happy faces one sees." 
 
 "In other words, you, to meet whom 
 * every face is dressed in smiles,' cannot 
 conceive that those outward tokens of a 
 happy heart should not be genuine." 
 
 ** Indeed, I cannot — I cannot conceive 
 that any one could assume successfully
 
 252 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 a feeling of any kind that was not real ; 
 neither," she added, after a moment's 
 hesitation, ^' can I imagine why they should 
 do so." 
 
 *^ Can you, then, conceive no circum- 
 stance wherein the assumption of indiffer- 
 ence becomes a duty no less than a task ? " 
 
 "Indeed I cannot," replied Emily, 
 quickly. " To assume any unreal feeling, 
 for the mere purpose of deception, might 
 be a task, but could surely never be a 
 duty." 
 
 Mandeville gazed at her a moment in 
 silence. 
 
 " Shall I prove that it is otherwise ? " 
 said he. 
 
 She made no reply; and Mandeville's 
 eyes rested for a moment on the two 
 children who lingered near him.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 253 
 
 "You love the language of Persian 
 allegory," said he; *Met me endeavour, 
 then, to borrow from it. Suppose that, in 
 a thoughtful hour, we had wandered into 
 the garden of hope, and, selecting the 
 fairest of its flowers, had watched over 
 our treasure from day to day till all its 
 beauty had expanded, and all its fragrance 
 had exhaled before us, and that we had 
 learned to appreciate its surpassing excel- 
 lencies over every other only at the very 
 moment when a stronger hand than ours 
 came and plucked the treasure from us. 
 Or, to use the simpler language of our own 
 land," continued he, in a lower tone, " sup- 
 pose that we had involuntarily fixed our 
 dearest affections upon things that were im- 
 possible — that we knew to be impossible — 
 do you not think that the assumption of in-
 
 254 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 difference would then become the wiser 
 philosophy — that, however painful as a task, 
 it would then become a duty?" 
 
 There was no mistaking the allusion in- 
 tended to be conveyed ; and yet to Emily 
 there was a mystery attached to it that 
 was wholly incomprehensible. Her thoughts 
 glanced rapidly back through the occur- 
 rences of the last two months. The look, 
 the manner, the thousand nameless tokens 
 that had spoken with a truth and an elo- 
 quence far more powerful than words — how 
 were these to be reconciled with the impos- 
 sibilities to which Mandeville had alluded ? 
 Could he have been trifling with the affec- 
 tions of her young heart ? Could there be 
 truth in the oft-repeated report of his en- 
 gagement to — but no, Emily was too guile- 
 less herself to conceive the possibility of guile
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 255 
 
 in another. She spurned the idea of his false- 
 hood, and was ashamed of her own suspicions. 
 
 *^ Perhaps/' said she, after a moment's 
 thought, and speaking with some effort, 
 " in such a case as you describe, the as- 
 sumption of indifference might be wise as 
 regards ourselves, and right towards others ; 
 it might, in fact, become a duty, though 
 gne, I think, scarcely possible of fulfilment ; 
 unless, indeed," she continued, gathering 
 strength as the former suspicion once more 
 flashed through her mind, '^ unless the ob- 
 ject of our affection were proved to be un- 
 worthy of it, and then the reality rather 
 than the assumption of indifference would, 
 I should think, become easy — it would 
 then be a duty we owe rather to ourselves 
 than to another." 
 
 Emily had not looked up while she spoke,
 
 256 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 lest the calmness of her manner should 
 desert her, for many new and contending 
 feelings were busy at her heart. She sat 
 for some minutes with her eyes silently cast 
 down, and unconscious of the expression of 
 surprise with which Mandeville's looks were 
 fixed on her speaking countenance. There 
 was in the words, or rather, perhaps, in the 
 low, calm tone wherein they had been uttered, 
 a trace of wounded feeling — ^a shadow of 
 womanly pride (it was hut a shadow, for 
 never was there a gentler being), such as 
 he had never before remarked, but which 
 could not escape the observation of so prac- 
 tised an adept in woman's heart as he was. 
 "But if," replied he, bending his 
 eyes fixedly upon her, "the object of our 
 afiection be utterly beyond our reach, 
 and, instead of being found unworthy, it
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 257 
 
 still presents to us the type of every earthly 
 perfection ? '' 
 
 ^' Then," said Emily, and her cheek 
 glowed almost painfully as she spoke, ^' I 
 can as little conceive the necessity of assum- 
 ing an indifference that we do not feel, as I 
 can imagine the possibility of a change in 
 our affections. But you are always putting 
 extreme cases, Mr. Mandeville,'' said she, 
 looking up with a smile, and endeavouring 
 to resume her unembarrassed manner, '^ sim- 
 ply for the love of argument, I believe, for 
 we generally come to the same conclusion 
 at last." 
 
 *'I believe we do," replied he, in his 
 usual disengaged tone, for at that moment 
 the door had opened, and Lady Wrexham 
 was announced. 
 
 "Buon giorno, carina," said she; ^^good 
 VOL. I. s
 
 258 BENTLEY PRIORY, 
 
 morning, Mr. Mandeville. Carry, come 
 here, I have something for you," and the 
 next moment the children were busily en- 
 gaged in examining the toys, which but 
 half an hour sooner would have proved so 
 opportune a source of amusement. 
 
 ^' Mille grazie for the note you sent me, 
 with its welcome contents,'' pursued Lady 
 Wrexham, addressing Mandeville. ** I 
 have just been to Albemarle Street. Blanche 
 is, I think, looking prettier than ever." 
 
 " Do you think so ? " said Mandeville, 
 dryly. 
 
 " And so, carina, you go to the Grange 
 to-morrow," she continued, seating herself 
 near Emily's chair. ^^ How long do you 
 mean to hide from us the light of your 
 countenance ? " 
 
 *^We must stay till Monday week, for
 
 BEXTLEY PRIORY. 259 
 
 the fifteenth is grandpapa's birthday, and he 
 is quite reckoning on having us all with 
 him." 
 
 ^^I am sorry for that. I wanted you 
 all to come and dine with me next week, to 
 meet the Thornhams, who are just arrived 
 from Italy. You will like Blanche Thorn- 
 ham very much. Mr. Mandeville, are you 
 engaged on Thursday ?" 
 
 How Emily congratulated herself that 
 the chair in which she was seated hap- 
 pened to be placed with its back to the 
 window, for the tell-tale colour had rushed 
 up into her cheek as Lady Wrexham spoke. 
 How thankful she was for the momentary 
 relief afforded by the single question and 
 answer which drew the attention both of 
 Mandeville and her cousin from herself. 
 Whether Lady Wrexham perceived her 
 
 s2
 
 260 BENTLEY FRIORY. 
 
 change of countenance it would have 
 been difficult to guess from the disen- 
 gaged manner with which she exchanged 
 the next few sentences with Mandeville 
 on the subject of their mutual friends, 
 and their recent arrival in England; and 
 then, turning to Emily, changed the con- 
 versation, and chatted on in her own 
 lively, light-hearted manner. 
 
 ^^ You are holding a levee this morning, 
 carina,'^ said she, as another thundering 
 knock at the door was heard. ^^ What a 
 plague you must find it, to have such a tribe 
 of cousins as we are," she continued, laugh- 
 ing, as Charles Grenville and his sisters 
 were announced. " Charles, you have not 
 been to see me for a whole week, and I have 
 wanted you sadly to arrange about some 
 pic-nics that we have in contemplation."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 261 
 
 " I am quite at your service, Caroline — 
 only let me know when ; and, there's a 
 good creature, don't do as you did last 
 time — choose a day when I am sure to be 
 on guard." 
 
 ^'Xo, no," said Lady Wrexham, laughing. 
 ^' You shall choose the day yourself, if you 
 like. I will let you know when we are 
 about to begin operations. We meet to- 
 night, Emily, of course ?" 
 
 '' Yes ; " — and away went Lady Wrex- 
 ham, accompanied by Mandeville, who 
 felt that his visit had already exceeded all 
 reasonable bounds. 
 
 To Emily the remainder of that day was 
 a continued struggle between actual de- 
 pression and assumed cheerfulness. It was 
 the first effort at self-command that, through- 
 out a life of uninterrupted happiness, she
 
 202 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 had ever been called upon to make — the first 
 lesson she had ever learned in the school 
 of that hardest of task-masters, Expe- 
 rience. The conversation of the morning 
 had filled her mind with doubts and per- 
 plexities, of which, despite her endeavours 
 to recall over and over again each word that 
 had been spoken, she could discover no prob- 
 able solution. One of two things seemed 
 certain. Either Mandeville had all along 
 been deceiving her, or some unforeseen 
 obstacle had arisen to frustrate those in- 
 tentions which she could scarcely doubt 
 that he had once entertained. For though 
 it was true that not a syllable had ever 
 passed his lips that could by any possi- 
 bility be construed into a formal declara- 
 tion of love, and that he had never 
 attempted directly to elicit what were her
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 263 
 
 sentiments with respect to himself, yet had 
 he not addressed her in a language not 
 to be mistaken ? — a language far more elo- 
 quent and far more touching than that of 
 words. Could not the eye speak ? — and 
 the manner, and the very tone of the 
 voice, and the pressure of the hand ? — all 
 unseen, unfelt, incomprehensible to others, 
 but how eloquent to her to whom they are 
 addressed ! Such had been Mandeville's 
 language, and who so well as he knew 
 how to give it expression ? 
 
 And could all this have been false ? 
 Could it have been assumed only for the 
 heartless purpose of winning her affection, 
 but to cast it aside when won, while his 
 own wasp ledged to another ? Or had Man- 
 deville himself been deceived in the stabi- 
 lity of the foundation on which his hopes had
 
 264 BENTLEY PRIOKY. 
 
 rested. It was in vain that Emily sought in 
 her own mind for any solution of the 
 mystery. The only probable one was that 
 derived from the singular coincidence pre- 
 sented by the unexpected arrival of Blanche 
 Thornham with the conversation of the 
 morning ; but the conclusion to which that 
 led was too painful to be dwelt on. To 
 judge from Mandeville's manner, Miss Thorn- 
 ham's arrival had not been wholly unex- 
 pected. Had he been deceiving her, too ? 
 And in the midst of these doubts and per- 
 plexities, Emily was to leave London the 
 following day, on a visit of more than a 
 week to the monotony of the Grange, 
 where, with spirits already sufficiently 
 depressed, her sole occupation would be 
 comprised in listening to old Mr. Eraser's 
 dissertations on the gout, and unpicking
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 265 
 
 the knots in her grandmother's net- 
 ting. 
 
 That day may with truth be said to have 
 been the first unhappy day of Emily 
 Morton's life. And yet she was compelled 
 to talk gaily with her cousin Charles, and 
 cheerfiilly to discuss the evening ball with 
 the rest at dinner, and finally to go through 
 her toilet as usual, beneath the prying eyes 
 of Mademoiselle Celestine, for the scene of 
 festivity which would be so little in unison 
 with her own feelings. But scarcely was 
 the important business concluded, when 
 hope once more lighted her torch. Mande- 
 ville was to be there. The conversation of 
 the morning had been abruptly broken off 
 by the entrance of Lady Wrexham ; pro- 
 bably it might be renewed, and possibly — 
 anything, in short, was preferable to sus-
 
 266 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 pense. At least, so thought Emily, as the 
 carriage stopped at Lady Brenton's door, 
 and she nerved herself to meet whatever 
 disappointment fate had in store for her. 
 What a weak and wayward thing is the 
 human heart ! Throughout the morning, 
 Emily's mind had been distracted with 
 conjectures as to the probability of Man- 
 deville's generally believed engagement to 
 Miss Thornham, with consequent doubts of 
 his truth, and with resolutions to suspend 
 her judgment, and withhold her preference 
 (alas, poor child, how little she knew her 
 own heart) till it had been proved to have 
 been worthily bestowed. And yet, when 
 the same speaking smile, the same pressure 
 of the hand, the same soft words of whis- 
 pered greeting, came to welcome her, doubt 
 and uncertainty in an instant vanished.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 267 
 
 She remembered only the happiness of 
 being in his presence ; and the recollection 
 was sufficient to banish for the moment 
 every other feeling. 
 
 The ball was like other balls ; and Emily's 
 engagements were, as usual, too numerous 
 to admit of her bestowing much conversa- 
 tion on any one person ; and thus, though 
 Mandeville very evidently hovered near her 
 throughout the evening, it was impossible 
 they could exchange more than a passing 
 word, till, in its turn, that especial dance 
 arrived which was exclusively their own. 
 And even then things went very perversely, 
 as they generally do on such occasions. 
 They had still been scarcely able to 
 exchange a word. The next dance was 
 Lord Errington's, and scarcely was it 
 ended, when Mr. Morton's carriage was
 
 268 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 announced, for it had been ordered un- 
 usually early, in consideration of the journey 
 of the following morning. 
 
 Of course his lordship would present his 
 arm to conduct Miss Morton to the car- 
 riage, and then farewell to Emily's peace of 
 mind for the next ten days at least. But 
 no. It chanced that at that moment Lord 
 Errington had been beguiled into an un- 
 usually animated conversation with Charles 
 Grenville. The Morton party made their 
 exit unobserved, and Emily was already 
 half way to Portland Place ere her absence 
 was discovered. 
 
 '^ Will you forgive me for usurping once 
 more an office that should now more pro- 
 perly belong to another ? " whispered Man- 
 deville, as he conducted Emily down stairs. 
 
 She looked up inquiringly.
 
 BENTLET PBIORT. 269 
 
 " Surely you cannot misunderstand me," 
 added he. 
 
 "There seems to be some strange mis- 
 take/' ventured Emily, in the same low 
 tone. " I really do not understand — " 
 
 "Xo? What became of your cavalier 
 after the last quadrille, that / am permitted 
 this happiness ? " 
 
 " Oh, you are mistaken — quite mistaken," 
 interrupted Emily, quickly. 
 
 She felt as though a load had been re- 
 moved from her heart. It was evident 
 that Mandeville had been misled by the re- 
 port of her engagement to Lord Errington. 
 How she blamed herself for her own sus- 
 picions — how unjust to suppose that he 
 could have deceived her ! 
 
 " I fancied I had offended," pursued 
 Mandeville, in the same soft, low tone.
 
 270 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Offended ? — why should you suppose 
 so ? " and she looked up with one of her 
 own beautiful bright smiles. 
 
 " No matter, since I was mistaken/' and 
 a gentle pressure of the arm that rested on 
 his concluded the sentence. All was as it 
 had been between them. 
 
 "You will be absent a week ? " 
 
 " Yes.^^ 
 
 " An age, rather,'' and the next moment 
 the carriage drove off. 
 
 Mandeville went back into the cloak- 
 room for his hat. He felt it impossible 
 to return to the gay scene he had ju'st 
 quitted, though Strauss was lending to it all 
 his inspiration. He hurried forth into the 
 cool night air, for there was a fever in his 
 brain, a restless longing for free space, an 
 impatience to be alone with thoughts un-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY 271 
 
 broken by the glare, and glitter, and glad 
 sounds, which are but dissonance to the 
 ear when the heart can find no echo for 
 them. It was a lovely night in May, and 
 Mandeville, unconscious of the flight of 
 time, continued pacing up and down the 
 pavement in Berkeley Square, inhaling the 
 odour of the mignonette with which the 
 different balconies were perfumed. Sud- 
 denly an equipage dashed past him. It 
 was that of Lord Errington, on his way 
 homewards. Mandeville drew a long breath 
 as he stopped short in his walk, and gazed 
 after it, but the next moment a proud smile 
 passed over his fine features. 
 
 ^•' How could I ever dream that it was 
 possible — I might have known her better,^' 
 was the reflection that accompanied it ; but 
 the smile had passed, and a deep sigh
 
 272 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 escaped him, as he crossed the square on 
 his way homewards, for the carriages were 
 now rolling rapidly away from Lady Bren- 
 ton's ball, and Mandeville did not care to 
 encounter the observations of those who 
 were within them.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 273 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 It was a sweet, bright morning in May, 
 when Mr. Morton's carriage passed forth 
 from the heated atmosphere of London 
 into the fresh country air, on its road into 
 
 shire ; and how perfectly were Emily's 
 
 feelings in unison with the smiling land- 
 scape, and the brilliant sunlight which was 
 gilding every object around her. The 
 passing depression to which the conversa- 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 tion of the previous morning had given 
 rise, now that it was dispelled, served but 
 to increase the intensity of her present en- 
 joyment. Her momentary doubt of Man- 
 deville's truth, now that by his own lips 
 it had been set at rest, tended only to 
 strengthen her trusting reliance on his af- 
 fection. Emily felt that she owed him 
 some amends for those suspicions. She 
 owed him far more in return for the rich 
 gift of his affection — he whose acknow- 
 ledged superiority would have entitled him 
 to choose at will from amid all the fair faces 
 that wreathed themselves in smiles at h'is 
 approach. She was quite sure she should 
 like Blanche Thornham amazingly. She 
 had frequently heard Lady Wrexham speak 
 of her with affection, and of her reported 
 engagement to Mandeville ; but she smiled
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 275 
 
 at the idea now, for had he not himself dis- 
 proved it by his conduct — nay, even by 
 his words ? All these reflections were very 
 delightful ; and Emily, completely absorbed 
 in them, leaned back in the corner of the 
 carriage, while the summer breeze fanned 
 her cheek, and the sunlight was in her 
 heart ; and thus she went on silently form- 
 ing plans for Blanche's amusement when 
 they should all return to London. 
 
 "I do not think your grandfather will 
 complain this time of the evil effects of 
 London dissipation, Emily," said Mrs. 
 Morton, as she looked on her daughter's 
 bright and blooming countenance. '^I 
 could almost fancy you had been on the 
 hills for a month, you look so well this 
 morning." 
 
 " Do I, mamma ? I am very glad to 
 
 t2
 
 276 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 hear it. But suppose we order the car- 
 riage back to town," said she, laughing. 
 *' Why should I stay here, wasting my 
 sweetness on the desert air, when I might 
 be so much more profitably employed 
 there?" 
 
 '^You are unreasonable," said Mrs. Mor- 
 ton, leaning back in the carriage, with a 
 smile of gratified vanity at the recollection 
 of her daughter's success; "you have 
 done pretty well, I think, in that way for 
 one season ; so now be merciful, and rest 
 content with the number of your victims — 
 as I am." 
 
 " And most assuredly as I am too," echoed 
 Emily. "My dear mamma, if they had 
 all been as silent as Lord Errington, or as 
 talkative as the little comte, what would 
 have become of me ? "
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 277 
 
 The carriage stopped just then to change 
 horses, which snapped the thread of the 
 conversation; and both mother and daughter 
 fell into a reverie which lasted nearly un- 
 broken throughout the remainder of the 
 journey. Mrs. Morton was dreaming of 
 coronets, settlements, and trousseaux, while 
 Emily's thoughts were fixed on an object 
 far less glittering indeed, but to her infi- 
 nitely more attractive than the wealth of 
 the Indies. She knew that Mandeville was 
 poor — but what did that matter ? Lady 
 Emmeline had contrived to live abroad on 
 an income of a few hundreds a-year, and 
 why should not they ? Or if Mandeville 
 preferred a residence in England, there 
 could be no difficulty in finding one suited 
 to their limited means, with the usual ac- 
 companiments of roses and woodbines, and
 
 278 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 perpetual sunshine without, and the still 
 brighter light of the beloved presence 
 within. 
 
 Such were the smiling prospects where- 
 with Emily's thoughts were employed, 
 during the first few days of her visit to the 
 Grange, while Mrs. Morton was at the same 
 time silently calculating the probable length 
 of time that would terminate Lord Erring- 
 ton's courtship, and see her daughter in- 
 stalled a viscountess. All this she privately 
 communicated to Mr. and Mrs. Eraser, and 
 received their congratulations thereon ; but 
 between Emily and herself the subject ha& 
 never been seriously discussed, the truth 
 being that each considered the affair as set- 
 tled according to their different modes of 
 thinking. Mrs. Morton would as soon have 
 dreamed of the possibility of Lord Erring-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 279 
 
 ton being refused, as Emily could have 
 conceived the possibility of accepting him ; 
 and thus, whenever her grandmother whis- 
 pered the oft-repeated observation, "And 
 so, Emmy, dear child, we are going to have 
 a wedding soon," or that her grandfather, 
 as she sat chatting beside his gouty chair, 
 suddenly turned and gazed in her sweet 
 face, and then, stroking back her long silken 
 curls, prayed " God to bless her, and make 
 her a happy wife," it was to Mandeville that 
 her thoughts involuntarily turned with a 
 proud and happy feeling of satisfaction at 
 the approval which she fancied had been 
 thus tacitly expressed. 
 
 It had been arranged that the Morton 
 family should remain till the commence- 
 ment of the following week at the Grange, 
 after being present at the celebration of Mrs.
 
 280 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Fraser's seventy -fifth birthday ; but on the 
 very day preceding it, the old gentleman was 
 attacked with so violent a fit of gout, that 
 Mrs. Morton was induced to curtail her visit, 
 and the whole party accordingly returned 
 to London some days sooner than they had 
 originally intended, and reached home just 
 in time for dinner, on the day of Lady Lang- 
 ley^s concert, to which they had previously 
 been engaged. 
 
 " How do you feel disposed about going 
 to Lady Langley's to-night, Emily ? '' said 
 Mrs. Morton, as they all went up into the 
 drawing-room, after dinner. " Are you to'o 
 tired, or shall we go ? '' 
 
 " If you are not too tired, I should like 
 it, of all things, mamma.'^ 
 
 " Then we will go, dear,^' and Mrs. Mor- 
 ton went to dress, thinking of Lord Erring-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 281 
 
 ton, and of the days that had been lost 
 during their absence ; while Emily was ar- 
 raying herself in unadorned white muslin, 
 because Mandeville, who was, she knew, 
 engaged to Lady Langley's, too, had once 
 expressed a preference for that simple 
 attire. 
 
 The Mortons were late. The concert had 
 begun, and the rooms were already crowded 
 when they arrived. A seat by Lady Wrex- 
 ham was procured for Mrs. Morton, while 
 Emily, unwilling to encounter the heat of 
 the rooms, was very well content to re- 
 main standing near the door under the care 
 of Sir William Wrexham, with whom she 
 was an especial favourite. 
 
 "You have chosen a sadly untenable 
 position, my dear Miss Morton," said he, 
 observing that every fresh arrival subjected
 
 282 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 her to renewed inconvenience ; and having, 
 with some difficulty, insinuated a chair into a 
 vacant corner, Emily very gladly ensconsed 
 herself therein, to enjoy the repose which her 
 morning^s journey rendered doubly accept- 
 able. The niche in which she was placed 
 was in a small antechamber, forming the 
 entrance to the whole suite of apartments, 
 and adjoining the principal drawing-room, 
 in which the musical performance was going 
 on, and thus situated, it served as a very 
 convenient lounging-place, not only for the 
 latecomers, but also for those who might wish 
 to indulge in a little gossip, which a nearer 
 vicinity to the music would have rendered 
 inadmissible. As Emily leaned back in her 
 chair, very well content to remain unob- 
 served, and be spared the trouble of con- 
 versation, till fate should send her some one
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 283 
 
 of sufficient interest to render the exertion 
 no longer distasteful, she became, of course, 
 the auditor of remarks as varied as the ele- 
 ments which such a scene might be sup- 
 posed to have assembled together. 
 
 " Anything new to-night ? " inquired a 
 tall, thin, and once handsome man, who had 
 worn himself to a thread paper in digesting 
 the corn laws, of a young member in his 
 first season, who had just hurried away 
 from the House to catch a glimpse of his 
 lady-love at Lady Langley's. 
 
 "Ministers are in a minority of 
 thirty.'' 
 
 ^^ The deuce they are ! Humph ! " But 
 before the surprise occasioned by the infor- 
 mation had subsided sufficiently to admit of 
 a second question, the informant had already 
 made his escape to the opposite side of the
 
 284 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 room, and had forgotten House, ministers, 
 minority, and all. 
 
 *^ How tirethome thethe conthert are ; 
 don't you think tho, Mothiu de Cluny,'^ 
 lisped little Miss Brenton, as she made her 
 escape from the music room, on the arm of 
 Emily's former lover, who was endeavouring 
 to console himself with the prospect of her 
 thirty thousand pounds for his unsuccessful 
 attack on the purse of Mademoiselle Emilie ; 
 for the poor little attache, who had but very 
 lately come to England, had nursed his 
 ^r&i-love in the belief that Mr. Morton's 
 fine property would, after the fashion 'of 
 France, be equally inherited by all his chil- 
 dren, and the disappointment of his hopes 
 at so brilliant a prospect had therefore been 
 proportionally severe. 
 
 ''You are fatigued, Mademoiselle," re-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 285 
 
 plied the little attache, in answer to 
 Miss Brenton's remark, which her im- 
 perfect pronunciation, and his own imperfect 
 knowledge of the English language, pre- 
 vented his fully comprehending, and he 
 looked round in search of a vacant seat, 
 but in vain. 
 
 " Oh, dear no ; it's very nithe here," 
 replied the young lady, still retaining 
 possession of de Cluny's arm, for his 
 countship, with the addition of broken 
 English, well turned moustaches, and still 
 better turned compliments, was becoming a 
 very interesting object. 
 
 "Nithe," thought the attache." Que 
 
 diable veut-elle dire? Mademoiselle parle 
 
 Fran(}ais, sans doute ? " continued he, 
 
 aloud. 
 
 "Oh, yeth; but I should be afraid to
 
 286 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 thpeak with you, Mothieu de Cluny ; I'm 
 thure you'd laugh at me." 
 
 " Mais, mademoiselle, you tink very bad 
 of me, I am afraid," pursued the attache, 
 endeavouring to look tenderly into the 
 young lady's eyes, but they had fallen im- 
 movably on her fan, as she replied : — 
 
 " No , indeed, Mothieu de Cluny, I do 
 not. I'm thure if you with me to thpeak 
 Frenth, I'll try — ^but — really — vraiment the 
 vouth athure — th'ai thi horriblement poor," 
 and she stopped short, unable to proceed 
 further. 
 
 " Mais, mademoiselle, vous parlez comine 
 un ange," exclaimed the little comte, with 
 great animation. " Que les Anglaises sont 
 hi — e — tes! " was the silent rejoinder to the 
 young lady's attempted compliance with 
 his request.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 287 
 
 " Oh, pray let uth talk Englith," con- 
 tinued she ; " I like so muth to hear you — 
 it ith tho pretty," and de Cluny, accustomed 
 only to the frigidity of his own Parisian 
 young ladies, who are expected to be silent 
 till they marry, and the reverse for ever 
 after, and nothing daunted by his recent 
 defeat in the case of Miss Morton, went on 
 massacring English, and "talking pretty," 
 under the favorable auspices which Miss 
 Brenton's manner seemed to promise. 
 
 All this would have been infinitely amus- 
 ing to Emily, had she been at that moment 
 in a frame of mind to be amused by any- 
 thing. The tall, thin victim to the corn- 
 laws, absorbed in the speculations to which 
 the defeat of ministers had given birth, had 
 unconsciously planted himself exactly be- 
 fore her, so that she was left unobserved to
 
 288 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 watch every fresh arrival, and listen to 
 every voice that approached, with a feeling 
 of oft-renewed disappointment, that was 
 gradually giving place to doubts and con- 
 jectures still more painful. Had Mande- 
 ville been already arrived, he must have 
 seen Mrs. Morton, who was seated with 
 Lady Wrexham in a conspicuous part of 
 the principal saloon, and would no doubt 
 have long since made his way to her own 
 side. It was strange that he should be so 
 late, for she knew his love for music, and 
 Lady Langley's was of the first order, and 
 he had expressly told her he was to be 
 there. So Emily pursued her scrutiny as 
 each fresh guest arrived, too thankful for 
 the shelter which permitted her to do so with- 
 out interruption, and without betraying the 
 feelings which each fresh disappointment
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 289 
 
 occasioned. At last, she heard the cheerful 
 voice of her cousin, Charles Grenville ; but 
 the little antechamber was too crowded to 
 admit of his approaching very near, and 
 Emily gladly drew herself back to escape 
 his eye ; for, at that moment, his playful 
 raillery would have been peculiarly unwel- 
 come. 
 
 " You are late, my dear fellow," said he, 
 addressing Sir Geoffrey Charlton, who had 
 just lounged in. 
 
 ^' Couldn't get away sooner — had Erring- 
 ton dining with me at Brookes's." 
 
 " Upon my honour, you have had an 
 immense loss. This new singer, what's her 
 name ? " 
 
 ^^ Alboni, do you mean ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes — she has just made her exit, 
 after transporting us all to the seventh 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 heaven ; you are just five minutes too 
 late." 
 
 ^^ She is a divine creature/' said Sir 
 Geoffrey, affectedly. " Errington and I 
 looked in at the opera as we came by. We 
 had a great mind to stay, for she goes back 
 for the remainder of the opera." 
 
 " Is Lord Errington here ? " 
 
 '^ He is coming. I left him speaking to 
 Mandeville, and hurried away in the hope 
 of being in time for Alboni's two songs." 
 
 " Ah, Mandeville is not here, by the bye ; 
 but, I suppose, nothing could move him 
 from his stall to-night. What a fanatico 
 the fellow is. I should think it almost a 
 misfortune to be such a connoisseur. I do 
 not believe he could enjoy anything, that 
 was not first-rate." 
 
 " I believe so ; but Mandeville is the
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 291 
 
 luckiest fellow in the world, he always 
 seems to find things that come up to his 
 standard of perfection. To-night he seemed 
 to forget there was any such thing as music 
 in the world, so entirely was he taken up 
 talking to the prettiest girl I ever beheld in 
 my life." 
 
 " That must have been the girl to whom 
 they say he is engaged. She is pretty — 
 uncommonly pretty. We all dined together 
 at Lady Wrexham's on Thursday, and Man- 
 deville was her most devoted the whole 
 evening. It seems quite a decided case." 
 
 " She is as beautiful as a A(?wn'," ex^ 
 claimed Sir Geofirey, " and I am told as rich 
 as Croesus — a Miss Thornham — is it not? 
 At least, I think that was the name Erring- 
 ton told me." 
 
 "Yes, an Irish girl — a great friend of 
 
 u2
 
 292 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 the Wrexhams. It would be a capital 
 thing for Mandeville. They say she has a 
 hundred thousand pounds, and I don't know- 
 that she could bestow it better, for he is a 
 monstrous nice fellow/' 
 
 " I know very little of him myself," an- 
 swered Sir Geoffrey, who was not particu- 
 larly fond of hearing other people praised. 
 
 " Poor Emily ! How thankful she was 
 for the obscurity in which she had accident- 
 ally been placed. A faint sickness was 
 stealing over her — a tightening of the heart — 
 a suspension of respiration which threatened 
 to become quite overpowering. But sh-e 
 made an effort to subdue her feelings, and 
 she succeeded. In a few moments she was 
 again listening calmly, but with an ear 
 strained to catch every sound, to the con- 
 versation around her, though her cheek,
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 293 
 
 which a moment before had been yiolentlj 
 :flushed, was now pale and cold as marble. 
 
 " What will Lady Emmeline say to it ? " 
 were the first words that reached her when 
 she was sufficiently collected to comprehend 
 the meaning of a sentence. 
 
 " I suppose Lady Emmeline approves the 
 match. At least, I hear it was talked of 
 long ago at Naples, and she made no objec- 
 tion to it then ; and, besides, Mandeville's 
 word with her is law. Whatever he wishes, 
 she will accede to." 
 
 "I declare I do not see what anybody 
 could object to," said Sir Geoffi-ey, who was 
 secretly resolving to fling a fraction of his 
 own heart at the feet of the lovely heiress. 
 ^^ Who is she? Where does she come 
 from?" 
 
 *^ For the who, you must ask Lady Wrex-
 
 294 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 ham. I only know her as Blanche Thorn- 
 ham, the prettiest girl in London ; and I 
 believe I might add, one of the richest, too. 
 I had some idea at one time of entering 
 the lists with Mandeville myself — she is a 
 prize worth striving for, but the case seems 
 so hopeless, I shall give it up." 
 
 ^* So will not I," thought Sir Geoffrey, who 
 had omitted to add that he had looked in 
 at Crockford's on his way from the opera, 
 and had found himself some seven thousand 
 pounds poorer than he had imagined. 
 
 '' I must know this paragon, Grenville," 
 continued he, aloud. ^^When will you go 
 through the form of presentation for me ? " 
 
 ''To-morrow, if you like, at the gardens. 
 Shall you be there?" 
 
 '' Yes ; I will call for you, if you like, in 
 my cab at five," and Sir Geoffrey passed on.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 295 
 
 It was not more than a minute after- 
 wards that Sir William Wrexham succeeded 
 in making his way to the spot where Emily- 
 was seated. 
 
 " Caroline has sent me for you," said he ; 
 *^ she is quite uneasy at your being here all 
 alone. But surely you are ill, my dear Miss 
 Morton," exclaimed he, suddenly struck 
 with the paleness of her countenance. 
 *^ How grieved I am to have quitted you." 
 
 *^ I believe the heat overpowered me," 
 said Emily, faintly. 
 
 " Take my arm, and trust yourself to my 
 guidance." And Emily very gladly rose, 
 and, taking Sir William's proffered support, 
 allowed him to lead her towards the door. 
 
 ** I am better — I am quite well now," 
 said she, as they passed into the refreshment 
 room.
 
 296 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Lord Errington was there, standing 
 near the table as they entered, talking to 
 Sir Geoffrey Charlton. 
 
 " Upon my honour, the prettiest girl in 
 London," said Sir Geoffrey, in continuation 
 of a previous conversation, and without per- 
 ceiving that anyone but themselves was 
 present. 
 
 " Too foreign to please me," answered 
 his lordship, in his own quiet tone. ^' Those 
 foreign manners would spoil the prettiest 
 Englishwoman in the world." 
 
 " Your lordship is fastidious ; but I 
 must acknowledge you have a right to be 
 so, though on this occasion we cannot yield 
 the palm of beauty to the same person," 
 said Sir Geoffrey, with that peculiar enuncia- 
 tion which rendered his manner so pre-emi- 
 nently disagreeable.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 297 
 
 Lord Errington drew himself up to his 
 full height, but made no reply, and 
 at that moment Sir William Wrexham 
 filled a glass of water for Emily, which 
 caused the two young men suddenly to 
 turn round, and perceive that they were 
 not alone. Sir Geoffrey Charlton took ref- 
 uge in a glass of champagne ; Lord Erring- 
 ton coloured, and looked somewhat con- 
 fused, but the next minute he was by 
 Emily's side, with an animated expression 
 of anxiety on his countenance, such as he 
 never before had manifested. 
 
 " Was Miss Morton ill ? Could he be of 
 any use ? Could he look for the carriage ? 
 In short, what could he do ? '^ 
 
 *^ Thank you ; I am a great deal better 
 now," said Emily, forcing a smile. '^ But I 
 believe I had better return home. If you
 
 298 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 will be so kind, Sir William," and as Sir 
 Geoffrey Charlton vanished from the apart- 
 ment, and Sir William went in search of 
 Mrs. Morton, Emily found herself thus sin- 
 gularly left under the charge of her usually 
 silent admirer. 
 
 But a change seemed to have come over 
 the spirit of his dream. Lord Errington 
 was silent still, but his countenance was 
 so no longer. The most anxious interest 
 spoke in every line of it; and as Emily 
 raised her eyes when she replied to his 
 single inquiry, the expression was too 
 marked to be mistaken. For the first 
 time in her life, she felt grateful for Lord 
 Errington's attention. It was at once kind, 
 soothing, and unobtrusive ; and though 
 nothing that he could say or do could 
 at that moment have mitigated the pain-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 299 
 
 fulness of her feeling, and though, had he 
 then laid his broad lands and his coronet 
 at her feet, she would unhesitatingly have 
 refused them, yet still she could not but re- 
 member with gratitude how long his homage, 
 all silent and unpretending as it was, had 
 been exclusively devoted to herself, nor for- 
 bear the painful comparison which the cir- 
 cumstances of the moment might naturally 
 be supposed to call forth. We are never so 
 sensible of kindness as when the heart has 
 been recently lacerated by its reverse.
 
 300 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 The following day was Sunday — not the 
 Sabbath, for the ^Sabbath implies a day of 
 rest, whereas Sunday, to a large portion of 
 the gay London world, implies too often a 
 day of toil, or at best of weariness. Ah, 
 that it were oftener regarded, as in truth it 
 should be, as a solemn pause in the journey 
 of life, wherein to reckon up our short- 
 comings for the past week, and to gather
 
 BENTLEY PEIORY. 301 
 
 up our strength for the trials of that which 
 is to come. Six days of the week are ap- 
 propriated to amusement — and let them be 
 so. It is not to be supposed that we are 
 endowed with so many varied capabilities 
 of enjoyment, and yet are denied the privi- 
 lege of exercising them ; but surely, where 
 our hours of pleasure are so many, it were 
 no such u'ksome task to set apart a few — a 
 very few hours for thoughts of a more 
 serious nature, on that one remaining 
 seventh day which has been appointed as a 
 day of rest equally to ourselves and to all 
 those over whom we are set in authority, 
 and which, as God's Sabbath, we have been 
 expressly commanded to '^ keep holy." 
 
 It was Sunday. Mrs. Morton was 
 fatigued after her journey of the previous 
 day, succeeded as it had been by the
 
 302 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 evening's amusement. So was Emily, and 
 with better reason still, for both mind and 
 body were ill at ease. They sat down 
 together to a late breakfast, for Mr. Morton, 
 with Charles and the children, was gone to 
 church. 
 
 ^*My dear child, how pale you are," said 
 Mrs. Morton, as she handed Emily her cup 
 of tea. ^^ I really think I must send for 
 Dereham after breakfast to see you.'' 
 
 " Oh, no, my dear mamma, I must beg 
 you will not," said Emily. " I assure you 
 there is nothing in the world the matter 
 with me. I only feel very tired this 
 morning." 
 
 "But what can have tired you so much, 
 love?" 
 
 "My journey, I suppose; and then the 
 rooms were so hot last night, and — "
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 303 
 
 " But you have had a good night's rest 
 since then, which ought to have refreshed 
 you," persisted Mrs. Morton. " Indeed, if 
 you are not better towards evening, you 
 must see Dr. Dereham." 
 
 " Well — yes, my dear mamma, if I am 
 not better, which I know I shall be. The 
 truth is, I have not had a good night's rest. 
 I believe I was too tired to sleep till 
 towards morning, and then I slept so 
 heavily that I am scarcely awake yet." 
 
 ^' Well, I shall see how you are in the 
 course of the day," said Mrs. Morton, some- 
 what reassured. " Let me see what news 
 I can find here to awake you with," and she 
 took up the last number of the Court 
 Journal, and began cutting the leaves, as 
 Emily sat lingering over her breakfast. *^ I 
 do not believe that we have lost anything
 
 304 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 particularly agreeable by being absent this 
 week; but Caroline tells me there are a 
 great many pleasant things in contempla- 
 tion. Let me see. Oh, here is Lady 
 Brenton's second ball announced for the 
 sixteenth ; and next, ^ We understand there 
 
 is to be a fete shortly at D House, on a 
 
 scale of unusual magnificance.' 1 am very 
 glad to have seen that, Emmy ; we must 
 go to Youillant's to-morrow, to consult her 
 about our dresses, or she will be too busy 
 to make them. Pray do not let us forget 
 it." 
 
 ''' I have never worn that beautiful white 
 dress that you gave me, but once, mamma ; 
 will not that do ? " interposed Emily, who 
 was at that moment just in the mood not to 
 care how she looked. 
 
 " No, indeed, it will not ; you must have
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 305 
 
 a new one. I am particularly anxious you 
 
 should look well that night," and Mrs. 
 
 Morton, after a momentary pause, during 
 
 which the possibility of converting the 
 
 princely owner of D House into a 
 
 marrying man, after all, floated vaguely 
 
 through her mind, read on, " ^ Lady Courtney 
 
 is about to give another dejeune dansant at 
 her beautiful villa in the Regent's Park.' 
 
 We must take care to be earlier the next 
 time, Emily," and again she read on, with- 
 out having perceived the sigh that had 
 replied to her observation . ^ ' ' Lord Thomas 
 Grantham, who has lately purchased Mrs. 
 Andover's beautiful yacht, the Ariel, is 
 about to make an excursion to the Archi- 
 pelago.' Poor man ! if he should chance 
 to be drowned by the way, you will have 
 his death to answer for, Emily. And now, 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 what is this ? Here really is something that 
 will awake you, I think," and Mrs. Morton 
 looked up, while a smile of peculiar mean- 
 ing played over her whole countenance. 
 
 "What is it, my dear mamma?" said 
 Emily, listlessly sipping her tea, for at 
 that moment, with the inexperience of a 
 first disappointment, she fancied that noth- 
 ing on earth could ever interest her again. 
 " It appears to be something that pleases 
 you very much." 
 
 " Jt does please me very much. Can you 
 not at all guess, then, what it is about?" 
 
 " No, indeed, mamma," replied Emily, in 
 the same listless tone as before, while a 
 slight blush tinged her cheek, for, uncon- 
 sciously, every subject was connected in 
 her mind with the one prevailing object of 
 her thoughts.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 307 
 
 "Shall I read it, then?" 
 
 " Pray, do." 
 
 " ^ We understand — that Viscount Erring- 
 ton — only son of the Earl of Trentham — is 
 about to lead to the hymeneal altar — the 
 beautiful and accomplished — Miss Mor- 
 ton.' " 
 
 " Good heavens ! " exclaimed Emily, al- 
 most starting from the seat, '^who could 
 have been so absurd as to circulate such 
 a report? I really am very much vexed, 
 for, of course every one will think — " 
 
 "That Lord Errington himself circu- 
 lated it," interposed Mrs. Morton, as quietly 
 as possible. 
 
 " Lord Errington, mamma ? The proud- 
 est, the most uncommunicative of human 
 beings! oh, no — impossible." 
 
 " Well, his conduct, then ; his attentions 
 x2
 
 308 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 for the last two months, which come to ex- 
 actly the same thing." 
 
 " His attentions, mamma ! I do not 
 believe that we have ever exchanged a 
 dozen sentences." 
 
 ^* He has never exchanged three with any 
 girl in London but yourself." 
 
 ^' How tiresome it is that people will 
 interfere in what does not concern them," 
 exclaimed Emily, who, for the very first 
 time in her life, was thoroughly out of sorts. 
 Her heart was a strange chaos at that mo- 
 ment. She was deeply wounded at Mande- 
 ville's conduct ; but still she could not eri- 
 dure the thought of his seeing the public 
 announcement of her engagement to his cou- 
 sin. And Lord Errington's regard — Lord 
 Errington's good opinion — what mattered 
 they to her? Still she was exceedingly
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 309 
 
 vexed at the possibility of his supposing 
 that the affiche had been published for the 
 mere purpose of entrapping him into a pro- 
 posal. And yet, after all, of Tvhat import 
 to her could be the feelings or opinions 
 of either on the subject ? Both were, of 
 course, matters of perfect indifference ; or, 
 at least, if they were not so now, Emily very 
 resolutely determined that they should be. 
 As to Mr. Mandeville^ she had nothing to 
 do but to think no more about him ; and for 
 Lord Errington, with his shy manners and 
 disposition, it was very unlikely that, after 
 seeing his name thus publicly blazoned 
 forth, it would ever come to a proposal ; 
 but if it did, she had only to decline the 
 honour intended her, and the matter would 
 end. 
 
 " Well, Emily," said Mrs. Morton, who
 
 310 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 had been all this time turning over the 
 leaves of the Court Journal, though, in 
 truth, she had seen very little of its con- 
 tents, so entirely were her thoughts ab- 
 sorbed in the gratifying announcement 
 that therein had been made known to the 
 world at large. *^Well, my dear child," 
 said she, smiling and laying down the 
 paper, '^ I think I have allowed a very 
 reasonable time for your indignation to 
 exhaust itself. Have these tiresome, officious 
 people, with their unexpected announcement, 
 awoke you at last ? " 
 
 ^^ Perfectly, mamma." 
 
 '^ I think it very probable," pursued Mrs. 
 
 Morton, more gravely, "that this will 
 
 rather hasten matters with Lord Errington. 
 
 He will never let it rest long after this." 
 
 " I think not," said Emily, quietly. " He
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 311 
 
 will most probably have it contradicted 
 next week/' 
 
 " He will more probably have it con- 
 firmed," emended Mrs. Morton. " Did 
 not Vouillant tell us," continued she, ob- 
 serving that Emily remained silent, " that 
 she should have Lady Harriet Carleton's 
 trousseau ready this week." 
 
 ^^ Did she ? Yes, I believe so. I think 
 I remember something about it." 
 
 " We must ask to see it to-morrow. I 
 am told it is to be very beautiful, which 
 is exceedingly absurd, by the bye, with 
 her small fortune, and marrying a poor 
 attache, with little more than six hundred 
 a-year." 
 
 " But Mr. Vandeleur goes to his post at 
 the French court immediately on his mar- 
 riage, mamma," pleaded Emily.
 
 312 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 '^Does he? Oh, very likely; but still 
 Lady Harriet's position will be very dif- 
 ferent from yours, dear," said Mrs. Morton, 
 giving utterance to the rapid flow of 
 thought which was passing through her 
 brain. ''It is quite proper that your 
 trousseau should be very handsome, which, 
 I confess, I do not think at all requisite for 
 hers." 
 
 '' My dear mamma," exclaimed Emily, 
 startled into animation by the cool, matter- 
 of-course manner in which Mrs. Morton 
 was disposing both of Lord Errington and 
 herself, " you surely are not in earnest ? " ' 
 
 " Perfectly in earnest," interrupted Mrs. 
 Morton, with a gratified smile. "I am so 
 convinced of Lord Errington's intentions — 
 ah, you need not shake your head, dear ; I 
 understand these things a great deal better
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 313 
 
 than you do. I am so certain about it, 
 that — now do not be startled at what I am 
 going to say — I shall certainly write to- 
 morrow to Brussels, about your wedding- 
 dress and veil. I am quite determined you 
 shall have them; and you know of old how 
 tedious those people are.'' 
 
 *' But Lord Errington has never given us 
 the least reason to suppose that he has any 
 intentions of the kind," pleaded Emily, 
 once more. '^ When he does, it will be 
 quite time enough." 
 
 " Indeed it will not. Laissez moi faire, 
 mon enfant. We need not, of course, talk 
 of these things to all the world ; that 
 would be very unwise. And by the bye, 
 while I think of it, do not, on any account, 
 let Celestine know that I have writ- 
 ten. She will carry it down straight into
 
 314 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 the servants' hall, and we shall have 
 it half over London before to-morrow 
 night." 
 
 " But, my dear mamma,'' began Emily. 
 
 She was interrupted by a knock at the 
 door, which sounded close beside them. 
 
 " It is only the children coming home 
 from church," said Mrs. Morton, after re- 
 connoitering at the window, " and Charles 
 Grenville with them." 
 
 "Then I shall make my escape," said 
 Emily, who felt quite unequal to encounter 
 her gay cousin at that moment ; and as Mrs. 
 Morton met and accompanied the party up- 
 stairs into the drawing-room, Emily darted 
 into her own room, and there, after 
 closing and fastening the door, she threw 
 herself into a chair, and burst into an 
 agony of tears. It was but five minutes
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 315 
 
 since she had resolved to think no more of 
 Mandeville, or, if she thought of him at all, 
 to do so with indiflference. Oh, the vanity 
 of human resolutions !
 
 316 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XYL 
 
 Precisely at five o'clock, Mrs. Thornham's 
 very handsome equipage (for, with the 
 assistance of Mandeville and Lady Wrex- 
 ham, she had already succeeded in establish- 
 ing one of the most approved taste) was 
 at Crawley's door, to convey herself and her 
 daughter to the Zoological Gardens. Man- 
 deville had been awaiting its arrival for the 
 last half hour, chatting the while with
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 317 
 
 Blanche, to whom he had assigned the 
 softer patronymic of ^^La bella Bianca," while 
 Charles Grenville, who had just dropped in, 
 was good naturedly devoting himself to 
 Mrs. Thornham, being, as he himself said, 
 determined to let Mandeville have fair play ; 
 and if, with such immense odds in his fa- 
 vour, he should, after all, fail in his attack 
 on the heart of the heiress, why, then, it 
 would be fair enough that he should try his 
 luck with the rest. 
 
 '^ What a confounded shame it is, Charl- 
 ton," said he, as Sir Geofirey was driving 
 him up to the Eegent's Park, where the 
 promised presentation was to take place ; 
 " here we are all going deliberately to make 
 a target of that pretty girl's heart, without 
 caring a straw for anything but the gold in 
 which it is set. I suspect, however, that
 
 318 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 not one of us will strike the bull's eye, 
 after all.'^ 
 
 " Upon my honour, my dear fellow, you 
 are very much mistaken," said Sir Geoffrey; 
 " instead of being a confounded shame, as 
 you say, by all accounts the purse is ex- 
 ceedingly well worth the trouble of winning ; 
 but if you don^t think so, be off like a good 
 fellow, and leave the coast clear for those 
 who do." 
 
 " Not I, truly," said Grenville, laughing ; 
 ^^ I yield precedence to Mandeville, but to 
 no one else." 
 
 " You are very magnanimous, I must say, 
 when, if one may judge from what I saw last 
 night, the case is already decided." 
 
 "What a bore it must be," observed 
 Charles Grenville, "to a woman that is 
 born an heiress, to be pestered by a set of
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 819 
 
 fellows who are perpetually flinging them- 
 selves at her feet like a set of beggars, just 
 for what they can get. If I were an heiress, 
 I'll be hanged if I would not cut them all." 
 
 ^^IS'ot you, indeed; you would do just 
 like the rest of them. There is nothing 
 women like so well as to have us at their 
 feet by dozens at a time. Besides, it keeps 
 their hand in in the flirting way. I never 
 knew an heiress that was not a flirt, and I 
 never knew a flirt who did not end by mak- 
 ing a foci of herself.'* 
 
 *'I agree with you that flirts always 
 make fools of themselves, while they think 
 they are making fools of us, and often burn 
 their own fingers into the bargain. But 
 all women are not flirts, no, nor all heiresses 
 neither." 
 
 " Pretty nearly so."
 
 320 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Ton honour, Til post you if you go on 
 abusing women after this fashion. I'll ruin 
 your credit with all the heiresses in the 
 kingdom. Til bring them all down to 
 freezing point when they look at you.'' 
 
 ^^ Ha, ha, ha ! — why, my dear fellow, I 
 could destroy the best-laid scheme that ever 
 was thought of in an hour. Do you not 
 know that heiresses are the most gullible 
 set of beings on the face of the earth? 
 They all fancy themselves mighty wise, and 
 talk a great deal about fortune-hunters, and 
 marrying for love, and so forth, till some 
 one happens to come in the way, who has 
 nous enough to bring a sufficient battery of 
 sighs, and looks, and soft speeches into the 
 field to carry the day, and then it is all up 
 with them. They fancy the poor devil is 
 over head and ears in love with their own
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 321 
 
 sweet self, and out of pure pity surrender, 
 at discretion, for better, for worse." 
 
 " Thank God, my sisters are not heir- 
 esses," exclaimed Charles Grenville, with 
 great emphasis. 
 
 " Amen, my dear fellow, an it so please 
 you. 'lis a prodigiously troublesome post, 
 I must allow. But, after all, do you not 
 think that we men, elder brothers, and 
 other such notables, I mean, have quite as 
 bad a life of it ? If a girl have plenty of 
 money, she has men at her feet by the 
 dozen ; but she has, at least, the privilege 
 of cutting them all afterward if she choose 
 it; but it is different with one of us. 
 When a poor fellow is worth the trouble of 
 looking after, he has hearts enough flung at 
 his head to drive him crazy, and there is 
 no escape from it, go where he will. Women 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 322 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 like to be run after ; but it is a monstrous 
 bore to us — which is the worse case of the 
 two then, do you think ? " 
 
 '' Ton honour, I don't know. You must 
 be the best judge, for you can speak feel- 
 ingly on the subject, which I, not being 
 among the notables, cannot." 
 
 " There is Errington, for instance," con- 
 tinued Sir Geoffrey, without having perceived 
 the little stroke of satire concealed in Gren- 
 ville's speech, *'what the deuce has the 
 fellow to recommend him except his posi- 
 tion, and yet there is not a mother in 
 London that has not her eye fixed on the 
 seven balls in his coronet, as though the 
 head beneath it were the most interesting 
 object in the creation. It is no wonder 
 that he is dumbfounded, and fairly stared 
 out of countenance."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 323 
 
 ^^ Fair play is a jewel," said Grenville. 
 " If Errington's head were on one block, 
 and Miss Thornhara's on the other, which 
 do you think would have the most darts 
 levelled at it?" 
 
 " The blockhead with its coronet, or the 
 beauty without it. Six of one and half-a- 
 dozen of the other, I should think." 
 
 " I believe so ; Errington's, however, 
 is not such a bad head ; and what is 
 more, I think him a devilish good-looking 
 fellow." 
 
 " Downright spoony, more than half a 
 fool," said Sir Geoffrey, in his affiected tone. 
 
 " But I beg pardon, I had forgotten," he 
 continued, " Errington is to become your 
 relation soon, is he not ? " 
 
 " Not that I know of— they have not let 
 me into the secret. If he is, as you say, a 
 
 y2
 
 324 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 spoony and a fool," said Grenville, laughing, 
 " I hope not. My pretty cousin is too 
 good for that.'' 
 
 "With Trentham Abbey, the earldom, 
 and forty thousand a year — eh ? " 
 
 " I know Emily Morton well. She 
 would not give a rush for them all, unless 
 she liked the man. My word for it, she 
 would refuse him." 
 
 "All I can say is, then, that Miss 
 Morton deserves to be reckoned the eighth 
 wonder of the world. There is not 
 another woman in all London that would 
 not bestow her own fair hand, with a low 
 curtsey, on the veriest blockhead in exist- 
 ence, in exchange for such settlements, 
 and pin money, and diamond necklaces, 
 and all that sort of thing, as Errington can 
 give her."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 325 
 
 "You have a precious opinion of the 
 better half of the creation," said Charles 
 Grenville, who, but for his perfect good 
 temper, would have felt disposed to 
 quarrel with the coxcombry of his com- 
 panion. 
 
 " Because I know them well," replied Sir 
 Geoffrey. "Women are very pretty play- 
 things when one has nothing better to do. 
 Take them out of their proper vocation, 
 and they are little better than fools." 
 
 " They might at least return the compli- 
 ment," was Charles Grenville's rejoinder. 
 
 " Who are you bowing to ? " inquired Sir 
 Geoffrey, as a carriage drove past them. 
 
 "To a woman — a fool — to Miss Thorn- 
 ham." 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! very good, very good 
 indeed. You hit me hard there. I dare-
 
 326 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 say she is an exception, however ; " and 
 Sir Geoffrey touched his horse with the 
 whip, that no time might be lost in achiev- 
 ing his presentation to the heiress. 
 
 ^^ Who is down stairs, Celestine?" in- 
 quired Emily Morton, as she unfastened 
 the door to give entrance to her smart 
 little French souhrette. 
 
 " C'est Milidi Wrexham, mademoiselle." 
 
 '' No one else." 
 
 " Non, mademoiselle. Tout le monde 
 est parti." 
 
 *^ No one but Monsieur Grenville, made- 
 moiselle, et Milord Errington." 
 
 '' Did Lord Errington come in ? " 
 
 "Non, mademoiselle." 
 
 " Oh, because you said tout le monde." 
 
 " Pardon, mademoiselle. II n'y a eu que 
 Monsieur Grenville ce matin," and Celes-
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 327 
 
 tine stood waiting a moment for further 
 orders. 
 
 " Mademoiselle desire-t-elle quelque 
 chose ? '' 
 
 "Eien, Celestine/' and off went the 
 femme de chamhre to communicate her 
 comments on mademoiselle's pale cheeks, 
 which, as a French woman, she instinct- 
 ively attributed to something in fact very- 
 like the truth. 
 
 " He has not been here then," thought 
 Emily ; ^^ and yet surely he must know 
 from Caroline that we are returned," and 
 the big tears rushed once more to her eyes, 
 despite all her efforts to restrain them. 
 " At least he shall not despise me," thought 
 she again ; '^ he shall never know how 
 weak and foolish I have been," and dash- 
 ing away her tears, she rose, poured a
 
 328 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 little water into the glass which stood on 
 the dressing-table near her, and, after 
 adding a few drops of essence, drank it 
 off. 
 
 " And now, to play my part as I best 
 may,'' continued she, as she stood for a few 
 moments gathering courage for the effort. 
 " I told him that the task of indifference 
 would be easy, and he at least shall never 
 discover that I find it otherwise," and in a 
 few minutes Emily had sufficiently re- 
 covered her composure to descend into the 
 drawing-room, and meet Lady Wrexham as 
 usual. 
 
 " You are just in time, carina," said she, 
 "to prevent my making an incursion on 
 you upstairs. I was resolved not to go 
 away without seeing as well as hearing how 
 you were to-day."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 329 
 
 " Oh, I am much better, dear, thank you — 
 quite well, I should rather say." 
 
 " You are looking very pale, Emily, still," 
 said Mrs Morton. "I wish you would let 
 me send for Dereham." 
 
 " Not for the world, mamma. I assure 
 you I never felt better in my life than at 
 this moment." 
 
 "Caroline and I were talking of the 
 Thornhams when you came in," said Mrs. 
 Morton, totally unconscious of the pain she 
 was inflicting. "I think we must go and 
 call on them to-morrow." 
 
 '^Miss Thornham is very pretty, is she 
 not ? " said Emily, leaning back in her chair, 
 and curling one of her sunny ringlets round 
 her finger with an effort at carelessness. 
 
 "Very pretty, and the most unaffected, 
 open-hearted creature in the world," said
 
 330 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Lady Wrexham, who, prepared perhaps by 
 Sir William's hint, in a moment perceived 
 that all was not right. " I wish, my dear 
 aunt," she continued, turning to Mrs. 
 Morton, " that, instead of sending for Dr. 
 Dereham, you would persuade Emily to 
 come out with me in the carriage for an 
 hour. A little air will do her more good 
 than anything. Do, carina. I cannot bear 
 to see you with those pale cheeks. Go, and 
 put on your things, and we will drive up to 
 the Park. You know we need not go into 
 the gardens unless you like it.'' 
 
 *^ And if I should take it into my head t'o 
 like it ? " said Emily, smiling. 
 
 " Then we will go ;" and Emily rang for 
 Celestine, and went to put on the identical 
 white bonnet in which Mandeville had told 
 her she looked better than in anything
 
 BENTLET PRIORY. 331 
 
 else, while all the time she had fully per- 
 suaded herself that she cared as little about 
 her own looks as for his opinion regardmg 
 them.
 
 332 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 CHAPTEE XYII. 
 
 In one particular, Emily had done Mande- 
 ville wrong. He was not aware that she 
 was returned from the G-range, and had he 
 been so, would most assuredly have been at 
 his accustomed post in Portland Place. But 
 he thought her still some fifty miles distant 
 from London, and what was there then to 
 prevent his whiling away the morning with 
 '^ La bella Bianca," or, afterwards, his ac-
 
 BEXTLEY PRIORY. 333 
 
 cepting a seat in Mrs. Thornham's carriage, 
 and becoming her cicerone through the un- 
 known regions of the Zoological Babel, and, 
 in short, his doing all that Mandeville 
 knew so well how to do, to make the hours 
 pass as pleasantly as possible, both to them 
 and to himself. 
 
 ^'What a dingy, dismal looking place 
 this London is on a Sunday," exclaimed 
 Blanche, as they drove through one of the 
 long, cheerless, monotonous streets that ter- 
 minate in the glories of the Regent's Park ; 
 for Blanche, who was a Roman Catholic, and 
 had, besides, resided many years on the 
 continent, was accustomed to regard the 
 return of Sunday as the signal for unusual 
 joyousness and festivity. " Do they 
 always shut up the shops here on Sun- 
 day?"
 
 334 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 "Always." 
 
 " Good gracious ! — why it looks like a 
 general mourning, or the plague, or some- 
 thing equally dreadful." 
 
 " Well, well," said Mrs. Thornham, look- 
 ing a little grave, for Blanche's volatility, 
 both of manner and opinion, had on more 
 occasions than one been a subject of much 
 uneasiness to her, "if we can find nothing 
 worse to find fault with in England than 
 these Sunday regulations, I think we need 
 not complain." 
 
 " Oh, no, certainly," said Blanche, in the 
 same gay tone. " It is all very right arid 
 proper, I am sure ; but it seems so odd after 
 coming from the continent." 
 
 Blanche had unconsciously given utter- 
 ance to a more important truth than she 
 was aware of.
 
 BEXTLEY PRIORY. 335 
 
 But if Miss Thornham thought the rest of 
 London dingy, dismal, and disagreeable, 
 she was proportionably surprised and de- 
 lighted with the brilliant display which 
 manifested itself from the moment the 
 carriage passed into the Regent's Park. 
 Equipages of every description, many of 
 them of rich and costly magnificence, 
 passed and repassed at every moment. 
 It was evident that if the stir of business 
 were suspended, the stir of pleasure was not 
 so. Although the secondary classes, who 
 had been labouring throughout the week, had 
 now shut up their shops, and gone forth 
 to the double indulgence of their one day 
 of rest and recreation, it was very evident 
 that those classes to whom amusement con- 
 stitutes the sole business of life, were no 
 ways disposed in like manner to rest from
 
 336 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 their labours The Zoological Babel, as a 
 Sunday kill-time, was then at the very 
 zenith of its popularity ; and so great was 
 the throng of carriages that it was a con- 
 siderable time ere that of Mrs. Thornham 
 could thread its way to the focus of attrac- 
 tion. This was so far convenient, that it 
 afforded Sir Geoffrey Charlton and Charles 
 Grenville an opportunity of reaching the 
 gate, on foot, in time to assist in conducting 
 Mrs. Thornham and her daughter through 
 the crowd, by which the entrance into the 
 gardens was besieged. 
 
 " Now, Charlton, we will start fair,^' said 
 Charles, with a light laugh, as they stood 
 together, waiting till the carriage should 
 draw up. " Ton shall take care of Mrs. 
 Thornham — the nurse, for the sake of the 
 child, which is always more than half the
 
 BENTLEY- PRIORY. 337 
 
 battle — and leave me to the forlorn hope of 
 the young lady — eh — will that do ? " 
 
 And in two minutes more it was so 
 arranged. Mrs. Thornham was leaning on 
 the arm of Sir Geoffry Charlton, while • 
 Blanche had taken that of Mandeville, and 
 Charles Grenville, with his accustomed 
 good nature, was facilitating the ingress of 
 the whole party, by taking on himself the 
 task of pioneer. 
 
 ^^ How gay, how beautiful this is ! " ex- 
 claimed Blanche, very much delighted, as, 
 after being fairly launched beyond the diffi- 
 culties of the entrance, they passed on to 
 that part of the gardens now thronged with 
 groups of all that London could boast of 
 most distinguished for rank, beauty, and 
 fashion. Nothing could exceed the bril- 
 liancy of the scene, and to Bhmche, at 
 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 338 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 that moment, nothing could exceed its 
 enjoyment. 
 
 '' You will allow that London is not 
 so dismal and dingy as you fancied it half 
 an hour ago," said Mandeville. 
 
 ^^ Dismal! Can anything be so gay as 
 this ? Is it any particular fete day, or is it 
 the same every Sunday ? " 
 
 " I think there are rather more people 
 than usual — do you not think so, Grenville?" 
 said Mandeville to Charles Grenville, who 
 was walking on the other side. 
 
 *^ Perhaps there are. I think there 
 were as many last Sunday, however.'' 
 
 *^And what do people do here?" in- 
 quired Blanche again. *^ What are those 
 buildings for ? Is there dancing or music, 
 or anything of that sort going on in them." 
 Mandeville laughed.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 339 
 
 " Very likely there may be," said he, 
 " but of a different sort, I fancy, from what 
 you are thinking of Do you not remember 
 that we are in the Zoological Gardens ? " 
 
 "Oh, to be sure. I had forgotten," 
 said Blanche, laughing in her turn. " But 
 it all comes to the same thing. There are 
 dancing bears, and dancing dogs, and sing- 
 ing from morning till night, I daresay. I 
 do not at all see why we should not all 
 follow so good an example." 
 
 "My dear Miss Thornham, you surely 
 forget that we are in England." 
 
 " Ah, true ; but what strange, inconsist- 
 ent people you are in England, Mr. Man- 
 deville. What can be the difference be- 
 tween music and dancing and all this 
 gaiety ? Can the dogs and bears put on 
 their good behaviour, too ? " 
 
 z 2
 
 340 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 *' On the contrary, they are more than 
 usually frolicsome from having so many 
 visitors to look at them. Shall we make 
 the tour of the gardens, or would you pre- 
 fer sitting down ? '' 
 
 ^^ Oh, the tour of the gardens, by all 
 means. I should like to see everything. 
 How beautiful it is ! " 
 
 At this moment Lord Errington passed 
 them, and Captain Grenville joined him, 
 
 ^^Who is that?" inquired Blanche, as 
 Mandeville spoke to his cousin as he 
 passed. 
 
 '^ Lord Errington." 
 
 *' Oh, indeed. He is going to marry 
 Lady Wrexham's beautiful cousin, Miss 
 Morton, is he not ? " 
 
 *' So the world says." 
 
 "But is it not true?"
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 341 
 
 *^Very likely," said Mandeville, care- 
 lessly; "but I am not in their secrets. 
 Shall we turn to the left, Charlton ? " said 
 be, turning to Sir Geoffry, who was making 
 himself particularly amiable to Mrs. Thorn- 
 ham. 
 
 "The ladies will find it very hot up 
 there to-day, I think — there is no shade 
 at all, you know," replied Sir Geoffry, who 
 did not half like the prospect of the broil- 
 ing promenade that seemed impending. 
 
 Mandeville turned to Blanche. 
 
 " Oh, I am too well accustomed to an 
 Italian sun to think anything of this," said 
 she, and Sir Geoffi-y had no help for it, 
 but to endure the penance to which he had 
 voluntarily bound himself as he best might. 
 It was an unfortunate commencement to his 
 chasse au lievre, this burning ordeal
 
 342 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 " Ombra adorata/' exclaimed Blanche, as 
 after returning with but half the tour com- 
 pleted, they seated themselves in a group in 
 the shade. " Sir Geoffry Charlton cer- 
 tainly was right. I never felt an Italian 
 sun so scorching as this." 
 
 ^^I am afraid you will never be recon- 
 ciled to our climate after that of la hella 
 Italia,''^ said Mandeville. 
 
 "Do you meditate returning to Italy?" 
 inquired Sir Geoffry of Mrs. Thorn- 
 ham. 
 
 " Oh, dear no ; I hope not." 
 
 " It would be cruel to bring Miss Thorn- 
 ham amongst us, only to take her away 
 again," pursued Sir Geoffry, with a glance 
 of admiration at Blanche. 
 
 "I do not think that Blanche herself 
 wishes it;" and the smile that played
 
 BENTLLY PRIORY. 343 
 
 round Mrs. Thornham's mouth told that 
 Sir Geofiry's allusion had not been alto- 
 gether without effect. 
 
 He was right. A mother is rarely, never 
 perhaps, insensible to the praises of her 
 child. 
 
 " I am already reconciled to everything 
 in England/^ said Blanche, in answer to 
 Mandeville's observation, " and think it 
 all very delightful. But I shall never un- 
 derstand your ways of doing things here. 
 For instance, what is the use of a fete 
 champeire — and this is one to all intents, if 
 not to all purposes — and what are all these 
 beautiful toilets for, if one is forbidden to 
 dance ? " 
 
 " Of infinite use, I assure you. This 
 fete champetre, as you call it, is the only 
 occasion on which one may be tolerably sure
 
 344 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 of meeting all one^s friends once a week 
 without risk of suffocation. It is the only 
 place at which those beautiful toilets can 
 be displayed without risk of annihilation. 
 People, in fact, come only to kill time, to 
 see and be seen, to learn what is going on 
 in the world, which during the bustle of 
 the week is impossible, and to add their 
 own quota to the general stock in return. 
 For all these purposes, this f^e champ6tre is 
 invaluable.^' 
 
 ^^ A la bonne heure ; and when they 
 are tired of all this, which, to those who 
 come, as you say, every week, must, I' 
 should say, very soon happen, unless 
 they have something better to do, what 
 then?" 
 
 "They have the monkeys, and the 
 bears, and the elephant to look at."
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 345 
 
 "Well, you are a very strange people in 
 England, Mr. Mandeville, I must say," 
 said Blanche, looking very comical, and, 
 as Mandeville thought, excessively pretty. 
 "For my part, I think that after people 
 have expended as much time and trouble 
 on their toilet as if they were going to a 
 ball, and then come here, as you say, only 
 to kill time, and to see and be seen, there 
 could be no greater harm in dancing than 
 in—'' 
 
 " You must not take me quite ' au pied 
 de la lettre.' There may be many other 
 attractions to bring one here, though all 
 are not equally fortunate, Signorina," said 
 Mandeville, in his own soft, low tones. 
 
 Blanche coloured slightly, and turned 
 away her head. 
 
 " Who is that extraordinary-looking per-
 
 346 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 son? " said she to Geoffry Charlton, as a 
 lady of enormous dimensions, with a profu- 
 sion of satin, blonde, and feathers, sailed past 
 them. " Lord Errington was talking to her, 
 I think." 
 
 '*Lady Courtney,^' replied Sir Geoffry, 
 very well pleased to be addressed by the 
 heiress. " What in the world can Errington 
 find to amuse him in her conversation ? " 
 pursued he, addressing Mandeville. 
 
 '^ A great deal, I should think. She is 
 excessively amusing in her way, and that 
 little lady in pink, by her side, is perfectly 
 irrvpayable.'^ 
 
 "Ah, by the way, they say Sir John 
 means to make her his heir, do they 
 not?'' 
 
 '* Yes ; and he is enormously rich, they 
 say. If money makes the woman as much
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 347 
 
 as it makes the man, she will be a 
 
 prize worth having one of these days." 
 '■ But who on earth could marry such a 
 
 little Hottentot as that?" drawled Sir 
 
 Geoffiy. 
 
 "Who? Why, anyone who has sense 
 enough to count up a hundred thousand 
 charms," said the merry voice of Charles 
 Grenville behind them. " Come, Charlton, 
 you have been sitting here for the last 
 hour, do, like a good fellow, lend me your 
 chair for five minutes ? " 
 
 "Take mine," said Mandeville, for 
 Sir Geoffry showed no inclination to move ; 
 and as Captain Grenville did so, he himself 
 brought another from a little distance, and 
 placed it so as to enjoy an almost exclusive 
 tke-a-tete with Blanche. 
 
 " I have been waiting for my sisters at
 
 348 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 the gate for the last half-hour/' continued 
 Charles Grenville, "till I am positively 
 ready to drop. I believe they are coming 
 in search of you, Mrs. Thornham, to pro- 
 pose some pic-nic, or water party, or some- 
 thing of that sort." 
 
 " They are very kind ; we shall be de- 
 lighted to join them in anything," and as 
 she spoke, Mrs. Thornham rose, and ad- 
 vanced, with Captain Grenville, to meet the 
 party who were coming towards them. 
 Sir Geoffry Charlton did the same, and 
 thus Blanche and Mandeville were accident- 
 ally left alone, without being aware of it, ' 
 for both were too much absorbed in what- 
 ever formed the subject of discussion be- 
 tween them to observe the movements of 
 the rest of the party. Blanche's looks 
 were on the ground as Mrs. Thornham rose.
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY. 349 
 
 while Mandeville, whose chair was placed 
 opposite to hers, and with its back towards 
 the gravel walk, along which the promena- 
 ders were passing, was, to all appearance, 
 engaged in earnest conversation, with his 
 eyes fixed on her beautiful countenance. 
 
 ^' I wish you would promise — do oblige me 
 — pray do — you cannot think how I should 
 value it," said he, in continuation of some- 
 thing that had been said before. 
 
 *^ Indeed, I shall do no such thing," said 
 Blanche, looking up with a bright blush 
 and a brighter smile, and shaking back her 
 glossy ringlets. 
 
 '^ Blanche, my love," said Mrs. Thorn- 
 ham, ^' here is Lady Wrexham." 
 
 Miss Thornham looked up, and her tell- 
 tale cheek was in a moment dyed crimson. 
 Mandeville started to his feet, for the foot-
 
 350 BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 steps on the grass had not reached his ear, 
 while his words, though spoken in so low a 
 tone, must, he thought, have been distinctly 
 audible to those near him. He looked 
 round. Emily Morton was by his side. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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 NEW WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF "JOHN HALtFAX." 
 Now ready^ at all the Libraries^ in 3 vols.^ 
 
 A LIFE FOR A LIFE. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 " JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN," 
 "A WOMAN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN," &c. 
 
 CRITICAL OPrNTIONS. 
 
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 in addition to its other merits, it is written in good careful English " — Athenaeum. 
 
 " The Author of thfs novel possesses the signal merit of being a progressive writer. 
 'John Halifax ' was a decided improvement upon its predecessor: and here, in 'A 
 Life for a Life' we have again a marked advance upon 'John Halifax," The book is 
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 everywhere admirably sustained. Incident abounds, and both dialogue and style are 
 natural and flowing Great delicacy in the development of character, and a subtle 
 power of self analysis, are conspicuous in "A Life lor a Life," while the purity of its 
 religious views, and the elevation, the grandeur, indeed, of its dominating sentiments, 
 render its influences, in every sense, healthy and invigorating "—Press. 
 
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 thing more than a mere novel The works of this Author go beneath the surface, and 
 present a picture of human joys and hi.man sufferings in which those deep hopes, 
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 "We can never find fault with the Author of ' John Halifax.' Her characters are 
 invariably well drawn, and we have seldom met with any author, and never with a 
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 well as to read, ' A Life for a Life ' is. we think, one of the best of Miss Mulock's 
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 member of every family in England to resid.''— Morning Bero'd. 
 
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 in some of its scenes, in advance of it.' — Messenger. 
 
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 admire— a lofty and generous tone of feeline, proofs of perceptive and graphic power, 
 and the language of a conscientious literarj- artist. These good things we discover in 
 ' A Life for a Lite.' "Spectator. 
 
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 of 'John Halifax.' We find the same aspirations, the same puritv of tone, the same 
 delicacy of portraiture, the same truth in the portrayal of home life "—Daily Netct. 
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