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 ^ '^^IBRAR.Y " 
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 Shortly will be Published, 
 
 A NEW EDITION, 
 
 (being the fourth) revised and enlarged, 
 
 OF 
 
 PRIVATE EDUCATION. 
 
 BY ELIZABETH APPLETON. 
 
 London: 
 
 Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, 
 
 New-Street^quare.
 
 LEONORA; 
 
 THE PRESENTATION AT COURT. 
 
 BEING 
 THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF NARRATIVES 
 
 CALLED 
 
 YOUNG LADIES' TALES. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 « PRn'ATE EDUCATION; "THE POOR GIRL'S HELP;" 
 
 "EARLY EDUCATION;" "THE YOUTH'S FRENCH GUIDE;" 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 " I consider a generous mind as the noblest work of the Creator, 
 and am persuaded wherever it resides, no real merit can be 
 wanting." Melmoth. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER,-BOW. 
 
 1829.
 
 'SZ3 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 THE LADY MARY BEAUCLERK. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND, 
 
 I HAVE very great pleasure in presenting 
 you with the first part of Tales for Young 
 Ladies, a work written some years ago, but 
 from the various employments and duties in 
 which I have ever since been engaged, never 
 prepared for the press till now. I hope you 
 will discover in it at this particular period of 
 your life, when you are about to be ushered 
 into society, a few hints which may be of ad- 
 vantage ; especially as they may add weight to 
 the advice and instruction I have ever been 
 anxious to instil in your and your dear sister's 
 
 A 3
 
 Vl DEDICATION. 
 
 mind, since I have been favoured with the 
 confidence of your guardian and aunt, a lady, 
 who, by her virtues and accomplishments, 
 is justly esteemed a distinguished ornament 
 in her high station, and an honour to the 
 title of mother. 
 
 That the world, which you are about to 
 view more nearly, may shed its roses around 
 your path, and long conceal those thorns 
 which, sooner or later, will pierce the gentlest 
 and most affectionate bosom, is the wish of 
 her who subscribes herself. 
 
 My dear Lady Mary, 
 
 Your sincere Friend, 
 
 ELIZABETH LACHLAN.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Several years ago the Author * had it in con- 
 templation to produce a Series of Tales for Young 
 Ladies, of the age of four, progressively, to that 
 of eighteen. From the vast numbers of books 
 which have since appeared, and are daily issuing 
 from the press, such a proposition may now be 
 deemed superfluous. In order to determine this 
 point, and to take the sense of the Public, which 
 has ever received her previous eflPorts with kind- 
 ness and indulgence, the writer begs leave to 
 submit these little volumes for readers of sixteen 
 or eighteen years of age to its notice. 
 
 It may be necessary to give a word in ex- 
 planation of the subject of the work. If the 
 character of a gentleman's daughter be thought, 
 
 * Also of " Private Education." (Elizabeth Appleton.)
 
 Vm PREFACE. 
 
 by some persons, to be too strongly drawn, the 
 Writer would appeal for the fidelity of the pic- 
 ture, not to the generality of mothers in their 
 splendid drawing-rooms, living beyond the scene 
 of their domestic establishments, remote from 
 the stratagems of the nursery, the manoeuvres of 
 the upper hall, and the tricks and subterfuges of 
 the lower one. She would turn from the parent 
 to the governess, and to the sphere of her action, 
 The Study : the faithful study, where truth will 
 out, reality will prevail ; and where the gentle- 
 man's daughter is seen in her true colours, in her 
 real character, without motive for disguise ; or, 
 if otherwise, without opportunity for conceal- 
 ment from the daily, hourly, momentary scrutiny 
 to which she is subjected. If then, half-a-dozen 
 experienced and sensible preceptresses should 
 unite in the opinion, that either Leonora or her 
 sister is an exaggerated- representation, the 
 Author promises to alter the copy, should another 
 impression be called for. 
 
 6. Upper Portland Place, 
 March, 1829.
 
 LEONORA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 '•' Generosity sanctifies every passion, and adds grace to 
 every acquisition of the soul ; and if it does not necessarily 
 include, at least it reflects a lustre upon the whole circle of 
 moral and intellectual qualities." — Mzoioth. 
 
 ]Miss Leonora Clive, her sister Isabella, and 
 her cousin, INliss Fanny Beresford, a young lady 
 about her own age, were one day seated in the 
 study with their governess, Mrs. Hammond, when 
 a loud rap was heard at the door. '• Go, my dear," 
 said the lady : " it is your papa's knock." Miss 
 Clive immediately opened the door to her father, 
 who never chose to intrude. He desired her to 
 follow him to the library, for that he wished to 
 speak to her. 
 
 Leonora felt very curious upon the subject of 
 this conversation, and looking down to her father's
 
 2 LEONORA. 
 
 hand, perceived it held an open letter. This 
 sight relieved her of a little fluttering which she 
 had felt within ; for the Colonel sometimes called 
 her out in this way, to .slightly reprove her for a 
 bill which she had allowed to be sent to him, 
 instead of paying it herself, or for trifling irregu- 
 larities and excesses in the house among the 
 women-servants, his daughter being motherless, 
 and having had the charge of the domestic ar- 
 rangements during the last four years. 
 
 " Leonora," said the Colonel, as he seated 
 himself in his large morocco chair. 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered his daughter. 
 
 The gentleman again paused, and rubbed his 
 forehead. 
 
 " Take a sheet of paper and sit down," said 
 he, " and answer this letter," 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied Leonora, all impatience 
 to see the letter she was to answer; and she 
 took the penknife and cut a quill, spread a 
 quire of paper before her, and dipped the pen 
 in the ink. 
 
 " Give me the poker, child," said the Colonel 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 Leonora jumped up, and handed it to him, 
 
 He raked out a few ashes, and put it down. 
 
 *' When was your birthday, Leonora ? " asked
 
 LEONORA. S 
 
 he, looking at his daughter from head to foot. 
 " Why, you are very much grown lately ? " 
 
 *' My birth-day will be next month, papa, in 
 March : Mrs. Hammond says I have not grown 
 the least these six months." 
 
 " Well, I may be mistaken," observed the 
 Colonel ; " I don't pretend to be positive. You 
 are old enough to leave off growing ; why, ar'nt 
 you seventeen next month ? " 
 
 " I shall be eighteen, sir," replied Leonora, 
 with sparkling eyes : " my cousin and I were 
 born en the same day, and Lady Beresford said 
 she would be eighteen. And you know, papa," 
 added Leonora, " you always promised me I 
 should leave the study when I was eighteen years 
 of age. Don't you remember, sir, you told my aunt 
 Beresford last winter, when we were at Chelten- 
 ham, that I was only sixteen? and she said, ' Surely 
 your eldest daughter and. mine,' meaning Fanny, 
 ' were born nearly about the same time ;' and you 
 said, you believed they were ; and then she 
 replied, ' Well, then, they must be seventeen.' 
 Don't you remember, sir ? " 
 
 " I remember my sister said something to that 
 effect," answered the Colonel : " reach me the 
 other, the great Bible." 
 
 Leonora sprang upon a chair, and brought 
 B 2
 
 4 LEONORA. 
 
 down a large family Bible, upon which a cobweb 
 was very finely spun from edge to edge. She 
 handed it to her father, who very deliberately 
 plucked off the cobweb, and rolling it round the 
 spider which had made it, consigned both to the 
 flames. 
 
 " It is a disgrace to Betty," said he, " to see 
 these valuable books all covered with dust. If 
 she is not allowed to take them down, she might 
 at least brush off the dust from them as they 
 are. I desire you speak to her, Leonora. This 
 Bible I particularly value : it has been in our 
 family two hundred years, and the births, deaths, 
 ai.d marriages of all of us are registered here. 
 There is your mother's writing two years before 
 she died, and by this I suppose you are eighteen." 
 
 Leonora looked grave for a moment, and pro- 
 mised to attend to her father's directions, and 
 then again took the pen, the feather of which she 
 had nearly twisted to pieces in her impatience at 
 the delay. 
 
 " Pray, Leonora," said the Colonel, " do you 
 remember your mother's aunt. Lady Royston ? " 
 
 " I recollect her very well indeed," replied 
 Leonora; " for she was here with poor mamma a 
 fortnight before she died, and she went away a 
 £ew days after. I recollect she was a little grave
 
 LEONORA. o 
 
 old lady, with her hair powdered, and frizzed, 
 and " 
 
 " And what, child?" said the Colonel, rubbing 
 his forehead, and smiling, as was his way when 
 he had no objection to a little embellishment at 
 description. 
 
 " ^\Tiy, papa," said Leonora, catching the 
 permission which his manner offered, and direct- 
 ing an arch glance from her dark eye, " you know 
 she was rather curious, very fond of her dog, and 
 when she went out sometimes with it, the boys in 
 the neighbourhood used to make fun of her ; and 
 Prudence says, a boy pulled the dog's tail, an^ 
 made him give such a howl, that she never 
 carried him out afterwards." 
 
 " Come, come, never mind," said Colonel 
 Chve, still half smiling: " you must write to 
 Lady Royston, and tell her I desired you to 
 say that we shall be very happy to see her. She 
 has been living all this time at her seat in Devon- 
 slure ; and I can't think," muttered the Colonel 
 to himself, " what on earth she wants to leave it 
 for, much less to pay me a visit, for we never 
 were over-intimate; — and say," continued he 
 aloud, " that I will have horses ready at twenty 
 miles from hence, if she will mention the day she 
 expects to be with us. ' 
 
 B 3
 
 6 LEONORA. 
 
 " Oh ! just Stop, sir, a moment if you please," 
 cried Leonora, " for I have forgotten the first 
 part." 
 
 " Why, what is the use of the money I have 
 spent upon your education, if you cannot re- 
 member a sentence?" said the Colonel sharply. 
 " Go over what you have written : let me hear 
 how it reads." 
 
 Leonora, in a lowered voice, replied, " I have 
 not done any thing yet, sir ; for I did not know 
 whether to say madam, or my lady, or what, at 
 the beginning. I never wrote to her before, and 
 I do not know her much to talk to." 
 
 " Why, is she not your mother's own aunt, 
 and must she not be yours ?" cried the Colonel. 
 " Do give her letter to me : I will answer it 
 myself. There, take it to the light and read it 
 over; for this room is so dark, I cannot see 
 where I sit ; and read slowly, that I may under- 
 stand you." 
 
 Leonora went to the window, though she 
 could have seen just as well at the other end of 
 the room, and read as follows : — 
 
 " Dear Nephew, 
 *' I do not know how it happens that so 
 much time hath passed since we had any in-
 
 LEONORA 7 
 
 formation respecting each other. I suppose you 
 are as great a fox -hunter and sportsman as ever, 
 and as fond of making alterations in your stud, 
 since my poor niece died. Leonora must be 
 a fine grown young woman by this time, and 
 think Bell promises to be handsome. I have had 
 a visit lately from Lady Beresford's brother-in- 
 law, his regiment being quartered near this. He 
 tells me Miss Beresford is still with you, and that 
 her father and mother do not leave Madeira just 
 yet; — that Sir Edwin is much better. This last 
 news, no doubt, the young lady knows. My 
 health continues pretty good. Hope you and 
 family are well. Pray remember me kindly to 
 your children, from, 
 
 " Dear Colonel, 
 " Your aflPectionate humble 
 
 servant, and aunt, 
 " Sarah Royston. 
 
 " P. S I always promised my poor niece I 
 
 would introduce her daughter into the world. It 
 seems a long time since I saw you all. Suppose 
 Leonora has left school now ; so if you choose to 
 present her at Court this spring, my house in 
 town, which has been let of late, will be at your 
 service." 
 
 B 4
 
 8 LEONORA. 
 
 " You see," said the Colonel, as Leonora folded 
 the letter as well as she could for agitation and 
 delight, — " you see I must ask your aunt here : 
 she expects it; and, indeed, I know by her letter, 
 has made up her mind to the visit : so give me 
 the pen ; I will write myself; and reach my 
 glasses, for my eyes are getting worse and 
 worse. " 
 
 The Colonel's letter was soon written and de- 
 spatched, and Leonora, with a triumphant air, 
 returned to the study. 
 
 " Well, Leonora," said Mrs. Hammond, who 
 just looked up, "you seem happy indeed ; what 
 has gratified you so highly ? " 
 
 The young lady immediately replied, with a 
 very careless tone, " Only something, ma'am, 
 which papa has been telling me." And she 
 sat down to the piano-forte to finish out her 
 second hour's practice ; but made so many mis- 
 takes in a fine concerto, which she generally 
 played in the most correct style, that the lady 
 was forced to remark her inattention. 
 
 " Surely, my dear," said she, " something very 
 extraordinary must have affected you; for you 
 seem not to know what you are doing. I see, 
 even now, your face is distended with smiles." 
 
 " It is nothing, ma'am," replied Leonora.
 
 LEONORA. 9 
 
 " Well, my dear, I do not enquire," said Mrs. 
 Hammond, " or desire to know, if you are not 
 willing to inform us ; but do not say it is nothing, 
 because this is not ingenuous." 
 
 Leonora made no reply. Fanny Beresford 
 finished the poem which she had been reading ; 
 and Bell, a girl of thirteen, put by her needle- 
 work. The study-table was quickly cleared, and 
 the whole party adjourned to their respective 
 chambers, to dress for dinner.
 
 10 LEONORA. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 "Pride makes dear self on well-bred tongues prevail, 
 And I the little hero of each tale. Young. 
 
 Fanny retired with Mrs. Hammond, iii whose 
 chamber she slept, for this young lady had been 
 her pupil during six years. They had resided at 
 Sir Edwin Beresford's seat, near Dublin, and it 
 was at the earnest request of Lady Beresford 
 that Mrs. Hammond had consented to take 
 charge of Colonel Clive's daughters. Miss Beres- 
 ford was recovering from a fever caught in 
 Cheltenham, and being still delicate, and change 
 of air recommended, she had returned, at the 
 pressing solicitation of Leonora and her father, 
 to Kenilworth, some months previous to this 
 period; and shortly after she left Cheltenham, 
 Sir Edwin, having been threatened with danger- 
 ous symptoms of decline, was ordered off to 
 Madeira, where Fanny's parents now remained. 
 
 Leonora quickly unburdened her mind of her 
 secret to her sister Bell ; and having told this 
 young girl to say nothing about it, dressed her- 
 self as fast as she could, and going into the long
 
 LEONORA. 11 
 
 picture gallery which divided her room fi*om her 
 governess's, she called as loud as she could, 
 " Fanny, Fanny, I want to speak to you." 
 
 Miss Beresford asked permission to go to her 
 cousin, which Mrs. Hammond immediately gave, 
 saying, " Do Fanny, my love, tell your cousin I 
 request she will not call to any one, from room 
 to room ; it is very ungraceful, and ill-bred." 
 Fanny promised to deliver the message, and 
 gave it. 
 
 " Very well," answered Leonora, laughing, 
 " it is all right: you have delivered your message, 
 now for mine. \Miat do you think, dear Fanny? 
 I am to finish my studies next month ; that is, to 
 leave the school-room, which you know I do not 
 like over-much ; and my mamma's old aunt 
 Royston is coming to take me out, to introduce 
 me, I mean ; and I do believe she will prevail with 
 papa to take me up to London in the spring, 
 and then, besides the delight of going to court, 
 I shall enter into a thousand gaieties. O, Fanny ! 
 are you not glad ? " 
 
 Miss Beresford smiled, for she perfectly well re- 
 membered, that not a syllable had been said about 
 herself, who, we must declare, was in every respect 
 Leonora's equal in point of birth, accomplishments, 
 and fortune, although something her inferior in
 
 12 LEONORA. 
 
 beauty. She remembered that Colonel CKve had 
 said, wherever his daughter was introduced, he 
 hoped Lady Beresford would allow Fanny to visit ; 
 and that it had also been settled at Cheltenham, 
 that Lady Beresford should engage a house in 
 London the following winter, for the very purpose 
 of taking her daughter amongst her friends and 
 connections, and of presenting the two young 
 ladies herself to the Queen. Sir Edward's in- 
 disposition had entirely frustrated the last plan, 
 for it was likely he might be detained abroad 
 several months longer; but the first, that of 
 visiting with her cousin in the neighbourhood of 
 the Colonel's residence, Fanny saw no objection 
 to, yet did Miss Clive continue to say /, and /, 
 to which her cousin had too much delicacy 
 to allude. Instead, therefore, of replying to the 
 question of Leonora, Fanny said, " It will indeed 
 be pleasant to see your aunt, but pray, my dear 
 cousin, when is she coming ?" 
 
 " O, very soon, directly, I dare say," cried 
 Leonora ; " and I shall be eighteen so soon, that 
 I should not wonder if I never go into the study 
 again, after this week." 
 
 "But, dear Leonora," continued Fanny, "if your 
 aunt is coming in so short a time, it is a circum- 
 stance which will be known immediately in the
 
 LEONORA. 13 
 
 house. You will, I dare say, order the best 
 stranger's apartments to be prepared, to be well 
 aired, as the lady is aged, and may easily take 
 cold, and " 
 
 " O, all this I know very well : I shall attend 
 to every thing," interrupted Leonora, very im- 
 patiently : " my father always leaves these mat- 
 ters to me, and has done since I was the age of 
 Bell. I shall send for the housekeeper directly 
 on going down stairs, and give her orders." 
 
 " Now do excuse me, cousin," said Fanny ; " but 
 if your aunt's coming is not to be a secret, why did 
 you say to Mrs. Hammond that it was nothing ? 
 Indeed, my dear Leonora, it was a pity you did 
 not just acquaint her with the news, it is so plea- 
 sant to be made a friend of, even in a trifle ; and, 
 after all, she will know it at three o'clock; for my 
 uncle always talks of whatever is going to be 
 done, which is not very private, indeed, at dinner- 
 time ; and you know it would have looked kind 
 and confidential of you, Leonora, my love," 
 
 " O, what nonsense, Fanny," retorted Miss 
 Clive, impatiently, "about telling Mrs. Ham- 
 mond : la ! I should never think of telling her all 
 that passes in the family : I never did with our 
 last governess, and she used to teaze me to 
 know, I can't tell what, and I never would
 
 I4f LEONORA. 
 
 gratify her curiosity, nor would I let Bell 
 either." 
 
 « Ah, my dear," replied Fanny ; " but perhaps 
 you were not so fortunate in your last governess 
 as in your present one. I never knew Mrs. Ham- 
 mond in my life ask me a question which mamma 
 would have wished me not to answer, and fully 
 too. She has not, indeed, any improper curiosity. 
 You know it is so natural to say, ' Have you had 
 good news, that you look so happy?' if one looks 
 elated ; or, ' Why are you so melancholy ?' if one 
 looks sad. And it is so pleasant to open one's 
 heart and tell one's httle joy or sorrow to a kind 
 friend." 
 
 " Well, I never did, nor will I ever," replied 
 Leonora, " relate all that passes between my 
 father and myself to any one, and I do not see 
 why I should begin. I could not be expected to 
 do more for my own mother, and I am sure I 
 never w^ould to any one else." 
 
 " But suppose, cousin, that my uncle should 
 marry again: he is still a handsome man, and 
 not above forty-five, is he?" said Fanny, with a 
 smile. 
 
 " The day that my father marries," cried Leo- 
 nora, disdainfully, " shall be the last I will stay 
 in this house."
 
 LEONORA. 15 
 
 '• O, do not say so, for fear of accidents," 
 answered Fanny: "how little do we know (as my 
 mother has often said) what we must one day or 
 other submit to. However, look kindly, Leonora, 
 and do not frown : I hope, for your sake, that 
 your papa will never give you a mother-in-law, as 
 you seem so little to wish for one ; but, indeed, 
 cousin, I know several very happy families which 
 are regulated by a second wife." 
 
 " That does not signify to me," said the 
 cousin ; " I never desire to see such a personage 
 in this house." 
 
 The bell now summoned the ladies to dinner, 
 and they all took their scats in the dining room ; 
 Mis^ Clive at the top of the table, her cousin on 
 her right hand, and the Colonel, who was ex- 
 tremely near-sighted, and always relinquished the 
 bottom seat when he dined with his own family 
 only, sat next to Fanny ; Bell sat in his place at 
 the bottom, where she tore and mangled the 
 joints set before her in the most awkward and 
 disgusting manner ; but she was Miss Clive's 
 sister, and this was sufficient to secure her a post 
 of authority, after her own. Fanny, who carved 
 inimitably well, and had been taught to do so by 
 her father, had once or twice offered to relieve 
 Bell ; but Leonora only thanked her coldly, and
 
 16 LEONORA. 
 
 said her sister could do well enough. Had it 
 been possible for Miss Clive to have filled the top 
 and bottom seats at once, she would have done 
 so ; but as she could only take one post of honour 
 at once, she was resolved that no one else but her 
 father or sister should have the other. Mrs. 
 Hammond sat generally on the other side, 
 alone, unless there was company; and being a 
 woman of genteel manners, and accustomed to 
 good society during the lifetime of her husband, 
 a naval captain, she had not only, on first enter- 
 ing the family, endeavoured to relieve Bell, but 
 sometimes had taken the carving knife from her, 
 when the poor girl was quite heated with exer- 
 tion, to divide a joint, or cut through any gristle. 
 But with this Leonora was evidently displeased. 
 If she had sent her plate by the footman, she de- 
 sired him to bring it back, saying, " O, I would 
 rather not have any of that, just yet. I will 
 wait." At first, Mrs. Hammond was surprised 
 at this behaviour, but in a short time, she guessed 
 the truth; and she interfered no farther, espe- 
 cially as the Colonel took no notice upon the 
 subject, which it became him to do; for his 
 daughter felt herself arrived at that age, that 
 she did not expect to be controlled by any one 
 but her father, and her father doated upon her,
 
 LEONORA. 17 
 
 and did not appear to sanction any disapproba- 
 tion of his daughter's conduct but his own. 
 
 Before dinner was over, as Fanny had conjec- 
 tured, the subject in debate was alluded to. 
 
 " My love," said the Colonel, " have you given 
 your directions for preparing the great bed-cham- 
 ber for your aunt ? " 
 
 "I shall do so, sir, as soon as I have dined," 
 answered Leonora, colouring a little, as she saw 
 Mrs. Hammond's eye cast for a moment towards 
 her. 
 
 " I should think she must be here next week," 
 said the Colonel : " after she receives my letter, 
 she will, perhaps, set out directly. It is, to be 
 sure, a pretty good distance for the old lady." 
 
 Miss Clive maintained a determined silence for 
 a few minutes, and then looking up, said, " It was 
 going to rain, she thought." 
 
 " I think so too, my love," said the Colonel, 
 " for it seems dark, or else my eyes grow worse 
 and worse. And so, Leonora," resumed he, most 
 provokingly, " you say you shall like visiting 
 with your aunt, and going to London, and to be- 
 dressed up in a round-about, a — what do you 
 call those court-dresses, Mrs. Hammond?" 
 
 "Hoop-petticoats, do you mean, sir?" asked 
 the lady. 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 LEONORA. 
 
 "Yes, yes, hoops. I remember my grand- 
 mother, when I was a very Uttle boy, went to 
 church every Sunday in one of those dresses. 
 She always went in her coach drawn by four long- 
 tailed black horses, and very respectable the old 
 lady appeared, I assure you. But mind, Leonora, 
 we are to be very moderate : at first no sitting 
 up late, to fade those roses from your cheek, my 
 little country girl. No balls the first year, all 
 quiet, moderate, and lasting. What says your 
 copy-book. Bell, about pleasures and moder- 
 ation ? " 
 
 " Use pleasures moderately, and they will last 
 the longer," said Bell. 
 
 " Good girl," replied the Colonel, and patted 
 her head : " I love a proverb, and I used to learn 
 a page of them, sooner than half a page of dic- 
 tionary, when I was a lad." 
 
 By this time the dessert was put upon the table, 
 and Leonora, finding the secret was all out, felt 
 half a wish that she had dealt frankly with Mrs. 
 Hammond, especially as she apprehended her 
 conduct would be noticed by her preceptress, 
 who generally remonstrated or reasoned with her 
 in her own room at night, when the occasion re- 
 quired it; and this time she guessed that Mrs. 
 Hammond's glance had given her a promise of a
 
 LEONORA. 19 
 
 little expostulation : gentle she knew it would be, 
 for it never could be otherwise from so kind and 
 good a woman ; yet did Leonora dread any 
 conversation of the kind, and would have sub- 
 mitted to almost any thing to avoid both advice 
 and rebuke. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond made the first move for 
 the ladies to retire. They accordingly rose ; 
 Leonora hastily walked away to the housekeeper, 
 and then kept out of sight until the young ladies 
 were ready for walking, when she stole up to her 
 room, and ringing for her maid, was soon 
 equipped, and made her appearance as the party 
 were opening the hall door. " O dear," said she, 
 rather aflPectedly, " have you been all waiting for 
 me ? I have been so busy that I could not come 
 sooner." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond, at this observation, looked 
 full in Leonora's youthful countenance : it was in 
 a moment suflPused with a crimson blush. Mrs. 
 Hammond made no remark, but walked slowly 
 forward, leaving it to the choice of the young 
 people to take her arm. Fanny, from politeness, 
 generally waited to see the incUnations of her 
 two cousins before she preferred her own. To- 
 day, Leonora went up to Bell, and locking her 
 hand within her sister's arm walked on, taking no 
 c 2
 
 20 LEONORA. 
 
 notice of Fanny. This affectionate girl being 
 now at liberty, immediately joined her precep- 
 tress, and a very sprightly and agreeable con- 
 versation ensued between them. Fanny gave her 
 opinions with openness and candour ; and Mrs. 
 Hammond, who considered her no longer a child, 
 or even quite a pupil, since she had left home, 
 answered her with freedom, sincerity, and affection. 
 All restraint was banished from between them, 
 and yet the most dutiful pupil could not be more 
 attentive or respectful in her manner than was 
 Fanny ; but this was governed by affection, which 
 was not shown by capricious fits, but glowed 
 steadily in the grateful sense of obligation of a 
 kind and tender heart. 
 
 Bell, at her sister's desire, looked back now and 
 then, to know which way they were to direct 
 their course ; but both took care to hasten for- 
 ward, if Mrs. Hammond and Fanny advanced too 
 near upon them. This was observed by both 
 the last-mentioned ladies ; but the subject was 
 never touched upon by either. At length, the 
 sun went down, and tinged all the clouds round 
 him with a large violet or purple border fringed 
 with gold : a cold wind rose, as the sun declined, 
 and the little party quickening their steps soon 
 arrived at home.
 
 LEONORA. 21 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 What could I more ? 
 I warn'd thee, I admonish'd thee. 
 
 Paradise Lost. 
 
 At ten o'clock, when the young ladies left the 
 Colonel, he generally retired to his library; where, 
 in company with a friend, or alone, reading the 
 newspapers, dozing or smoking a cigar, he gene- 
 rally remained till midnight. They adjourned to 
 Mrs. Hammond's room, where the little friendly 
 ceremony of wishing "Good night" generally 
 took place amongst them. Lrconora was in a 
 great hurry this evening, laughing and talking to 
 Fanny with great earnestness, and yet with an 
 air of constraint, which was immediately visible 
 to her keen-sighted preceptress. She uttered, in 
 a hurried tone, " Good night, ma'am," and was 
 running through the gallery, when Mrs. Ham- 
 mond said, " Leonora, you do not shake hands 
 with me, my dear." 
 
 " O, la ! I forgot it," answered the young lady, 
 in a moment, and immediately she blushed. 
 
 " Fanny, my love," said Mrs. Hammond, " go 
 to your cousin's room for a few minutes, and ask 
 c 3
 
 22 LEONORA. 
 
 Mary to divide your hair nicely, and paper it, my 
 dear, before you return, for I wish to speak to 
 Miss CHve." 
 
 "I will, ma'am,'' replied Fanny, with the utmost 
 cheerfulness ; "just allow me to take my dressing 
 gown." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond then reached it; and the 
 young lady went in an instant, without one 
 look of surprise, curiosity, or blame. Unlike 
 Bell, who called out, " What is my sister going 
 to stay here for? Is she going to sleep with 
 you, ma'am ? — Why don't you come, Leo- 
 nora?" 
 
 " She will follow," answered Mrs. Hammond : 
 go ; — good night: — go with your cousin." In- 
 stead of immediately following. Bell walked as 
 slowly as if her legs had been tied together, and 
 stood a minute outside the door, as if to Ksten to 
 what was passing, till Fanny observed her, and, 
 taking her by the arm, led her on to her chamber. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond now turned to Leonora, who 
 stood swelling and silent. 
 
 " Sit down, my dear," said the lady: " you 
 may guess the subject upon which I am going 
 to speak. It is painful to me, Leonora, to have 
 occasion to remonstrate with you ; and I do assure 
 you, if I consulted my own private feelings, I
 
 LEONORA. 23 
 
 should let this, and many other such apparent 
 trifles, pass ; but I have a duty to perform, and I 
 owe it to myself, to your father, and to you, to 
 point out every impropriety which I observe in 
 your conduct ; especially, too, as you may very 
 soon, perhaps too soon, be withdrawn from my 
 guidance and care. Your father, my dear, with 
 whom you will then generally be, is too partially 
 indulgent to notice your failings; and, indeed, 
 though he is the worthiest of men and tenderest 
 of parents, yet is not he, or any man, entirely 
 qualified to direct the views, or bend the mind 
 and form the manners, of any very young woman. 
 From a good man, a female will learn much that is 
 good ; but you must be sensible, my young friend, 
 that even a good disposition requires that culture 
 which will enlarge its sphere of happiness, by 
 encouraging every kindly feeling of our nature. 
 The diamond from the mme is prized for its in- 
 trinsic worth ; but how is it admired when this 
 worth shines out under the most exquisite and 
 beautiful pohsh ! Women may learn from men to 
 be good and great ; but from their own sex only 
 can they take an example of all that is lovely, re- 
 fined, delicate, and elegant. The sweet and 
 natural guide of a daughter, you have unhappily 
 lost ; and I am almost fearful, my dear, that you 
 c 4
 
 24* LEONORA. 
 
 have sustained a loss which will be felt by others, 
 in you, unless, indeed, Leonora, you will be de- 
 termined to conquer the defects of which I have 
 so often complained to you, and which, I appre- 
 hend, have been mentioned to you by few but 
 myself." 
 
 Here Mrs. Hammond paused, to read in her 
 pupil's countenance the effect produced by what 
 she said. But a sullen and gloomy reserve was 
 still maintained by the young lady, which being 
 noticed by her preceptress, she went on thus : — 
 " I am concerned, Leonora, to observe, by your 
 manner, that the force of what I say is lost upon 
 you. Could I see you soften, in my endeavours 
 to amend you, I should gather hopes, and I 
 should dismiss you to commune with yourself, — 
 to reflect; and then, I am certain, you would 
 find room for amendment, and, by consequence, 
 that there is some truth in my words : but I see 
 you, my dear, seated there before me, discovering 
 a manner, which indicates rather a determination 
 to persevere in the same line of conduct, than a 
 disposition to search out your failings and amend 
 them ; and this appearance of yours it is which 
 almost makes me despair. You are, Leonora, in 
 the very bloom and tenderness of youth, and 
 your feelings should be alive in an instant to
 
 LEONORA. 25 
 
 contrition, if you have done wrong. The old 
 hardened malefactor cannot do more than stand 
 before his judge and accuser with a stern, un- 
 blushing countenance : the young and tender, 
 we expect, are ready to sink into the earth, with 
 shame and sorrow, at a serious rebuke. During 
 the six years which I have lived with your 
 cousin, I never admonished her with half the 
 seriousness I now do you, but she was melted 
 into grief and contrition." 
 
 " Fanny is perfection," said Leonora, sulkily : 
 " she never does wrong." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond waited a minute to recover 
 from the pang which this observation created, 
 and then continued : — 
 
 " Your remark, Leonora, if my eyes were not 
 bent on your countenance, would show me how 
 little I have at present to hope from the impres- 
 sion my words may make. Fanny, any more than 
 myself, or any one upon earth, is not perfect: 
 she commits faults, and she runs into error of 
 thought, speech, and action, as much as the best 
 among us ; but then Fanny is at all times open to 
 conviction. She has not the arrogance to think 
 herself always right ; and when she is shown in 
 what respect she has deviated from the right 
 path, she is immediately anxious to make every
 
 26 LEONORA. 
 
 possible atonement : this is alFthat the best of 
 mothers can desire, the hearty wish to improve ; 
 for where the desire exists, it almost always is 
 accompanied by virtue and perseverance suf- 
 ficient to put it in execution." 
 
 " I dare say, ma'am," said Miss Clive, rather 
 abruptly, " that such trifles are not called faults 
 in " she hesitated. 
 
 " You mean, in Miss Beresford," continued 
 her preceptress : '' you are mistaken. What is 
 morally wrong in one lady must be so in another. 
 I know of no license for vice ; I will use a lighter 
 term, I will say impropriety, for particular per- 
 sons. All imperfection is wrong, and all real ex- 
 cellence must be right. Besides, what do you call 
 trifles ? Hear me, Leonora," continued Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, drawing her chair closer to her : " you find 
 me addressing you very seriously, and, perhaps, 
 more so than I at first intended, from the little 
 impression I perceive I have made upon you. It 
 is fit and right, if you do not already know it, 
 that I should inform you of the importance of 
 matters which you term trifles. You are, Leo- 
 nora, the eldest child and co-heiress of a man of 
 very considerable fortunes : you are young and 
 blooming, and when you mix with the world will 
 be told you are handsome : you are a girl of not
 
 LEONORA. 27 
 
 covetous disposition, at least I know you seldom 
 refuse money to any object of compassion : you 
 possess many good qualities ;" are what the world 
 calls accomplished ; and your deportment, when 
 any one is by whom you think worth pleasing, is 
 obliging, easy, and not ungraceful : you are gifted 
 with good understanding, and have a power of 
 memory which might, if you liked it, turn all the 
 advice of your friends to much profit. Added to 
 all this, you are a good housewife for so young a 
 person, and regulate the family concerns with 
 much credit to yourself and your father. What, 
 then, do you require besides ? You require, my 
 dear girl, more generosity of mind : you have 
 suffered Httle, mean, base feelings to creep in 
 upon you, and tarnish an agreeable whole : you 
 have, since your poor mamma's death, suffered 
 narrow ideas, and paltry fancies, to compress the 
 limits of your soul; and, instead of endeavouring 
 to enlarge your heart to noble and generous 
 views, you have, day by day, tortured your ima- 
 gination, and racked your mind, by endeavours to 
 contract its sphere of virtuous capability. If it be 
 really true that generous-minded persons have 
 large hearts, or if it were possible that the oppo- 
 site characters should be more lightly furnished 
 with this vital organ, I would almost venture to
 
 28 
 
 LEONORA. 
 
 say, that the disposition you seem determined to 
 cultivate must have lessened yours. One thing I 
 can truly aver, that since I have known you this 
 fault has gained strength daily: you have less 
 nobleness of mind now than you had six months 
 since, and, if you do not take advice, will have still 
 less in a twelvemonth ; and what a picture will you 
 present as your advance in life ! The thoughtless 
 generosity of youth we may hope to check by 
 time ; but how shall a narrow-minded, selfish ado- 
 lescence be amended, unless we begin seriously 
 to take the work in hand, and pursue it with a re- 
 solution which no difficulties can daunt? You call 
 these faults trifles, Leonora : at present they may 
 seem so. A physician said to a patient who de- 
 clared that she had only a cold, ' What, Madam, 
 would you have the plague ? ' meaning, no doubt, 
 that almost all serious illness begins by colds. So 
 I may say to you, when you tell me I reprimand 
 you only for trifles, ' What, Leonora, would you 
 have me look in you for crimes ? ' But see, my 
 dear, whether what I complain of is really so very 
 trifling : first, your papa fetches you to acquaint 
 you with a piece of news, which, in the common 
 course of things, I must know nearly as soon as 
 yourself. If you denied me the pleasure of hear- 
 ing this from your own lips, I have nothing to say
 
 LEONORA. 29 
 
 upon it, only, that I could have wished a pupil of 
 mine had thought me worthy of so small a mark 
 of confidence. But when I ask you, as is na- 
 tural I should, why you are so elated ? you im- 
 mediately reply, ' It is nothing.' Here your 
 conduct begins to be seriously \\Tong. A gener- 
 ous-minded girl might not have chosen to mention 
 the conversation which passed between her father 
 and herself, although it was evidently such as 
 the house might know, and such as the house- 
 keeper was obliged to be formally acquainted 
 with, almost immediately afterwards ; but such a 
 gu'l would never have said, ' It is nothing,' with 
 a contracted countenance, her heart and feelings 
 drawn suddenly, as it were, within herself, and 
 her voice and manner falling from high animation 
 to cold suspicion and reserve. To say nothing 
 pleases or displeases, when something has evidently 
 done so, is disingenuous ; in short, it is a falsehood. 
 But mark how one fault leads to another. You 
 have no sooner descended to two faults, than you 
 hesitate not to commit others : your conscience 
 reproached you with having done wrong, and, 
 therefore, dreading my admonitions, you keep 
 from my sight as much as possible, and then, 
 without any necessity, you make a false excuse, 
 and tell another untruth to clear yourself, by
 
 30. LEONORA. 
 
 which you only make all the rest of your conduct 
 even more culpable than it was before And in 
 the evening of this dark day you are so far from 
 being sorry for what you have done amiss upon 
 it, that you attempt to prove my remonstrances 
 are without reason, and that you are faultless." 
 
 Leonora was silent. 
 
 "Come, my young friend," said Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, taking her kindly by the hand, " rouse 
 yourself from these narrow-souled prejudices, 
 which take such possession of your heart and mind, 
 and which, to all judicious observers, must throw 
 your brilliant as well as solid qualities in the 
 shade. Be a good and generous-minded girl ; 
 resolve to be so, and do but think how grieved 
 your poor mamma would be were she now in ex- 
 istence, to find you not every thing she could 
 wish. Imagine the sorrows of your father, if 
 a breath of reproach should taint your young 
 character. Consider all this, my dear Leonora, 
 and let me be proud of you as my pupil, and 
 cherish you as my friend, and as a friend only do 
 I now speak to you. I have ceased to treat you 
 as a mere pupil ; nor can I wish, my love, to ar- 
 rogate to myself any authority or power over you 
 or your cousin beyond that which my age and 
 my friendship give me. Farther it is neither my
 
 LEONORA. ^ 31 
 
 inclination nor my province to venture, so dis- 
 miss every appreliension which debases you, and 
 makes all at your father's table uncomfortable. 
 Be happy, and frank, and cheerful, and we, your 
 friends, will be so too. Your advantages are 
 uncommon. Let your gratitude and contentment 
 be unequalled. And now, Leonora, I will not 
 longer detain you : go to your chamber, my dear, 
 and believe that your happiness and well-being 
 are among the first wishes of my heart." 
 
 Miss Clive rose. The tears had gushed from 
 her eyes, but she made no manner of reply to 
 the advice of her preceptress, yet she returned 
 the pressure of Mrs. Hammond's hand ; and this 
 lady, affected by these little marks of feeling, 
 leaned forward and kissed her cheek. They then 
 separated. Leonora, too proud to enter her 
 chamber, and face her cousin and maid with red 
 eyes, took her candle, and descending the great 
 staircase, went up by a private one, and entered 
 her dressing room, which was unoccupied. She 
 immediately locked the door which opened into 
 her chamber, and called out, " Bell, tell my 
 cousin that Mrs. Hammond is waiting for her." 
 
 Fanny wished her good night, and kissing Bell, 
 returned to the woman she loved best in the 
 world next to her mother; and on the narrow
 
 32 LEONORA. 
 
 sofa-bed, which she preferred, because it was near 
 her friend's, to a crimson satin which was pre- 
 pared for her at a distance, she enjoyed the 
 undisturbed sleep of happy unsuspecting youth, 
 and peace which was secured in a heart which 
 knew no guile.
 
 LEONORA. 33 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 But though Heav'n 
 
 In every breast hath sown these early seeds 
 Of love and admiration, yet in vain, 
 Without fair culture's kind parental aid. 
 
 Akenside. 
 
 During the following week Leonora appeared 
 more careful than usual in her behaviour ; and 
 Mrs. Hammond saw with pleasure how very 
 agreeable a change could make her. Leonora 
 was really a very lovely girl in appearance. She 
 was finely formed, had very regular features, and 
 a clear complexion ; but to those who examined 
 her narrowly, she had a small bend in the eye- 
 brows, which discovered peevishness, and a some- 
 thing of contraction in her lips, when the fit of 
 pride and prejudice was upon her, which gave 
 quite another effect to her countenance, and cer- 
 tainly made corresponding unfavourable impres- 
 sions on observers ; but when all was well in 
 Leonora's breast, she was an interesting, en- 
 gaging young woman. Unaccustomed to much 
 society, her manners were as yet, unformed ; her 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 LEONORA. 
 
 timidity was not, however, awkwardness ; nor did 
 it at all lessen her in the eyes of any. She was a 
 rustic ; but a rustic who wanted opportunity only 
 for polish. 
 
 Miss Beresford's manners were much more 
 formed than her cousin's. She had been educated 
 and refined by two sensible women ; and having 
 mixed with the best society, which her father 
 received in his own house, and having visited 
 occasionally in families by whom she was particu- 
 larly known in Dublin and esteem.ed, — having 
 been judiciously shown the world by degrees, 
 and not snatched at once from perfect seclusion 
 in the study to full publicity in the ball-room, 
 — -Miss Beresford was neither too much elated 
 by the attentions she received, nor too ardent 
 in the pursuits and enjoyments of fashionable life. 
 She was a gentle, sweet-tempered girl, of most 
 affectionate disposition, and possessed the virtue 
 of disinterestedness in a higher degree, as all 
 her friends remarked, than any young woman 
 they ever were acquainted with. She was hand- 
 some, but not strikingly so. On first acquaint- 
 ance, she attracted but little notice, although in 
 figure she was tall and elegant ; and the turn of 
 her shoulders, neck, and shape of her throat and 
 bosom, was most beautiful. Miss Beresford excited
 
 LEONORA. 35 
 
 no extraordinary regard on a first introduction, 
 till it was discovered how attentive a listener she 
 was to every egotist, and how rarely it happened 
 that she used the word / in her conversation, 
 which was untinctured by the smallest particle 
 of affectation, and which was easy, artless, and 
 at times, very animated ; but always benevolent 
 and charitable, when it fell upon the absent. 
 Persons who knew not her peculiar sweetness of 
 disposition parted from her, after a few hours' 
 conversation, more pleased with themselves than 
 they ever remembered to have been in their 
 lives ; and in proportion as they were satisfied 
 with their own wit, judgment, or learning, so 
 were they delighted with the young lady who 
 had made them feel so. Hence it arose, that in 
 Dublin, among the noble, the rich, and the ele- 
 gant, Miss Beresford was more universally well 
 spoken of than any young woman of fashion in 
 their whole circle. 
 
 Lady Royston, in the mean time, was slowly 
 advancing towards our party. She was expected 
 on the following morning, when a note arrived 
 from the eldest Miss Goldsmith, the physician's 
 daughter, to beg the favour of the two Misses 
 Clive and Miss Beresford's company to tea that 
 evening. Miss Goldsmith offered a thousand 
 D 2
 
 36 LEONORA. 
 
 apologies for giving so late an invitation ; but 
 hoped the ladies would excuse it, as the illness 
 of one of her sisters had prevented the family 
 from receiving any company till this day, which 
 was the last that her two brothers would stay 
 from Rugby school. 
 
 Leonora, as usual, seized the note as soon 
 as it was brought into the study, and read- 
 ing it to herself, immediately put it into her 
 pocket, telling the servant an answer should be 
 sent. 
 
 "What is it?" said Bell: " do acquaint me 
 directly, Leonora: tell me, what is it, I say?" 
 said this spoiled, peevish girl : " is it an invita- 
 tion for us to go any where ? I hope it is ; for 
 I am tired of this nasty study." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond smiled, and looked at Bell. 
 
 " And pray, my dear," enquired she, " why is 
 the study, nasty ? I imagined we were sitting in 
 a pretty clean room." 
 
 " Oh, I don't mean that the room is any thing 
 at all," said Bell ; " but it is so tiresome to 
 be so much in one place, learning lessons, and 
 all that." 
 
 " Then it seems the study is not nasty," said 
 Mrs. Hammond. " See now, Bell, how little we 
 can depend upon what you say. One minute you
 
 LEONORA. 37 
 
 assert a thing, which in the next you contradict. 
 You either speak, my dear, without allowing your- 
 self first to think, or else you say what you know 
 to be false. The truth is. Bell, that you do not 
 cultivate a contented mind, and, consequently, 
 any thing may fret and vex you. Were you to 
 inhabit a palace, and be visited, and to visit every 
 day of your existence, you would still be un- 
 happy, if you were not determined to make the 
 best of every thing, and to submit to over-ruling 
 events. Indeed, I question whether you would 
 not require more patience and fortitude in a 
 palace than in a gentleman's country-seat ; — 
 though considering that you have a fine bed of 
 down to sleep upon, soft white coverings, a warm, 
 carpeted bed-room, a wardrobe filled with hand- 
 some and good clothes, the best of food to eat, 
 many servants to wait upon you, a large garden 
 to walk in, and a fine park to gallop over, on the 
 back of the prettiest little pony in the' world, — 
 considering that your health is tolerable, and is 
 supported in a morning with a round of toast and 
 two cups of cocoa, and your mind refreshed with 
 a few lessons, some reading, some music, and some 
 drawing, — above all these, that you possess the 
 most indulgent of fathers, and a governess who is 
 earnestly anxious to make you an amiable, ac- 
 D 3
 
 38 LEONORA. 
 
 complished woman: — taking all these evils into 
 our consideration, we must — what shall I say, 
 Bell ? — pity you?" said Mrs. Hammond, smiling : 
 " however, my dear, whilst I think of it, do not 
 use the word nasty: it sounds ill in the vocabulary 
 of a young lady." 
 
 Bell could not help laughing, as she took a pin 
 and idly scratched the cover of a new lesson 
 book into stragghng crosses. " I mean," answered 
 she in a drawling tone, " that I can't bear music, 
 and drawing, and French, and lessons." 
 
 " Pray, Bell,'' enquired Mrs. Hammond, " is 
 there one useful occupation in the world which 
 you really do like ? " 
 
 " I don't know," said Bell ; " but I don't like 
 French and music." 
 
 " Then it is a pity, indeed," retorted Mrs Ham- 
 mond, " that such accomplishments should be 
 thrown away upon you. You do not take pleasure 
 in reading, though I choose for you the most 
 entertaining and instructive books ; and reading, 
 surely, every one, even a servant, attends to in 
 these days. I dare say there is not a woman in 
 the servants' hall who cannot read, and in high 
 life, there never were times when education was 
 more considered, or accomplishment esteemed 
 more necessary, than in the present. In short,
 
 LEONORA. 39 
 
 you must either resolve to possess information 
 sufficient to take part in the conversations and 
 resources of select company, or submit to be 
 thought an extraordinary vulgar, ill-bred person ; 
 for you may rely upon it, my dears, that an un- 
 instructed mind soon discovers itself in the man- 
 ners, and instantly in conversation." 
 
 Bell would have argued on, in her perverse 
 way, for an hour longer. But Leonora, who had 
 paid no attention whatever to the subject, as her 
 interests were not in any way affected by it, now 
 saw her father on the lawn, and sprang out of the 
 room to show him her invitation, and ask leave 
 to accept it. 
 
 Bell flew to the window, and immediately 
 called out, "I guess, I guess, we are invited out! 
 There ! now she is showing him the note : here 
 she comes, we shall go, we shall go." 
 
 Leonora bounced into the study and slammed 
 to the door. She sat down upon the first 
 chair she found, and pouting her lips, threw her 
 foot backwards and forwards, and then began 
 biting every one of her nails. In this inelegant 
 employment, Mrs. Hammond caught her, as she 
 looked up from tacking a little needle-work for 
 Bell. She had often remonstrated with Leonora, 
 upon the habit which she had of crossing her 
 D 4
 
 40 LEONORA. 
 
 feet, and biting her nails. This time she said 
 nothing; for, in truth, this lady was often so 
 fatigued with having to notice so many serious 
 faults, that she was necessitated to let others pass, 
 or she might have been talking from the begin- 
 ning to the end of the week, so much had these 
 two girls been neglected in the essential of their 
 education since their mother's death, although 
 their former governess had bestowed pains enough 
 on their accomplishments. Mrs. Hammond looked 
 up, therefore, for a rtioment, and then resumed 
 her work. Fanny was silent, but she appeared 
 concerned. Bell waited a minute, and then 
 finding it impossible to restrain herself longer, 
 said, " What is the matter, Leonora ? " 
 
 " Matter enough," said Leonora. 
 
 " Why then, I dare say," answered Bell, " we 
 are all invited out, and papa does not like us 
 to go." 
 
 " You know nothing about it. Miss," said Leo- 
 nora sharply; "don't be so curious. I never saw 
 such a girl in my life : you have more curiosity 
 than any one I ever heard of, and I will tell you 
 nothing." 
 
 Bell was silent; but a moment after, she 
 asked permission to fetch her work-bag, which
 
 LEONORA. 41 
 
 was in the drawing room, and when this was 
 granted, she ran away. 
 
 Now Leonora drew near Mrs. Hammond, for 
 she wanted a confidant, and she was vexed with 
 her sister, and not so well pleased with her 
 cousin, since Mrs. Hammond had praised her, 
 even so cautiously, the week before. 
 
 " Only think ma'am," said she, " I am invited 
 out this evening, and papa is so tiresome, he 
 won't let me go ; he says the four coach-horses 
 are gone to meet Lady Royston, and we cannot 
 have them, just as if we could not have post- 
 horses to the chariot. I am sure I wish my 
 aunt had stayed where she has been living all 
 these years ; I can't think what she comes here 
 for. We go out so seldom, and now to be re- 
 fused, it is so provoking of him." 
 
 " Recollect my dear," said Mrs. Hammond, 
 " of whom you are speaking." 
 
 " Well, ma'am, I know, " answered Leonora ; 
 " but is it not a great disappointment ? " 
 
 " First tell me, from whom is the invitation ?" 
 said Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 " Why," said Leonora, half smiling, and looking 
 at Fanny, " from Miss Goldsmith, that odd girl 
 that I was taking off to you, Fanny, the other 
 day, the Doctor's daughter. It is the strangest
 
 42 LEONORA. 
 
 note you ever read in your life," continued Miss 
 Clive, laughing outright, " and I will show it to 
 you. Stay, here it is : I will just read it as she 
 speaks, so hesitatingly, and I do believe she is 
 the awkwardest girl in the world, — woman, I 
 mean, for I am sure, she is full three-and-twenty 
 if she is a day." 
 
 " Leonora, Leonora," said Mrs. Hammond, 
 gravely, " if this young lady is so awkward and 
 contemptible as to be a subject of ridicule, how 
 can you possibly feel so disappointed at not being 
 permitted to go and visit her ? I thought you 
 had been much attached to Miss Goldsmith : 
 you always seem delighted to meet her, and 
 seize her arm, and certainly have persuaded her 
 that you admire and regard her." 
 
 " La ! ma'am," said Leonora, " she is no very 
 great favourite of mine : one must be civil, being 
 neighbours ; besides, my father is very partial to 
 Dr. Goldsmith, and thinks he is the cleverest 
 physician in the whole county." 
 
 " Leonora," replied Mrs Hammond, " there is a 
 wide difference between being unneighbourly and 
 being ungenerous. We must, of course, like 
 some persons whom we visit better than others, 
 and this we may show by assuming a different 
 manner towards them, without in the least
 
 ].EONORA. 43 
 
 hurting their feehngs. We are not obhged to 
 stretch out our arms to shake every lady's hand, 
 although we may feel it necessary to be civil, and 
 return the salute of all, of a certam rank, in the 
 vicinity. To raise a confidence, and to betray 
 it, is the meanest act of the soul : let me hope in 
 your case it is thoughtlessness alone. I should 
 be concerned, indeed, if I could imagine that you 
 gave this poor young lady reason to believe you 
 had both esteem and regard for her, when you 
 really feel neither the one nor the other." 
 
 Leonora did not know what to say ; but as she 
 seldom gave up any point, she was going to make 
 some random answer, when Bell came in with a 
 triumphant countenance. 
 
 '• I have found it all out," said she : " I have 
 seen papa, and have asked him what it was, 
 and he told me the whole. There, Leonora ! 
 there ! — Miss Goldsmith — horses — aunt — 
 invitation, — now do I not know ?" 
 
 " You are a little aggravating thing," replied 
 Leonora, who was of rather a hasty temper, and 
 she lifted up her hand, and gave her a push 
 across the room, at which Bell screamed so loud, 
 that ^Irs. Hammond rose up hastily, and was 
 obliged to exert her whole authority in insisting 
 upon silence. Leonora now began to weep for
 
 44 LEONORA. 
 
 vexation, for she had not one person to fly to in 
 her distresses, having offended every one. She 
 was going to her chamber to hide herself from 
 all eyes, when her father's tap was again heard at 
 the door. 
 
 " My loves," said this kind gentleman, " you 
 shall have horses : Jack shall drive very slowly, 
 and then Miss Watkyn will be able to go : it can't 
 hm-t her for this once," continued the Colonel. 
 
 " Oh, thank you, papa, thank you," cried both 
 the girls, never once considering that the fa- 
 vourite old mare, which had that day been doc- 
 tored for a severe cough, was to be taken from 
 its warm stable to drag a party of females to 
 persons for whom they scarcely entertained any 
 regard. 
 
 " You must be content to go gently, my dears," 
 said the Colonel ; " for I should be grieved to 
 death, pretty near, if any harm should happen to 
 the creature : she saved my life, and I must take 
 care of hers as long as I am able." 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir," answered Leonora, shutting the 
 door, and then turning round, said, " One would 
 think it was a human creature, papa makes such 
 a fuss about the mare." 
 
 " Did not the Colonel say she saved his life?" 
 asked Fanny.
 
 LEONORA. 45 
 
 " Yes, something of the sort," replied Leonora. 
 " She ran off with him when he was once sur- 
 prised and wounded by a party of — I don't 
 know what — enemies, in a skirmish somewhere, 
 and though she was much hurt, she never stopped 
 till she took papa to — , I really don't know what 
 place ; but he has been extravagantly fond of the 
 creature ever since, though it is twenty and more 
 years ago." 
 
 " Your papa, then," remarked Mrs. Hammond, 
 " must be possessed of a heart which does him 
 honour. I admire his gratitude, and should like 
 to hear the particulars of the story." 
 
 " Dear ! have you never heard it ?" said Leo- 
 nora : " he has told it a thousand times in my 
 hearing; but I am so heartily tired of it, I never 
 attend to him ; indeed I never listen to whatever 
 people are talking about, unless I am interested 
 in it. — I mean," said Miss Clive, blushing at having 
 so fully expressed her thoughts, and perceiving 
 that the eyes of Fanny and Mrs. Hammond were 
 fixed upon her with surprise and earnestness ; " I 
 mean — I really hardly know what I was talking 
 about " 
 
 " Let us suppose and hope this is even so," 
 interrupted Mrs. Hammond ; " for the bare idea
 
 46 LEONORA. 
 
 of the contrary would be too painful. And now, 
 my dears, to the business of the toilet : let me 
 behold three cheerful faces, whose corresponding 
 persons are attired with neatness, propriety, and 
 even elegance, but no ostentation. You have a 
 right, at your time of life, to borrow what aids 
 you may from dress, the materials and colours 
 of which demand the exercise of your taste and 
 ingenuity ; but when a lady is once adorned for 
 company, let her bear her ornaments as a natural 
 gift, to which she is accustomed, and let her be 
 as little anxious to show off her diamonds, fea- 
 thers, or laces, as she would put forth her white 
 hand for mere display, or to point out to others 
 the fine arch of her brow. Gracefulness is the 
 result of elegant habits, — habit is action without 
 pre-thinking. No man speaks so ill as he who 
 long considers what he shall say in company. 
 No beauty is observed so much to her disad- 
 vantage as she who is at pains to attract notice, 
 in however small a degree ; in short, the more 
 we aim at perfection in private, the more na- 
 turally will it belong to us in public. Good-bye, 
 ray children, — let me see you when you are 
 ready." 
 Mrs. Hammond then opened her desk to write
 
 LEONORA. 47 
 
 a letter to her only son, a fine young midshipman, 
 who was on board a man of war in the Tex el ; 
 and the young people tripped gaily to their 
 chambers.
 
 48 
 
 LEONORA. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Look within, and learn 
 
 That nature often on the mind bestows 
 
 What she denies the face. Village Curate. 
 
 In something less than an hour, Leonora and her 
 sister called for Fanny, who was ready in half 
 that time, and had amused herself with a book 
 till they came, whefii they all descended and 
 entered the study together. 
 
 Leonora planted herself before Mrs. Hammond 
 to be noticed, as she let a rich India shawl slip 
 negligently off her shoulder, and eyed herself oc- 
 casionally in the glass. Her preceptress looked 
 up, and after a moment's observation said, 
 
 " My dear, are you not rather too much 
 dressed for so young a party ? " 
 
 "Why, ma'am, I have only a plain India muslin, 
 and my old white satin slip, said Leonora." 
 
 " Old ! " s^id Mrs. Hammond, " I thought you 
 had worn it but once." 
 
 " It is not new, at any rate, I mean," answered 
 Miss Clive, folding her shawl tight round her, and
 
 LEONORA. 49 
 
 showing much carelessness ; '•' but it does not 
 much signify what we go there in." 
 
 " You do not appear to think so, Leonora," 
 said Mrs. Hammond, " for you are very hand- 
 somely dressed ; I think too much so for the 
 occasion. Come here, Bell, let me look at you. 
 \Vhat ! have you been crying ? Why are your 
 eyes so red?" 
 
 " Because," said Bell, " my shoes are so small 
 they hurt me." 
 
 " Let me look ; white satin ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Hammond ; " why, my dear, it is ridiculous to go 
 in white satin shoes to a young girl's tea-party. 
 These shoes did extremely well for the dance 
 you went to, but they are not suited to your 
 present visit ; at any rate they are now too small, 
 and you will be uncomfortable the whole even- 
 ing in them ; they cramp and hurt you, and 
 cannot be worn again : girls of your age soon 
 outgrow their articles of clothing, and we must 
 be content with the loss. Go and change them, 
 my dear ; your plain black kid will look very 
 weU." 
 
 " My sister told me to put them on, and would 
 make me," said Bell, " though I said they hurt 
 me." 
 
 " Why, is it a particular invitation?" enquired 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 LEONORA. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond. " Is there to be a dance, Leo- 
 nora ? If so, Fanny must make some little 
 alteration in her dress. She is very neat; but 
 perhaps has not a pair of pleasant shoes for 
 dancing." 
 
 " Dear ma'am," answered Leonora, " dance ! 
 why such a thing was never at all mentioned." 
 
 But although the word dance was not men- 
 tioned, Leonora felt almost sure that there would 
 be one by the particular wording of the note, 
 which she very well understood ; but she did not 
 care to make all her suspicions known, for rea- 
 sons which hardly assumed any form in her 
 young mind, but which, however, she unfor- 
 tunately allowed to influence her conduct. 
 
 " My shoes will do very well, thank you very 
 kindly," said Fanny, sweetly smiling : " I never 
 was very fond of dancing, though I am an Irish 
 girl ; and it is almost as agreeable to see others 
 dance as to dance one's self." 
 
 " Well, Fanny," replied Mrs. Hammond, " I 
 know you speak as you think ; and if you feel 
 pleasure in seeing others enjoy themselves, I can 
 only say, Long may it be so. Now for dinner, and 
 then to your party. Be merry all, and be wise," 
 said she, patting Bell's back, who was tripping 
 into the dining-room with the pair of easy shoes
 
 LEONORA. 51 
 
 which she had exchanged for the showy tight 
 ones. 
 
 At seven, the chariot came round. The Co- 
 lonel put on his hat, and went out to stroke his 
 favourite, to see that she was wrapped up in her 
 woollen cloth, and to give a particular charge 
 to his groom, who drove, to be very careful of 
 her. He then handed the young ladies into the 
 carriage, and waited on the step till the vehicle 
 had turned the park-gates. 
 
 '' She should not have gone, poor thing," said 
 the Colonel to himself, " if either of the four 
 hunters had ever been iu harness ; but," added 
 he, "better -kill my old horse than let the girls 
 run any risk." 
 
 This reflection satisfied him, and he returned 
 to the dining-room and his wine, whilst Mrs. 
 Hammond ordered her tea in the study. 
 
 Jack drove very carefully, and in twenty minutes 
 the three young ladies alighted at Dr. Goldsmith's, 
 and were shown into an ante-room, in which was 
 a pretty looking young woman pinning on the 
 names to every lady's shawl, as she delivered it. 
 
 " Why, I hear a violin ! — two ! " said Leonora : 
 " well, I declare it is to be a dance." 
 
 " Then Mrs. Hammond was right," observed 
 Fanny undesignedly. 
 
 E 2 
 
 m^^^^^^,. 
 
 Of \ait*o'^
 
 52 LEONORA. 
 
 Leonora's conscience immediately reproached 
 her, and she sharply said, " How do you mean 
 right, Fanny? Do you think I knew of the 
 dance ?" 
 
 " No, surely," answered Fanny; " but she hinted 
 that it might be one." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I remember," replied Miss Clive 
 coolly ; and then she moved to the drawing-room, 
 whither the footman led the way. 
 
 No sooner was Miss Clive's name announced, 
 than a young woman stepped forward from the 
 little throng amongst which she had been stand- 
 ing, to receive her and her party. 
 
 Miss Goldsmith, for it was the eldest daughter 
 of the physician, took the hand which Leonora 
 held out to her, and shook Bell's also. She then 
 courtesied to Fanny, and looked to Leonora for an 
 introduction of her visitor, whom she had asked 
 under that title ; for Colonel Clive lived so retired, 
 had seen so few friends since his niece's arrival, 
 and these chiefly consisting of old persons, or 
 gentlemen, that it was not generally known who 
 she was ; and as neither Leonora nor Fanny had 
 been introduced into society, so they did not 
 visit or receive visits from any of the neighbour- 
 hood, excepting now and then from two or three 
 young people of their own ages.
 
 LEONORA. 53 
 
 Fanny was a little embarrassed, but returned 
 the salute of her host, as she cast a look at her 
 cousin, to remind her of what was expected ; but 
 Leonora was too much occupied with herself to 
 think of any body or thing besides. " Oh, there 
 is your sister; I must speak to her," said she, as 
 she put her hand within Miss Goldsmith's, and 
 led her away. Fanny was going to take Bell's 
 arm, but this wild girl spied out a young rich 
 heiress about her own age, a Miss De Willoughby, 
 of whom she thought she was extremely fond, 
 having met her at three Christmas dances in the 
 house of a lady who generally mustered the 
 children of the vicinity once a year, and Bell was 
 in a minute at her side. Fanny was going to 
 follow her, but perceived there was no room upon 
 the settee which they occupied. She, therefore, 
 hastily seated herself in the chair behind her, 
 which happened to be close to a young woman 
 of a very pleasing countenance, but greatly de- 
 formed in person. The two young people looked 
 at each other for a few minutes, and with that 
 kind of complacency which strangers feel, who 
 are not displeased with appearances, yet hesitate 
 to break silence. 
 
 At length Miss Palmerstone, for so the stranger 
 was called, ventured to speak. " Your sister," 
 E 3
 
 54 LEONORA. 
 
 said she, " seems so entirely taken up with Miss 
 De Willoughby that she has forgotten you." 
 
 " Do you mean," said Fanny, modestly, " the 
 young lady who stood by me just now?" 
 
 " Yes," replied Miss Palmerstone, " she on the 
 settee, the youngest Miss Clive, I presume, as I 
 heard your names announced." 
 
 " That is Colonel Clive's youngest daughter," 
 said Fanny, " and the eldest is at the head of 
 the room, a very fine young woman in white," 
 added she, with much animation : — "I am only 
 their cousin." 
 
 " Excuse me," replied the stranger, " but I do 
 not think your name was mentioned to the young- 
 lady of the house ; for I sat by the door in this 
 spot, and listened, and hearing no other than 
 Clive, I imagined there must be three sisters." 
 
 " No," answered Fanny, smiling, " I believe 
 it was forgotten just then. My name is Beres- 
 ford." 
 
 " And mine is Palmerstone," said the lady : 
 " my brother and I have been strangers to this 
 neighbourhood for some years during a residence 
 in Lisbon, on account of my mother's health. 
 We now have the misfortune to be orphans, and 
 are come to settle in the old family residence, 
 which has been too long neglected not to occupy
 
 LEONORA. 55 
 
 US fully in the arrangements and ordering. Miss 
 Goldsmith is a young lady of whom my departed 
 mother always spoke very highly ; and when she 
 mentioned to me yesterday her desire of having 
 a dance for her young friends, I invited myself 
 to sit in one comer, and look on, not to dance, 
 for you may easily perceive that that amuse- 
 ment cannot ever be suited to me, deforaied as I 
 am." 
 
 Fanny was charmed with so much good-hu- 
 moured frankness, and replied in a very animated 
 and delicate manner, which drew a suitable return 
 from jMiss Palmerstone ; and in a very short time 
 both ladies thought of little else than the plea- 
 sure they derived from being seated near each 
 other. 
 
 Miss Goldsmith having made the whole 
 circuit of the room, and said something kind or 
 civil to every boy or girl in it, stopped at the two 
 last of her visitors, whom she observed, with a 
 little surprise and much pleasure, to be engaged 
 in conversation with the ease of acquaintances. 
 
 " I am extremely happy that you have in that 
 lady recognised a friend," said she to Miss Pal- 
 merstone. 
 
 " I esteem myself very fortunate in the same 
 circumstance," answered Miss Palmerstone, 
 e4
 
 56 LEONORA. 
 
 archly smiling at Fanny : " I believe my friend 
 has not been regularly introduced to you ; allow 
 me to present Miss Beresford, the niece of 
 Colonel Clive." 
 
 Fanny rose to return the fresh salutations of 
 Miss Goldsmith ; and, as the business of tea and 
 coffee was now over, that young woman sought 
 out her elder brother, a handsome lad of seven- 
 teen, and introducing him to Fanny, he immedi- 
 ately requested her to dance ; and as she could 
 not refuse so marked a civility, the young gentle- 
 man led her out of the room to that adjoining, in 
 which sat the fiddlers scraping and tuning, and 
 waiting a command to begin their office. 
 
 The company immediately paired off, and fol- 
 lowed the leaders. Miss Clive had for partner 
 the second of Dr. Goldsmith's sons, a steady, 
 plodding lad at Greek and Latin, but a very bad 
 dancer, and one who had nothing to say for him- 
 self:' he was continually either pulling up his 
 gloves, folding his handkerchief, or screwing and 
 twisting it round the end of his thumb, till the 
 glove was not fit to be seen or touched. All this 
 Leonora perceived in a moment, and looked 
 about to learn the fate of her friends. As there 
 were very few young gentlemen, some of the 
 girls danced with acquaintances of their own sex.
 
 LEONORA. 57 
 
 Bell stood up, very well satisfied, with Miss De 
 Willoughby, who had taken her, because she 
 could get nobody else. 
 
 Leonora saw them both about half-way in the 
 set. What was her surprise and disappointment 
 on observing Miss Beresford at the very top, 
 leading off with the Doctor's eldest son, who was 
 a fine, handsome youth, whilst his stupid brother 
 put himself at the very bottom, with the best 
 dressed and most beautiful girl in the room ! 
 
 " What an ape thou art ! " thought Miss Clive, 
 as she put herself most unwillingly opposite to 
 her silent partner ; " and what an extraordinary 
 fellow th^ brother is, to prefer my cousin to me." 
 
 " Poussette ! " cried Bell, who with Miss De 
 Willoughby had danced down to her sister. 
 
 Leonora held out her hands to her partner, 
 with no very pleasant looks. But poor Oliver 
 happened to be gazing at the lustre above him, 
 and watching a Harry-long-legs, as the large in- 
 sect is called, which was just hovering round one 
 of the wax-lights : he neither heard his partner 
 call, nor saw that she held out her hands to 
 dance poussette. Leonora, perfectly disgusted 
 with him, did not condescend to speak, and she 
 went through the same figure, with several
 
 58 LEONORA. 
 
 couples, without him ; when Mrs. Goldsmith, 
 who had stood by, seeking out her eight chil- 
 dren from among the merry little ones, presently 
 discovered Oliver, with open mouth, still gazing 
 upward on the spider, which had now lost both 
 wings, and was quivering in the agonies of death 
 in the boiling wax. The good lady came up, and 
 whispered something in her son's ear, which 
 made him recover his senses ; as he said, " Why 
 mother, first I wished to save poor Harry, but 
 it was out of my reach ; and next, I began to 
 consider what the insect could discover in a 
 candle which resembled any object in nature. If 
 instinct, as my tutor says, does all for wild 
 creatures, how came this one to approach the 
 most artificial thing in the world, and fall a prey 
 to it ? Food is the great temptation : could it 
 expect to find food there ? It might feel warmth, 
 but not such warmth as its sun gives : if instinct 
 
 does all for them, why " 
 
 " Oliver, my dear," said his mother, a little 
 impatiently, " this is no place or time to consider 
 of such things. I cannot in any way assist you ; you 
 must ask your father to-morrow: — pray, my dear, 
 mind what you are about. Miss Clive will be 
 offended :- — you pay her no attention."
 
 LEONORA. 59 
 
 " Indeed, mother, I can't bear dancing," whis- 
 pered the boy : " I don't know a bit which way 
 to go." 
 
 " Do your best, child," answered Mrs. Gold- 
 smith, aloud : " your partner will be so obliging 
 as to excuse your deficiencies, I have no doubt." 
 
 This was said for Leonora to hear, and she did 
 hear it, but she pretended to be looking another 
 way ; which as the anxious mother perceived, she 
 walked gently round, and as INIiss Clive moved 
 up to the very top of the dance she contrived to 
 seize an opportunity to make an apology for her 
 son, which was tolerably well received ; and 
 Oliver, knowing his mother's wishes, resolved to 
 do his best. At length he set off, to lead down, 
 but his step was such as to set all time and tune 
 at defiance : he certainly did exert himself to go 
 through the different slides, bends, and hops, as 
 he had been taught at school; but neither his 
 ear nor his fancy assisted him : he ran down the 
 middle, when he should have swung corners, and 
 as often laid hold of the partner of another as of 
 his own ; in short, he acquitted himself so ill, 
 that Leonora abruptly left the set, and with 
 tears in her eyes sat down on a sofa at the end 
 of the room, concealing her vexation behind her 
 fan, which she used with great violence. Miss
 
 60 LEONORA. 
 
 Goldsmith, who, among several little imperfect 
 dancers, did not particularly distinguish her 
 brother, immediately went up to Leonora, and 
 enquired if she was ill. 
 
 " It is nothing of any consequence," said Miss 
 Clive, " I am only rather warm." 
 
 " Let me order you a little negus or lemon- 
 ade," said this good-natured young lady. " Shall 
 we return to the drawing-room, and sit there 
 awhile? — Perhaps you are not fond of dancing." 
 
 " I am particularly fond of it," replied Leonora. 
 
 " Then it is a little indisposition, perhaps," re- 
 turned the other. " I will step into my mother's 
 room, and fetch her smelling bottle." 
 
 As Miss Goldsmith went away, the dance 
 finished, and Fanny, who had suddenly missed 
 her cousin, now joined her, and very kindly en- 
 quired into the cause of her sitting down. Leo- 
 nora was so provoked at the question, and the 
 triumph she fancied she saw in her cousin's 
 manner, that she made no answer, but turned 
 her head away. Fanny now saw she was of- 
 fended, and did not repeat the question ; yet was 
 she a little hurt, that her cousin should forget 
 herself before so many observers. She was pre- 
 paring another observation, when Miss Gold- 
 smith returned with the salts.
 
 LEONORA. 61 
 
 " Sister," whispered a little rosy girl, " Miss 
 Palmerstone wishes to speak a word to you." 
 
 " Directly," said the young lady, and went up 
 to Miss Palmerstone, who had taken possession 
 of a corner, and from it had observed all the 
 causes, whilst others less penetrating, or less 
 impartial, only witnessed eflPects. 
 
 " My dear Miss Goldsmith," whispered she, 
 " your guest wants no smelling bottle : she has a 
 fine person, and she wishes to show it off with a 
 good partner. My httle friend Oliver has only 
 learned dancing six months, I think you said, — 
 besides he is only fifteen." 
 
 " Good gracious !" said the physician's daughter, 
 " I wonder it never struck me before : I don't 
 believe my brother is a very good dancer. Really 
 I am very sorry." 
 
 " Never mind," said Miss Palmerstone, smiling, 
 " those fine eyes will sparkle again if you will 
 give the feet an opportunity for action." 
 
 " Why it is but a children's dance," said Miss 
 Goldsmith, " and it was very obliging in Miss 
 Clive to come : I really only expected Miss Bell 
 and her visitor, who, I thought, was very little 
 older than that young lady. We have really no 
 very good dancer in the room. W^hat shall I do 
 for a partner. Miss Palmerstone ? "
 
 62 LEONORA. 
 
 " Why, there is your father's ward making his 
 appearance," said her friend : " he is a fine, hand- 
 some young man, and I dare say dances well." 
 
 " He does, extremely well," said Miss Gold- 
 smith. " How fortunate ! he declared he would 
 not come in to-night. My brother shall introduce 
 him immediately ; and I will desire Oliver to 
 make an excuse for himself, which he will readily 
 do, as he only danced at my request." 
 
 Miss Goldsmith immediately spoke to he!r 
 younger brother, and despatched the elder on his 
 embassy. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe, the physician's rich ward, at first 
 refused to stand up ; but when the lady was 
 pointed out to him, he immediately advanced to 
 her. Oliver quickly obtained the dismission he 
 sought. Mr. Thorpe was intVoduced in his place. 
 The honour he solicited, in due ball-room form, 
 was conferred on him, and Leonora was led in 
 triumph to the head of the dance. Miss Palmer- 
 stone judged right ; for the young lady's eye 
 sparkled, and her lip smiled, and her slender foot 
 scarce touched the floor in its pride. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe, with the ease of a fashionable 
 man, enquired the name of the dance Miss 
 Clive would be pleased to call, and as soon as 
 Leonora had, with a fluttering heart and timid
 
 LEOXORA. 63 
 
 accent, named several, and decided on one, the 
 young gentleman clapped his new white-gloved 
 hands together, with an air of great authority, 
 which made all the children start, and roused the 
 two fiddlers ; and as soon as the music sounded, 
 he and his blooming partner tripped away. 
 
 " Now tell me," said Miss Palmerstone to the 
 physician's daughter, as Mr. Thorpe led his 
 elegant partner to her seat ; now tell me, Lydia, 
 if your smelling bottle is necessary ? A looker- 
 on, my dear, sees more they say of the game 
 than those who play. This ]Miss Clive is a very 
 lovely girl ; but I see she thinks a good deal of 
 herself. I observed it from the first : she never, 
 you know, introduced her cousin, who is much 
 more a girl to my taste than she is, though not 
 half so handsome." • 
 
 " She is young, poor thing," said Lydia Gold- 
 smith. 
 
 " So is Miss Beresford," said her friend. I never 
 saw either to speak to till to-night. I have no 
 reason to judge but from appearances." 
 
 " They are often deceitful," said the kind- 
 hearted Lydia. 
 
 " They are so," answered Miss Palmerstone, 
 mildly, " for which reason I suspend all further 
 opinion till a future opportunity."
 
 64* LEONORA. 
 
 Fanny, who with a new pair of tight shoes on 
 danced with much less than her usual grace, 
 although she had a very tolerable partner in the 
 doctor's amiable son, now returned in perfect 
 good humour to Miss Palmerstone, and declined 
 every offer the rest of the evening. 
 
 At half past eleven a nice supper was ready, 
 and at twelve. Colonel Clive's carriage was an- 
 nounced." 
 
 " Cannot we have one more dance, madam ? " 
 said Mr. Thorpe to Mrs. Goldsmith : " the mu- 
 sicians are ready (for he had detained them), 
 and surely Miss Clive you will not desert us so 
 soon." 
 
 " Why I really don't know," said Mrs. Gold- 
 smith; " if the young people very much wish it, 
 but some of the carriages and servants have been 
 waiting this half hour. I am only fearful on 
 account of their parents." 
 
 " Oh, they will be excused, all excused," said 
 Mr. Thorpe, offering his hand to Leonora, who 
 rose to be conducted to the ball-room. 
 
 " My dear Leonora," whispered Fanny, " the 
 poor old mare, you know, cousin, perhaps she will 
 take cold : the Colonel gave us a charge." 
 
 " Well, Fanny," cried her cousin, " that is my 
 concern, you know. To be sure, papa is anxious
 
 - LEONORA. 65 
 
 about her : perhaps we had better go," said she, 
 hesitating. 
 
 " There's a dear girl ;" said Fanny, " then we 
 will be ready instantly." 
 
 Leonora explained the matter in question to 
 Mr. Thorpe, who laughed outright at her idea 
 of considering her horses. " Why they wait for 
 hours in town at all the places of amusement, and 
 they get coughs, and then they are cured, and 
 what does it signify ? " said he. 
 
 Leonora was half persuaded to stay. Fanny, 
 in great alarm, now said, " But I beheve, sir, 
 you do not know that the Colonel has, to oblige 
 us, put a favourite animal in the carriage, which 
 has been very much indisposed, and it would 
 grieve him beyond any thing to lose her, which 
 he may do if we keep her in the cold." 
 
 " Well, madam, if it is so, I must give up the 
 point," said Mr. Thorpe, and with this and a few 
 compliments, which he whispered, to Leonora's 
 great confusion, he went with her to pay her 
 respects to the family, and then handed her down 
 stairs, whither Miss Goldsmith had outrun them, 
 to see that the ladies, particularly Leonora, were 
 well cloaked and defended from the night air. 
 The two Miss Clives and their cousin then entered 
 the carriage, and it drove home.
 
 66 LEONORA. 
 
 " Why this is being more than good, my 
 child," said the Colonel, as he kissed his daugh- 
 ters. *' Leonora, my darling, I am more obliged 
 to you than I can express for your attention to 
 my wishes, in considering the poor beast. Why 
 it is very little more than three quarter of an hour 
 since I heard the carriage drive away. Good 
 girl ! Fanny, how are you, my dear?" 
 
 Leonora, like some other girls of the age, re- 
 ceived all this praise, accompanied with the 
 caresses of her father. She was as yet unprac- 
 tised in artifice, and she blushed, but not a 
 syllable passed her lips. The praise, however, 
 was irksome to her : she tried to change the sub- 
 ject, but her father resumed it again and again. 
 
 " It is so tiresome of him to go on so whilst 
 Fanny is by," thought she ; but Fanny was per- 
 fectly satisfied, and in the best spirits ; for, as the 
 poet says. 
 
 Great minds like heaven are pleased with doing good, 
 Tho' the ungrateful subjects of their favours 
 Are barren in return. 
 
 The young people soon left the Colonel, and 
 went to Mrs. Hammond, who had sat up for 
 them, and now very kindly enquired into the 
 pleasures of the evening.
 
 LEONORA. 67 
 
 Leonora was not quite satisfied with herself, 
 for her conscience whispered that she had not 
 been quite generous to her cousin. She there- 
 fore talked a great deal to hide her feelings, and, 
 as is the case with talkers, said more than she 
 had intended. For some little, lurking reason, 
 she had resolved not to speak of Mr. Thorpe and 
 his attentions ; but now she perpetually named 
 him, and even repeated the slightest of some of 
 his compliments, immediately laughing, and 
 adding, " What a silly man he must be ! " 
 
 Not a sentence that she uttered in this un- 
 guarded moment escaped her experienced pre- 
 ceptress. She at present made no remark, but 
 she laid up all she heard for a future improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Bell then talked very loudly of her adventures, 
 gave a list of all the dishes on the supper-table : 
 declared she had tasted of eight different niceties, 
 and that Miss De Willoughby was very much dis- 
 improved, and was grown very cross, when she 
 could not have every thing her own way. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond would not damp the evening's 
 entertainment by any remonstrance on her ex- 
 cesses, but, repeating her new word, laughed, and 
 turned to Miss Beresford. 
 F 2
 
 68 LEONORA. 
 
 " Well, Fanny, what have you to say ? " 
 
 " That I have spent a very pleasant evening," 
 answered she : " I was obliged in a manner to 
 dance one set, but after having done so, I pre- 
 ferred sitting by a most amiable, clever young 
 lady, who came to look on. I sat by her also at 
 supper, and I assure you I was quite sorry when 
 she wished us all good night, which she did a 
 little time before we came away ; though Miss 
 Goldsmith, who took her place by my side, is a 
 most obliging, good-natured young woman, and 
 seemed all anxiety to gratify every one of her 
 company." 
 
 " Yes," interrupted Leonora, rather impatiently, 
 " she is very good-natured, but what a figure she 
 was. I never saw any thing so ill as her head 
 was dressed : she has such a way of flattening 
 her curls down, and she just plaits her hair behind 
 and twists it up, and never seems to care whether 
 it looks well or ill." 
 
 " Young people should not be careless of ap- 
 pearance," remarked Mrs. Hammond, " though it 
 is a fault to carry their solicitude upon it too 
 far. I have heard Colonel Clive observe that 
 Miss Goldsmith is very neat in her person, and a 
 very nice girl. I am surprised to hear you say 
 the reverse, Leonora."
 
 LEONORA. 69 
 
 "Why, I don't know, ma'am," replied Miss 
 Clive ; *' in the first place, I don't think my father 
 any great judge of ladies' dress, and in the next, 
 he is so partial to Dr. Goldsmith, that I suppose 
 he is wrapped up in all the family." 
 
 " Men, in general," said Mrs Hammond, " are 
 esteemed very good judges of female propriety, 
 both in dress and manner ; and although they are 
 not expected to say that such a lady's appearance 
 is elegant, because her gown is in this fashion, 
 and her ringlets disposed in that, any more than 
 they are gifted with the discrimination and nice 
 sense of delicacy, which will immediately help 
 them to suggest why one lady's manner and 
 address are dignified, modest, and prepossessing, 
 whilst those of another lady are haughty, in- 
 elegant, or constrained, yet they can directly 
 discover the truth, and so form their opinions. It 
 is not their talent or their wish to seek for the 
 minute points, and little slender associations, 
 which make up the perfect or imperfect lady ; this 
 they leave to the discernment of women, mothers, 
 preceptresses, and pupils, whilst they themselves 
 are satisfied to admire, where admiration is due, 
 and to measure off scanty portions of esteem and 
 respect for those women whose conduct seems to 
 F 3
 
 70 LEONORA. 
 
 require from them no further homage." As the 
 lady said this, she gave a taper to her young 
 friends, and to prevent any further argument, 
 led the way to their chambers.
 
 LEONORA. 71 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 WTio would not laugh, if such a man there be? 
 Who would not weep, if Atticus were he? 
 
 Pope. 
 
 The next morning at breakfast Colonel Clive 
 again thanked his daughter for her attention to 
 his wishes; and Mrs. Hammond was surprised to 
 observe that Leonora received her father's praises 
 with a confusion that she was not accustomed to 
 show upon such occasions. Fanny, too, did not 
 join in the commendation, though with perfect 
 good humour she sat by, smiling and talking to 
 Bell ; and never did the lady know her beloved 
 pupil to be silent when she had an opportunity 
 for a kind word. The Colonel left the room to 
 fetch the newspaper from his library and then 
 Mrs. Hammond said, " Well, Leonora, my dear, 
 if you deserve the praise your father gives you 
 enjoy it, and may it render you as happy as the 
 consciousness of duty performed can do ; but, if 
 any other has the merit which is allotted to you, 
 remember that you would reap ten times more 
 F 4?
 
 72 LEONORA. 
 
 honour in at once acknowledging the obligation ; 
 for, as I have often repeated, 
 
 Praise undeserved is censure in disguise. 
 
 I do not say this is the case, my dear ; you 
 know, and I leave it to your integrity to answer 
 truly : I ask you no questions, nor do I wish to 
 learn how the matter may be ; all I desire is, to 
 see you act up in every respect to what you 
 know to be right." 
 
 Leonora blushed extremely, and she stammered 
 out something, which could not be understood ; 
 but her hand trembled, and as she rather rudely 
 seized the cream ewer, she overset it ; and Fanny, 
 who had been in pain for her, and had been 
 talking very fast, and louder than usual, to her 
 younger cousin, that she might not seem to un- 
 derstand her preceptress, now jumped up, and 
 helped her to ladle the cream into the slop-basin. 
 The Colonel just then returned, and the conver- 
 sation soon fell into the same channel it had 
 taken before he went. 
 
 " So, Bell, and what had you for supper?" en- 
 quired the Colonel, laughing, for he made a joke 
 of this young girl's propensity to gluttony, im- 
 prudently supposing that no harm could ensue
 
 LEONORA. 73 
 
 from indulging her during childhood in what 
 would be improper in age ; as if habit, whether 
 good or bad, did not gain force by time, and 
 boldness by toleration. 
 
 Bell, with a sparkling eye, and the memory of 
 an epicure, named every dish, one after the other, 
 praising this, and expressing distaste to that, 
 and finishing, by reckoning up with her fingers 
 of how many she had eaten. There was an 
 archness in her look, and a something of drollery 
 in her way of handling any subject with which 
 she was pleased, that delighted the Colonel. He 
 threw down the newspaper, crossed his knee, 
 leaned back in his chair, and laughed as persons 
 do, who wish to encourage a mimic or joke- 
 maker, yet without desiring him to presume too 
 far. Colonel Clive laughed, but it was behind 
 his hand, as he stroked down his face, and 
 seemed to be conscious that it was not quite 
 right so to indulge himself. He also did as per- 
 sons do on such occasions ; he looked round on 
 every body at the table, as if for some one to 
 join him. Bell took the hint, for she was quick 
 enough, and she rattled on with her description, 
 which, when Leonora grew tired of, she broke 
 short : " How you talk, Bell ! I am sure I never 
 tasted such gooseberry-cheese in my life : there
 
 74 LEONORA. 
 
 was no flavour in it of any thing but sugar ; brown 
 sugar, I am sure it was : we never have any of 
 our sweets made up with brown sugar, for it 
 gives them a very unpleasant taste." 
 
 " Perhaps Mrs. Goldsmith cannot afford white 
 sugar, Leonora," remarked Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 " Perhaps not ; and, indeed, I think it must be 
 so," said Leonora. " Why, what a family of 
 children there is ! Papa, should you think Dr. 
 Goldsmith's income above eight hundred a year?" 
 
 " About that, I beheve, child : why do you 
 ask ? " 
 
 " Oh, for nothing," replied Leonora : " I can't 
 conceive how they can afford to let the children, 
 those young girls, have their frocks trimmed with 
 lace. I should think they might do very well 
 with a muslin frill." 
 
 " Why, cousin, it was but a small edging," said 
 Fanny : " they are sweet little girls : don't you 
 think so?" 
 
 *' They do not strike me as being very pretty," 
 said Leonora : " I am sure that one with black 
 hair, next to the stupid lad I danced with, is 
 quite crooked." 
 
 " But has she not a sweet face ? " enquired 
 Fanny. 
 
 " I hardly looked much at her," answered Miss
 
 LEONORA. io 
 
 Clive : " a sweet face ! — now I remember ; I 
 recollect perfectly well that one eye looked to 
 me bigger than the other, and I am very much 
 mistaken if she does not — if she has not a little 
 cast of her eye." 
 
 " I am sure her eyes are both quite straight 
 and alike," said Bell ; " for I looked at her often 
 full in the face, and she was very good-natured 
 to me." 
 
 '• O, yes, you are a very fine judge, truly," said 
 Leonora : " I am sure there is not a quite straight 
 figure or fine face in the whole family." 
 
 Here the Colonel stared. " Nonsense, non- 
 sense, child," said he ; " not one straight ! Eat 
 your breakfast, Leonora, and don't talk nonsense. 
 Give me a cup of chocolate, my love. So Par- 
 liament is to be opened to-morrow, and the 
 Prince-Regent, I see, goes in person to make his 
 speech. Mrs. Hammond, is not your son on 
 board the Warspite?'* 
 
 " He is, sir," answered the lady. 
 
 " Then," said the Colonel, " the ship, I see, is 
 ordered to England, into the home-station." 
 
 So saying, he handed over the paper to the 
 lady, and breakfast soon after finished. 
 
 It was very seldom that Colonel Clive asserted 
 his authority to stop his daughter's animadver-
 
 76 LEONORA. 
 
 sions or remarks, and whenever he did so, were 
 it but in the shghtest possible way, Leonora was 
 always offended. Her cheeks became flushed ; 
 the corners of her mouth were drawn down- 
 wards ; her eye-brows were a little depressed ; 
 her head was flung a little backwards, and her 
 whole air bespoke indignation and scorn — not 
 towards her father, for she loved him, because 
 Leonora, with all her faults, was capable of af- 
 fection towards the few beings who made, as it 
 were, a part of herself. She had doated upon her 
 mother, till, at fourteen, she lost her : she loved 
 and revered her father, and she had a strong 
 regard for her sister : she was fond of her sister's 
 maid, Clara, who had lived with her from her 
 birth ; and she had some regard, though it was 
 oddly shown, for her preceptress, her cousin, and 
 the Goldsmith family. But Leonora's regard was 
 not that milk of human kindness which smooths 
 down little defects, or dims perception towards 
 the failings of our friends. It was of the opposite 
 sort. With or without regard, she generally saw 
 all the faults, personal and mental, of her friends ; 
 indeed often discovered many which neither ex- 
 isted in their minds nor persons. Leonora, then, 
 seldom showed her father any disrespect on his 
 reproving her ; but she generally vented her
 
 LEONORA. 77 
 
 anger on some one, and she this day pitched 
 upon her cousin. Immediately after breakfast 
 Miss CHve left the parlour to order dinner, which 
 that day was to be more delicate than usual, for 
 the Viscountess was expected to partake of it. 
 WTien this duty was performed, the young lady 
 went back into the study. Mrs. Hammond was 
 gone up stairs ; Bell and Fanny only remained. 
 
 Leonora looked about as she entered, and with 
 an air of pride and scorn took her seat. " Shut 
 the door, Bell," said she, in a commanding voice. 
 
 "You came in last," said her sister, looking 
 up in some astonishment, " why did not you do 
 it?" 
 
 " Because it did not suit me to do so," answered 
 Leonora. 
 
 Fanny now interposed: " Come, cousin," said 
 she, " I will shut the door." 
 
 " I shall do it, myself," exclaimed Miss Clive, 
 rising haughtily : " I don't wish you to wait upon 
 me. Miss Beresford." 
 
 " Leonora," said Fanny, " surely, Leonora, 
 surely, cousin, you are not angry with me?" 
 
 " O, dear no, I am obhged to you for making 
 my father angry with me. It was all through 
 your making such a fuss about those Goldsmiths, 
 and he is so fond of them."
 
 78 LEONORA. 
 
 " I am very sorry," said Fanny, " if I have 
 been the cause of — " and here she stopped ; for 
 her eyes filled with tears, so much was she hurt 
 at the unkindness of her cousin. 
 
 Leonora did not immediately perceive the al- 
 teration in Fanny's tone of voice, and she went 
 on. " I am sure there did not seem any neces- 
 sity to say so much about the Goldsmiths at all ; 
 but for my part I thought you seemed more 
 taken with that ugly crooked woman who limps 
 so as she walks." 
 
 " O, Leonora," said Fanny, mildly but re- 
 proachfully, as she tried to stop the tears that 
 rolled down her cheek. 
 
 Leonora now looked into the glass, over the 
 chimney-piece, by which she was standing, and 
 she perceived how much Miss Beresford was hurt. 
 Leonora was immediately silent : she felt sorry 
 she had gone so far, but apologies she never con- 
 descended to make, and therefore said nothing ; 
 but she was uneasy, and dreaded the enquiries of 
 Mrs. Hammond, who presently came back, and 
 passed Fanny, as that young lady generously 
 contrived to hasten by, and run to her own room, 
 and bathe her eyes in cold water, lest any remark 
 might be made. Leonora felt all this, and for 
 the time it had a good effect upon her. She
 
 LEONORA. 79' 
 
 was extremely docile, attentive, and obliging, 
 the whole morning ; and when her cousin came 
 down, looking as usual, except a httle graver, she 
 begafl to relate some droll anecdote to her pre- 
 ceptress, to create a universal laugh. Fanny 
 was of a frank and sincere disposition. She had 
 forgiven her cousin in a moment, but she could 
 not entirely forget her unkindness ; yet did she 
 endeavour at a smile, that Leonora might not be 
 brought to any trouble, and for this once she 
 escaped the lecture she deserved. 
 
 At three o'clock the young people, the Colonel, 
 and the household, were in readiness to receive 
 the visitor. They peeped upon the lawn, and 
 looked over the park to the lodge, and tried to 
 make out the high road at a distance with the per- 
 spective glass. At length, Bell, who had very fine 
 sharp eyes, called out, "I see them ; two outriders; 
 four horses ; there — a coach not a chariot — now 
 then, at the lodge. Papa, papa, here they are." 
 
 The old-fashioned coach of Lady Royston 
 moved slowly up the avenue of elms. It stopped 
 at the principal entrance ; and the servants, 
 dressed in their best liveries, with their master, 
 went out to receive the lady. The coach-door 
 opened; Colonel Clive approached; — but what 
 was his amazement, when he beheld cages of all
 
 80 LEONORA. 
 
 sizes filled with several canary birds, a squirrel, 
 and two dormice : there was a parrot tied by the 
 leg, a kitten in a basket, and a pug-dog and its 
 Httle one, which sat on the maid's lap. 
 
 « John," said Lady Royston, " take out the 
 cages gently, first, and then the bags and band- 
 boxes, that I may have room to move ; and I 
 desire, Robbins, that you will see the creatures 
 put safely in my dressing-room, and feed them 
 all : give me the puppy, — 1 will carry it myself. 
 Here, Countess, Countess!" said she, calling 
 the mother, as she moved to leave the carriage. 
 
 At the sight which he beheld, the Colonel lost 
 all power of utterance : he stood like a statue. 
 
 " Nephew, how do you do?" cried Lady 
 Royston :" I am glad to see you." 
 
 The Colonel now recollected himself, and 
 stammered out something, by way of welcome to 
 his aunt ; and taking her unoccupied hand, led 
 her to the drawing-room, at the door of which 
 his two girls and niece waited to meet her. 
 Leonora made a very elegant curtsey, when she 
 saw the lady's face ; but as she put out her hand 
 to meet that which was offered, she sprang back 
 several steps, and gave a little scream. Lady 
 Royston looked up with surprise, and then 
 glanced at the puppy which she held. Bell
 
 LEONORA. 81 
 
 now spied the little animal, and thinking she 
 must do the same as her sister, cried out, " Oh, 
 dear ! — a puppy — dear me ! " 
 
 " Aye, a puppy," said Lady Royston, frown- 
 ing, and taking a seat. " Do you think it will eat 
 you up ? " 
 
 " Sister and I are always afraid of strange cats 
 and dogs, and every thing of that sort," said Bell, 
 very little intimidated by her aunt's manner. 
 
 " More shame for those that have had the 
 teaching of you," answered the lady. " Here, 
 Miss Beresford, are you afraid of animals ? " 
 
 Fanny blushed : she did not desire to be 
 praised at the expense of her cousins, and she 
 hesitated. 
 
 " Why," said the lady, ♦' I knew your mother 
 five-and-twenty years ago, before she married, 
 and she hardly ever went out in the country 
 without a favourite dog, — and a very large one, 
 too. And as for my niece, your mother, Leo- 
 nora, she has many a time patted my httle dog, 
 and never thought of being afraid. If she had 
 screamed so, when she lived with me, as you 
 have just done, I should have boxed her ears, I 
 warrant. Young girls never thought of such 
 vagaries in those days." 
 
 This sort of manner and language was so new 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 LEONORA. 
 
 in the Colonel's house, that he already felt quite 
 dismayed. He was an indolent, indulgent, well- 
 meaning man, who endured much before he 
 could rouse to the fatigue of reproof or alterca- 
 tion; and this first specimen of what was likely 
 to follow almost disheartened him. However, 
 he took no notice, but told his daughter to lead 
 the way to her aunt's room, when the lady de- 
 sired to go to it ; whilst he himself went to see 
 that her little pets were safely landed from the 
 coach. 
 
 Lady Royston's countenance brightened im- 
 mediately, as she perceived this kind attention 
 of her nephew ; and she thanked him so heartily, 
 that had the Colonel been even more indolent 
 and less good-natured than he really was, he 
 could not have gone straight into the library, as 
 he at first half intended to do. 
 
 Leonora had taken her seat, with a very re- 
 served countenance and two or three haughty 
 moves of the head, which she ceased to make 
 as the subject dropped. Bell had placed herself 
 upon a low stool, nearly under the table, from 
 whence she peeped at the puppy and its mother, 
 both of which were very handsome creatures, 
 and as clean as pet-dogs usually are. Suddenly 
 she burst out into a laugh : " Do look, Fanny, "
 
 LEONORA. 83 
 
 cried she ; " just look at the little one, — a little 
 fat thing, — how it rolls over and over ! " 
 
 " It is a pretty little thing," said Fanny, 
 smiling, and thoughtlessly stooping down to 
 stroke its sleek skin. 
 
 " So, so," cried the Viscountess, smiling very 
 good-naturedly, " you are not so bad as I feared: 
 it is a silly thing to be afraid of animals, and 
 it sounds mighty affected in young women to be 
 screaming and fainting when they see an un- 
 pleasant animal, much more a dog, poor generous 
 beast ! I have brought several birds with me, all 
 favourites, which I could not leave behind. Some 
 people, to be sure, think them troublesome ; but 
 they amuse me, and have diverted many a sor- 
 rowful hour ; and as I never intrude my fa- 
 vourites upon any one, my dog only excepted, 
 I do not intend to be a bugbear to any. — 
 Leonora, my dear, how like you are to your 
 poor mother ; does not your father think so ? " 
 
 " I think he does, ma'am," answered Miss 
 Clive, who was always pleased to be likened to 
 her mother, who had been an eminently beautiful 
 woman. 
 
 " Aye, sure, and he is quite right," replied the 
 old lady, lifting the little pug on her knee. " And 
 you, Bell ; come here, child, and let me look at 
 G 2
 
 84 LEONORA. 
 
 you. Grown, indeed, but you will never be very 
 tall, child, I think ; — aye, father's eyes. Miss 
 Beresford, have you heard from your friends at 
 Madeira lately ? " 
 
 " Not very lately, madam," said Fanny. 
 
 " I hope they were quite well, Miss Fanny." 
 
 " My father was mending daily, I thank you, 
 ma'am," said Fanny. 
 
 And now the old lady, having talked herself 
 into a good humour, begged her niece, whose 
 arm she took, to show her the way to her cham- 
 ber. Leonora smiled, and put on her best man- 
 ners, and very respectfully measured her steps 
 by her aunt's. When she wished to oblige, 
 Leonora never failed ; for there was a softness 
 and a touching interest in her manner, which, to 
 strangers, made her appear a very lovely girl. So 
 she now appeared to her aunt, who forgot almost 
 immediately any little irritability, if she could 
 only assign the smallest possible reason for it ; 
 and this being now the case. Lady Royston 
 looked at her niece, as she walked with her up 
 the great staircase, with as much pride as satis- 
 faction; and when they landed safely in the 
 great painted chamber, where every thing that 
 comfort, luxury, or fancy could suggest was pro- 
 vided for her by her niece, the old lady could not
 
 LEONORA. 85 
 
 resist giving her a hearty kiss, as she said, " You 
 are a clever, good girl, and you shall be my best 
 child." 
 
 Leonora delighted in praise, and she well 
 knew that this she had duly earned by her taste, 
 judgment, and consideration. The furniture of 
 these rooms had only been bought two years, 
 and every article, as well as the colours for the 
 walls, some of the designs, and patterns for the 
 drapery of the windows and bed, she had chosen 
 entirely herself; for the Colonel left the ordering 
 and arranging of every thing to her, and it hap- 
 pened to be her pride to maintain the nicest order 
 and exactness in every part of the establishment. 
 The accounts of the family she delivered up 
 weekly to her father, as he had particularly re- 
 quired when she began to take the place of her 
 mother in the house ; and this custom had grown 
 into a settled habit. Every bill passed through 
 her hands, and every receipt was regularly regis- 
 tered and filed by her. The annual purchase of 
 new stocks of linen, the repairs of the old, the 
 distribution of the rags to the poor, all was di- 
 rected solely by Miss Clive. She had the best 
 edition of all receipt books, and she was perfectly 
 informed of every delicacy in and out of season, 
 G 3
 
 86 LEONORA. 
 
 with the best and most properly economical 
 manner of using it ; indeed some particular 
 dishes, curious puddings, creams, and preserves, 
 the Colonel would never eat of, unless the sea- 
 soning were measured by his daughter. Leonora, 
 therefore, upon all domestic concerns, and in 
 some few others, certainly merited the highest 
 praise ; and no one paid her so liberally in this 
 welcome coin as her father, to whose happiness, 
 quiet, and comfort, she so largely contributed. 
 
 Had this young lady been faultless in other 
 points of character, she would have been as 
 lovely in heart as in person ; but, alas ! there she 
 failed, — and failed, not in extraordinary vices, or 
 uncommon prejudices, but in possessing, to a 
 great extent, the little, mean, selfish, ungenerous 
 sentiments and passions which disfigure and 
 lower, in a greater or less degree, half the un- 
 married women, noble and ignoble, of the present 
 age ; and first tarnish, and, in the course of time, 
 corrode and eat away almost every virtue with 
 which innocence and youth can be adorned. 
 Look to yourselves, my young friends; examine 
 well your own feelings, and judge how far you 
 resemble the narrow-minded, and, but for this 
 disregarded yet fatal defect, engaging Leonora.
 
 LEONORA. 87 
 
 " And so, child," said Lady Royston, " your . 
 cousin's governess has finished you, and they 
 have both been here several months." 
 
 " She has taught me," answered Leonora. 
 
 " Well, well, that is what I mean," said her 
 aunt; " and since you are going to have an end to 
 your tasks, she will have put the finishing stroke 
 to your education." 
 
 Leonora was silent. She felt darling opposi- 
 tion beginning to rise within her ; but she gulped 
 him down, from respect to the old lady. 
 
 " And what kind of a person is she, this go- 
 verness of yours ? " asked Lady Royston. 
 
 " Why, — I don't know, ma'am," replied Leo- 
 nora, in a drawling tone. 
 
 " Not know, child ! " said the Viscountess, 
 " when you were three months in the house with 
 her in Cheltenham and six here ? — not know? — 
 that is very odd. Is she tall or short, or fat or 
 thin, or clever or ignorant, or well-bred or 
 vulgar ? — cannot you answer any of these 
 questions ? " 
 
 Is it to be credited, that Leonora really re- 
 spected Mrs. Hammond, had a high opinion of 
 her abilities, and could not deny to herself that 
 she was a handsome woman, and further, she 
 could not help feeling some regard for her, and 
 G 4<
 
 88 LEONORA. 
 
 when alone with her evinced it, though before any 
 one her manner was cold and distantly respectful ; 
 knowing that one word now would have raised this 
 lady in the opinion of the Viscountess, this one 
 she yet withheld. A kind word for an absent per- 
 son is worth a pound of gold. Alas ! those young 
 people of Leonora's unhappy disposition are never 
 known to deserve the reward. 
 
 To the questions of her aunt, Leonora replied 
 in so heartless a manner, that the lady was con- 
 vinced there must be something very unamiable 
 in Mrs. Hammond's disposition ; and as she 
 seldom hesitated to express what she felt, she 
 was not long in making the supposition. Leonora 
 did not wish to injure her preceptress, yet she 
 had not the generosity to speak well of her. She 
 accordingly made no reply, and Lady Royston 
 passed on to Miss Beresford. 
 
 " Pray how does your cousin Fanny like staying 
 here?" asked she. " She looks very pale, but yet 
 she is something like what her mother was ; 
 somehow, I never admired her mother, although 
 it was the fashion, too, to praise her when I was in 
 Dublin many years ago. Nothing was talked of on 
 her marriage but the beautiful Lady Beresford, 
 the accomplished Lady Beresford. She was, I 
 grant, very handsome ; but there was a reserve, a
 
 LEONORA. 89 
 
 haughtiness, I always said, though some people 
 would not allow it, in her manners, which I could 
 not endure ; indeed, I never quite forgave her for 
 marrying the very man I intended for your 
 mother, Leonora ; however, it does not matter. 
 How do you like the girl ? ^Nliss Fanny, I mean." 
 
 " Oh, like her, ma'am ? I like her well enough, 
 pretty well, I would say, when I know ; that is, 
 when one knows what to make of her. Mrs. 
 Hammond makes such a fuss about her, I am 
 very sure she thinks her the cleverest girl in the 
 world : one thing I can say, 1 do not admire her 
 dancing, I do not admire it at all, though the 
 Irish are reckoned famous for dancing." 
 
 " How do you mean ? the Irish," interrupted 
 the Viscountess : "I'll defy any one to dance better 
 than I did when I was a young woman, and I am 
 sure I was born and bred in England. My lord, 
 too, was a very graceful dancer, and so were all 
 our family ; and your mother. Lady Elizabeth, 
 was reckoned to walk a minuet better even than 
 Lady Beresford, when they were at the Lord 
 Lieutenant's together, on St. Patrick's day, — 
 famous for dancing indeed." 
 
 Lady Royston's maid now came in, with her 
 hands full of httle troughs for seed and water, and 
 began to arrange them in their respective cages.
 
 90 LEONORA. 
 
 In this employment she was overlooked by her 
 lady, whoj^atting Leonora on the shoulder, told 
 her she would soon dress and follow her to the 
 drawing-room. The young lady, therefore, left 
 the chamber, as she again expressed a hope that 
 all was as comfortable as her aunt could wish, and 
 joined her sister and friend below.
 
 LEONORA. 91 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 The value of a friend, and the price we set on a person, is 
 seen in our way of defending him in his absence. 
 
 Spectator. 
 
 JVliss Clive found her governess, her sister, and 
 her cousin sitting together. Mrs. Hammond was 
 in tears, with her elbow leaning on the table, whilst 
 the affectionate pupil of her heart had also traces 
 of grief upon her sweet benevolent countenance. 
 Bell was amusing herself with the peel of an 
 orange, which she cut into different shapes, and 
 slipped slily into her pocket for private eating, 
 being denied such trash in general terms. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " whispered Leonora. 
 . " Oh," said her sister, " a gentleman has just 
 been here, and has told Mrs. Hammond that her 
 son in the navy is ill with a fever, and that the 
 ship is not coming home." 
 
 " Dear me," cried Leonora very calmly, and she 
 sat down for two minutes, and then got up and took 
 a peep at herself in the glass, and sat down again, 
 and began to feel a little sorry that she had not
 
 92 LEONORA. 
 
 done Mrs. Hammond more justice with her aunt : 
 but a minute afterwards she said mentally, " I 
 have not uttered any thing against her, and 
 therefore my aunt is at liberty to think what she 
 pleases; besides, one is not obliged to praise 
 people up to the skies ; and besides, I do not care 
 any thjng about it ; why should I be other people's 
 panegyrist ? if I do not tell any untruths, I cannot 
 hurt any body." 
 
 The servant knocked at the door to fetch the 
 young ladies, by the Colonel's desire. 
 
 " Go, my dears," said Mrs. Hammond. " Leo- 
 nora, my love, make apologies for me to my lady. 
 I would rather not go in to dinner. I am, 
 besides, not dressed. Go, my dears, do not 
 send me any thing. I am not at all hungry 
 just now." 
 
 " Come then, Fanny," cried Bell, " I hear 
 dinner is going in." 
 
 Fanny still loitered with Mrs. Hammond's hand 
 in hers. 
 
 " See, my love, they are going, follow them, 
 my sweet girl ; never mind me now ; I am fully 
 sensible of your kind feelings, dear Fanny. I 
 will try to compose myself. All may yet be well ; 
 but the news was so sudden, it quite overcame 
 me for the instant. I shall cheer up presently, if
 
 LEONORA. 93 
 
 I can." Miss Beresford made no reply ; but 
 kissing her friend, left her as she desired, and 
 when dinner was announced, took her seat at 
 the table. 
 
 " Where is Mrs. Hammond ? " said the Colonel. 
 
 " O, she is not coming in to dinner," said 
 Leonora, carelessly. " Aunt, will you take some 
 fish?" 
 
 " It is very odd that your governess does not 
 come in to dinner to-day," said Lady Roystoi^ 
 looking at Miss Clive, " if she is accustomed to 
 dine here." 
 
 Leonora made no remark : was it that she did 
 not like the trouble, or that she knew not how to 
 vindicate ? Alas ! Leonora could reply, and 
 argue, and defend her own opinions and actions ; 
 well did she understand the art of pleading for 
 herself; but for others, she had nothing to say. 
 Fanny changed colour, and trembled with 
 agitation, lest the matter should be allowed to 
 pass, and leave the unfavourable impressions on 
 the minds of both the Colonel and her aunt, 
 which she plainly perceived her cousin's words, 
 or rather want of words, had created. 
 
 " Mrs Hammond desired to apologise to you, 
 madam, for not appearing," said she to the Vis- 
 countess. ''She is in great distress on account
 
 94 LEONORA. 
 
 of some bad news, respecting her only son, which 
 she heard just before dinner." 
 
 Lady Royston paid little attention to Fanny, 
 for she recollected what her niece had said ; 
 moreover, she was not pleased that the message 
 did not come, at once, as she felt it ought, in due 
 form, from her niece, who sat as mistress of the 
 house and table. Whilst, therefore, Fanny was 
 speaking, the old lady very unceremoniously 
 turned her head from her, and looking at the 
 Colonel, said, " This is the race-week, I think you 
 observed : when is the ball ? or do you not give 
 one at this time ? " 
 
 " The ball, will be next Friday," answered the 
 Colonel ; " and. since you are with us, madam, I 
 have a great mind, that my daughter should 
 attend it, with my little Fanny too ; and," added 
 he, offering his hand very kindly to his niece, 
 " Fanny is a dear good girl, and I don't know 
 what w-e should do Avithout her." 
 
 Miss Beresford, with a grateful smile, pressed 
 his hand between her own, and said, " You are 
 very kind, my dear uncle, to say so, and to think 
 well of me, which I feel delighted that you do. 
 I have made you a long visit, and have, indeed, 
 put your kindness to the test." 
 
 " The longer your visit, the better, my love,"
 
 LEONORA. 95 
 
 replied he, " first, because you are like my sister, 
 and secondly, because you are like yourself." 
 
 The Colonel seldom made such speeches as 
 these, for which reason, when he did so, they 
 had the more eflPect. Upon this occasion, Bell 
 looked up, and the Viscountess listened; and 
 Leonora, who never endured to hear any one 
 praised, rested her arms on the table, with a 
 large silver knife and fork poised in them, and 
 with a toss of the head, cried very abruptly, " For 
 the fourth time, sir, do you choose any fish? 
 Indeed, papa, you seem going to preach a sermon, 
 you look so serious ; " and as the Colonel, at 
 this remark, really did begin to look very serious. 
 she quickly said, with a short laugh, " I beg your 
 pardon, papa, for interrupting you; but, you know, 
 you do not like fish unless it is served up hot, 
 and this looks particularly nice. I think our 
 cook has done her best to-day, for never were 
 soles more nicely fried." 
 
 "Well, well, send me some," answered the 
 Colonel, a little peevishly, but the current of his 
 thought was changed ; and in a few minutes, as 
 he forgot what had ruffled him, he resumed his 
 easy, good-natured manner. Lady Royston, who 
 was not so easily silenced, or diverted from her 
 object, laid down her fork, and with some im-
 
 96 LEONORA, 
 
 patience thrust her plate before her. " Take it 
 away, John," said she to her own man, who stood 
 behind her chair. " Pray, is it the fashion, now- 
 a-days, for daughters to silence the parent, or 
 the parent the daughters ? asked she with a 
 frown, and looking at Bell." 
 
 " Ma'am ? " said this young girl, in some 
 surprise. 
 
 *• Pshaw ! " replied the Viscountess ; and then 
 turning to Leonora, " I'll tell you what, child, and 
 if you do not already know it, it is fit you should 
 now learn, that nothing is more unbecoming 
 than for a young woman to lay down the law to 
 her elders, especially when they are relations ; 
 so remember." 
 
 Leonora, who dreaded any further recurrence to 
 the late subject, and was glad to purchase silence 
 upon any condition, now condescended to say, " I 
 will, madam ;" which so appeased the old lady, that 
 she cried out, " John, bring me back that plate ; 
 I will finish my fish ; or stay, give me another." 
 And thus quiet was for the present restored. 
 
 In the mean time, Fanny was occupied by one 
 thought : how to exculpate, entirely, Mrs, Ham- 
 mond from the blame which still rested upon 
 her. " It is so difficult," said she, mentally, " to 
 bring round a subject which has dropped ; and if
 
 LEONORA. 97 
 
 I even were to force its introduction, I should not 
 be so well attended to, as if the excuse I could 
 make for her, fell naturally, and at the right 
 moment." The dinner, however, passed by, and 
 the dessert was set on the table before any 
 opportunity presented itself. But when the wine 
 appeared, she said, " Dear uncle, will you allow 
 me to carry a glass of wine to Mrs. Hammond. 
 I dare say she has not touched a morsel of dinnerj 
 poor thing." 
 
 " How so ? " said the Colonel ; " is she ill ? " 
 
 "La ! no, papa," interrupted Leonora, reddening 
 and bridling : '' dear me, Fanny, what a fuss you 
 make about Mrs. Hammond ! " 
 
 "Why, Miss Fanny," observed the Viscountess, 
 "you have only spoken three times since you 
 sat down to table, and two of the three has been 
 on account of this Mrs. Hammond. If you 
 cannot bear to leave her for an hour, why did 
 you not bring her in to dinner with you ? " 
 
 " She would not come," hastily observed 
 Leonora, " because a friend of hers came just 
 before, and told her something about somebody 
 she knows — related to her, I mean, being — I 
 don't know what — ill, isn't it. Bell ? " 
 
 "Is the person dead, then?" enquired the 
 Viscountess. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 LEONORA. 
 
 "No, aunt," replied Leonora, with a laugh, 
 and he may be well now, for aught she knows." 
 
 " I am afraid," said Lady Royston, " this 
 governess of yours is a weak-minded woman : 
 not eat her dinner, and such childishness, upon 
 every bit of unwelcome news ! " What would 
 she have done, if she had had my misfortunes to 
 contend with ? I have had twelve children, Miss 
 Fanny, and I have not one left me : not eat any 
 dinner ! " 
 
 " O, madam, " answered Fanny, much hurt, 
 and agitated, " it is her only son, her only child." 
 
 " Well, and if it be, " replied Lady Royston, a 
 little softened, " children are ill and get well 
 again ; all girls do not drop off, as mine did, in 
 their bloom ; nor are boys swept away, as mine 
 were, by war and fatal accidents." 
 
 There was again a general silence. Fanny 
 withdrew her hand from the decanter, and to 
 hide her emotion took an orange and began to 
 eat it. Her mild countenance resumed its placid 
 sweetness to an indifferent observer, but a nice 
 one would have seen that she was ill at ease with 
 herself. 
 
 In a short time, the Viscountess moved to 
 withdraw, and her niece led her to the sitting- 
 room. Here the old lady presently took her
 
 LEONORA. 99 
 
 Station in a large morocco chair, and her dog 
 springing up on her knee, prepared with his 
 mistress for the regular evening's nap, which they 
 generally took together. Leonora, seeing this, 
 with her sister gently slipped out of the room to 
 follow her cousin, who, reproaching herself for 
 her tardiness in speaking for her friend, had 
 sought the study with the glass of wine she had 
 begged, and taken as the ladies rose. 
 
 Leonora, with the many other failings of a 
 narrow soul, had that of suspecting herself to be 
 the subject of talk and reprehension when she 
 was not present, and in proportion as she deserved 
 blame, and that conscience whispered it, so was 
 this young lady fearful of leaving two persons 
 together who might award it to her. But Mrs. 
 Hammond was too sensible, and Fanny too deli- 
 cate, to make the faults of friends their theme 
 of discourse. Leonora, little understanding the 
 generosity which she so seldom, alas ! practised 
 herself, always internally, and sometimes aloud 
 to Bell, laid this charge to both. 
 
 Bell was a shrewd girl, and by her sister's 
 haste and conduct she now guessed what passed 
 in her mind. 
 
 " Well, Fanny," cried she, as she opened the 
 H 2
 
 100 LEONORA. 
 
 Study door, " did you come straight in here from 
 the dining-room ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered her cousin, innocently ; " I 
 left it with you, my dear." 
 
 " Then," rephed Bell, " you have, I dare say, 
 told Mrs. Hammond the whole story ; hav'n't 
 you, Fanny ? " 
 
 " What story, my dear ? " asked Fanny, in a 
 lower tone of voice, lest the subject of their dis- 
 course should overhear Jier. " I have told her 
 nothing, but to drink her wine, which I have not 
 yet prevailed upon her to do." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond now looked up from the letter 
 she held in her hand, which was wet with her 
 tears. " Do not whisper, my dear girls," said 
 she : " I should like to hear your conversation. 
 I am not ill, and I would fain rouse, and hope 
 that all will yet be well. Oh, that I may hope ! " 
 repeated she, with a pale cheek and clasped 
 hands : " seriously ill — I could not misunderstand 
 him — seriously ill. But I will hope — come, 
 I will be cheerful — I will try to be so." 
 
 " Do, my dear friend," said Fanny, sitting 
 down near her, " and now only just think how 
 easy it is for persons to make mistakes in 
 speaking. 1 heard this gentleman talk to you in
 
 LEONORA. 101 
 
 a very quick, hurried tone : he seemed full of his 
 own business, and twice, I recollect, he called 
 you ]Mrs. Franklin, and begged your pardon : — 
 how readily might such a person make a 
 mistake ! " 
 
 How sweet is the reasonable surmise of a friend 
 who favours our hopes ! The eyes of Mrs. Ham- 
 mond glistened through the drops which filled 
 them, as she looked up affectionately in her pupil's 
 face. " You are very right, so far, my dear 
 Fanny : this gentleman certainly did call me 
 twice by a \\Tong name, and his information may 
 be incorrect. I wish I had thought before of 
 what you say, but the news was so sudden. Yes, 
 my love, you certainly are right," repeated Mrs. 
 Hammond, as her countenance beamed with 
 smiles, which, however forced they might be, yet 
 showed this lady, with her reverses of fortune, had 
 not lost her energy of mind. " Come, sit down 
 my dears," said she, as if fearful of her own ap- 
 prehensions gaining ground, " and tell me all. 
 Did my lady seem pleased with your attentions, 
 Leonora, in preparing so nice an apartment for 
 her ? and did she like her dinner? Lady Royston, 
 I have heard from a friend of my husband's, who 
 knew her extremely well, has a very peculiar 
 temper, but is a kind-hearted person, when she is 
 H 3
 
 102 LEONORA. 
 
 known, and her little oddities understood. One 
 can excuse a hundred vexatious little ways in a 
 man or woman whose general actions arise from 
 sound principle, and whose heart is tender and 
 benevolent ; though I freely own that they are 
 sometimes hard to excuse, and therefore our aim 
 in early life should be to stifle a disposition to care 
 for trifles, which the being particular implies." 
 
 " This lady," said Bell, " has had twelve 
 children, and has not one left, she says." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond's countenance again drooped. 
 " Poor thing," exclaimed she in a low voice, " I 
 could, indeed, excuse her for her particularities, 
 if she had ten thousand of them. Twelve 
 children ! and not one left ! " 
 
 Mrs. Hammond was again wholly silent, and 
 Bell, who never troubled herself with any but 
 the present moment or object, lifted up the sash, 
 and pulled off the dead leaves from a geranium^ 
 which was on the outside. 
 
 " Well," observed Leonora, " she is the oddest 
 woman I ever saw, and such liberties, indeed, she 
 takes. Allowing she is related, she shall have no 
 authority over me. As long as my papa says 
 nothing, I do not see who else has any right to 
 find fault with me. To speak to me, indeed, 
 in such a manner before the servants ; I will not
 
 LEONORA. 103 
 
 submit to it. And you, Bell, sat gaping and 
 staring, and she never said a word to you. I am 
 sure your behaviour was quite rude ; I was really 
 ashamed of you." 
 
 At this attack, Bell turned sharply round, and 
 planting herself before her sister, held out her 
 frock on each side, and danced some very ridi- 
 culous antics, whilst she most provokingly laughed, 
 and said, "I'll tell you what, my dear : the fact is, 
 you were jealous of somebody, and were as mad 
 as a wasp that papa praised somebody. I know 
 you, Leonora : yes, yes, and I say it is a shame 
 for you to speak so rudely to my papa." 
 
 " Hush, hush," said Fanny interposing, lest 
 Bell should go too far, and irritate and confuse 
 her sister still more than she had done. " You, 
 know, cousin, Mrs. Hammond and my mamma, 
 too, have both told us that many slight faults 
 which we commit are unobserved by our papas, 
 who either cannot or do not choose to see them. 
 I know very well that my mother has often 
 remarked my faults, whilst my father has never 
 even seemed to understand why she did so. 
 Perhaps it is a too tender partiality which blinds 
 a man to the lesser defects of his own girls ; for 
 mamma says, and I am sure she is right, that no 
 man can be a better judge of elegance and de- 
 H 4
 
 104? LEONORA. 
 
 corum in any strange lady than my papa is. So 
 we should not be hurt if any friend notices an 
 impropriety, or at least what she considers one, in 
 us, even though our fathers have not made the 
 remark before her. Do you not say so, ma'am?" 
 said Fanny to Mrs. Hammond, to rouse her from 
 her thoughts and fears. 
 
 " I have but caught the sense of your observ- 
 ation," replied this lady, " yet it is, I believe, 
 pretty just. A daughter should not think herself 
 perfection because her father is silent upon her 
 errors ; or, I may add, her friends either. It is 
 so ungracious a task to point out faults to 
 another, and we are, in general, so ill requited 
 for our pains, that the most lively sense of duty 
 only, and great activity in the performance, can 
 reconcile us to this part of its office. Some are 
 too indolent, some too selfish, some too blind, 
 and some too thoughtless, to see or point out to 
 the youth they love whatever is ridiculous, ill- 
 bred, indecorous, or essentially wrong in them. 
 If young persons are rich or noble, they are 
 caressed for the honour or advantage of their 
 acquaintance and support ; and still farther are 
 they, in such a case, from knowing the real truth 
 with regard to their habits and manners. Thus 
 they grow up and move into society, without the
 
 LEOXORA. 105 
 
 plea of tender age and the freshness of personal 
 graces in their behalf; and the world is amazed 
 to behold a passable girl settled into a very dis- 
 agreeable woman ; and a tolerable lad grown into 
 a self-sufficient tyrannical man ; when both, 
 under a little impartial, timely, and friendly 
 rebuke, might have formed characters really 
 agreeable. Oh, my children, learn to venerate 
 the being who seeks for your faults only to give 
 them back to your own observation! He or she 
 only, you should esteem unkind who spies out 
 your imperfections in silence, and reports them 
 to others besides yourselves. Be assured the last 
 is your enemy; the first, be it man or woman, 
 your real friend. And what if you are reproached 
 with a fault which you have not committed ? If it 
 be between yourself and your friend, it may, at 
 least, teach you circumspection. But rely upon 
 it, that for one error which kindness points out 
 to us, ten pass by unnoticed. Observe, my dears, 
 I do not use the word crime ; — error, fault, indis- 
 cretion, impropriety, indecorum, and such minor 
 matters, are what I now refer to. Separately, 
 they are but trifles; but united, and in their 
 various species, they mount up into a very dis- 
 gusting mass, which borders very nearly upon sin. 
 How much, my dear Leonora, should I desire to
 
 106 LEONORA. 
 
 impress all this upon your mind ! Who, besides 
 your near relations and myself, will take the 
 liberty to speak thus to the mistress of a family ? 
 Fanny has a scrutinising anxious friend in her 
 
 mother. You, my young friend Oh, Leonora, 
 
 how anxiously shall I listen to a history of your 
 proceedings in this next eventful year ! this first 
 period of your introduction to a world, which, 
 without your own good resolutions and exertions, 
 will spoil you. Even with the strongest maternal 
 solicitude and advice, how many promising young 
 women have failed in this arduous trial ! Unac- 
 companied by the person whose judgment you 
 would most highly value of any upon earth, and 
 whose tender caution would restrain your unwary 
 footsteps with more effect than any other, — what 
 shall I say? — I will hope every thing, and repeat 
 my advice again, — Give the most earnest atten- 
 tion and zeal to the suggestions and reproofs of 
 your friends."
 
 LEONORA. 107 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 What is your motive ? 
 
 I know not ; or if I do, I may not 
 
 embody it in words. 
 
 Young Lady\ Tale. 
 
 On the second day of her arrival, Lady Roystoii 
 took a violent cold, which confined her to her 
 room nearly all the week, and Leonora, who had 
 bespoke a very elegant dress to make her first 
 appearance in public, was almost in a fever of 
 doubt and anxiety lest she should not go; for 
 unless the old lady were well enough to conduct 
 her and her cousin, they could not by any means 
 attend the ball. The heads of several of the 
 most ancient famihes had called to pay their 
 respects to Lady Royston and her niece; and 
 one lady of high rank had offered to introduce 
 the young ladies in case their chaperon were too 
 ill to do so ; but the Colonel very civilly declined 
 every offer of the kind, fully determined that his 
 wife's aunt should be the only person, or else 
 that they should stay at home. Her father spoke
 
 108 LEONORA. 
 
 in so decided a manner, that Leonora durst not 
 even try to persuade him ; she had, therefore, 
 only to hope. In the mean time, this young 
 lady, in her anxiety and fear, tripped up and 
 down, from the study to the painted chamber, to 
 see her aunt ; and from the painted chamber to 
 her own room, to watch the progress of trim- 
 mings and a new satin slip, and other articles, 
 which were being sewed and unsewed by her 
 maid, for this memorable Friday, which still 
 seemed hung with clouds. From her own room, 
 she passed to the drawing room, and from thence, 
 after having viewed herself from head to foot in 
 the large glasses, and considered a moment 
 whether any thing else than what she had pre- 
 pared could be wanting, she went into the study, — 
 not to study ; for since her aunt's arrival she had 
 done scarcely any thing, and did not intend to 
 do, but to pass over her weary time, and to have 
 some one to speak to or argue with. In the sick 
 room Leonora attended so assiduously, was so 
 neat and nice in whatever little office she per- 
 formed, moved in the room with so light and easy 
 a step, and seemed so composed and yet alert in 
 whatever she suggested to be done, that Lady 
 Royston was quite charmed with her, and ex- 
 pressed herself in such terms of unqualified
 
 LEONORA. 109 
 
 approbation to the Colonel, when he paid his 
 daily visit, as made tears spring up in the fond 
 father's eyes. In the study, the scene was 
 totally changed. Leonora was unmasked. What 
 do I say, unmasked ? — Persons of her disposition 
 are never to be fathomed, to be understood, to be 
 depended upon. Their little, narrow, bounded 
 views can never embrace at once the happiness, 
 the gratification, or the welfare of another and 
 the gratification and pleasure of dear self. And 
 as the two objects can never be united, they are 
 satisfied to make sure of the last : but that all the 
 world may not be disgusted, and up in arms against 
 the being who lives but for self alone, they re- 
 sort to a thousand subterfuges, twist, and turn, 
 and wind a thousand ways, and pass into a thou- 
 sand subtle shapes, to hide what they really are, 
 and to seem what they really are not. In their 
 true character they dare not appear ; and what 
 this character is, only breaks out by morsels 
 upon injured friends, or very nice and impartial 
 observers. 
 
 Leonora was at present young and lovely. 
 The graces of innocence, truth, purity, and can- 
 dour beamed in her countenance. If she did 
 err, (and who does not ?) those who loved her 
 best, reproved her gently, and forgave her. The
 
 110 LEONORA. 
 
 Colonel was sometimes roused to give her a 
 sharp word, but he was sorry the moment he had 
 uttered it ; and could have almost begged for- 
 giveness of the being he considered as near 
 perfection as any mortal he had ever in his life 
 known. Bell fully understood her sister's ways, 
 and particular failings ; yet she by no means 
 fancied them uncommon in an elder sister ; and 
 if she ever thought upon the subject she con- 
 cluded, that it was a matter of course that 
 Leonora should think first for herself, and next 
 for her nearest relations. Whether she altered 
 or not, was indifferent to Bell, provided she her- 
 self could be indulged now and then; and for 
 indulgences she looked to her father. Bell, 
 therefore, loved her sister, next to good eating and 
 idleness. Miss Beresford, with the kindest heart 
 in the world, and the most charitable disposition, 
 had too fine an understanding, and too nmch de- 
 licacy of feeling, not to have discovered in the 
 course of several months something of her cousin's 
 character. Yet did she endeavour to be blind to 
 many little traits, and always chose to hope, that 
 her good Mrs. Hammond and time would work 
 an alteration. This lady was the only person 
 who really saw Leonora in her true light ; and
 
 LEONORA. Ill 
 
 was the only being who could behold so much 
 loveliness of person, united with such abilities 
 and accomplishments, with sorrow and com- 
 passion. Her youth and beauty, thought this 
 lady, are a snare which will draw around her the 
 wise and the foolish ; and her sentiments are 
 such as will discourage the first, and rejoice th e 
 latter. These fatal errors are daily gaining ground ; 
 for she is impatient under advice and remon- 
 strance, and scorns both. At five-and-twenty, 
 what will this young lady be ? when the bloom 
 of her charms is faded, and the world is no longer 
 ready to make allowances for extreme youth ? 
 Oh, Leonora, lovely deluded girl, what would I 
 not give to see you lay down these dark shades 
 of your character, even at the expense of some 
 of those external graces ! 
 
 Leonora, since her aunt's arrival, had found 
 that it was necessary to conciliate her, if she 
 wished to have an obliging directress and 
 chaperon. Accordingly, "from the day her aunt 
 had been confined to her room, and her father 
 had positively asserted that no other lady 
 should introduce her, she had been extremely 
 gentle and yielding, and, as has been observed, 
 remarkably attentive to the old lady, throughout 
 every stage of a severe cold, which made her
 
 112 LEONORA. 
 
 more peevish and self-willed than her maid, who 
 had lived with her twenty years, had ever re- 
 membered her to have been before. This con- 
 duct of Leonora gained her high praises from 
 the Viscountess and the Colonel; but Mrs. 
 Hammond, who heard of what was passing, and 
 was, moreover, standing behind the scenes, saw 
 the whole in a different point of view ; yet did 
 she neither praise nor blame, till she had very 
 excellent opportunity and grounds for either. In 
 the mean time, she gratified herself, and en- 
 deavoured to divert her melancholy, by assisting 
 Fanny with her taste and judgment upon her 
 ball attire. The first dress-maker in the 
 neighbouring town was sent for, to make Leo- 
 nora's frock; and as she could not, with any grace, 
 make an excuse to her father, who desired that 
 the same person should make her cousin's dress 
 as well as hers, she was forced to agree to this, 
 though in a most reluctant manner. Leonora 
 took the woman into her own room, in private ; 
 and after asking her a thousand questions upon 
 the fashions, colours, jewels, trimming, &c., agreed 
 at last upon her dress ; but commanded her, on 
 pain of her displeasure, not to give the slightest 
 hint to her cousin or any one upon what she 
 had ordered. She then permitted her to go to
 
 LEONORA. 113 
 
 Mrs. Hammond's room, saying, as she ushered 
 her in, "Here, Fanny, is Madame Blonde; I have 
 chosen my dress, and now my father desires you 
 will give your orders." 
 
 "Will you assist me with your taste, cousin?" 
 said Fanny, innocently, going towards her. 
 
 " O, dear, don't ask me," answered Miss Clive: 
 " I have had quite enough of the subject to 
 arrange the style of my own. Besides, my taste 
 may not be yours. So now, pray, my dear, 
 don't ask me any more about it. What you like, 
 I dare say, I shall too. I must run away: — good- 
 bye : — I must go to my Lady, forsooth, or else all 
 the will be in the fire." 
 
 " Fie, fie, Leonora : is that the elegant Miss 
 Clive?" said Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 " Well, ma'am, I beg pardon," replied the 
 triumphant girl, willing to conciliate ail, when, 
 as she felt, she had gained her point, " I will 
 not make use of that expression again," and she 
 skipped away; whilst her preceptress, far from 
 softened, by the pretended excuse, shook her 
 head with a serious air, and sighed, as she turned 
 to the business of the hour. 
 
 The milliner now courtesied and bowed, and 
 began her routine of compliments upon made- 
 moiselle's beautiful shape and delicate and fine 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 LEONORA. 
 
 complexion ; but Mrs. Hammond soon silenced 
 her, in a quiet, dignified manner. " This young 
 lady, madam, is not accustomed to such extraor- 
 dinary eulogiums upon her person, when she has 
 a mere question of dress to decide upon." 
 
 " Has Miss Clive chosen white satin, or did 
 her ladyship advise any thing over it?" said 
 Fanny's preceptress. 
 
 " Satin, humph ! I beg pardon, madam," an- 
 swered the milliner. Miss Clive, I — I must not 
 mention the dress to any, no, not to nobody." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond soon guessed the truth, and 
 immediately said, " You are perfectly in the 
 right in acting according to your orders. I am 
 quite satisfied ; and now be so good as to take 
 this lady's measure, as exactly as you can ; and 
 let us see the exercise of equal taste and skill in 
 this as in the other dress." 
 
 " It shall be," replied the milliner, " fully as ele- 
 gant as the other, only not finished with the same 
 trimmings. I will answer for it, they are two of 
 the handsomest in the county." 
 
 " As for the trimmings," rejoined Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, " they are provided. Fetch, my love, your 
 fine Brussels lace and the pearl knots and clasps 
 given you by your godmother : these, tastefully 
 arranged on white satin, will be rich, and yet not
 
 LEONORA. 115 
 
 too heavy. I was thinking in this way," continued 
 the lady, gathering the magnificent lace as dra- 
 pery round the bottom of her own petticoat, 
 and fastening it here and there with pearls of 
 uncommon size and beauty. 
 
 '•' Beautiful ! unique ! charming ! " cried the 
 mantua-maker. 
 
 " Then, Fanny, my dear, if you approve, it 
 shall be so," said Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 " You are very kind, my dear friend," said this 
 young lady ; " and I never am half so well pleased 
 with the fashion of my clothes as when mamma 
 or you have the ordering of them.*' 
 
 " Then, madam," said the lady, " the matter 
 is settled: the dress is to be handsome, elegant, 
 fashionable, and, above all, modest." 
 
 " I understand, madam," replied the mantua- 
 maker, " and the day after to-morrow they shall 
 be ready : on Friday morning without fail." She 
 then made her courtesy and retired. 
 
 This little procedure of Leonora was reflected 
 upon both by Fanny and by her preceptress; but 
 the first imputed it, in her innocence and charity, 
 more to her cousin's whim and love of secrecy 
 and mystery, than to any other cause. Her pre- 
 ceptress better weighed motives of action, and 
 knew too much of Leonora not to understand 
 I 2
 
 116 LEONORA. 
 
 whence the whole originated. She sighed in pity 
 for a young woman who was at such pains to be 
 unamiable ; yet did she also feel indignation, 
 when she reflected that the same passion which 
 prompted Miss Clive to risk all for self, would, 
 but for her own activity and zeal, have induced 
 her to lower and degrade a charming and unsus- 
 picious girl. 
 
 " No, my sweet Fanny," said Mrs. Hammond, 
 mentally, " you shall never appear in a style un- 
 becoming your age and station, whilst I have the 
 use of my faculties, and am near you. For no 
 envious triumph shall my amiable, and nearly as 
 handsome, pupil be robbed of the respect and 
 admiration which are her due. Fanny Beresford 
 whilst I stand by, shall never be laughed at for 
 singularity or vulgarity of dress, to gratify any 
 ungenerously-minded cousin."
 
 LEONORA. 117 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 A good word is an easy obligation ; but not to speak ill 
 requires only our silence, which costs us nothing. 
 
 Archbishop Tillotson. 
 
 The following day was Thursday, and the Vis- 
 countess still kept her room, and still delayed to 
 make known whether she should go or not to the 
 ball. Leonora redoubled her attentions, and re- 
 ceived the warmest praises from her father and 
 aunt ; but praise at this moment did not satisfy 
 her : she sighed for the promise she so ardently 
 desired ; and felt so irritated that her aunt made 
 no preparations, nor even hinted at the assembly, 
 that she several times left her chamber very 
 abruptly, and went down into the study. " I never 
 beheld any thing like Lady Royston in my life," 
 said she. " There she sits by a great fire, and 
 her room is so heated that there is no enduring 
 it for more than ten minutes at a time." 
 
 " Why, indeed, Leonora," said Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, " it is so cold and damp to-day, that I 
 really bear the fire in the study extremely well, 
 I 3
 
 118 LEONORA. 
 
 though it is so small a room, and the painted 
 chamber must be three times as large as this." 
 
 " Dear me, ma'am," replied Miss Clive, " three 
 times, good gracious ! I am sure I should not 
 have thought it had been twice as large. I really 
 do not call this so small a room." 
 
 " Perhaps not," answered Mrs. Hammond: 
 " because I called it small, it is more than likely 
 that you, Leonora, who are particularly addicted 
 to contradiction, should deny this. Pray, Bell, 
 what did your papa tell us was the length of those 
 two rooms before they were made into one ? " 
 
 " He said they were both exactly eighteen 
 feet long," answered Bell. 
 
 " Then this," continued Mrs. Hammond, " will 
 give us thirty-six feet, which is the length of the 
 painted chamber, without reckoning for the space 
 which the partition-wall took up; and I am pretty 
 sure that that must have been at least nearly a 
 foot ; for the house throughout is most substan- 
 tially built, and the loudest talking even is not 
 heard in an adjoining room. Now this study 
 cannot be more than twelve feet each way, and 
 it would be absurd indeed to call it any other 
 than a small room." 
 
 " I am sure," said Leonora, " I don't think that 
 Bell knows what she is talking about."
 
 LEONORA. 119 
 
 '•' I recollect very well what my papa said," 
 cried Bell, " and so do you, only you pretend you 
 do not." 
 
 " You are," exclaimed Leonora, " a most 
 imp ' 
 
 " Gently, gently," said Mrs. Hammond, " per- 
 haps your sister is partly right, Leonora. Your 
 love of opposition and argument cannot but be 
 perceived. What has vexed you ? Why do you 
 frown upon us all in this manner ? " 
 
 Leonora now sat down on the music stool, and 
 burst into tears. When she had vented a little of 
 her grief, she said, " I declare it is too hard : 
 the whole of this week have I been waiting and 
 hoping, and attending as closely upon my aunt as 
 if she had been my own mother, and now she 
 will not gratify me by saying whether she will or 
 win not go to the ball." 
 
 " I believe," said Mrs. Hammond, " that you 
 have been unremitting in your attentions ; and 
 by sincerely persevering in doing your duty, I am 
 very much mistaken if you will not feel much 
 enjoyment in your own reflections, and also 
 secure for yourself a steady and valuable friend 
 in this lady, who will be happy, I doubt not, to 
 gratify you, if her health permit." 
 I 4
 
 120 LEONORA. 
 
 " La ! ma'am," cried Leonora, rather abruptly, 
 " her health, indeed ! I am sure she is as well as 
 I am. She has not the smallest cold now ; and 
 yet she has wrapped up her head, just as she did 
 yesterday, in a great handkerchief; and when I 
 asked her to go down to the drawing room, she 
 said, as crossly as ever she could, ^ No, I shan't 
 go down this morning.' " 
 
 " How can you say so ? " interrupted Bell : " I 
 was by, and she did not say shan't, but can't, — 
 ' I can't go down this morning, my dear.' " 
 
 " I wish you would be so good as to mind your 
 own affairs," retorted Leonora : " I am a much 
 better judge than you are of what she said, for 
 the words were addressed to me ; — besides, 
 whether she said can't or shan't, it is just the 
 same." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," observed Mrs.Hammond; 
 " there is a great deal of difference in the feeling 
 which prompts the use of either of these words. 
 Cannot, is seldom used by very irritable or pas 
 sionate people, but, shall not, is continually their 
 expression. You have a rude way, Leonora, I 
 must tell you, of repeating my words, and I beg 
 you will be more cautious in future." 
 
 There was now a silence of some minutes,
 
 LEONORA. 121 
 
 when, on a sudden, Bell broke out into a violent 
 laugh. 
 
 " What is now the matter?" asked Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, looking up from a copy which she was 
 writing for the youngest pupil. 
 
 " Nothing," said Leonora, in a moment. 
 
 " Nothing ! " cried Mrs. Hammond ; " it is im- 
 possible : I desire, Bell, you will show me that 
 slate directly." 
 
 Bell gave up her slate very reluctantly, and on 
 it her preceptress made out a room which was 
 evidently designed for the painted chamber by 
 the decorations. There was the bed, the curtains 
 of which were undra^^Ti, and what was intended 
 for the Viscountess was represented by a little 
 hump-backed, long-nosed woman, with a high 
 Mother Shipton's hat, and night-cap under it; 
 the bed was covered with bird-cages, and animals 
 of diflferent sizes ; and the pug-dog, which was 
 dressed up like a waiting maid, stood by the bed- 
 side on its hind-legs, and with its front paws 
 held to the lady a pair of enormously high-heeled 
 shoes and a pair of spectacles. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond looked up at Leonora, who, 
 with her elbows leaning over the table, and one 
 hand playing with the ringlets on her forehead, 
 sat tittering and winking at Bell.
 
 122 
 
 LEONORA. 
 
 " This is your drawing, Miss Clive," said she. 
 " Which, ma'am ? " enquired Leonora, sHding 
 her feet up under the table, and changing the 
 careless posture she had before assumed. 
 
 " There is but one, and you cannot be in great 
 doubt upon the subject," answered Mrs. Ham- 
 mond : " I am sorry, Leonora, you make so 
 ungracious a use of so beautiful an art as this of 
 drawing." 
 
 " Dear me, ma'am," said the young lady, " I 
 did not know there was any harm in it ; " then she 
 smiled; and Bell, on this encouragement, laughed 
 outright, whilst she, however, sought for her 
 pocket handkerchief to put before her mouth. 
 
 " Look at your sister," observed Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, gravely pointing to her, " and see whether 
 there is any harm in such matters." 
 
 " I cannot help Bell's laughing," replied Miss 
 Clive ; " and I am sure she has eyes as well as I 
 have, to see that Lady Royston has a round 
 back and a very long nose, and that she sticks 
 up her high bonnet on the top of her head, and 
 that she has, either in her bed-room or dressing- 
 room, all manner of animals." 
 
 *' If," said Mrs. Hammond, " Bell has ob- 
 served all this, which you remark, what reason 
 have you for now reminding her ? Is there any
 
 LEONORA. 123 
 
 improvement to be gained from this effort of 
 yours ? " 
 
 " It was no effort, madam," replied Leonora : 
 " I took up the slate pencil which lay by the 
 slate, and just sketched off what you have seen : 
 it did not occupy me during three minutes, 
 scarcely." 
 
 " I am only sorry, then," answered her pre- 
 ceptress, " that your quickness and ingenuity 
 were not exerted upon a better subject ; for 
 surely the foibles and little personal defects of 
 any one, much less so near a relation, are not fit 
 matters for ridicule and contempt. How can 
 this lady make her nose shorter, or flatten her 
 shoulders? did she model either herself? Re- 
 collect her age ; that she must be more than 
 sixty ; that she has been the mother of twelve 
 children ; and that she has had to weep over the 
 graves of every one of them, besides that of her 
 husband, and a niece, in your mother, Leonora, 
 whom by all accounts she was dotingly fond of. 
 Recollect this, and do but consider whether you 
 would have supported yourself as she has done 
 had the same calamities befallen you. Can you 
 tell whether, when time has shrivelled up your 
 skin, and wasted those contours of youth, you
 
 124? LEONORA. 
 
 will not have a face much more wrinkled, and a 
 form infinitely more bent, than this lady now has ? 
 Your nose, which is now well proportioned, may 
 then be, in truth, much more like this caricature 
 on the slate, than that is to Lady Royston." 
 
 Leonora smiled a little under her hand, and Bell, 
 who kept her eyes fixed on her sister, again burst 
 into a laugh, which she nevertheless tried to sup- 
 press. Mrs. Hammond turned quickly round, and 
 said, " You forget yourself, strangely. Bell." 
 
 " Indeed, ma'am," said the young girl, " I 
 could not help laughing, a very long nose is such 
 a droll-looking thing." 
 
 " And pray," rejoined the lady, " why is it so 
 droll a thing ? " 
 
 " I don't know," answered Bell. 
 
 " Then I will tell you," said Mrs. Hammond. 
 " You think it droll, because you consider it a de- 
 fect, which you do not imagine you possess your- 
 self, and therefore are ill-natured enough to laugh 
 at and satirise in any other. You have knocked 
 out one of your front teeth by a fall, and the 
 consequence is, a defect in your mouth, which 
 will never be entirely concealed. Now you 
 never would ridicule another for the same 
 blemish, because in doing so you would con-
 
 LEONORA. 125 
 
 demn yourself. Your nose, you think, is well 
 shaped, and therefore you allow yourself the 
 permission to laugh at the disproportion of that 
 feature in another. Your hands are much dis- 
 figured, and extremely discoloured by chilblains. 
 I observe, you never smile or join in the con- 
 versation, when a remark is made upon the 
 coarse hands of any young lady ; but I have 
 heard you laugh with your sister when she once 
 or twice imitated the step of the deformed lady 
 who was so attentive to your cousin on the night 
 of Mrs. Goldsmith's dance ; but had you the 
 misfortune to be crooked yourself, you would, so 
 far from laughing, be very mieasy when the 
 subject of deformity was introduced. Now, if 
 you do not like to be laughed at for the defects 
 you know you have, how can you suppose that 
 others are any more content to be the subjects 
 of ridicule ? Have we not all feelings of pain, 
 and a sense of injury in common ? Is it more 
 agreeable to one than to another to be told 
 that he is marked with the small-pox, or has 
 coarse hands, or a long nose, or a hump on his 
 back ? We acquaint each other with our faults 
 and vices, because we have all the power to 
 correct them ; and this is only attempted with
 
 126 LEONORA. 
 
 great caution and tenderness, and in private, and 
 between equals, or by grown-up persons with 
 the young ; but should the finest orator talk for 
 ever, could he teach a man the way to shorten 
 his nose ? or you to fix in your head the tooth 
 which you broke into a dozen pieces ? " 
 
 Bell looked now much out of humour, and stood 
 pouting out her lips. Mrs. Hammond gazed 
 at her for a moment, and continued: "Judge 
 now, my dear, whether it be pleasant and 
 agreeable to have our defects brought into light. 
 You are vexed, and your self-love is quite 
 shocked, that I have alluded so often to yours, 
 which I have done purposely to instruct you 
 by experience." 
 
 " But," interrupted Leonora, " if my aunt did 
 not know that we talked about her nose, I am 
 sure I do not see how it signifies." 
 
 " I am grieved, truly grieved, Leonora," said 
 Mrs. Hammond, " to hear you say so. What ! 
 Leonora, does it signify nothing that you have 
 no respect for yourself? you, surely, are not 
 awake, — you are beside yourself, child ; you do 
 not know what you are talking about : it must be 
 so. What ! can you lavish your tenderness, 
 care, and solicitude, upon a being whom you are
 
 LEONORA. 127 
 
 bound to love and reverence, and endeavour, by 
 every means, to instil this belief into her, and yet 
 can turn aside your cheek, still warm with the blush 
 of her praise, and write down all her little per- 
 sonal defects and foibles of age for an ill-natured 
 laugh, and say it does not signify ? Have you, 
 then, no delicacy, no honour, no sense of duty, no 
 principle ? Have you no idea of what is noble, 
 of what is right and \vTong ? Is it not mean, un- 
 worthy, ungenerous, base, to persuade a being 
 we love him, either by word or action, and then, 
 after having excited his confidence, to betray it? 
 and for what ? for a jest ! Blush, Leonora, if you 
 can, for yourself, as I blush for you." 
 
 Leonora did now blush, but it was with anger. 
 He who is most ready to hurt the feelings of an- 
 other is the first to resent an imaginary wrong 
 done to himself. Leonora impetuously said, as 
 her voice trembled with indignation, " I wish, 
 indeed, the Viscountess had staid a hundred 
 miles off; we did not, nor do not, want her here. 
 There are ladies in this neighbourhood who could 
 have introduced me well enough, if my father had 
 not been so particular. I do not see why she is 
 to be loved and reverenced so much ; and I will 
 not be in any respect governed by her. I have 
 hitherto been mistress in this house, and I will
 
 128 LEONORA. 
 
 be, and my papa approves of it, too. And as for 
 just drawing what I did on the slate, it is very 
 hard I should be scolded for that, when all the 
 servants in the house speak of the nasty animals 
 she keeps about her. I am sure our maid said 
 last night, when she was undressing me, that 
 Betty had declared she would break some of their 
 heads." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond waited a few moments to 
 compose her spirits, and resume her naturally 
 mild voice, which for a moment she had lost. 
 She then, leaning very earnestly forward, thus 
 continued, with her eyes bent towards Leonora : 
 " Your arguments, my dear, afflict me ; because 
 they prove, did not your actions most painfully 
 and entirely serve to do so, that you are morally 
 and essentially wrong. In the first place, if you 
 wish your aunt many miles away, why do you, 
 by the very assiduous attention you pay her, 
 make her imagine that you respect and regard 
 her as your mother's best friend and near re- 
 lation ? And if you have not this regard, let me 
 ask, what motive is it, then, which really does 
 actuate you ? Ah, Leonora, just put this question 
 to yourself, and answer it faithfully and truly. 
 What, then, is the motive? — You next declare 
 you will be sole mistress of this house : long
 
 LEONORA. 129 
 
 may it be, if you can be so with honour and 
 credit to yourself and family. But pray, Leo- 
 nora, is it to the credit, do you think, of a girl 
 scarcely eighteen years of age, to refuse all ad- 
 vice and help from a lady of three times her age, 
 who has presided in her own house for at least 
 forty years, has been a respected wife and an 
 experienced mother, — and who, moreover, is a 
 near relation to this girl? Have you, then, really 
 the vanity to think you can learn nothing from 
 such a matron, or not be corrected and amended 
 by such a friend? You say, any lady in the 
 neighbourhood might have introduced you in 
 public. Had it been your father's pleasure, I 
 agree with you that she might; but pray, my 
 dear, what sort of concern would any one of them 
 have had in your manners, dress, and deport- 
 ment? What reason do you suppose a mere 
 acquaintance could find to take an uncommon 
 interest in you ? To hide your little failings, and 
 to set forth in a becoming light the graces of 
 your mind and person ? What lady of your 
 neighbourhood, do you imagine, would, like the 
 viscountess, feel anxious to form a select ac- 
 quaintance for you, and be hurt to see you intro- 
 duced to persons who are ill-bred, ignorant, or 
 unprincipled ? No, Leonora ; you must, indeed, 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 LEONORA. 
 
 be inexperienced in the ways of society, or you 
 would know and feel the value of a relation, — a 
 near maternal relation, — whose affectionate zeal is 
 alive and fixed, pure, disinterested, and strong in 
 one object, — your advantage and well-being. 
 We may often look in vain for zeal, where there 
 is no affection ; and how can you expect affection 
 from ladies whom you have scarcely ever seen 
 but at church, since your mother's death ? " 
 
 " I am sure," interrupted Leonora, " I know 
 some of them extremely well ; and I remember 
 them all perfectly, when they visited my mamma. 
 Mrs. Melmoth, in particular, who called upon my 
 aunt last week, said she should be delighted to 
 introduce me, and I know she is particularly 
 partial to me; and as for my appearance, my 
 dress, and so forth, I can do very well for myself. 
 I should be sorry, indeed, to adopt Lady Roys- 
 ton's fashions." 
 
 " I do not say that it would be advisable to do 
 so," replied Mrs. Hammond. "A girl of eighteen 
 is not to disfigure herself by dressing in the 
 fashion of a lady of sixty. But cannot this lady, 
 if she is anxious and affectionate, and, moreover, 
 accustomed to what is elegant and becoming in 
 those around her, as Lady Royston has been, 
 direct, and advise, and amend, and improve the
 
 LEONORA. 131 
 
 minutiae of a modern dress? Assuredly she may ; 
 — and though I know not your aunt personally, 
 I have heard enough of her to feel assured that 
 she is disposed to undergo all this active exertion 
 from aflfection to you. Besides which, her heart 
 has no tie, and it is the more ready to cherish 
 you within it. Can she be the woman to under- 
 take, at her age, so long a journey, for the mere 
 purpose of going again into that society which she 
 has for years voluntarily relinquished ? It is un- 
 likely, and untrue. AflPection only has stimulated 
 her ; and her heart must be one of no mean 
 worth, to make such an exertion, from such kind 
 and disinterested motives. You talk of the 
 Honourable Mrs. Melmoth ! This lady may be 
 very friendly and amiable ; but has she not two 
 daughters herself to introduce on this very 
 
 Friday ? And do you think that no ; I will 
 
 not suggest what may be ; perhaps you may have 
 an opportunity for judging yourself, whether 
 Mrs. Melmoth would have been as affectionate 
 as your own natural relation. 
 
 " I was going still further to comment, as I 
 feel it my bounden duty to do, upon the spirit of 
 your remarks concerning your sketch, — I will say, 
 disgraceful sketch, — upon the slate ; however, I 
 shall cut the matter short ; for your interruptions 
 K 2
 
 132 LEONORA. 
 
 have changed the current of my ideas, but not 
 my general opinion, on the impropriety of such 
 conduct. You alluded to the housemaid's having 
 said, that she would take an opportunity of 
 injuring your aunt's favourites. I do not ask you 
 what reply you made to your servant ; but I fear 
 it was such as may embolden her to greater 
 liberties with your respectable and kind aunt. 
 Oh, Leonora, I am really amazed at the incon- 
 sistencies of your character ! You are, on every 
 occasion, for supporting your own dignity, and 
 are ever foolishly tenacious of your power and 
 rights, and yet you can lower yourself to your 
 own maid, by listening to her impertinence and 
 ridicule of your nearest female relation. I am 
 really astonished. Can your servants respect 
 you ? — It is impossible. They may be humble 
 and obsequious in their general manner, but what 
 can be their private opinion of you, when — but 
 I will spare you, Leonora, for I see you blush, 
 as, indeed, well you may : but remember, a 
 satirical character is never loved ; for every one, 
 even he who laughs most, knows that the satirical 
 person will never spare his best friend for a 
 joke. An ungenerous mind is despised and 
 distrusted, because we have no hold whatever 
 upon it ; but an unfeeling, ungrateful heart, which
 
 LEONORA. 133 
 
 can pick out a foible of age, and a benefactor to 
 make wanton sport with, is a character too odious 
 to tolerate. Reflect, then, my dear Leonora; 
 you are young ; correct yourself of these — what 
 shall I say ? — propensities to such enormities. 
 I speak plainly and forcibly, not to distress but 
 to rouse you, my love, to nobler ambition. Be 
 advised, then ; be amiable ; and let me see you 
 all and every thing we can desire. Believe me, I 
 have but your welfare at heart. What other 
 motive can actuate me ? Come, then," continued 
 this amiable woman, stretching out her hand to 
 Leonora, " come and give me your hand : I sin- 
 cerely hope you may be gratified to-morrow, and 
 I dare almost venture to say that you will." 
 
 Miss Clive, who had looked confused and yet 
 indignant, during great part of her preceptress's 
 address, now relaxed her countenance, not at the 
 kindness of the latter part, but at the prophecy 
 that she should go to the ball. She accordingly 
 smiled, and leaning forward to take the hand 
 which was offered to her, received and returned 
 the kiss with which the lady delicately endea" 
 voured to restore her young heart to its lightness 
 and usual tranquillity.
 
 134 LEONORA. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Goodness of nature is of all virtues and dignities of the 
 mind the greatest, being the character of the Deity. 
 
 Lord Bacon. 
 
 Fanny, who had not been in the study, now re- 
 turned, and spoke to her cousin, who, having 
 resumed her accustomed cheerfulness, answered 
 her with perfect composure ; and turning round 
 to Mrs. Hammond, put a question to her with 
 the sprighthness of a person who is perfectly 
 unembarrassed. The lady replied; yet she 
 could not help pondering in her mind the dif- 
 ference of the two young women before her. 
 " Had I," thought she, " said to Fanny Beresford 
 one half of that I have addressed to Leonora, 
 she would have been melted into tears of con- 
 trition, and would have been so much affected 
 and humbled, that she would not have recovered 
 sufficiently to hold a conversation for several 
 hours ; and for days I should have seen in her 
 countenance the impression my words had made. 
 But Leonora, she hears me, feels the keenness
 
 LEONORA. 135 
 
 of my reproof, and yet is herself again in a 
 moment. Well may the poet sing in praise of 
 her who, he says, possesses 
 
 A heart that almost breAks to be rebuk'd, 
 
 for it is an almost certain indication of internal 
 worth." 
 
 In about half an hour from the time of this 
 conversation Leonora left the study, and Mrs. 
 Hammond saw no more of her till a little before 
 dinner time, when she returned, all joy and 
 triumph, to acquaint her sister and preceptress 
 that her aunt had declared she would go to the 
 ball. " And now," said Leonora, " I am happy 
 at last. I suppose the Goldsmiths will be there. 
 I shall see every body. Dear Mrs. Hammond, 
 just let me come in and out of this room two or 
 three times for practice, to see how I shall 
 manage on entering a public room ; and pray, 
 ma'am, tell me if I do not step right : oh dear, 
 I am sure I shall be frightened ; every body will 
 be looking at me. There now. Bell, you shall be 
 
 the Duke of D , one of the stewards, and 
 
 you must come forward to meet me, and Mrs. 
 Hammond shall be my aunt. Now you bow, 
 and I will courtesy." 
 
 Leonora very eagerly practised this little 
 K 4
 
 136 LEONORA. 
 
 ceremony, and Mrs. Hammond kindly showed 
 her how to offer her hand more gracefully to 
 her partner, whilst she taught her to courtesy 
 rather more slowly than she was used to do. As 
 she sat down, a servant brought in a note to 
 Mrs. Hammond. It was very hastily written, 
 and was to request the favour of seeing her, at 
 the house named, in about an hour, to give some 
 information respecting her son. The gentleman 
 apologised for not waiting upon Mrs. Hammond, 
 himself; but said he had business to transact of 
 such importance in the village that he could not 
 defer it. Mrs. Hammond, in great agitation, 
 read the note aloud, and said, " In an hour ? 
 certainly, I will wait upon him. Bell, my dear, 
 give me that paper." 
 
 " The person is gone, ma'am, who brought up 
 the note." 
 
 " Gone ! " exclaimed Mrs. Hammond ; " but 
 he will conclude I shall be punctual: in an hour.-^ 
 I will fetch my bonnet." 
 
 " Dear me," said Bell : " what ! will you go in 
 this heavy rain, ma'am ? " 
 
 " It will, perhaps, clear up presently," answered 
 the lady. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Hammond," cried Fanny, in an- 
 xiety for her preceptress, " my uncle is going
 
 LEOXORA. 137 
 
 to Sir John Cunninghame's to dinner in a quar- 
 ter of an hour, and the carriage will set him 
 down in ten minutes : it can take you so nicely, 
 and you will not be wetted, you know ; and you 
 will be in very good time." 
 
 " I am much obliged to you for thinking of it, 
 Fanny," answered Mrs. Hammond. " Do, Leo- 
 nora, ask your papa to be so kind as to let the 
 carriage take me, after it returns from him." 
 
 To this Leonora gave a rather ungracious 
 " Very well, ma'am," and left the study. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond put on her things, and sat 
 watching the rain, which fell in torrents. The 
 Colonel, who this day was longer dressing than 
 usual, stepped into his carriage in not less than 
 twenty minutes afterwards, and Mrs. Hammond 
 watched him drive off. In the mean time, the 
 dinner-bell rang : Lady Royston came down to 
 the dining-room, where she was joined by the 
 young ladies, who amongst them gave an apology 
 for Mrs. Hammond's absence. 
 
 This anxious mother looked at her watch, 
 and at the heavens, and then walked about the 
 room, and again took her station at the window : 
 but ten, twenty, thirty minutes elapsed, and no 
 carriage drove up to the door. At length, she
 
 138 LEONORA. 
 
 rang the bell : " Pray, Clara, can you hear any 
 thing of the carriage ? " 
 
 " La ! ma'am, do you want it ? " said Clara : 
 " the coachman is in the kitchen : he came round 
 by the back road, and put his horses up full ten 
 minutes since." 
 
 " Is it possible ! " exclaimed the lady : " well, 
 Clara, pray find me an umbrella, for go I must, 
 directly." 
 
 " La ! ma'am, will you set out all in this 
 terrible rain ? " cried the maid. 
 
 "If it were twice as violent, I must go," 
 answered Mrs. Hammond, " and so, pray, my 
 good girl, fetch me an umbrella, for I can wait 
 no longer." 
 
 Upon this, Clara immediately produced one, 
 and the lady set off to wade through the torrent 
 to the extremity of the village, a distance of 
 above a mile. 
 
 It was above half an hour beyond the time 
 appointed, when Mrs. Hammond reached the 
 house to which she had been directed ; for with 
 all the haste which she could possibly make, she 
 could not baffle through wind and rain in less 
 than a quarter of an hour. Her first enquiry 
 was for Mr. C , the gentleman who wrote
 
 LEONORA. 139 
 
 to her. The people of the house, who were not 
 disposed to be very civil, sent word out by the 
 maid, that the gentleman was not at home ; that 
 he had left a message for her in case she might 
 call ; that he had waited twenty minutes beyond 
 the time mentioned in his note, and that, as he 
 concluded she would not come in the rain, he had 
 set off to despatch the business with the friend 
 whom he came particularly to see, and would 
 call the next morning, if possible, on his way 
 back to Portsmouth. 
 
 " And did you not hear this gentleman say 
 any thhig concerning a young midshipman ? Did 
 you hear him mention the name of Hammond?" 
 asked the disappointed, tortured mother, with her 
 eyes full of tears. 
 
 " No, ma'am," said the girl. " Hammond ? — 
 oh, dear no, I am quite sure I don't know that he 
 did, though I saw him empty a red box full of 
 papers on the table." 
 
 *' Papers!" cried Mrs. Hammond; " there 
 might be a letter, perhaps. Ask your mistress, I 
 pray you, to allow me the favour of a few words 
 with her." 
 
 The girl went into the parlour, but soon 
 returned, and said her mistress was at tea, but 
 begged the lady would walk in. This she imme-
 
 140 LEONORA. 
 
 diateiy did, with several apologies, and requested 
 the favour of being told whether any letter for 
 a person of her name might be on the gentle- 
 man's table. The prudent mistress immediately 
 answered, as she gave the wink to her maid, and 
 pushed back a long straggling lock from her eyes, 
 " Oh, dear no, ma'am ; the gentleman never 
 leaves his papers or letters so that we can see 
 'em : they be all locked up, and so is the room 
 too. Go and try, Betty," added she, giving the 
 girl a significant look. 
 
 " This gentleman, then, is accustomed to stay 
 at your house, madam ? " said Mrs. Hammond. " I 
 beg your pardon for being so inquisitive ; but I 
 imagined he might be some naval officer who 
 might have seen an only son of mine, about 
 whom I am particularly anxious. I received a 
 message to call here this afternoon, and I con- 
 cluded there was either a letter or some inform- 
 ation respecting my child." 
 
 " Deary me ! — Oh, let me see ; ay, ma'am ; 
 — yes, I remember the gentleman sent our fore- 
 man to Squire Clive's, I think, ma'am " 
 
 " Yes, to me," interrupted the lady eagerly ; 
 " and what did he say to him ?" 
 
 " Why, ma'am, for all I know, he did not say 
 nothink," answered the intelligent mistress. " He
 
 LEONORA. 141 
 
 is a very silent man, being in the law, and he 
 generally comes down here, to see some folks he 
 does business for, two or three times a year ; and 
 though we don't let lodgings, my husband and me, 
 yet we always let him have a bed, because his 
 father, who was an attorney before him, always 
 had a bed here at the county town assizes." 
 
 " And you did not then hear him mention that 
 he had any letter — or — for me ? I really beg 
 your pardon, ma'am," said Mrs. Hammond : " it 
 was very unfortunate my being a few minutes 
 too late," as the tears fell on the hand with 
 which she tried to brush them away. 
 
 " No, indeed, ma'am," cried the woman ; "I am 
 quite sure I never heard him say nothink at all." 
 
 Three fat ill-bred children now began to 
 chatter very fast : one snatched away the other's 
 cup, and the second twined his dirty fingers into 
 the matted hair of the offender, which produced 
 a scream. Mrs. Hammond, disgusted with the 
 unfeeling coldness of the mother and the man- 
 ners of the children, now rose to go home, as the 
 mistress called out, — " How dare you ! Bill, I 
 say, let him go ; let go his hair : — Betty, show 
 the lady out." 
 
 Just as she spoke. Bill, who had lost his cup,
 
 142 LEONORA. 
 
 struggled with his mother, sprang from her, and, 
 running with all his strength to the younger 
 child, fairly knocked him out of his chair. He 
 fell against the leg of the table, and his forehead 
 striking against the edge of it, he was laid mo- 
 tionless ; whilst a stream of blood gushed out, 
 and, in an instant, flowed all down his face and 
 neck to the carpet. Mrs. Hammond turned her 
 head at the noise, and instantly ran to the child ; 
 whilst the mother, at the sight which she beheld, 
 screamed out, and seizing the eldest boy gave 
 him several hearty blows on the back. She then 
 wrung her hands, threw off her cap, and voci- 
 ferated, " Oh, what shall I do ! — what will 
 become of me ! — he is dead ! — he is dead ! — 
 Tommy, Tommy ! — Oh, madam, help me ! Here, 
 Betty, Betty: — where is your master? — here, 
 Betty." 
 
 She then ran about the room wringing her 
 hands, and calling upon every body to help her. 
 
 " If you wish to see whether we may hope, be 
 quiet," said Mrs. Hammond, lifting up the child 
 into her lap. " You, Betty, come here ; — give 
 me some vinegar ; — reach me water, if there be 
 any in the room ; — have you any linen ? — there, 
 quick! — what is that in the chair? — give it."
 
 LEONORA. 143 
 
 " La, ma'am, it's an ould shirt of master's : 
 may she have it, mistress ? " 
 
 " Give it me, I say," repeated Mrs. Hammond, 
 taking it from her, and tearing off a part for a 
 thick pledget and band to press upon the wound, 
 which was yawning frightfully. " Untie the 
 child's frock, while I do this ; — bathe his hands 
 with vinegar ; — open the window for air, — this 
 room is suffocating." 
 
 Betty, who durst not answer, did as she was 
 bidden ; while the generous lady chafed the hands 
 and feet of the infant, and blew in his face. In 
 about ten minutes he opened his eyes, and stared 
 about him. He put out his little hand for the 
 cup, the bone of contention ; but presently from 
 weakness leaned on the lady's bosom, his face as 
 white as the handkerchief that covered it. 
 
 " Give me some wine, if you have any," said 
 Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 "Wine, ma'am! — Mistress, the lady wants 
 wine !" screamed Betty to her paralysed mistress. 
 
 " Oh, dear, — what do you say, Betty ? — Wine ! 
 — the lady wants wine ? — here: — la ! — where 
 are the keys ? — there's a bottle of Mountain. Oh 
 dear, where is it ? " 
 
 " I know, ma'am : in the corner cupboard, "
 
 144* LEONORA. 
 
 answered the girl, seizing the keys, and twisting 
 out the cork from the bottle. 
 
 The lady now poured half a cupful into the 
 child's mouth, and had the delight of seeing him 
 very soon sit up and utter several words. She 
 tried to check his exertion ; and turning to the 
 mother, said, " Now, ma'am, silence every one of 
 your children ; and let your maid go directly for 
 your doctor. I will hold the child till he comes." 
 
 " Well, go, Betty, for the doctor, as the lady 
 says. Oh, dear ! — good gracious ! — Tommy, 
 my dear, arn't you better now, dear ? Mother 
 will buy him a horse and cart ; aye, that she will." 
 
 " Hush ! " said Mrs. Hammond ; " he must not 
 speak : if you make him talk, he will faint again. 
 Cannot you send the others away ? " 
 
 " Ay, they may go into the garden and play," 
 replied she. " Come, children, go away both of 
 you. 
 
 They made some resistance to this ; but upon 
 Mrs. Hammond's persuasion, they suffered them- 
 selves to be led off by their mother. Betty, in 
 half an hour, returned with the doctor, who, 
 upon examining the wound, and enquiring into 
 the effects of it, and hearing the means resorted 
 to by the lady, turned round to the mother, and
 
 LEONORA. 14:5 
 
 said, " Mrs. Green, in all probability, you owe 
 your child's life to this lady. If this gash had 
 bled till now, as profusely as it must have done 
 at first, I do not think he could have been saved." 
 " Dear, dear, only think ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Green, with her eyes turned up. " What is to 
 be done ? " 
 
 " You have now only to keep him quiet. Put 
 the child to bed: I will call "again this evening." 
 So saying, the gentleman, who was no other 
 than Dr. Goldsmith, who, although a regular- 
 bred physician, acted as surgeon in this small 
 place, bowed very respectfully to Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, and went away. The mother now took 
 little Tommy in her arms, and carried him up to 
 his bed. And as she saw ]Mrs. Hammond pre- 
 paring to go home, she recollected herself, and 
 began to thank her for her attention. 
 
 " I do not require any thanks for having done 
 my duty, ^Irs. Green," said this lady, gravely. 
 " I cannot help wishing the event of this after- 
 noon may teach you, that other mothers may 
 love their children as well as yourself. Good 
 afternoon. Pray, if you value your son's life, 
 keep him quiet and composed. I hope, most sin- 
 cerely, he will recover." So saying, she put a 
 shilling into Betty's hand, as the poor simple girl, 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 14-6 LEONORA. 
 
 in awe and admiration at her superior manners 
 and virtue, flew down the passage to open the 
 door. The violence of the rain was much abated ; 
 and drawing her clothes around her, the disap- 
 pointed mother waded home ; not, however, 
 without a ray of hope, and a glow of satisfaction 
 in having been of use to a fellow-creature, and, 
 above all, in having returned good for evil.
 
 LEONORA. 147 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Selfishness is food and poison to a narrow soul. 
 
 Young Lady's Tale. 
 
 Whex Mrs. Hammond arrived at home, she 
 went dh-ectly up to her chamber, to midress and 
 change the clothes which had been wetted 
 thoroughly with the rain, but which had dried on 
 her. As she opened the door, she saw a nice 
 blazing fire, a suit of linen hanging round it to 
 air, with her slippers placed sideways on the rug, 
 and on the table was a goblet of wine, a tea- 
 spoon, and sugar ; and boiling water steamed 
 from a small bright tea-kettle on the side of the 
 grate. 
 
 Mary Kelly now tapped at the door, and de- 
 sired to know whether the lady wished for any 
 thing else. " Miss Beresford laid a promise on me 
 to come directly you came home, ma'am," said 
 the maid. 
 
 " She is a dear sweet girl," replied Mrs. Ham- 
 mond. 
 
 " Indeed is she a nice young lady, ma'am," 
 L 2
 
 l^S LEONORA. 
 
 said Mary Kelly, who was a young woman Fanny 
 had brought from home, to work at her needle, 
 and make herself useful in the house. " And, in- 
 deed, never believe me, ma'am, asking your par- 
 don for saying so, if my young lady did not come 
 up all herself, as soon as ever the dinner was 
 done, to put out all these things ; and she said to 
 me, says she, ' Mary, be very quick, my good 
 girl, and light a fire in poor Mrs. Hammond's 
 room, for I have just heard that the carriage was 
 forgotten ; and if she went in the rain, as I am 
 sure she did,' says she, ' she'll be wet through ; 
 and you come and see, Mary Kelly, if she wants 
 any thing ; and mind that the things don't be 
 scorching : ' and the dear cratur, asking her par- 
 don, if she didn't come up soon after, as light as 
 a feather, and dropped that wine on the table, 
 and set up those ould shoes of yours, m'em, ask- 
 ing your pardon, just as they stand at this pre- 
 sent ; so she did, and God may bless her for her 
 goodness, for a sweet cratur as she is." 
 
 So ran on the honest simple girl. Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, whose spirits were quite overcome, and 
 who was fatigued and agitated by various feel- 
 ings, was so much touched by the kind warmth 
 of the maid, and so aifected by the attention and
 
 LEONORA. 149 
 
 goodness of her young friend, that she leaned on 
 the table, and burst into tears. 
 
 " Why then, and troth you arn't well, m'em," 
 said Mary, after having gazed with much earnest- 
 ness for several minutes upon Mrs. Hammond. 
 " Come, m'em, take the wine my young lady has 
 left for you. Will I pour a little water in it ? — 
 sure the water boils, and is quite hot; and I shall 
 put a little in, m'em, and you'll be all the better, if 
 you'll only just taste it. And now do, m'em, let 
 me pull off those shoes ; — sure and you're quite 
 soaked through." 
 
 In this manner talked Mary Kelly, and, as Mrs. 
 Hammond gave her a nod of approbation, she 
 speedily made a glass of hot negus, and pre- 
 sented it with much eagerness to her. Mrs. 
 Hammond drank half of it ; and then feeling 
 herself revived, began to undress, as she very 
 gratefully thanked the girl for her solicitude. 
 When she had finished dressing, and Mary had 
 put away her wet clothes, the three young ladies 
 tapped at the door, and on being desired to 
 come in, all tripped into the room Leonora 
 laughing, and in the highest spirits. 
 
 " We have left my lady taking her nap," said 
 she, " with her dog on her knee ; and, oh, Mrs. 
 Hammond, my dress is come : the butler is 
 L 3
 
 150 LEONORA. 
 
 opening the box, and I have desn-ed Clara to 
 bring it up stairs when it is unpacked. Let me 
 see ; I will try it on here, if you please. I can 
 slip off this muslin frock in a minute. Bell, 
 untie the top string and my sash, and I will put 
 the other on in a moment." 
 
 Miss Clive was thus taken up with herself, for 
 no one seemed disposed to attend to her, Fanny 
 being occupied in listening to Mrs. Hammond, 
 who endeavoured, with as much calmness as she 
 could, to relate the little history of her disap- 
 pointment, and to thank her young friend for her 
 kind attention ; and Bell, having taken the first 
 chair she could find to sit down, and crack a 
 large handful of filberts, which she had slipped 
 into her pocket at dessert. 
 
 Leonora having looked in the dressing-glass, 
 and finding she could not unpin her sash, or 
 untie her frock, called out, " Bell, why do you 
 not come as I desire you, instead of sitting crack- 
 ing nuts with your teeth, which is a very injurious 
 thing, I can assure you ; and, indeed, I have 
 often heard you reproved for this." 
 
 " Very well," said Bell, hastily sliding shells 
 and kernels into her pocket, for fear of having 
 them taken from her ; " very well, Leonora ; and 
 I may return the compliment, and ask you if you
 
 LEONORA. 151 
 
 never do any thing wrong ? Pray was it not very 
 disobliging of you not to order the carriage to 
 come round for Mrs. Hammond, instead of letting 
 her get wet through ?" 
 
 Leonora was as provoked at this observation 
 as her sister desired she should be : she coloured 
 very highly, and casting a look of indignation on 
 Bell, who slily pulled out another nut, she turned 
 to Mrs. Hammond, and coldly said, " Were you 
 wet, ma'am ? " 
 
 " If I walked out any time between four and 
 seven o'clock this afternoon I could not be other- 
 wise than wet," answered the lady, very gravely. 
 " Had my object been gained, I should not mind 
 a shower ; but," added she, " I was twenty 
 minutes too late ; and I must pass another night 
 in suspense on the state of my poor son." 
 
 " Then, since it must be so, try and hope that 
 there wiU be good news for you, dearest madam," 
 said Fanny, with a countenance full of sympathy, 
 affection, and benevolence. " How often have 
 you advised me, always when in suspense, to hope 
 for the best?" 
 
 " It is very true, my dear Fanny," answered 
 
 her friend : " I will try to rally my spirits, if it be 
 
 only in return for all these engaging attentions 
 
 from you ; and may you never, my sweet girl, 
 
 l4
 
 15.2 LEONORA. 
 
 know the want of such a token of friendship in 
 the hour of trouble and necessity ! " 
 
 Leonora, who always felt the praise given to 
 another as a reproach to herself, now said very 
 pettishly, " I am sure I don't know how it hap- 
 pened that the carriage did not come round. 
 Robert never thinks of going the back way to the 
 stables." 
 
 " Indeed, sister," cried Bell, '< he very often 
 goes that way, and especially when it rains, be- 
 cause it is a shorter cut from the road." 
 
 " I say he does not," answered Leonora : " he 
 almost always goes the front way." 
 
 " I am glad you have put in almost,'' cried 
 Bell, cracking a nut, and looking very deliberately 
 at the thick brown fibres which enveloped the 
 kernel. " I am glad you have said always 
 
 Leonora looked for a moment at her sister, 
 and contemptuously turning her back to her, 
 continued, " I repeat what I said ; and it is very 
 odd he did not stop : I mean " 
 
 " Aye," interrupted Bell, laughing ; " it is 
 very odd he did not stop in the rain without 
 having either rhime or reason for it." 
 
 " Bell," said Leonora, " I would advise you to 
 be quiet, or "
 
 LEONORA. 153 
 
 " Leonora," observed Mrs. Hammond, " pray 
 do not be so warm, as if it were a consciousness 
 of your neglect which piques you. How much 
 better would it be at once to say you forgot my 
 request, and are sorry for it ; and there the 
 matter would rest. But by laying the blame on 
 another, and by seeking to excuse yourself, you 
 only appear more ungracious. You must very 
 well know, that it only required a word from you 
 to bring round Robert to the door : this was for- 
 gotten, and I have been wetted and disappointed. 
 Pray, for the future, think more of the comforts 
 of your friends if you yourself wish to be con- 
 sidered with zeal and regard. And here let the 
 subject drop." 
 
 Clara now brought up the open box, and was 
 going to set it down, but Fanny stole gently to 
 her, and whispered to Leonora, that it would be 
 better not to trouble Mrs. Hammond with such a 
 display in her present state of mind. But this 
 lady turnmg her head as Miss Clive was going to 
 give a command to have it taken away, requested 
 the maid to come forward. 
 
 '' Though I am sad and vexed myself," said 
 she, '• it is no reason why I should cease to feel 
 any interest in the affairs of my friends. Come,
 
 154 LEONORA. 
 
 Leonora, this dress is yours, I see, by the label ; 
 try it on ; Clara, pray untie your lady's frock." 
 
 Leonora willingly turned round to the servant, 
 and her eyes sparkled when she watched the 
 delicate white satin, as her preceptress cautiously 
 and lightly unfolded it. Round the box were 
 placed several bunches of beautiful lilies, which 
 were to be fastened here and there, according to 
 the written directions which were pinned to the 
 dress. The bottom was trimmed with rich blond, 
 and the bosom and sleeves with the finest Brus- 
 sels point. Mrs. Hammond herself tied the dress 
 on Leonora, who was so well satisfied that she 
 said, " Pray, ma'am, be so good as to pin on 
 the flowers ; you will do it so much more tastily 
 than I." 
 
 The lady made no reply to this observation, 
 but did as she was requested ; and now the whole 
 being complete, Leonora was charmed with her- 
 self, and blushing in pleasure and pride, looked 
 round for admiration. 
 
 " It is beautiful," cried Fanny, who, with a 
 soul unspotted with envy or base passion, eagerly 
 held the pincushion to Mrs. Hammond, and 
 assisted in many little ways, as the finishing 
 touch was put to this robe. " It is beautiful,
 
 LEONORA. 155 
 
 cousin, and I never saw your figure to so much 
 advantage in my life." 
 
 " It becomes you extremely, my dear," said 
 Mrs. Hammond ; " and as a young lady's di-ess 
 ought to be, it is handsome without being gaudy," 
 
 Leonora glanced again in the mirror, and 
 smiled. Bell looked up. " Leonora thinks her- 
 self so fine," remarked she : "just look; she is so 
 proud, she does not know how to move, scarcely, 
 in that smart gown." As this young girl uttered 
 these words, she suddenly jumped up, and 
 stamping with her foot on the ground, emptied 
 the contents of her mouth into the ashes. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " exclaimed Mrs. Ham- 
 mond. 
 
 "Oh, a maggot, a maggot in the nut: I thought 
 it had been a kernel, and now I see it is all black 
 dust, and two great maggots." 
 
 " Is that all ? " said the lady : " indeed. Bell, I 
 am not sorry, and I expected this to happen, for 
 which reason I said nothing to you about break- 
 ing the nuts with your teeth. But you are well 
 punished for your greediness. Had you not 
 fruit after dinner ? " 
 
 " Yes, " said Bell ; " but not filberts enough. 
 Papa always lets m.e eat as many as I please of 
 nuts, but my aunt would not."
 
 156 LEONORA. 
 
 " And so you conveyed them slily to your 
 pocket," said Mrs. Hammond : " are you not a 
 very naughty girl, and very rightly served ? " 
 
 " But my papa lets me eat them," said Bell. 
 
 " Perhaps he may," answered her governess ; 
 " but your papa, is, doubtless, not aware that 
 they are unwholesome things. Gentlemen, I 
 have often told you, do not think of such small 
 matters; were it not so, Colonel Clive would 
 certainly lay his commands upon you not to 
 eat any, or, at least, but few. Your aunt is an 
 experienced lady, and feels it quite natural as a 
 woman, and a relation, to consider consequences 
 with young persons, and she cannot see you eat 
 what will injure you with indifference." 
 
 " But if nuts are not wholesome, why are they 
 brought to table ? " said Bell, fretfully : " they 
 had better be kept out of one's sight, if we must 
 not touch them." 
 
 " Pray," enquired Mrs. Hammond, " have I 
 not seen you admire my little French watch, set 
 with pearls ? " 
 
 "Yes; it is the prettiest watch I ever saw," 
 answered Bell ; " and I would rather have such a 
 little thing, than any, ever so grand." 
 
 " Why, then, have you not taken it ? " asked 
 she : " I often leave it on the study table."
 
 LEONORA. 157 
 
 " What ! to keep ?" enquired Bell, opening her 
 eyes very wide. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 " Dear ma'am, would not that be stealing?" 
 
 " Certainly, " said the lady ; " and what is 
 stealing, but allowing ourselves to be tempted to 
 take that which is not ours ? Now it seems you 
 can resist the temptation of taking what does 
 not belong to you, then why should you not exert 
 equal self-control with regard to what would be 
 hurtful to you, and is yet a little within your 
 reach? You can see an orange of mine lie 
 before me from morning till night, and you never 
 think of taking it ; you see my Avatch, and have 
 no idea of concealing it ; in short, you do see, 
 and must as you grow older, ten thousand ob- 
 jects which are agreeable, useful, or nice, which 
 you never can hope to possess, and you may 
 and do like them, but never make an attempt 
 even to touch them. And for why ? because 
 you cannot, or dare not. Here, my dear Bell, 
 there is no great merit : your stealing a watch 
 would be made public, and you would be pub- 
 licly punished, and generally despised; you 
 therefore resist the temptation. But your sub- 
 mitting to be tempted by a nice dish of m.eat or 
 fruit only produces sickness, or an indigestion,
 
 158 LEONORA. 
 
 which medicme will remove, and you accord- 
 ingly run all risks. Thus you can bear with a 
 slight inconvenience, provided you incur only 
 self-reproof: or, in other words, you are satisfied 
 to do wrong, if you can escape censure and 
 general punishment." 
 
 "But, ma'am, is there not a great deal of 
 difference between taking your watch, which is 
 yours, and some filberts, which are set on the 
 table for dessert ? " asked Bell. 
 
 " You are right, there is a difference," said 
 Mrs. Hammond; "but you will recollect, that 
 you are told these nuts are unwholesome, and 
 are forbidden by your aunt to eat more than a 
 certain quantity of them. You suffer yourself 
 to be tempted, and take a handful, which you 
 hide, and thrust into your pocket. Now almost 
 every thing in virtue and vice, as well as in art 
 and science, has a small beginning. No man 
 was ever good, or wicked, or accomplished, or 
 barbarous, in a moment. To be either, he must 
 have passed many gradual steps in the right or 
 the wrong direction, from his infancy upward ; 
 and must have assumed thoughts, and habits, and 
 action, which grew with his growth and strength- 
 ened with his strength, until he became at last 
 what we see him. If you, Bell, at fourteen years
 
 LEONORA. 159 
 
 of age, allow yoursetf to take nuts which are 
 notwithstanding forbidden you, and pretend that 
 you cannot resist the temptation because they are 
 before you, may we not presume, that at thirty 
 years old you would not hesitate long in taking 
 any thing of greater value which might also 
 please you ? " 
 
 " I am sure I should never steal," said Bell, 
 very sullenly. 
 
 " And why not, my dear ? " asked Mrs. Ham- 
 mond. " Recollect yourself, and tell me why." 
 
 " Because it is wick id," answered Bell. 
 
 " It is so : your answer is just," replied her 
 preceptress. " And now. Bell, tell me which is 
 the worst, if any man were to commit murder ; 
 to kill a little child, or to kill a man ? " 
 
 " To kill a man," answered Bell. 
 
 " Tliink again, my dear," said Mrs. Hammond; 
 what have we been speaking of? what command- 
 ment do we violate in slaying a human creature ? 
 What do we commit ? " 
 
 " Murder, " answered Bell slowly ; " and I 
 suppose it is the same if a child or a man is 
 killed. " 
 
 "It is so, my dear," repHed Mrs. Hammond, 
 " in the sight of God : the crime must be equally
 
 160 LEONORA. 
 
 great, because God Almighty regards not the 
 value of an infant or man as we should do, for an 
 existence of a minute or of a thousand years is 
 as one to him. He weighs the intention only ; 
 and he sees that a being to whom he gave life 
 is destroyed coldly and deliberately, and the 
 offender is branded with his crime. Now a nut 
 is a very small, trifling thing, and a watch is 
 generally esteemed valuable ; yet if we touch 
 either, knowing we ought not, and are forbidden 
 to do so, we are equally culpable. Besides 
 which, as I observed just now, the person who 
 would to-day take one nut would not hesitate 
 the next to take two, and the next three, and 
 so on, to dozens, and pints, and quarts ; and as 
 a large quantity of fine filberts may also become 
 valuable as a common watch, so, according to his 
 own indulgent manner of estimating his deeds, 
 his fault would at length become a crime, if 
 the taking things of value constitutes one. How 
 many idle boys have begun by taking one apple 
 from a neighbour's tree, thinking it of no value, 
 and have gone on increasing in boldness and 
 fraud till they have been apprehended, and 
 tried, and transported ignominiously to a distant 
 land, for a number of years ? — boys who began.
 
 LEONORA. 161 
 
 like you, perhaps, with a nut, and then a dozen ; 
 and then an apple, and then two, and at length, 
 the fruit of a whole tree." 
 
 Here Bell very sulkily said, " But I am in my 
 own house, ma'am ; and I am sure I have a right 
 to any thing in it." 
 
 " Let me tell you, Bell," replied Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, " that it is extremely arrogant in you, 
 in so young a girl, to have such a thought. By 
 what right do you lay claim to this house, and 
 furniture, and servants, and provisions? You 
 have the use and advantage of all, but how can 
 they be said to belong to you ? This glove is 
 mine, and I may destroy or give it away. Can 
 you sell or give away even one piece of furniture 
 in this house, much less the mansion itself? — 
 Would not your papa be justly displeased, if you 
 presumed to give away a silver fork without his 
 permission ? Then how can you call every thing, 
 or one thing here, excepting your clothes, and 
 trinkets, and books, and what has been really 
 given you, and is marked with your name, your 
 own ? Recollect yourself, Bell. What reason 
 can a helpless girl like you have for boasting, 
 when all your worldly wealth will fit in the space 
 of one or two moderate-sized trunks ? And at 
 table, too, how can any meat or fruit be called
 
 162 LEONORA. 
 
 yours, except that which is upon your plate ? — 
 You are offered, and you help yourself from this 
 or that dish, and what you have on your plate 
 you may call yours, but nothing else belongs to 
 you ; and if your aunt, who acts under the autho- 
 rity and with the approbation of your father, 
 prohibits you from touching any one thing, you 
 have no more right to take any of it on account 
 of your relationship to the master of the house 
 than I have, who am no relation to him at all." 
 
 Leonora, who had listened to the first part of 
 this conversation with perfect indifference, now 
 grew impatient at the conclusion, and, with a 
 toss, said, " She surely did not know who had a 
 right, if the children of the master of the house 
 had not ; and she was sure her papa wished her 
 and her sister to have whatever there was," with 
 a great deal more of the same remark. 
 
 " Leonora," said Mrs. Hammond, " it is 
 scarcely ten minutes since you reproved your 
 sister for taking these nuts ; and now, for the 
 sake of opposition, you justify her. However 
 you may choose to think, I have reason for what 
 I told her; and although I made some distinction 
 on account of your ages, yet believe me, even 
 you, Leonora, are not so much mistress here as 
 you imagine ; nor is it perhaps fit you should be.
 
 LEONORA. 163 
 
 You are too youiig, my dear, and have, indeed, 
 too little command over yourself to fill the station 
 of absolute mistress with propriety. What can 
 be more ill-bred or disrespectful than your con- 
 duct now, in thus interrupting my conversation 
 with your sister ? If you could not assent to my 
 opinion, you might, at least, have been silent. 
 Leonora, Leonora, may you never have more 
 reason to be jealous of your rights and privileges 
 than you have at present ! " 
 
 The servant, who had left the room when this 
 conversation began, now returned ; and as there 
 was a general silence, Leonora turned to her, to 
 fasten her muslin frock, and then carried her new 
 dress to her own apartment, just as she caught a 
 ghmpse of her cousin, on whom ]Mrs. Hammond 
 had arranged the second dress, while she was 
 speaking to Bell. Leonora, by thus hastily quit- 
 ting the presence of her governess and cousin, 
 escaped the necessity of saying a word in praise 
 of her robe, which, to Mrs. Hammond's great 
 satisfaction, fitted equally well with the first ; and 
 as Fanny was delicately and beautifully formed, 
 so she appeared to as much advantage as those 
 Avho best loved her could desire- 
 
 M 2
 
 164 LEONORA. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 All may the body bind, but who the will ? 
 
 Young Lady's Tale. 
 
 At nine o'clock, the next morning, a post- 
 chaise drove up to the door, from which stepped 
 out the gentleman who had sent to Mrs. Ham- 
 mond. He was shown into the study, which the 
 young people immediately quitted. He staid but 
 ten minutes, and then returned to his carriage, 
 and drove away. 
 
 Mrs. Hammond, who was extremely unwell, 
 from the effects of the rain, then returned to her 
 bed-room, leaving a line on the study-table, to 
 request she might be left quiet for an hour or 
 two, to see if the pain in her head would abate. 
 The young ladies accordingly amused themselves 
 in their several ways. Miss Clive, in the highest 
 spirits, with her fine hair in papers, and packed 
 up close under a lace cap, which shaded her 
 smooth forehead, ran to and fro in ever}'^ direc- 
 tion : from the Viscountess, who always break- 
 fasted in her room, to the Colonel's library; from
 
 LEONORA 165 
 
 the library to the drawing-room ; and from thence 
 to the housekeeper. " Be sure that the carriage 
 is at the door by half-past eight," she said twice 
 to the footman ; and then, in ecstasy, she tripped 
 up to her own room, looked over again and again 
 the various articles of dress which her maid had 
 spread out on the bed, and stood a moment be- 
 fore the glass, to consider whether there could 
 be any one thing wanting. At last, she reflected 
 that a very small nosegay would look well in her 
 bosom ; and she rang up her maid, on pretence 
 of searching for the large scissors to go and cut 
 one ; but in reality, she wished to have somebody 
 to rejoice with her, or at least who would join 
 her in admiring the display on the bed. 
 
 " Prudence," said she, " what have you done 
 with the long rose scissors ? I am going to cut 
 a nosegay." 
 
 " The rose scissors, ma'am?" asked Prudence ; 
 " arn't them the rose scissors, ma'am, under your 
 arm, on the marble chimney-piece ? " 
 
 " Dear me, so they are," cried Leonora, a little 
 hesitating. 
 
 Prudence waited a minute, and then moved 
 towards the door. 
 
 " Prudence," said Leonora, " I have been 
 M 3
 
 166 LEONORA. 
 
 thinking." — The maid turned and stood still. 
 Miss Clive again hesitated, between haughtiness 
 and vanity. " Pray are you sure all my things 
 are quite ready for me, Prudence ? Is every 
 thing I shall want looked out ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, ma'am; I turned over every inversal 
 thing in my memory that could be wanted, 
 ma'am, and, incepting the nosegay, I believe there 
 can't be nothing else." 
 
 The maid was now going, when Leonora pet- 
 tishly said, " I do wish, Prudence, you would 
 speak so as to be understood : you make use of 
 so many fine words, that you puzzle yourself as 
 well as every one else." 
 
 " I am sure, ma'am, I can't speak no better 
 than I can," answered the maid, pertly. " I never 
 was told by my foremost lady, though she had 
 always presided at London, that my linguage was 
 not legible." 
 
 '• You are always speaking of this lady and 
 London," said Miss Clive, " just as if it were so 
 great an advantage to have lived in London." 
 
 " And indeed, ma'am," anwered Prudence, " I 
 always steamed it so, and so used my lady : she 
 used to say, ' Well, Prudence, now that you 
 have impurtunities of seeing the ally-mood
 
 LEONORA. 167 
 
 fashions, and have learnt to dress air, you will be 
 authorsized to inspect much larger celeries than 
 you could before.' " 
 
 " Upon my word, a very sagacious lady," said 
 Leonora, as she bit her hp, and smiled. " If you 
 are so very conversant with London fashions, for 
 I think it is scarcely six months since you left 
 your town situation, pray what is your opinion of 
 my dress ? I suppose you know that the woman 
 who made it lives near your native place." 
 
 The maid now smiled in her turn. Her young 
 mistress had scolded her the day before, and she 
 had determined to be revenged on her, by keep- 
 ing an obstinate silence respecting this new dress 
 until she should be asked to speak. She there- 
 fore smiled triumphantly, and lifting up the satin 
 sleeve, replied, " Indeed, ma'am, I think it is 
 very andsome, and quite opeerior to Miss Beres- 
 ford's dress." 
 
 " That's nonsense. Prudence," said Leonora, 
 smiling again ; " it cannot be very inferior, because 
 they are both of white satin, which, indeed, I 
 care nothing about; but it is the make, — the 
 trimming, — which I think so very becoming. I 
 fancied it entirely myself. I am sure there will 
 not be one more elegant in the room this night. 
 M 4
 
 168 LEONORA. 
 
 I never mind what the dress is made of, the 
 fashion of it is every thing, and the trimming 
 too. Pray what is my cousin's trimmed with ? 
 I hope," added she, " it looks as well." 
 
 And here Leonora blushed. She felt the 
 gentle rebuke of conscience, and she hemmed and 
 turned away. But the cunning maid saw through 
 this flimsy disguise, and she directly replied, 
 " Indeed, ma'am, I don't think it does : there is 
 not one hearty-fissial flower on it ; and the lace, 
 though it is either Vallaceen or Michael, is 
 not reposed over the bottom in any taste ; but 
 some people are so persitive in aving their 
 own way. I was going just to revise a little 
 amendment, but Miss Beresford wouldn't, by no 
 means, remit it. Mrs. Hammond had left it as it 
 was to be, she said. So I rejoined, ' Oh, very well, 
 ma'am, you are to be interred in the gownd, not 
 me.'" 
 
 Leonora's natural delicacy taught her, that 
 this observation in her maid was very pert. 
 
 " You did wrong," said she, coldly, " to speak 
 so to my cousin, Prudence : there — I have no 
 time to wait. Give me my bonnet." 
 
 So saying, she turned from her, took the 
 scissors, and went down across the lawn towards 
 the green-house.
 
 LEONORA. 169 
 
 Lady Roys ton, in the mean time, was super- 
 intending the airing of her rich blue satin, 
 and directing her maid to pin up, for the third 
 time in the course of the last seven years, three 
 yards of a gold muslin, which was now of a ra- 
 ther less dazzling appearance than when it was 
 sent from India to her in the form of a very 
 handsome turban. Lady Royston's magnificent 
 jewels were also laid out ; and she had very 
 kindly put aside a splendid diamond comb, of 
 which she now made no use, as a present to her 
 niece. Her costly ivory fan, and her rich and 
 curious Brussels point kerchief and ruffles were 
 also aired ; and her swansdown tippet had been 
 put to the fire, at the suggestion of Leonora, 
 who dreaded every turn of the weather, lest her 
 aunt should change her mind, and fancy she 
 should -be made worse by going out ; for, to say 
 truth, her cold was certainly not gone, although 
 it was much mended. 
 
 Fanny, too, at this momentous period, was 
 employed at the shrine of Terpsichore. She had 
 sewed some strings and bows on her white satin 
 shoes; and then, all being complete, sat down to 
 write a long letter to her mamma. While the 
 industrious and elegant Bell was seated, part of 
 the time, upon a little table near the window
 
 170 LEONORA. 
 
 with her feet on a stool, her pocket turned inside 
 out, from which she had cleared the relics which 
 had been there deposited the day before. These 
 consisted of several almonds and raisins, some 
 orange peel dried, two or three filberts, and some 
 dried cherries, which she managed to eat, al- 
 though they were half covered with the downy 
 dust of the dimity pocket that their clammyness 
 had fastened to them. When this repast was 
 finished. Bell looked round for amusement. She 
 watched the progress of a caterpillar on the leaf- 
 less woodbine over the window till she was tired, 
 and then took a pin and began to pick out the 
 soft putty which had been used on a new pane of 
 glass two days before : this she fairly drew out 
 of two sides, and would have loosened the pane 
 altogether, but that she grew tired of the diver- 
 sion, and changed it. She drew off a small ring 
 of her mamma's from her fore-finger, and scrawled 
 with the diamond over the glass the silliest 
 things, with the names of every creature, man 
 and woman, in the house. When two hours were 
 thus happily got over. Bell called to mind that 
 her governess had given her two lessons to get 
 by heart, and a sum in addition to reckon up ; 
 and as she fancied she heard her step on the 
 stairs, she hastily took up the spelling book and
 
 LEONORA. 171 
 
 spread it open on her knee ; but finding that it 
 was a false alarm, and that all was still, she began 
 to yawn, put the book down again, and with 
 her cousin's new penknife contrived to reduce 
 four fine quills to fragments, and also to turn the 
 edge of the blade ; which Fanny at length per- 
 ceiving, she gently remonstrated with her, and 
 advised her kindly to apply to her two lessons. 
 These were her remarks in the course of the 
 conversation which ensued : — 
 
 Bell. '•' Indeed, cousin, I cannot look at my 
 book just yet. I dare say I shall know my lessons 
 when I am heard." 
 
 Fanny. " But you do not know them now, my 
 dear Bell, because you have not taken any pains 
 to do so ; and if Mrs. Hammond should come 
 down in a few minutes, you would neither be 
 prepared with ciphering nor tasks. Come, shall 
 I hear you?" 
 
 Bell. '• Oh, no, thank you, cousin ; do let me 
 breathe. Oh, dear, dear, I can't bear books, and 
 such things. I cannot think what is the use of 
 one's learning all manner of things." 
 
 Fanny. " Is it not very pleasant to read in 
 books of so many curious things of every de- 
 scription ? Of kings, and princes, and countries, 
 and of clever men and women ; and of animals of
 
 172 LEONORA. 
 
 many kinds ; in short, of every kind ? To see 
 accounts of birds, beasts, and insects which only 
 live in very distant countries; and to have de- 
 scriptions of people, or places, or plants, which 
 we can never see ourselves?" 
 
 Bell (yawning). " Oh, dear, I don't know. Pray 
 what is one the better for knowing all that? 
 I read, yesterday, something about some clever 
 man, and what am I the better for it? Well, 
 what do you laugh for, Fanny ? — however, 
 laugh on, I do not mind who laughs or who cries, 
 not I." 
 
 Fanny. " Indeed, Bell, I beg your pardon for 
 laughing ; but your question was so much to the 
 purpose. You are not, I fear, a great deal the 
 wiser or better for what you read yesterday ; 
 but this, my dear, is your own fault: had you 
 attended, you would have been much the better 
 for so pretty a history, especially when it was 
 explained so agreeably and fully by Mrs. Ham- 
 mond." 
 
 Bell. " And pray, cousin, how should I be 
 better ? Should I be fatter or thinner, or taller 
 or handsomer, or sleep more soundly, or run 
 faster, or " 
 
 Fanny. " Oh, you little chatterer. Well, my 
 dear Bell, I could give you a long answer to your
 
 LEONORA. 173 
 
 question, but we have not time ; for I think I 
 hear our friend moving in her room above. How- 
 ever, this I will assure you, that knowledge has 
 certainly made many plain faces look agreeable 
 and interesting, while ignorance has left beautiful 
 features insipid. Jem, the stable-boy, has a face 
 exactly shaped like the bust of Antinoiis in the 
 dining-room, which is esteemed most beautiful ; 
 and yet how insipid he looks with all his fine 
 features, when he opens his mouth to speak. 
 Besides, you certainly would be better in two 
 respects, if you had attended to the life of the 
 clever man you allude to. First, Bell, my dear, 
 you would have seen that he was a man in- 
 dolently disposed, and with many natural defects, 
 which you have not ; but which, by great per- 
 severance, he overcame, and was at length the 
 most famous orator and counsellor of liis age. 
 Now, had you taken an interest in all this, you 
 would have fixed in your mind for ever, the 
 means of conquering even indolence, which are 
 application and perseverance ; and you might, 
 perhaps, from seeing their force, be disposed to 
 use them ; and, secondly, you would be better, 
 because you would be happier in having done 
 your duty to your anxious governess and your 
 good papa, who wish you to learn and to improve."
 
 1*4 LEONORA. 
 
 Bell. " Oh, dear Fanny, you do talk in such 
 long speeches, like Mrs. Hammond. I can't 
 answer you, if you say so much at a time." 
 
 Fanny (smiling). " You are a curious girl ; but 
 indeed you pay me a great compliment. Bell, by 
 telling me I speak like Mrs. Hammond. I cer- 
 tainly do try to think as she does, for I love her 
 dearly, and value her opinions on all subjects ; 
 but as you do not approve of long speeches, my 
 dear, I have done." 
 
 Bell. " And so have I ; for I do not like either 
 long speeches, or long lessons, or long histories, 
 or long sums, or long copies, nor ever shall. I'll 
 tell you what I like, though that is long : I hke a 
 long evening, when there is to be a good long- 
 supper. Ah ! ah ! a long supper ; and I like a 
 long dessert, and a long e^g, a turkey's egg^ for 
 breakfast. Do you know, Fanny, our governess, 
 before Mrs. Hammond, always used to promise me 
 a turkey's e^g for luncheon, or some hot meat, 
 or something nice for supper, perhaps, when I 
 was a good girl ? " 
 
 Fanny. " What ! did she reward you with 
 eatables ! But pray, my dear, what was being a 
 good girl ? having learnt your lessons ? " 
 
 Bell, " Oh, no ; I would not learn my lessons. 
 I was thought a good girl when I did not scream
 
 LEONORA. 175 
 
 at going to bed, or cry on being made to get up 
 at eight o'clock. I was good when I would let 
 myself be walked out in cold weather, and when I 
 did not put my fingers in the dishes ; for you know 
 I did not dine with papa then. Now Miss Brande 
 used to reward me always with nice things to 
 eat, but Mrs. Hammond never does. Perhaps I 
 might try to get this nasty piece of spelling, if I 
 might have — let me see — a turkey's egg? Yes, — 
 no ; a pint of filberts ? n — n — no ; a whole pound 
 of macaroni cakes, with almonds stuffed quite full? 
 Oh, how nice ! or a basket of French plums ? I 
 would put the stones in my pocket, and crack every 
 one whenever I had a good opportunity. Let me 
 see, plums or macaroni cakes ? both good things ; 
 well, I would learn my lesson if I might have both 
 of these." 
 
 Fanny, " Pray, Bell, could you learn your 
 lesson very quickly if these two good things were 
 to be your reward ? " 
 
 Bell, " Oh, yes, that I could : I could learn it 
 in five minutes." 
 
 Fanny. " That is quick, indeed. Now, my 
 dear, tell me which do you like best ? your papa, 
 or French plums and almond cakes ? " 
 
 Bell here made a pause of several minutes. 
 She opened her eyes very wide, and looked at
 
 176 LEONORA. 
 
 her cousin. At length she slowly said, " Why, I 
 like papa best." 
 
 Fanny. " You are right, my dear Bell. Now 
 as you love your papa better than cakes and 
 plums, do to please him what you would to gain 
 the trifles you mention. He will be delighted 
 to see you a clever accomplished woman, and the 
 idea of having gratified your only parent will give 
 you more real joy and happiness than all the cakes 
 and plums in Europe could give you of grati- 
 fication. The one is a pleasure which a pig can 
 enjoy over a trough of pea-shells ; the other is 
 a delight which none but a dutiful child can 
 know. Come, my dear cousin, think seriously of 
 rousing yourself. Be industrious, and you have 
 no notion how pleasant you will find knowledge. 
 Begin to-day. Now, shall I teach you that 
 lesson ? " 
 
 Bell. " Oh, no Fanny; it does not signify talk- 
 ing ; for I don't want to learn it, nor do I want to 
 be clever, for, as I told you just now, I see no 
 use in it." 
 
 Fanny. " But, my dear girl, you like to receive 
 letters. I know you have often desired me to 
 write to you when I go back to Cheltenham : now 
 you must know how to spell and to write, at least, 
 to be able to answer my letters."
 
 LEONORA. 177 
 
 Bell " Oh, I will try to write a letter ; and if I 
 cannot do it, I will get somebody else to write 
 for me. I do not mind whether I am clever or 
 not ; for Grace de Willoughby told me, that she 
 had a relation who was very rich and yet very 
 ignorant, and who was taken as much notice of 
 as any other lady, and now she is married to a 
 lord. When my papa pays me my fortune, I 
 will have a house of my own, and company and 
 servants, and I shall, perhaps, be thought as well 
 of as that lady was." 
 
 Fanny, "Oh, Bell ! how sorry I am to find you 
 have a friend who gives you such histories ! In- 
 deed, my dear. Miss De Willoughby must have 
 made some mistake. An ignorant lady or gen- 
 tleman was never, in any good society, so much 
 thought of, as an accomplished or clever one. 
 Even beauty, which is delightfully attractive, 
 ceases to please when the owner is silly and ig- 
 norant. 1 assure you, my dear cousin, I tell you 
 the truth ; for I have often myself observed a 
 person of humble fortune, but of merit in other 
 respects, preferred to the rich, the beautiful, and 
 the noble, who have had no other title to regard 
 than mere riches, beauty, or high birth." 
 
 Bell. " Perhaps it may be so, Fanny ; for I 
 would rather believe you than Grace de Wil- 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 LEONORA. 
 
 loughby. I wish you had always lived with us, 
 and then I should have been a more industrious 
 girl." 
 
 Fanny. " Then do, my dear Bell, since you 
 kindly think well of me, let me assist you now 
 with your lesson : see, my dear, let me only show 
 you the way in which I would learn it myself." 
 
 Bell, with a most ungracious movement, 
 pushed the book to her cousin, and was at length 
 prevailed on to read over the lesson ; while the 
 sweet-tempered, gentle Fanny, put her arm 
 round Bell's neck, and with the most unwearied 
 patience pronounced and spelt every word, 
 which the idle girl drawled out, and with her 
 eyes half shut repeated after her till she said she 
 knew it, and would not read it any more. 
 
 Fanny then took the slate, and said, " Now, 
 Bell, you will try to do your sum, I know, my 
 love : come, do it well, and I dare say Mrs. Ham- 
 mond will reward you." 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Bell, with her lips pouted, and 
 her eyes nearly closed; " I know all her rewards; 
 a nice walk, or a little book, or a thimble or work- 
 box, or flowers, or plants, or a bird, or, — do you 
 know ? — Oh, yes, you remember, Fanny, Mrs. 
 Hammond offered me a hen which laid eggs: she 
 said she would buy me a white hen, if I would
 
 LEONORA. 179 
 
 tell her what I had read about, when I shut my 
 book." 
 
 Fanny. " Well, my dear, you would have had 
 eggs of your own, as you are fond of them. Why 
 did you not try ? " 
 
 Bell, " I did try one day; but it was so trouble- 
 some, I could not do it again." 
 
 Fanny. " And if you recollected, for that 
 one day, what you read, could you tell me now 
 what was the subject ?" 
 
 Bell. " Oh, yes ; I could tell you even now 
 almost every word, if I liked." 
 
 Fanny. " Ah, Bell ! only consider what a good 
 memory you must have : what a pity, a thou- 
 sand pities is it, that you do not take a very 
 small bit of pains to learn. Some poor girls, who 
 have no abilities, are obliged to work hard to gain 
 what they know ; while you, who really have 
 talent, let it lie unimproved and useless." 
 
 Bell. "Well, nevermind; — come, teach me 
 my sum, and let me get it over. I am tired to 
 death already." 
 
 Fanny, disregarding the rudeness of the 
 speech, began to name the figures. " Three and 
 six ; — what are three and six ? " 
 
 " Ten," said Bell, sulkily, as she slowly tore up 
 a piece of nice writing-paper which lay by her, 
 N 2
 
 180 LEONORA. 
 
 " No, my dear ; not ten : think once more." 
 
 " Fifteen," said the heedless girl. 
 
 " Nay, Bell, you are not thinking at all, now," 
 replied Fanny, very good-naturedly. 
 
 " Why, what are the figures you asked me ? " 
 said Bell. *' Oh, dear ! I am tired of ciphering." 
 
 " Do not say you are tired; you have scarcely 
 begun yet," answered her cousin. " Three and 
 six, how many are they ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! nine, nine, nine," cried Bell, im- 
 patiently. " There ; it does not signify talking ; 
 for I will not do any more till Mrs. Hammond 
 comes down and makes me ; and of this I am de- 
 termined : and I shall go and see my aunt, and 
 leave you, Fanny ; and so, good-bye, and thank 
 you." 
 
 Whereupon this naughty girl jumped up and 
 ran away, leaving her cousin much grieved and 
 disappointed.
 
 LEONORA. 181 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Let pleasures be ever so innocent," the excess is always 
 criminaL St. Evremond. 
 
 Immediately after an early dinner, which Mrs. 
 Hammond, from increased indisposition, was pre- 
 vented from attending, Leonora hurried her papa 
 and friends to their several apartments, that all 
 might be ready in time. 
 
 " Never mind me," said Lady Royston, 
 smiling ; " I must have my nap ; but you shall not 
 have to wait, my child." 
 
 Miss Clive thanked her aunt, and disengaged 
 herself from her father, who pinched her cheek, 
 and desired her to make herself as smart as she 
 could, and tripped to her room. Bell followed 
 her sister with a loaded pocket ; for Leonora, she 
 knew, never made any objection to her ways 
 when she wanted company, and this was the case 
 when she dressed ; besides which. Bell, who was 
 by no means a simpleton, sometimes in her blunt 
 way sugg^ted an alteration, or improvement, 
 which was worth attending to. 
 N 3
 
 182 LEONORA, 
 
 Miss Beresford found her kind preceptress suf- 
 fering from a bad head-ache. She appeared also 
 paler than usual, but she talked with composure. 
 Fanny's affectionate looks seemed to ask for the 
 news of the morning; but she saw that Mrs. 
 Hammond declined a conversation on the sub- 
 ject, and she forbore to question her. This lady 
 guessed what passed in the mind of her young 
 friend ; and she said, as if in reply, " Not yet, my 
 dear ; when my head is better you shall know : 
 now, we will think of your toilet ; it will amuse 
 me. Get your combs; I will dress your hair 
 myself." 
 
 Fanny in vain remonstrated ; Mrs. Hammond 
 would be obeyed. She accordingly, and with the 
 nicest taste, twisted and braided the profusion of 
 dark brown hair which shaded Miss Beresford's 
 lily forehead and throat ; and this done, she 
 fastened, with the nicest and most delicate exact- 
 ness, the small lace tucker, the slip, and the satin 
 dress ; whilst Mary Kelly, with honest warmth, 
 stood by, to hold pins, combs, and other neces- 
 saries, exclaiming, from time to time, with eager 
 zeal, " Well, then, and it's Miss Beresford that 
 will look well to-night. Sure and my lady would 
 give something to see her now, m'€a:n, for she 
 never looked so iligant before."
 
 LEONORA. 183 
 
 " Oh, Mary," said Fanny, smiling, " you forget 
 all the fine things you said when I went to Lady 
 Charlemont's, — to the first ball I ever was at." 
 
 " Troth, m'em, and asking your pardon, I don't 
 forget; for I said, my Lady Charlemont, as pretty 
 as she is, God bless her ! would not have a more 
 iligant dressed young lady in her drawn-room." 
 
 " Yes, yes," repHed Mrs. Hammond ; but Miss 
 Beresford does not mean that : do you not re- 
 member you said, that you were sure she never 
 could look so well again." 
 
 " Yes, and indeed, ma'am," answered Mary; 
 but I meant barring this night, which, however, 
 I did not then know of." 
 
 " Well, never mind," said Fanny, laughing; " I 
 thank you for wishing my mamma could see me ; 
 and indeed I should be most happy to have her 
 with me. And now, Mary, be very quiet, that 
 we may not disturb Mrs. Hammond, for her head 
 is very bad," whispered she. On which hint, the 
 honest creature stole across the room like a 
 mouse, and opened and shut every drawer with 
 the utmost caution. 
 
 " Go and fetch your pearl necklace, my love,'' 
 said Mrs. Hammond. 
 
 " Ought I to wear it ? " asked Fanny. 
 N 4
 
 184 LEONORA. 
 
 " Yes, surely ; why not, my dear ? It is your 
 godmother's present, and pearls become you/' 
 
 Miss Beresford fetched this magnificent neck- 
 lace, which cost, in India, five thousand pounds. 
 The row of pearls fitted tight to the throat, and 
 was fastened with a single diamond of uncom- 
 mon lustre and great value. Fanny still hesi- 
 tated. — " Should not we be both alike in our 
 dress ? " said this generous girl, timidly; for she 
 knew that Leonora had only a necklace, which 
 was neither very handsome in size, nor of the 
 finest white. 
 
 " You will not be alike, whether you wear the 
 necklace or not," answered Mrs. Hammond, 
 coolly. She meant in two respects. 
 
 Fanny seized on one meaning : — " No ; our 
 frocks are not quite alike in the trimming." 
 
 Mrs. Hammond took the necklace without 
 further remark, and joined it behind her throat. 
 In this little office, she seemed awkward ; and 
 this lady, so expert, so handy, so alert in every 
 little feminine service, was several minutes with 
 the clasp endeavouring to fasten it. At length, 
 a big round tear which rolled in her eye, and 
 dimmed its perception, fell down warm on Fanny's 
 shoulder. She hastily dried it with a muslin
 
 LEONORA. 185 
 
 handkerchief which hung on her arm, and in a 
 moment imprinted an affectionate kiss on the 
 spot; and then slowly snapping the diamond, had 
 time to recover herself, and to say, as the young 
 lady was turning round to thank her, " Go, my 
 dear, and get your fan: I put it in the top 
 drawer of the dressing-room." 
 
 Miss Beresford went, and in a few minutes 
 returned, to offer the thanks which she had been 
 going before to give. They were received with 
 a smile, as Mrs. Hammond, in pride and pleasure 
 at seeing her young charge look innocence and 
 unpretending loveliness, embraced her with the 
 fondness and partiality of a mother. 
 
 It was yet early, and as it had been agreed on, 
 Fanny waited for Leonora in her room. Mrs. 
 Hammond sat by a small table at the fire; and as 
 she spoke but little, Fanny apprehended that her 
 head was worse. In a moment she jumped up, 
 regardless of her dress and white gloves, and 
 was on tip-toe in several Uttle nooks and corners, 
 to seek out some little dusty phials of sal-volatile 
 and hartshorn, and such nostrums as are used in 
 temporary indispositions. She poured out a few 
 drops into a glass in a little water, and presented 
 the mixture to her friend, before the lady was 
 aware of what she was doing.
 
 186 LEONORA. 
 
 "My dear child," cried Mrs. Hammond, "what 
 have you been doing ? you will soil your gloves. 
 Nay Fanny, I cannot allow it : I thank you, but 
 you must consider yourself at such a time. I 
 will drink your medicine, but only on condition 
 that you sit still." 
 
 " I will, I will, dear madam," whispered Fanny, 
 as she saw the medicine fairly swallowed ; " I 
 will sit quite still, and take care not to tumble 
 my dress." 
 
 As she spoke, a loud talking was heard in the 
 corridor, and immediately after, a hasty tap. Mrs. 
 Prudence marched in, with two wax candles in 
 her hands, and was followed by Miss Clive, Clara, 
 several maids, and Bell, the latter of whom had 
 a piece of barley-sugar sticking fast on either 
 inside cheek, which made her look as if she had a 
 swelled face. 
 
 Leonora came forward with a half-suppressed 
 smile playing in her lip and eye ; a slight blush 
 tinged her dimpled cheek ; her downy bosom 
 heaved with agitation and pleasure, and her 
 whole person looked so strikingly beautiful, that 
 it seemed impossible to refuse the praise which 
 was evidently asked for. Mrs. Hammond rose 
 to meet her, and for several minutes gazed on 
 her, as she desired her to turn this way and that,
 
 LEONORA. 187 
 
 to throw a fairer light on the taste and skill 
 displayed. Leonora bit her vermilion lip, and 
 simpered and played with her fan, and at length 
 said, " Well, ma'am, shall I do ? " 
 
 " Yes, my dear ; your dress is very handsome, 
 and you look extremely well in it." 
 
 "It is beautiful ! " exclaimed Fanny, with a 
 countenance of hearty pure zeal, and real ani- 
 mation. " I never saw you look so handsome, 
 cousin," added she, quite forgetful of herself. 
 
 " Oh, indeed, ma'am," observed Mrs. Prudence, 
 with a toss of her head ; " my lady is where- 
 withall to import fashinable homiments ; — other 
 persons," said she, with a theatrical air, "must 
 imply intirely upon their dresses for their detrac- 
 tions." 
 
 With this, the artful woman turned her eye 
 upon Fanny's necklace, which Leonora imme- 
 diately glanced at, but in a moment fixed it upon 
 vacancy. Not a single word passed her lips, 
 yet a little shade gleamed over her brow: it 
 however vanished quickly, and Leonora appeared 
 to smile on every thing and every body, but 
 Fanny, and Fanny's dress. 
 
 " Give me the candle," said Mrs. Hammond, 
 to Prudence, with a marked expression in her
 
 188 LEONORA. 
 
 countenance and manner : " you are not wanted, 
 I believe, at present, Mrs. Prudence." 
 
 Mrs. Prudence withdrew. " The rest may go 
 too," said Leonora, with a httle haughtiness : 
 " they only desired to see me dressed." 
 
 " Come forward," said Mrs. Hammond, " and 
 look at Miss Clive's dress, if you wish it." 
 
 Leonora, half mortified, with an affected care- 
 lessness, turned quickly round and said, " There 
 — now I hope you are satisfied." 
 
 Dolly the kitchen-maid opened her mouth 
 and her eyes, and said nothing. Mrs. Leek the 
 cook took up the corner of her apron, and 
 wiping her mouth and forehead said, " Her 
 young lady looked as handsome as a trussed 
 partridge." 
 
 Mrs. Save the housekeeper, who had been 
 married at forty-five, and who lost her husband 
 in three months afterwards, declared, with a 
 simper, " that Miss Clive looked so innocent 
 she put her in mind of her own wedding-day ; 
 for," said she, " I recollect poor dear Mr. Save 
 gave me a lily of the valley to wear as a nose- 
 gay on my bosom." And Betty the house- 
 maid laughed and tittered, and said she was 
 sure the gentlemen would be all dying to pay 
 their respects to her young lady.
 
 LEONORA. 189 
 
 Bell, who had hitherto looked on with great 
 indiflPerence, here burst into a most violent laugh. 
 " Now for my turn, sister," said she : " I very 
 well remember reading one day about a fair 
 called Vanity Fair ; and now, my dear, whenever 
 you would like to set out for this wondrous place, 
 come to me, and I will buy you a donkey to ride 
 upon." And she again broke into another laugh. 
 Leonora looked extremely angry upon her sister; 
 and the servants taking the hint, all slipped 
 away. 
 
 " What nonsense, in you, Leonora, to send for 
 these poor boobies," said Bell : " they are forced 
 to praise you. Well, how fond you are of being 
 admired ! Mrs. Partridge ! what a compliment, 
 to be likened to a partridge ! " 
 
 "I did not send for them," retorted Leonora : 
 " they sent to me." 
 
 " Yes, yes, we understand," said Bell, with her 
 finger up to her hp : " they know what will 
 please ; and then, if Prudence only gives them a 
 hint " 
 
 " It is not fair. Bell," said Fanny ; '• you must 
 not talk thus to your sister." 
 
 " Oh, never mind," answered Leonora ; " let 
 her talk : she is an ignorant girl." 
 
 " Yes, I know I am, and a greedy one," cried
 
 190 - LEONORA. 
 
 Bell ; " but I would not let any body talk fine 
 nonsense to me, and call me a partridge ! ha, ha ! " 
 
 " Come, my dear," said Mrs. Hammond, to 
 Leonora, " do not be ruffled : wear a placid brow 
 this evening. Let her joke : perhaps there is some 
 truth with her bluntness. And you, Bell, pray do 
 not be troublesome, or go too farwith your banter- 
 ing. Good-bye, my dears ; much entertainment 
 to you. Be cheerful and soberly gay : be sure 
 that your voices are never heard above those of 
 other people ; and on every occasion preserve 
 an easy, unaffected, yet naturally dignified man- 
 ner. If you dance, let your steps and movements 
 be neither superior nor worse than those of any 
 other lady in the room. Do not, in short, 
 strive to excite particular observation in any 
 way, and you may perhaps be noticed for well- 
 bred, delicate-minded women. Good night." 
 As she said this, she held out her hands to both 
 girls, and they then tripped away. Bell went 
 down with them to bid her papa and aunt good 
 evening ; and then, as the carriage drove away, 
 returned to Mrs. Hammond, with whom she 
 remained, till it was time for her to go to bed. 
 
 The carriage had five miles to go, to Warwick ; 
 but it was a fine moonlight evening, and the 
 three ladies and the gentleman were in very good
 
 LEONORA. 191 
 
 spirits. The country from Kenilworth to that en- 
 chanting county town is richly variegated with 
 tree, water, and meadow, and the roads are 
 broad and fine. In very little more than half an 
 hour, the company were set down in the High 
 Street, in which the town-hall is situated, and 
 proceeded to the ball-room. The stewards came 
 forw^ard to shake hands with Colonel Clive ; and 
 Lady Royston in them presently recognised her 
 acquaintances, the Marquis of Hertford and Lord 
 Warwick. The two young ladies were intro- 
 duced to them ; and the distinguished peers, with 
 the most marked attention, led the whole party 
 to seats at the upper end of the room. 
 
 " WTio are they ? WTio are they?" was buzzed 
 from lip to lip. " Lovely women, by Jove ! " said 
 a voice not very far distant. " She is beautiful ! " 
 observed a gentleman in reply, just as Leonora 
 sat down. \Vlio now was so happy as Leonora ? 
 who looked more so than Fanny? They were 
 placed on either side of the Viscountess ; while 
 the noble stewards were soon called off to attend 
 to other company; and Colonel Clive stood up, 
 trying through his. spectacles to find out any 
 friend of his who might be in the ball-room. He 
 presently saw one, and left the ladies to speak 
 to him.
 
 192 LEONORA. 
 
 Miss Clive, whose countenance was suffused 
 with a modest glow, had not yet taken courage 
 to hft up her bright eyes from the ground, now 
 repKed to a remark of her aunt, and raised them 
 to her face. Having ventured thus far, she 
 threw a timid glance upon the company, and by 
 degrees, to those immediately her neighbours ; 
 but as in doing this she perceived a very 
 handsome and fashionable looking young man 
 gazing with much earnestness towards her, she 
 blushed still deeper, and took refuge in her fan,, 
 which, however, it must be added, she was far 
 from understanding how to handle with either 
 modern affectation or sprightliness. 
 
 Miss Beresford, with all the innocence and 
 engaging artlessness of childhood, was yet, as has 
 been remarked, more formed in her manners, and 
 more conversant with the usages of polished 
 society, than her cousin. She did not stare with 
 effrontery from bench to bench ; neither did she 
 sit, like the blushing Leonora, with her eyes cast 
 down upon her fan; but she looked modestly 
 before her, now and then round the room. In so 
 doing, she presently observed the Goldsmith 
 party, who had just taken their station near the 
 door. They too had spied her out, and smiled ; 
 she bowed gracefully and kindly to them. Not
 
 LEONORA. 193 
 
 a great way from them sat Miss Palmerstone 
 and an elderly lady. This one did not recognise 
 her, though Miss Beresford tried in vain to meet 
 her eye. 
 
 And now the band, which was a very good 
 one, struck up with a spirit which made Leo- 
 nora's heart leap in her bosom. The gentlemen 
 began to straighten on their gloves, and address 
 themselves to their partners. One of Lord 
 Warwick's sons presently came up to pay his 
 respects to Lady Royston, and to soHcit Miss 
 Beresford, whom he had slightly known in 
 Cheltenham, to dance ; whilst, at the same time, 
 the Marquis of Hertford introduced to the aunt 
 and her niece a gentleman who was desirous of 
 handing out Leonora. 
 
 " Sir Alfred ," said Lord Hertford ; the 
 
 surname was lost. Leonora bowed, and accepted 
 the partner : he respectfully held out his hand to 
 conduct her to the set which was forming ; and 
 Miss Clive, in presenting hers, found she was 
 engaged to the very handsome man who had ex- 
 amined her with such attention ; and, moreover, 
 when he spoke, she knew the voice which uttered 
 " Beautiful ! " when she came into the assembly. 
 How now throbbed Leonora's breast ! Whose 
 heart swelled high with gratified feelings, if 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 194* LEONORA. 
 
 hers did not? She had attracted the notice of 
 the finest gentleman in the room, and a man, too, 
 of birth and high connection, since he seemed to 
 be intimately known to both stewards. She 
 smiled with modest bashfulness as he led her on, 
 and a thousand dimpled graces floated round her 
 cheek, as he desired, in a tone of respectful 
 interest, to know what dance she would be pleased 
 to name. 
 
 " Thank you," said Leonora, scarcely sensible 
 of what she uttered: " really — anyone. Sir Alfred, 
 if you can recollect," continued she, covered 
 with confusion and blushes. 
 
 The young gentleman watched her with in- 
 creased animation ; but in a moment recollected 
 himself, and spared her delicacy, by assisting 
 her with the names of several very popular airs. 
 
 " Yes," said Leonora, " any one, if you please." 
 
 " Shall I say, then, the first ?" asked the young 
 baronet. 
 
 " If you please," answered Leonora, gratefully. 
 And now the music struck off, and the dancing 
 commenced : every eye was turned to the couple 
 which led off; all admired the modesty and 
 beauty, the elegance and lightness, of the young 
 lady, and the fine manly figure and insinuating 
 manners of the gentleman.
 
 LEONORA. 195 
 
 drawled out Colonel S. of 
 the Guards, to Lord D., " in less than six months. 
 Sir Alfred is in love already : I'll stake my brood 
 mare and her colt upon it." 
 
 " Accepted," cried my Lord, " against my 
 Tawney Jack, and that's two to one, for the lady 
 won't suit him," 
 
 " Not suit him?" answered Colonel S. ; " why 
 isn't it Clive's eldest daughter he is dancing 
 with? Not suit him, myLord?" continued he, lift- 
 ing his glass, and staring full at the young lady : 
 " why isn't she a fine girl, and with a clear estate 
 of five thousand a year ? I am sure Clive has at 
 least ten thousand, and he has but one daughter 
 besides; eh?" 
 
 " It won't do, for all that," answered Lord D.; 
 *• nothing under ten good thousand, and as much 
 more, will suit any man of the name of Pal- 
 merstone : the father had two wives, and both 
 were said to be the richest heiresses in England; 
 and this youth is as fond of money as the old 
 one, or I am much mistaken. However, to the 
 charge. Colonel ; a match this day six months, 
 and two to one on it ; eh ? " 
 
 " Done, my Lord," replied the Colonel ; " for 
 if. ever man was struck, Sir Alfred yonder is." 
 o 2
 
 196 LEONORA. 
 
 My Lord shook his head incredulously as he 
 shook hands upon his bet ; and these two gentle- 
 men soon moved different ways, in pursuit of dif- 
 ferent amusement. 
 
 Sir Alfred, when the dance was over, con- 
 ducted Leonora back to her aunt, and took his 
 station at her side. He conversed upon a thou- 
 sand little pleasing topics, as if his aim had been 
 not only to encourage his fair partner, but to see 
 how he might judge of the structure of her mind. 
 Leonora replied with diffidence, but not with 
 ignorance ; and Sir Alfred saw with delight that 
 she possessed both judgment and taste. He 
 found she had read extensively for so young a 
 woman ; and in referring to Rome for some custom 
 of interest which he named, he put a question in 
 Italian, which Leonora, with great readiness, im- 
 mediately answered in English. Li all this con- 
 versation. Lady Royston had occasionally joined; 
 for she good-naturedly turned from her niece to 
 her niece's cousin, and the two partners of both, 
 to take a share in their discourse ; which, as it 
 arose among four sensible young people, was 
 neither absolutely without interest nor advantage 
 to a listener. 
 
 Now, lest some of my young friends should be 
 incredulous upon the matter of a conversation
 
 LEONORA. 197 
 
 any way instructive having passed in a ball-room 
 during a full quarter of an hour, I must explain, 
 first, that any one who is at all acquainted with a 
 Greville, knows that in him he sees a person of 
 taste, and one who loves the arts, and understands 
 the elegant, in conversation. Besides which, this 
 Greville had seen his partner at her mother's house 
 in Cheltenham ; and he could perceive, by the 
 manners of the select society of which he made 
 a part, that nonsense, coquetry, and levity, were 
 not there the fashion. Upon meeting again the 
 same young artless girl, with the same engaging 
 and unaffected manners, he instantly fell into the 
 easy pleasing style of language which so fully 
 indicates the accomplished gentleman, and which, 
 however such a one may drop at times, he never 
 entirely puts aside in presence of a woman he 
 cannot but respect. Colonel Greville could utter 
 ladies' little nonsenses and provoking trifles as 
 quickly as any man in England ; he could, as 
 readily, seem to believe them ; and he could 
 dandle an ivory fan, and play at hide and seek 
 through the sticks as adroitly as any, whilst he 
 sat by the side of a pretty girl : but it should be 
 observed, that this pretty girl must have shown, 
 by her tittering at his little nonsensical trifles, by 
 her assent, and by her levity, that she really was 
 o 3
 
 198 LEONORA. 
 
 pleased with such manners. In which case, as 
 the Colonel would sometimes observe to a friend, 
 "I give what I am asked for, folly and trifling, 
 where they are most relished ; but sense and 
 deference, where a lady's dignified and regulated 
 deportment tell me at once that she requires to 
 be treated as a rational being, though without 
 being called a philosopher either." 
 
 The wonder that Sir Alfred Palmerstone talked 
 sense to his partner will not be so great when we 
 reflect, first, that he was a perfectly well educated 
 young man, who had travelled a great deal ; who 
 left behind him, wherever he went, the best of 
 characters; and who, to a great deal of spirit, 
 joined a fund of real good nature ; and, secondly, 
 that he was at this identical period in search of a 
 well-educated young lady, of refined habits and 
 turn of thought, something similar to his own, to 
 make his wife. He was struck with Leonora 
 from the moment she entered the room. Her 
 beauty, her modesty, her gracefulness, caught 
 his eager attention ; and when he saw her party 
 received with so marked a respect by the stew- 
 ards, he was delighted to think that she must be 
 a girl of family. This he quickly learnt was of 
 high respectability. Colonel Clive had served in 
 two parliaments, and was a man of unexception-
 
 LEONORA. 199 
 
 able private character. And her aunt, Lady 
 Royston, he knew from more than report, to be a 
 very worthy woman ; but Miss Clive, so young, 
 and so beautiful, could not be seen without being 
 admired. How might stand her affections? Upon 
 
 this point, too, he was satisfied ; for Lady B 
 
 had told him that this was the first night of her 
 appearance in public. How had this lovely 
 creature been trained ? was the next idea which 
 presented itself. With much skill did Sir Alfred 
 wind round the conversations he desired, and 
 throw out, as it were by chance, a hint upon this 
 or that subject, which he afterwards gradually 
 improved, to see whether it was entirely unknown 
 to Leonora ; but whether he spoke of the bril- 
 liancy of the gas lights, the carnival of Venice, or 
 the music of Rome ; the master painters of Italy 
 and Flanders, or of the style of Warwick Castle 
 and the era of Gothic edifices, he was never 
 answered by " Oh, yes, no doubt ;" or, " I declare 
 I almost forget," accompanied by a confused 
 smile, which betray total ignorance. Leonora 
 did not make any long speeches in reply, though 
 she several times assumed courage sufficient, 
 from the respectful ease of Sir Alfred, to look up 
 to his fine, animated countenance ; then she made 
 some little pertinent remark, or gave some other 
 o 4?
 
 200 LEONORA. 
 
 token of intelligence, which, had she not under- 
 stood what had been premised, she could not 
 have done. These little assents were also given 
 with a modest, not ignorant, hesitation, which 
 wonderfully became so much youth and love- 
 liness ; and when Sir Alfred complimented her 
 upon her taste and reading, her blush was just 
 what he could have wished to see upon the 
 cheek of his wife. " She must, she shall be 
 mine," said he to himself, as he presented his 
 hand to lead her away to the second dance : " she 
 shall be mine, if the most ardent, devoted heart 
 and the Palmerstone estates can tempt her to 
 make me the happiest of men." 
 
 Miss Clive and her partner having called the 
 first dance took their station, according to custom, 
 at the very bottom of the second set. Within two 
 of the very last stood the modest and humble, 
 though amiable, physician's daughter. Miss Gold- 
 smith, who had put herself the very last in the 
 beginning, and would have been joined by Fanny, 
 who met and spoke to her with the greatest 
 cordiality, but that Colonel Greville would not 
 permit this young lady to stand so low, in her 
 quality of a Baronet's daughter. Indeed, he 
 would even have led her to the top, but that 
 Fanny, with much earnestness, requested to be
 
 LEONORA. 201 
 
 placed three or four down, as she thought 
 Leonora might be displeased at her taking 
 precedence of her. Miss Goldsmith presently 
 recognised Leonora, and, during the tediousness 
 of waiting at the end of many couples, looked 
 back, and, with a good-natured, afiPectionate smile, 
 tried to catch the eye of her young friend. But 
 as none are so blind as those who are wilfully so, 
 she did not succeed ; for Leonora had, with a 
 glance, seen a yomig woman in a plain white 
 sarsnet dress, trimmed with edging, with a small 
 wreath of white and red roses in her hair, and she 
 instantly knew this unassuming girl to be Lydia 
 Goldsmith ; the friend who really had a strong 
 regard for her, and whom she caressed in private, 
 but whom, in public, she shrank from. " WTiat will 
 Sir Alfred think?" considered she, "if he sees 
 me speaking to such a mean-looking girl ? he will 
 think I have sad acquaintances." Ah ! did young 
 people oftener reflect upon what conscience will 
 say, instead of fashionable acquaintances, how 
 much seldomer would they err ! Is a person 
 worth owning for a friend in private ? Surely, 
 then, must he be so in public ; and though Miss 
 Goldsmith's father had been of a much less 
 honorable profession than he was, could Leonora 
 have lost one tittle in the eye of a sensible man
 
 202 LEONORA. 
 
 or woman by meeting her any and every where as 
 a friend ? Impossible. Alas ! how many young 
 creatures have wrecked upon this rock of false 
 pride ! How many have thus disgusted friends 
 who would have been true to them, in affection 
 and fidelity, during existence ! 
 
 Leonora, by a side-long glance, found that 
 Miss Goldsmith was still upon the look out. 
 She, therefore, by degrees, turned round to the 
 opposite corner, near to the benches. At some 
 little distance sat a figure in an attitude of 
 attention, by the side of an old lady, who was in 
 deep converse and snuff with her other neigh- 
 bour, as old as herself. The young figure was 
 half wrapped in a very rich India shawl, which 
 fell over a black velvet robe : her head-dress w^as 
 entirely without ornament; a quantity of coal- 
 black hair was simply turned up with a comb, 
 and a few curls hung carelessly round a very 
 fine face. " I know that person, surely?" thought 
 Leonora. " Ah, yes ! I remember that dis- 
 agreeable Miss Palmerstone, my cousin's friend." 
 Leonora gave a passing glance, and hastily 
 moved away her eyes from this quarter. 
 
 Sir Alfred was most unfortunately tormented 
 all this time by an old prosing gentleman, who 
 did not dance, but who walked about, to talk to
 
 LEONORA. 203 
 
 those he knew, and to cause the dancers to make 
 all manner of blunders. Sir Alfred did not, 
 however, entirely neglect his partner ; for he ad- 
 dressed some little phrase to her from time to 
 time, when his merciless assailant would drop his 
 button; and when the conversation recommenced, 
 Leonora had to seek out employment for her 
 eyes. At length they rested (and it was asto- 
 nishing they did not rest there before) upon a 
 pair of eyes which had been for several minutes 
 fixed on hers. They were dark grey eyes, with 
 long black lashes over them, and above these 
 a fine dark pair of eyebrows. The nose which 
 grew midway between these eyebrows, and a 
 capacious enough mouth, was of the kind the 
 French call en lair, which we express by, turned 
 up. The figure appertaining to so much capital 
 promise was tall and slender, and to speak as 
 the owner thought, well shaped. His foot cer- 
 tainly did attract his own notice ; and, as it 
 should seem, his secret admiration, for he gazed 
 often upon it, and with much complacency turned 
 the ankle this way and that, to see its contour in 
 a fairer light. 
 
 All this excellence was concentrated in the 
 person of Mr. Thorpe, the rich ward of the good 
 and benevolent Dr. Goldsmith, and no less a per-
 
 204. 
 
 LEONORA. 
 
 sonage than the heir of twenty-five thousand a 
 year, and the actual possessor, in one month, of 
 property to that amount. Mr. Thorpe had come 
 late, and was now standing up with his guardian's 
 daughter, as a compHment to her father ; but he 
 promised himself he would soon lead off with a 
 finer and a younger girl. No sooner did he meet 
 this girl's eye than he bowed. 
 
 Leonora courtesied with a slight blush, but it 
 was not a blush of pride, or of anger, or of vex- 
 ation. She was slightly, and at this moment but 
 slightly gratified, to be saluted with so respectful 
 and marked a submission by a young man of such 
 high expectations and fashionable promise as Mr. 
 Thorpe. 
 
 Sir Alfred, however, was not so engaged with 
 his button-talker but that he saw the courtesy 
 and blush of Leonora ; and he instantly stepped 
 forward, still parrying an answer to his adversary, 
 to look round upon the spirit which had thus 
 drawn gentle blood into the soft cheek of his 
 lovely partner. The spirit was substantial 
 enough to be viewed and touched ; and it was, 
 moreover, imbued with the very pressure and tone 
 of admiration it had just put on. Sir Alfred 
 immediately set his mark upon this young man, 
 as Ali Babi did upon the suspected robber, and
 
 LEONORA. 205 
 
 resolved to observe him. " He is young and 
 gentlemanlike," thought Sir Alfred : " he looks, 
 at any rate, as if he knew, and were more 
 than pleased to meet her. Dancing with ]Miss 
 Goldsmith ? " continued he, *• then I shall hear 
 something of him through my sister." And as 
 he inwardly pronounced this, he caught Miss 
 Goldsmith's attention, and very respectfully bowed 
 to her ; for although he had hardly been in the 
 company of this kind-hearted girl, he had heard 
 much of her from his sister, who both esteemed 
 and admired her. 
 
 Leonora did not see this salutation, her eyes 
 being lowered to her fan ; for Mr. Thorpe's gaze 
 was too particular not to throw her into some 
 little confusion. But now the dancers, who had 
 hitherto been idle, were called to action, and 
 those who had begun at the bottom rose gra- 
 dually upwards. It was Miss Goldsmith's turn 
 to lead off, and in the figure of " Change sides," * 
 it was impossible for the two ladies not directly 
 to see each other. 
 
 The physician's daughter could at length speak 
 to Miss Clive, but it was in rather a more formal 
 manner than usual; for she could not avoid 
 
 * In 1816 Quadrilles were not generally danced.
 
 206 LEONORA. 
 
 noticing the reserve of her friend's behaviour, 
 and she was hurt with it. Leonora forced a 
 smile, hastily replied, and the dance went on. 
 
 No sooner were the ladies again seated, than 
 Mr. Thorpe moved off to seek Leonora. He 
 soon discovered the most beautiful woman in the 
 assembly, and with some eagerness made his 
 request, which Miss Clive granted with a little 
 hesitation, however, which might or might not be 
 construed as flattering to his vanity ; certain it 
 is, Mr. Thorpe was well satisfied ; for he stood on 
 one leg, and turning the other in and out, eyed 
 himself from time to time with almost as much 
 complacency as he did his fair partner, to whom 
 he addressed the whole of his discourse, if such 
 a word may be applied to " Fine day — very 
 good hunting — very hot here, upon my word — 
 I'd no notion we should ha' the felicity of seeing 
 Miss Clive to-night — am sure it is quite an 
 unexpected honour — been several times lately 
 to these assemblies, but really find 'em quite a 
 bore; — besides, one knows so few. If Miss 
 Clive is to grace these rooms by her presence, 
 there'll be henceforward no want of attraction — 
 dare presume." 
 
 To all this current farrago, which Leonora was 
 too rustic to be able to answer, she only smiled,
 
 LEONORA. 207 
 
 but scarcely gave any more reply than it needed. 
 But the smile was encouragement for the fop to 
 go on, and to address to her much more of the 
 same silly nonsense, interlarded, however, with 
 growing compliments, which Leonora had not 
 the courage, or, perhaps, the address, to silence. 
 
 Sir Alfred all this time sat an attentive listener, 
 whilst he bit his lip with vexation and anger at 
 the intrusion. <• Will you be introduced, Sir 
 Alfred, to a very fair lady, who wants a partner?" 
 said Lord D. to this gentleman. 
 
 " Thank you, my Lord," replied he; " I shall 
 not dance again to night." 
 
 " Eh, well-a-day, I must try elsewhere, then," 
 said my Lord, and left him. 
 
 Sir Alfred now rose from his seat, and with a 
 glance of cool disdain walked away to the other 
 end of the room, and stationed himself by the old 
 ladies we have before mentioned Mr. Thorpe 
 undauntedly seized upon the vacated place, and 
 began to amuse himself, and, as he fancied, 
 gratify his partner by a thousand satirical 
 or silly observations upon the company, with 
 many of an adulatory nature for Leonora's ear. 
 Is it to be credited, that a girl of Miss Clive's 
 sense and taste should give encouragement to 
 such a piece of self-conceit and folly ? Yet she
 
 208 LEONORA. 
 
 did by a smile, and at times by more than a 
 smile ; with an " Indeed, Mr. Thorpe, that is 
 really uncharitable ; " or, " You are too great a 
 jester ;" or some such little phrase, which, in a 
 pleasant tone, is a gentle encouragement, or an 
 avowal that the person speaking is not displeased. 
 Thorpe was ready and willing enough to believe 
 this ; and his spirits and folly rose to so great a 
 height, as he led his partner to the dance, that 
 Leonora's delicacy was offended, and she blushed 
 in vexation and anger, as he uttered, in a loud 
 whisper, some impertinent remark upon a gentle- 
 man who was at a very little distance from them. 
 Leonora withdrew her hand from him, and with 
 an air of dignity which she should sooner have 
 assumed, said, " I believe, sir, I shall return to 
 my aunt." 
 
 "Will you not dance. Miss Clive? surely 
 you would not be so cruel as to disappoint me ? I 
 should not sleep to night were you to withhold 
 that favour already promised ? " 
 
 Leonora, still vexed, made no answer, and 
 suffered herself to be led to her place in the 
 set, and with a very good dancing partner, 
 soon forgot the little flurry into which his lo- 
 quacity had thrown her. 
 
 In the mean time, Sir Alfred had not suffered
 
 LEONORA. 209 
 
 one variation of Leonora's countenance to escape 
 him. He never once had taken his eyes from 
 ner ; and if he was at first vexed that Mr, 
 Thorpe had been so well received, he was soon 
 convinced, by the cold reserve and disapprobation 
 so evident in her manner, that he was by no- 
 means an entire favourite. The young gentle- 
 man felt an inward satisfaction at this discovery, 
 which he did not care to acknowledge fully to 
 himself. " I am glad, for her sake," thought he : 
 " as for me, I think her a lovely girl, and a clever 
 one; but I must have in a wife more qualities 
 than loveliness and talents, or mine will not be 
 a happy home. No ; Miss Clive, at present, is 
 nothing to me. Should her principles, heart, 
 and temper, bear the scrutiny that her mind 
 and person do, then, indeed, shall I try for 
 such a prize ; and then shall I be the happiest 
 of men." So ended his soliloquy, as he turned 
 from the gentleman who was speaking to his 
 sister, and walked up the room to seek Lady 
 Royston's party. This was just moving; for the 
 Viscountess felt rather indisposed; and Colonel 
 Clive was tired, and desirous of going home. It 
 was twelve o'clock, too ; and though Mr. "Hiorpe 
 very thoughtlessly begged hard for another dance 
 with his partner, Colonel Clive would not be 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 LEONORA. 
 
 prevailed upon. He therefore offered his arm 
 to his aunt, and was going to take his niece on 
 the other, but Colonel Greville claimed the 
 privilege of old acquaintances, to hand the young 
 lady to the carriage; and Mr. Thorpe had 
 seized fast on Leonora, for the same purpose, 
 just as Sir Alfred came up ; who, wishing him 
 and all his forward brotherhood in the centre of 
 the polar regions, bowed to the ladies, and re- 
 turned to his sister. Leonora saw him turn 
 away with regret ; and felt so provoked with the 
 officiousness of young Thorpe, that she scarcely 
 took any notice of what he said, as he handed her 
 down a flight of stairs ; and it was not till she had 
 gone a full mile at a sharp trot, and had turned 
 over in her memory some of the fine things he 
 had said, that she felt at all inclined to call him a 
 good-natured coxcomb, and to forgive him. Nei- 
 ther was Sir Alfred forgotten : his manly and un- 
 affected conversation ; pleasing and graceful car- 
 riage ; and respectful, and, as Leonora thought, 
 marked attentions to herself, were all summed up 
 with a glowing cheek. Fanny had several times 
 asked Lady Royston if she was too hot, or too 
 cold: whether the glass should be put up or 
 down ; whether her head was better ; or that she 
 would smell the little vinaigrette which she
 
 LEONORA. 211 
 
 carried generally about her ; and such like kind 
 questions, which are so peculiarly grateful to 
 poor suffering human nature, of all ranks and 
 degrees, but eminently so, from the young to the 
 aged. This had Fanny done several times, ere 
 Leonora awoke from her trance, and recollections 
 of self; and even then, it was owing to a re- 
 mark of her father. He had fallen asleep from 
 the moment he stepped into the carriage, 
 but a jolt from a large stone now awoke him. 
 " Leonora, ray love," said he, " did Miss Gold- 
 smith say, why the Doctor was not at the 
 assembly to night ? " 
 
 '• Was he not there, papa? " asked Miss Clive, 
 evading the answer. 
 
 " \Miy, my child, had I thought he were, I 
 should not have asked the question. I searched 
 throughout the room for him, and I am so near- 
 sighted, I really could not even see his wife ; but 
 I found Lydia standing very near to you for some 
 time." 
 
 " We had very little conversation," replied 
 Leonora, coldly. 
 
 " Very little, do you say ? " answered the 
 
 Colonel ; " and why so little ? I hope you have 
 
 not quarrelled with Lydia : she is a clever, good 
 
 girl, and has a worthy father and mother. The 
 
 p 2
 
 212 LEONORA. 
 
 Doctor and I, Lady Royston, were college 
 friends together ; and I assure you, I know no 
 worthier man or better scholar : he always was 
 fond of learning ; for my part, I cannot say I had 
 ever much taste that way. But, however that 
 may be, he never esteemed me the less, for not 
 being a profound bookman; and as for me, so 
 far from envying him his knowledge, I think it 
 an ornament to his virtues. I wish both you, 
 Leonora, and my little Fanny there, to make 
 much of Lydia Goldsmith : ask her to dinner 
 and tea, my girls, as often as you like : she 
 knows she is always welcome, for I have invited 
 her a hundred times, and told her so. But she 
 is modest; a modest good girl, and she keeps 
 back." 
 
 " I think," said Lady Royston, " I remember 
 Doctor Goldsmith when he attended my poor 
 dear niece some years ago. But I have never 
 seen any of his family. The Doctor, if I re- 
 collect right, I thought a well-bred agreeable 
 man, with very gentle and soothing manners in a 
 sick chamber." 
 
 " Aye, or out of a sick room either," said 
 Colonel Clive : " they are an agreeable family ; 
 and I should be obliged to you, aunt, to show 
 them any attentions ; they will take it kind."
 
 LEONORA. 213 
 
 " Be assured I will not forget your wishes, 
 nephew," replied Lady Royston : " there is often 
 more real comfort, and true friendship for a 
 a young lady, in the intercourse of such a family 
 as this you represent, than with a dozen ac- 
 quaintances of an ordinary stamp. So now, 
 Miss Beresford. there is your little vinegar box, 
 for my head is really better, and I thank you." 
 
 " How is your head, aunt ? " asked Leonora. 
 
 '' Hey, dey ! " cried Lady Royston ; " why, 
 child, are you just awake ? Miss Beresford has 
 been doctoring me this half hour, and has really 
 done me good. I declare, 1 forgot you had not 
 asked me before how I was ; and, truly, I was ex- 
 tremely so so, when we were obliged to leave 
 the ball room." 
 
 " I was very sorry, aunt," replied Leonora, in 
 rather a displeased tone. 
 
 " Sorry, child, that you could not stay longer, 
 eh ? " said she, with a smile. 
 
 " No, madam," answered Miss Clive, rather 
 proudly ; " I do not think I ought to hear such 
 an insinuation." 
 
 " Hoity toity ! well, well, don't be so hot ; 
 
 I was only joking," answered Lady Royston; 
 
 but as she ended, her voice fell from a half-gay 
 
 tone, down to one rather serious. And when 
 
 p 3
 
 214' LEONORA. 
 
 she ceased, as there was a general silence, so a 
 little unpleasant feeling crept into every female 
 bosom. 
 
 There is an old trite saying, that truth is 
 sometimes uttered in jest. In the beginning of 
 this conversation, Lady Royston was certainly in 
 very good humour, and spoke with the laughing 
 tone of one who attaches no importance to what 
 .he says. Had Leonora been guiltless of selfish 
 motives, she might have smiled too ; but the 
 stroke touched her, because she could not but 
 feel, that it was, in some degree, merited, as a 
 reproof for her total neglect of her aunt, since 
 she left the ball. She accordingly answered 
 with unwarrantable sharpness, which roused the 
 attention of that lady to the matter ; and she 
 finished by observing that Miss Beresford had 
 been very thoughtful and kind, and her cousin 
 just the reverse. Upon the first person's at- 
 tention, she had little or no claim ; and upon the 
 last, all that affection and gratitude ought to give. 
 The result was, an impression unfavourable to 
 Leonora. The old lady was hurt; and her 
 attention was now awakened to a comparison 
 between these two young women, which it never 
 before entered her head to make. So small is the 
 trifle which can have power to hasten the most im-
 
 LEONORA. 215 
 
 portant events ; to stagger opinion, and to create 
 suspicions which seemed to He out of the re- 
 motest probabilities. 
 
 Miss Palmerstone, in the mean time, had 
 offered a seat in her coach to the Goldsmith 
 party; and this was proceeding not very far 
 behind the Colonel's carriage, towards home. 
 Sir Alfred scarcely spoke during his drive, till he 
 returned to his sister, after having handed their 
 friends into their house, and then he began : — 
 " Sister, you have often urged me to choose a 
 wife." 
 
 "I have so," answered Miss Palmerstone, "and 
 what then ? " 
 
 " What then ? " replied Sir Alfred ; " why, 
 suppose I should have seen a" woman elegant, 
 innocent, and beautiful ? " here he waited. 
 
 His sister most provokingly and calmly listened. 
 At length she said, " Well, brother ? " 
 
 " WeU, Helen," said he : " you are very cool 
 upon the subject. Wliat do you think of Miss 
 CHve ? " 
 
 " Pardon me, brother," answered the young 
 lady ; " I was waiting to hear your opinion of 
 her." 
 
 "Why, is she not beautiful?" asked Sir 
 Alfred. 
 
 p 4?
 
 216 LEONORA. 
 
 " She is beautiful," replied Miss Palmerstone. 
 
 " And innocent ? " continued Sir Alfred. 
 
 " Innocent ? yes, innocent, " said Helen. 
 
 " Why do you repeat my expressions so, 
 Helen ? " enquired Sir Alfred. " You are in 
 a very odd humour. Is she not a fine elegant 
 girl?" 
 
 " Yes," answered Miss Palmerstone ; " she is 
 a fine elegant girl: come, brother, I will not teaze 
 you. I suppose you intend to fall in love with 
 Miss Clive." 
 
 " I believe I do, upon my word, sister," 
 answered he, " and I desire to know what you 
 think of her for me." 
 
 " I think, then," said Miss Palmerstone, " that 
 she is fit to make a vice-queen, or Lady Lieu- 
 tenant of Ireland." 
 
 " Helen," cried Sir Alfred, " how can you talk 
 so oddly? I protest, sister, you are in a very 
 extraordinary temper to-night: what do you 
 mean about Lady Lieutenant ? " 
 
 " Do not be angry, my dear brother," replied 
 Helen: "you wished to know my opinion of Miss 
 Clive as a wife for Sir Alfred Palmerstone. I 
 know about as much of her fitness for this 
 character as I do of the Duchess of Bedford, 
 near whom I was two nights at two parties last
 
 LEONORA. 217 
 
 month. She filled this high office, you know, 
 some years since ; and is very handsome. Her fine 
 person not a little reminds me of Miss Clive, 
 and this is all I can say upon the subject." 
 
 " Well, Helen, you are pleased to be facetious, 
 to rouse my caution : do not fear, I will not 
 marry a handsome statue. But I ^vish you would 
 become acquainted with this family. I particu- 
 larly wish it. I shall call to-morrow, or the next 
 day, upon the Colonel, and when he has been to 
 my house we will see." 
 
 " If you really do desire me to observe this 
 young lady with a view to any serious intention, 
 brother, I can manage to call any day ; for I 
 have already been invited to go with Miss Gold- 
 smith, and pressed to do so by Miss Beresford, 
 the cousin of your favourite." 
 
 " Well, then, let it be so, and as soon as you 
 like," replied Sir Alfred. 
 
 " But," interrupted his sister, " only on one 
 condition." 
 
 " Name it," cried the impatient baronet. 
 
 " That you do not attempt to make any pro- 
 posal till you have first spoken with me." 
 
 " Be it so, you Httle jealous pate," answered 
 her brother, " I never yet did ill in respecting 
 your judgment."
 
 218 LEONORA. 
 
 " Why, brother, we women are sometimes of 
 use, even with our poor pittance of judgment, 
 when it is exerted for the honour or advantage 
 of some such proud beings as you, whom we 
 dearly love," said Miss Palmerstone, in a mock- 
 heroic voice. 
 
 Sir Alfred smiled in reply, and kissed her hand 
 as he drew it away from the glass which he let 
 down as the carriage drove up to his own 
 mansion.
 
 LEONORA. 219 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Virtue is made for difficulties, and grows stronger and 
 brighter for such trials. Anon. 
 
 Colonel Clive, as he alighted, ordered wine 
 and biscuit to the drawing-room, of- which he 
 stayed to partake. The young women, at his 
 desire, took each a glass of negus, and imme- 
 diately retired. They then attended the Vis- 
 countess to her chamber, where she dismissed 
 them with a kind " Good night." The cousins 
 then separated, and each retired to her own. 
 
 Fanny took the candle from her maid, who 
 waited, and cautiously drew aside the curtains. 
 
 " Oh, she is not in bed, ma'am," cried Mary 
 Kelly; " she is still in the dressing-room." 
 
 " Not in bed ! dear me, it is one o'clock," said 
 Miss Beresford, " and I left her very indifferent." 
 
 " Well, ma'am, and so she was," replied Mary ; 
 " and as soon as ever she had heard Miss Bella's 
 prayers, sure she went into that room and locked 
 herself in, and has been there ever since. I am
 
 220 LEONORA. 
 
 sure she's been crying, for I heard her sighing 
 hard hke, once or twice." 
 
 " Good gracious!" cried Fanny, " I will knock; 
 she cannot have fallen asleep." 
 
 Miss Beresford accordingly tapped very gently 
 at the door. "I am coming," cried Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, and she appeared. 
 
 " Dear Madam, so late? and I left you so 
 poorly," 
 
 " Is it late ? " said the lady : " I knew not 
 how time passed." 
 
 Fanny glanced round the room ; her book of 
 devotions lay in the chair ; the candle was nearly 
 consumed, and had a very long snuff. A pocket 
 handkerchief lay near the book. Fanny cast an 
 enquiring look round, and then threw it on her 
 friend. She was pale, and her countenance 
 visibly altered with weeping. She gazed a mo- 
 ment, and threw her arms round her neck. 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Hammond, dear madam, tell me, 
 what is the matter?" 
 
 " Gently, my love, be composed ; sit down 
 dear Fanny." 
 
 " There, now ; now my dear friend, tell me. 
 What is it which has thus distressed you ?" 
 
 " Alas ! my sweet girl," said Mrs. Hammond, 
 " I would have told you the sad news this morn- 
 ing; but I would not pain your tender heart, nor
 
 LEONORA. 221 
 
 imbitter your pleasures of to-night : — my son is 
 dead." 
 
 A flood of tears again rolled down the pale 
 cheek of the afflicted mother, whilst the kind 
 and sympathising Fanny held her hand, and 
 wept with her. 
 
 " Oh, madam," said the grateful girl, when she 
 could command her voice, "and knowing this, 
 could you even exert yourself to dress me for a 
 ball, and be so calm ? And yet, I now recol- 
 lect the agitation you several times showed, and 
 I am sure you were almost overcome when you 
 clasped my necklace^: kind, dearest Mrs. Ham- 
 mond, how could you impose such a task upon 
 yourself?" 
 
 " Ah, my child," answered her preceptress, 
 " we live not for ourselves in this world ; we 
 have all duties to perform, and sacrifices to make. 
 I will not deny, that it was a difficult matter to 
 set aside the grief which oppressed my heart ; 
 but I felt that, by indulging in it, I could not 
 have called to life that fine youth I have lost, 
 but should have made unhappy one who is 
 scarcely less dear to me than my own ; and have 
 caused her appearance in public to be disad- 
 vantageous to her. To acquire fortitude to go 
 tolerably through this day, was my intention in
 
 222 LEONORA. 
 
 shutting myself up for several hours this morn- 
 ing ; and I felt all the satisfaction which I ex- 
 pected in the blooming and unclouded serenity 
 of your grateful countenance, my love, when you 
 left me. The stroke is heavy and unexpected, 
 but I will endeavour to bow to it, and, in time, I 
 trust " 
 
 Tears again choked the mother's utterance : 
 for a few minutes she leaned on the bed and 
 wept bitterly, but, at length, rising with an effort, 
 she said, " Come Fanny, my love, retire to your 
 rest. I am not myself to-night ; yet, I trust, not 
 wicked, though so weak. I will go to bed pre- 
 sently, do not mind me." 
 
 " I will obey you, my dear friend," answered 
 Fanny, " though if I could be of any use " 
 
 " I thank you," interrupted Mrs. Hammond, 
 " and I am well assured that you are most 
 heartily inclined to endeavour to soothe my 
 grief, but at present, my dear, I am indisposed 
 for every kind interference : I must again shut 
 out the whole world from my thoughts, and look 
 upward for the support which my trials have 
 need of. — Go to bed, I cannot talk; God bless 
 you, my dear Fanny : I hope I shall be better in 
 the morning." 
 
 Miss Beresford said not another syllable ; for
 
 LEONORA. 223 
 
 she had the sense and delicacy to perceive, that 
 distress so poignant could be relieved by no 
 mortal aid ; and having affectionately pressed her 
 friend's hand, she moved silently to her dressing- 
 room, from whence she quietly dismissed her 
 maid, and having offered up the prayers to the 
 majesty of Heaven, which no amusement or 
 fatigue ever prevented, she lay down to rest. 
 
 The news was soon whispered in the morning 
 through the house, that Mrs. Hammond had lost 
 her son ; and as she had breakfast sent up to her 
 room, Bell thought it a fine opportunity to 
 indulge. She accordingly ran off to the house- 
 keeper, and asked for a turkey's egg ; and as this 
 was not to be had, she contented herself with 
 ordering some hens' eggs, one of which this 
 greedy girl seized, just before her sister and 
 cousin came in, and began to eat in such a hurry, 
 that she broke the shell, and emptied its contents 
 upon her white frock, and the clean table-cloth. 
 She was now in some agitation to clear the whole 
 away, and was scraping very hard with a spoon, 
 when to her surprise and concern she perceived 
 the Viscountess enter. This was a very unusual 
 sight, for this lady had always breakfasted in her 
 chamber. 
 
 " So, Bell," said Lady Royston, " how do you
 
 224 LEONORA, 
 
 do this morning ? what mischief have you been 
 at, for you look quite confounded ? Why your 
 mouth is full, child. It is vastly civil to begin 
 breakfast before your father and I come down. 
 So, you have been devouring an egg, have you ? 
 a pretty table-cloth is there, and what a frock ! 
 Upon my word, MiSvS, I wonder you are not 
 ashamed of yourself. You are, positively, the 
 greediest girl I ever saw. But, go away to 
 your maid Clara, and get your frock changed ; 
 and as you are so fond of eggs, you shall have 
 two, and nothing else, for your dinner to-day." 
 
 Bell upon this began to cry, but her aunt de- 
 sired her to do as she bade her, and to make 
 haste. Whereupon this idle girl crept slowly and 
 sulkily to the door, and turning off to the back 
 staircase, with her fingers in her eyes, never per- 
 ceived a piece of board, which the carpenter, who 
 was mending the rails, had just left ; and she fell 
 instantly and at length over it. Her scream 
 brought out her aunt, who, finding that no harm 
 was done, except by a long rent in her frock, very 
 coolly told her to bring it down as soon as she 
 was dressed. This Bell was obliged to do ; and 
 Lady Royston then said, " Very well ; your go- 
 verness will not be able to set you to work to-day, 
 so I desire, after you have finished your break-
 
 LEONORA. 225 
 
 fast, that you get a needle and thread, and sit 
 
 down and mend this large hole : it will be very 
 
 good employment for you." 
 
 Bell began again to cry, but after some time, 
 
 oflPered to take the work into the study. 
 
 " No, no ;" said her aimt, " you shall sit with 
 
 me and my birds, up stairs, till it is finished." 
 Bell, upon this, cried still louder, and said, 
 
 " She did not know how to darn." 
 
 " Do you not?" replied her aunt, with some 
 
 anger: " a girl in her fifteenth year, and not know 
 
 how to darn, and do every kind of needle-work ? 
 And is it not very disgraceful for a woman, let 
 her rank in life be what it may, not to be handy 
 at her needle ? If you marry a duke, do you 
 think you will not find it of use to know how to 
 cut out different articles of dress, and to under- 
 stand the way, at least, in which all should be 
 done ? \Mio, that sees your ignorance in the 
 most feminine of employments, will ever respect 
 you ? You may learn music, and dancing, and 
 so forth; but which of them do you think is more 
 becoming to you, or graceful in a female, than 
 needle-work? In my young days, ladies were 
 famous for their works, and even now, in the 
 year 1816, whatever your perverseness may 
 please to determme to the contrary, a lady is 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 LEONORA. 
 
 never seen to better advantage than with some 
 pretty, dehcate, nice work, neatly and nicely dis- 
 posed before her. So fetch your thimble, and 
 housewife, and scissors, and you shall follow 
 me, after breakfast, to my dressing-room. You 
 cannot be attended to in the school-room to day, 
 and it is fit you should not be idle." 
 
 " Oh, that nasty egg ! " muttered Bell. 
 
 " Don't think of the nasty egg, but of your 
 greedy self," said Lady Royston : " a pretty 
 thing, truly, to lay the blame on the egg, which I 
 dare be bound you picked out as the best in the 
 stand. The egg would have remained in that 
 spot for a century to come, if no one had touched 
 it. You have to thank yourself for your troubles, 
 if the being made to repair a hole in your frock 
 be one ; and so I desire I may hear no more on 
 the subject." The Viscountess having break- 
 fasted, now led the way up stairs, and Bell was 
 obliged to follow, whilst she wept the whole 
 time. 
 
 All this while, Colonel Clive had been en- 
 grossed by the newspaper, and he gave little 
 attention to what passed ; but with Leonora it 
 was otherwise. She had felt a little pique with 
 her aunt the night before; and Leonora was one 
 of those who maintain a feeling of reserve for
 
 LEONORA. 227 
 
 some time after the original cause of it is, by 
 others, forgotten. Now she and Bell disputed 
 and argued, as much, and more, than many sisters 
 like to do ; and in general, the one was ready 
 enough to perceive the foUies of the other. But 
 so it happened, Leonora was, to-day, displeased, 
 that her wise aunt should thus take the ordering 
 of Bell, for once, into her own hands. She drew 
 up her head ; tossed the spoons into the saucers ; 
 and looked so exceedingly haughty, that Fanny 
 could not help seeing it. Never in her life, ex- 
 cept upon such an occasion of opposition, was 
 Leonora so attentive to her sister. " A httle 
 more sugar, my love ? Bell, my dear, take a 
 bit of toast : do not cry, darling ; " all of which 
 made Bell cry much more violently. 
 
 Old people are not quick in seizing upon ap- 
 pearances, and they are often mentally blind, to 
 an astonishing degree ; but when, at length, 
 however, they do admit impression, it is, for the 
 time, vivid and profound, and remains as long as 
 any new feeling can do in a decayed bosom. 
 Lady Royston saw Leonora's behaviour, but she 
 never thought of referring it to any particular 
 cause ; perhaps she was too old to pursue more 
 than one idea at once, and this was now relative 
 to Bell's particular conduct. She left the break- 
 Q 2
 
 228 LEONORA. 
 
 fast-room, therefore, without having made any 
 remark upon the impropriety of her niece's be- 
 haviour ; and this young lady saw her go, in the 
 belief, that her aunt durst not presume to re- 
 monstrate with her, or was too fond of her, not 
 to submit to any airs she might choose to 
 show. Alas ! Leonora but little knew the blunt 
 openness of her aunt ; and calculated most 
 wrongly on that affection, which had not been 
 strengthened by habit, fixed by time, and sweet- 
 ened by early and tender association. Remember 
 this, my young friends. Prize those persons as 
 the apple of your eye who are bound to you by 
 duty, habit, and affection. Treasure the beings 
 who have led you up from infancy, — they who 
 cannot do otherwise than love you, if they would. 
 Your image ; your little childish sportive ways ; 
 your innocent and engaging questions ; your art- 
 less caresses ; your little sorrows and your joys ; 
 all are imprinted on their memory, and entwined 
 with the pleasing recollections of younger days. 
 Depend upon their regard, for it is a part of 
 themselves. Rely on the interest they take in 
 your well-being, for they have not the power to 
 look upon your prosperity or misfortunes with the 
 eye of indifference. 
 
 And on the other hand, with affection newly
 
 LEONORA. 229 
 
 formed, which has not had the prop of years to 
 give it strength, be dehcate, be gentle, be at- 
 tentive, be cautious ; or it will glide away from 
 you, as the last rays from a setting sun. Be your 
 new-found friend a companion of your own sex, 
 a matron, a guide, or a husband, consider well, 
 before you trifle with the regard which is be- 
 ginning, like a young plant, to put forth. What- 
 ever amiable side of character you displayed, 
 when you excited esteem and respect, study to 
 make your o^vn, that a corresponding feeling 
 may ripen into strong attachment. The character 
 will in time sit easy on you ; though, at first, 
 you may find it difficult to put a restraint upon 
 yourselves ; yet, never despair. All possible 
 exertion is easy, when once we are resolved in 
 the path of duty, and seek for strength where it 
 is to be found. 
 
 Leonora, according to her usual practice, when 
 she was displeased with any one, sought the first 
 opportunity to make known her complaints, to 
 the first listener she could find. And in this in- 
 delicate proceeding, she never spared the nearest 
 and best of friends. Not even her father, when 
 he was the person who had vexed her. Miss 
 Beresford was leaving the breakfast-room, when 
 the Viscountess went up stairs ; but Leonora 
 Q 3
 
 230 LEONORA. 
 
 called out peevishly, "Fanny, where are you going 
 to? one would think my company was very 
 disagreeable ; for you have very seldom of late 
 appeared to care about it" 
 
 " Nay, my dear cousin, do not think so," an- 
 swered Fanny, very kindly shutting the door, and 
 returning to Miss Clive. " I have several times 
 looked for you this last week, and wished to bring 
 my work, and sit with you ; but you have been 
 so engaged with Lady Royston, that I have been 
 fearful of interrupting you." 
 
 " Well, do sit down, Fanny," returned Leo- 
 nora. " Pray, don't you think my aunt is in a 
 fine humour this morning? Did you ever see 
 any creature so cross as she was to Bell ? She 
 has no right to interfere with us, and I will tell 
 her so." 
 
 " My dear cousin," said Fanny, looking much 
 alarmed, " you surely will not say any thing ? — 
 You " 
 
 " Oh, never mind," interrupted Leonora ; " let 
 me alone ; you shall see ; I know how to manage 
 her : interfere she shall not with us. I will have 
 a long conversation with my papa, and will tell 
 him every thing. Rely upon it, he will soon let 
 her know his mind." 
 
 " But, Leonora, really, my dear," said Fanny,
 
 LEONORA. 231 
 
 persuasively, " now do not be angry, love, but 
 just hear me. Really, cousin, I do not see that 
 it is wrong in your aunt to make Bell do a little 
 needle-work, when she can engage in nothing 
 else to-day. Perhaps Lady Royston is a little 
 hasty ; but she is indeed a kind-hearted soul, I 
 am sure she is ; and it would be such a pity to 
 offend your aunt, Leonora, when she is just begin- 
 ning to love you dearly." 
 
 " Beginning ! " retorted Leonora, " beginning 
 to love me, Fanny ; what nonsense ! Why, she 
 is my mother's own aunt, and loved her, next to 
 her own children." 
 
 " But, my dear girl," answered Fanny, mildly, 
 " you are not the very person, though you 
 are " 
 
 " Though I am her daughter," cried Leonora, 
 proudly; " and pray is not this the same thing?" 
 
 Fanny, fearful of irritating, made no answer ; 
 but as her cousin insisted upon one, she said, 
 " Now, do not be offended, Leonora ; I do not, 
 indeed, mean to vex you ; but are not children 
 often and often very unlike their parents, in per- 
 son, taste, and inclinations ? I am sure my 
 mamma is extremely handsome, and was reckoned 
 beautiful ; and I, for example, am but a very 
 passable girl." 
 
 Q 4
 
 232 LEONORA. 
 
 Leonora, at this observation, turned immedi- 
 ately to the glass. 
 
 " Now," said Fanny, " I have heard that you 
 have a taller figure and darker hair than your 
 mamma, who was a beautiful but small person.'* 
 Miss Beresford smiled and stopped. 
 
 " Well, go on with your remarks," replied 
 Leonora, half angry, half pleased. 
 
 " Well, my dear, although Lady Royston is 
 your aunt, she never saw you but once in her 
 life, for a few days, and she may now find you a 
 very different girl to what she can recollect your 
 mamma to have been ; and although you may be 
 the best of nieces, she may yet not love you as 
 dearly as she would if she had brought you up. 
 So that, if her affection be not yet fixed for you, 
 pray, my dear girl, do not trifle with it ; for a 
 little thing offends, and a small matter is con- 
 sidered a liberty, when mutual regard is not a 
 mediator for both sides." 
 
 " I'll tell you what, Fanny," answered Miss 
 
 Clive, " you do so preach in the style of . I 
 
 cannot think where besides you pick up your non- 
 sensical reasoning from. Why, you are not older 
 than I am, and yet you are always talking about 
 caution, and venturesomeness, and carefulness, 
 and consequences, and effects, and givmg offence,
 
 LEONORA. 233 
 
 and such matters, which are quite ridiculous, and 
 make you look like an old, grave, grey-headed 
 woman. An aunt is an aunt, and an uncle is an 
 uncle, and a relation is a relation ; and as for af- 
 fection, they must have it, of course ; and I may 
 do what other nieces do, and I dare say I shall 
 fare no worse than they. My aunt has five 
 thousand a year, which she can leave as she likes; 
 and afiront or not affront, she will not leave it 
 from my sister and me ; and whether she should 
 or not, I shall speak my mind, when I like, before 
 her, be assured. But what are you going to say 
 now?" 
 
 " You call me," said Fanny, " a nonsensical 
 reasoner, and, indeed, cousin, I may, perhaps, in 
 many cases, deserve to be so styled; but for 
 once let me say, though with the caution you 
 disapprove, dear Leonora, that I do think there 
 is some justice in my idea, though I may not ex- 
 press it well. Let me just ask you one question ; 
 but first promise me you will forgive me if it be 
 an improper one." 
 
 " Very well, I promise ; go on," said Leonora. 
 
 " Then," replied Miss Beresford, " if one 
 relation must love another, though both have 
 spent their lives asunder, let me ask if you did 
 not tenderly and ardently love Lady Royston 
 before she came to Clive Park ? "
 
 234 " LEONORA. 
 
 " Oh," replied Leonora," slightly blushing, 
 " that is another thing. I did not, in the least, 
 recollect her features : had I met her in the 
 street I should not have known her. That is 
 quite another thing," continued she, hastily. 
 
 Fanny modestly looked another way, and made 
 no remark. 
 
 " I tell you it is quite a different matter," said 
 Leonora again, fretfully ; " however, I am tired 
 of the subject, and so it may drop, for I will not 
 hear any more upon it." 
 
 The young ladies were, for several minutes, 
 silent. At length, said Leonora, " Pray, Fanny, 
 how did you like your partner last night." 
 
 " Very much," replied Miss Beresford ; " he is 
 a perfect gentleman, and a very accomplished 
 man." 
 
 " Yes, he was well enough," answered Leonora, 
 " but pray what do you think of mine ? Sir 
 Alfred? — I forget the other name, indeed I could 
 not catch it the whole evening. My papa, I 
 believe, knows him ; but, somehow, I did not like 
 to ask him, he is so particular in some things. 
 Wlien he spoke of him last night, he kept saying. 
 Sir Alfred, and Sir Alfred, but never a word 
 beyond. I think it was like Grimston, or Peel- 
 stone, or some such name."
 
 LEONORA. 235 
 
 " I wish I could tell you," replied Fanny, 
 " but I never heard the name at all. He seemed 
 to be intimate with Colonel Greville, and several 
 times spoke behind Lady Royston to him, and 
 once to me, I believe, accidentally, when we 
 were all, in a manner, talking on the same sub- 
 ject." 
 
 " Is he not a very elegant man?" asked 
 Leonora, half smiling: "was he not the most 
 handsome in the room ?" 
 
 " I thought him a remarkably elegant and 
 handsome man," replied Fanny ; " but," added 
 she, smiling, " I cannot speak positively as to 
 his appearing the most so iu the ball-room, for 
 there were several very fine gentlemen there. 
 However, this I can say, that I observed the 
 young baronet paid a certain cousin of mine very 
 great attention." 
 
 " Why, what attention did you observe ? " said 
 Leonora, half blushing and smiling, whilst she 
 wound her rosy-tinged fingers through a playful 
 ringlet over her eye-brow. 
 
 " Ah, cousin," replied Fanny, " you know 
 very well. He danced with no other lady the 
 whole evening ; and when Mr. Thorpe led you 
 out, I never saw a person look more disap- 
 pouated."
 
 236 LEONORA. 
 
 " No, really, did he?" asked Leonora, quickly, 
 and laughing. " Oh, that Thorpe is such a fool ! 
 I was quite vexed with him : he talked such non- 
 sense, and so loud, I was afraid he would get 
 himself into a scrape." 
 
 " Well, dear Leonora," said Fanny, " as you 
 do not approve of Mr. Thorpe's manners, I will 
 venture to declare that I really should be con- 
 cerned to see you, my dear girl " 
 
 Here Fanny paused ; for she perceived a cloud 
 gathering on Leonora's brow, " Do, pray go on," 
 said Leonora, impatiently. 
 
 " Nay, cousin, you are hurt," observed Miss 
 Beresford, affectionately putting her arm round 
 Leonora's slender waist, and kissing her cheek; 
 " but, oh, my dear girl, I like not that young 
 man's manners ; do not let him, for a moment, 
 suppose you could endure his attentions in pre- 
 ference to those which any other, however less 
 accomplished, gentleman might show you. His 
 address is so familiar : any perfect stranger might 
 suppose he had known you a great length of 
 time. I was really sorry for you, cousin, when I 
 heard him talking so loud." 
 
 Miss Clive listened very quietly to her really 
 kind friend and relation whilst she was speak- 
 ing, but she was silent from no motive of respect.
 
 LEONORA. 237 
 
 Leonora's bosom was so narrowed by habitual 
 mean passions, that she could not at all un- 
 derstand the generosity and delicacy of her 
 cousin's conduct ; for this young la(Jy, who was 
 not so great a stranger to the forms of society as 
 Leonora, perceived at once that Sir Alfred had 
 been struck with his fair partner from the 
 moment he saw her enter the room. Fanny 
 also saw the marked attention he paid her, and 
 the zeal with which he listened to all she ut- 
 tered, which showed more interest than a mere 
 ball-partner usually discovers ; and from the 
 appearance and behaviour of this gentleman, she 
 felt almost assured that he would not soon forget 
 Leonora. " \Mio knows ? " thought Fanny : " his 
 appearance is noble and graceful; his manners 
 and conversation those of a man of education 
 and fashion ; and should his principles stand 
 every test of enquiry, may he not, at some future 
 time, make my cousin a good and accomplished 
 husband?" But this pert, talkative Mr. Thorpe, 
 whom she felt assured her cousin could not 
 admire, might disgust any gentleman whose 
 views were serious ; and as she had observed the 
 frown on Sir Alfred's brow when he had ad- 
 dressed Leonora, so she resolved, without dis- 
 covering her own generous motives, to give her
 
 238 LEONORA. 
 
 cousin a caution with regard to this young man. 
 But, as we have observed, Leonora could not 
 imagine the generosity in another which she 
 could not feel in herself. She immediately 
 turned over in her mind the different possible 
 reasons for these remarks ; and she at last con- 
 cluded that Fanny herself had some little admir- 
 ation for Mr. Thorpe ; and in this she chose to 
 feel confirmed by the modesty and hesitation of 
 her cousin. " Pray, Fanny, why do you blush ?" 
 said she, very abruptly. Miss Beresford's cheeks 
 were, in a moment, carnation : yet she smiled, 
 surprised at the question, the reason of which 
 she never would have guessed ; for her unsuspi- 
 cious bosom knew no artifice, and was a stranger 
 to deceit. " Why, I blush ? " said she, smiling, 
 " Dear Leonora, why — I did not know I was 
 blushing ; but now, indeed, I can feel my cheek 
 very warm." 
 
 " Well, and pray why is it warm ?" asked 
 Leonora, rather disdainfully. 
 
 " Really, Leonora, you are in an odd humour," 
 replied Fanny : " however, since you will have it, 
 I believe, if I blushed, it must have been at my 
 seeming to arrogate something to myself; but, 
 indeed, it could only seem so, for it is not truth. 
 I know I am but an inexperienced girl, and shall
 
 LEONORA. 239 
 
 be most happy to attend to any remark or caution 
 you may think necessary to give me in return." 
 
 Leonora gave no answer, but her eye, as it 
 measured Miss Beresford calmly from head to 
 foot, expressed a thousand varying feelings. 
 What these were Fanny could not guess ; but she 
 marked the slight curl of her Grecian lip, and it 
 drew a round tear in either eye. The sweet girl 
 brushed them off with the back of her hand ; the 
 hall clock now struck one, the door bell rang, and 
 visitors were announced.
 
 240 LEONORA. 
 
 CHAR XV. 
 
 There is no such flatterer as a man's self; and there is no 
 such remedy against flattery of a man's self as the liberty of 
 a friend. Lord Bacon. 
 
 These visitors were Miss Goldsmith, who called 
 to bring Leonora a pattern of beautiful work, 
 which she had requested to be copied from a new 
 magazine, Miss Palmerstone, and Mr. Thorpe, 
 whom the young ladies had overtaken. Lydia 
 Goldsmith had almost forgotten the caprice of 
 the night before, and held out her hand as usual 
 to her young friend. Leonora, now in a better 
 humour with her, for the very reason that she 
 was out of humour with almost every one else 
 in the house, tookLydia's hand, and affectionately 
 kissed her. 
 
 " I am mistaken, then," thought the kind- 
 hearted Lydia, as she also affectionately returned 
 the salute : " she is kind still." She immediately 
 turned to her companion, and leading her for- 
 ward> said, " This young lady, I beheve, you
 
 LEONORA. 24-1 
 
 know : she called upon me this morning, and I 
 prevailed upon her to give me the pleasure of 
 her company to Clive Park." Leonora courtesied 
 to her new guest. " I had the pleasure to see 
 the lady at your house," and she looked again, 
 as the courtesy was returned ; for she recollected 
 the deformed lady in the India shawl, who sat on 
 a bench rather apart from all company but her 
 own, and who fixed an eye of such attentive ob- 
 servation upon her. But this eye had now 
 abated much of its keenness, and only beamed 
 with the animation which an introduction re- 
 quires. 
 
 Leonora felt, however, embarrassed from the 
 recollection of the young lady's peculiarity ; and 
 she also inwardly determined, that she neither 
 could like her nor would care whether or not she 
 disguised her feelings. Leonora was therefore 
 cold and reserved, yet was she polite ; for 
 she was too well-bred, and too young to be 
 otherwise in her own house, and to a stranger. 
 To Lydia her manner was open, affectionate, and 
 cheerful. With Mr. Thorpe she appeared, if 
 possible, even more gratified than she was in her 
 gayest moments of the preceding evening ; whilst 
 she from- time to time threw a glance at Fanny, 
 to mark whether she did not appear to suffer 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 LEONORA. 
 
 under the pang of jealousy. But Fanny was 
 tranquilly seated by Miss Palmerstone, whilst 
 both young ladies were chattering over the ad- 
 ventures and amusements of the ball. 
 
 At length the party rose up to go, and the 
 young ladies all walked through the hall together; 
 but as it was a lovely morning, Miss Goldsmith 
 said, " Do, my dear, allow us to go out at that 
 door across the lawn ; your greenhouse looks so 
 inviting, I must have a peep at its beauties." 
 
 " The plants are just arranged," replied 
 Leonora, " and they are in very good order : the 
 gardener has taken every one from our windows. 
 But stay one moment ; I will fetch a silk hand- 
 kerchief and go with you." 
 
 " Here is one," said Fanny, " and do, cousin, 
 put this bonnet on ; I do not mind it, for I am 
 more accustomed to the air than you are." 
 
 " Oh, thank you," replied Miss Clive, as she 
 tied on her cousin's bonnet and silk shawl, whilst 
 Fanny walked by Miss Palmerstone with no 
 covering but her muslin morning dress. 
 
 " I declare the air is cool, though the sun shines 
 so strong," observed Leonora, as she wrapped the 
 shawl tight round her, and opened the green- 
 house door. " Fanny, I really don't know what 
 I should have done without this handkerchief. "
 
 LEOXORA. 24-3 
 
 " I am glad it is comfortable," said Fanny. 
 
 " But/' enquired Miss Goldsmith, " are you 
 not yourself cold, ]Miss Beresford ? Shall I run 
 back, and ask for another handkerchief for you ? " 
 
 " No, I thank you, I shall do very weD," an- 
 swered Fanny, smiling gratefully ; " I do not in 
 the least mind the air." 
 
 " But you sneezed just now," rejoined Miss 
 Palmerstone, who had been an attentive observer 
 of the whole transaction. 
 
 " It is not of the smallest consequence, I dare 
 say ; no, thank you," answered Fanny, " I shall do 
 very well," tapping Lydia's arm; "never mind me." 
 
 During this little scene, ^Nlr. Thorpe had taken 
 the opportunity to say some flattering things to 
 Leonora, which she at first pretended not to 
 understand, but he at length offered her a com- 
 pliment so overstrained, as to raise a frown and 
 a blush, as she turned back to take her friend 
 Lydia's arm. In her confusion, she had twisted 
 off a sprig of mjTtle in full blossom, and this 
 she held in her hand, occasionally biting off a 
 bud, or raising it to smell its fragrance. 
 
 " There," said Lydia, as the opposite glass 
 
 door was unlocked ; " there, you shall come with 
 
 us no farther ; you will both take cold. Many 
 
 thanks for your kind attention. Good morning 
 
 R 2
 
 244; LEONORA. 
 
 to you, Miss Beresford ; " and she shook hands 
 with Fanny ; and Miss Palmerstone having paid 
 her respects, they walked away. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe bowed and retreated, and ad- 
 vanced and bowed. " I hope," stammered he, 
 " Miss Clive is not offended." 
 
 " I, sir ! " cried Leonora. " I do not under- 
 stand ; I beg you " 
 
 " Nay, madam," returned Thorpe, " anger 
 still dwells on that lovely brow. I will die on 
 this marble step, I will kneel for ever till I have 
 your assurance of pardon." Saying this, the 
 countenance of the young man appeared so ex- 
 tremely ludicrous, and his whole attitude was so 
 tragi-comical, that Leonora, although she was 
 extremely provoked, could not forbear smiling. 
 
 " I beg, sir, you will not make yourself so very 
 ridiculous ; pray recollect yourself," added she, 
 in some trepidation ; " my father is, I believe, 
 looking for me," as she caught the Colonel's figure 
 among the shrubs. 
 
 " If you then do not bear me any ill will, give 
 me, — let me supplicate for that flower you hold. 
 That, and that alone, shall be my sign of peace." 
 
 " Indeed, sir, you are — this is too absurd," 
 said Leonora. But, however, she saw her father 
 coming, and in haste she threw down the myrtle
 
 LEONORA. 245 
 
 to the ground, with a " There, Mr. Thorpe : I do 
 beg I may never hear so much nonsense again." 
 
 Thorpe sprang upon the flower, kissed, and 
 thrust it into his bosom, bowed to Leonora and 
 Fanny, who had stood at some Httle distance, 
 and was out of sight in an instant. 
 
 Leonora turned, half laughing, to her cousin. 
 " What a fool the man is ! isn't he ? " 
 
 " I do not imagine him to be very wise," said 
 Fanny ; " but he appears to know very well what 
 he is about." 
 
 " Why, what is that?" asked Leonora, laughing. 
 
 "It appears to me," answered Fanny, "that 
 he wishes you to think he is much struck with 
 you." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense ! " said Leonora : " but what 
 then?" 
 
 " Indeed, cousin, I cannot tell, " answered 
 Fanny : " but I wish " 
 
 " You wish what.-*" asked Leonora, impatiently. 
 
 " I wish you had not given him the myrtle." 
 
 " Well ; I did not give it him, he took it," said 
 Leonora. 
 
 " Ah, cousin, but you let it fall from your 
 hand. I am sorry, my dear Leonora, you ^d 
 so," continued Fanny, earnestly. 
 
 " And why are you so sorry? what a frightened, 
 R 3
 
 246 LEONORA. 
 
 timid creature you are," said Leonora. " What 
 does it signify? a bit of myrtle. I am sure," 
 added she, whilst a blush mantled round her 
 cheek, " I would not, on any account, have com- 
 mitted an impropriety." 
 
 " I am sure of it," replied Fanny, with gene- 
 rous warmth : " nor can I say, that it is altogether, 
 quite, an impropriety ; nor, indeed, can I say, 
 that it will be of any consequence ; but Mrs. 
 Hammond has told me several stories of young 
 persons, who have been drawn into unpleasant 
 consequences, from a very slight inadvertence in 
 the beginning of an acquaintance ; and both she 
 and my mamma have always been particular in 
 their hints of the caution necessary, for every 
 young lady, in every thing like an attachment. 
 Men, they have said, can always pretend to 
 admire, where they really do not; and *how 
 much better is it to doubt too long, than to give 
 credit to their professions too hastily?" 
 
 " How can you mention the word attachment?" 
 said Leonora : " do you think if Mr. Thorpe 
 were dying in love for me, I would ever marry 
 him ? " 
 
 Fanny smiled. " I must own, cousin, I should 
 think you would be thrown away upon him ; but 
 at any rate, whether he be sincere or not, if you
 
 LEONORA. 247 
 
 do not wish him to think he may be listened to 
 on such a theme, do let me advise you to be very 
 careful. He is a forward, silly young man, and 
 has so good an opinion of himself, that a very 
 little matter may seem encouragement to him." 
 
 " Well, it is done, and cannot be undone," said 
 Leonora, peevishly. " I wish I had never 
 gathered the flower ; however, I do not care. 
 He never will dare to be so persevering again. 
 But after all, he is a good-natured, foolish cox- 
 comb, and I do think he means well." 
 
 Saying this, the two girls entered the house, 
 and met the Colonel, who patting both on the 
 cheek, said, " Come, girls, I have a visitor in the 
 library : a gentleman, who wishes to take a peep 
 into the garden and grounds. I wish to show 
 him the new greenhouse ; but I can neither find 
 my key nor yours." 
 
 " We are just come from there," said Leonora: 
 " I let out my friends through the shrubbery." 
 
 " WTiat friends ? " asked the Colonel. 
 
 " Miss Goldsmith, and her friend, Miss 
 
 Miss what, Fanny ? " 
 
 "And who else?" asked Colonel CHve. 
 
 « And Dr. Goldsmith's ward, Mr. Thorpe." 
 
 " Thorpe, Thorpe ? " said the Colonel to him-
 
 248 LEONORA. 
 
 self: "Miss what? Fanny, was Lydia's friend 
 named ? " 
 
 " Miss Palmerstone," replied Fanny. 
 
 " Palmerstone ?" cried Colonel Clive, stepping 
 back to the library door, and throwing it open : 
 " Here, Sir Alfred, your sister is just gone ; and 
 it seems she has been beforehand with you, for 
 she has seen the greenhouse. However, if 
 you like the style of it sufficiently, my girls, 
 here, will have pleasure in going again through 
 it, whilst all the plans and drawings are at your 
 service." 
 
 This was precisely what Sir Alfred desired : to 
 meet the ladies of the family, but more especially 
 that one of whom he had dreamed the whole 
 night, and whose image occupied his whole 
 thoughts. He immediately, with a very graceful 
 address, came forward ; and as the Colonel re- 
 ceived the key from his daughter, he said, •" That 
 young lady is my niece. Miss Beresford, of 
 Beresford Castle, near Dublin ; and my daughter, 
 I beUeve, you know. Will you, my dears, enter- 
 tain Sir Alfred, till I can find my master-key to 
 carry us through all the hot-houses? I think 
 you will be tempted to admire my pine pits, 
 although you are just returned from a warm 
 climate," added the Colonel, returning hastily to
 
 LEONORA. 249 
 
 the library, and ringing the bell for a servant, to 
 assist him in the search. 
 
 What now was the surprize of Fanny, and the 
 confusion of Leonora, on finding, that the un- 
 assuming Miss Palmerstone was the sister of the 
 elegant and accomplished young Baronet ! Leo- 
 nora courtesied to the respectful salutation of 
 Sir Alfred, whilst her deep blushes, and em- 
 barrassed countenance, filled him with emotion 
 and pleasing hopes. He spoke of the fineness 
 of the morning ; the beauty of the opening 
 spring ; and of the delight of rural occupation, to 
 Miss Clive : and to Fanny, of her father, whom 
 he had seen at a Portuguese nobleman's in 
 Lisbon, where Sir Edward Beresford now resided. 
 By degrees, the cheerful ease of his conversation 
 lulled the perturbation of Leonora's soul, and 
 she modestly took part in the replies. And Sir 
 Alfred, as he gazed upon her features under a 
 simple straw bonnet, thought she looked a thou- 
 sand times more lovely than in her ball-dress 
 of the night before. But the Colonel now ap- 
 peared, followed by the head gardener ; and the 
 ladies were retiring, when, as Sir Alfred lingered, 
 and enquired whether they could not be pre- 
 vailed upon to honour them with their company, 
 the Colonel said, " You have your bonnet, come
 
 250 LEONORA. 
 
 with us, Leonora ; and Fanny, my dear, get 
 something, whilst we wait. I have always an 
 arm for you." 
 
 " Thank you, sir," replied Fanny, as she 
 stepped forward ; when suddenly recollecting 
 her garden-bonnet and shawl were occupied by 
 her cousin, she said, " Pray, uncle, do not wait ; 
 I will follow you, if I can, but I will first run and 
 see whether Mrs. Hammond wants me." 
 
 " Well, my love, do as you like best," replied 
 her uncle. " She is a dear little girl," continued 
 he, turning to Sir Alfred, "and as sweet tempered 
 as my sister. Do you Imow Lady Beresford ? " 
 
 " I never had the honour of an introduction," 
 answered Sir Alfred, " but I hear she is a very 
 fine woman." 
 
 " My little Fanny," replied Colonel Clive, " is 
 not quite so beautiful ; " but is, nevertheless, a 
 very pretty girl : however, she will be a wife in 
 ten thousand, whenever she marries. It will be 
 a sad day for us all, when she is summoned home 
 again. She is my girl's favourite companion, 
 and when I was laid up with a fit of the gout in 
 the winter, these two dear, handy creatures 
 were all my comfort and consolation." 
 
 " I doubt it not," replied Sir Alfred, em- 
 phatically; "and to be so attended, I fancy there
 
 LEONORA. 251 
 
 are few who would not compound for an attack 
 of the gout now and then." 
 
 " Aye, aye, all that is very well, Sir Alfred," 
 replied the Colonel : " but let me tell you, the 
 attendants are more agreeable without the pe- 
 nalty." 
 
 " What will you say, then," asked the Baronet, 
 '• if you are obliged to separate them, and to 
 keep the evil only ? " 
 
 " No, no ; that will not do," interrupted 
 Colonel Clive, laughing : " if I am obhged to bear 
 with the one, I cannot submit to part with the 
 other." 
 
 " I apprehend, you will find it so difficult to 
 retain what so many will dare to covet, that you 
 will, at last, be persuaded," replied Sir Alfred, 
 as he glanced at Leonora, and figured to himself 
 this lovely girl bending over her father, like 
 the engaging figure in the frontispiece of the 
 Spectator. 
 
 During this conversation, Leonora had been 
 silent. But the ingenuous tinge of her cheek 
 showed that she understood, at least, its import, 
 and that she was not insensible to the flattering 
 homage, which was indirectly by word, and 
 openly by the most respectful and delicate atten- 
 tion, paid her. Leonora was a novice in love ;
 
 252 LEONORA. 
 
 but a certain conviction rose in her mind, that 
 she had made some impression upon the young 
 man at her side. His look, his voice, his words, 
 his animation, nay, his very pauses when she at- 
 tempted to speak, all seemed to whisper a some- 
 thing more than ordinary prepossession. And 
 perhaps this suspicion, which is compatible with 
 the highest female delicacy, threw over her an- 
 other charm, in an increased diffidence and 
 gentleness of demeanour. Sir Alfred beheld her 
 with delight ; and at the expiration of an hour, 
 which it took the little party to walk through all 
 the hot-houses, during part of which he had pre- 
 tended to hsten to the old gardener's list of rare 
 plants, he shook the Colonel's hand, and bid 
 good-morrow to his daughter, absolutely deter- 
 mined to lay the state of his heart before his 
 sister, and to retract the promise he had given. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
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