. I 
 
 I
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 tsTEW EDITIONS OF 
 
 DE LISLE, or THE SENSITIVE MAN, In 3 vols. 
 
 " This is, unquestionably, one of the best novels of the class to 
 which it belongs." — Times. 
 
 " It is a novel of the most extraordinary fertility. It is, in truth, 
 the book of matrimony." — Atlas. 
 
 THE TRIALS OF LIFE. In 3 vols. 
 
 " The tragical vein of the first story is pursued through scenes and 
 adventures, with a skill which would not have disgraced Mrs. Rad- 
 cliffe herself." — Athenceum. 
 
 " The second story reminds us of the best performances of Mrs. 
 Opie. Its truth is alone comparable to the superior productions of 
 Miss Austin." — Examiner. 
 
 " They are both full of thought, and in the highest degree pathetic." 
 — Times.
 
 THE 
 
 WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OP 
 
 DE LISLE/' AND '' THE TRIALS OF LIFE.' 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 EDWARD BULL, HOLLES STREET. 
 
 1831.
 
 GuHnell and Shearman, 13, Salisbury Square.
 
 p 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^.5 3 
 
 V.I 
 
 THE 
 
 WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " So like the chances are in love and war, 
 
 That they alone in this distinguished are ; 
 In love the victors from the vanquish' d fly, 
 
 <^ They fly that wound, and they pursue that die." 
 
 ,.^ Waller. 
 
 X " Gone ?" exclaimed Lord William Neville, 
 ..springing as he spoke from his bed into the 
 /»v middle of the room. ^^ Miss Laurimer gone ? 
 — Impossible!" 
 
 The impetuosity of this exclamation, and 
 ^" the extraordinary gesture with which it was 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 accompanied, might have provoked a smile 
 from a valet whose muscles were mider less 
 strict discipline than those of Lord William 
 Neville's. Mr. Brown, however, knew his master, 
 and loved himself much too well to give way to 
 any such unseasonable display of the amusement 
 he felt, and, with most imperturbable cool- 
 ness he humbly repeated the statement which 
 had excited his master's surprise. " Lady 
 Maddalena and her niece are certainly gone, 
 my Lord. You may see the carriage turn the 
 corner of the lane from this window." 
 
 Lord William flew to the window, and dis- 
 covered the well known, plain, and somewhat 
 old fashioned carriage of Lady Maddalena 
 Guyden, driving in the direction Mr. Brown 
 had indicated. He proceeded to the business 
 of dressing, with a rapidity wholly unusual to 
 him 5 filling every pause with an expression of 
 impatience which proved his entire concurrence
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. O 
 
 in the opinions of those philosophers who have 
 maintained that the heart is relieved by the 
 utterance of loud exclamations. " Bid Martin 
 saddle the roan mare and bring her round in- 
 stantly/' he said, and Brown retired to execute 
 his orders and to gratify himself by indulging 
 a sneer with his companions, at what he called 
 a fresh proof of his master's incurable insanity. 
 
 Lord William was soon dressed. ^^ At least 
 I know the road they take, and where they 
 must stop for horses/' he said ; '^ and, cun- 
 ningly as Lady Maddalena has managed this 
 retreat, she shall not prevent my attack, al- 
 though she may hasten it." 
 
 He had one foot in the stirrup when the Ob- 
 sequious Brown approached and respectfully 
 reminded him he had not ordered breakfast. 
 ^' Damn the breakfast and you too, sir," re- 
 plied his master; and almost before he had con- 
 cluded this hasty benedicite, he was on the full 
 
 B 2
 
 i THJfi WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 gallop in pursuit of Lady Maddalena's carriage, 
 which he overtook just as she and her young 
 companion were alighting at the inn which 
 ended their first stage. 
 
 The emotions which his appearance excited 
 in the fair travellers were as different as their 
 characters. Lady Maddalena bit her lip with 
 vexation as she glanced at his reeking steed; 
 while the bright eyes of Emmeline Laurimer 
 sparkled with joy. Too much delighted with 
 the smiles of the niece to notice, or to heed, 
 the stiffness of the aunt, Lord William ex- 
 pressed warmly his happiness at this unexpected 
 meeting. 
 
 Lady Maddalena smiled at the word ^^un- 
 expected,'* but to the ingenuous Emmeline, the 
 possibility that people could say any thing but 
 the truth, never occurred ; and with the most 
 innocent simplicity she asked where he could 
 be going at so early an hour.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 5 
 
 It often happens that plain questions are 
 among the most difficult to be answered^ and 
 so Lord William Neville found it upon this 
 occasion. To avoid a reply^ therefore^ he dis- 
 covered that something was amiss with his 
 horse's bit, and began very busily to set it 
 right. Lady Maddalena had gone into the 
 house to write a note to her housekeeper, which 
 was to be taken back by the postillion who had 
 driven them, and Emmeline resumed her seat 
 in the carriage. Lord William seized this fa- 
 vourable opportunity for inquiring whither they 
 were going, and when they would return. Of 
 these particulars, however, Emmeline knew as 
 little as himself. He expressed great asto- 
 nishment at finding them engaged in a journey, 
 which, notwithstanding he had been their daily 
 visitor, he had never heard mentioned. 
 
 ^' You know,'* replied his artless compa-
 
 G THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 iiion^ ^^ that my aunt seldom names her plans 
 until the moment of execution has arrived. 
 Last night for the first time she informed me 
 she should go from home for a short time. 
 We frequently make little excursions, and 
 therefore I was neither surprised nor curious 
 about this ; but if you wish to know, I will 
 now ask her all about it — or you may ** 
 
 ^'I am the last person who could ask her,'* 
 hastily interrupted Lord William, looking about 
 him anxiously as he spoke. 
 
 f^ Why so ?'* demanded Emmeline, with 
 some surprise. 
 
 " Ah, my dear Miss Laurimer " began 
 
 her noble admirer, but paused as his eye caught 
 the stately figure of Lady Maddalena, who had 
 approached him unperceived, and was now 
 within hearing. 
 
 " I beg I may not interrupt a speech so pa-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. / 
 
 thetically commenced/' was lier Ladyship's 
 sole observation, as she passed on to expedite 
 the important business of changing horses. » 
 Lord William remained for a moment silent 
 and confomided. Emmeline, who observed 
 his embarrassment, without understanding its 
 cause, good-naturedly smiled, and, by way of 
 relieving him, observed that his horse was 
 warm. He gave the bridle into the hostler's 
 hand, and, leaning against the carriage door, 
 poured forth a vehement declaration of the 
 passion with which the beautiful Emmeline 
 had inspired him, and offered to devote him- 
 self wholly to her if he might hope to excite a 
 similar affection in her heart towards him. The 
 blushing girl heard such expressions for the 
 first time, and listened to them with a beating 
 heart and glowing cheek ; but so confused were 
 the emotions to which they gave rise, that she 
 was wholly unable to frame a reply. The ap-
 
 / 
 
 8 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 preach of Lady Maddalena relieved her from 
 this embarrassment. The aunt took her seat, 
 the door was closed, the word of departm'e 
 given, and, smiling through her blushes, Em- 
 meline bowed to her devoted admirer as they 
 drove rapidly away. 
 
 Lord William followed the carriage with his 
 eyes as long as it was visible, and when the 
 object of his passion had departed, and he had 
 leisure to think of the affairs of this world, it 
 occurred to him, notwithstanding his former 
 hasty expression, that a breakfast, even to a 
 man in love, is not a matter altogether unwor- 
 thy of notice. A sharp gallop of ten miles had 
 given a keenness to his appetite, which it was 
 impossible wholly to disregard, and he entered 
 the inn for the purpose of ruminating over the 
 probable consequences of his late declaration, 
 and at the same time discussing such meal as 
 might be set before him. 
 
 *
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 9 
 
 The travellers had gone one stage further 
 in perfect silence. Engrossed by their own 
 thoughts they had not marked the distarice 
 they had passed over^ until the carriage sud- 
 denly stopped. 
 
 '^ At Northallerton already?*' observed Lady 
 Maddalena, letting down her glass. 
 
 '^ Northallerton 1'' repeated Emmeline, " how 
 much further have we to go, aunt?'* 
 
 ^^ I don't know exactly," was the reply, and 
 again each of them relapsed into taciturn re- 
 flections, the subjects of which had, however, 
 no resemblance with those which occupied 
 the thoughts of the other. 
 
 In the youthful bosom of Emmeline Lau- 
 rimer fluttered many a new-born feeling of 
 pleasure and natural vanity, occasioned by 
 the surprise of Lord William Neville's con- 
 versation. Joy danced in her bright eyes, and 
 flushed her fair cheeks. She felt that she had 
 
 b3
 
 10 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 on a sudden ceased to be a child, and her 
 newly acquh'ed consequence acted like the 
 influence of magic on a girl of sixteen, scarce- 
 ly emancipated from her nursery. The first 
 breathings of young passion diffused them- 
 selves over her mind, and conjured up a crowd 
 of bright and sweet illusions fashioned by 
 the plastic hand of Fancy, and led on in gay 
 career by the radiant enchantress, Hope. To 
 sorrow, and doubt, and that damping distrust 
 which experience forces upon the mind, when 
 years of grief and disappointment have taught 
 it the bitter lesson that all is vanity, her young 
 heart was a stranger ; and it now revelled in 
 joys which their perfect novelty made more 
 bright and captivating. 
 
 While the expressive countenance of the 
 niece beamed with pleasure as she dwelt on 
 the important occurrence of the morning, that 
 of the aunt was saddened by those mingled
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. H 
 
 hopes and fears which cloud the present and 
 tinge the future with anxiety. Not for herself 
 did Lady Maddalena hope or fear. Her lot 
 in life was cast ; and though still young and 
 strikingly handsome, her mind had, from na- 
 ture, education, and circumstances, become so 
 schooled, that her sensibilities were seldom 
 awakened by any thought of herself. Every 
 affectionate impulse of her heart, all the powers 
 of her well regulated and cultivated under- 
 standing were devoted to her child — as she 
 fondly called Emmeline. As a child she con- * 
 sidered and treated her, partly upon system, 
 and partly from a conviction that her senti- 
 ments were more unformed and infantine than 
 is commonly the case with girls at sixteen. 
 The lovely orphan looked up to her aunt with 
 reverence for her virtues, admiration of her 
 talents, and heart-felt gratitude for the uniform 
 kindness and protection . she had received at
 
 12 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 her hands from the earliest dawn of her re- 
 collection. She loved her tenderly, and would 
 have loved her more, but that a feeling of awe, 
 amounting almost to fear, mingled with the 
 regard she bore towards her. Under the dark 
 eye of Lady Maddalena her timid glance sank ; 
 ever fearing to offend, she often lacked the 
 energy necessary to attempt pleasing. From 
 the slightest imputation of blame her gentle 
 and sensitive nature recoiled. The coldness 
 of her aunt's manner chilled and repressed 
 those warmer feelings that would spring from 
 the heart of Emmeline whenever she met with 
 some proof of Lady Maddalena's affection ; 
 and frequent were those proofs, and deeply did 
 they sink on the mind of the orphan, claiming 
 from her the most implicit deference, the most 
 unqualified submission. Yet she was still a 
 child, and likely to be long considered as one 
 by Lady Maddalena, who was so completely
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 13 
 
 her opposite in character^ that it was scarcely 
 to be expected that they should ever compre- 
 hend one another. Whilst the one looked on' 
 every passing object in sober sadness, sighing 
 o'er the past, fearing to sigh o'er the future, 
 and reasoning on the present ; the other, just 
 bursting into life and happiness, painted each 
 scene with the warm colouring of hope and 
 joy, gilding her horizon with the bright visions, 
 the vivid fancy, the enthusiastic feelings of 
 early youth. 
 
 To the delighted mind all things are delight- 
 ful. As the body by its own warmth creates 
 its peculiar atmosphere, so does the mind by 
 its own power form a surrounding cloud, 
 through the medium of which we discern 
 things, not, indeed, as they really are, but as 
 it suits us to imagine them. To few people 
 did this mental atmosphere give so little trou- 
 ble as to Lady Maddalena. Calm and steady,
 
 14 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 she was devoid of enthusiasm, and destitute of 
 sensibility. Incredulous and reserved^ it was 
 difficult to deceive, and scarcely possible to 
 irritate her. Her attachments were few, but 
 strong, and hardly to be shaken. Her mind 
 was noble, comprehensive, and liberal ; neither 
 to be warped by affection, nor seduced by flat- 
 tery. To the world she appeared a beautiful 
 statue, on whose cold, unchanging countenance 
 neither displeasure nor tenderness could be 
 traced. Her very smile expressed neither joy 
 nor love, but simple approbation, and sometimes 
 mingled compassion and contempt : the for- 
 mer, however, was a principle, as well as an 
 almost habitual feeling, while the latter was 
 merely an evanescent idea., excited by the sud- 
 den appearance of vice or folly. Unaccustom- 
 ed to meet with sympathy, she had learnt early 
 neither to require nor to value it. Solely oc- 
 cupied with her young charge, she never be-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 15 
 
 trayed her solicitude by word or manner, but 
 her actions were all marked by the fondest and 
 tenderest discharge of the duties she had im- , 
 posed on herself. She used no endearing 
 epithets, no fond caresses, no tender admoni- 
 tions ; her language was simple, concise, and 
 characteristic, alike free from false sentiment 
 or exaggeration I her voice clear and impres- 
 sive, but equally destitute of flexibility or pa- 
 thos; her features — ^bold, regular, and in perfect 
 drawing — were striking, but not attractive : 
 brilliant, but not captivating. 
 
 Such was the being who, in her four and 
 thirtieth year, was devoting herself to the 
 formation of the character, and insuring, as 
 far as mortal prudence can insure it, the hap- 
 piness of the ardent and timid Emmeline Lau- 
 rimer. In pursuit of this object, the first and 
 important care of Lady Maddalena was direct- 
 ed to save her niece from dangers which were
 
 16 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 not even dreamt of by that artless and inex- 
 perienced girl. For her sake she had quitted 
 the lovely cottage where they had spent so 
 many pleasant days — and had quitted it for 
 ever ! When first Emmeline made this dis- 
 covery, she was filled with painful astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 '^ And is it really possible/* she exclaimed, 
 mournfully, '^ that we shall see that dear home 
 no more ? Have I left every thing without 
 even an adieu ? Who will caress my favou- 
 rites, water my flowers, cherish my young 
 plants, feed my birds ? But, dear aunt,'* she 
 exclaimed, as a sudden thought seized her, 
 ^' what if they were to cut down our beautiful 
 trees ?*' 
 
 " That is very unlikely, as they insure the 
 sale of the place,*' replied the philosophic 
 Lady Maddalena. 
 
 The orphan sighed more heavily than she
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 1/ 
 
 had ever sighed before ; but^ checking feelings 
 she feared might be condemned, she re- 
 mained in silent sadness, without either the 
 energy or the courage to inquire where they 
 were now going. The reason of their change 
 of abode, she would at no time have ventured 
 to investigate ; nor would Lady Maddalena, in 
 all probability, have satisfied her inquiries, had 
 they been made. 
 
 The real cause of Lady Maddalena's depar- 
 ture, was a desire to avoid Lord William 
 Neville, whose attention to her niece had been 
 marked by her vigilant and observant mind, 
 before, perhaps, even he was aware of the 
 strength of the feeling that had possessed his 
 heart. She thought, and thought wisely, that 
 Emmeline was too young to form an attach- 
 ment of such a nature as must, probably, give 
 a permanent colour to her whole future life. 
 She had contemplated the character of Lord
 
 18 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 William Neville's mind^ and neither in that, 
 nor in the habits of his past life, which had 
 been as dissipated and irregular as those of 
 most men who are in the enjoyment of an 
 ample fortune, before their judgments are so 
 matured as to enable them to use its advan- 
 tages discreetly, did she find any reason to be- 
 lieve that he would make such a husband as she 
 wished to see her niece married to. She knew 
 also that, as he was the only brother of the Duke 
 of Wellingborough, many objections would be 
 raised by his friends against his taking a bride 
 of no higher rank than Emmeline; and she 
 was not convinced that he had sufficient 
 strength and consistency of character to over- 
 come those objections when the first heat of 
 his pursuit should be over. 
 
 She did not, therefore, chuse that he should 
 engage her child's affections and risk her hap- 
 piness on grounds so uncertain, Emmeline
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 19 
 
 was too young to be capable of a judicious 
 and decided opinion ; and her aunt had seen 
 too much of the world to expect any sacrifice 
 to common sense and propriety from a pas- 
 sionate lover. In flight she knew there was 
 safety^ and to that expedient^ therefore^ she 
 resorted. She cautiously avoided giving Lord 
 William Neville any intimation that she was 
 aware of his passion ; and^ as we have seen, 
 ^she as cautiously concealed from him her de- 
 sign ; but she determined to save her niece 
 while it was yet time. She had been alarmed 
 at her emotion on being told they had left 
 home for ever, and would have assigned to the 
 lover some share of it, had not Emmeline, the 
 next morning, inquired, with perfect simplicity, 
 if they were likely to see Lord William Ne- 
 ville, where they were going. 
 
 " Not very likely," answered Lady Mad-
 
 20 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 dalena. " Do you wish to see him^ Emme- 
 line?" 
 
 ^^ Yes, my dear aunt, he diverts me," 
 
 ^^ By making love to you, child?" said 
 Lady Maddalena, with a good-natured smile. 
 
 '•^ Oh no, I did not mean that, indeed," re- 
 plied the blushing girl, casting her meek eyes 
 down; "but " 
 
 " But," repeated Lady Maddalena, " how 
 did I know he made love to you ? I suppose 
 you mean to say. Because it is his way. He 
 is unfortunately an idle man : the business of 
 his existence is fancying himself in love, or 
 making others fancy it. He could not have 
 addressed himself better than to my credulous 
 Emmeline." 
 
 A reply to this speech was impossiJ»Ie ; to 
 Miss Laurimer it was nearly incomprehensi- 
 ble. She understood enough of it, however, 
 sensibly to diminish the value of her con-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 21 
 
 quest, and her esteem for her admirer, and 
 new scenes and fresh ideas gradually obliterat- 
 ed an impression which might otherwise, in a 
 mind as susceptible as her's, have become im- 
 movably fixed. 
 
 On the evening of the fourth day after they 
 had left their former home. Lady Maddalena, 
 letting down the glass, and pointing to a clump 
 of fir-trees at some distance from their gloomy 
 road, told Emmeline it was to that place they 
 were going. As she spoke they turned into 
 a long dark alley of straight evergreens, and, in 
 a few minutes, reached the gate of an ancient 
 mansion, the principal part of which was a 
 castellated building in the Gothic style, and 
 which also bore indications of having been 
 enlarged by subsequent owners, who had con- 
 sulted their own tastes more than the plan of 
 the original builder, or the character of the 
 country in which the edifice was placed. Not-
 
 22 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 withstanding the somewhat incongruous ap- 
 pearance which these additions gave to the 
 house,, it was upon so large a scale as to con- 
 vey an idea of heavy grandeur ; but its dila- 
 pidated condition shewed plainly that it had 
 not of late been the residence of any one who 
 was interested in keeping it up. The weather 
 was not calculated to dispel the gloomy sensa- 
 tions with which Emjneline contemplated her 
 new abode. The heavens were overcast, the 
 high wind blew with a degree of fury that 
 seemed to threaten the crazy building they 
 were entering. Emmeline shuddered. How 
 unlijie was this to the white cottage in the 
 sunny vale ! There all spoke peace, content, 
 and cheerfulness ; — ^here, each chamber and 
 long reverberating passage struck dismay on 
 the soul, and chilled the heart of the pensive 
 and wearied traveller. Cold and cheerless she 
 sunk to rest ; but the bright sun waked her
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 23 
 
 in the morning, and brought with it gaj^er 
 thoughts. She arose with alacrity to examine 
 her new abode. She looked out ; — a bare heath , 
 on one side, a trackless, uncultivated hill on 
 the other, and a distant view of the ocean 
 formed the prospect. Again Emmeline thought 
 of the happy cottage and sighed ; but, not 
 naturally despondent, she checked these vain 
 feelings of regret, and a few weeks found her 
 gay and happy as before. 
 
 Lady Maddalena exchanged the fertile vales 
 of Warwickshire for the bleak Cheviot hills, 
 without one feeling connected with the scenery. 
 Satisfied with having acted wisely in trans- 
 planting her niece, she looked forward to re- 
 pairing their present abode as an occupation 
 that would at once please her taste and employ 
 many of the poor inhabitants of the neigh- 
 
 « 
 
 bourhood who might find work difficult to pror 
 cure in that part of the country.
 
 24 THE WAY OF THK WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " A knight ther was, and that a worthy man 
 That fro the time that he first began 
 To riden out, he loved chevalrie, 
 Trouthe and honour, fredom and courtesie." 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 It was impossible for Lady Maddalena Guydeii 
 to feel in any retirement the irksomeness that 
 assails common minds when shut out from the 
 pleasures and occupations of society. Her 
 resources were exhaustless^ and that active 
 spirit of benevolence which formed one of her 
 chief characteristics, would have furnished her 
 with employment, if she could have found no 
 other. The improvement of her lately neglected
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 25 
 
 habitation was begun with an energy^ the re- 
 sult of which soon displayed itself in the air 
 of comfort and elegance, which Guyden Castle' 
 shortly assumed. The grounds, which were 
 naturally picturesque, were quickly reclaimed 
 from the neglect in which they had been suffered 
 to remain. The gardens resumed their proper 
 appearance, and Emmeline, who shared in her 
 aunt's labours, had soon collected such various 
 plants, and was surrounded by so many favour- 
 ites, that she ceased to regret those she had 
 left in Warwickshire. The neighbourhood, 
 though less cultivated than that in which she had 
 lately resided, was of a bolder and more roman- 
 tic character, and offered a succession of rides 
 and walks which delighted her by their novelty. 
 The people of the lower class were simple, but of 
 acute and intelligent minds ; and in minister- 
 ing to their comforts, and assisting them to 
 struggle against the evils of that hard poverty, 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 26 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 which was their almost universal lot, Lady 
 Maddalena and her niece found a chief and 
 gratifying source of employment. In return 
 they were looked upon by the objects of their 
 bounty with enthusiastic gratitude, and the 
 period of their coming to reside at the Castle 
 had formed an epoch in the lives of the cotta- 
 gers, from which they dated a solid increase of 
 their comforts. 
 
 Lady Maddalena performed those excursions 
 which were not within the compass of a walk, 
 in a low phaeton, drawn by a pair of the small 
 horses of the country in which her abode was 
 situated. She had been driving her niece, 
 attended by a single servant on horseback, to 
 the nearest post-town, which was within six 
 miles of their residence, and was upon her re- 
 turn home, when they reached the foot of a 
 steep hill, from the summit of which the Castle 
 was visible. It was one of the most difficult
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 27 
 
 and rugged parts of the road ; the phaeton was 
 slowly ascending^ when the noise of a carriage 
 advancing in the opposite direction,, attracted 
 the attention of the ladies ; and as a sharp 
 angle of the road prevented them from seeing 
 what was coming, as well as from being seen. 
 Lady Maddalena cautiously drew up at the 
 side, to give as much room as was possible. 
 Her precaution was highly necessary, from the 
 narrowness of the pass ; but, unfortunately, it 
 was in vain. The turn of the road brought 
 the approaching carriage in sight : the driver, 
 who, reckoning upon no obstacle in that un- 
 frequented road, and taking advantage of the 
 declivity, had put his jaded post-horses to their 
 utmost speed, was unable to check them in 
 time, and in the attempt to do it, he pulled so 
 so much on the opposite side that the carriage 
 overturned with considerable violence; the 
 riding-horse fell, and the postillion was thrown 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 into the road. As it almost always happens- 
 on such occasions^ he who was most to blame 
 sustained the least hurt, and was on his legs 
 again and at the carriage- door before Lady 
 Maddalena's servant, whom she had ordered 
 to dismount and assist the travellers, could 
 obey her orders. With that intrepidity which 
 prompted her never to shrink from a duty 
 because it might be disagreeable, she gave 
 the reins to Emmeline, and approached the 
 carriage. 
 
 The silence of the persons within caused 
 her the liveliest alarm that some serious con- 
 sequences might have ensued from the accident, 
 and the appearance which presented itself upon 
 the door being opened, was not calculated to 
 dispel her fears. Two gentlemen were within, 
 one of whom got out without much diffi- 
 culty, and declared himself more frightened 
 than hurt. His companion had received a se- 
 vere contusion on the temple, which had been
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 29 
 
 cut by some of the broken glass^ and was in- 
 sensible from the blow^ while the blood trickled 
 copiously from the wound. Emmeline saw 
 her aunt turn suddenly pale, while her fea- 
 tures expressed a much more powerful emo- 
 tion than she was accustomed to display, as 
 she looked upon the bleeding traveller. In a 
 hurried manner she applied her handkerchief 
 to the wound; with a faultering voice, bade the 
 postillion fetch water from a brook by the road 
 side ; and ordered her servant to ride in all 
 haste to the town, and bring the surgeon of 
 the place back with him to the Castle. Her 
 cares soon restored the traveller to sensation ; 
 but he was unable to move, and complained of 
 violent pain in his head. There was no house 
 so near as Guyden Castle, and Lady Maddalena 
 therefore had the cushions taken from the car- 
 riage and placed in the phaeton, so as to afford 
 the greatest ease to the wounded man, who
 
 30 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 was laid upon them^ and Lady Maddalena seat- 
 ing herself beside him^ supported his head 
 while Emmeline led the horses. 
 
 The other traveller preferred remaining with 
 the carriage, and promised, as soon as it could 
 be got up, to follow his friend to the Castle. 
 With the assistance of some of the labourers 
 in the neighbourhood, this was soon effected. 
 The damage was found to be but slight, and 
 the carriage, being once more placed upon its 
 wheels, was capable of being dragged slowly on 
 by the only horse that remained, the other be- 
 ing too much injured to proceed. On the ar- 
 rival of the surgeon, it was ascertained that 
 the collar-bone of the wounded man was frac- 
 tured, in addition to the contusion ; the 
 wound, notwithstanding its alarming appear- 
 ance, being the slightest of the injuries he 
 had sustained. Rest and perfect silence for 
 the present were strictly enjoined, and having
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 31 
 
 seen his patient safely in bed, and having ad- 
 ministered such medicines as he thought fit, 
 the surgeon took his leave. 
 
 Lady Maddalena, her niece, and the other 
 traveller, then met in the drawing-room. The 
 stranger announced himself as Mr. Loudun, an 
 agent of Sir Henry Daverout, the unfortunate 
 object of their care, with whom he was on his 
 way to the Borough of Marlington, to repre- 
 sent which in the ensuing parliament Sir Henry 
 was a candidate. Mr. Loudun was a man of 
 between fifty and sixty years of age. His man- 
 ner was marked by that cautious reserve which 
 belongs to his profession, but which in him 
 was rather the effect of his natural disposition, 
 than a habit which had been formed by cir- 
 cumstances. He seemed to have made a com- 
 pact with himself never to utter a word more 
 than the occasion on which he spoke required.
 
 32 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and those words in which he did express him- 
 self appeared to have been measured with the 
 most scrupulous care. His very features had 
 been so subdued that they could never be said 
 to mean anything. His brow was marked with 
 lines of deep thought ; his eyes were large light- 
 blue ones, and a habit he had contracted of 
 half-closing them, gave a cat-like look to his 
 face. His demeanour was so quiet and self- 
 possessed, that without any pretensions to 
 polish, it might be called gentleman-like. 
 With more of energy than he evinced on any 
 other occasion since she had seen him, he 
 thanked Lady Maddalena for the care she had 
 bestowed on Sir Henry, 
 
 '' The common claims of humanity would 
 have entitled any one in his circumstances to 
 our sympathy and assistance," replied Lady 
 Maddalena ; ^' but in this instance your poor
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 33 
 
 companion has a still stronger right to my re- 
 gard. He is one of the oldest friends I have 
 in the world." 
 
 Mr. Loudun lifted up his eyelids until the 
 whole of his large unexpressive eyes were dis- 
 played ; but^ excepting by this action, he gave 
 no token of surprise at the information which 
 Lady Maddalena's speech conveyed. 
 
 '^ Pray/* she continued, " has he been long 
 in England?" 
 
 " He arrived here exactly two months ago," 
 replied Mr. Loudun. 
 
 ^^ I fear that this accident may disappoint 
 his hopes at Marlington," pursued Lady Mad- 
 dalena. 
 
 " Fortunately," replied Mr. Loudun, '^ his 
 personal presence, though desirable, is not in- 
 dispensable at that place. The only inconve- 
 nience he will suffer, will be the pain that must 
 attend the recovery. I rejoice, however, to find 
 
 c3
 
 34 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 that he is in such hands as your ladyship's ; 
 and as it is absolutely necessary that I should 
 pursue my journey, I leave him here with less 
 anxiety than I should otherwise feel on his ac- 
 count." 
 
 The surgeon's report on the following morn- 
 ing was as favourable as could have been ex- 
 pected. The fever, which it had been his chief 
 care to prevent, had appeared in so mitigated 
 a form, that he had little doubt of his patient's 
 speedy recovery, and he only repeated his in- 
 junctions that Sir Henry should be kept from 
 every kind of excitement. Mr. Loudun having 
 heard this, expressed his intention of departing 
 instantly j and the carriage being again set in 
 order, he pursued his journey, leaving a con- 
 cise note of explanation for Sir Henry, to be 
 delivered to him when his medical attendant 
 should be of opinion that it might be done 
 without danger.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 35 
 
 Emmeline had suffered no expression of the 
 surprise she felt to escape her, when she had 
 heard her aunt tell Mr. Loudun that she knew 
 the person whom chance had thus made their 
 guest 3 but, at the first opportunity which oc- 
 curred, when they were alone, she did not he- 
 sitate to confess her wonder. 
 
 '^ I could not imagine the reason,'' she said, 
 "' dear aunt, of your turning so deadly pale, 
 when you first saw this poor gentleman. You 
 looked as if you were going to faint ; and I 
 knew ^ you too well to believe that the mere 
 sight of blood, disagreeable as it is, could have 
 had any such effect upon you at such a mo- 
 ment.'* 
 
 " I am not conscious," replied Lady Madda- 
 lena, " that my colour underwent any change ; 
 but it was not surprising that, to find, in cir- 
 cumstances of such pain and danger, one for 
 whom I have a strong regard, and whom I had
 
 36 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 not seen for several years^ should excite nie 
 somewhat powerfully." 
 
 ^^ Not at all surprismg," said Emmeline. 
 " On the contrary, I wonder you were able to 
 exert yourself as you did.'* 
 
 " I trust, my dear child," said Lady Mad- 
 dalena, '^ that, in my situation, you would have 
 done the same, and I am sure you have too 
 much good sense, as well as right feeling, to 
 permit any indulgence of an exaggerated sen- 
 sibility to interfere with the performance of a 
 duty, however painful." 
 
 Emmeline felt strongly disposed to ask her 
 aunt who Sir Henry Daverout was, and what 
 were the circumstances under which they had 
 formerly met; but, besides the difficulty of 
 overcoming the chilling reserve which Lady 
 Maddalena evinced on most subjects connected 
 with her own history, there was now an evi- 
 dent wish on her part to discontinue this sub-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 3/ 
 
 ject of conversation ; and Emmeline, wonder- 
 ing more than ever, felt compelled to wonder 
 in silence. 
 
 At the end of a week. Sir Henry Daverout 
 was enabled to leave his chamber for the draw- 
 ing-room, and to enjoy there the society of the 
 ladies, to whom he was indebted for his re- 
 covery. The thanks which the occasion re- 
 quired were soon paid, and, it being miadvisable 
 that he should, at present, pursue his journey, 
 it was settled that he should remain at Guyden 
 Castle, at least, until the return of Mr. Lou- 
 dun from Marlington. 
 
 Emmeline was very much struck by the ap- 
 pearance and manners of their new guest. He 
 was about a year older than her aunt, tall and 
 well made 3 handsomer than men in general, and 
 his demeanour strongly marked by that perfect 
 ease and gracefulness which are almost always 
 conferred by the influence of good society upon a
 
 38 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 cultivated mind. His abundant cheerfulness 
 and vivacity made him one of the most agree- 
 able companions that Emmeiine had ever 
 known ; smd, with that promptness of affection 
 which is common to young, and only to young 
 minds, she soon conceived a strong predilec- 
 tion for him. His conversation delighted her 
 not less by the novelty of the subjects to 
 which it was directed, than by the sprightli- 
 ness, accompanied by a profound knowledge 
 of mankind, which it displayed. She often 
 wished it had been her fortune to have had 
 such a brother, and even looked to the period 
 of his departure with regret : but, upon com- 
 paring the sensations which his society had 
 inspired with those she had felt on first re- 
 ceiving Lord William Neville's passionate de- 
 claration of attachment, she was convinced that 
 esteem was the strongest feeling she could ever 
 entertain towards him.
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 39 
 
 Lady Maddalena, who was in general cold 
 and indifferent to every one but Emmeline, 
 treated Sir Henry Daverout with an air almost 
 approaching to deference^ and Emmeline had 
 observed her more than once gazing at him, 
 when he was engaged in some occupation that 
 prevented his observing her, with an earnest 
 expression, wholly different from that which 
 her features commonly assumed. In the mean 
 time, his presence caused little alteration in 
 the habits of the inmates of Guy den Castle. 
 Emmeline' s lessons were continued, as usual, 
 in the common sitting-room, and Sir Henry 
 Daverout, who was already looked upon by 
 the niece, as he was treated by the aunt, in 
 the light of an old friend, was commonly pre- 
 sent at them. 
 
 The time which might otherwise have hung 
 heavily on his hands was often employed in 
 assisting Emmeline in her pursuits. His
 
 40 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 knowledge of music was little more than super- 
 ficial ; but he had a fine voice, which he had 
 taken some pains to cultivate, and he sang 
 better than most amateurs. In drawing he 
 was more proficient, was an ardent lover of 
 the arts, and was delighted to find that Emme- 
 line eagerly adopted his lessons, and listened 
 with deep attention to his enthusiastic descrip- 
 tion of the works of art he had seen in the 
 course of his travels, and of which, at that 
 period, there were much fewer specimens than 
 are to be found in England at this time. 
 
 ^' You must really take your niece to Italy, 
 Lady Maddalena," said he one day when he 
 had been talking on this, to him, exhaustless 
 subject. ^^ It is the only country of the mo- 
 dern world in which the true influence of 
 painting has been felt, and in which its most 
 marvellous productions are to be found.'' 
 
 You know. Sir Henry," replied Lady 
 
 ((
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 41 
 
 Maddalena, ^^this is an old topic of dispute 
 between us. You could never make me par- 
 take of the passionate fondness you have for ' 
 paintings. It may be that nature has been 
 niggard to me of that faculty which enables 
 you to rate them so highly ; or it may be, that 
 you exaggerate their value.'* 
 
 '' You have not been in the land of painting, 
 or you would renounce your heretical opinions 
 on this subject, which, as you say truly, re- 
 vives an old controversy between us. Come 
 with me to that sunny land ; and if I do not 
 shew you paintings that are capable of exciting 
 the highest and purest emotions, as power- 
 fully as all that poets or orators ever sang or 
 spoke, I will give up my own faith, and em- 
 brace that colder one of yours." 
 
 ^^You must get the Speaker's permission 
 first," said Emmeline smiling, and glad to 
 divert the conversation, ^^ the member for
 
 42 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Marlington, as no doubt you are by this time, 
 has more important duties to perform than 
 those of Cicerone.'' 
 
 "Egad, that's true/' replied the Baronet, 
 ^' in my love of pictures I had almost forgotten 
 my senatorial occupations. By the bye, I 
 wonder that Loudun has not yet returned." 
 
 " But pray tell me. Sir Henry," said Em- 
 meline, " and don't laugh at me for a silly 
 girl, whatever you may think of my ques- 
 tion — how comes it that you are so certain of 
 being elected at Marlington ? We live here 
 wholly out of the world, and I have never yet 
 lived in it. Such notions as I have on the 
 subject of elections of members of parliament, 
 have led me to believe that the candidates are 
 chosen because the electors believe that they 
 have such talents and worth as will enable 
 them to advocate and protect the interests of 
 the nation,"
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 43 
 
 cc 
 
 And, therefore, you wonder their choice 
 should have fallen on me T' interrupted Sir 
 Henry. 
 
 " Not at all ; but you are in so great a 
 hurry to betray me into a blunder, if not an 
 incivility. My wonder is, that, since you have 
 never seen Marlington, and since you have 
 lived out of England for several years past, 
 the electors of that borough should be such 
 excellent judges of true merit as to have se- 
 lected, from all his majesty's subjects, you, 
 who possess exactly the qualifications neces- 
 sary to represent them.'' 
 
 " Very fairly, and rather hardly hit. Miss 
 Laurimer," replied Sir Henry. '' Now, but 
 for an ill habit I have acquired, of speaking 
 the truth, and which has led me into so many 
 scrapes, that if I had common prudence, (as 
 Lady Maddalena knows I have not,) I ought to 
 have left it off many years ago— -I should be
 
 44 
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 content to leave the matter as it stands^ and to 
 confess that you and the good burgesses of 
 Marlington are among the most discerning 
 people in the universe. But the real state of 
 the case is this. — Upon my return to England 
 my friends insisted that I ought to go into 
 parliament^ and I listened to them. Now 
 there are at least two — I don't say there are 
 only two — ^but there are at least two well 
 known ways of travelling to the House of 
 Commons. One is by joining loudly in the 
 cry of whatever party happens to be most dis- 
 contented at the particular time you select 5 
 by flattering the great and little vulgar who 
 belong to that party ; by affecting great devo- 
 tion to liberty ; by making speeches in taverns, 
 and writing letters in newspapers ; by invok- 
 ing, upon all occasions, the names of all the 
 heroes, who, right or wrong, have been can- 
 onized as the martyrs of freedom, chiefly be- 
 
 ■$■
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 45 
 
 cause tliey were troublesome people, wliose 
 mischievous ambition provoked their own ruin, 
 — from the Roman Brutus down to the last 
 inspired shoemaker who has been put into the 
 pillory for sedition — and, in short, by setting a 
 very bad example to people who are too ready 
 to follow it. This, as you may imagine, is a 
 troublesome mode ; far too troublesome for a 
 man of my indolent habits. It is sometimes 
 dangerous also, and that objection is, in my 
 opinion, insurmountable; because I am very 
 fond of my personal freedom, and have made 
 a vow to keep out of Newgate as long as I can. 
 The second is a much more simple and easy 
 one. There are a certain number of noble 
 and wealthy persons who possess so remark- 
 able an influence over the free and independent 
 gentlemen, upon whose voices the return of 
 members to parliament depends, that they can 
 always prevail upon them to vote according to
 
 46 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 their suggestions. These influential person- 
 ages, with a disinterestedness which adds 
 lustre to their rank, are so good as to recom- 
 mend any one who has no objection to throw 
 away some trifling sum of money — ^varying 
 according to the state of politics, and other 
 accidental circumstances, from five to seven 
 thousand pounds — ^to the notice of the electors, 
 and, with such a recommendation, his return 
 is certain. I have had the good fortune to 
 gain the favour of Lord Merivale, to whom 
 the voters of Marlington are devotedly attach- 
 ed, and as his lordship has, or is to have my 
 money, I have no doubt of my election. Does 
 this explanation satisfy Miss Laurimer's in- 
 quiry ? 
 
 ^^ Most completely,''^ replied Emmeline : 
 ^^ and now, will you tell me who Mr. Loudun 
 is?'' 
 
 " Mr. Loudun is a very rare specimen of
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 4/ 
 
 the race to which he belongs. He is an at- . 
 torney; acute and clever, as almost all his 
 brethren are, and, what some of them are not, 
 an extremely upright man. It would be quite 
 unbecoming a nobleman of Lord Merivale's 
 importance to soil his exalted fingers with the 
 money which forms a part of the transaction 
 between us, and, as purity is the most pro- 
 minent characteristic of the elective franchise 
 of Great Britain, it would be equally improper 
 that I should personally have anything to do 
 with that feature of the business. My Lord's 
 agent, Mr. Chicane, manages it, therefore, on 
 his behalf, and Mr. Loudun represents me. 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by the 
 arrival of Mr. Loudun himself, who came op- 
 portunely enough to justify the proverb. He 
 brought the intelligence of Sir Henry's una- 
 nimous election by the complying burgesses of 
 Marlington, and one of the most important
 
 48 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 of the new member's privileges was immediate- 
 ly put in requisition by Lady Maddalena^ who 
 took this opportunity of bringing up the ar- 
 rears into which her distance from her ac- 
 quaintance, and her recent active occupations 
 had occasioned her correspondence to fall. 
 
 Mr. Loudun departed on the folio vring day 
 for Loudun. Sir Henry, although by this 
 time quite well enough to have pursued his 
 journey, was disposed to stay at Guy den Cas- 
 tle for some time longer. His hostess was 
 well pleased that he should remain, and, with- 
 out being put to the necessity of an excuse — ■ 
 and a very slight one would have sufficed — ^he 
 continued to occupy his apartments for some 
 weeks longer. 
 
 His residence at Guyden was however more 
 full of peril to his liberty than his late accident 
 had been to his life. Sir Henry had from his 
 boyhood laboured under that facility of falling
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 49 
 
 in love to which some minds are subject. The 
 beauty and innocence of Emmehne soon made 
 such an impression on him, that he felt this old 
 complaint had fixed on him with greater force 
 than he had ever before experienced. There 
 were many and strong reasons why Emmeline 
 was the last person on whom he should have 
 placed his affections, all of which shall in due 
 time be developed ; but, notwithstanding them 
 all, he found it impossible to resist the fasci- 
 nations, which her society, of which he had 
 now the uninterrupted enjoyment, exercised 
 over him. It will, however, be more satisfac- 
 tory that the history of his passion should be 
 given in his own words ; and more proper that 
 the narration should be related in another 
 chapter. 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " La meme fermete qui sert a resister a I'amour, sert aussi a le 
 rendre violent et durable. Les personnes foibles qui sont tou- 
 jours agitees des passions, n'en sont presque jamais veritablement 
 remplies." — Maximes de La Rochefoucauld. 
 
 " Sir Henry Daverout, Bart., to George 
 
 Dorset, Esq. 
 
 ^ " Guyden Castle, Monday. 
 
 ^^ I WRITE not to tell you of the accident 
 which first brought and which has so long 
 detained me here. Loudun has already given 
 you all the particulars of that adventure — ^but I 
 write to tell you that I have again found her, 
 and when I least expected to see her. Yes,
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 51 
 
 my friend, again have I beheld the same beau- 
 teous form enshrining the noblest and purest 
 mind that ever dignified woman. I have again 
 heard the well remembered tones which are 
 associated with the earliest and tenderest inci- 
 dents of my life. You, George, who have been 
 so long acquainted with my attachment to 
 Lady Maddalena Laurimer — you who know that 
 even the name of Guyden failed to act as a spell 
 on my feelings and wishes, who witnessed that 
 the transporting reflection that Maddalena and 
 I again were free, checked the tears I shed o*er 
 the grave of the gentle and tender Emma ; you 
 will be at a loss to comprehend me when I 
 say, that now a union with this long idolized 
 being, would fail to insure my happiness. Oh, 
 I have seen so perfect, so angelic, so fasci- 
 nating a creature ! that my bewildered and 
 charmed senses scarce know whether to call 
 the apparition that has dazzled me a mortal 
 
 D 2 
 
 "SnvoF^aiw^
 
 52 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 woman. I know j^ou will receive this intima- 
 tion with an abundance of censures^ all of 
 which are perhaps deserved^ but which I am as 
 incapable of heeding as I am of disputing them. 
 I have been too long the creature of impulse to 
 be able now to overcome feelings which must 
 in future regulate, as they have hitherto regu- 
 lated my destiny. To you^ whose blood flows 
 more calmly, and whose passions are under the 
 control of sober reason, my conduct will ap- 
 pear inconsistent, perhaps weak, and I confess 
 that I could hardly pardon myself if I did not 
 see my excuse in this bright paragon. In the 
 mean time, I tell you it is impossible for you 
 to judge fairly of me in this instance ; — you have 
 seen nothing lovely, for you do not know Em- 
 meline Laurimer. I would tell you how sur- 
 prised Lady Maddalena was to see me in Eng- 
 land — how much she was shocked to hear of 
 Emma's death, and how many unusual emo-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 53 
 
 tions ruffled the calm and dignified serenity of 
 her fine countenance ; but^ in truth, I cannot 
 talk of Lady Maddalena, and you would have 
 
 no patience to hear me talk of her niece : I will 
 therefore write no more until I have formed 
 some plan, traced some line of conduct, which 
 I mean shall be more rigidly pursued than my 
 former, ^ ten thousand whims that died in 
 thinking.* Adieu, my friend 3 do not condemn 
 me until you have listened to my explanation : 
 direct to Guyden Castle until you hear further 
 from, dear George, 
 
 ^^ Truly your's, 
 
 " Henry Daverout." 
 
 It was not merely the grace and beauty of 
 Emmeline that had so powerfully affected Sir 
 Henry : in many women he had beheld and 
 admired charms as exquisite as hers, without 
 their displacing for a moment his long cherished
 
 54 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 love for his early friend. Of the stores of her 
 mind^ he was ignorant; he helievedher to be all 
 that was perfect, because, innocence and can- 
 dour rested on her fair brow, but it was not 
 from her physiognomy that he concluded her 
 worthy of the passion she had inspired. The 
 real witchery that attracted him in Miss Lauri- 
 mer, was her marked contrast to her aunt. 
 Accustomed for years to look up to Lady 
 Maddalena as the first of human beings and the 
 most beautiful of women, he had, with lover- 
 like liberality, concluded that nothing unlike 
 her could be good. It was in his mind a settled 
 axiom, an opinion from which there was no 
 appeal ; and had he, on his first arrival at 
 Guyden Castle, met her alone, a few weeks, 
 probably, would have seen them united, mu- 
 tually happy, and glorying in the constancy of 
 their affection ! But fate ordered otherwise 3— 
 for we love not to assert that our own conduct
 
 THE WxVY OF THE WORLD. 55 
 
 is in our own hands^ else how vain and incon- 
 sistent should we appear ! The enthusiastic^ 
 the tender Emmeline, by her warm, lively, and 
 ever varying manner, placed her aunt in the 
 most unfavourable point of view. How rigid, 
 how freezing, did Lady Maddalena's calm 
 placidity appear, when contrasted with the 
 sensibility and candour that played on the 
 countenance of the orphan. Emmeline's lowest 
 tone, her slightest gesture conveyed more than 
 a dozen speeches from her aunt, and yet that , 
 aunt never spoke in vain. Equally clear and 
 impressive was her conversation ; every word 
 might have been remembered and repeated with 
 pleasure, (although perhaps heard with more 
 pleasure from the mouth of another,) for Lady 
 Maddalena's sentiments were always the result 
 of deep reflection, and were prompted by pure 
 and exalted feeling. So many were her ex- 
 cellences in mind and person, in talents natural
 
 56 THE WAY OF THE WORLU. 
 
 and acquired, that no one could for an instant 
 imagine she wanted any thing. Nor until 
 opposed to Emmeline did it ever occur to Sir 
 Henry that she could improve by change. For 
 tlie first time in his life, he pondered on her 
 reserve, her philosophy, and asked himself, is it 
 possible she was always thus ? Obliged to 
 answer, yes, he next wondered how it should 
 have escaped him. He reflected on her con- 
 duct 3 the undeviating path of rectitude she 
 had ever pursued, her perfect equanimity, her 
 dauntless sacrifice of every selfish feeling, her 
 amazing consistency. ^^ She has always been 
 right,''' thought he, '^ she always will be so '/' 
 and he sighed. — Was it at her perfection ? — 
 Let us hope, for the vaunted dignity of man, 
 that it was not. His reason approved her, his 
 esteem for her increased, but it increased until 
 it almost amounted to awe, and that is the 
 freezing point of the affections. Real regard, of
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 5? 
 
 whatever kind^ cannot be unaccompanied by- 
 respect ; but when the feeling of equality ceases^, 
 tenderness and friendship alike vanishes, and 
 whatever feeling may be inspired by the con- 
 templation of merit which we are conscious is 
 wholly beyond our reach, certainly that feeling 
 is not love. 
 
 One morning, when Emmeline was out and 
 Lady Maddalena sate at work by the fire- side. 
 Sir Henry gathered courage to ask if he might 
 address Miss Laurimer with any chance of 
 success. 
 
 Lady Maddalena' s work dropped from her 
 hands : unused as she was to experience, and 
 still less to express, astonishment, she both felt 
 and looked it at this unexpected demand. She. 
 gazed at him in silence for a moment, then 
 faintly asked if he was in earnest. 
 
 Sir Henry coloured, hesitated, was embar- 
 rassed j and, while he was searching fnr words, 
 
 d3
 
 58 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Lady Maddalena walked with more than usual 
 majesty to the window. 
 
 On the opposite hill appeared the light 
 bounding figure of Emmeline racing with in- 
 fantine gaiety after the dogs who were her 
 companions^ and who seemed to enjoy the 
 cliace as much as their young mistress. 
 
 " And you love that child 1" exclaimed 
 Lady Maddalena with something of bitter- 
 ness. 
 
 "That child is very lovely/' replied Sir 
 Henry, " but you, my kind friend, have only 
 to pass your veto upon this business, and I 
 think of it no more. You caused my first 
 marriage, and are at liberty to prevent my 
 second.'' 
 
 Lady Maddalena's flushed complexion de- 
 noted her struggle for tranquillity at this al- 
 lusion to former times ', but she neither moved 
 nor spoke.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 59 
 
 « 
 
 " Perhaps/* continued Sir Henry after a 
 pause, " I may have been too precipitate : Em-, 
 meline may not possess the amiable qualities 
 I have imagined in her : perhaps you do not 
 wish her to marry so young." 
 
 " My friend," said Lady Maddalena, in a 
 serious tone, ^^ you have surprised me, I con- 
 fess ; but as I become familiarised with the 
 idea I see nothing irrational in it. Emmeline 
 has all the perfections you can wish her ; she 
 has all her life been an object of equal care 
 and affection to me. Daily do I pray for her 
 happiness, — and for yours I laboured before 
 she was born." 
 
 Lady Maddalena's voice gradually changed, 
 as she concluded, into accents of mingled ten- 
 derness and reproach, which went to the heart 
 of her auditor. At this moment she looked 
 so lovely, with scarce a vestige of coldness ; 
 her beautiful eyes glistened ', and Sir Henry^
 
 60 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 t 
 
 transported back in imagination to the days 
 of his early youth^ caught her hand, fondly 
 exclaiming, "my Maddalena T' but her emo- 
 tion had" been repressed and transient; and 
 checking himself at the recovered calmness of 
 her countenance, he added, " my dearest and 
 best friend, what do I not owe you for your 
 unceasing kindness ? How dearly prized has 
 been the remembrance of your affection 1 Ah, 
 trust me, it can never lose its value.'' 
 
 Lady Maddalena again was surprised. Sure- 
 ly, thought she, this man was once my lover ; 
 and what is he now ? With these passionate 
 looks and gestures, and seeking the hand of 
 another. 
 
 Her reverie was broken by the entrance of 
 her niece, whose fair tresses hung wild and 
 luxuriant, scattered by the wind over her rosy 
 cheeks, and whose whole form, dilating with 
 health and gaiety, powerfully contrasted with
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 61 
 
 the regular and reposing beauty of Lady Mad- 
 dalena. 
 
 ^^ Do you know, dear aunt, I have been to 
 the very top of that highest hill !" exclaimed 
 the lovely girl ; ^^ the heavens were so clear, 
 the sea was so blue and transparent, and the 
 pure air so light and exhilarating, I regretted 
 being alone to enjoy it." 
 
 Lady Maddalena smiled ; the transports in- 
 spired by air, sky, and water, were perfectly in- 
 comprehensible to her ; but, truly benevolent, 
 she rejoiced at the facility with which others 
 were pleased. Expressions of delight, however 
 exaggerated, or even ludicrous they might sound 
 to her, were welcomed with joy ; towards the 
 sorrow, however, that sprang from the same 
 source, she was not equally lenient ; the first 
 was but an innocent and pleasing folly, the 
 latter betrayed a spirit of dissatisfaction, de- 
 grading to a rational being, criminal in' a re-
 
 62 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ligious one. She saw not that the disposition 
 that could create imaginaryjoys, must be liable 
 to suffer from imaginary woes ; and that the 
 same keen sensibility that enabled its possessor 
 to draw from trivial sources a greater degree 
 of enjoyment than common minds enjoy, would 
 visit with more intense pain those hours of sor- 
 row and adversity, which are the lot of all 
 mankind. 
 
 Emmeline flung her hat on the table, and 
 carelessly ran her hand over the keys of the 
 piano-forte. Lady Maddalena set her down 
 to a musical lesson, and left the room, to re- 
 flect on her conversation with Sir Henry, a id 
 to give him an opportunity to speak to her 
 niece himself. This, however, he did not do, 
 waiting, as he said, his friend's perfect sanc- 
 tion. Pleased with his deference to her opi- 
 nion, and fearful lest he should imagine her 
 still retaining a warm recollection of their
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 63 
 
 former attachment^ when he had ceased to 
 remember it^ she entered into the plan with 
 considerable alacrity. Lady Maddalena was 
 proud 5 she would not acknowledge to herself 
 that she felt disappointed^ as well as asto- 
 nished^ that, with all her wishes for Sir 
 Henry's happiness, a sensation of unwonted 
 bitterness would sometimes mingle with her 
 efforts to secure that happiness. She re- 
 pressed her feelings, controlled her manner, 
 and soon her steady perseverance annihilated 
 each unpleasant thought. Impressed with the 
 idea that the future destiny of the two beings 
 she most loved on earth, depended on her ex- 
 ertions, she did not spare them ; and her praises 
 of Sir Henry sunk deep into the mind of Em- 
 meline, inspiring her with almost as much in- 
 terest as he would have required, and even a 
 species of veneration which he could have dis- 
 pensed with. She treated him with the respect
 
 64 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 due to her aunt's friend^ and with the kindness 
 excited by his amiable qualities, but he never 
 occurred to her in the light of a lover ; and if 
 ever she thought of him connected with those 
 ideas, it was with a sentiment of wonder that 
 he did not marry her aunt, to whom he ap- 
 peared so attentive, and with whom he had 
 been brought up, for she had heard that he was 
 a ward of Lord De Verney, Lady Maddalena's 
 father. 
 
 At last Sir Henry prepared to depart. He 
 had requested of Lady Maddalena not to pro- 
 pose him to her niece as a candidate for her 
 hand at that moment. " If," continued he, 
 ^^ there is any chance for me, I will pay you 
 another visit shortly, but Emmeline is timid — 
 I fear to alarm her — and to lose the ground I 
 have gained in her favour. You must intercede 
 for me when I am absent, and I know my kind 
 friend will do it warmly."
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 65 
 
 ce 
 
 What would I not do, what have I not 
 done for him ?" thought Lady Maddalena, and 
 a rebellious sigh found its way. ^^ You know 
 you may rely on me,"' she said, with a mourn- 
 ful smile, and she bid him adieu.
 
 6Q THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " On ne devrolt s'etonner que de pouvoir encore s'etonner." 
 
 De La Rochefoucauld. 
 
 Time passed on, marked by nought but Lady 
 Maddalena's eulogiums on Sir Henry, and the 
 assenting smile of Emmeline. Lady Madda- 
 lena hadinuch judgment, but little penetration. 
 She thought that she had, at length, brought 
 about a favourable crisis; and with perfect con- 
 fidence in the success ^of her design, she in- 
 formed the young lady that she had been so 
 fortunate as to engage the affections of this su-
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORXD. 67 
 
 perior being who had been the constant theme 
 of her praise and admiration. 
 
 ^^ Who^ I ! dear aunt ?" asked the trembling 
 girl, pale and aghast — ^' I hope not." 
 
 This was an unforeseen stroke to Lady Mad- 
 dalena. Reasonings, persuasions, all were re- 
 sorted to; but all were in vain. Emmeline 
 listened in silence to the first, and replied only 
 with tearful monosyllables to the second. 
 
 " But, my child," pursued Lady Maddalena, 
 with more than usual warmth, ^^ you must 
 marry at some time or other, and trust me, 
 who have known Henry from his cradle, you 
 will never meet his superior, if you were to 
 live to the end of the generations of the 
 earth." 
 
 ^' I do not doubt Sir Henry's excellent qua- 
 lities," dear aunt, " but why must I marry at 
 any time ?" 
 
 Why, the child is out of her senses. 
 
 ((
 
 68 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Without friends^ without protection^ what will 
 you do when I am dead ?" 
 
 '^ You dead V hastily interrupted Emme- 
 line, in a wild tone of affright ; and^ starting 
 from her chair^ she looked as if she heard of 
 the possibility of dying for the first time in 
 her life. She stood for a moment the image 
 of terror and despair ; then casting herself at 
 Lady Maddalena's feet, with a flood of tears, 
 franticly entreated her not to die. Lady Mad- 
 dalena was convinced by her passionate man- 
 ner that the repugnance her niece expressed 
 to the proposal she had made, was equally sin- 
 cere and profound, and, changing the subject, 
 she essayed to soothe her in the best way she 
 could, nor did she for some days venture to 
 allude to Sir Henry and his offers. 
 
 After long consideration, it appeared to her 
 that, as Emmeline readily acknowledged all 
 his good and pleasing qualities, she only re-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 69 
 
 quired to be a little further interested about 
 him, in order to overcome the strong objection 
 she had expressed. ^^ Emmeline is so ro-, 
 mantic/' thought she, " I will engage her 
 sympathy by relating our story, and, not to 
 seem particular, I will begin with myself. 
 Lady Maddalena rejoiced in this expedient, 
 however little it displayed her usual judgment. 
 But it must be recollected that the wisest cannot 
 judge of what they do not understand 5 Lady 
 Maddalena did not understand Emmeline's 
 character ; and therefore that she should adopt • 
 a mode of influencing her in Sir Henry ''s fa- 
 vour, which in a mind of her cast of feeling 
 must have a diametrically opposite tendency, 
 was neicher wonderful in itself, nor an im- 
 peachment of her understanding. A cold that 
 confined Emmeline to her room, furnished her 
 aunt with a convenient opportunity for putting 
 her plan into execution, and the slightest pre-
 
 70 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 text would serve for an opening. On the next 
 morning she found the invalid carefully taking 
 down Mr. Guyden's picture^ which hung over 
 the mantel-piece. To the enquiry why she 
 was removing it, Emmeline replied^ that she 
 feared the smoke would injure it, and she was 
 therefore changing it to another part of the 
 room ; ^^but, perhaps/' she added^ ^^ it would 
 be less liable to mischief if placed in your 
 dressing room ?" 
 
 " It is not a fine painting/' carelessly re- 
 plied Lady Maddalena^ whose mind was run- 
 ning on other subjects. 
 
 ^^ But is it not like him ?'' timidly demand- 
 ed the surprised Emmeline. 
 
 *' Yes,'' replied her aunt 5 '^ so is that print 
 like Edmund Burke ; yet its preservation is not 
 a matter of the first moment to me." 
 
 ^^ Edmund Burke was not your husband/' 
 retorted Emmeline, with a quickness that
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 71 
 
 shocked herself; and, blushing deeply the mo- 
 ment after she had uttered this observation, 
 she cast her eyes to the ground. 
 
 ^^ I knew him nevertheless as well as my 
 husband ; and certainly liked him better. 
 Don't look so shocked and distressed, Emme- 
 line ; and as you are not quite well enough to 
 employ yourself to day, I will explain this 
 alarming assertion by giving you a sketch of 
 my life.'' 
 
 Emmeline's cheeks still glowed. It was not 
 now, however, bashfulness, but gratitude that 
 produced the suffusion ; and having warmly 
 expressed her thanks, her aunt began the pur- 
 posed narrative. 
 
 History of Lady Maddalena Laurimer. 
 
 " My father. Lord De Verney, married the 
 most beautiful woman of her day, for no better 
 reason than because he was, what is called in
 
 72 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the unmeaning jargon of the world^ ^ in love.* 
 He was poor and generous, and insisted that 
 all my mother's immense property should be 
 settled on herself, with power to leave it to 
 whom she pleased. The lovely heiress cared 
 little for money, but much for power, and was 
 therefore not sorry to retain the sovereignty, 
 as it were, in her own hands. My father felt 
 not the injustice he might thus be doing his 
 children. His most remarkable characteristic 
 was an extreme insouciance ; this failing pre- 
 vented him from supposing her capable of any- 
 thing that would be partial or unjust, and he 
 continued to the last, when he had cause to 
 know her well, a blind attachment and ready 
 acquiescence with all her wishes, which was 
 much more the result of a desire to avoid 
 the pain of personal exertion than the real 
 affection of which it was the semblance. My 
 piother had a large family 3 but, fortunately
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 73 
 
 for them, myself and two brothers alone pass- 
 ed the age of fom'teen. Those who died were 
 little mourned, and quickly forgotten by Lady 
 De Verney. To please her, as he persuaded 
 himself, my kind-hearted father dried his tears 
 for their loss. Your father alone, my beloved 
 Frederick, seemed capable of sorrow acute 
 and lasting. My eldest brother, then Lord 
 Redhurst, and now Lord De Verney, although 
 of a tolerably good disposition, is plagvied 
 with no feelings of disagreeable strength. 
 He takes every thing in an easy, selfish sort 
 of way, avoiding to dwell on any painful sub- 
 ject, and ceasing to grieve less from ill-nature 
 than from insensibility. He was, neverthe- 
 less, my mother's favourite. She could mould 
 him to her will — could teach him to fawn 
 when she was pleased, and to crouch when it 
 was her mood to be sullen. She rewarded 
 him for this docility by indulgences which neu- 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 tralized in him all that might have produced 
 more worthy consequences, and by the most 
 liberal allowance, while the high spirited and 
 noble-minded Frederick was treated by her 
 with the most marked unkindness, or by a 
 chilling indifference, which was even more 
 bitter and wounding to a heart such as his. 
 It was the feeling this neglect engendered, that 
 gave a tone and energy to that independence 
 of character which he displayed at a very 
 early age. While his brother wasted in dissi- 
 pation or in the profligate courses which offer 
 themselves to persons of his station, the time 
 that ought to have been devoted to the busi- 
 ness of his education, Frederick pursued his 
 studies with such alacrity and success as gave 
 promise of eminence in whatever station his 
 future fate might place him. Full of lofty 
 aspirations, and feeling that it would be im- 
 possible for him to follow, without interrup- 
 tion, any worthy pursuit in England- — weary
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 75 
 
 and indignant at the hourly torments to which 
 his mother's cruelty and his father's weakness 
 exposed him, he gladly seized an opportunity 
 which presented itself of going to India, and, 
 for the first time since he ceased to be a child, 
 he was compelled to ask the permission of 
 her whose refusal must have been final. Al- 
 though nothing could have been suggested 
 which accorded more fully with her own 
 wishes, because it offered her the chance of 
 getting rid, for ever, of one whom she had 
 always disliked, and whom she had lately 
 began to fear, she affected at first to object 5 
 and it was not without difficulty that my poor 
 brother obtained from her this boon. On the 
 day he quitted us. Lady De Verney gave him 
 a purse but scantily supplied, and formally 
 assured him it was the last time he must ex- 
 pect money from her ; that she wished him 
 success, but hoped never to see him more. 
 
 E 2
 
 76 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 To this parental blessing Frederick replied 
 not. He dared not trust himself with the ex- 
 pression of the feelings that rose to his swell- 
 ing and indignant hearty and he remembered 
 he owed duties even to her who had forgotten 
 that he was her child. He shook hands with 
 his brother, and, affectionately embracing me, 
 exclaimed, ^ Alas ! my poor sister, why cannot 
 you go too ? ' He took leave of my father with 
 tears, and his last words to him were, ^ Watch 
 over my dear Maddalena, I entreat you.' Lady 
 De Verney heard the recommendation, and 
 revenged herself upon me by more than her 
 usual ill-humour and caprice. 
 
 " For my part, when I saw the carriage 
 drive off that contained my kind brother, I 
 felt that all I loved in the world had departed 
 from me, and that the sincere but powerless 
 affection of my good father would afford me 
 no substitute for what I had lost in Frederick,
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 77 
 
 and no protection against the alternate vio- 
 lence and indifference of Lady De Verney. I 
 was to be fourteen in a few months. I recol- 
 lected that none of .my sisters, and but two of 
 my brothers had ever arrived at a more ma- 
 ture age, and I was persuaded I should die 
 also, and that now Frederick was gone I 
 should be unregretted and forgotten. This 
 apprehension was so strong in my mind that 
 it brought on a nervous fever, which would, I 
 dare say, have killed me, if Lady De Verney, 
 enraged at my father's uneasiness about me, 
 had not taken singular methods for my cure. 
 If she found my father in my room, whither 
 he would sometimes steal, she would bestow 
 on me every species of torment, mental and 
 bodily, she could devise." 
 
 Here Emmeline uttered an exclamation of 
 horror, and Lady Maddalena looked up hastily 
 to see by what it had been occasioned. Find-
 
 78 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ing her niece's dismay to proceed solely from 
 the feelings which had been excited by her 
 story, she said — " This shocks you, my child, 
 and there have been moments when it has 
 excited similar emotions in my mind. Now I 
 remember it merely as I do any other fact, the 
 interest of which has departed along with the 
 occurrence. In Lady De Verney's treatment 
 of her children, I find only one, among the 
 many proofs with which the world abounds, 
 of the evil consequences of defective educa- 
 tion. She had lost her own mother in early 
 life ; she had never experienced a parent's 
 tenderness, and that, perhaps, accounts for 
 her neglect of a parent's duties. She had 
 been flattered and spoiled, until she arrived 
 at womanhood, by her nurses and her gover- 
 ness ; her worst passions had been allowed to 
 overgrow the better qualities of her disposi- 
 tion ; and the absolute power she had possess-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 79 
 
 ed since she had been married to my father, 
 and those habits of fashionable life which 
 are so essentially selfish that, if unrestrictedly ' 
 indulged, they harden the best hearts, had 
 made her such as I describe her. — But to pro- 
 ceed with my story. 
 
 '^ Roused by the injudicious treatment I re- 
 ceived from her to anger, resentment, and in- 
 dignation, I recovered my spirits, and conse- 
 quently my health. My body grew hardened 
 to her blows, and my mind cold and senseless 
 to her bitterest revilings. I persuaded my 
 father not to interfere in my behalf, and my 
 lot grew gradually more supportable. Few 
 things contributed so much to this compara- 
 tively easy life as the arrival of Sir Henry 
 Daverout, who was a ward of my father's, and 
 who became our inmate about the time I reached 
 my sixteenth year. Frank, warm, and open 
 hearted, his manly conduct often put the more
 
 80 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 servile Redhurst to the blush; and his un- 
 compromising spirit even awed my mother ; 
 while the sweetness and generosity of his tem- 
 per was peculiarly felt by me^ who had been 
 so long unused to kindness or sympathy of any 
 kind. His father had entertained an uncon- 
 querable prejudice against universities, and 
 had expressly directed that his son's education 
 should be continued, as he had himself begun 
 it, under the instruction of private tutors. 
 Henry had therefore masters at home, and 
 never left us. He had it in his power to do 
 me many little services, and his presence and 
 interposition often saved me from Lady De 
 Verney's anger. He became attached to the 
 being he protected, and I was grateful for that 
 protection. Henry is by nature enthusiastic, 
 he soon became warmly attached to me. I was 
 neither romantic nor sentimental. I had read no 
 novels, and was untainted by the affectation and
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 81 
 
 mock sensibility, which are so commonly culti- 
 vated by fashionable young ladies ; but had, on 
 the contrary, lived in the constant habit of re- 
 pressing, if not of extinguishing, all my feel- 
 ings. Since my brother Frederick's departure, 
 I had languished in a state of apathy, from 
 which Henry awoke me. No longer listless 
 and inert, my whole being seemed changed. I 
 was astonished, bewildered, but scarce ventured 
 to feel delighted, so little was I accustomed to 
 emotion of any sort, and least of all to those 
 of a pleasurable kind. I loved Henry, how- 
 ever, like one who had been for years without 
 any thing to love. We had no private conver- 
 sations, or secret rendezvous. We waited un- 
 til we were of age, and without explanations, 
 we were mutually aware of each other's inten- 
 tions and steadily pursued our plans. 
 
 ^^ How often at this period did I long to see 
 
 E 3
 
 82 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 your father. Noble-minded and generous as 
 he was, he would quickly have discovered a con- 
 genial mind in the amiable Henry, and would 
 have added much to his comforts in a house 
 where none treated him as he deserved. My 
 father indeed was interested for him, but had 
 unfortunately expressed this interest so warmly 
 when first he came to reside amongst us, that 
 Lady De Verney was offended, and never after 
 heard the name of our inmate without displea- 
 sure, which, however, she found it expedient on 
 many occasions to conceal. Lord Redhurst 
 neglected him, to pay court to his mother, and 
 likewise from a secret consciousness of infe- 
 riority, which the little- souled are awed by in 
 spite of themselves. I wish not, by what I am 
 saying, to prepossess you against your uncle. 
 He has many good qualities, is neither malicious 
 nor ill tempered ; and would doubtless have
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 83 
 
 been a more amiable and respectable man^ but 
 for the gross errors that were committed in his 
 education. 
 
 My father^ willing to enliven the monotonous 
 and tedious life of his ward, proposed to him 
 to make a tour of the eontinent. Henry, 
 although of an investigating spirit, and much 
 addicted to study, declined the proposal most 
 unequivocally. I asked his reasons : never 
 shall I forget the cordial smile with which he 
 replied, ^ My sweet friend, if I live, there is 
 time enough for travelling ; if I die, it is use- 
 less. Do not think so poorly of me as to 
 imagine that I would leave any place where I 
 thought I might afford assistance, or even plea- 
 sure to any one. However, if Maddalena 
 wishes it, I will go.' Lady De Verney saved 
 me the trouble of a reply. She had heard 
 Henry's speech, and attaching to it more im- 
 portance than it deserved, she rushed into the
 
 84 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 roonij her beautiful features distorted with 
 passion, and her whole frame more resembling 
 that of a fury than of a woman. I expected 
 she would knock me down ; but I was used to 
 her violence and did not shrink. I cast a sup- 
 plicating look on Henry, whose interference I 
 dreaded ; but I presently found it was towards 
 him Lady De Verney's rage was directed ; 
 and heard her with grief and surprise, accuse 
 him of being the seducer of her daughter. She 
 placed before him the misery of marrying a 
 beggar, ' for not one shilling,' she continued, 
 ' shall she ever have from me, if she dares to 
 marry from her own choice.' 
 
 '^ Henry, who understood the glances I had 
 directed towards him, was only restrained from 
 retorting her undeserved reproaches by the 
 fear that the rage, from which he knew he was 
 exempt, might be visited upon me. Master- 
 ing his feelings, he replied calmly to Lady De
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 85 
 
 Verney ; reminded her that she possessed no 
 authority over him^ and that her anger was 
 as vain as it was unprovoked. His coohiess 
 seemed to restore her to the self-possession 
 she had lost in the first burst of her fury j but 
 it did not mitigate the bitterness of her feel- 
 ings towards me. Taking advantage of a 
 pause that ensued after Henry had finished 
 speaking, I ventured to assure her I did not 
 think of marrying at all, and still less of dis- 
 obeying her. This roused her anger afresh ; 
 she poured out a torrent of invectives in scarce- 
 ly articulate accents, and concluded by saying, 
 ' I will move you for once, girl. I will trouble 
 that provoking composure. Henry goes to- 
 morrow, whether Maddalena wishes it or not.' 
 Henry did go : we corresponded on all subjects 
 except love : I saw that could be productive of 
 no good, and studiously avoided it. Our corre-
 
 86 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 sppndence was discovered by Lady De Verney, 
 from whom I took no pains to hide it, although 
 I certainly did not ask a permission I was sure 
 of not obtaining. She peremptorily forbade 
 my continuing to write to him ; I disdained 
 clandestine measures, and I ceased to hear 
 from my only friend. 
 
 ^^ Deprived of him whose presence had so 
 long soothed me, harassed by the mode of life I 
 was forced to lead — for I had been presented, 
 and was dragged from one crowd to another, 
 where, whatever I did or said, left undone or 
 unsaid, was equally sure to attract Lady De 
 Verney's censure — my spirits and health failed 
 together. I grew thin and pallid ; the latter 
 defect was supplied by rouge, which Lady De 
 Verney (who was reckoned the best layer on 
 of artificial roses in England) herself applied. 
 I have often smiled while looking in the glass.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 87 
 
 to observe the glare and sternness which this 
 colouring gave to my eyes, equally unenlight- 
 ened by health or happiness. The indifferent 
 and careless observer called it beauty, and Lady 
 De Verney was satisfied."
 
 88 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Hard is the scholar's lot, condemn'd to sail 
 Unpatroniz'd o'er life's tempestuous wave ; 
 Clouds blind his sight, nor blows a friendly gale 
 To waft him to one port — except the grave." 
 
 Penrose. 
 
 "My father fell into ill healthy and I became 
 desperate with wretchedness. I had never been 
 happy ; but until now I was never perfectly 
 destitute of comfort or momentary ease. Every 
 revolving hour was marked with increased suf- 
 fering and despondency. I should have sunk 
 shortly under such constant, unalleviated an- 
 guish, if a gleam of sunshine had not darted 
 across my night of gloom. My beloved Fre-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 89 
 
 derick, alarmed at the accounts of my father's 
 healthy wrote me word he would come by the 
 first ship to see himself this indulgent parent. — 
 He did come. 
 
 Lady Maddalena paused — her pale lip qui- 
 vered, her dark eyes expressed unutterable 
 woe, and, with almost convulsive efforts, she 
 
 proceeded. " He came too late 
 
 My father was no more. His door was closed 
 against his unfortunate son. It was a heavy 
 blow to the affectionate and ardent Frederick. 
 He wrote to Lady De Verney for permission 
 to see her and me. It was denied ; and, scorn- 
 ing to sue to one who would certainly have 
 concluded that his poverty alone urged him to 
 pay her any attention, after the aversion she 
 had ever manifested for him, he took a lod- 
 ging in London, with a faint hope of seeing 
 me before he sailed. For the effecting this 
 end chance had directed him well.
 
 90 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 ^^ Some time before he quitted England, 
 Henry had required my assistance in effecting a 
 design to which his benevolent disposition had 
 prompted him, but which he could not execute 
 in person. The Rev. Mr. Arberry had been 
 selected by his father, during his lifetime, to 
 superintend his education, and had discharged 
 that task in such a manner that Henry felt 
 himself under the deepest obligations to him. 
 Second to none in ability, and vastly superior 
 in every other quality to the common run of 
 persons to whom the business of education is 
 entrusted, Mr, Arberry had treated his pupil 
 with the affectionate care of a parent, and, at 
 the same time that he communicated to him 
 the stores of learning which he himself pos- 
 sessed, he took care to cultivate the qualities 
 of his heart, and to fill him with the amiable 
 and honourable principles which have always 
 distinguished him. This gentleman had died.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 91 
 
 leaving an orphan daughter^ almost wholly un- 
 provided for, and it was on her behalf that 
 Henry had engaged my services. It is fit, 
 although it somewhat interrupts the course of 
 my narrative, that I should tell you some fur- 
 ther particulars of this gentleman, whom I 
 knew well, and esteemed highly. 
 
 " Mr. Arberry presented one of those in- 
 stances of extraordinary talent neglected, from 
 no fault of his own, which are, unhappily, not 
 rare in the world. Most men's fortunes de- 
 pend on their own conduct, and are made or 
 marred by the work of their own hands. It 
 has been said by one of the most illustrious 
 divines of our church, with the quaintness 
 which characterised the style of the times in 
 which he wrote, that ^ the cards are not within 
 our choice, but the manner of playing the 
 game is '/ and true as the observation may be 
 in the main, human life displays, occasionally.
 
 92 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 some striking exceptions from it. Mr. Ar- 
 berry's evil fortune was occasioned^ probably, 
 by the unfavourable circumstances under which 
 he was suddenly forced to play an active part 
 in the world. His father was an eminent 
 merchant, who had conducted most extensive 
 speculations with remarkable success, and had, 
 at an early period of his life, amassed a large 
 fortune, the greater part of which was, how- 
 ever, still employed in the commercial un- 
 dertakings from which it had been derived. 
 He lived in that style of opulence which is 
 common with persons of his condition, and 
 spent the revenues of a prince, with as little 
 ostentation_, however, as became a man engaged 
 in trade. His son had received all the advan- 
 tages that could be conferred by the most ju- 
 dicious, and, at the same time, expensive edu- 
 cation ; and had evinced natural talents of the 
 first order. His progress at the university had
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 93 
 
 been highly distinguished, and he was about 
 quitting it, when one of those accidents, to which 
 mercantile men are always subject, and from 
 which no human prudence can be a sufficient 
 protection, befell his father, and reduced them 
 both to a state of utter destitution. An island, 
 the name of which I forget, was taken by the 
 French during the war; the elder Mr. Ar- 
 berry's dealings had been principally connected 
 with that place ; it was in establishing a trade 
 thence that he had first laid the foundations of 
 his fortune, and had continued ever since to 
 draw such large profits from it, that he had 
 felt little inducement to enter into any other 
 branches of commerce. The ruin which fell 
 upon him in consequence of this event, was as 
 sudden as it was complete. His stores of 
 produce, his ships, the money he had ready to 
 be remitted, all were gone at once. His re- 
 sources were wholly cut off, and the ample
 
 94 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 fortune which he possessed at home, was not 
 sufficient to satisfy the engagements he had 
 entered into, and the demands which, as soon 
 as the news was made public, came pouring on 
 him from all quarters. With the high and 
 proud feeling of a British merchant, he did all 
 that an honest man could do : he surrendered 
 to his creditors every thing, to the uttermost 
 farthing, that he was possessed of; but his 
 spirits sunk under the blow, and very soon 
 afterwards he closed, in all the bitterness of 
 unaccustomed poverty, a life which had before 
 been one series of prosperous adventure. His 
 son's fate was, probably, a harder one. From 
 the height of affluence, he was at once reduced 
 to the necessity of providing by daily exertions, 
 for the wants of the day, and was wholly un* 
 acquainted with the means by which those 
 exertions should be directed. All the mortifi- 
 cations which attend fallen fortunes, began to
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 95 
 
 assail him. His summer friends fell off from 
 him as soon as they learned he had nothing to 
 bestow upon them; and the late companions 
 of his mirthful hours looked at him with cold- 
 ness^ or with ill-concealed contempt, because 
 he had no longer the means to indulge in the 
 luxurious revelry which had been their sole 
 bond of union : he felt, in all its stern force, 
 the truth of the axiom, that he who wants 
 wealth, wants, in the eye of a sordid world, 
 every thing. The indignation which such 
 events inspired in him, only added to the 
 energy with which he set about extricating 
 himself from the painful position into which 
 he had fallen. There was but one resource 
 open to him ; and he applied himself to lite- 
 rature, which he had hitherto only cultivated 
 as an enjoyment, to furnish him with the 
 means of existence. 
 
 *' When I first knew Mr. Arberry, the world
 
 96 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 had somewhat mended with him ; and although 
 after his father's death he never again enjoyed 
 affluence^ he was far removed from want. He 
 was then as fond as men usually are of re- 
 lating the history of past difficulties, and often 
 told to Henry and myself the tale of the vicis- 
 situdes he had undergone, and which, whatever 
 sorrow they had occasioned to him at other 
 periods, were at this time only a source of 
 amusement. His first attempt in the thorny 
 and ungrateful paths of literature was the col- 
 lection of a volume of poems, the greater part 
 of which had been written at Eton and at 
 Oxford 'j some of them had obtained for him 
 prizes, notwithstanding the exertions of for- 
 midable competitors ; all of them had been 
 highly extolled by the limited circle to whom 
 they had been shown, and had raised his repu- 
 tation among ^ the mob of gentlemen who 
 write' sufficiently high to justify him in the
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 97 
 
 belief that they would be relished by the pub- 
 lic. Instructed by a college acquaintance, 
 who had himself published some trifling work^ 
 he repaired to the most celebrated among the 
 London booksellers, and presented his manu- 
 script. His name was a sufficient introduc- 
 tion, and the object of his visit insured him 
 at least a civil reception. The publisher look- 
 ed over the volume, and seeing that it was 
 poetry, began at once to assure him that he 
 could not have bestowed his labours upon a 
 more unprofitable subject, that it was difficult , 
 to make poems of any kind, particularly those 
 of an author whose name was unknown to the 
 public, sell at all; and that when they did, their 
 success rather depended upon a certain rage 
 which was created for them by artifices per- 
 fectly well known "in the trade,'" and which 
 he did Mr. Arberry the justice to believe he 
 
 VOJU. I. F
 
 98 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 was not likely to practise. Mr. Arberry agreed 
 in the soundness of an opinion he had no means 
 of contradicting, and frankly confessing that 
 he meant to cultivate letters as a profession, 
 asked his advice as to the subjects to which 
 he could most profitably devote his pen. 
 
 '' ' Why, sir/ said Mr. Thompson, ' at this 
 time, and in the present state of the country, 
 men's minds are engaged upon more serious 
 topics than those you have handled. Parlia- 
 ment is about to meet, and a pamphlet on the 
 Corn Laws, or the Poor Laws, would be likely 
 to take.' 
 
 '^ Mr. Arberry felt that he knew nothing of 
 either, although it was not improbable that 
 he might soon have some practical experience 
 of the operation of the latter, unless better 
 fortune should attend his future efforts. Con- 
 cealing as well as he could his disappointment.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 99 
 
 he ventured to ask what might be the probable 
 remuneration for such a production as his ad- 
 viser had suggested. 
 
 ^' ^ That would depend mainly upon its suc- 
 cess,' replied Mr. Thompson, ^ but as from 
 a gentleman of your attainments there can be 
 no doubt that the production would be a cre- 
 ditable one, we would either share between us 
 the profits, after deducting the charges of 
 printing and advertising, &c., or I would take 
 the risk upon myself, and buy the copy for a 
 
 sum of from five to ten pounds, according to 
 the length of the work.' Perhaps he saw 
 
 something in Mr. Arberry's countenance which 
 indicated surprise at the offer of such a price ; 
 for he added, ' there is great hazard always 
 attending such affairs, and as I have a family 
 to provide for, I am compelled to be cautious ; 
 but if your first attempt should succeed, we 
 might make better terms for the future.' 
 
 F 2
 
 100 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 " Mr. Arberry thanked him for his offer and 
 his advice, and replacing his manuscript in his 
 pocket, he returned home heartily chagrined 
 at the result of his first essay. The same 
 friend who had recommended the application 
 consoled him for its failure, and surprised him 
 by telling him, as the truth was, that Mr. 
 Thompson's proposition about the pamphlet 
 was not only kind, but even generous. He 
 bid him not despair, but to send his poems 
 to some of the other booksellers in London, 
 and in short, to try them all until he found 
 one who would undertake the volume; ob- 
 serving wisely enough, that since the verses 
 were written, it would be better to have them 
 published at any rate. As he knew Mr. Ar- 
 berry' s unfitness for such a negociation, he 
 took it upon himself. After numerous rejec- 
 tions, each politely expressed, and accompanied 
 by an intimation that, although the publica-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 101 
 
 tion would not^ for some ingenious and unan- 
 swerable reason, suit the particular person 
 who made it, the merit of the poems was of a ' 
 very high order ; one publisher was found, who 
 agreed to print it, and to give ten pounds for 
 it ; a sum which, by this time, the author had 
 learnt not wholly to despise. 
 
 '^ These successive attempts and failures oc- 
 cupied necessarily some months, during which 
 Mr. Arberry was not idle. He had, in the days 
 of his prosperity, and when his fortune and 
 prospects not only gave splendour to such ta- 
 lents as he possessed, but procured him credit 
 for many qualities which existed only in the 
 imaginations of his flattering friends, been one 
 of the most distinguished among the amateur 
 actors who formed the celebrated corps drama- 
 tique of the Countess of Bidborough, He had 
 also held the important office of poet to the 
 theatre at Summerton Castle, her ladyship's
 
 102 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 seat, and had not only composed all the pro- 
 logues, epilogues, songs, and pieces de circon- 
 stmice which were produced at that aristocratic 
 place of entertainment, but had written a farce, 
 the fame of which had travelled beyond the 
 sphere for which it was first intended. Not- 
 withstanding the merit of the Summerton Cas- 
 tle artistes^ they found themselves compelled 
 occasionally to have recourse to the assistance 
 of the professors of the regular drama; and, 
 among others, one of the most celebrated co- 
 mic actresses of London, who was as much 
 sup^^r to actresses in general for her talents, 
 as for the admirable propriety of her demea- 
 nour in private life, was not unfrequentiy in- 
 vited to take a part in the revels. This uady 
 had been so struck with the merit of Mr. Ar- 
 berry's production, that she begged it of him, 
 and it had been played for her benefit, in Lon- 
 don, where it was very favourably received.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 103 
 
 This circumstance induced him to think that 
 he might succeed in that description of writ- 
 ings and^ having sketched a light comedy, of' 
 the same kind as those which were then the 
 favourites of the town, he renewed his acquaint- 
 ance with the lady in question. With the 
 good nature which is almost universal among 
 people of her description, she entered heartily 
 into his plans, gave him some hints, which 
 were really valuable, encouraged his exertions, 
 read his play as it proceeded, and, when it was 
 finished, introduced him to the manager of one 
 of the great theatres, and backed her recom- 
 mendation of the author with all the influence 
 she possessed. Mr. Arberry now thought that 
 he had a fair prospect of putting forward his 
 pretensions to the public encouragement; he 
 went manfully through the tedious process 
 which attends the production of theatrical 
 pieces, read his play in the green-room, returned
 
 104 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the warm compliments which he received from 
 the actorSj altered the parts to suit the various 
 and sometimes capricious suggestions of the 
 reigning favourites, re-wrote the songs accord- 
 ing to the taste of the actresses who were to 
 sing them, although that taste was very often 
 directly contrary to the dictates of his own 
 judgment, and had, at length, the satisfaction 
 of seeing, in large letters, at the bottom of the 
 play-bills, an announcement that a new opera- 
 tic comedy was in preparation, and would be 
 produced in a few days. The care of the ma- 
 nager had, at the same time, duly sounded the 
 note of preparation in the approved and cus- 
 tomary manner, and the public expectation 
 was kept alive by various insinuating para- 
 graphs in the public papers, stating that the 
 opinion of the green-room was highly in fa- 
 vour of the forthcoming play ; that it was said 
 to be by an author of distinction ; that no ex-
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 105 
 
 pense had been spared upon its getting up, &c. 
 &c. But, alas ! the golden dreams in which 
 he had indulged were all suddenly blighted ; ' 
 the theatre, like all London theatres, was deep- 
 ly in debt, and, on the morning fixed for the 
 last rehearsal of his play, Mr. Arberry, on 
 going to the theatre, found the sheriffs officer 
 in possession of all the scenery, machinery, 
 dresses, and decorations, for a debt due to the 
 lamplighter. On the following day the ma- 
 nager appeared in the list of bankrupts, as a 
 horse dealer ; it being, in the theatrical phrase, 
 ^^his first appearance in that character 5" and, 
 as it was impossible to overcome the embar- 
 rassments, into which the concern was thus 
 plunged, the house abruptly closed for the 
 season. 
 
 " At about the same period, the poems made 
 their appearance : they were not of a character 
 to attract the notice of the graver critics, who 
 
 F 3
 
 106 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 were so busy with speculations upon the corn- 
 laws and poor-laws as to prove the sound- 
 ness of Mr. Thompson's suggestion. The 
 opinions of the minor censors were divided ; 
 most of them discovered some beauties^ all of 
 them saw something to condemn^ in the works 
 of an author who, whatever merit he might 
 possess, had not that of inviting any of them 
 to his dinners. There was one publication, 
 and only one, in which they were treated with 
 great severity. This was a monthly magazine, 
 called ^The Critical Cat-o'-Nine Tails,' which 
 was then in great vogue, for no other reason 
 than because it contained virulent calumnies 
 against all that was most respectable and ho- 
 nourable. The editor, in discussing the merits 
 of the poems, had not satisfied himself with 
 turning the best passages into ridicule, a task 
 by no means difficult to a critic who has nei- 
 ther manly feeling nor common honesty, and
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 107 
 
 perverting the sense by ribald jests ; but he 
 had found occasion to introduce the circum- 
 stance of the poet's misfortunes^ his father's' 
 ruin, and his own blighted prospects, with a 
 heartless malignity and utter disregard of truth, 
 which amused the whole town, while it wound- 
 ed the unfortunate author to the quick, and 
 almost reduced him to despair. The most pain- 
 ful part of the affair was, that he discovered 
 the author of this unprovoked attack to be a 
 man who had been at Oxford with him, whose 
 imprudence and extravagances had reduced 
 him there to the greatest distress, and who 
 had been saved from the disgraceful conse- 
 quences which threatened him by the genero- 
 sity of Mr. Arberry. It was because he had 
 paid his debts, shielded him from ruin, fur- 
 nished him with money for his future support, 
 and enabled him to quit the university without 
 the loss of his reputation, that this miserable
 
 108 THE WAY OP THE WORLD, 
 
 person had taken so cruel and cowardly a me- 
 thod of assailing virtues which he could not 
 approach^ and of cancelling obligations which 
 he had neither the means nor the honesty to 
 discharge. The ill treatment he had experi- 
 enced was deeply mortifying to the young au- 
 thor, but he was more severely grieved at de- 
 tecting so gross an instance of human depravi- 
 ty, unprovoked and gratuitous, as was displayed 
 by this self-appointed censor. 
 
 ^^ The pressure of actual want, however, soon 
 diverted him from the indulgence of the feel- 
 ings which these disappointments had occa- 
 sioned. When the first news of his father's 
 losses had reached him, he sold every super- 
 fluity he possessed for the purpose of paying 
 the debts he had contracted, and which, al- 
 though unimportant with reference to the in- 
 come he had enjoyed, were considerable now 
 that he was wholly without future provision.
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 109 
 
 Horses, books, (with the exception of a few 
 which were indispensable,) ornaments, every- 
 thing that was worth converting into money, he • 
 had parted with, and had the gratification of 
 knowing that, though he was very poor, he was 
 not in debt. What remained after this duty 
 was discharged had sufficed to maintain him, 
 with the exercise of a rigid economy, hitherto, 
 but the scanty store was diminished to almost 
 nothing. Privations were new to him, but he 
 endured them with the stern courage which ad- 
 versity excites in noble minds, and his pride 
 would not allow a word of complaint to escape 
 him. He provided in the mean time, however 
 insufficiently, for his actual wants by the ex- 
 ercise of his pen ; but, as he wrote anonymous- 
 ly, his gains were small, and even precarious. 
 It had been suggested to him by some of his 
 college acquaintance who knew the character 
 of his mind, that the church was the profession
 
 110 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 for which he was best qualified ; and the natu- 
 ral seriousness and piety of his disposition, 
 which had been strengthened by the misfor- 
 tunes he had undergone, convinced him that 
 the advice was well given. He therefore de- 
 termined on taking holy orders, and having 
 procured a curacy in London, the emoluments 
 of which, though small, were enough for his 
 now-limited desires, he engaged himself with 
 alacrity in the performance of his new duties. 
 
 " It was not, however, his lot to remain even 
 in this state of humble tranquillity. He had, 
 while at Oxford, engaged himself for the pay- 
 ment of a debt which had been incurred by one 
 of his thoughtless companions, the son of a 
 peer, who, the difficulty of the moment being 
 staved off, had quitted the university withovit 
 further troubling himself about the matter. 
 The creditor had waited, with the patience of 
 a college creditor, until finding that Lord Arch-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. Ill 
 
 erly neither paid him his money nor answered 
 his letters^ he handed over the bond to an at- 
 torney, who unceremoniously arrested the fti- « 
 ture peer and Mr. Arberry, and they met, for 
 the first time since they had quitted Oxford, 
 in the same parlour at the house of a bailiff in 
 Chancery Lane. 
 
 *^ The effect of this incident upon the minds 
 of the two young men was as different as their 
 characters. Mr. Arberry felt it as a personal 
 disgrace, and as the destruction even of the 
 limited hopes he had of late begun to indulge. 
 Lord Archerly was not only in no degree 
 damped by the circumstance of having fallen 
 within the grasp of the myrmidons of the law, 
 but he was delighted that his somewhat em- 
 barrassed affairs had reached a crisis which 
 rendered the assistance of his father indispen- 
 sable. He calculated rightly enough in be- 
 lieving that the Marquis of Kendal, who would
 
 112 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 not have troubled himself to save his son from 
 the mere inconvenience of being assailed by the 
 importunities of creditors, would be feelingly 
 alive to the indignity to which the family ho- 
 nour was exposed by his being in prison. Very 
 soon after their arrival at this place, the Mar- 
 quis's man of business made his appearance, 
 and, after much circumlocution on his part, 
 and an abundance of fair promises on that of 
 Lord Archerly, arrangements were entered into, 
 which terminated in the two friends quitting 
 their place of confinement on the day after 
 they had entered it. 
 
 ^^Lord Archerly was by no means so unwor- 
 thy a person as his innumerable follies had 
 given the world reason to believe, or even as he 
 described himself to be. He was hare-brained, 
 and imprudent ; but he was also full of gene- 
 rous impulses, and possessed a capacity of so 
 superior an order, that his talents only required
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 113 
 
 to be properly directed, in order to produce 
 results every way befitting his station and the 
 name he bore. The short time he had now » 
 passed with Mr. Arberry, had afforded an op- 
 portunity for mutual explanation; he had 
 learnt the particulars of his friend's reverses, 
 and of his present prospects ; and perhaps the 
 only feeling of real pain which his imprison- 
 ment had occasioned him, was derived from the 
 reflection that he had caused that friend a 
 serious inconvenience. He expressed this 
 warmly, and at the same time formed a deter- 
 mination to repair, as far as was possible, the 
 injury he had done him. A few days after- 
 wards, Mr, Arberry was surprised by a visit 
 from him, when he told him that his friends, 
 tired of his irregularities, and in the hope of 
 curing them, had procured for him an appoint- 
 ment in one of the Indian presidencies 3 that it 
 was necessary for him to have a chaplain, and
 
 114 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 that if Mr. Arberry had no particular objection 
 to accompany him, that post was tendered for 
 his acceptance. This offer was made in the 
 most flattering manner, and was put rather in 
 the light of a favour to be conferred on Lord 
 Archerly, than on the person to whom it was 
 presented. Mr. Arberry did not hesitate to 
 embrace it. England had no charms for him, 
 and his ambition, which, although his altered 
 fortune had quelled, it had not destroyed, 
 whispered that in an another country he might 
 find means to elevate himself to a station which 
 he felt he was qualified to fill, and which in 
 this he had no prospect of attaining. In point 
 of emolument, the office which Lord Archerly 
 proposed, was far superior to that which his 
 present employment yielded. The arrange- 
 ments were soon made, and the friends sailed 
 together for India. 
 
 " Among the passengers was a lady, who.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 115 
 
 accompanied by her daughter^ was on her 
 voyage to meet her husband, an officer in the 
 army, from whom she had been separated for , 
 several years. She was in very delicate health, 
 and the affectionate attentions of her daughter, 
 together with her beauty and accomplishments, 
 made so deep an impression on Mr. Arberry, 
 that, before the voyage was ended, he was irre- 
 coverably in love with the young lady. On 
 their arrival, Mrs. Moreton found that the hus- 
 band, the hope of seeing whom had induced her 
 to make so long a journey, at a time when her 
 health was by no means equal to the exertion, 
 had died at about the time she had left England, 
 and that she and her daughter were friendless 
 and unprotected, in a distant country, where 
 every thing was strange to them. The shock 
 so increased her malady, that she sunk under 
 it, and died, recommending her orphan child to 
 the care of Mr. Arberry, who had declared his
 
 1 16 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 attachment to her. He was too much enam- 
 oured to calculate coolly on the imprudence of 
 taking a dowerless wife, with no more certain 
 means of support than such as he then pos- 
 sessed ; and the circumstances in which he was 
 placed, left him indeed no alternative. They 
 were married, and Mr. Arberry, happier than 
 he had ever before been, continued his journey 
 to the place of Lord Archerly's destination. 
 
 ^^ For two years he enjoyed perfect tranquil- 
 lity, and his happiness was increased by the 
 birth of a daughter. At the end of that time, 
 fortune, who was always his foe, again frowned 
 upon him. Lord Archerly died suddenly. His 
 successor appointed his own officers. Mr. Ar- 
 berry returned to England, and the charges of 
 removing himself and his family had been so 
 great, that he came back to his native country 
 almost as poor a man as he had left it, and 
 having now a wife and child dependant upon
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 11/ 
 
 him. It was with some difficulty, that he was 
 enabled to struggle on, and his circumstances 
 were reduced to a very low ebb, when he met , 
 with Sir Edward Daverout, Henry's father, 
 with whom he had formerly been acquainted. 
 Sir Edward, who knew his worth, was delight- 
 ed at securing his assistance in the education of 
 his son : he procured him a presentation to a 
 small living in Surrey, which, together with the 
 stipend he insisted on his receiving, enabled 
 him to maintain the station of a gentleman. 
 
 ^^ After Sir Edward's death, and when Henry 
 came to live in my father's house, he continued 
 his instructions, his residence being so near 
 town that he was enabled to visit him several 
 times in each week, and to regulate the atten - 
 dance of his other masters. No praise can be 
 too high for the solicitude with which he dis* 
 charged this duty, and which entitled him to 
 the respect and affection of Henry, and of all 
 who were interested for him,
 
 118 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ^' His daughter, who had grown up under his 
 own eye, united all the high and amiable feel- 
 ings which characterized her father, to the 
 utmost perfection of female grace and beauty. 
 She had frequently visited me for weeks to- 
 gether, and her gentleness was so remarkable 
 as even to disarm the ferocity of Lady De Ver- 
 ney. Mr. Arberry suddenly died, and left this 
 daughter not only without any natural protec- 
 tor, but with very scanty means of support. 
 Henry, who was deeply interested in her wel- 
 fare, but who feared to wound her delicacy by 
 any open offer of assistance, had requested me 
 to effect this object for him. I had according- 
 ly discussed with Miss Arberry the plans for 
 her future conduct, and as she painted flowers 
 very exquisitely, it had been agreed between 
 us that she should pursue that art as an occu- 
 pation^ and that she should give lessons to as 
 many pupils as 1 and her other connexions might 
 be enabled to procure for her. In the mean
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 119 
 
 time I told her that I was commissioned by an 
 imknown friend to supply her with whatever 
 money she might want; but that I was en- , 
 joined not to disclose the name of that friend. 
 Her pride would have declined this assistance, 
 but I found means to reconcile her to it. A 
 respectable person who had been long employ- 
 ed by my mother as a mantua maker, received 
 her into her house, and engaged to treat her as 
 one of her own family, a promise v\hich she 
 scrupulously fulfilled. A part of the house 
 was let to lodgers during the London season ; 
 but it was so arranged that Miss Arberry's 
 apartments were wholly distinct from that 
 which was so occupied, and in those apart- 
 ments I often found a solace from the annoy- 
 ances which beset me in my father's house.'*
 
 120 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " II en est de veritable amour comme de I'apparition des espritSi 
 Tout le monde en parle, mais peu de gens en ont vu." 
 
 Les Maximes de La Rochefoucauld. 
 
 ^' The death of my father was an unexpected 
 shock to Lady De Verney, and afflicted her 
 more than could have been imagined by any 
 one who had seen the manner of their living 
 together. If there was any human being whom 
 she had ever loved^ I must do her the justice 
 to believe it was her husband. She had early 
 gained that power over him^ of which she made 
 so cruel and unjust a use ; and although his 
 weajk submission to her imperious and unrea-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 121 
 
 sonable will had lowered him in the esthiiation 
 of his friends^ and was fatal to the peace of his 
 family, it had not diminished in her that affec- 
 tion which had first induced her to marry him. 
 She grieved for his loss with a most sincere 
 and poignant sorrow, and its force was in- 
 creased by the reproach which her conscience 
 forced upon her, that it was by her own ob- 
 stinacy and want of judgment that his death 
 had been hastened. On the first appearance of 
 his illness he had sent for a physician, whose 
 skill was acknowledged by all the world, and 
 who was personally attached to him, although 
 he was unsparing in expressing the censures 
 which he thought my mother's conduct de- 
 served. Lady De Verney, to whose ears this 
 fact was speedily brought, insisted upon the 
 physician's being dismissed, and substituted 
 for him a quack, who, for some caprice or other, 
 she had determined to patronise. The man 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 wholly misunderstood the nature of the com- 
 j)laint he had to treat, and my father was one 
 of the many victims of his ignorance and pre- 
 sumption. 
 
 '^The first words I clearly understood after 
 this irreparable loss, acquainted me that my 
 brother was in England — nay, even that he had 
 been at the house. I thought my brain would 
 have turned when I was told Lady De Verney 
 had refused to see him. ^ Barbarous !' I ex- 
 claimed : ' the ashes of the father are not cold, 
 and she tramples on the heart of the son.' 
 
 '^ ^For heaven's sake, speak not so loud, 
 sister,' said the fearful Redhurst. 
 
 " I smiled with contempt and agony. What 
 had I to fear who had lost every thing ? Yet 
 the sound of Lady De Verney 's step inspired 
 me with a mechanical and transient terror ; so 
 true is the heart to early associations. She 
 entered with a sad and even gentle counte-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 123 
 
 nance. She was pale, and in mourning. Oh, 
 how respectable is grief ! For a moment I felt 
 compassion and even veneration for my father's * 
 widow. 
 
 '^ ^ How are you, Maddalena ? ' she asked, 
 mildly. It was the first indication of inte- 
 rest she had ever shewn me : the tears started 
 into my eyes ; but I thought of Frederick, and 
 dashed them away. I bowed my thanks. 
 
 ^^^You have lost a father,' she continued, 
 ^ but you have still a mother and a brother.' 
 
 ^' The accents of condolence were lost upon 
 me ; but there was an implication in her ex- 
 pressions which filled me with terror, and 
 clasping my hands, I exclaimed, ^ Is then 
 Frederick no more ?' 
 
 ^^ ^ Lady Maddalena, ' she said, and her brow 
 assumed its wonted harshness of expression, 
 ' you forget yourself. Is this a way to speak 
 to me ? Frederick has been long an alien to 
 
 G 2
 
 124 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 my affections, and I mean that he should re- 
 mam so to my family.* 
 
 ^' This inhmnan speech restored me to tran- 
 quillity. Implacable resentment had usurped 
 the place of sorrow on the countenance of Lady 
 De Verney, and to me she had ceased to be an 
 object of interest. 
 
 " ' I shall be with lawyers this evening/ 
 pursued she, after a pause : ' you will make 
 Redhurst miserable if you stay with him. I 
 will send you to Miss Arberry*s.' 
 
 ^^ I would have given worlds to have been 
 alone ; but unused to resistance, I suffered my- 
 self to be put into the carriage. Louisa, who 
 knew the livery, flew to the door to receive me. 
 My late illness had left me in a state of such 
 debility that the excitement of my conversa- 
 tion with Lady De Verney had been too much 
 for my strength ; I could hardly sustain myself 
 vmtil the carriage stopped ; and as soon as I
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 125 
 
 1 
 
 entered the house I fainted. I was carried to 
 the nearest room. Every one assembled to as- 
 sist or to see me^ and when I opened my eyes^ ' 
 the first object on which they fell was my long- 
 lost beloved brother ! I will not attempt to 
 describe the happiness of that meeting. We 
 wept together over the loss we had sustained. 
 I eagerly inquired of Frederick what had hap- 
 pened to him since his departure, and learnt 
 that he had been more fortunate than he could 
 have expected in India, and that he had quitted 
 it at great inconvenience, and even with some 
 danger to his prospects, in order once more to 
 embrace his father. His stay in England was 
 limited to a few months, but in those few 
 
 months we promised ourselves as much happi- 
 ness as could be derived from each other's so- 
 ciety at those moments when I should be able 
 to escape from the vigilant jealousy of Lady 
 De Verney. In the mean time it was neces-
 
 126 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 sary to keep her in ignorance of the place of 
 Frederick's residence, in order to avoid that 
 interference with our meetings which would he 
 the certain result of her becoming acquainted 
 with it. We had not half finished our expla- 
 nations when the carriage returned for me. 
 
 '' Perfectly dependant and helpless as I was, 
 I could form no plans, make no arrangements, 
 which I was certain of being able to fulfil. I 
 trusted, therefore, mainly to accident; saw 
 my brother very frequently at Miss Arberry's 
 apartments; and, when I could not see him, 
 wrote to him, directing the cover to Louisa, 
 which effectually prevented Lady de Verney's 
 suspicions from being excited. 
 
 ^^ In all our arrangements Miss Arberry was 
 necessarily a party. I did not know the ex- 
 tent of the mischief I was the cause of, until I 
 perceived that, in her presence, Frederick for- 
 got even the existence of a sister, who lived
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 127 
 
 but for him. I was alarmed at the idea of an at- 
 tachment fraught with so much misery to both 
 parties; for Frederick's hopes of fortune, how- 
 ever promising, were at least precarious 3 but 
 I had no suspicion that their love was so firmly 
 rooted as it proved to be. I, however, did not 
 hesitate to shew by my manner, for I had no 
 opportunity of speaking to either on the sub- 
 ject, that I was dissatisfied at what was pass- 
 ing between them. Louisa was timid ; she 
 always feared me. She believed my evident 
 disapprobation of Frederick's love proceeded 
 from pride ; and, when at length she yielded 
 to his passionate entreaties, and consented to 
 a private marriage, she stipulated that the fatal 
 step should be concealed from me.'' 
 
 *^ And was Miss Arberry my mother ?" ask- 
 ed the anxious Emmeline; her voice was almost 
 extinct with emotion. Her aunt read the 
 question on her ingenuous countenance, and
 
 128 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 replied by a mournful smile, and a heavy sigh. 
 Miss Laurimer arose, she took Lady Madda- 
 lena's hands, and kissed them in silence ; then 
 flinging herself on the bed, she drew the cur- 
 tains around her, and rested her head on her 
 arms. 
 
 Her aunt saw she wished to reflect at leisure 
 on what she had heard of her mother, and 
 quietly left the room. 
 
 On the following morning Emmeline beg- 
 ged she would continue her story — "^ and do, 
 pray, dear aunt,'' she timidly, but anxiously 
 added, ^^ tell me more of my mother.'' 
 
 ^^ It had been my intention," replied Lady 
 Maddalena, thoughtfully, " to pass lightly over 
 the part of my life connected with the hapless 
 Louisa. I am not satisfied with my own con- 
 duct on the occasion. I was mistaken, but I 
 
 acted for the best." 
 
 " No doubt you did," said the gentle girl.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 129 
 
 turning pale with apprehension ; " but if a re- 
 currence to those times distresses you, I will^ 
 wave my wish to know more of her who gave 
 me birth/* 
 
 ^^ No, my Emmeline, your anxiety is natu- 
 ral and becoming, and shall be gratified, as far 
 as it depends upon me. I have already told 
 you my brother's marriage was concealed even 
 from me. Several months had now elapsed 
 since he left India, and, if he delayed his re- 
 turn beyond another, he would lose the ap- 
 pointment on which alone he depended for 
 bread. I went to Louisa's to take leave of my 
 dear Frederick, but she declined being present 
 at the parting, on the plea of indisposition. I 
 thought she dreaded to give way to emotion 
 more violent even than my own, and thereby 
 betray the secret of an affection I but too well 
 guessed, but wished not to encourage. My 
 
 G 3
 
 130 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 brother sailed^ writing me from the place of his 
 embarkation an incoherent letter, full of pathe- 
 tic recommendations of the ^ desolate Louisa/ 
 Ignorant of the true state of things^ Miss Ar- 
 berry did not appear to me more desolate than 
 before the arrival of Frederick. The romantic 
 and passionate bursts of feeling in this letter 
 gave me excessive pain. I felt that a stranger 
 was preferred to me :— the expressions of en- 
 thusiastic tenderness applied to your mother 
 weighed heavily on my heart. It was some 
 weeks before I could reason myself out of this 
 jealousy sufficiently to call upon Miss Ar- 
 berry. 
 
 ^^ ^ She is at home^ but not well^* said the 
 master of the house, who opened the door to 
 me. I inquired the particulars of her ill- 
 ness ; but he knew nothing. As he softly 
 ushered me up stairs he whispered^ ^ To my
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 131 
 
 fancy, my lady, she will die. She has scarcely 
 eaten a mouthful or spoken six words since 
 
 Mr. Laurimer left us.' 
 
 ^' I was much shocked, and approached her 
 room with a cautious step. She was stretched 
 on a couch in an uneasy slumber. Her arms 
 flung over one side — her face was nearly cover- 
 ed with her long flaxen tresses — her attitude 
 denoted pain. I sat down by her and felt her 
 pulse. I gently threw back her hair; her 
 countenance was wan, and wore the expression 
 of suffering. I stooped to kiss her fair brow. 
 As I bent over her I saw something glitter on 
 her breast. I drew it out, and beheld, with 
 surprise, Frederick's picture. Louisa awoke 
 at the motion I made. 
 
 ^^ ' It is my dream,' she repeated slowly, 
 but in a tone of horror. ' Lady Maddalena 
 would deprive me even of his picture ; but 
 never will I part with it,' she exclaimed, rais-
 
 132 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ing her voice to a fearful height, and, by a 
 sudden dart, snatching it from me. 
 
 ^^ ^ I would not deprive you of it, my dear 
 friend,' said I, soothingly. 
 
 " ^ Would you not ?' she answered, feebly; 
 and, putting her hand to her head, she sighed 
 heavily, shed a few tears, and, on my speaking 
 to her again, she arose. 
 
 '^ A single glance at her figure, as she stood, 
 struck me with horror, for its symmetry was 
 utterly destroyed. I remained, for a moment, 
 mute with astonishment. I then questioned 
 her about her illness. She evaded my inqui- 
 ries. At last I said, ' Louisa, I am sorry for 
 you. I grieve to think you should suffer in 
 mind as well as in body, as you now must. 
 I shall never forgive myself for being the 
 cause, however innocently, of your additional 
 sorrows. Tell me in what way I can repair 
 the evil I have done.'
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 133 
 
 <c 
 
 ' The evil that is done who can repair ?' 
 said she, mournfully. ^ Can you give me , 
 back the time that is past, or recall the days 
 of tranquil suffering, when I was strong in the 
 rectitude of my own heart. The bitterness of 
 remembrance who will efface ? I cannot sub- 
 due — it will subdue me.* 
 
 ^^ I sought to comfort her, but without 
 effect, and I left her, persuaded by her words 
 and manner, that she had forfeited all claim 
 to approbation, although she had the greatest 
 to compassion.'' Lady Maddalena stopped 
 suddenly; for Emmeline, whose tears had 
 been falling fast for some time, now sunk 
 back in her chair, overcome by her emotions.
 
 134 
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " I never heard 
 
 Of any true affection but 'twas nipt 
 
 With care, that, like the caterpillar, eats 
 
 The leaves of the spring's sweetest book, the rose. 
 
 Love, bred on earth, is often nurs'd in hell — 
 
 By rote it reads woe ere it learn to spell." 
 
 MiDDLETON. 
 
 Lady Maddalena did not attempt to check 
 the natural burst of sorrow which agitated 
 Emmeline's bosom ; but^ when her grief had 
 had its way, and she had regained her compo- 
 sure, she begged her aunt to proceed with a 
 tale which had assumed so painful an interest 
 to her. Lady Maddalena then went on.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 135 
 
 '^ Lady De Verney went into the country 
 at this time^ giving up the house in town 
 entirely to my brother Redhurst^ now^ unfor- 
 tunately^ become Earl De Verney. I was con- 
 sequently separated from Louisa. I sent for 
 her landlady^ requesting she would give me 
 accounts of her healthy and agreeing to allow 
 her a certain increased stipend to recompense 
 her for any additional trouble she might be 
 put to in consequence of Miss Arberry's ill- 
 ness." 
 
 Emmeline kissed her aunt's hand. 
 
 " Alas ! my child^'' pursued the latter, " you 
 will rather reproach me with coldness when 
 you hear all. I contented myself with the 
 landlady's accounts, and did not write to 
 Louisa myself. In truth, I was at a loss how 
 to address her. In the belief that she had 
 strayed from the path of virtue, what could I 
 say that would not sound as a reproach, if not
 
 136 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 an insult ? Besides^, although I would^ on no 
 account, have suffered indigence to overtake a 
 person I once had regarded, who had been re- 
 commended to me by Henry, loved by my 
 Frederick, and whose deviation from rectitude 
 I felt myself accessary to, in some measure, 
 from having inconsiderately placed her in a 
 dangerous situation, I confess I was not anx- 
 ious to keep up an affectionate intercourse 
 with one who had sunk in my esteem. I heard 
 she had removed into the country for change 
 of air 3 but at this time I was engrossed by cares 
 and sorrows of my own, and heeded it little. 
 You are eager to know all that relates to your 
 mother, I will therefore come back to my own 
 history afterwards. — I had been some weeks 
 the wife of Mr. Guyden, when the post brought 
 me this letter from her." — Lady Maddalena pre- 
 sented it to her niece; but, although, she gazed 
 earnestly on the characters, Emmeline was t^o
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 13/ 
 
 much agitated to be able to peruse it^ and Lady 
 Maddalena, in a low voice, read it to her. 
 
 " From the Hon. Mrs. Laurimer, to the 
 Lady Maddalena Guyden. 
 
 ^^ On the eve of quitting for ever this world 
 of woe, I address you with confidence, my kind- 
 est and most revered friend ! On the brink of 
 eternity, earthly feelings die away. Even my 
 rooted fear of you, as well as my passionate 
 fondness for Frederick, fade into the distance, 
 and no earthly feeling possesses me, but that 
 powerful maternal love which impels me to 
 make this appeal to your affection. I am told 
 you are married. God grant your union may 
 be more fortunate than mine ! — Yes, Lady 
 Maddalena, I am Frederick's wife ! how else 
 
 could you suppose ? — but I forgive you 1 
 
 allowed you to remain in error, because I 
 thought it would be less painful to you to be-
 
 138 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lieve that I had been both weak and guilty, than 
 
 to know your brother was so married. And 
 
 was I not weak to marry him? — Was it not 
 
 guilt ? — Was it not criminally selfish ? — What 
 
 misery have I not occasioned him ! What 
 
 sorrows may await my helpless infant ! Oh ! 
 
 my generous friend, to you I bequeath this 
 dear innocent. My soul reposes in repose and 
 
 confidence on your benevolence. You will not 
 cast from you the child of Frederick, and of 
 one whom once you loved, and who has pur- 
 chased with her life the fatal honour of signing 
 herself, 
 
 Your affectionate Sister, 
 
 ^^ Louisa Laurimer.'" 
 
 After a long pause. Lady Maddalena, making 
 an effort to recover her voice, proceeded rapidly : 
 — " My first impulse was to fly to my wretched 
 sister, and make her every atonement in my
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 139 
 
 power for my injurious suspicions. I travelled 
 night and day; my own sorrows were lost in the 
 remembrance of Frederick's and Louisa's. I ' 
 thought of all my poor brother must have 
 suffered at being obliged to abandon his wife 
 in her precarious state of health. I wondered 
 now at nothing but my own want of penetra- 
 tion, which I attributed solely to my pride 
 revolting at the idea of a clandestine marriage. 
 Bitterly did I reproach myself, and I deter- 
 mined to atone for my fault, by bringing Louisa 
 home with me, and treating her, in every re- 
 spect, as my sister. As I drew near her abode, 
 I read over her letter, and shuddered at the 
 resigned, but hopeless tone that ran through 
 it. Impatiently, I urged on the postillion ; he 
 stopped within a few yards of the house ; I let ' 
 down the glass to see what delayed us. — It was 
 Louisa's funeral ! — 
 
 ^^ I was a great while recovering this shock.
 
 140 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 For years after^ I never stepped into a carriage 
 without a sensation of terror and anxiety. — I 
 took you home immediately^ and, in spite of 
 Lady De Verney's indignation at my conduct, 
 never would consent to part with you. I was 
 so unfortunate as not to find any hint of Frede- 
 rick's abode among the numerous papers Mrs. 
 Laurimer had directed to me. I had written 
 to him twice since he had left us. Whether 
 he did not receive my letters, or was offended 
 at my not naming Louisa in either of them, I 
 do not know, but I had no answers. You may 
 imagine, I would not so easily have given up 
 all intercourse with a brother so dear to me, 
 had I not soon learnt he had left the Madras 
 station, and had gone up the country, where 
 my letters would not reach him. I saw several 
 people who were going to India, entreated them 
 all to make particular inquiries about him, and 
 to deliver my letters. They were invariably
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 141 
 
 returned to me with the account that he had 
 long been lost sight of, and that no one knew 
 whither he had gone, or whj^, or whether he 
 was still alive or not. About two years ago, 
 there was, in the papers, a list of English 
 people dead in India, and among them appeared 
 the name of ^' Frederick Latimer/' I made 
 many and anxious researches after some re- 
 lations of this Latimer, but none were to be 
 found; and, from the age specified and many 
 concomitant circumstances, I was induced, 
 however reluctantly, to admit the belief that 
 the name was misspelt, and that I had lost a 
 brother. It is barely possible that he may ex- 
 ist, but I have long given up all hope of it." 
 Lady Maddalena sighed heavily and appeared 
 lost in mournful reverie. Rising, at last, she 
 said, in a despondent tone, ^* I have not courage 
 at present, my Emmeline, to talk more on this 
 subject, another time I will tell you of myself."
 
 142 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 « 
 
 ' In the evening she resumed her narrative. 
 ^^ About the time that Frederick went back 
 to India, Mr. Guyden proposed to me. I 
 had long seen his intention, and done all in 
 my power to discourage it ; but Lady De Ver- 
 ney was so peculiarly gracious to him that her 
 favourable reception of him more than com- 
 pensated for my coldness. I told him candidly 
 I could not love, and therefore would not marry 
 him ; but that I should feel eternally gratified if 
 he would not name the business to Lady De Ver- 
 ney, who I saw patronised him, and who would 
 not fail to seize so good an excuse for torment- 
 ing me ; although Heaven knows she was little 
 apt to wait for an excuse on such occasions. 
 Mr. Guyden promised that he would neither 
 do anything that could possibly distress me, 
 but that he should only look upon himself as 
 finally dismissed when I accepted another. I 
 heard him with the most perfect tranquillity ;
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 143 
 
 for I at that time thought it as likely that I 
 should turn catholic, and take the vows in a 
 convent, as that I could ever become his wife. 
 Wretched as was my home, I was too firmly 
 devoted to Henry to think of marriage at all ; 
 and if I had been free to choose, Mr. Guyden 
 would certainly not have been the object of my 
 choice. The barbarous conduct of Lady De Ver- 
 ney, which grew yet worse after my poor fa- 
 ther's death, had rendered me nearly callous to 
 suffering. Despondent, and therefore fearless ; 
 indifferent, and consequently absent, I ceased 
 to feel her insults, and, not unfrequently, even 
 to hear them. Of all our visitors, he whom 
 I saw with the greatest pleasure was George 
 Dorset, an old friend of Henry's. From him 
 I sometimes heard of my juvenile companion, 
 and his conversations reminded me that I was 
 not dead to every thing. Well aware that a 
 union with Henry was next to impossible, I
 
 144 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 endeavoured to keep my affections within the 
 bounds of sisterly regard. Mr. Dorset was 
 deceived by my assumed tranquillity, and gave 
 me a task to perform, of the severity of which 
 he had no notion." 
 
 " I beg pardon, dear aunt, for interrupting 
 you,'* said Emmeline, " but where was the 
 impossibility of your union with Sir Henry ?" 
 
 " I had many reasons, my Emmeline," re- 
 plied Lady Maddalena, with a half-suppressed 
 sigh, '' for determining against it. I was en- 
 tirely dependent on Lady De Verney ; in other 
 words, I was pennyless. Henry's liberal and 
 munificent spirit was contracted already by 
 the scantiness of his income ; and was I to bur- 
 then him with a portionless wife ? Impossible ! 
 Besides, if it be true that love sometimes con- 
 trives to gild poverty with the rainbow days of 
 felicity and eternal sunshine, and if I could 
 have persuaded myself that such a miracle was
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 145 
 
 to be wrought in my favour, still I had a pa- 
 rent who, unnatural as she was, I was bound 
 to obey.^* 
 
 '^ Surely,*' said Emmeline, with a tone of 
 some indignation, " she had broken asunder 
 every tie with which duty might have bound 
 you/' 
 
 ^^ Do I hear aright ?" said Lady Maddalena, 
 gravely : " Emmeline an advocate for disobe" 
 dience ! The links of affection, of esteem, 
 may, indeed, be burst upon such provocation, 
 but duty, my child, what mortal shall say — 
 ^ so far shalt thou go, and no farther ? ' To 
 return, however ; I was by no means sure of 
 Henry's love continuing in full force. Mr. 
 Dorset told me how disturbed he had been at 
 my ceasing to write to him, and used many 
 arguments to induce me at least to receive his 
 letters ; but I had promised Lady De Verney to 
 hold no direct communication with him, and 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 my promise was sacred. Mr. Dorset, I ima- 
 gine, supposed me acting from caprice or na- 
 tural coldness, not upon principle. I can no 
 otherwise account for his singular conduct. 
 One day that Lady De Verney was out, and I 
 had been denied to every one, this gentleman, 
 who was intimate in the family, called with 
 some frivolous message from my eldest brother, 
 which he used as a pretext to gain admittance 
 to me. 
 
 ^^ ' Lady Maddalena,' he said, ^ I scarcely 
 know how to explain to you the object of my 
 
 visit this morning, and yet I must do it quickly, 
 
 lest your mother should return.* 
 
 ^^ He stopped, and I was too much astonished 
 
 at his air and manner to desire him to proceed. 
 "^ He pulled out a parcel of letters from his 
 
 pocket, and laying them on the table, ^ these,' 
 
 he said, ^ your ladyship will kindly peruse at 
 
 your leisure.'
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 147 
 
 *^ ^ I blush at thus exposing a sister's weak- 
 ness,' he added impressively, ^ but it is in the 
 hope of making her happy, and my friend 
 Henry no less so, that I am induced to take a 
 step which, under other circumstances, I should 
 find it difficult to justify.' 
 
 ^^ I turned sick at thus hearing Henry's name, 
 coupled with that of a lovely young woman, 
 although I did not then understand the full 
 weight of my misfortune. To my trembling 
 enquiries, Dorset replied that his sister was 
 attached to Henry, and, relying on my gene- 
 rosity, he looked forward to the hope of their 
 union. I had scarcely strength to ask if Henry 
 loved her too. 
 
 Not exactly,' was the reply, ' but still' — 
 Has he written to you on the subject ? I 
 eagerly interrupted. 
 
 " ^ Not to me,' said Mr. Dorset, ^ but to my 
 mother, and here is a copy of the letter.' He 
 
 h2 
 
 i( e 
 
 ee
 
 148 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 then arose and left me, stunned by his confused 
 intelligence. 
 
 " I ought previously to explain to you, that 
 Mrs. Dorset had taken a young daughter to 
 Montpellier, for the benefit of the climate, she 
 being in the last stage of a consumption. She 
 died there, poor thing, and the gentle Emma 
 was so much afflicted at the loss of a sister she 
 so dearly loved, and her own health was so much 
 impaired by nursing her through a long and 
 fatiguing illness, that Mrs. Dorset trembled 
 for her also, and determined not to return to 
 England, until the health of her surviving 
 daughter should be re-established. They quit- 
 ted Montpellier, which was to them the abode 
 of sorrow, and settled, after some wanderings, 
 at Vevay, on the bank of the beautiful lake of 
 Geneva. Thither Henry went in the course of 
 
 his travels. 
 
 ^^ I had forgotten to tell you that Lady De
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 149 
 
 Verney had declared he should never enter her 
 doors if he returned to England. Well^ he took 
 up his abode, for a time, at the house of his 
 friend's mother, and Emma was not long in 
 doing justice to his merit. Her letters to her 
 brother marked her innocent and ingenuous 
 character ; they would probably appear still 
 more romantic in my eyes at present than they 
 did then. They interested me deeply. I read 
 them by night, and thought of them by day, and 
 many a tear did I give to my rival's woes. 
 By turns tender, desponding, heart-broken — 
 or sanguine, impassioned, and in raptures — she 
 was at all times bashful and meek. Hers 
 was a pure and ardent spirit, fettered to earth 
 by feminine timidity and enervating sensibility. 
 But Henry's was the letter that decided my 
 fate. On leaving Mrs. Dorset's he found it 
 necessary to answer a hint she had given of
 
 150 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 a wish to see him her son-in-law. Here it 
 is." 
 
 Emmeline read rapidly to herself. 
 
 ^^ Sir H. Daverout, Bart, to Mrs. Dorset. 
 
 " With a heart deeply impressed by a sense 
 of gratitude for your kindness and hospitality^ 
 I leave you, my dear madam, to pursue my 
 comfortless and devious way, certain of no- 
 where meeting with such society as I am 
 doomed to quit. I feel that I owe it to you 
 and to your family, not to suffer my presence 
 any longer to interfere with your tranquillity, 
 or to trouble a happiness I cannot share. It 
 was impossible for me to misunderstand your ' 
 kind meaning, and it was equally so, to avail 
 myself of it. Alas ! happiness flies me. — I am 
 not actually engaged ... I certainly never 
 shall be united to the object of my youthful
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 151 
 
 choice ; but while she remains disengaged, even 
 the blooming and fascinating Emma may not 
 tempt me. I have said enough on this painful 
 subject. If I have disappointed you, I shall be 
 even more grieved than flattered, much as it 
 elates me, to think you did not deem me 
 unworthy to be your son, which, in every thing 
 but name, I shall ever be most affectionately, 
 
 ^^ And respectfully, 
 
 « H. D." 
 
 '* Well,'" exclaimed Miss Laurimer impa- 
 tiently, " and what is this but a delicate and 
 tender refusal of Emma Dorset ?*' 
 
 ^^ I have since found,'' languidly answered 
 Lady Maddalena, '^ that such indeed it was ; 
 but at that time I was unable to judge calm- 
 ly. My jealousy painted those expressions — 
 ^ Happiness flies me' — with the dark colour- 
 ing of infidelity. Emma, he says, may not
 
 152 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 tempt him, because I still was free. This line 
 said to my tortured heart, ^ Honour binds me 
 to one whose hand I shall never possess — to 
 honour I sacrifice love and happiness, myself, 
 and the blooming and fascinating Emma,* 
 Taking it in this light, you will not wonder 
 that I determined to be the only victim. I 
 knew no writing would answer my purpose. 
 I had always conjured Henry to seek a more 
 lively bride. He was well aware that during 
 Lady De Verney's life nothing would induce 
 me to marry him -, and that if I survived her, 
 our union was by no means certain. To re- 
 peat my former arguments would have availed 
 me little. My actions alone could speak for- 
 cibly, and — ^I married Mr. Guyden. 
 
 '' On the day of my marriage an apprehen- 
 sion crossed my mind that Henry, after all, 
 might not marry Miss Dorset. From the 
 moment I had accepted Mr. Guyden, I had
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 153 
 
 taken a warm interest in the fate of this poor 
 girl. As we love the being whose life we have 
 preserved^ so did my heart yearn towards her' 
 for whose happiness I had sacrificed myself. 
 I sent all the letters to Henry : on the cover 
 I wrote, ^ May these interesting letters have 
 the same effect on you they had on me ! 
 hasten, I conjure you, to introduce the fas- 
 cinating Emma to one who has wept for her, 
 and will love her. Your true friend, Mad- 
 dalena.* Fearing this might fail to make him 
 fully comprehend my meaning, I enclosed a 
 copy of his own letter, marking the strongest 
 expressions in it, and writing at the bottom, 
 * Happiness no longer flies you. The object 
 of your youthful choice, (it was a very youth- 
 ful one, my friend,) is no longer disengaged ! 
 I hope — I expect to see you follow my example, 
 if you would not break Emma's heart, and 
 
 h3
 
 154 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 render eternally miserable your sister, Mad- 
 dalena/ 
 
 " Henry did marry ; but Dorset confessed 
 to me he was influenced by compassion and 
 anxiety to fulfil my wishes. He owned that 
 if he could have conceived the strength of his 
 friend's attachment to me, he would never have 
 made trial of my generosity. I will not say 
 what effect this intelligence might have pro- 
 duced upon me, but that I had been schooled 
 long in affliction, and had learnt too early 
 and practised too unremittingly the hard les- 
 son of controlling my own feelings, to give way 
 now to unavailing regrets.''
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 155 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 In the married state, the world must own, 
 
 Divided happiness was never known." 
 
 Gibber. 
 
 ^* As the wife of Mr. Guyden I had duties to 
 perform and occupations to engage me^ in 
 which I eagerly sought to forget the disap« 
 pointment which, in spite of all my efforts, 
 would too frequently obtrude itself upon my 
 mind. Felicity, in my ill-assorted union, I 
 had never expected ; but tranquillity was with- 
 in my reach. I did not, however, neglect 
 my husband's happiness, and did all in my 
 power to make his home as agreeable to him
 
 156 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 as he had fancied it would become upon his 
 marriage. All my attempts failed; not^ as I 
 believe,, from any fault of mine, although I 
 confess I could never overcome the coldness I 
 felt towards him personally, but because we 
 were wholly dissimilar in tastes, habits, and 
 dispositions. In short, we were not formed 
 for each other. 
 
 ^^ The violence of Mr. Guyden*s passion 
 evaporated quickly; still he loved me, and, 
 if he could have succeeded in inspiring me 
 with a similar affection, or even if I had been 
 able to feign a love for him which I did not 
 feel, he might have continued to do so. He 
 was all life and spirit — I was dulness and 
 apathy itself. He was vain, giddy, and fri- 
 volous ; I was proud and serious. I was 
 obedient and grateful ; but could not be aifec- 
 tionate. His fondness disgusted me, and I 
 rejoiced in its visible decrease. ^ Maddalena,'
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 157 
 
 he would sometimes say, when I endeavoured 
 to smile at his wit and gaiety, ^ you should 
 have a master to teach you laughing ; for your 
 muscles have from infancy heen so unused to 
 the convulsion, that all your labour cannot elate 
 them.' 
 
 '^ Gradually we became more and more es- 
 tranged from each other. We had no children 
 — linked by no ties of sympathy or affection, 
 we lost sight of one another. The last few 
 years of his life we never met. Shocked at 
 the accounts I daily heard of his extravagance 
 and dissipation, and willing to give myself 
 solely up to your education, I quitted London 
 entirely, and retired to the cottage we have so 
 lately left. Mr. Guy den ruined his health 
 very shortly afterwards. When I heard he 
 was ill, I set out for London, where he was, 
 and found him dying, but sensible, for he 
 knew me, and attempted to speak. He was.
 
 158 THE WAY OF THE WORLD* 
 
 however, unable to make the exertion, and ex- 
 pired next day. He left me his whole pro- 
 perty, without any restriction, for my life, 
 merely entreating me, if I remembered any 
 one to whom he would have wished well, to 
 provide for them accordingly. This testimony 
 of esteem was very gratifying to me, and I 
 failed not to justify it. 
 
 ^^ I attended Lady De Verney in her last 
 illness, which was brought on by vexation 
 given her by those ^he had doated on. My 
 eldest brother married a woman of his mo- 
 ther's choosing. Lady De Verney was aware 
 of the violent temper of her daughter-in-law ; 
 but, unused to opposition, she dreamt not of 
 it, and believed, that, as all the property was 
 in her power, and the earldom excessively 
 poor, she should always retain sovereign sway 
 over her darling son and his wife. My poor 
 brother had been led by his mother, and was
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 159 
 
 ruled by his wife, and, what was more sin- 
 gular, the young Lady De Verney succeeded 
 in breaking the haughty spirit of her mother- 
 in-law. Her violence she opposed with ten- 
 fold passion. Her orders she suffered no one 
 to execute 5 her opinions she scoffed at; her 
 threats she despised. Reason, propriety, de- 
 corum, all were borne down by the resistless 
 torrent of her words. Once that she was 
 frantic with rage, I saw my terrified and sub- 
 dued mother kneel to her to entreat she would 
 not curse her ! I never felt so much indigna- 
 tion. I raised my mother, and spoke to my 
 sister-in-law in a manner she will not forget. 
 She has feared me ever since. Thus are the 
 violent invariably overcome by firmness. 
 
 " My mother wondered at my courage, still 
 more at my emotion. She asked me why I 
 had never opposed her ; I replied, simply, it 
 would not have been my duty.
 
 160 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 " She seemed astonished^ and exclaimed, 
 ^ you act then from principle ! How you must 
 despise me !' 
 
 '^ She did not speak to me for some time 
 after this ; and, indeed, I saw her but seldom, 
 for I was glad to live in peace at home, until 
 she was attacked by her last illness. I then 
 attended her on her bed of sickness, and, al- 
 though it would be an unworthy affectation to 
 say that, even then, I felt for her that love 
 which children commonly feel for their pa- 
 rents, it is true that I almost forgot all the 
 reasons I had to regret that she had exercised 
 so strong and fatal an influence over my des- 
 tiny. Before she quitted the world, there was 
 an utter extinction of all the angry feelings she 
 had ever entertained towards me, and I have 
 the satisfaction of knowing that she, upon 
 this occasion at least, did justice to the motives 
 which induced me to make her last hours as
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 161 
 
 tranquil as I could, and to soothe the pain and 
 terror which attended her departure from this 
 world. 
 
 ^^To my utter astonishment I found, after 
 her death, that she had left me all her fortune ; 
 and, excepting that provision I allotted you, 
 and to which, as Frederick's daughter, and as 
 her grandchild, you had an indisputable claim, 
 I settled it all on Lord De Verney and his chil- 
 dren. He at first objected to receiving it, but 
 his wife brought him to reason, as she called 
 it, and willingly accepted the bounty of a per- 
 son she both feared and hated. 
 
 ^^ To return to Henry ; my efforts, however 
 well intended, failed to accomplish the hap- 
 piness I had endeavoured to secure for him and 
 his Emma. She was one of the most sensitive 
 of human beings. She had permitted a pas- 
 sion for Henry to gain such power over her 
 pure heart, that his departure at the time I
 
 162 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 have before alluded to, reduced her to despair. 
 Although no persuasions could induce her to 
 avow the cause of her melancholy, the anxious 
 eye of her mother could not be deceived. She 
 saw her child sinking under the effect of a 
 hopeless passion, and she it was who had urged 
 her son to the communication which he had 
 made to me. 
 
 ^^ Emma had so completely persuaded herself 
 of Henry's indifference, which his absence con- 
 firmed, that she had gradually given herself up 
 to listless despondency. The malady of her 
 mind communicated itself to her delicate frame. 
 The family complaint attacked her, but it seem- 
 ed to yield to the joy of Henry's declaration 
 of attachment to her, and to be almost wholly 
 removed on her becoming his wife ; and, after 
 that event, her anxious mother wrote to George 
 Dorset the most flattering accounts of the im- 
 proved state of her health. Still, it was so far
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 163 
 
 from strong;, that Henry could not venture to 
 bring her to England. For some years he 
 bore this fragile flower from one mild air to 
 another, without any sensible alteration. She 
 was cheerful and happy, and they promised 
 themselves shortly to spend a summer in De- 
 vonshire, where I meant to join them. Mrs. 
 Dorset came over to England in this hope, and 
 talked with delight of Henry's tenderness to 
 his wife, and affection for their lovely boy. I 
 longed ardently to be a witness of happiness I 
 had created ; but, alas ! this pleasure was de- 
 nied me. 
 
 ^^Henry wrote, soon afterwards, that his wife's 
 spirits had sunk to the lowest ebb, and he fear- 
 ed to remove her from Italy, where they then 
 were. Mrs. Dorset did not wait for further 
 intelligence, but set out instantly to join them. 
 Her son accompanied her. He it was who told 
 me the cause of Lady Daverout's sudden de-
 
 164 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 pression. She had one day found my picture 
 in a drawer of Henry's writing desk, together 
 with a copy of verses, written on his first 
 leaving England, and breathing all the tender- 
 ness of his passion for me. She replaced them 
 without comment, but it was a shock she could 
 not overcome. She attributed all his atten- 
 tion and kindness to her to compassion, excited 
 by her unstable health, and to gratitude for 
 her ardent affection. Miserable at the idea 
 that it was she who kept him from his own 
 country, she endeavoured to persuade him she 
 was quite equal for the journey, and exerted 
 herself beyond her strength, to induce him to 
 believe her. Her symptoms, however, return- 
 ed with increased force, and the loss of their 
 little boy accelerated her death. It was then 
 that Dorset discovered what had so long op- 
 pressed her. On one occasion, after many 
 vain attempts to raise her overpowered spi-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 165 
 
 rits, Henry added^ ^ you are very cruel^ Emma. 
 You will break my heart and your poor mo- 
 ther's V 
 
 '^ ^ Ah, my poor mother !' echoed the deject- 
 ed invalid. 
 
 " ^And do you think,' asked her husband, 
 * your mother loves you better than I do ? * 
 
 " The dying Emma burst into tears, and, 
 throwing herself into his arms, exclaimed, 
 ' Oh, Henry, she loves no one else ! I had once 
 a stronger tie upon you than even your early 
 love — but it is broken !' She fainted, and was 
 carried to her bed, from whence she never after 
 rose.'* 
 
 '^^ Oh, how she must have suffered!" cried 
 Emmeline ; " what misery can have been grea- 
 ter than hers, when bodily agony was aggra- 
 vated by the consuming and incurable pains of 
 the heart's anguish ? Poor Emma, from my
 
 166 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 sQkul I pity her !" and her voice was lost in 
 sobs. 
 
 '^I, too^ pity her/' replied the calmer Lady 
 Maddalena^ ^^ although a little strength of 
 mind would have saved her many pangs. But 
 it is Henry who most demands our sympathj^ 
 Always acting with kindness^ and ever prompt- 
 ed by feelings of pure honour, he has always 
 vsuffered. It will not ever be so, I trust. Until 
 now his sole study has been the happiness of 
 others. He ought surely to be rewarded." 
 
 Emmeline feared to make another observa- 
 tion ; but inwardly she mourned the untimely 
 fate of the gentle Emma. To her sensitive 
 and ardent spirit the pangs of unrequited love 
 appeared the most hard to be endured. She 
 wept in secret over the wounded feelings of 
 the wife, the distracted ones of the mother. 
 There was, besides, something repugnant and
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 16/ 
 
 unnatural to her mind in Sir Henry's being now 
 in love. Miss Laurimer with an uncommon 
 share of plain good sense, had nevertheless 
 that degree of romance which belongs to all 
 unsophisticated characters who know nothing 
 of the world, and possess lively imaginations 
 and keen sensibility. She could not therefore 
 comprehend the possibility of Sir Henry being 
 willing to marry any one but Lady Maddalena 
 Guyden ; nor was it perfectly consistent with 
 her notions of delicacy that he should have 
 been disposed to contemplate any matrimonial 
 connexion whatever until his year of mourn ~ 
 ing for his late wife had expired. Either, 
 thought Emmeline, this paragon has no steadi- 
 ness of character, no real feelings, or I have 
 formed erroneous notions of my fellow- crea- 
 tures. Men are our superiors in strength of 
 mind and body, so far is evident. I had given 
 them, moreover, credit for every other species
 
 168 THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 
 
 of superiority, and I must have been mistaken. 
 I have revered and admired them, but I now 
 perceive, if they are all as inconstant as Sir 
 Henry Daverout, I shall never contrive to have 
 common patience with them. 
 
 While Miss Laurimer was making these 
 sapient reflections, her aunt was most mis- 
 takenly flattering herself that her plan had 
 succeeded; and, wishing to give the young 
 lady time to consider her last remarks, as well 
 as not liking to betray her own anxiety on 
 the subject, she purposely avoided mentioning 
 Sir Henry for several days, although she satis ^ 
 fied Emmeline's curiosity on every other detail 
 of her history which the course of her narra- 
 tive had induced her to pass over. At last, a 
 letter from the impatient lover decided her to 
 renew the subject. She gave it to her niece, 
 and found with astonishment, and even some 
 feeling of anger, that she persisted in her re-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 169 
 
 fusal. Sir Henry was sent for to plead his 
 own cause. "She must have a very hard 
 heart/' thought Lady Maddalena, " if she can 
 
 resist him.'* 
 
 She had not a hard heart, but she neverthe- 
 less found it very easy to resist him, for she 
 did not love him. To his most passionate 
 declarations she would reply, " I am sorry to 
 see you so much in earnest, because it is in 
 vain. My mind is made up. I don't like the 
 idea of marrying at all ; and now, while I am 
 a mere child, it is wholly out of the question." 
 He assured her he would wait until she was 
 reconciled to matrimony, and until she thought 
 herself a woman. 
 
 "Oh ! by no means," she would say, ^^pray 
 make another choice immediately, you will 
 find twenty girls with blue eyes and without 
 any other recommendation, since that appears 
 to be your taste." 
 
 VOL. I, I
 
 170 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 "Not twenty girls such as you/' he re- 
 torted. 
 
 ^^ No, certainly not twenty who could refuse 
 Sir Henry Daverout/* said the laughing Em- 
 meline. But laughing or serious, she was 
 equally determined ; and neither Sir Henry's 
 sighs, nor Lady Maddalena's eulogiums of him 
 had any effect upon her. 
 
 Sir Henry Daverout's first characteristic 
 was excessive good temper ; and next to this, 
 that which distinguished him most from the 
 ordinary run of mankind, was a romantic turn 
 of disposition, which led him to do things, of 
 which nobody else would have dreamed. The 
 excitement that had been supplied by his pas- 
 sion for Emmeline had subsided under her 
 unequivocal repulse, and he felt the want of 
 that which had almost become essential to his 
 existence. The conversations at Guyden Cas- 
 tle had frequently turned on Emmeline's fa-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. IJl 
 
 ther, and the anxiety of both the ladies to 
 obtain certain intelligence respecting him had 
 been expressed in a strong and painful man- 
 ner. Various means had been suggested by 
 Sir Henry Daverout, and applications had been 
 made to almost every individual connected 
 with^ndia, to whom, either Lady Maddalena 
 or Sir Henry could gain access 5 but the length 
 of time that had elapsed since the last intelli- 
 gence was received concerning the object of 
 their inquiries seemed in every instance to be 
 an obstacle which it was impossible to sur- 
 mount. Sir Henry Daverout, upon making 
 his appearance at breakfast one morning, an- 
 nounced his intention of quitting the Castle on 
 the following day ; ^^ and if either you. Lady 
 Maddalena, or you. Miss Laurimer, will honour 
 me with any commissions for India, rely upon 
 it, they shall be most punctually executed." 
 "For India V' exclaimed both the ladies in 
 
 i2
 
 172 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 a breath, and Lady Maddalena added, laugh- 
 ing, ^^ will nothing cure you of your propen- 
 sity to jest.'* 
 
 ^^ I was never less disposed to jest than at 
 this moment," said vSir Henry, with a long 
 drawn sentimental sigh, the full effect of which 
 was intended for Emmeline, and which at any 
 other time would have made her smile, but 
 that the mention of India had conjured up 
 more melancholy ideas. 
 
 ^^But what business can carry you thither?'' 
 asked Lady Maddalena. 
 
 ^^ An errand which you will call a mad one," 
 said Sir Henry 5 "but as my life has been 
 passed in making my friends wonder at what 
 they, in their wisdom, have been pleased to call 
 my insanity, I shall no be deterred from fol- 
 lowing my inclinations, by any fear of such 
 reprehensions. I am going to India, to seek 
 Frederick Laurimer."
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. l/S 
 
 '' Can you be serious ?" asked Lady Madda- 
 lena^ and instantly answering the question for 
 herself, she added, ^' but this is a subject upon 
 which I know you would not joke/' 
 
 " Indeed I would not ; but what is there in 
 it that should excite your astonishment ? I 
 am tired of England, I had almost said of the 
 world, the uses of which seem to me as weary, 
 stale, flat, and unprofitable, as they did to the 
 Prince of Denmark. I am tired beyond endu- 
 rance of the House of Commons, where the 
 same farce, and that a very dull one, is played 
 by the same actors every night for nearly half 
 the year. There is a certain baronet whom 
 you and I know — one Sir Henry Daverout; 
 and of him I am getting more tired than of 
 any thing else that has tired me. Of Guyden 
 Castle and its inmates, true sincerity, as well 
 as common politeness, will not permit me to
 
 174 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 say that I am tired ; but I am sure they are or 
 soon will be tired of me/' 
 
 Lady Maddalena would have interrupted 
 him by a contradiction of his latter assertion, 
 but he proceeded : — 
 
 '^ Your pardon, dear Lady Maddalena — I 
 know what you would say. It is what every 
 well bred lady would say under the same cir- 
 cumstances ; and giving credit to its being true 
 to the letter, my mind is nevertheless made up 
 to depart. Out of England all places are very 
 much alike to me. If it were only for matter 
 of curiosity, India has at least as many attrac- 
 tions as any other spot on the globe, and I 
 only wonder that I never thought of going 
 there before. The voyage is nothing to a man 
 whose time is worth as little as mine, and at 
 least I shall not be able to spend my money on 
 board ship — a fault I should inevitably commit
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 175 
 
 if I were to stay at home. But that which 
 really impels me, and I beseech you to believe 
 me quite in earnest when I say this, is a pre- 
 sentiment that I shall be able to discover there 
 your long-lost brother, whom I believe to be 
 still alive, notwithstanding the doubts and fears 
 his silence has occasioned." 
 
 Emmeline's eyes were suffused with tears, 
 and she looked an expression of gratitude to 
 Sir Henry, which thanked him more than 
 words, even if she could have found words to 
 utter the feelings of her heart. 
 
 Lady Maddalena offered some objections to 
 the design, but they were not urged with great 
 earnestness. She had little faith in the suc- 
 cess of Sir Henry's enterprise ; but she knew 
 him too well to believe that as matters stood, 
 her remonstrances would be of any avail to in- 
 duce him to desist from it. One word from 
 Emmeline would have altered his resolution;
 
 176 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 but that one word she now knew enough of 
 her niece's character to be convinced it was in 
 vain to expect. Execution rapidly followed 
 conception in all Sir Henry's doings. His 
 preparations for departure had been made be- 
 fore he announced his intention^ and the rest 
 of the day was passed in discussing the method 
 in which he should prosecute his search^ and 
 in arranging his plans for his transmitting to 
 the ladies by every possible opportunity such 
 information as he might obtain.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 1/7 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " — Round her couch indulgent fancy drew, 
 The kindred forms her closing eye required ; 
 There didst thou stand — there, with the smile she knew, 
 She moved her lips to bless thee, and expired." 
 
 Rogers. 
 
 The day arrived that was to separate^ perhaps 
 for ever. Lady Maddalena and the disappointed 
 Sir Henry. The morning rose, bright and 
 lovely. Nature smiled ; but she failed to cheer 
 even the elastic spirit of Emmeline. Grateful 
 as she felt towards Sir Henry for his intended 
 search after her father, she could not, at the 
 bottom of her heart, thoroughly forgive him 
 for not marrying her aunt. " He would make 
 her so happy," thought the affectionate girl; 
 
 I 3
 
 178 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 " and then he is so good, and knows so many- 
 things, I should be delighted to have such an 
 uncle." 
 
 To those speculating minds who decide upon 
 all things from the mere influence of reason, 
 without bestowing a thought on the inconsist- 
 encies of our nature ; to those who, lost in the- 
 ory, forget to examine the actual facts that pass 
 under their eyes, it will, doubtless, appear in- 
 credible that Lady Maddalena's adieu affected 
 Sir Henry more powerfully than the grateful 
 speeches of Emmeline. It was certain that 
 Miss Laurimer regarded him with indifference. 
 The conviction of so unpleasant a fact is 
 always received as reluctantly and as late as 
 possible; but, once admitted, the violence of 
 all former feelings of love naturally evaporates. 
 An affectionate spirit, or a lively imagination, 
 passion, or idleness, may be the original causes 
 of love, but it must vanish unless " Hope, the
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 179 
 
 charmer, lingers still behind/' When that 
 departs, the very foundations crumble away, 
 and the whole fabric is annihilated. A linger- 
 ing sensation of blasted tenderness and mor- 
 tified self-love alone remains, a sad but fleeting 
 vestige of this most powerful and unaccoimt- 
 able of all human passions. So it was with 
 Sir Henry Daverout, he was completely sobered. 
 The enchanting dream of sympathy and mutual 
 love had vanished, and .reluctantly he awoke to 
 all that was left him — the reality of his strong 
 esteem and friendship for Lady Maddalena, 
 and a sense of his ingratitude to her after her 
 long tried and steady attachment. 
 
 " Thus do we throw away real advantages in 
 the pursuit of vain chimeras," mentally ejacu- 
 lated Sir Henry, as the great gates of the park 
 closed on his travelling equipage. ^' Had I 
 not every thing before me ? a woman whom, 
 from my earliest youth I had idolized — one
 
 180 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 possessing alike beauty, talents, rank, and for- 
 tune ? In one mad moment I desert her for a 
 girl, lovely and attractive, it is true, but how 
 inferior in every way to Maddalena. Oh ! 
 with what gladness and contrition for my ab- 
 surdity and folly, would I have asked forgive- 
 ness, but that I knew it would have been in 
 vain. It was needless to sink myself lower in 
 her esteem. I could not say, ^Emmeline refuses 
 me, and so I return to you.' She has a right 
 to doubt my affection, and my new proffer of 
 it could now only appear to her as an insult. 
 I, who have acted like a madman, deserve to 
 suffer ; but if she should suffer too ! Alas ! 
 she is used to suffering, and too much of it 
 has been on my account !" The traveller 
 roused himself as well as he could from the 
 bitter reflfections which crowded on his mind, 
 and sought to dissipate them by contemplations 
 on the new scenes and unaccustomed events
 
 THE WAV OF THE WORLD. 181 
 
 he was likely to encounter in his proposed 
 voyage. He reached London without further 
 adventure ; and, having made arrangements as 
 rapidly as possible for his departure, sailed for 
 India by the first vessel that was ready. 
 
 Time passed on at Guyden Castle without 
 any fresh occurrence to interest its fair inha- 
 bitants, the uniform and peaceful tenor of 
 whose lives was more comfortable than divert- 
 ing. They heard from Sir Henry Daverout 
 from India. He had then just arrived, but had 
 gained no tidings of Mr. Laurimer. Day suc- 
 ceeded to day, marked only by Emmeline's 
 improvement in mind and person, when she 
 was attacked by an illness, so severe, that it 
 threatened her life. Much alarmed, her anxious 
 aunt watched her with indefatigable care and 
 tenderness. She loved her with a true mater- 
 nal affection, which was heightened by the 
 affecting remembrance of Frederick and Louisa,
 
 182 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and her love for their offsprmg was increased 
 by the recollection that she had neglected the 
 opportunity which once presented itself, if not 
 of securing their happiness, at least of pre- 
 venting the most poignant of their sufferings. 
 The gentle orphan returned her attachment 
 with the most enthusiastic gratitude. Less in 
 awe of her than formerly, she loved her now 
 for herself, but they were too perfectly unlike 
 to admit of that sympathy and genuine confi- 
 dence which can only exist in congenial minds. 
 Emmeline lived in a world of her own, and 
 her character was an enigma to her aunt. 
 Her present danger roused all Lady Madda- 
 lena*s feelings. She never quitted her, and, at 
 length, had the satisfaction to hear her pro- 
 nounced out of danger. The next day she 
 herself took to her bed, assailed by a disorder 
 which had been brought on by the unremitting 
 exertion with which she had attended Emme-
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 183 
 
 line, and which soon assumed the form of con- 
 tagion. Possessed of less youth and vigorous 
 spirits, and harassed by the exhausting atten- 
 tion she had devoted to her niece. Lady Mad- 
 dalena's strength sunk under so severe an 
 attack. She had the firmness to exact a pro- 
 mise from the physician, that Emmeline should 
 be kept in ignorance of her danger, and that her 
 absence should be attributed merely to fatigue 
 or cold. For a few days they contrived to 
 amuse the re-animated invalid ; but, as she 
 acquired more strength, she insisted on seeing 
 her aunt. The doctor forbade her to leave the 
 room, and this injunction, for which she felt 
 there could be no real necessity, convinced her 
 that something was wrong. She was in Lady 
 Maddalena's chamber before the medical gen- 
 tleman had finished the harangue, by which he 
 intended to enforce the necessity of her being 
 kept in undisturbed quiet. Dreadfully, indeed.
 
 184 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 was she shocked at the alteration a few days 
 had produced in the beautiful Lady Maddalena. 
 Her complexion had become livid^ her eyes 
 
 were sunk^ and her voice was nearly extinct. 
 Their meeting was affecting ; but Miss Lauri- 
 nier enforced herself to conceal her emotion, 
 that it might not, by alarming her, add to the 
 illness of her aunt ; and, dressing her counte- 
 nance in an air of cheerfulness which her heart 
 belied, she exerted herself to raise the drooping 
 spirits of Lady Maddalena, while her own 
 sunk with anguish and dismay. All, indeed, 
 was hopeless, and, in a few days, this exem- 
 plary woman breathed her last in the arms of 
 her distracted niece. 
 
 Emmeline, scarcely convalescent herself, was 
 overpowered by this appalling stroke. Bodily 
 weakness most fortunately spared her much 
 mental suffering. For many days she was in- 
 sensible to all around her, and she was only
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 185 
 
 just able to sit up on a sofa^ when Colonel 
 and Mrs. Molesworth arrived to take posses- 
 sion of the Castle. 
 
 Mrs. Molesworth was a sister of the late 
 Mr. Guyden, and at the death of Lady Mad- 
 dalena was to possess the family mansion as 
 well as the rest of the property of her late 
 brother, which had been enjoyed by Lady 
 Maddalena during her life. She was a good- 
 humoured rattle, willing to oblige any body 
 when it did not interfere with her own con- 
 venience, or occasion her any expense. She 
 was sorry for Emmeline, whose youth and 
 beauty interested her ; and although not over- 
 burthened with feeling, she possessed that 
 good breeding which prevents people from 
 doing or saying any thing very grating to the 
 feelings of others. She enquired what were 
 Miss Laurimer's plans, but Miss Laurimer
 
 186 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 had formed none. Mrs. Molesworth suggested 
 to her the propriety of writing to Lord De 
 Verney ; and, as Emmeline was still weak in 
 health and spirits, she offered herself to ac- 
 quaint her uncle of the death of Lady Madda- 
 lena, and also to ask his advice as to Miss 
 Laurimer's future place of abode. Emmeline 
 gratefully assented. She thought it right to 
 apply to Lord De Verney, who was now her 
 nearest relation, and therefore the proper per- 
 son to afford her the protection she stood in 
 need of, although she did not expect a person 
 of his character to exert himself in any way 
 for her comfort 3 and from the idea of any obli- 
 gation to Lady De Verney, she shrank with 
 mingled alarm and disgust. To her great sur- 
 prise, however, she received a civil invitation 
 from her aunt, accompanied by a few lines 
 from her uncle, desiring she would immedi-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 187 
 
 ately set out for London, with a man and maid 
 servant, and giving her directions for the man- 
 ner in which she was to travel. 
 
 Mrs. Moles worth found her in tears over 
 this unexpected letter, and on perusing its 
 contents, was at a loss to conceive how the 
 prospect of a splendid, and in all respects an 
 eligible asylum, could be a cause of distress to 
 her. 
 
 ^^ Indeed, my dear,^' said she, " I think you 
 are rather unreasonable ; Lord De Verney is 
 the best bred, easiest man I ever saw ; and if 
 his wife is a little haughty and capricious, it 
 will not much affect you, as you are grown up,^ 
 and can leave her when you please.^' 
 
 ^^And where should I go then, ma'am?'* 
 asked Emmeline, in a despondent tone. 
 
 " Come to me, my dear," replied Mrs. 
 Molesworth, touched by her sorrowful air, and 
 then added, ^^if you are not kindly used^j I
 
 188 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 shall be always happy to see you until you can 
 fix ujpon a more permanent dwelling. As a 
 friend, however, let me advise you to stay as 
 long as you can with your uncle, because he 
 is your natural protector, and the world might 
 be apt to blame you for leaving him, as long as 
 he was willing to retain you in his house." 
 
 ^^ The world!'* repeated Emmeline fre- 
 quently to herself : it was a new idea to her. 
 She had never heard Lady Maddalena say, 
 " what will the world think?'' But after a little 
 reflection, she reluctantly confessed, that, young 
 and helpless as she was, the opinion of the 
 world was of consequence. She sighed at the 
 chains with which, for the first time in her life, 
 she perceived herself shackled. She thought 
 of the calm inflexible spirit of her lamented 
 aunt, and despised herself for a timidity which 
 was simply the consequence of her inexperience, 
 and which she falsely termed weakness. ^^ If
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 189 
 
 I am unequal to combat with misfortunes, I 
 will at least endeavour to bend under them with- 
 out irritation. Let my lot be what it may, 1 
 will bear it with patience. I feel that I can 
 neither love nor esteem the people I am go- 
 ing to, but I will suffer no indication of the 
 state of my mind to appear in my behaviour to 
 them. And then my cousin. Lady Sophia, is 
 within a few years of my own age. She is, I 
 dare say, good natured ; I may surely like her !'* 
 Such were the reflections of the gentle Emme- 
 line, she pursued her journey to town.
 
 190 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Though in our miseries Fortune have apart; 
 Yet, in our noble sufferings, she hath none. 
 Contempt of pain ! — that we may call our own," 
 
 Webster. 
 
 Emmeline busied herself in the course of her 
 journey^ in fancying what sort of persons they 
 
 were, to whom she was to be introduced. She 
 felt that a new era in her existence had arrived, 
 and that much of her present comfort, perhaps 
 of her ultimate happiness, must depend upon 
 those into whose society fate had thus thrown 
 her. The notions she formed of the character 
 of her uncle and aunt, and their family, were
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 191 
 
 as wide of the truth as such pictures of the 
 imagination usually are ; and yet, as those per- 
 sonages will have to play prominent parts in 
 the ensuing portions of this history, it is fit 
 that they should be described. 
 
 Lord De Verney was a good tempered, easy 
 man, whom long habit had reconciled to that 
 which his mere indolence first induced — the 
 absolute government of his wife. He was 
 satisfied to pursue his own pleasures in his 
 own way, and as these lay always from home, 
 and were never interfered with by Lady De 
 Verney, he was well content that she should 
 misrule her family, and indulge her imperious 
 temper without control from him. The ut- 
 most length that he ever ventured to go in the 
 way of dissenting from her, was the utterance 
 of some equivocal sarcasm, which, however, 
 one of her formidable frowns was always suffi-
 
 192 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 cient to make him retract almost as soon as it 
 was said. 
 
 The description given of Lady De Verney 
 by Lady Maddalena, has pointed out the most 
 striking features of her character. The habitual 
 and unchecked indulgence of a very bad temper 
 had not only made her exceedingly disagreeable 
 to all who happened to live within her sphere ; 
 but had also produced in her those qualities 
 
 which are its unfailing fruits a hardness of 
 
 heart and laxity of principle, which weaken 
 the judgment and prepare the mind for crime. 
 She flattered herself, that she was a good 
 mother, because she possessed that fierce ten- 
 derness for her children, which is common, even 
 to the lower degrees of the brute creation, and 
 which, if unaccompanied by the moral feeling 
 which induces parents to secure their children's 
 happiness, by establishing in their minds.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 193 
 
 those principles of religion and honour which 
 are the only true and lasting sources of human 
 felicity, is little better than mere instinct. 
 Such as it was, however, it was almost the 
 only touch of kindness that her disposition 
 knew, and all beside, was composed of stern, 
 inflexible haughtiness and utter insensibility. 
 She was still possessed of considerable personal 
 attractions, and her rank and her fondness for 
 pleasure, made her an important personage in 
 the fashionable world. 
 
 Her son. Lord Redhurst, had all the elements 
 of an estimable character; but the ill-judged 
 manner of his education, the unlimited indul- 
 gence of his passions, before his reason had at- 
 tained its maturity, had cast a blemish over his 
 mind, which the society in which he moved, 
 and the example which was daily before him, 
 were not calculated to remove. With a con- 
 siderable share of pride he had none of the 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 hard-hearted selfishness which made pride so 
 odious in his mother, and he possessed much 
 of his father's good-nature, without his weak- 
 ness. A passion for play, which, by being suf- 
 fered to grow, had become the dominant prin- 
 ciple of his existence, obscured his better qua- 
 lities, and had not only induced that lis ties s- 
 ness and apathy which follow the indulgence 
 in excitement of any kind, but had embarrass- 
 ed him by debts, from which he had no hope 
 of extricating himself, during his father's life, 
 and consequently made him the prey of that 
 detestable portion of the community, who grow 
 rich by ministering to the extravagance of 
 thoughtless young men of rank. 
 
 The character of Lady Sophia Laurimer, 
 the only daughter of this noble family, may be 
 expressed in a very few words. She was a 
 spoilt child. In her earlier years, and at the 
 period when the business, of her education
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 195 
 
 ought to have been the sole occupation of her 
 
 time, she had been grossly neglected and per- 
 
 « 
 mitted to have her own way to such an extent, 
 
 as would have wholly destroyed her temper, 
 but that nature had given her great sweetness 
 of disposition, and her mind, which could 
 hardly have become a strong one under any 
 discipline, had taken a decided tone of frivolity 
 and weakness which was now incurable. She 
 was, nevertheless, what is callM highly accom- 
 plished, that is to say, she had been crammed 
 by the most fashionable masters with all those 
 '^ odd branches of learning" which may be 
 taught almost as well to dogs and parrots as to 
 human beings, and by the same means. She 
 neither understood nor loved music, but she 
 could play brilliantly, and sing with effect cer- 
 tain morqeaux which were then in vogue, and 
 which she had learned by rote, and by dint of 
 imitating the ingenious professors who devote 
 
 K 2
 
 196 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 their time and talents to the noble occupation 
 of making young ladies seem to be that which 
 they are not. She had been taught French by 
 a lady's maid and a governess, who were for- 
 bidden to talk any other language in her pre- 
 sence, and therefore she chattered it fluently 
 and viciously enough. Dancing was perhaps 
 the only art in which she had endeavoured to 
 attain perfection, because she delighted in the 
 exercise ; and thi's she had cultivated with so 
 much success, that she enjoyed deservedly the 
 reputation of dancing with more grace than 
 any other fashionable young lady of her years. 
 Accomplished, therefore, she was in the sense 
 commonly ascribed to that expression, but she 
 was at the same time wholly destitute of any 
 solid or worthy acquirement. Her mother was 
 proud of her beauty, and, being perfectly satis- 
 fied that she knew quite as much as was neces • 
 sary for a person of her rank and expectations.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 19/ 
 
 she was very well content that the greater part 
 of her time should now be devoted to the im- 
 portant business of dressing and going out. 
 Under such management the only wonder was, 
 that Lady Sophia did not prove less amiable 
 than she really was, although it must be ad- 
 mitted that she contrived, by dint of mere gid- 
 diness and folly, to do as much mischief as is 
 often effected by downright malice and ill-na- 
 ture. Ever observant of trifles which were not 
 worth observing, and unmindful of matters 
 which were really interesting and important, 
 her conversation was often absurd, and always 
 trifling. Her manners were abrupt, and when 
 freed from restraint of her mother's presence, 
 even hoydenish ; but as she was never either 
 sullen or affected, great allowances were made 
 by the kinder portion of her acquaintance 
 for sallies which were set down as the mere 
 ebullition of animal spirits ; while the less
 
 198 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 considerate took ample vengeance on the en- 
 viable cheerfulness which she constantly dis- 
 played, by ascribing it to an empty head and 
 an insensible heart. 
 
 It was by this young lady that Emmeline 
 was received on her arrival in London. As she 
 approached the end of her journey, her repug- 
 nance to meet Lady De Verney increased al- 
 most to fear. She had seen her once, but it 
 was so long ago that she could scarcely call to 
 her recollection the features of this formidable 
 personage, while all that Lady Maddalena had 
 told her of her violence and other disagreeable 
 qualities, forced itself upon her mind. 
 
 It was late when the carriage stopped at her 
 uncle's door. She was shewn into a spacious 
 but empty apartment, and having waited here 
 for a short time, the door was opened, and a 
 young lady, accompanied by a stiff, lean, fo- 
 reign-looking woman, entered the room. Em-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 199 
 
 meline was not a loss to know who the younger 
 one was, and if she had been, her suspense 
 would not have been of long continuance, in 
 the presence of so communicative a person as 
 Lady Sophia Laurimer. 
 
 The elder female, who was the governess, 
 approached, and with an abundance of com- 
 pliments and curtesies, informed Emmeline 
 that she was sent by Lady De Verney to wel- 
 come her to London. 
 
 ^^ Come, that will do, ma'amselle," cried 
 Lady Sophia, impatiently interrupting her, be- 
 fore the duenna had got half to the end of her 
 congratulatory harangue. '^ I must speak to 
 Miss Laurimer novt^. You know, my dear, I am 
 your cousin," and holding out both her hands, 
 she took Emmeline's, and shook them cordially. 
 
 The orphan bowed, and smilingly replied, 
 " I am happy in the honour of becoming ac- 
 quainted with Lady Sophia Laurimer."
 
 200 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 (S 
 
 Happy in the honour V repeated the 
 young lady, standing for a moment in an atti- 
 tude of reflection, ^^xlye, that's it exactly. 
 That is just what mamma told me to say to 
 the bride. Lady Moray ; and although I re- 
 peated it twenty times before I saw her, do you 
 know I forgot it entirely when I met her." 
 
 Ma'amselle attempted to check her pupil's 
 vivacity, but in vain. 
 
 " Mamma's at dinner, you know, so you'll 
 come up into my room. I hope you had a 
 diverting journey ? It was so dark I could not 
 see whether the tassels to your windows were 
 broken. It is the greatest plague not to be 
 able to wipe the windows. Don't you think 
 so?'* 
 
 " It is a pity to lose the prospect, certainly," 
 replied Miss Laurimer ; ^^ particularly at this 
 season of the year." 
 
 " Prospect 1" replied Lady Sophia, frisking
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 201 
 
 Up stairs before her ; " oh, I don't mean that. 
 I suppose one country is just like another ; but 
 it is the charming things one meets that I like 
 to look at. Yesterday I was driving out in 
 mamma's coach, and I saw a waggon and team 
 of horses, with the hair of their manes all put 
 up in papillofes. There were seven on each 
 mane, excepting the last horse, and he had 
 eight." 
 
 Depressed in spirit as Emmeline was, she 
 could not refrain from laughing at the singular 
 conversation of her cousin, who continued 
 chattering incessantly upon the most ludicrous- 
 ly trifling topics. The evening was passed in 
 Lady Sophia's room. 
 
 Lady De Verney did not come up stairs, but 
 signified to her niece that she might join them 
 below or go to bed. Emmeline thankfully 
 availed herself of the latter permission, being 
 
 k3
 
 202 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 equally fatigued with herself and her cousin* 
 The next morning she was summoned to 
 Lady De Verney's dressmg-room. Her aunt 
 was seated before a breakfast-table. She bent 
 her head stiffly to Emmeline's salutation. Lord 
 De Verney extended his hand to her^ without 
 rising from the sofa on which he was lolling ; 
 drawing his niece towards him, paid her some 
 compliments on her beauty, and welcomed her 
 to London with more warmth than he usually 
 displayed ; then, turning round, he said to his 
 son — " Frederick, this is your cousin." 
 
 The young man, who was near his mother, 
 rose and bowed, but with so listless an air 
 that Emmeline did not believe he looked at 
 her ; and, having performed this act of civility, 
 he betook himself to the dish of tea before him, 
 and continued to study a newspaper. 
 
 " You have breakfasted, I presume. Miss
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 203 
 
 Laurimer," said Lady De Verney, in a freezing 
 accent. 
 
 " Oh yes ! ages ago,*' said Lady Sophia ; 
 '^ and, do you know, ma'amselle forgot to give 
 her any sugar in her tea, and she never found 
 it out. Wasn't it so odd, Frederick ?" 
 
 Her brother smiled, but made no answer. 
 Lady Sophia did not want any, but went on. 
 — " Pray, have you a Christian name, or am I 
 to call you Miss Laurimer ?" 
 
 " You may call me anything you please ; 
 my name is Emmeline." 
 
 " Why, that was grandmamma's name,'' 
 pursued the giddy chatterer. " How came 
 you to be called after her, when she hated you, 
 and your father and mother, and all ?" 
 
 "Sophia!" said Lord De Verney, sternly, 
 shocked at the gross want of consideration 
 which his daughter had displayed. 
 
 Emmeline's eyes filled with tears ; her cou-
 
 20i THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 sill's instantly began to flow, and she embraced 
 her with mingled sobs and apologies. . Miss 
 Laurimer checked her own emotion to soothe 
 Lady Sophia, and threw the blame on her own 
 enfeebled spirits. 
 
 "Who is that tone so like?" said the af- 
 flicted girlj suddenly raising her head from 
 Emmeline's shoulder. ^^ I have certainly heard 
 it before in some play;" but before the young 
 lady's memory could assist her in this particu- 
 lar, a new object struck her fancy, and flinging 
 herself on a couch in a violent burst of laugh- 
 ter, while the tears yet hung upon her cheek, 
 " was, ever anything so good — so strikingly 
 like?" 
 
 "What?" asked the astonished and be- 
 wildered Emmeline. 
 
 Lady Sophia's merriment continued, and, 
 pointing to her mother's pug dog, sleeping com- 
 posedly at her feet, with a corner of the table-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 205 
 
 cloth hanging in drapery over its head. — 
 " Ma'amselle to perfection/' she said ; '^ just 
 the very way she sleeps^ and the handkerchief 
 she throws over her head 3 only it hangs a 
 little lower, and is seldom so clean." 
 
 " Really, Lady Sophia/' said her mother, 
 rising haughtily, ^' your spirits are very over- 
 powering to a nervous person. I must beg 
 you will laugh elsewhere/' and, as she spoke, 
 she moved majestically away, without ever 
 looking at Miss Lauriiher. 
 
 Emmeline, to whom Lady De Verney's be- 
 haviour was painful as it was unexpected, — for 
 though she had heard she was haughty, she was 
 not prepared to find her cold, even to insolence, 
 — arose to follow. Lady Sophia, over whose 
 unimpressive mind reproof or praise glanced 
 equally unfelt, tripped as gaily out of the room 
 as she had entered it. 
 
 Some weeks passed slowly and unpleasantly
 
 206 THE WAY OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 by. Miss Laurimer had conceived so strong 
 an aversion to Lady De Verney that she wished 
 anxiously for the termination of her stay in 
 London, and endeavoured to discover some 
 means by which it might be brought about : 
 but she felt, even while she indulged this de- 
 sire, that it was hardly within the compass of 
 possibility that she should be relieved from a 
 thraldom at which her spirit revolted. Now 
 it was that she felt with redoubled keenness 
 the loss of Lady Maddalena ; and without one 
 sympathising spirit in the world, to whom she 
 could disclose the load of grief that weighed 
 heavy upon her heart, she recognized the bitter 
 truth that all sorrows may be repaired but 
 those which are occasioned by the death of 
 dear friends. In the desolate solitude of her 
 heart, she dwelt with fond hope on the belief 
 that Sir Harry Daverout's search for her father 
 might be successful 5 and slender as was the 
 
 :(r.t
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 207 
 
 probability, she built upon it with confidence, 
 and would not permit herself to doubt the ful- 
 filment of that event to which alone she looked 
 for comfort and relief. 
 
 In the meantime she displayed no outward 
 token of the sorrow she felt. The depression 
 of her spirits had indeed induced a gravity of 
 deportment and serious expression of features, 
 but not more than such as they who had known 
 her only since her arrival in London might 
 have believed was natural to her. She was 
 not sorry to find herself completely neglected 
 by her uncle and aunt, but she was disap- 
 pointed at finding her time entirely, at the 
 disposal of her trifling cousin. If she sate 
 down to draw in her own room, this volatile 
 girl would not leave her in peace, but whisk- 
 ing about, chattering incessantly, destroying 
 her light, mixing her colours, or giving her 
 pencils to the dog to play with, she convinced
 
 208 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 her that all attempts at employment in her 
 presence were in vain. Like the gnat that 
 alternately buzzes and stings, she kept those 
 about her in continual fever. Sometimes Em- 
 meline would take advantage of the arrival 
 of some of her cousin's masters to leave the 
 room, and, rejoicing at her escape, would take 
 up a book, on which she could scarce fix her 
 mind, ere a message from Lady De Verney 
 would be brought her, desiring she would play 
 a duet with Lady Sophia, or make one in some 
 figure dance. In vain did she not unfrequent- 
 ly represent she had nev^r seen the piece of 
 music, and knew nothing of Opera dances* 
 She was not required to do it well — for her 
 performance was not the object — she was 
 merely to be useful. To a temper less excel- 
 lent than Emmeline's, the airs of the governess, 
 which often degenerated into impertinence, 
 would have been a greater source of torment
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 209 
 
 than even the proud indifference of Lady De 
 Verney^ or the provoking frivolity of Lady 
 Sophia. But Miss Laurimer had early formed 
 a just opinion of this contemptible and igno- 
 rant sycophant^ she ceased therefore to think 
 about her; and morning after morning she 
 passed by her side forgetful of her existence, 
 and roused only by the repeated and silly in- 
 terrogatories of her cousin to cold monosylla- 
 bles or common place phrases. 
 
 The deep mourning for Lady Maddalena 
 having been cast off, the Earl's mansion again 
 became the rendezvous of the fashionable and 
 the dissipated. Emmeline mingled in the gay 
 throng unnoticed, and thankful that she v/as 
 so. At her first appearance her native timidity 
 made her shrink alarmed and distressed from 
 the gaze of numbers ; but presently convinced 
 that every body was occupied with themselves 
 or their own immediate set, and perfectly un-
 
 210 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 mindful of so unobtrusive a person as herself, 
 she recovered her composure, and was glad to 
 be lost in the crowd. 
 
 Lady De Verney, whose extreme ostenta- 
 tion^ rather than any feeling of kindness or 
 sympathy for her sorrows, had induced her to 
 agree to her husband's proposal of offering a 
 home to his niece, was by no means as for- 
 getful of her as she appeared to be. She had 
 conceived a notion, before Emmeline's arrival, 
 that, having been brought up in the country, 
 the rusticity of her manners would have been 
 wholly unsuitable to the society of which her 
 house was the resort. When, however, she 
 had seen her, other fears assailed her. She 
 perceived that she had acquired all that polish- 
 ed ease, for which Lady Maddalena had been 
 so highly distinguished, and which was ren- 
 dered more striking from her natural grace 
 and beauty, and more attractive from her
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 211 
 
 sweetness. Lady De Verney then thought 
 that her young relative was equally dangerous 
 to both her children. To Lord Redhurst, if he 
 should be captivated by her charms, and to 
 Lady Sophia, by sharing with her the admira- 
 tion, of which the politic mother meant she 
 should have the exclusive advantage. 
 
 Lady De Verney was what the world calls a 
 clever woman, that is to say, she was fond of 
 contrivances, possessed a considerable share of 
 cunning, and, being withheld by no feelings of 
 honour, or principle, her contrivances very often 
 succeeded. Although violent, she never gave 
 way to her temper where its indulgence might 
 injure her ; and although proud, she was above 
 no meanness that she thought might be ser- 
 viceable to her. Already it had occurred to her 
 that by getting Emmeline married, she might 
 rid herself of all inconvenience on that score.
 
 212 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and she had conceived a plan by which this 
 design might be effected^ in which her niece's 
 happiness was the last thing she contemplated. 
 She paused^ however, in this design for the 
 present at least, because she had determined to 
 make Emmeline's accomplishments tend to im- 
 prove her daughter in private, while in public 
 she trusted to her own skill in tactics to throw 
 her so completely in the back ground, that she 
 should never appear in the light of a rival. It 
 was a part of this notable project that the 
 greater portion of Emmeline's time should be 
 passed with her cousin and the governess, and 
 then she would be out of the way of Lord Red- 
 hurst, upon whose indolence his mother se- 
 curely calculated against the chance of his 
 going to seek her. Nothing could have suc- 
 ceeded more perfectly than Lady De Verney's 
 arrangements hitherto. Lord Redhurst had
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 213 
 
 not fallen in love with his cousin^ not so much 
 because she was out of his sight^ as because he 
 had no particular disposition to do so. He 
 was by no means insensible to her beauty 
 or her merit, and could not but feel respect 
 and esteem for one, who was, in all points, 
 one of the most amiable of her sex; but against 
 the fascinations of beauty his heart was trebly 
 armed. A passion only second in power to 
 that universal one that sways the world, oc- 
 cupied him, to the exclusion of every other. 
 
 Lady Sophia had evinced more docility under 
 the instruction and advice which Emmeline 
 had rendered her, than she had ever before dis- 
 played 5 and even Lady De Verney could not 
 help perceiving that her daughter was much 
 improved by her cousin's society. In public 
 company the retiring temper and depressed 
 spirits of Emmeline prevented the necessity of
 
 214 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 her ladyship being put to any of those well 
 known contrivances by which ingenious mo- 
 thers secure their daughters an opportunity of 
 shewing off to the best advantage. 
 
 %« 
 
 ^
 
 TH?: WAYS OF THE WORLD. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 " Le bon cceur est chez elle compagnon du bon sens, 
 Avec cent qualites trop long k deduire : 
 Une noblesse d'ame, un talent pour conduire 
 
 Et les affaires et les gens : 
 Une humeur franche et libre, et le don d'etre amie." 
 
 La Fontaine. 
 
 Although it was impossible for Emmeline 
 wholly to shake off the irksome thoughts which 
 her present position, and the frequent annoy- 
 ances to which it exposed her, engendered 5 
 there were moments when their weight was 
 lightened. Lady De Verney's house was the 
 frequent resort of the most distinguished per- 
 sonages of the fashionable world ; and the so- 
 ciety which was assembled there was always
 
 216 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 gay, and often very amusing. If she could 
 have chased from her mmd the undying re- 
 membrance of the loss she had sustained, and 
 the painful feeling that she was alone in the 
 world, Emmeline would probably have entered 
 into the spirit of such scenes with a heart as 
 light as any of those to whom they afforded 
 unmixed pleasure; as it was, she frequently 
 felt that even to be a mere observer of the en- 
 joyments of others, relieved her for a time 
 from dwelling upon her own causes of sorrow. 
 Little as she knew practically of the world, she 
 was aware that the clear brow and the inces- 
 sant smiles which decked many of the most 
 prominent leaders of these revels, were mere 
 coverings, assumed, like the wearer's dresses, 
 for the occasion, and that beneath them 
 lurked discontent and pain as heavy and as 
 bitter as those which the confessedly wretched 
 had to endure. Still the semblance of joy was
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 217 
 
 something, and, like an arctic sunshine, cheered, 
 if it did not warm, the surface over which it 
 played. 
 
 Lady De Verney's house was open on one 
 night in the week to the whole fashionable 
 circle that the town contained. Any one who 
 looked at her on these occasions, and who 
 knew nothing of her besides, would have been 
 slow to believe that she was so odious a person 
 as in her less constrained hours she seemed. 
 With enough of her former charms remaining 
 to make her appear, by candle-light, and under 
 the magic illusions of dress and ornament, still 
 beautiful, she could assume a winning grace 
 and blandness of manner that justified the ad- 
 miration of her guests ; and even Emmeline, 
 although she had been behind the curtain, 
 could hardly persuade herself that so accom- 
 plished an actress in public, was in private so 
 much the reverse of what she seemed to be. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Her guests did not know — nor^ if they had, 
 would they have cared — any thing about the 
 matter. It was enough for them that they 
 met at her parties all the wealthiest and most 
 brilliant of the world of fashion ; and for her- 
 self it was enough to know that her Friday 
 nights made her the admiration of some, and 
 the envy of almost all of those whom she re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Of the personages who flocked to these as- 
 semblies the greater part of them were too 
 much occupied with themselves and with their 
 own pursuits to pay any attention to one who 
 courted notoriety so little as Emmeline. With 
 two persons, however, and with two only, she 
 had contracted a sort of intimacy. 
 
 The first of them was Lady Helena D'Arcy, 
 the only daughter of the Earl of Boughton. 
 She was not more than two or three years 
 older than Emmeline ; but, from having been
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 219 
 
 introduced into society at an unusually early 
 age, and having lived ever since in le grand 
 monde, she was more perfectly experienced in ' 
 all its mysteries than many of her seniors. 
 The death of her mother soon after she was 
 ^^ brought out," by compelling her to act, on 
 many occasions, for herself, had elicited the 
 powers of her naturally strong character, and 
 had given a tone of independence and decision 
 to her conduct which was somewhat extra- 
 ordinary in so young a woman. She had been 
 carefully educated, and, while she was defi- 
 cient in none of the elegant acquirements in 
 which women of rank are commonly instruct- 
 ed, she had mastered some of the more difficult 
 branches of science. She had read much, and 
 recollected well what she had read. She was 
 handsome, young, and amiable ; but the un- 
 ceremonious sarcasm and prompt wit to which 
 she was occasionally provoked by the preten- 
 
 L 2
 
 220 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 sion and affectation she encountered^ had ren- 
 dered her a favourite with neither sex. Men 
 and women were somewhat jealous and afraid 
 of her; both joined in voting her a has bleu; 
 and she saw^ without surprise or regret^ that 
 persons much inferior to her in beauty as well 
 as in more solid qualities, were held in more 
 general estimation. The simple and unaffected 
 good sense, and the delicate taste which mark- 
 ed Emmeline's demeanour, and shone in her 
 conversation, had charms for Lady Helena, 
 which induced her to cultivate the slight ac- 
 quaintance that accident had first formed be- 
 tween them, and, after a short time, each 
 looked forward to the Friday nights, where 
 they were certain of meeting. 
 
 The other of Emmeline's new acquaintances 
 was a Mr. Mortimer, a tall, gentlemanly per- 
 son, apparently of about the age of fifty, who 
 had been introduced to Lady De Verney*s
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 221 
 
 parties by Lord Redhurst, with whom he 
 seemed to be on terms of close intimacy, al- 
 though none of the family knew where their 
 friendship had commenced, or what was the 
 cause which had brought and which held to- 
 gether men of tempers, manners, and years 
 so dissimilar. Lady De Verney had frequently 
 expressed her surprise at her song's evident 
 attachment to a person whom nobody knew, 
 and whom she had, therefore, honoured with 
 her dislike. She had interrogated Lord Red- 
 hurst on the subject, who had made only some 
 vague and unsatisfactory replies to her inqui- 
 ries, and she felt too little interest in the mat- 
 ter to pursue them, even if she had thought her 
 son was likely to gratify her curiosity. It was 
 evident, from Mr. Mortimer's manners, that he 
 had, from his birth, belonged to the society in 
 which he moved ; his conversation always gave 
 proofs of a mind of a superior order, and from
 
 222 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 occasional allusions he made^ although always 
 sparingly and by accident^ it appeared that he 
 had passed many years of his life abroad, and 
 that he had not long returned to his native 
 country. Emmeline had at first been struck 
 by a certain resemblance in his figure and the 
 tone of his voice to Lord De Verneyj and 
 which, when she first saw him, was so strong 
 as to induce her to mistake him for her uncle. 
 He was standing at some distance, with his 
 back turned towards her, and engaged in con- 
 versation with Lord Redhurst. In the belief 
 that it was Lord De Verney himself, she had 
 approached him, and had laid her hand upon 
 his arm and began to address him before she 
 discovered her mistake. When the stranger 
 raised his head, Emmeline saw that the resem- 
 blance was an extremely distant one. Mr. 
 Mortimer's features were highly intelligent, 
 and much more handsome than those of her
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 223 
 
 uncle. His hair was more grey, and there was 
 in his countenance an expression of thought- 
 fulness, which occasionally amounted to sad- 
 ness^ that was wholly unlike the broad, un- 
 intellectual, contented smile which always 
 characterised the features of Lord De Verney. 
 It was on the occasion just mentioned that 
 Emmeline's acquaintance with Mr. Mortimer 
 had commenced. As soon as she perceived 
 her error, she uttered some words of apology, 
 and explained the cause of her inadvertence. 
 Mr. Mortimer fixed his eyes upon her for a 
 moment, without speaking, and immediately 
 requested Lord Redhurst to introduce him to 
 her. This ceremony was, of course, perform- 
 ed on the instant, and from that moment an 
 intimacy ensued which was a source of real 
 pleasure to each of them. 
 
 Emmeline found in Mr. Mortimer's society 
 a charm which she had never before experienced.
 
 224 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 There was a kind^ almost paternal tone in 
 every word lie addressed to her, which awoke 
 emotions in her heart, that she had not ex- 
 perienced since her aunt's death. That which 
 had hitherto made Lady De Verney's house 
 most disagreeable to her, was, that it contained 
 no one for whom she could entertain those 
 feelings of affection and respect to which she 
 had been so long accustomed, that they seemed 
 almost necessary to her existence. The besoin 
 d^ aimer had preyed upon her incessantly ; her 
 spirit had languished for some congenial mind 
 with which she might hold communion; and in 
 the society of Lady Helena and Mr. Mortimer 
 she almost forgot the griefs that assailed her in 
 their absence. The deference which Lord Red- 
 hurst seemed to pay to this gentleman, and the 
 warm regard which he evinced, rather than ex- 
 pressed for him, astonished her much more than 
 her own predilection in his favour. Cold and in- 
 
 ■«
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 225 
 
 different as he was to all other persons^ and on 
 all other occasions^ the young nobleman was in 
 his friend's presence animated and even talka- 
 tive^ and was evidently actuated by a desire to 
 win his good opinion. Emmeline tried to solve 
 this problem^ and at length could account for 
 it in no other way than by attributing it to the 
 influence which a powerful mind like that of 
 Mr. Mortimer, must always exercise over such 
 a one as Lord Redhurst's. Emmeline had, 
 unintentionally, overheard a conversation that 
 took place between the two friends, which con- 
 vinced her that the opinion she had formed, 
 was correct. 
 
 They were standing in Lady De Verney's 
 crowded drawing-room, looking at a group of 
 young dancers, when Mr. Mortimer said, turn- 
 ing to his young friend, ^^ And is it possible 
 that this scene has no excitement for you, and 
 that you can look on it without experiencing 
 
 L 3
 
 226 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 any sympathy with the pleasure which seems 
 to reign around you ?'' 
 
 ^^ Nothing is more true^" replied Lord Red- 
 hurst. ^^ There was a time, I admit, when such 
 scenes amused me ; bat I have been long con- 
 vinced of the utter emptiness of pleasures such 
 as these, if they deserve that name. It may be 
 that satiety has palled my taste ; perhaps it is 
 that the frivolity of the pursuit has disgusted 
 me ; but, whatever may be the cause, to me, 
 this revelry is as void of enjoyment, as the 
 actors in it are without interest for me.^' 
 
 ^^ Then you must give me leave to tell you 
 that these sentiments savour rather of misan- 
 thropy than of philosophy.'' 
 
 '^ And is not misanthropy the result of philo- 
 sophy, since you force me to dignify my senti - 
 ments with so respectable and sounding a 
 name ?'' 
 
 ^^ Heaven forbid that it should be ! True
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 227 
 
 philosophy teaches men not to scorn those en- 
 joyments which are within their reach : and 
 which, as they occasion neither pain nor evil to 
 any one, leave no food for remorse 5 and religion 
 itself, the end of which is to improve the tem- 
 poral as well as the eternal happiness of man- 
 kind, enforces the same lesson." 
 
 " My answer is that what you call enjoy- 
 ments, are none to me." 
 
 " My objection is unremoved by that answer. 
 We make our happiness oftener than we find 
 it 5 and, unhappily for us, the perverseness of 
 our nature is such, that we either mar our 
 felicity by abuse, or neglect to cultivate the 
 sources from which the goodness of Providence 
 has permitted it to flow abundantly. At your 
 years, the world ought not to have lost its 
 charms." 
 
 ^' Nor has it ^ but they are not presented to 
 me under its present aspect. The society of
 
 228 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 frivolous persons, the pursuit of unsatisfactory 
 joys, I have tried, until my heart sickens at 
 them.'' 
 
 ^^ But it is not to such persons and to such 
 joys that you are chained. Young, possessed 
 of talents, enjoying advantages of education 
 and of station which make you the envy of 
 millions, by what strange obliquity of reason- 
 ing is it that you can have arrived, at the age 
 of six and twenty, to an apathy of sentiment 
 which man57^ men do not experience even at the 
 close of a long life V 
 
 '' Simply because I find no pursuit capable 
 
 of awakening the energies of my character, if, 
 
 indeed, as I sometimes doubt, I possess such a 
 
 character as you give me credit for.*' 
 
 " Yes, there is one pursuit.'' 
 
 ^^ I admit there is one ; and from that I 
 
 know you would endeavour to divert me. Be 
 
 assured, my dear friend, it is in vain. All
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 229 
 
 that you could say against it I have heard 
 said over and over again. Perhaps I should 
 find it difficult to contradict all the objections 
 that exist to it ; but I must have some occu- 
 pation^ and that is the only one I have been 
 able to find^ which has attractions enough to 
 make me sometimes forget the otherwise in- 
 sufferable tediousness of my existence. I shall 
 therefore practise at least a part of the philo- 
 sophy you teach, and continue that pursuit in 
 which alone I discover enjoyments." 
 
 '^ Do not pervert my philosophy. I preach 
 only the pursuit of innocent pleasures ; and, 
 unless that to which you are addicted leaves 
 no sting behind, remember, it is not a part of 
 my system." 
 
 ^^ Let us then change the subject." 
 '^ Willingly — with this intimation only, that 
 I do not yet despair of seeing you change your 
 present notions."
 
 230 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 '^ And I, on the contrary^ fear that I shall 
 have to convince you how very incorrigible I 
 
 am/* 
 
 Lord Redhurst, as he spoke, turned round 
 and saw Emmeline, who, having been seated 
 near them when this conversation began, had 
 remained in her place, not from a wish to hear 
 it, but through her unwillingness to interrupt 
 it. She had observed in Lord Redhurst that 
 disposition which his friend was endeavour- 
 ing to correct, and was so well convinced that 
 it obscured many noble qualities, that she could 
 not help feeling as strong a desire as seemed 
 to actuate Mr. Mortimer for its removal. 
 
 The gentlemen both approached her, and at 
 the same moment Lady Helena, who had been 
 looking for Emmeline, joined them. 
 
 " Come,'* said Lord Redhurst, "let us, who 
 are steady folks, and who do not dance, em- 
 ploy ourselves in some amusing and innocent
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 231 
 
 manner. For example, let us say all the ill we 
 know of our neighbours.'' 
 
 " I object to that/' said Lady Helena -, " the 
 evening would not be long enough for our pur- 
 pose 'j besides, the occupation would be a dull 
 one, for we have told the same story over and 
 
 over again." 
 
 " Well, then," rejoined Lord Redhurst, '^ as 
 both my cousin Emmeline and my friend Mr. 
 Mortimer are in a great degree unacquainted 
 with my mother's guests, I call upon you. Lady 
 Helena, to explain the characters of some of 
 the most remarkable among them. You know 
 every body, and have a happy knack at sketch- 
 ing portraits." 
 
 " You flatter me," replied Lady Helena, 
 " but I have no objection to be show-woman. 
 Who shall we begin with ? Tell me what ani- 
 mal attracts your curiosity, Miss Laurimer, 
 and I will explain to you his name and qua-
 
 232 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lities. Of course you know the most celebrated 
 of them^ so my task will be limited to the 
 description of the less common subjects.'*' 
 
 " Who then," said Emmeline, " is that tall, 
 corpulent man turning over the music yon- 
 der?" 
 
 '^ That, my dear, is Captain Pemberton, a 
 very extraordinary personage, once an admirer 
 of mine, but whose passion for me has now 
 subsided into compassion for the want of taste 
 which induced me to decline his pretensions. 
 He is, as you may perceive, some six feet three 
 inches in stature, but an odd mistake seems to 
 have been made by dame Nature in composing 
 his figure, for, to a very robust and gigantic 
 frame she has given a fair chubby face, curling 
 flaxen hair, and a pair of as unmeaning light 
 blue eyes as ever were bestowed upon a wax 
 doll. He is quite as singular a person as he 
 looks, and is made up of contrasts. His voice
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 233 
 
 is a most amusing treble, and his conversation 
 as vehement as that of Captain Bobadil, in the 
 play. With a placidity of manner which would 
 sit well upon a Quaker, he is impetuously pas- 
 sionate, and, like Mount Hecla, breathes flame 
 while he looks all snow. So much for his ex- 
 terior. I am told, however, that he is a very 
 excellent person, and I believe it. He has 
 been in the army ever since he was a boy, has 
 distinguished himself upon several occasions, 
 has a high reputation for skill and bravery in 
 his profession, and is very much liked by all 
 his friends.'^ 
 
 *^ And yet, with all these good qualities, 
 and the additional recommendation of being a 
 capital subject to laugh at, you resisted him \" 
 said Mr. Mortimer. 
 
 '^ Bad taste, no doubt you think, on my 
 part,'* replied Lady Helena; " but, so it was. 
 I should not, I confess, like, under any cir-
 
 234 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ciimstances, to have for a husband a man 
 whom the world considers an oddity 5 and 
 besides^ a nick-name which some of his friends 
 have given him^ decided me.'' 
 
 " What was that name?'' asked Mr. Mor- 
 timer. 
 
 ^^ You may tell it^" interrupted Lord Red- 
 hurst^ '^ but I recommend no one but a 
 lady to repeat it. Pemberton^ although an 
 extremely good-natured man^ does not under- 
 stand being laughed at^ as an unlucky fellow 
 in his own regiment^ who was indiscreet 
 enough to apply his sobriquet, will remember 
 to his dying day." 
 
 " Nay, there is no great harm in it," said 
 Lady Helena, ^^ and not malice enough to 
 have justified him in fighting about it. How- 
 ever, I must tell it now, since you have excited 
 our friend's curiosity. He called out the offi- 
 cer to whom Lord Redhurst alludes, and lamed
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 235 
 
 him for life^ because he called him the Patago- 
 iiian Cupid.'* 
 
 ^^ Lady Helena will not finish the story/' 
 said Lord Redhurst^ ^^ so I must ; and tell you 
 that it was for the quickness to quarrel which 
 Pemberton displayed on this occasion, that she 
 dismissed him." 
 
 Lady Helena made no reply to this observa- 
 tion, but said she was ready to go on with her 
 explanations. 
 
 " Tell me, then, if you please,'' said Emme- 
 line, ^^ who is that handsome dark woman 
 whom the Duke of Athermore is playing at 
 ecarte with. 
 
 " Is it possible that you don't know her ?" 
 asked Lady Helena. " That, my dear, is 
 Lady EUesmore, the wife of the judge. She 
 is, as you see, decidedly beautiful, in a certain 
 style of beauty, and for that reason, and be- 
 cause she is a parvenue, we, whose ancestors
 
 236 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 attained some centuries ago^ the rank which 
 her husband's merit has procured for him only 
 recently, take every opportunity of saying ill- 
 natured things of her. What her original 
 condition was, I don't know^ and I have heard 
 so many contradictory stories about it, that I 
 don't know what to believe. Some folks insist 
 that she was the daughter of a laundress, and 
 others, who affect to be less severe, admit her 
 to have been a milliner. It is quite certain, 
 however, that she has the manners of a lady, 
 no matter where she acquired them. She is 
 very good-natured ; gives very gay entertain- 
 ments ; her husband's station and his con- 
 nexion with the government, insure her ad- 
 mittance to the first circles, and her own tact 
 and ingenuity preserve her from the mortifica- 
 tions, which some of her new acquaintance 
 would, if they could venture, prepare for her. 
 She appears quite satisfied with the brilliant
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 237 
 
 existence she leads^ and they are reduced to 
 console themselves with little slanders, in her 
 absence, for the court and flattery they find it ' 
 worth their while to bestow upon her when 
 they meet her." 
 
 '^ But is she really a woman of any acquire- 
 ments ?" asked Lord Redhurst. 
 
 ^' If you mean the ordinary acquirements of 
 fashionable women, I should say I think not," 
 replied Lady Helena. " I don't believe she 
 knows a note of music, nor any language but 
 her own, although she has cleverness enough 
 to conceal her deficiency. But, in the more 
 useful acquirements which are necessary to 
 shine in the great world, remarkable quickness, 
 natural good taste, discretion, and le sqavoir 
 vivre, I hardly know any body her superior. 
 She plays the dame cle condition as if she was 
 ^ to the manner born.' " 
 
 ^^ All of which says very little for us of the
 
 238 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 exclusive class, as we are fond of calling our- 
 selves,'' replied Lord Redhurst. " What is that 
 we are proud of, when all that we prize most 
 is to be attained by any one whose ambition 
 prompts them to make the trial ; for nothing 
 is more true than that Lady EUesmore's origin 
 was extremely obscure." 
 
 ^^If we were proud of nothing but externals, 
 that would be true," said Lady Helena. " But 
 there are among us instances of nobility of 
 character and conduct, which are enough to 
 justify our pretensions. I have as much pride 
 as any one, and although I am no friend to 
 that description of it, which is sustained merely 
 by the possession of rank and wealth, I can 
 count among my friends, persons who would 
 dignify any condition of life, and who add lus- 
 tre by their virtue and talents to the station in 
 which birth has placed them. But I find my- 
 self neglecting my office. Do you see that fat
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 239 
 
 little man, to talk with whom the Duke has left 
 off his game ?" 
 
 ^' You mean Sir Jeremy Burnham^" replied 
 Lord Redhurst. 
 
 '^ Of course you know him," said Lady He- 
 lena, '^ but our friends are not so fortunate. 
 That little gentleman is one of the instances 
 which are not rare in this free country of in- 
 dustry and enterprize elevating a man to consi- 
 deration. He was born in a small town very 
 near to a house of my father's in Lancashire, 
 where his father was one of the humblest of 
 shopkeepers. Such education as he had, he 
 received at a grammar school there ; and as he 
 left it before he was twelve years old, you may 
 suppose that his obligations to the pious foun- 
 der of that useful establishment were not very 
 deep. His father was too poor to maintain 
 him, and he was apprenticed to a manufacturer. 
 On his master's death he carried on his busi-
 
 240 
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ness, married his widow, invented an improve- 
 ment in the machinery he used, by which he 
 was enabled to effect a considerable reduction 
 in the price of coarse woollen cloths, and made 
 a contract for supplying the government during 
 the war, by which he amassed in a short time 
 a large sum of money. His affairs .extended 
 themselves rapidly : fortune smiled on all he 
 did, and in less than thirty years he found 
 himself possessed of an immense fortune. He 
 is now one of the largest landholders in the 
 county, and as he is the patron of six boroughs, 
 and can command twelve votes in the House of 
 Commons, he is a person of such importance 
 that even the proud Duke of Athermore, his 
 Majesty's first minister, is glad to seize an 
 opportunity of shewing the consideration in 
 which he holds him. Another lesson for us 
 exclusives.^' 
 
 " And a wholesome one too,'' observed Mr.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 241 
 
 Mortimer^ ^^ for all the world admits that 
 although his manners are not the most polish- 
 ed, and his English none of the most pure, Sir 
 Jeremy Burnham is a kind and charitable 
 man, a good landlord, an honest dealer, and a 
 loyal subject." 
 
 ^^ But^ be so good as to tell me, if you 
 know that foreign-looking personage, whom 
 Lady De Verney is honouring with one of her 
 most gracious smiles at this moment ?" 
 
 '' That is a very mysterious and sublime 
 personage," replied Lady Helena, " the appel- 
 lation by which he is commonly known, is that 
 of the Count Ragotzky. He is one of Lady 
 
 De Verney 's particular favourites, and that, in 
 
 Lord Redhurst's presence, must be description 
 
 enough." 
 
 '^ O, for heaven's sake, do not spare me," 
 
 cried Lord Redhusrt. " Don't imagine that I 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 am answerable for my mother's partialities or 
 dislikes 5 still less that I am obliged to justify 
 or to partake them/' 
 
 " Nay then," said Lady Helena, ^^ if that is 
 really so, I feel no scruple to tell you what I 
 know about this gentleman, and the greater 
 part of the history indeed is that which was 
 told me by Lady De Verney, who had been 
 told it by the Count himself. He gives himself 
 out then for a Polish nobleman, who has served 
 in the French army; says that he seeks a 
 refuge in England, from some persecution 
 which he does not very fully explain, but 
 which, he says, has been occasioned by his 
 advocating those principles of universal free- 
 dom, which have become so fashionable of late. 
 His estates, as he says, have been sequestered 
 by the influence of his enemies ; but his mother, 
 who is in the possession of a very large revenue,
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 243 
 
 transmits him annually as much as is sufficient 
 to enable him to support the rank of a gentle- 
 man in this country. By some means or other, 
 he has contrived to get himself introduced into 
 the society in which you see him. By dint of 
 a tolerable person, and those large yellow 
 mustachios which adorn his upper lip, and by 
 playing a little on the guitar, and singing very 
 badly, and very much out of tune, he has cap- 
 tivated several old ladies of fashion, with whom 
 he is a great favourite. He is an excellent 
 figure for a lion ; there is something so bizarre, 
 and incomprehensible in his appearance, that 
 ladies who are ^ at home,' find him an ex- 
 tremely useful personage, and therefore you go 
 nowhere without seeing him. Notwithstanding 
 all these irresistible claims to esteem, there are 
 censorious people who say he is no Count, nor 
 even a Pole ; but that he is a chevalier d' in- 
 dustries and that he is indebted to his ingenuity 
 
 m2
 
 244 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 at play for the means of living as he does. 
 Now I have told you all / knoiv of him, it is 
 fair to add what I think. I have had the hon- 
 our of conversing with him, and, notwithstand- 
 ing his fair complexion and the cast of his 
 features, I believe him to be a Frenchman^ and 
 I think he is playing a part here, which is 
 different from his real character; and, although 
 he affects a certain stateliness of manner^ and 
 an air of sentiment when speaking of his mis- 
 fortunes and his exile, which some of my 
 friends find quite pathetic, I have great doubts 
 of his having any just pretensions to the title 
 of a gentleman at all." 
 
 '^ Do you know him. Lord Redhurst ?" 
 asked Mr. Mortimer. 
 
 '^ I know him," replied Lord Redhurst, " as 
 one knows people one meets every where. 
 The man behaves well enough, notwithstand- 
 ing Lady Helena's suspicions ; he says he has
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 245 
 
 lived all his life in camps, and that may ac- 
 count for a certain want of polish which he 
 occasionally displays, and which is not less 
 apparent than his efforts to hide it/' As he 
 concluded, he whispered a few words in Mr. 
 Mortimer's ear. 
 
 " Indeed !'' said Mr. Mortimer. ' 
 Captain Pemberton approached at this mo- 
 ment, and, after he had accosted Lady Helena, 
 Lord Redhurst said to him — ^' Pemberton, you 
 come aprojws. You know the Count Ragotzky. 
 Do tell these ladies who he is and all about 
 him/' 
 
 '^ I do assure you," said the Captain, ad- 
 dressing himself to the ladies, in a tone which 
 was between a whisper and a squeak, ^^ with 
 the most perfect sincerity, and as I hope to 
 be saved, that I have never been able to dis- 
 cover; although, may I die this instant, if I 
 have not tried by all means to ascertain. He
 
 246 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 is really a most extraordinary personage ; no- 
 body knows who he is, or where he came 
 from 5 who was his father, or where his estates 
 lie 'j why he is here, or when he is going away. 
 All I do know of him is, that he lives expen- 
 sivety, keeps horses and equipage, spends a 
 good deal, plays, bets, sometimes wins, which 
 seems extraordinary 5 and sometimes loses, 
 which is more extraordinary; and what is most 
 extraordinary of all, pays when he loses. I 
 declare to you I have conceived an unaccount- 
 able liking for him for his mysterious qualities . 
 He must be the master of some admirable 
 secret. I think of asking him to let me have 
 his portrait painted, that I may always have 
 in my recollection his matchless powers." 
 
 ^^ Upon my word you excite my curiosity to 
 know more of so wonderful a personage," said 
 Mr. Mortimer ; '' will you do me the favour to 
 introduce me to him ?"
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 247 
 
 ee 
 
 With the greatest possible delight,^' re- 
 plied Captain Pemberton, and they walked 
 away together, 
 
 Emmeline could not understand what Mr. 
 Mortimer saw in the appearance of this Count, 
 or had heard in the description of him, that 
 should induce a desire to be better acquainted 
 with him. Before, however, she could express 
 her astonishment, a message was brought to 
 her from Lady De Verney, who wanted to ask 
 some frivolous question of her, and, on her 
 return, Mr. Mortimer had quitted the room.
 
 248 THE WAY OF THE WORLD, 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " Of all the world's diversions, 
 
 I love best t' unfrock a knave, — to dash away 
 The flimsy vizor that conceals his guile, 
 And let men gaze on his deformity." 
 
 Gascoigne. 
 
 Emmeline's days passed over^ unmarked by 
 any event of interest. She had resumed, in 
 some degree, her cheerfulness, and custom had 
 reconciled her to the frivolity of her cousin, 
 and the indifference of her aunt. Lord De 
 Verney was always good-natured; and, as he 
 appeared to be glad to see her, when they met, 
 she had begun to conceive more regard for 
 him than at her first introduction to him she
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 249 
 
 had thought he was likely to inspire. Of 
 Lord Redhurst she saw very little. He was 
 frequently from home, and when he appeared 
 in the family, the same overwhelming apathy 
 seemed to envelope him which he had avowed 
 in his conversation with Mr. Mortimer. To 
 Emmeline, however, he was more attentive 
 than to any other member of the family ; and, 
 although his civilities were not so strongly 
 marked as to excite any of those fears which 
 his mother had thought might be created ; yet 
 Emmeline felt thankful for them, because they 
 relieved her from the chilling and desolate 
 feeling, that no one had sufficient interest in 
 her existence to bestov/ upon her the ordinary 
 kindnesses of conventional courtesy. Lady 
 De Verney was not more conciliatory than she 
 had ever been ; but, as she found she was 
 likely to experience no opposition from Emme^ 
 
 M 3
 
 250 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 line^ her indiiference, assumed a less repelling 
 and offensive form. 
 
 On the next occasion that Emmeline met 
 Mr. Mortimer, she could not resist the inclina- 
 tion she felt, to ask him how he liked his new 
 acquaintance, the Count Ragotzky. 
 
 ^^ I did not seek his acquaintance for the 
 purpose of liking him," replied Mr. Mortimer. 
 ^^ I wished only to know something more of 
 him.^^ 
 
 ^^ Well, then, does he improve upon your 
 further knowledge of him ?" asked Emmeline. 
 " Was the account given of him by Lady 
 Helena a correct one, in your opinion ?" 
 
 "It is very hard to form a correct opinion 
 of any man, in an acquaintance so short as 
 mine has been with him," replied Mr. Morti- 
 mer. 
 
 Emmeline saw, from Mr. Mortimer's replies
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 251 
 
 that the subject was one on which he was not 
 disposed to be communicative. '^ You are im^- 
 penetrable to-night," she said, laughing. '^We 
 will dismiss the Count, until you are better 
 able, or more disposed to tell me about him.'' 
 
 " When I /enow any thing about him, de- 
 pend upon it I will tell you," replied Mr. 
 Mortimer emphatically. 
 
 Emmeline could not understand the serious 
 tone in which Mr. Mortimer spoke, she there- 
 fore changed the subject, and resumed one 
 which was always uppermost in her mind. 
 '' You have travelled much, Mr. Mortimer," 
 she said, " have you ever been in India ?" 
 
 ^^I have passed many years of my life in 
 India," he replied, " and I have been in Eng- 
 land only a short time since my departure from 
 that country." 
 
 Did you meet Sir Henry Daver out there ?" 
 
 it
 
 252 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 asked Emmeline with an anxious emotion, 
 which she found it impossible to conceal. 
 
 ^^ Yes/' replied Mr. Mortimer^ " I know 
 Sir Henry Daverout extremely well. Have 
 you not heard from him lately ?'' 
 
 " No/' replied EmmeUne^ " and I have be- 
 gun to feel alarmed at his silence.'' 
 
 ^^ I can answer for his safety when I left 
 India," replied Mr. Mortimer ; " and, although 
 I know it was not then his intention to return 
 to England by the shortest passage, I believe 
 that he is now on his way hither." 
 
 ^^ Oh !" said Emmeline, ^^ it is impossible — 
 I beg your pardon, I should say, it is very ex- 
 traordinary that he should have begun his 
 journey home without apprizing me of it." 
 
 '^ I presume then. Miss Laurimer," said 
 Mr. Mortimer, " that you are interested in his 
 return ?"
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 253 
 
 "Oh, yes,'' replied Emmeline, "most deep- 
 ly interested in it/' 
 
 " Indeed !" said Mr. Mortimer. 
 
 Emmeline perceived by the tone in which 
 this exclamation was uttered, that Mr. Mor- 
 timer had interpreted her expression in a sense 
 she did not mean it to bear, and she continued 
 eagerly, " that is, I am deeply interested in 
 the result of his visit to India." 
 
 ^^ And has he personally no share in the in- 
 terest you feel ?" asked Mr. Mortimer. 
 
 ^^ No other," replied Emmeline, ^^ than that 
 which I cannot but feel for a very kind friend, 
 who took so long a journey in the hope of 
 discovering a long lost relative of mine, the 
 dearest and nearest I have in the world." 
 
 "You appear affected. Miss Laurimer," said 
 Mr. Mortimer, in a tone of marked kindness. 
 " Believe me, it is no feeling of curiosity that 
 prompts my enquiry ; but may I ask what re-
 
 254 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lative it is that excites in you so powerful an 
 interest?" 
 
 ^^ A father whom I have never seen^" replied 
 Emmeline, dissolving in tears as she spoke. 
 
 '^ And are you not aware whether he is alive 
 or not?" 
 
 ^^ Oh, no, his friends in England have re- 
 ceived no tidings of him for some time pre- 
 vious to my birth." 
 
 ^^ But no news of his death then have ar- 
 rived?" 
 
 '' Not any," replied Emmeline. 
 
 ^^ Then you may depend upon it that he still 
 lives," said Mr. Mortimer, ^^ whatever cir- 
 cumstances may have occasioned his silence. 
 But did he know of your existence ?" 
 
 ^^ He did not," replied Emmeline, '^ my 
 mother died soon after his departure. An un- 
 fortunate misunderstanding between him and 
 the only member of his family with whom he 
 
 m
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 255 
 
 was upon terms, probably led him to suppose 
 that he had no child, and if he be alive that is' 
 the only way in which I can account for his 
 silence ; but, alas ! I fear my apprehensions are 
 too well founded, and that I am literally alone 
 and friendless in the world.'' 
 
 ^'Friendless you can never be,'' replied Mr. 
 Mortimer, and his eyes filled with tears as he 
 spoke, " qualities such as you possess will 
 always insure you friends. I am too old to 
 flatter, even if I had any inclination to do so, 
 and believe, therefore, that I say what I feel. 
 Trust too to the goodness of that Providence 
 which never deserted those who worthily in- 
 voked it. Misfortunes may frown upon you, 
 for misfortunes are the lot of all the children 
 of the earth, but their duration is not for long ; 
 and hope in the goodness of Heaven, relied 
 upon in humble confidence, never yet was de- 
 ceived. Depend upon it that your father lives.
 
 256 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and that Sir Henry Daverout's search for him 
 has been successful ; although I confess I can- 
 not explain the reason of his silence.*' 
 
 '^ Pray tell me ; for pity's sake, tell me/' 
 said Emmeline, '' have you any ground for 
 what you say ; or do you only offer me this 
 by way of consoling the distress which you see 
 me suffer ?" 
 
 " I have the strongest reason to believe the 
 truth of what I say, because it is impossible 
 that if your father had been dead, the certain 
 intelligence of it must have reached England ; 
 v/hile, on the other hand, the cause of his 
 silence is sufficiently explained by the circum- 
 stance you have mentioned. It is possible, 
 too, that Sir Henry Daverout's letters to you 
 may have been delayed by some unavoidable 
 accident." 
 
 '^ But did Sir Henry tell you he had found 
 my father ?" asked Emmeline.
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 25/ 
 
 " I cannot say that he told me so,'' replied 
 Mr, Mortimer, " because that matter was 
 never in question between us ; but certainly I 
 had no reason to believe, from him, that the 
 object of his voyage to India had not been 
 successful/' 
 
 '^ And do you then really think that Sir 
 Henry's letters will bring me some intelli- 
 gence of my parent?" asked Emmeline. 
 
 " For the reasons I have already given," 
 replied Mr. Mortimer, ^' I cannot doubt it." 
 
 " And you do not say this in mere compas- 
 sion, and to put an end to my present anx- 
 iety ?" reiterated Emmeline. 
 
 '' I assure you, upon my honour, that I 
 speak in perfect sincerity. In the mean time, 
 my dear Miss Laurimer," continued Mr. Mor- 
 timer, ^^ let me entreat you to bear with com- 
 posure the short suspense in which you are 
 unavoidably placed. You are here, if not in
 
 258 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the society of congenial minds, at least among 
 friends/' 
 
 "Friends!'* ejaculated Emmeline; "ah, 
 if you had known the friend I have lostl" 
 
 '^ Nothing can repair such a loss, I admit," 
 said Mr. Mortimer ', " but it is the duty of 
 Christians to bow to the decrees of heaven, 
 and to trust that the same dispensation which 
 inflicts woe will minister comfort. Upon the 
 kindness of Lord De Verney's disposition, un- 
 less common fame belies him, you may, in 
 any case, rely; and, although I can imagine 
 that Lady De Verney is not a person calcu- 
 lated either to inspire confidence or to excite 
 any strong feeling of regard, her protection 
 and countenance are, in your present position, 
 desirable. Her daughter is a good-tempered 
 trifler, and her son is an excellent young man, 
 who stands a perilous chance of having all his 
 good qualities neutralized, and his happiness
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 259 
 
 destroyed for want of a friend who can caution 
 him against others^ and defend him against , 
 himself/' 
 
 ^^ I trusty** said Emmeline, ^^ that in you he 
 has such a friend/' 
 
 " He has in me a warm and sincere friend," 
 replied Mr. Mortimer 5 ^^ but I am not yet 
 sure that he will permit me to be as serviceable 
 to him as I wish to be. Time, however, will 
 show. I am now about to quit London for a 
 short time, on urgent business. I will give 
 directions before I go to have inquiries made 
 respecting letters from India, and that they 
 may be forwarded to you as soon as they shall 
 arrive. In the mean time. Miss Laurimer, do 
 not permit yourself to say that you are friend- 
 less. Remember that there is one who feels 
 for you, notwithstanding the shortness of our 
 acquaintance, all the regard of a parent, and 
 whose years confer on him the privilege of
 
 260 THE WAY OP THE WORLD, 
 
 saying so without the possibility of his decla- 
 ration being misunderstood. If anything should 
 render my assistance necessary or serviceable 
 to you, I trust you will command me/' As 
 he said this, and before Emmeline had time to 
 reply, Mr. Mortimer withdrew. 
 
 Emmeline was surprised and affected at the 
 tone of Mr. Mortimer's speech, and experi- 
 enced an emotion she was at a loss to account 
 for. She could not understand the strong in- 
 terest which one, whom she had seen for the 
 first time a few weeks ago, should appear to 
 feel for her, and still less could she account for 
 the powerful affection he had inspired in her. 
 The certain conviction he had expressed that 
 her father was alive, had filled her with high 
 and sanguine expectations, and had, at the 
 same time, excited her so intensely that she 
 was compelled to retire from the gay scene 
 that surrounded her to give vent in the soli-
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 261 
 
 tude of her chamber to her emotions. After 
 a short time she regained her composm^e, and 
 returned to the drawing-room. 
 
 Lady Helena D'Arcy was there, and had 
 ah'eady made the tour of the rooms in search 
 of her friend. When she saw her, she ex- 
 claimed, " Where have you been hiding your- 
 self, my dear ? Lady De Verney has been ask- 
 ing for you ', and even Lord Redhurst, icicle as 
 he is, has thawed himself so far as to express 
 his wonder and regret that you were not here. 
 "But what is the matter?" she added, as 
 her quick glance discovered that her friend had 
 been weeping. " What has happened to dis- 
 tress?'' 
 
 " Oh nothing," replied Emmeline ; ^^ only 
 let us withdraw into this corner to escape ob- 
 sei'vation, and I will tell you all about it." 
 
 In a few moments Emmeline had explained 
 to her friend the cause of her tears, and the
 
 262 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 purport of Mr. Mortimer's conversation^ by 
 which they had been occasioned. 
 
 ^^ Well then, if your weeping has not been 
 caused by grief, I forgive you/' said Lady He- 
 lena. "But what a dear delightful old gen- 
 tleman that Mr. Mortimer is. I declare I am 
 more disposed to fall in love with him than 
 with any of the younger pretty fellows one 
 meets with.'' 
 
 ^^ But what do you think of his belief that 
 my father is still living?" asked Emmeline, 
 who had before acquainted her friend with the 
 circumstances of her birth. 
 
 " I think with him/' replied Lady Helena. 
 " I can very easily account for his silence by 
 his not knowing that he had a daughter ', but I 
 am quite convinced that if he were no more, 
 you would have ascertained that melancholy 
 fact long ago. But come, my dear, let us quit 
 this subject, which only tends to make you sad.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 263 
 
 and listen to a discovery I have made. What 
 do you think makes the Count Ragotzky so 
 close a follower of your aunt ?'' 
 
 '' Nay/' replied Emmeline, ^Hhat would in- 
 deed puzzle me to conjecture, unless it be that 
 her vanity is flattered by his assiduous com - 
 plaisance, and that he is glad to thrust himself 
 into society by her means." 
 
 " Oh dear no," said Lady Helena, " they 
 would be good reasons enough if there were no 
 better; but he has a scheme infinitely more 
 profound than j'ou give him credit for. He is 
 making love to Lady Sophia." 
 
 " Impossible !" said Emmeline. "Lady De 
 Verney would never countenance him as a 
 suitor for her daughter." 
 
 ^^ So he seems to think," replied Lady He- 
 lena, " for he takes all possible pains to con- 
 ceal it from her ; but the fact is so, or never 
 give me credit for penetration again : and I,
 
 264 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 who pique myself on my accuracy of observa- 
 tion, risk much in saying that. 
 
 ^^ But what reason have you for thinking 
 so?'' asked Emmeline. 
 
 "No other," replied Lady Helena, "than 
 because I have actually seen him exchanging 
 glances with her ; and unless I am still more 
 deceived, that ugly old yellow-faced Mademoi- 
 selle is his confidant.'' 
 
 " It cannot be," said Emmeline ; " she 
 would never dare." 
 
 "She would dare do any thing that might 
 answer, or that she should think would answer 
 her purpose," said Lady Helena. "However, 
 I have told you my suspicions ; keep your eye 
 upon them, and you will ^oon be convinced 
 whether I am right or not." 
 
 The ladies had, during this conversation, in- 
 voluntarily looked several times towards the 
 Count, who fancied he was the subject of their
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 265 
 
 discourse, and who soon afterwards approached 
 them. 
 
 "You do not dance to-night, Lady Helena?'* 
 said he. 
 
 ^^ No, sir," she replied. 
 
 ^' It is in my country," he said, ^^ that 
 dancing is carried to a great perfection." 
 
 " Yes," observed Lady Helena, ^^ I have 
 understood that the national dance of Poland is 
 curious, and that it presents some striking and 
 picturesque figures ; but as for gracefulness 
 and variety, I did not know that it was highly 
 famed." 
 
 ^' On the contrary," said the pertinacious 
 Count, talking at the same time a most per- 
 verse mixture of French and bad English, " it 
 is the very comble of all that the science de la 
 danse can effect." 
 
 "Well," said Lady Helena, "I must not 
 dispute such a point with one so perfectly well 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 acquainted as you ought to be ; but if I might 
 judge from a ballet which I saw at Vienna, and 
 which was supposed to be Polish, I should 
 have thought that it was as wild and as little 
 marked by grace or science, as the dances of 
 the North American Indians/' 
 
 ^^ Ah, if you had seen it, as I have, danced 
 in the hall of my father's chateau, by more 
 than two hundred ladies and noblemen, the 
 ladies en hottines, with little, what you call 
 eperons, and the gentlemen in boots also, their 
 sabres claquant against the floor, you would 
 have said it was the most magriifique spectacle 
 you ever beheld." 
 
 Lady Helena bowed. 
 
 ^^ Will you permit me Miss Lau " Em- 
 
 meline's name was too hard for the Count's 
 utterance. ^^ Will you let me shew you what 
 my country's dance is like ?" 
 
 Emmeline declined ; when Lady De Verney, 
 
 ^
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 267 
 
 who had been listening with admiration to her 
 protege' ^ description^ said_, " Pray, Miss Lau- ' 
 rimer, let us see a specimen of it, I dare say it 
 is very curious ;" at the same time giving her 
 niece one of those looks with which Emmeline 
 was sufficiently acquainted to know that the 
 request amounted to a command. 
 
 The idea of figuring about the drawing-room 
 under the instruction of this obtrusive fo- 
 reigner, was much more than Emmeline could 
 endure. She therefore said, ^^ I really know 
 nothing of the nature of the dance, and should 
 only embarrass the Count. Perhaps he will 
 dispense with my assistance, and shew us alone 
 how the dance is performed." 
 
 "Impossible V cried the Count, ^^it cannot 
 be danced without a lady.'' 
 
 ^^ Really, Miss Laurimer,'' said Lady De 
 Verney, with one of her bitterest looks, " you 
 
 N 2
 
 268 THE WAV OF THE WORLD. 
 
 are extremely slow to oblige^ even in the most 
 trifling matters/' 
 
 Lady Helena saw that nothing would over- 
 come Emmeline's repugnance to what she 
 thought an exhibition ; and she perceived that 
 Lady De Verney's anger was mounting so ra- 
 pidly that it was likely to explode, when Em- 
 meline would certainly be its victim. She did 
 not care a straw about the display, and she 
 understood the dance of which the Count had 
 been talking, perfectly well ; she therefore very 
 good-naturedly averted the coming storm, by 
 offering herself to go through the dance. 
 
 The Count began by giving Lady Helena 
 some instructions, which she pretended not to 
 comprehend, and very perversely did the con- 
 trary of what he pointed out. After she had 
 amused herself and the groupe of persons who 
 had gathered about them for a few minutes
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 269 
 
 with this affected gaucherie, while the County 
 who seemed to think it was no laughing mat- 
 ter was getting heartily tired of his pupil^ sh^ 
 all at once struck into the true figure of the 
 dance^ and executed the various movements 
 with admirable accuracy and grace, and with a 
 spirit and vivacity that delighted every one. 
 The Count was thunderstruck ] instead of being 
 himself the object of admiration, as he had in- 
 tended by his ingenious manoeuvre, he found 
 that Lady Helena was the only person looked 
 at ', that she not only danced infinitely better 
 than himself — which indeed it was not difficult 
 to do — but that she was much better ac- 
 quainted with the particular dance of which he 
 bad been talking. He became confused, missed 
 the time, and at length made an excuse to 
 Lady Helena to finish the dance. 
 
 ^'Oh dear, not at all,'' replied Lady Helena, 
 I began to dance for your pleasure, and now 
 
 a
 
 270 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 that I am in the humour, it will be very rude if 
 you do not continue it for mine;" and she com- 
 pelled the discomfited Count to keep up for 
 some minutes longer. When she had finished 
 he took occasion to withdraw to another part 
 of the room, while Lady Helena received the 
 compliments and praises of every body but 
 Lady De Verney, whose heart boiled with rage 
 at the contemptuous indifference with which 
 Lady Helena had treated her "lion," and which 
 was indeed so strong that it could not be mis- 
 taken — and still more at the opportunity she 
 had herself been the means of affording to her 
 for a display of gracefulness and skill which 
 had excited universal admiration. She was, 
 however, too much in the habit of wearing her 
 most amiable looks, on her own nights at 
 least, to permit any sign of discontent to ap- 
 pear. She observed that Lady Helena danced 
 extremely well; "but, my dear," she added.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 271 
 
 addressing her, ^^ your style of dancing, grace- 
 ful and delightful as it is, wants the national 
 characteristic of the Polish dance/' 
 
 ^^ Indeed,'' said Lady Helena, "lam sorry 
 to hear your ladyship say so; because if I pride 
 myself upon any thing in so trifling a matter, 
 it is that I do represent exactly the national 
 style." 
 
 "Why, my dear," said Lady De Verney, 
 " you must admit that you dance it very differ- 
 ently from the Count ; and his manner must 
 be correct." 
 
 ^^ I do not see the necessity of the conclu- 
 sion," replied Lady Helena, ^^ although I ad- 
 mit that my style and that of the Count are 
 very different from each other." 
 
 " Do you mean then to contend," asked 
 Lady De Verney with some quickness, " that 
 you know more about it than one who was
 
 272 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 born in the country in which this dance origi- 
 natedj and who has practised it all his life ?" 
 
 ^^ I have not the honour of knowing where 
 the Count was born^'' replied Lady Helena, 
 with provoking indifference, ^^ but I have seen 
 the dance frequently executed by Poles of dis- 
 tinction. It was a great favourite when we 
 were at Vienna, and I had the good fortune to 
 receive lessons from Staroste, who besides be- 
 ing the first dancer at the Opera there, and 
 one of the most eminent artists in Europe, is 
 himself a Pole.'^ 
 
 ^^I must bow to such authority," said Lady 
 De Verney, sarcastically, '^ and must conclude 
 that Lady Helena D'Arcy knows more about 
 the matter than any one else. You will at 
 least admit that the Count dances very well ?" 
 "Very well for the style of dancing," re- 
 plied Lady Helena.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 2/3 
 
 iC 
 
 And pray what style do you call his r" 
 eisked Lady De Verney. 
 
 " Really I don't know," said Lady He- 
 lena, ^^but its character is like that which I 
 have seen described as the dances of the sol- 
 diers and peasants of Poland, and which is 
 more wild and vigorous than graceful." 
 
 Lady De Verney was about to say something 
 bitter, and even rude, but recollected herself in 
 time, and, to avoid the temptation she felt she 
 was exposed to, walked away. 
 
 Emmeline seized the opportunity which this 
 absence afforded, to thank her friend for having 
 relieved her from her aunt's importunity. 
 
 "Don't say a word about it, my dear," said 
 Lady Helena, "it is true I did interpose at 
 first only for the purpose of extricating you 
 from a task which I saw was very disagreeable 
 to you ; but upon the whole I am a clear 
 gainer by my amiability. I have had a dance, 
 
 N 3
 
 274 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 which I like very well ; I have been praised^ 
 which I like better ; and I have mortified Lady 
 De Verney and her ridiculous Count, which I 
 like best of all/' 
 
 " She went away in great anger," said Em- 
 meline ; " most likely I shall hear something 
 further about it." 
 
 '^That is what I most apprehend," replied 
 Lady Helena, '^ but never mind it. Take my 
 advice : the way to disarm such people as Lady 
 De Verney, is to convince them that their vio- 
 lence has no terrors for you." 
 
 " A lesson," said Emmeline, " which it is 
 easier to teach than to learn, and which you 
 would be much better able to practise than I. 
 However, I must endure as well as I can." 
 
 ^^ And depend upon it I will help you," re- 
 plied Lady Helena, " to encounter this formi- 
 dable dragon, if it should ever come to a battle. 
 But now do me the favour to keep your eye
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 275 
 
 upon that soi-disant County who, unless I am 
 mistaken, is a Count of his own creation, and 
 I think you will be convinced that the suspi- 
 cions I hinted to you are not without founda- 
 tion. He has got something in his hand which 
 he has been trying to pass to your cousin. 
 Lady Sophia; I'll lay my life it's a hillet douxJ'' 
 Emmeline looked in the direction pointed 
 out by her friend, and saw the Count standing 
 near the fire. Lady De Verney was next to 
 him, and her daughter stood close beside her. 
 Mademoiselle Blache was at a little distance 
 behind the groupe, apparently employed in 
 laying with Lady De Verney^s pet dog. Em- 
 meline, after a short time, saw the Count pass 
 his hand behind Lady De Verney, and a mo- 
 ment afterwards Lady Sophia extended hers 
 in the same direction. Lady Helena's expec- 
 tations were fulfilled. The Count was handing 
 a note to the young lady, which she unfortu- 
 nately let fall, and, with the heedlessness which
 
 2/6 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 she commonly displayed, immediately uttered 
 an exclamation which induced Lady De Ver- 
 ney to turn round, — and the paper lay before 
 her on the rug. Ingenious people are seldom 
 at a loss for an expedient. The convenient 
 Mademoiselle stooped with the rapidity of 
 lightning, seized the paper, and tossed it into 
 the fire, where it was safely consumed before 
 any one could have guessed at what it was. 
 
 ^^ What are you doing. Mademoiselle?" 
 asked Lady De Verney, sharply. 
 
 " This naughty Cupidon," said Mademoi- 
 selle, affecting to scold the dog, " will not do 
 as he is bid. I have been trying to persuade 
 him to fetch that piece of paper which I threw 
 intg the fire, and he will not." 
 
 Lady De Verney was satisfied with the ex- 
 planation. The consternation which had seized 
 upon the Count and Lady Sophia was dissi- 
 pated, and they looked as innocent as before. 
 
 Ragotzky passed before the recess in which
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 277 
 
 Lady Helena and her friend were sittings and 
 Mademoiselle followed him. — "'Merci !" said 
 he, as she passed him. " Mais la petite mal- 
 a-droite !" 
 
 " Quitte pour la peur,'' rejoined Mademoi- 
 selle, as she passed on. 
 
 " Bravo 1" said Lady Helena. " Very well 
 managed indeed. Now what think you ?" 
 
 '^ I am inclined to think you are right," re- 
 plied Emmeline ; " but what is to be done ?" 
 
 '' Nothing at present. You can do nothing 
 that would be serviceable/' said Lady Helena, 
 " but you must watch them. I see the plot 
 plainly enough. Lady Sophia will have two 
 thousand pounds a-year when she comes of 
 age ; thanks to tlie bounty of a deceased maiden 
 aunt. The Count thinks that is a stake 
 worth playing for, and the very respectable 
 Mademoiselle Blache, who is probably tired of 
 Lady De Verney's tyranny, has enlisted in his
 
 278 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 service. There is no great danger at present, 
 but we must spoil his plans 5 and when we see 
 occasion, we must apprize Lord Redhurst of 
 the honour which Mr. Ragotzky intends to 
 confer on him. To interfere just now would 
 be of no use.^' 
 
 " Did you ever see anything more barefaced 
 than the conduct of that Frenchwoman ?" asked 
 Emmeline, indignantly. 
 
 ^^ My dear, I have seen so many impudent 
 things done in good society, that I am hardly 
 prepared to answer you, although I confess 
 it was a very eminent display of effrontery," 
 replied Lady Helena; "but now I must bid 
 you good-bye. I am going out of town to- 
 morrow for a few weeks. You will write to 
 me of course : be vigilant, and, above all, pro- 
 mise me that Lady De Verney's unkindness 
 shall not make you very unhappy.*' 
 
 I will do my best," said Emmeline. The 
 
 a
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 2/9 
 
 friends then separated, and soon afterwards 
 Emmeline was summoned to accompany Lady 
 Sophia in a song. 
 
 Lord Redhurst, who had been absent in the 
 earlier part of the evening, soon afterwards en- 
 tered the room, and was indolently leaning 
 against one of the folding doors, with the ab- 
 stracted cold look he commonly wore ; and was 
 scanning, with most unconquerable indiffe- 
 rence, the various pretensions to beauty dis- 
 played in the adjoining room, when a lively 
 acquaintance aroused him, declaring that he 
 had been so long absent from the gay world, 
 he must apply to Frederick for information 
 concerning the reigning fashionables. 
 
 " First of all,'' said he, ^^ who is that young 
 merry-looking thing, with the brightest eyes 
 and the most brilliant complexion I ever be- 
 held?" 
 
 Redhurst smiled ; but before he could reply,
 
 280 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 a friend of the former gentleman, who was in 
 London for the first time in the season, ex- 
 claimed — ^^ Ah ! Lord William, what a singu- 
 lar taste you must have, to prefer a merely- 
 pretty child to that elegant, interesting crea- 
 ture who stands beside her." 
 
 " Well, gentlemen,'" said Lord Redhurst, 
 '^ I am sure I ought to be flattered at your 
 praises of my sister and cousin. Lady Sophia 
 is sitting down to the harp, and that pale girl, 
 ill mourning and without ornaments, is Em- 
 meline Laurimer." 
 
 "Impossible!" exclaimed Lord William 
 Neville, rivetting his eyes on her ; " that can- 
 not be the ever- laughing niece of Lady Mad- 
 dalena Guyden, whom I once knew." 
 
 " It is the same, I assure you," replied 
 Frederick. " Did you know her well ?" 
 
 '' Did I know her ? ... Did I ? " said 
 
 Lord William, vehemently. '^ Do I not still
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 281 
 
 see her elastic form bounding from the earth 
 she scarce deigned to touch ; her soft bhie 
 eyes beaming intelligence, and her cheek paint- 
 ed with the bright vermilion of nature ? What 
 can have changed her thus ?" 
 
 ^' And was she really all that ?" asked Lord 
 Redhurst_, in an unusually mournful accent. 
 
 ^^ Aye, and far more than all this," pursued 
 Lord William, with his undiminished earnest- 
 ness ; " I wish I could hear her speak, to per- 
 suade myself it is really herself.'* 
 
 " Lord Redhurst," said Emmeline, ap- 
 proaching them at this moment, " your sister 
 wants the song she lent you yesterday.*' 
 
 " I will send for it," said Lord Redhurst ; 
 ^^ but first, my fair cousin, here is a friend of 
 mine wishes to renew his acquaintance with 
 you." 
 
 Emmeline looked up, and, starting at the 
 unexpected sight of Lord William, extended
 
 282 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 her hand with that emotion of gladness which 
 we feel at the appearance of one who reminds 
 us of past pleasures. Lord William Neville 
 she cared little for at any time, and long had 
 ceased to think of, but he recalled those hal- 
 cyon days which were no more, and which, as 
 they gradually faded in the distance, were re- 
 membered with more dear regret. 
 
 With interest painful as well as lively, she 
 beheld a person she had known formerly, when 
 her spirits were high, and her soul unclouded. 
 Lord William had known Lady Maddalena, 
 and had admired her rare qualities of mind, 
 and her noble disposition. How many reasons 
 were there for Emmeline's rejoicing at this 
 meeting ? She did rejoice, and Lord William 
 was flattered and delighted. His long smo- 
 thered forgotten flame burst out anew, and his 
 marked attentions soon excited the enquiry — 
 "Who is Lord William Neville flirting with ?''
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 283 
 
 Lady De Verney was as fond as ladies usu- 
 ally are of encouraging matrimony. She had 
 not the slightest particle of affection for Em- 
 meline ; on the contrary, she was rather jea- 
 lous of her beauty and talents, and was forced, 
 in spite of herself, to respect her. She, never- 
 theless, was glad to see a prospect of disposing 
 of her niece, by which she would at once be 
 freed from the presence of one whom she dared 
 not treat as ill as her inclination would have 
 prompted her, and winch would in no way 
 hurt the family pride. She bestowed there- 
 fore some of her most gracious smiles on Lord 
 William Neville, was loud in his praises when 
 he was away, and in his presence openly pro- 
 tected him. 
 
 Her manner towards Emmeline underwent a 
 marked change, and, although it was far from 
 cordial, her niece felt it was so great a re- 
 lief from the painful and contemptuous cold-
 
 284 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ness which she had before experienced, that, 
 if it had been carried one degree farther, she 
 could almost have felt an affection for her im- 
 perious relative. No suspicion, however, had 
 as yet crossed her mind that there was any 
 thing more in Lord William Neville's atten- 
 tions to her than his own good nature and po- 
 liteness, and their former acquaintance, dic- 
 tated. She believed he had wholly forgotten 
 his temporary passion for her; she was de- 
 lighted to talk with him about Lady Madda 
 lena, and the tranquil life she had led when he 
 first knew her ; and while she looked upon his 
 civilities as meaning nothing, all the people 
 who did her the honour of thinking about her 
 at all, considered her as the future wife of 
 Lord William Neville.
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 28 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ** II cantar che nell'anima si sente, 
 II pi& ne sente I'alma, il men I'orecchio." 
 
 Petrarca. 
 
 The absence of Lady Helena D'Arcy had de- 
 
 • 
 
 prived Emmeline of the chief support she had 
 been able to find against the painful irksome- 
 ness of the life she was doomed to lead in 
 Lady De Verney's house. Mr. Mortimer, too, 
 had not returned, and she had received no in- 
 telligence of Sir Henry Daverout. This sus- 
 pense was distressing to her spirits, and almost 
 wore out the hopes she was so reluctant to 
 part with, and which had become much stron-
 
 286 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 
 
 ger, she hardly knew why, since her last con- 
 versation with Mr. Mortimer. In the corre- 
 spondence which Lady Helena had invited her 
 to, she found, however, some relief; and the 
 liveliness of her friend, and the expression of 
 the sentiments she experienced to one who was 
 disposed to sympathise with them, at once 
 furnished her with an occupation, and blunted 
 the keen edge of her sorrows. In the society of 
 her relatives she was compelled to wear the 
 appearance of tranquillity, but when alone, the 
 bitter recollection of her lonely position some- 
 times defied all her efforts to restrain her tears. 
 Lord William Neville's attentions to her be- 
 came daily more strongly marked, and she was 
 forced to admit the suspicion that he regarded 
 her with warmer feelings than those which 
 could be excited merely by their former inti- 
 macy. This conviction added to her imeasi- 
 ness, because she felt that, although she did
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 28/ 
 
 full justice to his merit, and had a sincere 
 friendship for him, she could not entertain any- 
 other sentiments towards him. , 
 One day that Lady De Verney had taken her 
 daughter out, Emmeline was sitting by herself, 
 reflecting with discomfort on some strong ex- 
 pressions of attachment Lord William had 
 made use of the night before. Lost in her 
 own melancholy thoughts, she did not hear 
 Lord Redhurst enter. Tears slowly bathed a 
 countenance expressive of gentle sorrow ; they 
 fell on her work, she shook them oif — again 
 they fell, and, laying it down with a despond- 
 ent air, she rested her head on the table. Her 
 cousin gently turned to leave the room, but a 
 compassionate sigh betrayed him. Emmeline 
 looked up, and faintly addressed him to deliver 
 a message Lady De Verney had left, that he 
 should join her and his sister at an auction 
 whither every one flocked to look at pictures
 
 288 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 they did not understand, and buy things they 
 did not want. 
 
 Lord Redhurst listened in silence, and with 
 an absent look replied, "I have no time." He 
 threw himself on the sofa, and carelessly turned 
 over the leaves of a book. -^ 
 
 '^ His time is precious, indeed,'' thought 
 Emmeline, and she smiled as the observation 
 crossed her mind. 
 
 ^^ Miss Laurimer," said Lord Redhurst, 
 starting as from a reverie, ^' you play, I know, 
 and I believe you sing also, although I never 
 hear you at my mother's parties. Is it not 
 so?" 
 
 '^ Certainly it is," replied Emmeline. 
 
 ^^ Would it be very unreasonable, on my 
 part, to ask to hear my cousin?" continued he. 
 
 ^^ By no means," said the acquiescent Em- 
 meline. ^^ What do you like ?" 
 
 '^ Something that is not very recherchey' he
 
 THE WAY OF THli WORLD. 289 
 
 said, " if you please. I am wearied of fine 
 music." 
 
 '^ That is fortunate,** replied she, ^' as I am 
 not a fine musician," and, striking her harp, 
 after a rapid prelude, she began a mild and 
 mournful air, which Lady Maddalena had 
 taught her because her mother had liked it. 
 
 The varying countenance of Emmeline gave 
 added expression to the tones of her harp. 
 Sohietimes, as the harmony became more lofty, 
 she would raise her mild eyes to heaven, with 
 the conscious feeling of an elevated being ; her 
 whole air then gave the illusion of inspiration, 
 and even Lord Redhurst was for a moment 
 transported. She ceased ; the transient colour 
 faded from her cheek ; the bright ray of en- 
 thusiasm passed away, and she sighed at com- 
 ing back again to herself. 
 
 " Yours is the soul of music," said her 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 290 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 cousin, ^' it is addressed to the heart. Why- 
 has it power over yours but for a moment ?" 
 
 Emmeline was astonished at the question, 
 and still more at the tone of sensibility with 
 which it was pronounced. She smiled lan- 
 guidly, and replied, ^^ Strong emotions are ge- 
 nerally fleeting ones. I am passionately fond 
 of music. I cannot conceive a misery which 
 for the moment it would not have power to 
 make me forget. It raises me out of the world 
 of complicated and harassing trifles ; but when 
 it is over must I not return ?'' 
 
 '' And is not the return painful — dreadfully 
 painful?" asked Lord Redhurst in a voice of 
 emotion. 
 
 '^ Not to me," answered Emmeline. '' I am 
 not happy — ^but I am not wretched. I have a 
 comfortless — ^but not a difficult path to pur* 
 sue. I try to do what is right, and leave the
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 291 
 
 rest to Providence; not with much hope indeed, 
 but without anxiety/' 
 
 r 
 
 " My dear cousin," said Lord Redhurst, 
 affectionately, '^ I have no claim upon your 
 confidence, but I am interested for you, and I 
 am rarely interested about anything. Will you 
 not allow me the comfort of being useful to 
 you ? Can I contribute to your pleasure in this 
 house, or can I hasten your marriage with 
 Lord William Neville?'' 
 
 ^^ Hasten my marriage with Lord William?'' 
 replied Emmeline, breathless with astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 Lord Redhurst explained to her that it was 
 the current report in town, and the belief of his 
 mother. She assured him. Lord William had 
 never touched on the subject to her, and that 
 if he had, it would have been useless. The 
 cousin looked for an explanation. 
 
 You do not comprehend me," said she. 
 
 (C
 
 292 THE WAV OF rilE WORLD. 
 
 with quickness, " and still less do I compre- 
 hend you. You have the credulity to believe 
 that a young, and, as it is said, a dissipated no- 
 bleman, is so romantic as to wish to marry one 
 with so small a portion of such attractions as 
 are likely to captivate him as I possess. You 
 do not hesitate in supposing your friend, and a 
 man of the world too, to be mastered by the 
 most ungovernable passion ; but your imagi- 
 nation refuses to admit the possibility of my 
 not sharing that passion." 
 
 " But,'' said Lord Redhurst, hesitatingly, 
 ^^ must you be in love ?" and looking expressly 
 at her, he added, in the words of Pope : 
 
 " Aim not at joy, but rest content with ease" 
 
 " Ah !" exclaimed Emmeline, mournfully. 
 
 " I ask no kind return of love, 
 No tempting charm to please ; 
 Far from the heart those gifts remove, 
 That sighs for peace and ease 1"
 
 THB WAY OF THE WORLD. 293 
 
 ^^ I am not waiting until I am in love 3 but 
 I must wait until I respect — I had almost said 
 
 r 
 
 revere — the being I am called upon ^ to honour 
 and obey.* I am weak and fearful. I have 
 always dreaded the idea of marriage. It is 
 irrevocable ! No energy can destroy it, no re- 
 pentance can avail; for beyond it is nought, 
 save eternity !'' 
 
 Miss Laurimer paused, and in a more 
 moderate tone, proceeded. ^^ You are kind 
 enough to express an interest in my fate. 
 While I remain free, it cannot be very bad, 
 for it may change ; but I have better reasons 
 than mere selfish ones to offer for the refusal 
 which so much surprises you. I do not think 
 it would be right to marry Lord William 
 Neville, supposing him to be willing to marry 
 me, — ^which I much doubt. My Aunt Lady 
 Maddalena has not a good opinion of his moral 
 
 o 3
 
 294 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 character. She might have been mistaken ; 
 but she was a better judge than I can be." 
 
 ^^ You are a severe person," said her cousin, 
 with a smile. " Perhaps you do not know that, 
 in the world. Lady Maddalena was reckoned 
 unmercifully so. There is a great deal of good 
 in that young man, and, I dare say, it was some 
 idle tale of his gaming that displeased my aunt 
 so much — at any rate, he has long left it off." 
 
 ^^ And did he ever game ?" asked Emmeline, 
 in a tone of horror. 
 
 " Would you have had him unlike every one 
 else?" said Lord Redhurst. " How do you 
 suppose I could support the tedium of exist- 
 ence, without such an amusement?" 
 
 '^ Gracious heaven !" said Miss Laurimer, 
 involuntarily retreating, " are you a game- 
 ster ? No — I will not believe you can sink so 
 low. You are susceptible of kind and gentle
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 295 
 
 feelings, and cannot they save you from so de- 
 grading an occupation? Have you no pride, 
 which says the name of Laurimer must not be 
 sullied by being once coupled with that of 
 sharpers ? Do you love no one whom you 
 would spare the regret of hearing you thus 
 
 employ ?" 
 
 " Enough, enough, my kind cousin," said 
 he, hastily interrupting her ; " you pain, but 
 cannot change me. I am indifferent to every 
 thing. The world is careless of me, and I 
 am, therefore, careless of myself. If I could 
 be sure of enjoying your conversation, of hear- 
 ing your celestial harmony, I would cease to 
 say all hours are alike to me, but this cannot 
 be — less now than ever, since you will not 
 marry Lord William." Frederick pronounced 
 the last words in a low tone, as if speaking to 
 himself, and Emmeline in vain sought their 
 meaning.
 
 296 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Her cousin rose hastily. ^' It is my 
 mother's carriage,'" said he, " adieu ! adieu 1" 
 and precipitately he left her. 
 
 As Lady De Verney came in, she inquired if 
 Miss Laurimer had seen her son. 
 
 ^^ He has just left the room," said Emme- 
 line, with her accustomed simplicity. 
 
 Lady De Verney frowned, and Lady Sophia, 
 taking up his hat and gloves, which lay on the 
 sofa, exclaimed, ^^ Dear me, what a hurry 
 Frederick must have been in to forget these ; 
 I never knew him do so but once, you remem- 
 ber, mamma, when we thought mademoiselle 
 had broken her leg." 
 
 ^' I suppose you could not take the trouble 
 to deliver my message to Lord Redhurst?" 
 said Lady De Verney, with a stern glance of 
 inquiry. 
 
 '^ Indeed I did tell him," replied Emmeline, 
 " but I do not know whether he heard me, for
 
 THE WAY OP THE WORLD. 29/ 
 
 he answered carelessly, and appeared to forget 
 it immediately." 
 
 " Very well, Miss Laurimer, that will do ; 
 pray let me have no talking about it," im- 
 patiently retorted Lady De Verney. 
 
 Lady Sophia took away Emmeline, and 
 whispered as they left the room, " Don't mind 
 mamma being cross ; she is often so, and I 
 dare say she is only angry with you because 
 Frederick stayed with you instead of coming 
 to us. She has never been quite pleased with 
 him, poor fellow ! since he said Lord William 
 Neville would be very fortunate in so lovely 
 and gentle a wife as you." 
 
 *^ My dear Lady Sophia, I assure you," said 
 Emmeline, " it is all a mistake my being to 
 marry Lord William Neville. Neither of us 
 think of it, I do entreat you to believe." 
 
 ^^ Indeed you must excuse me," said the
 
 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 laughing girl^ '^ I must believe my own ears ; 
 and I heard Lord William and mamma talking 
 of it not ten minutes ago, and he was thanking 
 her for her good opinion and support with you, 
 and a great deal more I could not listen to, 
 because the Persian Ambassador came in, and 
 1 was busy counting how many more folds he 
 had in his turban than mamma puts in hers ; so 
 you know I could not hear/' 
 
 At any other time, perhaps, Emmeline 
 might have answered " of course not;'* but, at 
 present, she was too much occupied with the 
 thoughts which her cousin's communication 
 had conjured up, to answer at all. In the 
 course of an hour she received a note from 
 Lord William, which he entreated she would 
 not answer hastily, and even hoped she would 
 not name it in the evening, when they were 
 to meet at a party. Distressed and agitated.
 
 THE WAY OF THE 'VVORLD. 299 
 
 Emmeline escaped from Lady Sophia as quick- 
 ly as she could^ to ponder on the new pros- 
 pect that opened before her. The reasons 
 she had given her cousin against accepting 
 Lord William's proposals were in full force ; 
 but, on the other hand, she thought with gra- 
 titude of his long regard for her. An agree- 
 able, well-bred man is never an object of 
 perfect indifference to a lady of Emmeline 's 
 years, when he appears as a declared lover. 
 The contrast, too, between the humiliating 
 and comfortless situation she was now in, and 
 the ease and consequence her marriage would 
 give her, was very striking. ^^ Oh, no V she 
 said to herself, " I will never be so ungrateful. 
 He would marry me from the most disinter- 
 ested affection ; and can I accept him from the 
 selfish idea that an establishment would make 
 me more independent than I now am. No —
 
 300 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 it is decided." And^ strong in this resolution, 
 she sate down to communicate to Lady Helena 
 the purport of Lord William's offer, and the 
 determination she had come to upon it. 
 
 END OF VOL. 1. 
 
 Gunnell and Shearman, 13, Salisbury Square.