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 OF THE 
 
 U N I VLR5ITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 ^J
 
 Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books 
 are reasons for disciplinary action and may 
 result in dismissal from the University. 
 University of Illinois Library 
 
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 L161— O-1096
 
 CONTRAST. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES 
 
 BY 
 REGINA MARIA ROCHE, 
 
 AUTHOR OP THE 
 
 Children of the Abbey; Discarded Son; Vicar of Lansdown 
 
 Bridal ofDunamore ; Tradition of the Castle ; 
 
 Castle Chapel, ^c. ^c. 
 
 There is nothing on earth excellent on all sides : there must be something 
 wanting in the best of creatures, to shew how far they are from perfection. 
 
 db. watts. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 A. K. NEWMAN i CO. LEADENHALL-STREET. 
 
 1828.
 
 ^^3 
 
 'J. / 
 
 TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 THE PRINCESS AUGUSTA. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 In the chequered page of my eventful 
 life, the honour of being permitted to in- 
 scribe to your Royal Highness the present 
 Work, will ever inspire me with heartfelt 
 gratitude. 
 
 While engaged in composing the " Chil- 
 ^ dren of the Abbey," it pleased Providence 
 to favour me with many friends, and to 
 open to my view, a prospect bright and 
 encouraging. Under these auspices, I 
 brought out that Work ; when, to com- 
 plete my happiness, I was honoured by 
 the signal notice of her late Majesty,
 
 VI DEDICATION. 
 
 your Royal Mother, whose condescending 
 goodness left me no wish ungratified. 
 
 Bereft since of these supports, by the 
 same hand that gave them, it has been 
 the will of Heaven to change my destiny, 
 and to allow the horizon, once so bright, 
 to be clouded with sorrow and disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 From this sad reverse, however, I now 
 feel, as it were, emerging : the Almighty, 
 in tender compassion to my sufferings, 
 has sent succour to his afflicted. " He 
 has smote the stony rock indeed, that the 
 water gushed out, and the streams of 
 comfort flowed withal." 
 
 By his Divine permission, new friends 
 have stept forward, and ministered re- 
 lief to wounds of long endurance. To 
 the gracious kindness of your Royal 
 Highness, and of other branches of your 
 illustrious family^ I am become a per-
 
 DEDICATION. Vll 
 
 petual debtor; and were it possible to 
 lay open the recesses of my heart, there 
 would be found no other sentiments than 
 those of the liveliest gratitude, and the 
 most profound respect. 
 
 Deign, Madam, to accept, for the pa- 
 tronage with which you have honoured 
 me, my humble tribute of sincere thanks 
 — " Evermore thanks, the Exchequer of 
 the Poor." 
 
 While I thus obey the dictates of my 
 heart, I cannot suppress my apprehension 
 of the defects that may be found pervad- 
 ing the Work now humbly presented to 
 your Royal Highness, for which reason I 
 must implore your indulgence ; and that 
 your Royal Highness will make some al- 
 lowance for the anguish of mind under 
 which I laboured, while engaged in the 
 task. This severe trial has been too well
 
 VIU DEDICATION. 
 
 attested by those who witnessed it, and 
 who have been pleased to express their 
 approbation of the manner in which I bore 
 it : but I must have been forgetful of the 
 precepts of early youth, had I wanted 
 fortitude on the occasion. Religion, that 
 inward principle of action, that stay and 
 sanctuary of sorrow and of suffering, cheer- 
 ed and supported me through the dreary 
 path, until the long night was over, and 
 the dawn of comfort broke in upon the 
 bed of sickness. 
 
 How welcome to the forlorn pilgrim, 
 in this vale of tears, is that religion which, 
 during the splendour of pagan worship, 
 under imperial sway, was ushered into the 
 world in a distant province, under the 
 mildest and most benevolent aspect ! 
 
 Connected with this sublime theme, I 
 may venture briefly to advert to the be- 
 nign source whence pure religion has in
 
 DEDICATION. ix 
 
 this country derived so much of its 
 strength and prosperity. 
 
 The Great Disposer of all things, in 
 bestowing the crown of this realm on his 
 late Majesty, your Royal Highness's re- 
 vered Father, rendered it as famous for 
 defending and supporting the Protestant 
 Church, as it is conspicuous for its glory 
 and splendour. Such a return of Divine 
 Providence may justly be attributed to 
 the exalted virtue of the INIonarch, who, 
 in the great scenes of his reign, had 
 evinced a sacred regard for religion, and 
 thus realized the assurance in Holy Writ, 
 that " God honours those who honour 
 him." 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that in the 
 
 Dedication of a pious work to his late 
 
 Majesty, at the commencement of his 
 
 reign, the Author justly affirmed, that 
 
 b3
 
 "X DEDICATION. 
 
 " True piety has in all ages been ac- 
 counted the truest honour; for religion 
 diffuses the greatest glory around the hu- 
 man character, and sweetens and embalms 
 the memory of princes." This happy 
 presage has been eminently fulfilled in the 
 illustrious instance just referred to, and 
 " the memory of the j ust is blessed." Dur- 
 ing a reign of unexampled date in the 
 English annals, that virtuous Sovereign 
 shewed an earnest concern for the eternal 
 happiness of his people, as well for their 
 earthly protection. 
 
 It may be truly remarked, that under 
 no former sovereign have the subjects of 
 this realm displayed so great zeal, la- 
 bour, and care to enlighten mankind with 
 divine knowledge. The wide dissemina- 
 tion of the Scriptures in all languages, 
 and in all quarters of the habitable globe, 
 confirms this interesting truth, and justi-
 
 DEDICATION. XI 
 
 fies the happy simile drawn by a reverend 
 divine, " That while the sacred writings 
 afford matter of meditation to the highest 
 intellect of man, they also resemble that 
 celestial manna which fell, not for the pa- 
 lates of a favoured few, but for the nurture 
 of all Israel." 
 
 Before I take leave of the interesting 
 subject, may I be permitted in this place 
 to record the tribute of my sincere ho- 
 mage and loyalty, towards his present 
 Majesty, your Royal Brother, who has 
 signally advanced the glory of this coun- 
 try, by every means in his power, and who, 
 by his humane and liberal patronage, has 
 encouraged and called into action the va- 
 rious energies and talents of a free people. 
 
 If the sincere prayer of an humble in- 
 dividual can be heard with effect, I would 
 prefer it to the Throne of Mercy, and be- 
 seech the Giver of all Good to vouchsafe
 
 XU DEDICATION. 
 
 a continuance of his blessings upon the 
 King, and upon every branch of the 
 Royal Family. 
 
 I remain, 
 With profound respect, 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 Your Royal Highness's most obedient 
 and devoted humble servant, 
 
 REGINA MARIA ROCHE. 
 
 London, lOth April 1828.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The afflictive causes which have im- 
 pelled the Author to publish a work by 
 subscription, may seem to require some 
 explanation. The engraved letter which 
 has been circulated, conveyed a faint idea 
 of those causes, and of the steps taken to 
 mitigate or remove them. Disappointed 
 in this just expectation, the Author has 
 been compelled, as a last resource, to ap- 
 peal to the Public, who have accordingly 
 vouchsafed their generous sympathy, and 
 ministered kind relief To express, now, 
 in suitable terms, thanks towards those in- 
 dulgent friends who have patronized her 
 labours, is indeed an arduous task, to
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 which she feels utterly unequal. Their ge- 
 nerous sympathy has restored the author to 
 comparative happiness. Those who can ima- 
 gine the effect produced on the mind, when 
 a long night of sickness and privation has 
 given place to the dawn of health and com- 
 fort, and where gloom and despair have been 
 succeeded by hope and sunshine, may form 
 some faint notion of this auspicious change. 
 
 For the strength that enabled her to 
 struggle through her trials, and the good- 
 ness she has experienced, she feels she can 
 never be too grateful. 
 
 The next consideration that weighs 
 upon the Author's mind, is the reception 
 which awaits her performance before the 
 tribunal of the public. She cherishes the 
 hope, that the peculiar circumstances un- 
 der which it was composed, may obtain
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 for her the indulgence of which it may be 
 found she stands in need. From her be- 
 nevolent Subscribers, and from those who 
 have perused her Circular, she anticipates 
 a favourable judgment ; but with the ma- 
 jority of her readers, who may be strangers 
 to her history, she cannot expect the same 
 allowance : — to such readers she can only 
 offer the assurance, that at no period of 
 her life did she take up the pen under 
 difficulties and afflictions so overwhelm- 
 ing, and must therefore trust to their 
 generous candour, to overlook or excuse 
 the defects they may meet with in the 
 Work now submitted to them. 
 
 In conclusion, may the Author be per- 
 mitted to add, that it has been her anxi- 
 ous wish and aim, to inculcate, under a 
 pleasing form, pure morality ; and under 
 the garb of fiction, to express only such
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 sentiments as may be conformable to the 
 precepts of religion. 
 
 How far she may have been successful, 
 it is not for her to decide.
 
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 SUBSCRIBERS. XIX 
 
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 E. 
 
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 XX SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
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 I. 
 
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 K. 
 
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 L. 
 
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 SUBSCRIBERS. XXI 
 
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 shire 
 
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 Lodge , Esq Hawkshead 
 
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 square 
 
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 Luxmore Miss 78, Gloticester-place 
 
 A Lady, per C. Bolton, Esq 
 
 M 
 
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 N. 
 
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 XXll SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
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 O. 
 
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 SUBSCRIBERS. XXIU 
 
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 XXIV SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Thomhill - 8, Cornwall-terrace 
 
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 Yorke Vice Admiral Sir J. K.C.B. M.P. 14, New Burlington-st. 
 Young Sir William Bart 24, Upper Wimpole-street
 
 CONTRAST 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The beings of the mind are not of clay : 
 
 Essentially immortal, they create 
 And multiply in us a brighter ray. 
 
 And more beloved existence : that which fate 
 Prohibits to dull life in this our state 
 
 Of mortal bondage, by these spirits supplied. 
 First exiles, then replaces what we hate ; 
 
 Watering the heart whose early flowers have died, 
 
 And with a fresher growth replenishing the void. 
 
 Childe HaroUe. 
 
 " Nothing unpleasant, I hope, in 
 that letter, De Montville?" said his friend 
 Melcombe, seeing him poring over one 
 just received from England. 
 
 *' Unpleasant !" repeated the other, as 
 if unconsciously, and with something of 
 bitterness in his tone ; " oh, no ; only that 
 I must give up enjoying the pleasures of 
 the carnival here this season." 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 CONTRAST. 
 
 " The deuce ! Why, at this rate, what 
 with your going and Trelawney's, it will 
 hardly be worth my remaining for, unat- 
 tached as I shall then be to any particular 
 party. But pray, may I ask the occasion 
 of your sudden departure hence ?" 
 
 " There, let that answer you," said De 
 Montville, pushing to him the letter, 
 which, on being roused from the reverie 
 into which it had plunged him, he had 
 rather petulantly thrown aside, and at 
 the same moment starting up from the 
 breakfast-table, at which they had been 
 loitering, to pace the apartment. 
 
 Melcombe impatiently took it up, and 
 read as follows : — 
 
 " Hon, Horatio De Montville, 
 
 Ashfield, 7th February 18—. 
 
 " Letter after letter, and still no 
 period fixed for your departure from Sici- 
 ly, which you gave us all to understand 
 was to be the finish of your travels for the 
 present. Were I in a different humour, 
 I should be tempted to say, your linger-
 
 CONTRAST. 3 
 
 ing there is enough to create a suspicion 
 of the sirens of Ulysses being still in ex- 
 istence, without any of his wise precau- 
 tions being had recourse to, to guard a- 
 gainst them. Seriously, such a protracted 
 absence is a circumstance calculated to 
 give uneasiness to your friends, and the 
 suspicion, I am candid in acknowledging 
 it has excited, will not be lessened by your 
 disregarding this intimation. I did not 
 wish before to be peremptory on the sub- 
 ject, lest of being accused of usurping an 
 unjust authority over you; but finding 
 your mother's expressed washes for your 
 return passed over in silence, I cannot for- 
 bear observing, I shall expect this to be 
 answered in person. If, after an absence 
 of so many years abroad, your curiosity is 
 not by this time completely satisfied, you 
 must indeed have devoted yourself to very 
 unprofitable pursuits. Be that as it may, 
 however, your return can no longer be 
 dispensed with, from certain arrange- 
 ments that have been made. I am now on 
 the very point of setting off for Ireland, 
 b2
 
 4 CONTRAST. 
 
 where, as soon as you have paid your du- 
 tiful devoirs at home, I shall expect to be 
 joined by you. Words are nothing, and 
 of course professions, until put to the test: 
 the sincerity of yours will be evinced, or, 
 in other words, your regard for your 
 friends, by your letting them find, that 
 their anxiety for your welfare has not been 
 useless. In the pleasing hope of a happy 
 and speedy meeting, I remain, your affec- 
 tionate kinsman, Le Poer." 
 
 " So," cried Melcombe, " a mandate in- 
 deed ! but is there no way of evading it ?" 
 
 " Yes, certainly, of resisting it, but at a 
 risk that " 
 
 '' T comprehend : the old gentleman is a 
 godpapa, who has held out a hope of your 
 yet touching some of his thousands, pro- 
 vided you continue a good boy." 
 
 '* Exactly. My mother is his niece, 
 but was portioned as a daughter. While 
 yet a mere child, I had, I don't know 
 which to call it, the good or bad fortune, 
 that yet remaining to be proved, to particu-
 
 CONTRAST. 5 
 
 larly attract his regard ; and in conse- 
 quence of the expectations created by this 
 partiahty, my father died without making 
 any addition to the provision previously 
 secured to me by settlement. Hitherto I 
 have had no reason to regret the circum- 
 stance, from the liberality I have expe- 
 rienced from his lordship ; but now comes 
 the tug of war, when I shall know whether 
 I have cause or not to lament the want of 
 a certain independence." 
 
 " Then it is as I conceived ; from his 
 lordship's letter, you are summoned home 
 on some matrimonial project, not alto- 
 gether agreeable to your imagination ?" 
 
 " Agreeable !" exclaimed the other, his 
 cheek flushing, and starting up again 
 from the chair on which he had thrown 
 himself; " any thing but that! The 
 fact is, it was the hope of this strange 
 whim, that occasions my return home be- 
 ing now so peremptorily insisted on, being 
 relinquished, if I kept out of the way, that 
 induced me to prolong my stay abroad 
 to this period." 
 
 " Strange whim ! I don't understand
 
 6 CONTRAST. 
 
 you. Is there any circumstance that ren- 
 ders the lady an unsuitable alliance for 
 you ?" 
 
 " In a worldly point of view, assuredly ; 
 and that it is which justifies the expression 
 that appears to have puzzled you. She is 
 a destitute. orphan, related, I understand, 
 to the Le Poer family, but of whom I 
 never by any chance heard, until taken 
 under the protection of his lordship and 
 my mother, for the avowed purpose of 
 bringing about an alliance between us." 
 
 " Well, faith, odd enough ! but it may 
 yet be satisfactorily accounted for. But 
 have you seen her ?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 ** But you have received some descrip- 
 tion of her, I presume ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, and " 
 
 " Why, as you so sagaciously inferred 
 one thing, I think you might also this, 
 that had the account been pleasing, my 
 unwillingness to return would not have 
 been quite so great." 
 
 " True ; but perhaps the lady, though
 
 CONTRAST. 7 
 
 not actually a divinity, may still be at- 
 tractive ; that is, gifted with those mental 
 charms that more than compensate for the 
 want of personal ones : and what, after all, 
 is beauty ? a flower that fades in the 
 course of a few revolving suns! Is not 
 the poet's observation, that " it soon grows 
 familiar to the lover, fades on his eye, and 
 palls upon the sense," verified by . the 
 number of beautiful wives we see forsaken, 
 for rivals not in any way to be put in 
 competition with them ? Therefore, my 
 
 dear fellow, af " 
 
 " Ay, this is all very fine reasoning," 
 said De Montville, impatiently; " but I 
 never knew a man who could not be a 
 philosopher, when merely interested about 
 the affairs of others ; but touch the spring 
 of selfishness, and see hov/ very differently 
 he will then argue and appear to feel. 
 However, even in those graces on which 
 you lay such stress, I am told my intended 
 is deficient ; that, in short, she is nothing 
 better than an untrained, unschooled girl, 
 without any one charm but that which is 
 constituted by youth, and as such "
 
 8 CONTRAST. 
 
 " You will none of her ; but, in that 
 case, what becomes of godpapa's thou- 
 sands?" 
 
 " Ay, there's the rub, for he is a man 
 inexorable in his resentments, and circum- 
 stanced as I am, through my father's re- 
 lying so much on his fondness for me, I 
 candidly confess, it would be a most un- 
 pleasant circumstance to forfeit his favour." 
 
 " Doubtless : therefore, for Heaven's 
 sake, don't run the risk. It is astonishing 
 with what tenacity old people adhere to 
 any favourite plan ; their adhesion to it, 
 if I may use such a comparison, is just 
 like that of a barnacle to a rock." 
 
 " But to sacrifice every feeling ! — to be 
 compelled to associate with a person I 
 cannot like !" 
 
 " Pooh ! — stuff ! Was a man under an 
 obligation never to move without his 
 wife ; but the very usages of polished life 
 exempt him from so dreadful a necessity : 
 take my advice, therefore, since go you 
 must, make a virtue of necessity, by not 
 delaying your return ; secure the indepen- 
 dence you require, by taking the lady.
 
 CONTRAST. 9 
 
 and be yourself again. And there is one 
 consolation in your ease, you know, your 
 heart being disengaged: were the case 
 otherwise indeed," and he paused, and 
 looked very much inclined to laugh. 
 
 Again the countenance of De Montville 
 underwent a transient suffusion, as ab- 
 ruptly turning away, he told Melcombe 
 he should be engaged the whole of the 
 morning, and left the room. 
 
 Not, however, in the way that the other 
 might naturally have concluded, from 
 what had just occurred, was it passed by 
 him. The moment he quitted the apart- 
 ment, he ordered his horse, and, unattend- 
 ed, rode out in the direction of the moun- 
 tains that form the romantic back-ground 
 of Palermo. A fear of being encountered 
 by any one he knew, prevented any lin- 
 gering until he began to ascend amongst 
 them, when he was necessarily obliged 
 to alter the pace at which he had previ- 
 ously rode, and with a deep sigh began to 
 reflect on his situation — the cruel predica- 
 ment in which he was placed ; compelled 
 b3
 
 10 CONTRAST. 
 
 to give up hopes he had flattered himself 
 were on the very eve of accompHshmentj 
 or else run the hazard of forfeiting the in- 
 dependence he had so long contemplated 
 as a certainty. 
 
 De Montville was of an ardent tempe- 
 rament — lively, brilliant, easily affected, 
 and prone to follow the bent of his feel- 
 ings. While none had a keener relish for 
 the pleasures of fashionable life, there was 
 a degree of romance in his nature, that led 
 him, like the minstrel of Beattie, to de- 
 light in lonely musings, in all that affect- 
 ed the imagination, or excited enthusiasm. 
 The magnificence of nature, the records 
 of departed greatness, unaspiring worth, 
 and genius struggling with the obstacles 
 of adverse fortune, feelings too deep for 
 words to utter, were then touched and 
 awakened, and, for the time, he became 
 lost to external objects, in a world of his 
 own creating. 
 
 In one of his solitary and exploring 
 rides, one day in the neighbourhood of 
 Palermo, on turning to regain the road 
 from which he had diverged into a by
 
 CONTRAST, 11 
 
 one, he found himself completely bewil- 
 dered : in vain he sought to catch a glimpse 
 of some object that might serve as a land- 
 mark. The city, with its intervening 
 plain, was completely hidden from his 
 view, by the wild, luxuriant thickets of 
 aloes and Indian fig, that overran the un- 
 equal surface of the ground, intermingled 
 with oleander and palmetto, surmounted 
 by lofty beech and chesnut, again clad in 
 spring's green livery, while as yet hardly 
 a tender bud in colder climates marked the 
 glad return of the genial season. He went 
 on, looking about him for some place at 
 which he might inquire his way, when he 
 suddenly found himself on the edge of a 
 deep rift, or glen, in the very heart of the 
 mountain, at the opposite extremity of 
 which stood a very ancient, solitary-looking 
 building, with the green summit of the 
 steep acclivity on which it was erected, 
 appearing above it, casting a soft shadow 
 on the nether scene. Here De Montville 
 thought he might obtain the direction he 
 required; and accordingly, throwing the 
 bridle of his horse over the arm of a tree.
 
 121 CONTRAST. 
 
 he descended into the glen ; but did not ad- 
 vance, without frequently pausing to ad- 
 mire the profusion of glowing flowers with 
 which it was enamelled, sending forth a 
 cloud of fragrance, as his foot carelessly- 
 pressed them, and the sunbeams playing in 
 the wild eddies of a beautiful stream that 
 meandered through the verdant turf, uni- 
 ting its soft murmurs to the still softer ones 
 of the Sicilian dove. As he drew near the 
 building, he perceived it was in a very ruin- 
 ous state, and altogether had such an aspect 
 of decay and desolation, as inclined him to 
 fear he had incurred his present trouble to 
 no purpose. Determined however to ascer- 
 tain whether it was untenanted, as he had 
 such reason to imagine from its appearance 
 and the profound stillness that reigned 
 around, he knocked loudly at the old 
 portal ; but no answer was returned, and 
 after repeating the knock several times, he 
 became confirmed in his surmise of its de- 
 sertion. By this time there was a curi- 
 osity awakened to view the interior, and 
 he went reconnoitring about, to try if he 
 could discover any way of entering, con-
 
 CONTRAST. IS 
 
 ceiving there could be no great impro- 
 priety in intruding into a place that was 
 abandoned. At length his diligent scru- 
 tiny discovered to him, within a deep 
 niche or recess, in one of the old towers 
 that flanked the portal, a small door, that 
 with very little difficulty yielded to his 
 hand, and admitted him into a spacious 
 court, surrounded by the building. Here 
 all was silent as the grave — all evinced the 
 melancholy omnipotence of Time ; the fine 
 entablatures of the marble colonnade that 
 ran round it, were mutilated and defaced — 
 the fountain, that had once diffused an agree- 
 able freshness through the place, no longer 
 played; its basin was covered with slime and 
 weeds; and the waving of some tall cypresses 
 added, if possible, to the mournful aspect 
 of the place. De Montville looked and lis- 
 tened, to try if he could see or hear any 
 indication of an inhabitant ; but nothing 
 of the kind met either eye or ear ; and he 
 ventured to advance into another cloistered 
 court, thickly planted with orange, lemon, 
 and citron, and containing in the centre a 
 capacious marble basin of limpid water.
 
 14 CONTRAST. 
 
 The heat was by this time intense, and to 
 obtain a temporary refuge from it, he sat 
 down upon the step of the colonnade, re- 
 freshed by the cool look of the water, and 
 the diversified tints and balmy fragrance 
 of the agrumi : as his eye wandered, he 
 every where beheld evidences of decay and 
 desertion, in shattered windows and moul- 
 dering turrets, hung with streaming grass. 
 A sensation of melancholy was impressed 
 upon his mind, and he gradually sunk into 
 a fit of musing, from which he was sud- 
 denly roused by the low creaking of a 
 door, at the end of the colonnade under 
 which he had taken shelter ; but whether 
 through the influence of the air, or the 
 movement of a hand, he could not of course 
 decide ; keeping his eye fixed, he saw it in 
 the course of a few minutes gradually 
 open, and a female, of an elegant form, 
 issue from it, her head shrouded in the 
 antique veil of the Sicilian women. She 
 advanced with not merely a cautious, but 
 fearful air, and, with her looks directed to 
 the other side of the court, was within 
 a few paces of De Montville, when his
 
 CONTRAST^ 15 
 
 sudden, perhaps involuntarily, rising at 
 her approach betrayed him to her: she 
 started back, her veil at the same instant 
 escaped from her hand, and her face re* 
 vealed to his view, he beheld one of sur- 
 passing beauty. He was on the point of 
 expressing his regret at the alarm it was 
 evident to him he had occasioned her, 
 when, with a faint scream, she retreated 
 within the door from whence she had just 
 issued. De Montville, hardly conscious 
 of what he was about, was rushing after 
 her, when he was prevented by the start- 
 ing forward of another female, but of a 
 very different description, from a still 
 nearer door under the colonnade ; and at 
 the same instant, ere she had time to ad- 
 dress him, as she appeared about doing, a 
 gruff, masculine voice was heard behind 
 him, demanding what was the matter? 
 
 " By our Lady if I know !" cned the 
 female. 
 
 " Allow me to explain," said De Mont- 
 ville ; and turning as he spoke, he encoun^ 
 tered the keen, sly-looking visage of an 
 elderly man ; and he proceeded to state the
 
 16 CONTRAST. 
 
 mistake to which his intrusion was owing. 
 
 " Humph!" exclaimed the man, in a 
 surly tone, and one of doubt ; " it may be 
 as you have stated, signor ; but now that 
 you know the place is not unoccupied, the 
 next time you choose to pay it a visit, I 
 hope you will honour me by letting me 
 be the person to give you admission." 
 
 " Assuredly," replied De Montville; 
 '* I should hardly think of admitting my- 
 self to a place I did not think deserted ; 
 and I have to regret what has occurred, 
 from the fright it has been the occasion of 
 to the lady of the place." 
 
 " Lady ! what lady does he mean, Ise- 
 nella ?" demanded the man. 
 
 " By St. Rosalia, that's more than I 
 know !" she replied, '* except it be, that," 
 smoothing her skirt, and drawing herself 
 up, " he takes me for one." 
 
 " No, pardon me," said De Montville, 
 
 " that is it was a very young lady, I 
 
 am apprehensive I alarmed by my intru- 
 sion here." 
 
 " Lady !" again repeated the man; " why 
 your eyes must have deceived you, signor,
 
 CONTRAST. 17 
 
 or else you were napping, for there's no 
 lady here." 
 
 " No, that there is not, nor has for many 
 along year," followed up the woman; "and 
 'tis not to visit such an old ruinated place 
 as this, stuck in a mountain, like a bird's 
 nest in a tree, that the gay signoras of Pa- 
 lermo would be coming ; no, no, they pre- 
 fer the Ottangolo and tTie Marino, and 
 going from one fine palazzo to another, 
 and " 
 
 " Did any one ever hear such a clapper, 
 but a sexton?" cried the man. "Why 
 what signifies who does, or who does not, 
 come here ?" 
 
 " And do you really say that no one 
 lives here ?" demanded De Montville. 
 
 " No, signor, I assert no such thing : I 
 thought I gave you to understand it was 
 inhabited : my wife and I live here ; but 
 we are its sole occupants." 
 
 " Except the rats in the cellars, and the 
 owls in the turrets," cried the wife. 
 
 " And so now, signor," in an ironical 
 tone, added the husband, " having answer-
 
 18 CONTRAST. 
 
 ed your questions, if you permit, I'll have 
 the honour of shewing you out." 
 
 De JNIontville hesitated ; their positive 
 denial of the lady served to heighten his 
 curiosity respecting her ; a thousand roman- 
 tic stories of tyranny and oppression re- 
 curred to his recollection, inclining him 
 to believe she was suffering through some 
 act of injustice, else why their solicitude 
 to make him discredit the evidence of his 
 senses ? her cautious look, her fearful step, 
 strengthened the surmise; but if it was 
 their policy to deceive him about her, it 
 was his to allow them to think they had 
 succeeded, else any further efforts to ascer- 
 tain the fact he wished might be disap- 
 pointed : accordingly, without further de- 
 lay, but not without casting a longing, 
 lingering look at the door by which the 
 lovely vision had disappeared, he suffered 
 himself to be conducted to the one by 
 wrhich he was to leave the building. Here 
 however pausing, he took out his purse, 
 with a hope that he should not offend, by 
 wishing to make some recompence for the 
 trouble he had given.
 
 CONTRAST. 19 
 
 " Oh, not in the least, signer," was the 
 reply ; " I am never offended with what 
 pleases me." 
 
 " And may I ask," resumed De Mont- 
 ville, still loitering, and with assumed care- 
 lessness, " who the owner of this villa is ?" 
 
 The man surveyed him for a moment, 
 with a sly, malicious look, then with a 
 forced, or rather jeering laugh — " To be 
 sure, signor, you may ask what you please ; 
 but asking and answering are distinct 
 things ; and so," opening still wider, as he 
 spoke, the door by which the stranger was 
 to depart, and which De Montville per- 
 ceiving it was useless to expect the grati- 
 fication of his curiosity from him, did 
 without further delay. 
 
 Curiosity ! it was more than curiosity 
 was excited ; a feeling of intense interest, 
 such as determined him on not resting until 
 he had endeavoured to ascertain something 
 more concerning the fair stranger, whe- 
 ther, as he had surmised, she was a sufferer 
 through any tyrannical influence. Why 
 had she so abruptly started away on see- 
 ing him? But how ridiculous to suppose
 
 20 CONTRAST. 
 
 that had she remained, any claim would 
 have been made on the services or sym- 
 pathy of a total stranger ! but then some- 
 thing might have been elicited, that might 
 have instructed him as to the method of 
 serving her, if indeed any services were 
 required. In short, all that was romantic 
 in his nature was awakened by the belief 
 she had given rise to ; and on recrossing 
 the glen, instead of looking about him for 
 the spires of Palermo, he looked about 
 him for some one, or some habitation at 
 which to inquire the name of the villa he 
 had just left. At length, on descending 
 a little further into the woods, bearing 
 upon the bay, he came to a cottage front- 
 ing the sea, at the door of which sat a wo- 
 man, twisting silk, with some children 
 playing about her. Having accosted her, 
 by inquiring the nearest way back to the 
 city, De Montville, after throwing some 
 money amongst the children, who came 
 running to gaze at him, proceeded to ask 
 whether she knew the name of such a 
 villa, describing the one he had just come 
 from.
 
 COXTKAST. 21 
 
 " What, the villa high up in the moun- 
 tains here at the head of the glen ? oh yes, 
 signor, that is the villa Zerbino." 
 
 " And the owner, does he reside in it ?" 
 impatiently demanded De Montville. 
 
 *' What, the count Zerbino ? — no, sig- 
 nor, no ; it's many a long year since it has 
 been the abode of the family ; he has far 
 finer residences elsewhere — a fine palazzo 
 at Naples, and a beautiful villa on the 
 banks of the Brenta ; and one can't won- 
 der, I am sure, that he should prefer these 
 to this old out-of-the-way place, that, they 
 say, is as ancient as the Saracens or Nor- 
 mans, and that, what with time and wars, 
 and being given up entirely for so many 
 years to the occupation of servants, would 
 take a mint of money to have it put in 
 proper order for the reception of a noble 
 family again." 
 
 " Entirely to servants!" repeated De 
 Montville, with an eagerness he could not 
 repress ; " what, are there none but servants 
 now occupying it?" 
 
 The woman looked earnestly in his face 
 for a minute, then — " Why I can't exactly
 
 22 CONTRAST. 
 
 answer that question, signor," she said. 
 
 " They do say but here if I have not 
 
 got my silk tangled — well to be sure, if 
 this is not a plague : but as I was going 
 
 to tell you but look at that urchin 
 
 Marco risking his neck, climbing up that 
 chesnut; beshrew me if I don't think all 
 young boys are a kind of imps, for ever in 
 mischief — mischief." 
 
 De INIontville, not without a strong in- 
 clination to give the young rogue a flog- 
 ging for his attempted escalade, quickly 
 dragged him down ; then with an air of 
 impatience that could not be misunder- 
 stood, again turning to the mother — 
 " Why yes, signor," she resumed, " they 
 do say, but I am sure I can't take upon 
 myself to vouch for the truth of the re- 
 port, that a young sister of the count Zer- 
 bino is now confined in the villa." 
 
 " Now !" cried De JVIontville with emo- 
 tion — " on what account pray ?" 
 
 " Why, signor, in order to compel her 
 to enter a convent, that he may keep to 
 himself a very large dower he must other- 
 wise give her."
 
 CONTRAST. 0,3 
 
 " Good Heavens," exclaimed De Mont- 
 ville, " what cruelty ! But is there no 
 one to interfere about her — no one to res- 
 cue her from him ?" 
 
 " No, signor ; the old count and coun- 
 tess, her parents, are both dead, rest their 
 souls, and she has no near relation but her 
 brother, who accordingly treats her as he 
 likes ; but by our Lady, if she have but 
 the spirit of a mouse, she'll never be fright- 
 ened out of her liberty, to give him up 
 her dower. Marry come up indeed ! I 
 wish any one had thought of serving me 
 so, for you must know, signor, I had a 
 good share left me, with my brothers, of 
 the olive plantations our father had." 
 
 " But supposing any one were suffi- 
 ciently interested about her, to endeavour 
 to rescue her from this unjust brother, 
 think you," anxiously inquired De Mont- 
 ville, " any way could be found for ten- 
 dering their services ?" 
 
 " Why, signor, I do think it would be 
 a difficult matter ; for except the imme- 
 diate intimates, or favourites of Ugo and
 
 24 CONTRAST. 
 
 his wife Isenella, few, if any, are admitted 
 to the villa." 
 
 " But to such a ruinous, rambling build- 
 ing, I conceive there could be no great dif- 
 ficulty in obtaining secret access," said De 
 Montville ; " and I know a person who 
 would well recompense an effort for the 
 purpose." 
 
 " Well, signor, you are really such a plea- 
 sant-spoken cavalier, I should like to oblige 
 you myself; for, as my husband, Stefano, 
 says, ' a smooth tongue, like soft running 
 water, gains upon us before we are aware." 
 
 " Then, as an earnest of my gratitude, 
 you must accept this," said De Montville, 
 putting some gold into her hand. 
 
 " Oh, signor, this is really being too ge- 
 nerous, after what you have already thrown 
 to the young rogues." 
 
 " By no means. But when do you 
 imagine you could make the attempt you 
 have indirectly promised me?" 
 
 " Why, signor, I cannot positively say 
 when, but you may be sure as soon as 
 ever I can ; and whenever you come this 
 way, you know you can call ; and should I
 
 CONTRAST. 25 
 
 be absent at the moment, don't fear I shall 
 be long away ; for what with this thing 
 and that thing, minding my silk-worms, 
 and helping to repair Stefano's nets, for 
 he's a fisherman you must know, signor, 
 and minding the young ones, and going 
 daily to mass, and now and then to con- 
 fession, the saints can witness, if I have a 
 moment alaiost to bless myself withal, 
 much less for gadding." 
 
 As De Montville pursued his way back 
 to Palermo, he could hardly help smiling 
 at the idea of the adventure in which he 
 had so suddenly engaged ; yet after all, if 
 all were explained, surely even by those 
 inclined to ridicule, it could not excite 
 laughter, so natural was the impulse that 
 occasioned it : but he had no intention of 
 ascertaining this, by determining to make 
 no confidant on the occasion ; for silence 
 on the subject there were many reasons; 
 it might be found impossible to apprise 
 the lady of the champion she had acquired, 
 and it was also doubtful whether the cir- 
 cumstance was one she would be inclined 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 26 CONTRAST. 
 
 to profit by ; but supposing she were, 
 there was no knowing the motives she 
 might have for wishing to have the whole 
 affair remain a secret ; and would he be 
 satisfied with her acceptance of his services, 
 without any claim being allowed him to 
 her further notice? Assuredly; for what 
 interest could he feel for her but as an in- 
 jured person ? True, she was young and 
 fair ; but headlong love he had always ri- 
 diculed ; and he felt convinced that had 
 she been the very reverse of what she was, 
 he would still have experienced the same 
 readiness to serve her. Certainly she was 
 a creature that might well excuse an in- 
 stantaneous passion, so lovely with her 
 dejected mien! her locks of raven hue, 
 clustering over a brow of marble white- 
 ness ! and then her dark eyes, so beautiful 
 in the wild terror they had expressed at 
 his sight ! surely she could never have been 
 seen, or it would not have remained for 
 him to offer his services.
 
 CONTRAST. 27 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 " Such is the refuge of our youth and age, 
 The first from hope, the last from vacancy." 
 
 He allowed but a day or two to elapse, 
 ere he paid another visit to his new ac- 
 quaintance Bianca. He found her at the 
 door, looking anxiously in the direction in 
 which he might be expected. On seeing 
 him, she retreated into the cottage, beck- 
 oning him to follow. — " Well, signor," she 
 said, " you shall hear what I have been 
 doing since. As I was puzzling my 
 brains to think how I should set about 
 trying to oblige you, who should come 
 to pay me a visit but Enrico, my son — 
 my eldest son, you must know, signor, 
 whom an old uncle, a shepherd, has brought 
 up, and, amongst other things, taught him 
 to play upon the pipe, as all the shepherds 
 in these parts do ; and to be sure so sweetly 
 c 2
 
 28 CONTRAST. 
 
 he does play on it, that no wonder the silly 
 sheep come flocking about him, when at 
 sunset he takes it up to call them toge- 
 ther : well, hardly had he been with me a 
 minute, when it struck me his music might 
 be the means of enabling me to discover 
 the part of the villa the signora occupied, 
 without which I knew it would be useless 
 my attempting to do what you wished : so 
 pretending to him I wanted to gather 
 some herbs about the mountains, and that 
 I should like to have him to divert me 
 with his pipe whilst collecting them, I set 
 off for the villa; but in vain I kept wan- 
 dering before it — no one appeared : so at 
 last I clambered up to it, and kept loiter- 
 ing about, making Enrico still continue 
 his playing ; till at length the upper lattice 
 of an old tower, that juts far into the woods, 
 opened, and at it appeared the loveliest 
 creature — why he would be worse than 
 the Saracens, of whom they tell such tales, 
 who could think of shutting up such an 
 angel in a nunnery ; but, as I was going 
 to say, she didn't immediately perceive 
 me, she was so engrossed by the music of
 
 CONTRAST. 29 
 
 Enrico, who, the sun being setting, had 
 just commenced the evening service to the 
 Virgin ; but when she did, and just as I 
 was on the point of making her compre- 
 hend by a sign that I was a friend, she 
 started back, and instantly closed the lat- 
 tice with a look of terror." 
 
 " And is this all you have to commu- 
 nicate?" asked De Montville, evidently 
 disappointed. 
 
 " All ! and is not this something, signor ?" 
 
 " I can't perceive it is — that is, if thus 
 alarmed at the sight of any stranger, I 
 can't see how there will be a possibility 
 of obtaining an opportunity of letting her 
 know what is wished." 
 
 " Ah, signor, as my old grandfather 
 used to say, ' it is not always at the first 
 glance that one can discover or ascertain 
 the depth of a well.' 'N'^^ithout getting to 
 speak to her, how could I deliver a mes- 
 sage? and to obtain an opportunity for 
 this, it was necessary to learn the exact 
 part of the villa occupied by her, else, in 
 such a rambling wild place, one would run 
 the chance, supposing they could enter it
 
 30 CONTRAST. 
 
 secretly, of losing themselves, or worse, 
 popping into the jaws of that tiger, Ugo." 
 
 " Ah, now I begin to understand you," 
 said De Montville, in an altered tone. 
 
 " Yes, I thought you would !" cried 
 Bianca, bridling up with pleasure. 
 
 " Well, and you have discovered a way 
 of obtaining access to the signora ?" 
 
 " Not yet, signor; but all in good time. 
 I have an old neighbour, who was brought 
 up in the villa, and knows all the inlets 
 and outlets of it, as he himself boasts, even 
 better than its owner, and of him I mean 
 to learn how I may enter it secretly ; and 
 then to be sure when I get to the signora, 
 I sha'n't tell her of the young, and the 
 handsome, and the most illustrissimo ca- 
 valier that is ready to carry her off." 
 
 " Hold ! hold ! nothing of that kind, if 
 you please, my good Bianca ; all you must 
 say is, that the services of a stranger, not 
 unworthy from rank of tendering them, 
 are at her absolute command, if she will 
 but honour him by their acceptance ; or I 
 will address a letter to her for you to de- 
 liver, for that I believe, upon considera-
 
 CONTRAST. 31 
 
 tion, will be the best, or most correct, 
 mode of tendering them." 
 
 " Well, signor, that's as you please ; but 
 I fear me I shan't be able to deliver your 
 letter immediately, for old Thomaso is 
 very bad, and confined to his bed, and till 
 he gets better, there's no asking him any 
 question; poor soul, his last clamber up 
 Monte Pellegrino, to pray at the shrii:ie of 
 the blessed saint Rosalia, was too much 
 for his old bones." 
 
 " Does he stand in need of any assist- 
 ance?" demanded De Montville. 
 
 " Why truly, signor, I don't believe 
 he's much better off than other folk, more's 
 the pity, for when well, he's much given 
 to kindness and hospitality." 
 
 De Montville's ready purse was im- 
 mediately in his hand. He departed, with 
 an intimation that he should call again in 
 a day or two : but not so readily, as might 
 have been expected, was his intended let- 
 ter written ; for the first time perhaps, as he 
 collected himself to write it, he began to 
 consider seriously of what he was about, and 
 the result were such doubts of the ultimate
 
 32 CONTRAST. 
 
 success of his project, as almost tempted 
 him to relinquish it. Supposing it drew 
 upon him no imputation of presumption, 
 yet might not the innate delicacy of her 
 sex, the natural timidity of youth, the 
 cloistered seclusion in which she had pro- 
 bably been kept from the world, all oppose 
 obstacles to the lady's acceptance of the ser- 
 vices of a stranger ? but then, should the 
 reverse chance to be the case — and finally 
 he decided on persevering in an effort for 
 ascertaining, satisfied that, end as the mat- 
 ter might, he should still have the consola- 
 tion of thinking he had acted from the 
 purest motives. 
 
 His letter was simply a repetition of 
 what he had commissioned Bianca to say ; 
 and he had at length the gratification of 
 learning that she obtained the information 
 requisite to enable her to deliver it. 
 
 What were not the feelings of De Mont- 
 ville at this information, at seeing that at 
 length there was a chance of his introduc- 
 tion to the lovely being who had awaken- 
 ed so lively an interest in his feelings! 
 Divided between hope and fear, he had
 
 CONTRAST. 33 
 
 solely given himself up to one idea or con- 
 templation, when the letter of lord Le Poer 
 arrived, to recall him to other thoughts. 
 
 Overwhelmed with despair, he hastened 
 to Bianca, determined that, let him ulti- 
 mately decide as he might in obedience to 
 this mandate, nothing should induce him to 
 leave Sicily, until he had ascertained the 
 result of his letter to the fair Zerbino. Bi- 
 anca was, as usual, on the watch for him, his 
 visits being always productive of something 
 agreeable to her; but notwithstanding which 
 consideration, her brow, on this occasion, 
 was nearly as dejected as his own : and 
 — " Ah, signor !" she exclaimed, the in- 
 stant she beheld him, applying, as she 
 spoke, the end of her veil to her eyes. 
 
 De Montville turned pale — " You have 
 failed then in your attempt to enter the 
 villa?" he said, " or the signora has reject- 
 ed the letter?" 
 
 " No, signor, neither is the case. Di- 
 rected by old Thomaso, I made my way 
 into the old tower, and admitted myself 
 to her chamber by means of a sliding pa- 
 nel ; but hardly had I given her your let- 
 c3
 
 34 CONTRAST. 
 
 ter, and intimated that I should be under 
 her lattice the next morning for an an- 
 swer, ere I was fain to retreat, in conse- 
 quence of hearing some one approaching. 
 Well, as I had said, ere the sun was well 
 up, I was at the tower ; but oh ! the saints, 
 what should I see, but, instead of finding 
 her watching for me, as I fully expected, 
 her driving off with that cruel brother of 
 hers, the count Zerbino !" 
 
 De Montville almost staggered under 
 the shock this information gave him — 
 " Forced away then at last !" he exclaimed. 
 
 " No doubt, signor; indeed it was evi- 
 dent, from the emotion I saw the angel in." 
 
 " Why was I not on the spot at the 
 moment!" cried De Montville; " they 
 should not have found it so easy a matter 
 then to have carried her off. But which 
 way did the carriage go?" he demanded, 
 wdth a look of wildness. 
 
 "It inclined towards the bay, and I am 
 therefore induced, from this circumstance, 
 to imagine she w^as put on board a vessel, 
 as the safest and readiest way of sending
 
 CONTRAST. 35 
 
 her to the convent where she is to be se- 
 cluded. 
 
 De Montville waited to hear no more ; 
 be rushed up to the woods about the villa, 
 where so often he had lingered since his 
 first visit to it. Several hours elapsed ere 
 he could at all compose himself, so deep 
 was his regret — so severe his disappoint- 
 ment at what had happened. A thou- 
 sand wild projects floated through his 
 brain, but which were finally relinquished, 
 as the suggestions of rashness and despair ; 
 and all hope of ever seeing or hearing more 
 of the fair Zerbino over, he returned to 
 the city, to prepare for his departure to 
 England, anxious, one way or other, to be 
 out of the state of agitating suspense he 
 was now in as to his future prospects.
 
 86 CONTRAST. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 " I know not why — but standing thus by thee, 
 It seems as if I had thine inmate known." 
 
 Immediately on landing, he set off for 
 the seat of his mother in Berkshire. He 
 found the old lady well, and, what was an 
 almost equally agreeable circumstance, by 
 herself, or in other words, his intended 
 bride not with her, as he had rather feared 
 and imagined would have been the case ; 
 for though he certainly wished to see her, 
 in order that he might judge himself what 
 she was, yet he certainly by no means de- 
 sired an introduction to her, until he had 
 positively ascertained what he might ex- 
 pect, should he find it impossible to acqui- 
 esce in lord Le Poer's project respecting 
 her. All that he desired to learn, he made 
 no doubt of now hearing from his mother, 
 she was so easy, and so artless, and more- 
 over so fond of him ; he was indeed her
 
 CONTRAST. 37 
 
 favourite, being the only one of the family 
 that had been allowed to remain under her 
 influence, her lord, the late earl of New- 
 bury, and his mother, not conceiving her 
 by any means sufficiently fashionable in 
 her notions to have the management of 
 young persons, destined to move in the 
 rank her children were. 
 
 After the first joy of meeting had a 
 little subsided, De Montville commenced 
 the inquiries so interesting to him. Lord 
 Le Poer was gone to Ireland, and expect- 
 ed him to speedily follow — " And then I 
 shall see her ?" said De Montville, finish- 
 ing the sentence for his mother. 
 
 " Yes, you will then see Ady." 
 
 " Ady !" repeated De Montville. 
 
 Lady Newbury laughed — " Ah, I re- 
 collect you don't like names abridged, and 
 really her name is so pretty, it is a pity to 
 shorten it — yes, you will then see Ade- 
 laide." 
 
 " And what kind of creature shall I ac- 
 tually find her?*' said De Montville. 
 " You know Louisa drew a most unfa- 
 vourable portrait of her."
 
 38 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Yes, I know ; but then you must re- 
 collect Louisa wished you to marry an- 
 other person." 
 
 " True, in hopes, if I took the sister, she 
 might obtain the brother." 
 
 " Oh well, we mustn't say that of your 
 sister; but I assure you Adelaide is pretty, 
 at least in my eyes." 
 
 « Ah !" sighed De Montville, " if I 
 could but hear any one else say the same : 
 but, my dear mother, you are so kind- 
 hearted, you wish to have every one 
 thought so favourably of, and make them 
 feel so pleased with themselves, that you 
 really often deck them with charms they 
 do not possess. There were the three Miss 
 Gubbins's — what a description did you 
 give me of them, and when I came to see 
 them " 
 
 Again she laughed — " Well, to be sure 
 they were not very beautiful ; but then, 
 poor dear things, they were not quite so 
 ugly as some people said." 
 
 " Well, if I can't be exactly satisfied as 
 to what this Adelaide is, let me at least 
 be satisfied as to who she is," said De
 
 CONTEAST. 39 
 
 Montville — " what lord Le Peer's mo- 
 tive can possibly be for desiring an alliance 
 between us, destitute as she is either of 
 that rank or fortune, to which, I under- 
 stand, he has hitherto attached so much 
 importance ?" 
 
 " You shall learn all you are anxious 
 about concerning her. It never was his 
 lordship's intention that an introduction 
 should take place between you, without 
 your previously knowing who she really 
 is." 
 
 " Then I am to understand he has em- 
 powered you to satisfy my anxiety on this 
 head?" 
 
 " Yes ; and this was his chief reason for 
 desiring you to see me ere you followed 
 him to Ireland." 
 
 " Then, my dear mother " 
 
 " Oh, you are all impatience-^well, that 
 
 is very natural indeed ; and so to begin 
 
 But how Frisk keeps jumping about you ! 
 dear fellow, to be sure the attachment 
 of these animals is astonishing. I was 
 reading in an old magazine lately an ac- 
 count **
 
 40 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Yes, there are a great many wonder- 
 ful anecdotes told of them. But really 
 now I am so anxious to hear " 
 
 " Oh ! what I have promised ; well — 
 But how sunburnt you are ! however it's 
 no injury ; no, really I do think you are 
 handsomer than ever;" and she fondly 
 kissed his cheek. 
 
 " Well, I shan't try to doubt that," said 
 De Montville, laughing. " But come, 
 my dear mother," and he drew his chair 
 still nearer to hers. 
 
 " You have heard, I believe," she said, 
 " that my uncle was married to a lady he 
 did not like ?" 
 
 " Yes, with commiseration for what she 
 must have endured, since unconciliating 
 as he is even to those he likes, what must 
 he have been to any one he disliked ?" 
 
 " A natural conclusion indeed. He 
 certainly never was a very gracious per- 
 sonage ; so much the contrary indeed, that 
 in my youthful days he was known 
 amongst the young folks by the title of 
 baron Grim : but I really think, poor dear 
 man, that he would not have been half so
 
 CONTRAST. 41 
 
 bad, but for the harsh and unyielding 
 father he had. But before I proceed fur- 
 ther, I want to ask you a question. You 
 have heard, you say, of his being married 
 to a lady he disliked ; but did you ever 
 hear of his being married to one he liked ?" 
 
 " No, never." 
 
 " So it was however. But to resume. 
 This terrible father of his forced him into 
 a marriage entirely contrary to his incli- 
 nation, a circumstance, I am persuaded, 
 that added not a little to the natural seve- 
 rity of his temper : the lady was not only 
 some years older than himself, but very 
 unamiable in every respect, destitute of all 
 those graces that win esteem, as it has been 
 observed, even where admiration cannot 
 be obtained : while his father lived, his 
 real feelings with regard to her were, in 
 some degree, concealed; but no sooner 
 was he relieved from the restraint he had 
 imposed upon him, than she began to be 
 made fully sensible of the cause of their 
 alhance ; upbraidings were the consequence 
 of the discovery, and their mutual dissatis- 
 faction, heightened by the want of off-
 
 42 CONTRAST. 
 
 spring, they by degrees came to have 
 hardly any intercourse with each other, 
 though they still continued to reside un- 
 der the same roof, for the sake of keeping 
 up * the dignity of appearances,' as his 
 half-sister, lady Dorothy Dubois, a most 
 awful-looking personage in my eyes, used 
 to observe. My poor dear papa, as diffe- 
 rent from his brother as day from night, 
 died about this time, and disappointed in 
 his hopes of a family, lord Le Poer began 
 to turn his attention upon me, and, as his 
 presumptive heiress, I was taken from my 
 dear, artless, unsophisticated mother, to 
 be given up to the control of lady Doro- 
 thy. The change from perfect freedom 
 to the severest restrictions, was too pain- 
 ful to be endured without murmurs; here- 
 tofore allowed the free use of the faculties 
 with which Heaven had blessed me, to 
 dash forth into the fresh fields, ere yet the 
 speckled lark had w^ell risen from his tufted 
 bed, and hail the glories of the rising sun, 
 amidst the sweets of opening day, I could 
 not very well bear to be the absolutely 
 manacled inmate of a dull apartment, com-
 
 CONTRAST. 43 
 
 pelled to do every thing by rule; but 
 there was no help for it. My poor dear 
 mother was too timid, and stood too much 
 in awe besides of my titled relatives, to 
 dream of interfering about me ; and so, for 
 two years, I continued paying for my ex- 
 pectations of being an heiress, by the loss 
 of every enjoyment. 
 
 " You have heard of Rockcliffe Castle, 
 the family seat on the Irish coast. A 
 vessel was driven on shore near it one 
 stormy night, and some of the terrified 
 and exhausted passengers, amongst whom 
 was a gentleman of the name of Hartland, 
 and his daughter, sought refuge there. 
 Lord Le Poer was by no mean^ pleased 
 at the disturbance this occasioned : he 
 liked no freedom or liberty whatever to 
 be taken with him ; and in a very bad 
 mood was repairing to the breakfast-par- 
 lour the next morning, when, in crossing 
 the hall, his eye encountered a beautiful 
 girl of seventeen at a window, in earnest 
 contemplation of the element that had so 
 nearly proved fatal to her the preceding 
 night. He directly rang for an attendant.
 
 44 CONTEAST. 
 
 of whom he inquired who she was. The 
 servant mistaking the cause of the inquiry, 
 informed him that he had given her father 
 to understand there was an inn a little 
 way farther off, and that they were about 
 departing for it, — ' And who ordered you 
 to be so officious, sir ?' demanded his 
 lordship, with one of his black frowns; 
 and he immediately sallied forth in quest 
 of Mr. Hartland ; and as he ushered him 
 and his daughter into the parlour, ex- 
 pressed his regret at not being up the pre- 
 ceding night, to see that every attention 
 was paid to them their situation required ; 
 and also his hope, that, until perfectly re- 
 covered from their recent fatigue and 
 fright, they would not think of removing. 
 He now learned who they were. Mr. 
 Hartland was a widower, and resident in 
 Devonshire ; and had come over to pay a 
 visit, or rather for the purpose of intro- 
 ducing his daughter to her mother's con- 
 nexions, the Mountflorence family, whose 
 beautiful and romantic seat, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of RockclifFe Castle, you have 
 heard me describe. There had been
 
 CONTRAST. 45 
 
 a coolness between Mr. iNIountflorence, 
 Mr. Hartland's brother-in-law, and his 
 lordship, for a considerable time ; but it 
 now appeared to be suddenly forgotten; and 
 an intimacy, greater than had ever before 
 existed between the families, took place. 
 In about a year after this, lady Le Poer, 
 who had previously been in a lingering 
 state, paid her debt to nature. Hardly 
 were the last duties paid to her remains, 
 ere his lordship departed for England, 
 whence, in the course of a few revolving 
 months, he returned wdth Miss Hartland 
 as his bride. It was whispered that the 
 young lady was by no means as ready to 
 accept his proposals as her father, owing 
 to an attachment to another ; and there 
 was a pale dejection in her looks, a seem- 
 ing disregard of the pomp and splendour 
 by which she was surrounded, that con- 
 firmed the report. She was immediately 
 taken in hand by lady Dorothy, to be 
 schooled into the proper observance of all 
 the ceremonies of her exalted rank. Poor 
 thing ! I, who had had such experience of 
 this schooling, felt for her : but what was
 
 46 CONTRAST. 
 
 her punishment was my release. Lord Le 
 Poer, again indulging hopes of a family, 
 it was deemed expedient I should be re- 
 turned to my mother. Oh, the joy, the 
 rapture of that moment, in which I found 
 myself again in her maternal arms ! again 
 under the thatch of our dear woodbine- 
 covered cottage, free once more to range 
 the verdant fields, and enjoy, unrestricted, 
 the beauties and the blessings of creation ! 
 " Years rolled on. Again lord Le Poer 
 was disappointed in his hope of a family, 
 and once more he began to regard me as 
 his future heiress : in consequence, I was 
 again taken from my mother, who did 
 not long survive our separation. Shortly 
 after, in Dublin, I was introduced to your 
 father, w^ho with his mother had come 
 over to pay a visit to the viceroy and his 
 lady. Every where announced as the 
 certain inheritress of the fortune of the 
 Le Poer family, the introduction was soon 
 followed by an overture for my hand. 
 Well for me was it that I had no inclina- 
 tion to reject it, since assuredly I should 
 not have been permitted, so pleasing was
 
 CONTRAST. 47 
 
 the alliance to my uncle ; but I was not 
 fashionable enough in my notions for your 
 father or his mother, as he would have seen, 
 had he given himself a little more time than 
 he did to study my character: however, 
 that's all passed." Her voice faltered a 
 little. — " I believe he did at length begin 
 to perceive that there are qualities that 
 may compensate for the want of more 
 dazzling ones." 
 
 " Assuredly," said De Montville, touch- 
 ed by the emotion she evinced ; " there 
 can be no doubt he did ample justice at 
 last to your worth ; and that which is late 
 accorded must be the most flattering, as 
 the result of experience." 
 
 " Shortly after my marriage," resumed 
 lady Newbury, " I removed to England : 
 I had been married about five years, when 
 I was shocked by accounts from Ireland. 
 Lady Le Poer, who certainly, between 
 the jealousy of her lord, a jealousy origi- 
 nating in his consciousness of not posses- 
 sing her heart, and the authority lady Do- 
 rothy usurped over her, led a very wretch- 
 ed life, had formed an intimacy with a
 
 48 CONTRAST. 
 
 very charming family in the neighbour- 
 hood of RockclifFe, the head of which was 
 a young man of the most pleasing, or, to 
 use more romantic language, fascinating 
 exterior; one of those sentimental-look- 
 ing beings that appear all soul, all feel- 
 ing, and, of course, are particularly cal- 
 culated to awaken and interest sensi- 
 bility. Lady Le Poer, so gentle and 
 so unhappy, could not but be pleased 
 with him, and he, in return, became so 
 enamoured of her, as to determine, if 
 possible, to win her to be his; trying to 
 persuade himself, that to allure her from 
 a husband, so every way unworthy of her, 
 could not possibly be considered a crime. 
 But whatever were the real feelings or 
 sentiments of lady Le Poer towards him, 
 in this opinion, not all his specious rea- 
 sonings or insidious attentions could in- 
 duce her to coincide. She was a victim 
 to paternal authority, but that could not 
 excuse her to herself for acting con- 
 trary to the principles in which she was 
 brought up, or forgetting the precepts of 
 him by whom the sufferings of afflicted
 
 CONTRAST. 49 
 
 virtue are never disregarded. Maddened 
 by passion and disappointment, De Vesci 
 conceived a project that you will hardly 
 credit; namely, of criminating the object 
 of his adoration, by means of suborned 
 witnesses, so as, in some way or other, to 
 effect a separation between her and her 
 lord — all that he presumptuously allowed 
 himself to believe was wanting to effect 
 the accomplishment of his wishes. I know, 
 if you read of such a thing, you would 
 say it was too monstrous even for fiction. 
 Still, what out-of-the-way occurrences are 
 daily taking place in life ! such as even 
 the extravagant imagination of a novelist 
 would fear to lay hold of, lest of exciting 
 censure for forced incidents, as a judicious 
 artist is obliged to select, instead of copy- 
 ing indiscriminately from nature : as 
 for instance, sometimes there is a sky 
 — but you smile — ah! I understand; you 
 think I had better not go farther, lest 
 I get out of my depth : and so, to pro- 
 ceed — the plot succeeded but too well 
 — the unhappy lady's asseverations of in- 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 CONTRAST. 
 
 nocence were useless, unsupported as they 
 were by those on whose testimony she 
 had relied for their confirmation ; she was 
 driven with ignominy from her hus- 
 band's house ; and, in the course of a short 
 time, a divorce was obtained : but the base 
 contriver of her ruin did not profit, as he 
 expected, by his scheme : not all the per- 
 suasions he had recourse to — the miseries 
 to which she saw herself exposed, could 
 induce her to forfeit the reality of that in- 
 nocence, which, in the eyes of the world, 
 she had already lost : but there was ano- 
 ther reason for rejecting his overtures — 
 she had now, for the first time, a prospect 
 of becoming a mother, and what new and 
 absorbing feelings were not excited by the 
 idea ! Convinced, however, that were the 
 circumstance known, the child would be 
 torn from her by its cruel and vindictive 
 father, she decided on keeping it a pro- 
 found secret ; and accordingly, in sorrow 
 and obscurity, your Adelaide was born." 
 
 De Montville started. — " Ah ! now I 
 begin to conceive the motive of lord Le
 
 CONTRAST. 51 
 
 Peer's anxiety for our marriage !" he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 Lady Newbury nodded, and thus went 
 on. — " Lady Le Poer's father was by this 
 time dead, and the little stipend she pos- 
 sessed in right of him being her only pro- 
 vision, she would have suffered the bit- 
 terest distress, but for Mr. Courtney, the 
 gentleman to whom she was originally 
 engaged, and his wife, seeking her out. 
 The stigma attached to her name would 
 not permit their receiving her under their 
 roof; but all else that Christian charity 
 and tender benevolence could do for the 
 alleviation of her sorrows, they did. Two 
 years she lived the object of their private 
 bounty and compassion, when the cruel 
 author of her misfortunes died, an early 
 victim to intemperate passions. In his 
 last moments, touched by remorse for the 
 wrongs he had done her, he sent for her 
 generous friend Courtney, and to him 
 made a full and solemn confession of the 
 contrivance he had formed against her, re- 
 ferring him, for the truth of his statement, 
 D 21 
 
 uBRAinr — ^ 
 
 UNIVERSnYOFlUINOtt
 
 52 CONTRAST. 
 
 to the persons who had aided him in hfs 
 scheme. Courtney lost no time in having 
 it estabhshed ; and having succeeded to the 
 fullest extent of his wishes on the subjectj 
 he proceeded to enter upon it with lord 
 Le Poer ; but in vain was all he urged ; 
 implacable resentment had decided him 
 on never permitting his injured lady's re- 
 storation to society, if he could prevent it ; 
 for, as afterwards appeared, confessions 
 had previous to this been made him, 
 that had considerably tended to her secret 
 vindication. She must, he argued, have 
 given some kind of encouragement to De 
 Vesci, or he never could have thought of 
 acting as he had done; and accordingly, 
 even for this, jealous as he was of every 
 look, and word, and thought, of hers, he 
 determined to punish her with the bitter- 
 est malignity." 
 
 " A very Christian-like determination !" 
 said De Montville; "and I much fear, 
 that the temper that dictated it remains 
 the same." 
 
 His mother shook her head. — " But 
 though," she proceeded, " this zealous
 
 CONTRAST. 53 
 
 friend could not obtain her vindication to 
 the world, he was so satisfied with her 
 meriting it, that he no longer hesitated to 
 associate her under the same roof with his 
 wife: but notwithstanding his kindness, 
 she did not trust him with the secret of 
 the child, passing it upon him as a little 
 destitute orphan belonging to her mother's 
 family, and by whose name it was called : 
 convinced, if apprized of the truth, he 
 would conceive it his duty to make 
 known the circumstance to lord Le Poer, 
 she shrunk from the communication. Her 
 Adelaide was now the only tie that con- 
 nected her with life : if deprived of her, 
 she should indeed be an isolated being ; and 
 there is a cold desolation in the thought 
 the heart cannot bear. 
 
 " Years passed on without her friends 
 having the slightest suspicion of the de- 
 ception practised on them, when she was 
 seized with an illness that proved fatal. 
 Finding her last moments approaching, 
 Mr. Courtney was summoned to her bed- 
 side, for the purpose of having that secret 
 Imparted which she had so long concealed.
 
 54 CONTRAST. 
 
 You may well believe what his surprise 
 was at her confession, and that a man of 
 his just principles would hardly have been 
 able to avoid some little reproach for her 
 conduct in this instance, but for the me- 
 lancholy state in which she then was. He 
 immediately acquainted lord Le Poer with 
 her communication, and his having in his 
 possession documents to prove the validity 
 of the young lady's claim upon him ; with 
 an intimation, that should it be disputed, 
 he should certainly, both from his regard 
 for her and his deceased friend, her mother, 
 take the necessary steps for establishing it. 
 " But there was no occasion for this threat 
 being carried into effect. Though his vin- 
 dictive temper would not permit of any gra- 
 tifying acknowledgment from him, lord 
 Le Poer, long before this, had become fully 
 convinced of the innocence of his lady, and, 
 of course, could not doubt what he now 
 heard ; more especially from the astonish- 
 ing likeness of Adelaide to a favourite 
 sister of his, the only being, I believe, he 
 ever really loved, and whose death, owing 
 to some accident in which he was concern-
 
 CONTRAST. 55 
 
 ed, he cannot, even at this moment, speak 
 of without being moved. By some chance, 
 in a journey through Devonshire, a year or 
 two before this, he encountered Adelaide, 
 and actually thought, at the moment, he 
 saw this deceased sister before him. But 
 not to weary you with unnecessary par- 
 ticulars, he repaired to Mr. Courtney's, 
 for the purpose of satisfying all parties 
 of his intentions : but while his admis- 
 sion of her mothers innocence prevent- 
 ed his disputing the right of Adelaide 
 to his name and fortune, he had still 
 many powerful reasons for not wishing 
 openly to acknowledge her. In fact, he 
 shrunk from the thought of reviving a 
 story, that was by this time partly for- 
 gotten — of making himself again, perhaps, 
 a theme for ridicule and malignity ; be- 
 sides, he reflected, from the moment al- 
 most of your birth, he had adopted you, 
 and he knew not how to disappoint the 
 expectations he had so long encouraged. 
 At length, the idea of a marriage between 
 the rival claimants on his justice suggested 
 itself to him, as the only means of adjust-
 
 56 CONTRAST. 
 
 ing all difficulties, and extricating him- 
 self from the dilemma in which he found 
 himself so unexpectedly placed ; for while 
 the nearer tie that connected them gave 
 Adelaide an undisputed right to his 
 first consideration, he could not but re- 
 flect that his promises, with regard to 
 you, had been the means of preventing 
 any additional provision being made for 
 you. But this was not all — by uniting 
 you and Adelaide, a thousand morti- 
 fying explanations would be avoided, that 
 could not be the case in a union with 
 any other person. In a word, he decided 
 on the measure: and having informed me 
 of all that had occurred, and his consequent 
 determination, the young lady was intro- 
 duced here as Miss Mountflorence, with 
 a strict injunction, that to no one, save 
 you, should the secret respecting her be 
 imparted, until, at least, after her mar- 
 riage."
 
 CONTRAST. 57 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 ** Enamour'd more, as more remembrance swells." 
 
 " Well, my dear mother," on finding she 
 paused, said De Montville, " I thank you 
 for the trouble you have taken in narrat- 
 ing these particulars I was so interested in 
 learning ; but do you not think his lord- 
 ship a little too arbitrary, in thus deciding 
 as he has done, without any consultation 
 with the parties most interested in the 
 matter?" 
 
 " Oh, he never dreamt of such a thing ; 
 he has always been too much accustomed 
 to exact unqualified obedience now to 
 doubt it." 
 
 " Yet he may be disappointed : you 
 surely cannot suppose or expect that I 
 shall surrender my inclination or judg- 
 ment to him ; or, in other words, force my- 
 D 3
 
 58 CONTRAST. 
 
 self to act contrary to either? Should 
 the union proposed for me be one that my 
 feelings and principles will allow me to 
 form, I, of course, shall not object to it" 
 
 " Oh, don't frighten me," interrupted 
 his mother, " by allowing me to think 
 there is a chance of your declining it ; for 
 think what the consequences might be, of 
 disobeying or ofifending his lordship ; un- 
 able as I am to do any thing essential for 
 you, from the very heavy expence Louisa 
 has been to me." 
 
 " But supposing, my dear mother, it 
 should so prove, that I could make no ob- 
 jection to it, there are the feelings of ano- 
 ther person also to be consulted." 
 
 " Oh, but I know Adelaide cannot, will 
 not make any objection to her father's 
 plan. I know it is next to impossible, 
 but that — that," she hesitated a little, " she 
 must admire, love you, when she knows 
 you ; and indeed, as a proof, she acknow- 
 ledged to me that your picture, which I 
 showed her, was very handsome." 
 
 " Flattering !" said De Montville, laugh- 
 ing : " pray, have you one of hers, that I
 
 CONTRAST. 59 
 
 may see if it be possible to return the com- 
 pliment?" 
 
 " No, but at Rockclifife there is the pic- 
 ture of the person she so much resembles: 
 and now do give me the consolation 
 of saying that, if it be possible, you will 
 acquiesce in your uncle's wishes; for I 
 have quite set my heart on your mar- 
 riage with Adelaide, from knowing there 
 would then be no obstacle to my residing 
 with you for the remainder of my days, 
 after I get Louisa off my hands; and oh, 
 the delight of thinking I should be a re- 
 sident again in dear Ireland, after my long 
 estrangement from it ! What would I not 
 give that I could accompany you at once, 
 there to have the gratification of judging 
 by your looks, as you visited the various 
 places I have so often described to you — 
 the fine remains of St. Finan's Abbey, 
 on the grounds of Mr. Mountflorence, and 
 the fine old seat of my mother's kinsman, 
 sir Maurice Rossglen, whether I gave you 
 a good idea of them." 
 
 " Well, my dearest mother, I need not 
 say I am sure," said De Montville, fondly
 
 60 CONTRAST. 
 
 kissing her cheek, " that I hope, on many- 
 accounts, all may be as you wish. Though 
 I do like straying amidst woods, and wilds, 
 and melancholy glooms, yet I assure you, 
 I am not sufficiently romantic to wish to 
 take up my abode amongst them, and 
 shall certainly therefore not do any thing 
 to irritate, or in any degree offend, his 
 lordship, if I can possibly avoid it : but 
 tell me, is Miss Mountflorence, as I am to 
 call her, now with him ?" 
 
 " Your introduction to her will not be 
 delayed after your joining him," she rather 
 evasively replied. 
 
 " I fully expected to have found her 
 with you," resumed De Montville : " is it 
 long since she left you ?" 
 
 " Yes, some months." 
 
 " Months !" in an accent of surprise : 
 " why, you gave me to understand she 
 was to remain with you until we met." 
 
 " Yes, but some circumstances occurred 
 
 to — to but it is not material to explain 
 
 them : and so, whilst I think of it, let me 
 entreat vou to be particular in your atten- 
 tions to lady Dorothy, for she is by na
 
 CONTRAST. 6l^ 
 
 means a person that will excuse any kind 
 of slight" 
 
 " What ! is she still in existence ?" 
 
 " Yes, and likely, from what I have 
 heard, to continue so for many years to 
 come; but she now resides at her own 
 seat, a few miles from Rockcliffe, instead 
 of at her brother's." 
 
 " Well, depend upon it, my dear mo- 
 ther, I shall pay all due observance to 
 your wishes and commands, in every in- 
 stance ; and to convince you how fully it 
 is my intention to do this, will not delay 
 joining his lordship." 
 
 The next morning, accordingly, he 
 posted off for Milford, whence he crossed 
 over to the opposite shore. This was his 
 first visit to the emerald isle, and one he, 
 probably, would not have been in a hurry, 
 to pay, could he have avoided it, owing to 
 a slight degree of prejudice, that, in spite 
 of his fond attachment to his mother, he 
 had imbibed against the country, through 
 the representations of his father and grand- 
 mother. He landed on the beautiful quay 
 of — , with a feeling of fastidiousness, 
 
 i
 
 G^ CONTRAST. 
 
 the result of this prejudice, that made 
 him not only expect, in every object he 
 saw, to meet with one of ridicule, but 
 even anxiously look about for such. He 
 was therefore not only surprised, but per- 
 haps disappointed— for when inclined to be 
 malicious, we are apt to be disappointed 
 at not meeting with opportunities to gra- 
 tify the humour— at finding that they were 
 not in a positive state of wildness, at the 
 hotel to which he was conducted, and that 
 the chaise in which he proceeded to Rock- 
 clifFe did not absolutely endanger his 
 neck. " But wait a bit," as they say 
 themselves ; it was not exactly in such a 
 place that pecuharities were to be expect- 
 ed. As he advanced into the interior, he 
 should there find cause for laughter, and 
 ridicule, and sarcastic observation. 
 
 Forced, by coming over, to act contrary 
 to his real inclination, and to which he 
 had quite as great an objection as any of 
 his fellow mortals, he had not recovered 
 a sufficient degree of complacency, from 
 this circumstance, to allow him to regret 
 finding a letter, instead of lord Le Poer,
 
 CONTRAST. 63 
 
 awaiting him, at the castle; written to ex- 
 cuse his lordship not being there to receive 
 him in person, through unforeseen busi- 
 ness, that had detained, and might detain 
 him for a few weeks longer in Dublin, 
 where he had landed ; and which conclud- 
 ed with a hope, that he would not feel 
 himself uncomfortable from their meeting 
 being a little longer delayed. 
 
 " Quite au contraire,'' was the internal 
 exclamation of De Montville. It was in- 
 deed an absolute relief to him, to have a 
 little further time to collect himself, ere the 
 introduction he almost dreaded took place. 
 
 Where he now was, afforded him, from 
 its loneliness, all the leisure and quietude 
 requisite for this. On the first moment of his 
 arrival, this had a somewhat chilUng effect 
 upon his imagination ; but he was suffici- 
 ently an enthusiast soon to find pleasure 
 in the contemplation of the wildness by 
 which he was here surrounded. Rockcliffe 
 Castle, remote from any other building of 
 consequence, was a very ancient pile of 
 cold grey stone ; but its cold and dreary 
 aspect was in perfect keeping with the 
 bleakness and sterility of the scenery about
 
 64 CONTRAST. 
 
 it. The ocean spread in front, and at 
 either side an immense tract of bog and 
 heath stretched away to a range of distant 
 hills, now blue as the cerulean vault, to- 
 wards which they aspired — now shrouded 
 in mists, the certain precursors of unfa- 
 vourable weather. No wonder that, in 
 such an habitation, De Montville thought, 
 where there was nothing to sooth, or charm 
 the imagination, the temper of lord Le 
 Poer should have lost nothing of its natu- 
 ral severity ; yet such was the force of early 
 impressions, that, even to this repelling 
 abode, his mother was delighted at the 
 idea of returning. 
 
 De Montville, as already intimated, quite 
 congratulated himself, on his first arrival, 
 at the idea of being left to his own thoughts 
 and reflections for some time ; but he was 
 not accustomed to such profound solitude, 
 and soon becoming wearied by it, it struck 
 him that he would pay a visit to the house 
 of sir Maurice Rossglen, even the relief of 
 paying one to lady Dorothy being denied 
 him, by the indisposition of her ladyship, to 
 whom, in due form, he had sent to an-
 
 CONTRAST. 65 
 
 hounce his arrival, and bestow his tedious- 
 ness there, until joined by lord LePoer; but 
 on mentioning this intention to Michael, 
 the old butler, he informed him that sir 
 JNIaurice was not then at Woodston, but at 
 
 the residence he also had in , to which 
 
 but a few days preceding his, De Mont- 
 ville's, arrival he had gone with his family 
 — ** But where, to be sure, your honour, 
 he would be quite as glad to see you as at 
 his place here ; and why not ? and if I 
 might be so bold as to give an opinion, 
 I*d be after advising you to go, because I 
 know it was on account of some fine par- 
 ties about being given there, that himself 
 and the ladies went." 
 
 " What, parties in a country town, and 
 that town an Irish one ! put himself in the 
 way of being dragged into such horrors — 
 forced to the necessity of making the 
 agreeable to simpering misses — trying to 
 look amiable ! — oh no, any thing but that ;" 
 and where he was, he accordingly decided 
 on remaining, until the return of the baro- 
 net from his temporary sojourn at . 
 
 But this decision did not oblige him to
 
 66 CONTRAST. 
 
 confine himself entirely to the vicinity of 
 the castle ; so one evening, soon after din- 
 ner, he set off for a long ramble, and in a 
 different direction to any he had previous- 
 ly strolled. The rugged and wild-looking 
 road gradually improved as he proceeded ; 
 the sea murmured at one side, and at the 
 other the green banks were surmounted 
 by daisied fields, where the cattle were now 
 softly lowing in the warmth of the declin- 
 ing sun. An air of tranquillity pervaded 
 every thing that was soothing to the feel- 
 ings, and De Montville, as is often the case 
 when sauntering by ourselves, became by 
 degrees so lost in thought, as almost to start 
 at finding himself, on suddenly uplifting 
 his eyes, before an old-fashioned mansion, 
 with a garden, laid out in the formal taste 
 of other days, in front, and a hanging wood 
 apparently pressing upon it in the rear, the 
 country stretching away at one side in well- 
 cultivated fields or farms, intersected with 
 pleasant roads, and interspersed with habi- 
 tations, sufficiently clustered near the house 
 to form a small village; and at the other, 
 the sea fenced off by a range of towering
 
 CONTRAST. 67 
 
 cliffs, wrought into a variety of fantastic 
 forms, by the incessant action of the winds 
 and waves ; here indeed, when the angry 
 spirit of the deep was roused, the bat- 
 tling of the conflicting elements against 
 the natural ramparts of the land was ter- 
 rible, causing an absolutely gasping sensa- 
 tion ; but at the other times, it was de- 
 lightful to watch the waves throwing up, 
 as if in play, their spray in the face of the 
 rocks that frowned upon them, and listen 
 to them in summer stillness, pouring their 
 drowsy murmurs upon the shore. 
 
 Hardly had De Montville cast his eyes 
 upon the building, upon which he had 
 come thus unexpectedly, ere he exclaim- 
 ed to himself — " This is Woodston," at 
 once recognising it by his mother's oft- 
 repeated description of it, of the loved 
 scenes of her early youth, " when every 
 charm could please." " Dear soul ! merely 
 from yielding to the feelings of nature, 
 how graphically, in her artless, unstudied 
 way, she has depicted it ! why, if brought 
 by enchantment to the spot, I should have 
 at once known it by her description — the
 
 6s CONTRAST. 
 
 sunny gable end, covered with the spread- 
 ing fruit-tree, the productions of which she 
 never found equalled — the romantic cliffs, 
 rising in towering grandeur along the 
 coast — the green wood, in which the first 
 flowers of spring were wont to be gathered 
 by her infant hands ;" and he stood gazing 
 at it with a sensation of ineffable delight, 
 from the tender associations connected 
 with it. At length, turning up a winding 
 path, he soon found himself in the centre 
 of the wood, extending far and wide around 
 him — nothing could be more delightful. 
 Here were primrose banks, winding and 
 sequestered alleys, mossy seats for rest or 
 meditation, and fairy rills, musically tink- 
 ling through pebbly channels. While 
 here, you were at one moment lost in the 
 gloom of tangled trees and thickets ; anon, 
 you w^ere gazing on the broad refulgent 
 sea, with the barrier cliffs, topped by the 
 green sloping fields that extended to their 
 very edge. De Montville threw himself 
 upon a seat to enjoy the scene : but this 
 enjoyment did not long remain uninter- 
 rupted ; reflections recurred, that tinctured
 
 CONTRAST. 69 
 
 his feelings with sadness — his thoughts 
 involuntarily reverted to Sicily, and the 
 idea of the fair Zerbino, indissolubly con- 
 nected with it, recalled to his imagination, 
 he could not help again giving way to that 
 acute feeling of regret her fate had occa- 
 sioned. Luxuriating as he was himself at 
 the moment in the charms of nature, how 
 could he chuse but to deplore the fate of 
 her who was torn from the experience of 
 such a gratification, like a tender flower 
 from the influence of vernal suns and 
 showers, to wither prematurely in the cold 
 solitude of monastic gloom ! Oh that he 
 could have saved her from such a cheerless 
 doom, even though the next moment as- 
 sured that he had effected her restoration 
 to liberty to make another happy ! but 
 vain was the wish; she was now as com- 
 pletely lost to him and to the world, as if 
 already enskyed and sainted in her native 
 sphere. 
 
 He quitted his seat to descend to the 
 house ; an old-fashioned folding door open- 
 ed immediately from the hill upon the first 
 landing-place ; he found it ajar, and open-
 
 70 CONTRAST. 
 
 ing it a little wider, looked down a spa- 
 cious staircase of polished oak upon a wide 
 hall, with high-backed antique chairs, and 
 a range of doors at either side belonging 
 to the parlours. Almost he could have 
 persuaded himself he was in the place be- 
 fore, so familiar did every object appear, 
 from the minute manner in which it had 
 been described by his mother. As he 
 stood here, a young lady crossed from one 
 of the parlours to another ; in doing so she 
 happened to look up the staircase, down 
 which, through the half-open door, the 
 radiance of the setting sun was streaming 
 at the moment, and presented to the view 
 of the astonished De Montville, the exact 
 resemblance of her on whom he had just 
 been musing. The emotion and curiosity 
 excited by this circumstance would not 
 permit of his departing, without endea- 
 vouring to ascertain who she was; accord- 
 ingly hastening to the front of the house, 
 he knocked for admission. He was an- 
 swered by the old housekeeper; but ere 
 she could inform him the family were ab- 
 sent, he acquainted her with his know-
 
 CONTRAST, 71 
 
 ledge of the circumstance himself; and an- 
 nouncing his name, desired to be allowed 
 to rest for a few minutes after a long walk. 
 He was shewn into a parlour, the very one 
 into which he saw the fair stranger pass ; 
 but she was not now there. — " Did she 
 say all the family were absent ?" he asked 
 of his attendant. 
 
 " Yes, all." 
 
 He mused. Who then could this fe- 
 male be ? she did not seem as if she were 
 a stranger in the place, and her air and 
 style of dress forbade the idea of her being 
 a domestic. Suppose he said he saw her ? 
 and he accordingly did ; but the acknow- 
 ledgment obtained him no satisfaction. 
 The woman declared she knew not whom 
 he meant ; but in declaring so, he thought 
 she coloured, and appeared confused. 
 Without ceremony he took the range of 
 the apartments at each side of the hall ; but 
 he encountered no one in them ; and in no 
 little commotion of spirits, at length de- 
 parted. So extraordinary a likeness be- 
 tween two persons, he had never before 
 seen, and until he had discovered who it
 
 72 CONTRAST. 
 
 was that bore this astonishing resemblance 
 to the fair Zerbino, he felt he could not 
 rest. He could not divest himself of the 
 idea of the housekeeper having deceived 
 him, and he determined, as he proceeded 
 in his walk back, to try and ascertain 
 v^hether he was correct in this suspicion. 
 
 He liad advanced some little way, with- 
 out meeting any one to address his intended 
 inquiry to, when suddenly — ** Why then 
 may I be after axing your honour what 
 o'clock it is ?" cried a voice, from the other 
 side of a mud bank : and De Montville 
 turning, beheld a man, with hard weather- 
 beaten features, leaning against it, earnestly 
 regarding him. 
 
 " With great pleasure," was the reply 
 — " that is, if I could ; but unfortunately 
 my watch is down, having forgot to wind 
 it up this morning." 
 
 " Och! sorrow matter of consequence 
 that is, on my account I mane, your ho- 
 nour ; 'tis not because I so much wanted 
 to know what o'clock it is I asked your 
 honour, as because it is so natural to do so." 
 
 " Well, I am glad it's of no consequence 
 to you to know the hour, since I can't in-
 
 CONTRAST. 73 
 
 form you. But you belong to this place?" 
 
 " To this place ! troth and you may say 
 that ; there's not a mother's sowl belonging 
 to me, dead or alive, that don't belong to 
 it." 
 
 " Then, of <;ourse, 'tis needless to ask if 
 you know that house," pointing to sir 
 Maurice's. 
 
 " Is it the master's, long life to him, and 
 his, and may they never be worse than I 
 wish them !" 
 
 " I know he is not there at present," 
 said De Montville ; " but are all the family 
 absent ?" 
 
 " Musha, and myself can't be certain of 
 that." 
 
 " But do you think it's likely ?" 
 
 " Likely ! idad and I can't say that ; and 
 now that I think on't, I shouldn't be sur- 
 prised if they weren't all gone ; for it 
 was only last week that one of the young 
 ladies was mighty bad with a murthering 
 sore throat, and I heard oul Nell, her nurse, 
 telling a neighbour, that she was quite 
 fretting the heart out of her body, lest her 
 
 VOL. I. E-
 
 74 CONTRAST. 
 
 mamma wouldn't be after letting her go 
 
 with her sisters to , where they were 
 
 going to have some iligent plays and balls." 
 
 " Was this the eldest young lady ?" 
 
 " What, the English young lady ? — No, 
 your honour; it was one of our own young 
 ladies, as we call the master's daughters, 
 by his second lady." 
 
 " Ah, it was then as I conjectured," 
 thought De Montville, " one of sir Mau- 
 rice's daughters I saw, denied during the 
 absence of the rest of the family, to pre- 
 vent her being intruded on by visitors." 
 
 He had walked much further than he 
 had intended, and he thought he should 
 not now dislike to throw himself into a 
 chaise; and he accordingly proceeded to 
 inquire whether there was any place here 
 where he could procure one. 
 
 " A chaise !" in an accent of surprise ; 
 " no, your honour ; but Ned Rooney keeps 
 an iligent jingle here, and I'd be after get- 
 ting it for you, only I know that oul Moll is 
 turned out by this time upon the cliffs, to 
 see what she can pick up for herself till 
 the potatoes are boiled."
 
 CONTRAST. 75 
 
 " Why, what has she to say to the 
 boiled potatoes ?" 
 
 " Ah then, it is she that has, the creat- 
 shure ! by the time they are done, she comes 
 back sniffing for her share of them, just as 
 if she was a Christian." 
 
 " A sagacious animal truly ; but ^" 
 
 " No offence, your honour, but may I 
 be so bould as just for to ask how far you 
 have to go ?" 
 
 De Montville informed him. 
 
 " Ah, then I was thinking as much," 
 he cried, " that you were the oul lord's 
 hare, long life to your honour ! and 'tis 
 yourself one may see will be the poor man's 
 friend, when you come to his fortune." 
 
 " Oh, we mustn't be speaking of that, 
 my friend," said De JNIontville. " But 
 I wont detain you longer, for I dare say 
 you have not been so idle to day as not to 
 wish now for a little rest;" and putting 
 some money in his hand, he bade him good- 
 by. 
 
 Impatient to ascertain whether indeed 
 it was one of the daughters of sir Maurice 
 E 2
 
 76 CONTRAST. 
 
 he had seen, he was considering whether, 
 contrary to his first intention, he would 
 
 not join the family the ensuing day at , 
 
 when in crossing a waste churchyard, that, 
 near the end of the road, lay between him 
 and Rockcliffe, he fancied he saw a female 
 gliding amidst the ruins of the ancient 
 building to which it belonged. He invo- 
 luntarily paused to be certain, inclined to 
 think, from the gloom and dreariness of 
 the place, he must be deceived by some 
 shadow; but no— as he stood earnestly gaz- 
 ing within the dismal obscurity of the di- 
 lapidated pile, the person he imagined he 
 had seen, emerging from another part of it, 
 suddenly flitted by him, and in passing, 
 discovered to him the features of the fe- 
 male he had seen at Woodston. An ex- 
 clamation of surprise escaped him, and he 
 was involuntarily rushing after her, when 
 he stumbled over a broken tombstone; 
 and on recovering himself, looked about 
 in vain for her. 
 
 Bewildered, he returned home, for from 
 what had now occurred, he could hardly 
 allow himself to persist in thinking her
 
 CONTRAST. 77 
 
 the person he had previously conceived; 
 yet at Woodston, sauntering about, as she 
 seemed to be, w^ith an air of carelessness, 
 she certainly had not the appearance of 
 being a stranger: and from this circum- 
 stance he still could not bring himself al- 
 together to relinquish the idea of her be- 
 ing, if not one of the family, at least some 
 person in some way or other connected 
 with it : but the next day should termi- 
 nate his perplexity on the subject; he 
 
 would join the family at , and thus 
 
 be enabled to ascertain at once what he 
 w'ished. Yet w^ould it not be wiser to 
 give himself no further trouble on the sub- 
 ject ? — it might ; but what is wisest is not 
 always what we are readiest to decide on ; 
 and this was the case with him ; yet at 
 such a juncture, when it so behoved him to 
 be calm and collected, to have an idea thus 
 revived, that could not be dwelt on without 
 agitation, how cruel — how tormenting ! 
 
 As he sat lost in deep thought, he 
 chanced to cast his eyes upon an immense 
 old-fashioned chimney -glass, exactly oppo- 
 site the seat he had thrown himself on ; as
 
 78 CONTRAST. 
 
 he did, his surprise may easily be imagined, 
 at beholding, reflected in it, the figure of an 
 elegant female standinor at a little distance 
 behind his chair, apparently in earnest con- 
 templation of him ; keeping his eye steadily 
 fixed, the features gradually became defined, 
 and he again saw those of the fair stranger 
 he had twice encountered that evening. 
 He started up ; but ere he turned, she was 
 gone, and amazement for a moment rooted 
 him to the spot. He then rang the bell ; 
 Michael's look of alarm, on entering the 
 apartment, recalled him to himself He 
 inquired whether any visitor was in the 
 castle ? and was decidedly answered in the 
 negative. What was he then to think ? 
 that he was either dreaming or delirious; 
 but no — neither of these conclusions could 
 be admitted ; and he accordingly rushed 
 from the apartment, in eager quest of the 
 person he was convinced he had seen : but 
 his search, his inquiries were unavailing; 
 and infinitely more flurried than before, 
 he returned to it. But he must not go on 
 in this manner ; the time he had been so 
 happy to obtain for collecting and nerving 
 his mind for what might ensue, must not
 
 CONTRAST. 79 
 
 be wasted in this idle, this ridiculous man- 
 ner. 
 
 He was dependant : what bitterness in 
 the thought ! how many generous im- 
 pulses — how many fond wishes does the 
 reflection often check and restrain, fetter- 
 ing the soul, as it were, with a chain of 
 iron ! In a few days and he should pro- 
 bably be called upon to decide his own 
 fate: from what he knew of the temper of 
 lord Le Poer, had heard of the inveteracy 
 of his resentments, and his anxiety for the 
 marriage in question, he had many reasons 
 to apprehend the loss of his favour if he 
 declined it ; and the probability of the con- 
 sequences that were likely to follow this, 
 was certainly very painful to his imagina- 
 tion : yet to unite himself for life to a per- 
 son he might not be able to regard — but he 
 would not be rash — he would not suiBfer him- 
 self to be hastily influenced by first impres- 
 sions, and perhaps, by acting in this man- 
 ner, what he dreaded might be averted : 
 but his spirits got low, and the intention of 
 
 repairing to was abandoned. He 
 
 had not yet had courage to visit the pic-
 
 so CONTRAST. 
 
 ture-gallery, where, he was given to un- 
 derstand, he should see a likeness that 
 would give him a perfect idea of his in- 
 tended bride ; but on this morning, attend- 
 ed by the butler, to point out the family 
 portraits to him, he entered it, and the re- 
 sult was almost absolute despair. 
 
 In a melancholy mood, he was wander- 
 ing about the cliffs, when the arrival of 
 sir Maurice Rossglen, to pay his compli- 
 ments, was announced ; De Montville hast- 
 ened back to the castle, and met with a 
 most cordial greeting from the baronet, 
 whose frank and easy manner, and manly 
 open countenance, excited an immediate 
 prepossession in his favour. The family 
 
 were returned from , and the visit 
 
 ended by De Montville accompanying 
 him back to Woodston, there to take 
 up his sojourn, until the arrival of lord 
 Le Poer. In the apartment into which 
 he was ushered, he was received by lady 
 Kossglen, a very elegant woman, and 
 the two eldest young ladies ; but neither 
 of whom bore the slightest resemblance 
 to the fair stranger; but there was still
 
 CONTRAST. 81 
 
 another daughter to make her appearance, 
 and in her he might recognise the person 
 he was so anxious to discover ; but no — she 
 almost instantly joined the party, and in 
 her, like her sisters, De Montville also 
 beheld a very beautiful girl, but one bear- 
 ing no likeness whatever to the person 
 who resembled the fair Zerbino. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 " Can gold grow worthless that has stood the touch ? 
 No : gold they seera'd ; but they were never such." 
 
 Sir Maurice Rossglen, as already inti- 
 mated, was a pleasant, good-natured man, 
 ardent in his attachments, sincere in his 
 professions, and of truly gentlemanly man- 
 ners. In early life he became the re- 
 presentative of his ancient family ; but the 
 property, that with the title devolved to 
 him, was, through various causes, so em- 
 barrassed, as to be then little more than a 
 e3
 
 82 CONTRAST. 
 
 nominal one. Sir Maurice however nei- 
 ther gave way to complaints nor dejec- 
 tion at the circumstance; he knew his 
 advantages both of figure and family, and 
 could scarcely doubt their obtaining him 
 such an alliance as would free him from 
 his embarrassments. In a visit to one of 
 the fashionable bathing-places in England, 
 an introduction took place to a young city 
 heiress, still under the care of her mother. 
 He soon perceived his attentions were not 
 unpleasing, and encouraged by the hint, 
 persevered in them until he had succeeded 
 in gaining her hand ; but not without the 
 most violent opposition on the part of her 
 mother, who had a most decided aversion 
 to every one and every thing Irish — the 
 effect of a narrow education, ever sure of 
 creating vulgar prejudices. Holding each 
 wild and savage tale of them devoutly 
 true, her horror at the idea of the alliance 
 her daughter had formed, was indescrib- 
 able: but notwithstanding her displeasure 
 at it, she could not decide on abandoning 
 her to her fate ; and accordingly, by way of 
 affording her some protection against the
 
 CONTRAST. 83 
 
 barbarity to which she made no doubt she 
 had subjected herself, she resolved on ac- 
 companying her to her new habitation. 
 Her first glance at this wrought a revolu- 
 tion in her feelings ; and when, contrary to 
 the expectations she had given way to, 
 she actually found herself seated in a noble 
 mansion, amidst all the comforts and ele- 
 gancies to which she had heretofore been 
 accustomed, with a train of respectful do- 
 mestics, in waiting, and neither yelling 
 savages in hearing, nor dismal bogs in 
 sight, she began to think it might be 
 possible to become reconciled to the event 
 she had so much regretted ; and within a 
 short space, through the influence of the 
 comforts around her, really became so. 
 But the domestic happiness of Woodston 
 was of short duration. Shortly after giv- 
 ing birth to a daughter, lady Rossglen 
 died. A little before her death, sir Mau- 
 rice was summoned to her bedside; and 
 after thanking him for his uniform kind- 
 ness and attention, and recommending 
 her afflicted parent to his consoling care, 
 she earnestly besought him, in the event
 
 84 CONTRAST. 
 
 of his marrying again, of which she 
 could hardly entertain a doubt, to pro- 
 mise he would give up her child to her 
 care. In such a moment, hardly any 
 request could have been made that he 
 w^ould not have complied with, and accord- 
 ingly the promise demanded was unhesi- 
 tatingly given. 
 
 The old lady was now installed in the 
 place of her deceased daughter, and from 
 the additional consequence derived from 
 becoming mistress at Woodston, drew no 
 little consolation for the afflicting loss she 
 had sustained. For two succeeding years 
 things went on again tranquilly at Wood- 
 ston, when sir Maurice's announcement 
 of being about changing his condition, 
 roused all that was acrimonious in her 
 nature. She could not think with calm- 
 ness of resigning to another the distinc- 
 tion that had been so flattering to her, 
 neither of her granddaughter losing her 
 chance of being sole inheritress of the es- 
 tate, which her mother's fortune had clear- 
 ed, although the splendid fortune, se- 
 cured to her by marriage settlement, ren- 
 dered any accession of wealth utterly un-
 
 CONTRAST. S5 
 
 necessary ; but neither remonstrance nor 
 reproach could induce sir Maurice to re- 
 linquish the intention he had avowed; 
 and accordingly Mrs. Brydges decided on 
 an immediate return to England, and tak- 
 ing her granddaughter with her, not with- 
 out exultation at the promise that al- 
 lowed her doing so. 
 
 Sir Maurice could not regret her de- 
 parture, but he regretted the thought of 
 the estrangement that might be effected, 
 through her means, between him and his 
 little Helena; however, with his usual 
 sanguineness, he hoped the best, and that in 
 time she might sufficiently relent to allow 
 of his child being occasionally the inmate 
 of the paternal roof. In his second choice 
 he was alone influenced by attachment: 
 Mrs. Mountflorence was a woman of the 
 most amiable and accomplished manners ; 
 but though the widow of a gentleman of 
 considerable consequence in the county, 
 was left with an only son, in such circum- 
 stances as totally to preclude the idea of 
 her hand being sought from any other mo- 
 tive than that of affection. Such indeed
 
 80 CONTRAST. 
 
 was her embarrassed situation, that there 
 were people invidious enough to declare, 
 that without some artifice on her part, 
 sir Maurice could never have possibly 
 thought of forming so imprudent a con- 
 nexion. These insinuations reached her 
 ear, and had the effect, notwithstanding 
 her maternal fondness for him, of making 
 her oppose her son's taking up his fixed re- 
 dence at Woodston. This conduct, from 
 the paternal interest he felt for the boy, 
 chagrined sir Maurice not a little. Serve 
 him, however, he determined he would ; 
 and he accordingly early planned in his 
 own mind a marriage between him and 
 Helena, whose ample fortune would settle 
 all matters, without doing her an injury. 
 The plan was too agreeable to his imagina- 
 tion to be concealed. The result of its 
 disclosure was still more wounding in- 
 sinuations against lady Rossglen : to her 
 artful influence over him, it was assert- 
 ed the scheme could alone be owing; 
 and so much were her feelings of pride 
 and probity wounded by these calum- 
 nies, as to make her resolve to pre-
 
 CONTRAST. 87 
 
 vent, if possible, an introduction ever 
 taking place between Sigismund and Miss 
 Rossglen, until one or other of them were 
 engaged. 
 
 IMountflorence's early entrance into the 
 army favoured her wish for keeping them 
 unacquainted. He remained abroad until 
 the termination of the war by the battle 
 of Waterloo, when he was put on half- 
 pay ; but on which he only meant to con- 
 tinue till he had investigated his affairs at 
 home, and ascertained whether any thing 
 could be saved out of the shattered fortune 
 that had devolved to him. 
 
 Amongst those who gave credit to the 
 invidious calumnies against lady Ross- 
 glen, none did so more readily than Mrs. 
 Brydges : in consequence, nothing could 
 induce her to allow of even a transient 
 visit from Helena to Ireland, when old 
 enough to be invited over, persuaded that 
 the only object in view was to draw her 
 into some engagement with young Mount- 
 florence. In vain sir Maurice importuned 
 her on the subject. At length, either 
 wearied by his importunities, or else glad
 
 88 CONTRAST. 
 
 to have an opportunity for giving utter- 
 ance to her malevolent feelings against 
 lady Rossglen, she addressed a very in- 
 sulting letter to her ladyship, in which she 
 assured her she might spare herself the 
 exertion of any further artifice to obtain 
 a visit from her granddaughter ; since, 
 aware of the motives that occasioned so 
 much anxiety on the subject, she was, as 
 in duty bound, determined to prevent it; 
 the sacrifice of one fortune in the family 
 being, in her opinion, quite sufficient. 
 
 The more her real character or dispo- 
 sition became developed to sir Maurice, 
 the more he regretted the circumstance 
 that had been the means of placing his 
 daughter under her care ; more especially, 
 when he contrasted the advantages she 
 must have derived from being brought 
 up under the control of such a woman as 
 lady Rossglen. His promise, however, he 
 could not think himself justified in re- 
 scinding, except, indeed, convinced that 
 his adherence to it would be attended 
 with positive injury to his child. To be 
 satisfied on this point, he from time to
 
 CONTRAST. 89 
 
 time paid a visit to London, and obtained 
 from lady Anstruther, lady Rossglen's 
 sister, a promise of keeping a watch over 
 Helena. Those occasional meetings pre- 
 vented that total estrancrement that would 
 otherwise have been the natural conse- 
 quence of the separation between the 
 father and child. Helena could not per- 
 ceive her parent's anxiety about her, or re- 
 ceive his fond caresses, without being 
 moved ; but beyond him, her regard did 
 not extend to any of the family. In in- 
 fancy, she had been taught to regard lady 
 Rossglen with terror, and as she grew up, 
 with distrust ; and the children of such a 
 woman, as she was taught to consider her, 
 she could not imagine deserving of her af- 
 fection. Surrounded as she was by those 
 whose interest it was to strengthen and 
 confirm the prejudices early implanted by 
 her grandmother, no wonder that Helena 
 retained them, or, retaining them, con- 
 gratulated herself on her removal from a 
 home where there could have been so little 
 enjoyment. 
 
 On her abrupt return to London, Mrs.
 
 90 CONTRAST. 
 
 Brydges had repaired to the house of a 
 relative in Rathbone-place, but with an 
 intention of immediately forming an esta- 
 blishment of her own again. This was an 
 intention, however, she was gradually in- 
 duced to abandon. Mr. Bridgemore, a 
 solicitor of some little note, with a wife, 
 and one daughter some years older than 
 Helena, was a man of the deepest art and 
 cunning. Without an earthly object in 
 view but his own advantage, he quickly 
 perceived how much it might redound to 
 his interest retaining Mrs. Brydges under 
 his roof; and once struck by the idea, ceas- 
 ed not, until by his artful representations, 
 aided and seconded by his wife, and affect- 
 ed shew of regard, he prevailed on her to 
 consent to be his inmate, until the young 
 heiress was of an age to require a more 
 splendid residence. It w^as so pleasant for 
 Mrs. Brydges to have all the comforts of 
 a domestic establishment, without any of 
 the trouble or anxiety, that, situated as 
 she was, might be attendant on the cir- 
 cumstance, that really she could not help 
 being thoroughly delighted at the arrange-
 
 CONTRAST. 91 
 
 ment that had been made. But though 
 all regard for sir Maurice had ceased from 
 the moment of his making another choice, 
 yet to gratify her fond pride about her 
 granddaughter, as well as occasion, as she 
 hoped, invidious comparisons between his 
 other daughters and her, of whose having 
 similar advantages she never once dreamt, 
 she kept up a regular correspondence with 
 him, through the medium of which Hele- 
 na was represented in a manner calculated 
 to make her be regarded as a very supe- 
 rior being. 
 
 She was about nineteen when her 
 grandmother, very unexpectedly, paid her 
 debt to nature. Immediately on intelli- 
 gence of the event, sir JNlaurice proceeded 
 to London, to bring her over to Wood- 
 ston ; but such was her reluctance to ac- 
 company him to a home she had early 
 been made to conceive a dislike to, that 
 partly through this, and partly the art- 
 ful influence of those about her, she so 
 earnestly implored to be allowed to re- 
 main a little longer where she was, that 
 sir Maurice at last unwillingly consented:
 
 92 CONTRAST. 
 
 but that nothing could have induced him 
 to grant the permission thus sohcited, had 
 he really known the kiwd of characters 
 the Bridgemores were, may easily be 
 inferred ; but through the most artful 
 management, nothing had ever transpired 
 to their prejudice; and though they cer- 
 tainly were not the kind of persons he would 
 himself have chosen for intimates, from 
 their want of that polish to which he had 
 always been accustomed, yet still he knew 
 nothing to render them altogether unwor- 
 thy of his daughter's longer association 
 with them ; more especially as he had al- 
 ready taken care to have her introduced, 
 through some connexions of his own and 
 lady Rossglen's, into those circles of ele- 
 gance and fashion, both birth and fortune 
 entitled her to move in. The motive they 
 had for wishing to detain her with them, 
 rendered them not a little overjoyed when 
 they actually saw him departing with- 
 out her. They had, in short, succeeded 
 in entangling her with a person, to the 
 acceptance of whose addresses they well 
 knew^ her father never would consent, but 
 her rejection of which would to them be
 
 CONTRAST. 9S 
 
 a source of the bitterest disappointment. 
 Sir Osbert Henley, one of the most 
 worthless and dissipated young men 
 about town, had long been one of Bridge- 
 more's clients, and determined on reap- 
 ing all the possible advantage he could, 
 from her being thrown in some degree 
 within his grasp, Bridgemore proposed 
 trying to procure the hand of Helena for 
 him, provided he was assured of a certain 
 recompence. The conditions were not 
 merely readily, but eagerly subscribed to : 
 a formal introduction followed; his ad- 
 dresses were paid and accepted, for his 
 manners and appearance were specious and 
 prepossessing ; and recourse was had to 
 every art to try and induce Helena to 
 consent to an immediate marriage: but 
 though these arts were seconded by her 
 grandmother, through the false represen- 
 tations of Bridgemore, respecting the real 
 fortune and character of sir Osbert, who 
 had indeed been long a bankrupt in both, 
 Helena firmly resisted them, from an un- 
 willingness to fetter herself so early. But 
 that this unwillingness would have been 
 experienced, had she really felt any very
 
 94 CONTRAST. 
 
 ardent attachment for sir Osbert, Bridge- 
 more could not believe ; and, in conse- 
 quence of the readiness with which it was 
 but natural to conclude from this, she 
 would break her engagement to him, if 
 thrown under any influence hostile to it, 
 he became so alarmed at the idea of her 
 returning with her father to Woodston, 
 as to make his wife and daughter implore 
 her, even with tears, to remain longer 
 with them. Thrown more than ever, by 
 the death of her grandmother, into their 
 power, and exposed still more constantly 
 to the insidious attentions and blandish- 
 ments of sir Osbert, they would probably 
 have finally succeeded in drawing her 
 into the fulfilment of her unadvised en- 
 gagement, had not the watchful, per- 
 haps jealous vigilance of lady Anstruther, 
 detected the scheme, which, of course, was 
 immediately communicated to sir Mau- 
 rice. He directly posted off to London, 
 where he had no hesitation in giving ut- 
 terance to the indignation it excited : but 
 while he inveighed against Bridgemore, 
 for the part he had in the transaction, he
 
 CONTRAST. 95 
 
 tried to find some excuse for the conduct 
 of his daughter, in the supposition of her 
 being ignorant of the real character of her 
 unprincipled lover. 
 
 Helena would not acknowledge whether 
 this were the case or not : the language 
 in which she was now addressed, was such 
 as she was not accustomed to ; and not 
 even the reflection of its proceeding from 
 a father, could accordingly prevent her re- 
 senting it. This feeling did not by any 
 means tend to incline her to ready acqui- 
 escence in his determination, of now tak- 
 ing her back with him. To be dragged 
 away in this abrupt manner, from the 
 friends she had been so long accustomed 
 to, for the purpose of being lectured and 
 controlled — no, it was what she could not 
 submit to. — " Return with you immedi- 
 ately, sir," she repeated after him, " with- 
 out being allowed a little time for prepa- 
 ration ! really I cannot avoid considering 
 this rather harsh, and must beg to be ex- 
 cused saying no on the occasion." 
 
 " Indeed ! but upon my life, young lady, 
 I say yes, and shall therefore, if you will not
 
 96 CONTRAST. 
 
 yourself issue them, give the necessary in- 
 structions to your soubrette, to prepare for 
 your departure. A father's house is the pro- 
 perest home for a young unmarried woman ; 
 more especially one who has fortune to 
 tempt cupidity, without sufficient discre- 
 tion to repose confidence in those who 
 must have her interest most at heart." 
 
 Helena retreated to her dressing-room, 
 still more agitated. She had all the incli- 
 nation in the world to resist the authority 
 that, for the first time, was now beginning 
 to be exercised over her, could she have 
 flattered herself that the attempt would 
 have been of any avail. 
 
 " It is as I judged — just as I thought it 
 w^ould be,"cried the cruelly-alarmed Bridge- 
 more, obtruding himself upon her, along 
 with his wife and daughter; " I guessed 
 you would not be allowed to remain long 
 here after the death of my dear friend ; 
 or that, at the first intimation of your be- 
 ing likely to give your hand to another 
 than the person for w^hom it has been so 
 long intended, you would not be hurried 
 away : but, were I you, I would not sub-
 
 CONTRAST. 97 
 
 mit to such injustice; I would at once 
 assert my rights, and by consenting to be- 
 come sir Osbert's immediately, rescue my- 
 self from the persecutions you will other- 
 wise undergo on account of major Mount- 
 florence, who, I can inform you, is now 
 arrived in Ireland." 
 
 Helena hesitated. — " No," she said, " I 
 cannot bring myself to acquiesce in any 
 measure so precipitate ; besides, should it 
 prove that sir Osbert is the character my 
 father has represented " 
 
 " Then, if for a moment you can allow 
 yourself to imagine this, what must your 
 opinion of me be ?" demanded Bridgemore, 
 with an angry flush upon his cheek ; " me, 
 the old and approved friend of your 
 grandmother ! But no, you cannot so 
 cruelly wrong my principles or regard, as 
 to suppose m.e capable of introducing, to 
 your particular notice, a person I did not 
 know worthy of it. He has been tradu- 
 ced, I must say it, however unwillingly, 
 from my respect for sir Maurice, through 
 the most selfish motives : but to argue the 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 CONTRAST. 
 
 matter, allowing it were as he has repre- 
 sented, what then ?" 
 
 " What then I" repeated Helena, in an 
 accent of surprise, and with a recoiling sen- 
 sation. 
 
 " Yes, what then ? I repeat. Suppos- 
 ing him the character described by your 
 father, which, however, I by no means 
 allow, how is he more censurable than 
 other young men of rank and fashion ? 
 
 There is the duke of T , and lord 
 
 L , and the marquis of G , and 
 
 half a hundred more; and what have we 
 not heard of their follies ? and yet most 
 of them are now married, not merely into 
 noble, but domestic families; their alli- 
 ance not merely desired, but absolutely 
 courted, and that by parents, it is but na- 
 tural to suppose, quite as anxious about 
 the happiness of their daughters as sir 
 Maurice affects to be about yours ! Yes, I 
 cannot express myself differently, for were 
 his regard what he would wish it to be 
 thought, he surely, ere this, would have 
 evinced some solicitude for your forming 
 a suitable alliance."
 
 CONTRAST. 99 
 
 The arguments were plausible, but they 
 failed of accomplishing the end in view. 
 Sir Osbert was privately introduced to 
 second them ; but he knelt, and prayed, 
 and exerted all the eloquence of feigned 
 passion, and all the rhetoric of art and 
 craftiness, in vain. The only concession 
 he could obtain, was a positive assurance 
 of her hand being his on her coming of 
 age, provided nothing occurred in the in- 
 terim to deprive him of her esteem ; and 
 a promise of keeping up a regular corre- 
 spondence with him. Finally, her father 
 succeeded in carrying her off, without any 
 further open opposition; but the feehngs his 
 peremptory conduct had awakened were 
 not immediately subdued, as her clouded 
 brow, and the reserve of her manner 
 evinced. 
 
 Sir Maurice did not permit himself to 
 notice this, and the maintenance of his own 
 cheerfulness had gradually an effect upon 
 her. The happy influence of this was se- 
 conded by that of the season, for again all 
 was vernal delight and joy. The orchards 
 F 2
 
 100 CONTRAST. 
 
 stood thick with blossoms, the fields were 
 strewed with wild flowers, and every bush 
 and tree was prodigal of harmony. But 
 what very different scenes awaited her at 
 the other side ! Helena more than once 
 thought, or rather, how little there would 
 the influence of this delightful season be 
 felt, amidst gloomy swamps, frightful 
 rocks, and screaming seagulls ; for in every 
 way that could create dislike to it, had 
 the place of her nativity been described 
 by her grandmother ; and to those who 
 would and could have undeceived her, as 
 to the correctness of the representations, 
 she could not be induced to give the re- 
 quisite credit. Prepared to find fault, and 
 meet with a subject for ridicule in every 
 thing she saw, she was disappointed nei- 
 ther in this hope or expectation, when on 
 landing she heard the carmen, in all the 
 richness of the native brogue, pressing 
 their iligent jingles upon the passengers, 
 while a waiter from a neighbouring hotel 
 kept running about with an air of dis- 
 traction, to proclaim the good accommo- 
 dation to be obtained at the house where
 
 CONTRAST. 101 
 
 he served. But as the carriage, into 
 which she almost immediately stepped, 
 drove on, her feeUngs and sentiments be- 
 gan gradually to undergo a change: she 
 saw nothing to justify the prejudices she 
 had cherished, or warrant the ill-natured 
 conclusions she had allowed herself to give 
 utterance to, and for which she now began 
 to experience something like remorse. 
 Where were the hideous bogs, and the 
 menacing rocks, and the deforming aspect 
 of misery in every direction ? She beheld 
 nothing but pleasant fields and ridges of 
 blue hills, and little villages, that, if not 
 remarkably neat, were at least picturesque; 
 and she began to perceive she had been 
 imposed upon. Had this been previously 
 doubted, her first glance at Woodston 
 would have been sufficient to have con- 
 vinced her of the fact. That detested 
 home, so often described to her as the very 
 abode of desolation and dreariness, that 
 now, presented as it was to her view, under 
 the influence of a lovely evening, with its 
 old-fashioned windows burnished with the 
 radiance of the setting sun, its green wood.
 
 102 CONTRAST. 
 
 rich in leafy honours, overshadowing its 
 antique roof, and every thing around pro- 
 claiming affluence and tranquillity, seem- 
 ed little less to her than an earthly paradise. 
 Oh, should she find herself equally de- 
 ceived, in every other respect? but no, 
 she could not admit the probability of 
 this ; and even, in this instance, she might 
 not, after all, have been intentionally im- 
 posed on ; for the place might have un- 
 dergone many alterations since her grand- 
 mother's residence in it. In short, she 
 could not bear to think that a person 
 whom she was bound by so many ties 
 to love and reverence, should have been so 
 wanting in liberality as wilfully to have 
 misled her.
 
 CONTRAST. 103 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 " But not to understand a treasure's worth, 
 'Till time has stol'n away the slighted good, 
 Is cause of half the poverty we feel." 
 
 Lady Rossglen was rather inclined to 
 fear, that Helena's becoming the inmate 
 of Woodston, would not add to the hap- 
 piness of the domestic circle there ; for if 
 her grandmother, with fond partiality, ex- 
 tolled her as possessed of every virtue and 
 accomplishment that could win esteem 
 and admiration, there were others who 
 represented her as proud, capricious, and 
 satirical : but she was not a person to be 
 sw^ayed by selfish considerations ; as a proof 
 of which, she was the first, on the receipt 
 of her sister lady Anstruther's letter, to 
 urge the necessity of sir ^Maurice's imme- 
 diate departure for London ; yet she could 
 not help wishing, that the return of He-
 
 104 CONTRAST. 
 
 lena to Woodston had been a little longer 
 deferred, that a little longer she might 
 have had the uninterrupted enjoyment of 
 her dear Sigismund's company, who, after 
 many a hard-fought field, had just return- 
 ed home; banished as the circumstance 
 would occasion him to be, in a great de- 
 gree, from Woodston, from her persever- 
 ing in her determination of encouraging 
 no intimacy between them ; more espe- 
 cially novv% when the enforced return 
 of Miss Rossglen, just at the very period 
 of his, was so calculated to revive those 
 rumours that had already proved so 
 woundint>: to her feelings. 
 
 " When this sister of ours arrives," said 
 Caroline, the youngest of the grown-up 
 girls, one day, " we must hide our dimi- 
 nished heads." 
 
 " Vanity !" exclaimed lord Glena, a 
 dark-complexioned, sentimental -looking 
 young man, who owned a fine seat in the 
 neighbourhood, and loitered away much 
 of his time at Woodston, as any one that 
 had nothing else to do, than gratify a taste 
 for pleasant society, might have been
 
 CONTRAST. 105 
 
 tempted ; " if you thought so, you would 
 not own it." 
 
 " Complimentary, upon my word ; but 
 I assure you I have not been so insincere 
 in the declaration as you would insinuate. 
 With the advantages of a London educa- 
 tion, united to such beauty, how could 
 you possibly imagine we could hope to 
 stand any competition with her?" 
 
 " London education, indeed !" repeated 
 lord Glena, with a curved lip ; " yes, she 
 has given a specimen of that, but such a 
 one as not to render her, in my estima- 
 tion, a formidable rival to others." 
 
 " What, you have not then forgiven 
 her affront to Walter?" a young relative 
 of his lordship, who on going over to Lon- 
 don to study for the bar, had received a 
 letter of introduction from sir Maurice to 
 Helena; but notwithstanding which, the 
 respect due to such an introduction, his 
 unfortunate accent, united to other pecu- 
 liarities, caused her to make him such a 
 subject of ridicule, as seriously to offend 
 him, and occasion a mo5t unfavourable 
 impression at the other side. 
 F 3
 
 106 CONTRAST. 
 
 " I have not forgotten it — the cruelty 
 of making a diffident young stranger, new 
 to the world, feel his deficiencies through 
 the force of ridicule !" 
 
 " Ah, well, no matter — when once you 
 see her, you will forget and forgive." 
 
 " Don't be sure ; the charms must be 
 very resistless indeed, that can tempt me 
 to forgive a want of due regard for the 
 feelings of others." 
 
 " Well, and hers are such." 
 
 " Yes, I know she has been cried up as 
 a prodigy by her grandmother ; but " 
 
 " I do assure you she said nothing more 
 of her than she merits, as I could prove, 
 could I shew you her likeness, and which 
 he asserts to be a most striking one, 
 that papa brought over the last time he 
 was in London ; but he has got it locked 
 up in his cabinet; but, as it is, I can give 
 you some faint idea of what she is, for 
 Dorinda has taken a copy of it ;" and as 
 she spoke, she looked about for the port- 
 folio in which it was deposited, and not 
 perceiving which, she asked Dorinda where 
 it was.
 
 CONTRAST. 107 
 
 Dorinda, with a glance to see whether 
 there was any chance of its discovery 
 where she had placed it, rather evasively 
 replied, she could not tell. 
 
 " Oh, well, no matter," said Caroline, 
 carelessly, and resuming her work ; " some 
 other time will do to satisfy his lordship's 
 curiosity." 
 
 " Assuredly. I feel no kind of impa- 
 tience, I assure you, on the subject." 
 
 Caroline laughed incredulously. — " You 
 will hardly persuade me of that," she said ; 
 " else why so many questions lately of 
 this sister of ours? I would venture to 
 lay any wager, that from the moment her 
 arrival is expected, you will be on the 
 watch to see her." 
 
 " Well, I shall not argue the point with 
 you ; but, nous verrons. But why so grave, 
 Dorinda?" he said, suddenly seating him- 
 self beside her. 
 
 " I don't know," was the reply, with 
 something very like a sigh ; " that is, I 
 mean I don't know that I am particular- 
 ly grave ; but you know, when you and 
 Caroline commence this keen encounter 
 of your wits, you seldom allow or afford
 
 108 CONTRAST. 
 
 any one else an opportunity of speaking." 
 " True, she is a very flippant girl, and 
 likes to engross all the conversation to her- 
 self; but she will never be able to engross 
 every thing from my sweet Dorinda," and 
 he kissed one of her fair hands, as he 
 rested one arm on the back of her chair, 
 and began amusing himself by disarrang- 
 ing her workbox. 
 
 Dorinda was no longer silent, and the 
 trio were very merrily laughing and chat- 
 ting, when visitors were announced. 
 
 Lord Glena vacated his seat, and went 
 sauntering about the room ; in doing so, 
 he discovered the portfolio, and immedi- 
 ately opened it. The eyes of Dorinda 
 were upon him, and she saw him take 
 something from it. Her heart fluttered, 
 for the copy she had taken of Helena's 
 picture was not the only likeness it con- 
 tained. There was also one of herself ta- 
 ken by Caroline, and which she knew on 
 opening the portfolio he could not miss 
 seeing. With his prize his lordship al- 
 most instantly departed, and as instantly 
 Dorinda proceeded to ascertain which of 
 the drawings he had possessed himself of.
 
 CONTRAST. 109 
 
 It was more than a feeling of vanity that 
 sustained a shock, when she discovered it 
 was the likeness of Helena, that happy and 
 now for the first time envied sister. It 
 was true then what, in her giddy way, 
 Caroline had said of his solicitude to know 
 something about her. Well, it was fortu- 
 nate to learn this in time, else she might 
 be more misled by the tenderness of his 
 manner, or rendered more unhappy ; and 
 she determined on immediate exertions to 
 support, with composure, what she con- 
 ceived now so likely to ensue. 
 
 Sir Maurice had given no notice of the 
 exact time at which he might be expected, 
 consequently there was no one on the 
 look-out for him. Just as the carriage 
 stopped at Woodston, he saw a gentle- 
 man approaching, whom he wished most 
 particularly to speak to ; and accordingly 
 desiring Helena not to delay for him to 
 introduce her, she proceeded by herself 
 into the house. The family, that is, lady 
 Rossglen and the two eldest girls, toge- 
 ther with a gentleman who happened to 
 be with them at the moment, were in one 
 of the back rooms, so knew nothing of her
 
 110 CONTRAST. 
 
 arrival until announced by the servant. 
 The emotion occasioned by her sudden 
 announcement did not however take from 
 the ladies the immediate power of saluting 
 her. Helena could hardly credit her senses 
 — could hardly believe that, in the elegant 
 woman who came forward to welcome her 
 with a maternal embrace — in the lovely 
 girls that next folded her in their arms, 
 she actually beheld the beings whom she 
 had been so long taught to regard with 
 sentiments of distrust and dislike. Feel- 
 ings and reflections of the most painful 
 nature pressed upon her heart ; she burst 
 into tears, and sinking upon a seat, invo- 
 luntarily covered her face wdth her hands. 
 Lady Rossglen was at no loss to com- 
 prehend the cause of this emotion; but 
 aware that to notice might only serve to 
 augment it, instead of attempting to sooth, 
 she merely motioned for a glass of water : 
 she made an effort to take it from the per- 
 son who procured it ; but he would pre- 
 sent it himself Helena felt one of her 
 hands gently drawn away from her face, 
 and saw a glass of water tendered to her ;
 
 CONTRAST. Ill 
 
 she looked to see who offered it, and en- 
 countered a pair of the finest dark eyes she 
 had yet seen, intently rivetted on her coun- 
 tenance ; she felt herself colour as she took 
 the water, with a faint smile of acknow- 
 ledgment. Her father's voice was heard at 
 this instant, and she made an effort to reco- 
 ver herself Fond greetings exchanged with 
 those from whom he had been so unwil- 
 lingly, though for so short a period, se- 
 parated, he turned to embrace Helena, and 
 bid her welcome to her native and her na- 
 tural home. Refreshments were brought 
 in, and the party collected round the table 
 with every appearance of restored compo- 
 sure; but Helena missed one of the per- 
 sons she had seen on entering — the gen- 
 tleman was gone, but probably to return, 
 for it seemed to her, from what she had 
 observed, as if he were no chance visitor — 
 indeed it struck her that it was Sigismund 
 Mountflorence she saw: but she was not 
 long allowed to retain this idea. 
 
 " Where is Sigismund ?" suddenly asked 
 her father. 
 
 " That is more than at this precise mi-
 
 112 CONTRAST. 
 
 nute I can take upon myself to say," an- 
 swered lady Rossglen. 
 
 " I fully expected to have found him 
 here," resumed sir Maurice. 
 
 " You forget how much he is occupied," 
 observed lady Rossglen. 
 
 " Pooh, nonsense ! has he not his soli- 
 citor to look over his musty parchments ? 
 Really were I Helena, I should be quite 
 offended at the want of curiosity and inte- 
 rest about her, which his not being here 
 evinces." 
 
 " For Miss Rossglen to feel offended at 
 the circumstance, \vould be to do him too 
 much honour," said lady Rossglen gravely ; 
 " but you cannot doubt his availing him- 
 self of the first leisure moment he can 
 command to pay his respects to her." 
 
 " How cold, how studied !" thought He- 
 lena; " how much does this manner of ex- 
 pressing herself appear like the language 
 of pique ! and probably it is so, at the failure 
 that has hitherto attended her plans re- 
 specting us." 
 
 As the thought occurred, she chanced 
 to uplift her eyes, and caught lady Ross-
 
 CONTRAST. 11^ 
 
 glen's fixed upon her ; she coloured, as if 
 certain of her heart having been read at the 
 moment, and felt lessened, at the instant, in 
 her own estimation, by the consciousness 
 of having given way to an unworthy idea 
 of another. But was it an unjust one? 
 she had been taken by surprise — betrayed 
 into admiration, without a moment's time 
 for thought or reflection ; but as the first 
 tumult of her feelings subsided, soberer 
 ones began to prevail, or in other words, 
 her sensations of delight to be qualified by 
 revivinof recollections : she could not in- 
 deed avoid believing the girls to be all 
 they appeared, amiable and innocent ; but 
 the mother, beneath that fair- exterior of 
 urbanity and sweetness, what artifice might 
 not be concealed ! but she would not judge 
 hastily, or rather suspect wrongfully ; she 
 would allow herself time for endeavouring 
 to discover what she really was, ere she 
 permitted herself to form a decided opi- 
 nion respecting her. 
 
 Visitors dropped in to tea. The arrival 
 of Helena was soon known throughout 
 the neighbourhood, and, from different
 
 114 CONTRAST. 
 
 motives, there was a very general curiosity 
 to ascertain what she was. JNIrs. Cosgrove 
 was anxious to be satisfied, from the dread 
 she entertained of any competition with 
 her daughters ; and Mrs. Harman, who fol- 
 lowed close upon her steps to Woodston, 
 from the wish she felt to be beforehand 
 with any one else in describing her. Mrs. 
 Cosgrove's first glance made her tremble 
 for the expectations she had long indulged 
 of obtaining lord Glena for her eldest 
 daughter, and the result was any thing 
 but a feeling of good will towards the 
 young stranger; besides w^iich, she would 
 persuade herself there was an air of proud 
 superiority about her, that her pride would 
 not permit her to brook ; and accordingly, 
 ere the first compliments of introduction 
 were well over, she began to assume to- 
 wards her a distant, or rather supercilious 
 air, and by gradually directing all her con- 
 versation to others, appear as if she had 
 forgotten there was such a person in the 
 room. Mrs. Harman, on the contrary, 
 tried to court her notice, and for the pur- 
 pose of engaging her in conversation, be-
 
 CONTRAST. 115 
 
 gan speaking of a visit she had made a 
 year or two before to London ; but in the 
 course of expatiating on which, she be- 
 trayed such downright laughable ignorance 
 respecting the various noble individuals she 
 pretended to have associated with, and the 
 places she had seen, that Helena, little in 
 the habit of concealing either what she 
 felt or thought, could not avoid laughing 
 at her in some instances, and contradict- 
 ing her in others. Mrs. Cosgrove per- 
 ceiving this, immediately took her part ; 
 but not by any means from the pure mo- 
 tive of good nature, but merely for the 
 purpose of gratifying her spleen, by trying 
 to have retorted upon Helena the ridicule 
 to which she certainly had exposed Mrs. 
 Harman, by her corrections of her state- 
 ments. This was more than Helena could 
 tolerate, and with her usual quickness of 
 feeling, she directly took a decided aver- 
 sion to Mrs. Cosgrove, and unjustly ex- 
 tended it to her daughters : but to be con- 
 nected with any one she disliked, was, in 
 every instance, almost sufficient to create a 
 prejudice against the person; for impulse
 
 116 CONTRAST. 
 
 was her guide, and error, of course, was 
 often the result. To evince her sentiments 
 for the party, she suddenly started up, and 
 seizing the arm of Caroline, hurried out 
 upon the lawn. Without, all was calcu- 
 lated to allay the little feeling of petulance 
 that had just been excited, to still and 
 calm each angry emotion. 
 
 A full-orbed moon, risen high in a 
 cloudless sky, and throwing its long level 
 beams of light across the trembling waters 
 of the romantic little bay of Woodston, 
 gave a softened view of the wild scenery 
 of the coast, while the total cessation of the 
 busy sounds of labour permitted the mur- 
 muring of the surge to have its full effect 
 upon the listening ear. As Helena looked 
 and listened, with feelings too lively for des- 
 cription — " From what a home," she could 
 not avoid internally exclaiming with a 
 sigh, " had she been estranged !" yet how 
 imperfect would her enjoyment of it be, if 
 she continued haunted by distrust : almost 
 she wished, from this reflection, that how- 
 ever lady Rossglen might merit the cha- 
 racter given of her, she had yet never
 
 CONTRAST. 117 
 
 heard any thing to her prejudice; but 
 from what snares might not the intima- 
 tions she had received be the means of 
 preserving her! yet safety was almost 
 too dearly purchased, by the pain attend- 
 ant on suspicion, a feeling so utterly un- 
 congenial to her nature. She was indeed 
 all generosity and openness, and it was 
 those very feelings of warmth and sincerity 
 that so often led to the appearance of her 
 being under the influence of others, of a 
 very contrary description, the slightest in- 
 dication of insincerity, or ill nature, or any 
 thing contrary to what she would have 
 been capable of herself, never failing to 
 elicit an answering one of indignation and 
 contempt from her. The necessity of 
 having a command over our feelings, and 
 the policy of sometimes concealing what 
 we think, were lessons to which she was 
 utterly unaccustomed ; hence she often 
 gave offence, without actually intending 
 it ; but she was careless about this, except 
 convicted of having done injustice, and 
 then she was all compunction and peni- 
 tence.
 
 118 CONTRAST. 
 
 The epithet beautiful, might, without 
 impropriety, have been applied to her ; yet 
 it was intellectual feeling, more than regu- 
 larity of features, that constituted her pe- 
 culiar charm. The quick versatility of her 
 feelings was visible in her countenance — 
 all those fugitive graces that belong to sen- 
 sibility were hers; while an innate con- 
 sciousness of superiority rendering her dis- 
 dainful of adventitious aids, gave to every 
 thing she said or did, her whole appearance 
 and manner, that unstudied air that is so 
 resistless. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 " How readily we wish time spent revok'd, 
 That we might try the ground again, where once 
 (Through inexperience, as we now perceive) 
 We miss'd that happiness we noight have found !" 
 
 Such as we have described her, it may 
 naturally be concluded she was incapable of 
 the meanness, the illiberality of envy ; but 
 she certainly liked distinction, or in other
 
 CONTRAST. 119 
 
 words, not to be eclipsed. She was per- 
 fectly aware of the manner in which she 
 had been represented at Woodston, and 
 she rather shrunk from the idea of falling 
 short of that standard, to which she made 
 no doubt she was, in consequence of the 
 representations of her grandmother, eleva- 
 ted in the opinion of all there: but she 
 had not been above a day or two arrived, 
 when she began to have some very embar- 
 rassing misgivings, that this was likely to 
 be the case. Left almost wholly to her 
 own guidance, and brought up amongst 
 persons by no means competent to point 
 out the course of study requisite to be 
 pursued for the completion of education, 
 with the natural levity of youth, she 
 grasped at what was most aaiusing, in- 
 stead of most useful ; and while, in all the 
 light and elegant accomplishments of the 
 day, she had no cause to fear competition, 
 she was by no means as well read in vari- 
 ous parts of history or science as her sis- 
 ters, educated as they were, under the im- 
 mediate eye of a watchful and accomplish- 
 ed mother. This certainly mortifying
 
 120 CONTRAST. 
 
 discovery took off a good deal from her 
 enjoyment in the domestic circle, from the 
 frequent appeals, or references, that in the 
 course of conversation were made to what 
 was presumed her superior judgment and 
 knowledge, such as would have occa- 
 sioned her a oood deal of awkward embar- 
 rassment, but for, she knew not how, the 
 interference of lady Rossglen ; but whe- 
 ther through a suspicion of the fact, or an 
 apprehension of a display that might throw 
 her daughters into the shade, remained to 
 be ascertained. But since pedantry was 
 the order of the day at Woodston, she 
 must qualify herself for it ; and she accord- 
 ingly began to possess herself of the requi- 
 site volumes for the purpose ; to profit by 
 them, it was necessary she should have a 
 few hours every day to herself, and she 
 accordingly began to form pretexts for ab- 
 senting herself, for a little while, every 
 morning from the girls ; but her new pur- 
 suit interfered not with her evening en- 
 gagements ; parties were constantly making, 
 both at home and abroad, in compliment 
 to her; and in the enjoyment of these,
 
 CONTRAST. 121 
 
 every thing that was unpleasant ceased for 
 the time to be remembered. 
 
 The dark eyes which she had encoun- 
 tered, in the agitating moment of her first 
 arrival, were not forgotten ; but she looked 
 in vain wherever she went, for the person 
 to whom they belonged : a kind of restless 
 curiosity to know who he was, induced 
 at length an indirect inquiry on the sub- 
 ject ; but in some way it was evaded. She 
 could not refrain also from one concerning 
 Mountflorence ; but neither did this obtain 
 her any satisfaction. After being a few 
 days at Woodston, she could not help 
 thinking it odd that he had not been to 
 pay his compliments to her : the circum- 
 stance almost confirmed her in the belief 
 of there being something of disappoint- 
 ment and pique rankling in the heart 
 both of mother and son with regard to 
 her : yet to yield to this persuasion — and 
 was it not to give credit to all that had 
 been said to the prejudice of the former? 
 and how could she do so, and behold her, 
 by the uniform and unostentatious dis- 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 CONTRAST. 
 
 charge of all her duties, her sweetness of 
 temper, her polish, her tenderness, and 
 refinement, rendering home, what home 
 should ever be, the resort of peace, and 
 love, and joy, and yet harbour a thought 
 to her prejudice? she could have hated 
 herself at times for doing so, and at others 
 have wept to think it still behoved her to 
 be doubtful. 
 
 The girls, little dreaming of the senti- 
 ments she was harbouring of the mother 
 they so loved, were enchanted with her, 
 and lady Rossglen herself w^as much pleas- 
 ed. She soon penetrated into her charac- 
 ter—that indeed was no very difficult mat- 
 ter—and saw that what there w^as to con- 
 demn, was more the fault of education 
 than of nature. Had her feelings been 
 less liberal, she would not have contempla- 
 ted Helena with such pleasure, considering 
 her, as she was obliged to do, as the cause 
 of depriving her of her dear Sigismund's 
 company ; for, participating in the proud 
 feelings of his mother, he had early deter- 
 mined on avoiding, if not an absolute in- 
 troduction to her, at least her society, as
 
 CONTRAST. 123 
 
 much as possible ; and of what did not the 
 resolve deprive him, since harassed as he 
 was with anxieties, what a solace would he 
 have found for them in the domestic hap- 
 piness at Woodston ! He had returned to 
 find that not a wreck of his paternal inhe- 
 ritance could be saved, and that hei of 
 course, had no prospect before him, but 
 that of reimbarking in life, literally a sol- 
 dier of fortune. He loved his profession ; 
 but he also loved domestic happiness, 
 " that only bliss below;" and of this he 
 now entertained very little hope; but 
 while he could, it was his intention to con- 
 ceal what he deemed inevitable, both to 
 spare, his mother's feelings as long as pos- 
 sible, and to avoid those offers of service 
 from sir jNIaurice, which he was determin- 
 ed to reject. His feelings of mortification 
 and disappointment were heightened, by 
 the conviction, that had his affairs been 
 differently managed, such ruin would not 
 have been the result: but the person to 
 whom they were confided was unworthy 
 of the trust. Mr. Wetherall was the hus- 
 g2
 
 124 CONTRAST. 
 
 band of the half-sister of sir Maurice, and 
 in his hands, by the advice of the baronet, 
 from the natural supposition that the con- 
 nexion between the families would induce 
 him to pay particular attention to his inte- 
 rests, the affairs of Mountflorence were 
 placed ; but Mr. Wetherall somewhat re- 
 sembled Serjeant Eitherside in the play; 
 and tempted by the bribes of a nobleman 
 in the neighbourhood, whose political 
 views rendered an accession of property 
 necessary, acted in such a manner, as to 
 render the sale of Mountflorence's family 
 estate indispensable. 
 
 Sir Maurice loved Helena ; but still he 
 could not avoid regarding her with some 
 little feeling of displeasure ; not merely on 
 account of her reluctance to accompany 
 him to Woodston, and the encouragement 
 she had given to sir Osbert without his pri- 
 vity, but also from the consideration of her 
 being the cause of banishing Sigismund 
 from Woodston, for whom he entertained all 
 the affection of a father. In vain he Vv^rote 
 — in vain he rode over, to try and procure 
 his company there; and more than once, in
 
 CONTRAST. 125 
 
 the anger excited by his disappointment, 
 was tempted to inveigh with bitterness 
 against the promulgators of those invidious 
 reports, that occasioned so much obstinacy : 
 but surely persons of such good sense as 
 Sigismund and his mother, should despise 
 such idle tattle ; but no — and so, after at 
 length getting Helena over, all chance of 
 profiting by the circumstance would be 
 lost: well, really it was enough to pro- 
 voke the patience of a Job ; and for the 
 first time he began to display a humour 
 not natural to him. 
 
 But not always were the hours passed 
 within, that Helena now chose sometimes 
 of a morning to devote to other purposes 
 than those of visiting, or amusing herself 
 with the girls. There were some distant 
 places in the wood favourable to study, 
 and to these she often watched opportuni- 
 ties for repairing. A picturesque hut, 
 erected on the edge of a small lake, seques- 
 tered in the very bosom of the wood, be- 
 came her favourite resort, both from its 
 remoteness from the house, precluding all 
 fear of any unpleasant interruption, and
 
 126 CONTRAST. 
 
 the pleasing effect which its romantic and 
 retired situation had upon her feelings. 
 The willow and the birch drooped over its 
 conical roof of thatch, backed by trees of 
 other size and characters gradually deepen- 
 ing into gloom ; while every prospect, save 
 that of the lake, was obscured by the wild 
 rugged banks that hemmed it in — hung 
 with pendant shrubs, and black with ivy 
 and other creeping plants, forming altoge- 
 ther a retreat, well adapted for study or 
 contemplation. Here the taste of Helena, 
 for the beauties of nature, was gradually 
 elicited, and the purpose for which she 
 chiefly repaired to the place was frequently 
 suspended, to have the pleasure of gazing 
 on the lake, and watching the light clouds 
 that varied its undulating surface, and list- 
 ening to the soft flow of its rippling water. 
 She was sitting one day near the entrance 
 of the hut, unconsciously lost in thought, 
 v/hen chancing to uplift her eyes, she 
 caught a glimpse of a gentleman, retreat- 
 ing out of sight behind some thickets that 
 overran part of the adjacent bank. While 
 yet watching him, a paper came wafted
 
 CONTRAST. 127 
 
 towards her ; she was rising to secure it, 
 when the stranger, springing down the 
 bank, which he had half ascended, caught 
 it up, and again retreated, but not with 
 such quickness as to prevent her seeing he 
 was the person whom she had found with 
 the family on the evening of her arrival at 
 Woodston, and whose never appearing 
 there since, had been more than once a 
 subject of surprise and curious conjecture 
 to her, intimate, as it was evident to her, 
 he was there, and led as she was, she did 
 not know how, to consider him a resident 
 in the neighbourhood. That he had now 
 seen her, she could not doubt ; and, consi- 
 dering that he had seen her before, and 
 where and what had then occurred, it 
 seemed strange to her his not having made 
 any sign of recognition. There was not 
 merely a strangeness, but an ungracious- 
 ness in such conduct, such as she could not 
 have supposed him capable of, from the 
 expression of those beautiful dark eyes, 
 that had made such an impression on her 
 fancy; but it was no matter — and she 
 tried to resume her reading; but it was
 
 128 CONTRAST. 
 
 not one of her collected days, so the effort 
 was vain ; and after loitering away another 
 hour in the hut, thinking she knew not 
 of what, she returned to the house, half 
 inclined to mention who she had seen, 
 under the idea that it might betray the 
 girls into the mention of his name ; but 
 then, if she disclosed the circumstance, her 
 visits to the hut would be revealed, and an 
 end put to them, from the interruptions 
 and intrusions she should then be liable 
 to; so she thought, upon reflection, she 
 would say nothing about it. For two or 
 three successive mornings, engagements 
 she could not decline kept her away ; but 
 at length she again found herself at liberty 
 to do as she pleased, and profited by the cir- 
 cumstance to repair to her favourite retreat. 
 In passing round to the entrance, she hap- 
 pened to glance in at a small window at 
 the side, and, with rather a sensation of sur- 
 prise, or some other emotion, perceived the 
 stranger, as she was still compelled to call 
 him, seated at the rustic table that formed 
 part of the furniture of the place, intently 
 occupied by a drawing that lay before him*
 
 CONTRAST. 129 
 
 Helena involuntarily bent forward to try 
 and catch a view of this. The slight rust- 
 ling this occasioned amidst the clustering 
 shrubs, instantly disturbed the person 
 within ; he started up in manifest confu- 
 sion, and making a snatch at the paper on 
 which he had been so intent, rushed from 
 the building; but in his eagerness to escape, 
 he missed securing what he intended, and 
 Helena only waited until he was out of 
 sight to enter the hut, for the purpose of 
 possessing herself of it: but what her 
 surprise was on taking it up, to find it 
 a striking likeness of herself, may be ima- 
 gined ; but surprise was not the only feel- 
 ing excited by the circumstance — her bo- 
 som heaved — her cheek glowed with a 
 sensation of delight, altogether new to her, 
 and for a few moments she stood lost in a 
 whirl of strange ideas. Other thoughts 
 and reflections then began to occur — cer- 
 tain vows and promises began to be re- 
 membered, and the impropriety of either 
 giving encouragement to any indication 
 of admiration from another, or experiencing 
 pleasure at it. 
 
 q3
 
 130 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Yet, had I calculated on this," she 
 said, " I should not have fettered myself 
 so early. Why did I allow myself to 
 be drawn into so hasty an engagement ? 
 Yet, what has sir Osbert done, that I should 
 now begin to repent it ? — has he done any 
 thing to forfeit those sentiments, that so 
 short a time since instigated me to brave a 
 father's authority for his sake? And have 
 I done so ?" she demanded of herself, with 
 a feeling of sudden terror, as if only now 
 awakened to a just perception of her error; 
 " and can I hope — can I expect, to escape 
 punishment for this ?" she cried. " Oh no, 
 already I feel a sad presentiment of its 
 awaiting me. And this is the result of 
 my estrangement from my natural home : 
 had I been allowed to continue in it, from 
 what griefs, what evils, might not the 
 circumstance probably have been the means 
 of saving me ! but the past cannot be re- 
 called, and let me not therefore give way 
 to regrets, that are a tacit reproach to the 
 beloved dead." 
 
 But whatever were her further thoughts 
 or reflections, she could not prevent her-
 
 CONTRAST. 131 
 
 self from making another effort to discover 
 who the person was, that kept thus haunt- 
 ing her fancy, and haunting her haunts, 
 by mentioning, in the course of the even- 
 ing, the incident that had occurred — that 
 is, mentioning her having found a like- 
 ness of herself in the hut, left behind by 
 some person who, on her approach, had 
 fled. 
 
 Dorinda changed colour ; and Caroline 
 began to laugh. — " Ah, just as I thought 
 it would be," she said ; " he has secretly 
 been taking that peep, which a fear of ri- 
 dicule, after all his violent resolves, would 
 not allow of his yet doing openly." 
 
 " I don't understand you," said Helena, 
 " Who are you speaking of?" 
 
 " Why, oflordGlena." 
 
 " Who is lord Glena ?" 
 
 " Why, a strange, odd kind of eccen- 
 tric neighbour of ours, but still not very 
 much amiss — that is, a kind of being that 
 one would not absolutely disdain, to have 
 make a sonnet on their eyebrow." 
 
 " Well, but what is it you alluded to, 
 in speaking of his violent resolves ?"
 
 132 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Why, I laid a wager, that he would 
 be quite restless until he had fully grati- 
 fied his curiosity respecting you ; he pro- 
 tested to the contrary; and, in order to 
 make me think myself mistaken in the 
 assertion, has, as it now appears, instead of 
 paying his respects openly, been watching 
 you in secret, and comparing you with the 
 likeness he stole of you, out of Dorinda's 
 portfolio." 
 
 " And is it merely for the pleasure of 
 disappointing you, that he has so suddenly 
 desisted from calling here?" asked He- 
 lena, with rather anxious curiosity. 
 
 *' Oh no ; there is another reason — your 
 having so greatly offended him." 
 
 " I !" exclaimed Helena. " Why how 
 could that be ? How can I possibly have 
 offended a person I hardly knew any thing 
 of?" 
 
 " In the person of his kinsman, young 
 De Burgh, to whom you cannot have for- 
 got your cruel conduct," said Caroline, 
 laughing. 
 
 " What, is that creature, that one could 
 render neither useful nor ornamental.
 
 CONTRAST. 133 
 
 a relation of his? But you jest — lord 
 Glena cannot think seriously of such a 
 matter. But really it was a most barba- 
 rous act of my father, to introduce such a 
 being, with so much of the country cousin 
 about him, to one, in London — elsewhere 
 it would have been of no consequence; 
 but there, where first impressions are every 
 thing, and one has no opportunity for ex- 
 planations !" 
 
 " Terrible indeed ! But I assure you, 
 lord Glena does not laugh at what occurred 
 there ; on the contrary, he thinks very 
 gravely of it. But come, I shan't say more, 
 lest of making you despair of yet having 
 him added to your train of admirers." 
 
 *' Despair!" repeated Helena; " ere I 
 can experience that, I must be first ambi- 
 tious of having such an addition to them. 
 If he be what you have led me to imagine, 
 he must be a stiff, cold, out-of-the-way 
 being ; and as such are my aversion, I 
 shall think or speak no more about him." 
 
 She had hardly announced this resolve, 
 
 ere preparations were made for a visit to 
 
 , where a succession of parties were
 
 134 CONTRAST. 
 
 about taking place. Helena was rather 
 surprised at the style of these ; she hardly- 
 expected any of the kind, in a country 
 town, but more especially a country town 
 in Ireland. Every day, however, tended 
 to prove that facts had been completely 
 misrepresented to her ; all could not have 
 been changed since the time of her grand- 
 mother ; and she sighed to think, that a 
 person whom she so truly loved, and 
 whose memory she wished to hold in ve- 
 neration, should have been capable of giv- 
 ing way to feelings inimical to real justice 
 and liberality. 
 
 A few evenings after the arrival of the 
 family at , there was an assembly at 
 
 the rooms. On the morning of the day, 
 the girls went out to their milliners, to 
 give some orders for the occasion ; but 
 Helena declined accompanying them. 
 She had just received a letter from sir 
 Osbert, and through some sudden change 
 of feeling, one never now arrived, without 
 occasioning a lowness and agitation of spi- 
 rits, that rendered her, for some time after, 
 unable to collect herself; but she was now
 
 CONTRAST. 135 
 
 forced to make an effort for the purpose, 
 by the arrival of several visitors, soon after 
 the girls went out. In the course of the 
 chit-chat that ensued, lord Glena was men- 
 tioned ; a lady inquired of lady Rossglen 
 what had become of him ? She protested 
 her ignorance, not having seen him for 
 some time; but he was in the habit of 
 taking sudden flights from home, she add- 
 ed, more especially whenever, as was now 
 the case, the countess and his sister were 
 absent. 
 
 " Well, if any one is particularly anxi- 
 ous about him," said another of the visi- 
 tors, " I am happy to say I can satisfy 
 their anxiety; for I met him a few mi- 
 nutes ago on the quay, and he announced 
 his intention of being at our ball this even- 
 ing." 
 
 Helena, who had been listlessly listen- 
 ing all this while to what was going on, 
 felt, at this instant, a sudden renovation 
 of spirits, from the effect produced upon 
 her mind by the letter of sir Osbert ; she 
 had felt half-inclined to refuse going to 
 the ball ; but now she could not help be-
 
 136 CONTRAST. 
 
 ing pleased she had resisted the inclination. 
 There was an impression made upon her 
 fancy, that did make her wish to ascertain 
 what kind of being lord Glena was, and 
 the light in which he really regarded her. 
 
 The girls soon returned — they also had 
 met lord Glena ; the rencontre was attend- 
 ed with mutual surprise, he not having 
 
 heard of their arrival in , and they 
 
 not expecting to meet him there. 
 
 " And " said Helena, but she re- 
 collected herself in time to check the ques- 
 tion she was about asking. 
 
 " He inquired whether we w^ere going 
 to the ball," proceeded Caroline ; " I ex- 
 pressed my surprise at his having any 
 doubt on the subject; and in return asked 
 for which set he wished I should keep my- 
 self disengaged for him : he hesitated ; told 
 me then not to lose any one of them on 
 his account, as he was beginning to think 
 he should not go, and very abruptly took 
 leave." 
 
 " Capricious, upon my word !" said Mrs. 
 Wilson, the lady w^ho had announced his 
 previous intention ; " I cannot avoid think-
 
 CONTRAST. 137 
 
 ing these whims of his lordship savour a 
 little of affectation." 
 
 " Well, be that as it may," observed 
 another of the party, " his not being there 
 will be a terrible disappointment to some of 
 the company ;" and coughing significantly, 
 added — " You know Mrs. Cosgrove and 
 her daughters will be there." 
 
 Lady Rossglen, who had no kind of 
 pleasure in these inuendoes, prevented 
 the reply that was about being made, by 
 some observation calculated to give a turn 
 to the conversation ; and the visitors shortly 
 after dispersed. 
 
 " Could it be that it was knowing she 
 was to be at the ball, that occasioned 
 lord Glena to change his mind ?" Helena 
 wondered ; but no, the idea was too ridicu- 
 lous to be admitted; for assuredly, after 
 all, what she had heard from Caroline of 
 his pique and resentment must be mere 
 bagatelle: but whether he were present 
 or not, she now began to feel she cared 
 very little, beginning to conceive him a 
 very disagreeable kind of person, full of 
 the affectation of eccentricity, which of all
 
 138 CONTRAST. 
 
 things, in her opinion, was the most con- 
 temptible. 
 
 But this persuasion did not prevent her 
 looking diligently about the room for him 
 on her entrance, nor perhaps from the ex- 
 perience of a slight sensation of disap- 
 pointment at not perceiving him. The 
 ball commenced ; two sets were danced — 
 still he did not make his appearance ; and 
 Helena began to relinquish all idea of 
 seeing him that night: well, no matter; 
 to her, at least, the circumstance would 
 be no source of vexation. 
 
 At the conclusion of the second set, she 
 found herself occupying the same seat 
 with Mrs. Wilson. — " So lord Glena is 
 not come ?" observed the latter. 
 
 " So I perceive," replied Helena. 
 
 " Well, I should not like to have set 
 my heart so much upon seeing him here 
 this evening, as some persons that shall be 
 nameless," added Mrs. Wilson, with a cer- 
 tain turn of her eye, as she spoke, on Mrs. 
 Cosgrove. 
 
 " We are instructed not to set our 
 hearts very much upon any thing in this
 
 CONTRAST. 139 
 
 life," said Helena, laughing ; " liable as 
 we are to disappointment." 
 
 " Especially," resumed the other, " if 
 depending for any thing upon such a 
 whimsical, ridiculous, good-for-nothing 
 being as lord Glena." 
 
 " What an enchanting character you 
 give him !" said Helena. " I have heard 
 so many delightful traits of him since my 
 arrival, that really 'tis enough to make 
 one fall in love with him from report." 
 
 " Oh that he could believe this !" sighed 
 a voice behind her. 
 
 The ladies turned with quickness, and 
 " Lord Glena !" exclaimed Caroline ; and 
 " Lord Glena !" echoed Mrs. Wilson ; " is 
 it possible?" and "Lord Glena!" softly 
 repeated Helena to herself; " is this he in- 
 deed ?" for in him she beheld not the per- 
 son she expected to have seen. 
 
 " To prove it possible," said his lord- 
 ship, repeating Mrs. Wilson's words, " I 
 have to request the honour of an introduc- 
 tion to this lady," bowing to Helena and 
 then glancing at Caroline,. 
 
 Caroline came forward to present him ;
 
 140 CONTRAST. 
 
 and placing himself by the side of Helena, 
 a lively conversation ensued, in the course 
 of which his lordship expressed his obli- 
 gations to Mrs. Wilson, for the character 
 she had given him. 
 
 " Well, you know the proverb," said 
 Mrs. Wilson ; " but, after all, what did I 
 say to your prejudice? I did not describe 
 you as stupid, or old-fashioned, or quizzi- 
 cal; I merely said you were whimsical, 
 and affected, and good-for-nothing; and 
 what more alluring character could a man 
 of fashion wish for?" 
 
 " If others could be induced to think 
 so," glancing at Helena, " he would not 
 uncharitably refuse forgiveness for the un- 
 gracious portraiture she had drawn of him," 
 was the reply. 
 
 Helena, au fait in playful coquetry, 
 laughed, and rallied, and affected incre- 
 dulity to the indirect compliments his 
 lordship began paying. Though disap- 
 pointed, still she was pleased; she saw 
 she had caught his fancy; and his rank, 
 his fashion, above all, the difficulty she 
 by this time understood there was in his
 
 CONTRAST. 141 
 
 being pleased, or in other words, the fas- 
 tidiousness of his taste, rendered the idea 
 one of gratification to her. 
 
 There was still another reason ; from in- 
 timations received, she knew there were 
 certain personages then present, to whom 
 his singling her out would occasion morti- 
 fication, and whom she certainly sufficient- 
 ly disliked to wish to mortify ; and on this 
 account, even perhaps more than on any 
 other, she suffered herself to give an encou- 
 ragement to his attentions, that she might 
 not otherwise perhaps have done, thought- 
 less as she was, and fond of admiration. 
 
 Dancing with him was prevented by 
 her being already engaged for every set 
 that could possibly be danced that night ; 
 but she did not permit this to be any great 
 interruption to their conversation ; and 
 between each set kept promenading about 
 the room, leaning on his arm. At length, 
 missing Dorinda, she repaired to the card- 
 room to look for her. She found her seat- 
 ed rather behind her mother's chair, who 
 was at cards. — " What's the matter that I 
 find you here?" asked Helena.
 
 142 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Nothing," was the reply ; " but that 
 I felt rather fatigued by the heat and noise 
 of the next room." 
 
 " Why, I think I have heard you say, 
 that to render it delightful, a bail-room 
 could not be too crowded ?" 
 
 " Perhaps so ; but we are not always in 
 the same humour." 
 
 " So it seems : but come, I shan't allow 
 you to be whimsical ; you must return 
 with me, for we have hardly been together 
 the whole evening." 
 
 " Excuse me — I don't mean to dance 
 any more." 
 
 " But I won't excuse you," said lord 
 Glena ; " for I expect to be made amends 
 by you, for my disappointment in not be- 
 ing able to obtain JNIiss Rossglen's hand 
 for any of the sets this evening." 
 
 " You flatter me !" replied Dorinda, 
 with such a smile as Helena had never 
 before observed her assume, while a sud- 
 den flush gave a keen sparkling to her 
 eyes, altogether new to them : " but 1 am 
 so convinced of my incompetency to this,
 
 CONTRAST. 143 
 
 that I certainly shall not allow myself to 
 be persuaded to make the attempt." 
 
 Helena looked steadily at her ; her eyes 
 began to open to the truth, or, in other 
 words, a suspicion to suggest itself, that Mrs. 
 Cosgrove was not the only person in the 
 room to whom the attentions of lord Glena 
 to her, that evening, had probably caused 
 a sore sensation. She mused — " And is it 
 so," she said to herself; " but the stricken 
 deer shall not weep, if I can prevent it ; 
 I could not, if I would, accept her fa- 
 vourite, and I would not, if I could ; but 
 for the present, this shall remain a secret 
 to myself, until the game I am determi- 
 ned to play for her shall have succeeded ;" 
 and she immediately decided on giving 
 every possible encouragement to lord Gle- 
 na, for the double purpose of foiling the 
 plans of Mrs. Cosgrove, and forwarding 
 the secret wishes of Dorinda, by the pro- 
 bability there was of this conduct being 
 the means of drawing him more constantly 
 than ever into the domestic circle at Wood- 
 ston: but in forming such a plan, she 
 quite overlooked, with her usual inconsi-
 
 144 CONTRAST. 
 
 derateness, what it might be the occasion 
 of to herself; that as delicacy for the feel- 
 ings of Dorinda must ever prevent her re- 
 vealing her real motive for encouraging 
 lord Glena, the circumstance could hardly 
 fail of her incurring the imputation of co- 
 quetry and levity, whenever it came to 
 be known, as known it must, that at the 
 precise time of giving this, she was under 
 a positive engagement to another; but con- 
 sequences were what she never suffered 
 herself to dwell on, and, of course, she was 
 continually laying up cause for repentance. 
 
 Lord Glena was certainly much pleased 
 with her; but there was a certain con- 
 sciousness about him, that made him al- 
 most draw back, from paying those atten- 
 tions this feeling of admiration naturally 
 suggested ; her smiles, however, were not 
 to be resisted, and in the course of a day 
 or two, he was every where considered as 
 her lover. 
 
 But who, all this time, was the person 
 she had taken for him ? his name still re- 
 mained a provoking mystery ; but neither 
 her curiosity on this subject, nor the af-
 
 CONTRAST. 145 
 
 fair in which she had engaged, prevented 
 her spending a good deal of time in ram- 
 bling about the ancient city of , and 
 
 examining its remains of town walls, and 
 old castles, and Danish towers, and con- 
 trasting the quietude of its old-fashioned 
 streets, ascending from the fine navi- 
 gable river, on which it was built, to the 
 hills that, in wild and rocky bleakness, 
 rose above it, with the eternal noise and 
 confusion of those to which she had been 
 accustomed ; but with the pleasure these 
 rambles afforded, a feeling of melancholy 
 was often mingled, such as pensive reflec- 
 tions naturally excite. 
 
 In the great world, where she had been 
 brought up, every art is used to banish 
 thought, and the multitudes that throng 
 it favour the effort; but in a small coun- 
 try town, the reverse is the case; there 
 what we lose is immediately pressed upon 
 the observation — there every death in- 
 deed creates a chasm — " And I should 
 hardly like," observed Helena, one day, 
 " to live in a country town, where one 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 CONTRAST. 
 
 cannot avoid hearing the knell of their 
 friends, and seeing, perhaps, continually 
 the cold sod that presses the bosom, so 
 lately alive to all the social feelings of hu- 
 manity !" 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 " He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, 
 And all are slaves beside." 
 
 Before the return of the family to Wood- 
 ston, some one suggested a party to view 
 an ancient castle in the neighbourhood, 
 belonging to the marquis of Ravensdale, 
 a resident in England ; but on its being 
 mentioned to lady Rossglen, she declined 
 it ; and it was in consequence given up. 
 
 Helena was rather vexed, for it was on 
 her account the visit was proposed. Speak- 
 ing of the circumstance in the course of 
 the evening — " Do you know the reason 
 of your disappointment?" asked Mrs. We- 
 tl^rall, sir Maurice's half sister.
 
 CONTRAST. 147 
 
 ** No," Helena replied, " she could no 
 otherwise account for it, than by suppos- 
 ing lady Rossglen did not like to take the 
 trouble of repeating her visit to a place she 
 had seen before." 
 
 " No, that's not the reason ; but," with 
 a significant hen], " secrets, I perceive, in 
 all families ; but you know that the illus- 
 trious family of Ravensdale have a son ?" 
 
 " Yes — I have heard so." 
 
 " Why, I concluded you must have 
 seen him in London ?" 
 
 " No — London is a great wilderness, 
 where it is next to impossible to see every 
 one." 
 
 " Well, no matter ; but you have heard, 
 perhaps, that he is very handsome ? Well, 
 this really charming young man came over 
 here last summer ; it was his first visit to 
 the family seat, and nothing could exceed 
 the rejoicings that took place on the occa- 
 sion ; of course your father was amongst 
 the gentlemen who paid their compliments 
 to him, and your sisters soon had him for 
 their beau : but some daughters are fortu- 
 H 2
 
 148 CONTRAST. 
 
 nate in having very clever mothers ; my 
 
 poor girls But I have long perceived, 
 
 that in some matters I am a mere simple- 
 ton." 
 
 " Oh, well, be that as it may," said 
 Helena, " I think it could require no ma- 
 nagement, to induce a young man of taste 
 and fashion to pay attention to such girls 
 as Dorinda and Caroline." 
 
 " You think so !" with a little short hys- 
 teric laugh, and violently fanning herself; 
 " however, that's no matter ; there are 
 
 others who think But I might be 
 
 deemed envious, perhaps, if I said what ; 
 and so it was soon perceived that his lord- 
 ship's attentions were not equally divided 
 between the young ladies ; in short, that 
 JMiss Caroline was the magnet of attrac- 
 tion." 
 
 " Indeed ! Well, I really don't know 
 which I think, her or Dorinda the pret- 
 tiest." 
 
 "Really!" with again a little kind of 
 laugh. " Well, I must acknowledge I 
 don't exactly see them with your eyes : 
 but to come to the point ; she might per-
 
 CONTRAST. 149 
 
 haps by this time have been his bride, but 
 that some officious person" — Mrs. We- 
 therall could, if she had thought proper, 
 have mentioned who this person was — 
 " took upon themselves to give notice to 
 the marquis of what was going on ; and 
 the consequence was, his coming over, 
 and a terrible work ensuing from his hav- 
 ing fixed on an alliance for lord Selwyn 
 in another quarter ; and so, after this, no 
 one belonging to your father could, with 
 any propriety, think of visiting a place be- 
 longing to the family." 
 
 " Assuredly not ; and I really conceive 
 my father has every reason to feel himself 
 offended ; since an alliance with a family, 
 ancient as his, I think none, however il- 
 lustrious, need disdain." 
 
 " Certainly; but fortune is an object as 
 well as family, with the marquis; how- 
 ever, spite of his precautions, what he has 
 objected to may yet take place ; for it is 
 said," she looked cautiously around her, 
 to see that no one was listening — ** that, 
 unknown to your father, lady Rossglen 
 has continued to carry on a correspondence
 
 150 CONTRAST. 
 
 with lord Selwyn ; that, in short, during 
 sir ^laiirice's recent absence in England, 
 he came over, and still continues here, for 
 the express purpose of making, in meet- 
 ings with her at Woodston, and elsewhere, 
 as opportunities offer, arrangements for a 
 secret marriage with ^liss Caroline." 
 
 Helena started. She was on the point 
 of interrupting the invidious detail of 
 Mrs. Wetherall, by a vehement protesta- 
 tion of her disbelief of what lady Rossglen 
 was accused of, when the mention of lord 
 Selwyn's secret arrival, and clandestine 
 meetings with her, gave a sudden check to 
 the impulse, by rendering her uncertain 
 what to think. Could it be that he was the 
 person she had surprised with her ladyship 
 and the girls, on the evening of her arrival 
 at Woodston, and whose retreat, ere the 
 entrance of her father, had even, in that 
 moment of agitation, occasioned her some 
 surprise ? The more she reflected on the 
 circumstance, the more she was tempted t?o 
 conceive it even so. The mystery made 
 about his name — the way in which he loiter- 
 ed about the grounds, tended to confirm the
 
 CONTRAST. 151 
 
 supposition ; and finally, she gave in to the 
 belief; and of course, that lady Rossglen 
 was by no means the character she was 
 credulously beginning to think, or fondly 
 hoping to find her. The idea was produc- 
 tive of pain ; for she wished to be allowed 
 to love her: but this was not the only 
 sensation of regret she experienced at the 
 moment ; she was conscious of having 
 given way to a fancy, that if known, would 
 subject her to ridicule, and the reflection 
 put her out of humour, both with herself 
 and others. Her grandmother then, poor 
 woman ! had not been so misled by preju- 
 dice, as she was beginning to allow herself 
 to imagine. Lady Rossglen was, after all, 
 the artful, deceptions character she had 
 represented, and but for her prudent 
 precautions, in keeping her from Wood- 
 ston, she might by this time perhaps have 
 had to deplore the sacrifice of her interests 
 to those of her ladyship's. 
 
 The next day was Sunday : the last ser- 
 vice in the old cathedral was late. On 
 quitting it in the evening, lady Rossglen 
 desired Helena to hasten after the girls,
 
 152 CONTRAST. 
 
 who had gone on with some young friends, 
 as she wished to speak to an old lady, who 
 was coming out of a distant pew. 
 
 Helena obeyed her ; but the girls had dis- 
 appeared ere she reached the door ; and she 
 paused near the steps, for the purpose of 
 being joined by lady Rossglen, and listen- 
 ing to the last chant of the organ, as it 
 swelled with solemn grandeur through 
 the vaulted roof Whilst standing here, 
 amidst some other loiterers, engaged in 
 examining some old monuments, in the 
 shadowy light, cast on them by a few 
 flickering lamps, lady Rossglen, leaning 
 on the arm of a gentleman, brushed patet 
 her. The eyes of Helena became rivetted 
 on her companion j and just as they were 
 descending the steps, she caught a suffi- 
 cient view of his features to ascertain his 
 being the supposed lord Selwyn. So it 
 was for the purpose of meeting him, that 
 her ladyship had remained behind; and 
 this was her truth, her sincerity, and with 
 a feeling of indignation she could not have 
 disguised at the moment. So irritating 
 was the idea of any imposition being at-
 
 CONTRAST. 153 
 
 tempted on her, Helena hurried home, 
 and was repairing to her chamber, in an 
 agitation of spirits that rendered her un- 
 willing to be seen by any one at the mo- 
 ment, when she encountered her father, 
 and was, of necessity, obliged to enter 
 the drawing-room with him. Here she 
 found her sisters, with the young friends 
 with whom they had left the church. All 
 inquired what was become of lady Ross- 
 glen. 
 
 Helena laconically replied she could not 
 tell. Visitors dropped in to tea, but a 
 considerable time elapsed before lady Ross- 
 glen made her appearance. On being ral- 
 lied as to what she had been doing with 
 herself, she gravely replied — " When once 
 poor Mrs. Dobson gets hold of any one, it 
 is hardly possible for them to break away 
 from her." 
 
 Helena could hardly command herself, 
 at what she considered so flagrant a breach 
 of truth. Ere tea was well over, she re- 
 treated to her chamber, and snatching up 
 a pen, in the irritation of the moment, sat 
 h3
 
 154 CONTRAST. 
 
 down to address a letter to sir Osbert, in 
 which she made no scruple of inveighing 
 against her ladyship, as a most accomplish- 
 ed dissembler: but hardly was this letter 
 dispatched, ere she would have given 
 worlds, if at her command, to have regain- 
 ed it, so suddenly conscious did she be- 
 come of the impropriety she had been 
 guilty of, in expressing herself of a person 
 so nearly connected with her father, in the 
 manner she had allowed herself of lady 
 Rossglen ; forgetting this was not the first 
 time she had offended in the same way ; 
 for just as her humour varied, she spoke 
 of her — it was so pleasant, such a relief, 
 when vexed, to have some one to whom 
 she could give utterance to her angry 
 feelings. 
 
 The ensuing day the party returned to 
 Woodston. Lord Glena followed, and be- 
 came more regular than ever in his visits ; 
 but he did not know how it was, he did 
 not by any means feel as much at his ease 
 in them, as he was wont to be : there was 
 a consciousness about him, that at times 
 rendered him awkward and embarrassed
 
 CONTRAST. 155 
 
 in paying those attentions, to obtain op- 
 portunities for which was his chief allure- 
 ment to the house ; besides which, he fan- 
 cied that there was an air of shyness in 
 the manner of sir Maurice, never noticed 
 before, and a want of that graciousness in 
 the smile of lady Rossglen, with which he 
 was wont to be regarded ; while Dorinda, 
 the frank, the innocent, and heretofore af- 
 fectionate, Dorinda, evidently shunned 
 him. 
 
 Sir Maurice did not indeed feel as much 
 pleasure at seeing him as used to be the 
 case, both because he considered, through 
 his means, all chance of now obtaining He- 
 lena for Mountflorence lost, and that, as 
 matters now turned out, he had been too 
 particular in another quarter ; while lady 
 Rossglen, of a similar opinion, vainly 
 strove to prevent any alteration being per- 
 ceived in her looks or deportment towards 
 him. What they thought on this subject, 
 however, they did not communicate to 
 each other, determined as each was, though 
 from different motives and feelings, to do 
 nothing that could occasion either to be
 
 156 CONTRAST. 
 
 accused of preventing so eligible an alliance 
 as his lordship's must certainly be consi- 
 dered for Helena. 
 
 But though, while in company, Helena 
 gave him all the encouragement he could 
 desire, the moment they were either alone, 
 or detached from others, her tone and 
 manner altered — she became distant and 
 reserved; his compliments were checked, 
 his attentions repelled, and every art and 
 effort was had recourse to, to revive the 
 interest which, from various circumstances, 
 she was aware he had once both felt and 
 displayed for Dorinda. But the attempt 
 was vain ; the more she dwelt upon the 
 excellencies of another, the more apparent 
 her own became ; and the very petulance 
 that she could not help at times betraying, 
 at the ill success of her plan, only served to 
 give a piquancy to her manner, that ren- 
 dered her still more attractive. 
 
 His mother, a very stately old lady, 
 who was absent at the time of Helena's 
 first arrival at Woodston, about this pe- 
 riod returned to her seat in the neighbour- 
 hood, with his sister. The rumour that
 
 CONTRAST. 157 
 
 awaited her, of his having conceived a 
 partiality for Helena, by no means tended 
 to please her; on the contrary, nothing 
 could possibly have more discomposed her, 
 from a strong prejudice she had conceived 
 against the young heiress, through thereport 
 of her kinsman Walter, and her disliking 
 her connexions at the maternal side; be- 
 sides which, she had long set her heart on 
 seeing her son united to a daughter of 
 lady Rossglen's, from the esteem and ad- 
 miration in which she held her ladyship. 
 She was not a person by any means scru- 
 pulous or backward in revealing her sen- 
 timents, and she determined, on this oc- 
 casion, by not attempting to disguise 
 them, to do all in her power to prevent 
 a marriage she utterly disliked the idea of. 
 With this determination, she repaired to 
 Woodston, ere lady Rossglen was apprized 
 of her return. 
 
 Helena, though fond of distinction, was 
 not equally flattered by it from all; her 
 acute feelings prevented this ; and at any 
 time she would readily have given up the 
 homage of the crowd, for the notice of a
 
 158 CONTRAST. 
 
 person of assured worth. The high re- 
 spect which she had been taught to feel 
 for the countess and her daughter, ren- 
 dered her solicitous to be known to them ; 
 and accordingly, with pleased readiness, 
 she obeyed the summons which she re- 
 ceived to the drawing-room on their ar- 
 rival, not without being inclined to think 
 this unexpected visit might, in some de- 
 gree, be placed to her account, as, even 
 with their intimate friends, she understood 
 they kept up a good deal of ceremony. 
 Yielding, in some degree, to this flattering 
 belief, that to impatience to know her it was 
 at least in some degree owing, what was her 
 surprise, her disappointment, at the recep- 
 tion she met with! ice itself could not 
 have been more chilling, more freezing, 
 than the cold, the distant, the almost su- 
 percilious manner in which they regarded 
 her ; and without once bidding her wel- 
 come, or paying her any of those little 
 compliments usual on first introductions, 
 turned away, after a slight survey, to 
 resume the conversation with lady Ross- 
 glen, which her entrance had interrupted.
 
 CONTRAST. 159 
 
 Helena was deeply wounded; but it 
 was not her pride alone that was hurt on 
 the occasion ; for as the daughter of sir 
 Maurice Rossglen, she was satisfied that 
 the mortification now sustained could not 
 possibly proceed from any feeling injurious 
 to that ; it was her vanity — her self-love. 
 She had allowed herself to believe that she 
 must be represented in a light to cause a 
 general prepossession in her favour, and, 
 as already mentioned, was ambitious of 
 the notice of lady Glena and her daughter, 
 both from the respect she paid to real 
 worth, and the additional distinction she 
 was aware the circumstance would confer 
 upon her, from the manner in which they 
 were looked up to by every one. The 
 humiliation of such a disappointment as 
 the present was altogether new to her, 
 and certainly not more bearable on that 
 account. Pride, however, made her 
 struggle to conceal the feelings it occa- 
 sioned, while, at the same time, with her 
 usual hastiness, she was almost tempted 
 to betray them, by abruptly withdrawing. 
 
 While struggling to resist the impulse
 
 160 CONTRAST. 
 
 of indignation, too completely disconcert- 
 ed, however, to be able to allow the ef- 
 forts to succeed which lady Rossglen, ex- 
 tremely vexed by what had occurred, was 
 making to draw her into conversation, the 
 girls, hastily summoned home from a walk, 
 entered. Their appearance seemed to have 
 the effect of magic upon both ladies ; in a 
 moment they became metamorphosed from 
 cold, stiff, formal-looking beings, into kind, 
 gracious, warm-hearted ones. — " And, ah, 
 my own sweet girls," said the countess, 
 " it was you," as she affectionately em- 
 braced them — " you indeed I wanted to 
 see," and Helena thought she glanced at 
 her at the moment. — " Laura and I have 
 come for the express purpose of carrying 
 you off with us ; our friends, the Danbys, 
 with whom we have been spending some 
 time on their way to the metropolis, are 
 to stop a day or two with us ; and they 
 made us promise that they should have 
 the pleasure of seeing their little favour- 
 ites, and we are to have quite a select, 
 snug party." 
 
 " You do the girls honour, by wishing
 
 COKTRAST. 161 
 
 to include them in such a party," said lady 
 Rossglen ; " but I cannot now," and she 
 glanced at Helena, " permit them both to 
 be absent from home at the same time." 
 
 " Oh ! I comprehend you," said the 
 countess ; " but if I can induce Miss 
 Rossglen " 
 
 " To accompany them," said lady Ross- 
 glen, with quickness. 
 
 " No, not exactly that," resumed her 
 ladyship, after a sHght hesitation ; '* Miss 
 Rossglen might not, I apprehend, exactly 
 like a party of entire strangers ; what I 
 meant, therefore, was, that if I could in- 
 duce her to solicit, that, on this one oc- 
 casion, her sisters should not be kept at 
 home on her account." 
 
 Helena, seeing she was expected to say 
 something, gravely answered — " That on 
 her account, she hoped her sisters would 
 not be debarred from any thing agreeable 
 to them ;" and her father entering at the 
 moment, to pay his compliments to the 
 ladies, took the opportunity of with- 
 drawing. But with what soreness of 
 feeling did she retire ! she was made to 
 
 ♦
 
 162 CONTRAST. 
 
 see, by the most intimate friends of the 
 family, that there was a wide distinction 
 made between her and the other members 
 of it ; and that from the total want of any 
 lively interest about her, her being consi- 
 dered more in the light of a stranger, than 
 any thing else, to all parties, she could well 
 be spared from the domestic and social 
 circles of Woods ton. 
 
 Ardent and affectionate in her nature, 
 hitherto accustomed to be an object of the 
 first consideration, to find herself now where 
 she conceived she was merely tolerated, not 
 wished for, the thought was one of bitter- 
 ness. " But might I not have foreseen all 
 this ? might I not have anticipated all these 
 wounds to my feelings ?" she cried, with 
 tears she could not suppress ; and had she 
 not, prior to this day, been made to feel, 
 in some degree, what now so affected her? 
 The domestics and dependants made no 
 scruple of letting her understand they re- 
 garded her but in a secondary light; was any 
 service required by her and her sisters at 
 the same moment, they were always sure 
 of being the first attended to. " And I
 
 CONTRAST. 163 
 
 can't help thinking," she said one day to 
 the old Scotch gardener, who had been 
 for years in the family, on being at length 
 struck with the difference he made in the 
 bouquets he prepared for her and the girls, 
 " that I am not quite so great a favourite 
 with you as my sisters." 
 
 Dugald thrust his sun-burnt hand un- 
 der his bonny blue bonnet, and after rub- 
 bing his grey locks for some time — 
 " Why, I'll not gang to deny that. Miss," 
 he said ; " but then, you ken, these bonny 
 bairns are the laird's ain daughters." 
 
 " Well, and what am I then ?" de- 
 manded Helena ; " am not I the laird's ain 
 daughter also, as you call him ?" 
 
 " Why, yes, to be sure," cried Dugald, 
 recollecting himself; " no one is ganging 
 to deny that ; any one, with but half an 
 e'e in their head, might see that with these 
 bonny black een of your ain ; but then ye 
 maun ken, ye were not brought up amongst 
 us, like these young lassies, and the plants 
 we have tended and cherished oursels, we 
 maun always like and love better than 
 these brought from a distance to us."
 
 164 CONTRAST. 
 
 This honest acknowledgment was pro- 
 ductive at the moment of agitating reflec- 
 tions. What it intimated, seemed now 
 confirmed, and in the bitterness of her 
 feelings, Helena deplored her return to her 
 natural home, since so great an estrange- 
 ment had, as she thought, been effected 
 there from her. 
 
 On quitting her chamber, she found the 
 visitors gone, carrying off the girls with 
 them, and Mrs. Wetherall just arrived on 
 her jaunting car with her daughters. 
 She observed that Helena looked pale, 
 and said that a drive back with them to 
 , would be of service to her. 
 
 Helena, too much discomposed to ap- 
 pear as usual, immediately caught at the 
 indirect invitation ; and it was agreed that 
 she should pass a day or two with Mrs. 
 Wetherall. Her father did not look 
 pleased at the arrangement ; he reminded 
 her, that Sigismund Mountflorence was 
 coming that evening to Woodston; and 
 that as it was his first visit there since h^r 
 arrival, he wished her to be in the way to
 
 CONTRAST. 165 
 
 receive him : but Helena objected to giving 
 lip her intention of accompanying INIrs. 
 Wetherall ; there could be but little anx- 
 iety, she conceived, for an introduction, 
 that was not earlier sought, considering 
 the opportunities there were for it ; and 
 finally she persevered in what she had 
 previously decided on. 
 
 Mrs. Wetherall was quite delighted 
 at carrying her off, not from any parti- 
 cular affection formed for her, but the 
 idea that having her now and then to 
 herself, might enable her to get more into 
 her confidence, and thus better enable her 
 to put her liberality and wish to oblige to 
 the test. 
 
 Mrs. Wetherall had, in short, a great 
 deal of worldliness about her ; with very 
 inadequate means, she aimed at great dis- 
 play, the fortune of the family being but 
 small, and the head of the house by no 
 means inundated with business; the con- 
 sequence was, her being often placed in 
 very embarrassing little dilemmas ; she had 
 long looked, with an envious or covetous
 
 166 CONTRAST. 
 
 eye, on the unlimited command of wealth 
 Helena appeared to possess, and now re- 
 solved on trying whether she could not 
 derive any advantage from the circum- 
 stance. Accordingly, the next morning, 
 while yet at breakfast, she abruptly ex- 
 claimed, as if from sudden recollection — 
 " There, after all," addressing herself to 
 one of the young ladies, " I beheve your 
 papa has gone out, without leaving me 
 the money I told him I should require so 
 early this morning ; but, poor man, 'tis ex- 
 cusable; he can't possibly think of every 
 thing, overwhelmed as he is with affairs of 
 consequence ; yet what is to be done — but 
 perhaps," in a hesitating tone, and turn- 
 ing to Helena, " you could " 
 
 " Accommodate you," said Helena ; 
 " certainly, with pleasure ; how much do 
 you want ?" unclasping, as she spoke, her 
 reticule. 
 
 " How much have you about you ?" 
 asked ]Mrs. Wetherall. 
 
 Helena mentioned. 
 
 " Oh ! well, that will nearly do ; but I
 
 CONTRAST. 167 
 
 hope I don't put you to any inconveni- 
 ence by taking it," eagerly extending her 
 hand at the same time ; " however, if I 
 do, it will be but for a short time, as I ex- 
 pect INIr. Wetherall in every moment; 
 and indeed I should not have troubled 
 you, but that the person whose bill I want 
 to settle, comes a great distance;" then 
 hastily rising, with a request that she 
 would excuse her for a few minutes, hav- 
 ing some domestic matters to arrange, she 
 retired, with a look to the girls to follow. 
 " Well, I think I managed this matter 
 dexterously," she exclaimed in a trium- 
 phant tone, on their joining her ; " there 
 you see, you'll have, after all, those exqui- 
 site dresses of gros de Naples, that you set 
 your hearts on." 
 
 " Yes, now that that wretch Fangle's 
 bill can be paid ; but after her insolence, 
 in refusing to let us have them till that 
 was settled, 'tis provoking to be obliged 
 to get them from her." 
 
 " Oh ! well, that can't be helped ; she's 
 not only the most stylish dress-maker here.
 
 168 CONTRAST. 
 
 you know, but the one that has the richest 
 assortment of things ; so don't delay, lest 
 the Cosgroves should have the start of 
 you." 
 
 " But should that affected thing above 
 — remember your promise." 
 
 " Oh ! leave me to manage that — and 
 again, I say, don't delay." 
 
 The command was too agreeable to the 
 young ladies not to be obeyed ; and their 
 mamma, who knew they would be some 
 time absent, in order to try and divert 
 Helena from inquiring about them, pro- 
 posed, on rejoining her, that as soon as 
 Mr. Wetherall returned, they should pro- 
 ceed to view an old castle on some land of 
 his, at a little distance from the city, which 
 he was repairing, as a place not altogether 
 unworthy of the notice of the tourist or 
 elegant traveller; and it was, indeed, 
 some such hope, working upon her ro- 
 mantic or speculative imagination, that 
 had induced her, not merely to persuade 
 him to take it in hand, but also to rack her 
 brain to invent a suitable legend or tradi-
 
 CONTRAST. 169 
 
 tion for it, in order to heighten the interest 
 she flattered herself it was calculated to 
 excite; since if luentioned, so of course, 
 she concluded, would the charming family 
 to which it belonged, and thus be intro- 
 duced to the notice of an admiring public. 
 All the way to it, Helena was amuSed 
 with an account of a lady Eva, who, 
 during some siege it sustained — Mrs. We- 
 therall had not yet exactly fixed at what 
 period, whether in the time of the Danes, 
 or immediately after the English inva- 
 sion, or during the wars of Cromwell — 
 was killed by an arrow in sight of her 
 lover, and whose ghost was supposed ever 
 since to haunt the building, making night 
 hideous. " Ah ! that's a part of your story 
 I wish you could make out," said the soli- 
 citor; "but from the depredations com- 
 mitted on Ballyshandra by the devils about 
 it, 'tis evident they neither feared ghost 
 or hobgoblin. Why, if I hadn't taken it 
 in hand just as I have done, there would 
 soon have not one stone of it been left 
 standing." 
 
 " Wretches !" exclaimed Mrs. Wether- 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 CONTRAST. 
 
 all. " But we have interposed in time to 
 save the noble pile ;" and as she spoke they 
 came in sight of the four bleak black walls 
 that composed it, with a thin sprinkling 
 of grass on their summits, and a wide ex- 
 tent of sterile land stretching around, in- 
 tersected with dykes, creating a strong 
 suspicion of there being a good deal of bog 
 in the vicinity. Helena could hardly for- 
 bear laughing as her eyes rested on it, and 
 thought of the exclamation of Mrs. We- 
 therall. However, she endeavoured to look 
 grave, and gaze with all due earnestness 
 at the loophole through which the " venge- 
 ful arrow" was shot into the fair bosom of 
 the lady Eva, to the utter disconsolation 
 of the valiant knight her lover. While 
 listening to a detailed account of all that 
 was intended to be done for Ballyshandra, 
 a gentleman on horseback approached. 
 " Do you see who is coming ?" asked Mrs. 
 Wetherall, with sudden abruptness, of He- 
 lena. 
 
 " Yes, I see it is — " lord Selwyn, she 
 would have added, but she felt a difficulty 
 or unwillingness to give utterance to his 
 name that prevented her.
 
 CONTRAST. 171 
 
 " So you know him ?'* said Mrs. We- 
 therall, with something of surprise in her 
 accent. " Till now, 1 thought you were 
 not personally acquainted." 
 
 " I have seen him before," said Helena, 
 " but by mere chance, and we have never 
 spoken." 
 
 " Well, curious enough this, that you 
 should have met without being introduced. 
 But, of course, I shall now have the plea- 
 sure of presenting you to each other." 
 
 " By no means," said Helena, reddening 
 and drawing back. " I see no necessity 
 for any thing of the kind, and shall there- 
 fore walk away till the gentleman leaves 
 you." 
 
 " Well, my dear creature," rather op- 
 posing this intention, ** don't you think 
 this will appear rather odd? that your 
 thus seeming purposely to avoid him may 
 give offence — may make him think — " 
 
 " No matter what," said Helena, break- 
 ing away from her. " No, 'tis of no pos- 
 sible consequence to me what he thinks," 
 she repeated to herself j " after what occur- 
 red at Woodston, lest otherwise it might 
 i2
 
 172 CONTRAST. 
 
 appear that I put a misconstruction on the 
 incident there, as well as from hearing 
 him represented as a clandestine suitor to 
 my sister : I conceive myself perfectly 
 right in shunning an introduction to him." 
 And she was walking on with unconscious 
 quickness, when her aunt overtook her. 
 " Why, my dear, you are positively flying," 
 she said. " I am half breathless trying to 
 come up with you. What in the name of 
 wonder were you hurrying on so for? But 
 you see the gentleman did not remain a 
 minute, though he had some very urgent 
 matters to talk over with Mr. Wetherall, 
 on perceiving he had frightened you away." 
 " Did he say so ?" asked Helena. 
 " Why not exactly; but it is evident 
 he thought so, or he would not have been 
 in such a hurry to depart." 
 
 " I am sorry I was the occasion of hur- 
 rying him away," said Helena ; but sud- 
 denly, " does he know who I am ?" 
 
 " Who you are !" repHed Mrs. Wether- 
 all, staring; " to be sure — I suppose so. 
 Eut how is it, or where is it that you have 
 met, that it has so happened that you were 
 not before this introduced? But perhaps
 
 CONTRAST. 173 
 
 it has been all contrived as a means of 
 doing away the belief so long entertained 
 of there being a project to unite you." 
 
 Helena now in her turn stared — "A pro- 
 ject to unite us !" she exclaimed. 
 
 " Why, yes, my dear; surely you can't 
 be ignorant of what was so well known to 
 your poor grandmamma, and one of her 
 reasons for never letting you come over ?" 
 
 " You really puzzle me, my dear ma'am." 
 
 " Indeed ! yet I think I speak very in- 
 telligible." 
 
 " Not in this instance. I don't think 
 my grandmother ever heard the name of 
 lord Selwyn." 
 
 " Perhaps not — but it is not of lord 
 Selwyn I am speaking." 
 
 " No ; of whom then ?" 
 
 " Of whom ! — why I thought you said 
 you knew him? Of major Mountflorence, 
 the gentleman who has just left us." 
 
 " What he — major Mountflorence?' 
 exclaimed Helena, in the most violent per- 
 turbation. " Oh, no ! I hope, I trust not ; 
 for not for the world would I, on — on his 
 mother's account, have major Mountflo-
 
 174 CONTRAST. 
 
 rence imagine that I would intentionally 
 shun him ; as, from what has occurred, 
 both to-day and yesterday, he must now 
 conceive " 
 
 '' Well, be that as it may," said Mrs. 
 Wetherall, very composedly, " 'tis major 
 Mountflorence you have just seen." 
 
 " Why did you not tell me it was him ?" 
 demanded Helena, with increased emo- 
 tion. 
 
 " How could I deem it necessary, when 
 you told me you knew who he was ?" 
 
 " True ; but it was all through an un- 
 fortunate mistake, an but I can explain 
 
 this to him myself, and thus make some 
 excuse for conduct, that must otherwise 
 cause me to be regarded by him in the 
 most unfavourable light. Yet, no, no, I 
 cannot, without running the risk of in- 
 volving others in a still more distressing 
 predicament ;" and, spite of her efforts to 
 suppress them, tears of vexation burst from 
 her at the thought. — " And is this he !" in 
 bitterness of spirit she sighed to herself — 
 " this accomplished, this interesting-look- 
 ing being — he whom I was early taught
 
 CONTRAST. 175 
 
 to fear being drawn into an alliance with ? 
 Is this he, whose meeting with his mother 
 made me pronounce that mother an ac- 
 complished dissembler ? Good Heavens ! 
 of what injustice have I not been guilty to 
 both ! and how can I endure the feelings 
 that occur from the reflection ! Ah, how 
 little did I know either mother or son, 
 when I entertained such fears of their de- 
 signs ! Oh, were I but free, what would 
 not my pride now be, to think they enter- 
 tained any such views respecting me, as 
 have long been ascribed to them ! for who, 
 who is there that might not think them- 
 selves happy and honoured in a union with 
 Sigismund Mountflorence ! Of noble con- 
 nexions, handsome, brave, accomplished, 
 distinguished for all that is captivating to 
 the imagination, that is seducing to the 
 heart, that is gratifying to pride — who, 
 who," she repeated, " but might be proud 
 of his regard? — and he, this gifted being, 
 it might perhaps have been my happy fate 
 to have attached, had I remained under 
 the paternal roof, or, rather, returned to it 
 when urged. But self-will ruled the hour,
 
 176 CONTRAST. 
 
 and already I pay the penalty of yielding 
 to it." 
 
 She determined on an immediate return 
 to Woodston, conceiving it not impro- 
 bable that Mountflorence might have gone 
 back there ; and could any thing do away 
 the impression made by her conduct, it 
 must be some immediate explanation or 
 apology for it. 
 
 Mrs. Wetherall was greatly disappoint- 
 ed on learning this determination, from 
 some further designs she meditated on the 
 generosity of Helena; but vainly she strove 
 to have it relinquished; Helena was not to 
 be dissuaded from any thing her feelings 
 suggested ; and finally she set off for Wood- 
 ston on her return. 
 
 Hardly ever had she felt a greater hea- 
 viness of heart, and more than once she 
 wept as she proceeded. The pleasantness 
 of the hour, the vernal beauty of the coun- 
 try, in general such sources of delight, now 
 failed of imparting a charm to sooth her 
 mind, so greatly was it agitated — oh, no, 
 for soon she should be removed from the 
 contemplation of w hat was so pleasing ;
 
 CONTRAST. 177 
 
 and that reflection was sufficient to em- 
 poison present enjoyment. Yes, the pe- 
 riod was fast approaching for tearing her 
 away from those scenes, to which she had 
 become so attached — from that happy, 
 that well-ordered home, where first she 
 had been taught to justly appreciate do- 
 mestic bliss ; and again she demanded of 
 herself, why she had so hastily, so rashly, 
 allowed herself to give up her freedom ? 
 But the past could not be recalled ; it were 
 idle to suppose that sir Osbert would per- 
 mit her drawinoj back from her eno^acre- 
 ment to him, without some better reason 
 being assigned for her wish to break it, 
 than any she had the power to adduce ; 
 and accordingly, to what she believed in- 
 evitable, she saw the necessity of endea- 
 vouring to reconcile herself 
 
 She found all the family dispersed. Sir 
 Maurice had rode out with De Montville, 
 who, as already stated, had, just about this 
 time, become an inmate at Woodston ; and 
 lady Rossglen was gone to lady Glena's, for 
 the express purpose of bringing back the 
 I 3
 
 178 CONTRAST. 
 
 girls : she wished to have asked some 
 question about Mountflorence, but she had 
 not the courage, or rather feared she could 
 not make the inquiry, without betraying 
 some little agitation; and forced herself 
 therefore to remain in ignorance whether 
 he was come back, or expected again that 
 day at Woods ton. 
 
 While awaiting in one of the parlours 
 the return of some of the family, the door 
 abruptly opened, and Mountflorence en- 
 tered ; but on seeing who was in the apart- 
 ment, started back. 
 
 Helena, dropping the book she had ta- 
 ken up, called after him — " Major Mount- 
 florence, I entreat, I beg " 
 
 Mountflorence, with a slight bow, again 
 advanced into the apartment. 
 
 " That I may not be the cause of dri- 
 ving you, a second time, away to-day,** she 
 resumed ; " but I fear you must be too 
 much offended by what occurred this 
 morning, to attend to any thing I wish to 
 say, or have to offer, in apology for it." 
 
 " You do me injustice by the supposi- 
 tion," said Mountflorence, but in a cold
 
 CONTRAST. 179 
 
 constrained tone ; " and I am concerned 
 you should have allowed yourself to feel 
 any uneasiness on the subject." 
 
 " Oh, no ; for what should I be, if I did 
 not feel uneasiness at the thought of hav- 
 ing offended — a — a person so nearly allied 
 to lady Rossglen ; but I do assure you, 
 that the circumstance, so calculated to do 
 so, was entirely owing to a mistake with 
 regard " but suddenly recollecting her- 
 self—" I can say no more than that it was 
 entirely unintentional, and that I shall be 
 miserable till you tell me that you think 
 no more about it." 
 
 " Then let me assure you of that this 
 moment," said Mountflorence ; the cold 
 and distant manner he had just assumed 
 giving place to his wonted animation; 
 such as those dark eyes, that had made 
 such an impression upon the imagination 
 of Helena, evinced being natural to him ; 
 and as he spoke, taking her hand and kiss- 
 ing it, " What is there, indeed, that such 
 condescension would not atone for ?" 
 
 " Then I have your promise," said He- 
 lena, in her turn beginning to recover
 
 180 CONTRAST. 
 
 her usual manner, " that from this instant 
 you forget and forgive ?" 
 
 Mountflorence smiled. 
 
 " And that as a proof its sincerity," she 
 resumed, " you will not estrange yourself 
 as much from Woodston as you have re- 
 cently done." 
 
 Mountflorence looked confused. — '* I 
 thought," he said, " you must have heard 
 how very much I am occupied, by " 
 
 " Oh, I have heard nothing that can 
 excuse such conduct ; for do I not know, 
 that Woodston is quite as much your 
 home as your own immediate one? so, 
 except you give the promise I require, I 
 shall doubt your previous assurance ; and 
 rather than have to think I am still the 
 means of continuing to deprive lady Ross- 
 glen of the company of her son — for I have 
 found out that you were not by any means 
 so great a stranger at Woodston before, as 
 since my arrival — run off to some wild 
 cave, or nook, though at the risk of en- 
 countering some fierce Caliban, and 
 being carried off by him, in some terrible 
 fit of ill humour or capriciousness."
 
 CONTRAST. 181 
 
 " No, no," said Mountflorence, " we 
 pray against being led into temptation : 
 how then can I voluntarily put myself in 
 the way of it, by the promise you re- 
 quire ?" 
 
 " Oh, words of course !" said Helena. 
 " However, I dare say you would find 
 yourself fully adequate to resist any temp- 
 tation you might encounter here ; but at 
 all events, it is only by being put to the 
 test we can know our own strength." 
 
 " True ; but in bringing it to trial, what 
 may we not meet with, to cause us ever- 
 lasting pain ?" and they were proceeding 
 in this way, the gentleman indirectly com- 
 plimenting, and the lady certainly not 
 discouraging him, when lady Rossglen 
 and the girls entered. She looked sur- 
 prised, not having expected the return of 
 Helena so immediately. 
 
 Helena, relieved from her recent unhap- 
 piness, was again all herself; but she had 
 a wonderful facility in recovering her spi- 
 rits, and spite of retrospects or anticipa- 
 tions, rendering the present moment one 
 of enjoyment. — " Well, you see, my dear
 
 182 CONTRAST. 
 
 ma'am," she said, laughingly addressing 
 lady Rossglen, " I could not bring myself 
 to deprive you long of my company ; and 
 to add to the obligation, what do you 
 think 1 have been doing ?" 
 
 " I really cannot guess." 
 
 " Why, insisting that this whimsical 
 son of yours should not persist in render- 
 ing himself so invisible at Woodston, as 
 he has done ever since my coming to it." 
 
 " Oh, well," replied lady Rossglen, but 
 with her cheek slightly flushing, " I hope 
 we shall have a little more of his company 
 Tiow,'' the word now emphatically uttered. 
 
 She spoke as she wished. The light in 
 which lord Glena was considered, put an 
 end to any further objection to an intro- 
 duction between Mountflorence and He- 
 lena ; and yielding to her maternal feel- 
 ings, she accordingly wrote to him on the 
 subject, concluding her explanatory letter, 
 by desiring that she might see him as usual 
 at Woodston. 
 
 But with all his affection for her — all 
 his love for the other dear inmates of this 
 second home, there were feelings that
 
 CONTRAST. 183 
 
 rendered Mountflorence reluctant to ac- 
 cede to this request ; but the temptations 
 to yield to it were too powerful to be even- 
 tually resisted : and, finally, he promised 
 that she should again see him there as 
 often as possible. 
 
 There was to be a large dinner-party 
 this day at Woodston ; and after a little 
 further chat, the ladies separated to dress. 
 
 Helena, as we have elsewhere hinted, 
 did not often study her dress, from a cer- 
 tain consciousness that it was not requi- 
 site ; but on this occasion, she could not 
 help considering what would be most 
 becoming; for it might almost be said, 
 that this was the first day of Mount- 
 florence seeing her, and she knew that 
 first impressions are almost every thing ; 
 and she certainly could not resist wishing 
 to make such a one on him, as might in- 
 sure to her his tender esteem, or, she did 
 not know what term to make use of, 
 create that interest that leads to lasting 
 regard ; and in desiring which, the friendly 
 regard of such a mind, she did not think 
 there was any thing incompatible with
 
 184 CONTRAST. 
 
 the circumstances in which she stood. — 
 " Come, Flower," she said, as she rushed 
 into her dressing-room, *' I want to look 
 exquisitely to-day ; so, as you have some 
 taste, tell me which of my dresses you 
 think the most becoming ?" 
 
 " Lauk, ma'am," replied Mrs. Flower, 
 " they are all so beautiful and helegant, 
 it would be hard to say ; but since you 
 have thought proper to hask me — to my 
 mind, the pink, with the border of wine 
 leaves." 
 
 " Pshaw ! its not a ball dress, but a din- 
 ner one, I mean." 
 
 " Oh, now, ma'am, I hunderstand you. 
 Then really, ma'am, the gauze one, of 
 French white, with the blond trimming ; 
 that, with a rose in your hair, will look 
 quite beautiful." 
 
 " That is, make me look quite beauti- 
 ful !" said her mistress. 
 
 *' Oh, as to that, ma'am, you always 
 look so; you always, as the gentlemen 
 say, look hangelic in every thing." 
 
 « Then come, let me see," taking the 
 comb out of her hair, and shaking her re-
 
 CONTRAST. 185 
 
 dundant tresses about her shoulders, " that 
 you make me look so to-day, or I'll posi- 
 tively have you locked up for a month in 
 some one of the dismal old churches or 
 castles here, along with all their screech- 
 ing ghosts and hobgoblins." 
 
 "Oh, ma'am! you make me quake at 
 the very thought, for they do, to be sure, 
 tell such stories of these here hirish ghosts; 
 which to be sure is natural enough, seeing 
 they are the spirits of such wild folks." 
 
 " Well, don't let yourself be too much 
 alarmed by these tales; for what would 
 you say, Flower," and a gentle sigh heaved 
 her fair bosom as she asked the question, 
 at the little probabihty there appeared of 
 her having the power to do so, " were I 
 to settle here?" 
 
 " You, ma'am ?" almost screamed the 
 abigail. " Oh ! the saints forbid ! But to 
 be sure, ma'am, you have no ideer of such 
 a thing? You could never think of giv- 
 ing up the hoperay and Almack's, and the 
 theatres, and all the fine sights and shows 
 of London, to settle in such an out-of-the- 
 way, wild, heathenish place as this. Be-
 
 186 CONTRAST. 
 
 sides, if you had, sir Osbert, I am sure — " 
 " Now don't be impertinent, Flower," 
 said her lady angrily. " So far, and no far- 
 ther, you know, I allow you to proceed. 
 Finish my hair, without saying another 
 word, for I am in a hurry to be dressed." 
 
 Mrs. Flower obeyed ; but in the alarm 
 excited by what her lady had just said, no 
 sooner found herself alone, than she placed 
 herself at her writing-desk, which, with her 
 usual carelessness, Helena had left open, 
 and addressed the following letter to sir Os- 
 bert, to whose interest she was bound, both 
 by fees received and fees expected, and for 
 whom she literally acted as a spy. 
 
 " Onered sir, 
 
 " As in dooty bound, i sit down to 
 tel you that things are not going on here, 
 in a way that i thinks you would like, i 
 am sure, i am the last creeter in the world, 
 that would spake amis of any lady I lived 
 with; but you made me take my book 
 oath, as to be sure, sir, you well knows, 
 leaving Lunnon, to tell you all the truth ;
 
 CONTRAST. 187 
 
 and so i must needs say, for a person hen- 
 gaged to another, my lady is going on in 
 a hodd way, flirting with this person, and 
 flirting with that person, as if she still was 
 at liberty to choose, or had her choice to 
 make; to be sure she's young and flat- 
 tered, as to be certain she would, even if 
 not the beauty she is ; for as my grandmo- 
 ther used to say, "vvhere there's honey, the 
 bees will be buzzing; and those who have 
 a long purse at their command, will always 
 be sure to have some one asking their 
 hand. The other day it was nothing but 
 ray lord Glena, and now I can see, without 
 using my high-g\siss, that it will be no- 
 thing but major Muntflorence, who is 
 com at last to take up his quarters here, 
 not for nothing it may be sworn — and who, 
 to be sure, will have the haid of his mo- 
 ther, lady Rossglen, who, as the old lady, 
 my lady's grandmamma, used to say, is one 
 of the hartfellest women in the world — so 
 mild and sweet spoken. But as the old 
 proverb goes, * smooth water runs deep,' 
 and ' all is not gold that glisters:' it's not 
 for nothing the major is come here, or my
 
 188 CONTRAST. 
 
 lady was dragged hover, just as he came 
 from the wars — but it's an ould scheme 
 to try and get her for him; marry com 
 up, without a sous, as one may say, to 
 bless himself with, to look up to a person 
 of her fortin ; for they do say as how 
 he's a ruinated man, and that an ould 
 auncient place he has in the neebourhood 
 must go to pot, if he doesn't get money 
 somewhere ; and in my mind, so much the 
 better, at least I knows if mine, I'd pull it 
 down, seeing it such an harburd^s they say 
 for ghosiesses, that peaceful folk can't rest 
 in their beds o' night for them : but this is 
 the case, as i finds, with all the ould places 
 here; and then as if this weren't eniffio 
 scare one, there's their good people the 
 fairies, as they calls them, though i am 
 sure seeing the tricks they play, stealing 
 people's children, and leading one into 
 bogs and quagmires, and popping through 
 the keyhole, to pinch the maids and spoil 
 the churning, i should call them the bad 
 people ; but that's neither here nor there, 
 has i was a going to say ; let things turn 
 out as they will, i have done my dooty, in
 
 CONTRAST. 189 
 
 putting you on your guard; but i does 
 hope, that you will come hover without 
 more ado, and tak us both back to Lunnon, 
 for it would grieve my art, hafter all your 
 generosity, and w^iat you have promised, 
 you should be disappointed of my lady ; but 
 i trusts when you have made up your mind, 
 you'll let me com to no arm, for riting 
 this here letter, seeing a poor servant has 
 nothing but their karacter to depend on ; 
 which to be sure they must lose, if it was 
 ever known they blabbed ; having nothing 
 more to say at this here riting, than hop- 
 ing you are well, which i am appy to say 
 both i and my lady am, i shall now finish, 
 and, as in dooty bound, am, onered sir, 
 " Your umbel servent to command. 
 
 " J. Flower." 
 " P. S. If i might make so bold, i would 
 just trouble you, sir, to tel Mr. George, 
 that i think it wouldn't have broke his 
 art, to have ritten me more that one letter 
 since i came hover to hireland; but I sup- 
 poses 'tis with him as with other folk, out 
 of sight, out of mind ; 'tis no matter how- 
 ever, for if i could make up my mind to
 
 190 CONTRAST. 
 
 give up dear Lunnon and all its kattrac- 
 tions, as my lady says, I believe I need not 
 fear having no kopportunity to change my 
 name here." 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 " Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie. 
 Which we ascribe to Heav'n." 
 
 Could any thing have discomposed He- 
 lena, it would have been the circumstance 
 of finding lord Glena in the drawing-room, 
 lest it should prevent the conversation she 
 wished for with Mountflorence. 
 
 Mountflorence was the first of the gen- 
 tlemen who quitted the table after dinner. 
 Helena was standing at a window as he 
 entered; she kept her position, but her 
 eye was upon him. She saw him look 
 towards her, hesitate, turn to speak to 
 some one else ; but finally he joined her, 
 and the conversation of the morning was 
 resumed. The longer Helena conversed
 
 CONTRAST. 191 
 
 with him, and the more she contemplated 
 the fine expression of his countenance, the 
 more firmly she was persuaded, that it was 
 well for the tranquillity of her poor grand- 
 mother, that an introduction had not ear- 
 lier occurred between them ; but for her- 
 self, was it equally so? she sighed at the 
 thought ; but reflection was in this in- 
 stance an enemy to present enjoyment, 
 and she endeavoured to banish it as speedi- 
 ly as possible. While thus engaged, lord 
 Glena made his appearance, and imme- 
 diately approached her. Mountflorence 
 instantly rose from the seat he occupied 
 by her on the same sofa. — " Don't let me 
 disturb you," said his lordship; but at the 
 same time with a look that seemed to say, 
 he should be extremely disappointed if he 
 did not dispossess him of the place. 
 
 "Excuse me," said Mountflorence, " but 
 I should conceive myself presumptuous 
 indeed, if I attempted to dispute your 
 right to this seat." Then, in a lower tone 
 to Helena, " I see," he added, " there's no 
 happiness that is not liable to interrup-
 
 192 CONTRAST. 
 
 tion," and with a slight bow, moved to 
 another part of the room. 
 
 Helena was not merely vexed, but 
 alarmed. She now, for the first time, be- 
 came sensible of the very serious light in 
 which her conduct towards lord Glena was 
 considered, and the consequent necessity 
 there was for an immediate effort to pre- 
 vent any further particularity from him, 
 if she wished to avoid being placed in the 
 most awkward, the most distressing pre- 
 dicament, through the imprudence she 
 had been guilty of with regard to him. 
 She was previously beginning to be aware 
 of this; but through her natural careless- 
 ness, might not perhaps so soon, or so se- 
 riously, have reflected on the subject, but 
 for the vexation it had now occasioned 
 her, the hinderance it was likely to be, she 
 saw, to those attentions from Mountflo- 
 rence, which w^ould afford her the oppor- 
 tunity she coveted for cultivating his re- 
 gard, and enabling her, perhaps in him, to 
 secure to herself an amiable and tender 
 friend. But how was the effort to be 
 made, so essential, on many accounts, to
 
 COXTRAST. 19s 
 
 have no longer delayed ? Act as she would, 
 assume what airs of capriciousness she 
 might, still to her extreme surprise, from 
 what she understood of his fastidiousness, 
 lord Glena regarded her with evidently 
 unaltered sentiments, as if, like the en- 
 amoured Florizel, he thought there was 
 nothing she said or did but what became 
 her. In short, she found herself involved 
 in a dilemma, from which she hardly knew 
 how to extricate herself, and in which, now 
 that she was beginning to see the conse- 
 quences likely to result from, she could not 
 avoid wondering at herself for ever having 
 incurred the risk of placing herself in. 
 
 What folly, what preposterous folly, to 
 allow herself to imagine that it was only 
 requisite to entangle lord Glena in her 
 toils, to be able to direct his inclination as 
 she pleased, to make, in short, an absolute 
 transfer of him ! Surely, if she had given 
 herself time for a moment's thought, she 
 never could have suffered herself to yield 
 to so absurd a suggestion; but this was 
 not the first time she had suffered through 
 a hasty giving way to impulse. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 CONTRAST. 
 
 Lost in the reflections that would now 
 force themselves upon her, she was sitting 
 after tea rather apart by herself, hardly 
 heeding what was passing around her, 
 when she was suddenly roused from her 
 abstraction, by a ramble being proposed 
 by the young people. 
 
 The party proceeded just as whim or 
 chance directed ; and Helena having at 
 length succeeded in shuffling off lord 
 Glena, and attaching Mountflorence to her 
 side, began to regain the vivacity which 
 had been so suddenly depressed. — " How 
 delicious," she observed, " these evening 
 walks in the country, when, as the poet 
 says, * all the air is balm !' I really think, 
 after the enjoyment of them, I shall never 
 be able to endure again being pent up in 
 a city at such a season." 
 
 " They are pleasant indeed," said Mount- 
 florence, " from the soothing effect they 
 are calculated to produce upon the feel- 
 ings. At such an hour as this, in the 
 country, there is a pervading air of soft- 
 ness and repose, that, as some one has ob- 
 served, I forget who, makes its way at
 
 CONTRAST. 195 
 
 once to the heart, disposing it to greater 
 tenderness, by its influence over the mind 
 and imagination." 
 
 Helena, with rather an arch glance, felt 
 that she should not dislike to have an ex- 
 emplification of this observation at the 
 moment ; but any little coquetry in which 
 she might have been inclined to indulge, 
 was checked by Caroline, at her other 
 side, aflPecting to scold Mountflorence for 
 his awkwardness in extricating their light 
 drapery from the briars, and brambles, and 
 jagged rocks, amidst which they rambled, 
 — " This comes," she said, " of your not 
 having had a Mrs. Mountflorence; had 
 you been so happy, you would have been 
 taught before this how to have been ser- 
 viceable to a lady, without injury to her 
 drapery." 
 
 " Well," said Mountflorence, laughing, 
 " as I rather fear it will yet be a long time 
 before I have such a person to instruct me, 
 perhaps you would have the kindness to 
 take me in hand." 
 
 " Me ! oh dear no ! for perhaps I shall 
 E 2
 
 196 CONTRAST, 
 
 soon have some one to instruct on my own 
 account. But seriously, Sigismund, you 
 are not going in downright earnest to turn 
 hermit, or monk, and reconvert St. Finian's 
 abbey to its original destination ?" 
 
 " No, I have no such intention ; but as 
 I am about to recommence soldier, I don't 
 think it would be exactly the thing to try 
 and obtain for myself such an appendage 
 as you allude to." 
 
 " The very reason ; for an agreeable 
 companion is never so much wanted as 
 when we are leading an unsettled, desul-r 
 tory life : but the fact is, you are so fasti- 
 dious — so difficult to please." 
 
 " Don't accuse me of affectation," ex- 
 claimed Mountflorence. 
 
 " Well then, so indolent, that you wont 
 take the trouble of looking out for a lady 
 that might please you. — Is it not so?" 
 
 " If you choose to have it." 
 
 " Pshaw ! but I know it is ; and so as 
 you will not take the trouble yourself, 
 suppose you depute me ? But you must 
 describe; or, as I know you are au fait in 
 making sketches, have you never made
 
 CONTBAST. 197 
 
 one of such a being as you could like to 
 offer your heart to, that I might have it 
 as a guide to direct me ?" 
 
 Helena could not forbear, from the in- 
 cident in the hut, looking at him at this 
 instant. Their eyes encountered ; he co- 
 loured, and appeared not only confused, 
 but agitated ; but what answer he would 
 have returned she was prevented ascertain- 
 ing, by some of their companions turning 
 at the moment to speak to them. 
 
 De Montville was of the party ; but he 
 rather kept sauntering on by himself. 
 Nothing had occurred to relieve his mind 
 from the anxiety occasioned by the inten- 
 tion of lord Le Poer ; and there were 
 times when, from its agitating and depres- 
 sing effect upon his spirits, he felt hardly 
 able to appear as he wished amidst the 
 gaiety and happiness of Woodston. By 
 this time he had pretty well relinquished 
 all expectation of ever discovering who the 
 person was that had excited so much cu- 
 riosity on his first arrival, and for yielding 
 to which, more than once since, he was in- 
 clined to think he had been very ridiculous.
 
 198 CONTRAST. 
 
 As he kept loitering on in musing 
 mood, he almost unconsciously ascended 
 a cliff, and was leaning over, apparently 
 watching the waves, alternately advancing 
 and receding, when he suddenly heard a 
 female singing beneath : the voice was 
 sweet, and he involuntarily bent still far- 
 ther over the cliff, to see who it was. 
 
 While endeavouring to discover — 
 " Who are you listening to ?" asked Caro- 
 line, who had clambered, or rather bound- 
 ed up to him. 
 
 " That's what I want to ascertain my- 
 self." 
 
 " Some mermaid perhaps," she said, 
 " for it is reported by old fishermen, that 
 more than once such creatures have been 
 seen on our wild coast; but I'll soon 
 know ;" and under the idea of its being 
 some country girl, she called out — " Who 
 are you ?" 
 
 Instantly the voice, which had ceased 
 for a moment, replied — 
 
 " On ihe mermaid's rock I rest. 
 Gazing on the glorious west ; 
 Where the wild waves break in spray. 
 There I dance, and there I play.*'
 
 CONTRAST. 199 
 
 ' " Some enchantress," cried Caroline ; 
 " or, who knows ? perhaps a second Un- 
 dine !'* and turning, she called to the rest 
 of the party to come up. 
 
 At the instant of her doing so, the per- 
 son who had excited this curiosity ad- 
 vanced from beneath the projection of the 
 cliff, and glancing upward, with seeming 
 carelessness, again presented to the view 
 of De Montville the resemblance of the 
 fair Sicilian — her on whom his enamoured 
 fancy so pertinaciously dwelt. 
 
 His previous emotion, at the first sight 
 of her features, revived with an impa- 
 tience that precluded reflection. He de- 
 sired to be shewn a path to the beach, at 
 the same time attempting to climb over 
 the rampart of rock against which he had 
 been leaning. 
 
 Mountflorence seized him by the arm. 
 " Why, my dear fellow," he said, " this 
 is no lover's leap. A little way off, you 
 will find a safe descent to the strand, ex- 
 cept you wish to make a headlong plunge." 
 
 De Montville, extricating himself from 
 him, quickly made his way down ; but
 
 200 CONTRAST. 
 
 ere he reached the bottom of the cliffs, 
 the person he was so anxious to encounter 
 was gone, and thus the opportunity lost he 
 hoped he had obtained, of discovering who 
 she was by tracing her home ; but if an- 
 other occurred, he flattered himself he 
 should not miss it, if indeed there was 
 any positive wish for concealment. That 
 she dwelt in the neighbourhood, he could 
 not avoid imagining, although the denial 
 of the family at Woodston of all know- 
 ledge of such a person, rather argued a- 
 gainst such a conclusion. He had men- 
 tioned her to them, but without explaining 
 the reason ; but they knew no one answer- 
 ing the description given of her, and gave 
 themselves no trouble on the subject, ow- 
 ing to strangers being often in the habit 
 of seeking to view the house and grounds. 
 Every day rendered Helena still more 
 anxious to be relieved from the embarras- 
 sing situation in which her rash, her fool- 
 ish conduct, her ridiculous project with 
 regard to lord Glena, had placed her. His 
 attentions were now absolutely disagree- 
 able, interfering, as they did, with these
 
 CONTRAST. 201 
 
 of another person, preventing those de- 
 lightful conversations in which she might 
 otherwise have indulged with Mountflo- 
 rence: however previously assiduous or 
 engrossed by her, the moment lord Glena 
 appeared, there was an end of all farther 
 attention, though not notice, for frequent- 
 ly she surprised him intently regarding 
 her, sometimes, she could not avoid 
 imagining, with an expression of melan- 
 choly, that made its way at once to her 
 heart, exciting there a mingled sensation 
 of pleasure, pain, and regret. But how 
 provoking, that this abominable man 
 would still continue to admire her, spite 
 of all she could do to vex and teaze him ! 
 she wondered, if his wife, whether he 
 would so have resisted the influence of her 
 whims and affected caprices : but since he 
 would not secede of his own accord, some- 
 thing must be done to make him; but 
 what this something was, she could not 
 decide. She could not tell him, that all 
 this time she had only been trifling with 
 him ; yet it seemed to her, as if nothing 
 e3
 
 202 CONTRAST. 
 
 short of this would answer the desired 
 end, and she was almost in despair. 
 
 About this time a ball was announced 
 at Sandville, a bathing-place of some fash- 
 ion, a few miles distant from Woodston ; 
 and thither, on the appointed evening, 
 the family, with the exception of sir Mau- 
 rice, repaired ; and after taking tea at the 
 hotel, where apartments had been engaged 
 for them, and the ball was to take place, 
 separated to dress. 
 
 Amongst the company expected to be 
 present on this occasion, was general Lati- 
 mer, the heir presumptive to a peer in 
 the neighbourhood, and a personage of no 
 little notoriety in the fashionable world. 
 Through some means or other, he had ren- 
 dered himself particularly unpopular with 
 lord Glena; so that he never mentioned 
 him but in terms of absolute severity and 
 dislike : from this, it struck Helena, that 
 could she but attract his notice, her busi- 
 ness with his lordship would probably be 
 done, without any further trouble ; and she 
 accordingly decided on laying herself out 
 for the purpose, not without sanguine
 
 CONTRAST. 203 
 
 hopes of success, from the passion she un- 
 derstood he had for beauty, especially 
 when aided by the charm of novelty ; and 
 under the hope of being immediately sin- 
 gled out by him, refused engaging herself 
 to any one before entering the ball-room, 
 even though asked for the first set by 
 Mountflorence. 
 
 De Montville having finished his toilet, 
 was returning to the sitting-room belong- 
 ing to his party, when a door in the gal- 
 lery through which he was passing open- 
 ed, and a lady in a ball costume ap- 
 peared at it. De Montville involuntarily- 
 turned, curious to have a perfect view of 
 her, and again encountered the likeness of 
 the young Sicilian. With difficulty he 
 suppressed an exclamation of pleasure, for 
 now beyond a doubt he should discover 
 who she was: now there would be no 
 means of evading the curiosity which her 
 extraordinary resemblance to a person that 
 had so strongly interested him had excit- 
 ed. After looking up and down the gal- 
 lery, as if for some one she wanted to see, 
 she closed the door, without appearing to
 
 204 CONTRAST. 
 
 have noticed him : but he remained rivet- 
 ted to the spot, as if afraid, if he left it, 
 she would again vanish without his ob- 
 taining the gratification he sought; be- 
 sides, by lingering there, he might per- 
 haps chance to immediately learn who 
 she was ; or in her way to the ball-room, 
 obtain some opportunity of introducing 
 himself to her immediate notice ; and he 
 now congratulated himself that none of 
 the fair sisters of Woodston had been at 
 liberty to accept him for the first set. 
 
 While thus engaged watching the door, 
 Mountflorence also issuing from the hands 
 of his valet, surprised him, and naturally 
 inquired what he was doing there. A 
 little confused, he replied he was trying 
 to get some air. 
 
 " What ! in this close place ? You for- 
 get that the sitting-room is open to the 
 •sea." 
 
 De Montville was reluctant to quit 
 the spot, but he could make no excuse 
 for tarrying behind. In a few minutes 
 they were joined by the ladies, and the
 
 CONTRAST. 205 
 
 party then repaired to the ball-room, by 
 this time nearly full. 
 
 Here De Montville availed himself of 
 his being at liberty to do as he pleased, 
 to station himself at the door ; but the 
 person he watched for, appeared not ; and 
 after remaining there some time, it struck 
 him that she might have already entered 
 the room; and wondering at his stupidity 
 for not sooner reflecting this might be 
 the case, he proceeded without further 
 delay to take a general survey of the com- 
 pany ; but she was not amongst them ; 
 and he resumed his station, not without a 
 shght feeling of petulant wonder, at her 
 so long delaying to make her appearance, 
 apprized as she must be of dancing hav- 
 ing commenced.
 
 206 CONTRAST. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 " Hard lot t4 man \ to toil for the reward 
 Of virtue, and yet lose it ; wherefore hard ? 
 He tliat would win the race, must guide his horse. 
 Obedient to the customs of the course." 
 
 While De Montville was thus employ- 
 ed, Helena was exulting in the accom- 
 plishment of her plan with regard to the 
 general. Hardly had she entered the 
 room, ere she caught his eye; and an im- 
 mediate application was made to one of 
 the stewards for an introduction to her, 
 of course for the purpose of asking her 
 hand, which was immediately granted, to 
 the equal surprise and indignation of lord 
 Glena, who, from her positive refusal to 
 engage herself either to him or Mount- 
 florence, concluded she did not meditate 
 dancing that evening, or at least so im- 
 mediately. His anger at the slight thus 
 offered, in standing up to dance after re- 
 fusing him, and that with a person whom
 
 CONTRAST. 207 
 
 she well knew he disliked, would instant- 
 ly have prompted him to make her re- 
 sume her seat, but for the general distur- 
 bance such a circumstance must create, or 
 rather his respect for the feelings of the 
 party she belonged to. But he would 
 not tamely pass over the affront he had 
 received ; and either she must apologize 
 for it, and evince the sincerity of her re- 
 gret, by checking any further advances to 
 intimacy from general Latimer, or he 
 must beg leave to make his parting bow. 
 He tried to conceal his agitation, but it 
 could not escape the quick eye of He- 
 lena ; and her exultation was in proportion, 
 from the hope it afforded of the final suc- 
 cess of her plan. 
 
 The first quadrille over, the general con- 
 ducted her to a seat, and then begged she 
 would excuse him for a few minutes, 
 while he paid his compliments to a lady 
 he had just seen. 
 
 Hardly had he left her, ere she was 
 joined by lord Glena, leaning on the arm 
 of Mountflorence, which in his agitation 
 he had taken. — " So, Miss Rossglen^*' he
 
 208 CONTRAST. 
 
 said, " I have to thank you for the flatter- 
 ing proof of preference afforded by your 
 conduct this evening. I naturally inferred, 
 from what occurred at Woodston, that 
 prior to coming here, you either did not 
 intend dancing the first set, or were en- 
 gaged for it ; but I now find I was wrong 
 in the conclusion." 
 
 " Did I tell you I was engaged ?" ask- 
 ed Helena, with affected carelessless, well 
 calculated to provoke him still more, as 
 indeed it was intended to do, and adjust- 
 ing her necklace as she spoke — " Oh ! well, 
 perhaps so ; but if I did, I intimated what 
 was not correct ; for in general, I make it 
 a rule to keep myself disengaged until I 
 enter a ball-room, that I may not altoge- 
 ther want the power of making a choice, 
 perfectly agreeable to myself" 
 
 Lord Glena's cheek flushed — " You are 
 pleased to be complimentary, madam," 
 he said, with a bitter smile. 
 
 " I am happy you think so, for I al- 
 ways like to say what is agreeable : but 
 seriously, you are not vexed at what has 
 occurred ? intimate friends should not ex-
 
 CONTRAST. 209 
 
 pect to be treated with the scrupulous 
 ceremony used towards strangers ; I treat- 
 ed major Mountflorence just as I treated 
 you, yet you see he thinks nothing about 
 it." 
 
 " Perhaps," a little reproachfully, " he 
 could contradict that assertion," said 
 Mountflorence. 
 
 " His choosing to pass over such an 
 affront, is no rule to me ; and you must 
 give me leave, madam, to tell you, that I 
 cannot avoid construing your conduct of 
 this evening, into a premeditated design 
 to offend, and consequently such as I have 
 a right to complain of." 
 
 " Complain ! oh dear, no, it is I who 
 have a right to complain of the attempt 
 made to restrict me from the pleasure of 
 dancing with general Latimer, one of the 
 most delightful partners in the world ; his 
 style of dancing being so inimitable, as to 
 give one all the opportunity they could 
 desire for display ; and then his waltzing 
 is positively divine." 
 
 " His waltzing !" 
 
 " Yes," with an affected stare, at the
 
 210 CONTRAST. 
 
 accent in which the expression was re- 
 peated. " Why, you are not one of the 
 declaimers against waltzing, I hope." 
 
 " You hope then, madam, what is not 
 the case," he replied, still more indig- 
 nantly. 
 
 " What am 1 to understand then, that 
 you would not permit any female, over 
 whom you had control, to indulge her- 
 self in waltzing?" 
 
 " Assuredly." 
 
 " Oh ! shocking," cried Helena, affect- 
 ing to wave him from her ; ** I shall have 
 nothing more to do with you ; you have 
 quite settled yourself with me." 
 
 " This may be all very amusing to you, 
 madam, but allow me to say, it is very 
 much the reverse of being so to me; this 
 light way of treating what I have so just 
 a right to complain of, only makes me feel 
 more hurt by it ; but," relapsing into 
 something of his recent manner, " you can 
 make me think no more of it, by assuring 
 me it was not intended to offend, and 
 that any further dancing with general 
 Latimer will be declined."
 
 CONTRAST. 211 
 
 " Excuse me — I have given him a pro- 
 mise to dance all the alternate sets with 
 him ; and I feel no inclination to break it." 
 
 " Then you'll not be surprised, madam, 
 at my considering this declaration as an 
 intimation that my attentions are no longer 
 agreeable." 
 
 Helena bowed with a smile. 
 
 " Very well, ma'am," said his lordship, 
 with evident emotion; " I now clearly 
 perceive that you have all along been tri* 
 fling with me — that all along I have been 
 the dupe of coquetry ; but beware, madam, 
 how you attempt a similar game with an- 
 other, lest you should not have the good 
 fortune to find another influenced by the 
 considerations that induce me to let you 
 quietly off — respect for the feelings of the 
 family to which you belong." 
 
 " You are not going, lord Glena ?" said 
 Mountflorence, hardly less agitated, and 
 catching his arm. " Miss Rossglen, yt)u 
 will not suffer his lordship to leave you in 
 this manner ?" 
 
 ** Pardon me, I should be sorry to be 
 any restraint upon him," she replied, cool-
 
 212 CONTRAST; 
 
 ly, and turning away her head, as if to 
 look at some other person. 
 
 Lord Glena, who had allowed himself 
 to pause, now impatiently extricated his 
 arm from Mountflorence, and quitted the 
 room. 
 
 Mountflorence hastened to the card- 
 room, where he found his mother engaged 
 in conversation. He briefly communi- 
 cated what had occurred, and seeking lord 
 Glena, left her with him. — " I am really 
 pained, lord Glena, she said " by what 
 Sigismund has just been telling me; but 
 I must hope, that what you have taken 
 amiss, is merely the effect of some little 
 mistake, that only needs explaining to set 
 all matters right again." 
 
 " Pardon me, madam, I have the lady's 
 own authority for a contrary persuasion — 
 her own acknowledgement to induce me 
 to believe that what has occurred is the 
 result of deliberate design to offend, and 
 as such, you cannot be surprised that I 
 should thus resent it, and decide on troub* 
 ling her no further, with those attentions
 
 CONTRAST. 213 
 
 that I now feel convinced were only en- 
 couraged for her amusement." 
 
 " I can hardly imagine this," said lady 
 Rossglen, " hardly believe it possible Miss 
 Rossglen could be capable of trifling in 
 such a manner with the feelings of any 
 one, more especially of a person so esteem- 
 ed by her family. You know she has 
 great vivacity, and this may sometimes 
 betray her into a little thoughtlessness of 
 expression and conduct. So do allow me 
 to have a little conversation with her, ere 
 you finally decide on departing, as Sigis- 
 mund has intimated your intending." 
 
 " It grieves me to refuse any request of 
 lady Rossglen's, but in this instance I am 
 compelled; after the total want of re- 
 gard manifested for my feelings by Miss 
 Rossglen, on this occasion, I should con- 
 ceive I merited all the pain, so unjustly 
 inflicted on me, were I to desire to be re- 
 ceived again into what she may term her 
 favour. Yet, at the same time, let me 
 assure you, that whatever reason of com- 
 plaint I accuse her of having given me, 
 respect for the name she bears will ever
 
 214. CONTRAST. 
 
 impose silence on me concerning it Be- 
 sides, I can make allowances for the way 
 in which she has been brought up, such 
 as must soften the severity of censure. 
 Well and happy for her would it have 
 been, had she, by remaining under your 
 care, been allowed to indeed profit by the 
 nearness of her connexion to you; we 
 should then have found some of those graces 
 that are so captivating, more immediately 
 applied to the thoughts and counsels of 
 her heart, than now appears to be the 
 case." 
 
 He paused, for at the instant a look 
 escaped lady Rossglen, that overwhelmed 
 him with confusion, by the recollections it 
 revived. She could not help it — " Why," 
 it seemed to say, " if he attached so 
 much importance to the circumstance, 
 had he so suddenly veered about from 
 a being equally lovely, who had been 
 fashioned by her precepts, and instructed 
 by her counsels?" But no, he thought 
 not of it, till his feelings received a 
 wound; and the compliment extorted by re-
 
 CONTRAST. 215 
 
 sentment she could not appreciate as such. 
 
 Lord Glena could speak no more on 
 any subject ; reflections were excited by 
 the recollections thus recalled, that made 
 him wonder how he could have given 
 utterance to what he had said to lady 
 Rossglen ; or, in other words, have ad- 
 dressed any complaint to her. In utter 
 confusion at the thought, he indistinctly 
 apologized for the vehemence with which 
 he had expressed himself; and saying he 
 would no longer detain her, took an abrupt 
 leave, not without secretly rejoicing, in the 
 midst of all his discomposure, that he had 
 not yielded to her persuasions respecting 
 Helena, comparisons, as well as recollec- 
 tions, being occasioned, that made him 
 suddenly feel his disappointment, with re- 
 gard to her, a source of pleasure. 
 
 Lady Rossglen, however, not exactly 
 understanding this, and wishing, on many 
 accounts, to have the affair amicably ad- 
 justed, especially from the uneasiness and 
 displeasure she was aware it was other- 
 wise likely to occasion sir Maurice, now 
 proceeded to seek Helena, conceiving, if
 
 216 CONTRAST. 
 
 she could obtain any concession from her, 
 the lover would not hold out ; but Helena 
 had taken refuge in bed, from the remon- 
 strances she expected on the subject, and 
 on lady Rossglen entering her chamber, 
 pretended to be asleep, in the enjoyment 
 of that rest, which she was conscious a per- 
 turbed mind would prevent for that night. 
 She quickly saw that her contrivance to 
 free herself from lord Glena was likely to 
 succeed ; but hardly had she congratulated 
 herself on its probable success, ere the re- 
 flection occurred, at what a probable ex- 
 pence she was likely to be extricated from 
 the dilemma, in which folly and incon- 
 siderateness had involved her — the esteem 
 she so coveted to possess, and the regard 
 of her father. Yet, in what other way 
 than by this assumed levity, could she 
 completely perhaps have accomplished 
 what she wished, forbidden as she was to 
 come to any calm and serious explanation 
 with lord Glena, by the dread of its at- 
 taching a still more positive imputation to 
 her, of having all along only intended to 
 trifle with his feelings ? Yet she could not
 
 CONTRAST. 217 
 
 avoid wishing she had tried to devise some 
 other method for relieving herself from 
 her embarrassment concerning him, than 
 the one she had adopted ; as usual, only- 
 beginning to reflect on probable conse- 
 quences, after she had incurred them : in 
 meditating on these she now apprehended, 
 all her recent exultation suddenly vanish- 
 ed; the animation, the smiles, that had 
 been so alluring, so attractive to the ge- 
 neral, were gone; his compliments were 
 no longer replied to, and more than once 
 he thought they were not heard. His 
 surprise at so sudden a change would have 
 been still greater than it was, but for a cer- 
 tain suspicion — he knew the light in which 
 he was estimated by the party to which 
 she belonged ; and he was not without an 
 idea that there had been some officious 
 whisper, to make her repentant of the ho- 
 nour she had done him. 
 
 Ere, however, he could make an effort 
 for ascertaining the correctness of this, 
 Helena suddenly affecting to be overcome 
 by the heat of the room, declared she 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 CONTRAST. 
 
 must quit it; and begging him not to 
 keep himself disengaged on her account, 
 as she certainly should not return, abruptly- 
 retired : but in vain, as she had hoped she 
 should be enabled to do by withdrawing, 
 she tried to collect herself; she saw, she 
 felt, that, prevented as she was, by deli- 
 cacy and consideration for the feelings of 
 another, from confessing the truth, she 
 could offer no excuse, no extenuation for 
 her conduct towards lord Glena; and fi- 
 nally, could only decide on endeavouring 
 to summon courage to meet what would, 
 she feared, ensue from it. 
 
 Her restless mind precluding repose, she 
 soon abandoned her couch in the morning, 
 and repairing to the sitting-room, found 
 Mountflorence there by himself, looking 
 over a newspaper. — " Well, I suppose," 
 she said, hastily advancing to him, " I am 
 in terrible disgrace with every one, for 
 having made lord Glena so angry ?" 
 
 Mountflorence replied not. 
 
 "What! you won't answer me? But 
 don't you know the construction your si- 
 lence is liable to ? But, after all, do you
 
 CONTRAST. 219 
 
 not think he was too easily offended?" 
 
 " If I speak, I must speak the truth," 
 said Mountflorence ; " and that sometimes 
 offends." 
 
 " Not when desired, surely." 
 
 " Well, then, I conceive lord Glena had 
 a positive right to be offended last night ; 
 and I was vexed — I was grieved, to see 
 Miss Rossglen, by the provocation she 
 gave him, doing herself the injustice of 
 creating a doubt of her wanting that real 
 generosity, that none who thoroughly 
 know her, but must be satisfied forms part 
 of her nature." 
 
 " You sooth while you wound," said 
 Helena, with great emotion ; " but gentle 
 admonition is that which most affects. I 
 will not attempt to vindicate what I per- 
 ceive condemned by those who I know 
 judge impartially. I feel I have been to 
 blame; yet perhaps not altogether so 
 much as may now seem to be the case ; that 
 
 is, I do think, if the real facts But, no ; 
 
 I can enter into no explanations : want of 
 
 thought — of due reflection, has involved 
 
 l2
 
 220 CONTRAST. 
 
 me in a labyrinth I vainly try to extricate 
 myself completely from ; and in incurring 
 censure, where I would most deprecate it, 
 I pay the penalty of my rashness." 
 
 " I have hurt you," said Mountflorence, 
 much agitated, perceiving tears starting 
 to her eyes : " if it is in my power, by 
 
 any interference In short, since you 
 
 have condescended to speak to me on the 
 subject, if you will allow me to act the 
 part of a friend, by intimating to lord 
 Glena, that " 
 
 ** I anticipate what you would say," 
 cried Helena, interrupting him ; " but 
 you would not act the part of a friend to 
 either of us, by attempting to bring about 
 the renewal of those attentions I too long 
 permitted. I respect lord Glena, for the 
 many amiable qualities I understand he 
 possesses; but " 
 
 She paused, unable to proceed, from the 
 intentness with which she saw Mountflo- 
 rence regarding her, the overwhelming 
 idea of the hght in which she was about 
 making herself appear, by her confession 
 respecting lord Glena — the light of a heart-
 
 CONTRAST. 221 
 
 less trifler with the feelings of an honour- 
 able and sensitive mind ; and in despair at 
 the thought — despair at finding it impos- 
 sible, turn which way she would, to avoid 
 what she dreaded, she burst into tears, and 
 covering her face with her handkerchief, 
 gave unrestrained vent to the long-labour- 
 ing emotions of her agitated spirit. 
 
 At this instant, lady Rossglen entered 
 the apartment ; she paused for a moment, 
 then advancing — " Well," she said, " let 
 the acknowledgment be taken as it may, I 
 do not grieve to see these tears ; hoping, 
 as I do," she added, taking the trembling 
 hand of Helena as she spoke, and kissing 
 her cheek with a benignant smile, " that 
 I may consider them as signs of sweet re- 
 morse." 
 
 " No, my dear ma'am, not in the way 
 to which you allude," replied Helena, with 
 involuntary quickness; " I have just ac- 
 knowledged what my real sentiments for 
 lord Glena are — they are those of friendly 
 esteem ; and being only such, no earthly 
 consideration can ever induce me to per- 
 mit his attentions again. That they had
 
 222 CONTRAST. 
 
 been terminated in a less abrupt manner, 
 I cannot avoid wishing ; but the past can- 
 not be recalled ; and having said what I 
 have said, it must be evident to you, my 
 dear ma'am, that any further arguments 
 on the subject must only be a needless ha- 
 rassing of your spirits and mine." 
 
 This positive declaration had the effect 
 of confirming, in the minds of both her 
 auditors, what she most dreaded — the be- 
 lief of her never havinty encouraged lord 
 Glena, but from coquetry; they sighed 
 at the thought, for she was a being that 
 could not be known without exciting 
 a lively interest. Lady Rossglen was 
 doubly pained, from the manner in which 
 she feared sir Maurice would resent this 
 conduct; but she suppressed this appre- 
 hension, and set about endeavouring to 
 calm the agitation that was so distressing. 
 
 This however was not immediately to 
 be done, and, in consequence, hearing 
 some one approaching, Helena started up, 
 and retreated from the room, by a door 
 that led down to the beach, followed by 
 Mountflorence.
 
 CONTRAST. 223 
 
 They walked on, towards a solitary 
 part of the coast ; the freshness of the air, 
 the quietude of every thing, had gradual- 
 ly a reviving and soothing effect upon 
 Helena; but as agitation decreased, me- 
 lancholy deepened : ere long, and she could 
 not but reflect she should be removed from 
 all that had so pleasing an influence on 
 the senses, tossed again upon a wide and 
 tumultuous ocean, without the certainty 
 of any friend to guard her inexperience 
 from its rocks and quicksands ; and what 
 positive hope could there be then, of ever 
 reaching any peaceful haven ? 
 
 At length, after proceeding some way, 
 she withdrew her arm from Mountflo- 
 rence, and almost unconsciously seating 
 herself on a weather-bleached stone, seem- 
 ed, for some minutes, lost in the contem- 
 plation of the scene around her ; the sea, 
 glittering in the morning sun, the rocks 
 rifted into a thousand fantastic forms, 
 hung with pendant shrubs, and thronged 
 with aquatic birds, now joining their que- 
 rulous notes, in plaintive chorus to the 
 murmurs of the waves, the sky " blue
 
 224 CONTRAST. 
 
 without a cloud." As she gazed around 
 her, she thought of the poet's observation, 
 that God made the country, man the town 
 — " And what heart of feeling but what is 
 reminded of this," she sighed to herself, 
 " by the very different effect produced 
 upon the feelings by the respective places? 
 Amidst the busy haunts of life, perpe- 
 tually excited by the feverish anxieties of 
 others, the fatigued spirit in vain seeks 
 for that repose so essential to it ; but in 
 the country, ere we have well time to ap- 
 preciate its advantages, we feel its tran- 
 quil influence stealing over our perturbed 
 minds, like dewy sleep over the eyelids of 
 exhaustion, stilling the wild waves of 
 passion and emotion to peace. Who," 
 she added to herself — " who could look 
 around them here — contemplate this shore- 
 less horizon, the rude grandeur of these 
 rocky barriers to the incursions of the 
 whelming waters, and not feel themselves 
 at once soothed and elevated ? and to all 
 these," with increased emotion, she pro- 
 ceeded — " to all these perceptions of what 
 is truly delightful, have I only awoke to
 
 CONTRAST. 225 
 
 find, that they cannot be to me the source 
 of enjoyment they were beneficently in- 
 tended, thrown, as I may say I have done, 
 my destiny out of my own hands. Would 
 sir Osbert let me hang upon his arm, in 
 quest of the wild and the romantic — would 
 he enjoy, with me, the stillness, the re- 
 pose of nature, amidst her own impressive 
 scenery ? Oh no — I know he would not ! 
 the world is his scene of enjoyment ; and, 
 in binding myself to him, I fear — I fear 
 I have bound myself to a life that, to me, 
 indeed will be destitute of any." 
 
 " I fear you are ill," exclaimed Mount- 
 florence, suddenly starting from the re- 
 verie into which he seemed plunged, on 
 perceiving a tear again straying down her 
 cheek. 
 
 " No," she would have said ; but theve 
 was a fullness in her heart at the moment 
 that checked her utterance. 
 
 " What am I to infer from this emo- 
 tion then," cried Mountflorence, " except 
 that, to repeat my mother's expression, 
 these tears are, at length, signs of sweet 
 remorse ? If so, how quickly will sym- 
 l3
 
 226 CONTRAST. 
 
 pathy for lord Glena be changed into a 
 contrary feeling!" 
 
 " No, no," cried Helena, impatiently, 
 and rising from her seat, " in giving way 
 to those tears, I thought not of lord Glena ; 
 but the solitariness of this wild spot, these 
 murmuring sounds, affect me. And now, 
 after all," she said, as she resumed his arm, 
 " since you will be forcing lord Glena 
 upon my attention, do you really and 
 truly think he has sustained a very irre- 
 parable loss in losing me, whimsical, self- 
 willed, capricious, as I have been repre- 
 sented to you ?" 
 
 " But enchantress as you have appear- 
 ed," cried ISIountflorence. 
 
 " Gallant, upon my word !" said He- 
 lena, beginning to recover herself; " but 
 there are some speeches from ladies that 
 appear soHciting a compliment, and I ra- 
 ther conceive mine was one of them." 
 
 " Then you think there was no feeling 
 to suggest " 
 
 But the conversation, that seemed in- 
 clining to become a little particular, was 
 suddenly interrupted at this instant, by
 
 CONTRAST. 227 
 
 the girls coming to seek her. She return- 
 ed with them to breakfast, at which they 
 were joined by some of the company that 
 had remained for the night at the hotel ; 
 with them they remained the morning at 
 Sandville, and dined ; after which they 
 departed for the residence of Mountflo- 
 rence, at no great distance from Sand- 
 ville, there to pass the night, as had been 
 settled prior to their leaving Woodston, 
 for the purpose of affording Helena an op- 
 portunity of viewing the place. 
 
 This was a fine old seat, taking its 
 name from a very ancient abbey, the re- 
 mains of w^hich still embellished the 
 grounds, forming, with its decorating ivy, 
 and receding arches, a grand and interest- 
 ing object to the lovers of the picturesque. 
 An air of repose pervaded the place, in 
 character with its original destination, and 
 in perfect unison with the aspect of solita- 
 riness and melancholy that mountains, 
 shutting out all prospect beyond, and 
 woods, breathing a brown horror over the 
 whole, gave to it. 
 
 Helena was delighted; but with what
 
 228 CONTRAST. 
 
 connected with Mountflorence, would 
 she not have been delighted? little 
 dreaming of the pang her unqualified 
 admiration inflicted upon the heart of lady 
 Rossglen, who, by this time, spite of the 
 precautions of her son, to keep her as long 
 as possible from knowing the truth, had 
 begun to suspect, that, ere long, this ve- 
 nerable seat of his ancestors would be 
 wrested from him, and that, literally 
 homeless, he would have to seek^ probably 
 in scenes uncongenial to his nature, for 
 that independence which thoughtless pro- 
 digality had deprived him of 
 
 Some of the neighbouring families were 
 invited to meet the party from Sandville; 
 and whatever were the secret feelings of 
 some of this party, all appeared happy and 
 contented. The girls were impatient to 
 shew Helena the mansion. In ranging 
 through the apartments, Caroline suddenly 
 snatched up a rich silk shawl she found 
 on the back of a chair, and holding it up 
 to general view — " What, have you been 
 playing the part of a knight, Sigismund ?" 
 she demanded : " and is this the reward of
 
 CONTRAST. 229 
 
 your valour from some fair lady ? or is it, 
 as I hope, a present for me? for blue, 
 celestial blue, is my favourite colour ;" and 
 she was about taking possession of it, by 
 throwing it over her shoulders, when 
 Mountflorence, with rather a peevish 
 " Pish !" snatched it from her, and flung 
 it into another room. 
 
 " Suspicious, upon my word !'* she cried ; 
 " for if it was not what I first surmised, 
 you could not be so churlish as to deprive 
 me of it — and see, does he not blush ?" 
 
 " Yes, I can bear witness to that," said 
 De Montville, laughing. 
 
 So could Helena too ; and the circum- 
 stance occasioned an unpleasant sensation, 
 which was not lessened by a look full of 
 meaning she caught, exchanged at the 
 moment between him and his mother. 
 What, was he deceptive then? and she 
 turned to a window, to conceal her emo- 
 tion at the thought. But what a ques- 
 tion ! had he professed — had she allowed 
 him to profess, any thing that could en- 
 title him to be so termed by her ? Oh no, 
 neither was the case ; and she felt shock-
 
 230 CONTRAST. 
 
 ed at the expression — still more shock- 
 ed at the feeling that had suggested it. 
 What, had she wished to inspire a ten- 
 derer interest than circumstances could 
 justify, in a heart she could not requite 
 with her own? no, no, impossible! and 
 she endeavoured to chase away the agita- 
 ting idea, by immediately making an effort 
 to resume conversation. 
 
 Caroline was continuing her badinage 
 about the scarf, till a look from her mo- 
 ther checked her; the party adjourned to 
 tea, and then proceeded to attend Helena 
 to view the grounds. 
 
 The residence of lady Dorothy Dubois 
 adjoined St. Finian's Abbey. De Mont- 
 ville expressed a wish to see it ; and they 
 walked on in this direction. The man- 
 sion was an old, formal-looking building, 
 seated amidst grounds of a similar descrip- 
 tion ; and De Montville expressed a dis- 
 like to the appearance of the place alto- 
 gether. 
 
 " Yet that mansion has attractions," said 
 a gentleman of the party.
 
 CONTRAST. 231 
 
 " Not visible ones then," replied De 
 Montville. 
 
 " No, not always, or rather to every 
 one but " 
 
 " Oh, now I comprehend you," said De 
 Montville — " you mean living ones." 
 
 The other coughed significantly, rubbed 
 his face, and cast a glance at Mountflo- 
 rence. Every eye followed the direction 
 of his; and again that sudden glow that 
 Caroline had declared to be so suspicious, 
 was seen upon the cheek of Mountflorence. 
 
 De Montville mused, and Helena felt 
 something like a recurrence of the sensa- 
 tion she had just been at such pains to 
 subdue. Could there be any meaning in 
 what had just been hinted, the former won- 
 dered; and he would have been inclined 
 to think no more of it, but for the unfor- 
 tunate blush of Mountflorence. Who 
 could it be that had attracted his regard ? 
 He did not conceive him a character likely 
 to form, or at least give way to any attach- 
 ment he would be unwilling to acknow- 
 ledge ; and yet he had heard of no one 
 of a rank similar to his own, residing with
 
 222 CONTRAST. 
 
 lady Dorothy. But of course it no way 
 concerned him to ascertain ; it struck him, 
 however, at the instant, that he would 
 make some inquiries of him concerning 
 his own intended, nearly equally allied to 
 both, and whom he understood from lady 
 Rossglen, he had often seen. 
 
 It so happened, that in the course of 
 the extended ramble, Helena and Mount- 
 florence became separated from their com- 
 panions. The discovery was made just 
 as they reached a seat of turf, oversha- 
 dowed by an ancient elm, enwreathed 
 with ivy. 
 
 Helena sat down, to enjoy more leisure- 
 ly the pleasantness of the hour — an hour so 
 replete with all that is soothing and sof- 
 tening to the heart, in its dubious sha- 
 dows, its fading scenery, its dying sounds, 
 and balmy dews. 
 
 It was twilight — that hour so delicious 
 to the pensive and reflecting mind ; the 
 clouds were passing away, leaving the sky 
 a region of azure ; the star of evening had 
 just come forth, with tremulous eye, as an 
 angel to herald the night ; not a zephyr
 
 CONTRAST. 233 
 
 curled the breast of the stream that flowed 
 near, nor stirred a leaf on the trees ; 
 nought disturbed the tranquil hour, save, 
 the wailing of the owlet in the ivy-man- 
 tled tower of St. Finian's full in front; and 
 a kind of drowsy sound, which stole over 
 the vale, produced by the waves of the 
 ocean, at no great distance, as they softly 
 broke and murmured upon the silvery 
 strand. 
 
 All was tranquil and still ; but was 
 equally so the mind of Mountflorence and 
 his fair companion — were their feelings in 
 perfect harmony, in perfect sympathy, 
 with the hour — were there no regrets, no 
 retrospects, no misgivings, no anxious 
 cares, to check the influence it was so cal- 
 culated to have upon the spirit? But 
 whatever were the internal feelings of 
 each, each tried to appear as usual. — 
 " What a delightful place!" said Helena; 
 " who could ever wish to leave it !" 
 
 " But to wish is not always to obtain 
 the power of acting as we please," replied 
 Mountflorence. " How often are we com- 
 pelled to act in direct opposition to our
 
 234. CONTRAST. 
 
 real inclination ? 'tis this necessity that 
 constitutes the bitterest trials of life." 
 
 " Assuredly," said Helena, with a sud- 
 denly recurring recollection of having 
 heard something of a whisper concerning 
 the probability of St. Finian's soon passing 
 into other hands — " but I hope," she ra- 
 ther hesitatingly added, " they are amongst 
 those you may not be destined to expe- 
 rience." 
 
 " I thank you for the wish," said Mount- 
 florence; " but I see very little chance of its 
 fulfilment : but have not you heard — hais 
 no rumour reached you, that it was prob- 
 able — but I see by your averted eye it has 
 — the period for the sacrifice hinted to you 
 is fast approaching ; the distressing fact can 
 no longer be concealed from the friends that 
 will deplore it, and my own regrets on 
 the subject are considerably heightened by 
 the idea of theirs." 
 
 Helena could scarcely control the emo- 
 tions caused by this communication. — 
 " Since you have, by thinking fit," she 
 said, " to mention it to me, given me a 
 kind of indirect permission to speak on
 
 CONTRAST. 235 
 
 the subject, let me ask, is there no way 
 — can no method be devised for prevent- 
 ing such a sacrifice? You know the nature 
 of my father — you know his strong affec- 
 tion, his ardent regard " 
 
 " Yes," interrupted Mountflorence; " but 
 unworthy should I deem myself of that 
 regard, if I suffered it to occasion any sa- 
 crifice of the interests of those still dearer 
 and nearer to him, to mine. Whatever I 
 may be destined to endure in this state of 
 probation — this vale of the tear and the 
 sigh, as it has been not inaptly termed," 
 he proceeded, with a melancholy smile, 
 " never may I have to accuse myself as the 
 voluntary cause of injury to others ! St. 
 Finian's must pass into other hands ; and 
 should I ever revisit them again, it will 
 be indeed to find myself as a stranger in 
 the ancient halls of my forefathers. The 
 thought, I confess, is one replete with 
 bitterness; but exclusive of other consi- 
 derations, there are associations connected 
 with the place, that could not but render 
 the contemplation of its loss one of deep re- 
 gret. Involuntarily dwelling on this, I can-
 
 236 CONTRAST. 
 
 no longer experience any sensation of enjoy- 
 ment in it, such as I once felt, when hope, 
 enchanting, but to me delusive hope, bade 
 the distant prospect smile. But how is it," 
 seeing Helena suddenly veil her eyes with 
 her hand, " how is it that I have suffered 
 myself to speak in this manner? how to 
 be betrayed into this obtrusion of my af- 
 fairs upon you? but what selfishness in 
 human nature, so consoling is sympathy 
 to the wounded heart, that for the sake 
 of obtaining it, we too often forget or dis- 
 regard that it must be at the expence of 
 another's feelings." 
 
 " You have, indeed, deeply affected 
 me," said Helena ; " but what should I 
 be, if I did not feel an interest in the con- 
 cerns of a person so nearly connected with 
 my family, and so truly beloved by them ? 
 But with the pain you have caused me, is 
 mingled something of pleasure ; for, from 
 the confidence you have reposed in me, 
 may I not flatter myself that you, at least, 
 do not estimate me in the light that I fear 
 too many do — that, in short, the prejudices 
 o^ others have not prejudiced you against
 
 CONTRAST. 237 
 
 me; and that in your eyes, I have some 
 little credit for reflection and feeling." 
 
 " In my eyes ! oh ! if you knew," and 
 he caught her hand — but as if through 
 some sudden recollection, almost as in- 
 stantly relinquished it. 
 
 " But if," resumed Helena, after a slight 
 pause, " no wish or power of my father's 
 to prevent what must be so deplored is to 
 be of avail, surely, with regard to others, 
 the same fastidiousness, the same scruples, 
 would not be allowed to influence you ? 
 There must be — there are, I know, 
 friends" — she paused through being sud- 
 denly recalled to recollection by the in tense- 
 ness of Mountflorence's regard. What had 
 she been about saying — what offer about 
 making? an offer, that, without accom- 
 plishing the desired end — for with his 
 loftiness of soul, his delicacy of feehng, 
 could she, after all, allow herself to ima- 
 gine he ever would permit himself to be 
 benefited by her means, would probably 
 have betrayed her feeling a deeper, ten- 
 derer interest for him than circumstances 
 justified. Yet oh ! to be prevented urging
 
 238 CONTRAST. 
 
 what she wished, to know she had the 
 means, without being allowed to use them, 
 for the relief, the restoration of happiness 
 to him who would have made his own 
 happiness so subservient to that of others ; 
 to think, by her unadvised engagement, 
 her obstinacy, the ultimate cause of this 
 repented engagement, in refusing to ac- 
 company her father, when he first desired, 
 to Woodston, she had precluded all chance 
 of the only circumstance she did feel con- 
 vinced that could have allowed Mount- 
 florence to profit by her wealth — what 
 were her regrets, her self-upbraidings ! In 
 the bitter anguish of the reflection, she 
 could no longer command herself, and, 
 bursting into a passion of tears, she buried 
 her face in her handkerchief jMountflo- 
 rence, accusing himself as the occasion of 
 all this emotion, became agitated in the 
 extreme. He started up — he struck his 
 forehead, and evinced an impatience not 
 apparently natural to him. Helena, alarm- 
 ed, made an instant effort to recover her- 
 self, and by subduing her own agitation, at 
 length succeeded in calming his. But he
 
 CONTRAST. 239 
 
 still continued to implore her forgiveness 
 for the pain he had given her — still con- 
 tinued to press the hand he had suddenly- 
 grasped, to a heart evidently palpitating 
 with the most tumultuous feelings, and 
 by the vehemence of his regrets on the 
 subject, might perhaps have occasioned a 
 renewal of the scene that had just occur- 
 red, but for the approach of the party 
 they had strayed from. All now returned 
 to the house, where music and conversa- 
 tion passed away the evening. Helena, in 
 consideration for the feelings of Mountflo- 
 rence, whose eye she perceived continually 
 bent upon her, forced herself to appear to 
 take an interest in what was going for- 
 ward; but on retiring to her chamber, 
 there was an end of any further restraint, 
 and tears of a bitterer description than any 
 she had ever before shed again burst from 
 her. She now began seriously to consider 
 whether, from the alteration her feelings 
 with regard to sir Osbert had undergone, 
 not but that she still considered him as she 
 had done on the acceptance of his addresses.
 
 240 CONTRAST. 
 
 namely, as good-humoured, fashionable, 
 and generous, she should not make an 
 effort to withdraw from her engagement 
 to him — but no, from the ardour with 
 which he had pursued her, from the nu- 
 merous advantages she was aware that 
 would accrue to him from their union, 
 how could she flatter herself that he would 
 quietly resign her, and without his ac- 
 quiescing in the wish, what might not be 
 the consequences of the attempt — the ex- 
 posure of her name, and the endangering 
 of her father's life perhaps in resentment 
 of the circumstance. No, no, she had 
 passively permitted a chain to be wound 
 round her, that she could not burst with 
 safety ; and with all that is supposed es- 
 sential to enjoyment at her command, she 
 looked forward to nothing but a joyless 
 existence. 
 
 De Montville, on repairing to his cham- 
 ber, was attracted to a window by the 
 shadowy scene presented from without. 
 A full-orbed moon, rising in clouded ma- 
 jesty, tipped with its silvery hght the 
 mountain tops, and threw athwart the isky
 
 CONTRAST. 241 
 
 the ever-shifting hues of softness and sub- 
 limity. Beneath her chaste and tender 
 beam, how mournfully impressive appear- 
 ed St. Finian's ancient pile, where still the 
 owl held on its strains of melancholy! 
 while the long dank ivy rustled in the 
 breeze of night, that, with a kind of shud- 
 der, made the old woods ever and anon 
 wave their shadowy and, in many places, 
 skeleton-like arms. Here, as he stood 
 contemplating a scene well calculated to 
 awaken all the romance of his nature, 
 he could not help reflecting on the strange 
 disappointment of the preceding night ; the 
 fair unknown, contrary to all rational ex- 
 pectation, did not make her appearance in 
 the ball-room. He at first was inclined to 
 conclude it owing either to some sudden 
 indisposition on her part, or some one of 
 her party, for that she belonged to a party 
 he presumed ; but, on inquiring, he could 
 not learn of any one being suddenly taken 
 ill, or suddenly departing from the hotel ; 
 and in consequence remained utterly at a 
 loss to account for what was really a greater 
 source of vexation to him than he would 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 CONTRAST. 
 
 have chosen to acknowledge. He felt very 
 much inclined to quarrel with INIountflo- 
 rence, for his officiousness in dragging him 
 from the gallery, since, if quietly allowed 
 to remain there, he thought it next to im- 
 possible but he must in some way or other 
 have succeeded in discovering who she was; 
 but if ever he encountered her again, he 
 was prevented deciding what his determi- 
 nation w^ould be, by seeing Mountflorence 
 issue at the instant from a door contiguous 
 to the window at which he was standing, 
 and strike into the avenue leading towards 
 lady Dorothy's, So this was confirmation 
 strong indeed of the suspicion or idea that 
 had recently been excited. Well, who 
 was it — who could it be in lady Dorothy's 
 mansion, that had given rise to this appa- 
 rently clandestine attachment? but he 
 should soon have his curiosity satisfied on 
 this head, even before perhaps he was ad- 
 mitted to the honour of visiting at her 
 ladyship's ; for Montflorence, at the hotel, 
 had signified his intention of not returning 
 with the party to Woodston, and he, De 
 Montville, had intimated his of passing
 
 CONTRAST. 243 
 
 a few days with him at St. Finian's ; and 
 in the course of this sojourn, he thought 
 it would be strange, with all the slyness 
 and caution of Mountflorence, if he did 
 not make the discovery he wished ; little 
 of course aware that it was for the express 
 purpose of preventing the risk of this, 
 that he now saw Mountflorence sally out. 
 
 Near the end of the old gloomy avenue 
 into which he struck, he was met by a 
 female, closely muffled up in a long man- 
 tle. The instant she beheld him, she 
 quickened her pace; and — " I was just 
 despairing of seeing you to-night," she 
 said, " when I saw the signal light in the 
 turret." 
 
 " You know," replied Mountflorence, 
 " I desired you never to retire to rest, 
 without first looking for it, as 'tis the 
 only way in which I can, with safety, let 
 you know when I have any thing to com- 
 municate. He is here; it will therefore 
 be expedient for you for some days to be 
 on your guard." 
 
 " De Montville, indeed ! — owing to any 
 idea — any suspicion ?" 
 M 2
 
 244 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Oh no — merely for the sake of a little 
 variation of scene : nevertheless, I should 
 not be surprised, if through some imperti- 
 nence this evening, a curiosity was excited 
 that might lead to something unpleasant, 
 but for this caution." 
 
 ** That would be terrible. But any 
 news of lord Le Poer?" 
 
 " No ; but he may now soon be ex- 
 pected." 
 
 " The thought agitates ; for then com- 
 mences my trial." 
 
 " But remember " 
 
 " Yes — my promise to meet it with 
 firmness : depend upon it, 'tis one I shall 
 do all in my power to adhere to." 
 
 After a little further conversation they 
 separated, with an agreement not to meet 
 again, until De Montville had returned to 
 Woodston. 
 
 There were none but the immediate 
 party from Woodston at breakfast the 
 next morning — profiting by the circum- 
 stance — " I wish, Mountflorence," said 
 De Montville, abruptly, " that you would 
 tell me what kind of being this cousin of
 
 CONTRAST. 245 
 
 ours, Miss Adelaide Mountflorence, as 
 I am given to understand I must call her, 
 is — for you know she is pretty equally al- 
 lied to both — having, as I have been told, 
 often seen her?" 
 
 " Yes, a few times ; but notwithstand- 
 ing, I really " 
 
 " Pshaw ! — don't be teasing ; you know 
 there is a reason that must render me 
 anxious you should oblige me in this in- 
 stance." 
 
 " Still you must excuse me : I have a par- 
 ticular dislike to describing any one — at 
 least to those interested in the description, 
 lest, as Shakespeare says, I should be ac- 
 cused of * too short a praise, or too high 
 a one." 
 
 " Well, if you wont gratify me in one 
 instance, you will perhaps in another, by 
 letting me know when last you saw her ? 
 for I really wish to know something of 
 her movements." 
 
 " Last saw her !" exclaimed Mountflo- 
 rence, evidently confused — " last saw her !" 
 he repeated, as if unconsciously. 
 
 Caroline laughed. — " What a trick,"
 
 246 CONTRAST. 
 
 she said, " Sigismund has lately got of 
 blushing ! Why, I shouldn't wonder," she 
 giddily added, " if the blue scarf was a 
 present from this new cousin of yours ; for 
 you know it is only lately we have heard 
 of her." 
 
 A look, such as perhaps she had never 
 before received from her mother, made 
 her almost instantly sensible of having 
 said something that was wrong: she co- 
 loured, and immediately became silent; 
 the look was not lost upon the rest of the 
 party; but w^hatever was its effect upon 
 them, it was not of course as instanta- 
 neously known. 
 
 Almost immediately after breakfast, the 
 ladies departed for Woodston. On their 
 way there, lady Rossglen pointed out to 
 Caroline the impropriety of speaking at 
 random, not only from the kind of levity 
 it evinced, but the mischief that might be 
 the result ; and as a proof, proceeded to 
 explain the indirect engagement existing 
 between De Montville and Miss Mount- 
 florence, together with the story connect- 
 ed with her ; with which she had herself
 
 CONTRAST. 247 
 
 been long acquainted, and was now au- 
 thorized to disclose to her own immediate 
 family, by an express communication from 
 lord Le Poer on the subject, in consequence 
 of the approaching introduction of the 
 young lady to them. Much surprise was 
 expressed at what they heard ; and Helena 
 knew not how it was, but she felt her 
 spirits suddenly lightened, by learning 
 that this said Adelaide was intended for 
 De Montville. But she was not destined 
 to enjoy this relief long; the manner in 
 which her father received her, on alight- 
 ing, convinced her that he was already in 
 possession of all that had occurred at Sand- 
 ville, and seriously displeased at it. 
 
 Lord Glena had indeed lost no time in 
 making a communication to him on the 
 subject. Having entreated his interest 
 with Helena, both from that, and the pub- 
 licity of his attentions to her, he conceived 
 himself bound, in justice to himself, to 
 account for their sudden relinquishment ; 
 and accordingly addressed a letter to him, 
 almost immediately after his return from 
 Sandville, expressive of his regret at
 
 248 CONTRAST. 
 
 being compelled to resign the hope so re- 
 cently entertained of an alliance with his 
 family, by the conviction of his addresses 
 being no longer agreeable to Miss Ross- 
 glen. 
 
 Sir Maurice, in much surprise, desired 
 in reply, to know what cause he had for 
 this conviction. 
 
 Lord Glena, unwilling to be the occa- 
 sion of any thing unpleasant to Helena, 
 tried to avoid a direct explanation. His 
 evasive answer led to an immediate inter- 
 view, sir Maurice, in justice to his daugh- 
 ter, deeming it but right to insist on what 
 he required; and reluctantly his lordship 
 was obliged to satisfy him. 
 
 Sir Maurice was greatly hurt; such le- 
 vity as Helena had been guilty of, he 
 deemed utterly inexcusable; and when, 
 in addition to the injury her conduct, with 
 respect to lord Glena, might do her in ge- 
 neral estimation, it had probably been 
 the means of preventing his thinking 
 seriously of her sister, with whom an 
 union was most ardently desired by his
 
 CONTRAST. 249 
 
 own family, he could scarcely control his 
 indignation. 
 
 " Hold, madam !" he cried, on seeing her 
 about following lady Rossglen from the 
 apartment, whence her ladyship, on a 
 glance from him, withdrew, taking the 
 girls along with her ; " stop, madam !" he 
 cried ; " before you withdraw, you must 
 allow me to speak my sense of what I have 
 just heard. Grieved I am to think, that I 
 should be obliged to use the language of 
 censure and reproach to any daughter of 
 mine ; but I should be lost, both to what 
 I owe to her and myself, could I refrain 
 from it on this occasion : caprice, vanity, 
 even a little affectation, I could excuse, as 
 the natural consequences of the education 
 you received ; but I cannot excuse a want 
 of sensibility — your heartless trifling with 
 the feelings of an honourable admirer, and 
 your total disregard of the respect due to 
 your family, by selecting one of their most 
 particular friends, as the object of your 
 shameful coquetry. You know not the 
 mischief that may yet be the result of this 
 M ^
 
 250 CONTRAST. 
 
 conduct," and involuntarily he thought of 
 the altered mien of his sweet Dorinda ; 
 " to you, however, the consideration of it 
 may be of no importance ; but those who 
 must feel it, must resent it ; and I now 
 candidly tell you, from what you have 
 been the means of making me apprehend, 
 I sincerely wish, that since so long a stran- 
 ger here, you had remained one." 
 
 Oh, what a speech, for a nature so fond, 
 so sensitive, so clinging for affection to all 
 she loved, as Helena's! this was indeed 
 speaking daggers, though using none ; and 
 in the intense anguish it occasioned, the 
 anguish of being forced to think she was 
 an undesired inmate in her paternal home, 
 of having no one truly interested about 
 her, in convulsive agitation she threw 
 herself upon a seat. 
 
 Sir Maurice in a moment became sen- 
 sible of the cruelty of the speech he had 
 uttered, and could bitterly have reproach- 
 ed himself for suffering resentment to hur- 
 ry him into expressions so contrary to his 
 real feelings, for he had all the affection for 
 Helena that her claims upon him entitled
 
 CONTRAST. 261 
 
 her to. He implored her forgiveness for 
 having so affected her ; he assured her of 
 his love, and made every effort in his 
 power to try and sooth the feelings he had 
 so wounded. 
 
 But it was some time ere he succeeded 
 in these. Helena's confidence in his re- 
 gard was shaken by what he had so unad- 
 visedly uttered, and it was not immedi- 
 ately she could get over the pang occasion- 
 ed by the circumstance. 
 
 At length, persuaded to believe that 
 what he had said was indeed owing to the 
 cause assigned for it, she suffered herself to 
 make an effort for recovering composure — 
 an effort which the truly maternal atten- 
 tions of lady Rossglen, and fond caresses 
 of the girls, when joined by them, tended 
 not a little to aid. 
 
 But hardly happier than the person to 
 whom he had caused so much unhappi- 
 ness, was lord Glena. Nearly as attached 
 to the Rossglen family as to his own, he 
 knew not how to give up his intimacy 
 with them, without the deepest regret ; yet 
 to think of continuing his visits at Wood-
 
 252 CONTRAST. 
 
 ston as usual, at least for the present, after 
 what had occurred, was out of the question; 
 there would be an awkwardness, an em- 
 barrassment in the attempt, not endurable; 
 and, finally, after some little consideration, 
 he decided on going abroad for a few 
 months; but when he thought what might 
 occur in that period, to disappoint the hope 
 and wish that had revived, he was almost 
 tempted to relinquish this design ; and 
 would probably, but for the reflection of 
 leaving his cause in the hands of those who 
 were hardly less interested than himself 
 about it, namely, his mother and sister, 
 the fond and zealous admirers of his sweet 
 Dorinda. 
 
 Helena was now completely extricated 
 from the distressing dilemma in which her 
 foolish project with regard to him had 
 plunged her ; but the circumstance seem- 
 ed to afford very little relief to her mind ; 
 reflections were continually recurring to 
 harass and afflict her. If her father 
 thought so severely of her recent conduct, 
 when he did not but know she might at 
 first have been serious in the encourage-
 
 CONTRAST. 253 
 
 ment given to his lordship, what would 
 he say — in what Hght would he, must he 
 view it, when he came to learn, that at the 
 very moment she was appearing to favour 
 his addresses, she was under an engage- 
 ment to another ! but then, might it not 
 be so managed with sir Osbert, as to have 
 this concealed ? perhaps so — but in that 
 case, of what contumacy would not her fa- 
 ther have reason to accuse her, in appear- 
 ing to have formed it, after his advice and 
 admonition to the contrary. Look which 
 way she would, therefore, she saw nothing 
 but what was unpleasant before her ; and 
 if for a moment she escaped from the 
 thoughts of her own situation, how pain- 
 fully did the affecting confidence of 
 Mountflorence recur to her recollection! 
 
 The dejection evinced by her counten- 
 ance, ever true to the varying feelings of 
 her mind, imputed by sir Maurice to the 
 impression made upon her by his unguard- 
 ed speech, induced him to redouble all his 
 fond attentions to her ; and at length, to 
 make, if not the amende honourable, at 
 least the amende grateful, as he conceived.
 
 254 CONTRAST. 
 
 for what had occurred, he used his influ- 
 ence with lady Rossglen, to prevail on her 
 to let an entertainment, on a grand scale, 
 she was about giving at Woodston, be a 
 masquerade, as wished by the fair sisters. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 " Fate steals along with silver tread. 
 Found oft'nesl in what least we dread. 
 Frowns in the storm with angry brow, 
 But in the sunshine strikes the blow." 
 
 All was now preparation, and excite- 
 ment, and apparent delight there. The 
 house and its contiguous wood were parti- 
 cularly adapted for such an entertainment, 
 the former abounding in long suites of 
 rooms and spacious galleries, and the other 
 in fine alleys and grouped trees, easily con- 
 vertible into all that was magical ; music 
 was stationed at proper places, to heighten 
 the general effect ; and nothing, in short, 
 was omitted that could possibly please.
 
 CONTRAST. 255 
 
 De Montville, accustomed to these kind 
 of entertainments abroad, did not, on this 
 occasion, feel all the interest that many of 
 the company at least appeared to do. He 
 was, besides, sometimes inclined to be a 
 little affectedly indolent, and on this 
 night happening to be in a humour 
 of this description, kept sauntering about, 
 without attaching himself to any party, 
 till he was suddenly attacked by a lively 
 little flower-girl, urging him to purchase 
 her flowers, as so many means of re- 
 minding him of the charms of his mis- 
 tress. 
 
 " The roses of her blushes, the violets of 
 her eyes, and the lillies of her teeth, and 
 all of her constancy," observed De Mont- 
 ville, sarcastically. 
 
 " And equally so perhaps of her lover's," 
 cried an elegant nun, who, unperceived, had 
 joined them ; " if man has to rail at wo- 
 man's levity, woman has to weep for man's 
 inconstancy." 
 
 " And pray, fair saint," said De Mont- 
 ville, turning his full regard upon her,
 
 25^ CONTRAST. 
 
 ** speak you from the experience of others, 
 or your own ?" 
 
 " Of others; early caution made me wise." 
 
 " And in trying to escape the thorns, 
 you gave up the sweets of life ? Oh ! 
 terrible perversion of what nature intend- 
 ed ! But it is not too late to repent. 
 Allow me but an opportunity, and per- 
 haps I shall be able to inspire a better 
 opinion of my sex's constancy." 
 
 " My vows forbid." 
 
 " Rash vows ought never to be binding, 
 and surely such must those be considered, 
 that would bind youth and beauty to se- 
 clusion." 
 
 " But if I could, for what should I 
 break them ?" 
 
 " For what ! why to learn the delicious 
 bliss attendant on the power of blessing 
 another." 
 
 " Oh no, but to find the peace of se- 
 curity exchanged for doubt and incerti- 
 tude. But I'll none of your flatteries ; 
 you compliment me without knowing me ; 
 and how am I to estimate the sincerity 
 that will permit this ?"
 
 CONTRAST. 257 
 
 " But though 1 have not seen that fair 
 face," said De Montville, " does not this 
 finished air, this faultless form, these ac- 
 cents, at once so soft and harmonious, con- 
 vince me you are all the heart would vo- 
 luntarily worship? and as such therefore 
 receive " 
 
 But the conclusion of this gallant speech 
 was prevented by a sudden rush at the 
 moment, that separated them ; and his 
 being unable, on finding himself again at 
 liberty to look about to see her, a cir- 
 cumstance of no slight vexation, it may be 
 imagined, from his having, just at the mo- 
 ment of their separation, obtained, through 
 some slight derangement of her mask, a 
 sufficient glimpse of her face, to almost 
 convince him she was the person he was 
 so solicitous to discover. In every direc- 
 tion he instantly proceeded to seek her, 
 almost tempted to think there was some- 
 thing like premeditation in the manner in 
 w^hich he was thus continually teazed 
 about her. The crowd that seemed to 
 have borne her away from him had nearly 
 whirled Helena too in a direction contraiy
 
 258 CONTRAST. 
 
 to that she wished ; for after reconnoiter- 
 ing for Mountflorence in one direction, 
 she was proceeding to try if she could dis- 
 cover him in another, when she was pre- 
 vented by the rush from the other apart- 
 ments; she was vainly struggling to free 
 herself, when a mask, in the habic of a 
 minstrel, came to her aid, and seizing her 
 by the arm, forced a passage for her into 
 an anti-room opening to the w^ood. 
 
 For a moment she could hardly breathe, 
 then, a little recovering herself — " Thanks, 
 kind minstrel," she said, " for your timely 
 aid ; this cool air is indeed delicious, 
 after the fatigue just experienced. But, 
 may I ask, from what stately bower you 
 come? or whose the charms? or whose 
 the prowess you have lately sung ?" 
 
 The minstrel sighed. — " Press not to 
 know," he said, in a low tone. 
 
 " And why ?" demanded Helena. 
 
 " Because I wish to forget." 
 
 " What, the charms you've sung ! — oh ! 
 inconstant !" 
 
 " No, no— not so; but " He slightly 
 
 touched his harp, and rather murmured 
 than sung the following words to it : —
 
 CONTRAST. 259 
 
 " Mark'd you her speaking eye's dark glance— 
 Mark'd you the strains that thrill entrance — 
 Mark'd you the blush that wavVing plays, 
 Dk« sunshine o'er the somraer seas ? 
 
 " Too well I raark'd her eye's dark glance — 
 Too well the strains that thrill entrance — 
 Too well the heart's warm flushing glow, 
 Quick mantling o'er a brow uf snow. 
 
 " For well 1 know the same it were, 
 And hope to win it from its sphere. 
 To love some bright partic'lar star, 
 Bright gleaming in the realms afar." 
 
 Helena listened with attention ; and ere 
 he had concluded, almost persuaded her- 
 self it was Mountflorence she heard ; the 
 air, the figure of the minstrel, were his ; 
 yet avoiding all particularity, as he had 
 hitherto ever studiously done, what rea- 
 son had she to imagine this? but then, 
 was there no meaning to be attached to 
 the incident in the hut — and had he not, 
 on his first introduction to her, been under 
 the mistake of believing her engaged to 
 lord Glena — and from these arguments, 
 what was there then so improbable in the 
 present suspicion ? She became agitated; 
 if any thing were wanting to her present 
 unhappiness, it was the thought of having
 
 260 CONTRAST. 
 
 inspired a sentiment that might give pain, 
 and that to a breast for the tranquillity of 
 which she felt so deep an interest. She 
 hesitated how to act — whether to make 
 an immediate effort to retreat, or by re- 
 maining, try to ascertain what she wished. 
 Yet should it be Mountflorence, and should 
 she, by continuing, occasion him to disco- 
 ver himself, might not an explanation be 
 forced, from what had previously occurred, 
 calculated to put an end to all those atten- 
 tions, those conversations, she found so 
 soothing ? the idea terminated her hesita- 
 tion on the subject of returning directly 
 to the company. But on making a move- 
 ment towards the door, the minstrel sud- 
 denly starting from the listening attitude 
 in which he had been standing for a mo- 
 ment, caught her by the arm. — " No, no," 
 he said, " we do not part in this manner ! 
 — it was not to do so that I so anxiously 
 sought you. We have much to converse 
 about — much to explain ; but this is no 
 place ; we are liable here to interruption, 
 to intrusion." 
 
 " Intrusion !" involuntarily repeated the
 
 CONTRAST. 261 
 
 greatly astonished Helena, resisting the 
 effort that was made to draw her towards 
 the door leading out into the grounds. 
 
 " I have a right to the attention I de- 
 mand," he cried ; " to remove all doubt on 
 
 the subject, see " He tore away his 
 
 mask as he spoke, and the features of sir 
 Osbert were revealed. 
 
 Helena recoiled. — " Sir Osbert!" she 
 faintly articulated. — " Good Heavens !" 
 
 " Yes, the ill-treated, the undesired, the 
 unwelcome sir Osbert !" 
 
 *' Assuredly," cried Helena, through an- 
 ger; instantly recovering her self-posses- 
 sion — •* 'Tis as you have said — undesired, 
 and of course therefore unwelcome." 
 
 " And you acknowledge this ?" 
 
 " Yes, because it was on the express 
 condition of not attempting to see me, 
 without my permission, that I agreed to 
 correspond with you." 
 
 " I recollect ; but when I subscribed to 
 that condition, it was in the fond hope 
 and expectation of finding that promised 
 correspondence a source of consolation for 
 your absence, instead of which, vague.
 
 262 CONTRAST. 
 
 unsatisfactory, evidently forced as your 
 letters latterly have been, what is not the 
 apprehension, the anxiety, it has occa- 
 sioned !" 
 
 " I will hear no more," said Helena ; 
 " if you had that respect for my feelings 
 you ought, or a proper sense of delicacy, 
 this, above all places, is not the one in 
 which you would have thought of intru- 
 ding on me. Except by letter, I will not 
 hold any further converse with you for 
 the present; if you remain, therefore, it 
 must be without my company ;" and again 
 she made a movement towards the ball- 
 room. 
 
 " By Heaven ! we part not till the anxi- 
 ety that brought me here be relieved ; 
 yet, as I understand your allusion, and 
 would not," he added, in a softened tone, 
 " needlessly give you pain, I will willing- 
 ly converse with you elsewhere ; and in- 
 deed you know I wished to guard against 
 what you apprehend, by leading you to 
 some other place." 
 
 As the wily deceiver guessed, her dread 
 of being surprised conversing with him,
 
 CONTRAST. 263 
 
 induced Helena, though most reluctantly, 
 to pass out into the wood with him. After 
 proceeding a little distance from the house 
 — " Well," now said Helena, pausing, 
 " whatever you have to say " 
 
 " No, no," exclaimed sir Osbert, in a 
 hurried accent, ** we are still too much in 
 the way of the gay revellers; a little fur- 
 ther, and there will be no danger of being 
 encountered by any of them." 
 
 They accordingly walked on, till He- 
 lena suddenly found herself at the extre- 
 mity of the wood, where a lonely bye 
 road, fenced in by high rugged banks, ran 
 rambling, literally through bog, through 
 brake, into a wild tract of country. Here 
 she again stopped, much displeased at 
 finding she had been drawn away so far 
 from the house ; and again, in a still more 
 peremptory manner, demanded of sir Os- 
 bert what he had to say, as she could not 
 allow herself to remain above another mi- 
 nute with him. 
 
 " And this is regard — this is love !" ex- 
 claimed sir Osbert, reproachfully — " to 
 wish to shorten this chance meeting.
 
 264 CONTRAST. 
 
 Cruel, unfeeling Helena ! what have I 
 done to merit this alteration of sentiment ?'* 
 
 " Of what do you complain, sir Osbert?" 
 demanded Helena. 
 
 " Of what ! — Insulting inquiry, con- 
 scious as you must be, of the cause for 
 complaint you have given me, in your 
 cold, brief letters ; but I might have anti- 
 cipated that your residence here, amongst 
 those who have selfish views of their own 
 to accomplish, would be any thing but 
 the cause of happiness to me." 
 
 " This is a mode of expressing yourself 
 I cannot tolerate," said Helena ; " and I 
 must tell you, that in consequence of it, 
 I feel so thoroughly satisfied, so still more 
 sensible than I previously was, of the en- 
 gagement I suffered myself to be drawn 
 into with you, being a rash, unadvised 
 one, such as regard both for my own feel- 
 ings, and those of others, requires I should 
 consider about, that, from this moment, 
 I am resolved it never shall be renewed, 
 without the concurrence of my father." 
 
 Sir Osbert laughed derisively. — " Ere 
 it can be renewed, it must first be broken,"
 
 CONTRAST. 265 
 
 he said, with a sneer; " and of permitting 
 that, I shall take good heed. No, fair 
 lady, I am not quite so great a simpleton 
 as to allow myself to be used like your 
 glove — pulled off or on at pleasure : you 
 accepted my addresses — you promised to 
 be mine, and mine you shall be, spite of 
 threats, or whims, or natural inconstan- 
 cy ;" and as he spoke, he caught her up 
 in his arms ; and Helena now, for the first 
 time, perceived that there was a chaise in 
 waiting. His plan was indeed well ar- 
 ranged. In alarm at the receipt of Mrs. 
 Flower's letter, he came over, for the ex- 
 press purpose of securing a prize that could 
 alone save him from all the horrors of ruin, 
 being by this time, in every sense of the 
 word, a bankrupt. An interview with his 
 confidant, on his arrival, suggested the 
 idea of rendering the masquerade subser- 
 vient to his scheme of carrying off He- 
 lena, with an intention of taking her off 
 immediately to Scotland She shrieked. 
 
 " Your cries are useless,'* said sir Os- 
 bert ; yet at the same time attempting to 
 
 VOL. J. N
 
 266 CONTRAST. 
 
 press his hand against her mouth : but re- 
 sisting, she repeated them. — " No," she ex- 
 claimed, " they have brought some one to 
 my assistance," and at the instant a rust- 
 ling was heard in the thickets above them. 
 
 Sir Osbert listened ; but the sound not 
 being repeated, he fancied she was de- 
 ceived, and was calling to the carriage to 
 draw up, when there was a spring from 
 the wood : he instantly dropped his prize, 
 and fled, followed by the chaise. 
 
 Helena knew nothing more of what 
 passed ; on regaining her senses, she found 
 herself alone, reposed upon a couch, in 
 one of the temporary buildings erected 
 for the occasion : it represented a temple; 
 the draperies were of pale purple silk, and 
 the only light it had was diffused from an 
 alabaster vase, placed on a small altar, 
 before a niche, containing a statue of some 
 fabled nymph. But who was her deliverer 
 soon became the sole engrossing thought 
 of Helena, to whose interposition was she 
 indebted for her rescue, from worse than 
 death — from becoming the victim of a 
 being, she was now thoroughly convinced.
 
 CONTRAST. 267 
 
 from the recent attempt, and the ruffian- 
 like violence had recourse to, for carrying 
 it into effect, was indeed utterly unworthy 
 of the rash promise that had been made 
 him ; she could fix on no one but Mount- 
 florence, and him, chiefly from the deli- 
 cacy evinced on the occasion, in not want- 
 ing to receive her thanks, or witness the 
 confusion it was but natural to suppose 
 she must experience from the discovery 
 that had taken place. But oh ! if indeed 
 to him she was indebted, with the delight 
 he must have felt in rescuing her, as the 
 daughter of sir Maurice alone, what cen- 
 sure might not be mingled ! Yet her re- 
 pentance, her regret, for the imprudence 
 she had been led into, the consciousness 
 they evinced of the impropriety she was 
 guilty of, in forming so hasty and un- 
 sanctioned an engagement, would they 
 not be considered, in his eyes, as some ex- 
 tenuation of it ? she felt she should not 
 know peace until she had ascertained ; but 
 to do this might, she reflected, be a matter 
 of greater difficulty than she even allowed 
 N 2
 
 268 CONTRAST. 
 
 herself to imagine. In dwelling on the 
 thought, she forgot every thing else, until 
 roused from her abstraction, by some per- 
 sons approaching the temple, when, un- 
 wiUing to be seen in such a state of con- 
 fusion, she hastily retreated. 
 
 While all this was passing, De Mont- 
 ville was every where seeking for the fair 
 nun: he was just despairing of encounter- 
 ing her again, when he discovered her in 
 the very room from which Helena had 
 been decoyed : she started on perceiving 
 him, and was retreating, when he prevent- 
 ed her, by darting forward — " Why, you 
 cannot have the cruelty," he said, " to 
 think of serving me in this manner, after 
 my being in search of you ever since we 
 were parted ?'' 
 
 " You flatter me by the assertion ; but 
 I must go — my hour is come." 
 
 " Your hour !" repeated De Montville, 
 laughing, and affecting to retreat a few 
 steps from her. " Why, you are not 
 a ghost, bound to a particular hour to re- 
 turn to your sepulchre?" 
 
 " Yes, decidedly."
 
 CONTRAST. 269 
 
 " This excites still greater curiosity !" 
 cried De Montville. " You will not be 
 so barbarous, surely, as to depart, without 
 in some degree gratifying it, by at least 
 letting me know where and when I may 
 hope to have a chance of seeing you again ?" 
 
 *' Well, and suppose I did, of what 
 avail would that be, unacquainted as you 
 are, even with my features — how, I ask, 
 would you be able to recognise me?" 
 
 " By having seen you before. I am not 
 altogether so ignorant of these lovely fea- 
 tures as you seem to imagine." 
 
 " Indeed !" with some slight indication 
 of emotion ; " and pray, may I inquire 
 where it is you fancy you have before seen 
 me?" 
 
 " Were I to yield to a romantic imagi- 
 nation, I should say, far distant from this 
 I first saw you ; but here assuredly I 
 have," and he mentioned the different 
 places. 
 
 She mused a little — " Well, 1 cannot 
 contradict you," she said ; " but if you 
 wish to have me acknowledge any recog- 
 nition, should we chance to meet again.
 
 270 CONTRAST. 
 
 you will not now attempt to detain me long- 
 er, as the consequences of a longer deten- 
 tion here may to me be most unpleasant." 
 
 " Then, however I may regret the ne- 
 cessity of so immediate a departure, I 
 should be inexcusable to oppose it ; but 
 may 1 not attend you to your party ?" 
 
 " No ; I depart alone : but if you'll have 
 the goodness to inquire for my carriage, I 
 shall be obliged." 
 
 " Instantly," cried De Montville, elated 
 at the thought of no further concealment 
 or mystery, with regard to her name, be- 
 ing intended; but in an eager tone, indi- 
 cative of this expectation — " Whose shall 
 I say is wanting?" 
 
 She laughed, he thought a little mali- 
 ciously — ** Oh, it is not requisite to men- 
 tion names : I ordered my carriage to be 
 in waiting for me in a particular spot," 
 describing it ; " should you not find it 
 there, I shall accompany you, to seek it 
 myself, when you return." 
 
 De Montville flew off; but no carriage 
 was in waiting where expected. He has- 
 tily returned; but the lady was gone.
 
 CONTRAST. 271 
 
 Could it be, that the inquiry he was sent 
 on was a mere pretext to obtain an op- 
 portunity of departing, without any risk 
 of being followed, or traced to her abode 
 by him. A fruitless search for her through- 
 out the rooms, and another useless one after 
 the carriage, almost persuaded him this was 
 the case ; but whether her serving him this 
 suspected trick was through coquetry, or 
 a real wish to remain unknown, he could 
 not, of course, possibly determine. Who- 
 ever she was, however, the impression 
 made upon his fancy by her extraordinary 
 resemblance to a person who had excited 
 a deep interest in his feelings, w^as not les- 
 sened by the short conversation that had 
 passed between them ; and altogether he 
 felt more anxious, more impatient, than 
 ever to learn her name. 
 
 On quitting the temple, Helena was 
 making her way through the labyrinthian 
 alleys, intervening between it and the 
 house, with an intention of taking refuge 
 in her chamber from any further notice 
 that night, when suddenly a group, re- 
 presenting Comus and his crew, beset her,
 
 27^ CONTRAST. 
 
 and bore her ofif in triumph to his hall : 
 she was forced into the enchanted chair ; 
 groups of Bacchanals danced round her; 
 Euphrosyne tried to allure her with her 
 smiles, and Comus with his flattery. 
 Helena had not intended to play any 
 part in the revels of the evening, but thus 
 excited, and, perforce, brought forward, 
 she rallied her spirits, in order not to 
 appear stupid ; and in the language of 
 the character thus forced upon her, an- 
 swered or repelled the assailments of flat- 
 tery, not without giving full effect to it, 
 by the keen sparkling of her eyes and the 
 sudden glow upon her cheek. At length 
 a grey-headed shepherd appeared, to de- 
 clare the means of releasing her from the 
 spell of the enchanter. As he spoke, the 
 side of the hall opened, and a fountain, 
 begirt with sedge, was seen. Caroline 
 advanced to the edge, and in a mellifluous 
 strain invoked the aid of its goddess. The 
 invocation was answered by Dorinda, as 
 Sabrina; with a glittering vase, she ap- 
 proached the enthralled maid, and seemed 
 to sprinkle her from it. Thunder, accom-
 
 CONTRAST. 273 
 
 panied by darkness, was heard at the in- 
 stant; and when objects were again dis- 
 tinctly visible, the company found the den 
 of the enchanter transformed into a hall of 
 baronial splendour, at the upper end of 
 which, in suitable costume, under a ca- 
 nopy of state, sat the lord and lady of the 
 mansion. 
 
 While Helena was looking on, with 
 something of a bewildered feeling, from 
 the unexpectedness of all that had occur- 
 red, an elegant mask, in the habit of a red- 
 cross knight, gently seized her hand, and 
 led her to them. Having congratulated 
 her on her escape from the enchanter, sir 
 Maurice put into her hand a rich scarf, 
 with a glance at the knight, that convinced 
 her he was Mountflorence. As intimated, 
 she flung the scarf over his shoulder ; the 
 harp was touched in the gallery above, 
 and, as if only waiting for this signal, 
 characters of various descriptions issued 
 from amidst the pillars of the hall ; and 
 the knight conducting her to the centre 
 of the hall, dancing commenced. 
 
 The knight was all that could be wished 
 n3
 
 274 CONTRAST. 
 
 in attention ; but his lips were sealed : was 
 this from affecting mystery ? or was it 
 the result of reflection on what had occur- 
 red? At the more probable idea of the 
 latter being the case, the forced compo- 
 sure of Helena forsook her; the spirits she 
 had tried to rally, from a wish to gratify 
 others, vanished, and with difficulty she 
 maintained her place amongst the dancers ; 
 but from the painful exertion requisite for 
 this she was soon relieved ; sir Maurice 
 suddenly exhibited the wand of the en- 
 chanter, dropped in the hurry of escape, 
 and waving it round his head, soft music 
 was immediately heard from beneath, and 
 the floor opening, a table, magnificently 
 laid out with costly viands, and baskets 
 of golden network, filled with the choicest 
 fruits and flowers, gradually ascended, 
 while, at the same moment, partitions 
 flying up at the sides of the hall, disco- 
 vered a range of other tables of a similar 
 description. 
 
 All was so well managed, as to give to 
 the whole an air of enchantment. The 
 knight conducted Helena to a seat ; but
 
 CONTRAST. 275 
 
 at the very moment that, with a beating 
 heart, she conceived he was on the point 
 of following the general example, by un- 
 masking, he drew back, took off the scarf 
 she had flung round him, and throwing it 
 over her, instantly disappeared. 
 
 The act spoke volumes to the heart of 
 Helena ; it was an intimated renunciation 
 of her — of all those feelings, that growing 
 sentiment of regard and esteem, that cir- 
 cumstances might have induced her to 
 conceive he entertained for her. At the 
 thought, the seeming confirmation it was 
 of the fear that a mind like his could not 
 pass over the imprudence she had been be- 
 trayed into, or rather her conduct with 
 lord Glena, now that it was ascertained how 
 she had been circumstanced at the very 
 time of giving encouragement to him, she 
 could no longer command herself; all 
 around her literally became a swimming 
 scene, uncertain if beheld ; and gradually 
 receding from the table, she vanished from 
 the room. But in the solitude of her 
 chamber, with leisure and quiet to enable 
 her to better collect herself, she suddenly
 
 276 CONTRAST. 
 
 reflected she might, after all, be unneces^ 
 sarily tormenting herself: she was not ac- 
 tually certain that the knight was Mount- 
 florence, or that INIountflorence was her 
 rescuer from sir Osbert; and why then, 
 unsatisfied on these two points, did she 
 allow herself to be disturbed in the man- 
 ner she was? The ensuing day, she could 
 hardly doubt, would afford her an oppor- 
 tunity of ascertaining what she wished, 
 and till then she determined to try and 
 prevent herself from dwelling on the sub- 
 ject. But how vain the effort ! hopes and 
 fears were excited, that rendered it impos- 
 sible to subdue the agitation they occa- 
 sioned. With what eager impatience, 
 from the expectation she indulged, did she 
 await a summons to breakfast the next 
 morning ! but to her disappointment, on 
 joining the party, she found it only con- 
 sisted of lady Rossglen, the girls, and De 
 Montville, conceiving as she did, that the 
 first glance at Mountflorence would ter- 
 minate the incertitude she was in ; but she 
 was mistaken ; for just as she was on the 
 point of inquiring of one of the girls whe-
 
 CONTRAST. 277 
 
 ther he had returned to St. Finian's, he 
 made his appearance, and by addressing 
 her in his usual manner, without any par- 
 ticularity of look, left her still as much in 
 doubt as before as to what she should think. 
 
 The entertainment of the preceding night 
 of course furnished the topic of conversa- 
 tion. De Montville mentioned his nun, 
 and the evident trick she had played him, 
 describing her as the person whom he had 
 already expressed a little curiosity about, 
 in consequence of his having seen her at 
 Woodston, in his chance visit to it during 
 the absence of the family. His detail ex- 
 cited a good deal of interest, since while, 
 from her suddenly appearing and disap- 
 pearing in the manner she did, it seemed 
 as if she resided in the neighbourhood; still 
 no one of the family knew any one be 
 longing to it at all answering the descrip- 
 tion he gave of her. 
 
 The girls puzzled themselves in trying 
 to recollect — but no, and — " It therefore 
 strikes me," said Caroline, " that since we 
 certainly are acquainted with every one 
 in our immediate vicinity, in the rank to
 
 278 CONTRAST. 
 
 which you say this astonishing beauty ap- 
 pears to belong, that she must be some 
 Cinderella ; and under this persuasion, I 
 shall not forget, at any other party in the 
 neighbourhood, to look about me when 
 the clock strikes twelve, as I have a most 
 particular aversion to rats and mice ; but 
 that's true, as you say," still addressing her- 
 self to De Montville, " that you a little 
 opposed her withdrawing, I shall certainly 
 immediately have a search made for a glass 
 slipper ; but not for the purpose of giving 
 it to you," she added, " since who it might 
 be found to fit, could be no manner of 
 consequence to you, fitted as you already 
 
 are " with a partner, she was about 
 
 observing, forgetful of the recent lecture 
 she had received, about speaking at ran- 
 dom, " by your wise uncle, lord Le Poer," 
 when a look from her mother checked her. 
 After loitering some time over the 
 breakfast-table, for the excitement given 
 to the feelings by such an entertainment 
 as that of the preceding night, does not 
 immediately allow of a return to the usual 
 avocations, those of the quiet and domes-
 
 CONTRAST. 279 
 
 tic, the fair sisters strolled out into the 
 wood, accompanied by the gentlemen. 
 They had not proceeded far, when Helena 
 found Mountflorence, who had given her 
 his arm, gradually drawing her away from 
 her companions. This was the first time 
 he had ever made any direct attempt to 
 engross her particular attention, and the 
 conjecture to which the circumstance gave 
 rise, made her heart flutter ; but after pro- 
 ceeding some way, without any allusion 
 being made that could possibly agitate, she 
 was beginning to think herself mistaken 
 in it, and in consequence to recover a little 
 from the emotion it occasioned, when again 
 she was thrown into a state of agitation, 
 by suddenly finding herself on the very 
 spot where she had experienced such alarm 
 the preceding night. Was it purposely, or 
 by design, that they had strayed thither ? 
 She looked anxiously at Mountflorence, to 
 try if she could ascertain by the expression 
 of his countenance ; but his eyes did not 
 meet hers at the moment. — " What a wild- 
 looking spot !" she said, involuntarily. 
 " Yes," replied Mountflorence; " but
 
 280 CONTRAST. 
 
 still one I shall never be able to view with- 
 out a feeling of interest, from the reflec- 
 tion " He paused ; how agitating was 
 
 the pause to his companion! — " I have 
 often thought," he resumed, raising his 
 eyes from the ground, towards which they 
 had been for a minute declined, " that 
 from the misconstructions, the misconcep- 
 tions, we are sometimes liable to, it would 
 be a happiness could the human heart at 
 times be read." 
 
 " Perhaps so," said Helena, with forced 
 composure, for this exordium did not tend 
 to calm her emotions ; " but as that is im- 
 possible, should not the consciousness of 
 our actuating motives being pure, make 
 us rest satisfied, let our actions be judged 
 as they may ?" 
 
 " It were certainly wise to do so ; but 
 there are cases in which our own perfect 
 self-acquittal is not quite sufficient for our 
 consolation: where we highly esteem, 
 where we greatly regard, the good opinion 
 of the person so valued, is nearly, if not as 
 entirely, essential to our repose as our 
 own. In the predicament to which I have
 
 CONTRAST. 281 
 
 just alluded, by my observation, that there 
 are times in which it would be for our 
 tranquillity to have our hearts laid open 
 to inspection, I now stand ; for in what 
 I now meditate, I am aware I am liable 
 to be misunderstood." 
 
 " Not by me," cried Helena, losing, in 
 the impulse of the moment, the feelings 
 that, but the minute before, would have 
 hindered her utterance ; " think not that 
 I can misjudge you, if indeed I am any 
 way concerned in what you meditate or 
 intend." 
 
 " Could I hope this, that when I explain 
 myself, no suspicion will attach to the pu- 
 rity of my motives — but why should I 
 fear the contrary ? the generous mind is 
 not distrustful. Yet, why did I not at 
 once confront the villain ? — why not at 
 once before her, of whose unguarded con- 
 fidence so base an advantage was attempt- 
 ed to be taken, declare what he was ? Un- 
 worthy of alliance with virtue or feeling, 
 what painful explanations and agitation it 
 would have saved ! but then, at the pro- 
 bable expence of others. The committal
 
 282 CONTRAST. 
 
 of names I wish to hold sacred ; yes, that 
 was the restraining consideration, else 
 eagerly would I have availed myself of the 
 opportunity to tell him what I thought : 
 but I see, by your change of colour, that 
 I have shocked you ; would that I could 
 have maintained a greater command over 
 myself" 
 
 " You have indeed shocked me ; I can- 
 not deny it." said Helena, " by your in- 
 direct disclosure of being acquainted with 
 my imprudence ; for it is, as I conceived, 
 to you, I see, I am indebted for the frus- 
 tration of the insidious attempt of last 
 night. Yes, I cannot but feel shocked at 
 the idea of the Hght in which I may pro- 
 bably now be considered by you : but 
 while you feel compelled to censure, still 
 let me hope," and she looked and spoke 
 imploringly, " that you will not utterly 
 forget the guideless creature I have been ; 
 how totally, through an erring fondness, 
 left to my own control, my own judg- 
 ment, at the very moment that a dazzling 
 world, just opening to my view, rendered 
 caution and restraint most necessary."
 
 CONTRAST. 283 
 
 "How needless to urge all this !" said 
 Mountflorence, in the most animated tone, 
 and taking her hand ; " youth and inex- 
 perience are in themselves alone an excuse 
 for error. The specious manners of sir 
 Osbert Henley might have deceived a 
 more matured judgment than yours. Vil- 
 lain ! villain ! when I think of his motive 
 for imposing on you, when I consider the 
 sacrifice he meditated making you to his 
 ruined fortunes, how can I control my 
 indignation ? but again you turn pale : 
 am I then to regret being the occasion of 
 pain to you, by being thus compelled to 
 express myself of him ?" 
 
 "No," repUed Helena, with firmness; 
 " not at least through any such feeling as 
 you have intimated your fearing; but," she 
 added, suddenly recollecting herself, and 
 slightly blushing, " that I may not appear 
 in a still more reprehensible light than I 
 at present do, by avowing indifference to 
 a person with whom I suffered myself to 
 enter into such an engagement, let me ex- 
 plain the unadvised manner in which it 
 was formed ; that is " she here got a
 
 284 CONTRAST. 
 
 little embarrassed, and her eyes began to 
 decline towards the ground, to avoid the 
 keenly- penetrating ones of Mountflorence 
 fixed, perhaps unconsciously, on her at the 
 moment, " that it was without allowing 
 myself due time to consider what I actu- 
 ally felt for sir Osbert, as leisure and op- 
 portunity for reflection soon convinced me, 
 I promised him my hand !" 
 
 " Thank Heaven !" exclaimed Mount- 
 florence, with fervour, " since even if the 
 case had been otherwise, I should still have 
 conceived it an imperative duty to have 
 shewn him in his proper light to you ; but 
 with what bitter regret, from the reflec- 
 tion of the pain that must then have been 
 inflicted on your feelings by the circum- 
 stance ! Yes, never would I have allowed 
 the cruel betrayer of confiding innocence, 
 the unprincipled contemner of his own so- 
 lemn vows, to have gone on uninterrupt- 
 ed in his course of deception. The ho- 
 nour, the peace of a family, in the wel- 
 fare of which, on account of one indivi- 
 dual at least belonging to it, I take a very 
 deep interest, are now at stake, through
 
 CONTRAST. 285 
 
 his means ; and when you consider this, 
 can you wonder at the vehemence with 
 which I express myself concerning him ?" 
 
 " And all this I may credit ?" said He- 
 lena. 
 
 Mountflorence drew back a few paces, 
 w^ith a sudden contraction of brow that 
 made her instantly recollect herself. — 
 " Forgive me," she cried ; " I spoke not 
 as I meant ; but how shall I make myself 
 understood ? it was from a fear of not de- 
 serving the happiness to which your state- 
 ment restores me, and not to any doubt 
 of the most unqualified credit being due 
 to any assertion of yours, that led me to 
 express myself in such a manner. Oh, if 
 you knew from what a weight of misery 
 my faith in your truth relieves me, you 
 would not wonder that my very soul 
 should shrink within itself, at the bare 
 possibihty of being unintentionally as I 
 know if by you it must be, misled ! Rash 
 and thoughtless as my engagement to sir 
 Osbert must ever be considered, still it 
 was not formed without expressly inti- 
 mating, that should any thing occur ere
 
 286 CONTRAST. 
 
 the period fixed for its fulfilment to his 
 prejudice, it must be regarded as at an end. 
 Unpardonable as I deemed his attempt of 
 last night, still I had my apprehensions 
 that it might not be allowed as a sufficient 
 excuse for breaking with him, considering 
 the motives he might have to urge in 
 vindication of it; but what I have now 
 heard leaves me without any such fear; 
 and never, in the overflowing delight of 
 my soul, at my relief from the misery 
 the reflection of it occasioned, will a 
 prayer of gratitude be off'ered up to 
 Heaven, without an accompanying one 
 for the happiness of him to whom I owe 
 so much." 
 
 " Do not express yourself in this man- 
 ner," said Mountflorence, evidently strug- 
 gling with his feelings : " what must he 
 be, who could see another tottering on the 
 brink of a precipice, without stretching 
 out a hand to save them ? and that one 
 too, a being in whose fate he was bound, 
 by the most powerful considerations, to 
 take the deepest interest ! Exclusive of 
 every other consideration, as the daughter
 
 CONTRAST. 287 
 
 of sir Maurice Rossglen, my best and 
 most zealous services will ever be at your 
 command ; and now that I mentioned 
 your father, let me express my hope, that 
 you comprehend — you do justice to the 
 motive that influenced me, rather to give 
 you this warning myself, than let it be 
 conveyed through the medium of those 
 better authorized to caution and advise." 
 
 " Oh ! well," said Helena, with emo- 
 tion — " well do I understand the feeling 
 that induced you to be my sole adviser; 
 and my gratitude for your kind solicitude 
 about me is heightened by the anxiety 
 thus manifested to keep my imprudence 
 from the knowledge of my family." 
 
 " From this moment be it forgotten," 
 said Mountflorence, again taking her hand ; 
 " or, if not, only remembered as a warn- 
 ing or caution for the future. All that 
 aspire to happiness are not deserving of it, 
 and amidst the many competitors for her 
 favour, which the various attractions 
 of Miss Rossglen cannot fail of drawing 
 round her, some may again be found 
 not worthy of the prize they aim at. And 
 now, if you please, I'll conduct you to the
 
 288 CONTRAST. 
 
 girls, lest otherwise they should raise an 
 alarm, under an apprehension of my hav- 
 ing ran away with you." 
 
 Helena could not refuse. But why was 
 he in such haste to lead her where there 
 must be an end of any further particular 
 conversation? was it, that he really felt 
 no solicitude for this ? or was it, that he 
 feared, if they remained much longer con- 
 versing together, feelings might be be- 
 trayed, calculated to excite a doubt of his 
 being quite as disinterested, in washing to 
 have her released from her rash engage- 
 ment, as it was evident he desired to be 
 thought. But a short time must now de- 
 cide this — that is, what his sentiments for 
 her really were ; for now at full liberty — 
 oh, transporting thought ! — to give indul- 
 gence to those he had inspired, she con- 
 ceived it next to impossible that she could 
 fail in eliciting his. 
 
 They had not proceeded far, when they 
 were met by the girls and De Montville. 
 They shortly after returned to the house, 
 where the party separated. 
 
 Helena, as usual, impetuous and impa-
 
 CONTRAST. 289 
 
 tient, lost not a moment, on re-entering 
 her dressing-room, in writing her letter of 
 renunciation to sir Osbert: but impa- 
 tience, in this instance, was excusable. 
 She reminded him of the condition on 
 which she had promised her hand, and in 
 consequence of which, she now conceived 
 herself at full liberty to break with him ; 
 not merely through his conduct of the 
 preceding night — though that, in her opi- 
 nion, was quite sufficient to justify such 
 a determination — but also a circumstance 
 that it had been the means of bringing to 
 her knowledge ; and concluded by declar- 
 ing, that that letter was the close of their 
 correspondence. 
 
 On joining the family at dinner, she felt 
 a slight sensation of disappointment, on 
 learning that Mountflorence had returned 
 to Woodston ; she soon, however, got the 
 better of it, from the consideration of the 
 happiness to which she was so unexpect- 
 edly restored. In the evening, she accom- 
 panied the girls and De Montville to a 
 large party in the neighbourhood, where 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 290 CONTRAST. 
 
 most of the company of the preceding 
 evening were assembled, similarly attired; 
 but the amusement on this occasion chiefly 
 consisted in a secret exchange of charac- 
 ters, occasioning, as the circumstance did, 
 a variety of diverting mistakes. 
 
 De Montville was not without a hope 
 of here encountering his nun again ; but 
 after indulging the expectation for some 
 time, he was on the point of relinquishing 
 it, when he suddenly beheld her, he was 
 convinced, entering, a splendid rosary dis- 
 tinguishing her from others habited in the 
 same way. He was darting forward to 
 join her, and renew the short conversation 
 of the preceding night, when he found 
 himself prevented, by one of the sleeves 
 of his domino having got entangled, he 
 knew not how, in the drapery of a lady 
 in a fancy dress. Apparently confused by 
 the circumstance, she set about extricating 
 it in a very awkward manner, and one 
 that so little tallied with the impatience 
 of De Montville, as at length to occasion 
 him to tear it away ; but while thus enga- 
 ged, the nun had disappeared, and in
 
 CONTRAST. 291 
 
 vain he looked about for her. Well, this 
 was really provoking; piqued perhaps by 
 his not having immediately joined her, 
 for he would persuade himself there was 
 an intimation to do so, she had taken this 
 method of signifying the same, and this 
 after intending, it might be, to explain 
 why she had served him in such a manner 
 the preceding evening. He really wished 
 the awkward being to whom his detention 
 was owing had been any where but at his 
 elbow at the moment. But was it likely 
 that this provoking creature had really so 
 immediately departed ? and under the 
 hope that she might not yet be gone, he 
 kept wandering about in every direction. 
 
 At length, just as he was beginning to 
 despair of again seeing her that night, he 
 suddenly found her beside him. — " This is 
 indeed almost an unexpected happiness," 
 he said, and as he spoke, he attempted to 
 take her hand ; but drawing back with an 
 air of surprise, she withheld it. De Mont- 
 ville's mask was off; he looked reproach- 
 fully — " Am I to understand then, from 
 o 2
 
 292^ CONTRAST. 
 
 this," he said, ** that you feel no com- 
 punction for the way in which you served 
 me last night ?" 
 
 " I do not comprehend you, sir." 
 
 " No ! why surely you cannot but be 
 sensible that you gave me some cause for 
 complaint and reproach ?" 
 
 " Assuredly not : I know not how I 
 could have contrived to give cause for ei- 
 ther, to a person who is a total stranger 
 to me, to whom I never spoke until this 
 instant." 
 
 " Nay, this is attempting to impose 
 upon me in a way I cannot allow," said 
 De IMontville ; " what, after allowing me 
 to converse with you last night, to tell you 
 where and when I before saw you, and 
 being permitted to hope, that when next 
 we met, I should not be entirely regarded 
 as a stranger, now to intimate that you do 
 not, that you will not know me ?" 
 
 " And you will try to persuade me of 
 all this ?" she said, but laughingly ; and 
 De Montville, encouraged by her manner, 
 w^as resuming the reproaches he had com- 
 menced, when he felt some one twitching
 
 CONTRAST. 293 
 
 him by the sleeve. He turned to see 
 who, and beheld the awkward dowdy, as 
 he, a little petulantly, designated the lady 
 in the fancy dress, from the vexation she 
 had caused him, again at his elbow. — 
 " With me, ma'am, did you wish to 
 speak ?" he asked, gravely. 
 
 " Yes, sir; you left some of the trim- 
 mings of your sleeve behind you." 
 
 " Ridiculous !" exclaimed De JNIont- 
 ville. " I am sorry, ma'am, you gave 
 yourself so much trouble, about a matter 
 of no consequence," turning as he spoke 
 to address the nun again, but she was 
 gone. 
 
 " Provoking !" was again his exclama- 
 tion, as he looked round him to try if he 
 could discover her amidst the crowd, when 
 — " If 'tis for your companion, the nun, 
 you are looking for," said the troublesome 
 lady in the fancy dress, " I can show you 
 where to find her." 
 
 " Then if you will, you will oblige me 
 beyond description," said De Montville. 
 
 " Here, by this door," she said, leading
 
 294 CONTRAST. 
 
 him on, as she spoke, to a door opening 
 to the grounds. 
 
 " This way do you say ?" said De Mont- 
 ville, eagerly pressing forward. 
 
 " You tread upon my dress," she said, 
 passing out of the door. 
 
 Apologizing, De Montville drew back. 
 As he did so, the lady's mask fell off; and 
 their eyes encountering, to his utter vexa- 
 tion, he discovered that, in shunning her 
 as he had done, he had actually been shun- 
 ning the person he was so anxiously seek- 
 ing. — " Well, really," he cried, " this is 
 one of the most malicious tricks that could 
 possibly have been played." But with- 
 out appearing to heed him, she rushed 
 forward, and though he followed close 
 upon her steps, contrived to evade him. 
 
 From all this, De Montville was more 
 than ever at a loss what conjecture to form 
 concerning her, whether her conduct was 
 really the result of a coquettish desire to 
 teaze, or an unwillingness to be known. 
 
 After fatiguing himself in seeking her, 
 he returned to the house ; and on rejoining 
 the fair sisters, could not refrain from telling
 
 CONTRAST. 295 
 
 them what had occurred; and they were not 
 a little diverted by the trick that had evi- 
 dently been played upon him. They were 
 by this time really curious themselves to dis- 
 cover who she was; but in vain they per- 
 plexed themselves with conjectures ; they 
 could not fix upon any one in the neigh- 
 bourhood as likely to be her. But a letter 
 from lord Le Poer, the next morning, in- 
 timating that on the ensuing day he might 
 be expected at the castle, suspended, for 
 the present, all further anxiety on the 
 subject, in the mind of De Montville. 
 The crisis of his fate was at hand, and he 
 could not contemplate it without emotion. 
 From the idea he had been led to form of 
 Miss Mountflorence, he could not indulge 
 a hope of her being calculated to inspire 
 an attachment; and the thought of being 
 allied to a person incapable of creating 
 any interest, was to him one of such mi- 
 sery, from the intenseness of his feelings, 
 as to make him think it impossible he 
 could ever accede to such a measure ; his 
 prospects, therefore, were very uncertain, 
 aware as he was of the manner in which
 
 296 CONTRAST. 
 
 lord Le Poer was likely to resent the dis- 
 appointment of his plan, and the reflection 
 did not of course tend to render his mind 
 tranquil. 
 
 Too much agitated by the receipt of 
 this letter to be able to command himself, 
 he took a hasty leave of his friends at 
 Woodston, and set off for Rockcliffe, 
 where, at the time expected, he was joined 
 by lord Le Poer. His lordship tried to 
 be gracious ; but it was not natural to 
 him ; besides, he did not forget, that there 
 had not been all that promptness in De 
 Montville's return from the Continent, 
 that might have been expected. Time 
 had not by any means rendered him more 
 amiable or prepossessing; its deep traces 
 added not a little to the natural harshness 
 of his countenance; while his tall gaunt 
 figure, still retaining its commanding alti- 
 tude, through the supporting aid of pride 
 and haughtiness, he had all the imperative 
 air of a person that would be obeyed. 
 De Montville thought he had never looked 
 more forbidding; he studied his counte- 
 nance, in a manner he had never done be-
 
 CONTRAST. 297 
 
 fore, to try if he could discover any indi- 
 cation of feeling that might be worked 
 upon; but no, all was fixed sternness 
 there. 
 
 Lord Le Poer did not allow any great 
 time to elapse, before entering on the sub- 
 ject interesting to him. By a letter from 
 lady Newbury, he was given to under- 
 stand, he said, that she had, as instructed 
 by him, given to him, De Montville, all 
 the particulars requisite for him to be ac- 
 quainted with, ere his introduction to 
 Miss Mountflorence; so that there was 
 nothing now to retard, or delay, after 
 its taking place, their marriage, his stay 
 in Dublin being for the express purpose 
 of having all matters relative to it arranged. 
 
 De Montville could have wished he had 
 not heard this, since, of course, the more 
 assured his lordship was of the accomplish- 
 ment of his project, the more enraged he 
 would be at its disappointment, if indeed 
 destined to experience one. But where 
 was Miss Mountflorence all this time, that 
 their introduction was so near at hand, a& 
 o3
 
 298 CONTRAST. 
 
 he conceived might be inferred, from the 
 way in which his lordship had expressed 
 himself? 
 
 " You have not, I think you said," re- 
 sumed his lordship, " been to lady Doro- 
 thy's?" 
 
 " No, my lord, not yet ; her ladyship's 
 indisposition prevented me." 
 
 " Well, on that account, there is no 
 further hinderance to your visiting there, 
 as she is now perfectly recovered. But I 
 must now be candid with you, by ac- 
 knowledging that her illness was not the 
 only reason why you were not sooner re- 
 ceived as a visiter there. The fact is. Miss 
 Mountflorence has all this time been with 
 her. I brought her over with me from 
 England, and left her under the care of 
 her ladyship, but with a positive injunc- 
 tion, that no one should be acquainted 
 with the circumstance, until my arrival 
 here, having very particular reasons — 'twere 
 needless to explain — for wishing her not 
 to be generally known, or introduced into 
 society, until her present name be merged 
 in yours."
 
 CONTRAST. 299 
 
 De Montville would have been at a loss 
 to exactly define the feeling he experienced 
 at this moment ; it was that uneasy sensa- 
 tion, that a vague idea of being in some 
 way or other imposed upon or deceived, 
 occasions. Mountflorence could have ac- 
 quainted him what had just been com- 
 municated, he was convinced, yet he was 
 silent on the subject. 
 
 Could it be that Mountflorence had an 
 interest in the concealment of the circum- 
 stance ? and he thought of the hint that 
 had been given of his attachment to some 
 one under the roof of lady Dorothy, and 
 the corroboration it had received, in the 
 confusion it had evidently occasioned him ; 
 nor was the incident of the scarf, neither 
 his midnight sally from the house, for- 
 gotten. But no, even allowing him at- 
 tached to any one at lady Dorothy's, he 
 felt almost a certainty, that it was not 
 to Miss Mountflorence, both because, from 
 all he had heard, he could not by any 
 means fancy her the kind of creature likely 
 to captivate such an imagination as Mount-
 
 300 CONTRAST. 
 
 florence's, and because, from the peculiar 
 manner in which she was circumstanced, 
 he conceived Mountflorence would not 
 voluntarily encourage any thing of the 
 kind for her. 
 
 There was, however, a good deal of per- 
 plexity on the subject ; and he was sitting 
 rather lost in thought, when he was roused 
 by lord Le Poer signifying his intention 
 of immediately introducing him to Miss 
 Mountflorence; "for though we cannot 
 dine at lady Dorothy's to-day," he said, 
 " owing to some business I have to trans- 
 act in the evening, there is nothing now 
 to prevent our calling there ;" and accord- 
 ingly the carriage was ordered. They 
 were within a short distance of her lady- 
 ship's, when in approaching a house by 
 the road-side, lord Le Poer suddenly re- 
 collecting some business he had with the 
 owner, got out, and, uncertain how long 
 he might be detained, desired De Mont- 
 ville to proceed without him, and then let 
 the carriage be sent back for him. On 
 reaching lady Dorothy's, De Montville 
 was ushered into a vacant apartment. In a
 
 CONTRAST. 301 
 
 few minutes, the servant who had shewn 
 him into it, returned to say that his lady 
 was not yet ready to receive him, but that 
 Miss Mountflorence would be with him 
 directly. " So," thought De JNIontville, 
 on the door closing again, " I shall soon 
 be out of suspense, soon know now 
 what I have to hope or fear, for 'tis 
 vain to argue with myself If my intended 
 bride be a creature that I cannot fancy, I 
 will not have her, even though my rejec- 
 tion of her hand be attended with the cer- 
 tain loss of her tyrannical father's favour — 
 arbitrary being ! who but a tyrant could 
 have thought of making positive arrange- 
 ments for the marriage of two persons who 
 had never set eyes upon one another? a 
 pretty eastern despot he would have made; 
 but, thank Heaven, though he may plan, 
 he cannot force — though, alas! I know 
 he can punish ; but no matter, if turned 
 adrift, I shall still have liberty to console 
 and — but hark, she comes" — and the door 
 gently opening at the moment, a lady en- 
 tered. Tall, straight, perpendicular, in short, 
 towering above her sex, though not exactly
 
 30^ CONTRAST. 
 
 in the way the poet meant the lovely Mer- 
 cia's doing, neither, like her, was she divine- 
 ly fair ; nor yet had she the attraction of 
 extreme youth : it seemed to De Montville, 
 indeed, as if she was some years older than 
 himself. And this was his mother's pretty 
 Ady ! — had he placed faith in her descrip- 
 tion, what a disappointment would now 
 have been sustained! but he knew too 
 well the flattering manner in which her 
 benevolence of heart was wont to make 
 her represent those she regarded, to allow 
 him to depend exactly on it, more especi- 
 ally contradicted as her statement was by 
 the very different account given of the lady, 
 by those who, from not being under the 
 influence of such feelings, were less prone 
 to judge inaccurately. Advancing to him, 
 with what she might have considered a 
 smile, but he designated a simper, she ex- 
 pressed her hope she saw him well. De 
 Montville could only reply by a bow, and 
 appearing to move a chair for her. " You 
 can't think, sir," she said, as she seated her- 
 self, " how sorry I have been all this time, 
 9X your not being allowed to come here
 
 CONTRAST. 303 
 
 sooner, from the terribly stupid way in 
 which I was certain you must be passing 
 your time, in that old castle of lord Le 
 Poer's by yourself" 
 
 " You are very good, ma'am, for having 
 thought so much about me ; doubtless I 
 should have found it stupid and solitary 
 enough, had I been left to myself; but al- 
 most ever since my arrival, I have been an 
 inmate in the house of a delightful family 
 in the neighbourhood." 
 
 " Well, that really was fortunate; for 
 'tis terrible to be moping about by one's 
 self, or shut up without seeing any one, as 
 I know from experience, through the long 
 illness of lady Dorothy. Yet in such a 
 season as this, one might, I conceive, in 
 the country, find a little amusement for 
 themselves, independent of the aid of 
 others." 
 
 '' By walking, I presume you mean ? 
 Why, to be sure, that may be pleasant 
 enough to some; but I confess I am 
 not over fond of rambling about in th« 
 country, one gets so tattered and torn, 
 ^n making their way through briars and
 
 304 CONTRAST. 
 
 brambles, and over hedges and ditches.'* 
 
 " There are few pleasures that are not 
 attended with some little drawback ; but 
 if not fond of walking, I must presume 
 you are of reading and music, in a taste 
 for which we assuredly have an inexhausti- 
 ble resource against the tedium of time, 
 and the ennui it occasions." 
 
 " Why, as to that, I must confess, a 
 little reading goes a great way with me ; 
 one has so much of it when they are 
 young ; and as to music, there was so much 
 trouble in learning it, that somehow I 
 could never bring myself to like it." 
 
 "Accomplished creature! Pray, then, 
 may I ask, ma'am, what you have a taste 
 for?" 
 
 " Why," and she laughed at the ques- 
 tion, " I don't altogether dislike taking up 
 a book, when assured it is a merry one, 
 not one that will put one in the dismals, 
 which of all things I hate; then I like vi- 
 siting, and hearing the chat of the day, 
 and reading the newspapers, when there's 
 no politics in them, and — but there is lady 
 Dorothy's bell, to give notice that she is
 
 CONTRAST. 305 
 
 ready to receive you ; so I'll now run off, to 
 finish a little job I was about at the time 
 you were announced;" and without further 
 ceremony, she left him. 
 
 " So, all is over!" cried De Montville, 
 " suspense and hope; and, like poor Wolsey, 
 I may bid adieu to all my greatness ; or, 
 in other words, my long-indulged expecta- 
 tions of independence. Yet is it possible 
 that lord Le Poer could ever seriously 
 suppose this scheme of marrying me to 
 this half-acknowledged daughter of his 
 could meet my ready acquiescence, desti- 
 tute as she is, not merely of personal at- 
 tractions, but those mental ones that com- 
 pensate for the want of them, or that for 
 declining it, he should punish me by the 
 loss of that independence he so long per- 
 mitted me to hope for ? Well, should he 
 allow his resentment to carry him to such 
 lengths, I shall at least have the consola- 
 tion of knowing that all the world will 
 take my part." 
 
 A servant now appeared to conduct him 
 to lady Dorothy. She received him with 
 great stateliness ; and De Montville, as he
 
 306 CONTRAST. 
 
 looked at her, did not wonder that in the 
 early days of his mother, she should have 
 been regarded as a very awful personage 
 by her. 
 
 After some inquiries as to how he had 
 been engaged since his arrival in the 
 neighbourhood, she asked whether he had 
 yet seen Miss Mountflorence ? 
 
 De Montville slightly bowed. 
 
 " Yes, as soon as you were announced, I 
 sent to let her know you were come, con- 
 ceiving, from the indirect manner you had 
 already been introduced, there was no ne- 
 cessity for your delaying to meet, until I 
 was ready to present you more formally 
 to one another. Well, having seen the 
 young lady, I suppose I may presume 
 that you feel no great dissatisfaction at his 
 lordship's plan ? She certainly bears a very 
 strong resemblance to the family." 
 
 " Yes," assented De Montville, still re- 
 garding her ladyship. — " In particular, I 
 think she resembles," resumed her lady- 
 ship, " that favourite sister of lord Le 
 
 Poer's, whose but you seem attracted 
 
 by something without."
 
 CONTRAST. 307 
 
 " Attracted indeed !" for while yet speak- 
 ing, slowly emerging from the dark close 
 avenue leading to St. Finian's, and which 
 indeed, on crossing the dell that divided 
 the grounds, was continued there, appear- 
 ed the bewitching resemblance of the fair 
 Sicilian, or, in other words, the provoking 
 unknown, she who had occasioned him so 
 much restless curiosity since his arrival at 
 RockclifFe— " Who, or what is it you see ?" 
 
 " A — a — lady, ma'am," stammered out 
 De Montville. 
 
 " A lady by herself, and coming to the 
 house? Yes — oh, Miss Ferns — a young 
 person who has been residing with me this 
 some time, as companion. Your mother 
 knew her father, a very worthy man, but 
 a little thoughtless, so left a large family 
 unprovided for; and as I wanted a com- 
 panion just at the time, I thought I might 
 as well be charitable, and take one of the 
 daughters, with a promise of a little dower 
 if she behaved well. This I shall soon be 
 called upon to give, in consequence of a 
 match I have determined on for her." '
 
 308 CONTRAST. 
 
 ** Determined !" involuntarily repeated 
 De Montville. 
 
 " Yes, I am most particularly anxious 
 to retain the medical person who attends 
 me in the neighbourhood, from the know- 
 ledge he has acquired of my constitution ; 
 but find no bribe sufficiently powerful to 
 induce him to acquiesce in this wish, but 
 Miss Ferns and her little portion, and 
 have therefore decided on their marriage." 
 
 De Montville could not help smiling at 
 the generosity and charity of lady Doro- 
 thy, having, as they evidently had, her 
 own convenience for their basis. — " And 
 is the young lady satisfied with this ar- 
 rangement?" sarcastically he asked. 
 
 •* Satisfied !" and her ladyship drew 
 herself up. " I should conceive it vastly 
 odd, a most extraordinary circumstance 
 indeed, if she were otherwise ; or rather, 
 should attempt to object to any arrange- 
 ment, which either I, or any other person, 
 whose protection she might have the ho- 
 nour of being under, might think proper 
 to make for her. Persons in her circum- 
 stances are not to pretend to have feelings
 
 CONTRAST. 309 
 
 or inclinations, like those of a superior 
 rank ; their duty is profound submission." 
 
 " But is it not rather unkind to exact 
 this?" said De Montville, with a slight 
 hesitation in his voice, and flush on his 
 cheek — " is it not rather taking an unge- 
 nerous advantage of their situation ?" 
 
 Her ladyship threw back her head. — 
 " By those who are too romantic or self- 
 willed, to allow of the proper subordina- 
 tions in society, it may be so deemed per- 
 haps, but not by those who " 
 
 " Should Miss Ferns," demanded De 
 Montville, involuntarily interrupting her, 
 '* be amongst the number of those inclined 
 to argue on it, what is likely to be the 
 result ?" 
 
 " That 1 think might easily be inferred 
 from the manner in which I have express- 
 ed myself — of course the immediate loss 
 of my protection." 
 
 ** But assuredly, not without knowing 
 that she is secure of some other ?" 
 
 " That is no concern of mine ; however, 
 I know of no one she has to receive her
 
 SIO CONTRAST. 
 
 for by this time all her connexions are 
 either dead, or scattered about the world ; 
 but her being turned adrift will be but a 
 proper punishment for her contumacy." 
 
 " Adrift ! such a creature adrift ! be- 
 cause she could not make herself a sacri- 
 fice to worldly policy ! but no, should such 
 a thing occur, I shall take care to prevent 
 her suffering through it. In that case, ex- 
 clusive of every other consideration, there 
 will be a sympathy in our fates, that must 
 interest me for her ; both suffering, as we 
 shall then probably be, through a similar 
 cause. Yes, I will take care that she be 
 not a homeless, houseless wanderer, tempt- 
 ing danger at every step she advances in 
 this wide wilderness, the world. Over one 
 benignant heart at least I know I have 
 control, and that the kindest charities of 
 that heart will be extended towards her, 
 on my representation." 
 
 " Why, Mr. De Montville, I believe 
 you are in a reverie," cried lady Dorothy, 
 a little exalting her voice. " You don't 
 seem to me as if you had heard the door 
 open, or any one enter."
 
 CONTRAST. 311 
 
 De Montville hastily turned from the 
 window at which he had been standing, 
 and encountered the eyes of the lovely 
 creature who had been the cause of his ab- 
 straction. He started, not expecting to have 
 seen her so immediately, and at a loss to 
 know how he was to conduct himself to- 
 wards her, whether as a total stranger, or 
 a person that had seen her before, stood 
 looking at her without speaking, while 
 she remained equally silent and motion- 
 less, as if waiting for him to address her. 
 Lady Dorothy alternately regarded each. 
 — " Why this is really very extraordinary 
 — extremely odd !" she said. " You look, 
 young lady and gentleman, as if you had 
 never met before ; and yet, but a minute 
 ago, I have been given to understand you 
 were conversing." 
 
 " No, ma'am," mildly said the lady. 
 
 " No, ma'am," not quite so calmly per- 
 haps, said the gentleman. 
 
 " No !" repeated lady Dorothy, her small 
 black eyes beginning to glisten a little ; 
 " then how is it, sir, that you told me you 
 had seen this lady ?"
 
 312 CONTRAST. 
 
 " Pardon me, I did not tell your lady- 
 ship any such thing." 
 
 " No !" again exclaimed lady Dorothy ; 
 " really this is the most incomprehensible, 
 the strangest thing !" and she fanned her- 
 self with no slight indication of emotion. 
 " If I could bring myself to say an un- 
 gracious or an unpolite thing, I should 
 certainly say, sir, that these contradictions 
 of yours, argue a wandering of thought, 
 not by any means consistent with the re- 
 spect and attention due in certain places." 
 
 " 1 am not aware, ma'am, that I have 
 contradicted myself" 
 
 " No, sir ! what, after telling me, al- 
 most in the same breath, that you have 
 and you have not been speaking with this 
 lady?" 
 
 " Excuse me, ma'am, I never said I had 
 been speaking with this lady; I merely 
 said I had seen Miss Mountflorence, but 
 I did not mention having seen any one 
 else ; she is the only person I have had 
 any conversation with, since my entering 
 the house, except your ladyship." 
 
 " Miss Mountflorence !" shrilly exclaim-
 
 CONTRAST. 313 
 
 ed her ladyship ; " why, then, who do you 
 take this lady for?" 
 
 " Who?" and the emotion excited by 
 the transporting idea this question sug- 
 gested nearly deprived him of the power 
 of distinctly articulating—" why, I thought 
 — I imagined — I inferred from your lady- 
 ship that she was Miss Ferns." 
 
 " Bless me! why we have been all at 
 cross purposes I see here. No — sir, for I 
 see it has fallen to my lot, after all, to in- 
 troduce you — this is Miss Adelaide Mount- 
 florence." 
 
 " Oh, the rapture of this moment !" said 
 De Montville, as he took the hand of the 
 fair Adelaide, and sought to read in her eyes 
 whether her feelings were in unison with 
 his, whether she, in any degree, participated 
 in his happiness ; " for what painful linger- 
 ing anxiety does it compensate ! But then 
 the cruelty," in a lowered tone, " of put- 
 ting my patience to the test, to the last 
 possible moment, for I now clearly com- 
 prehend the mistake I was led into was 
 all the effect of a wicked contrivance ; but 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 314 CONTRAST. 
 
 what if, through the despair it occasioned, 
 I had suddenly disappeared in one of your 
 neighbouring waterfalls ?" 
 
 " Despair, indeed !" repeated Adelaide ; 
 " you little knew the worth or varied at- 
 tainments of her to whom you allude, 
 when you speak of being thrown into de- 
 spair by taking her for me." 
 
 " Really ! well, I must confess — but I 
 see how it was — that laugh betrays it — for 
 the purpose of heightening the feelings of 
 the moment, she put on a semblance not 
 natural to her." 
 
 Lady Dorothy, with all her stiffness 
 and stateliness, was all this time laugh- 
 ing, in her little affected way, at the puz- 
 zle, as she called it, they had all been 
 in ; it reminded her so much of the plays 
 she had seen in the days of her youth, and 
 she began trying to recollect them. 
 
 Adelaide appeared to attend, but De 
 Montville could put on no seeming atten- 
 tion ; he was too much occupied, too much 
 engrossed, by the sudden change in his 
 feelings, the happiness he now contem- 
 plated ; for from what had occurred, he had
 
 CONTRAST. 315 
 
 no very terrible misgivings of any very 
 violent objection being started by Ade- 
 laide to her father's plan, now the only 
 circumstance that could prevent its accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 But how many questions remained to 
 be answered — how much curiosity still to 
 be satisfied ! and when should he have an 
 opportunity for what he required? He 
 began to grow impatient for the arrival of 
 his lordship, from the hope that it would 
 cause a diversion in his favour. At length 
 he made his appearance, and by his looks, 
 testified his surprise at beholding lady 
 Dorothy so much amused : the cause of 
 this was soon explained; but either he 
 was too saturnine, or else thought it too 
 ridiculous for a smile, and rather abruptly 
 turned from her, to regard the other par- 
 ties in the room. Adelaide now approach- 
 ed to pay her dutiful respects ; but they 
 were coldly received. He could not for- 
 get her being the daughter of a woman 
 who had given him cause of offence he 
 deemed unpardonable; and though he 
 p2
 
 316 CONTRAST. 
 
 had acknowledged her, it was more from 
 necessity than inclination ; or, in short, to 
 avoid the risk of again becoming a theme 
 of public conversation, than from any- 
 awakened feeling of tenderness, or natural 
 affection. 
 
 Accustomed to kindness, Adelaide seem- 
 ed to experience a sudden chill, at the icy 
 manner in which her demonstrations of 
 pleasure at seeing him were received. 
 There was evidently however nothing of 
 resentment mingled with the feelings this 
 occasioned. " The big tear filled her eye ;" 
 but the quickness with which she turned 
 away as it started, proved it was rather 
 her wish to conceal, than obtrude it on 
 his notice as a reproach. What she did 
 not allow herself to evince, De Montville 
 could with difficulty prevent some ex- 
 pression of; but he consoled himself for 
 the pain she experienced, by the reflec- 
 tion that she would not be much longer 
 depending for care or kindness on this 
 arbitrary and cold-hearted being. Her 
 emotion having passed away, he availed 
 himself of lord Le Peer's being engaged
 
 CONTRAST. 317 
 
 With his sister, to seek the gratification of 
 the curiosity excited by recent incidents. 
 After diverting herself by a little further 
 trifling with this, she confessed that all 
 that had been perplexing to him, was the 
 result of a regular contrivance between 
 her and Miss Ferns, for the express pur- 
 pose, suggested by the inquiries she over- 
 heard his making concerning her, on the 
 evening of a stolen ramble to Woodston 
 with her friend, who, all good nature and 
 gaiety, had availed herself of the freedom 
 from restraint, afforded by the illness of lady 
 Dorothy, to lay herself out to amuse her. 
 
 " For which I must love her, though it 
 was at my expence," interrupted De Mont- 
 ville. 
 
 " You'll soon love, or at least regard 
 her, on her own account," said Adelaide. 
 " To the best qualities of the heart, she 
 unites intelligence, information, and, in 
 short, all the treasures of a well-cultivated 
 mind; still, notwithstanding all I have 
 said, I dare say you would be surprised, 
 w^ere I to tell you who she has for a serious 
 admirer in the neighbourhood."
 
 318^ CONTRAST. 
 
 De Montville mused. He thought of 
 Mountflorence : what had puzzled him 
 appeared to be now explained — ^ I think 
 I could guess," he said. 
 
 " I should feel surprised if you could'; 
 however, be that as it may, tliere's no use 
 in guessing to me, for I am bound to si- 
 lence on the subject." 
 
 After a few more questions — ^ Well, 
 you really," said De Montville, " have ac- 
 counted very satisfactorily, in every in- 
 stance save one, for the way in which you 
 still contrived to evade and disappoint my 
 curiosity, and that is the night in which I 
 saw you in the castle." 
 
 " What, at RockelifFe? No, I have 
 never been there since your arrival." 
 
 " Come, recollect yourself," said De 
 Montville, seizing her hands, and looking 
 laughingly in her face. 
 
 " No, I cannot recollect what has never 
 been." 
 
 " Then you positively persist in saying' 
 that you have never been to pay me a visit 
 there?" 
 
 " Yes."
 
 CONTRAST. 315 
 
 De Montville still looked incredulous. 
 But no further time was now allowed for 
 his attempting to obtain a different an- 
 swer or acknowledgment, lord Le Poer 
 rising at the instant to depart, but with a 
 promise of dining the next day with her 
 ladyship. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 -But through the heart 
 
 Should jealousy its rancour once diflPuse, 
 
 'Tis then delightful misery no more ; 
 
 But agony unmix'd, incessant gall, 
 
 Corroding every thought, and blasting all 
 
 Love's paradise. Thomson. 
 
 Joy is ever communicative. Dinner was 
 hardly over, when De Montville, mount- 
 ing his horse, rode over to Woods ton. 
 — " I have seen her !" he cried, as he 
 rushed into the apartment where lady 
 Rossglen, with the girls and Mountflo- 
 rence, were sitting — " at length I have 
 seen her. Miss Mountflorence !" he added,
 
 320 CONTRAST. 
 
 in reply to the look of interrogation ad- 
 dressed to him. 
 
 " Indeed ! well, and what kind of crea- 
 ture is she ? for you know this cross being 
 here," glancing at Mountflorence, " would 
 never answer any inquiry concerning her." 
 
 " What kind of creature is she ?" re- 
 peated the transported lover — " how shall 
 I tell you?" 
 
 " Well, tell me," resumed Caroline; 
 " does she rival your Cinderella ?" 
 
 " No ; but she equals her ; for she and 
 my Cinderella, since you choose to call her 
 so, are the same." 
 
 " What, Miss Mountflorence the per- 
 son who has occasioned so much specula- 
 tion ? Well, this was what could scarcely 
 have been imagined !" 
 
 De Montville, laughing, proceeded to 
 detail all the contrivances, as confessed by 
 Adelaide, she had had recourse to for per- 
 plexing him. 
 
 The girls were infinitely amused by the 
 recital, Caroline in particular, who de- 
 clared, from what she had heard, she was 
 convinced Miss Mountflorence must be a
 
 CONTRAST. 321 
 
 most delightful creature — one quite after 
 her own heart — all life and animation — 
 " But were you the confidant of any of 
 her tricks, Sigismund ?" 
 
 The eyes of Mountflorence seemed al- 
 most to flash fire at this question. He 
 rose abruptly, and throwing aside a book 
 he appeared to have been looking over, 
 repaired to a window. 
 
 " Why you seem vexed," said Caro- 
 line : " sure you are not displeased at what 
 you have heard ? It would be enough for 
 you to be angry, if, instead of this pretty 
 cousin, it had been the fair giver of the 
 blue scarf who had been playing all these 
 tricks." 
 
 " You mistake — I am not angry or dis- 
 pleased ;" but in a tone that rather contra- 
 dicted the assertion—" why should I be so 
 with any thing Miss Mountflorence does ?'* 
 
 " That's more than I can tell ; but I ap- 
 peal to every one present, if you do not 
 appear discomposed ; and there — how an- 
 grily at this very moment you are frown- 
 ing!" 
 
 p3
 
 S2^ CONTSAST. 
 
 " I am not surprised at his froivning at 
 you," observed her mother ; " you really, 
 
 at times, are so teazing ; but '' and she 
 
 addressed some inquiry respecting lady 
 Dorothy to De Montville. 
 
 She was answered at random ; the eyes 
 of De Montville were on Mountflorence, 
 and his thoughts were rambling rather 
 wildly. What if there should be some 
 mistake in what Adelaide had asserted, or 
 more correctly, for she had not asserted 
 what he accused her of, if he should be 
 mistaken in his conjecture of Miss Ferns 
 being the person admired by Mountflo- 
 rence, and that instead of her, Adelaide 
 herself was the object of his secret re- 
 gard ? But, no, no, he would not give 
 way to so cruel an idea— so distressing an 
 apprehension ; various circumstances com- 
 bined to preclude such a fear — Adelaide's 
 own manner — the perfect knowledge pos- 
 sessed by Mountflorence of lord Le Poer's 
 intention with regard to her — and the ho- 
 nour and feeling that must in consequence 
 have tended to oppose any sentiment be- 
 yond that of disinterested regard for her.
 
 CONTRAST. 323 
 
 Yet he wished the thought had not oc- 
 curred — it was as a cloud upon a happy 
 dawn, checking the pleasure that had pre- 
 viously been taken in its contemplation ; 
 but if he believed it to be erroneous, how 
 could he apprehend, or, rather, allow its 
 being the occasion of any uneasiness to 
 him? 
 
 He accordingly made an effort to rally 
 his spirits, and laugh and talk as usual ; 
 but forced efforts are seldom successful 
 ones ; his eye still turned upon Mountflo- 
 rence, and what he was about saying, he 
 more than once seemed to forget. 
 
 But he was not the only person in the 
 room whom the evident discomposure of 
 Mountflorence, on the mention of Ade- 
 laide, had disconcerted ; like him, however, 
 Helena had recourse to reasonings and ar- 
 guments with herself, to vanquish the un- 
 easiness occasioned by the observation. 
 
 Ere he took leave, lady Rossglen inti- 
 mated her intention of being at lady Doro- 
 thy's the next day, for the purpose of an in- 
 troduction to Adelaide ; and De Montville 
 promised to be there to meet her.
 
 324 CONTRAST. 
 
 He took care he should not be anticipa- 
 ted, by the early hour he left Rockcliffe, 
 Adelaide immediately joined him. — " I 
 am glad you are come by yourself," she 
 said, " for I wished very particularly to 
 speak to you. I quite forgot to mention 
 yesterday how very much I should regret 
 having the silly contrivances, I confessed 
 to you, known to any one else." 
 
 De Montville was confused ; he wished 
 he had not been so precipitate in his dis- 
 closure at Woodston. He hesitated whe- 
 ther or not he should acknowledge the 
 truth. 
 
 " I hope," resumed Adelaide, in an anx- 
 ious tone, not receiving an immediate an- 
 swer from him, " that the caution does not 
 come too late." 
 
 " Well, I will not deceive you," said De 
 Montville ; " I did amuse them at Wood- 
 ston by the mention of them." 
 
 " Indeed ! — a very advantageous light, 
 no doubt then, you have made me appear 
 in their eyes." 
 
 " I know not that I could make you ap- 
 pear in any other. Surely you cannot
 
 CONTRAST. 325 
 
 imagine that the playful result of an inno- 
 cent wish for a little amusement, could 
 possibly injure you with any one?" 
 
 " I hope not ; but every one does not 
 argue in the same way ; and really I am 
 very sorry I suffered myself to be tempted 
 to act as I did, from the way in which I 
 now view it. But was Mountflorence pre- 
 sent when you mentioned this ridiculous 
 matter at Woodston ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Adelaide turned pale with evident vex- 
 ation, and for a moment averted her coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 " Yes, he was present," repeated De 
 Montville, seeking her averted looks; " but 
 why did you ask ? — was there any parti- 
 cular objection to his hearing what the rest 
 of the family did?" 
 
 '' Oh no, certainly not ; but " 
 
 " But what then ?" 
 
 " Why he is so very particular — so ex- 
 act in his notions." 
 
 " Well, and is that of any material im- 
 port to you ? — or, in other words, do you 
 allow him any control over your actions.
 
 326 CONTRAST. 
 
 that you appear thus alarmed at the thought^ 
 of incurring his disapprobation ?" 
 
 " No", but then, where we esteem, or 
 wish to retain esteem, 'tis natural to ex- 
 perience uneasiness at the idea of being 
 deemed deserving of censure." 
 
 " And do you really so greatly esteem, 
 so passionately regard him ?" asked De 
 Montville, grasping her hand, and much 
 agitated, " that you dread his censure more 
 than that of any other person ?" 
 
 " I did not say that I passionately re- 
 garded him,** said Adelaide ; " but that I 
 esteem, that I greatly regard him, I never 
 shall deny ; and, indeed," recovering at 
 once her self-possession, " it would be ex- 
 traordinary if I did not, considering he is 
 the only relative that, for a series of years, 
 noticed me." 
 
 " True," asserted De Montville to him- 
 self, " that is a circumstance that lays 
 claim to gratitude ; and, as she has obser- 
 ved, where we regard, we naturally wish 
 to be esteemed," and he tried to recover 
 himself; but he had been too violently 
 agitated to permit his efforts for the pur-
 
 CONTRAST. 327 
 
 pose to be immediately successful; and 
 even after he had become a little more 
 composed, there still remained a feeling of 
 inquietude not to be subdued. In the 
 course of the morning, as expected, lady 
 Rossglen and the young ladies called. De 
 Montville had for some time been anx- 
 iously looking for them, under the idea 
 that Mountflorence might accompany them, 
 and thus an immediate opportunity be af- 
 forded for ascertaining perhaps what the 
 real feelings of Adelaide and him were for 
 each other ; but he did not accompany the 
 family. 
 
 Had Adelaide retained any fear of being 
 prejudiced in the opinion of lady Rossglen, 
 by what De Montville had so thought- 
 lessly, in the overflowing joy of his heart, 
 disclosed, the kind manner in which she 
 was regarded by her ladyship, as well as 
 the fair sisters, must have dissipated it. 
 
 They were invited to meet her and lady 
 Dorothy the next day at Rockcliffe ; the 
 succeeding day was fixed for dining at 
 Woodston, and the one after at lady Do- 
 rothy's; so that Adelaide saw by these 
 engagements there were some little amends
 
 328 CONTRAST. 
 
 about being made, for the, at least ima- 
 gined, seclusion in which she had been 
 kept, since her arrival in the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 Soon after the departure of the Ross- 
 glen party, she and De Montville were 
 again left to themselves. They had not 
 been long tete-a-ttte, when a hillet was 
 brought in to Adelaide, which she was 
 about dropping into her reticule, when 
 De Montville, whose arm was resting on 
 the back of her chair, arrested her hand, 
 exclaiming, " From Mountflorence !" 
 
 " What, you know his writing then ?" 
 
 " Yes, perfectly." 
 
 " So I perceive," she said coolly ; and 
 disengaging her hand, she deposited the 
 note in the reticule. 
 
 " Why don't you read your note ?" de- 
 manded De Montville, in a flurried accent. 
 " Pray don't let me hinder you." 
 
 "Oh! I am in no hurry; it is quite 
 time enough to know the contents." 
 
 " But how do you know how — can you 
 surmise what it may be about, whether it 
 may not require an immediate answer?"
 
 CONTRAST. 329 
 
 " Well, I shall see presently." 
 
 " But now — now, I beg," and he at- 
 tempted to take up the reticule, but 
 which she prevented by laying her hand 
 on it. 
 
 " No, excuse me — I would rather not 
 read it here." 
 
 " Rather not read it here !" and he start- 
 ed away from her, and took a stride across 
 the room : " rather not read it here — what, 
 because, I suppose, she fears it might ex- 
 cite some feeling, some emotion she wishes 
 to conceal ; but I will not be so foiled," and 
 he resumed his seat beside her. 
 
 " Do you know," said Adelaide, sud- 
 denly interrupting him, " I am beginning 
 to think you a very odd, out-of-the-way, 
 whimsical kind of a person ? Take care I 
 don't find you one of those people that 
 don't improve on acquaintance." 
 
 " Oh ! if we wish to find fault, we can 
 readily find an excuse," said DeMontville. 
 " But do now gratify me by reading 
 Mountflorence's note; or, if you don't 
 choose to take the trouble, let me do so 
 for you."
 
 330 CONTRAST. 
 
 " And why so anxious, pray, for this?" 
 " Why? why because I want to see 
 what his style of writing is to you.'* 
 " What, for the purpose of copying it ?" 
 " Copying it !" exclaimed De Montville, 
 again starting away, and with a flush of 
 indignation on his cheek. " I should be 
 sorry — surprised, indeed, if his style of ad- 
 dressing you and mine were to resemble 
 each other." 
 
 " Then since not on that account, I 
 know of no other motive you could possi- 
 bly have for wishing to read it ; therefore 
 excuse my gratifying you by shewing it." 
 What De Montville might have said in 
 reply, was prevented by lady Dorothy 
 walking in at the instant. Hardly had 
 she entered, ere Adelaide with her reticule 
 vanished, to the utter discomfiture of De 
 Montville ; so much so, indeed, that he 
 scarcely knew what her ladyship began 
 saying to him. Yes, she was impatient, 
 after all, to peruse her billet " Why did 
 I not force her to do so before me," he de- 
 manded of himself? " Why did I not at 
 once candidly reveal to her the cause of
 
 CONTRAST. SSI 
 
 my anxiety on the subject? but then, 
 with a doubt on my mind of there being 
 any just grounds for this anxiety, to have 
 betrayed what might have drawn upon me 
 the imputation of a gloomy jealous dispo- 
 sition. Oh ! no ; well is it for me, perhaps, 
 that I did not act so rashly ;" and he tried 
 to recover himself, and believe that he had 
 acted very ridiculously. 
 
 On her return to the room, a few mi- 
 nutes previous to the summons to dinner, 
 he tried if he could discover any trace of 
 emotion in her countenance; but no, all 
 was placidity and sweetness there; and he 
 felt still more inclined, from this circum- 
 stance, to consider that he had acted very 
 foolishly. Still, however, he could not 
 help wishing to know what was said in 
 the billet, and accordingly, in hopes of in- 
 ducing an inquiry where it must be an- 
 swered, in the course of dinner, with seem- 
 ing carelessness, proceeded to ask whether, 
 in the note she had received from Mount- 
 florence, he had intimated any intention 
 of soon returning to Woodston, which he
 
 332 CONTRAST. 
 
 had quitted before him the preceding 
 evening ? 
 
 " From Mr. Mountflorence ?" said lord 
 Le Poer; but the inquiry he was evi- 
 dently on the point of making, was pre- 
 vented by some provoking observation of 
 lady Dorothy's. 
 
 But the young lady shall not escape in 
 this way, said De Montville to himself; so, 
 in the course of a few more minutes, again 
 addressing Adelaide, " I beg your pardon," 
 he said, " but I am not sure whether or 
 not you told me that Mountflorence said 
 any thing in his note of to-day to you, 
 about going back to Woodston ?'* 
 
 " From Mr. Mountflorence, had you a 
 note, child ? And what did he say to you ?" 
 
 " Nothing of consequence, my lord." 
 
 " That's a fine young man," said lady 
 Dorothy ; " very decorous in his conduct 
 and well behaved." 
 
 " Yes," assented his lordship, and there 
 was a pause, and no further question 
 about the note from Mountflorence ; and 
 this was the way in which his lordship 
 passed over his daughter's receiving billets
 
 CONTRAST. 333 
 
 from young men ; but, to be sure, the one 
 this day was from a relation; and again 
 De Montville began to think himself very 
 ridiculous, and under the persuasion, to 
 really make a serious effort to regain his 
 usual manner. 
 
 Lady Dorothy's old chaplain dined with 
 them ; he was not therefore, on account of 
 his lordship, obliged to continue at table 
 after the withdrawing of the ladies. On 
 his re-entering the drawing-room, he found 
 Adelaide there by herself. Pleased at the 
 circumstance, he was eagerly approaching 
 her, when turning from a window, against 
 which she had been leaning, she expressed 
 a hope that he would excuse her leaving 
 him, owing to a severe headache ; and 
 adding, that he would find books in the 
 apartment to amuse himself with, till join- 
 ed by lady Dorothy, or Miss Ferns, va- 
 nished ere he could prevent her. 
 
 De Montville was vexed at her leaving 
 him, disappointing him as it did of an im- 
 mediate opportunity for doing away the 
 impression which he was not without an 
 apprehension his conduct might have 
 made upon her. Not knowing what to
 
 334 CONTRAST. 
 
 do with himself, he strolled out, and invo- 
 luntarily perhaps bent his steps towards the 
 old avenue already mentioned as leading to 
 St. Finian's. The direction he took brought 
 him to the edge of a steep glen, forming 
 part of the ancient territory of the abbey. 
 After a casual glance, by a precipitous de- 
 scent, he plunged into the gloom of the 
 place, so profound from the dark verdure of 
 the banks, overgrown with moss and ivy, 
 and the close interlacing of the thickly- 
 planted trees, that, for a moment after, he 
 could hardly see about him. He turned in 
 the direction of an ancient hermitage, al- 
 most buried beneath projecting hillocks, that 
 terminated one extremity of the glen, and 
 above which was seen the decaying abbey 
 of St. Finians, now partially tinged with 
 the crimson of the setting sun, but which, 
 like a smile on the visage of despair, only 
 served to render the desolation of the ve- 
 nerable pile still more mournfully striking. 
 While yet his eyes were fixed upon it, 
 he suddenly beheld Mountflorence ascend- 
 ing from the rear of the hermitage. He 
 was about calling to him, when some sud- 
 den feeling or idea checked the impulse,
 
 CONTRAST. 335 
 
 and made him hastily advance into the 
 place he appeared to have just left. On 
 stepping within, De Montville found him- 
 self in a kind of grotto, so gloomy, and 
 so still, as to be well adapted to the pur- 
 poses of penitence and prayer, if ever in- 
 deed devoted to such, as, according to 
 tradition, was the case. The outside was 
 coarsely constructed of jutting stones, over- 
 spread with fern and ivy, which here and 
 there finding admission to the interior, had, 
 in some places, thickly mantled it. Steps of 
 turf formed the descent from the low nar- 
 row door, through which, and a scanty 
 iron grate, the only light it had was ad- 
 mitted. The roof had the aspect of an 
 excavated rock, while the floor, composed 
 of unpolished pebbles, was marked, and 
 worn in many places, as if by the tread of 
 solitary feet. All around w^as rudeness 
 and solemnity. From the depth of the 
 cell, only a glimpse could be caught of the 
 old trees of the glen, to the rustling sound 
 of which was added the bubbling moan of 
 a little rill of pure water, that oozing out 
 of one corner, crept towards a small bason.
 
 336 CONTRAST. 
 
 scooped for its reception, with an antique 
 bowl of rusty iron chained to the edge. 
 
 It was not, however, till after a hasty- 
 glance round the place, or rather, a slight 
 examination of it, to be assured there was 
 no other apartment, that De Montville 
 allowed himself to make any observations. 
 He was then struck with its profound 
 gloom, and the perfect adaptation of its 
 furniture to it, consisting of a couch, com- 
 posed of fibrous roots, and a wormeaten 
 table affixed to the wall. While he stood 
 lingering, ashamed of the feeling that he 
 could not deny to himself had hurried him 
 into it, he fancied he heard a low breath- 
 ing. He turned in the direction whence 
 it seemed to proceed, and there, within a 
 niche formed by the irregular jutting of 
 the stones, beheld a female form, but whe- 
 ther one of earthly mould, or some wor- 
 shipped image of other days, he had not 
 sufficient light to distinguish, and was 
 about ascertaining by the touch, when 
 emerging completely to view as she spoke, 
 " You did not expect to find me here, I 
 believe ?" said the voice of Adelaide. 
 
 De Montville recoiled, and with a feel-
 
 CONTRAST. 337 
 
 ing, resembling that of an electric shock, 
 staggered back against the wall. — " They 
 have had an appointment then !" he ex- 
 claimed, " and all is deception and despair. 
 No," he cried, springing up the steps after 
 her, for she had hastily passed him to the 
 door, ,*' I did not expect to find you here, 
 because, with so much apparent candour, 
 I did not expect to be so imposed upon." 
 
 " As how ?" asked Adelaide, calmly. 
 
 " As how !" he indignantly repeated ; 
 " by your feigning a headache to leave 
 me, when, in reality, it was for the pur- 
 pose of coming here, to meet " 
 
 " Whom ?" 
 
 " Mountflorence ! 'tis not a minute a^o 
 since I saw him ascending from the her- 
 mitage." 
 
 " Well, and does that positively argue 
 that I must also have seen him ?" 
 
 " Yes, assuredly ; and you cannot deny 
 that it was to meet him you came ? Yet, 
 say it was not — declare to me I am mis- 
 taken in the thought, and, spite of appear- 
 ances, I will believe you." 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 338 CONTRAST. 
 
 " No," said Adelaide, " I will neither 
 deny nor acknowledge any thing; there 
 are some suspicions it would be a kind of 
 degradation to think of vindicating ones- 
 self from. But supposing I had met 
 Mountflorence here ?" 
 
 " There would have been nothing in 
 the circumstance, certainly, if it had been 
 by chance ; but by contrivance " 
 
 " The expression is unpleasant," inter- 
 rupted Adelaide, attempting to move for- 
 ward as she spoke, but in which she was 
 opposed by De Montville. 
 
 " No," he said, " you must not — shall 
 not leave me, till you relieve me from the 
 suspense — the misery you have occasioned 
 me." 
 
 " Our acquaintance is but short," said 
 Adelaide, " and if you think me capable 
 of what you have indirectly intimated, 
 it were advisable, for both our sakes, that 
 it should not be prolonged." 
 
 " Cruel ! But have I no reason for 
 complaint, after what I witnessed ?" 
 
 " You must allow me to proceed," said 
 Adelaide. " You take advantage of my
 
 CONTRAST. 339 
 
 being compelled, as you think, to listen to 
 you, to wound my feelings." 
 
 " What an ungenerous idea ! Oh ! if 
 you knew me thoroughly, how truly 
 would you be convinced, that to compul- 
 sion I would owe nothing ! But is asking 
 you to be candid, to wound your feelings? 
 But on this I must insist — you have given 
 me a right to do so." 
 
 ** But none that I have not the power 
 of retracting." 
 
 De jMontville turned of a deadly hue. 
 — " Then you have deceived me !" he ex- 
 claimed, " by allowing me to infer, from 
 your manner, as well as other circum- 
 stances, that the intention of lord Le Poer 
 was not one of a repugnant nature to 
 you? Why not at once acknowledge 
 this? my disappointment would not then 
 have been heightened by a short indul- 
 gence of hope : but Mountflorence shall 
 answer for his want of candour ;" and he 
 was turning away. 
 
 " Go," cried Adelaide, in a faltering 
 voice ; " go, accuse, arraign me ! I am 
 Q 2
 
 340 CONTRAST. 
 
 prepared for the result. Thrown for a se- 
 ries of years, upon chance benevolence 
 for support, I was early taught to under- 
 stand, that sorrow, suffering, and anxiety, 
 might be my destined lot." 
 
 In a moment, every angry feeling fled 
 the bosom of De Montville ; in a moment, 
 every thought, every doubt, injurious to 
 her fled. He had caused her to weep, 
 and what was there he would not do to 
 atone for the barbarity of such conduct ? 
 At her feet he implored forgiveness, yet 
 how could he obtain his own ? — " Sure 
 some madness must have possessed me," 
 he cried, " to act, to speak, in such a 
 manner ! but only forget it, and if ever I 
 offend again in this way " 
 
 " No," said Adelaide, with her hand- 
 kerchief still to her eyes, " impossible !" 
 
 " You drive me to distraction — to de- 
 spair !" 
 
 " I cannot help it; to forget when I 
 please is not in my power ; but " 
 
 " Ah, now I understand you. To for- 
 give ! Yes, that is in your power : pro- 
 nounce the blessed word, and if "
 
 CONTRAST. 341 
 
 " Beware of rash vows !" said Adelaide, 
 no longer struggling to free her hand ; 
 " for those must surely be deemed rash, 
 that we are not firmly convinced we have 
 strength to keep ; yet, for your own sake, 
 let me advise you against this tendency 
 to suspicion ; a proneness to it must ever 
 be a source of pain, since, with a prejudiced 
 mind, or jaundiced eye, we naturally view 
 every thing in a false light: and now let 
 me ask, to what is owing all that has just 
 occurred ?" 
 
 De Montville coloured and stam.mered, 
 and in short proved, by his hesitation, 
 that it is sometimes much easier to recom- 
 mend candour than to practise it. At 
 length he acknowledged, that the uneasi- 
 ness that occasioned him to act in a man- 
 ner that he could not reflect on without 
 pain, originated in an apprehension that 
 the intimacy between her and Mountflo- 
 
 rence might have on here he was 
 
 again a little confused — on his side led to 
 a tenderer attachment than that of mere 
 friendship.
 
 342 CONTRAST. 
 
 "But without something to corrobo- 
 rate this fear?" and she looked at him. 
 
 " There was the note in the morning, 
 and " 
 
 " This walk by myself in the evening, 
 almost within sight of the house ! So all 
 this mighty piece of work has been owing 
 to these two insignificant circumstances ! 
 How true that ' trifles, light as air,' are 
 sufficient to perplex and disturb us, if in., 
 clined to attach importance to whatever 
 happens! But come," and she laughed 
 and gave him her hand of her own accord^ 
 " I am not going to lecture any more." 
 
 For an hour or two after their return 
 to the house, in conversing without incer- 
 ruption with Adelaide, De Montville was 
 the happiest of the happy. His thoughts 
 then suddenly began to revert to the little 
 satisfaction he had obtained from Ade- 
 laide; that, in short, by the dexterous 
 manner in which she had evaded either 
 denying or acknowledging any thing, he 
 was still exactly in the same state of sus- 
 pense and incertitude, as when he impor- 
 tuned her on the subject. But perhaps
 
 CONTRAST. 343 
 
 she did suppose, that whatever was agree- 
 able might be inferred from her way of 
 expressing herself: positive explicitness, 
 however, where the feelings were so con- 
 cerned, was what ought to have been ex- 
 pected, and he certainly felt, that he 
 should regret not having been more ur- 
 gent for it ; but how could he revert to 
 the subject ? and yet, without knowing 
 whether she and Mountflorence had met, 
 he felt he could not be perfectly at rest. 
 It has been advanced by certain authors, 
 that our train of ideas, and the motions of 
 the soul, proceed from habit, and which, 
 though at first involuntary, we can after- 
 wards repel and control as we please. The 
 theory was a fine one, but with regard to 
 himself, De Montville feared he should 
 never find it a correct one. In vain he 
 endeavoured to conquer his present feel- 
 ings, and banish the ideas that tormented 
 him ; neither could be subdued or repel- 
 led ; and while he felt angry with himself 
 on the account, he still thought it a cir- 
 cumstance that admitted of excuse. 
 
 But hardly did he find himself on his
 
 344 CONTRAST. 
 
 way back to Rockcliffe, ere his sentiments^ 
 underwent a change, and he would almost 
 have given the world, if at his command, 
 that he had made a more vigorous resist- 
 ance to the recurrence of his uneasiness, 
 from the sudden alteration he was con- 
 scious it had occasioned in his manner, 
 and the injury that he but too probably 
 had done him with Adelaide; but such 
 are the torments — the sudden changes of 
 jealousy, that — 
 
 *' Yellow-tinging plague 
 Internal vision taints, and in a night 
 Of livid gloom, imagination wraps." 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 -Ye fairy prospects, tiien, 
 
 Ye beds of roses, and ye bowers of joy. 
 Farewell !" 
 
 De Montville proceeded the next morn- 
 ing to lady Dorothy's, to be the escort of 
 the ladies to the castle, but in by no means 
 an enviable state of mind, from his incer-
 
 CONTRAST. 345 
 
 titude as to the impression he might have 
 left upon the mind of Adelaide the pre- 
 ceding night: the smile of unaffected 
 sweetness, however, with which she wel- 
 comed him, dissipated all uneasiness on the 
 subject, and restored him to complete hap- 
 piness. Brought still more forward this 
 day than before, De Montville was still 
 more charmed with her, from the capti- 
 vating gracefulness evinced in every ac- 
 tion : the more too he contemplated her, 
 the more he was struck w4th that astonish- 
 ing resemblance that had first interested 
 him for her. 
 
 Mountflorence did not accompany the 
 Woodston family ; but he was announced 
 soon after. De Montville felt a slight 
 emotion at his name ; but he forced him- 
 self to go on with some observations he 
 was making at the moment to Helena, 
 though not perhaps in quite so cool, col- 
 lected a manner as might otherwise have 
 been the case; but this was not to be won- 
 dered at, considering how much his atten- 
 tion was diverted ; but he saw no height- 
 q3
 
 346 CONTRAST. 
 
 ened colour on the cheek of Adelaide, no 
 indication of emotion either in her looks, 
 or those of Mountflorence on their meet- 
 ing : and then she held out her hand to 
 him, with an air so frank — so unembar- 
 rassed. Would this have been the case, 
 had there been any consciousness of con- 
 cealed feelings ? — assuredly not ; and he 
 advanced to Mountflorence, and, in his 
 turn, shook hands with him with all his 
 wonted cordiality. 
 
 Soon after the withdrawing of the ladies, 
 he found himself engaged in a long dis- 
 cussion with sir Maurice : in the midst of 
 this, chancing to turn about, he missed 
 Mountflorence; he immediately got con- 
 fused — the thread of his argument was 
 lost ; and after a few ineffectual efforts to 
 resume it, he suddenly started up, and re- 
 treated to the drawing-room. He looked 
 for Adelaide ; but she was not there — nei- 
 ther Mountflorence — " Where is she ?" he 
 demanded of Caroline, in rather an eager 
 tone. 
 
 " She !" 
 
 " Yes, she ! — Adelaide I mean."
 
 CONTRAST. 347 
 
 " Oh ! now I understand — in the next 
 room with Sigismund; so don't look so 
 alarmed — nobody, you find, has carried 
 her off." 
 
 " In the next room with Sigismund ! — 
 retired there to have some conversation 
 with him !" and he made an involuntary 
 movement towards the door ; but check- 
 ing himself, drew back ; his eye however 
 could not be diverted from it. At length 
 Adelaide made her appearance. In pass- 
 ing him to a seat, she addressed some 
 observation to him, but without heeding 
 what it was — 
 
 " What have you done with Mountflo- 
 rence," he asked with forced calmness — 
 " is he in the next room ?" 
 
 " No, he is gone." 
 
 " Gone ! what, back to St. Finian's?" 
 
 " Yes ; business obliged him to return 
 early." 
 
 " Business ! so it was merely to obtain 
 an opportunity of speaking to her, that he 
 probably came at all ;" and he walked away 
 to a window, and seated himself at it. 
 
 Caroline followed ; and looking out of it 
 with him—" What's the matter?" she
 
 348 CONTRAST. 
 
 asked. " Has there been any little hrouil- 
 lerie between you and Adelaide, that you 
 look so disconcerted ?" 
 
 " Pshaw ! nonsense ! Why do you 
 ask?" 
 
 " Have I not told you ? Come, con- 
 fess, that I may see what I can do as a 
 peace-maker." 
 
 " Mischief-maker rather ; for I am per- 
 suaded you are more inclined to be one 
 than the other." 
 
 " Complimentary ! but no one minds 
 what an engaged being, a half benedict, 
 like you says." 
 
 " Engaged !" sighed De Montville; and 
 his looks involuntarily reverted to Ade- 
 laide, who, apparently unconscious of the 
 agitation she had occasioned, was smiling, 
 and talking, and looking as usual. De 
 Montville fancied he had a right to be dis- 
 pleased, so he tried to maintain his moody 
 humour; but in vain, and he soon became 
 again completely himself. 
 
 The evening passed away delightfully. 
 After tea, the younger part of the com- 
 pany repaired to the music-room, where
 
 CONTRAST. 349 
 
 they amused themselves with dancing and 
 playing. Adelaide now appeared to be 
 quite in her element ; and as De Mont- 
 ville still continued to watch every move- 
 ment, and dwell on every word, he became 
 still more enchanted than ever, by the na- 
 tive gracefulness of her air and manner ; 
 and, like the enamoured Florizel, could 
 have said — 
 
 -What you do, 
 
 Still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet, 
 
 I'd have you do it ever ; when you sing, 
 
 I'd have you buy and sell so ; so give alms ; 
 
 Pray so ; and for the ordering of your affairs, 
 
 To sing them too. When you dance, I wish you 
 
 A wave o' th' sea, that you might ever do 
 
 Nothing but that ; more still, still so. 
 
 And own no other function. Each your doing, 
 
 So singular in each particular, 
 
 Crowns what you're doing in the present deeds. 
 
 That all your acts are queens." 
 
 As he escorted her and lady Dorothy 
 to the castle, so he saw them home. It 
 was too late for him to expect to be ask- 
 ed in ; but this did not prevent his linger- 
 ing, after they had wished him good- 
 night ; but he could not bring himself to 
 return immediately ; there was something 
 of enchantment, to his feelings, in the spot.
 
 350 CONTRAST. 
 
 that detained him there, even after the 
 barricading up of the old mansion, sighing 
 out his soul, like Troilus unto the Grecian 
 camp, when it contained his Cressid. But 
 in the loveliness of the night, there was an 
 excuse for this romantic folly, as gently 
 murmuring past, the west wind waved to 
 and fro the old trees, with their broad ex- 
 panse of melancholy leaves, adding their 
 rustling to the bubbling sound of running 
 water ; while in the balmy air there was a 
 coolness, refreshing to the feelings, more 
 than once agitated throughout the day. 
 As he stood gazing on the house, wonder- 
 ing whether Adelaide could think, on so 
 delicious a night, of retiring immediately 
 to repose, he heard a distant window softly 
 opening, and hastening towards it, beheld 
 her leaning over an old stone balcony that 
 stretched before it. 
 
 " Is that you?" she asked, in a low 
 voice, on his stepping forward, just where 
 an old tree cast a deep shadow athwart the 
 ground. 
 
 " Yes, my very self," replied De Mont- 
 ville.
 
 CONTRAST. 351 
 
 Adelaide uttered a faint scream, and 
 appeared to recoil. 
 
 " What is the matter ?" demanded De 
 Montville, with quickness. " You seem 
 alarmed. If not to me, who is it you 
 thought you spoke to ?" 
 
 " How can you suppose I thought it 
 was to any one but you ?" 
 
 " Then why appear surprised ? or, as I 
 already said, alarmed ?" 
 
 " Oh, this pug of lady Dorothy's jump- 
 ed upon me, without my knowing he was 
 in the room. But what delays you here ? 
 Really this is very ridiculous." 
 
 " How can you be so unkind as to say 
 so ? If you knew the pleasure there is in 
 gazing on the roof that covers a beloved 
 object, you would not express yourself so 
 unkindly." 
 
 " Yes, yes, 'tis really very foolish ; so 
 pray go ; should we be overheard, we shall 
 have the household tocsin sounded, and 
 all the dogs in the place set barking." 
 
 " Cruel !" cried De Montville. " This 
 is not the way in which Juliet would have 
 addressed her Romeo."
 
 35^ CONTRAST. 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but that's no rule to 
 me. A fine subject for ridicule we should 
 furnish, if this silly conduct of yours were 
 discovered; so good night. If inclined 
 to play the part of Romeo, you must seek 
 elsewhere for a Juliet," and retiring within 
 the chamber, she very deliberately closed 
 the window. 
 
 De Montville mused ; what had brought 
 her to it ? — was it to enjoy the fineness of 
 the night, or was it any particular expec- 
 tation ? He glanced at the dark avenue, 
 nearly opposite, leading to St. Finians : 
 he was tempted to explore this ; but 
 no, the suspicion that would have urged 
 him to this, was revolting to his feelings, 
 and he accordingly resolutely bent his 
 steps homeward. Yet still, her question 
 on seeing him, still her exclamation of 
 surprise, on finding it was he who answer- 
 ed it, dwelt upon his imagination. Yet 
 what was it, he reflected, that might not 
 be misconstrued, and misinterpreted, under 
 the influence of distrust ? and he persisted 
 in going on, spite of the suggestions that.
 
 CONTRAST. 353 
 
 more than once, inclined him to retrace 
 his steps. 
 
 Was he naturally of a jealous mistrust- 
 ful temper? he now began to debate within 
 himself. He did not imagine he was ; 
 yet, assuredly, he had allowed himself to 
 act as if the reverse were the case; but he 
 would not be a self-tormentor, spite of the 
 circumstances that had conspired to create 
 uneasiness ; he would, taking confidence 
 from the manner of Adelaide, try to be- 
 lieve there were no real grounds for it; 
 yet, much he wished he had never heard 
 of the suspected attachment of Mount- 
 florence to some one under the roof of 
 lady Dorothy, since he could not discover 
 who the object of it was. 
 
 As on the preceding day, he was, at 
 an early hour the ensuing morning, at 
 lady Dorothy's ; and when he met Ade- 
 laide, looking all unconsciousness of having 
 given him any cause for alarm, he rejoiced 
 at the conquest he had obtained over him- 
 self the preceding night. 
 
 The party at Woodston was select, from 
 a previous understanding with lord Le
 
 354 CONTRAST. 
 
 Poer, that it was not his wish to have 
 Adelaide generally introduced until after 
 her marriage. 
 
 On withdrawing from the dining-room, 
 the young ladies quitted the house for a 
 walk. Helena, Adelaide, and Caroline, 
 strolled on together ; and separating from 
 the rest of the party, diverged into a path 
 leading down amongst the cliffs to the 
 beach. In their descent, Caroline inquir- 
 ed of Adelaide whether, in the course of 
 her stolen rambles, she had ever paid a 
 visit to a curious cavern close by, called 
 the Lady's Cave, from some old tradition 
 of a female having perished in it; and 
 being answered in the negative, led the way 
 to the place, as one well worth examin- 
 ing. It was a very romantic excavation, 
 the sides and roof beautifully decorated 
 with marine plants, and the bottom cover- 
 ed with a fine silvery sand, thickly inter- 
 mixed with pebbles, that Caroline des- 
 cribed as bearing a fine polish, and being 
 often selected to form into ornaments. 
 Adelaide saying she should like to have a 
 necklace and bracelets composed of them.
 
 CONTRAST. 355 
 
 her companions began to assist her in col- 
 lecting some for the purpose. 
 
 While thus engaged, Caroline, suddenly 
 raising her head, uttered a piercing shriek 
 declaring, that if they did not fly, they 
 were lost. They rushed to the entrance ; 
 but shrunk back appalled, on seeing the 
 sea almost close to it, Caroline having ne- 
 glected to ascertain whether the tide was 
 on the ebb or flow at the moment of lead- 
 ing them thither. In vain she urged their 
 venturing out ; their dread of being borne 
 off by the recoil of the waves, made them 
 regardless of her entreaties. For a mi- 
 nute, the clamour of the seagulls, frighten- 
 ed by their cries, was all that they heard 
 in reply. They then distinguished voices 
 from above, shouting out to them not to 
 fear; and instantly after saw De iSIont- 
 ville, Mountflorence, and some others of 
 the party at Woodston, rapidly descend- 
 ing the cliffs to their rescue. Adelaide 
 was the nearest to the entrance, and Mount- 
 florence the first to reach it. On behold- 
 ing him she instinctively stretched out her 
 arms; but passing her, as if not seen.
 
 356 CONTRAST. 
 
 he caught up Helena, and bore her off in 
 safety. The other gentlemen were equally 
 successful in their efforts for her com- 
 panions; and in a few minutes, the party 
 becoming tolerably collected, again return- 
 ed to the house. 
 
 Helena, escaping from the inquiries and 
 congratulations that were the consequence 
 of the incident, hastened to her chamber, 
 impatient to think over all that had occur- 
 red — to dwell on the delightful assurance, 
 just received, of being an object of superior 
 interest to him who had been long so to 
 her. Had Adelaide been preferred, would 
 he have acted as he had done ? No, im- 
 possible ; and she now indeed began to feel 
 herself happy, relieved from the fears, the 
 anxieties, that had been such a source of 
 torment to her. Even on the score of sir 
 Osbert, she had nothing further to appre- 
 hend, as the following letter, received that 
 very morning, evinced : —
 
 CONTRAST. 257 
 
 To Miss Rossglen. 
 
 " London, June 17, 18 — . 
 
 " MADAM, 
 
 " It has been observed, that when 
 a pretext is wanting, we are generally in- 
 genious enough to discover one : you ve- 
 rify the truth of the remark ; but I disdain 
 complaint, where I know it would be un- 
 availing. Silence on our wrongs, how- 
 ever, is no proof of their not being keenly 
 felt. That you can possibly conceive 
 yourself justified in your conduct towards 
 me, is an idea I cannot admit, spite of the 
 misrepresentations of my self-interested 
 enemies. Be that as it may, however, I 
 shall never cease to consider myself a 
 much-injured and ill-treated man ; and am, 
 
 " MADAM, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " OsBERT Henley." 
 
 What a proof this letter, had one been 
 wanting, of the correctness of the charge 
 against him ! for could his conduct have 
 borne the test of investigation, was it to
 
 358 CONTRAST. 
 
 be supposed he would so readily have ac- 
 quiesced in her renunciation of him ? but 
 no, his guilty conscience allowed a hint to 
 be sufficient to alarm : but the subject was 
 unpleasant to dwell on, and tearing the 
 letter into a thousand atoms, now and for 
 ever she dismissed him from her thoughts. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 " These are the charming agonies of love, 
 Where misery delights." 
 
 With a heart fluttering with delight, a 
 cheek suffused with the glow of pleasure, 
 Helena rejoined the party in the drawing- 
 room; relieved from her fear respecting 
 Adelaide — a fear that a sudden reserve in 
 the manner of Mountflorence had almost 
 confirmed, she should now know how to 
 regulate her conduct towards him. The 
 recent alteration in his manner had natu- 
 rally, from a feeling of pride, occasioned 
 one in hers ; but now that she had such
 
 CONTRAST. 359 
 
 reason to come to a flattering conclusion, 
 to believe herself indeed an object of inte- 
 rest to him, she should have no scruple in 
 letting him understand her real senti- 
 ments. What the rapture of thinking 
 there was nothing now to prevent this, 
 that she was again at liberty to let her 
 real sentiments be her guide ! 
 
 In the course of the evening there was 
 a good deal of laughing amongst the young 
 ladies, at the woful appearance they made 
 on being dragged out of the cave. — 
 " How can you laugh" said Mountflo- 
 rence, suddenly addressing himself to He- 
 lena, with a little severity of look, " at 
 what might have occasioned mourning to 
 so many — what, were I to live for ages, I 
 feel convinced I could never think of 
 without a shudder?" 
 
 " Nor I," said Helena, " without gra- 
 titude to him to whom, under Providence, 
 I owe my preservation : when I think of 
 your risking your life for my sake !" 
 
 " You over-rate the obligation," he in- 
 teiTupted. " I would not have seen any 
 one so circumstanced without doing the
 
 360 CONTRAST. 
 
 same;'* and addressing some one near him, 
 suddenly vacated his seat. 
 
 There was something in this reply not 
 exactly in unison with the elegant softness 
 that in general distinguished Mountflo- 
 rence; and for a moment Helena felt con- 
 fused. Had any thing occurred to dis- 
 compose him, or had she, after all, deceiv- 
 ed herself with regard to his sentiments? 
 and had he, perceiving this, watched for 
 an opportunity of undeceiving her? but 
 no, she would not yield to so cruel a sur- 
 mise; it was not chance, but impulse, that 
 occasioned her rescue by him. In the 
 midst of all her terror, she still had per- 
 ception enough left to perceive the arms 
 of Adelaide outstretched to him in vain, 
 while his eyes eagerly darted forward in 
 search of her. But of wliat avail all this ? 
 of what avail the persuasion of being be- 
 loved, if his own heart was to be the sole 
 repository of the secret? but was it pro- 
 bable that the cold distance of manner he 
 had lately assumed, would be able to hold 
 out against her smiles — the unreserved
 
 CONTRAST. 361 
 
 communication that was no longer for- 
 bidden ? No, be the cause of this dis- 
 tance what it might, she could not bring 
 herself to think this likely ; and again she 
 gave way to the indulgence of hope and 
 pleasing expectation. 
 
 The circumstance that permitted this 
 was one equally calculated to have a happy 
 effect on the mind of De JNIontville, had 
 he noticed it ; but, in terror for Adelaide, 
 he saw only her. On joining her, as 
 usual, the next morning, at lady Doro- 
 thy's — " Well, I am glad you are come 
 so early," she said, " for I was quite long- 
 ing for your arrival." 
 
 " Thus let me thank you for the flat- 
 tering acknowledgement," said the lover, 
 seizing her hand, and imprinting it with 
 kisses. 
 
 " Come, come, a truce with this folly ; 
 I want to speak seriously to you : you 
 were telling me last night that the prepa- 
 rations for our ' 
 
 " Marriage were nearly completed," said 
 De Montville, on finding she paused. 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 362 CONTRAST. 
 
 ^' Yes ; but still, notwithstanding, it can 
 surely never be lord Le Poer's intention 
 to have it immediately take place?" 
 
 " And why not?" demanded De Mont- 
 ville, eagerly. 
 
 " The reason, I think, must be obvious : 
 here we are hardly two days acquainted, 
 and, in so short a time, what knowledge 
 can we have obtained of each other ?" 
 
 " Oh, if that be the only objection," said 
 De INIontville, laughing, " I can obviate it 
 at once. Half an hour is quite sufficient to 
 let every one know you are the most en- 
 chanting creature in the world ; and as to 
 me, I assure you I am always the same : 
 so that, if deemed endurable in the first 
 instance, there is nothing further to be as- 
 certained." 
 
 " I am serious, however, in what I have 
 said, whatever you may conceive to the 
 contrary; and as a proof, now positively 
 assure you, that I neither can nor will 
 consent to so hasty a measure, as, to every 
 rational and considerate mind, an imme- 
 diate union must appear." 
 
 " No, no !" exclaimed De Montville,
 
 CONTRAST. 363 
 
 passionately, " you have some other rea- 
 son for the objection you have stated ; 
 you wish, by it, to gain time, to prepare 
 me for the final disappointment of the 
 hopes you permitted me to indulge." 
 
 " You wrong me by the supposition," 
 said Adelaide, with earnestness ; " I have 
 no deception in my thoughts." 
 
 " And you solemnly deny," resumed 
 De Montville, " that you have no other 
 reason for objecting to an immediate union, 
 than because you think it too precipitate?" 
 
 Adelaide looked down, and appeared 
 embarrassed for a few minutes; then rais- 
 ing her head — " Well then," she said, " to 
 deal sincerely with you, there is another 
 
 "Ah ! so I guessed," said De Montville, 
 changing colour. 
 
 " There is a friend," she proceeded — " a 
 most particular friend, from whom I must 
 hear, before I can form any serious en- 
 gagement." 
 
 '* Must hear ! extraordinary indeed ! 
 And pray, may I ask, who is this friend, 
 whom you have allowed to usurp this 
 R 2
 
 364 CONTRAST. 
 
 seeming control over you, or what the 
 expected contents of this letter ?" 
 
 " I can reply to neither question at pre- 
 sent ; suffice it, that on obtaining the sa- 
 tisfaction I require, there will be an end 
 of all further mystery on the subject." 
 
 " But why continue to make one of it 
 till then ? why let me be tortured by the 
 doubts and fears the circumstance must 
 suggest? Give me your confidence at 
 once, and thus entitle yourself to submis- 
 sion to 5^our wish." 
 
 ** Impossible ! I cannot be more candid 
 with you at present than I have been; 
 but be assured, should it be our fate to be 
 united, you shall not solicit my confidence 
 in vain ; for never will I be either your 
 wife, or the wife of any other man, with 
 a consciousness on my mind of not having 
 acted ingenuously." 
 
 " And to what does all this tend ?" ask- 
 ed De Montville, with forced calmness. 
 
 " I should have deemed the question 
 unnecessary, of course, to the postpone- 
 ment of this certainly precipitate measure 
 of lord Le Poer's."
 
 CONTRAST. 365 
 
 " And in what way ? or through what 
 means ?" 
 
 " Yours, assuredly," replied Adelaide, 
 " else I had not addressed you on the 
 subject." 
 
 " What, expect me to act in direct op- 
 position to my fondest wishes ?" exclaimed 
 De Montville, starting up with a glow of 
 angry impatience on his cheek ; " that 
 really is a stretch of complaisance I should 
 hardly have thought any one could have 
 looked to from another." 
 
 " It is not slight favours that confer ob- 
 ligations," said Adelaide, mildly ; " if I 
 had not deemed you capable of a generous 
 act, I had not decided on an appeal to 
 you. I need not explain what the cir- 
 cumstances are, or the feelings, the natural 
 result of these circumstances, that hold me 
 at such a distance from lord Le Poer, as to 
 check the disclosure of any particular wish 
 to him ; if you, therefore, in consideration 
 of this painful restraint, that prevents my 
 speaking for myself, will speak for me, 
 you will oblige, in a way that, let what 
 will occur, will never be forgotten." 
 r3
 
 366 CONTRAST. 
 
 " What flattery — what seducing flat- 
 tery, to win me to your purpose!" said 
 De Montville, resuming his seat, and in- 
 voluntarily taking her hand. " But sup- 
 posing I can be brought to render my im- 
 mediate wishes subservient to yours, when 
 may the elucidation of all that appears so 
 extraordinary be expected ?" 
 
 " Daily." 
 
 "But before I promise any thing, 
 there is a question or two I must ask : 
 does Mountflorence know what you meant 
 to require of me ? or," still more earnestly, 
 " is he the unacknowledged lover of your 
 friend Miss Ferns?" 
 
 " I can reply to neither question." 
 
 " Then, if so inexorably determined 
 against satisfying me on any one point, 
 how can you expect obedience to what 
 you desire?" 
 
 " Because I feel assured of your gene- 
 rosity." 
 
 " Ah, flattery again ! But do you know 
 the risk I shall run of committing myself 
 with lord Le Poer, by attempting to in-
 
 CONTRAST. 367 
 
 terfere with any arrangements be has 
 made?" 
 
 " Well, the gi-eater the risk you incur 
 on my account, the greater my obligation 
 to you." 
 
 " Ah, a fine way of trying to reconcile me 
 to the folly you are urging me to be guilty 
 of — that of positively opposing my own 
 wishes ! But there is still another ques- 
 tion I have to ask, which decidedly, ex- 
 cept answered, I draw back : should the 
 letter you have alluded to arrive to-day, 
 to-morrow, or — no matter, the day after, 
 would you then, in that case, still continue 
 to object to our immediate marriage?" 
 
 Adelaide hesitated ; then, with a slight 
 suffusion on her cheek — " Well, I would 
 not," she replied. 
 
 " Then, for tliat assurance," cried De 
 Montville, again kissing her hand with 
 rapture, " I'll do all I can to prevail on 
 his lordship to postpone making me the 
 happiest of mortals." 
 
 But how this was to be done, was a 
 puzzle, considering the imperious and ar- 
 bitrary temper of the person he had to
 
 368 CONTRAST. 
 
 deal with ; and when he came to reflect 
 coolly on the subject, he conceived he had 
 acted most egregiously, in suffering him- 
 self to be drawn in to make such a pro- 
 mise as he had done ; but there was such 
 resistless pleading in the looks of Adelaide. 
 But what could be the communication she 
 expected from her friend ? probably some- 
 thing, after all, of no material import: 
 was it unlikely, that some girlish vanity 
 had got her involved in some little dilem- 
 ma, which a fear of incurring the imputa- 
 tion of imprudence rendered her anxious 
 to conceal, and this desired letter was ex- 
 pected to relieve her from ? 
 
 The next morning, lord Le Poer, as 
 usual, began speaking of the nearly-com- 
 pleted preparations for the event he was, 
 on many accounts, anxious to have speed- 
 ily solemnized; asking De Montville 
 whether there were any orders he wished 
 to give on the occasion, in addition to those 
 already received from him ? 
 
 " I was thinking, my lord,'* said De 
 Montville, " how happy — that is, what a 
 gratification it would be to my mother, to
 
 CONTRAST. 369 
 
 be present at Adelaide's marriage and 
 mine." 
 
 " Yes, I dare say it would," assented his 
 lordship, gravely ; " but as you know she 
 will not be at liberty, on account of your 
 sister, to come over for some time, it is 
 one she must necessarily dispense with." 
 
 " True, my lord, true — except," and he 
 rubbed his forehead, and stammered a little, 
 " except the — the event were postponed 
 for a short time." 
 
 ** Your marriage postponed !" cried lord 
 Le Poer, setting down the cup of coffee 
 he was raisiiig to h\< lipr, v.nd starting back 
 into an attitude of indignant surprise, that 
 would not have disgraced a first-rate actor. 
 " Do I understand you clearly, sir ? — is it 
 your wish, your desire, that your marriage 
 should be delayed ? Take care, sir ; take 
 care," drawing his chair back to the table, 
 " what you are about, lest the suspicion 
 be confirmed of there being some other 
 motive for your long continuance abroad, 
 than what you assigned for it. I need 
 hardly tell you, I believe, that I am not a 
 person to be trifled with, whatever you
 
 370 CONTRAST. 
 
 may have thought proper to conceive to the 
 contrary. I have never forgot that Ade- 
 laide is my daughter, and, as such, shall 
 take care to allow of no trifling where she 
 is concerned. You have only to repeat 
 your desire to have your marriage post- 
 poned, and be assured you shall be grati- 
 fied, not merely by its postponement for a 
 short time, but for ever !" 
 
 " Heaven forbid !" fervently ejaculated 
 De Montville ; " that indeed would be to 
 render me one of the most miserable of 
 men ! In expressing the wish that has 
 offended, I spoke contrary to my real feel- 
 ings ; but I—I thought my " 
 
 " Oh, well," interrupted his lordship, 
 " lady Newbury is not so extremely self- 
 ish as to think only of what is pleasing to 
 herself As I have already mentioned, 
 the preparations for your marriage are just 
 completed, and there remains nothing 
 then to delay it." 
 
 De Montville bowed with an air of sub- 
 mission to his lordship ; for the first time, 
 not inclined to find fault with his peremp- 
 tory temper. Well, since the matter had
 
 CONTRAST. S71 
 
 ended in this way, he was glad he had 
 complied with the unreasonable request of 
 Adelaide. He hastened to communicate 
 to her the result of what had passed, and 
 was absolutely confounded by the agita- 
 tion she evinced on learning it. She ex- 
 pressed her fear of his not being sincere, 
 and persisted in declaring, that as nothing 
 could induce her to change the determina- 
 tion she had avowed to him, he must make 
 another effort for delaying their marriage. 
 
 De Montville now became seriously ir- 
 ritated, and was vehemently protesting 
 against the unreasonableness of such an ex- 
 pectation, after what had occurred between 
 him and his lordship, and insisting on his 
 positive right of knowing her motive for 
 desiring this delay, when lady Dorothy 
 walked in, and there was an end of any 
 further opportunity of conversing with 
 her for the present, the carriage being al- 
 most instantly after announced, to take 
 them to Woodston, where they were again 
 to dine that day. 
 
 The agitation of De Montville was not 
 lessened, as he stepped after them into it.
 
 372 CONTRAST. 
 
 by observing a blue scarf round Adelaide, 
 exactly resembling the one that Caroline 
 had found at St. Finian's, and displayed 
 with so much laughter there : he could 
 not, he would not, from the impression of 
 previous circumstances upon his mind, per- 
 mit himself to doubt its being the same ; 
 and in yielding to this belief, he yielded to 
 the conviction of there being a secret in- 
 tercourse between her and Mountflorence ; 
 what torture in the thought ! — but he 
 would not much longer endure it — he 
 would extort the truth from one party or 
 the other — he would know her motive, for 
 what had given him such just grounds for 
 suspicion, and, if originating in what he 
 apprehended, at once relinquish all further 
 thoughts of the proposed union. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Printed by J. Darling, Leadenhall-Street, London,