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 http://www.archive.org/details/miseriesofheires01hols
 
 THE 
 
 MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 Lane, Darline, and Co. Leadenhall-Stteet*
 
 o 
 
 MISERIES OP AN MEISESS^ 
 
 ^ NOVEL. 
 IX FOUR VOLUMES. 
 
 BY 
 
 ANTHONY FREDERICK IIOLSTEIN, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 SIR OTFEN GLENPOTFR; THE ASSASSIN OF ST. GLENROY; 
 LOVEy MYSTLRYy AND MISERY, <^C. 
 
 I boast no talc in magic wonders rifo ; 
 But yet fdniiJi.ir, is there nought to prize, 
 O, Nature ! in thy bosom-scenes of liie ? 
 
 CAMPBELL. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LON DO N : 
 PRINTED AT THE 
 
 0@iaert3a*lPte0o, 
 
 rOR A. K. NEWMAN AND CO, 
 
 (Successors to Lane^ Newman, and Co.J 
 
 LEADENIIALL-STUEET. 
 1810.
 
 y^5 
 
 PREF^ CE. 
 
 jL he pen dropped from my almost- 
 paralyzed hand, after an incessant 
 scribbling of many wearying hours, to 
 finish " The Miseries of an Heiress !'* 
 I threw myself back in my chair, and 
 with delight contemplated the four 
 manuscript volumes which lay before 
 me, as actually completed, when the 
 morning twilight beamed through my 
 undrawn curtained windows. '' May 
 it be propitious Y' I exclaimed, Avith * 
 the true tragedian energy of an author; 
 *' may this Work indeed live to see the 
 light of day, not in oblivion die !" 
 
 Although my hand was absolutely 
 crippled by the incessant movement of 
 
 VOL. I, 6 my
 
 11 PRJEFACE. 
 
 my pen, from the unusual length of 
 time it had been exerted, yet my inia- 
 o'ination was still alive, and would not 
 be sul^dued into tranquilhty. I closed 
 my eyes, pained by the stretch of at- 
 tention to the paper, Avhere they had 
 been rivetted ; but it would not answer, 
 sleep refused to associate with my tii- 
 multuous ideas ; and as I sat, blind to 
 real and surrounding objects, mine was 
 but the waking vision of the mind, no 
 dream of IMorpheus. 
 
 ]\Iethought I saw these very Books 
 lying on the counter of a Circulating 
 Librarjs no matter where — in every 
 town, in every alley, they abound ; a 
 party of females entered, lovely, of 
 course, as all fair nymphs must be, 
 wiien fanc}^ delights in sketching their 
 portraits, and discriminating, most as- 
 suredl}^ in my judgment at least, since 
 they enquired for the last production 
 
 of
 
 PUEPACE* iii 
 
 of Mr. Holstein ; but neither seemed 
 iaforined Avith respect to its titl^. 
 
 The hbrarian pointed it out, as lying 
 before them. The first volume was 
 raised with curiosity, and as suddenly 
 thrown down, as if in angered disap- 
 pointment — " The Miseries of an* 
 Heiress!' how absurd! Does the 
 man expect us to read such nonsense ? 
 Who could believe in the miseries of 
 an heiress.'^ — He had far better have 
 written the sorrows of po^'erty — au- 
 thoi's are there generally quite at home ; 
 but the grievances of wealth imply a 
 mere envious invective, bacause he had 
 not the blessing in his own possession. 
 When next you write, Mr. Anthony 
 Frederick, retain in mind ^Esop's fable 
 of the sour grapes.'' 
 
 " You are severe, Henrietta,'" inter- 
 rupted the wliining-toned voice of a 
 .very sentimentally-thin young lady, 
 
 B 2 clad
 
 br PREFACE, 
 
 clad in a gossamer dress ; '* I consider 
 the title quite interesting: the poor 
 creature, no doubt, had a cruel parent 
 of some description or other, or a guar- 
 dian, or an old maiden aunt, who nmst 
 have crossed her love with some dear, 
 generous, but dependent youth, and 
 only because she had wealth to secure 
 a more splendid alliance/' 
 
 '^ Nonsense, sister ! that is an old 
 story, defunct, I hope, and never, I 
 tmst, to have a resurrection, since its 
 remains have been so scattered over 
 the world of novel-writing, they could 
 never be re-united to appear in their 
 original form." 
 
 " Oh, I have it ! I have it !" said a 
 sprightly tall miss in her frocks, with 
 skipping vivacity — " the poor lady was 
 ran off with by some frightful, hideous, 
 old man, who forced her to marry him, 
 to secure her fortune to himself, and 
 
 compelled
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 compelled her to repeat the marriage-- 
 vows, whether she could articulate 
 them or not/' 
 
 " Ah, women, women T said a fat 
 chubbj-faced cit, who appeared the 
 father of two of the females, " what 
 idle nonsense your chimerical imagina- 
 tions suggest ! Pray, girls, learn a little 
 rationality; depend upon it, it was the 
 loss of her money which made the heir- 
 t^s truly miserable ; and the title is all 
 a catchpenny, like most of our flighty 
 new publications, when the matter and 
 the name always seem at war ; or else 
 a mere play upon words, without rea- 
 son for its support/' Then glancing 
 over tlie title-page — '' By the Author 
 of ' The Assassin of St. Gle:n'- 
 ROY !' aye, now I recollect the book 
 that I once took up by chance, with 
 honest Mr. Granger in it. Well, that 
 character did shew some pmdence, 
 
 B 3 ' and
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 and gieat good sense ; for, to me, it 
 was as plain as a pike-stafF, that all 
 the while the Author was speaking him- 
 self so sagaciously, although he gave 
 all those Avise sayings about money- 
 making to a fishmonger, which was the 
 ^nost sil!}^ part of the business, to be 
 sure/' 
 
 " Dear papa, how could you ap- 
 prove such vulgar matter ? I declare I 
 could not support the torture of bur- 
 thening my mind with his low lan- 
 guage; indeed I think it quite dero- 
 gatory . to the elevation of romance, 
 when similar beinos are suffered to 
 sully its towering refinement/' 
 
 ''I should hope the Author had 
 somewhat more of morality in view 
 than what any of you young ladies 
 appear to conceive necessary for a 
 work of imagination,"" said a prim, 
 stern-looking, elderly female — " I do 
 
 not
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 not doubt that he means to display that 
 the ' miseries' of his heroine were oc- 
 casioned by an apprelicnsion of not 
 justly dispensing and using the lavish 
 gifts of Providence; or, what is still 
 more probable, that her miseries have 
 arisen from disobechence to senior rela- 
 tives and advisers/' 
 
 " Heavens ! then I will not read it, 
 positively/'^ said the sentimental s}^!- 
 phid Emma, as the volume fell from 
 the hand which had aoain raised it for 
 further inspection ; " I could not sup- 
 port another ' dramatic sermon upon 
 any account — a religious heroine sets 
 me to sleep/' 
 
 " Unless she is at her last prayers 
 for a husband — eh, Emma?"' and the 
 fat little alderman chuckled at his own 
 fancied livehness. 
 
 " Or perliaps,'' rejoined a fourth, 
 " the beautiful heiress was immured in 
 
 B 4 some
 
 VIll PREFACE. . 
 
 some antique castle of the North, with 
 a proud old Scotchwoman, who would 
 not let her peep beyond the dismal 
 walls of her prison, lest she should 
 elope with the doctor or the quilldriver 
 of tite neighbouring, village; and thus 
 we have doubtless rmticipated all the 
 incidents this novel can contain. But, 
 .as I have no enrao-ement for this even^ 
 ing abroad, nor company at home, I 
 must have some novel to wile away 
 the tedious hours ; and this, I dare 
 afEim, will do quite as well as any 
 other of Minerva's babes.^' 
 
 Involuntary reflections are not al- 
 ways pleasing — such were mine at this 
 epoch, and I was not fully determined 
 wtether to exhibit the crying or laugh- 
 ing philosopher ; the former, however, 
 I believe, did prevail, since the title 
 of this Work remains unaltered by the 
 vision. 
 
 The
 
 PREFACE. m: 
 
 The necessity of that toniient, a 
 preface, now haunted my mind, there 
 is something so outre m sending a rich 
 heroine into the world without this 
 protection ; but, it must be confessed, 
 the child was I^rought forth ere the fa- 
 ther took this into consideration ; and, 
 with somewhat of Hibernian idea, he 
 resolved to convert into a preface the 
 after-reflections of tlie Work, which 
 have been just faithfully detailed. 
 
 Some few wrecks before " Coelebs in 
 Search of a Wife' was spoken of as 
 in the press, a friend suggested to me 
 a similar idea for the foundation of a 
 Work, which, however, was not intend- 
 ed to have been in the same style as 
 the very religious, serious^ production^, 
 which has issued from the far more 
 competent powers of Aliss ?vIore. I 
 hesitated between a Gentleman in 
 search of a Wife, or a Lady in search 
 
 B 5 o£
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 of a Husband ; but, being then en- 
 gaged in the construction of another 
 Novel, I determined to embrace the 
 bint of my friend at my leisure. 
 
 Meanwhile my purpose was stayed 
 by the publication of " Ccelebs;'' and 
 I wholly relinquished the design, until 
 it occurred to me, that a Latinized 
 Bachelor in search of a AVife, might 
 be answered by an Italianized Mai- 
 den in search of a Husband : I there- 
 fore, under the appropriate naitie of 
 Z I tell A, sought to display this fe- 
 male. I offered Mr. Newman to finish 
 it. within a given period, if he would 
 engage to purchase tlie Work when 
 completed : his reply was, that one of 
 a' similarly descriptive title, " Celia,'' 
 was then in his hands, and consequent- 
 ly my proposal was declined. 
 
 On also fmdins: that Nubilia and 
 Coelibia had set out on the same hunt, 
 
 I thought
 
 PREFACE. Xi 
 
 ;I thought the subject would be literally 
 overdone, and I therefore forbore the 
 hackneyed theme ; when, as only one 
 volume of my Work was then finished, 
 I afforded it very.extensive alterations, 
 and resolved to convert the oriofinal 
 second title into a principal, and only 
 one. 
 
 It promises nothing more than a 
 mere narrative of /irohahle events , 
 without entering into the thread-worn 
 subjects of fashionable folly, as it con- 
 sists in crowded parties, operatic extra- 
 vaganzas, card mania, or personal do- 
 mestic faiLX Jiax : I have endeavoured 
 to delineate the manners and habits of 
 elevated society, as they in reality 
 exist. • 
 
 Peace to the resemblance of the no- 
 ble JOCKEY, the honourable black- 
 LEGS, or the theatric petit mai- 
 TRE ! Why should the pages of this 
 
 b6' kind
 
 XU PREFACE. 
 
 kind of modem literature be so anxious 
 . to commemorate individuals " born to 
 be forgot?'' The portrait of one will 
 suffice for all the species ; nor shall we 
 gain ouglit "by contemplating so inces- 
 santly objects deserving ratlier of our 
 contempt than attention. Does not 
 the volume of the world contain be-^ 
 ings, in whom the mingled extremes 
 of good and evil, of noble qualities 
 and puerile failings, blend, and ren- 
 der them far more interesting; to deve- 
 . lop ? Let Nature be our book of stu- 
 dy, but let us select from anii<lst the 
 leaves, those chapters teeming with 
 matter and information, which, each 
 day, arise to invigorate the imagina- 
 tion of the Author. 
 
 A modern novel-writer, in a preface 
 
 to his first Work, has affirmed, that the 
 
 conversation of the day is in reality sa 
 
 frivolous and inane, that, to justly ^e- 
 
 . lineate
 
 PREFACE. Xm 
 
 lineate it, we must not attempt even 
 to blend wit or rej)artee, for it then 
 loses its semblance to fashionable dis- 
 course. 
 
 On this head my sentiments differ : 
 I grant, the frequent ideotic lisp of the 
 tonish belle is often prominent, that 
 the slang of Newmarket is the meet 
 reply of many a turf beau in a draw* 
 ing-room ; but I do not conceive that, 
 like the supposed magical circle drav/n 
 around the do^vnward-bent head of a 
 feathered animal, which is said to be- 
 numb its powers of resuscitation, that, 
 in entering w^ithin the boundaries of a 
 court sphere, alias denominated a fa- 
 shionable circle, the faculties of mind 
 are to become suddenly annihilated. 
 Merely because the conversation is 
 not scientific, not hterary in its dis- 
 quisitions, argumentative on a higher 
 ground of reasoning, must it sink into 
 
 the
 
 XIV PREFACE, 
 
 the very depths of folly and stupidity? 
 must it be dull, because it is hdit? Are 
 there not individuals amid the haut-ton 
 Avho can .amuse, even entertain ? I 
 have turned from the pedantic, formal, 
 serious harangue of an antique research 
 into mere matters of fact, to the play- 
 ful accents of a woman of rank and 
 fashion. True, I have not derived in- 
 struction from her conversation ; but I 
 have felt my ideas enlivened, freed 
 from the condensed vapour of too- 
 dilated, j>lodding reflections, by the 
 agremens of mere badinage. Nor do 
 I view this passing sport of words, this 
 nothing of sober calculation, as wholly 
 contemptible : the spirit of hadinage^ 
 without being a science, is certainly a 
 very- desirable art; it extracts from the 
 heaviness of a party, where individuals, 
 neither out of previous intimate know- 
 ledge,, nor reciprocal regard, nor yet 
 
 assimilated
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 assimilated understanding, are com^ 
 pelled, by tlie laws of society, to meet: 
 it speaks a language all can under- 
 stand, it diffuses cheerfulness over the. 
 group, and it dispenses animation, if 
 not intelHgence, around. 
 
 Manner, however, effects much ; and 
 the retailer on paper lias a far more 
 difficult task, to give point to conver- 
 sation, than the spontaneous speaker. 
 I am fully aware of the difficulty of 
 this ; and instead of professing onl}^ to 
 write dull, unmeaning frivolity, because 
 it is the lana;uao;e of hiah lite,' I am 
 sensible that ni}^ warmest exertions to 
 pourtray this species of la bagatelle^ 
 fail in attaining this purpose, and that 
 society has not wholly banished from 
 its circle the refined repartee nor 
 prompt hon mot, however, in a fa- 
 shionable squeeze, the silly and the 
 witty, the sage and the ideot, may be 
 
 promiscuously
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 promiscuously jumbled, and the one^ 
 for the thue, be equally lost as tlie 
 other, to mere temporary observation. 
 
 I will not, therefore, cast the oblo- 
 quy on a numerous herd, \vhich J am 
 sensible exists onl}^ in my own defi- 
 ciency of talent — I would seek to con- 
 trast those members of society who are 
 entertaining, with those who are fa- 
 tiguing; and by this I would endea- 
 vour to render the lesson of ridicule 
 more clear : nor would I yet cast illi- 
 beral reflection on all who happen to 
 move, from birth or circumstance, in 
 the western atmosphere of our metro- 
 polis. 
 
 Again I repeat, I detail no foreign 
 scenes; this production is intended for 
 a mere copy of the natural events 
 and circumstances which might pro- 
 bably attend an heiress of wealth 
 and rank. I conceive it indispensable 
 
 to
 
 PREFACE. XVU 
 
 to the hope of attaining any success in 
 correct delineation of life and its vicissi- 
 tudes, that the novel-writer should keep 
 as much as possible to the sphere* of 
 creation in wliich he is most at home, 
 and in which he has been accustomed 
 to view passing events : how far I 
 have succeeded in the annexed perfor- 
 mance, I cannot be expected to be a 
 correct judge ; to tlie ordeal of public 
 criticism I must bow. I am conscious 
 these Four Volumes display less inci- 
 dent than the ''Assassin of St. Glenroy,'* 
 or even " Sir Owen Glendowr;'' in 
 fact, I consider it as entirely differing 
 from either of tliose publications. 
 
 I wrote on as fancy arose, with the 
 exception of a mere skeleton plot, im- 
 perfectly conceived, and still more so 
 connected ; I had no idea, when I first 
 began, of rendering the subject more 
 diffuse thaa two volumes, and was my- 
 self
 
 XVIU PREFACE. 
 
 self deceived in the quantity I had 
 written of manuscript, until, uport 
 counting over the pa^es, I found I had 
 already entered upon the third A^olume ; 
 nor, even then, left sufficient space to 
 develop the plot, independent of a few 
 embryo incidents. I was thus induced 
 to commence a fourth, which, I confess, 
 was contrary to my inclinations ; for I 
 think three volumes should be the ex- 
 tent of any Novel or Romance of this 
 description ; and this being my owi> 
 impression, it certainly was not my in- 
 tention to have exceeded that number^
 
 THE 
 
 MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 CHAP. L 
 
 The gilded vessels sport along the stream, 
 
 Fann'd with propitious gales : the sides are firm, 
 
 The hull capacious, and the swelling sails 
 
 Float to the breeze of summer. Ah ! how soon. 
 
 Torn by the tempest's wildly rushing wind. 
 
 And foundering in the deep, it lies deform'd, 
 
 A shattcr'd wreck !'* 
 
 Dr> Ogiltik. 
 
 The Maternal Memoir. 
 
 XN an elegant dressing-room, terminating 
 a suit of apartments in a commodious man- 
 sion, situated in a retired part of Dorset- 
 shire,
 
 20 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 shire^ sat the invalid Countess of Darnforcl: 
 her emaciated form, supported by pillows, 
 rested in a Merlin chair, drawn near the 
 fire. The dead gloom of fixed and pained 
 reflection, diffused an awful solemnity over 
 her pallid features : her eyes, unsoftened 
 by tears, beamed the impression of steady 
 unbroken contemplation ; for it was the 
 meditation of all the powers of the soul 
 bent on futurity, and not the mere organs 
 of sight directed to any sublunary object. 
 
 The door was slowly unclosed by ^ tre- 
 mulous hand, and gave entrance to the 
 lovely juvenile form of Lady Zitella Her- 
 bert : her auburn ringlets were drawn low 
 and thick over her forehead, to conceal 
 eyes swoln by grief and despair. Effort 
 had suppressed, at this moment, that stream 
 of filial sorrow, which had, for some pre^ 
 ceding hours, copiously flowed : the relief 
 of past indulgence was checked, while for- 
 titude was called in aid to smother every 
 appearance of distress, and conceal the 
 Opinion of the medical attendants respect- 
 ing
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 21 
 
 ing their patient, which had been, from 
 benevolent notions, imparted to her suf- 
 fering child, lest the unprepared shock 
 upon a young and "sanguine mind, hitherto 
 only accustomed to the plenitude of for- 
 tune's smiles, should have been wholly 
 subdued by the first visitation of adverse 
 fate. Yet the stroke fell heavy on the 
 heart of Zitella ; and although she felt the 
 necessity of placing a curb on the visible 
 appearance of that acute grief which really 
 existed, still effort could not altogether 
 supercede its effects; the heaving bosom, 
 panting beneath the suppressed weight of 
 anguish, the agitated tremor of every limb, 
 and the faltering voice, were little calcu- 
 lated to correspond with an assumed sere- 
 nity of countenance. 
 
 " Is Dr. Moreland gone ?" enquired the 
 invalid. 
 
 " He is, my mother," faintly articulated 
 Zitella, and turned toward a window, to 
 conceal renewed emotion, 
 
 A pause ensued. 
 
 *' The
 
 22 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 " The mournful intelligence to you^ my 
 child, is then communicated; fear not to 
 affirm that it is so, for it was at my express 
 desire that Dr. Moreland has removed from 
 vour mind that anchor on which vou so con- 
 fidently rested : hope, my Zitella, as far as 
 it respects my life, is annihilated. The 
 friend of tried excellence and worth, the 
 good man, who has been urged to this 
 painful task, regards you with almost pa- 
 rental interest; gently and afiTectionately 
 I knew he would reveal the tale of sorrow 
 to your young and tender heart." 
 
 She was interrupted by the now irre- 
 pressible sobs of her afflicted auditor. 
 
 " Dry these selfish tears, Zitella, and re- 
 member, that the anticipated event you 
 so deeply deplore, emancipates her you 
 love from a further endurance of misery 
 and woe: rise, my child, superior to this 
 weak indulgence of feeling, and prove the 
 strength of your atFection, by retaining a 
 firm, indelible impression, of the last in^ 
 junctions of inaternal solicitude, bequeathed 
 
 in
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 23 
 
 an the form of instruction, from the dying 
 lips of her to whom you are so dear; and 
 this can now only be done by a brief com- 
 munication of some particulars connected 
 with me. Separated from my husband, 
 you have as vet been kept in ignorance of 
 the cause which operated that effect ; for 
 I wished to reserve the communication for 
 a period when it might produce #n impres- 
 sion firm and indelible : that epoch is 710x0 
 arrived — vour mind is, at this awful mo- 
 ment, peculiarly susceptible of the influ- 
 ence I mean to afford it, and, by learning 
 from your unfortunate mother the conse- 
 quences of tho?.c follies and of that infa- 
 tuation which have coloured her life, be 
 armed by the fatal warning you will re- 
 ceive, to avoid that rock on which she vo- 
 luntarily sufTered her bark of happiness to 
 founder. 
 
 " The heiress of my grandmother, I was, 
 at an early age, ushered into life, with all 
 that eclat attendant upon being thus en- 
 dowed
 
 24 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 dowed by fortune : credulous and unsuspi- 
 cious, I penetrated not beyond the fairy 
 surface; supremely happy in delusion, I 
 analyzed not its source, but, in full confi- 
 dence, weakly accepted all I saw for reality^ 
 Lovers bowed in crowds at the shrine of 
 my beauty, while my mirror confirmed, 
 rather than contradicted, the flattering tale; 
 and while they did homage to the influence 
 of my charms, I recollected not that the 
 trappings o^ ,weallh decorated and gave full 
 eflTect to the idol of their devotion. I be- 
 lieved, implicitly believed, the existence of 
 disinterested affection, even among the 
 many ; and, foremost of the group, en- 
 couraged by my smiles, advanced the ad- 
 mired Herbert, an indigent scion of a noble 
 house, but even destitute of future expec- 
 tancies, for many a branch then intervened 
 between him and the envied title of Darn- 
 ford : he possessed person to attract, man- 
 ner to interest, and an understanding at 
 once brilliant, from the attainment of 
 3 worldly
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN flEIRESS. 25 
 
 worldly knowledge by reading men and 
 books, and a proficient in the subtle so- 
 phistry of delineating artificial passion. 
 
 ^' The union of these apparent perfec- 
 tions reached my heart; a weak attachment, 
 founded on this basis, to which vanity gave 
 reciprocity, completed the romance of 
 folly, and, with a father's malediction 
 heavy on my head, I rushed into the arms 
 of vice and duplicity — I became the bride 
 of Herbert ! But short were the days of 
 halcvon delusion; for, ere I had relin- 
 quished that dear-bought appellation, the 
 husband presented a different aspect to the 
 impassioned lover : soon, by artifice re- 
 fined, he obtained from me a deed, where- 
 by I resigned into his hands my interest in 
 the large possessions bequeathed me by 
 the will of my w^ell-intentioned grandirio* 
 ther; but, happily for my descendant, nei- 
 ther he nor I wer« sufficiently well-versed 
 in law to know, that this was raerelv at his 
 disposal during my life, and was, after my 
 decease, disposed of by a claim not, to b^ 
 
 VOL. I. c evaded :
 
 26 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 
 
 evaded: thus it providentially proved, that 
 I could only eventually injure myself by 
 an infatuation so destructive. Zitella, your 
 i«ther rests in the grave ; I would^ there- 
 fore, willingly suffer his crimes to sink in- 
 to the same oblivion, if it were not neces- 
 sary to steel your heart against the witch- 
 ery of romance in a similar election.'* 
 
 Weakness now, for a moment, subsided 
 in the dying Countess; her eyes received 
 temporary illumination from the theme, 
 while her cheeks emanated a faint bloom, 
 from a communication of this long-smo- 
 thered secret, and the confession of past 
 error, which, she fondly hoped, would 
 serve as a beacon to deter her darling from 
 a fate as severe as that she had experi- 
 enced. She grasped the hand of Zitella 
 in continuing — '' The gift of thy mother, 
 given in fond confiding security in his 
 honour and affection, was Oh, my be- 
 loved child, how painful, even at this hour, 
 is the recollection, that this fatal gift was 
 bestowed on the author of thy being, at a 
 
 moment
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 27 
 
 moment when, kneelino: beside thv cradle, 
 he alternately imprinted kisses on thy in- 
 fant lips, and those of his credulous and 
 soon-forsaken wife ! The means I afforded, 
 proved those he only waited to attain ere 
 he quitted England, and bore with him the 
 guilty partner of his crimes, similarly link- 
 ed in the bonds of wedlock to another. 
 She was a woman of rank and of indepen- 
 dent fortune ; but his avarice knev/ no 
 bounds — he stript us of our all, leaving me 
 overwhelmed in debt, and got too much 
 of an invalid to quit my room, while my 
 mind w^as yet corroded by the recollection 
 of my father's continued displeasure. The 
 rapid strides of poverty awakened me from 
 my mental lethargy; an execution was in 
 the house, while the merciless creditor, in- 
 volving; the innocent sufferers with the 
 guilty mercenary, constrained me to im- 
 mediate departure and retrenchment. 
 
 *' The heart wrought up to misery by 
 heavy unexpected calamity, can only reach 
 a certain point of woe; ,bcyond this ex- 
 
 c 2 treme.
 
 2S THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 treme, it becomes for a time apathetic. 
 Happily for my reason, it had with me 
 this temporary termination : I embraced 
 my poor orphan, and taking her with me, 
 I sought a more humble dwelling. The 
 cares of my infant, beggared for a time 
 by my folly, and thrown solely upon my 
 exertions, employed my whole attention ; 
 for when reason had regained her influence 
 from the stunning blow she had received 
 in calamity, a sense of the duties I had 
 pledged myself to perform, superceded the 
 inanity into which I had been at first plung- 
 ed. But how could I, the fondled child of 
 prosperity, nursed in the lap of luxury, 
 indulged and gratified in the most extrava- 
 gant whims of wavered fancy, whose very 
 wishes had been anticipated, how could I 
 struggle with sorrow, poverty, and an in- 
 fant claimant on my care, who never be- 
 fore had even known the absence of a 
 comfort ? — As contempt and disgust super- 
 ceded the lacerated feelings of love, my 
 mind gradually descended to the common 
 
 walks
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIULSS. . 29 
 
 ■4 
 
 walks of life; but in vain I sought for the 
 means of support — ^^I had been taught no 
 useful lesson of education, and the refine- 
 ments of accomplishment afforded me no 
 immediate relief from pressing want, who, 
 with all her haggard train of evils, pressed 
 heavy on me. 
 
 *' At this eventful period, that Edge- 
 worth, whom you have so often heard me 
 mention in terms of the highest encomium, 
 stepped in between me and destruction : 
 Jae became t4ie delegate of Heaven ; ,he re- 
 stored a ray of peace to my bursting brain, 
 the balm of comfort and consolation tp 
 my widowed heart — he bore to me the 
 pardon of my father: it was a conditional 
 one; but, ah ! how welcome was the sound 
 upon any terms ! — I was to retire from th^ 
 world, to spend the remainder of my days 
 on this spot, and never to seek his pre- 
 sence. 
 
 *' The preceding clauses were joyfully 
 hailed, but the last was so painful a con- 
 •viction that I vsas only partially forgiven, 
 
 c 3 rather
 
 so THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Tather at the intercession of mv actire 
 friend than the spontaneous offering of re- 
 turning affection from my parent, that it 
 required all the influence of the inesti- 
 mable Edgeworth over my mind, to induce 
 an acquiescence in this restriction. — The 
 rest, my child, you know ; for years you 
 have witnessed the blameless life of the 
 recluse. Fortune, who, with capricious 
 bounty, so often lavishes her gifts on the 
 unworthy head, once more extended her 
 replenished sheaves to Herbert: a morta- 
 lity in his family unexpectedly secured to 
 him the Earldom of Darnford, and the 
 estates attached to that title. He returned 
 to England on this event, and something 
 like compunction, I believe, did operate 
 on his mind, in a proposal to afford me 
 BOW a liberal establishment ; but, with re- 
 vived indignation, I rejected ought from 
 the hand of him who had duped and de- 
 serted me. All I asked, was the disposal of 
 my child ; nor was this denied ; but, alas ! 
 not from kindness to me, but indifference 
 
 to
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 31 
 
 to your fate. His dure amie had abandon- 
 ed him ; and ill health having assailed hiai 
 so far as to render him almost a prisoner 
 in his own house, he had caused it to be 
 intimated to me, that he would be gratified 
 to see me again at the head of his table : 
 but my affection had been annihilated, my 
 confidence destroyed, my respect and 
 esteem gone for ever, and in no such ar- 
 rangement would I acquiesce.. He soon 
 afterwards obtained a situation of lucrative 
 importance and high authority in one of 
 our colonies; and for many years he again 
 bade adieu to England, during which time 
 my kind forgiving parent paid the debt of 
 nature, bequeathing me the estate on 
 which this mansion is situated, 
 
 *' About eighteen months since, the re- 
 turn of the Earl to his native land awaken- 
 ed all my fears; and they were but too 
 soon realized, as he immediately and for- 
 mally demanded you from me, professing 
 that the encomiums he had heard lavished 
 upon your beauty and talents,, had excited 
 
 c 4 his
 
 52 TDE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 his interest as ^s'el] as affection ; for that 
 he wished to afford you the opportunity 
 of a high finish to those attractions from 
 the aid of the first masters^ and present you 
 to the world with the eclat worthy your 
 rank as his daughter, and the fortune to 
 "which, at my death, you w^ould become 
 entitled. Expostulation, entreat}^ huma- 
 nity, pled in vain, and, at the critical age 
 of thirteen, you w=ere torn from my arms.** 
 
 , '' Oh, my mother, remind me not of that 
 sad moment I" 
 
 " And why not, my Zitella ? it will but 
 prepare you for a far more solemn separa- 
 tion. Ah, my child, it was that cruel deed 
 ivhich struck the knell to thy mother's 
 life! — Had I consigned thee to a parent 
 who could appreciate thy worth, whose 
 heart was capable of instilling into thine 
 the precepts of virtue and religion, incul- 
 cated by example, and enforced by the 
 consistency of uniform conduct, to nur- 
 ture and mature the seeds of those sacred 
 truths my feeble powers had been exerted 
 
 early
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN ffEIHESS. SS 
 
 early to implant; had I resigned thee to a 
 father whose affectionate solicitude would 
 have proved an 2egis to yon, upon your 
 first debut into the world, I would have 
 struggled with my own feelings to have 
 secured to you so vast a benefit; but to 
 the protector to whom I had given a legal 
 claim to you, it was agony to every fibre 
 of your mother's heart. The death of the 
 Earl, however, soon relieved you from his. 
 authority, and I once more folded my 
 daughter to my aching bosom. Beneath 
 my own less sumptuous roof, with jealous 
 vigilance I re-examined every trait of cha- 
 racter, I sought to trace the source of each 
 triflino: variation the chano;e of situation 
 might have created : the result of this 
 scrutiny was a triumph I would have pur- 
 chased with my life. 
 
 " Your mind had early displayed a firm- 
 ness, that rendered you less liable to the 
 influence of bad effects from novel instruc- 
 tion or example, and the encrease of that 
 lofty dignity of character, I trust under 
 
 c 5 proper
 
 34 ■ THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 proper controul from the higher influence 
 of religions and moral duties^ neither dis- 
 pleased or alarmed me, for I beheld in it 
 a support which failed your mother, whose 
 mind was cast in a different mould. 
 
 " Zitella, value thyself; nor weakly sur- 
 render thy heart and hand at the impulse 
 of romantic fancy, or the flowery profes-- 
 sion of him who may be skilled in decep- 
 tion, and alone urged by mercenary mo- 
 tives to seek alliance with •' the heiress :" 
 remember, when surrounded by adulators 
 and admirers, when lovers multiply around, 
 that Fortune waves her banner over thy 
 head with magnetic attraction. Oh, my 
 child, the trite simik of the lottery is but 
 too just, as far as it regards matrimony ! 
 the chances are not more favourable than 
 a thousand blanks to one prize. The 
 young, thoughtless, vain beauty, fancies, 
 when receiving proposals of marriage, a 
 certain homage to her own individual at- 
 tractions : alas ! she recollects not the va- 
 ried motives which have most probably 
 
 united
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 35 
 
 united to produce the proffer ! — How 
 many act under the dominion of resent- 
 ment^ to her who is really, and still in se- 
 cret, loved ? each transfers his perjured 
 vows with the impotence of weak and err-, 
 ing vengeance, and in gratifying this ig- 
 noble passion^ seeks to annihilate a foe 
 never to be thus subdued ; and when too 
 late perhaps, discovers he has irreparably 
 injured another, without deriving any be- 
 nefit to himself: while a second in wed- 
 lock only seeks the fulfilment of a duty, in 
 giving a lawful heir to hereditary posses- 
 sions or distinctions. Yet another hopes 
 to find, in the partner of his life, a mere 
 domestic drucfge; attending only io self, 
 expects to blend the economy of love and 
 all the household virtues,, forgetting to 
 rank in the list, those that would secure to 
 him a rational companion after the bloom 
 of youth had subsided, or an example and 
 instructress to those immortal beings to 
 whom she may have given existence. A 
 fourth; urged by ambition, allies- himself 
 
 c 6 not
 
 55 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 not to the woman, for she is secondary irr 
 his consideration, and only regarded as the 
 means whereby he is enabled to accom- 
 plish his higher purposes, making matri- 
 mony but the ladder to aid his ascent in 
 the attainment of his object. And last in 
 the mental group stsiuds avarice — but my 
 own sad history so much exemplifies all 
 that I would here pourtray, that it be- 
 comes unnecessary to expatiate further. — 
 And now, my child, suffer me to direct 
 your attention to the more pleasing side- 
 ©f this my picture." 
 
 " Oh no, my dear mother, my ttiind has 
 formed its future views — a life of celibacy 
 will be my decided choice. Terrified by 
 your fate, I am satisfied to glide through 
 the thorny path alone, securing to myself 
 independance from the tyranny of man, 
 and the moral certainty of becoming the 
 <lupe of mere profession/' 
 
 " Zitella, you distress me : my warning 
 voice was not intended to produce an 
 effect so little in unison with my wishes. 
 
 Yoa
 
 Ae miseries of an EEIRES^:. S7 
 
 You were born for active life: Heaven did 
 not endow you with its most precious gifts 
 for the purpose you meditate. I only wish 
 to guard you against the depravity of hu- 
 manitVj, not to recommend isolation from 
 your fellow-beings. It is not only my 
 wish, it is my earnest entreaty, that vou 
 will marry; but in so doing:, select for the 
 sacred trust one worthy of the distinction; 
 let his religious and moral principles and 
 conduct be sifted and scrutinized ; and 
 only be v:ell convinced that vou obtain the 
 genuine ore, and are not deceived by 
 counterfeit coin. — But my strength is ex- 
 hausted, and the agitation vou have evi- 
 dently this day sustained, unite to urge a 
 close to our long and painful cont'erence." 
 The anxious mother reclined her head 
 tipon the bosom of her daughter, and, 
 wrapt in fond embrace, they were only se- 
 parated by the entrance of the nurse, whc^ 
 prevailed on the exhausted invalid to retire 
 for the nights 
 
 CHAP.
 
 38 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIREJ^ 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 The hour approaches — the tremendous hour! 
 
 In whose dark moments deeper perils lower; 
 
 Still so enwrapt in pleasure's gay disguise, 
 
 They lurk invisible to cautious eyes ; 
 
 And, unsuspected by the fair one, wait 
 
 To cancel or confirm her blissful fate. Havh:y» 
 
 Tell, ye who tend 
 The bed of death, how, o'er the helpless race 
 Of human victims, strides the harpy foot 
 Of misery triumphant! Dr. Ogilyi^ 
 
 The filial Promise. 
 
 ZiTELLA, by the command of her mother, 
 sought her own chamber; but^ unable to 
 obtain any respite by sleep from the pend- 
 ing
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 39 
 
 ing evilj in the near approach of death to 
 her she so tenderly loved^ arose, at early 
 dawn, unrefreshed, and softly unclosing 
 the door of the adjoining room, beheld 
 the invalid enjoying a profound slumber. 
 Hope reassumed its station in her bosom, 
 and she contemplated with encreased de- 
 light, the faint tinge of colour o.n the 
 pallid countenance of Lady Darnford. 
 Alas ! the very feature of death in the con- 
 sumptive patient, points out to the novice 
 returning health ! Sleep was here but his 
 harbinger — the hectic flush but another 
 precursor of his approach. 
 
 The eyes of the Countess opened, and 
 discovered her early visitor; they beamed 
 with heavenly expression; they were clear, 
 bright, and rendered even brilliant, by the 
 effect of treacherous fever, vvhich had also 
 afforded temporary strength. — *' You have 
 dwelt so entirely on my heart, Zitella, that^ 
 even in sleep, you have not been absent. 
 I feel revived by the long respite from 
 pain the prescription of Dr. Moreland has 
 
 afforded
 
 40 TIIE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 afforded ir.e, therefore able to resume a 
 conversation^ at the close of which your 
 apparent determination of a single life 
 startled and distressed me.'* 
 
 The affectionate girl seated herself be- 
 side the bed, and taking the hand of the 
 Countess, listened with attention and de- 
 ference to the arguments offered by h*er 
 faithful friend, on behalf of that state she 
 was anxious she should adorn. 
 
 The silence of her auditor, the respect 
 and deference she had ever been accus- 
 tomed to pay to her opinion and counsel, 
 fully satisfied the Countess that she had 
 made her a convert to this opinion; while 
 Zitclla, regardless of self, and only anxious 
 to grant every consolation to her maternal 
 guardian, suffered her to be confirmed in 
 the belief, until she was forcibly struck by 
 the question, — If she would promise her to 
 seek among the herd of those suitors with 
 whom she doubted not she would be sur- 
 rounded, for one whom her heart and prin- 
 ciples would select, and bestow herself 
 
 where
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 41 
 
 'where thev mioht direct^ without unneces- 
 sary delay from fastidious theory, and the 
 \'ain hope of meeting perfection embodied 
 in a human form ? 
 
 The poor Zitella was unprepared for this 
 appeal ; her heart was so deeply interested 
 in the scene before her, self had so wholly 
 faded from her view, that, if the request 
 had been made from the same source, she 
 would have attempted impossibilities. Had 
 she reflected, this demand, under present 
 impressions, would have almost amounted 
 to that appearance ; but the prayers, the 
 •entreaties, of Lady Darnford, alarmed ait 
 the silence of her daughter, were renewed: 
 ^ young, beautiful, and rich orphan heiress, 
 was surely safer, and happier, under the 
 protection of legitimate love. 
 
 The Countess could not plead in vain to 
 
 ♦her Zitella; the promise was accorded, and 
 
 the blessing, the fervent blessing, of the 
 
 dying mother, rested on the head of her 
 
 child. 
 
 A pause of awful solemnity ensued, again 
 
 broken
 
 42 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 broken by the unfortunate Countess. — 
 *' I shall leave you, Zitella, to the care of 
 two guardians ; the one is my own bro- 
 ther, and only surviving relative, many 
 years past a resident in Bengal; but, in the 
 course of twelve months, he purposes re- 
 turning, finally to settle in England. — 
 During the intervening time, my dear 
 child. Dr. Moreland has kindly proposed 
 to receive you as an inmate at Sudley Hall; 
 and I rejoice much at the circumstance, 
 since your age will then be mere advanced 
 ere you enter into the v^orld. Well aware, 
 however, that monied transactic^ns are al- 
 ways best to be avoided among family con- 
 nexions, I have nominated a valued friend 
 as the principal trustee of your fortune, 
 and to my brother have left more immedi- 
 ately the care of your personal welfare, 
 and disposal in life. With the latter I wish 
 you principally to reside ; and, many 
 months since, expressed, by letter, my 
 wishes to that effect, in case of my owa 
 death, to the approach of which event I 
 
 have
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 43 
 
 have Hot been insensible. By the last India 
 ships, I received an acquiescent answer to 
 my request ; and he has proposed you 
 should, on such an event, in every respect 
 become the elected mistress of his house, 
 since he is himself a bachelor. 
 
 " Two months of each successive vear, 
 I, however, require of you to pass at the 
 mansion o{ Lord Edge worth, in Wiltshire : 
 my reason for this desire is, that I conceive 
 the retirement in which his Lordship con- 
 tinues invariably buried, will prove a sea- 
 sonable and even useful break to that dis- 
 sipation which you will most probably en- 
 counter at the dwelling of Nugent, who 
 returns to England in the character of a 
 nabob, having accumulated extensive In- 
 dian wealth, independent of his very hand- 
 some patrimonial estates in this country. 
 
 " I have never seen Lord Edgeworth 
 since his seclusion, which commenced 
 many years ago, on a separation from his 
 Lady. Over this separation much mystery 
 lowers; but I ara well convinced, that, let 
 
 report
 
 44 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 report vary in its observations and assigned 
 reasons as it may, Edgeworth can never 
 have acted from motives otherwise than 
 honourable; and although myself as much 
 in ignorance, in regard to existing circum- 
 stances, as the rest of the world, I rely in 
 fullest confidence on the certainty, that 
 reasons, just, strong, and weighty, have 
 influenced his conduct throuohout this 
 certainly extraordinary procedure towards 
 Lady Edgeworth. 
 
 *' One daughter, the only offspring of 
 this marriage, resides with him, and I be- 
 lieve is three years your junior: cultivate 
 her friendship, my dear Zitella, or rather 
 extend yours towards her. I had promised, 
 should I have proved the survivor of his 
 Lordship, to receive this precious trust 
 beneath my owir roof, and sustained that 
 maternal character, from which unfathom- 
 able circumstance has estranged her for 
 very many years ; but fate has decreed that 
 Edgeworth should become the guardiah of 
 my daughter, rather than I of his. Re- 
 member,,
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. , 4j 
 
 member, however, Zitella, that I depute 
 you my substitute^ as far as your experi- 
 ence and ability may allow, ana rcquireof 
 you to ofier some remuneration of a mo- 
 ther's debt of gratitude, by every service, 
 however trifiing, it mav lie within the 
 compass of vour ability to extend to Flora 
 Edge worth/' 
 
 The appearance of the worthy Dr. More- 
 land broke the thread of discourse; the 
 Countess, however, felt relieved, in having 
 concluded those more iinmediate injunc- 
 tions which maternal tenderness had dic- 
 tated, to guard an only ofifsprins: against 
 the perils naturally attendant upon her 
 rising career; and those miOments in which 
 strenj^th admitted the abilitv, were, for 
 many successive days, devoted to the ex- 
 ertion of that warning voice, which gave^ 
 in the glowing colours of fatal truth, the 
 misery into which a misplaced attachment 
 had consigned the dying sufferer, and, by 
 renewed precept, aided the growth of those 
 
 virtues
 
 IG the miseries of an heiress. 
 
 virtues which had early distinguished the 
 young Zitella. 
 
 Life lingered longer within its mortal 
 tenement than suffering nature could have 
 been supposed capable of sustaining : it 
 fled at length, with the tranquil ease of 
 gradual exhaustion; and the funeral cere- 
 mony tendered the last mournful tribute 
 of respect to the departed Countess, whose 
 remains were deposited in the family-vault 
 of Nugent, according to her own express 
 desire; and immediately, after, the afflicted 
 daughter of this unfortunate woman be- 
 came an inmate at Sadlev Hall, the seat of 
 Dr. Moreland. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. i7 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 O best of wives ! O dearer far to me 
 Than when thy virgin charms 
 Were yielded to ray arms '. 
 
 LlTTLETOK. 
 
 Antique Lov€j and modern Celehrifj/. 
 
 Of the mind and disposition of our hero- 
 ine 1 shall here proffer nothing, let her ac- 
 tions and lier sentiments proclaim them : 
 in regard to person, she had, from cradled 
 infancy^ received the full impression of its 
 native loveliness, since maternal judgment 
 had prompted this lavish panegyric, that 
 the sound of praise, in becoming familiar 
 to her ear, might blunt the flattering adu- 
 lation
 
 4S THE MISF.RISS OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 lation of man, aided by the charm of no- 
 vel language. The Countess of Darnford 
 rested the greatest danger on a sudden 
 and unexpected burst of admiration; she 
 grounded her conduct on the conviction, 
 that the greatest pleasures lose their influ- 
 ence by frequent recurrence, and that va- 
 nity would eventually become satiated by 
 the redundance of its own aliment. It was 
 an heiress, over whose education a mother's 
 superintending care extended, and worldly 
 experience had taught, that the most mo- 
 derate gifts of person, when centered in a 
 female thus distinguished, were elevated 
 even to the fixed standard of beauty, by the 
 common voice. Avarice is a sentiment so 
 ignoble, that its most despicable votaries 
 shrink from the public avowal of its influ- 
 ence; and men, too often to conceal a 
 dastard meanness of soul, seek, under the 
 covert of beauty, to veil mercenary attrac- 
 tion. 
 
 Zitella's style of person was not calcu- 
 lated to please the universal taste; there 
 
 was 
 
 3
 
 THE MISERIES OF AK HEIRtSS. 49 
 
 was a decisive character in hev beauty, a 
 character which imbued each feature with 
 soul, and stamped her countenance with 
 singular originality : a proud nobility of 
 heart seemed to live in that dignity of ca^-- 
 riaae, which even attended the earlier 
 stages of juvenility, and hacl gradually ma- 
 tured into individual haughtiness of pre- 
 tension, as revolving vears lent strength 
 to the lineaments of her energetic mind ; 
 while the lofty elegance of its movement 
 rivetted attention even more than the svm- 
 metrical loveliness of her figure. During 
 the fifteen months she had resided in the 
 town m»ansion of her father, she had fre- 
 quently visited the public amusement 
 the theatres and opera-house ; indeed 
 had been perniitted to emerge into sevc 
 private parties, given by the more imn 
 diate family-connexions of the liarl 
 Darnford; but, too young for presenr 
 tion, her Ladyship was then merely view 
 as a beautiful child — a belle of future i. 
 mise. The mental powers of Zitella wc 
 VOL. I. D howe\
 
 50 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 however, matured beyond other years; 
 and having herself no part to support in 
 the conversation of her seniorSp. her capa- 
 cious mind had perhaps the greater oppor- 
 tunity for observation : thus, in the habits 
 of society^ our heroine was no novice, as 
 far as respected the manners of the day, 
 long before her regular debut was to occur 
 under the auspices of the expected nabob. 
 But it may now be necesSlry to desert the 
 more immediate object of our memoir, 
 and exhibit those individuals with whom 
 she was surrounded, at the domestic fire- 
 side of Sudley Hall. 
 
 Dr. Moreland was one of those philan- 
 thropic men whom the society of our day so 
 seldom presents, a man who judged others 
 by the excellent standard of his own heart; 
 ever solicitous to palliate the misdeeds of 
 the miscreant, by the most charitable con- 
 struction upon the motives of action, the 
 tear of commiseration for human frailty 
 was the ready offspring of this benevolent 
 Christian, while the harsh sentence of re- 
 proof
 
 THE MISERIES O^ AN HEIRESS. 5 I 
 
 proof faltered on his lips; and although 
 often the dupe of the worthless hypocrite, 
 from weak and credulous generosity, yet 
 repeated experience had failed to close the 
 avenues of liberality, and the estimable 
 few suffered not from the depravity of the 
 many. 
 
 Mrs. Moreland smiled at the credulity of 
 her husband, and prided herself upon her 
 own judgmatic powers, when, in fact, no 
 beitig was ever more calculated to be de- 
 ceived : her whole sum of knowledge was 
 derived from books; of the world she had 
 in reality seen nothing, yet she believed 
 herself deeply versed in the study of hu- 
 man kind, and fully conversant in the chi- 
 canerv of men and manners; credulous 
 where a guard was absolutely necessary, 
 and suspicious where cause in reality least 
 existed. No circumstance, no event, could 
 remove the film of error; conviction never 
 could reach this self-opinionated female, 
 even had it been essayed by the argumenta- 
 tive powers of a Cicero. Yet, barring this 
 
 D 2 frailty 
 
 LIBRARY ~"^ 
 UNIVERSITY t)F 
 
 itrivn
 
 52 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 frailty of human nature, ^vhich gave tena- 
 cious irritability to her temper, Mrs. More- 
 land was both an affectionate wife and a 
 zealous friend. 
 
 Having said thus much, however, of the 
 leading characteristics of this wedded pair, 
 it will not be imagined that either of these 
 personages could have influenced the de- 
 cision of Lady Darn ford, relative to the 
 • selection o^ a mansion over which they 
 presided, for the asylum of the orphan 
 JieiresSj although even for the short inter- 
 vening space of time which was destined 
 to elapse ere the promised return of her 
 brother to England. The secret influence 
 which directed this arrangement, existed in 
 the person of a widowed aunt of Dr. More- 
 land, Mrs. Mulgrave had, for very many 
 preceding vears, been a resident at Sudley 
 Hall : this ladv was the relict of a general 
 officer in the British service ; her age was, 
 at this epoch, very advanced, but, in the 
 earlier part of life, she had mixed with the 
 world in all its busy stages^ and possessed 
 
 in
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 53 
 
 in reality that portion of strong judg'Tienr, 
 ^nd accurate discrimination^ which Mrs. 
 Moreland vaunted: her active inind was 
 an exhausriess mine of intellectual, as well 
 as worldly knowledge; and divested of 
 those prejudices too generally attached 
 to ao^e, she was a sinn^ular instance of li- 
 berality of opinion, connected with tried 
 and dear-bought experience. 
 
 Zitella had, almost from infancv, been 
 distinguished as the favourite of Mrs. Mul- 
 grave ; that peculiar character which her 
 disposition, even in childhood, displayed, 
 had excited the interested observation of 
 this superiorly-gifted w^oman, whose affec- 
 . tionate notice and regard were calculated 
 to please, and even flatter, her little visi- 
 tor, who had never appeared more ani- 
 mated and o-ratified than when her asfed 
 friend imparted some desultory lesson in 
 geography, or taught her how to repeat 
 any little fabled versification adapted to 
 her years. With the further expansion of 
 juvenile faculty, the interest attached to 
 
 D 3 this
 
 5i THE MISE'RIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 this dear girl did not lessen, each day but, 
 on the contrary, lent strength to its exis- 
 tence, and a decided partiality for the 
 child gradually ripened into matured af- 
 fection. Thus, from the kind regard and 
 accompanying instruction of Mrs. Mul- 
 grave, the Countess anticipated every ad- 
 vantage to Lady Zitella, more especially at 
 that critical moment, when the frock is su- 
 perceded by the more womanly appendage 
 of the gown, and, with the discarded garb 
 of childhood, the youthful enterprizer fan- 
 cies she has sunk all that imbecility gene^ 
 rally attached to it; and, piquing herself 
 upon her own fancied maturity of reason 
 as well as years, by thoughtless security 
 adds to the dangers which surround her 
 inexperienced course. 
 
 Twelve months had rolled on the orbit 
 of time, and presented the anxiously-ex- 
 pected period of the promised arrival of 
 Air. Nugent, when a letter from that gen- 
 tleman arrived, still bearing the date of 
 Bengal : it was addressed to Lady Zitella 
 
 Herbertjk
 
 THE "MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 5 3 
 
 Herbert^ and contained many expressions 
 of regret for the death of his valued sister. 
 Lady Darnford, which inrelligence had then 
 just reached him; to which was annexed 
 the intimation of much concern at being 
 compelled^ by affairs of moment, to re- 
 main until the following season in India, 
 when he hoped decidedly to commence 
 his voyage to England. Meanwhile he re- 
 commended to his niece to solicit permis- 
 sion of the Moreland family, to her re- 
 maining their visitor for the few months 
 Jonger which would necessarily intervene 
 ere he could reach England. 
 
 As happy in her present asylum as, un- 
 der existing circumstances of affliction for 
 the death of a beloved parent, the affec- 
 tionate Zitella could feel, she experienced 
 no great regret at the postponement of 
 the voyage of her uncle ; and having re- 
 ceived a warm and pressing, invitation of 
 continued residence at Sudley Hall, from 
 the excellent physician and his really 
 friendly partner, her Ladyship wrote to 
 
 . B 4 Mr,
 
 h6 THE MISERIES OF AK HEIRESS. 
 
 Mr. Nugent in terms expressive of her 
 concurrence in his advice, and the conse- 
 quent resolution to await his return in 
 Dorsetshire, in preference to repairing to 
 the seat of her other guardian. Lord Edge- 
 worth, who, imniediately upon being in- 
 formed of Mr. Nugent's detention in India, 
 had written to propose the removal of 
 Lady Zitella Herbert to his mansion in 
 Wiltshire, should any wish be entertained . 
 by her to quit the family of Moreland. 
 
 The Doctor, about this period, was in 
 expectation of a visit from the Dean of 
 
 L and his lady, the latter of whom 
 
 claimed affinity to the Moreland family; 
 and a letter at length arrived from the tra- 
 velling party, fixing the following week 
 for the execution of their long-promised 
 excursion to Sudley Hail. 
 
 This information afforded some little 
 change to the uniformity of a retired 
 country life, and, with no trifling degree 
 of curiosity, Zitella anticipated the arrival 
 of the dean's ladv, whom she had nevar 
 
 vet
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 57 
 
 yet seen, but whom fashion's world had 
 created an idol of popularity, at least with 
 the male part of its creation. 
 
 Seated around the cheerful fire, at the 
 social Christmas epoch, when family con- 
 cord (if we may judge from the country 
 custom of assembling connexions) seems 
 the peculiar order of the day, the really 
 amiable trio of the Moreland family, with 
 the youthful heiress, passed the hours in, 
 the happy converse of hilarity and peace, 
 where " the feast of reason and ihefio'iv of 
 sdiiV gave it those intellectual charms 
 which the imperious mandate of fashion 
 has, in some degree, banished from her 
 Qw^n court, without offering one firm aux- 
 iliary in place of the long-deposed sup* 
 porters. The cheerful argumentative dis- 
 cussion which arose between these esti- 
 Jnable individuals, was, however, occasion- 
 ally interrupted,, by the sudden change of 
 countenance, which proclaimed an ahnost 
 painful stretch of the aural faculty to some 
 distant sound that might attach to the ap~ 
 
 D 5 proacb
 
 58 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIBESS. 
 
 proach of the expected visitants. Nine 
 o'clock, however, was pointed by the faith- 
 ful time-piece on the table, and already 
 expectation had sunk into that kind of 
 stupor which often attends its tedious pro- 
 longation, when the lond bark of Carlo^ 
 the cherished spaniel of the family, and 
 the sonorous bell of the lodge, announced 
 the arrival of travellers. Quick rolled the 
 wheels of the landanlette round the lawn, 
 and a few more minutes presented the very 
 reverend divine and the vaunted Mrs. An- 
 caster. 
 
 Under the latter appellation, a light,, 
 pretty, agile figure, appeared, aceompa- 
 nied by a face more than pleasing, yet less 
 than handsome; there was something un- 
 affectedly easy in the air with which she 
 entered, and a kind of careless grace in 
 ihc salutation, which was undefinably plea- 
 sing, without partaking of that interest, 
 the offspring alone of energetic nature, 
 which could attract our Zitella beyond the 
 moment. 
 
 ' Strangely
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN irEITTESS. 59 
 
 • Strar)o:elv contrasted were the mutual 
 acknowledgments of a first presentation 
 which passed between these two indivi- 
 duals : the eurtsey of Mrs. Ancaster w^as 
 carelesSj yet profound^ it was the defe- 
 rence of the woman of fashion to superior 
 rank, while the very ease of that deference 
 evinced her habitual intercourse with its 
 highest stages; but the bend of Lady Zi- 
 tella marked her character, it partook of 
 all its features, dignified by a grace that 
 rendered it strikingly elegant and impres- 
 sive. 
 
 The attention of Mrs. Ancaster was mo- 
 mentarily arrested ; but Carlo, at that in- 
 stant, pranced upon the visitor, to evince 
 his welcome recognition of an old friend, 
 and, patting his head with the same sweet 
 smile as had before been extended to the 
 more rational part of the company, she 
 seated herself with a kind of courteous 
 nonchalance y at which it seemed strangely 
 fastidious to be displeased. 
 
 D G Perhaps
 
 60 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Perhaps there is nothing so tedious anJ 
 perplexing as that first half hour in which 
 relatives meet together after an absence of 
 many months, when neither of them feel 
 any particular interest in the ^"elfare of the 
 other: after the first family-enquiries of 
 customary form,, a strange uncomfortable 
 pause must ensue ; for, to commence with 
 light foreign matter of conversation, seems 
 to argue too clearly the real apathy of the 
 feelings, and therefore imagination is. 
 strained to create somewhat which may 
 appear connected with family individua- 
 lity ; at least this observation holds on a 
 visit to country cousins. But although, 
 this was apparent amid the female part of 
 the circle, it did not extend to the Dean^ 
 of L or Dr. Moreland, who experi- 
 enced mutual satisfaction in the renewal 
 of former habits of friendship. 
 
 '' I am sorry,*' observed Mrs. Moreland, 
 after a pause, '' that your daughter, Mrs. 
 Ancaster, has not accompanied you, since, 
 
 independent
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 61 
 
 independent of my own gratification in 
 seeing her, I should have experienced 
 much pleasure in presenting my little fa- 
 Tourite to Lady Zitella Herbert/* 
 
 '' Indeed^ my dear friend^ 1 was n:nch 
 disappointed in not having the abiiity of 
 bringing her hither, in compliance with 
 your kind invitation to that effect; but 
 Marian's health has,, of late, been verv ten- 
 der, and the mild air of ChTton has beea 
 so strenuously advised by our family-phy- 
 sician, that I was compelled to surrender 
 my own inclinations to her individual be- 
 nefit^ and have dispatched her to the re- 
 commended village, under the care of her 
 good friend and governan^te, Mrs. Morgan ; 
 indeed I fear the next winter will make a 
 severe trial of her constitution, in emer^f- 
 ing from retirement into the dissipation 
 of a London dcbut."^ 
 
 " Is she not xtry young as yet to appear 
 in the great world ?" said Dr. Moreland ; 
 *' or does time so swiftly run, that I have 
 
 lost
 
 62 THE MISERIES OF A^SH IIEIRESS, 
 
 lost a part of his movement, awd retrace 
 fewer years than really appertain to the 
 life of Miss Ancaster ?" 
 
 *' No," replied the divine, '' she has not 
 yet completed the anniversary of her fif- 
 teenth annual course ; but Mrs. Ancaster 
 is a mother so tenderly attached, that she 
 feels unhappy in being separated from her 
 dauo;hter for so lonor a time as a v/inter 
 sejoiir in our gay metropolis necessarily 
 occasions, and she is likewise anxious that 
 our dear Marian should partake in those 
 pleasures she herself enjoys/' 
 
 A soft smile played over the features of 
 Mrs. Ancaster, as her eyes, at this moment, 
 turned on the dean. 
 
 " Nothing,'* continued the speaker,, 
 '' but the wish to greet her present friends, 
 could have induced Alicia to be now sepa- 
 rated from our little girl. Mrs. Ancaster 
 is too affectionate a parent for this fashion- 
 able epoch : I have forewarned her, that 
 if she maintains her present appellation of 
 
 la
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 65 
 
 la tonne fernmc et la bonne mere, she will be 
 excluded, bv unnnimons voice, from all 
 circles of haut-ton, lest example should 
 prove dangerous, and Hishion tremble for 
 her apostate/' 
 
 '/ Behold what a Corydon I yet en- 
 chain !" exclaimed Mrs. Ancaster, with win- 
 ning complacency of feature, " since the 
 husband has not even yet discarded the 
 lover, in his too flattering panegyric.'* 
 
 Ladv Zitella, who really be2;an to ima- 
 gine that she had evinced injustice in not 
 feelino^ more satisfied with the redoubtable 
 and celebrated Alicia Ancaster, whose do- 
 mestic virtues were united to popular ad- 
 miration, now addressed her more parti- 
 cularly, in the wi^h to obtain a further 
 knowledge of an individual who appeared 
 to be so deservedly esteemed ; but although 
 the perfect good-breeding of polished so- 
 ciety was preserved in her manner, yet it 
 was so monotonously passive, and so unin- 
 terestedly careless, that again our heroine 
 marvelled why this female should be the 
 
 object
 
 64 THE MISKRIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 object of applause to the. gay World; for 
 she vas fully aware, that mere domestic 
 virtues were not calculated to cele|irate a 
 St. James's belle. 
 
 Ennui pervaded the svpper-table, yet 
 Mrs. Ancaster usurped not the airs of fa- 
 shionable insolence — no arrogance of self- 
 superiority, no disgust at the country fire- 
 side ; courteously she listened to each who 
 addressed her, although she certainly seem- 
 ed to have forgotten it was necessary to 
 afford aid to conversation; and with the 
 same soft complacency with which her first 
 arrival had been distinguished, she tendered 
 the nocturnal salutation, when the coterie 
 prepared to separate for their respective 
 apartments. 
 
 Ladv Zitella Herbert and Mrs. Mulsrrave 
 lingered last, and the eyes of the former 
 were still thoughtfully fixed on the seat 
 recently filled by Mrs, Ancaster, as if ima- 
 gination had again embodied the fair oc- 
 cupier therein. 
 
 '^ Well, my dear girl/" said Mrs. Mul- 
 
 grave.
 
 THE MISEBIES OF AN HEIRESS. 65 
 
 grave, " have you been so fascinated with 
 our visitor as to be lost in her remem- 
 brance ?'' 
 
 Zitella hesitated — *' I should feel much 
 gratified by your individual opinion, my 
 dear Madam, mJght 1 venture to enquire 
 it ; for myself. I can, as yet, scarcely ven- 
 ture to form one, my knowledge has been 
 so transient, so " 
 
 '' Delicate, my young friend, in repeat- 
 ing it, on account of the connexion that 
 subsists in this familv: but vour counte- 
 nance is more eloquent than your lips, and 
 that bears no favourable impression on its 
 surface. But be not hasty in forming con- 
 clusions; Nature has endowed vou with 
 the precious gift of understanding, » but 
 experience alone can cement the union of 
 judgment; and judgment, my dear Zitella, 
 is the most useful quality of the mind — it 
 is a compound of penetration and discri- 
 mination : these are allies of superior con- 
 sequence in a sejoiir amid the busv world; 
 the former teaches us to descry the vices 
 
 and
 
 63 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 and virtues of those with whom we associ-. 
 ate, the latter, to analyze the motives and 
 circumstances to which they owe their rise. 
 Were you doomed to move in a more re- 
 tired, a more humble sphere of life, youth 
 might pass with greater happiness, divested 
 of powers to unmask the treachery, the 
 deception, of others; but, doomed for the 
 dangerous element of a Court, that inno- 
 cence which results from ignorance of vice 
 rather than the existence of virtue, that 
 naivete which springs from a failure of re- 
 jection, and that credulity consequent to 
 thoughtless juvenility, act but as danger- 
 ous incitements to error — a sanction even 
 the world admits for deviation from ra- 
 tional propriety in their blooming posses- 
 sor; but danger lurks beneath the garb. 
 The individual who, on every side, heara 
 the exclamation of ' What enchantinor nai'- 
 vete I* when she commits a barbarism in 
 manner, or a solecism in correctness, na- 
 turally fancies her very errors attractive, 
 at least conceives they may with impunity 
 
 be
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 67 
 
 be continued : but you^ my dear Lady Zi- 
 tella, will never fall into this egregious 
 folly ; for^ in averting it from you, the 
 Countess has even touched on the contrary 
 extreme — she has engrafted on your mind 
 a suspicious apprehension of. concealed 
 depravity, that, I fear, will embitter the 
 happy days of early youth. The era of 
 confident security, short as it ever proves, 
 has yet such distinguished charms, that I 
 almost fear sacrificing it, to ward off the 
 painful lesson of personal experience, if 
 we do not pay a price fully commensurate 
 to the value. SuflTer then, my dear child, 
 the candour of your natural disposition to 
 equipoise this tutored suspicion, and view 
 each character that may dare to cross your 
 path of life; with penetration, but not dis- 
 trust: the study will prove, to a mind re- 
 flective as yours, of considerable pleasure 
 ' — it will strengthen your understanding, 
 invigorate vour ideas, and form your judg- 
 ment in the most unerring mould. Lei 
 your hours of varied dissipation be not 
 
 wholly
 
 68 *riIE MISERIES OF AN HBIRESS. 
 
 wholly idle; employ them in examining 
 the trifling stimulus to the actions of each 
 worldly votary ; investigate their motives, 
 which you may generally obtain from the 
 analization of countenance and manner, 
 even in the routine of common adventure, 
 and you will then easily trace the com- 
 plexion of motives which appertain to 
 more important deeds; for it is from trifles 
 alone we can best develop the human cha- 
 racter, since few are sufficiently systtmatic 
 hypocrites to take the troublesome pre- 
 caution of masking their foibles, however 
 they may subscribe to the necessity of 
 veiling their vices. 
 
 '' Commence^ then, with our present in- 
 mate ; remember, 1 absolve you from de- 
 licacy of restriction, in regard to the sub- 
 sisting connexion ; all I require, is the an- 
 nihilation of prejudice, and the full play 
 of native candour; and when you have 
 had opportunity to completely decypher 
 the claims of Mrs. Ancaster to pre-emi- 
 nence, in the separate and distinct charac- 
 ters.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS'. 69 
 
 ters of a wife and a belle, I will impart to 
 vou a little memoir of the individual, 
 which, although it boasts no strange mar- 
 vellous incident^ and may be comprised in 
 as few words as most family histories, yet 
 will add cause to the efTect produced. And 
 now, my sweet reflector, adieu for the 
 night." 
 
 CHAP.
 
 70 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Ah! vainly wise, the moral muse hath sung, 
 That suasive hope hath but a syren tongue, 
 
 Campbell. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been said against love, respect- 
 ing the folly and weakness it leads a young and inexperienced 
 mind into, still I think it in a great measure deserves Ae highest 
 cncoraiunas that have been passed upon it. 
 
 BuRNSi 
 
 Premature Prudence, 
 
 ^' Were Alicia Ancaster very handsome/' 
 thought the young observer, as she slowly 
 reached her chamber^ " were she very 
 agreeable^ very witty, very vivacious, very 
 seductive in manner^ I should not be sur- 
 prised at the renown of this envied idol of 
 
 man's
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 71 
 
 man's admiration ; but, in reality past the 
 bloom of youth, althou^ch still bearing the 
 appearance of greater juvenility than that 
 to which her years entitle her, and disdain- 
 ing the slightest personal art in regard to 
 complexion or figure ; yet, at the utmost, 
 Mrs. Ancaster has only a countenance that 
 teems with harmony of sweetness, while 
 ^ven that very harmony, to me, appears 
 but a pliancy of disposition, that sweetness 
 but the insipidity of indifference: I will, 
 however, observe her again, ere I deter- 
 mine ;'Vand, pressing the pillow with her 
 lovely cheek, Zitella soon buried all re- 
 membrance of Mrs. Ancaster in a sound 
 and tranquil slumber. 
 
 As the breakfast-hour had not vet sound- 
 ed its diurnal summons when Lady Zitella 
 Herbert had equipped herself in her morn- 
 ing robe, she wandered on the lawn to be- 
 guile the intervening minutes, and in fact 
 at length extended her promenade, by a 
 ramble ever the grounds of Sudley, until 
 slie reached the extremity of an adjoining- 
 copse.
 
 72 THE MISERIES OF AN ftEIRfiSS. 
 
 copse, where she encountered the Dean of 
 L , who appeared to be similarly en- 
 gaged in a solitary expedition. He im- 
 mediately joined, on perceiving her vici- 
 nity; and our heroine having been wholly 
 engrossed by a survey of his lady the pre- 
 ceding evening, might be almost said to 
 see the very reverend divine for the first 
 time. 
 
 If his was a countenance which bore 
 little pious solemnity, it at least glowed 
 with an expression oF strong and vivid 
 feeling; if his were manners not calcu- 
 lated to create awe even in the pulpit, yet 
 there was a mind which appeared to ac- 
 knowledge the full efficacy of religious 
 duty, although its practice was not ahvavs 
 as correct as was consistent with his own 
 expressed wishes ; for it was iw compliance 
 ,with the inclinations of Mrs. Ancaster, and 
 not the gratification of his own, which 
 drew him amid the dissipated haunts of the 
 London world, a part at least of each suc- 
 cessive winter. Endowed with a cultivated 
 
 understanding.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIfcESS. 73 
 
 understanding, strong affections, moral sen- 
 timentSj and great suavity of manners, the 
 
 Dean of L was an object of general 
 
 esteem, although the light fulfilment of his 
 clerical duties rendered him a less respect- 
 ed character than ought to have apper- 
 tained to a dionitarv of the church ; and 
 there were many of his friends, who, while 
 they paid the full tribute of regard and 
 consideration for the amiable morality of 
 his life and lips, had yet fears for the mis- 
 application of that mitre, which ^vas ex- 
 pected shortly to grace the brow of An- 
 caster. 
 
 The conversation accidentally turned 
 upon Alicia, and the theme appeared to 
 lend peculiar animation to the Dean : the 
 warm enthusiasm of the lover seemed ^ .t 
 to reign in the plaudits of the husband ; 
 hutj conscious of the involuntary strength 
 of his own expressions, he smiled at a re- 
 view of what he had uttered, and conjured 
 Lady Zitella not to be too severe upon his 
 unfashionable panegyric; then, changing 
 
 VOL. I. E the
 
 74 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 the subject, he enquired the destined pe- 
 riod of the expected arrival of Mr. Nugent, 
 whom he mentioned as having formerly- 
 had the honour of knowinir. 
 
 '' Indeed I hope, in the close of the ad- 
 vancing year,*' replied our heroine ; '' for, 
 however happy I feel in the society of the 
 estimable family Vv^ith whom I now reside, 
 yet apprehensions will intervene for the 
 fate of my only surviving relative, while 
 an immeasurable ocean separates us ; since, 
 although too young, when I last saw him, 
 to retain strong personal regard, yet, view- 
 ing him as the fond affectionate brother of 
 my dear mother, and the delegated pro- 
 tector of myself, I cannot avoid experi- 
 encing much anxiety. His health has, I 
 understand, suffered^ latterly, much from 
 the climate of India, and I therefore natu- 
 rally dread a longer continuance in a 
 country which has been the grave of so 
 many European constitutions.*' 
 
 The countenance of the Dean, which had 
 hitherto been illumined by an expression 
 
 of
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 75 
 
 of the most consummate happiness^ be- 
 came suddenly clouded^ as our heroine 
 spoke ; something resembling agitation 
 disturbed the serenity of his manner, and, 
 in a hollow tone^, he pronounced — '^ It has 
 indeed been the grave of many/' 
 
 A momentary pause ensued, suddenly 
 broken by the Dean himself observing, and 
 pointing out, some immediate objection 
 to the landscape before them, which at 
 once turned the conversation from the In- 
 dian shore. 
 
 Upon entering the breakfast-room, the 
 ramblers found the family party assembled, 
 with the addition of Mr. Clifden, the village 
 lawyer, a gentleman who, in self-impor* 
 tance at least, held a claim to supereml- 
 nence. Mrs. Ancaster, half reclined in her 
 chair, complained of a tormenting head- 
 ache, and occasionally applied for relief to 
 a small enamelled bottle of eau-de-liice, 
 suspended round her neck by a beautiful 
 Lisbon chain, which seemed to yield to 
 the remedy quite as much ornament as 
 
 E 2 use.
 
 76 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 use. Her replies to each individual of the 
 circle, were mellowed with inefTable sweet- 
 ness of voice and manner, but she essaved 
 not to start or support a single topic of 
 conversation. 
 
 '' The present party, I hope, purpose 
 attending the assizes ball,'* at length' arti- 
 culated the little sprig of the law, after a 
 general silence of some moments — " it will 
 be quite a superior thing; the county is 
 row well filled with its first families, and, 
 on such an occasion, all, of .course, will 
 assemble, to grace the festive scene." 
 
 " That festivity, my dear Sir,*' rejoined 
 Dr. Moreland, '' prevails at such a moment, 
 the instance you have just alluded to evin- 
 ces ; and yet, to a reflective mind, it ap- 
 pears scarcely possible, that an epoch 
 should be selected for mirth and hilarity, 
 which is marked bv the miseries of our 
 fellow-creatures, or the punishment of de- 
 pravity in the human species; better would 
 it be, that we set it peculiarly apart to at- 
 tempt enforcing the inculcation of morality 
 
 and
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. Tf 
 
 and virtue among cur less-enlightened and 
 uncultivated poor, while the public mind 
 is duly impressed, and the awful arm of re- 
 tributive justice is suspended over the cul- 
 prit who has infringed her laws. Surely^ 
 surely, this is not the hour wherein to ce-- 
 iebrate the ors^ies of Glomus ! Methinks I 
 see the agonized wife hanging in despair 
 over the doubtful issue of a husband's trial; 
 the tortured parent awaiting the morrow, 
 in all the horror of suspense, that morrow^y 
 fraught with the fate of a son, who, how- 
 ever guilty, is still remembered as his off-- 
 spring, the fondled infant of his early 
 youth, the first pledge of connubial love !'* 
 
 •^^ Oh ! in pity, cease, my good Sir!" 
 exclaimed Mrs. Ancaster, '' and do not 
 conjure up so Jerrific a catalogue of the 
 dismal, as you really will deprive your 
 friends of all amusement at the forthcom- 
 ing ball." 
 
 " You incline, then, to form one of the" 
 assembly?" said Mrs. Moreland. 
 
 ^^ Certainly I shall be happy to accom- 
 
 fi 3 pany.
 
 78 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 pany, or perhaps, if you still maintain yoiir 
 dereliction to balls, I may prove useful as 
 a chaperon to Lady Zitella Herbert/' 
 
 ''Her Ladyship does not go into public/* 
 said the Doctor hastily ; "^ she awaits the 
 arrival of her uncle, ere she makes her 
 debut. A charge of such magnitude com- 
 mitted to my care, renders me particularly 
 cautious for her appearance in society ; 
 and in compliance with my wishes, or ra- 
 ther apprehensions. Lady Zitella has kindly 
 consented, whatever may be her inclina- 
 tion, whieh^ to own the truth, has never 
 been consulted, to continue in total retire- 
 ment, until the return of Mr. Nugent." 
 
 " Behold one of the miseries of an heir- 
 ess !" said Mrs. Ancaster, laughing — '^ were 
 your Ladyship a less precious treasure, ei- 
 ther from a failure in personal or golden 
 attraction, you might th^n, with impunity, 
 taste the pleasures of a ball. Thank Hea- 
 ven, I never was an heiress ! ' all for love' 
 could alone have been the motto of my 
 knight-errant; nor had I even beauty ta 
 
 attract :
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. ' 79^ 
 
 nttract : and Cupid must have rendered his 
 Tictim as blind as himself, when he stamp- 
 ed poor Alicia's image on his heart/* 
 
 '' Happy Alicia ! " thought Zitella, '' thrice 
 happvj in the conviction of having inspired 
 a pure and disinterested passion in the breast 
 of him who claims a husband's dearest title I" 
 
 The ball was forgotten, the remembrance 
 of the last admonitions of her mother alone 
 rested on the mind of our heroine, and a 
 sigh closed the painful impression^ that she 
 might never know the happiness of a dis- 
 interested, individual affection; ''at least/' 
 she added, '' heavy clouds of doubt must 
 ever lower over my horizon of love/'' 
 
 The following day, Mrs. Moreland^ feel- 
 ing the necessity of subscribing to the in- 
 clinations of her guest, made arrangements 
 for attending the assize ball ; and the Doc- 
 tor, although reprobating the practice, was 
 too ranch accustomed to acquiesce in the 
 wishes of his cara sposa, not to be finally 
 persuaded to form one of the party; al- 
 though we must do the benevolence of his 
 
 E 4 heart
 
 80 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 heart the justice to affirm, that it suffered 
 far more pain than pleasure in the destined 
 assignment of the evening hours. 
 
 Lady Zitella Herbert ani Mrs. Mulgrave 
 were consequently left to the enjoyment 
 of a tete-d-lete ; and the aged monitress, 
 upon observing her voung friend listening 
 with silent attention to the receding wheels 
 of the carriage which conveyed away the 
 ball party, thus addressed her : — " I grieve 
 for your disappointment, my dear girl, in 
 an exclusion from the gay amusements of 
 this evening; but I am convinced you pro- 
 perly appreciate the necessity of the pre- 
 sent conduct of Dr. Moreland.** 
 
 *' Indeed I do, my dear Madam, most 
 painfully discern it ; and the cause affects 
 ine far more than the effect.'' 
 
 " Ah, my love, you will soon be recon- 
 ciled to the cause, when other effects are 
 pro- Hiced from it. The splendour of your 
 chbiit^ the flattering homage of all around, 
 the universal voice of adulation, and that 
 littk minutia of attention, so adroitly min- 
 gled
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 81 
 
 gled in that deference which will be paid, 
 will administer a kind of enchanted happi- 
 ness, that human optics cannot penetrate/' 
 
 ''No, ah no!*' exclaimed Zitella — '' I 
 shall rather feel myself but as a cypher, 
 whose oolden characters alone attract the 
 eyes of observation. Can I know myself a 
 selected dupe for the idle homage of mer- 
 cenary man, the goal of the mere fortune- 
 hunter's ambition, and yet be happy ? No^ 
 Madam ; .the only stimulus which renders^ 
 me anxious to emerge from seclusion, is 
 the wish to hold out a useful lesson, and 
 teach imperious man, that the female mind 
 has strength to pierce the flimsy veil of 
 flattery, to discern its source, and reject 
 the deceitful homage of mercenary pas- 
 sion; to teach the vain pretender^ that the 
 female bosom may contain a heart, whose 
 conquest is unattainable by such ignoble^ 
 unworthy artifice." 
 
 " Oh, Zitella ! this language is the so- 
 phistry of pride; it may blaze awhile, but 
 love will eventually overturn the impe- 
 
 E 5 rious
 
 82 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 
 
 rious fabric of mental defiance \vith one 
 touch of his magic wand, and !)estow his 
 own vivid tints to the colouringr of siir- 
 rounding objects." 
 
 *' Love!*' repeated Zitella, and contempt 
 hung upon her lip^ while the heightened 
 bloom of her cheek yielded force to the 
 reiteration of the word — '' love! Mrs. Mul- 
 grave, I imagined, I had flattered myself, 
 you had already known this proad tenant- 
 better;'* and, placing her hand with energy 
 on her heart, '' May it cease to beat, ere 
 it tamely bend to a pusillanimous, unwor- 
 thy attachment ! for, if reason must be the 
 sacrifice, then, oh love 1 be thou ever an 
 alien to my bosom V* 
 
 Tears filled the eyes of Mrs. Mulgrave — 
 *' Alas, my child, I fear thy firmness; thy 
 sensibility is far too acute for this security: 
 the haughtiness of thy soul may war with 
 the softer inclinations of thy heart awhile, 
 but thou wilt suffer, I fear, severely, from 
 the mingled extremes of thy character." 
 
 "No, my respected friend; the extremes 
 
 of
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 8S 
 
 of my character will, I trust, like the dis- 
 tant poles, turn faithful on the same axis, 
 and that axis will, I yet hope, be reason. 
 Born and educated in rural seclusion, I 
 still, from the kind precepts of a mother, 
 have been saved from the romantic senti- 
 mentality of passion ; her sad history has 
 convinced me, that matured esteem is the 
 only firm basis of a ratioaal, happy attach- 
 ment. In my search for a husband, there- 
 fore,** she added, with a faint smile, '' 1 
 trust, the mantle of folly attached to Cu- 
 pid, will not enwrap my judgment: I have 
 been taught circumspection, by the cruel 
 lesson of a parent's wedded misery.*' 
 
 "Yes, Zitella; but remember to mark 
 strongly the line between circumspection 
 and fastidiousness; do not suffer the head 
 entirely to take the lead, and act indepen- 
 dently of the heart, when the cold reasou- 
 ing of the former would annihilate the 
 feelings of the latter — the mind may have 
 visionary speculations, quite as erring as 
 the vital tenement: a palace of truth is not 
 
 E 6 formed
 
 84 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 formed for an earthly territory; human 
 frailty will prevail, even in the most ex- 
 alted characters; and, like the Phanor of 
 De Gen lis, we may too late discover, we 
 have refined away contentment, in a vain 
 search after perfection. That passion which 
 arises merely from personal admiration, 
 and in fact is but the love of the eyes, 
 not of the heart, will never, I am convin- 
 ced^ take effect on you, else I should 
 strengthen your present impressions; but 
 I well know, mind will be a first requisite- 
 in your destined partner ; and I am alsa 
 aware, that, destitute of it, an Adonis were 
 impotent to assail your affections. I am 
 likewise sensible, that your delicacy is not 
 likely to subscribe to the absurd and trite 
 maxim, of a reformed rake making the best 
 husband ; and therefore it is I can venture 
 to inspire somewhat more leniency into 
 your estimate of mankind, than I would 
 venture to extend to almost any other 
 young woman under similar circumstances. 
 I am no proselyte to romance; its frolic 
 
 vagaries
 
 THE MISEP.IES 0T AN HEIRESS. 85 
 
 Tagaries may have amiisedj but have rever 
 deluded me; its vivid colouiing hah at- 
 tracted, but never deceived me : yet I 
 would view this intuitive emotion of the 
 bosom even in a moral light As a senti- 
 ment, this potent love has dege:. erated 
 into the sickly morbidness of perverted 
 fancy; as a passion, if \ures to Griminality ; 
 but, as a feeling, it is one of the noblest 
 emotions of the breast: and Heaven surely 
 formed the huiran heai-t for its reception, 
 even from the first st^cr^e of mnn's creation;, 
 for, in the joys of paradise, this social af- 
 fection was sanctioned. Let not woman 
 then presumpttiously defy this intuitive in- 
 mate, but rather let her g^.ard tiie soil where 
 it springs, with a fence of protecting vir- 
 tues, that no subtle pretender may gain 
 entrance through any weak or unguarf'ed 
 avenue, but preserve it for a lawful mo- 
 narch, who, bowing to the controul of re- 
 lit/ion and moralitv, acknowledges ^heir 
 supremacy; and the territory, under s'.ich 
 dominion, may '' flourish in immortal 
 youth." 
 
 CHAP,
 
 S6 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIREOSi- 
 
 3S5 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Most arts require long study and application; but the mofrt^ 
 useful art of all, that of pleasing, requires only the desire. 
 
 Chesterfieli?. 
 
 Modern Chit-chat ^ or a great Deal expended on- 
 
 Nothing, 
 
 Having retired to rest Ions: before the hour 
 that the ball party reached the Hall, Zitella, 
 the next morning, felt a natural curiosity 
 to receive, from Mrs. Ancaster, some ac- 
 count of the evening's amusement, and an- 
 ticipated much pleasure in -its gratification; 
 it 'vvas therefore with some disappointment 
 that our heroine heard the apologies of 
 fatigue, on the part of that lady, for not 
 attending the breakfast summons. Mrs, 
 Moreland, however, informed her, that the 
 
 curate
 
 TITE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. $7 
 
 airate of the village, his ^vife and daugh- 
 ter, as also two military friends of Mrs. An- 
 caster, had been invited to dine with them 
 that day. 
 
 In a mansion where retirement had, for 
 ages, uniformly prevailed,, even this small 
 party was an event that occasioned some 
 little commotion in the household. jMrs. 
 Mulgrave, who had been inured to the 
 public life the house of a commanding 
 officer necessarily presents, smiled at the 
 importance attached to the arrival of the 
 bidden guests; while Lady Zitella, having, 
 for many months, resided in the dissipated 
 abode of her father, and still bearing in re- 
 membrance the crowded dinner-parties of 
 his noble connexionSj of which she had 
 injudiciously been sulTered to become a 
 member, experienced no timid apprehen- 
 sion, no fearful tremour, at the arrival of 
 the exoected strans^ers: although novelists 
 usually conceive these as indispensible at- 
 tractions to a lovely heroine, " Mushing 
 mih terror" at x\\e return of a bow, or 
 
 3 *' dumb
 
 88 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 ^' dumb with alarm" at the most common: 
 expressions of gallantry. 
 
 Lady Zitella Herbert, with a goodly por- 
 tion of ihat commodity styled vanity, had 
 yet not sufficient to imagine every man 
 who addressed her with complimentary 
 elegance, inspired by passion, and there- 
 fore could very composedly receive, and^ 
 reply to language that she estimated with 
 proper indifference. Fully aware of the 
 higher orbit in which hereditary distinc- 
 tion placed her, she felt the anxious and 
 laudable desire to fill her station v/ith that 
 dignity of character^ which might yields 
 real elevation to mere heraldic distinction. 
 
 *' What an unaccountable heroine!" 
 many a sylvan sentimentalist will naturally> 
 exclaim — " not a trace of naivete, no dear 
 interesting timidity, no sweet innocent ig- 
 norance, which we all admit as its first in- 
 gredients." 
 
 To such an assertion, what dare I reply? 
 Shall I presume to overturn the established 
 rules of the novelist school, and venture 
 
 to
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIBESS. 89 
 
 to produce a heroine who violates its im- 
 perious statutes? — Ye votaries of noveliij, 
 on you I rely for support, in this derelic- 
 tion from antecedent custom, since the na- 
 z'vete composed of such ingredients, is a 
 stranger to the young Zitella : she will 
 never create a duel between her lovers, 
 from ignorance of the most common re- 
 gulations of society; she will never faint 
 at the rudeness oi a fashionable stare, nor 
 will she repeat to any man she loves him,- 
 in the perfect ignorance that she is tender- 
 ing encouragement by the profession ; 
 and, what is still more unaccountable, she 
 will never adopt any expression of equi- 
 vocal phraseology, that may tend to raise 
 a blush on the cheek of a more experi- 
 enced female, while, with the smile that 
 evinced perfect com.prehension of her own 
 allusion, assures her sage admonishcr, she 
 had erred from ''pure naivete.'* An intui- 
 tive delicacy will protect the language of 
 Zitella from impropriety ; rational obser- 
 vation., her manner from rusticity; unaf- 
 fected.
 
 50 THE MISEEIES OF AN HEIRESS, 
 
 fected, but not simple; true modesty, but 
 not bashful timidity, is the resident of her 
 heart. 
 
 Behold, then, tlvis strange heroine of our 
 memoir enter the drawing-room where the 
 guests were assembling, supporting the in- 
 iirm steps of Mrs. Mulgrave, without the 
 slightest emblem of embarrassment or con- 
 fusion. The old-fashioned country custom 
 of presentation yet appertaining to Sudley 
 Hall, the appellations of '^ Major Ham- 
 mond," and " Captain Fletcher,'* were at- 
 tached to the military visitants in that ce- 
 remony. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Gifford and his worthy 
 partner, had been long knawn to Lady Zi- 
 tella Herbert, but the daughter had been 
 absent, for the last four monthSj at Bath, 
 with the Lady of Sir Cecil Farnham,. Lord 
 of the manor, and had only returned the 
 preceding week into Dorsetshire ; her La- 
 dyship having conceived^ that giving a 
 fine, shewy, animated girl, the run of a Bath 
 se^sgn, in the hope Ker face would pur- 
 chase
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN nEIRESS^ 91 
 
 chase a husband, was a most laudable act 
 of charity. Scarcely could Zitella, how- 
 ever, now recognize a former acquaint- 
 ance, the playfellow of her childish 
 sports, in the present Miss GifTord, whose 
 fashionable, though not decent, habili- 
 ments, rouged cheeks, and tonish effron- 
 tery of manner, little accorded with the 
 plain, unassuming dress and demeanour of 
 her far more respectable parents. 
 
 With the recognition of a former friend, 
 the hand of Zitella was involuntarily ex- 
 tended ; but the confident familiarity, the 
 olfensive assurance, of a girl who had been 
 suddenly introduced, by the folly of her 
 benefactress,, into a sphere of life little 
 calculated to promote her real advantage^ 
 so completely disgusted her former com- 
 panion, that an involuntary reserve, a re- 
 pellant retreat, from renewed intimacy, 
 suddenly succeeded her first spontaneous 
 cordiality. The superficial observer might 
 have imputed this change of conduct to 
 the pride of rank; but Mrs. Mulgrave, who^ 
 
 analyzed
 
 &2 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 analyzed each movement of the heart of 
 her vounsf friend,, traced therein no haugh- 
 ty distance to the curate's daughter, but a 
 disgust to the character of her who bore 
 that appellation. 
 
 Major Hammond and Captain Fletcher 
 %yere engaged more immediately in con- 
 versation with the Dean of L and Dr. 
 
 Moreland, when their attention v/as sud- 
 denly diverted by the entrance of Mrs. 
 Ancaster. Her hair, naturally fine, was 
 dressed with a simplicity that aided the ge- 
 neral juvenility of her appearance; and 
 her bosom, improved by the auxiliary of a 
 fashionable corset^ was covered with a lace 
 shirtj of such delicate texture, that it be- 
 nefitted the complexion, without conceal- 
 ing the form of a bosom, which was cer- 
 tainly the only critical personal attraction 
 of Mrs. Ancaster. The pristine languor of 
 her eyes was superceded by the animation 
 of unaffected pleasure, which gave to her 
 winning smile more of soul and expres- 
 sion than it had heretofore displayed. — 
 
 The
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 9 
 
 » 
 
 The simplicity of her address was un- 
 changing, and the most invincible good 
 humour gave a heightened charm to every 
 feature; while, for the first time since her 
 entrance into Sudley Kail, conversation 
 gained an auxiliary in her efibrts for its 
 support. 
 
 Major Hammond was one of those guests 
 who, for the first day^ are entertaining; 
 the second, amusing; and, the third, insi- 
 pid. He had a few ready hm mots, a few 
 light anecdotes, a few set phrases,, and a 
 few ready compliments ; but such ammu- 
 nition could not last long, and, when once 
 expended^ this military magazine was ex- 
 hausted. ' 
 
 The character of Captain Flet^ner w^as 
 like the symbol of eternity, with neither a 
 beginning nor an end ; and, like most un- 
 deviating rounds, formed nothing. 
 
 We have ushered this gentleman into 
 our narrative with a simile, in compliance 
 with his own inclinations for that meta- 
 phorical illustration, since his compliments ' 
 
 swam
 
 94 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 swam in the luxury of this poetic embel- 
 lishment, and unfortunately never failed 
 to appear most ironical^ when most exerted 
 to convey real intended approbation. But 
 Captain Fletcher boasted the originality of 
 his compliments; and this claim to super- 
 eminence was not likely to be disputed by 
 his brother officer?, who, however, felt no 
 inclination to repress that ridiculous hy- 
 perbole of gallantry, which afforded the 
 mirthful amusement of many a festive and 
 convivial hour. 
 
 After the first general conversation, the 
 Major, addressing Mrs. An caster, informed 
 her, that, soon after her departure from 
 Bath, he had the honour of seeing her sis- 
 ter, then just arrived in that city. 
 
 " And greeted the fair as beautiful as 
 ever, no doubt?" said Mrs. Ancaster. 
 
 " Yes, a very Medician statue V* replied 
 Hammond, with a half smile, that left it 
 doubtful whether it meant to compliment 
 the perfect symmetry, or satirize the ina- 
 nimate coldness, of the lady in question. 
 
 " All
 
 THE "Mr5ERn:s of an heiress. 95 
 
 *' All Bath were in ecstacies, I conclude," 
 rejoln-ed the formei*; '* Lady Dorville was 
 doubtless the object of universal interest 
 and attention ?" 
 
 '' No, my dear Madam, simply of atten- 
 tion ; interest had fled with her Ladyship's 
 sister/' and the Major bowed with infinite 
 address to the object of his indirect gal- 
 lantry. 
 
 " Thou uncourteous mortal V exclaimed 
 Mrs. Ancaster, affecting to misinterpret the 
 declaration, " thus openly to avow, that 
 Bath was rejoiced to be freed from a being 
 so little ornamental as myself, and were 
 unanimously interested in my departure ! 
 But, alas! my sister and myself were in- 
 deed never formed to move in the same 
 hemisphere." 
 
 *' Indeed I think not/' said Fletcher — 
 '' you are distant as the orbs of day and 
 night. Lady Dorville, like the moon, yields 
 a light, beautiful; though cold and wan, 
 which imparts no genial warmth ; although 
 it shines with ethereal brilliance, the eyes 
 
 of
 
 96 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 of man may contemplate it fearless^ %vith a 
 stedfast admiring survey : but, like the 
 dazzling globe of morning, you impart life 
 and animation to creation ; mortal vision, 
 when presumptuously raised to you, is 
 overpowered by your brilliance ; yet is 
 nature invigorated by your vivid powers !'* 
 The laugh of Mrs. Ancaster was infinitely 
 natural, as she received this glowing effu- 
 sion wholly in the ridiculous. " Now I 
 really give you great credit. Captain Flet- 
 cher, for the formation of a compliment 
 that the vainest female in creation could 
 not misinterpret into any thing short of 
 irony : but to think of comparing poor 
 Lady Dorville to ' the inconstant moon,* 
 she who is constancy's self, who never de- 
 viated to the right nor the left since she 
 renounced her leading-strings, and who 
 never yet lost her level, in thought, word, 
 or deed ! — But I know, from experience^ 
 you are a votary of Momus, and the spirit 
 of ironic vivacity will never spare either 
 friend or foe, else I had preferred a hum- 
 ble
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 97" 
 
 hie petition^ signed by the former appella- 
 tion, to rescue me from this laughing satire/' 
 '^ Vivacity the presence of Mrs. Ancaster 
 never fails to inspire; but no praises, how- 
 ever strongly couched, can be deemed 
 irony, when addressed to one so deserv- 
 edly the universal favourite of our isle." 
 Then, with some little alteration of a just 
 metre, added — 
 
 <' Without the smile from thy partial beauty won. 
 Oh ! what were man ?— A world without a sun •.'* 
 
 '^ Ah, gallant knight ! but I fear, like 
 Svlvester Da^gerwood's orb of li^ht, mine 
 will be a sun seen behind a cloud !'* 
 
 '' A correct simile indeed !" subjoined 
 Hammond; " for thy sun would pierce 
 through every envious cloud." 
 
 '•' You appear to have soared to the 
 clouds. Major, and therefore, no doubt, can 
 expatiate at large on your new region of 
 discovery. I only grieve you should have 
 made a voyage to so desert an island; but, 
 having dene so, r commend you for making 
 the best of a sorry subject.'* 
 
 VOL. I. F ^' I did
 
 98 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 " I did not before mention, I believe, 
 ttiat rhad the honour of being presented 
 to Lady Dorville, at Bath, a few weeks 
 since/' interrupted Miss Gifford, who ap- 
 peared by no means pleased to behold the 
 two military beaux engrossed by Mrs. An- 
 caster, and embraced this method of join- 
 ing in the conversation, at all events. 
 
 *' Were you indeed?'* was the careless 
 reply ; and again the envied wife turned 
 towards h^r male auditors; but one had 
 already taken his seat, at some distance, 
 next Lady Zitella Herbert. 
 
 Upon perceiving this arrangement, she 
 immediately exclaimed — *' 'You were a 
 most admirable shield. Captain Fletcher; 
 for, like most benefits received, I did not 
 know your full value until I had lost you : 
 but this fire absolutely scorches me ; there- 
 fore, pray give me a substitute for your 
 good offices, in that screen.'* 
 
 The obedient Fletcher rose, and with' 
 alacrity handed the useful appendage, 
 
 when
 
 TH2 MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 99 
 
 when he was again returning to his seat by 
 Zitella, but was arrested by the exclama- 
 
 • 
 
 tion of, *' Ah, Heavens ! in pity, remove 
 it!" and, covering her eyes with infinite 
 playful grace, the fair speaker continued — • 
 *' I could not support so direful an object 
 before my sight, for the uni\^rse ! — Dear 
 Mrs. Moreland, what Gothic ancestor could 
 have had the barbarous, callous heart, to 
 "work poor Daniel in the lion's den on this 
 antique frame ? — It is, in every respect, a 
 cruel work,*' she added, alluding to the 
 worsted performance — " the very sight of 
 the ravenous animals is electrifying ; a; id I 
 absolutely tremble at the long white teeth 
 of the senior-looking gentleman/' 
 
 *^ Then, for once," said Fletcher, " let 
 me boast of being the asgis of Pallas ;" ana, 
 instantly removing the screen, , took thar 
 station himself. 
 
 ^' And you really then consider yourse^^ 
 a less disagreeable object than the tcrrif 
 lords of the forest.'^" resumed Mrs. Ancas 
 
 f2 Ur,
 
 100 ^fHE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 ter, ^vithoiit however dissenting from the 
 movement. 
 
 " A less dangerous one, at least/' was the 
 reply. 
 
 '' That is a very modest declaration, for 
 the present day; and I delight to w^elcome 
 that rm^a avis, whenever it appears." 
 
 '' Give us credit, however, for our at- 
 tempts ; for we were at least willing to 
 amuse you, by a sight of the lions oi^ this 
 neighbourhood," said the Doctor good- 
 naturedly, having actually removed the in- 
 iiocently-ofTending screen yet farther into 
 the background ; '^ so do not, I implore, 
 be too severe on the exhibition.** 
 
 '' Indeed, my dear friend, you know not 
 how highly I estimate your kind inten- 
 tions ; but I have alv;ays had a natural an- 
 tipathy to lions, of every description." 
 
 '' Except lions of the field,*' said Miss 
 Gifford pertly, while she looked signifi- 
 cantly- towards the militarv heroes. 
 
 '^ Thanks, my fair frieiK!, for your exal- 
 tation/'
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIKESS*. IG'l 
 
 tation/' said Fletcher; '^ the mighty bard 
 of old transformed us into * clogs of zcar/ 
 but you have elevated us to roval simili- 
 tude with a monarch, at once renowned 
 for coura<]^e and ma^i^Raniirij'tv/' 
 
 " I fear Shakespeare knew ns better 
 though/' said Hammond laughing, ** and 
 foresaw the puppies into which our race 
 would degenerate^ when he gave us for our 
 ancestors^ * the dogs of urir/* 
 
 *^ Mv dear Sir/* said the erudite Mrs, 
 ;More1and, who had no idea of an attempt 
 to play upon any term of her immortal fa- 
 vourite, " you have strangely misconceived 
 the application of that verse of Julius Ca?sar, 
 to which I imairine you must alli^de. In 
 those earlier ages of barbarism, animals of 
 that description were literally trained in 
 the service of the state, and let loose in the 
 field of slaughter." 
 
 *' \Vere they indeed, my dear Madam?" 
 said the Major, stroking his chin with af- 
 fected gravity ; '^ it is a pity you cannot 
 
 F 3 impart
 
 J 02 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 impart the art to those of our own coun- 
 try — the English bull-dof^." 
 
 " It would be the saving of an infinitude 
 of puppies, no doubt," said Mrs. Mulgrave 
 "a little angrily, " according to your own 
 appropriation of the title. Major Ham- 
 mond.** 
 
 " Nay, my dear Madam,'* rejoined Zi- 
 ♦ella, *^ now you are severe; but, since 
 the days of our unfortunate Charles, the 
 descendants of Britain have been more in- 
 clined to exterminate than encourage the 
 siavage warfare." 
 
 '* I never disparage the scarlet race,*' 
 said Mrs. Ancaster, '' since it would be the 
 extreme of ingratitude in me to act thus, 
 the deanry has been so much indebted to 
 
 the garrison of L for its gaiety ; but 
 
 more immediately to your regiment. Major 
 —you were the very creatures formed to 
 amuse; dancers, singers, actors, at plea- 
 sure, ' all things by turns, and nothing 
 long." 
 
 "• What
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIKESS. I OS 
 
 ^ What a distinguishing host of perfec- 
 Itions !" said Mrs. Mulgrave,,'*' surely they 
 should be immortalized, at least by female 
 favour, so admirably are they adapted for 
 feminine danglers : and now, in return for 
 their kind eiTort^^, 1 hope the Dean played 
 his pari with as just alacrity, and supported 
 a character in his own diocese?" 
 
 *' He supported his own, my dear Ma- 
 dam," replied Mrs. Ancastcr, '' and he 
 could not have selected one that would 
 have pleased us more." 
 
 •* It did not please himself/* added the 
 Dean gravely. 
 
 *' Then it was doubly kind of you," sub- 
 joined the fair Alicia, with unmoved sweet- 
 ness of physiognomy, while she raised her 
 smilino^ eves to his. 
 
 The countenance of the divine softened^ 
 he tendered no reply, but advanced to- 
 wards a picture that hung near a windoMr 
 m the further part of the room, and ten- 
 dered an enquiry as to the view it repre- 
 sented. 
 
 » 4 ^ Fort
 
 104 THE >fl.SXR?ES OF AN HBllVBSS. 
 
 " Fort W}]-Iiam, in the settlement of 
 Bengal/* was the reply of Dr. Moreland ; 
 and, whether from fancy or reality. Lady 
 Zitella thought she drscerned a sudden 
 change in the countenance of the Dean ; 
 at all events, he certainly turned abruptly 
 fsom the picture, and, seating himself in 
 the window, seemed lost in abstraction. 
 
 There was, in the manner of this gentle- 
 man, somewhat which interested Zitella far 
 more than that of his lady : his disinterest- 
 ed, undeviating attachment, for the long- 
 established partner of his life^ was, to her, 
 a resistless ti^ait of amiability of character; 
 for she imagined a heart, capable of ho- 
 nourable and generous love, to rest on the 
 bighest pinnacle of excellence, and mourn- 
 ed that secret source of gloom, which seem- 
 ed alone to cloud the hemisphere of the 
 most consummate wedded happiness she 
 had yet witnessed. ■ 
 
 The dinner summons was soon issued, 
 and, at table, Hammond became the neigh- 
 bour of Zitella. A tcte-d-tete conversation 
 
 ensued.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIlRESS. 105 
 
 •ensued, and she found him, what he always 
 appeared, on first acquaintance, an agree- 
 able and entertaining companion. Mrs. 
 Ancaster, however, either from dislike to 
 seeing him wholly engrossed by another, 
 or from the more laudable motive of en- 
 livening the party, paved the way to ge- 
 neral conversation, by addressing those on 
 the opposite side of the table, and soon 
 drew universal attention on herself, by her 
 own individual exertions to support each 
 successive discourse, which she did with 
 much versatility of language, displaying 
 therein an animation very different to their 
 former languid, laconic sentences ; yet it 
 was an animation so mellowed by a natural 
 sweetness of countenance, that it gave 
 lightness, but not levity, to her manner; 
 and while she fascinated, by incessant at- 
 tention, and an endeavour to please and 
 amuse ev^ry man around her, yet, at the 
 moment of her most marked triumphs, she 
 disclaimed every pretension to this devo- 
 tion ; but, while she accepted their com- 
 
 F 5 pliments.
 
 106 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 pliments, with professed belief of their 
 ironical tendency, in conveying undeserv- 
 ed praise, she smiled so sweetly on the 
 speaker, who had before, in reality, admi- 
 tiistered the flattery of unmeaning gallan- 
 try, that the apparently-unaffected smile, 
 and the professed diffidence of her own 
 attraction, would have rendered her ad- 
 mirer displeased at the coldness of his own 
 phraseology. 
 
 Satisfaction pervaded every countenance^ 
 but, on that of the Dean, sat the exultation 
 bf a far more tender gratification ; his heart 
 shone in his intelligent features, they beam^ 
 edwith unqualified, unalloyed admiration ; 
 for his heart was pregnant with the fond 
 confidence of the husband, mingled with 
 the enthusiastic delight of the lover; and 
 even Miss GiflTord whispered Lady Zitella^ 
 that Mrs. Ancaster was far superior to b-er 
 beautiful sister. 
 
 €HAP,
 
 THE MISEJIIES OF AN HEIRESS* l-Q?" 
 
 CHAP. vr. 
 
 ^ For love pursues an ever-devious race,- 
 True to the winding lineaments of graoe»* 
 
 r watch the wheels of Nature's mazy plan. 
 
 Cam PB ELL'.- 
 
 Eveviual Effects from contradictory Causes^, 
 
 Major Hammond and Captain Fletcher 
 were frequent visitors at the Hall, during 
 tiie fortnight that the Ancasters were visi- 
 tants at Sudley; and the time passed with 
 unusual gaiety in the Moreland family, by 
 this addition to their society, together with 
 the ever-animated exertions of Mrs. Ancas- 
 ter to entertain, whenever the military he- 
 r©es were of the circle. 
 
 IT 6 Between
 
 108 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Between the Dean and Zitella, a greater 
 degree of intimacy subsisted, than with his- 
 lady : slie found him, upon farther ac- 
 quaintance, a rational and instructive com- 
 panion, who, without ever soarinor to the 
 higher pinnacle of brilliance, cleared the 
 line of mediocriiv, ap.d she derived mucb 
 pleasure from his conversation. 
 
 The farev>'ell of Mrs. An caster was in^ 
 character with her first greeting : she press- 
 ed the hand of each of her kind friends- 
 with equal tenderness, and, with mucb 
 s%veetness of expression, lamented that she 
 could not, in- compliance with their mutual" 
 wishes, extend her visit ; then stepped into 
 the carriage, with quite as light a step as 
 she had first descended from it, to behold 
 her estimable relations. 
 
 The day succeeding their departure. Lady 
 Zit^lla Herbert and Mrs. Molgrave being 
 qtifietlv seated in a summer-house, erected 
 at ihe extremity of the garden, which was 
 the limits of l^he'diairnal walk of the htter, 
 our heroine eajrnestly requested the long- 
 promised
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 100 
 
 promised memoir of her new acquaintance; 
 to which her asred friend reolied — '' Yes. 
 my love, your request shall be complied 
 with; but remember, 1 forewarn you to 
 anticipate nothing strange or marvellous 
 connected with this family history, o^ vOu 
 will be woefully disappointed ; and having 
 thus premised, in the true narrative style, 
 permit me to commence. 
 
 '' Blanch and Alicia were tl^e only chiK 
 dren of Sir William Lister— a baronetage, 
 to which a large hereditaiy fortune was at- 
 tached, and this consequently did not ad- 
 Tantage the females of the family, while 
 the next male branch stood* only in the re- 
 lative deo^ree of cousin, a vouth who did 
 not inherit any portioH of ^he regard of 
 Sir William, whose sole affections of heart 
 and mind, as well- as thof-e of his Lady, 
 centered in their first-born, to the total ex- 
 clusion of her sister. 
 
 *' From her cradle, Blanch Lister w^s the 
 acknowledged offspring of beauty, I cannot 
 say, of Venus, for her's was a face, a form, 
 
 too
 
 110 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS* 
 
 foo cold for the creation of the goddess of 
 love : her appearance was weU calculated^ 
 for the personification of serenity, con- 
 tent, or peace; more than one modern: 
 sculplor had chiselled, from her features, 
 a Grecian model, and the first artist of the- 
 day had drawn her as the sleeping beauty. 
 
 " This precise mechanism of nature ex- 
 tended to her mind: she had memory to 
 retain, but no ideas to analyze; she re- 
 peated what she had learned, with correct- 
 ness of diction, but she failed in ability to 
 investigate its signification ; her iindet- 
 standing was like a dictionary, where words 
 are arranged in systematic order, without 
 comprising one sentence of information^ 
 collectively. 
 
 " This mere machine of beauty seemed 
 destitute of a single active spring, and, to 
 me, ever appeared like Patience sitting to 
 be admired, satisfied that .the issue could> 
 not be otherwise than it ever had been. 
 
 *' The parental breast is particularly alive 
 to beauties in its oflfspring, and this unjust 
 
 distinction
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. Ill 
 
 distinction of the respective claimants of 
 their regard, is too often the sole source 
 of those family-dissentions which arise from 
 favourite children : it was thus with both 
 Sir William an^ Lady Lister, whose vanity- 
 was infinitely more vivid than that of their 
 daughter, notwithstanding their laudable 
 endeavours to pTant its seeds even in the 
 cradle of infancy ; never was child more 
 admired, more caressed, more extolled, or 
 more adored, than Blanch; but Alicia, the 
 neglected, the despised offspring of this- 
 unjust pair, wsfs no bud of personal pro- 
 mise; aJid while one nourished blossom of 
 beauty was fostered in the hot-bed of inr 
 dulgence, the humble floweret, that was 
 confused with the common many, was con- 
 demned, unsheltered, to stem the storms 
 of life ; while every effort was made by 
 parental sternness to crush the unoffending 
 bud, because it displayed not the rich hues 
 ©f its sister plant! 
 
 " Taught to believe herself very inferior 
 in creation, the sound of affection was a 
 
 stranger 
 3
 
 1 12 THE MISERIES OV AN HEIRESS. 
 
 straiif^er to Alicia^ for even the domestics in 
 attendance soon acquired the manner and 
 habits of their superiors ; and when they 
 beheld that the most ready access to the 
 favour of Sir William and their Lady^ was 
 to extol the elder at the expence of the 
 junior, they failed not to oflcr the advan- 
 tageous homage. * 
 
 " Blanch heard nought but the words of 
 praise and adulation — ^Alicia none, save 
 those of censure and contempt. The an- 
 niversary of the seventeenth year of Miss 
 Lister was celebrated with festive splen- 
 dour; the beautiful idol was then first pre- 
 sented to the world, and an admiring croud 
 gazed on this mould of female perfection. 
 She accompanied her parents to the me- 
 tropolis, while the disregarded Alicia was 
 suffered to remain in their country man- 
 sion in Suffolk, under the care of her go- 
 verness, a woman who, contented with 
 systematically attending her lessons of iii- 
 sti^uction at stated hours, suffered the in- 
 iermediate ones to be passed at pleasure by 
 
 her
 
 ' THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 115 
 
 her neglected pupfl. The heroine of my 
 little memoir was then not sixteen ; and a 
 person which, in childhood, was just pass- 
 able — an intermediate standard between 
 beauty and plainness, h^d now expanded 
 into somewhat more pleading to the eve; 
 while her really angelic disposition/cruelly 
 tortured by the unfeeling contempt and 
 unjust dislike of her relations, became 
 tinged with a pensive despondencv, that 
 communicated its influence to her counte- 
 nance, and added an interest to her fea- 
 tures, that rendered their deficiency in cri- 
 tical beauty less observable. 
 
 '' An interesting person is perhaps that 
 "^vhich most irrevocably binds; beauty will 
 ever assail the heart, but interest is the 
 '«ealed magnet of the lover — it is sure to 
 win where first it touches; and, if the con- 
 quests are fewer, those attained are more 
 durable. Women of critically-proportion- 
 ed beauty, who preserve only the cold out- 
 line of perfection, I have always, remarked, 
 
 in
 
 1 14 THE MISERIES OF AK HE1RES5. 
 
 in my journey through life^, attain more 
 admirers than devoted suitors; the former 
 attracts the adulating gaze, but expression 
 is the soul of love. I mean not, however^ 
 to affirm, that the countenance of Alicia 
 partook of that varied glow of attraction ; 
 but there was an irresistible sweetness, an 
 unaifected diffidence, that circumstance had 
 engendered, and a natural smoothness of 
 temper, that the harsh lesson o? early mis* 
 fortune had tended to foster, while the wit^ 
 chery of native grace threw a veil over 
 every personal imperfection. 
 
 " Such was the junior daughter of Sir 
 William Lister, in the meridian of youth : 
 very many years have passed since then, 
 yet still the resemblance lives, although 
 its lineaments are fainter. The curate of 
 the adjacent village of Farley was, at that 
 time, Maurice Ancaster — you have seen 
 him, you have conversed with him, there- 
 fore personal description were needless; 
 but of his prospects or his family, yoik 
 
 know
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 115 
 
 know nothing; of that therefore it may be 
 necessary to speak, for the full completion 
 of my simple narrative. . , 
 
 *' He is the son of a West Indian^ a man 
 addicted to the lowest vices; profuse 
 without generosity, ostentatious without 
 liberality, and arrogant without dignity, 
 he was destitute of principle, honour, or 
 aflection. His wife, an European of family 
 and fortune, had disobliged her connexions 
 by this erring election, and finally died af 
 a broken heart, caused by his ill treatment, 
 in a country where she was throw^n wholly 
 on his protection^ an alien from her own 
 friends. 
 
 " The only offspring of this marriage 
 exists in the present divine : he was, at an 
 ^arly age, sent to England for his educa- 
 tion, and has received the most liberal this 
 country affords. At the completion of his 
 studies, he was, by imperious mandate, 
 again summoned to the island of Barba- 
 does. He returned thither, to behold his 
 father sunk into the most abject debauch- 
 ery :
 
 116 THE MISERIES OF AN «EIKESS, 
 
 cry: a mulatto mistress^ abandoned as biHff- 
 self, beaded his table^ a table celebrated 
 for its Bacchanalian orgies: obscure re- 
 velry^ and disgusting degradation, were 
 the unceasing inmates of the mansion, 
 
 " Young Maurice recoiled from the ab- 
 horrent bcene : his expostulations drew 
 forth the resentment of his parent; he 
 braved the storm aWhiJe, but disgust and 
 indignation operating on a quick and sen- 
 sitive mind, annihilated the voice of pru- 
 dence : he remonstrated in still warmer 
 languaoe, and was for ever expelled the 
 paternal mansion and estates. 
 
 " With difficulty he raised a sum suffi- 
 cient to carry him back to England^ where, 
 /on a tried and valued friend, he yet relied: 
 alas ! ere he gained the British shore, the 
 :grave had entombed that ally, who, be- 
 lieving him undoubted heir to the hand- 
 some property of his father, thought not 
 to notice him in his will, save by a ring of 
 remembrance. 
 
 *' The clerical habit had early been the 
 
 decided
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. I 17 
 
 cieclded election of Ancaster; and, havini^ 
 taken the necessary orders, he became, 
 through the intervention of a former col- 
 legiate acquaintance, curate of Farley, on 
 the small annual stipend of eighty pounds ; 
 yet the heart of Maurice beat with proud 
 exultation, at his own independence of a 
 despicable, worthless parent. 
 
 " A similarity of fate, in some treasure, 
 seemed to connect him with Alicia Lister; 
 both w^ere aliens, at least to parental affec- 
 tion, and each became consequently inte- 
 rested for the other. But the hapless girl 
 dreamed not of love; she had been de- 
 pressed from every shadow of vanity, by 
 the ridicule, the contempt, the almost ab- 
 horrence of her parents; convinced that, 
 if the maternal bosom, by nature invested 
 with partiality for the object of its own 
 creation, could turn with aversion from 
 her embrace, that less interested indivi- 
 duals must view her with even heii^htened 
 disgust and antipathy. 
 
 '' The mind of this unfortunate girl had 
 
 acquired
 
 llS THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 acquired an apathetic resignation to her 
 fate ; she believed herself for ever dis- 
 tanced from the tenderness of love — a be- 
 ing formed for isolation, to whonl, even 
 the affection of kindred ties was doomed 
 to be for ever withheld. Accustomed to 
 unkindness and neglect from her cradle, 
 the tender assiduities of Ancaster were re- 
 ceived with a gratitude that was unaffected 
 and spontaneous, while she believed that 
 pity alone influenced his attentions. 
 
 " For the curate of the lowly village of 
 Farley to aspire to the daughter of a Ba- 
 ronet, seemed all that was presumptuous 
 and absurd : but love has an invisible con- 
 nexion with hope, that operates far more 
 larg-ely in the human breast than is gene- 
 rally acknowledged ; it painted Alicia as the 
 forsaken, neglected alien of her parents, 
 who might be consequently indifferent to 
 the inferiority of the connexion she might 
 form, in becoming his, under existing cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 '' The winter had passed, and Maurice 
 
 had
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 1 1§ 
 
 had again and again reviewed the fearful 
 prospect, when the return of her parents 
 and her sister, in the following w^eek, was 
 announced to the poor forsaken girl. The 
 communication afTorded pain rather than 
 pleasure; and, in the evening of that day 
 which had brought the intelligence, the 
 victim of parental prejudice rambled, with 
 melancholy step, towards the walk where 
 she so often before had encountered the 
 young curate. 
 
 *' Another interview followed, and the 
 communication was soon made, while the 
 half-repressed sigh proclaimed regret at 
 the promised return of her unnatural re- 
 latives. The heart of Maurice was sof- 
 tened, prudence Eed before its appeal, and, 
 with the enthusiastic warmth of a lover, he 
 gave such energetic glowing language to 
 his passion, that a being unused to the 
 slightest expression of affection, or even 
 praise, was little inclined, upon such an 
 occasion^ to accord full credence to it. — 
 Alicia believed herself but the object of 
 
 his
 
 ISO THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 his amusement ; a cfoud of suffocatins' 
 emotions rushed to her heart, and a gush 
 of tears alone relieved anguished nature. 
 Ah, why can I not infuse into this picture 
 the colouring of the lover himself? With 
 what enthusiasm does he even yet retrace 
 this scene ! how vaunt of the originality 
 and purity of that female, who, possessed 
 of those transcendant charms his vivid pre- 
 ference realized, was vet divested of her 
 sex's foibles, and could believe herself in- 
 capable of inspiring even one individual 
 attachment ! 
 
 " Vain were the professions, the expos- 
 tulations of Maurice — the beloved object 
 recoiled from those arms which sought Xo 
 support, to cherish and protect her; with 
 the velocity of lightning, she fled the man 
 whom, she then believed, had made a 
 mockery of her distress^ and insulted her 
 helpless state, by the ironic declaration of 
 a passion he could never really feel. 
 
 " We delight to trace singularity in the 
 object we love, for we always raise that 
 
 peculiarity.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 1^21 
 
 peculiarity, let it be what it may, to a 
 supereminence over others. The uncom- 
 mon impression of such unparalleled diffi- 
 dence of her own attractions, which Alicia 
 then unaffectedly displayed, rivetted the 
 chains of Ancaster; but vainly-, the next 
 day, did he seek his fair mistress, in the 
 scene of her former rambles; and to writ- 
 ing he had recourse, as the only alterna- 
 tive. 
 
 " An offer of marriage, conveyed in 
 form, and couched with all the tenderness 
 of o;€nuine attachment, astonished and ag-i- 
 tated the poor Alicia ; for she was too 
 much a novice in worldly interest, to be 
 
 ; 
 
 aware of the attraction an advanta^^eous 
 connexion, such as, in the projected union, 
 might extend to an indigent curate, inde- 
 pendent of inclination for herself; and as 
 she again retraced her really pleasing per- 
 son, adorned with the auxiliaries of vouth 
 and grace, in that mirror from which she 
 had often turned with the sigh of regret, 
 she viewed herself with more complacency: 
 VOL. I. G still.
 
 ]22 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Still, when she recollected each admiring 
 expression of Ancaster, complacency again 
 vanished, and the fear of deception tinged 
 her cheeks with the glow of offended feel- 
 ing. The letter was once more perused ; 
 to investigate the deception, it was again 
 attentively read over; but the effect did 
 not follow; and, more than once in the 
 day, she repeated to herself — ' Beauty is 
 in the lover's eye ;* for so strongly had 
 Alicia heard Blanch extolled for being 
 handsome, that she, at length, literally 
 conceived beauty an elixir of perfection. 
 
 *' Those who have studied the weakness 
 of the human heart, will easily anticipate, 
 that Maurice was suffered to lay his propo- 
 sals before Sir William Lister ; but the fa- 
 ther, whom affection could not stimulate 
 to interest in the fate of his child, found, 
 in pride, a voice in her election, and An- 
 caster was dismissed, as an insolent pre- 
 tender; while Lady Lister sedulously aimed 
 to impress on the mind of her daughter, 
 that the superior connexion and fortune 
 
 he
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 123 
 
 he supposed attached to her, had been the 
 sole magnet to her wily admirer. 
 
 '* The effect of a belief in this expressed 
 opinion of her parents^ produced a seVere 
 and dangerous illness, that arose solely 
 from mentar distress. But the wheel of 
 fortune now produced a most wonderful 
 •evolution, in the sudden, strange, and most 
 extraordinary favours, that were unaccount- 
 able, at once attached to Ancaster, which, 
 by thus removing the cause of the malady, 
 soon caused the effect to cease. 
 
 '' The poor curate of the humble village 
 of Farley, by some enigmatical distinction 
 o^ fortune, became, by unknown means, 
 possessor of one of the most considerable 
 livings in England, with a prospect of fur- 
 ther ecclesiastical preferment speedily ; 
 and, even then, dared to raise his view to 
 the lofty summit of a future see ! — But, as 
 ali ray sentiments on this head rest upon 
 the dubious observation of human ken, I 
 do not feel authorized to express whither 
 those surmises lead ; at best, vague and in- 
 
 G 2 definite
 
 124 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 definite they must be. The event, how- 
 ever, proved such as might be expected ; 
 and when Ancaster, with all the generosity 
 of pure and unsophisticated love, renewed 
 his proposalsj with the liberal offer to re- 
 ceive his beloved Alicia destitute of the 
 smallest forlune^ Sir William readily closed 
 with the wishes of the newly-installed rec- 
 tor; and the more especially, as it enabled 
 him to extend a double portion to his fa- 
 vourite daughter, by which means he se- 
 cured an alliance with the noble family of 
 DorvillCj long the object of his ambitious 
 views. 
 
 " The 'two fair sisters plighted their faith 
 on the same day, to their destined lords: 
 Lady Dorville^ with all the sang froid of 
 inanity, tendered vows, which found no 
 heart whereon to register them: a naturally 
 phlegmatic disposition has, however, been 
 the substitute of feeling and principle : 
 thus chastity, without the richer tints of 
 virtue^ has evinced her an immaculate wife, 
 but a frigid mother; while the disinterest- 
 ed
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 125 
 
 ed conduct of the rich and elevated rector, 
 has destroyed every fear of the interested 
 motives of the poor dependent curate ; 
 and the bosom of Alicia greeted its lord, 
 with all the train of gratified happiness. 
 It was gratitude for the generous conduct 
 of MauricCj that first taught his elected 
 wife, his Alicia, the wish to please; but 
 soon this wish .degenerated into an art : 
 still viewing her person in fearful, humble 
 light, she was solicitous to justify her hus- 
 band's taste, her husband's judgment, and 
 her husband's constant passion, by her own 
 endeavours to become agreeable to those 
 around. But, unfortunately for the young- 
 wife, the rectorage of B was situated 
 
 in the vicinitv of a (i^arrison town: several 
 of the officers of one of the regiments sta- 
 tioned therein, had been former acquaint- 
 ance of Ancaster in the Vr^est Indies ; their 
 intimacv was renewed, the introduction of 
 others followed, and the house of the man 
 of God became the gay resort of the dissi- 
 pated sons of war ! — The voice of flattery 
 
 G 3 soon
 
 126 . THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 soon reached the ear of Alicia; at first, her 
 heart rejected the insidious food, and, >vitK 
 unaffected grace, she expressed her full 
 conviction of her own deficiency in per- 
 sonal attraction. 
 
 " This really naive declaration gave the 
 charm of novelty to the always-pleasing 
 and interesting appearance of Mrs. Ancas- 
 ter: men always conceive vanity annexed 
 to woman — a faith as firmly established, as 
 the existence of spots on the sun; and per- 
 haps it is the only failing which the lover 
 will admit in his mistress; but that he al- 
 wavs discerns the existence of this, is most 
 palpable, in the food he invariably admini- 
 sters to gratify it. A woman, therefore, in 
 reality destitute of the smallest particle of 
 this human failing, shone, like most rarities, 
 more by its novelty than intrinsic value, 
 and Mrs. Ancaster became the reigning toast 
 of the garrison. 
 
 '^ Her wish io please, formerly a spon- 
 taneous feeling, became now a systematic 
 study : unaccustomed even- to the voice of 
 
 pralse>
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 127 
 
 praise, she was the easier seduced by the 
 fascinations of flattery ; she who had never 
 experienceH attention, save from one alone, 
 for nearly seventeen years of her life, at 
 once beheld herself the selected idol of an 
 admiring promiscuous croud : and the con- 
 fiding husband exulted in the happiness 
 that shone in the eyes of his Alicia; he felt 
 the delight of having himself rescued this 
 precious treasure from the cave of obscu- 
 rity. A weak indulgence in every wish, 
 completed the infatuation of the rector; 
 and, from the most unpretending, Alicia 
 became the vainest of her sex. 
 
 *' But observation was not failing to re- 
 tain her conquests, and she still disclaimed 
 all personal flattery; yet it was only to ri- 
 vet admiration the more strongly on her 
 other powers of attraction. Perfectly au 
 fait in the art to please, and perfectly ear- 
 nest in the wish, she played on the hearts 
 of all; but, having established her cele- 
 britv with \\\e male sex, she has now be- 
 eome indifferent to interest her own ; and, 
 / c 4 while
 
 128 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 while she sedulously avoids drawing forth 
 animadversion by offence^ she never now 
 seeks to entertain female society, for all 
 her powers are but to secure her empire 
 over the lords of creation ; and, with that 
 happy facility of manner, which knows to 
 accommodate itself to each differing dispo- 
 sition, she is literally, ' all things to all 
 men:' yet, with the true Mark Antony equi- 
 voque, I may add, still is Mrs. Ancaster ^n 
 honourable woman;' for her reputation, as 
 a wife, is dear, not only from principle, 
 but also from gratitude, to her husband, a 
 gratitude which has preserved her virtue 
 from taint, in that most dangerous of situ- 
 ations — a wedded female, suddenly and un- 
 expectedly surrounded by admirers, and 
 overwhlemed with the adulation and the 
 attentions of men ; neither of which, of 
 course, were lessened, when the rector was 
 
 advanced to the deanrv of L , since 
 
 contingent consequence never detracts 
 from individual distinction. 
 
 '' Her temper is naturally sweet, and this 
 
 cements
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 129 
 
 cements the bond of domestic happiness 
 vet more closely— a happiness which arises, 
 in other respects, from the partial estimate 
 of the husband, who, blinded by an infatu- 
 ated regard, sees not the shadow of frailty 
 in the vain Alicia, but believes her almost 
 invulnerable to error. 
 
 '' Of her performance of the duties of a 
 mother, I cannot speak from self-observa- 
 tion ; but the life of a vain and admired 
 female, is not calculated to aid maternal 
 instruction, and I fear still more for the 
 daughter than the parent suffering from 
 such a baneful example. 
 
 " In reixard to the earlv dthut of Marian, 
 I cannot divine the motive; for a rival, I 
 am convinced, will never be endured, even 
 in her own offspring, by Mrs, An caster, 
 who is little solicitous to have the garb of 
 juvenility superseded by a m.atronly ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 ''Such, mv love, is the little historv of 
 the celebrated Alicia Ancaster, for such she 
 certainly is^, an adept in the art of pleasing, 
 
 G 5 an
 
 130 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 an art dangerous in the acquirement, since 
 it too often becomes crim.inal." 
 
 " Many thanks, my dear Madam, for the 
 recital; although, I confess, I have not 
 been the dupe of Mrs. Ancaster's aflTected 
 humility/* 
 
 '• Women, Zitella, discover dissimula- 
 tion with far more facility than men : and 
 their own sex', in general, are not likely to 
 yield credence to their affected professions. 
 But a fear of the imputation of envy, and 
 the appearance of detraction, silences opi- 
 nion; well convinced that man, once blind- 
 ed by the fascination of a female favourite, 
 must have ' comiction strong as proof of Jioli/ 
 writ/ to invalidate the firm belief of his 
 own t^ste and judgment, in the impression 
 of the real merits of the idol of his elec- 
 tion. Mrs. Ancaster has one predominant 
 pride; it consists in displaying to the world 
 the husband of so many years, yet the ador- 
 ing lover ; and of all the triumphs of her 
 vanity, this rages supreme. Satisfied with 
 perfect liberty in every respect, she pays 
 
 apparently
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. , 131 
 
 apparently only the tribute of acknow- 
 ledgment to his kindness, in exhibiting his 
 domestic amiability, when, in fact, she is 
 only gratifying her own contemptible va- 
 nity. Yet I pity Ancaster, from my heart ; 
 blinded, as to rationality, in this wedded 
 attachment, I view him as the victim of 
 passion ; but, I yet hope, criminaUti) does 
 not attach to his life." 
 
 Mrs Mu^igrave rose, as she concluded : 
 the stress she had laid on the term crimina- 
 lilij, and her tone of voice uniting, had 
 awakened the surprise of our heroine, 
 whUe that some mvstery w^as connected 
 with the source of that gloom ^he had, at 
 times, traced in the countenance of the 
 Dean, was still more confirmed, by the 
 manner of her aged friend ; and as both 
 retraced their steps to the mansion^ each 
 seemed almost involuntarily reflective, for 
 the silence was scarcely broken by either. 
 
 c 6 CHAP.
 
 132 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Comforts may be procur'd, and want defied. 
 Heavens! with how small a sura, when right applied * 
 Give love and honest industry their way, 
 Those we term poor, shall oft that wealth o'btain, 
 For which the ambitious sigh, but sigh in vain ; 
 "Wealth that still brightens, as its stores encrease— 
 The calm of conscience, and the reign of peace: 
 This gold may rid my heart of pains and sighs. 
 But her true love is still my greatest prize. 
 
 BlooMfielo. 
 
 The Village Church. 
 
 With the departure of Mrs. Ancaster, the 
 visits of Captain Fletcher did not cease ; 
 and it soon became visible, that an indrvi- 
 dual attraction yet remained at Sudley Hall. 
 
 Mrs.
 
 THE MISERIES ©F AN HEIRESS. 133 
 
 Mi's. Moreland, who piqued herself upon 
 penetration and foresight, predicted un- 
 pleasant consequences; and, with studied 
 solemnity, embraced the opportunity, when 
 only Mrs. Mulgrave and Zitella w^ere pre- 
 sent, to mention the necessity of every dis- 
 couragement being given to the young 
 officer; expatiating at full on the slender 
 fortune of Captain Fletcher, which would 
 render her wealth an object of great at- 
 traction ; and that, having so weighty a 
 charge as an heiress under her care, it was 
 ^n indispensable duty, to represent to her 
 the folly of permitting the addresses of a 
 race of fortune-hunters, which the good 
 lady very liberally concluded by affirming 
 to be the character of the military at large; 
 while girls were too apt to be taken by 
 their scarlet trappings, which were only 
 assumed for the purpose of attracting weak 
 women, and not from any real impulse of 
 loyalty to their King, or patriotism for 
 their country, which was an ingenious co- 
 \ert for their own sinister interests; and 
 
 that
 
 134 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS* 
 
 that Lady Zitella ought, consequently^, not 
 to accord full credence to all the pretended 
 rhapsodies and fine similies of Fletcher; 
 for, as her Ladyship's zealous friend, she 
 warned her, that an heiress could not be 
 too reserved, since a fortune-hunter could 
 profess love as tenderly and as enthusiasti- 
 cally as a better man. 
 
 Strong emotion, during this harangue, 
 had been visible in the frame of Zitella ; 
 for although her understanding admitted 
 it the rhapsody of prejudice, it yet con- 
 tained truisms the most painful ; and al- 
 though the attentions, the regard o^ Flet- 
 cher, were objects of total indifference, 
 yet it proved but the commencement of 
 what she had .hereafter to expect from her 
 successive suitors; and she trembled lest 
 her heart, in vieldins^ to love, should lose 
 its^power of rational investigation^ 
 
 Mrs. Moreland traced, in this very. evi- 
 dent agitation, a convincing proof of in- 
 terest, in regard to the attentions of Cap- 
 tain Fletcher; and concluded her whole 
 
 sum
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRI.'SS. 135 
 
 sum of reflection by the determination, 
 that every precaution should be embraced, 
 to guard against a probable elopement. 
 Mrs. Mulgrave, however^ who was well 
 versed in each movement of the heart of 
 her young favourite, discovered the real 
 source of her emotion, and smiled at the 
 fancied happy foresight of Mrs. Moreland, 
 who, when Lady Zitella had quitted the 
 room, launched forth on the danorei-s at- 
 tendant upon the continued attentions of 
 a young man so strangely favoured; and 
 vain was every argument of Mrs. Mulgrave, 
 to quiet the apprehensions of the ever-opi- 
 nionated lady of the mansion. It was not, 
 tlierefore, until Fletcher had made, and re- 
 ceived, a rejection of his proposals in all 
 their due form, that she became more tran- 
 quil ; and, even then, continued to affirm, 
 that Lady Zitella Herbert certainly was at- 
 tached to this military pretender, however 
 pride had interfered in the acceptance of 
 the matrimonial offer. 
 
 It. was a few days after the rejection of 
 
 this
 
 13^ THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 this vain and frivolous suitor, that our he- 
 roine, accompanied by her friend Dr. More- 
 land, walked to the neighbouring village, 
 at an early hour, to make some trifling 
 purchases. When they had nearly reached 
 the church, by which they had to pass in 
 their ramble, their progress was impeded 
 by a group of people assembled round the 
 structure : the Doctor therefore enquired 
 of a stra2:2:ler, the immediate cause of the 
 croud ? 
 
 " Nothing at all, your Honour/* was 
 the reply of the rustic — '' nothing at all, 
 your Honour, of any consequence ; only 
 a wedding ! Lucy Mills and Will Wilson 
 are just gone to be married/' 
 
 " And is that an event of no conse- 
 quence then?" said Zitella, smiling. 
 
 " Lud, no. Miss!" said the untutored 
 peasant, little surmising the rank of her he 
 was addressing — ''why, to be sure, not ; 
 for it happens to all folks, you know : 
 every body that comes into the world, 
 thinks to be married when they arrive at 
 
 maritij,
 
 THE Miseries of ak heiress. 137 
 
 mariiij, you know ; for there's never a 
 Jack but there's a Gill. And so no\v% if a 
 girl as how has an or'nary face-looking, 
 why then God throws a little money into 
 the ugly cap, and gets her a husband that 
 way. Lud ! why bean't there Nancy Gub- 
 bins, who has a squint and a hump, and 
 yet she got more lovyers than all the girls 
 in the village put together, the folks say ; 
 and all case why ? — her father gies her 
 fifty guineas; aye, she can count a sweat- 
 heart to every guinea in her pocket, that's 
 what she can/* 
 
 '* Then I suppose she is not to be easily 
 won,*' said Zitella, *' and does not choose 
 to buy her husband ?*' 
 • " Lord, Miss," said the boor, grinning 
 at the, to him, strange impression, *' why 
 how'll she get one else? No, faith; she's 
 taking to sweathearting after Dick Fisher, 
 the grazier's son hard by ; but Dick won't 
 ha' she, though she would ha' him, and 
 jump for joy too." 
 
 '' And
 
 138 THE MISEKIES OF AN HEIRESS* 
 
 '^ And why not ?'* interrogated our he- 
 roine, who, in this, thought to trace at % 
 least one instance of disinterested conduct. 
 
 '' Why, Lord, Miss, don't you know as 
 how Dick's as fine a handsome fellow as 
 you'd like to see ; and so, when he finds 
 John Thompson's eldest wench cast an eye 
 at an, why, he left Nancy Gubbins, and 
 took a'ter she : casfe why — he got there a 
 pretty wench, and money too into the bar- 
 gain ; and so he made a tighter job of it, 
 than with t'other rich hump.'* 
 
 Disappointment and disgust superseded 
 every other impression on the features of 
 Lady Zitella, as her heart sorrowfully whis- 
 pered, that the ambition, the avarice, of a 
 courtly sphere, could be traced even in 
 this humble lowly village; and that it was 
 only from the refinements of art, their re- 
 spective communities were distinguished. 
 But, at this moment, reflection was inter- 
 rupted, by the advance of the wedding- 
 party, who now issued from the holy edi- 
 fice.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN EEIRESS. 139 
 
 fiee, and the two more immediate votaries 
 of Hymen were easily discerned amid the 
 group. 
 
 The grateful heart of the village bride 
 immediately recognized the worthy physi- 
 cian, who had gratuitously attended her 
 mother through a long and painful illness; 
 while, by many a present of aliment that 
 their slender purse could not reach, had 
 contributed to alleviate the suffejings of 
 the poor invalid. 
 
 Lucy boasted no delicate symmetry of' 
 form, her features were cast in no superior 
 mould ; but a pair of animated eyes, in- 
 which spoke a heart that knew not the re- 
 finements of disguise, gave a sparkling ir- 
 radiation to a countenance, which was 
 chastened by the blush of ingenuous na- 
 ture : and although, in her rustic saluta- 
 tion to the estimable Doctor, there dwelt 
 no elegance to attract the fashionist, nor 
 sylphid grace to allure the enthusiast of 
 romance, yet it pleased by its unaffected 
 courtesy ; and gratitude beamed in every 
 
 lineament
 
 140 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 lineament of a face that Nature had em- 
 bellished with the bloom of health and ' 
 happiness. Her roseate cheeks now bor- 
 dered on the crimson flush, and her spark- 
 ling eyes half fell, as, at the request of Dr. j 
 Moreland, she presented the young bride- 
 groom, whose manner, although unpolish- 
 ed, was neither rouo^hlv vulo^ar nor confi- 
 dently ignorant ; and, in the good-humour- 
 ed hilarity of his intelligent, but not hand- 
 some features, love, as an untutored, honest 
 passion, might, for once, be traced. 
 
 The introduction of William was accom- 
 panied by no unmeaning, modish cere- 
 mony, but Lucy gave to it all the tender- 
 ness of a grateful heart; it was not to Dr. 
 Moreland, it was to a benefactor, a re- 
 spected friend, that she led him. 
 
 An invitation, rustic as themselves, was 
 given to their mother's little cot, where 
 the humble fare of the wedding-feast was 
 spread on homely diaper. The widowed 
 parent, whom infirm health had prevented 
 from being present at the marriage-cere- 
 
 mony.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 141 
 
 niony, seemed to forget her own decrepi- 
 tudCj as she again beheld her dearest trea- 
 sure ; and maternal affection triumphed 
 over corporeal ill, as she rose to press her 
 in her arms. Forgetful of those- around, 
 impulsively William knelt to seek the pa- 
 rental blessing, and received, in his own 
 honest embrace, the bride of disinterested 
 election. 
 
 Dr. Moreland and Lady Zitella Herbert 
 had retired to a distance to survey the trio, 
 apprehensive to create restraint by their 
 presence ; but the precaution was need- 
 less, for, at that moment^ wholly wrapt 
 in each other, thev were lost to the obser- 
 vation of ought beside. 
 
 A soft emotion stole over the heart of 
 Zitella — it was the chastely-mellowed tre- 
 mor of affections not yet called into play ; 
 and the heart, yet safe within its snowy bed, 
 fluttered with a presentiment of future 
 love : a tender vision of connubial happi- 
 ness momentarily reconciled her to the 
 
 mandate
 
 142 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 mandate of her mother, and fancy pour- 
 trayed one scion of a court, perhaps as 
 true as this Strephon of the village. 
 
 The Doctor had retreated to the extre- 
 TTiitv of the Q-arden, and Zitella seated her- 
 self by the open casement of the latticed 
 window. Lucy, recalled to consideration 
 for the honoured visit of her superior 
 guests, advanced with bashful deference, 
 but not awkward cringing, to tender some 
 of that refreshment their lowly board af- 
 forded; and William busied himself to draw 
 some ale for the benefactor of his Lucy. 
 
 Zitella, willing to gratify the good-na- 
 tured wishes of her young hostess, accept- 
 ed some fruit ; and then, with an encou- 
 raging smile, repeated — " Lucy, your hap- 
 piness seems quite complete/' 
 
 '' No, my Lady, no; not quite com- 
 plete." / 
 
 Zitella was disappointed at the answer, 
 and, with some quickness, added, '^ And 
 why not, my good girl ?'* 
 
 " You 
 9.
 
 THE MISERI-ES OP AN HEIRESS. 143 
 
 ^' You will think me foolish, very fool- 
 ish, perhaps/' said Lucy ; " but indeed I 
 believe I should not have married Will/* 
 
 '' Why ? Do you not love him then ?" 
 
 " Love him!" rejoined Lucv; ^' oh, 
 yes; more than all the world! — Have I 
 not sworn it in the church?" she inno- 
 cently added, as if connecting with that a 
 convincing proof to the enquirer. 
 
 ^' Perhaps, then, you doubt his affec- 
 tion ?" 
 
 " Doubt it !" re-echoed Lucy; '' oh no, 
 my Lady; that would be unjust indeed to 
 dear William ! for, has he not taken me, 
 poor as I am ? has he not offered to do 
 double work to maintain me ? and has he 
 not refused, for mCj the richest girl in the 
 village ?" 
 
 ■" Whence, then, can your unhappiness 
 arise ? 
 
 "I do not know, my Lady ; but I think 
 the greatest misery of all is, the fear of not 
 having done right. William has disobliged 
 his father, by marrying a poor girl : it is I 
 
 who.
 
 IM THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 who, for the first time in his life, have 
 made him an undutifiil son !*' 
 
 " And what trade does his father follow ?" 
 
 '' He is a nursery and seedsman, my 
 Lady ; and he makes a good deal of money, 
 from all the fine folks round here ; and it 
 would all have been William's, if he would 
 have given me up : and I don't think it 
 was right in me to deprive him of it, when 
 I have nothing but love to orive him in re- 
 turn for it." 
 
 '' But, suppose you had such a farm as 
 that of Roseberrv, on the Nuo-ent estate, 
 what then, Lucy, could be objected ^'' 
 
 '' Oh, my Lady, it is of no use to talk of 
 impossibilities: but, if I had, to my mind, 
 William's father would rather he'd have had 
 me than even Miss Wilson, the great gra- 
 zier's daughter:" but, suddenly raising her 
 eyes^ and discovering the smile of benevo- 
 lence on the countenance of her young 
 benefactress, which she mistook for one 
 occasioned by her apparent vanity, she 
 hastily continued ~^^ Why indeed, my 
 
 Lady,
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 145 
 
 Lady, I did not fancy it, for he said so ; 
 and that he was sure we loved one another, 
 but that ' love would not make the pot 
 boil ;* and he was afraid ' it would fly out 
 of the windows, when poverty came in at 
 the door." 
 
 Zitella paused for a few moments, and 
 then added — " Well, Lucy, do not make a 
 dinner upon that poor rose-bud, when 
 your roast beef is nearly ready; for I have 
 fallen. upon a plan to give satisfaction to 
 all parties. That very farm is now with- 
 out a tenant, and shall be yours, free of 
 rent, for three years; and if I find you in- 
 dustrious, and ^vorthy of your good for- 
 tune, you shall never find a stern landlord 
 in my steward." 
 
 The astonished Lucy gazed, as if doubt- 
 ful of the Dcrfect use of her senses; but 
 the honest feelings of nature soon found 
 relief 
 
 " Nav, niy good girl, no thanks; the 
 discovery was inartificial — the sorrow, the 
 only sorrow of your bridal morn, I have 
 
 VOL. I. H unwarilv
 
 146 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 unwarily drawn forth ; and, to render your- 
 self worthy of the pure, disiuterested love, 
 of your husband, is the only thanks I will 
 receive.'* 
 
 William had entered ere the conclusion 
 of the speech, awd was at once made ac- 
 quainted with the generous intentions of 
 the young heiress of the Nugent estates. 
 He was not slow in the utterance of his 
 grateful impression of her goodness, while 
 he involuntarily added an expression of 
 delight, that the wedding-portion had not 
 been the mistress's possession, '' because,** 
 he subjoined, with blunt honesty, '' why 
 then, Lucy might never have known how 
 much I loved her !'* 
 
 Zitella sighed, her colour faded, that 
 animated pleasure which results from the 
 performance of a kind action, was super- 
 seded in a moment by the recollection, 
 that, from her poverty, the 'happiness of 
 Lucy had principally arisen. She retreated 
 from the reiterated thanks of the mother, 
 the daughter, and the lover, and, taking ^ 
 
 the
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 147 
 
 the arm of Dr. Moreland, departed from 
 the cottage, followed by the blessings of 
 its inmates; while their more humble 
 friends, \vho had hitherto been prevented 
 from entering by the presence of the great 
 folks, now eagerly thronged beneath its 
 lowly roof. 
 
 '^ How gratifying to the heart is the ac- 
 knowledgment of kindness!" said More- 
 land — ^' surely, to hear this language of 
 affectionate gratitude, is the first of human 
 pleasures." 
 
 *' To receive that of spontaneous affec- 
 tion," replied Zitella, '" to me, seems far 
 superior than expressions p!(?T/?r75e.^ by be- 
 nefits conferred : the voice of principle, 
 rather than feeling, speaks in an obligated 
 dialect." 
 
 '' There are instances where it mav; but, 
 in this, the union of feeling with principle 
 is certainly peculiarly evident, and, even 
 to the most suspicious mind, conveys a 
 double guarantee; for, if one fail, the 
 other will most probably be heard ; and 
 
 H 2 therefore.
 
 148 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 therefore, upon your own hypothesis^ the 
 bride stands upon firm ground." 
 
 '' I doubt not the ground upon which 
 she individually may stand, Doctor, but I 
 doubt the perfect construction of the pil- 
 lar sacred to gratitude alone, when other 
 sentiments, equally powerful, may clash." 
 
 *' Gratitude, in my opinion. Lady Zi- 
 tella, is a foundation, for the most noble 
 structure of which the human mind is sus- 
 ceptible; for I never yet met with the in- 
 dividual, who, being possessed of this vir- 
 tue, did not discover strong affinity with 
 others of at least equal consideration. The 
 soul must possess a certain degree of rich 
 manure, in which that germ will flourish ; 
 and it never can flourish in solitary gran- 
 deur ; it is a social plant, and seeks a union 
 with correspondent ones, while, of course, 
 it strongly leans upon those of a domestic 
 nature.'' 
 
 '' True, my dear Sir ; I admit your ar- 
 gument to be just; and yet, such is the 
 contradiction of the human mind, that, if 
 
 I were
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 149 
 
 I were sensible of conferring benefits upon 
 any individual, and that object was very 
 dear to me, I should become jealous of the 
 sentiment to which the power of confer- 
 ring may give rise : I would be loved, in-, 
 dependent of extraneous circumstanf:e — I 
 would be loved for myself ! But, from the 
 fear of received opinion, that other feel- 
 ings would predominate, and I deceived, 
 would embitter the cup of felicity, and 
 poison that beverage I would taste una- 
 dulterated." 
 
 The Doctor suddenly stopped ; he rested 
 one hand on the ivory handle of his walk- 
 ing-stick, as he firmly stationed it on the 
 ground, and, fixing his eyes upon his fair 
 companion, rejoined — '' Surely, my love, 
 you do not mean to apply our argument ? 
 you do not allude to the state of matri- 
 mony, in your own person and experi- 
 ence?" 
 
 Zitella, ashamed of acknowledging that 
 her ideas had really wandered towards that 
 point, hesitated, and stammered — " To an 
 
 H 3 adopted
 
 150 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 adopted child^ my observation would equal- 
 ly apply; and as I have neither lover or 
 husbandj you cannot suppose I alluded to 
 myself in the latter position ;" and, pain- 
 fully conscious of her disingenuous reply, 
 slie .deeply blushed. 
 
 '^ Well/ well/' returned the good man, 
 '' I am happy you had no other meaniug; 
 for fastidious notions, on these matters, 
 must not be indulged too far. We can 
 only judge by the tenor of a man's life ; 
 if the mind be pure, so will be the actions; 
 and the good Christian, in thought, word, 
 and deed, will uniformly practise the doc- 
 trine which he professes to hold forth, as 
 the beacon that, he hopes, will guide him 
 to that haven, wherein he trusts he shall be 
 enabled to cast anchor. "^ 
 
 CHAP
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 131 
 
 as 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Ah ! who can tell how many a soul sublime 
 Has felt the influence of malignant star^ 
 And wag'd with fortune an eternal war, 
 Check'd by the scoflF of pride. 
 And poverty's unconquerable bar ? 
 
 BSATTIX. 
 
 Morris, 
 
 The allotted period of seclusion passed 
 with the usual swiftness of time^ and we 
 therefore leap over inferior incident, to 
 celebrate that epoch, when the grand de^ 
 but of our heiress was to commence, under 
 the auspices of the nabob, who returned 
 to England in the month of November; 
 feut no longer the bachelor, at whose table 
 
 H 4 ' ^ Lady
 
 15S THE MISERIE? OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Lady Zitella Herbert was to have presided; 
 for, three months before his departure from 
 India, he had surrendered his liberty for 
 matrimonial fetters; and, accompanied by 
 his bride^ had finally embarked for the 
 shores of Britain. 
 
 An agent in England had previously 
 purchased for him, an elegant mansion in 
 Park-lane, and superintended its costly 
 splendour of decoration, while the lavish 
 hand of profusion spared not expence in 
 the magnificence of modern European 
 luxury. Lady Zitella Herbert received a 
 letter from him, bearing the date of Ports- 
 mouth; it was kind and affectionate in its 
 style, acquainting her with his recently- 
 formed connexion, and coupled with his 
 Fanny's anxious desire, to greet her new 
 relative beneath their roof, and to have 
 their mansion considered as her future 
 home: he, however, deemed it advisable 
 first to visit London, to make suitable ar- 
 rangements in his establishment, ere he 
 claimed his young ward; and, having com- 
 pleted
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 153 
 
 pfeted that necessary appendage to weal- 
 thy grandeur, he should immediately re- 
 pair in person to Dorsetshire, to return his 
 acknowledgments to those kind friends 
 who had, for a time, extended their pro- 
 tection, and finally release them from the 
 care of their long-cherished inmate. 
 
 The separation annexed to the promised 
 visit, damped the pleasure our heroine had 
 else anticipated, in greeting the beloved 
 ' brother of her revered parent : the period 
 of his arrival was, to her, indeed an impor- 
 tant one — It was the asra from which her 
 " search for a hushancV might be said to 
 commence ; for, had she not given a pro- 
 mise to that effect, to a dying parent ? and 
 an heiress was not likelv to be deficient in 
 professed lovers, to Fail in those pretenders 
 to her alliance, amid whom to fix her elec- 
 tion. 
 
 The time that intervened between the 
 letter and the arrival of Mr. Nugent, was 
 not long, and warm was the embrace with 
 which he folded in his arms his orphan 
 
 H 5 niece ;
 
 lo4i THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 niece; while, had not Zitella often heard 
 Mrs. Moreland repeat, that an heiress need 
 never entertain fears of a cold reception 
 from her relations, she would have derived 
 from this meeting more perfect delight. 
 
 Robert Nugent was some years the ju- 
 nior of the Countess of Darnford, and had 
 now only attained his thirty-fifth year. His 
 face would neither have sat for an Adonis^ 
 nor his figure for an Apollo ; yet his was 
 a person that could never be buried in the 
 common herd of individuals. His counte- 
 nance displayed his character, animated by 
 the warmth, not merely of impulsive feel- 
 ings, but of passions that the balance of 
 reason did not poise : his generosity was 
 impetuous, his benevolence unreflecting; 
 but pride, that hereditary germ which had, 
 for ages, sprung from the seed of Nugent, 
 reared its lofty head amid this ardent group, 
 and often frowned upon the wavering in- 
 clination of disposition. 
 
 With that rashness which marked his ear- 
 liest years, Robert had quitted England, in 
 
 consequence
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 155 
 
 consequence of an act of filial disobedi- 
 ence, which his own passionate, unbend- 
 ing temper, had rendered the more aggra- 
 vating offence to his father, by expressions 
 couched in the language of disrespectful 
 warmth. A family alliance, even from the 
 days of infancy, had been projected by the 
 senior Mr. Nugent, who had reflected on 
 the plan, until his mind realized the event 
 as a desirable certainty, more especially, 
 since the wishes of the parents of the se- 
 lected female corresponded with his own; 
 and even the children had displayed a par- 
 tiality for each other. Unfortunately, how- 
 ever, for the hopes of Mr. Nugent, the ma- 
 turer years of Sophia Howard disappointed 
 expectation, and presented a being least 
 calculated to attract the ardent Robert, 
 Vi'ho, ever the slave of female beauty, 
 traced, in the plain unadorned person of 
 Sophia, an antidote to love, which all the 
 superior charms of intellect could not 
 counteract. 
 
 Having positively refused assent to' the 
 
 H 6 dictatorial
 
 156 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 dictatorial mandate of parental authority, 
 the erring youth, in a fit of sudden pique 
 at the violent invectives of an enraged fa- 
 ther, embarked for India, where, through 
 the medium of friends, he obtained a situ- 
 ation that proved most lucrative in its ful- 
 filment. 
 
 The temper of Mr. Nugent, violent, but 
 never vindictive, was appeased by time and 
 reflection, eventually estimating less severe- 
 ly the erring impetuosity of a son, which 
 his own indulgence had contributed to 
 strengthen. The abilities Robert displayed 
 in his first situation, induced his advancer 
 ment to one of greater magnitude ; and 
 the very brilliant distinction he acquired 
 from the discharge of a public duty, mo- 
 mentous in its consequence, was highly 
 gratifying to the pride of a parent. This 
 gave the final step to reconciliation ; a 
 will w^s made immediately upon this 
 change of sentiment, exclusively in fa- 
 vour of his son, with the exception of the 
 small estate called Nugent, appropriated to 
 
 the
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 157 
 
 the late Countess of Darnford ; and, from 
 her, descending to Lady Zitella Herbert. 
 Thus did Robert Nugent receive, from the 
 forgiving kindness of his sire, that patri- 
 monial property, from which he believed 
 himself for ever excluded by his filial diso- 
 bedience. 
 
 Lady Darnford had ever been most par- 
 tial to her brother, and consequently view- 
 ed his faults and errors only in the light of 
 juvenile indiscretions. The high character 
 he bore in worldly estimation, had induced 
 her to conceive that vears bad matured his 
 judgment into a renunciation o^ former 
 follies, while a strong and vigorous intel- 
 lect must have obtained successful govern- 
 ment over his former impetuous feelings ; 
 for the partiality of a sister had, by that 
 name, decked the ungoverned passions of 
 Robert. It was resting on this erroneous 
 belief, therefore, that she nominated him 
 one of the protectors of her child. 
 
 Behold, then, this individual claiming 
 the authority of guardian, and removing 
 
 the
 
 158 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 the young Zitella from her present asyhim 
 to his own roof. Affecting and affection- 
 ate were the adieus of all; but that of Mrs. 
 Mulgrave was the most impressive to the 
 heart of our orphan — the parting admoni- 
 tions of experienced friendship were regis- 
 tered, by grateful memory, on its faithful 
 tablet; but she dared not reflect, that the 
 advanced age of this valued monitress, ren- 
 dered it probable, the space of her absence 
 might entonib for ever the safre counsellor 
 and the friend. 
 
 Her Ladyship and ^Ir. Nugent set off in 
 the travelling-chariot of the latter, while 
 the Abigail, and necessary incumbrances 
 of wardrobe^ &c. took possession of a hired 
 vehicle. , 
 
 The equipage of Nugent was ostentati- 
 ously splendid ; the luxury of an eastern 
 clime »had added extravagance to his other 
 foibles^ and pride fostered its indulgence. 
 
 The quiet village of Oakhampton was in 
 a state of unprecedented commotion : cu- 
 riosity, that love of fine sights, which ope- 
 rates
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 159 
 
 rates so iiniversallv on the lower class^ sti- 
 mulated the indifferent many to throng 
 the road, and behold the novel grandeur ; 
 but there were still among the promiscur 
 ous group, hearts that throbbed with far 
 more commendable emotion — gratitude to 
 their benefactress, whose ever-liberal boun- 
 ty towards the industrious poor of the vil- 
 lage and its vicinity, had rendered her an 
 object of esteem and respectful love. — 
 They tried to catch the parting glance, to 
 tender the rustic salutation observed, and 
 reiterate the invocation of Heaven's bless- 
 ing on its generous almoner. Nugent,, 
 with lavish, but inconsiderate liberality, 
 dispensed the Indian ore around : all was 
 noise and confusion, while voices innume- 
 rable thanked the thoughtless, indiscrimi^- 
 nate donor. ; 
 
 Zitella sighed — it was the parting fare- 
 well of '' an heiress," Individual self could, 
 claim nought of these expressions of regard 
 and interest — her fortune alone had pur- 
 chased them ; to that were they due, at/ 
 
 least
 
 160 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 least thus argued the possessor of wealth ; 
 and in that thought vanished every plea- 
 sure, which might otherwise have attached 
 to the untutored gratitude of these chil- 
 dren of Nature. 
 
 The impatient postillions waved their 
 whips around, to repel the impeding 
 croud, and swift the fleeting greys bore 
 the carriao;e and its contents bevond the 
 village group; but, as they passed through 
 the turnpike, and ascended slowly a steep 
 acclivity they had now reached, two other 
 objects of recognition struck the view of 
 our heroine — Lucy and her husband Wil- 
 liam. 
 
 The snow had, for some minutes, given 
 intimation, that it would be prudent for 
 pedestrians to seek a shelter; but, at this 
 moment, it descended in thicker succes- 
 sion and larger flakes, united with a shower 
 of hail, and *' the pelting of the pitiless 
 storm" assailed the rustic bride, as she en- 
 countered a stile. Her faithful William had, 
 with the flap of his coat, attempted a sort 
 
 of
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 161 
 
 of umbrella, to defend the head of her he 
 loved from the annoyance of its visitation. 
 The laushino' Lucv was amused at the ear- 
 nestness and inefficacy of his attempts, 
 while she brushed from her face and hair 
 the intruders. But the fears of William 
 had taken alarm : in an instant the coat 
 was stripped from his own shoulders, and 
 tenderly wrapped around those of his wife, 
 while the neat Spitalfields-manufactured 
 handkerchief was loosed from his neck^, 
 and, being carefully placed upon the head 
 of Lucy, was tied under her chin. 
 
 This was scarcely accomplished, ere the 
 carriage reached the interesting spot. The 
 eyes of the village belle, arrested by the 
 approach, were transferred from the lord 
 of her affections to the face of Zitella; but 
 the anxious husband was so wholly en- 
 grossed by the one object of his immedi- 
 ate interest, that he appeared neither to 
 hear, nor even to see, our travellers, till 
 the curtseviniT Lucv directed his attention; 
 but he, even then, still continued to wrap 
 
 around
 
 162 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 around the sheltering coat, as he tendered 
 his rustic bow to the gentry. 
 
 This scene of rural connubial affection 
 rapidly vanished from sight, by the speed 
 of the horses; but it rested much longer 
 upon the mind of Zitella— " Happy Lucy 1" 
 she mentally apostrophized; '' how secure 
 is. thy fabric. of felicity ! No fears assail thy 
 bosom, o{ the real motives which influen- 
 ced the decision of thy wedded love ; nei- 
 ther rank or wealth could lead to a suspi- 
 cion of his truths for thou happily possess- 
 ed neither; and the husband of thy elec- 
 tion is yet the fond devoted lover ! — How 
 soothing to thy feelings must have been 
 the tender solicitude of William, assured 
 that disinterested affection could alone have 
 operated with him ! While I, in wretched 
 contrast, behold myself, while the object 
 of general attention, doubtful if even the 
 assiduity of my waiting-maid may not ra- 
 ther be to the heiress than the benefactress 
 of herself and family ; whether, at the mo- 
 ment I discovered her weeping beside my 
 
 bed
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 163 
 
 bed of sickness, the source from whence 
 those tears flowed, originated in the pos- 
 » sible loss of a lucrative situation, or of the 
 friend who had so often relieved her dis- 
 tresses; and, in taking her under her own 
 protection, placed her in that situation 
 which raised her above the immediate pres- 
 sure of pecuniary distress/* 
 
 One reflection rapidly succeeded to an- 
 other, but each was gloomy as the former; 
 until, feeling really ashamed of thus re- 
 pining, and of thus anticipating future 
 evils, she sought an apology for the sus- 
 picion she had imbibed, by reviewing, for 
 the hundredth tim^, the miseries of her 
 mother, originating from a similar source, 
 aided by a blind credulity she wished to 
 arm her own mind from engendering. — 
 Rallying, therefore, her spirits, she made a 
 passing observation to her companion, by 
 way of a renewal of conversation ; but 
 not receiving any immediate reply, she 
 turned towards him with surprise, and be- 
 held him buried in profound reflection, 
 
 and
 
 164 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 and this evidently not of a pleasurable na- 
 ture ; indeed so completely absorbed was 
 he in his own train of thinkinir, that he 
 neither heard the sentence addressed to 
 him, or observed the aroused attention of 
 his fellow-traveller. 
 
 Zitella was astonished; she contemplated 
 him, for some moments, in silence. His 
 mind was evidentiv distressed — it laboured 
 with some concealed cause; but,, of what 
 nature, perplexed and distressed her : he 
 was rich, had married the woman of his 
 free election, had, after an exile of many 
 years, returned, with professed delight, to 
 his country and connejcions; from what 
 then could his uneasiness originate ? for his 
 countenance and abstraction gave strong 
 indication of a mind not at ease. 
 
 The involuntary question of, " Are 
 you ill, my dear Sir?'* burst from her 
 lips. 
 
 He started from his reverie, the cloud 
 on his brow vanished ; he replied with 
 quickness — " No, my dear girl, I never 
 
 felt
 
 THE MISERIES- OF AN HEIRESS. 165 
 
 felt better in my life ; and 1 could not be 
 otherwise than happy, for," he continued^ 
 smiling, as if at the picture of his creative 
 •fancy, '' I had, in idea, finished my jour- 
 ney : and, safely arriving at home, had 
 rigured to my imagination our little group, 
 seated at a domestic fireside/' 
 
 '* The perspective charms me/' cried 
 Zitella — " how delighted I shall be to re- 
 alize it! for surely no happiness can be so 
 perfect as that ^vhIch an united family- 
 circle can produce — 
 
 * Where tboi'^ht meets thought, ere from the lip it part, 
 And each w^ira wish spiings mutual from the heart 1" 
 
 " Such a picture," returned Nugent, *' is 
 indeed charming, and each feeling bosom 
 beats with responsive hope to the poet's 
 description/' 
 
 '' Such, mv dear uncle, I am taus^ht to 
 beJieve, is yours; such, I am sure, I shall 
 find it; for love, I am told, in your union, 
 kindled the torch of Hymen." 
 
 "You were rightly informed, Zitella; 
 
 love
 
 166 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 love not only presided, but cemented the 
 
 union.'' 
 
 " Then/' she exclaimed, with fervour, 
 " vou are blessed indeed ! How enviable is 
 the lot of that mortal, who, obtaining the 
 object of affection, is assured of reciprocal 
 regard in the loved companion of his fu- 
 ture hours, the participator of all his joys, 
 the respectable mother of his children, his 
 dearer self, through the staoes of declin- 
 ing life ! in short, how blest are you, my 
 uncle!" 
 
 The " enviable" being beside her, how- 
 ever, had aoain sunk into silence : she 
 turned to survey him ; the dark brown, for 
 which he was indebted to the warm salute 
 of an eastern sun, had given place to a 
 crimson hue — he was even a2:itated ! — 
 Zitella felt confused, though she knew not 
 why ; and was inexpressibly relieved, by 
 the carriage abruptly stopping at the door 
 of an inn, for the horses to bait. - 
 
 Mr. >s'ugent desrended, and oiTerod his 
 hand to assist his fellow-traveller ; but, as 
 
 the 
 2
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 167 
 
 the snow continued to fall heavily, and the 
 detention would not, she was told, be more 
 than a few minutes, she wrapped her pe- 
 lisse closely around l.er, and signified her 
 wish to retain her station : the door was, 
 therefore, closed, and she was left to her- 
 self. , 
 
 In a few minutes, a coronetted post- 
 chariot drove up, and an elderly gentle- 
 man, with an emaciated invalid bv his 
 side, met her view, as its contents. The 
 steps were let down, while the two out- 
 riders, with the master of the inn and the 
 single waiter it prcfluced, were all busy in 
 assistino- the senior to alight, with every 
 possible attention to ward off from him 
 the inclement weather. They all disap- 
 peared together, by entering the house, 
 without the sm.allest attention to the inva- 
 lid, who, at that moment, approached the . 
 door of the carriag^e, from whence the 
 hostler of the inn had already be.2;un to 
 loosen the horses. The sick man was un- 
 able
 
 168 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 able to descend without aid ; and there- 
 fore, "with feeble voice, called out to him 
 to afibrd the necessary assistance. 
 
 '' Ods zooks, Mr. Morris, I did not see 
 vou, or I should have com'd here afore ! 
 What a sin and shame it is, to serve a 
 Christian body so ! Well, never mind it, 
 master; them who has their share in this 
 worlds can't expect it in the next; one 
 can't eat one's cake and have one's cake 
 too, that's forsartain." 
 
 The young man, raising his eyes, be- 
 held Zitella, whose whole attention seemed 
 rivettcd to himself, as she leaned out of 
 the carriage, while her expressive counte- 
 nance beamed with sympathy and interest. 
 The pallid hue of his complexion was il- 
 lumined bv the hectic of a moment : he 
 silently bowed, in passing; and, resting 
 on the arm of the hostler, reached the 
 house with difRcultv. 
 
 In a few minutes, \\\e. compassionate 
 ^tA^X of the stable re-appeared, when our 
 
 heroine.
 
 THE MISERIETS OF AN HEIRESS. 169 
 
 heroine, with seme earnestness of manner, 
 enquired^ who were the two gentlemen 
 recently arrived ? 
 
 Honest Jacob scratched his head-—'' ^^'l"iy> 
 Miss, I thought every fool know'd our 
 Lord; why/ he's the Earl of Eddermore, 
 who lives about five miles furder on ; and 
 the poor young man, v.'iio is a dying, is 
 the son of the Lord's only sister. The 
 folks about here do say, that he fell in love 
 with his cousin. Lady Ann ; but, as he had 
 not a guinea in the whole 'varsal worlds 
 the Lord crossed their loves, and made his 
 daughter marry some outlandish foreign 
 man as had ; and so poor Mr. Morris has 
 brokt his heart." 
 
 '^ Unfortunate Morris!" ejaculated Zi- 
 tella. 
 
 '•' Aye, unfortunate indeed. Miss, if you 
 was but worthy to know all ! Why, the 
 servan-ts uses him- worser than our post- 
 horses; {oY, when they be sick, why, the 
 farrier-doctor drenches *em, and looks a'ter 
 'em, and takes care t)f 'em, and bleeds 'em 
 
 VOL. r, I a bit ;
 
 17D THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 a bit; but poor Mr. Morris, you see, has 
 not one soul to take care of he, no, not 
 even to help 'en out of the coach, though 
 vou see as how he can hardly stand, nor 
 to cover him, poor soul, from the snow as 
 is a falling.** 
 
 '•' Why," returned Zitella impatiently, 
 ^' what has Mr. Morris done to be so 
 treated?" " 
 
 '^'Odszooks, Miss!" returned the host- 
 ler, '^ why now, didn't I tell ye, he had 
 not a o^uinea m the 'varsal world? and 
 folks don't do things now-a-days without 
 being paid for it ; and this young man is 
 an orphan body, and so, I think, the sooner 
 he goes to his long home, the better for 
 he. But, zooks. Miss, I be v;anted ! so, 
 my service to you ;" and, scraping his 
 foot, and placing his hat firmly in its ori- 
 ginal position, on his head, he moved ofTj 
 at the moment the step was let down for 
 Mr. Nuojent to re-enter the carriage, fol- 
 lowed by the curtseying landlady with a 
 wiuicr iilled with jellies and biscuits. 
 
 Zitella
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 171 
 
 * Zitella partook of each ; and, with her 
 mind brooding over the miseries of the 
 unhappy Morris, she listened to a ludi- 
 crous description, with which her uncle 
 attempted to entertain her, of the recep- 
 tion of the man of wealth, by the obsequi- 
 ous landlord of the Angel inn. 
 
 When they alighted to dine, Mr. Nugent 
 laughingly said — '' I really belie\e, my 
 dear Zitella, that I have never intimated to 
 you a retrogade movement in our jour- 
 ney, that I have not only meditated, but 
 actually arranged for you; but, in fact, my 
 ideas have been a little bewildered, on 
 which consideration you must pardon my 
 sin of omission." 
 
 " Most readily 1" she good-humou redly 
 returned — ^' But, to what corner of this 
 habitable isle do you mean to ti'ansport 
 me ? as, in truth, I feel no disinclination 
 to extend our journey ; for T have not, as 
 yet, been much of a traveller." 
 
 *' Nor will you now," he returned; 
 " our visit will only detain us an extra 
 
 . I 2 day,
 
 172 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 day, and is intended for your other guar- 
 dian. Lord Edgeworth, with whom it^vill 
 "be necessary that I make some previous 
 arrangement as to money-transactions; 
 and indeed I think it will be but an act of 
 respectful attention, that you pay a visit 
 of ceremony to his Lordship, and recog- 
 nise him in the light to which L allude. 
 The estate on which he now resides, I am 
 informed, lies on the borders of Salisbury 
 Plain ; but sequestered, I am told^ from 
 the busy haunts of men." 
 
 " I am much pleased at the prospect," 
 returned Zitella, '' and shall be delighted 
 to carry it into effect, as I have no recol- 
 lection whatever of Lord Edgeworth, so 
 many years have elapsed since we parted, 
 and I ^eol anxious to be made known to 
 this valued friend o? my beloved mother." 
 
 The evening was so tempestuous and 
 dark, that the travellers resolved to remain 
 at the inn until the following morning, 
 "%vhen they hoped to reach their place of 
 destination by the dinner hour. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 173 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 ^*"Why (lid the gods such various blessings pour 
 Gn helpless mortals, from their grateful hands 
 So soon the short-Iiv'd bounty to rccal ?" 
 
 Ye cruel maids, 
 "When fifst ye 'gan to weave my v.'eb of fate. 
 Ye dy'd it with tlie foseate hue of spring I 
 At length the raven croak'd — with joy ye snatch'd 
 The cords of woe, and dipp'd the unfinish'd web 
 
 Deep in the pitchy waters of despair ! 
 
 Savers, 
 
 Heath House, 
 
 About three o'clock, the carriap:e reached 
 Salisbury ; and, on enquiring at the prin- 
 cipal inn, were directed in the road to 
 Heath House, on the borders of the Plain. 
 
 I 3 Heavy
 
 174 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 
 
 IfcaVy clouds darkened the atmosphere, 
 which was pregnant with a misty fog; and, 
 as it overhung the circular horizon of Sa- 
 lisbury Plain, gave additional dreariness to 
 the rude uncultivated waste. No human 
 object met the eye far as vision could ex- 
 tend, save one solitary shepherd, who, 
 with his flock of fleecy companions, was 
 pursuing his lonely course across the 
 gloomy common; while, at the extremity 
 of its most desert side. Heath House stood 
 conspicuous, unsheltered, unconcealed, by 
 verdant shade: it was a fabric that bore 
 evidence of Vanburgh for its architect, 
 one of those unmeaning heavy piles, 
 "which, tasteless and unadorned, are ren- 
 dered, by empty spaciousness alone, con- 
 spicuous. Many of the windows were 
 closed, which gave an almost-uninhabit- 
 able ap[)earance to the edifice; but no 
 dilapidation was visible, for its firmly- 
 built, substantial walls, seemed to bid de- 
 fiiince to the winds of heaven. The court 
 in front was paved with stone, save a cir- 
 
 cular
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEfRES'5. 175 
 
 cular gravel road, svhich afTorded a car- 
 riage-track to the heavy portal. 
 
 The appeal for admission was answered 
 by an aged domestic;, whom time appeared 
 gradually bowii"}"; to that earth, which 
 w^ould eventually cover his venerable re- 
 mains: his bent fissure slowly tottered al- 
 most over a supporting stafT, as his t'^eeble 
 hand tremulously turned the lock of a 
 door on the ground-floor^ and announced 
 the travellers. 
 
 As Zitella first advancedj and was on x\\q 
 point of apologizing for their unseason- 
 able entrance, on finding the father and 
 daughter engaged at dinner, astonishment 
 momentarily suspended the commenced 
 sentence, in beholding the individual, who 
 arose to greet his guests, with a manner 
 that at once proclaimed the Lord of the 
 mansion. 
 
 A gloomy calm sat on his brow, his eyes, 
 were sunk, his complexion and lips were 
 almost ec[ually blanched; and the fine 
 brown hair which yet waved in natural 
 
 I 4 curls
 
 176 THE MiSERIHS OP AN HEJRESJi. 
 
 Giiris over his ^vcI]- formed head, seemed 
 alone to retain a pristine vestige of that 
 Edgeworth, who had, some few years since, 
 graced the theatre of public life. 
 
 His shirt was composed of the coarsest 
 Holland, a coloured cotton handkerchief 
 served as a cravat, a serge coat and w^aist- 
 coat, and breeches of the same materials; 
 overalls, such as are worn bv the common 
 ploughmen, and hob-nailed shoes^ com- 
 pleted the annarel of this mysterious Enir- 
 lish noble. 
 
 His daughter was habited in a short 
 linsey-woolsey jacket and petticoat in one, 
 a small round-eared cap, such as is some- 
 times worn by the children of a charity 
 school; with coarse worsted stockings, 
 shoes of a similar description with those 
 of her father, and a bib and apron, which 
 she was hastily removing, on the entrance 
 of the unexpected visitors, and which ap- 
 peared more immediately appropriated to 
 the dinner hour; and, at the back of the 
 chair from which she had arisefi, an old 
 
 weather-
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 177 
 
 %veather-beaten Dunstable bonnet was slung 
 by well-washed stringS; which were the only 
 ribbons affixed to it. But buoyant health 
 sat enthroned on the cheeks of Flora ; her 
 hazel eyes sparkled with the emanation of 
 unexpected delight, and on her arch mouth 
 dimpled volatility was strongly pictured. 
 
 The manner of Lord Edgeworth was 
 pregnant with an elegance of refinement,, 
 ill accordant to his personal habiliments; 
 but the tone of his voice was almost sepul- 
 chral — it sounded as from the depths of 
 a care-worn heart, and, stamped with suf- 
 fering, diffused an almost awful gloom 
 over his auditors : but he seemed himself 
 unconscious of its effect. V/ith affectionate 
 warmth he pressed the hand of Zitella, and 
 cordially greeted the return of Nugent to 
 his native country ; but no smile of even 
 momentary pleasure, broke the mournful 
 solemnity of his countenance. 
 
 The nabob, in his usual inconsiderate 
 manner, abruptly exclaimed — '^ Heavens, 
 what a metamorphosis ! Positively, I can 
 
 1 5 scarcely
 
 178 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 scarcely recognize my early friend, the 
 gay^ the fashionable Lord Edgeworth, of 
 Pall-Mall, in his rustic garb, his rustic 
 abode ! — But, surely it is not quite right 
 to strip the habiliments of fashion from 
 this fair nymph, to aid the deception, and 
 induce, us to imagine we must have mis- 
 taken our intended spot of destination.** 
 
 " Indeed it is not right,'* re-echoed 
 Flora; '" but my father will have me dress 
 thus; and I am very much inclined to dis- 
 obedience, for I cannot like being dis- 
 guised as a poor peasant, and not suffered 
 to be distinguished from one '* 
 
 " Flora," repeated Lord Edgeworth, in 
 a severe but agitated tone, " have I not 
 told you, this repining, in which you in- 
 ^dulge, is most painful, most afflicting to 
 me ?** Then, turning immediately to Nu- 
 gent — '' The fashionist of Pall-Mall, my 
 dear friend, would appear strangely ill 
 adapted to the region of Salisbury Plain ! 
 I have assimilated myself and my daughter 
 to the spot we inhabit, and bidden adieu 
 
 for
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 179 
 
 for ever to the follies aod frivolities at- 
 tached to a Peer of the great world. — But, 
 may I venture to invite Lady Zitella and 
 yourself to partake our rural fare? Had I 
 been apprised of the honour intended, I 
 should, in the true rustic style of compli- 
 ment, have selected viands better adapted 
 to the more sophisticated taste of my town 
 
 guests. 
 
 An accommodating answer being return- - 
 cd, the travellers took possession of two 
 w^ooden chairs, at a deal table, covered 
 with a diaper cloth, and laden only with, 
 one delf dish of boiled beef, and a corre- 
 spondent one of potatoes-, bone-handled 
 knives and forks, horn cups, and one glass 
 saltcellar !. 
 
 '' Variety, mv Lord," resumed Nugent, 
 '' is alwavs a welcome sucst, let her wear 
 what form she may ; and, of vour concur- 
 rence in this opinion," he added, with an. 
 arch smile, as he surveved the room, ^' we 
 have no reason to doubt. But in vain do. 
 
 I 6 I look
 
 180 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 I look for the fair who presides in this 
 mansion ; is Lady pdgeworth " 
 
 " Do me the favour/' interrupted his- 
 Lordship in a hurried tone^ '' to hand me 
 that saltcellar; for our house boasted but 
 of twOj and an accident yesterday demo- 
 lished one of them. — Flora^ Lady Zitella 
 has no bread: pray help your neighbour, 
 and then extend your bounty to us.'' 
 
 " But/' continued Mr. Nugent,, who did. 
 not appear to have noticed the confused 
 manner of his host^ " is not Lady Edge- 
 worth here ?" 
 
 " No/' hastily replied his Lordship — 
 '^ But I have forgotten to take out the 
 wine : I trust we all like port, for, in fact; 
 I have no other to offer; and, being my 
 own butler, you must pardon my quitting 
 the table :'* and, thus saying, he rose, and, 
 opening a closet, placed the wine before 
 them. His hand trembled, as he filled the 
 glasses ; and, taking up his own, bowed to 
 the ladies, at the moment the incorrigible 
 
 Nugent
 
 TITE MISERIES OF AN HEIRE3S. 131 
 
 Nugent again exclaii-ned — " Well; but^ my 
 good Lord, my question remains unan- 
 swered; therefore, permit me to empt) my 
 
 bumper to the health of the absentee 
 
 Ladv Ed";evvorih/' 
 
 The wine had that instant been raised to 
 the lips of her husband ; he started in ap- 
 parent agony, the glass fell from his nerve- 
 less hand, and, with a deep heavy groan, 
 he sunk back in his chair; the colour had 
 faded from his cheeks, and the strongest- 
 emotion convulsed his frame. 
 
 Nugent ran to his assistance — '^ Good 
 God !'* he exclaimed, '' are you ill ? Take 
 my arm, and endeavour to quit the room." 
 
 Plis Lordship slowly rose, and, waving 
 his hand not to be followed, w^ent out up- 
 on the lawn. 
 
 Flora looked distressed, as Zitella en- 
 quired if she had e\er before v,'itnessed a 
 similar indisposition ? 
 
 '' No," she replied, "^ not often ; but 
 perhaps it would have been better if — if 
 my mother had not been mentioned." 
 
 Nugent
 
 182 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Nugent apologised for his own incau- 
 tlon, but assured the blushing girl, he had 
 not heard of the family loss which had 
 been sustained. 
 
 " She is not dead/' continued Flora; 
 '' but my father will not permit her to 
 come here^ nor will he allow me to go to 
 her, although I long most ardently to see 
 her. — Did you know Lady Edgeworth?" 
 
 *' I had ihat honour once/' resumed Nu- 
 gent; '* but circumstances in early life, 
 separated me from my friends and coun- 
 try, and I retain consequently but a faint 
 recollection of her Ladyship ; and my re- 
 cent return to England has not afforded, 
 me the opportunity of renewing that ac- 
 quaintance/' 
 
 *' She is very amiable/' replied Flora, 
 " very beautiful, and very fond of both my 
 father and myself. I wish verv much he 
 would allow me to see her, if it was even 
 but for a day. Do you not think he ought. 
 Sir?" 
 
 '* My opinion. Miss Edgeworth, cannot 
 
 be
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 183 
 
 be relied upon, as I am wholly ignorant of 
 everv circumstance that operates, and am 
 not a lirtle distressed at the incident which 
 has given birth to the conversation. — But, 
 had I not better seek his Lordship ?" 
 
 *' Oh no !" she hastily returned — '' he 
 would not like to be interrupted." 
 
 " I had no idea," continued Nugent, 
 " of this unfortunate separation, for not a 
 syllable respecting it had ever reached me.'* 
 
 *' It was a terrible thing," sighed Flora, 
 as the starting tears overflowed ; '' and vet, 
 I am sure, they love each other tenderlv : 
 for, the last time I ever mentioned her to 
 
 my father, he folded me to his heart, while 
 
 « 
 
 he said, ' Remember, my child, when I am 
 no m one, that I wish to impress upon your 
 mind my fervent prayer to Heaven, that 
 you nnay be as chaste a woman as vour 
 mother: yet must it be the solemn iniunc- 
 tion of your father, that you never renew, 
 at any period, those filial bonds, which I 
 have been compelled to sever; never, if 
 you value the memory of my counsels, 
 
 return.
 
 184 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 return to her maternal protection/ He 
 clasped his hands^ and, raising his eyes to 
 heaven, on his moving lips I traced the 
 name of ' Alzira.* Involuntarily I fell on 
 my knees before him, I pressed his clasped 
 hands between my own, and tremulously 
 petitioned for a revocation of this cruel 
 com mi an d ; I conjured him, with all the 
 energy of filial affection, not to exile me- 
 thus for ever from the bosom of a fond- 
 and virtuous parent. He started with elec- 
 tric force; he looked on me, bathed in 
 tears, prostrate at his feet, pleading for 
 both my m.other and myself: his hands 
 moved their posture, they grasped mine 
 with a convulsive eaergy that almost pain- 
 ed me, and, in a voice I never, never can 
 forget, he pronounced — ^ My child, dost, 
 thou wish to madden thy wretchecf father? 
 if not, be silent, andsubm.it.' There was ■ 
 an awful solemnity in his manner, which : 
 subdued my momentary courage : he evi- 
 dently noticed its effect, and, dropping my 
 hands, sunk back into a chair ; while, with 
 
 a firm
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 185 , 
 
 a firm mandate that I dared not disobey, 
 he motioned for me to quit the room. * 
 
 En£;rossed bv her little narrative, the 
 7imrc relator estimated not the impropriety 
 of this family memoir beina: tendered \(> 
 such perfect strangers, and was only inter- 
 rupted by its immediate subject. 
 
 Much remains of agitation were yet vi- 
 sible; but it was evident, an attempt had 
 been made to conquer them, anel it was. 
 consequently passed unnoticed. 
 
 Lord Edge worth now endeavoured^ to 
 resume some portion of calmness, and 
 professed a hope that his visitors would 
 prolong their stay, as he could not con- 
 sent to the arrantijement he had been in- 
 formed of, for their departure after din- 
 ner; as, upon his assuming the character 
 of guardian, and understanding that his 
 ^vard was enjoined to pass two nionths in 
 the year beneath his roof, he had ^\\Qdi up 
 a comfortable bed-chamber for her recep- 
 tion ; and a small dressing-room, with, a 
 tent-bed, intended for Lady Zitella's own 
 
 maid^
 
 186 THE MISEFIXS O? AN HEIRESS. 
 
 inaid, might now become useful to Miss 
 Edgeworih, while her chamber would be 
 at the disposal of iMr. Nugent : and as the 
 latter saw his Lordship expected a ready 
 acquiescence, he compromised the matter, 
 by agreeing to pass another day with him; 
 but, as law matters required his presence 
 in town, it would be impossible to pro- 
 long his stay beyond that period. 
 
 The evening would have passed heavily, 
 but for the volubility oi Flora, who seem- 
 ed not to have an idea o{ concealing any 
 sentiment, and literally almost thought 
 aloud ; nor could the frown of her fatner 
 at all times repress, or even check, her 
 heedless manner. Nature, undisguised, 
 lived in every word and action of this 
 blooming girl ; the vivacious spirit of 
 youth pierced through the cloud of gloom 
 which surrounded her early life : her dis- 
 position was warm and affectionate, but 
 her mind unreflecting; while her quick, 
 passionate temper, seldom, if ever, bowed 
 
 Xo the controul of reason.. 
 
 Lord
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 187 
 
 Lord Edgeworth spoke little, and that 
 little was in a tone of such fixed dejection, 
 that it rather depressed than enlivened, 
 however the subject might, in itself, be 
 calculated to excite amusement ; and a 
 mournful sigh would break the successive 
 silent pause, as he surveved his daughter 
 engaged in gay and happy converse with 
 her young visitor. 
 
 In the course o^ the evening', he inti- 
 mated a wish to speak with Mr. Nugent in 
 private, and both retired from the room, 
 
 *' This is just the very opportunity I 
 have been desiring,'* said the volatile girl, 
 drawing her chair closer to that of her 
 guest, while she listened, with anxious 
 attention, to the dying sound of the reced- 
 ing footsteps ; and, having been fully as- 
 certained of their distance, sh6 thus conti- 
 nued — " "You must know, my dear Lady 
 Zitella, that I have been in the greatest 
 anxiety for your arrival, because you can 
 do me sue!) a service; indeed you can 
 oblige me \ery,^'ery much." 
 
 ''In
 
 ISS THE MISEHIES OF AN EEIRESS. 
 
 '' In what manner, pray inform nfte, and 
 I shall be much pleased by having that 
 ability/' 
 
 "'Will you really ?'* replied the former^^ 
 taking her hand^ and looking attentively 
 in her countenance, as if to read the in- 
 formation of an inclination to comply 
 with her wishes. 
 
 " Yes/' she resumed, '^ you look very 
 kind, and I am now certain you will not 
 refuse me the favour I require ; but you 
 must not inform mv father of it, for the 
 universe, or I do not know v/hat raio-ht 
 happen to poor Flora ; for, although very 
 aOecrionate in general, on this point he is 
 inexorable; and, if he were sensible I had 
 dared to discbey his command on this 
 head, he would confine me yet more than 
 he does at present; and I am already im- 
 prisoned most cruelly, and never see the 
 human face divine, except the shepherd 
 boys on the Plain, and old Gregory and 
 Phoebe, with now and then a poor cotta- 
 ger : indeed. Lady Zitell^, it is a dismal 
 
 life.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 1S9 
 
 life, and all proceeds from a whim of my 
 father; for, I am convinced, he can have 
 no good reason to immure himself and his 
 child in this dreary, solitary, woful house, 
 ■without even savins; whv he stavs here, 
 an.d lives in a manner so incompatible 
 "\vith his rank and fortune/' 
 
 '^ It is indeed strange,'* replied our or- 
 phan ; "' but doubtless Lord Edgeworth 
 does not act without some strong and 
 powerful reason, however it may, at pre- 
 sent, be veiled from puolic knowledge." ^ " 
 
 '•' It must be a wild, odd kind of reason 
 then," continued Flora, '* for I have es- 
 sayed all in my power to discover one, 
 without success : but indeed I am afraid 
 often to venture on the subject to himself, 
 he is so violent — itaijfitates him for hours; 
 and then that rendei*s me unhappy, and I 
 am grieved that I have ever asked a single- 
 question on the why or the wherefore; for 
 I love him most sincerelv, and better than 
 any one I ever knew, except my mother." 
 
 3 '' Do
 
 J 90 THE MISKRIES OF AN HEIIiESS. 
 
 " Do you prefer her then. Miss Edge- 
 worth ?'' 
 
 *' Do I ! What a question !'* and, burst- 
 ing in tears, she added — " A thousand and 
 a thousand times ! — My poor dear mother ! 
 no, I never will, never can love ray father 
 as fervently as I do you ! — Ah, Lady Zi- 
 tella, it \vas cruel, very cruel, to separate 
 us, for we were so blest a familv ! I was a 
 verv little <^irl when it occurred, but never 
 can I lose remembrance of the moment — 
 it w^as a dreadful, dreadful scene ! But 1 
 must not describe it: mv father has made 
 me sv:€ar, never to suffer what then passed 
 to escape my lips. The oath was very so- 
 lemn," she subjoined, shuddering at its re- 
 collection ; '' it was pronounced in an 
 apartment mv father has fitted up for his 
 own immediate use, and this memorable 
 room I have never since been suffered to 
 enter. But now, dear Ladv Zitella, about 
 the favour I h.ad to ask of vou : it is sim- 
 ply to convey a letter from me to Lady 
 
 Edgeworth ;
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN IIEI?.ESS. 191 
 
 Edgeworth ; for, if sent to her town resi-. 
 dence in Pail-Mall, it will certainly reach 
 her; or, if not there, it will be forwarded 
 by her steward, to wherever she mav be : 
 it has been written,, ready prepared to de- 
 liver to you, ever since I had heard of the 
 probability of vour visiting Heath House, 
 and I am sure vou are too ^ood-natured 
 to disappoint nie." 
 
 '' Indeed, mv dear Miss Ed^^eworth, I 
 
 J CD 
 
 have all the inclination to comolv with 
 your wishes, but propriety would not ad- 
 mit its indulgence; I cannot commit so 
 great a breach of hospitalitv, as, at the 
 moment I am received beneath the roof oi 
 this mansion, to betray the unsuspecting 
 confidence of mv host: for, althoui^h in 
 total ignorance of the motives for his ex- 
 traordinary conduct, I cannot avoid con- 
 cluding, they must be very powerful in- 
 deed, thus to have burst asunder the bonds 
 of domestic cordiality, and more especi- 
 ally where perfect affection appears to ex- 
 ist between its relative branches." 
 
 " And
 
 li)2 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 '' And are you then detcnnrned net to 
 forward the letter ?" said Flora, while her 
 glowing colour mellowed^ and her eyes 
 fell, divested of their bappy ardent brilli- 
 ance. 
 
 " I i^rieve to repeat its necessity/' re- 
 plied the former. 
 
 A deepened crimson returned to the 
 cheeks of her companion, and, with impe- 
 tuous passion, she exclaimed—'' Well then, 
 you positively are the most hard-hearted, 
 unfeeling girl, the world ever produced !'* 
 and the tears of disappointment streamed 
 from her eyes. — " No doubt," she resumed, 
 '' you will also conceive it proper to ac- 
 quaint my father of what I have re- 
 quested ?" 
 
 '^ No, Miss Edgeworth," returned zA- 
 tella gravely, " confidential communica- 
 tion is, with me, a sacred trust ; and, how- 
 ever you mav misconstrue the motive of 
 my refusal, rest assured, I will never be- 
 tray ought respecti-ng it." 
 
 "I do not care what you betray," re- 
 turned
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 193 
 
 turned Flora pettishly : '' if the letter is 
 not to be conveyed to my dear mother^ 
 nothing else can affect me half so much." 
 
 " Be reconciled, my dear girl, ' conti- 
 nued Zitella, compassionately pressing her 
 hand, " to what appears to me your in- 
 cumbent duty; acquiesce in the commands 
 of paternal authority ; for, be assured, al- 
 though we cannot divine the cause, yet 
 some secret and fatal one must exist, to 
 induce that restriction of which vou com- 
 plain ; and time and patience," added she 
 omilinglv, '' the two sovereign remedies 
 for every evil, will produce their usual 
 efiect/' 
 
 " Ah no !" cried the sobbing Flora, an- 
 grily withdrawing her hand," they will not 
 apply to my case ! My father, though he 
 wept bitterly when he said it, assured me, 
 I should never see her again ; that to me 
 alone, he could ever look for future com- 
 fort/' 
 
 *' And yet," resumed Zitella gravely, 
 *' of this kind friend you would risk the 
 
 VOL. I. K entire
 
 194 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 entire displeasure, to gratify a propensity 
 which, under other circumstances^ would 
 be laudable; but, influenced by present 
 ones, would not only be highly reprehen- 
 sible, but extremely cruel ; and, being ig- 
 norant of what attaches cause and effect, 
 you know not how wide the evil may ex- 
 tend, or even where to look for its termi- 
 nation." 
 
 " Theory is very easily lavished," said 
 Flora, '' but not so readily practised. 
 Your Ladyship can reason coolly — I fed 
 warmly: had you, like me, been torn from 
 the arms of a fond afieciionatc mother, 
 one who, although young and beautiful, 
 had watched with tender solicitude over 
 your infant vears, who had nursed you at 
 her bosom, and first directed the expansion 
 of your budding ideas, you would not, 
 could not, argue thus frigidly correct.*' 
 
 *' Your appeal affects my heart," re- 
 turned the former, *'but cannot shake mv 
 resolve, for it is fixed on principle. I too 
 had a fond, a doating mother; and I act, 
 
 even
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 195 
 
 even now, from the conviction, that her 
 counsels would have been for me to have 
 persevered in following the dictates of a 
 conscience which still tells me I am right." 
 
 " Ah ! it is very easy to act right/* re- 
 joined Flora, as she tangled the thread she 
 was winding off, with as much dexterity as 
 absence of mind ; '' where every thing runs 
 smooth, what can an heiress want, that she 
 cannot purchase ?" 
 
 " That very blessing," interrupted Zi- 
 tella, '' which vou yourself stand in need 
 of — content. Be assured, it is veri/ possible 
 for an '' heiress ' to be perfectly dissatis- 
 fied ; and, at that very reflection, there are 
 numberless things, which, to he purchased: 
 would lose their value ; and hence, per- 
 haps," she added, with a deep sigh, '' arises 
 one of her '' miseries." 
 
 Flora smiled through her tears, as she 
 exclaimed — " Well, I would take dl her 
 '* miseries'* to be in the situation of one. 
 Look here iit this little shabby jacket ! Is 
 it not enough to torment a poor girl, to 
 
 K 2 be
 
 196 THE MISEPJES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 be dressed in this odd way, when I love 
 smart becoming clothes^ to my very heart? 
 Ah ! my dear mother always delighted to 
 see her Flora dressed to advantage/' she 
 continued, while her grief burst out afresh ; 
 *■'. and she would look at me, with her sweet 
 eyes beaming with rapture, and exclaim — 
 ' Was ever creature half so happy, with 
 such a husband and such a child }'\ 
 
 Zitella walked to the window, to con- 
 ceal her emotion at this innocent picture 
 of connubial bliss, which had faded with 
 human evanescence. — '^ V/ell, Flora, if 
 fine clothes will alford you comfort, I have 
 the ability to indulge you there; for, the 
 moment I" arrive in town, I will send 
 you " 
 
 '' Send me nothing, dear Lady Zitella, for 
 I should not be permitted to wear it : all 
 my beautiful frocks, and all my lace caps, 
 are now in the lumber-room up stairs, 
 with my Lord's gay dresses, and his fine 
 shirts, and his silk stockings, and his opera- 
 hat — Heavens 1 who would now think he 
 
 had
 
 THE MISERIES OF- AN HEJRESS. 197 
 
 had ever worn one ? and Phoebe keeps the 
 key, and she has strict orders never even 
 to suffer me to look at them ; and she is 
 extremely dutiful;, I assure voii ; for, ex- 
 cept I could jump through the key-hole, 
 there is no other chance for me to infringe 
 the command. But, if 1 was an heiress^ and 
 as near being of age as you are, I would 
 wait patiently for the arrival of the glori- 
 ous day that wotild emancipate me from 
 leading-strings ; and I would fly to Lon- 
 don, where I should be certain of plenty 
 of lovers; and I would marry, in order to 
 be quite, quite free; and then my dear 
 mother and I would reside together again." 
 
 '' What ! whether your new lord and 
 master approved it or not ?" 
 
 *' Why, what would signify his approval ? 
 you know, I should be sure he married me 
 for my money ; and I am certain I should 
 }iot care a straw for him ; and I dare say 
 we should be extremely happy and com- 
 fortable." 
 
 *' Your ideas of comfort and happiness/* 
 
 K 3 returned
 
 198 THE MISERIES OF AN HEinESS. 
 
 returned Zitella^ smiling, " are somewhat 
 d-la-mode ; but, according to my definition, 
 your theoretical road would lead to a very 
 different goal.*' 
 
 The entrance of the gentlemen here in- 
 terrupted their con f^rencti and the subject 
 was consequently immediately dropped. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AlJ HEIRESS. 199 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Beauty, thou pretty plaything ! dear deceit ! 
 
 Blaiju 
 
 I've known her long— of worth most excellent j 
 
 But, in the day of woe, she ever rose 
 
 Upon the mind, with added majesty i^ 
 
 As the dark mountain more sublimely tpw'rs, 
 
 Mantled in clouds and storms t 
 
 Joanna Baillie's De Montfort, 
 
 Old Gregori/, 
 
 ZiTELLA, never having seen the far-famed 
 Stonehenge, on finding that Flora and her- 
 self were risen before either of the gentle- 
 men, expressed a desire to take a walk to 
 that part of the Plain, which was not far 
 
 K 4 distant.
 
 200- THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 
 
 distant, for the purpose of beholding those 
 druidical relics. 
 
 MissEdgevvorth arquiesced most readily; 
 and the new friends had scarcely reached 
 beyond the boundaries of the court, when 
 the latter professed to have forgotten her 
 gloves, and ran back to seek them, pro- 
 mising to overtake our heroine in a few 
 minuteSj who, almost immediately perceiv- 
 ing the aged Gregory crossing an angular 
 path, stopped to notice him, with the ex- 
 clamation of — ^' I believe, my old friend, 
 I am quite grown out of your knowledge; 
 for you have not appeared even to recol- 
 lect me/' 
 
 '^ Yes, my Lady, I did recollect you, sure 
 enough ; but I was afraid to address you, 
 for I heard say, you were a great heiress 
 now; and great heiresses, my Lady, seldom 
 have hearts to recognize poor people, like 
 myself.** 
 
 *'Alas!" thought Zitella, '' how miser- 
 able is the reflection, that such a charac- 
 ter appears to attach spontaneously to that 
 
 situation
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. ^01 
 
 situation in which fate has placed me!" 
 The conviction that it was so held, at least 
 bv that class of people, and that thus the 
 affections of her old and valued depen- 
 dants were alienated^ if not effaced wholly, 
 produced an involuntarv melancholy pause; 
 but it was broken w^ith kindness/as she sub- 
 joined — " Judge of me not so hirshly, good 
 old man; for if ins^ratitude be the attribute 
 of wealth, most willingly would I forego 
 the latter^ to avoid the former. Your fide- 
 lity, when poverty assaile:! my beloved mo- 
 ther, I have often heard hev mention/' 
 
 *' Your condescension qui-re overcomes 
 me," returned Gregorv, in a broken voice; 
 *' indeed, my Lady, n-y humble services 
 were but few and scant, and it would have 
 done mv heart good to have lived and 
 died in her Ladvshio's service, if she would 
 have suffered me ; but she consigned me, 
 as I may say, to my present Lord^ because 
 she could not pay me such high wages as 
 before her misfortunes, and all I s.iid of 
 my own wishes went for nothing; and- 
 
 K 5 when
 
 202 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS, 
 
 when my respected Lady would have taken 
 me again latterly, why I thought it was un- 
 grateful to leave my Lord in his sudden 
 affliction; and so again I could not follow 
 my own inclinations. But it quite renders 
 me young again to see you^r my Lady — it 
 seems as if it was your mother her own 
 gracious self, and I was living my life over 
 again; aye, that kind, sweet face, is all Nu- 
 gent, not a line of a Darnford to spoil its 
 charming goodness." 
 
 " You have a warm heart, Gregory : 
 Heaven will reward your merits, for ihey 
 are manifold, J know." 
 
 " Aye, my Lady, sure enough I shall go 
 there soon, if I do not deserve a worse 
 place, for I am fast sinking with trouble 
 into the grave," and the old man applied 
 the back of his hand to either eye. 
 
 " Trouble, good Gregory ! I grieve in- 
 deed for that ! — Can I assist you in any 
 way to relieve your distress ? Speak^ if so, 
 and I will exert my utmost endeavours." 
 
 The old man thanked her, with tremulous 
 
 emotion;
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 203 
 
 emotion ; but his tottering head was mourn- 
 fully moved, to express her inability to af- 
 ford that relief she was anxious to admini- 
 ster; and he wiped again the trickling tear 
 from his furrowed cheeks, as he continued 
 to speak — '' Aye, sweet young Lady, it is 
 not my own trouble, as I mav say, that 
 afflicts me thus, for I have notliing fo com- 
 plain of for myself; but it is my Lord, my 
 dear respected Lord — " His voice faltered 
 — *' Oh, what a sorrowful sight it is, to see 
 him so cast down ! I who have known him 
 from a little boy, not higher than my stick; 
 and so happy, so cheerful, and so gay ; 
 always in spirits, and never frowning nor 
 severe ! now, I never see him smile, nor 
 look comfortable, for a moment ! — Oh, 
 Lady Zitella, it was a dismal day when the 
 separation took place! I thought how it 
 would be, and I said my Lord could never 
 be happy away from my Lady ; and I was 
 sure he never would look up again, if they 
 were separate:!, as I may say." 
 
 K 6 "It
 
 204 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 *' It was indeed a strange, unaccountable 
 event/* replied t^e former. 
 
 '' Unaccountable indeed!" re-echoed 
 Gregory — -'' no one, please you, could give 
 fhe slightest guess as to the cause; for, cer- 
 tain sure, no one ever dared to slander mv 
 Lady's virtue; and that she loved her Lord 
 "With all her soul, I would take mv bible 
 oath of: and as to Miss Flora, she was 
 quite an idol — I used to think she was al- 
 most too fond sometimes; for, when the 
 poor baby was ill of the measles, she was 
 just like a distracted person, and never left 
 her cradle day nor night; and would suf- 
 fer no one to dress, or to move her, or to 
 give her medicine that the doctors ordered, 
 but herself: and she was so kind to all the 
 poor — not a tenant on the estate but used 
 to blesSj and quite worship her: and sure 
 never were two such generous hearts united 
 in one, as our Lord and Lady ; and then, 
 * after seven years of peace, and happiness, 
 and joy, why then, all in an instant, as one 
 
 2 may
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 205 
 
 may say, without any reason or cause that 
 any one could see, my Lord declared his 
 wish to separate, and take Miss Flora with 
 him into the country, from her dear mo- 
 ther ! 
 
 '' Jt was all no sooDer said than done; 
 and, before anv one could look round 
 them, it was all settled and fixed ; and I 
 was to follow to Heath House, in a fort- 
 niiJ^ht after mv Lord set out — and a dread- 
 ful fortnight it was ! 
 
 '' Mv Lord, mv Ladv, and Tittle Miss 
 Flora, were shut up in a back room for a 
 long time; and then I heard the door, all 
 of a sudden, almost burst open, and my" 
 Lord came like mad down the stairs where 
 I was standing, and he had his dear child in 
 his arms, and she was crying and scream- 
 ing, and seemed quite frightened and ter- 
 rified; and then I saw my Lady almost leap 
 from the top to the bottom of the steps 
 after him, and she clung to his knees, and 
 she sobbed so piteously, it would have 
 moved the heart of a stone ; but my Lord 
 
 tried
 
 206 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 
 
 tried to escape from her hands, for she 
 held him fast ; ard when she saw that he 
 struggled till he did so, she caught our 
 sweet Miss Flora from his arms, and she 
 swore — yes, my Lady, she really did swear 
 in her auonv, that force should never tear 
 her child from her: and my Lord — oh, 
 how dreadful was his look ! I did not think 
 he could have looked so terrible; and I 
 never could find out the meaning which 
 was in his fine handsome countenance, but 
 it was horrible, horrible indeed, and he did 
 not seem a bit like himself: but he said 
 something in a very low whisper to my 
 Ladv, and it seemed to have a crreat effect, 
 for she then suffered him to take the child 
 quietly; but her lips were white as the 
 snow, and she shivered all over ; but 
 she never moved her eyes from her hus- 
 band and her child, till they were clear out 
 of sight ; and then she gave such a groan, 
 it seemed to me as if the soul and body 
 must be parted ; and these very arms saved 
 her from being dashed against the balus- 
 trades
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 207 
 
 trades in the hall^ for she fell without mo- 
 tion : and, when she returned to herself, 
 she never spoke a word, but she looked all 
 about her, as if she was searching for some- 
 body; and then she shrieked out, and went 
 into fits, one after another, till I thought 
 she had not strength to hold out another 
 hour, and her screams might have been 
 heard far beyond the house; but, when 
 she came to herself, she was as dignified 
 and as calm as if she was quite reconciled 
 to the loss of her family : yet, for all that, 
 I could see that, though her countenance 
 was serene and quiet, her heart was pained ; 
 that she was miserable, and suffered a great 
 deal in keeping it all to herself, as I may 
 say, for she had not a friend with her: and 
 when the doctors advised that she would 
 send for some lady she loved, and who 
 loved her, to stay with and comfort her, 
 she positively refused, and said she would 
 see no one until she was quite well, and 
 then she would sigh, as if her heart would 
 break : and when her bosom-friend, Mrs. 
 
 Anson,
 
 208 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Anson, insisted upon being admitted, it 
 was all in vain ; for not one living crea- 
 ture, except her own maid, would she suf- 
 fer to come near her : and she would ad- 
 mit no doctor to attend her, though we 
 sent for them w^hen she was at the worst ; 
 but she alwavs said she was very well, and 
 did not need one, when, all the time^- 
 every body could see she was brought to 
 death's door bv the loss of her husband 
 and child ; and then it was that the jrentle- 
 men recommended to send for her friends, 
 only she would not let us. Ah, my Lady, 
 it was the only action of my Lord's whole 
 life that was unkind ! and indeed, when I 
 saw my poor Lady scarcely able to move 
 from one room to another without assist- 
 ance, yet never complaining, though her 
 sweet face was as pale as a ghost, yet was 
 there something so steady, so firm, in its 
 proud look, which seemed to say — " I will 
 bear it all, ]et me suffer wh{»t I will !** 
 
 " Gracious God!'' exclaiined Zitella, 
 " what myslery lowers over this unfortu- 
 nate
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS, 209 
 
 nate pair, when a moment seems to have 
 for ever severed the ties of conjugal affec- 
 tion ! — Alas ! how precarious is the fairy 
 fabric of happiness, even when reared on 
 apparetrtlv the most solid human founda- 
 tion — that of a chaste and virtuous love !" 
 
 A pause ensued — the silver-haired atten- 
 dant was evidently overcome bv remem- 
 brance of the sorrows of the unfortunate 
 Ladv Edo^eworth ; and an irresistible me- 
 lancholy had diffused itself over the heart 
 of his auditor, in being thus compelled to 
 acknowledge the evanescence even of that 
 domestic bliss, to which the wishes of her 
 bosom chastely pointed, as the first blessing 
 of mortality. 
 
 The softened voice of Zitella broke the 
 silence — *' Did you never, my good friend, 
 mention the aoparent anguish of vour 
 Lady to Lord Edgeworth ? it surely would 
 have moved his heart to pity, and might 
 eventuallv have aided for^iiveness, if it 
 were possible that resentment against a 
 wife so amiable, could have engendered 
 
 anger
 
 210 THE MISERIES ®F AN HEIRESS. 
 
 anger sufficiently strong to have caused a 
 procedure important as that of a perma- 
 nent separation.** 
 
 " I endeavoured to speak of it^ indeed I 
 did, in the hope it might do good, and 
 bring matters to rights again; but I had 
 hardly uttered my Lady's name, when my 
 Lord bade me stop, in a tone so command- 
 ing, that it was not becoming my humble 
 situation to dare again disobey ; indeed, I 
 never had been spoken to by him in such 
 a tone before in my life : and, with a firm 
 voice, he added, " my determination is fixed, 
 unalterably fixed;'* these were his very own 
 words, for they cut me to the heart, and 
 never can I forget them : and yet, when he 
 had said them, he covered his face with his 
 hands, and they shook and trembled, as if 
 they had been in an ague — he groaned 
 even more deep than my Lady, and so I 
 thought it was better to leave him to him- 
 self; and I went away, and wandered about 
 from one room to another, for I could not 
 rest that I had vexed him ; and as I went 
 
 uj>
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 211 
 
 up and down these brown oak stairs with- 
 out a bit of carpet, I could not but help 
 thinking: of the difference between this 
 house and my Lord's own proper beautiful 
 one in London ; and it seemed so strange, 
 that the fine furniture that he had been 
 used to all his life, was gone, and nothing 
 but wooden chairs and tables; and no car- 
 pets for his Lordship, nor any conveniences 
 at all ; and Miss Flora, too, dressed so 
 oddly, and so shabby, as I may say — so 
 unlike any thing she had ever been used 
 to ; why, then, I really began to fear my 
 Lord was out of his right mind ; for, as to 
 his being turned miser all of a sudden, that 
 I know was impossible, for he would scorn 
 to be such a narrow-minded character. 
 But, however, I have seen nothing since, 
 thank God, to make me think his senses 
 have left him ; for he is always collected 
 in all his ways, and in every thing he talks 
 about, and takes such care of Miss Flora, 
 that he is never easy if she is out of his 
 sight, even to take a walk, with me to 
 
 guard
 
 212 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 guard her ; and I am sure I would let n6 
 harm come to her; for, though iny arm is 
 now feeble from age, it would be strong 
 enew, I trow, when raised to defend the 
 child of my dear Lord and Lady. But here 
 comes the sweet, good Miss Flora, herself; 
 and I must not say any more, for my Lord 
 has made me promise never to speak of 
 Lady Edgeworth before her daughter^ or 
 elsCj he said, much as he wished to have 
 me with him, he could not^ dn any ac- 
 count, keep me here a moment after he 
 should have discovered that I had diso- 
 beyed his commands. But perhaps I have 
 tired your patience, my Lady, enough al- 
 ready, for old age will be talkative, iti 
 spite of itself; and when the Subject ha^ 
 been those we have been proud to serve 
 and regard, it is but natural we should likfe 
 to speak all we know of them.*' 
 
 Zitella had scarcely time to assure him 
 he had interested, and not wearied her, 
 with his simnle detail, when Flora reached 
 the spot. She appeared confused, and 
 • tendered
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 213 
 
 tendered a hesitating and embarrassed apo- 
 logy for having detained her friend; but 
 alledged no reason why she had done so, 
 although her errand had detained her near 
 half an hour. The annexed information, 
 that the gentlemen were down stairs, and 
 breakfast waited their appearance, post- 
 poned the excursion to Stonehenge ; and 
 the young companions returned Xo the 
 house, instead of proceeding on their walk. 
 As soon as the meal w-as concluded. 
 Lord Edgeworth requested a few minutes 
 private conversation with his ward; and an 
 acquiescence with his wishes having been 
 acceded, he led her into a small room, fur- 
 nished as the former, if we except the ad- 
 dition of a vqrv handsome library, which 
 occupied two entire sides. Having closed 
 the door, and presented a chair, his Lord- 
 ship thus addressed her: — ''^ The mysteri- 
 ous circumstances under which ! appear, 
 you cannot have avoided observing. Lady 
 Zitella ; I shall, however, pass them over," 
 and he hesitated, " for elucidation is im- 
 possible.
 
 X 
 
 214 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 possible, and to veil them under a borro^v- 
 ed garb, is not my wish. The late Lady 
 Darnford, your respected mother, I sin- 
 cerely esteemed and regarded while living; 
 and her memory I as perfectly venerate 
 and respect. In nominating me one of 
 the guardians of her sole oflTspring, she 
 did not simply compliment, but she highly 
 honoured me. Would that I felt myself 
 equal to tlie precious delegation ! But cir- 
 cumstance h .3 unnerved the powers of my 
 mind, and unfitted me for the more chear- 
 ful walks of Ijfe. Althoug-h, under certain 
 events, I am become a solitary, yet my na- 
 tural disposition is not misanthropic — I 
 view mankind with no jaundiced eye: I 
 have, in my pilgrimage through life, pos- 
 sessed friends, steady, faithful friends; I 
 have even tasted the happiness of recipro- 
 cal, virtuous, connubial love, in its warm- 
 est, most fervent nature." The lip of the 
 speaker quivered. '* But of this I dare not 
 trust myself to speak; it will suffice to say, 
 I never shall again invade the busy haunts 
 
 of
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 2 1 5" 
 
 t>f public life. Yet if, under present In- 
 fluence, I can in anv way render your 
 Lad \ ship service, it will afford me sincere 
 gratiHcation. Happiness and pleasure are 
 erased from my vocahularv ; \ut all the 
 feelings left, which attach to parental soli- 
 citude, will ever be devoted to your wel- ^ 
 fare ; and upon these professions you may 
 safely relv." 
 
 '* I place implicit confidence in your 
 Lordship's assertion/' replied Ziteila, ''and 
 gratefully acknowledge the kindness it in- 
 timates, since mv mother had lon^r tau^rht 
 me to value the friendship and interests of 
 an individual she contemplated on so ex- 
 alted a pinnacle of rectitude, \Nhileshe re- 
 gistered her obligations on the heart of 
 her daughter." 
 
 The "loomy solemnity of Edtjeworth's 
 countenance momentarily softened to a 
 less painful melancholy, and its m llowed 
 dejection spoke a resistless language to the 
 feeling heart of his companion — " The 
 truly generous mind; my young friend, 
 
 possesses
 
 216 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 possesses a microscopic vision, which is ' 
 ever raised to contemplate the trifling ser- 
 vices of others — such was that of the valued 
 Countess ; and as her daughter, Lady Zi- 
 tella^ even independent of your own vir- 
 tues, you will ever claim from me care and 
 attention : I only lament that the retire- 
 iTient in w-hich I now live, should preclude 
 its fulfilment, to that extent to which my 
 inclination w^ould otherwise point." 
 
 " It would really, my Lord/' returned 
 Zitella, '^ af]b:-d me both advantasje and 
 sincere gratification, if I could, under any 
 and every important event, be benefitted 
 by the advice and counsel of so valued a 
 friend of my beloved mother; but circum- 
 stance permits me not to indulge so pleas- 
 ing a hope. Yet, although your Lordship 
 is devoted to this solitude, at a future mo- 
 ment I will still venture to hope, you will 
 allow my young friend, A'iss Edgeworth, 
 to emerge ; and that to my tender care 
 you will, if even but for a short time, com- 
 mit this darling of your hopes.'* 
 
 Lord 
 
 N
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 217 
 
 Lord Eugeworth rose, with sudden agi- 
 tation — " Pardon my decided negative, 
 dear Lad)' Zitella ; but it is thus abruptly 
 declared^ to bar all intercession. If my 
 poor volatile Flora were to hear of this 
 friendly proposal, the energy of youthful 
 anticipation would aid a natural wish for 
 variety, and I should be distressed to. curb 
 a propensity so consonant to her years and 
 disposition ; but my child must not now 
 enter on the busy scenes of life — under 
 present and probable circumstances, she 
 never will quit this solitude ; no," he 
 ad^ed, pacing the room with quick disor- 
 dered step, '^ no, never will she pass the 
 proscribed circle in which I require her to 
 remain ! — Discourage, therefore, my sweet 
 young friend, all idea of change ; neither 
 whi:n, caprice, passion, or resentment, in- 
 fluence my decision. Alas, alas ! a more 
 fatal cause exists I" and, throwing himself 
 into a chair, he gasped with impeded respi- 
 ration. 
 
 Zitella approached, distressed and alarm- 
 voL. I. L ed
 
 218 THE MISERIES OF A>J HEIRESS. 
 
 ed at his emotion ; and, feelins: real reofret 
 for having unwarily excited it, she took 
 his trembling hand in hers — '* Forgive, my 
 dear Sir, the pain I have involuntarily in- 
 flicted, and never more will I revive the 
 subject." 
 
 He ])ressed her hand— '^ Sufifer me then 
 abruptly to dismiss it, and resume another/* 
 he added> interrupting her with quickness, 
 while effort alone enabled him to aid his 
 purpose — " We >vill now descend to the 
 discussion of money transactions. My late 
 friend, Lady Darn ford, has particularly re- 
 quested, that every m.atter of that descrip- 
 tion may rest wholly with me, wisely to 
 avoid the frequent unpleasant questions 
 "which often occur between near relatives. 
 Your fortune. Lady Zitella, is very consi- 
 derable ; but report and -my present ob- 
 servation unite to convince me, that your 
 native discretion, and proper mode of edu- 
 cation, have produced such admirable fruity 
 that I mav venture Xo entrust vou, even at 
 this early period of your indcpcndance/ 
 
 with
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 210 
 
 with that power with which circumstance 
 has invested me. Your pursuits, I am as- 
 sured, will always be such as must meet the 
 approbation of your warmest friends; and, 
 thus imprest, I stipulate no terins with 
 you. Your Ladyship's bills upon mc will 
 always be honoured; and this assurance is 
 sufficient to convince you, that the ofuar- 
 dian will at once be lost in the preferable 
 title of friend." 
 
 Our heroine made suitable acknowledg- 
 ments for the handsome and flattering 
 compliments awarded her, and truly felt 
 as much gratified as she had expressed ; 
 but vvas interrupted by the voice of her 
 uncle, who announced that the carriage 
 had been for some time w^aitinof. 
 
 Lord Edgeworth drew her arm within 
 his ovvrn, and they proceeded to the room 
 they had lately quitted. The coral lips of 
 Flora retained somewhat of that which the 
 nursery language would style i^outing, and 
 this onlv gave wav, at the moment the car- 
 riage drove from the door, to the starting 
 
 L 2 tears
 
 220 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 tears of disappointment and regret, that 
 she was secluded from that gay metropolis 
 to which Lady Zitelia was journeying. But 
 a secret gratification did in some measure 
 console her; for, under the pretext of re- 
 turning for her gloves, she had put in exe- 
 cution a sudden thought of having her 
 letter conveyed to her mother through the 
 medium of one of Mr. Nugent's servants, 
 which was, by the aid of a small douceur^ 
 easily accomj lished. 
 
 '* The intellects of Lord Edgeworth must 
 certainly be afifecied," said Nugent, as the 
 chariot wheeled alono' the P'ain ; " no- 
 thing less than derangement could induce 
 a man of his wealth and ;ank to forego all 
 the appendages of luxury, all the respecta- 
 bility of suitable retinues and appurtenan- 
 ces, unless indeed he has turned miser, and 
 is taking lessons from the example of old 
 Elwes/' 
 
 Such was the result of observation in 
 the nabob; for, to hzm, the obf^cure man- 
 ner of life in which his recent host vege- 
 tated,
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 221 
 
 tated^ was a far greater object of astonish- 
 ment than a conjugal separation ; for, in 
 the great world, the latter was a frequent 
 occurrence, while the former was perhaps 
 unprecedented. ^ 
 
 '^ I cannot coincide with either impres- 
 sion/* returned Zitella ; " for, in the midst 
 of his apparent anguish, tb«re is a perfectly- 
 collected sense of suffering, a sanity of full 
 comprehension, that would be incompa- 
 tible with the feelings and unconnected 
 recollections of a maniac. Neither can I 
 conceive his conduct to arise from the dic- 
 tates of miserly inclination ; for I believe 
 his mind too noble to bow to the limits of 
 so narrow, so unworthy a sentiment." 
 
 Our heroine was correct — the intellects 
 of Edgeworth were unimpaired; and the 
 public voice would at once have acquitted 
 him of the vice of avarice, since the mu- 
 nificence attached to vears of affluence and 
 ■prosperity, had established the generosity, 
 and even uncommon liberality> of the 
 wealthy Viscount; for, in deeds of charity, 
 
 L 3 he
 
 222^ THE MISErvIES Of AN HEIRESS. 
 
 he had shone conspicuously, though never 
 ostentatiously ; neither had the separation 
 arisen^ as some observers had conjectured, 
 from the discovery of any near blood- 
 relationship between the wedded pair^ as 
 no connexion existed.^ save that of the 
 matrimonial. 
 
 The remainder of the journey proved 
 barren of adventure to the travellers; but, 
 towards the last stage, Zitella thought she 
 observed an encrease of uneasy restlessness 
 in the manners of her uncle ; he conversed 
 less each moment, and finally sunk into 
 total and silent abstraction. 
 
 The heart of our heroine beat with pain- 
 ful emotion, when the heightened noise of 
 the wheeling carriage proclaimed the stony 
 entrance of the meridian ' of England's 
 boast; for retrospection lingered over the 
 last time she had visited that busy w^orld 
 of splendour — '' Ah, my child I it was that 
 cruel moment which struck the knell of 
 thy mother's life!'* seemed, in awful so- 
 lemnity, to resound on Memory's ear. 
 
 The
 
 THE MISERIES OFu\N HEIRESS. 22S 
 
 The bell of a nei<xhboiirIn2r church, at 
 that moment, tendered the passing toll for 
 a departing spirit; the reason of Zitella, 
 overpowered by the enthusiasm of refiec- 
 tion, conceived fatalitv attached to the 
 sound — it seemed the awful interposition 
 of a supreme Director, to strengthen the 
 remiembrance of those warning; observa- 
 tions of her dying parent, relative to the 
 election of her life. She was now entering 
 that city, where, in all probability, her 
 destiny would be decided ; and the heiress 
 of eighteen, high in youth and health, 
 beauty and rank, shuddered to reflect on 
 the behest of fate, while she viewed her 
 own worldly advantages but as the heralds 
 to wedded misery. The unportioned cot- 
 tage maid, the lowly Lucy, was, at this 
 moment, an object for envy to the proud 
 daughter of an Earl ; nor did even the mi- 
 series of penury seem equal to those of an 
 heiress ! Reflection, however, became an- 
 nihilated, by the sudden stoppage of their 
 
 L 4 carriage
 
 Sli4 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 
 
 carriage in Park-lane. The knocker sound- 
 ed its note for the visitants of higher life, 
 and, the peal roused Nugent from his le- 
 thargy. He handed Zitella from the ve- 
 hicle, with a kind of agitated haste; and 
 as the light of the lamps fell upon his 
 countenance, she beheld it flushed with 
 vivid crimson. 
 
 Scarcely had they reached the hall, when 
 a figure transcend ently lovely, almost rush- 
 ed down the stairs; elastic was her light 
 step, and the fire of love and animation 
 dwelt in her eyes; while her Turkish robe, 
 but half arranged, betrayed a sudden flight 
 from toilet duty. In a moment, regardless 
 of all forms of etiquette, she was in the arms 
 of Nugent; and every thought seemed 
 centered in his presence, in the delight of 
 again beholding him. 
 
 A suppressed smile passed over the coun- 
 tenances of the high-fashioned knights of 
 the shoulder-knot, albeit unused to a pub- 
 lic conjugal embrace; but the heart of 
 
 Zitella
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 225 
 
 Zitella throbbed with quickened pulse, and 
 she remembered with pain, that the bride 
 had been portionless. 
 
 Nugent tenderly drew the lovely mis- 
 tress of^ the mansion to an adjoining room, 
 and then handed for>vard Zitella^ who had 
 retreated, fearful of interrupting the effu- 
 sions of genuine affection ; but no sooner 
 was she perceived by Mrs. Nugent, than, 
 darting forward, heedless of presentation, 
 she caught her hand — '^ Lord love you, 
 you need not make such a piece of work 
 about presentation ! Why, an't she your 
 own sister's daughter? and an't I quite 
 ready to love any thing that has a trace of 
 your blood in it? and so, waat signifies 
 forms 'twixt relations and all, now ? — Lord 
 love ye ! I could have told you were kin 
 by your looks, if I had seen you in Jerusa- 
 lem !'* 
 
 Surprise and consternation crimsoned 
 the cheeks of Zitella, and involuntarily her. 
 eyes turned with an interrogatory expres- 
 sion to her uncle, who, the next moment, 
 
 L 5 darted
 
 2i'6 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 darted from the room, leaving the petrified 
 \kiiOT lete-d-icte with his lady. 
 
 *' La, poor thing ! you seem quite numb, 
 and you look all cold and perished like ! 
 But come up with me, dear; you may 
 as well sit a bit in my dressing-room, while 
 I finish my dress; for. Lord ! when I heard 
 the knocker sound, and knowed it was dear 
 Hubby, I could not bave stood to put on 
 another thing, no, not for George the 
 ■Third himself, God bless him !" and then 
 familiarly linkiiig her arm within that of 
 Zitella — '' Come, dear, don't be so abashed 
 and so shy ; for I am already prepared to 
 love you, just like an aunt, as I he." 
 
 '^ I am infinitely indebted to your kind 
 intentions,'* said Zitella, stammering; for 
 she felt the necessity of saying something, 
 with a perfect disinclination to encourage 
 the w^ell-meant familiarity of her new re- 
 lation. 
 
 '* No, not a bit obliged; so don't flus- 
 trate your pretty self about acknowledge- 
 ment : and so now I'll shew you the way, 
 
 for
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 227 
 
 For the house is so large^ that ^1 body may 
 very easily lose themselves. And now,'* 
 once more resumed Mrs. Nugent^ as she 
 threw open the door of her dressing-room^ 
 and walked in first, without further cere- 
 mony, followed by her astonished compa- 
 nion, '*' and now we'll sit here quite com- 
 fortable, and have a little talk, to make us 
 known to one another." 
 
 Zitella, who experienced that painful 
 hysterical affection between the extremes 
 of laughing and crying, seated herself by 
 the fire, happy that the loquacity of Mrs. 
 Nugent aided her own inclination for si- 
 lence. 
 
 "Well, and do you, know, I have not 
 been to see a fine sight since Icame here, 
 because I told my dear good Hubby, that I 
 thought it would be more comfortable for 
 us to go out slap-dash like together, and 
 see all the raree-shows at the same time; 
 and, now you are come, we'll start fair; 
 for the chariot will just hold three, with- 
 out being scrowged." 
 
 L Q The
 
 S98 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 The astonishment of Zitella was momen- 
 tarily encreased; she viewed with dismay 
 the wife of her uncle, who was beauty's 
 self; the perfection of features was aided 
 by a faultless form, '' a native grace sat fair 
 ^proportioned on her polished limbs;" and 
 while she was silent, which was at this mo- 
 ment the case, exhibited to the mere spec- 
 tator more than the painter or the sculptor 
 could express. But that a creature, so 
 eminently gifted by Nature, could have 
 been so wholly neglected in education, or 
 the common habits of society, excited 
 painful emotion in the bpsom of our he- 
 roine, and more particularly when she re- 
 collected the near connexion which united 
 her to that being^ on whom she was here- 
 after to lean for admonition and support. 
 Could she apply for counsel to him who 
 had afforded so strong a proof in his own 
 person, of having thus largely sacrificed 
 discretion, judgment, and almost every 
 valuable consideration in wedded life, to 
 a nacre exterior? for of the goodness of 
 
 hei
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 229 
 
 her heart, or the rectitude of her prin- 
 ciples, time had not yet' afforded her the 
 opportunity of judging. 
 
 This was the train of reflection in which 
 Zitella sat absorbed, while the beautiful 
 subject of them, having dismissed her at- 
 tendant, sat before her mirror, arranging, 
 in fashionable form, those ornamental 
 ringlets which Nature had so profusely be- 
 stowed, and soon wns so wholly engrossed 
 by the pleasing task, that she appeared to 
 have totally forgotten the vicinity of her 
 visitor, until roused by the entrance e5f 
 some person into the adjoining room. 
 
 '' Open the door, my dear, and let him 
 in ; it is only Mr. Nugent." 
 
 Zitella, with a half smile at the uncere- 
 monious request, complied, and her uncle 
 entered. 
 
 '* The invitation is not to be resisted," 
 he exclaimed, making his entre, " as, by it, 
 I presume I shall not interrupt the pro- 
 gress of the toilet." 
 
 ^ */ O no, you won't hinder me at all — I 
 
 never
 
 ?30 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 never irake stranoers of my own flesh and 
 blood ; for this is your niece, and you tell 
 n"\e I am your rib; and so that- makes it 
 out, and settles the matter at once." 
 
 The crimson tide a<>ain rushed over the 
 face of Nuoent, and the consciousness of 
 her own embarrassed looks and manner, 
 suffused that of our heroine also. 
 
 " My dear Zitella/' he rejoined, " you 
 must assist me to polish my little rustic : 
 she is very amiable, and, being perfectly 
 acquiescent in all my wishes, will, I trust, 
 not be an unapt scholar; for good humour 
 will alvyays be our auxiliary." 
 
 '^ And one of the best," replied his 
 niece, '' that we could have summoned, it 
 is so amiable in itself." 
 
 The fair bride, with a half smile, ex- 
 claimed — '' My dear Nugent, you should 
 have left Zitella to have found out my ig- 
 norance; you need not have hinted so 
 plainly to her, that when I was married, I 
 could neither read nor write ; and as I have 
 been your scholar ever since, I dares to 
 
 say
 
 THE MISEniES OF AN HEIRESS. 231 
 
 say she would never have made out that I 
 had been vuliiar once." 
 
 The confusioaof the nabob became still 
 greater — '" I did not intend to produce 
 this confession, my love ; but the dinner- 
 hour draws nigh, and you have possibly 
 forofotten to inform our voun«; friend that 
 some guests are expected." 
 
 ''I did indeed forget it, dear Hubby ; 
 but I'll now tell her all about it : first, 
 there is a Baronet " 
 
 ''Never mind individual illustration," in- 
 terrupted Nugent, with a forced smile of 
 complacency; '' you will only detain Lady 
 Zitella from her toilet, and hurry its ar- 
 rangement, by delay, beyond her conveni- 
 ence." 
 
 Our heroine was truly rejoiced at the 
 offer of any apology to quit the room, in 
 order to rallv recollection and jrood-breed- 
 in<2:, ^vhich had been almost banished bv 
 surprise at the ignorance and vulgarity of 
 her new aunt; she now, therefore, imme- 
 diately
 
 932 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 diately embraced the present opportunity, 
 and made good her retreat. 
 
 Scarcely could she credit her senses, 
 when the door closed on her in her own 
 apartment^ and gave free latitude to reflec- 
 tion, which was interrupted by a summons 
 to table. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AK KEIRESS, 233 
 
 »>»»i»«iTi _iu. ,_L ' ai i -iii = 
 
 .f. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Ali» cruel love ! thou bane of cv'ry joy ! 
 
 "Whose pains or sweets alike our peace destroy! 
 
 Still equal woes fronrj thee mankind endure— 
 
 Fatal thy wound, and fatal is the cure I 
 
 Tasso, 
 
 The Produce of an Indian Market. 
 
 Mrs. Vincent, the comparatively young 
 widow of a superannuated post-captain in 
 the navy, was rich, obstinate, vain, and 
 opinionated ; but Nature, to counter-ba- 
 lance these defects, had not endowed her 
 with a callous heart ; and she possessed a 
 kind of benevolence, arising rather from 
 the source of quick feeling, than any in- 
 nate
 
 93 i THE MISEHIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 natc or fixed principle — her bosom v^as a 
 romance of sensibilitv, deficient in ratioha- 
 lity or judgment. 
 
 From the period \vhich emancipated her 
 from the bonds of wedlock, she had resided 
 wholly in the country, and was considered 
 the Lady Bountiriil of her native village, in 
 'vvhich she had established a small school, 
 supported from her own purse, and aided 
 bv the exertion of her own feeble talents. 
 The objects of her charity were taught the 
 more useful branches of rustic education; 
 and as they encreased in years and im- 
 provement, vv'ere removed into decent ser- 
 vice, Vrhile their vacancies were filled, in 
 succession^ by their more juvenile compa- 
 nions. 
 
 One morninir that the trood widov/ was 
 returning from her diurnal village-visit, 
 she was overtaken by a child of about 
 seven years old^ crying bitterly, as she ran 
 along, and pursued by a woman, who con- 
 tinued, in defiance of her tears and entrea- 
 ties, to strike her with a rope she held ia 
 
 her
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN IIElKZSS. 235 
 
 her hand. The face of the girl was ah'eady 
 discoloured bv the blows; and another, at 
 this moment, took such effect, that her 
 nose, streaming with blood, covered her 
 bosom with the sani^ninarv stream. 
 
 The extended arm.s of the terrified Mrs. 
 Vincent, received the poor littie mendi- 
 cant, as she was sinking upon the ground^ 
 exhausted. 
 
 " Wretch !" she exclaimed, ''' what can 
 this helpless innocent have done, to merrt 
 the chastiseme'jt I have seen inflicted ?" 
 
 '*■ Done ! why, she has ruined m*e ! — I 
 sent her with the fi.nest young pig of my 
 sty, to Squire Duberly's at the Park, for 
 which I was to have received a golden gui- 
 nea, and the hussey let a cart run over its 
 leg, and there it is now dying in the road !'* 
 
 *' Dear mammv, indeed, indeed I could 
 not help it ; Farmer Dobbins's horses ran 
 down the hill so fast, he could not stop the 
 cart, though he saw me, as well as x\-\e pig, 
 throwed down, and the wheels were most 
 
 as near to break my \o<^ as " 
 
 The
 
 '236 THE MISERIES OF AN HETHESS. 
 
 The strap was again raised by the enraged 
 vixen, as the hand of Mrs. Vincent arrested 
 a repetition of its exercise. 
 
 *' For shame, inhuman monster! Look 
 at the poor little trembler^ hear her artless 
 tale, and blush at the cruelty you have ex- 
 hibited ; one of those merciless blows you 
 have already dealtj might have caused her 
 death." 
 
 '*■ Well, and suppose it did ; she is my 
 own, and I have a right to kill her, if I 
 please.** 
 
 *' You will have no objection, I suppose 
 then, to sell her?" 
 
 '' Sell her! sell her!" repeated the wo- 
 man, in an accent of astonishmerTt— ^ 
 " why, who the deuce would buy her?** 
 
 ^' I would/* returned Mrs. Vincent — 
 " Accompany me to my house, which is 
 not far off, and we will conclude our bar- 
 gain.*' 
 
 The unnatural parent acquiesced; and^ 
 for a certain consideration, resigned all 
 claim upon her offspring; and personally 
 
 delivering
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEinESS. 
 
 237 
 
 delivering her into the hands of her be- 
 nefactress the following day, quitted York-' 
 shire for a distant county, wholly regard- 
 less of the future fate of the little sufferer. 
 The chi/d rescued from actual iniurv, 
 Mrs. Vincfnt felt no longer interested : 
 she thou^]ht she had never beheld any 
 thing halfso ugly; and having summoned 
 her waiting-maid for consultation, was 
 now doubtful how she could dispose of 
 her curious bargain, which, in not possess- 
 ing beauy, was, in her eyes, valueless. 
 
 " Senc her by all means. Madam, to the 
 "workhouie ; the sight of such an object is 
 enoui^h destroy your nerves.'* 
 
 '' Theworkhouse would not receive her, 
 Wallis," returned Mrs. Vincent muring. 
 
 '* Whf not then to the village-r-: hool. 
 Madam 1 she would there be taught to 
 earn heil bread under your own eye.'* 
 
 " Trip," resumed the lady; " but that 
 is the vfrv reason whv I %vill not send her 
 there, ^s 1 admit only a cevinin number of 
 childre^. You know I always select the 
 
 handsomest
 
 938 
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 handsomest I can find ; and this poor little 
 creature is so very fiightrul, ' could not 
 bear she should spoil the beauty of my 
 Hock. — What can you do, child? 
 
 " Every thing you please^ jiy Lady," 
 cried the sobbin.^ <rirl. 
 
 '' Can you read ?" 
 
 " No, if you please, my Lady»" 
 
 " Can vou work ?" 
 
 " No, if you please, my Lady.' 
 
 " What can you do then :" 
 
 ""Every thing yo'u please," was igain re- 
 peated. 
 
 ' " The child is an ideot !" pettshly ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Vincent — " What can be 
 done with her ?" 
 
 ^' Farmer Dobbins has just biried his 
 parish ap})rentice," said Wallis, '' md pos- 
 sibly, as he was the cause of all he mis- 
 chief that has happened, he maj be in- 
 duced to let this young one supDly her 
 place.'' 
 
 *' A happy thought that ! Go o him, 
 Wallis, and tell him, if he will recdye the
 
 THE MISKRIES OF AN HEIRESS. 259 
 
 <vir], I will allow him a small sum annually 
 for her support : he may put her to her 
 old traile of pig-driving, and she may then 
 become useful to him/' 
 
 The officious waitinfj-woman ordered 
 little Fannv to follow her, who tmped after 
 her as fa^t as her bruises would allow. 
 
 Nine years had elapsed since this period, 
 in the two first of which only Fanny had 
 been remembered; the stipend for her 
 board had then been stopped, as ?vlrs. 
 Vincent had heard that her protep.ee had 
 become so ifseful and so great a favourite 
 with Farmer Dobhii^s's family, that he had 
 declared no consideration could induce 
 him to part with her. 
 
 The capricious charity of the widow had 
 been alike extended lo the undeserving, 
 as well ^s those who had a riirht to better 
 clainis. To be handsome, was the di:ect 
 and almost only road to the heart and 
 bounty of Mrs. Vincent ; and so far one 
 singular benefit was derived from it by the 
 ifidigent qf her village, to whom Nature 
 
 had
 
 340 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 
 
 had granted this doubtful blessing, as they 
 vere early removed from contagious ex- 
 ample, and, when matured in her school, 
 w^ere decently disposed of, erther to servi- 
 tude or trade. 
 
 At this period, Mrs. Vincent received 
 letters from a brother in Madras, who had 
 obtained a public situation in India, of 
 considerable emolument and high respec- 
 tabilitv, and now tendered an invitation 
 to his house., over which she would pre- 
 side, asreityning mistress; and where every 
 luxury of life would be hers, on a far more 
 extensive scale of enjoyment than her 
 comparatively small jointure admitted of 
 in England. 
 
 ^^rs Vincent had been ever fond 6f no- 
 velty, and the thought of this voyage was 
 embraced with delisfhf. She had no rela- 
 live in England, who might have equi- 
 poised the attractions held out in the let- 
 ter of her brother, to whom she was most 
 affectionately attached, and from whom she 
 had now been separated nearly four years. 
 
 This 
 2
 
 .THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. ^41 
 
 This is, however, of little importance to the 
 tenor of oar narrative ; and whatever might 
 have been the motives which actuated, cer- 
 tain it is, Mrs. Vincent resolved to quit 
 her native land, and visit the far-famed 
 shores of India. 
 
 Preparations had been long commenced 
 for the vovacce, and in t\vo months, the 
 ship in which she had taken her passage 
 ,was appointed to sail ; when one morning, 
 as Mrs. Vincent was arranorinn; her flower- 
 vases to the best advantage, she v/as in- 
 formed that a young woman wished parti- 
 cularly to see her, who had been ^vaiiinjr 
 for that purpose several hours. 
 
 She ordered her admisi^ion, while pursu- 
 ing her employment. 
 
 , The door had closed, on the entrance of 
 the visitor, when Mrs. Vincent turned, and 
 beheld a female of about sixteen, clad in 
 clean but coarse attire; her figure was 
 beautifully proportioned, and her face, the 
 most lovely she had ever seen, was partly 
 shaded by the bright auburn of large natu- 
 
 ^'OL. I, M ^ ral
 
 242 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIEESS. 
 
 ral ringlets, which afTorded a picturesque 
 finish to her appearance, tl at reached the 
 heart of Mrs. Vincent, through the ever- 
 accessible portal of romance. Her white 
 and finely-formed neck was partially co- 
 vered by the remains of an old red cloak; 
 but her hands and arms, which Nature had 
 originally rendered worthy of the rest of 
 the exterior it was intended to adorn, now 
 bore evident marks of labour, and were 
 discoloured from its effects, 
 
 *^ Heavens, child ! who are you ? and 
 what is your business with me ?'* 
 
 " I am Fanny Martin, Madam, whom 
 YOU sent to live with Farmer Dobbins.*' 
 
 *' Fanny Martini" re-echoed her inter- 
 rogator — '^ Impossible ! It is not — it can- 
 not be!" 
 
 The lock of the door was suddenly jerk- 
 ed, and the farmer himself entered — '' In- 
 deed and indeed, my Lady, it be her sure 
 enough; and a better girl never broke 
 bread, nor trod on shoe leather." 
 
 Mrs. Vincent smiled—*' Your entrance, 
 
 my
 
 TriE ^riSERIES OF AN HEIPvESS, 243 
 
 my good friend, is not very ceremoni- 
 
 ous." 
 
 " Lord bless you/' cried honest Dob- - 
 bins, scratching his head, '' I never was 
 ceremonious in my life, and it is rather 
 too late in the day to begin now ! But, as 
 I was a telling you, mv Ladv, I will take 
 my bible oath that this here is your own 
 Fanny, that you bought of the old pig- 
 woman, her mother." 
 
 The appeal to recollection again pre- 
 sented nine vears since the scene of the 
 poor crying child, with swoln features, 
 dirtv, ragged, and her nose streaming with 
 blood, from the hand of her unnatural pa- 
 rent : again our widow surveyed her fro- 
 tegce — " How am I to suppose, Mr. Dob- 
 bins, that this lovely young woman, and 
 that little hideous wretch I sent from me, 
 and would not even admit to mv school, 
 from her uncommon ugliness, can be one 
 and the same person ?" 
 
 The hat of the farmer twirled upon his 
 hand with yet more rapid movement — 
 
 M 2 '^ Why,
 
 ?44 THE MiSFriES OF AN HFIRESS. 
 
 '•' Why, mv Laclv, the state of the inntfer is 
 this: poor Funnv had been beat and bruised, 
 till her [[\ce was neither one colour nor 
 t'other, and swelled up like a bladder, as a 
 bcdv mav sav ;. and she was all covered 
 with Mood, like a pig that was just killed ; 
 and besides, she was starved to a whipping- 
 post : but, a Her she v;as washed and clean- 
 ed, and her hair was combed out by my 
 poor Bridget that is dead and gone, and 
 had a good bellvful, saving your Ladyship's 
 presence, every day, why she was the pret- 
 tiest, sprackist little wench that ever was 
 born ; and so we loved her with all our 
 hearts, and she lowed, us, if we was father, 
 moth.er, and brother like. — Ah Fan, Fan \" 
 he added, winking his eye sagaciously at 
 her, " and it will be father, mother, and 
 husband like soon \" 
 
 '' I am at a loss to understand your 
 meaning," said Mrs, Vincent. 
 
 *' I ami sorrv for it, mv Ladv/' returned 
 Dobbins, " fori intended vou should have 
 guessed it, as I half-promised Fan not to 
 
 tell
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 245 
 
 tell too much about it : but, however, T 
 must now; and so it is best to come squash 
 upon it at once, without going into bye- 
 roads to find the truth of the matter ; and 
 so, my Lady, Fan is come to ask your bless- 
 ing, or I am come to ask it for her; and 
 Giles will give vou his double fold, I war- 
 rant, if you will but let him cast a kind 
 eye on the poor girl* for, you must kno'.v, 
 he has taken a bit of a liking to her, and 
 he wants to have her for his wife, out and 
 out, as a body may say. But, humsoever, 
 I have made but a poor sort of a crop this 
 year, and one cow died^ and t'other has 
 fell sick, and the old mare has hurt her leg, 
 and I am a little bit in a peck of troubles, 
 and I can't assist Giles with much yet awhile, 
 till I have had another year to bring me up 
 again ; and so I told him, and I said it was 
 better to. wait, and to think about it, for 
 four naked legs in a bed would never do : 
 and I argufied wisely and soberlv, to my 
 thinking, about it; but there is no puttin;^ 
 old heads on young shoulders; and the lad 
 
 M 3 has
 
 2^6 THE MISERIES OF AN IIEir.ESS. 
 
 has got a bushel of love sown in his heart, 
 and it will spring up, and sprout out ; and 
 there's no pruning it, nor clipping it — he 
 is all wild and harum-scarum about Fan ; 
 and so I don't like to cross him, if I can 
 help it, for he is a good, aye, and as cle- 
 ver a boy as ever you may be like to set 
 Your eyes on, my Ladv: and so I told him 
 I would speak to madam on the hill, mean- 
 ing you, my Lady, and I thought perhaps, 
 by good luck, you might give Fanny a 
 little, just to set them a-going, and help 
 them on for the present, till better days 
 comes to my farm ; and so Giles was all in 
 a fluster of joy; and so } came to keep my 
 promise r and that, saving your presence, 
 is alL" 
 
 " But what does Fanny say herself to 
 this arrangement ?'* said Mrs. Vincent, 
 with a somewhat clouded brow ; for her 
 fertile brain had, from the first entrance of 
 the beautiful petitioner, been busied in the 
 formation of a romance, of which she was 
 to play the heroine, and did not appi-ove 
 
 the
 
 f 
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 247 
 
 the counteracting obstacle which appeared 
 in the farmer's clever bov. — '* But what do 
 you saV:, Fanny ?" again repeated Mrs. 
 Vincent ; " answer me, and don't stand 
 staring about you, and rolling up your 
 apron, child ; give me a satisfactory an- 
 swer, and you will have reason to rejoice. 
 Do you wish to marry this young man ?'* 
 
 *' I wish to do any thing that Farmer 
 Dobbins pleases/* returned Fanny, curt- 
 seying with bashful fear, while the bright- 
 est tint of the rose mantled her beautiful 
 face. 
 
 " Then you have no particular prefer- 
 ence for Giles ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, a very particular liking; be- 
 cause he is good, and he is Farmer Dob- 
 bins's son, and he loves me desperate well; 
 and the parson told me at church t'other 
 Sunday, I should do as I was done by, or 
 something much the same ; and I always 
 mind what the parson says, for Farmer 
 Dobbins tells me that is the way to be good 
 and virtuous like/' 
 
 m4 "But
 
 248 TKE MISERIES OF AN HEIRE^^S. 
 
 " But you like Giles letter than any one 
 else?'* said Mrs. Vincent, smiling at her 
 sin^ pi icily. 
 
 ** Oh no, indeed, my Lady ; I Jove Far- 
 mer Dobbins himself best, as I ought to 
 do ; and then '* 
 
 *' I understand yon, child, better than 
 you do yourself," said Mrs. Vii^cent; " but 
 I must consider about this matter. Leave 
 vour charcre with me, farmer, and I will 
 send to you when I have decided how to 
 act." 
 
 " To be sure, my Lady, as you bought 
 her, and paid for her, you have a right to 
 do what you please with your own ; but, if 
 I might make bold to sny, I hope you won't 
 cross their loves, for it is a bad thing, and 
 I never knew good come of it yet ; and I 
 know Giles would work like a slave to have 
 her for a wife, and it would go hard with 
 him to give her up ; but I am sure you are 
 too beautiful a madam, to be so cruel- 
 hearted as anv thins: of that comes to." 
 
 *' I shall do nothing but what is most 
 
 conducive
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN' HEIRESS. 249 
 
 conducive to Fanny's welfare, Mr. Dob- 
 bins ; on that you may rest assured : so 
 now, my good friend, go down stairs, and 
 take some refreshment after your long 
 walk." 
 
 '' But mavn*t I go with him/* said Fanny 
 bluntly, " and tend upon him while he 
 gets his snap of a dinner? for I know he 
 Vr^ould rather have me than any one else 
 about him.'' 
 
 *' I thinks young woman, you need not 
 lye quite so anxious to leave my presence, 
 so impatient to be gone.'' 
 • '* No, Fanny, no, that is wrong," said 
 Farmer Dobbins; '^ for if it had not been 
 for my Lady here, you know, I never should 
 have had you at our farm ; and you would 
 have been strapped to death, and come to 
 some mischief perhaps, which is worse, 
 with the vile wicked woman who sold you. 
 So good bye, my Lady; I am sure you will 
 be good to little Fanny, for she is your 
 ov/n child now, you know.'* 
 
 M 5 Wallis
 
 250 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 Wallis was then summoned, and Fanny 
 delivered up to her care and attention, 
 while Mrs. Vincent retired to ruminate on 
 her future plans, for the advantage, as she 
 conceived, of her young protegee. The 
 night was spent in rumination, but the 
 morning found her resolved. 
 
 The first action of Mrs. Vincent was at- 
 tention to person : the frugal, clean, but 
 coarse habiliments of Fanny Martin, were 
 dismissed, and their place supplied by a 
 wardrobe of fashion. Our widow gazed 
 with rapture at the improvement this ef- 
 fected in the appearance of the lovely rus- 
 tic, and her former idea of carrying her to 
 India was now invigorated, by the height- 
 ened charms of the peasant. It is indeed 
 true, that the form of Fanny was eminent- 
 ly beautiful, the heart was pure, and un- 
 tarnished by guile ; but the understanding, 
 never gifted by Nature, was wholly uncul- 
 tivated ; while her language and manners, 
 as might have been expected, were vulgar 
 
 iii
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 251 
 
 in the extreme. The predominant feeling 
 of her mind was gratitude, and her good 
 humour could never be subdued : these 
 really amiable qualities were not unob- 
 served bv Mrs. Vincent, and she conceived 
 it a real act of benevolence, to promote 
 the future fortunes of her protegee, by 
 taking her to that mart of matrimony, the 
 India territory. 
 
 Fannv rather viewed Giles with the af- 
 fection of a sister, than that partiality of 
 the heart exclusively devoted to love : her 
 vanity was excited by the lavish encomi- 
 ums of Mrs. Vincent, and her weak mind 
 embraced with avidity the pleasures and 
 gaiety with which she decked the expedi- 
 tion : her imagination was seduced; and 
 her heart conceiving that duty demanded 
 acquiescence with the expressed wishes of 
 her benefactress, the humble cottager, 
 transformed into Miss Martin, the orphan 
 relict of a friend, quitted her native scenes, 
 and was launched on the ocean, although 
 
 M 6 the
 
 252 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 the parting farewell of the honest family 
 of Farmer Dobbins had nearlv, at the last 
 moment, defeated the romantic project of 
 the widow. 
 
 During the voyage, every endeavour 
 was essayed to polish the rude uncultivated 
 flower, but without effect ; far the habits 
 of sixteen vears were not easilv to be ef- 
 faced ; and her understanding was natu- 
 rally too feeble to aid the attempt. Mrs. 
 Vincent was therefore soon convinced, that 
 person and a guileless heart were the only 
 distinguished attributes of her lovely ward ; 
 sjie consequently strongly enforced the 
 necessity of almost total silence; and the 
 bashfulness naturally attendant upon such 
 a transition, from the humblest sphere, at 
 once into that society which she had been 
 accustomed to view with, reverential fear 
 and timid respect, aided the mandate of 
 the widow to this effect, whose frowning 
 brow often checked the rising speech, and 
 in some measure prevented the exhibition 
 
 of
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN' HEIRESS. 253 
 
 of that inherent vulgarity, which, from her 
 cradle, had been the portion of the beau- 
 tiful pig-driver. 
 
 Introduced upon a footing of equality 
 as a young dependent friend. Miss Martin 
 was received with that consideration such 
 a presentation demanded; and the fame 
 of the beautiful newly-arrived European 
 spread wide. Numerous were her admirers, 
 and several offers of marriage were the na- 
 tural consequence of her transcendant love- 
 liness, in a country selected for matrimo- 
 nial speculation ; but, true to congenial 
 prepossession, the elegant person of Mr. 
 Nugent attracted the attention of Mrs. 
 Vincent; his fortune was large, his family 
 highly respectable, and himself of distin- 
 guished merit ; he was, therefore, the very- 
 hero calculated to play the Berkedict of her 
 absurd romance. 
 
 The nabob's first interview with the 
 bloomino Fannv had been decisive — where 
 perfection met his eyes, he consulted no 
 other sense : her countenance was ani- 
 
 matedj
 
 254 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS* 
 
 mated, he therefore believed it intelligent; 
 she was timid from ignorance, he conceived 
 it the diffidetice of mentail worth ; she was 
 silent, by the order of her benefactress, lest 
 she betrayed the vulgarity of her former 
 occupation ; and a monosyllable, yes, was 
 sufficient to assure the lover of reciprocal 
 affection ; his own mind gave large credit 
 to hers for the abundant fertility of a soil 
 which he had determined to cultivate to its 
 utmost limits: in fact, Robert was the 
 slave of a personal inclination he denomi- 
 nated love ; and if the existence of this 
 be not conceived sufficient to actuate his 
 honourable addresses to an individual who 
 "was under too respectable protection to 
 be otherwise obtained, let those who would 
 cavil at the probability of the action re- 
 flect on the derogatory alliances of many 
 of our most distinguished English nobles, 
 and allow at least, that exawple sanctions 
 the conduct of the nabob. Need we enu- 
 merate the celebrated Polly Fenton ? or 
 conduct our readers to the green-grocer's 
 
 stall,
 
 THE MISERIES OT AN HEIRESS. 255 
 
 Stall, whence two female graces have 
 arisen ? 
 
 The first dream of passion fled — Hymen 
 withdrew the veil which his predecessor 
 Cupid had cast over the mind of Nugent; 
 he discovered but too early, that, in gaining 
 a wife, he had failed to secure a rational 
 companion. But, while his mind and un- 
 derstanding admitted all this, his heart still 
 fondlv turned to the unrivalled beauties of 
 her person, and he fondly doated on the 
 assemblage of Nature's exquisite workman- 
 ship : her heart was generous, open, and 
 candid ; she knew not disguise, and was 
 even unconscious of the deception which 
 had been foolishly, rather than wickedly^ 
 passed upon Mv. Nugent; she respected 
 and loved her husband, from a sentiment 
 of gratitude, that was the strongest trait of 
 her character ; she was very naturally 
 pleased by her own elevation, but it was 
 rather in regard to the comforts and luxu- 
 ries of life, than to the pride of playing a 
 
 part
 
 256 THE MisrniES of an heiress. 
 
 part in a higher sphere : but it was her va- 
 nity which was most accessible to dan^^er. 
 
 The \ei! of restraint which an almost- , 
 painfdl awe of the displeasure of her be-' 
 nefactress had hitherto thrown over the 
 .conversation and unpolisl ed manners of 
 Fannv, now be^^an gradually to subside, 
 and an intercourse with the world inspired 
 her with confidence in herself: her charms 
 were the universal theme of conversation 
 wherever she appeared, and she was soon 
 lauii^ht to consider them as a counterba- 
 lance for her mental defects; the mauvais 
 honte of the nabob's wife was styled *' en- 
 chanting simplicity !" her blunt, coarse, 
 and lively aninaal spirits, were " sweet, in- 
 genuous ga'tete de cxur ! interesting viva- 
 city!" and what male companion could re- 
 fuse the smile of delight at the silly remark 
 or observation, destitute almost of common 
 sense, while their attention rested on the 
 sparkling eyes, the coral lips, or dimpled 
 smiles, of the bloomin"' bride ? 
 
 Nugent
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 257 
 
 Niio-ent felt secure of his honour, for he 
 knew the heart of his Fanny — in that he 
 had not been mistaken ; and while she con- 
 sidered his bosom as the repository of all 
 her secrets, he rightly believed she could 
 not materially err. Delighted at the ex- 
 travagant encomiums of her admirers (for 
 almost every man she saw came under that 
 description), she never failed to repeat to 
 her wedded Lord the substance of their 
 adulation. 
 
 Three months after their marriage, Mr. 
 Nugent embarked for England ; and the 
 only regret Fanny felt at quitting Bengal, 
 was a separation from Mrs. Vincent, en- 
 deared from gratitude alone, for painful 
 restraint in her presence was still Mt. — 
 The vessel in which they voyaged con- 
 tained, as usual in a ship of such dimen- 
 sions, a variety of persons and characters : 
 reserve was now rapidly banished from 
 the once-bashful cottager; that familiarity 
 v-'hich naturally arises from constant inter- 
 course, assisted to aid this efTcct : the pride 
 
 of
 
 258 THE MlaERIE? OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 of Nil ent now beat the alarm with re- 
 doubled force, and the frequent blush was 
 often summoned to his cheeks, by the more 
 than unpolished, the coarse vulgarity of 
 manner, which his wife unconsciously dis- 
 played ; .his heart sickened at the recollec- 
 tion of his own weak affection for, and un- 
 justifiable union with, an object so uncon- 
 genal to his mental feelings and habits of 
 jife; in vain he sought to become the 
 ' tutor of the beauteous idol of personality 
 — the task was vain — Fanny had neither 
 ability nor inclination to receive the fruit 
 of instruction ; and the proudlsoul of Her- 
 bert with poignancy was now compelled to 
 admit a sense of his own degradation of 
 sentiment, in electing a female, so ilH- 
 terate and ignorant, as the partner of his 
 life, the future mother of his ofiTspring. 
 
 CHAP,
 
 .tyi'E MtSERtF.S OF AN iikiress. 259 
 
 CHAP. xii. 
 
 Life is but a day at most, 
 Sprung from night, in darkness lost; 
 Hope not sunshine ev'ry hoar. 
 Fear not clouds will always low'r. 
 
 Burns. 
 
 Fint Jppearanccs, and consequent Impressions, 
 
 We left our heroine jnst at the moirient 
 of descendin": to the dining-room. Mrs, 
 Nu<rent entertained no idea of the neces- 
 sary forms of presentation, and Mr. Nugent 
 %vas so abstracted as not to observe the 
 omission, consequently did not rectify it 
 himself. Zitella, therefore, entered almost 
 disregarded ; and rather ^vishing to remain 
 
 to.
 
 260 TlIK MISERIES OF AN HEIKtSSrfV, 
 
 SO, placed herself at the lower end of the 
 table. 
 
 The pnrty consisted of Sir Edward Nor- 
 ton, two other ^j^entlcmen of the names of 
 Neville and Eeechiey, and the Misses Ilar- 
 ley. The guests had been seated only a 
 few minutes, and each more immediatelv 
 engrossed with (he conversation of his or 
 her neighbour, heeded not the silent Zi- 
 tella, when, in an under-tone, not intended 
 for the ear of her of whom he spoke, she 
 overheard the Baronet reply to some preced- 
 ing question of Mrs, Nugent — *' Doubtless 
 very handsome; but consummate indeed 
 must be the vanitv of that female who 
 \vouId lay claim to distinction so near to 
 you." 
 
 A smiling blush rewarded the speaker, 
 and again he resumed — ** She is a young 
 companion, I presume, whom you have 
 brought from India? She looks to be a 
 very modest sort of young woman, and to 
 conduct herself very properly for her situ- 
 atioj, by a becoming silence/' 
 
 '< Silent
 
 THE MlSirr.IFS OF AN ITETrvESS, 2(51 
 
 "Silent enoui^h, jis to tr.a*, poor tbinfr, 
 for I have smrce'v h?a.-v' t'^c sfjiiiicl of her 
 voice since I have had her here — I fancv 
 she is scared at coming to I ondun : not 
 that she is froin a forei^'^n part, for she is 
 Ensilish bred and born, hut she has li\ed in 
 the country, and never seen or knew this 
 great city before in her life, I fancy, any 
 more than niyself/' 
 
 *' A country niiss making her debut In 
 London ! Well, I sincerelv wish her suc- 
 cess ; for a rich husband no doubt is the 
 prize angled for. But the poor girl is not 
 handsome enoii2:h for a chance in this ine- 
 tropolis, where there are so many candi- 
 dates embarked on a similar enterprize/* 
 
 *' Poor girl I whv, Lord help vou, she is 
 as rich as i\\e bank; and she's a Lady in her 
 own creation, and I dares to say^ intends 
 \o marry one of the King's sons, who'll be 
 2:lad to have her for her money; but she 
 is my niece, and therefore I don't treat her 
 with the least bit of stiffness or ceremony 
 —now, do I ?" 
 
 " Whv,
 
 2G2 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESSr 
 
 '' Why, certainly/* replied he, smiling, 
 " I must acquit you there. But is she in- 
 deed so rich ? ai.d is her fortune at her 
 own disposal ?" 
 
 *' Lord, how foolish vou are ! Whv, ^vho 
 has any right to dispose of her? — Her pa- 
 rents are dead, and she is eighteen, and 
 has only two guardians." 
 
 *' Then these guardians have no influ- 
 ence either over her person or fortune V* 
 
 Mrs. Nugent's loud laugh could only 
 have' been tolerated by a male spectator, 
 who viewed the lovelv mouth whence it 
 issued, and the pearly teeth it exhibited. 
 " How should I know any thing about her 
 person or her fortune ? I never saw her in 
 my life, till to-day. But, say what you will, 
 I think her very pretty, and very decent 
 behaved indeed." 
 
 '* Oh, no doubt she is very handsome," 
 he added musingly ; *' upon a second sur- 
 vey, verv, very handsome; in short, 1 think 
 her benuti^ul — her fare is one of that de- 
 scription which improves upon inspection. 
 
 But 
 o.
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 263 
 
 But her fortune you were speaking of — . 
 that is very considerablej you say. Are 
 you sure of it ?" 
 
 A deep sigh from Zltella interrupted 
 the tcte-d tete, while she herself was uncon- 
 scious she had done so ; and (he Baronet, 
 with readv address, bent forward, to re- 
 quest the honour of taking wine with the 
 fair object of his enquiries. The bow of 
 assent was more than usually haughty, no 
 blush accon^panied the motion, and Sir 
 Edward be^an to fear he had mistaken the 
 character of the modest, decent-behaved 
 country girl. But how an heiress of rank 
 could be left under the protection of such 
 a woman as Mrs. Nugent, appeared to him 
 most wonderful ; and he had almost been 
 inclined to doubt the authenticity of the 
 foregoing information, had not the man- 
 ner of our heroine prociame I a native 
 dignity, that Sir Edward ccnc^ived wholly 
 incompatible-with humble dependance." 
 
 A pause ensued — it wa; broken bv Mie 
 exalted tone of Mrs. Nugent, in exclaim- 
 
 ing-
 
 264 THE MTSFRIES OF AX IIKIRFSS. 
 
 inor — <* Well, Hub, I hope you han't for^ 
 Zo\ vour promise o{ fakinir us to t'">e fan- 
 lommij ; for the little Dawsons went last 
 ANcek with their governess, and I have been 
 distracted to go ever since, thev gave such 
 an account of little people, not longer than 
 this here fiin, made up in Italv^ who con- 
 versed, and walked about^ and sung a num- 
 ber of songs, and made love, and all that/' 
 
 " What a pretty phantasij/' said Mr. Ne- 
 ville,. '' that inust be ! Pray, iny dear Ma- 
 dam, admit me of your partv ; I like origi- 
 iialitj/," he added, with a smile of derision 
 to Miss Harlev, who seemed one of that 
 class of females whose sole amusement^ 
 whose every idea, centers in a quizzing 
 laugh, which they endeavour to make ap- 
 pear the more resistless, from an affected 
 suppression. 
 
 " You may laugh. Miss Harlev, for I 
 should not be angry if you did ; for I did 
 not myself, at first, think it could be true: 
 but mv own maid Evans went the next 
 night, and she would not tell me a story 
 
 far
 
 THE MISEBIES OF AN HEIRESS. . ^65 
 
 for all the world, and she told me ^ indeed, 
 and double deed/ it was true !" 
 
 '' So marked an affirmative it were infi- 
 del to doubt/' was the ironical reply. 
 
 '' But, mv dear Mrs. Nug-ent/' resumed 
 Neville, ''have these little performers emi- 
 grated from Liiliput with a iStiT// convey- 
 ancer ?'* 
 
 '' Lord bless you, I never said a word 
 about their being s-wifl ! They might have 
 Harlequins and Columbines, for what I 
 Icnow, but I did not hear they had ; al- 
 though I should think it very probable, for 
 the little gentry could leap through pi- 
 geon-houses, and into garret windows, light 
 as so many feathers: and as to their beina: 
 emigrants^ why I really don't believe th%t ; 
 for I have heard Mr. Nugent say, that the 
 French folks in these days spring up like- 
 mushrooms, and these poor people could 
 never have grown an inch since they were 
 born/* 
 
 Poor Nugent, who, during the forego- 
 ing conversation, had evinced the strong- 
 
 voL. I. N est
 
 ^66 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 est agitation, now leaned forward, and with 
 effort to suppress his feeliiigs by the covert 
 of a smile over a countenance crimsoned 
 by mortified pride, in a jocular tone ex- 
 claimed — '' Come, come, my dear Fannv, 
 you have quizzed us unmercifully ; but, I 
 assure you, we are quite as much in the 
 secret as yourself, and perfectly understand 
 that thev are but wooden puppets, danced 
 upon wires at the pleasure of those behind 
 the curtain." 
 
 " Lord, my dear Nugent, I never quizzed 
 any body in my life ! But I thought these 
 foreigners were something like my little 
 puppy Bagiel, who Mr. Dosem, the dog- 
 doctor, gave brandy to, to stop his growth.** 
 
 ^^A new discovery in the medical world, 
 eh?'' said Mr. Beechley, raising his sleepy 
 eyelids with a twittering motion. 
 
 '' A spiritual one rather," rejoined Ne- 
 ville, with a laugh at his own imagined 
 flash of repartee, which was echoed by 
 Miss Harlev, in ready zeal for the cause of 
 I^Iomus. 
 
 '' Don't
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 267 
 
 '' Don't be so prophane/' retorted Mrs. 
 Nugent, '' to be connecting spi?Uls witfi 
 the brute animals, when we all know they 
 liave i>"ot none to cro into the other world 
 with ; though I coulJ hardly help laughing 
 wiwle Hub was reading t'other morniiig 
 (for he reads every day to me, to improve 
 rny mind), about wdiat Pope says of a faiih- 
 ful dog bearing his master company in 
 heaven. Pope might have been a very 
 good kind of man, for what I know; but 
 he was certainly a heretic, to sav dog.i had 
 souls; for my part, I will never believe 
 they have spirits at all." 
 
 *"' A very spiriicd retort, at least ! '* drawled 
 out Bcechley — " We are much indebted to 
 you, Mrs. Nugent; for,-quitting all grosser 
 matter, vou have elevated our ideas, and 
 compelled us to soar to the regions above. 
 Beware, then, how you induce us to de- 
 scend; and let it not be too precipitately^ 
 as we now breathe an etherial atmosphere," 
 
 The countenance of Miss Harley exhi- 
 bited indication of a suppressed titter, 
 
 ^' 2 ^vhilc
 
 2G3 THE MISERIES OF AN KEIKESS. 
 
 while the eyes of Neville still more inso- 
 lently ranged, to catch the correspondent 
 smile of contempt. 
 
 We have already said, that pride was a 
 fostered germ in the character of Lad) Zi- 
 tella Herbert : she saw her nev/ relative a 
 tjource oi' amusement to the guests at her 
 own table, and became angered; seidcni 
 had this individual iraii received so great a 
 shock as in the past conversation ; her bo-^ 
 som beat indignant at the stifled, or exhi- 
 bited, marks of contempt each face pour- 
 tray ed ; and, absorbed in these new feel- 
 insrs, she was onlv aroused bv Mrs. Nu^-ent 
 loudly exclaiming — ''It is on my dressing- 
 table. — Zitella, do run up stairs and bring 
 lis the newspaper, for I want to shew an 
 advertisement ; there's a dear^-it won't 
 take ydu a minute/' 
 
 Nugent started in confusion from his 
 seat, and with a smile that indicated any 
 thing rather than what he meant it should, 
 replied — " If you are in such haste^ my 
 love, as not to await the summons of your 
 
 . own
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 269 
 
 own woman, pray permit me to attend 
 your commands;". and opening the door, 
 
 he vanished. 
 
 '' Well, what a good-natured soul my 
 Hub is!*' exclaimed his other half — '* Zi- 
 tella had quite finished her dinner, and I 
 thought might have gone in a minute, as I 
 could not send either of these here men- 
 servants; but poor Nugent was just put- 
 ting his morsel into his mouth, after cut- 
 ting up, and helping, and serving us all, 
 as a body may say ; for^ as he tells me 
 when we are bv ourselves, he does double 
 duty ; for I never could remember in my 
 life, which were the best bits to give the 
 folks; for, the t'other day, I helped the 
 
 Bishop of N to the thigh of a turkey; 
 
 for I reallv could not see whv, if the thi^^h 
 of a woodcock was the best piece, why the 
 thigh of any other bird was not ; and if the 
 head had been upon the creature's shoul- 
 ders, 1 should doubtless have sent him the 
 brains, from the same good reason ; and, 
 do you know, the horrid man sent away his 
 
 N 3 plate.
 
 '270 TFIE MISERIES OF AN nEII^vEaiS. 
 
 plate, and would not cat a morsel !— I re- 
 member once, Avheii I was very little, that 
 I was standing by Farmer Dobbins's chair, 
 while we were at dinner, and4ie said, said 
 he '* 
 
 The return of No pent with the news- 
 " paper in his hand, diverted her attention 
 into another channel, and the farmer and 
 his anecdote w'ere foriiotten. 
 
 The dinner concluded, smoking viands 
 were succeeded by the delicacies of the 
 dessert : Neville, at the left hand of the 
 fair Nugent, offered his assistance for fruit, 
 and was requested to hand her a peach; 
 but was electrified, the next moment, by a 
 scream of — '' O Lord! O Lord ! I am burnt 
 to death I" while the'hand of Mrs, Nugent 
 was wrung, as if in confirmation, and the 
 full bite of the pe^ch emptied, sajis cere- 
 monie, from her mouth into her i3late ! 
 
 " Burnt ! burnt !" was echoed around 
 her. 
 
 '' Heavens, Madam,** exclaimed the cul- 
 prit, " how could ice produce that' effect?" 
 
 "Ice!"
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 271 
 
 ''Ice!" she reiterated — ^^ why^ Lord, I 
 thought it had been fire ! — Well now/* as 
 she examined the offending fruit, '' I do 
 believe it is ice; but it is like the pepper- 
 mint water I took the other day for the sto- 
 niach-achcj and as it went down, it felt for 
 all the world as if it was hot boiling water, 
 and vet it was almost as cold as this here 
 peach. Well, do you know, I hate these 
 here deceiving things, for I have never 
 been used to them : the other night, at 
 supper, I went to eat some baked pears, as 
 I thought, and I got my mouth full of po- 
 tatoe ! I then begged for a poached eg^g, 
 and instead of that I stuck my teeth into 
 hiancmanger, with apricot atop of it. Do 
 you know, that I think this very stupid ? — 
 But the worst of all is, that nasty fashion of 
 washing one's mouth and hands at table-^ 
 I never could do that in my life; and 
 whenever they put an orange or a lemon- 
 leaf into the glass, I can't help eating it 
 up, for the life of me. And Carter (for 
 that's my housekeeper's name) provoked 
 
 N 4: ' me
 
 me so yesterday; for she sent ,Tne tjp, 
 ainonijj the sx'/eet things, some beautiful 
 jelly, with strawberries at the bottom ; and 
 I do lov^ strawberries so, as there was no- 
 body at table but myself, I poked in my 
 lingers to get at the fruit, and what should 
 it be, but a piece of painted tin !'* 
 
 The abrupt interruption of her hus- 
 band stopped the volubility of the lady^ 
 and his rising annoyance now appeared 
 under the darkest frown, as he diverted 
 the discourse into a diiTercnt channel; 
 while Sir Edward Horton, who was too 
 successfully a courtier to suffer his coun- 
 tenance to betray the smile of derision, 
 aided the endeavours of his host, while 
 he sought to draw Zitella into conversa- 
 tion, by m.ore than once directing soinie 
 sentence to her individually; but she re- 
 turned only laconic replies, mortified and 
 depressed almost to tears, from the appa- 
 rent rudeness of the different personages 
 with whom she had been associated ; and, 
 unable otherwise to account for their ge- 
 neral
 
 THE MISERIES OP AN HEIRESS. 273 
 
 tiera'l conduct to herself, she traced it as 
 retiected from the vulgarity of her nomi- 
 nal aunt; and pride, at least, groaned be- 
 neath the blow of contem;;!. Yet we can 
 scarce condemn our heroine for this fail- 
 ing, since it had been nurtured by a parent 
 whom she both loved and respecte<^ ; and 
 if we were inclined to extend our repro- 
 bation, yet would it be merciless se\er:tv, 
 since it is a failing which attaches to it>elf 
 an inseparable penalty — a proud floweret, 
 whose blossoms are of so tender a nature, 
 that they are nipt by the frost of a mo- 
 ment. Zitella had sii^hed at the recollec- 
 tion of the miseries attached to the tri- 
 umphal debut of an heiress, and she had 
 now sustained mortifications, that, had she 
 been known in her real character, might 
 have been in a great measure alleviated ; 
 since, had more individual attention been 
 paid herself, she would have had less op- 
 portunity of observing the sarcastic deri- 
 sion directed to the wedded partner of her 
 uncle. Thus it is with the majority of the 
 \ N 5 miseries
 
 274 TIJE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 miseries of human life, that they exist prin- 
 cipally by reflection on the deforming 
 mirror of discontent: the first epoch af 
 creation presents ns with the dangers of 
 this dhstortion ; for, had Adam never re- 
 pined at solitary joys, he had continued 
 the tenant of heaven. 
 
 The mind that anticipates ill, neither 
 enjoys the present nor the future ; and is 
 too much occupied with gloomy presage, 
 to derive pleasure from the past. The 
 erring zeal of a suffering parent had in- 
 fused this unquiet spirit into the breast o-f 
 youth, while she thought only to impart 
 the counsel of vigilant circumspection. — 
 Alas ! these rigid admonitions of painful 
 truism^ were, in fact, only cak ulated to 
 produce fastidiousness; for experience 
 alone can teach discriminatins: caution. 
 
 An insipid sort of query and reply suc^ 
 reeded the ladies' retirin^^ from the dininsr- 
 room to the rejoining of the gentlemen. 
 Sir Edward Horton entered, seate ' himself 
 next our heroine, and 'was ainon^ the ear- 
 liest
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 275 
 
 liest who entered the drawing-room. With 
 a person that was not calculated to procure 
 for its possessor distinction, the Baronet 
 had an auxiliary in conversation and man- 
 ner, that amplv supplied its deficiency in 
 striking appearance : he knew to disunite 
 the elegance of the courtier from its syco- 
 phantic appendages; he was a universal 
 favourite with the hi^^her world, without 
 ever displaying that fawning servility which 
 too often acconrpanies the endeavour of 
 extensively pleasing. Resistlessly Zitella 
 was drawn by his magic address, to pay 
 more attention to his discourse than she 
 could have believed, two hours previous, 
 she was capable of bestowing on one who 
 had so anxiously enquired the full extent 
 of the wealth of the heiress, and who had 
 certainly equipoised the exact value of her 
 beauty by a golden weight ; it was even 
 necessary to retrace him anew, to preserve 
 that repellant reserve she had at first spon- 
 taneously assumed, since fascination dwelt 
 in the manner of the Baronet, 
 
 N § Our
 
 276 The miseries of an heiress. 
 
 Our heroine was in the act of replying 
 to soir.e obse»vation he had tendered, when 
 Mrs. Nugent exclnimed — " Ziiella, niy dear 
 niece, stir the fire, for it looks very gloomy; 
 and I think you may as well ring, and have 
 1111*10 Bagtel brought down/* 
 
 A cold bow was the reply ; and the bejl 
 was assiduously rung by Sir Edward, on 
 hearing the request directed to his farr 
 neighbour. 
 
 " The situation of that poor girl," whis- 
 pered Miss Arabella Harley, " is a very pi- 
 tiable one What so dreadful as to be blessed 
 with common sense, and compelled to sub- 
 mit to the whims, orders, caprices, and im- 
 pertinence of such a woman as Mrs. Nu- 
 gent?'' 
 
 *' Why, poor soul,'* returned Mr. Ne- 
 ville, who was lounging at the back of this- 
 lady's chair, *' under h^r circumstances, I 
 think common sense is all that she will 
 have any occasion for; so that she do not 
 set herself on fire, and has discretion 
 enough to walk by the side of the fish- 
 ponds^
 
 TIJE MISERIES OF AN HEIPES5. 277 
 
 pond, at her aunt's country seat, instead of 
 into it, it is quiie sufficient : she does not 
 possess beaufv, ar.d there fore will never 
 shine in the nabob's world." ^ 
 
 *' Is that your real opi.iion ?" interrupted 
 the lady; '* for although I tliink her very 
 stbpid, and that she has an unrommoa 
 share of rnaninis hoiilc, if we ir.av iu-s{e 
 from iier silence and her blushes, vet she 
 appears what the m:de sex mav admire/' 
 
 ** She is bearable, passable ; nothing 
 more, I assure you. By the management 
 of Huh and his erudite rib, they mav dis- 
 pose of her xo a Ludgate-hil! silk-mercer^ 
 or persuade some mighty weak ensign of a 
 marchino' rei^iment to induce her to I ear 
 his knapsack ; yet to nothing better could 
 she possibly pretend;" and Mr. Neville 
 really looked as if his fiat in her preten- 
 sions would be decisive as the Median law, 
 when he a^jain surveved her — ** No, she'll 
 not take — she is a decided rustic ; for be- 
 hold her cheeks are, at this moment, crim- 
 soned^ and her eyes thereby do look rather 
 
 more
 
 278 TII1> MTfERIVS OF AV HRITJTISS. 
 
 moT-e ?nnna*e(] ; but, t.ik^ her \for all in 
 all,' I cnn onlv pronounce her a very mo- 
 dest-lookins: kind of oirl, not at all suited 
 for a marriafreable market." 
 
 " Eh ?" rejoined Beechley — '' a deuced 
 hard sentence that, Neville! But, fiiith, my 
 optics v.ill p. ever open to take in the sight 
 of anv thing porfiwilcss — I hate a gilt 
 beautv, eh ? the lacker wears off, and no- 
 ^ thins but the brass remains, eh ? — Gad, that 
 is a substance ♦hough that never is the 
 worse for wear; {'or, the more rubs it meets 
 with, the more glaring it is.'* 
 
 " It scem.s indeed no longer the golden, 
 but the brazen age,'* said Zitella, in a dis- 
 tinct contemptuous tone, that, although 
 onlv addressed to Sir Edward, reached the 
 p.irty opposite — "The Shakespearian adage 
 has repeated, that men's^irtues are written 
 in water, their evil manners onlv on brass; 
 but I believe the sage bard never predicted 
 the latter would be anxious to publish the 
 ^nscri'ption to the W(irld." 
 
 The group absolutely paused, and Beech- 
 ley
 
 THE misfhies of an nEintss. 279 
 
 ley really did involuntarilv stare at the 
 supposed daughter of poverty. But of- 
 fended pride had lent sudden courage to 
 our heroine^, who had felt bv no means 
 flattered bv the appellation of '' only a 
 very modest-looking kind of girl/' which 
 she viewed much upon a par with the ge- 
 neral phrase of a " good-natured man/* 
 when applied as in the present manner. 
 " A country miss angling for a husband/* 
 was not, in fact, a more invitins: character 
 than she had hitherto supposed '' an heir- 
 ess.** 
 
 The silent astonishment in which both 
 Neville and Beechley momentarily survey- 
 ed the quiet, sUipid sort of rustic, was in- 
 terrupted by the ever-expert and ( owveni- 
 ent laugh of Miss Harley, followed by the 
 tittering — " Dear me, now droll ! how en- 
 tertaining ! Only think of the poor thing 
 \enturin<x to articulate loud enough to be 
 heard ! — Sir Edward has performed an in- 
 cantation, and made the dumb speak — he 
 has broken the silent charm 1'* 
 
 " She
 
 280 THE MISEKIES OF AN HEIRFSS." 
 
 " She bore a charmtrl toffgue then, eh ?*' 
 sai' B{'^(hV.v — '* J should like to con^pose 
 a lit-Ie maJri-^al on her, he^iniiincr with 
 th?t line, eh? Do vou not think it would 
 go well on t'^e lii-e ?' 
 
 '• I t!vnk," saidMi>5 Arabella' Ilarlev, 
 onl\ attenJiniL^; to tlie first part of the 
 speech, and PiOvv ad.lre^.in^" Neville, ''that 
 her tongue has indeed been charmed by 
 the spell of the good fairy of Mother 
 B"nch'sacquaintance, since, like the wicked 
 sister Fanny, of dlann.ond and toad memoir, 
 hers only gives birth to a venomous pro- 
 duce/' 
 
 ** See the furies arise ! 
 How they hiss in the air ! 
 And the sparkles that flash from their eyes!" 
 
 repeated Neville, in a low, but comic tone. 
 
 ''Of whom are you all talking?" said 
 Mrs. Nugent, approaching from an adjoin- 
 ing room, where she had passed the pre- 
 ceding minutes in placing Bagatelle oa a 
 cushion by the fire. 
 
 " Only admiring your pretty relative,*' 
 
 rejoined
 
 THE MISERIES OF AN HEIRESS. 281 
 
 rejoined Miss Ilar]e}% " Miss Zitella, for 
 her surname I have not the pleasure of 
 kriOwing.'* 
 
 " Miss !*' re-echoed her interrogator, 
 " why that is my husband's own niece!- 
 She is Ladjj Zitella Herbert^ and one of the 
 richest heiresses in the known world.'* 
 
 The broad stare of astonishment suc- 
 ceeded. '' Laclij Zitella!" was so audibly 
 pronounced, as to arrest the attention of 
 more than it was intended to reach. 
 
 *' Surely this sweet girl/* resumed Ne- 
 villej '^ cannot be the daughter of the late 
 Earl of Darnford ? the beautiful child his 
 Lordship introduced to a select circle some 
 few vears since ^'* 
 
 *' Yes, but it is though ; because he ne- 
 ver had any other child in his born days, I 
 have heard my Hub say : and now that her 
 mother is dead, why, we are left guardrans, 
 and I mean to be a parent to her; and she , 
 is come to live with us, till she vows *' to 
 love, honour, and obe?/' somcbodv else." 
 
 The precipitate exit of the fair object of 
 
 thiii
 
 2S2 THE iiiSEPirs OF ax iieirkss. 
 
 this conversation afforded the opportunity 
 of further interrogatory; and all parties, 
 fully convinced of the real pretensions of 
 Lady Zitella Herbert, assiduously assailed 
 Mr. Nugent with lavish panegyric on the 
 beautv of his fair relative. 
 
 ml 
 
 The nabob was "f^nuinelv si'^^tified ; his 
 young \yard was the daughter of a sister he 
 had affeclionateiy loved, and he experien- 
 ced a natural pleasure in hearing' the praises 
 of her orphan : his pride was also flattered, 
 by the admiration his niece appeared to 
 have excited; he investigated not its source, 
 for it was an invariable maxim with him, 
 that Unpleasant reflection should never be 
 indulged. When, therefore, the different 
 guests had taken leave, he jocularly con- 
 gratulated Zitella on the execution she had 
 effected on the male part of the assembly, 
 but more particularly on the young Baro- 
 net, who could not mention her with any 
 moderation of phraseology. 
 
 '' Do vou mean of myself, or mV attract 
 tions, Sir?" said Zitella ironically. 
 
 ''Jndeed,
 
 THE ^tlSERIES OF AN HEIRESS. ^2SS . 
 
 '' Indeed, my dear girl, he ^lid, you : 
 were all attraction in personal — •^■" 
 
 " Property," added Ziteiln^ with a forced 
 smile. 
 
 ''Yes/* said Nugent, taking her hand, 
 and pointing lo a glass, in which her figure 
 was at that moment presented ; "' behold 
 therein reflected that fine territory of which 
 he was the admirer, and which, if I guess 
 n^^ht, he v,'ould be happy to become pos- 
 sessor." 
 
 " Dear me/' exclaimed Mrs. Nugent, 
 with a look of genuine surprise, '•' why, he 
 must have chansfed his mind all in a hurrv. 
 for he told me he thought her " 
 
 ." Ah, my dear Fanny/* eagerly inter- 
 rupted the nabob, '' do not believe any 
 
 declaration to the contran' of what I have 
 
 ■J 
 
 advanced ; rely upon it, no nian of gallan- 
 try will commit such a solecism, as to praise 
 one beautiiul woman to another — \, you 
 know, am privileged," he added, tenderly 
 taking her hand^ as his eyes had, during 
 
 the
 
 ^84 THE MISERIES OF AN KErRESS. 
 
 the speech, rested on her lovely face, with 
 warmly-admiring expression. 
 
 " Oh yes/' replied Mrs. Nugent, '' you 
 are privileged !o say just what yon please; 
 1 can never be angry with him that ! love 
 better than iA\ the world, and who raised 
 your poor Fanny, without a sixpence in 
 her pocket, to riches and greatness. In- 
 deed and indeed, if all my love had not 
 hQen gone to you long ago, I should love 
 you better ^nd better, every time I think 
 of your kindness and your goodness to 
 me. 
 
 The rrrateful heart of the speaker spoke 
 in her tearful eyes. Nugent, ever the crea- 
 ture of impulse, folded her in his arms* 
 and pressed her to his breast, with undis- 
 sembled fervor, as Zitella unregarded glid- 
 ed from the room. 
 
 Never had the beautv of our heroine 
 been more completely veiled than during 
 this day ; the fatigue of her journey had 
 produced a las^iitudc that had tended to 
 
 deaden
 
 THE MTSERirS OF AN IIEIKLSS. 285 
 
 <fe?.cicn the usual animation of her counte- 
 niUii-e, to wliich the cirnimstances of tr.e 
 nioiiiing had aiUied a shock ot considerable 
 ragnitcde, ii' ii»e uiccover) of tne ill assi- 
 miLted connexions oi hei odly niatcrnal 
 relative. An embarrassn'itni, tne nat^^ral 
 result of the nnpleasaii^ ituation in which 
 she unexpectedly found herself, gave an 
 apparent awkwardness to her manner, which 
 >vas coniirnficd, to the mere casual specta- 
 tor, bv that crimson fiuctuatiun of her 
 complexion, which had its rise in the irri- 
 tation of offended pride ; while compas- 
 sionate feeling for the distressed state of 
 Nuge .t, mingled with the more haughty 
 em.otion of her mind, and, by depressing 
 her natural spirits, deadened the powers of 
 effort to produce even apparent compo- 
 sure : her dress had also contributed to 
 give, to the impressions of the frivolous 
 Ilarleys iiv particular, an idea of her de- 
 pciulent humble claims on her vulgar aunt^ 
 since it was in reaiitv her travelling one, 
 time not having admitted its change, when 
 
 the
 
 2S6 ■ ' THF MISEHIES OF AN IIEirxESS. 
 
 the pair.f il reverie of thoiiL>ht had been 
 siiffirieiiilv broken to enable her to consi- 
 der its necessity; and the recollection of 
 apologizing for an habiliment so ill suited 
 to a party, had vanished in the awkward- 
 ness arisino^ from the neirlect or ignorance 
 of the ladvof the mansion, to the common 
 
 forms -^fDolished society. 
 
 1 J 
 
 From the days of infantine childhood^ 
 personal admiration had been familiar to 
 the ear of our heroine ; and she had re- 
 ceived it as a X^^X^Q^ w'hose iustice had never 
 been doubted, having had its confirmation 
 from the lips of a parent, whose truth she 
 had, never questioned. The beauty of Mrs. 
 Nugent was calculated to dazzle with a 
 sudden universal radiance, but that of Zi- 
 tella arose the hioher from investigation : 
 the features of the former would have been 
 better adapted to atTord a model for a sta- 
 tuary, or, even on canvas, would have 
 shone transcendant ; but in that of the lat- 
 ter, there was a soul no painting could 
 imparr^ no chissel could express — the very 
 
 life
 
 THE Ml.SF.yTE^ rF AN II5.IRFSS. ?S7 
 
 life of intellect an ' fcelir.": I reathed in 
 every line ; and Venus had trac ed iheai 
 wiih the harmonious 'ilouing colours from 
 her valued fount of beaiitv. 
 
 Strans^e and unexpected, therefore, was 
 the little estimation in which her person 
 had bcen.held, independent of her worldly 
 attractions; for althoush she was but too 
 fullv aware, that, to the latter, she was 
 likely to owe many professed lovers, vet 
 she had hitherto conceived no idea that 
 achniration was often equally tried by the 
 same scales: and somewhat of mortification 
 did mingle with the knowledge of the im- 
 pression her general appearance had con- 
 veyed, when wrapped in the fancied mantle 
 of poverty and dependance ; for aIthouL;li 
 vanity was not the acting spring of the 
 heart of our orphan, yet it did, at times, 
 play a subordinate part in her feelings ; 
 and had not thouirht now recurred to a 
 more serious distress, in the ill-assimilated 
 protectress of her clchilt, it Is very probable 
 that she would have experienced some an- 
 noyance
 
 ?S8 TT?5 MTSFRTT^S OF AN HEIT^ESS. 
 
 rovaiKe ipt a retrospect of the rontemptii- 
 oils observations of the party : certain it is, 
 she kept ih^ vigils of the night, and was 
 awakened Iro.n her first slumber by the 
 entrance of her inaid, to infgrm her that 
 Mrsik Nugent was risen. 
 
 BKD OF VOL. fc 
 
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