.#^-'. 
 
 S 
 
 ^ 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 ,%. 
 
 4
 
 
 a I E) R.AR.Y 
 
 OF THL 
 
 U N I VERSITY 
 
 or ILLI NOIS 
 
 V. 
 
 )
 
 
 Telephone : HOLbom 2733 
 
 With the Compliments and Thanks 
 
 of 
 
 LOUIS W. BONDY 
 
 16, LITTLE RUSSELL STREET, 
 LONDON, W.C.I
 
 AIMS AND ENDS 
 
 AND 
 
 OONAGHLYNCH 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF " CARWELL." 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 P. DWAIll) BULL, IIOLLES STREET.
 
 Lomlon: Printed by S. Bkntli-.y, Dorset Street.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The Author of " Carwell,'' when that tale 
 was first published, was blamed by some for 
 having claimed attention to distresses too mean 
 for sympathy, and characters too degraded for 
 compassion. Her hope in writing that story, 
 was to interest, by describing feelings true to 
 nature. 
 
 But this reproach, combined with the assur- 
 ance of friends and publishers, that it required 
 more aristocratic affliction to interest the novel- 
 reading public, has induced her to attem|)t a 
 story in the style at present considered tlie 
 most popular. 'IMiis must 1k' ilie apology for a 
 sort of flippancy, wln'cli oii^ht not to survive 
 
 " 'I'lio frail, vain hopes of youth.'' 
 VOL. I. A3
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Oonagh Lynch is of a different and more ro- 
 mantic description. The preference shown to 
 either of these stories, will decide the caste of 
 any future fiction attempted by the same 
 writer, should she again appear before tlie 
 public.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 La felicit6 est dans le gout, et non par dans les choses ; et 
 c'est par avoir ce qu'on aime qu'on est heureux, non par avoir 
 ce que les autres trouvent aimable. — Rochefoucauld. 
 
 " The gods, to curse Pamela with her prayers, 
 Gave the gilt coach and dappled Flanders mares." 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/aimsendsoonaghly01sher
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 If you are young, handsome, and have just 
 completed the most anxious toilette you ever 
 accomplished in your Hfe, you will be able to 
 comprehend the immense pleasure and satis- 
 faction with which Olinda Vavasour looked at 
 herself, in a large swing glass on a certain 
 Tuesday. Nay, perhaps, if you are neither 
 young nor handsome, if you are in the habit 
 of looking in large swing glasses, you will com- 
 prehend the nature of her amusement. I am 
 sorry to give you the idea of her possessing so 
 large a share of vanity, but truth obliges me to 
 b2
 
 4 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 confess, that she not only regarded herself en 
 face, with considerable attention for some mi- 
 nutes, but by the aid of a little mermaid-look- 
 ing glass which she held in her hand, she con- 
 trived to obtain some idea of the effect her 
 profile might produce, and some transitory 
 glimpses of the back of her head and waist ; 
 though in this last contemplation she had not 
 an opportunity of indulging to satiety, partly 
 from the small size of the hand-glass, and 
 partly because the second dinner bell rang a 
 deafening peal, and Mrs. Shuldham, Lady 
 Portbury's femme de chambre, covered with 
 frills and flounces, entered to request Miss 
 Vavasour would go to that lady, that they 
 might descend together to the drawing-room. 
 
 " I wanted to see how you have dressed 
 yourself, Olinda — pretty well — but that ringlet 
 hangs too low ; and what a pity your hair is so 
 dark, it would really be pretty if it was five or 
 six shades lighter," continued Lady Portbury, 
 complacently looking on her own dressing-glass,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. O 
 
 which reflected a pretty face and a profusion of 
 bright hair, which her friends called auburn, 
 and her foes called red ; '' but come, we are 
 shockingly late." 
 
 While they are descending, it must be known 
 that this is Olinda's first appearance in Lon- 
 don, or indeed, anywhere; the eighteen years 
 she had hved having been spent t^'te-a-tete 
 with her mother, in a cottage in Wales, to 
 which retirement they had been condemned 
 by poverty, the consequence of Mr. Vavasour's 
 having spent a good fortune early in life. 
 
 Mrs. Vavasour was accomplished, and had 
 taken great pains in Olinda's education. Their 
 cottage was close to the gate of a magnificent 
 castle. The proprietor had been a friend of 
 Vavasour's, and never visited his Welsh castle, 
 except for three weeks in the shooting season ; 
 during the remainder of the year, Mrs. Vava- 
 sour made ample use of a splendid library and 
 grand piano, wliich he begged she would consi- 
 der as her own ; and these advantages were all
 
 6 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 the assistance she obtained in educating her 
 daughter. In this undertaking she bad been, 
 in many respects, very successful, but she had 
 committed some mistakes ; and, as is most usual, 
 she had erred more in the cultivation of Olinda's 
 disposition than in that of her talents ; in fact, 
 young ladies are taught with more care to play 
 the piano, than to regulate their tempers, and 
 it is less difficult to remember the chronology 
 of the Roman history than to forget you have a 
 pretty face. But the latter fact was impressed 
 on Olinda's memory by her mother sometimes 
 having the imprudence to remark it, and she 
 had the further indiscretion to let her daughter 
 know she thought her clever, and it will not 
 therefore be considered as remarkable that 
 Olinda brought a very favourable opinion of 
 herself to town with her. 
 
 On the death of Mrs. Vavasour, somebody had 
 suggested to Lord Portbury that it would be 
 good-natured of him " to do something" for 
 his uncle Vavasour's daughter, and it naturally
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 7 
 
 occurred to him that the best thing to do for a 
 pretty girl was to show her. 
 
 Olinda came, and all the loose money wliich 
 arose from the sale of the furniture and effects 
 at the Welsh cottage was vested in a neat but 
 not very splendid wardrobe, fashioned under 
 the inspection of Lady Portbury. 
 
 This lady had been ill for a fortnight, conse- 
 quently no strangers had been admitted, and 
 this dinner was the first dawn of London society 
 on Olinda's eyes. Her expectations were much 
 raised when she entered the drawing-room with 
 Lady Portbury. At the same moment the 
 opposite door was opened, and the Duke of 
 Desmond was announced. 
 
 Olinda had never seen or spoken to any man 
 in her life except the curate of her Welsh 
 parish, the apothecary, one attorney, and two 
 farmers, and her intercourse with these chosen 
 few had been extremely limited ; she had 
 therefore a very vague idea of what would be 
 the appearance and manner of a distinguislied
 
 8 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and agreeable man. She thought it not un- 
 likely he would be tall and graceful, with black 
 whiskers, and cheeks either cherry-red or dead- 
 ly pale ; that he would play the flute, speak 
 pretty verses extempore ; be very polite and 
 obliging, and greatly addicted to making love, 
 and that love the real, old, original, respectful, 
 heroic love, that is more frequently read of in 
 elderly novels than seen in young gentlemen. 
 
 The title of Duke, and euphonious name of 
 Desmond, made her take the earliest opportu- 
 nity of examining the possessor of both, but 
 he possessed apparently few of the requisites for 
 a hero ; he was an awkward, middle-aged, 
 heavy-looking man, with thin hair, that hesi- 
 tated whether it should be green or yellow, like 
 hay ill got in. 
 
 Next arrived MM. St. Mirval and Desottises, 
 both belonging to the French embassy. The 
 appearance of the first was rather promising ; 
 he was decidedly handsome and gentlemanlike ;
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 9 
 
 but of M. Desottises there was no hope — he 
 stammered and squinted. 
 
 Then came a viscount, and two barons, with 
 Irish titles. All that could be said of these 
 peers was, that had you gazed on them for four 
 hours, and they had then quitted the apart- 
 ments for one hour, it would have been hardly 
 possible to have remembered which was which 
 when they came back again. 
 
 Again the door opened for Mr. Preston Fleet- 
 wood. He looked sensible, and like a gentle- 
 man, but he was very dark, and slightly marked 
 with the small-pox. 
 
 A cabinet minister, an Hungarian count, a 
 young foreign prince, and two more Lords, 
 completed the male ingredients of this party. 
 Two foreign ladies, who were supposed to in- 
 terest the prince and the count, and the wives 
 of two of the peers, were the female guests. 
 
 The conversation during dinner was not par- 
 ticularly edifying. A discussion respecting the 
 b5
 
 10 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 mode of dressing a particular dish, the compa- 
 rative merits of several cooks, of whose works 
 some of the gentlemen had eaten and judged, 
 were the leading topics. Afterwards, a singer, 
 the quality of her voice, her features, figure, 
 degree of estimation in Italy and France, salary, 
 &c. &c. was treated of with a degree of earnest- 
 ness very remarkable. 
 
 Upon the whole the culinary discourse seemed 
 to elicit the deeper feeling of the company. 
 But as the company was large enough to break 
 into by-=cbnversation, one of the Irish peers, 
 who had the misfortune to be a project-monger, 
 poured into the utiwilling ear of his neighbour 
 a plan for drawing an ardent spirit from the 
 blossom of the blind-nettle, which liquor, like 
 all newly-discovered messes, was to have the 
 virtue of every medicine in the world. Another 
 of the guests, who was cursed with a taste for 
 landscape-gardening, described all he had done, 
 and would do, to his place in the country. 
 
 Olinda was between these beaux ; and as the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 11 
 
 Staple of their conversation was addressed to 
 their neighbours on the other side (except those 
 civihties which a dining-table forces from gen- 
 tlemen to the lady next them), her entertain- 
 ment consisted, on the right, of a low murmur, 
 bringing to her ear occasionally the words 
 " shell — marie — clumps — rising ground — sunk 
 fence — and fine effect." On the left, *' juice ex- 
 pressed — alcohol — quantity — proof-spirit — cool- 
 ing astringents — wholesome," with other terms 
 delightful to a chemist's ear, but affording little 
 refreshment to those of a young lady. Olinda 
 pardoned the brewer of blind-nettle — he was 
 old, and had a sort of married look about the 
 collar of his coat ; but that excuse could not 
 extend to the schemer in landscape — he was 
 not ugly, and could not be thirty. 
 
 " How very rude smart men are !" said she 
 mentally ; " after all I cannot be so pretty as I 
 imagined." 
 
 She then turned her eyes and thoughts to 
 the more distant members of the society, but
 
 12 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 heard nothing very interesting. Some one at 
 length began to speak of the fortifications of a 
 town on the Continent ; a voice in reply quoted 
 the opinion of M. Vauban, and in a tone so 
 distinct and musical, that it caught OHnda's 
 whole attention, and though all she knew of 
 Vauban was, that he was an engineer, and of 
 fortification the simple meaning of the word, 
 she felt that the speaker was a clever man, and 
 the only one in the room ; she perceived it was 
 Mr. Preston Fleetwood. 
 
 The ladies rose, and soon proceeded to the 
 Opera, with which Olinda was much dehghted. 
 For the next six weeks Lord Portbury gave 
 constantly two or three large dinners every 
 week, eating and seeing eat being the prin- 
 cipal pursuit of his life ; the intermediate days, 
 if he did not dine out, he had two or three 
 men at his table : and in this way his society 
 was very various, for he cared more about 
 what was on the table than who were round 
 it ; and that more for the reputation of his
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 13 
 
 tabic, than for his share in its consumption. 
 He had attained the acme of his ambition 
 when he learned that an experienced gour- 
 mand had said, " that no man had such a 
 cook as Portbury,"' or that his claret was the 
 best in London. 
 
 He took the same interest in Lady Port- 
 bury''s appearance that he had in his hand- 
 some service of gilt-plate — he liked to see his 
 wife and dishes look bright. A handsome 
 woman at one end of his table bore the same 
 relation to the coup d'^ccil of the dinner as the 
 plateau in the middle ; and his taste in both 
 did Lord Portbury honour. 
 
 In conversation he was a lavish proser, 
 though talking principally at dinner, which he 
 looked upon rather as a duty in a host. 
 
 Lady Portbury was several years younger 
 than her Lord, very pretty and very vain ; she 
 had shed a few tears when her friends first 
 advised her to marry Lord Portbury, but 
 ardently wishing to be rich and great, she at
 
 14 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 last made up her mind, and was afterwards 
 agreeably surprised to find that being rich, and 
 great, and handsome, were enough for her hap- 
 piness : her business was to dress ; her amuse- 
 ment to be admired. She was too young to 
 wish for an admirer, to prove that she was 
 still admirable ; but she liked to occupy a 
 good deal of time and attention, and to receive 
 a certain portion of flattery, from those young 
 men whose approbation was most prized at the 
 time ; but they were treated rather as courtiers 
 than lovers, and came not " near enough to be 
 denied." In her female friends she only re- 
 quired rank and fashion, and did not dislike 
 them for being her inferiors in moral conduct, 
 if they acknowledged it by a tribute of sub- 
 missive flattery. 
 
 From this pair, it may be supposed no opi- 
 nion could proceed but what was most worldly 
 and anti-romantic — consequently, most whole- 
 some and improving for a mind just imported 
 from Wales; and Olinda listened with respect
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 15 
 
 to all that was new to her, from a consciousness 
 that she was now in a terra incognita — every- 
 body appeared interesting, and everything a 
 study. 
 
 Olinda had often thought herself comfortable, 
 and even gay, when the red curtains were let 
 down over the little parlour windows of her 
 mother's cottage of an autumn evening, the 
 fire blazed, the bright brass kettle boiled for 
 their tea, when she used to sit down, with the 
 appetite of fifteen, to the brown loaf and new- 
 churned butter, after having filled the green 
 china baskets with dahlias, mignonette, asters, 
 and cluster-roses. Yet the evening promised 
 no other entertainment than the company of the 
 tabby-cat, the piano, some volumes of history 
 or poetry, her work', or, the utmost stretch of 
 dissipation, the arrival of the old curate, wltli 
 a three days old London newspaper in his hand 
 for Mrs. Vavasour, or some old book which he 
 thought might amuse her daughter. 
 
 At the liour when that scene was displayed
 
 16 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 in the cottage, in Grosvenor Square a flood q^ 
 light was poured from the high gilt cande- 
 labra on Lord Portbury's dining-table, where 
 the labours of his accomplished French cook 
 were smoking for eighteen or twenty persons 
 of fashion, the greater part of whom only ate 
 to criticise, and experimentally as it were, few 
 of the guests having in reality waited till half 
 past eight in the evening ; but there is an air de 
 fete on such occasions, which gives an idea such 
 a party ought to be gay. 
 
 Olinda did not discover at first, that there is 
 often more grace than cheerfulness, more good- 
 breeding than good-will. One day Lady Port- 
 bury said, " There are a good many people to 
 dine with us to-morrow, Olinda, and one per- 
 son that will charm you ; there never was 
 anything like Lady Montarran,— so graceful ! 
 Oh, you will be delighted with her. And there 
 will be Lord Portbury's sister. Lady JuHana 
 Dixon, but she is a most shocking bore ; really, 
 I always dread her visit. She stays a week,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 17 
 
 and it seems to me like seven years. If it hap- 
 pened oftener than once a year, one must die of 
 it — it is as much as I can bear." 
 
 Olinda looked forward with some curiosity to 
 the dinner, and followed Lady Portbury with 
 observing eyes. The first persons that arrived 
 were some of the gentlemen who were the most 
 usual dining guests at the house. 
 
 Lady Juliana had arrived in the morning, 
 and having retired to her dressing-room early, 
 Olinda had not yet seen her, and now she entered, 
 to the great surprise of those who knew she was 
 near fifty, in a costume suited to a beauty of 
 sixteen. She had been very pretty, arising from 
 those advantages that belong to the very earliest 
 bloom of youth ; and before the usual time her 
 slight figure grew angular, her smooth cheek 
 hollow and pale, the bright profusion of fair 
 curls had diminished to a handful, and even her 
 friends and flirts owned that " Lady Juliana 
 was quite passce." Material changes take place 
 every day, without being visible to those most
 
 18 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 concerned in them, and to Lady Juliana alone 
 were these mutations in her exterior as totally 
 unsuspected as on the day she ran away with the 
 late Colonel Dixon, just thirty years before she 
 assisted at this dinner of Lord Portbury's ! 
 
 Her scraggy form, instead of being wrapped 
 in substantial gros de naples, or fat French satin, 
 displayed the meagre insufficiency of white tulle ; 
 her hair furnished five or six straw-coloured 
 cork-screws, which were surmounted by a wreath 
 of the palest blush-roses, mingled with jasmine, 
 and her petticoat seemed to partake of the nature 
 of Sir Caradoc's lady's " shrinking mantle,'" 
 ere she had eked its length by the strange expe- 
 dient of confessing her fault. Among the defi- 
 ciencies of her toilette, a well-wisher might also 
 deplore the absent tippet, and the trifling attempt 
 at compensation set forth in a narrow blonde 
 tucker ! 
 
 Ere Olinda had obtained a satisfactory survey 
 of this juvenile elderly, she was interrupted by 
 the entrance of Lord and Lady Montarran : the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 19 
 
 former looked dark, creditable, and statesman- 
 like, had the reputation of a very sensible man, 
 which few persons could contradict from their 
 own observation, as in society his proportion of 
 the conversation was confined to the occasional 
 utterance of a deep hoarse " humph !" which 
 sounded like "a clamour in a vault," and might 
 be interpreted according to the construction the 
 hearers made on his Lordship's emphasis ; but 
 Lady Montarran was grace and dignity personi- 
 fied — her long dark eyes beamed with an expres- 
 sion of sensibility and sweetness. 
 
 When Lady Portbury introduced Olinda to 
 her, Lady Montarran spoke a few words of such 
 cordial kindness, such graceful interest — her 
 manner was at once so gentle and animated — that 
 Olinda, who inwardly contrasted her salutation 
 with the haughty bend, the cold carelessness of 
 the other great ladies she had seen, could not 
 help thinking she had at lengtli met witli ])cr- 
 fection. 
 
 Lady Juliana, who had been speaking apart to
 
 20 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Lord Portbury, now advanced to pay her com- 
 pliments to Lady Montarran, whose soft eyes 
 sparkled as she took her hand, and exclaimed, 
 " Dearest Lady Juliana, how very happy I am 
 to meet you ! you cannot guess how grateful I 
 am to Lady Portbury for giving me this oppor- 
 tunity of seeing a little of you. What an age it is 
 since we last met ! and you are looking so well ! 
 quite as lovely as ever ! absolutely girlish. 
 
 " Hey-day !"" said Olinda to herself, " this 
 charming person is certainly too partial to her 
 friends ! though she seems to judge strangers so 
 accurately !" for she could not bear to distrust 
 her judgment, which had seemed so favourable 
 to her. 
 
 A third female guest appeared in Lady Grim- 
 thorpe, and she did not make a very favourable 
 impression ; she was short and thick, with a broad 
 hooked nose, and much shade about her brow, 
 which gave her gloomy countenance a sort of 
 resemblance to a bullfinch in ill humour; her 
 movements were brusque, and she spoke in a
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 21 
 
 jerking objurgatory tone, which seemed enough 
 to alarm a timid, and rouse a pugnacious spirit; 
 however OHnda saw her received with the same 
 placid and tranquil welcome as the preceding 
 guests. 
 
 Perhaps nothing is more surprising to a 
 novice in this world's ways than the inscrutable 
 equality with which a well-bred hostess re- 
 ceives a large company, the members of which 
 are of equal rank, but differing in degree of 
 agrement ; while to a company where the guests 
 differ in rank there is a permitted and slight, 
 but detectable, difference of reception and man- 
 ner: and to execute this difference adroitly and 
 gracefully is the most rare accomplishment of 
 a distinguished hostess. At this moment I 
 can recollect but four who reached the utmost 
 point of address in this game. 
 
 Mr. Fleetwood was among the gentlemen ; 
 he usually dined twice or three times a week 
 with Lord Portbury, but had latterly incurred 
 Olinda's disapprobation, principally because he
 
 22 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 conversed with the married ladies, and treated 
 her, she thought, with peculiar disregard. She 
 still saw he was clever, and liked to listen to 
 him ; but as she began to attract the notice 
 of some other members of the society, it ap- 
 peared due to her dignity as a belle, to be 
 particularly reserved and cold to so refractory 
 a beau, and he either did not see, or did not 
 mind, this heroic line of conduct. 
 
 This party took place on a Sunday evening ; 
 they did not disperse to various assemblies, 
 but some sat down to cards and others to 
 converse. A fancy seized Lady Portbury to 
 play whist, and wanting a fourth person for 
 the table, she desired Olinda to sit down. She 
 knew little of cards, and regarded with horror 
 the proposition of joining in such an amuse- 
 ment on Sunday, but on Lady Portbury say- 
 ing rather contemptuously, " Heavens ! Olinda, 
 what affectation ! where is the harm ? Is it 
 not better than talking ill of our acquaint- 
 ances ?■" (as if scandal was a necessary altema-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 23 
 
 live for those who did not play.) Olinda 
 hesitated, blushed, looked distressed and un- 
 decided. 
 
 Fleetwood was seated with his back to her, 
 talking earnestly to Lady Montarran, and 
 bending forward, suddenly turned his head 
 and said, " What surprising weakness, Miss 
 Vavasour ! though this playing cards is an 
 action entirely indifferent in my eyes, if you 
 think it wrong it is wrong for you to do it ; 
 do not be laughed out of your opinion." Then 
 rising, he entreated Lady Portbury's leave to 
 join the whist-table, which was of course 
 granted. 
 
 Olinda would have been grateful for the 
 relief he had afforded her, had she not been 
 displeased by the didactic manner in which 
 his assistance was offered. And as people often 
 are more offended at a deserved accusation 
 tiian at one whicli their conscience assures tiicm 
 is unjust; perhaps a latent suspicion that she 
 was too easily moved by sarcasm or entreaty,
 
 24 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 made the reproach of Mr. Fleetwood more 
 unpalatable than it might otherwise have 
 proved. 
 
 When he joined the card-table, Lady Juliana 
 sat down in the chair he had quitted, and 
 said to Olinda, " I am so glad to find you 
 are unsophisticated and hate cards ; that is 
 just like me, I hate all \vorldly occupations 
 — give me roses, birds, and rural occupation, 
 a few books — I can't live without books — 
 the intercourse of intimate friends, and an 
 attached lover."" - 
 
 Olinda thought it was time Lady Juliana 
 should erase the last article from her cata- 
 logue of luxuries ; perhaps she looked as if 
 she thought so, for Lady Juliana resumed, 
 "Of course I mean, as regards myself, a 
 devoted husband, which in fact is the same 
 thing, one whose attachment has the same 
 intensity and freshness at the end of thirty 
 or forty years, as when he was first sub- 
 jugated."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 25 
 
 " Subjugated !" exclaimed Lady Grimthorpe ; 
 " nobody was ever subjugated for thirty or 
 forty years, except vi et armis. Dear Lady 
 Juliana, you will quite mislead Miss Vavasour, 
 by this sort of doctrine, to expect such benig- 
 nity and condescension from her husband, that 
 she will be the most unhappy wife in Christen- 
 dom if she believes you." 
 
 " No," said Lady Juliana, " I am sure she 
 also will find her counterpart, and be as for- 
 tunate as I am ; persons who make the heart 
 their guide acquire a sort of science of divi- 
 nation, that rarely allows them to mistake their 
 road to happiness. That is the blessing of 
 being what the world calls romantic." 
 
 At this period of Lady Juliana's discourse, 
 all those who knew her best and were within 
 hearing, were seized with the same sort of 
 shuddering that Asmodeus felt when the con- 
 juror recalled him to his bottle; and the looks 
 of those who had least masterv over their fea- 
 tures expressed a sort of smothered roproncli 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 26 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 to Lady Grimthorpe for drawing this eloquence 
 forth, particularly as it seemed but the en- 
 tamure of a disquisition that might run to 
 length. 
 
 Lady Juliana had just arranged herself and 
 drapery in an attitude that twenty-five years 
 sooner would have displayed both to the 
 greatest advantage, when a small rose-coloured 
 note was brought her, and after looking at it 
 she said, " I must go for an hour to poor 
 Mrs. Harrington ; I really have not seen her 
 for five minutes to-day, and there is nothing 
 more painful to me than to seem for a moment 
 regardless of the call of friendship." 
 
 The rose-coloured call of friendship was re- 
 inforced by Mrs. Harrington's carriage, which 
 bore off Lady Juliana. As she passed Lady 
 Montarran, who seized her hand, and pressing 
 it said, " Don't forget to come and see me, 
 and remember to come up; I am always at 
 home for i/ou, and the people I love, though 
 I am so quiet of a morning, and keep out the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 27 
 
 crowd, but I shall be really angry if you do 
 not come." 
 
 Lady Juliana vowed she would come the 
 very next day, adding, " That her heart felt 
 always more light near Lady Montarran, whose 
 tenderness formed a sort of climate in which 
 she breathed more freely." 
 
 Lord Portbury and one of his friends de- 
 parted to Brookes'* s. 
 
 Lady Portbury having finished her whist, 
 sat down by Lady Montarran, saying, " With 
 what patience and good-humour you endure 
 Lady Juliana'*s boring ways ! really she is too 
 dreadful !" 
 
 " Quite horrid !" replied Lady Montarran, in 
 the same sweet quiet tone which had already 
 captivated Olinda's heart ; " she is much more 
 silly than she used to be, or it is more ap- 
 parent, from her having grown so much older; 
 and it is so melancholy to see her looking so 
 like the Witch of Endor in a wreath of roses." 
 " How I shall pity you to-morrow. Lady 
 c 2
 
 28 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Montarran; she will sit twenty ages, talking 
 of love and friendship to you : why will you 
 let her come ?" 
 
 " Oh, I could not avoid asking her as an old 
 friend, but I have long since desired that she 
 might never be admitted upon any occasion 
 whatever ; you know I can't be rude and ill- 
 natured, but she is such an infliction ! and she 
 looks so very ugly, perhaps from sitting by 
 
 " How good-natured you always are !" said 
 Lady Portbury. 
 
 " Not alioays^'' thought Olinda : after a 
 pause she said, " Since Lady Juliana avows 
 herself to be romantic, how fortunate she is in 
 having met with a person of the same way of 
 thinking !" 
 
 " Of whom are you speaking, Olinda ?"" 
 
 " Of Colonel Dixon. Lady Juliana says "" 
 
 *' Oh, my dear, that is one of her frenzies : 
 he is a bluff vulgar Irishman, looking like the 
 Great Mogul on a pack of cards, and whooping
 
 ALMS AND ENDS. 29 
 
 like a chorus of boatswains ; he throws down 
 all the china, and stumbles over every body 
 whenever he walks across the room ; but you 
 will see him, and then judge for yourself ; and 
 you will hear him, ce qui vaut mieux encore^ 
 perhaps long before you see him ; for, when 
 he talks in Cockspur-street, he 's quite audible 
 in Grosvenor-square ; and when he laughs ! — 
 oh ! — One day in the Regent's Park, I thought 
 it was some wild beast roaring from the Zoo- 
 logical Gardens, yet I believe he was not more 
 near than North Audley-street."" 
 
 The party soon broke up, and Olinda saw 
 Lady Montarran's graceful and kind adieu, 
 with something of diminished confidence.
 
 30 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 People are not always eating or flirting 
 even in London ; though the former is in many 
 respectable persons' opinion the great business, 
 and the latter the chief amusement of life. 
 Our late King William, whose "glorious me- 
 mory" begins to be forgotten, is said to have 
 observed, that " clergymen imagined a soldier's 
 sword always in his hand ;"" and that " young 
 ladies thought lovers were always making 
 love:" — with regard to young ladies of very 
 rural education, he might have added that they 
 consider London as a great magazine for lovers,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 31 
 
 where enough may be found for the whole 
 female world. 
 
 Olinda soon discovered the abundance was 
 not so striking as she had been disposed to 
 think ; on the other hand, the abundance of 
 pretty girls who sought them, (and with more 
 diligence than Astarte looked for basilisks,) 
 was remarkable. She began to think rather 
 more humbly of her attractions, and forgave 
 Mr. Fleetwood's insensibility, respecting his 
 opinion rather the more for his disregard. 
 Seeing him then as a man " out of the ques- 
 tion" and constantly near her, they soon grew 
 well acquainted. 
 
 Olinda perceived that almost all the rest of 
 the society in which she lived were of very 
 inferior understanding. During a short time, 
 her total ignorance of the world veiled this dis- 
 covery from her eyes, which naturally looked 
 with respect at those who she concluded knew 
 every thing she did not know. All the sub-
 
 32 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 jects they discussed being those of the passing 
 day, were entirely new to her, and consequently 
 she felt how much she was wanting in their 
 wisdom. 
 
 Of what use is it to be perfectly conversant 
 with past history, if all your acquaintance 
 remember nothing previous to the battle of 
 Waterloo ? You may have Moliere, Racine, 
 and Shakspeare by heart, but they only think 
 of the comedy that was performed for the first 
 time last night at Covent Garden. You re- 
 member reading the poetry of Dry den, Pope, 
 &c. " mais nous avons change tout celaT 
 Roses, nightingales, and moons, helped by-gone 
 poets to their similes ; but every lawyer's clerk 
 that addresses a sonnet to a lady's maid writes 
 Gul — Bul-bul — and Phingari. 
 
 So Olinda found that all she had been takinor 
 SO much pains to acquire, was entirely forgotten 
 and unknown in the world. The very music 
 she had hitherto played was* too antiquated 
 for the hand-organs in the street ; and her situ-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 33 
 
 ation seemed much akin to that of the cele- 
 brated sleeping beauty in the wood on rising 
 from her five hundred years of slumber. She 
 felt how provoking it was' to be old-fashioned at 
 eighteen years of age, and that it is easier to 
 new-model your sleeves than your mind. 
 
 Another embarrassment was the mysterious 
 cousinhood and propinquity that exist in the 
 best society ; everybody being related to every- 
 body, and branching off, and interweaving, like 
 a flourishing bed of camomile. This, with the 
 difficulties presented by the difference of names 
 and titles, formed a science of such recondite 
 profundity, that she was almost driven to the 
 desperate expedient of committing the whole of 
 Debrett's Peerage to memory. 
 
 It has been observed that she began to think 
 more humbly of herself: it is necessary to 
 remark, however, that she thought herself as 
 pretty as before; but other things, as rank, 
 riches, and fashion had risen so much in her 
 estimation, that beauty (unless when getting in 
 c 5
 
 ^4 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 a plentiful crop of flattery) seemed of less con- 
 sequence ; and the talents that she once had flat- 
 tered herself she possessed, seemed as little the 
 current coin of those around her, as a purse full 
 of cowries would be to the affable administra- 
 tors of the treasures displayed at James and 
 HowelPs." 
 
 To shallow observers she appeared a re- 
 markably gentle, modest girl, rather silent 
 and timid ; but Preston Fleetwood thought he 
 saw a mine of vanity and ambition, of which the 
 world would not fail to fire the train, and some 
 talent, which the possessor still occasionally sus- 
 pected to be of value. Still, he thought, " her 
 vanity is acute, not chronic ; of a sort that time, 
 reflection, and the influence of better feelings, 
 will hereafter repress, and but for evil example, 
 and her peculiar situation, might not have ever 
 been called forth." It seemed an act of charity 
 to counteract the operation of all the silly opi- 
 nions and false judgments she daily heard 
 from others ; and the exhibition of his good-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 35 
 
 nature was the more readily performed, as the 
 object was young, handsome, and listened as 
 young gentlemen like to be listened to. But 
 as Preston Fleetwood piqued himself on the 
 disinterested motives which induced him to 
 render this good office, and wished to make 
 them apparent, lest Olinda herself should mis- 
 construe them, he adopted a rough, epigram- 
 matic, and ironical style of advice and observa- 
 tion, by which she was sometimes provoked, 
 and often frightened. 
 
 Fleetwood was a young man of talents, and 
 possessed a clear independent income of three 
 hundred per annum. He was educated for the 
 profession of spending money : his father was a 
 banker, and failed, which obliged him to think 
 of earning it, which requires both resolution 
 and ability ; he exerted both, was called to the 
 Bar, studied with diligence and success, and 
 lived with strict economy, rarely went into 
 public, and resolved to grow rich. As lie was 
 very agreeable, and his acquaintance did their
 
 S6 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 best to make him idle, he had many tempta- 
 tions. 
 
 He had seen a good deal of the world, and 
 seen it, (as most indigent young men have an 
 opportunity of doing,) the seamy side without : 
 his heart was too large and generous to be 
 narrowed by the view ; he felt the most perfect 
 good-will to others, but he felt little confidence 
 in their disposition towards him, and was hasty 
 sometimes in forming unfavourable judgments 
 of the motives of their actions ; but he saw 
 misconduct in many ways, without expressing 
 irritation, and his friends respected and feared 
 his judgment, because he divined them; and 
 forgave his acuteness, because he rarely at- 
 tempted to mend them. People who see a great 
 deal, are very apt to think they see every 
 thing ; the conscious possessors of great pene- 
 tration sometimes find motives in others which 
 do not exist : on pent etre plus Jin quun autre, 
 mais non plus Jin que tous les autres, and Mr.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 37 
 
 Fleetwood did not keep this valuable truth al- 
 ways in mind. 
 
 " Lord Sedley dines here to-day, Olinda ; you 
 ought to make him fall in love with you some- 
 how. I assure you, his uncle is just dead, he 
 has forty thousand a-year, and looks as if he 
 would marry somebody, if they would just put 
 him in mind of it." 
 
 " Then I suppose," said Olinda, blushing 
 and laughing a little, " that I am required 
 to put him in mind of it." 
 
 *' No doubt, Miss Vavasour," said Fleet- 
 wood, " and you should lose no time in making 
 this important suggestion." 
 
 " Selina," said Lord Portbury, " his fortune 
 is 37,000/. and not 40,000/. a-year." 
 
 " Well, Lord Portbury, it 's almost the same 
 thing." 
 
 " Not at all ; one should always be correct 
 in statements; and I ""U tell you why I know 
 'tis 557,000/. a-year, and no more: — His tutor
 
 38 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 was half-brother to Mr. Sidney — You remember 
 Sidney, Fleetwood ? — By-the-by, did you ever 
 know a woman who squinted like his wife? 
 And yet her sister was a pretty girl, and 
 did not squint at all. I donH mean the sister 
 that married Ravenshaw ; for though she was 
 pretty enough, she did squint. Yet she was 
 twice married ; for Ravenshaw died of an ague. 
 Poor fellow ! not that he would have died 
 of the ague, I believe, if they had let him 
 alone ; but somebody persuaded him to take 
 ' Fowler"'s Arsenical Solution,' the most dan- 
 gerous medicine ! B ut, indeed, so are all 
 quack medicines: I cannot endure them. I 
 would not let my dog swallow a quack medi- 
 cine, except those pills, Juliana, that my grand- 
 mother, Lady Clandaffan, used to make a 
 fuss about. Don't you remember.? She even 
 persuaded old Sir Sallensby Jones to swallow 
 them ; and yet he was more willing to swal- 
 low claret than pills. Capital claret, too, he
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 99 
 
 had at Castle-Jones. I wonder who hunts 
 that country now. I had such a fall once 
 at Castle-Jones! — But what was I saying P 
 Oh ! Sedlcy's rent-roll is " 
 
 There is no knowing accurately how many 
 times Lord Portbury might have lost the 
 thread of his discourse, before he satisfac- 
 torily proved the amount of Lord Sedley's 
 income. But all the relief the company by 
 this time ardently desired, was obtained un- 
 expectedly. There arose a noise in the lower 
 part of the house, which gradually approached 
 the drawing-room : doors clapped — boots creak- 
 ed — voices hallooed — furniture fell — the lap- 
 dog barked — somebody stumbled — somebody 
 shrieked : — at last, the folding-doors opened, 
 as Lady Portbury exclaimed, 
 
 " If this is not an earthquake, or a band 
 of marrow-bones and cleavers, it must be ''' 
 
 " Well, here I am. Lady Portbury ; I hope 
 you 've been well since I had the pleasure
 
 40 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 of seeing you last ? I am glad to see you, 
 Portbury. Juliana, my old girl, how goes 
 it with you ?" 
 
 This joyous greeting was spoken by a large, 
 red-faced, but handsome-looking vulgar man, 
 six feet four inches in height, whose face was 
 fortified by bushy whiskers, as well as mous- 
 taches, and burnished by foreign sunbeams and 
 domestic drink. 
 
 The vulgarity of a military man, who has 
 really travelled and served, is seldom so op- 
 pressive as that which is home-brewed and 
 natural ; and the best thing that could be said 
 for Colonel Dixon's manners was, that they 
 might have been worse, had he flourished a 
 '* home-keeping" squire in his native county 
 of Carlo w. But he was a younger brother, 
 and, from his sixteenth year, had not seen 
 home for more than three weeks at a time, 
 during the course of thirty 3'ears. Nay, he 
 had seen less of Ireland than of almost any 
 other part of the world; yet the tone, and
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 41 
 
 even the phrases, of that highly-favoured 
 island, clung to his conversation as if he had 
 but just left it. 
 
 Lady Portbury received him with languid 
 civility and secret horror, her Lord with so- 
 lemn courtesy, and Lady Juliana with de- 
 monstrations of surprise and expressions of 
 joy, which seemed to Olinda less ardent than 
 she expected, after all Lady Juliana had 
 said on the subject of their mutual attach- 
 ment and conjugal felicity. 
 
 The remainder of the morning passed quietly 
 off. Colonel Dixon did not throw down above 
 three of those '^fragiles merveilles" which deco- 
 rated Lady Portbury 's drawing-room : it is 
 true, his spur caught in her trimming, and 
 divorced it from the gown rather roughly ; 
 and afterwards he attempted to sit on the 
 arm of a chair, which broke off, of course. 
 But the spectators most accustomed to his 
 society seemed to think, that, upon the wiiole, 
 his ])r()ceedings were unusually innocuous.
 
 if2 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Nevertheless Olinda derived little satisfaction 
 from finding herself seated next him at 
 dinner. Lord Sedley was on the other side ; 
 and far from the coy pride of some of the beaux 
 by whom she had been taken to dinner, and 
 who afterwards seemed to regard her as if she 
 had just rushed out of a lazaretto, he seemed 
 much disposed to converse. He first confided to 
 her his having purchased a turning-lathe, and 
 dwelt on its price and praise. Then similar 
 circumstances respecting an invaluable violin ; 
 nor did he forget to mention what were the 
 tunes he could execute with the greatest pro- 
 spect of success ; for his science did not seem 
 equal to his zeal in that delightful art : even in 
 his most sanguine statement, it was plain that 
 with him 
 
 " Music, heavenly maid, was young." 
 
 " But there is one air, Miss Vavasour, I delight in 
 — ' In a Cottage near a Wood ;' it is so easy : now 
 I am very fond of * Ally Croker,' but there are
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 4S 
 
 two or three bars I cannot manage : then I was 
 very anxious to play ' All the Blue Bonnets 
 are over the Border,' but really it is so hard ; 
 every day, for the last six weeks, have I played 
 and practised three hours a day, and I have not 
 mastered the first part,— think I not even the 
 first part. Yet my music-master says he never 
 saw a fellow with half my application, and that 
 if I will but persevere two or three years, I 
 shall completely beat Sir Frederick Pipewell. 
 He is a great friend of mine, but he has no 
 talent for music; he has been nine months learn- 
 ing ' See the Conquering hero comes !' — now I 
 can play that without looking at the notes, and 
 one can do no more than practise half the day, 
 and take lessons from the best masters in town. 
 Monti gets three guineas a lesson ; he says I 
 have more taste than ear, which is nothing, for 
 one's car improves gradually by constant prac- 
 tice." 
 
 Olinda civilly observed that Sir Frederick 
 must be rather slow, and asked if Lord Sedlcv
 
 44 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 had ever tried " Away with Melancholy ?" add- 
 ing the names of some other tunes which had 
 been the first exercises of her musical educa- 
 tion, — of which he earnestly besought her to 
 write down the names, and soon grew so in- 
 terested and amused by her conversation, that 
 he could neither hear nor see any thing else. 
 
 His demand upon her as a listener was so 
 unremitting, that Lady Portbury*s signal for 
 rising would have been unnoticed but for every 
 body's simultaneous move. At that moment 
 her eyes met those of Mr. Fleetwood, which 
 were fixed on her with an expression of scorn - 
 ful irony : they seemed to say — " So, Lady 
 Portbury**s prudent counsel is not lost on you."" 
 
 Olinda blushed deeply, yet felt that Fleet- 
 wood's eyes treated her unjustly. She had not 
 thought of attracting Lord Sedley's notice, but 
 happening to sit by him, she had endeavoured, 
 from civility, to talk of those things that might 
 interest him. 'Tis true, finding that she had 
 made herself agreeable, she wished to know
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 45 
 
 how much more so she could be in the estima- 
 tion of this musical Cymon — a very usual curi- 
 osity in female minds. " How disagreeable/"* 
 said she internally, '' to have so censorious a 
 person as Mr. Fleetwood always at one's elbow! 
 I am glad he is not my brother, or '^ 
 
 She slowly followed the matrons into the 
 drawing-room. When the gentlemen came 
 up-stairs, Lord Sedley came^ straight to Olinda, 
 to consult her farther on his musical studies. 
 He had hardly time to utter a sentence, when 
 the uproarious approach of Colonel Dixon on 
 the other side attracted the attention of the 
 whole party : he, in a hoarse titter, exclaimed, 
 " Well, Miss Vavasour, by Jove ! 1 think 
 you 've done for my Lord Sedley, however ! 
 Well done, by Jove ! " 
 
 Colonel Dixon's whisper would have been 
 audible over a much larger apartment than that 
 which contained the party, who had the advan- 
 tage of hearing it distinctly, except Lord Sed- 
 ley, who was so intent to obtain Olinda's coun-
 
 46 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 sel, and examine her features, that the whole 
 observation passed unheeded by him. 
 
 Olinda was very weary of her beau, and 
 though Fleetwood never talked to her in a large 
 party, or if other young men were present, yet 
 this evening he stood with his back to her, talk- 
 ing of politics with some elderly man so earnest- 
 ly, that nothing reached her ear but the word 
 "government," and that so often that she 
 wished for universal anarchy, that the subject 
 might not be again discussed. 
 
 Before it concluded for the evening. Lady 
 Portbury carried Olinda off to three assemblies, 
 from whence she returned with her hair out of 
 curl (for the night was wet), feeling cross, and 
 looking sleepy, as well she might ; for at each 
 of the parties Lord Sedley had mounted guard, 
 as it were, over her conversation, and did not 
 give room for more than a bow from any other 
 person whatsoever. 
 
 "Well, Olinda,'' said Lady Portbury, the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 47 
 
 fifth evening of Lord Sedley's attendance, " I 
 must say you are a luck}'^ girl ; Lord Sedley is 
 quite attentive to you/' 
 
 " It is because I talk to him of music," said 
 OHnda sadly, "and he is music-mad." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, he seems quite fixed to 
 your chair, even when Clara Barnby is by, and 
 she is a beauty and an heiress, and I am sure 
 would talk of a whale fishery if that amused 
 him; and Lady Maria Winterton was quite out 
 of humour last night, because he would not 
 leave you : she said to me, ' Bless me, Lady 
 Portbury, what can Lord Sedley find to say 
 always to Miss Vavasour ! I don''t think her the 
 least pretty, and after all, she is nothing to 
 make a fuss about." 
 
 OHnda had heard the first part of her friend's 
 speech with indifterence, but when her foe was 
 spoken of, (for such she reckoned Lady Maria,) 
 her eyes lighted, and her attention was fixed. 
 Lady Maria was absolutely such to Olinda on
 
 48 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 all occasions, and she looked, whenever they 
 met, as a sportsman looks at a poacher he 
 finds in his preserve. 
 
 Lady Maria was envious and proud ; Olinda 
 was vain, capable of jealousy, but not of envy ; 
 and Lady Maria's disdainful glances and con- 
 temptuous manner gave her less displeasure, 
 than a habit of conversing with Mr. Fleetwood, 
 in which that young lady indulged, and would 
 probably have made it a constant practice, 
 dould she have guessed that it annoyed Ohnda, 
 but of that valuable secret she was not pos- 
 sessed, and therefore only talked to Fleetwood 
 because he was agreeable. She could not enter- 
 tain any design on a man who was not a grand 
 parti, but flirted, as a relaxation from the seri- 
 ous pursuit of Lord Sedley. She was hand- 
 some, at all times merry, and flattering when 
 in a good humour ; and Fleetwood cheerfully 
 accepted her notice without expecting or wish- 
 ing for any thing farther. 
 
 Lady Juliana, the last day but one of her
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 4-9 
 
 visit to her brother, had insisted upon going to 
 see the tombs in Westminster Abbey ; Olinda 
 had accompanied her ; but Lady Portbury had 
 been shopping, as she made it a rule, she said, 
 not to go to sights. At dinner she enquired if 
 they had seen any thing to recompense them for 
 spending two hours in a damp cold church. 
 
 " Oh,"" replied Lady Juliana, " I went as a 
 sort of correction for the thoughtless dissipation 
 into which London always seduces one, to call 
 my mind home; I always go there just before 
 I leave town."" 
 
 " By Jove ! I wish you would go there when 
 you first come to town, Juliana," said Colonel 
 Dixon, "and then, perhaps, you would spend 
 less money in it, after your correction, as you 
 call it. I 'd like ' to call your mind home' 
 before you have secured me a bill as long as 
 my leg, from those fellows in Regent-street : 
 but it is when the * steed's stolen shut the sta- 
 ble-door," if you go poking among tombs when 
 you have spent all your money." 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Nobody thought fit to notice this conjugal 
 tirade. " A visit to the Cimeti^re of Pere la 
 Chaise," said Fleetwood, " would not produce 
 such a sober effect. The tombs are so gay, 
 worldly, and dressed in that ' city of the silent,' 
 that the dead seemed only to have hid them- 
 selves in a frohc.*" 
 
 *' Yes," said Lady Portbury, " and the stiff 
 garlands of everlastings they sell at the gate, 
 only remind me how much better the artificial 
 flowers are in the Rue St. Denis." 
 
 " Oh, Lady Portbury," exclaimed Lady 
 Juliana, '* must I always complain of your 
 want of sensibility ? But I am sure, Mr. Fleet- 
 wood, you will allow that some of the tombs 
 suggest the most affecting associations ?" 
 
 " Yes, some undoubtedly. For instance, I 
 observed two enclosed burying-places adjoining 
 each other. One of them was covered with 
 garlands, urns full of flowers, and every variety 
 of funereal decoration in use, but these had 
 ceased to be ornamental ; faded by the weather, 
 it was evident that the hand which had placed
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 51 
 
 the wreaths long since had abandoned its 
 cares. The adjacent grave was then, and seem- 
 ed always to have been entirely neglected ; no 
 visible mark of attention seemed ever to have 
 been given to the withered grass that covered 
 it. I asked the concierge the history of these 
 tombs: he told me the decorated grave was 
 that of an only child ; for eight months after its 
 death the mother, in her " long despair, '^ came 
 every day to deck its tomb — she was then 
 placed beside it ! That child and she had pro- 
 bably been all to each other, and both graves 
 had ever since remained uncared for.""* 
 
 " Ah !" replied Lady Juliana, ^' the next 
 time I am at Paris, I will visit those tombs. 
 How sad ! — But, Mr. Fleetwood, tell me what 
 other tomb made most impression on your 
 mind. 1 was less attendrie than I expected, 
 and had not time to observe everything, be- 
 cause 1 was obliged to hurry off' to Madame 
 Herbault's about a bonnet." 
 
 • i-act. 
 D 2
 
 52 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " I think the next monument that struck me 
 was one to the memory of the most gay and 
 graceful profligate, C. Stanislaus de BoufBers, 
 of whom one cannot say, ' La natura sifece et 
 poi riippa la stampa,' because he was a repeti- 
 tion of Count Anthony Hamilton, perhaps the 
 only writer who ever will resemble him. His 
 tomb is not in itself remarkable : there is an air 
 of gloom about it — a half-withered willow and 
 some other tree kept the sun from shining on 
 it, and his very name brings roses, gaiety, and 
 sunbeams to one's mind. I should never have 
 looked for him in that grave." 
 
 " I have never seen his works," said Olinda. 
 
 '* Most probably not : I should not recom- 
 mend them to the instructors of youth : he is 
 as immoral as witty."" 
 
 '• Faith, then, we have no loss of the fellow," 
 said Colonel Dixon. 
 
 Lord Portbury'^s famil}^, soon after Lady 
 Juliana's visit concluded, prepared for that 
 annual migration from London, to which so
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 53 
 
 many heavy hearts and empty purses are con- 
 demned about the middle of July. As to Lord 
 Portbury, whose existence was everywhere me- 
 chanical, if he went out of town at the usual 
 time and in the usual way, he was contented ; 
 but his wife was a good deal discomposed by a 
 change which could not afford her any plea- 
 sure. In the country she could see but a few 
 of those who composed her London society. 
 Fanover Castle was a journey of two hundred 
 miles, and a serious business to those whose 
 interests and engagements kept them habitually 
 near town. 
 
 Besides not seeing those whom she did like, 
 she had the mortification of seeing a great 
 many whom she positively dishked, but to 
 whom she was obliged to be civil. Neighbours, 
 relations, the host of anomalies that improve- 
 ment drew about a great house, and the still 
 greater host to whom the proprietor of a large 
 estate is spell-bound by electioneering interests 
 — all these were abhorred by Lady Portbury.
 
 54 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 but at Fanover she could not escape them. 
 Riding in the sun tans a fair complexion, so 
 does walking ; besides, it is fatiguing ; so exer- 
 cise is cut off, except an airing in an open 
 barouche, or a little drive in a pony-chaise to 
 the flower-garden. 
 
 She never quitted the house, but foreseeing 
 this sedentary prospect. Lady Portbury brought 
 with her a waggon load of every sort of material 
 for ornamental work, silk, cotton, thread, purse- 
 twist, foil, spangles, chenille, not forgetting 
 canvas enough for the rigging of a three-decker, 
 and a barrel of small beads, every sort of 
 pattern for every sort of work, and every sort 
 of instrument used in work. Her musical 
 preparations were on the same extensive scale, 
 and comprehended every song, quadrille, and 
 sonata that had appeared that season, a new 
 guitar, and a sack-full of harp-strings, and 
 several musical boxes. Nor had she neglected 
 to provide literary resources for her dreaded 
 retirement, and had left the choice to an emi-
 
 ALMS AND ENDS. 55 
 
 nent bookseller, who had furnished her with a 
 quantity of novels, with such titles as the fol- 
 lowing : — " A Glance at the Season ;" " Dukes 
 and Duchesses ;*" " Last Opera Night ;" " Tomp- 
 kins Horner, by a Dustman ;" and " Jubbins, 
 or a Month at the Tread-mill :" there were some 
 volumes of poetry prettily bound, particularly 
 one in rose-coloured kid, entitled " Sprigs of 
 Lemon Thyme :" then there was " The Lute of 
 a Mourner,"" in yellow and gold, — all destmed 
 to dwell in the gay bookcases of the breakfast 
 room at Fanover Castle, and very worthy of the 
 undisturbed repose they would there enjoy. 
 
 The family arrived, and Olinda, as she be- 
 held the splendid comfort of all the arrange- 
 ments, wondered at Lady Portbury's listless 
 indifference and frequent yawns. When she saw 
 a profusion of interesting and valuable books, 
 the most beautiful green-house plants, the com- 
 fortable and luxurious furniture, a fine collec- 
 tion of pictures, every table in the library 
 covered with fuHos of valuable prints, tlie
 
 56 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 beautiful grounds intersected with delightful 
 walks, through woods of oak, beech, and lime 
 trees, now in rich summer foliage, she was 
 tempted to make the same exclamation (but in 
 terms more pohte) that the King of Scotland 
 applies to Johnnie Armstrong and his train in 
 the old Scotish ballad : 
 
 " What wants this knave 
 That a king should have, 
 But the sword of honour and the crown 1" 
 
 " I wonder you don't like this room. Lady 
 Portbury," said Olinda, as they passed the open 
 door of the library. 
 
 " Oh no, my dear ! it smells so of Russia 
 leather, and carved oak looks so melancholy, 
 and I never read the sort of books one finds 
 there. When the house is full it is bearable, but 
 not now. Just after I was married, I was sitting 
 there one evening, Lord Portbury was absent, 
 and I was reading ' The Bandit of Catalonia,"* 
 I happened to look up at that horrid bronze 
 gladiator, and it frightened me so, I was forced
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 57 
 
 to make my maid sit in the room all the 
 evening, and to have two footmen stand out- 
 side the door. The pink-tent-room, next my 
 dressing-room, is the only spot I like when 
 we have not a party, for there I don't see 
 the trees and the river, and I fancy myself 
 in town.""* 
 
 Though few of Lady Portbury's advantages 
 gave her much pleasure separately, she always 
 spoke with pity and wonder, bordering on con- 
 tempt, of those unlucky beings whose income 
 did not at least reach 10,000/. a-year: to 
 travel without four horses and outriders, not 
 to eat off silver plate, appeared, in her eyes, 
 both folly and vice ; and so eloquent was 
 she on this subject, that at times Olinda was 
 tempted to think poverty sinful, and a vo- 
 luntary offence against society. 
 
 Riches, however, have their drawbacks : in 
 
 a few days commenced the predatory incursion 
 
 of tJie neighbours, th:it dreaded liorde of \'an- 
 
 dals. Of course, they were kindly reeeivetl, 
 
 D 5
 
 58 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and magnificently entertained. Among them 
 were a chosen few who assisted Lady Portbury 
 to laugh at the rest. An arduous task it 
 proved ; for, to the favoured minority, the 
 erring majority seemed clothed in defects from 
 head to foot. To the female critics, the cos- 
 tume of these unfortunates presented a wide 
 field for abuse ; but their manners and per- 
 sons were not forgotten. 
 
 Lord Portbury talked pompously of turnips 
 and ploughs to the elderly men, with many 
 reflections on turnpike-roads, and some loose 
 thoughts on bridges. To the young men he 
 addressed observations on partridges, pheasants, 
 and the locks of fowling-pieces : at least, these 
 were the texts to which he had pre-engaged 
 his oratory ; but, as we have already seen, 
 he was addicted to digressions : it must be 
 owned, that there were few objects in art or 
 nature of which he did not treat in each 
 harangue. 
 
 He asked each young lady three times if
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 59 
 
 she had danced at the last county ball, and 
 told each matron three long stories. 
 
 The rites of hospitality thus duly per- 
 formed, had their effect on the minds of the 
 obliged. The guests departed, agreeing that 
 Lord Portbury was a very good sort of man, 
 and " seemed to have a great deal to say.'' 
 The males loaded his cook with affectionate 
 eulogy. All praised Lady Portbury's beauty, 
 grace, and clothing; and most of the young 
 ladies boasted, that they carried off in their 
 eye the exact shape and structure of her bon- 
 net, tippet, kc. which was forthwith to be 
 copied at home. 
 
 These scenes were enacted with several dif- 
 ferent parties, and then affairs mended. Some 
 London friends were expected, which cheered 
 Lady Portbury's spirits exceedingly. Some 
 few of the country acquaintance remained : 
 among them, a distant relation of Lord Port- 
 bury 's, named Miss Boyd, and a yonng man 
 of the name of Thoresby, tlie son of his tutor:
 
 60 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 these persons were expected to pass some months 
 at Fanover. 
 
 If Mr. Thoresby senior is to be judged 
 by the benefit his pupil obtained by his tuition, 
 perhaps a very high idea of his understanding 
 and acquirements cannot be formed. But this 
 is an unfair criterion. Those in the family 
 who recollect, report him as fond of venison, 
 greatly addicted to fishing, and very good- 
 humoured. In consequence of a very good 
 living his pupil obtained for him, he became 
 an object of great attention to a number of 
 middle-aged unmarried women in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; and one who was the most notable, 
 effective, and literary of the set, became Mrs. 
 Thoresby, and the next year a mother and 
 a widow ! Luckily, she was shortly after to 
 obtain a comfortable independence by the death 
 of a relation. She educated her only son her- 
 self, and, as she boasted, with extraordinary 
 success. He was in joining-hand at three years 
 old, had all Gay's fables by heart at four ;
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 61 
 
 and all the neighbourhood said, " Little Tho- 
 resby was a prodigy, and a very pretty boy."" 
 
 Time tries all things: the flaxen, curling 
 hair, white skin, and red cheeks, that made 
 him so pretty at five, were less becoming at 
 twenty-five. In fact, he looked effeminate as 
 a man, and his accomplishments were not ex- 
 actly those usually displayed by the " browner" 
 sex. He played on the piano-forte and the 
 guitar, and accompanied them with his voice, 
 which, though weak, was agreeable. He 
 painted feathers, shells, and flowers, for all 
 the albums whose proprietors declared " They 
 must have some pretty thing by Mr. Tho- 
 resby." He wrote monodies on all the parrots 
 and canary-birds that died ; and odes, sonnets, 
 and Anacreontics to all tlie young ladies he 
 was introduced to. As he was in easy cir- 
 cumstances and delicate health, he was so long 
 in choosing a profession, that, at last, he found 
 out he was not equal to the fatigue of active 
 life : so he spent his life most inoffensively
 
 62 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 in rhyming, singing, botanizing, and screen- 
 v/7 making ; also a sort of small, subdued atten- 
 tion to the young ladies, that did not amount to 
 love, but might be called sentiment-making. 
 
 It will be plain, from this description, that 
 Mr. Thoresby was a very nice young man, and 
 " very pleasant in a country house ;" Lady 
 Portbury found him so useful in entertaining 
 her female guests, and doing the honours to 
 them ; Lord Portbury had been used to him, 
 and liked him for his old tutor''s sake ; and 
 all these causes combined to make him a fix- 
 ture during the summer season at Fanover 
 Castle, and to give old Mrs. Thoresby the 
 triumph of saying to the awe-struck members 
 of her whist-table, " Lord and Lady Portbury 
 can't live without my Sam. I assure you he "s 
 the life of Fanover Castle." 
 
 When Ohnda first saw Lucy Boyd, she only 
 beheld in her a neat, plain girl, who would 
 have had a pretty figure, had not short legs 
 and a large head produced that peculiar vul-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 63 
 
 garizing effect that these faults always ope- 
 rate on the human form. Her features were 
 common, her complexion muddy ; but she had 
 fine dark eyes, full of intelligence ; a pleasant 
 expression of countenance, and brilliant teeth. 
 Those who looked at her often soon grew to 
 think her handsome, or (if that is too strong a 
 word) very pleasing. 
 
 Her mother having made a mesalliance, died 
 in poverty ; and Lord Portbury allowed the 
 daughter a small annuity, and proposed to 
 Lady Portbury to take her with them to 
 London ; as, however, next to poverty, there 
 was no greater defect in that lady''s estimation 
 than absence of beauty and fashion in the 
 exterior, she decided that Lucy was too ugly 
 and vulgar-looking to go about with her in 
 town, but she had no objection to her being 
 with them in the country ; so Lucy spent her 
 summers at Fanover Castle, and in the winter 
 (or rather that part of the year which, by 
 the courtesy of the London public, is called
 
 64 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 so) she lived with the vicar and his wife, to 
 whom Lord Portbury paid a yearly stipend for 
 this accommodation. 
 
 Young ladies soon grow intimate ; and Lucy 
 was so sensible, good-humoured, and quiet, 
 that Olinda grew to make a friend of her. 
 One day, when Olinda was expressing pleasure 
 at the expected arrival of some of the society 
 that in London she had found most agree- 
 able, she described some of those guests to 
 Lucy, who seemed amused and interested by 
 her account of them. 
 
 " By the by, Lucy, do not you find your 
 winter society at the vicarage very dull ?^' 
 
 " Why no ; but it can hardly be called a 
 society, you know, we live so retired ; yet it is 
 very comfortable. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are 
 very fond of and kind to me, and I am always 
 busy." 
 
 " But being occupied is not always being 
 amused ; do tell me how you pass your time." 
 
 " Well, we breakfast at nine ; afterwards, I
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 65 
 
 spend three hours in my own room, working 
 and reading grave books; then I take a very 
 long walk, sometimes with, sometimes for, 
 Mrs. Johnson. She sends me with physic, 
 or clothes, or advice, to the poor parishioners. 
 Sometimes we visit our very few neighbours, 
 or I walk for mere pleasure, or work in the 
 garden. Then we work for a charitable ba- 
 zaar, till we dine at five ; or, three times a 
 week, I have two poor children to teach, whom 
 I educate." 
 
 " You educate!" 
 
 "Oh, only in reading, writing, and needle- 
 work. Then, on Sundays, between the ser- 
 vices, I teach the Sunday-school; then we 
 drink tea at seven, and some persons come now 
 and then to drink tea with us and spend the 
 evening, which concludes at half-past ten."* 
 
 '^ And are any of the visitors tolerable .^" 
 
 " Oh dear, yes ! three arc pleasant ; I cannot 
 say so much for the rest." 
 
 " And who are the pleasant three .^"'''
 
 66 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 '* Captain Clithero and his wife. He has 
 travelled a great deal, and is an agreeable old 
 man : his wife is much younger, and a nice 
 creature : he plays backgammon with Mr. 
 Johnson, and she and I work and talk with 
 Mrs. Johnson, or one of us sometimes reads 
 an amusing book aloud. And — and — there is 
 a man — a young man — who is pleasant." 
 
 " A young man ! upon my word, I am glad 
 to hear it, for your sake, Lucy. I was afraid 
 Captain Clithero was pour tout potage in the 
 society. Who is your young man ?'''' 
 
 " Why, Lady Portbury or you would 
 hardly count him as one; for I have observed 
 that you both reckon only fine people : now 
 Mr. Watson is only a curate." 
 
 " Take care, Lucy, however, that you do 
 not fall in love with this pleasant curate, for 
 he would not be a fit match for you." 
 
 " Ohnda, may I say what I please .^" 
 
 " Yes, surely." 
 
 " The reason I ask is, that though you are
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 67 
 
 a beauty, and I an ugly girl, there is a 
 great deal in common to both our situations : 
 yet as young minds are often formed by cir- 
 cumstances, and our destinies 
 
 " Shape our ends, rough-hew them how we will," 
 
 it may not be useless for you to hear what 
 I have felt and think ; because my experience 
 is quite different from yours ; and from some 
 observations I have made, I think the opinions 
 of those you live with seem to influence you 
 too much ; your heart and mind are difflerently 
 constructed from theirs, and the same fate 
 would not satisfy you. 
 
 " When I came here six years since, I was 
 of your age, and my feelings and expectations 
 perhaps much the same, when I discovered 
 that my want of grace and beauty condemned 
 me to the vicarage, instead of being a smart 
 Miss in London. I was excessively vexed 
 and humbled. I had spent the summer at 
 Fanover, and had seen just enough of society 
 to give me a wish to see more : the thought
 
 68 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 of living among inferior people ; the discredit- 
 able prospect of being an old maid, grieved me 
 deeply. My first two months at the vicarage 
 were spent in reading novels, doing a little 
 satin-stitch, with intervals of yawning and re- 
 gret, and I am now ashamed to say, de terns 
 en terns — a few tears. 
 
 " Mrs. Johnson, who observed my unsatis- 
 factory mode of passing the time, at last said, 
 ' My dear, this place, I know, must be very 
 dull for you after Fanover Castle, and the 
 time passes heavily ; but this disagreeable con- 
 sequence of retirement after dissipation is in- 
 creased by the want of employment. Will 
 you adopt a plan of my proposing? if you 
 do not find that it renders your solitude less 
 irksome, give it up at the end of three months, 
 and pass your time in any way that appears 
 more likely to produce the same end."* 
 
 " This request appeared so moderate, I was 
 ashamed not to comply with it. Mr. John- 
 son gave a list of historical and religious works
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 63 
 
 and books of amusement which he thought 
 would conduce to my improvement. I did a 
 great deal of needlework for myself and for 
 the poor; and 1 had the pleasure of learning 
 that much good may be done to the lower 
 classes without money ; that she who has little 
 Qf that to bestow, 
 
 * May with her counsel and her hands relieve.' 
 I assisted Mrs. Johnson to look after the house; 
 I worked in the garden ; I never was idle. 
 
 " At first all this did not amuse me ; on the 
 contrary I was what Lady Portbury calls bored 
 with the whole thing, but I was too busy to 
 mourn and fret over it. At the end of three 
 months, I was contented ; and though my mind 
 had a little relapse the second autumn that I 
 spent at Funover, at tlie end of three years I 
 was happy, and convinced I was never intended 
 for the beaii-mo)ide. 
 
 " Six years have now parsed, and though I 
 am often anuised here, I go back to the vicarage 
 with more j)leasurc than I leave it. I am
 
 70 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 suffered here, there I am loved,'' — here Lucy 
 blushed and hesitated, — " yes, I will not deny 
 it, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson love me as their own 
 child, and I am beloved by a sensible and good 
 man ; I hope to spend my life with Mr. Watson 
 when he has enough to begin housekeeping, 
 which he will have when he gets a small living 
 he has been promised. 
 
 " You have now, Olinda, a ' full account of 
 my life and conversation;' perhaps a little too 
 much of the last. But now to the view of your 
 affairs and the application of my history. 
 
 " Here you are, a beautiful girl, in the first 
 society ; admired in your presence ; when you 
 quit the room, somebody says, ' That Miss Va- 
 vasour is so lovely ! she is sure to make some 
 great match !' How often does Lady Portbury 
 herself begin a speech with ' Olinda, when you 
 are married to Lord Somebody, you must do so 
 and so.' 
 
 " It is not improbable these auguries may be 
 fulfilled, but if they are, it is ten chances to
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 71 
 
 one that the Lord who (according to the esti- 
 mation of this world) does a foolish thing, is 
 a man with whom you will like to spend your 
 life ; and a great choice of great matches it is 
 highly improbable you will have. I know you 
 enough to see, that you would not be happy 
 with a disagreeable oaf; but what are the al- 
 ternatives ? To remain single, with the habits 
 and tastes you must acquire in your present 
 circle, on a pittance too small to procure more 
 than the necessaries of life. Now when you are 
 young, new, and admired, this presents nothing 
 very disagreeable ; but when you are no longer 
 so situated, can you not foresee that this would 
 prove a most comfortless fate ? 
 
 " Do not then, my dear Olinda, think it ne- 
 cessary to be great, if among the many who 
 will love you, you should find one likely to 
 make you happy ; do not be afraid of narrow 
 fortune and retired life ; I am sure you would 
 be happier so circumstanced than witii the 
 richest fool you ever saw.''
 
 72 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " My dear Lucy, I do entirely agree with 
 you," said Olinda, laughing, " but I am amused 
 with your thinking that it is Hkely to be in my 
 choice to be a great lady. I have already seen 
 enough of the world to know that men dance 
 with girls because they are pretty, but they do 
 not marry them for that reason. I would not 
 marry a foolish man upon any account. I have 
 not seen anybody, rich or poor, I should like to 
 marry, and am rather touched by your picture 
 of my state of old-maid-ism hereafter, which, of 
 the three lots, I fear, is that which I am most 
 likely to draw.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 73 
 
 y CHAPTER III. 
 
 Fanover Castle was now completely full, 
 with a party exactly suited to the taste of its 
 mistress. The company consisted of those 
 whom Olinda had been in the habit of seeing 
 most frequently in Grosvenor Square. 
 
 Among these were three or four young men 
 of fashion, whose admiration was considered the 
 property of married ladies only, but infinitely 
 valuable, as conferring a sort of distinction on 
 the reputed possessors thereof. A portion of 
 these much-prized notices had been given to 
 Lady Portbury, who, though she would not 
 accept or hear a declaration of love, was rigid 
 in demanding admiration from them all. As 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 much attention as they could spare from pur- 
 suits more fully rewarded, Lady Portbury 
 obtained, and had no mind to part with. 
 
 When these gentlemen were assembled at 
 Fanover, some of them were rather in want of 
 occupation, as being removed from shrines where 
 their vows were habitually paid, and from clubs 
 where their leisure was principally spent. 
 
 What was to be done ? they could not all 
 talk all day to Lady Portbury and Lady Mont- 
 arran ; nobody wanted to talk to Lady Grim- 
 thorpe ; most of the other ladies were patient 
 hearers to some of their friends. In short, the 
 supply of beaux was greater than the demand : 
 a very unusual and critical circumstance. 
 
 In this disette of belles, Lord Frederic Danes- 
 ford and Sir George Hanbury discovered that 
 Olinda was remarkably handsome, and each 
 took an early opportunity of hinting the dis- 
 covery to its object ; further than this cautious 
 intimation, they did not mean to go, each purpos- 
 ing that his admiration should evaporate in the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 75 
 
 last hour he spent at Fanover. Meanwhile to 
 reimburse themselves for such flattering conde- 
 scension to a Miss, they endeavoured to derive 
 as much amusement from her company and 
 conversation as might be found in them. 
 
 Olinda knew enough of these gentlemen by 
 reputation, to be aware that their gallantry 
 meant nothing, but that their notice was very 
 flattering, as they never talked to girls ; she 
 was well pleased at being so much admired, and 
 listened very graciously. Both the gentlemen 
 were very agreeable, and spared no pains to 
 make her think so. 
 
 The first interruption of the general felicity 
 proceeded from the coldness and displeasure 
 which Lady Portbury showed towards Olinda ; 
 she frequently found fault with her, and not 
 unfrequently talked at her, — a process which 
 never fails to try the patience of its victim to 
 the quick. After vainly trying to appease Lady 
 Portbury by attending to all tlie reprehensions 
 she received, Olinda at length hit upon the 
 e2
 
 76 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 discovery that the "real cause of anger was not 
 the ostensible one ; and a little reflection and 
 observation enabled her to see what was the 
 real cause. 
 
 Nothing could exceed her anxiety to get rid 
 of the attention which had co§t her the good- 
 will of her friend. In London this could easily 
 have been accomplished ; but in a country- 
 house, where parties fall into little knots, they 
 are apt so to continue till new arrivals break 
 the spell. 
 
 All the party by this time seemed to consider 
 the place on each side of Olinda at dinner as 
 sacred to Lord Frederick and Sir George ; and 
 if any tardy and shy squire arrived too late to 
 take up a position considered as common to all 
 at the dinner-table, and by accident shuffled 
 towards either of these chairs, a significant look 
 from a friend, recalled him to a fresh struggle 
 through the footmen, rather than separate those 
 whom '* love had knit, and sympathy made 
 one," apparently. Olinda could not seize the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 77 
 
 retreating intruder. — If she sat down to the 
 piano, in a moment she was between these assi- 
 duous supporters, and all the men stood aloof. 
 Olinda could not say come and listen to me. 
 
 Among the latest aids London had afforded 
 the party, was Mr. Fleetwood. He arrived 
 late, and coming after the dinner party were 
 seated (for Lord Portbury never waited for 
 any one), on entering he perceived Olinda 
 with a vacancy on each side. She looked up 
 with a smile of earnest welcome, and he acknow- 
 ledged the force of the invitation by coming 
 round, and preparing to seat himself at her 
 side. An almost imperceptible look from a man 
 on the opposite side of the table rebuked him, 
 and after a momentary greeting he sat down at 
 some distance. 
 
 Another of the guests entered, and just as he 
 was taking possession of the long- vacant chair, 
 he saw it was next Olinda, and took another. 
 
 A minute afterwards arrived Lord Frederick, 
 who took it with an air of proprietorship, which
 
 78 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 was not lost upon Fleetwood, and which was 
 repeated by Sir George Hanbury. 
 
 Olinda, who, for some weeks previous to her 
 quitting London had involuntarily devoted a 
 part of her time to deciphering the expression of 
 Fleetwood's face, read there " strange matters,"" 
 which did not, however, by any means help " to 
 beguile the time,"" but rather to make her un- 
 easy situation become still more uneasy. 
 
 In the evening when the whole company 
 were assembled, she saw Fleetwood advance to 
 pay his compliments to Lady Portbury, and as 
 they were conversing, she saw Lady Portbury 
 spoke of her, and disapprovingly. She was not 
 near enough to discover what was said. Fleet- 
 wood came not near the whole evening. 
 
 " Yes,'" said Olinda, when she pulled the 
 rose out of her hair at night, '' Lucy Boyd is 
 right — fine society is odious. I wish / lived 
 at the vicarage among the Clitheros and John- 
 sons, where anybody may sit by anybody. I
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 79 
 
 wish / loved a curate.'' In this state of humble 
 discontent she retired to rest. 
 
 It may appear surprising that Lady Port- 
 bury, who had seen with much pleasure the 
 attentions Lord Sedley had paid to Olinda in 
 town, should have taken those of Lord Frede- 
 rick and Sir George so much to heart in the 
 country, particularly as she piqued herself upon 
 the correctness of her own conduct, and did not 
 care for either of these men. The fact is, she 
 was willing that Olinda should marry well, on 
 condition that she was not raised above herself. 
 To a viscount or baron, who was neither better- 
 looking or richer than her own lord, she was 
 welcome ; but a higher degree in any respect 
 would not have met with her approbation. She 
 would have rejoiced to see all the opulent 
 squires within three counties love Olinda, but 
 two of the finest London men ought not to look 
 at an inconsiderable Miss when she was present. 
 
 As the gentlemen had risen early, (at least
 
 80 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 those whom Olinda now desired to avoid,) and 
 had accompanied Lord Portbury in some excur- 
 sion, she came, soon after she had ascertained 
 their departure, into the breakfast-room, and 
 sat down to read Madame de StaePs " Alle- 
 magne ;*" that is to say, she held a volume of 
 that very entertaining work in her hand, but it 
 may be doubted whether she derived much 
 amusement from its perusal, because, about 
 twenty minutes after she began to read, she 
 perceived the book was upside down. Lady 
 Portbury always breakfasted in her own room, 
 and the other ladies were late, except Lucy 
 Boyd, who had already retired, therefore 
 Olinda's studies were not likely to be inter- 
 rupted, when she was surprised by the entrance 
 of Mr. Fleetwood. 
 
 " How is it. Miss Vavasour,'' said he, " that 
 I am so fortunate ? I should have supposed 
 that you had joined Lord Portbury's expedition 
 to-day, with a hawk upon your wrist, like the 
 ladies of olden time."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 81 
 
 " And why, Mr. Fleetwood, did you give me 
 credit for such activity ?" 
 
 " Why, not seeing either the Topaze or 
 Ebene of your memoirs, the two genii who 
 usually accompany you, I could hardly believe 
 it is you. May I ask why these divine beings 
 have deserted their post ?" 
 
 " Most young ladies would say, ' Whom do 
 you mean ?' but to save trouble and questions, 
 as I suppose you inquire after Lord Frederick 
 and Sir George Hanbury, I reply that they 
 have gone with Lord Portbury." 
 
 " Since you admit their office, perhaps you 
 will allow me to inquire which is considered 
 as the good genius ?" 
 
 " Their merits are so equal in my eyes, 
 that I cannot possibly decide, but in one re- 
 spect I do not resemble Rustan. I never miss 
 either of my genii when they are absent." 
 
 " Will you think me very impertinent, if I 
 wonder that objects so indifferent should ac- 
 c^uire such privileges when present ?'' 
 E 5
 
 82 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " No. I rather wonder how we became such 
 a trio of friends. I am sure, if it was my fault, 
 I most heartily repent of it. Just before you 
 came into the room, I was considering how it 
 happened ; and I really believe it is because 
 they have nothing to do that they talk to me ; 
 and then at first I was pleased that two such 
 magnificent beaux should find leisure to flatter 
 me ; then the whole society oblige me to sit with 
 them all day long, by flying from us. How 
 shall I repair my folly ?" 
 
 Olinda spoke with the eagerness she felt, to 
 justify herself in Fleetwood's eyes ; perhaps he 
 discerned that motive, and it did not displease 
 him. To any one of generous feelings, extreme 
 frankness (even when it lays open faults and 
 follies) is touching, particularly from a person 
 generally reserved ; it is also catching, and he 
 who confesses to his friend that he is guilty of 
 petty larceny, is very likely to hear of a murder 
 in return. 
 
 Fleetwood saw that she had not been angling
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. SS 
 
 for Lord Frederick and Sir George. Their con- 
 versation was long and animated : it ended by 
 a promise on his part that he would always 
 liberally supply her with his advice and opinion 
 on her conduct; she promised she v/ould not be 
 offended if it was sometimes expressed with less 
 courtesy than brotherly sincerity."" 
 
 N. B. The word " brotherly " was used by 
 Fleetwood, because he considered himself as the 
 most prudent and disinterested friend a young 
 woman like Olinda could meet with. Each 
 paid the other some compliments, and the lady 
 grew a little embarrassed, and the gentleman's 
 expressions were complimentary and confused. 
 Towards the close of the conversation, and by 
 mistake, he called her once or twice " Olinda," 
 instead of " Miss Vavasour," yet she did not 
 appear offended by the inadvertence. 
 
 Lady Grimthorpe at one door, buttered roll 
 and hot coflfee at another, for her accommoda- 
 tion, closed the colloquy. 
 
 Nothing is more frequently proposed by idle
 
 84 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and disinterested gentlemen to pretty young 
 ladies who have no parental dragon at their 
 elbow, than the friendly compact above de- 
 scribed ; and I beg my reader to depose upon 
 oath how long he or she has ever known it to 
 endure without the gentleman making love. 
 
 At dinner, when Olinda beheld her usual 
 neighbours safely lodged on her right and 
 left, she (having had the precaution to put 
 on a gauze scarf) complained of a sore throat, 
 and the open windows, saying to Lucy, who sat 
 opposite, " Dear Miss Boyd, I know you do 
 not mind air : I have got such a cold ! do 
 change seats with me." 
 
 Lucy, who was already warned of her inten- 
 tion, immediately transferred herself to Olinda's 
 seat, who took that she had occupied. As Lucy's 
 neighbours previously had been Colonel Dixon 
 on one side, and Mr. Spriggins, Lord Port- 
 bury's agent, on the other, such self-immolation 
 on the part of Olinda appeared, to such of the 
 guests who observed her migration, as a proof
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 85 
 
 of quinsy, and to the dandies she had quitted 
 as a proof of frenzy. 
 
 Colonel Dixon rubbed his hands, exclaiming 
 in an audible and hoarse whisper, " Amantium 
 ira. amorisy' &c. which is a favourite Latin 
 quotation with those who possess no other. 
 Mr. Spriggins suffocated a smile. Lord Fre- 
 derick and Sir George kept a dignified silence, 
 and averted their look from Lucy, according to 
 the most approved rule of behaviour for Eng- 
 lishmen, when the lady next them is neither 
 beautiful, rich, nor great. To Miss Boyd, all 
 that passed at Fanover had long served as a 
 pageant, amusing enough to see, but in which 
 she was entirely unconcerned on her own ac- 
 count, and only " mute and audience to the 
 act." 
 
 In the evening Olinda entrenched herself so 
 ingeniously behind Miss Boyd, that neither of 
 her pursuers could approach, and Fleetwood 
 lent his aid and protection by talking to them 
 the greater part of the time.
 
 86 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 The next day an influx of company, includ- 
 ing some married belies, produced a change in 
 their positions at dinner, and a diversion of the 
 attack ; and as, when a woman really wishes to 
 get rid of attentions that are displeasing, she 
 rarely fails in effecting it speedily, in a few days 
 Olinda succeeded on this occasion. 
 
 Fleetwood grew more attentive, recommend- 
 ed books, heard and corrected her opinions on 
 them, and on the society at Fanover. Several 
 articles were added to the treaty they had 
 already concluded ; one, in particular, which 
 deserves notice. This was proposed by Fleet- 
 wood, to convince Olinda and himself of his 
 disinterested good will, and caught at by her, 
 that she might seem to put no other construc- 
 tion on his attentions. It was this — that he 
 should give his frank opinion on all the acquaint- 
 ances and admirers Olinda should acquire, warn 
 her against indiscreet female companions, re- 
 commend those who were estimable, and exer- 
 cise a similar privilege with regard to her ad-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 87 
 
 iiiirers; and he further volunteered a promise 
 that, when one should appear worthy of her 
 affection, he would enquire into his character 
 and examine his disposition with the anxiety of 
 a brother. 
 
 A rage for fraternity seemed to possess him 
 in these conversations, which grew longer and 
 more interesting every day. Every day he said 
 to himself, " If I can correct her propensity to 
 coquetry; if I can counteract the contagion of 
 evil example, and arrest the growth of worldli- 
 ness, with so much spirit and intelligence, and 
 so good a heart, she will be perfect !" 
 
 Olinda also had a little diurnal soliloquy, 
 " What a pity that Lord Sedley has not the 
 talent, the kind heart, the fine eyes of Mr. 
 Fleetwood ! What a pity Mr. Fleetwood is 
 not Lord Sedley ! After all, why are not poor 
 people as likely to be happy as the rich ?" Then 
 she thought of the cottage where her youth was 
 spent; she saw a kind of vision of Fleetwood 
 sitting by that fire-side, reading to her while she
 
 88 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 worked. The vision grew more distinctly pour- 
 trayed to her " mind'*s eye :" he was reading 
 by the light of two tallow candles ! no gilt 
 candelabra were there! her gown was stuff! 
 Then she cast her eyes on the glass, and con- 
 templating her own graceful figure, then dis- 
 played in white silk — " This would not be seen 
 to- much advantage in stuff, — the Curate our 
 only visitor ! and he would not know whether I 
 was pretty or not : it is disagreeable not to have 
 justice done to one's natural advantages, if they 
 are ever so trifling — Nonsense, conceit — what a 
 fool I am." 
 
 Lucy told her one day, that Mrs. Johnson, 
 being ill, wished to have her at the vicarage for 
 a couple of days, and wa& to send Mr. John- 
 son's pony-chaise for her the next morning. 
 " Mr. Watson will come for me, Olinda, and 
 you say you are curious to see him, yet you 
 probably will not like him, for he is quite 
 different from all the men I have heard you 
 praise."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 89 
 
 Olinda was curious to see him ; Lucy had 
 told her a number of little anecdotes, which had 
 given her a respect for his character, and a high 
 opinion of his heart. 
 
 She was early in the breakfast-room, whither 
 Lucy also repaired in high spirits ; and soon 
 after Mr. Watson entered the room. He was 
 what the common people call a comelj/ young 
 man, but ruddy, stout made, and rather vulgar- 
 looking, with a slight provincial accent ; civil, 
 unembarrassed, and unpretending, consequent- 
 ly there was nothing to laugh at; but evidently, 
 as Lucy had said, very unlike the men Olinda 
 generally saw. 
 
 In this world of seemmg, a man who is con- 
 tent to be what nature and education have made 
 him, is always respectable, even as giving a 
 proof that he is conscious he need not be 
 ashamed of himself. Of course, from this rule 
 we must except those who are always revealing 
 their identity from vanity. 
 
 The pair departed after breakfast in the
 
 90 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 pony-chaise ; but before their retreat was effect- 
 ed, some of the rest of the inmates of Fanover 
 had entered the room, and Lady Maria Win- 
 terton looking out of the window at the pony- 
 chaise said, " Oh what a machine is here ! Did 
 you ever see any thing like it ? Whose is this, 
 for pity's sake I" 
 
 Lucy, without being disconcerted, replied, 
 " It is a friend''s carriage come for me." 
 Lady Maria, who having no occasion to envy 
 Lucy was always well-bred to her, was proba- 
 bly sorry to have made the comment. 
 
 Lucy and her lover being out of hearing, the 
 party indulged in some mirth at their equipage; 
 and Ohnda felt that, were she in Lucy's place, 
 she would have felt some mortification on this 
 occasion. What passed in her mind was not 
 unperceived by Mr. Fleetwood ; and the first 
 moment they were alone, he said, " Confess, 
 Miss Vavasour, that you pitied your friend Miss 
 Boyd for having so shabby a carriage, and so 
 rural a lover."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 91 
 
 " Why do you suppose me so trifling as to 
 take these circumstances more to heart than 
 Lucy herself ?" said Olinda, colouring a little. 
 
 " I do not notice the fact as blaming your 
 feeling, but I may perform a service by calling 
 your attention to it. It is of the last import- 
 ance that you should understand what your real 
 tastes are. 
 
 " Young ladies in general think they have, 
 or affect to have, a thorough contempt for the 
 " pomps and vanities" of life, as arising from 
 the possession of rank and wealth. Sometimes 
 they think they appear amiable by such profes- 
 sions ; sometimes they do not know enough of 
 the world and themselves to be aware how far 
 rank and wealth might operate in producing 
 their happiness ; and sometimes they repeat like 
 parrots what has been said to or read by them. 
 Now, if a woman who had unadvisedly chosen 
 to live in a cottage, travel in gig, and cat mut- 
 ton-chops with a man she thought she prefer- 
 red to all mankind, should suddenly discover
 
 92 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 that she pined to inhabit a palace, and rule an 
 establishment like Lord Portbury's ; even with 
 a partner less congenial, if she found herself 
 discontented and ashamed of the economical 
 tout-ensemble to which she had bound herself 
 for ever, do you not see that she has committed 
 a fatal mistake ? 
 
 " On the other hand, if a woman who could 
 not bear to live with a husband of inferior 
 mind, of unsuitable disposition, one whom she 
 could not love and confide in, should, from 
 prudence (commonly so called), or the persua- 
 sion of friends, or any other artificial motive, 
 seek the opposite destiny, her error would be 
 still more fatal to her happiness, perhaps to her 
 character ; inasmuch as she would lose more by 
 her mistake, and possibly seek to repair it by 
 dangerous expedients. 
 
 " I repeat then, Miss Vavasour, it is of the 
 last importance that a young woman should 
 ascertain which, if the two lots are in her choice,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 93 
 
 would really be most conducive to her happi- 
 ness, and decide accordingly." 
 
 There was something excessively grating to 
 Olinda in tliis harangue, which Fleetwood deli- 
 vered without vehemence, in an even tone, which 
 \ seemed to announce him quite uninterested in 
 the result of his exhortation. 
 
 Olinda had not had sufficient intercourse with 
 her fellow-creatures, or was herself too much 
 flurried, to make an observation that would, per- 
 haps, have been a comfort to her heart, or her 
 vanity, whichever had been wounded in the dia- 
 logue. 
 
 It is this: if in conversation not vehement 
 enough to excite sudden inflexions of voice, a 
 person all at once raises or lowers his by a just 
 perceptible degree, and so continues to speak, 
 he is either lying, or more interested in what he 
 is saying than he is willing to show. It was 
 thus with Fleetwood during his address to 
 Olinda; though he spoke in a calm and mea-
 
 94 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 sured tone, his voice was two or three notes 
 higher, and a sort of huskiness came on ; his 
 cheek, which was always pale, became still 
 paler. 
 
 Olinda recollected that she had authorised 
 her monitor to give advice, and therefore could 
 not take it amiss ; she was therefore contented 
 to reply in as disengaged a tone as she could 
 command, that she agreed with him entirely, 
 everybody ought to reflect long on their own 
 feelings ere they decided their fate. 
 
 Fleetwood's manner for the remainder of that 
 day was more formal, and he talked less to 
 Olinda than he usually did. She thought him 
 unreasonable, nor was this the only occasion on 
 which he appeared so. While professing only 
 the interest of a friend, he sometimes usurped a 
 privilege they do not claim ; he not only de- 
 cried those gentlemen whose minds and manners 
 made him judge them as disadvantageous 
 friends or flirts for Olinda, but he insensibly 
 grew to disapprove of her talking much to any
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 95 
 
 man ; and the more distinguished by natural 
 advantages or those of fortune the person was, 
 the more full of admonition and discontent was 
 Mr. Fleetwood. 
 
 As Olinda had a natural disposition to 
 ^ coquetry, this was a restraint extremely dis- 
 agreeable to her; but she had also a great 
 wish to please Fleetwood, and a great reliance 
 on his judgment, so she bore the tyranny with 
 becoming resignation. One day when he had 
 shown a good deal of dis:ipprobation, on some 
 occasion he left the room ; Miss Boyd and 
 Olinda were alone in it. After a pause, Lucy 
 said, 
 
 "- What shall you do with that man, Olinda ? 
 He loves you — in a sort of a way, and he 
 is jealous — in a sort of a way. I used to 
 think if you could put the House of Lords 
 out of your head, and be contented in privacy 
 and poverty, you might be very hap})y with 
 him; for he has not only the huckaback merit 
 which would satisfy ?tie, but the manners and
 
 96 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 habits which might satisfy you. But then I 
 begin to see he is so whimsical, and absolute, 
 and suspicious, that it will not be an easy 
 matter to satisfy Mm. What will you do ?'' 
 
 '' What can I do ? You are mistaken, he 
 does not care a straw for me, he has almost 
 told me so more than once ; and I think I 
 am glad of it, for certainly his temper is 
 very strange." 
 
 Had her own been perfectly composed, this 
 declaration would not have been sincere ; but 
 at this moment Olinda thought she spoke the 
 truth. 
 
 Lucy shook her head. *' Whether your 
 Hking is lasting or not, I will not pretend 
 to say ; but hitherto he has taken up more 
 of your attention and preference than any 
 other man I have seen at Fanover." 
 
 What Olinda was going to reply has never 
 transpired, as Mr. Thoresby just then entered 
 the room, evidently elated, and holding a small 
 parcel in his hand.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 97 
 
 " I wish to make you a little confidence," 
 said he: "I have just received this gift, anony- 
 mously of course, or I should not think myself 
 at liberty to show it ; I really can't guess whom 
 'tis from, or how 1 iiave deserved it." 
 
 After undoing several folds of silver paper, 
 he produced a blue satin portfolio, with a 
 bouquet embroidered in beads on one side of it. 
 
 " The industrious and enamoured female 
 embroiders well,"" said Lucy. 
 
 " Enamoured ! oh fie, Miss Boyd," said 
 Mr. Thoresby, simpering. "But 1 wish you 
 both to aid me in guessing who has been so 
 very good: — though nothing is so common as 
 ladies presenting little pieces of work, you 
 know — purses for instance ; yet this seems 
 completed with so much care — I can't help 
 thinking " 
 
 " Oh, I know what you can't hel}) thinking; 
 could it be Lady Maria?" 
 
 " Oh no, impossible !" replied Mr. Thoresby, 
 evidently much pleased at a suggestion that 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 98 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 appeared as probable to him as ridiculous to 
 his audience. 
 
 " Well then, I^ve guessed. Do you remem- 
 ber that handsome Miss Dawson, who they 
 said would be so rich ?" 
 
 " I hardly remember,'' said Mr. Thoresby 
 musing, and trying to look sad with all his 
 might ; " but my habitual melancholy and abs- 
 traction prevents me often from improving 
 the most agreeable acquaintance. Yes, I think 
 I remember — a very pretty heiress. Some- 
 body was good enough to present me — I 
 can*t think where." 
 
 " I am sure she would be very much mor- 
 tified and disappointed if she heard you, Mr. 
 Thoresby,'* said Miss Boyd, " for you seemed 
 excessively lively and agreeable that evening, 
 and danced the whole night." 
 
 " Perhaps I might, I have great self-control 
 at times ; but the heart has no share in these 
 things — 
 
 ' The heart, the heart, is lonely still ! '
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 99 
 
 The other night, when Lady Portbury made 
 me sing the whole evening, and play Loo, I 
 felt exactly like Atala when she describes her- 
 self ' haletant apres Vombrage et appellant a 
 grands cris la solitude.'' " 
 
 The young ladies listened with delight to 
 Mr. Thoresby's account of his feelings, because 
 they recollected that on the evening alluded 
 to he had sung and talked the whole time, 
 and giggled incomparably more than the whole 
 society put together ; and his red cheeks and 
 round blue eyes were in singular contrast with 
 his professed melancholy and sentimental con- 
 versation. Both his listeners, however, thought 
 it would be unkind to deny his having appeared 
 in low spirits, so continued silent; and after 
 two deep sighs Mr. Thoresby said he wished 
 to show them some lines which he had written 
 in return, and meant to send the anonymous 
 donor, wlien he should discover her. " And 
 pray. Miss Vavasour, criticise freely. IVIiss 
 Boyd, I beg you will be frank: these trifles 
 F 2
 
 100 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 that are written with ease are generally full 
 of faults; one's reputation does not rest upon 
 them, you know." 
 
 He then produced three sheets of pale green 
 paper, highly perfumed, and with a border of 
 stamped cupids, which would have excited ad- 
 miration in the beholders, had not the cypher 
 50 over the last stanza caused them to trem- 
 ble at the length of the poem submitted to 
 their judgment. Mr. Thoresby, in a melancholy 
 and rather drawling tone, then began : — 
 
 " * Lady, this rose of blushing hue 
 
 Is pale to that which warms your cheek ; 
 And of your eye the tender blue 
 We vainly in the violet seek.' 
 
 You will observe among the flowers worked on 
 the port-feuille, Miss Vavasour, there are roses, 
 and Lady Maria has a high colour, which sug- 
 gested the hne — 
 
 ' Is pale to that which warms your cheek ;' 
 
 which certainly — is — rather pretty." 
 
 " Pretty ! quite beautiful," said the malicious 
 Lucy ; — " quite beautiful."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 101 
 
 Olinda, who was exceedingly vexed at Fleet- 
 wood, was not so much disposed to minister 
 to Mr. Thoresby's vanity. 
 
 " Since you allow us to criticise," said she, 
 " donH you think ' eyes of tender blue"* gives 
 \ one rather an idea of weak eyes, which you 
 know are neither poetical nor becoming ?" 
 
 " Pardon me," said the poet, colouring slight- 
 ly, and in a more eager tone, " upon that line 
 I pique myself more than all the rest of the 
 poem. Dear Miss Vavasour, don't you feel — 
 Miss Boyd, I'm sure you do — the delicacy of 
 the line — 
 
 ' And of your eye the tender blue.' 
 
 Tender, there, seems soft, pale ; and by the 
 way, Miss Dawson's eyes are very light, and 
 there are violets worked on the port-feuille, so 
 you see the hne is appropriate, and not other- 
 wise than pretty." 
 
 " Oh, I see now," said Olinda, dreading she 
 should be obhged to fight her way through tlie 
 forty-nine succeeding stanzas of the poem : which
 
 102 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 however I shall not transcribe, lest my readers 
 should be tempted to insert it in their respective 
 albums ; and in this age of literary piracy, poor 
 Mr. Thoresby's valuable production might un- 
 fairly be appropriated by some one of the first 
 writers of the age; therefore I shall only say, 
 what justice compels me to add, that each of the 
 remaining stanzas was as good, or nearly so, as 
 that which has been recorded on the impartial 
 page. 
 
 Not content with the prolonged infliction the 
 young ladies had undergone, and which had 
 nearly exhausted even Miss Boyd's patience, 
 Mr. Thoresby, when he had received the faint 
 compliments they were able to muster, resumed 
 the subject. 
 
 " Since you are fond of verse, I will seek out 
 of my poetic stores something that will please 
 you. Did you ever (I dare say you have) meet 
 with my Ode to John Pounceford ? I ad- 
 dressed several indeed to him, but I mean that 
 beginning — 
 
 * Go, youth beloved, my early friend.' "
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 103 
 
 *' I cannot say that I have," repHed Lacy. 
 
 " Then I will get it for you to-morrow ; 
 though talking of John Pounceford always 
 awakens in my mind the most melancholy re- 
 flections — much more melancholy than if I had 
 lost him by death. Indeed my health and 
 spirits suffered so much from that event, that I 
 have never been quite the same man since." 
 
 " Do not let us talk of any thing that dis- 
 tresses you." 
 
 " It is rather a relief, my dear Miss Vava- 
 sour, to discuss one's feelings and sorrows with 
 friends so amiable. I will tell you the whole 
 story." 
 
 " John Pounceford, of Oriel, was my best 
 and most inseparable friend : he, like me, had 
 some taste for literature — similar pursuits, you 
 know, strengthen friendship ; he certainly had 
 some talent, not as much as he thought he had ; 
 however, in some of the Annuals you will find 
 things of his signed Lycidas ; mine (as you pro- 
 bably know) are signed Bul-bul. "NVc gene-
 
 104 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 rally communicated to each other every new 
 production before it was printed. I happened 
 to write an Elegy on a White Mouse, which 
 certainly was not without spirit and poetry. Of 
 course I showed it to Pounceford, who ex- 
 pressed himself pleased with it ; and though he 
 did not express himself so warmly as friendship 
 like our's demanded, I allowed for a natural 
 feeling of mortification, in an aspiring young 
 man, at finding himself so far surpassed in his 
 favourite pursuit; and to do away any unpleasant 
 idea in his mind at once, I said, ' Pounceford, 
 my dear fellow, upon my honour I donH think 
 this elegy better than that which you wrote 
 ' On leaving Margate' last year :"* he only re- 
 plied, ' Do you think so?" and kept whistling 
 * Happy tawny Moor' for half an hour, which 
 I thought rather singular at the time. Well, 
 my elegy was read at all the tea-tables within 
 five miles of Oxford, and all the young ladies 
 insisted on having it in their albums. At the 
 request of several friends I was persuaded to
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 105 
 
 send it to the Editor of ' The Amaranth/ 
 Speaking of it to a friend soon after, he asked 
 if I had seen a parody on it, which had just 
 appeared in * The Votive Wreath ;' and truly 
 there was a most disgraceful, stupid, and bitter 
 parody, and with some difficulty I ascertained 
 that it was the production of John Pounceford, 
 of Oriel College ! Only think what I must have 
 suffered ! A heart like mine — from treachery 
 like his," 
 
 Both hearers hastily expressed their entire 
 disapprobation of Mr. Pounceford^s conduct, 
 and then proposed a walk ; for, being under 
 sentence of hearing the elegy, they did not 
 know at what moment of the day Mr. Tho- 
 resby might claim their unwilling ears, and 
 they dreaded an MS. from his pocket as travel- 
 lers do a pistol at their chaise-window. 
 
 When Miss Vavasour had put on her bon- 
 net, Lucy entered, ecjuipped also for a walk. 
 " Olinda,"' said she, " I hope you will not be 
 easily tired to-day ; I want to make you go 
 f5
 
 106 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 with me on a little expedition I have very 
 much at heart, and cannot so well go alone; 
 it is to see the little parsonage which Mr. 
 Watson is to have. The poor old gentleman 
 who had it died a month since, and Mr. John- 
 son and Watson will be there to-day at two, 
 to look it over, and see the capabilities for im- 
 provement about it : they wished me to see 
 it also, and give my opinion : I should like 
 you to see it, and give yours. I did not 
 like to ask Lady Portbury to drive there, 
 for fear it should bore her, and limit me 
 in time; but you do not mind a walk, and 
 this will not be more than four miles." 
 
 Olinda expressed her ready compliance, and 
 they set off'.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 107 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 After a due proportion of green lanes, 
 dusty road, brooks crossed by stepping-stones, 
 and stiles to be scrambled over, Lucy began to 
 look about her like a dog at fault, and then 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Yes, Olinda, I know we are near it ; they 
 told me it was just after we passed the Red 
 Lion, and there it is !" 
 
 " But is that a lion, Lucy ? are you sure ?" 
 
 Well might Olinda enquire, for the artist 
 had painted just such a representation of the 
 animal as is now hanging up at the inn at 
 Thames Ditton, which sign, tlic first time I 
 saw it, appeared to me a very fair display of 
 a German sausage, but tlie inhabitants of that
 
 108 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 pretty village have kindly agreed to consider it 
 as a " Red Lion." 
 
 Miss Boyd profited by this landmark, and 
 a few steps farther they espied a road full of 
 ruts, which proved to be the way to the par- 
 sonage. An old white gate that had fallen off 
 the hinges, lying between two stone posts, in- 
 dicated it had been the approach, as it is tech- 
 nically called ; and they then beheld two gentle- 
 men, who were recognised as Messrs. Johnson 
 and Watson. 
 
 After the first greeting, the latter said, " My 
 future abode is a little out of repair, Lucy, but 
 you won't be frightened at that.'" 
 
 " Oh no I we shall have so much the more 
 pleasure in setting it to rights our own way.'' 
 
 There had been a shrubbery on each side of 
 the little avenue, but the broken branches and 
 neglected appearance of the shrubs and trees 
 made it look desolate. Two cows occasionally 
 passed and repassed among them, and two large 
 sows were diligently rooting up the perennial
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 109 
 
 plants that grew below. Opposite the door was 
 a large grass-plat, where a dial told its neg- 
 lected hours ; a dilapidated porch was over the 
 house-door; the roots of the creepers which had 
 once covered it, were still in the ground, but the 
 plants themselves spread their weak and pro- 
 strate arms over the long grass, as if seeking for 
 assistance. 
 
 They entered a little hall, the cool air and 
 broken windows of which had induced two 
 portly toads to make it their constant resi- 
 dence. Some swallows '• whose situation re- 
 quired a temporary retirement," had made 
 their "pendant beds and procreant cradles'Mn 
 the windows, without prejudice to a little co- 
 lony of bats, who claimed a share in the tene- 
 ment. 
 
 A door on the right brought the party into 
 the dining-parlour, which had been salmon-co- 
 lour : two large convenient closets in this room 
 had their doors painted bright blue; where the 
 locks had been, was marked by frequent prints
 
 110 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 of dirty thumbs. In this apartment there was no 
 other furniture than a broken tobacco pipe and 
 two cabbage leaves. It was not without some 
 surprise that her friends heard Miss Boyd ex- 
 claim — 
 
 " Oh delightful ! What good luck !" 
 
 Mr. Johnson took off his spectacles and rub- 
 bed them, in order to share the discovery he 
 supposed her to have made. Olinda opened 
 her long eyes and coral lips with surprise ; 
 and even the ruddy Mr. Watson asked what 
 she saw. 
 
 " Oh, those closets, to be sure ! the silver 
 spoons, glass, and china will be there ; my tea, 
 sugar, and jam, will be in the other. Oh how 
 comfortable it will be when we have it all tidy 
 — every thing at hand !" 
 
 " And there is not so much to do as there 
 seems, Lucy,^' said her lover ; " not much solid 
 repair, only paint, glaze, and paper a little. 
 
 The drawing-room had a bay-window ; it 
 looked on a little lawn, in the midst of which
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. Ill 
 
 was a muddy pond, covered with duck- weed. 
 Nettles were decidedly the plants that flourish- 
 ed most luxuriantly on this side of the house ; 
 but Lucy saw a neat marble chimney-piece, and 
 other merits. A sitting-room adjoining was to 
 be the spot where Watson was to compose, or 
 compile his sermons — 
 
 " As wit and fortune will, 
 Or as the destinies decree." 
 
 As they ascended the stairs, accompanied by 
 some itinerant hens, who were alarmed at this 
 unusual intrusion, and ran before, to introduce 
 them, as it seemed, to a red-eyed monster of 
 seventy-five, who appeared with a sauce-pan in 
 hand, the only human inhabitant of the parson- 
 age, Watson and Lucy were joyously discussing 
 plans concerning cupboards and ovens, to which 
 Mr. Johnson occasionally threw in an improving 
 hint ; and Olinda also, from her former educa- 
 tion being so different from her present habits, 
 was enabled to bear a very respectable share in 
 conversing on their alterations.
 
 112 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 The upper story and attics were inspected 
 with the deepest interest. The garden, where 
 roses and fennel, charlock and gooseberry- 
 bushes, strove in amicable confusion, was pro- 
 nounced to be a present wilderness, but future 
 Eden. However, one agreeable surprise was 
 common to the whole party ; the offices were 
 excellent, and in good repair, being even now 
 in use, and well attended to. The late occu- 
 pant of the parsonage had been old and infirm ; 
 a long rheumatic fever induced him to lodge at 
 the apothecary's in the village, where he might 
 be constantly in the way of assistance. The 
 parsonage had been for nine months in the 
 custody of the aged matron, already mentioned, 
 who 
 
 " Did not watch her charge too well." 
 
 Miss Boyd and her friend proceeded home- 
 ward when the scrutiny was concluded, ac- 
 companied for one mile by their clerical con- 
 voy, who then bade them farewell. 
 
 They arrived at home dog-tired, but in time
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 113 
 
 to dress for dinner, at which OHnda looked 
 very handsome to all eyes, particularly those of 
 Fleetwood, though she never had felt less 
 good-will to him. All she had seen that morn- 
 ing went far to persuade her that poverty was 
 not to her taste. The dilapidated parsonage 
 was in her eye, and the homely employments 
 that Miss Boyd seemed so ready to engage in. 
 She pondered on the pigs and the nettles, 
 the pond and the toads, till she felt the sin- 
 cerest commiseration for her friend, and sur- 
 prise at her rushing madly on a destiny so de- 
 plorable. 
 
 " There must be a touch of madness, after all, 
 in Lucy's composition ; it is not from ignorance 
 of the elegances and comforts of life : she has 
 seen Fanover, she loves reading, she draws 
 well, she is fond of embroidery, and is ingeni- 
 ous in all sorts of ornamental work ; surely she 
 will not have time for any of these things ; she 
 must work like a servant all the morning, to sit 
 with Mr. Watson all the evening !''
 
 114 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 She determined to talk to Miss Boyd on 
 the subject, but cautiously. 
 
 In the evening a young man of large fortune, 
 named Sir John Creswell, who had been the 
 latest arrival at Fanover, struck by Olinda's 
 appearance, began to talk to her with some 
 animation, which roused Lady Maria"'s ire, 
 who directly joined, that she might divide 
 them. She was so pretty and so coquettish, 
 that Sir John Creswell, who had a good deal 
 of ready admiration at every body's service, 
 speedily gave her more than an equal share 
 of his attention ; and Lady Maria, who had 
 the advantage of three years' experience more 
 than Olinda, by the position of her chair and 
 other dexterous manoeuvres, gradually cut oiF 
 the sunshine of Sir John''s conversation from 
 her rival, who, however, having no particular 
 wish to retain it, at last rose up, and was going 
 to the piano forte, when Lady Juliana said, 
 
 " Oh come here and take my part, Olinda, 
 against Mr. Fleetwood."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 115 
 
 Olinda came, saying, " Are you then so deep 
 in a quarrel as to want a second ? perhaps 
 I shall say, like Sir Lucius O'Trigger, ' 'tis a 
 very pretty quarrel as it stands ;"* and not 
 choose to conciHate matters. But what is it 
 about ?" 
 
 " Why, he says he cannot bear the slightest 
 allusion in poetry to any of the persons in 
 the pagan mythology." 
 
 " Nay, Lady JuHana, I did not go quite so 
 far as that, I only objected to those very trite 
 acquaintances, Jupiter, Juno, and their societt 
 intime of Venus, Cupid, &c. whom I am so 
 very happy to find gone out of fashion. Some 
 of the obscure nymphs could be turned to 
 account ; I have often besought poets of my 
 acquaintance, to make some use of Chelone in 
 her tortoiseshell, if it were only to turn her into 
 a comb." 
 
 *' A very good thought uidccd," said IVIr. 
 Thoresby. 
 
 " Perhaps," said Fleetwood, " nothing could
 
 116 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 be more provoking than the manner in which 
 the Grecian machinery used to be dragged into 
 poetry, the simplicity of which one had before 
 been admiring. When Andrew Marvel's nymph 
 has lamented her fawn in the most natural and 
 girlish manner, she suddenly says, 
 
 ' The brotherless Heliades 
 Weep in such amber tears as these.' 
 
 " Allan Ramsay, after his striking compa- 
 rison of the flaxen-haired Bessy Bell, and her 
 dark and diamond-eyed friend, or rival, Mary 
 Gray, exclaims, 
 
 • O Jove ! she's like thy Pallas.' 
 
 " I am convinced all poets had learned to 
 groan under this tyranny, long before any 
 attempt to shake it off was made. Pope only 
 used his sylphs in mock-heroic poetry ; Hayley 
 was not sufficiently powerful to set a fashion ; 
 Mr. Thomas Campbell interested us for the 
 Honourable East India Company's gods, 
 * Camdeo bright and Ganesa sublime !* 
 
 but we could only figure them to ourselves as
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 117 
 
 a golden Venus and Cupid, disguised in white 
 shawls and bangles. The fact is, that story 
 and song, statues and pictures, have rendered 
 the Greek gods and goddesses so distinct in 
 and familiar to our minds, that we remember 
 them as human creatures. 
 
 " It was reserved for Sir Walter Scott and 
 Lord Byron to recall the most general and 
 natural superstitions of human nature to their 
 lost empire. Ghosts and witches, from their 
 vague powers, shadowy, mysterious appear- 
 ances, unsatisfactory and oracular replies, are 
 so much more imposing and interesting.""* 
 
 " I am sorry,"' said Olinda, " to vote against 
 you, Lady Juliana, as you called me in as 
 your auxiliary, but I must side with Mr. 
 Fleetwood ; a thin, pale ghost is infinitely 
 more touching than a jolly god or cheerful 
 goddess; and I agree also in thinking, the 
 less that is seen of our friends the ghosts, the 
 better.'* 
 
 " Fauns and satyrs, in reality,"' said Sir
 
 118 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 George Hanbury, " must have proved as great 
 a nuisance as footpads ; but what would be 
 pleasant in that case, would be, the impossi- 
 bility of being condemned to a solitary walk ; 
 go down a long avenue and you find a 
 Hamadryad in every tree !'' 
 
 " Now I think fairies a pretty, cheerful sort 
 of superstition," said Mr. Thoresby. 
 
 " Oh yes, and so truly pastoral !" rejoined 
 Lady Juliana." 
 
 " The supposed agency of fairies is too like 
 that of monkeys and mischievous children to 
 make them interesting. Beings who drink out 
 of acorn-cups, dance in rings, bewitch the cows, 
 and put sixpences in the housemaid's slipper, 
 we cannot fear or care for ; and the only story 
 of the kind in which a fairy excites our sym- 
 pathy, is when Tam Lune declares, that 
 
 * Aye at every seven years' end 
 They pay a tiend to hell. 
 And I 'm sae fair and full of flesh 
 I fear 'twill be mysel !' 
 
 You see the horror of his chance, without
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 119 
 
 perfectly comprehending his situation, and this 
 is essential to the participation of supernatural 
 distresses. There is a story," continued Fleet- 
 wood, " which it is said was originally printed 
 as an addition to ' Drelincourt on Death,' by 
 a publisher, who found that work would not 
 sell, and who succeeded in getting it off by 
 the device. The ghostly heroine, named Mrs. 
 Veal, whose intention seems to have been to 
 give an afflicted friend comfort and advice, 
 is induced to talk of trifling and mundane 
 matters with so much simplicity, that on her 
 friend observing her silk riding-habit ' looks 
 even better than when she saw it last," Mrs. 
 Veal replies, that ' she has had it dyed and 
 made up again/ The distinctness of this fact 
 spoils the tale, which, as it was published long 
 before we had become familiar with a thou- 
 sand delicious German impossibilities, must 
 have been invaluable in the dearth of horrors 
 our grandmothers laboured under." 
 
 This discussion was here interrupted bv
 
 ]20 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Lord Portbury, who brought Sir George a 
 letter, and apologised with civil fervour for 
 having omitted to send it in the morning, when 
 the cover was opened, but the letter mislaid 
 till then. 
 
 " A very stupid thing of me indeed, my 
 dear Sir George; nothing of the kind ever 
 happened before, — except, by the by, once in 
 Scotland, when I was on a visit to Lord Kirk- 
 Andrews, a Scotch cousin of mine, — his place 
 is near Cupar, and is called Monyhavers. Now 
 we were going from thence to a moor he had (a 
 small house) ; it was called Glenreestle. No, we 
 were coming from Glenreestle to Monyhavers — 
 I 'm not sure — stay — no, we were going from 
 Monyhavers to Glenreestle ; — yes, I remember, 
 two very fine dogs were sent me that morning, 
 a present from Macnidrie of Lubberlaw. I 
 lost one of them the next year in the most 
 provoking manner. I must tell you about it : 
 he was tied up in the stable, and I always 
 like a short halter, that Carper knew — but
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 121 
 
 he was the most careless fellow ! I could not 
 keep him. He went afterwards to live with 
 Colonel Dauberley in Devonshire, where he set 
 fire to the house. It was burnt to the ground ! 
 and the insurance '"' 
 
 *' Lord Portbury ! Lord Portbury !" said the 
 languid voice of his wife from the ecarte-table ; 
 '• do lend me your purse, I am losing money 
 shockingly.'^ 
 
 The fact was, that Lady Portbury thought 
 with compassion on the situation of Sir George, 
 who had with equal courage and politeness 
 placed himself in an attitude of attention, and 
 prepared a face of interest with which he 
 meant to hear the details of Colonel Dau- 
 berley'^s misfortunes. Great was his joy at 
 being spared a history that would have cer- 
 tainly lasted the remainder of the evening. 
 
 The next day brouglit an arrival to Fanover 
 that was expected to prove of value in the eyes 
 of the young ladies. Lord Sedley and his 
 sister Lady Mardiston came to fulfil the pro- 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 122 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 mise they had made in London. They arrived 
 just before the first bell rang for dinner, and 
 Lady Portbury accompanied Lady Mardiston 
 to her dressing-room. Lord Sedley followed 
 them to the door, bearing in his arms a small 
 white dog belonging to his sister, saying, he 
 always looked after Blanchette, for Pulcheria 
 could not live without it. 
 
 As they shut the door. Lady Maria observed 
 to Sir John Creswell, how touching it was to 
 witness the devoted attention Lord Sedley paid 
 his sister. It proved such a good heart, so much 
 sensibility, such a disposition to fulfil his duty 
 in all respects and relations ; and, added she, 
 " to such a disagreeable person as Lady Mar- 
 diston, there is twice as much merit in being so 
 full of egards^ 
 
 " Say no more on this subject. Lady Maria," 
 cried Fleetwood ; " we are all convinced, and 
 to-morrow all the men at Fanover will appear, 
 each bearing a little white dog, the property of 
 some near female relation : it will become a uni-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 123 
 
 vcrsal fashion, now that we know it is the way 
 to win the * golden opinions ^ of Lady Maria 
 Winterton." 
 
 The dinner bell dispersed them. 
 
 Olinda felt some curiosity to see Lady Mar- 
 diston out of her travelling bonnet. She was 
 very unUke her brother. Lord Sedley was 
 slender, fair, and rather good-looking, though 
 insignificant ; the sister was very tall and thin, 
 with a good and distinguished figure, but plain 
 face, and common features ; all that could be 
 remarked in her was uncommonly keen grey 
 eyes, with rather a disagreeable expression, and 
 that kind of cool self-possession, which belongs 
 to those who highly esteem and place great 
 dependance on themselves. She was a widow, 
 and many years older than her brother. 
 
 When the company assembled before dinner, 
 a single glance sufficed to convince OHnda that 
 Lady Mardiston and Lady Maria entertained 
 no small portion of ill-will to each otlicr. 
 
 The latter had placed herself in a somewhat 
 g2
 
 124 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 embarrassing position ; before the arrival of 
 Lord Sedley, she had taken great pains to attract 
 the attention of Sir John Creswell, partly be- 
 cause he was a rich young man of fashion, and 
 partly to prevent Ohnda from pleasing him. 
 In this scheme she had entirely succeeded ; but 
 the arrival of Lord Sedley, on whose conquest 
 she had long set her heart, made her very much 
 wish Sir John's visit was ended : she did not 
 choose absolutely and rudely to get rid of him, 
 far less to make him over to Olinda ; but she 
 found him very much in her way, and such a 
 secondary consideration, that she instantly re- 
 newed her attack on Lord Sedley with » such 
 diligence and vivacity, that before the second 
 course was placed on the table, the sharp eyes 
 of Lady Mardiston shot fire. She did not wish 
 her brother married at all, and least of all to 
 Lady Maria, who for the last two years had 
 given her the utmost alarm. 
 
 She looked round for a counter-charm, and 
 thought Olinda might prove an innocent spe-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 125 
 
 cific. She had not witnessed the short flirtation 
 their musical consultations in town had pro- 
 duced, or she might not have liked such an 
 expedient ; but she considered, if he took too 
 much notice of Olinda, she was easily got rid 
 of. The want of fortune and rank were reason- 
 able objections wherewith to confound any ma- 
 trimonial project respecting her, should Lord 
 Sedley conceive so rash a speculation ; but the 
 worst of Lady Maria in this point of view was, 
 that, according to the usual worldly estimate, 
 no objection could be made to her as a wife for 
 Lord Sedley. Well born, highly connected, 
 handsome, accomplished, with a suitable for- 
 tune, it was difficult to say why he ought not 
 to marry her ; yet her violent and determined 
 temper, and the open defiance she had always 
 shown to Lady Mardiston, proved that such a 
 woman would entirely overthrow the influence 
 she wished to preserve over her brother. 
 
 Lady jNlardiston had early in life, contrary 
 to the wishes of all her friends, married a man
 
 126 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 who proved in a short time to be as little suited 
 to her as they foresaw ; their disagreements were 
 perpetual and bitter. Sir Robert was a spend- 
 thrift, and his wife penurious and grasping ; 
 their affairs soon became so much deranged, that 
 they were obliged to live abroad, where, after 
 many years of — 
 
 " Accursed and unquiet wrangling days," 
 
 Sir Robert for once obliged his wife, by leaving 
 her a widow. 
 
 A small and ill-paid jointure from his next 
 heir, would have obliged her to remain abroad 
 for ever, had not Lord Sedley, her half-brother, 
 when on his travels, arrived at Geneva to pay 
 her a visit. He was good-natured and silly, and 
 she made every one, of whom she could or might 
 obtain anything, a sort of prey. She soon ingra- 
 tiated herself so much with Lord Sedley, that 
 she was his principal director upon all occasions, 
 and disposed of a large share of his income for 
 her own use. She therefore had loncj determined.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 127 
 
 either that he should not marry at all, or that 
 he should marry a woman she could rule. 
 
 When the ladies retired to the drawing-room, 
 Lady Mardiston accosted Olinda with great 
 civility, and took occasion to make her many 
 compliments, deserved and undeserved, not for- 
 getting to praise her particularly for those 
 points in her exterior in which she excelled 
 Lady Maria. 
 
 This awoke the demon of envy in that young- 
 lady's bosom ; she joined the conversation, and 
 endeavoured to throw in a seasoning of mortifi- 
 cation for Olinda, by making a number of spite- 
 ful observations, and talking contemptuously at 
 her. 
 
 Olinda's temper was good, and she was timid 
 in conversation from being unused to society. 
 She bore all Lady Maria's taunts with good 
 humour, and without appealing to appropriate 
 them to herself, though her colour rose, and she 
 looked a little disconcerted : whicli made Lady
 
 128 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Mardiston conclude that she was a little shy 
 simpleton who could not take her own part, for 
 in her opinion *' an oak with one green leaf on 
 it," would have answered Lady Maria. 
 
 " This is," thought Lady Mardiston, "just a 
 proper flirt for Sedley; pretty and agreeable 
 enough to occupy him, and easily quelled when 
 likely to please too much :" and here (like many 
 astute persons who judge others by themselves) 
 she was egregiously mistaken. In spite of 
 Olinda's apparent moderation, " le diable ii'y per- 
 dait rien f she was in fact, to the last degree, 
 provoked at Lady Maria's attack, and for the 
 first time a vague idea of vengeance suggested 
 itself to her mind. 
 
 When the gentlemen came in, Lady Mardis- 
 ton called Lord Sedley to her, and was going to 
 introduce him to Olinda, had not both lady and 
 gentleman avowed a previous acquaintance in 
 town. 
 
 The conversation had not proceeded many 
 minutes, however, when Lady Maria sat down to
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 129 
 
 play on the guitar, and having arranged herself 
 and instrument in the most becoming manner, 
 began to play " the fairy bells,"*"* and called Lord 
 Sedley, begging him to tell her if she played it 
 right, as she had only learnt it by ear. 
 
 He hastened to obey, and she detained him 
 to sing a second to some other songs. As he was 
 known not to have a voice, and possessed a very 
 imperfect ear, he had seldom received such an 
 invitation, and was both flattered and delighted. 
 A good deal of husky and tuneless chirping on 
 his part accompanied Lady Maria's sweet and 
 clear voice, but she looked all beaming appro- 
 bation. When he was tolerably in tune she said, 
 " Very well indeed, Lord Sedley, this song suits 
 your voice ;"*' when he was lost in a maze of dis- 
 cord, she said, " No, you have not this passage 
 quite perfect, we will practise this again to- 
 morrow."" 
 
 In short, the pink and silver ribbon that tied 
 the guitar, seemed also to bind Lord Sedley, 
 wlio remained at Lady Maria'b elbow all the 
 G 5
 
 130 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 evening; while Lady Mardiston burnt with in- 
 dignation, and thought Olinda the most helpless 
 idiot she had ever seen, and scarce competent to 
 be the cafs-paw she had intended to make her. 
 
 What very much added to Lady Mardiston's 
 uneasiness was, that she was obhged to leave 
 Lord Sedley exposed to the enemy's fire, from 
 an unlucky promise she had made to an old 
 uncle, from whom she was trying to woo a legacy. 
 
 General Cartwright was one of the most ill- 
 tempered, fidgety, bilious, and capricious old gen- 
 tlemen that ever left Bombay : valets innumera- 
 ble, submissive Indians, sly Italians, persevering 
 Scots, sharp Irishmen, patient French, had all 
 tried in vain to please General Cartwright, and 
 departed with broken heads and baffled purpose. 
 
 Of all who had ever approached him, the only 
 person who possessed sufficient hardihood and 
 management combined, to preserve his good 
 graces for more than two months, was Lady 
 Mardiston. With her " sacred hunger of gold" he 
 had coquetted for a year and a half; and once,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 131 
 
 when she had the dexterity to persuade him 
 that a dish of " Pish-pash" (or rice and chicken) 
 
 which he d d his cook for having over-salted, 
 
 was not salt enough, and actually added more of 
 the condiment, assuring him it would be im- 
 proved by the addition, he was so pleased by 
 this novel treatment of his assertion, that he 
 presented her with a large sapphire, and soon 
 after invited her to accompany him to Nice, 
 where he meant to spend tiie ensuing autumn 
 and winter. She had eagerly closed with an offer 
 that would not have afforded as much pleasure 
 to any one else, and the engagement was to call 
 her from Fan over in three days. 
 
 She could not in the present case take her 
 brother with her, and she dared not caution 
 him against falling in love with Lady Maria, as 
 that precaution would in all probability have 
 contributed to its defeat; but she took him with 
 her in a little walk to air Blanchette, the day 
 before her departure, and after various desul- 
 tory remarks, a^ked if Lord Scdley had heard
 
 132 ' AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Olinda sing some particular air. On his reply 
 in the negative, she said — " Oh, then, do make 
 her play it for you ; she has a charming talent 
 for music — plays so much better than Lady 
 Maria, which I am very glad to know." 
 
 "And why, Pulcheria ?" said the simple lord. 
 
 " Why, you know I am anxious you should 
 excel in any talent you wish to acquire. You 
 are anxious about your music, and Lady Maria 
 said something that was so discouraging !'' 
 
 " Did she ? why she tells me — but what did 
 you hear her say ?" 
 
 " That she would not tell you so, but a man 
 could sing very few airs who had not above six 
 notes in his voice." 
 
 " Six notes ! You don't say so ! Well, 
 how very insincere she must be ! That 's very 
 good, by fTove ! Six notes ! How very insin- 
 cere of Lady Maria !'' 
 
 " I have observed," resumed Lady Mardis- 
 ton, " that she is not so frank as young people 
 generally are ; but about your music she must
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 133 
 
 be wrong, because Miss Vavasour (who is much 
 the best musician of the two) said, that she 
 wa* quite of a different opinion ; that with a 
 Httle more cultivation you would sing the most 
 agreeable second she had ever heard."' 
 
 " Well, that was good-natured of Miss Vava- 
 sour, and I should think she was the best 
 judge ; she plays very well. I must say, I am 
 surprised at Lady Maria." 
 
 " Don't take any notice of what I have told 
 you, Sedley ; it was not intended I should 
 overhear it, and I do not know why I repeat it 
 now."" 
 
 liady Mardiston departed, with the pleasure 
 of thinking she had sowed " deadly division " 
 between her brother and Lady Maria ; but her 
 care proved to have been needless, as that 
 young lady'*s father, being seized with a dan- 
 gerous fit of gout in the stomach, thought pro- 
 per to call lier home, and by that means dis- 
 persed one of Lady Mardiston''s terrors. 
 
 The day after Lady ^laria's departure,
 
 134 ALMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Olinda was proceeding to the fk)\ver-garden, 
 which was at some distance from the house, in- 
 tending a predatory incursion on the green- 
 house. In her walk she encountered Mr. Tho- 
 resby, without his hat, which made her look at 
 him with some surprise. He inquired whither 
 she was going, and begged leave to accompany 
 her : a request she could not well refuse, though 
 she by no means thought it would add to the 
 pleasure of the expedition. 
 
 They walked for some minutes in silence, 
 but from the diligent sighing of her companion 
 Olinda began to comprehend that he considered 
 himself in some distress or affliction ; yet his 
 eyes were as round and vacant as usual, his 
 cheeks as red, his hair as neatly curled, and 
 divided on one side. He was too poetical to 
 wear much neckcloth at any time, and on the 
 present occasion his collar was entirely open, 
 and a small black handkerchief loosely twisted 
 round his throat, arranged in the fashion of a
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 135 
 
 ship-wrecked mariner at Astley's, when he 
 swims ashore out of a pasteboard sea. 
 
 " Mr. Thoresby," said Olinda, " are you 
 aware you have forgotten your hat ?"" 
 
 *' Have I indeed, IMiss Vavasour !'" he re- 
 plied, in a melancholy and hollow tone ; *' have 
 I really ! How strange ! how like me ! But 
 you must forgive, and not wonder at any part 
 of my conduct. I am in a very peculiar state 
 of mind, 1 may say a most singular situation.*" 
 
 " What has happened ?" asked Olinda, be- 
 ginning to feel some curiosity. 
 
 Mr. Thoresby was silent for a moment, and 
 then heaved two of the deepest and most poeti- 
 cal sighs that ever were breathed in that county, 
 but spoke not even then. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said Olinda, " for 
 my indiscreet question;" surmising that Mr. 
 Thoresby would release his secret when he 
 found she made no further efl'ort to extract it. 
 
 Mr. Thoresby, after a very sliort pause, said,
 
 136 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " I know, Miss Vavasour, I may depend on 
 your discretion and prudence; but as other 
 persons are implicated in my confidence, allow 
 me to claim your secrecy. It is a relief to 
 discuss one's feelings with a friend like you." 
 
 At the recurrence of this phrase, Olinda 
 dreaded she should hear some further proof of 
 Mr. John Pounceford''s delinquencies. 
 
 Mr. Thoresby, however, continued. " I 
 must, besides your secrecy, claim your indul- 
 gence not to think me the vainest of men, when 
 revealing two discoveries I have made,— one, 
 highly painful tq a feeling heart ; the other, 
 the most exhilarating and transporting that in 
 other circumstances than mine, alas ! could be 
 made ; and I will ask you to communicate, as 
 a friend, your opinion of the line of conduct I 
 ought to pursue in a situation the most delicate 
 and embarrassing in which a man can be placed. 
 Ah ! Miss Vavasour, judge then what suffering 
 such a situation must cause to one whose feel- 
 ings are so acute, so tremblingly alive to every
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 137 
 
 species of emotion, as you must perceive mine 
 ever are. ' 
 
 " Undoubtedly, Miss Vavasour, you remem- 
 ber a blue satin port-feuille, and a few lines I 
 wrote on receiving it, when I imagined it 
 might be the gift of a person to whom I have 
 since become devotedly attached. I was mis- 
 taken ! and the melancholy truth was thus re- 
 vealed to me : — passing from the breakfast- room 
 the other morning, with the port-feuille in my 
 hand, I met old Mrs. Johnson, of the Vicar- 
 age, getting into her pony-chaise. I naturally 
 offered my arm, which she accepted, and seeing 
 the port-feuille, said, ' Ah ! Mr. Thoresby, 1 
 see what Lucy Boyd has given you; but I 
 won't tell Watson — I never make mischief 
 among lovers ;' — and the foolish old lady went 
 laughing to her pony-chaise, regardless of the 
 mortal stab she had given to my peace ! 
 
 " The blue satin book, then, is the gift of 
 Miss Boyd ! from which circumstance, and 
 other indications of preference wiiicli I have
 
 138 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 observed, though it does not become me to 
 mention them, I entertain the painful con- 
 viction that Miss Boyd has become partial to 
 the unhappy man before you !"" 
 
 " Partial to you ! Lucy Boyd ! Mr. Tho- 
 resby, believe me, you are quite — quite mis- 
 taken," said Olinda, aghast with surprise at 
 his vanity ; " surely you know that Lucy is 
 engaged to Mr. Watson?" 
 
 " I know Miss Boyd is engaged to Mr. 
 Watson," resumed the self-satisfied Mr. Tho- 
 resby, '' and I do not, I assure you, arraign 
 her general discretion and amiable character. 
 Young persons of your sex, Miss Vavasour, 
 are apt to regard any little advantages of 
 talent and exterior," added he, fixing his eyes 
 modestly on his boot, " with more favourable 
 interest than such trifles deserve. Mr. Wat- 
 son, though a deserving young man, is rather 
 undistinguished, and — and — it has been my 
 fortune to be much in the same society with 
 Miss Boyd for the last two years."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 139 
 
 " It is quite imp it is certainly a mis- 
 take, Mr. Thoresby, take my word for it,"' said 
 Olinda, enraged for her friend, and colouring. 
 
 " It is natural that you should say so, my 
 good Miss Vavasour, but my observations are 
 but too just. Remember, I am speaking to you 
 quite confidentially, and remember too that 
 
 " ' A maid unask'd may own a well-placed flame. 
 Not \o\m^ first, but loving 'ill, is shame.' 
 
 With regard to another, and still more agitat- 
 ing disclosure, I have to make " 
 
 " Heavens !" thought Olinda, " he is going 
 to tell me I am in love with him." 
 
 Mr. Thoresby paused — " The fact is," said 
 he, " that I was not presumptuous enough to 
 form any pretensions — to offer any mark of 
 attention to a person I infinitely and respect- 
 fully admired, [Olinda shuddered,] till a for- 
 tunate circumstance revealed to me that I was 
 most undeservedly preferred — [Olinda started] 
 Do you remember. Miss Vavasour, one evening 
 we were all dancing quadrilles, (the day of the
 
 140 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 breakfast,) Sir John Creswell had just pre- 
 sented the most beautiful moss-rose to Lady 
 Maria ; it somehow was broken a moment after, 
 and Lady Maria picking it up, said, ' There, 
 Mr. Thoresby, I make 3/0 w a present.'" 
 
 " And do you infer from this^^'' replied Olin- 
 da, " that Lady Maria loves you ?" 
 
 " My dear Miss Vavasour, words are nothing 
 on these occasions ; manner, expression is every 
 thing, and Lady Maria's expression was cer- 
 tainly very marked at that moment. I am the 
 last man in the world to flatter myself, but 'tis 
 impossible I should be mistaken." 
 
 Olinda was not as anxious to justify Lady 
 Maria as Lucy, and began to be much afraid 
 that any thing she might herself say, would 
 be construed as a proof of attachment ; there- 
 fore, when Mr. Thoresby again requested she 
 would advise him how to act in what he 
 persisted in calling his singularly embarrassing 
 situation, she recommended his remaining en- 
 tirely passive till he received some further
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 141 
 
 encouragement from Lady Maria ; and this 
 conversation brought them to tlie hall-door, 
 where they separated — Mr. Thoresby to ham- 
 mer out a sentimental sonnet ; and Olinda ran 
 up stairs to Lucy's room, to whom she recount- 
 ed the extraordinary scene, and both laughed 
 for some moments. 
 
 '' \Vhat a pity,'' said Lucy, " that Mrs. 
 Johnson should have told that I sent the port- 
 feuille ! he was almost certain that it came 
 from Lady Maria : — it was the only thing that 
 did not sell at our charity-sale ; and it was 
 such a good thought, sending it to him !"
 
 142 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 As for sailors — I don't admire 'em ; 
 
 I would not be a sailor's bride, 
 For in their courting, they 're still discoursing 
 
 Of things consarning the ocean wide. 
 
 Ballad. 
 
 I BEG to dissent entirely from the quatrain 
 that heads my chapter, as I do most heartily 
 admire and respect that frank- hear ted, generous, 
 and friendly body of men, who are more ready 
 than any of our fellow creatures to offer dis- 
 interested kindness to any one who stands in 
 need of it. 
 
 Of this respected brotherhood a member now 
 arrived at Fanover, named Captain Aubrey. 
 He was young, good-looking, sensible, and pos-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 143 
 
 sessed an estate affording an income of 2000/. 
 a-year ; he had, among other good qualities, 
 that singular facility in falhng in love which we 
 have often heard is ascribed to his profession ; 
 and he had a singular facility in falling out of 
 love, which may be seen in a great many pro- 
 fessions. 
 
 He had not been many days at the Castle be- 
 fore he testified a very marked interest in Olinda. 
 This predilection was viewed in a very different 
 light by various members of the society then 
 at Fanover. Lord Portbury highly approved 
 of the probable estabHshment it opened to 
 Olinda. To Lady Portbury, who considered 
 every condition that did not offer immense 
 wealth as abject penury, and marriage as a 
 kind of barter, it seemed that Captain Aubrey 
 was not worth marrying, and that if Ohnda 
 accepted him, it w^ould be like risquing your 
 whole fortune in a lottery wliere there were 
 but small prizes. She computed the value of 
 Olinda's eyes and complexion in the matri-
 
 144 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 monial tariff, and thought that to give them 
 2000/. a-year was absolute waste. 
 
 Lucy Boyd, on the other hand, was eager Tor 
 Captain Aubrey's success ; she saw no objection 
 that could reasonably be made to himself, and 
 justly considered his situation would afford all 
 the real comforts of life : why should Olinda 
 wish for more ? 
 
 But the person who appeared the most ca- 
 pricious, unfair, and ill-judging on this occa- 
 sion, was Preston Fleetwood. When Captain 
 Aubrey first arrived, Mr. Fleetwood not only 
 approved of and praised him, but talked more 
 with and to him than he had done with any 
 other of the guests, and he rather engaged him 
 in conversation with the young ladies. After 
 Captain Aubrey had improved his acquaintance 
 with them, however, and grew to distinguish 
 Olinda, Fleetwood became more cold to him, 
 and more distant to her ; and as* things pro- 
 ceeded, his coldness increased to avoidance, and 
 his distance deo:enerated into ill-humour.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 145 
 
 Olinda was vexed ; but Captain Aubrey was 
 too much occupied with his present pursuit to 
 observe how it affected Fleetwood. Ohnda did 
 not feel disposed to like Captain Aubrey more 
 thctn as an acquaintance ; her present existence 
 (now that Lad}' Portbury had recovered her 
 good-humour) was agreeable enough. At 
 eighteen, people are rarely very anxious about 
 the future ; she did not, therefore, see why she 
 should marry at all then ; and at the bottom of 
 her heart there lurked a suspicion that Fleet- 
 wood did, or would love her, and a kind of 
 confused expectation that he would either get a 
 prize in the lottery, be made Prime Minister, 
 lind a mine, be adopted by some childless duke, 
 or turn out to be somebody ""s son ; in short, 
 become rich and great by some of those short 
 ])rocesses by which novelists make all things 
 easy in the concluding chapters of their instruc- 
 tive works. Wiiere the heroes and heroines 
 are separated, it is onlv to live m elegant 
 and wealthy discontent; you may obseive thev 
 
 VOL. I, II
 
 146 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 never require parochial relief, or are passed to 
 their respective parishes. 
 
 Thus the romance which had grown up with 
 OHnda in her early solitude, strangely combined 
 with the vanity and worldliness acquired in her 
 short experience of London and Fanover. She 
 resolved not to marry Captain Aubrey, should 
 he propose ; but as it was rather entertaining to 
 be flattered and admired, particularly in Fleet- 
 wood's presence, and a means of setting him a 
 good example, she could not bring herself to 
 perform the duty of showing Captain Aubrey 
 betimes that he was sure of rejection, and ac- 
 tually by her soft manner and captivation pre- 
 pense, led him to believe that he had a fair 
 chance of success. 
 
 This was very wrong : but Olinda had not 
 received either wholesome counsel or good ex- 
 ample on these subjects since she had lived 
 in the world ; and while under the protec- 
 tion of her mother, Mrs. Vavasour had con- 
 sidered her as too young to discuss such topics
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 147 
 
 with, and had, therefore, reserved lier advice 
 upon them, (as parents frequently do,) for 
 a time — that never was to come. 
 
 If, therefore, you cannot take an interest 
 in persons of faulty conduct and erring judg- 
 ment, I fear you will be but disappointed 
 in your " Aims" and my " Ends."" Have a 
 little patience with Olinda, then : time and 
 experience may yet do something for her, and 
 if not 
 
 " See how the world its votaries rewards." 
 
 " Olinda,"'' said Miss Boyd one day, " do 
 tell me, do you mean to accept Captain Au- 
 brey when he proposes ? Have you quite made 
 up your mind ? I hope so, I am sure.""* 
 
 " I think I have made up my mind, Lucy ; 
 but I assure you it is ' t'other way — t'other 
 way." The man ""s a good man, but I cannot 
 resolve to marry him. Just consider : marry- 
 ing is a serious matter. You have had time 
 to make up your mind — to know Mr. Wat- 
 II 2
 
 148 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 son — to think how you will live afterwards. 
 Then Lady Portbury says it would be a very 
 foolish thing to do ; that we should" be very 
 uncomfortable, and not have enough to live 
 on. She says it would be the silliest thing 
 in the world.'' 
 
 '" If you really do not like him, you are 
 quite right not to marry him. If your prin- 
 cipal objection arises from not knowing him 
 sufficiently to decide whether his character will 
 suit you, I dare say he would gladly agree 
 to give you time to know it better. But, 
 dear Olinda, do you think Lady Portbury, 
 who spends so much, and has so much to 
 spend — do you think her a judge of what 
 would be sufficient for you or me ^ We have 
 both been used to a very moderate scale of 
 expense. The price of the bracelet she bought 
 last, would dress either of us handsomely for 
 a year ; and an income that would seem poverty 
 to her, might include every rational comfort 
 in life.''
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 149 
 
 " What you say, Lucy, is very true, and 
 I should have said the same, if I said what 
 it is right to think, and what I should have 
 tliought before I lived in the world; but since 
 I have seen what it is to be a fine lady, I 
 honestly own I should prefer it infinitely to 
 living quietly and economically as you intend 
 to do. When I was at home I seemed to have 
 every thing I wanted, because I had never 
 seen the splendours and gaiety of the world, or 
 the position of the rich in it ; I did not know 
 then, what is now quite obvious, that there is 
 something ridiculous in being poor !"" 
 
 " Ridiculous, Olinda ! I cannot understand 
 you." 
 
 " I mean that I should in a certain degree 
 feel mortified by having my door opened by 
 a maid covered with soap-suds and her caj) 
 awry, instead of a smart porter. Don't you 
 remember when we called at INIr. Spriggins'*s 
 door, how I^ady Portbury laughed with Sir 
 George Hanbury ?''''
 
 150 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 '* Yes,"" said Lucy ; " and another instance of 
 the same sort which you may remember, was 
 the mirth occasioned in the breakfast-room by 
 Mrs Johnson's shabby pony-chaise when Wat- 
 son drove me to the vicarage. While I was 
 arranging myself and cloak in it, we heard 
 every word they said. Now, Olinda, you 
 wotdd have been vexed." 
 
 Olinda coloured and hesitated ; she feared 
 Lucy would be mortified by her confessing 
 the truth. 
 
 " Well," said Lucy, " Watson and I only 
 laughed : and he said, ' How things go by com- 
 parison; poor old Mrs. Johnson thinks this 
 a very distinguished equipage, and you, Lucy, 
 will not have a better one when we take pos- 
 session of the parsonage ; yet we are very com- 
 fortable in it, and are kept as completely from 
 the wet road as if we had a carriage as gay 
 as Cinderella's transformed melon.' And now, 
 Olinda, I will say something that sounds both 
 ill-natured and ungrateful to a person who is
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 151 
 
 the best friend I have, but it is only to you in 
 confidence, and for your good. Suppose you 
 were driving from this great hall-door with 
 Preston Fleetwood in such a carriage, — Lord 
 Portbury's guests laugh, and you are mortified, 
 though you are with the cleverest, the most 
 agreeable, and (personally) the most distin- 
 guished man at Fanover. Suppose yourself, 
 after driving in Lady Portbury's beautiful car- 
 riage as its mistress, to hear its master talk, — 
 as poor Lord Portbury always talks, as half the 
 men we see talk, — should you not feel that a 
 humiliation?'' 
 
 " Yes, certainly !"" said Olinda. 
 
 " And which do you consider as the most 
 legitimate and durable cause of mortification ?" 
 
 " Undoubtedly, to have a husband of whom 
 I should be ashamed." 
 
 " Then, dear Olinda, if hereafter you find 
 that you cannot have both the carriage and the 
 man to suit you, remember which is the most 
 necessary to happiness."
 
 152 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " Yes," said Olinda, " you are right, and it 
 is only at some moments in the day, while I 
 hear and see these people, that their way of 
 thinking acts upon my mind." 
 
 But it was not Olinda's fate to hear the same 
 doctrine from all her friends ; the next day she 
 was summoned to Lady Portbury's dressing- 
 room. 
 
 " She of that Peri cell the sprite," 
 was working the third row of a bead-purse, 
 which had been her most arduous task since her 
 arrival from the country. From time to time 
 she regarded the well-flounced Mrs. Shuldham, 
 who was arranging a wig upon a wig-block, 
 in various braids, and puffs, and ringlets, in 
 order to choose a mode in which Lady Port- 
 bury's own hair should be dressed at dinner- 
 time. 
 
 None of the methods pleased the destined 
 wearer, who at last said, " Well, Shuldham, 
 you may go ; I want to talk to Miss Vavasour. 
 Olinda, I want to talk to you seriously, and I
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 153 
 
 never can find a minute; I never know what 
 leisure is. By the way, do you think that would 
 be a becoming way of doing my hair ? I can't 
 think it ; the hair is too much off the forehead ; 
 it does for dark women who have a great deal of 
 shade about the eyes, but I am too fair for it. 
 Shuldham has no imagination ; she goes on 
 always in the same way ; it is so tiresome ! 
 shocking ! to be obliged to spend all my time 
 in settling how I am to be dressed. Ah, if I 
 could have kept Eulalie ! it was too beautiful 
 the way she dressed hair ; nobody ever had 
 such a little perfection of a maid.'' 
 " How did you happen to lose her ?"" 
 " Oh, though she was charming, she had 
 some faults ! You know every one has, and 
 must have, some little fault ; and Eulalie had 
 ways : — she used to steal my trinkets, and wear 
 my clothes, and, poor creature, she spoke not a 
 single word of truth ; and I could not keep a 
 sovereign in my purse, she was so apt to take 
 money ; besides, she was very pretty, and ;d lowed 
 n ;j
 
 154 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 all the men to make love to her : — but the way 
 she dressed hair ! and such trimmings as she 
 used to invent ! Ah, I shall never again be 
 as well dressed as when she lived with me, poor 
 thing. And she was so attached to me : if my 
 gown did not sit properly, she was in despair ; 
 if my hair did not curl, or I looked ill, I was 
 obliged to console Eulalie — she was so affec- 
 tionate ; — a little hot-tempered, as all kind- 
 hearted people are ; and those horrid cold Eng- 
 lish servants made such a fuss, because she one 
 day ran at the French cook with a knife : he was 
 her lover, or something. 
 
 " That was the only time I ever saw Lord 
 Portbury absolutely disobliging ; and Sprig- 
 gins, the agent, bored me to death, by talking 
 all sorts of nonsense to him. Now I said ' It's 
 all very well for you, Lord Portbury, who are 
 growing bald, and for Spriggins, in his brown 
 scratch wig, to talk of honesty and virtue, and 
 all that kind of thing, very properly, because 
 hair-dressing cannot signify to you ; but to me
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 155 
 
 it is of the last consequence ; and if you brought 
 me a saint instead of Eulalie, of what use would 
 she be, if she could not dress hair ?' 
 
 " Is not that the half-hour bell ? Heavens ! 
 is it not dreadful never to have a moment's 
 peace ? I am torn to pieces for want of time, 
 and I have quantities of things to say to you, 
 Olinda, and advice to give you, but the hurry 
 and struggle I live in is too much for human 
 strength : ring for Shuldham, my dear : what 
 would I give not to be married to a punctual 
 man ! Well, Shuldham, is that the dinner- 
 bell ? is it half-past seven ?"" 
 
 " No, my Lady, it is the hall-door bell ; 
 your Ladyship has an hour and a quarter to 
 dinner yet : my Lord is not come home." 
 
 " Ah ! well then you may go down, and 
 return when Miss Vavasour goes. What was 
 I saying ? — oh ! I wanted to tell you that I am 
 quite certain Captain Aubrey will propose : 1 
 hope you do not mean to marry him, Olinda f''' 
 
 To this incjuiry Olinda replied by disclaim-
 
 156 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 ing the expectation of a proposal, this being 
 the rule in similar cases : but Lady Portbury 
 said : — 
 
 ''Nonsense, OUnda; you see he will; — but 
 do not marry him ; it would be excessively 
 foolish. You will have twenty better oppor- 
 tunities of marrying. He is quite poor. There 
 is nothing so melancholy as marrying with 
 what 's called a competence.'''' 
 
 " I do not wish or intend to marry Cap- 
 tain Aubrey, though I did not know he was 
 poor: I thought he had 2000/. or 3000/. 
 a-year." 
 
 " So he has; but you could hardly have 
 the commonest comfort on such an income." 
 
 " Lucy Boyd would call that riches." 
 
 " My dear Olinda, it would be riches to 
 her ; and so it should be : but any thing is 
 good enough for Lucy. She is quite a plain 
 girl, and rather vulgar-looking ; of course, 
 she can only expect to marry some horreur 
 of a man. But you, who are so handsome,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 157 
 
 and look so distinguished, you ought not to 
 think of making a poking match, like Lucy. 
 Von ought to marry ivell. Every body thinks 
 well of themselves. I dare say Lucy thinks 
 Mr. Watson, or somebody of the same sort, 
 would be a very suitable husband for you ; 
 but just look in the glass, and see if Lucy 
 and you ought to have the same expectations." 
 
 Here Lady Portbury set the example, and 
 Olinda wilhngly profited by it. Both ladies 
 fixed their eyes on the glass, and remained 
 lost in that agreeable contemplation for some 
 minutes, when Lady Portbury resumed the 
 subject, and talked with such contempt and 
 ridicule of all humble plans and prospects, 
 and in particular those of Miss Boyd, that 
 Olinda departed, on Mrs. Shuldhanrs third 
 avatar, convinced that Lucy, though an ex- 
 cellent and sensible young woman, and a sincere 
 friend, had formed too humble an estimate 
 of what ought to be the views of a beauty ; 
 and she internally acceded to the jiosition, that
 
 158 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 persons invested with that dignity ought to 
 marry rich peers, — unless, indeed, it should 
 prove practicable to tame and bind Preston 
 Fleetwood, in which case an exception might 
 be found to the rule. 
 
 This benevolent speculation, however, re- 
 ceived a considerable check when Miss Va- 
 vasour encountered its object. To the eye 
 of the uninterested, a man often seems in his 
 ordinary state of mind, when, to those who 
 think it worth their while to study his coun- 
 tenance, a slight curve of the brow — an in- 
 solent independence about his chin— a sneering 
 contraction of the nose, may give the world 
 assurance that the gentleman is seriously af- 
 fronted, indignant, and prepared for war. 
 
 No sooner had Olinda caught a glimpse of 
 Fleetwood in the drawing-room, than she said 
 mentally : — 
 
 I do spy 
 
 Danger and disobedience in thine eye." 
 
 For all the portentous indications I have enu-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 159 
 
 merated were depicted in the most flagrant 
 distinctness. What was to be done ? She had 
 entered the room full of conciliatory intentions, 
 in a " very holiday humour," as Rosalind says, 
 and here was this perverse man fighting against 
 his own cause. 
 
 All that a young lady can do, (consistent 
 with the dignity of a beauty,) Olinda did do, 
 to disperse the thunder-cloud, but without 
 success : indeed, a number of small overtures 
 for peace failed, from tlie dextrous manner 
 in which Mr. Fleetwood kept himself aloof, 
 from his great attention to every member of 
 tlic society, from Lady Portbury to the lap- 
 dog, Olinda being the only exception. The 
 enemy would not even treat of peace ! 
 
 Captain Aubrey, on the contrary, was very 
 assiduous, and in high spirits ; and the rest 
 of the company saw nothing of the pantomime 
 thus acted before them, except Miss Boyd, 
 who, from her sincere attachment to OHikUi, 
 witnessed the whole with dec)-) interest.
 
 160 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 In the evening, some hopes might be formed 
 of an armistice between the belligerent powers. 
 Captain Aubrey was called to the card-table 
 by Lady Portbury, who saw his continued 
 proximity to Miss Vavasour with some dis- 
 approbation ; and Olinda sat down by the fire, 
 which had now been, for some days, the orna- 
 ment of the drawing-room of an evening, — 
 for an ornament it is at all times, and even 
 when the heat of the weather compels us to 
 relinquish it, something always seems wanting 
 to the apartment. 
 
 Fleetwood suddenly drew near on some 
 trifling pretext, and remained talking on in- 
 different subjects. Captain Aubrey's name 
 having occurred in the conversation, he spoke 
 of that gentleman with some ill-humour, and 
 ridiculed an opinion he had expressed. 
 
 Ohnda by this time found her patience ra- 
 pidly diminishing, and her choler induced her 
 to defend Captain Aubrey, adding, " I must 
 say, Mr. Fleetwood, 1 never saw any person so
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 161 
 
 capricious and changeable as you are. When 
 Captain Aubrey first arrived, you did nothing 
 but praise him, and press us all to be ac([uaint- 
 ed with him ; now that we all know and like 
 him, you take every opportunity of finding fault 
 and laughing at him : do explain this." 
 
 Fleetwood did not answer for some moments; 
 at last he said, '^ I wish, Miss Vavasour, to be 
 an example of candour, as I am of every other 
 merit; and, in pursuance of that laudable 
 design, must confess, that it was simply ill- 
 humour — a kind of bilious affection of the 
 mind, which has made me latterly unjust to 
 Aubrey, whose character and societ}', in cold 
 blood and impartial humour, I esteem anil 
 like ; but he need not break my head, for I 
 reform from this minute, like the hero of a 
 comedy in the last act." 
 
 " I had no idea," replied Olinda, " of the 
 power of my rebuke; but I a»n delighted to 
 have drawn forth your recantation, and it 
 will give me (piite a taste for re})rehen>i()n in
 
 162 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 future, having found it so effectual on the 
 present occasion.*" 
 
 Fleetwood continued to speak of Aubrey, 
 and not only made amends for his past injus- 
 tice, but talked at last with absolute par- 
 tiality of him, and appeared to have entirely 
 vanquished the evil spirit that had possessed 
 him in the early part of the evening. When 
 Aubrey returned to his post by Olinda's side, 
 Fleetwood immediately yielded it, and retired 
 with great good-humour. 
 
 Those at all disposed to interest themselves 
 in Olinda's walks, had all learned that she 
 daily sought to bring a nosegay from the green- 
 house to wear in her hair and bosom in the 
 evening ; therefore Captain Aubrey had no 
 difficulty in finding her, on the following 
 afternoon, as she returned loaded with China- 
 roses. 
 
 He took that opportunity of making his 
 proposal, with the details of which I shall 
 not trouble you more fully, because he said
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 163 
 
 nothing very new and brilliant, though he ex- 
 pressed himself very prettily ; and a man in 
 earnest (if he is not a fool) is always elo- 
 quent upon any subject that interests him 
 deeply. But nobody cares to hear tliese sort 
 of professions at second-hand ; and I repeat, 
 Captain Aubrey said nothing but what you, 
 my dear Sir, have said, perhaps very often — 
 though I hope you received a more favoupble 
 reply, because that elicited from Olinda was 
 a decided rejection, whicli though politely 
 expressed, witli downcast eyes and blushing 
 cheeks, while she pulled three of her finest 
 China roses to pieces, still it was decided ; so 
 much so, that the gentleman was convinced it 
 would be of no use to return to the charge 
 on some future opportunity. Therefore, when 
 they reached the hall-door, each bowed ; Olinda 
 ran up-stairs in some trepidation, and Captain 
 Aubrey returned to the grounds, and afterwards 
 to the Park, where he walked till the first 
 dinner-bell ranj;.
 
 164 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Olinda took off her bonnet and sat down. 
 Just then, Lucy bearing a gown on her arm, 
 entered, saying, " Olinda, how shall I have 
 the sleeve trimmed? this way ? — or so?"— and 
 then proceeded to state the pour et contre of 
 each arrangement ; to which ]Miss Vavasour 
 made no reply. Lucy repeated her question, 
 amplifying her former address, and standing 
 in the attitude of expecting an answer, which 
 at last compelled Olinda to say, mechanically, 
 
 " I — really — don't know." 
 
 " You do not know ! why, my dear, you 
 seem to have caught Mr. Thoresby's ' me- 
 lancholy^ abstraction.' You do not know ! 
 Oh, oh. Miss Vavasour ! I see something ; and 
 to save you the trouble of denying it — Captain 
 Aubrey has proposed : I see that. Now tell me 
 what was your reply, for that is all I am 
 curious to learn."" 
 
 " Since you have found me out, Lucy, my 
 reply was a civil no, which you might also 
 have guessed, as I was predetermined, and you
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 165 
 
 knew it. And I was thinking when you came 
 in, how disagreeable it is to say anything peo- 
 ple don't like to hear ; and how awkward it 
 will be to sit next him at dinner, and with tlie 
 fear of the company guessing as you did."' 
 
 " If you do not look conscious, and Captain 
 Aubrey behaves as usual, why should anybody 
 guess anything ?" 
 
 " Well, I hope they will not ; but you will 
 allow it will make the dinner uncomfortable." 
 
 The company assembled : Captain Aubrey 
 came last, and things went on pretty well, and 
 without any imusual appearance; but this was 
 because no person was curious on the matter, 
 except Mr. Fleetwood, and he, (the moment 
 he saw Captain Aubrey looking dark and dis- 
 contented, constrained and silent, and Olinda 
 with a heightened and fixed colour, and some- 
 thing in her manner to Aubrey which seemed 
 to beg his pardon for having tempted him to 
 waste his time,) directly guessed how matters 
 stood between tlie sailor and his " someti nje 
 love."'
 
 166 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 His conjectures were confirmed by Captain 
 Aubrey lamenting to Lady Portbury that 
 evening, that he had received letters which 
 would compel him to relinquish the great 
 pleasure he had hoped to enjoy in spending 
 another week at Fanover. Lady Portbury 
 combated this resolution with as much graceful 
 earnestness as if she had really wished his stay. 
 
 Lord Portbury recited above fifty parallel 
 cases, wherein visitors bent on departure, had 
 been prevailed upon to remain ; and concluded 
 his harangue by saying, " Olinda, is not this 
 shabby of Captain Aubrey to deprive us of 
 a whole week, which we considered we were 
 quite sure of? do help me to persuade Captain 
 Aubrey/' 
 
 Miss Vavasour was choked with horror at 
 the appeal, and desperately stammered some 
 sentences, she knew not what, which were in- 
 tended to seem as the echo of Lord Portbury 's; 
 but of course all entreaty was vain. 
 
 Another day, and Olinda had reason to think
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 167 
 
 that the walk to the green-house was becoming 
 a very popular promenade, for her expedition 
 was scarcely begun, when she was joined by 
 Preston Fleetwood. 
 
 " Miss Vavasour," said he, " I am very 
 much tempted to ask, if you have patience to 
 hear, not a justification of the apparent caprice 
 which prompted me to give two contrary 
 opinions of the same man in the same day, but 
 a frank confession of the feeling which caused 
 my injustice. Will you object to hearing me ?'' 
 
 " As I long since not only gave you leave to 
 speak your frank opinion on all subjects, to 
 advise and find fault, 1 am only surprised that 
 you think it necessary to apologize, and to go 
 through the form of again asking a permission 
 you had already obtained," replied Olinda. 
 
 " I wished, however, to have it distinctly 
 repeated, because I am going to speak with 
 a freedom that is very likely to disj)lease; I 
 very much wish to say several disagreeable 
 things."
 
 168 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " Well, I permit you to follow up this flat- 
 tering commencement." 
 
 " When I first asked your leave to become 
 adviser in ordinary, if I know myself, I was 
 only actuated by a sincere wish to be of use, 
 to supply to you the want of judicious friends, 
 of counsellors capable of taking just views of 
 life and human interests ; to which, without 
 any disrespect to your present protectors, they 
 are not competent. Even then, Olinda, I ob- 
 served your besetting sin was the fault of your 
 humour, and not of your understanding; va- 
 nity, boundless vanity, and the disposition to 
 coquetry, which it generally creates, makes you 
 dependent on those who surround you, subjects 
 you to understandings far inferior to your own, 
 and, to win opinions which are not worth hav- 
 ing, you would sacrifice your natural sense of 
 what is right and wrong."" 
 
 *' Thank you, Mr. Fleetwood, for your good 
 opinion. ""' 
 
 " I beseech you to attend to me seriously.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 169 
 
 I have your permission to offend. If tliis one 
 fault could be conquered, all your other qua- 
 lities deserve praise ; the total absence of envy 
 and design, your kind and generous feelings to 
 others, and care to avoid offending or grieving 
 them, the intelligence and good sense you show 
 on all other occasions, all combine to prove, 
 that if you were not vain, you would be per- 
 fect. 
 
 " So far I have spoken of your faults ; I 
 must now confess one of my own. I have for 
 some time been conscious that it is my heavy 
 misfortune to love you deeply, against all the 
 warnings of my reason, and the knowledge of 
 your character and my own, which give the 
 assurance, that such a feeling is of all others 
 adverse to peace and prudence. That would 
 have been only a misfortune, but it has in- 
 fluenced me to sin against justice and integritv 
 in endeavouring to prejudice you against other 
 men, particularly Aubrey, who deserves your 
 regard ; and I was hardly aware how far 1 had 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 yielded to my wish of crossing his interest till 
 you rebuked me yesterday ; but it has made me 
 resolve to be honest and just at the risk of in- 
 curring your ill-will. 
 
 " I have always believed that, however entire 
 frankness may displease, on reflection it is ap- 
 proved, and that every departure from it, 
 though from amiable motives, to spare the sen- 
 sibility, or to make advice and reprehension 
 palatable to others, somehow is afterwards pro- 
 ductive of evil. 
 
 ' For right before there is no precipice — 
 Fools tread aside, and so their footsteps miss.' 
 
 I tell you, therefore, Olinda, that you may 
 trust me when I give general advice, or opi- 
 nions respecting persons of your own sex ; but 
 you can no longer, I fear, rely on the view I 
 take of those men who try to win your affec- 
 tion : I cannot see them fairly.'" 
 
 " In spite, Mr. Fleetwood, of the pains you 
 liave taken to define your avowal of what
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 171 
 
 would have flattered me, I am flattered, and 
 veri/ vain oi your loving nie/'' 
 
 " So you would be of any other man's at- 
 tachment, Olinda." 
 
 " I do not think you have a right to say so. 
 Surely you cannot suppose I should have 
 listened so quietly, had any other person said 
 all the harsh things that you have spoken in 
 the last ten minutes ! You cannot suppose it ; 
 though, I confess, they do not seem so harsh to 
 me as you perhaps intended, because the fault 
 (if it is a fault) of wishing to please, does not 
 seem to me a very heinous one. I believe it is 
 common to all women, and to men also: it is 
 natural not to be indifferent to the opinion of 
 those who surround us."" 
 
 " No, it would not be desirable or right 
 that a woman should ever be so independent of 
 society ; it is not the wish to please I condemn, 
 but its intensity- -the wish to captivate, and 
 the pains you take to succeed at any expense.'' 
 
 They were here interrupted. People arc 
 I 2
 
 172 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 often long and frequently offended before they 
 quarrel, but having once quarrelled, the bat- 
 tle recurs perpetually. A lover is sometimes a 
 long time before he says he loves, but having 
 once said, he is very apt to repeat it. In spite 
 of the reluctant and almost reproachful profes- 
 sion of Fleetwood, it was not long ere he again 
 spoke of his attachment, and finding that he 
 was heard with patience, it soon became his 
 favourite topic of discussion with Olinda, and 
 her replies were gradually so satisfactory, that 
 he explained his situation as to pecuniary affairs. 
 It is a pity that those who begin by speaking 
 of love, cannot proceed without speaking of 
 money. 
 
 " So comes the reckoning when the banquet's o'er. 
 The dreadful reckoning ! — and men smile no more." 
 
 Fleetwood's situation was briefly this: for 
 the present he had only 300/. a-year, but he 
 was to possess an estate producing a clear 
 1000/. a-year, which came through the will
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 173 
 
 of an uncle, who had the whim of bequeath- 
 ing the use of the income, till Fleetwood 
 should attain the age of thirty-one, for the 
 benefit of some other relation. In one year 
 Fleetwood would be entitled to take pos- 
 session, and he wished Olinda to become his 
 wife at that time. 
 
 Thirteen hundred a-year was a great falling 
 off from the high conceptions Olinda had been 
 encouraged to form when speculating on licr 
 possible destiny ; yet it is quite sufficient for 
 real and reasonable comfort ; and if you tell 
 me it is not so in your estimation, allow me 
 to retort, that he who thinks it is not, would 
 be a good deal puzzled to say what is. He 
 has lost himself in a vortex of unreasonable 
 wishes, " which beget one another like Jews,*' 
 as Congreve says ; and as many thousands 
 would find him wishing for more. 
 
 Fleetwood took great j)ains to explain to 
 Olinda the style of living that his future for- 
 tune would sustain, that she miirht form a dis-
 
 174 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 tinct idea of the situation she was choosing, 
 and know what she would not possess; and 
 she heard with perfect content and satisfaction 
 all the abridgement that marriage was to make 
 of the luxury and magnificence that surround- 
 ed her at Fanover. She was proud of Fleet- 
 wood and his talents — her lot seemed most 
 happy and glorious; in short, she loved him. 
 
 They agreed to wait some months before 
 they disclosed their engagement to Lord and 
 Lady Portbury, partly to please Olinda, who 
 thought it would make her situation awkward, 
 and partly to avoid the opposition that Lady 
 Portbury, at least, would offer to such a pro- 
 ject, which she wovdd think absolute madness 
 in Olinda. Fleetwood laid down a plan for 
 her studies, and made her promise to write 
 to him constantly ; and shortly after his pro- 
 fessional business recalled him to London. 
 
 Miss Vavasour sighed, as in duty bound, 
 and kept all his injunctions sacred — such as 
 reading several dry histories, and many other
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 175 
 
 books, which did not interest her, except as 
 enabling her to give him an account of the 
 contents, and the impression they made upon 
 her. In his replies he corrected her opinions, 
 and sometimes her grammar ; explained and 
 commented on various facts and passages, and 
 did, in fact, a great deal to the improvement 
 of her education. Fleetwood, however, had not 
 received a religious education ; his opinions 
 on that subject were sceptical at least ; con- 
 sequently higher motives for conduct than 
 prudence, propriety, and temporal advantage 
 suggest, he never adverted to, and the lessons 
 she had received in her youth grew every day 
 more faint in her mind. 
 
 It i ; not unusual for men of fashion to say 
 they make it a rule to attend the Church 
 when in the country, " in order to give their 
 servants and tenants a good example;" as if 
 their example in town went for nothing, antl 
 religion and piety were only to be thought of 
 at a " convenient season.'''' In compliance with
 
 176 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 these exalted ideas of duty. Lord Portbury 
 did with immense fuss give ** dreadful note of 
 early preparation" every Sunday morning, and, 
 heading all the inhabitants of Fanover that 
 could be pressed into the service, proceeded to 
 the Parish Church, from which, on his return, 
 he invited the clergyman to dinner, and not 
 unfrequently extracted Mr. Spriggins from the 
 large brick house opposite the church, where 
 there is a handsome iron-gate to the court, and 
 seven straight poplar-trees within it : you have 
 passed it a thousand times. 
 
 In this pious pilgrimage Lady Portbury did 
 not join above twice in the summer, when she 
 arrived about the time of reading the second 
 lesson, dressed in a pelisse of the first order, 
 and a bonnet emanating from Madame Her- 
 bault. All the females' eyes that had not been 
 open more than forty years were immediately 
 riveted on her and her bonnet ; and the hearts 
 appending to the eyes, (as in females they 
 generally do,) beat with tumultuous admira-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 1 i I 
 
 tion or envy, according to the prevailing dis- 
 position of the possessor. 
 
 If this scene took place around the crimson- 
 lined pew of Lady Portbury, a similar tempta- 
 tion was offered, in the gallery, from that which 
 contained the company from the housekeepers' 
 room at Fanover. While Lady Portbury 
 glided slowly up the middle aisle below, Mrs. 
 Shuldham seated herself with an authoritative 
 flounce in the gallery above, having rendered 
 her costume nearly a fac-simile of that exhibit- 
 ed by her lady, and was viewed with similar 
 feelings by a less distinguished audience. 
 These " angel visits'' were " so few and far 
 between," that their influence on the parish 
 was not diminished as they miglit liave been 
 by more frequent recurrence. 
 
 Of a Sunday evening Lord Portbury would 
 sometimes turn his head from the card-table to 
 say, " Come, Olinda, or come, Lucy, as it is 
 Sutidmj, give us a little sacrcel music." So 
 they began with *' Adeste Fideles'' and end- 
 i5
 
 178 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 ed with Moore's Melodies; Lord Portbury 
 concluding the day with an observation, 
 " that, in his idea, Sunday could not be 
 too strictly kept. I may be thought too 
 exact on these subjects, but it is the duty of 
 everybody at the head of a large family to 
 stem the torrent of vice and immorality which 
 is rapidly extending itself all over Europe. 
 In my idea. Church and State go hand-in- 
 hand ; touch one, you pull down the other. 
 I remember my grand-uncle, Sir Hildebrand 
 Sawyer, who was a very pious man, used to 
 say — by the by, the chapel at Sawyerby Hall 
 was lined with gilt leather, and it had an 
 excellent effect ; I hardly ever saw any thing 
 of the kind so handsome and suitable. It was 
 exceedingly impressive to see the chapel at 
 Sawyerby Hall ! Certainly it was a shameful 
 thing of my cousin. Sir John Sawyer, to part 
 with Sawyerby Hall ! When I first heard of 
 it, I rode over directly. The most wrong- 
 headed fellow ! — I talked to him for more
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 179 
 
 than three hours, without ceasing for an in- 
 stant — not for a single instant ! He fidgeted 
 a good deal, and sometimes cracked his whip : 
 at last he became quiet, and seemed attentive ; 
 and when I stopped, quite fatigued, to ask for 
 a glass of wine, do you know, he was fast 
 asleep ! — Spriggins, was not the land sold for 
 much less than its value to an Indian? — ab- 
 solutely a man of colour !" 
 
 " Dear Lord Portbury, let the girls pass J 
 I am sure t/iei/ will be without colour if we 
 don't go to bed. We were up late last night, 
 I am sure, and I have quantities of things 
 to do to-morrow." 
 
 The whole company blessed the timely in- 
 terruption, and hastened to their respective 
 couches.
 
 180 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 If when Lord Portbury thus attempted, as 
 he called it, " to stem the torrent of vice, &c.'" 
 by what he considered a strict observance of the 
 Sunday, his sacrifices were so little intrusive on 
 his general habits, it is not to be supposed that 
 those other six days of the week, which he con- 
 sidered might be lawfully dedicated to this 
 world's cares and pleasures, without any pious 
 interruption, were likely to call OHnda to se- 
 rious reflection. On the contrary, every circum- 
 stance of her present mode of living seemed so 
 independent of any world but the present one, 
 that there seemed no occasion to think of the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 181 
 
 future at all ; and it rarely happens that young 
 persons keep in mind for a length of time that 
 which all around them seem to forget, unless 
 they are of a more steady character than Olinda. 
 
 Lucy, to whom she had confided her engage- 
 ment, was very glad to see that 01inda''s future 
 was likely to be passed with a clever and ho- 
 nourable man, removed from the temptations of 
 fashion and wealth, yet affluent enough to com- 
 mand the comforts of life, and that degree of 
 liberty and leisure which is essential to its en- 
 joyment: she applauded her friend for having 
 selected the object of her real preference, instead 
 of being guided by the vanities of others, who 
 thought their friends ought only to be happy 
 with the baubles their own hearts are set on. 
 
 Lucy's choice had now been declared " a 
 settled thing." Mr. Watson had taken posses- 
 sion of the parsonage, had dug, drained, and 
 weeded, painted, glazed, and papered, and was 
 beginning the preparations for his bride's recep- 
 tion. Lucy had selected the materials for her
 
 182 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 very modest trousseau : that word, which in 
 general conveys the idea of laces, shawls, and 
 diamonds — of expense, indecision -and worry — 
 in this instance had required for its provision 
 little more than half the hundred pounds with 
 which Lord Portbury had presented Lucy for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Lady Portbury, for whose inspection Miss 
 Boyd had offered some of her more important 
 purchases, said little on the subject ; but when 
 alone with Olinda afterwards she exclaimed, 
 " Heavens, it is really too horrible ! After all, 
 Lucy Boyd on one side is well born. I am sure 
 it would be better even to have died an old 
 maid than to have made such a poking match. 
 The idea of being married in an English shawl ! 
 Really it 's quite disgraceful ! Why, Shuld- 
 ham would not be married in an English 
 shawl. Ring for Shuldham, Olinda; I will 
 prevent that wretched Lucy from doing any 
 thing so truly preposterous ; 1 will give her 
 one of mine."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 18^ 
 
 The shawls passed in review, and Lady Port- 
 bury selected one, and dismissed Shuldham ; 
 but continued to bewail Lucy's fate in the most 
 pitying manner, with an occasional dash of in- 
 dignation at Lord Portbury for not having said 
 at once, like Frederick of Prussia, when he 
 heard M. D'Argens was actually married, 
 " Oest line extravagance que je ne souffrirai 
 pas." 
 
 *' And her bonnet, Olinda ! she is going to 
 make her own wedding bonnet, poor creature ! 
 The idea of making one's own wedding bonnet ! 
 What is to become of her ? see what it is to be 
 ugly and vulgar-looking ! Not that Lucy is 
 ugly ; — and at least she might have married 
 General Toddle ; and he had made an immense 
 fortune in Lidia, and could not beat her as he 
 did his first two wives, because he is quite 
 perclus with the gout ; so she would have 
 had her own way in most things, and he is fullv 
 eighty-four : — I cannot think why she would not 
 marry General Toddle ?"
 
 184 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Miss Vavasour could not join in Lady Port- 
 bury's regret that Lucy had missed the oppor- 
 tunity of becoming Mrs. Toddle ; but the la- 
 ment grew more interesting when she said, 
 " Well, Olinda, at least you will not marry 
 some hoggish man one has never heard of; ijou 
 will have a different sort of establishment." 
 
 " Perhaps not,"*' said Olinda, blushing. 
 
 " Why," said Lady Portbury, *' you do not 
 mean to say you could endure such a fate ? 
 Think of looking to all the details of a small 
 house, doing all for one''s self that a house- 
 keeper should do, travelling in a stage-coach ; 
 there is no knowing all the horreurs that Lucy 
 will be compelled to endure." 
 
 Olinda felt an unpleasant sensation, and 
 thought of the moment when she should be 
 obliged to own her intention of becoming Mrs. 
 Fleetwood. How inexplicable it is, thought 
 she, that one may not be allowed to be content- 
 ed with one's own choice, but that everybody 
 expects his neighbour to see with his spectacles !
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 185 
 
 Lucy laughed when she heard liow thorough- 
 ly Lady Portbury despised her lot. " How- 
 ever," said she, " her contempt has produced a 
 gift that delights me, and which the poor cu- 
 rate's wife had no right to expect : I shall enjoy 
 having an Indian shawl, of all things. Pooi 
 Lady Portbury ! how very good-natured of her 
 to give it at a time when I know she scarce 
 considers me worthy to live !"'' 
 
 The day being fixed for Lucy's marriage. 
 Olinda was to attend her as bridesmaid, and 
 Lord Portbury to give her away. Old Mr. 
 Johnson was to perform the ceremony, his wife 
 to chaperon the ladies, the Clitheros to look on. 
 
 The whole proceeding was so repugnant to 
 Lady Portbury's feelings, that she never thought 
 of being present ; but had she been able to 
 master them, there were some particular objec- 
 tions which would have proved insurmountable. 
 The hour — could she have been at tlie ])arish 
 church at ten ? the bridegroom — a curate ! 
 — was she to stand by when Miss lioyd agreed
 
 186 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 to honour and obey a curate ? The company — 
 Chtheros and Johnsons — impossible ! It was 
 not to be thought of. 
 
 Lucy wished to have the ceremony as private 
 as possible, and the only other person invited 
 was Mr. Thoresby, who having been so long 
 and intimately known to both parties, and con- 
 sidered almost as part of the family at Fanover, 
 Mr. Watson had requested the pleasure of his 
 company, to the great embarrassment of that 
 sensitive person, who as usual had recourse to 
 Olinda for advice how to act in what he was 
 pleased to term " his embarrassing position." 
 
 '' Dear Mr. Thoresby," cried Olinda, " what 
 is your position ?"" 
 
 " Why, Miss Vavasour, poor Watson has 
 absolutely asked me to his wedding !" 
 
 " Well, you will come, of course."" 
 
 " That is precisely what I wished to consult 
 you upon. To a friend on whose dehcate sense 
 of propriety I can rely, who can feel what is 
 due to the sensibility of all parties, it is abso-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 187 
 
 lutely necessary I should appeal, that I may be 
 enabled to avoid wounding the heart of Miss 
 Boyd on so trying an occasion." 
 
 ** Oh, you may be quite certain that Mr. 
 Watson has consulted Lucy first, and I am 
 certain she can only feel satisfaction in the at- 
 tendance of an old friend like yourself.'' 
 
 " I beg your pardon. Miss Vavasour ; I 
 cannot have that cheering certainty. It is pain- 
 ful — it may perhaps seem vain in me to recall 
 to your mind a discovery, a most unpleasing 
 and fatal discovery I made some weeks since, of 
 the attachment that poor Miss Boyd felt — 
 towards — myself." 
 
 " Bless me, Mr. Thoresby, is it possible you 
 still retain that very odd fancy ! Do you, can 
 you suppose that Lucy, on the eve of marry- 
 ing a man of her own choice, could prefer 
 you .^" 
 
 Vainly did Olinda combat with the self-com- 
 placency of Mr. Thoresby to the ]as.t minute ; 
 she saw that in his own mind he had determined
 
 188 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 that Lucy had espoused Mr. Watson from no 
 higher interest than pique at his insensibility. 
 
 However, he was at last persuaded to attend 
 the marriage, as he had in fact always intended 
 to do ; for his communication with Olinda on 
 that subject was only made to procure an op- 
 portunity of deploring his own unfortunate at- 
 tractions. Indeed, he looked forward with much 
 pleasure to the peculiarities which he expected 
 would mark the bride's agitation when he made 
 his appearance, and the perplexity which he 
 made no doubt would in consequence be depict- 
 ed in the countenance of the bridegroom. 
 
 To the learned in the etiquette of bridal ce- 
 remony, it is well known, that if you are rich 
 and great, you must borrow a friend's house 
 in which to spend your honeymoon, to which 
 you depart in a chariot and four. 
 
 If you are a very private gentleman, you may 
 on that occasion go to see the Lakes in a chaise 
 and pair, instead of the former expensive and 
 distinguished arrangement ; and if you have
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 189 
 
 any luck, you will in your search after the pic- 
 turesque, stand in such heavy showers of rain, 
 in that land of the mountain and the flood, 
 that your bride will have an opportunity of 
 seeing as good a cascade from the brim of your 
 hat, as that which 
 
 " Comes down at Lodore," 
 
 and her new pelisse will close its short career 
 under the pelting of the pitiless storm. 
 
 There is a third approved method, of ad- 
 journing from the church to the inn at Salt 
 Hill, which is more favourable to your coat, 
 but less so to your pocket. 
 
 If you are a tradesman, it will be sufficient 
 to put on new topped-boots, and, taking the 
 bride and female party in smart array, proceed 
 to Hampton Court, where you may see the 
 Cartoons, and dine at the Toy ; making the 
 journey in a series of gigs and a glass-coacli. 
 
 But there are exceptions to every rule, and 
 !)y none of these expedients did the Watsons 
 celebrate their nuptials.
 
 190 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Lord Portbury''s carriage deposited them at 
 the vicarage, where they dined with Lucy's old 
 friends, and then departed to take possession 
 of the parsonage, in that identical pony-chaise 
 which has already been so often commemo- 
 rated. 
 
 Mr. Thoresby was much disappointed at the 
 quiet and matter-of-fact manner in which he was 
 received. He was furnished with a flacon de 
 sels musques, which he had designed to present 
 in case Lucy fainted ; bearing in mind Madame 
 de Genlis' assertion, that an Englishwoman in 
 affliction always holds a bottle of salts in her 
 hand. I confess I have witnessed such con- 
 solation sought by the mourner many years 
 since, but modern sensibility is contented with 
 a sprinkling of Eau de Cologne, and here there 
 was no need of either. 
 
 Lucy did not quit the protection of Lord 
 Portbury without offering an adieu full of 
 fervent gratitude ; and Lord Portbury bade 
 her adieu with much feeling and kindness,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 191 
 
 though it interrupted a story, or rather a 
 collection of stories, which he began to tell 
 at Fanover, and (only pausing while the mar- 
 riage and consequent adieus were taking place) 
 continued during the drive to and from the 
 vicarage ; so, though a large audience had the 
 first fruits of his discourse, (which only ended 
 on their return to Fanover,) the peroration was 
 the exclusive benefit of Olinda and Mr. Tho- 
 resby ; the first civilly exclaiming " No ! — 
 really! — dear me!" and other indications of 
 lady-like surprise and interest ; Mr. Thoresby 
 only contributing an occasional hem ! or ha ! 
 for he considered the space of his drive should 
 be devoted to the Muse; and he travelled 
 through the composition of half a sonnet with 
 tolerable comfort to himself, in spite of the 
 information Lord Portbury was pouring forth. 
 The marriage of Lucy was disadvantageous 
 to Olinda : she not only lost an amiable com- 
 panion, but the only person who thought sane- 
 ly and acted consequently ; who could neither
 
 192 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 be dazzled, laughed, or awed out of any opi- 
 nion or line of conduct she thought it right 
 to pursue ; the only counterweight to the egre- 
 gious folly and vanity of the rest of the society. 
 It would not be quite fair to consider Lucy 
 so entirely Olinda's superior as circumstances 
 sometimes made her appear. In scanning hu- 
 man merit, some charitable allowance must be 
 made for human temptation ; we should not 
 judge the opinions uttered by a friend who had 
 just drunk two bottles of champagne, with the 
 same scrutinizing severity as if his potation had 
 been spring-water ; and there are some qualities 
 which intoxicate the possessor more completely 
 than champagne, and unhappily there are no 
 intervals to sleep off this intoxication. What 
 the gift of beauty is in female eyes, we may 
 judge by the declaration ascribed to the woman 
 of our own time who indisputably was pos- 
 sessed of more talent than any one of her sex 
 could ever boast — " Je do?merois tout mon esprit 
 pour itre belle,''*
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 193 
 
 Fleetwood and Lucy being now removed, 
 Olinda was thrown more into conversation with 
 the rest of the society ; she talked more to the 
 men, and offended the young ladies more than 
 she had yet done. 
 
 The person most disposed to dislike Miss 
 Vavasour was Lady Maria : she became greatly 
 irritated, on this her second visit, to find Olinda 
 more e7i evidence than she had left her ; and 
 Sir John Creswell, whom Lady Portbury had 
 civilly invited as soon as she expected Lady 
 Maria, had relapsed into his original admi- 
 ration. 
 
 Men are fully as envious as women of each 
 other^s personal qualities, but I fear the softer 
 sex is the most spiteful ; not, perhaps, from 
 a taste for petty aggression, but from a posi- 
 tion in the world which limits their vengeance 
 to small injuries. 
 
 The first retaliation that occurred to Lady 
 Maria was a conteniptuous manner of treatinp- 
 Olinda as an inferior, which she would have 
 
 VOL. 1. k
 
 194 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 been too well-bred to have done unless greatly 
 irritated. Olinda was too good-humoured, and 
 too well satisfied with herself, to be angry. 
 She saw Lady Maria disliked her, and that 
 was all : she rather avoided talking to her, 
 but neither showed nor felt resentment. The 
 rival beauty grew more provoked, and more 
 ill-bred, and occasionally said things so rude, 
 and so angrily expressed, that Olinda caught 
 the infection, and began, in her turn, to feel 
 some enmity to her foe. 
 
 " Lady Maria shall find,"' said she, in- 
 ternally, " that her rudeness will not frighten 
 me from talking to Sir John C reswell ;*" and 
 she encouraged him to converse with her. He 
 was sensible of the effect, but did not see 
 the cause, of a complaisance which very much 
 flattered him : he therefore modestly attributed 
 to his own extraordinary merit the increased 
 attention with which Olinda received him, and, 
 in consequence, grew more in love with her and 
 with himself.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 195 
 
 Things were in this position, every body 
 breathing love or war, when one of the many 
 sketch-takers with which the house abounded, 
 produced a view of a ruin about ten miles off, 
 called Worgham Abbey, which struck every 
 body as the representation of a most beau- 
 tiful scene. Several of the company expressed 
 a wish to see it, and Lord Portbury proposed 
 they should make a party and dine there. 
 This was an alarming proposition to Lady 
 Portbury, who was a sworn enemy to rain, 
 dust, wind, and all elemental accidents : she 
 equally abhorred riding, walking, climbing, 
 staring for, rather than atj distant objects — 
 losing the party — whooping to call them, and 
 listening for their whooping reply. In short, 
 all the ills that a gipsy-party is " heir to,'' 
 rushed on her apprehensive mind, and filled 
 it with dismay. 
 
 Some of the gentlemen, as well as ladies, 
 sympathised in her alarms : but the house con- 
 tained so very large a party of restless young 
 K 2
 
 196 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 people, who were willing to go any where, 
 and eager to see any thing, that she made 
 up her mind, and desired the cook might pre- 
 pare innumerable fowls, lobster-salads, &c. for 
 the next afternoon ; and these rural necessaries, 
 with many others, were despatched to Worg- 
 ham Abbey early the next morning. The com- 
 pany were to follow in the afternoon. 
 
 All who have any experience in parties of 
 pleasure, know that three in a dozen of 
 its members, — say A. B. C. — consider it 
 a matter of vital importance to sit, eat, and 
 walk next D. E. and F. ; it is equally well 
 known, that G. H. I. may, from particu- 
 lar malice, or the rest of the alphabet from 
 accidental intervention, destroy this intended 
 felicity ; and that the least evil that ensues, will 
 be A. B. C. and D. E. F. continuing through 
 the day in that " mood of the mind'^ which 
 your femme de chamhre terms miff, a school- 
 boy calls huff, and ladies deem low spirits ; 
 which unfortunate depression is felt more or
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 197 
 
 less by the whole party : nay, there are the 
 collateral huffs, such as that of D.'s mamma, 
 who frets that her daughter has not the right 
 beau by her; of E.'s husband, who sees his 
 wife has got the wrong beau, &c. 
 
 Unfortunately, these untoward circumstances 
 must occur to human interests ; and we cannot 
 guarantee the party to Worgham Abbey from 
 its share of malcontents. 
 
 Though Lady Maria considered Lord Sedley 
 her main object, yet, as he preserved a sort 
 of neutrality between her and Olinda, and did 
 not yet appear to wish to marry, she con- 
 sidered the necessity for looking after Sir 
 John Creswell as more pressing and imme- 
 diate ; as when she had been last at Fanover 
 he seemed almost her property, and a lover 
 who seems escaping grows of immense value 
 in the eyes of a coquette. 
 
 The party were to be divided to fill various 
 vehicles. Lady Maria chose to go in the open 
 barouche with Lady Portbury, who, to oblige
 
 198 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 her, had arranged that Sir John was to drive 
 them. M. de St. Mirval, as an agreeable beau, 
 had an inside place ; and they took Mr. Danby, 
 because when he went in the same carriage 
 with his wife they were, apt to squabble, but 
 to all other women he was very attentive and 
 well-bred. 
 
 At three o'clock, when the company assem- 
 bled, and the carriages were prepared to start. 
 Sir John appeared, saying that he had hurt 
 his hand so much with a tennis-ball, that he 
 dared not offer to drive; but that Sedley was 
 so very desirous to take his place, that he 
 believed he must have bribed the tennis-ball : 
 his hand was bound up with a handkerchief. 
 
 He lamented his incapacity with such an 
 appearance of sincerity as satisfied Lady Port- 
 bury, who, not choosing to dispossess Mr. St. 
 Mirval and Mr. Danby, said, " But how are 
 you going then. Sir John ? we cannot do with- 
 out you :" to which he replied, " that he was 
 going in Thoresby's gig, who would drive 
 him."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 199 
 
 Lady Portbury was satisfied, and considered 
 that so important a substitute as Lord Sedley 
 would be considered as an ample amends to 
 Lady Maria. But the latter did not feel so 
 entirely contented : a certain preoccupation 
 which lurked in Sir John's manner, gave her 
 some slight distrust. She thought, too, that 
 he smiled and bowed with a suspicious alacrity, 
 for a man who felt disappointed. 
 
 The astute Sir John knew that Mr. Tho- 
 resby was at that moment engaged in driving 
 Mrs. Danby, and repeating his own verses to 
 her with so much onction, that it was lucky 
 for that lady's bones that the road to Worg- 
 ham Abbey presented no extraordinary dif- 
 ficulty. Sir John nimbly passing the gig, 
 ran to a jaunting-car, which contained Olinda 
 and some more young people ; he quickly 
 obtained a place next her, and secretly ap- 
 plauded his own s f avoir fair e. 
 
 Olinda saw a part, and guessed the rest of 
 what had happened ; she did not care for Sir 
 John Creswell, but the preference he had
 
 200 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 shown to her over Lady Maria extremely 
 pleased her. She tried to repay him by a 
 little tribute of flattery and attention, which 
 had its full effect. Sir John grew what is 
 technically called particular, and Olinda did 
 all that lay in her power to make him believe 
 that he was heard with pleasure and interest. 
 Yet she had no deeper design in so doing, 
 than to reward him for the triumph he had 
 procured her that day. 
 
 The party was extremely gay, and they 
 could hardly believe they had gone ten miles 
 when the ruins of Worgham Abbey first met 
 their eyes. 
 
 As the car was the most loaded, and the 
 least capable of speed of all the carriages em- 
 ployed on this occasion, it was the last that 
 arrived : the rest of the party had alighted, 
 and were rambling about. How can the dis- 
 may of Lady Maria be described ! Queen 
 Urraca, when she met the bones 
 " Of tlie friars live,"
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 201 
 
 whose appearance was to portend her own doom, 
 was infinitely less startled. Nay, " the friars 
 five," when they learned the decree of death 
 with which the " bloody Miramolin""* had re- 
 solved to close their pious labours, might have 
 heard it with more sang-froid than Lady Maria 
 saw Sir John hand Olinda from the jaunting- 
 car. 
 
 Now came the " tug of war." Lady Maria, 
 though in full beauty, and attended by Lord 
 Sedley, felt herself injured and oppressed ; and 
 Olinda was proportionably elated, yet took no 
 interest in Sir John himself; and even the 
 satisfaction she derived from his adulation only 
 arose from the proof it seemed to afford that 
 she was so much more charming than I^ady 
 Maria. The conviction raised her spirits so 
 much, that she bestowed some leisure moments 
 in flirting with Lord Sedley. 
 
 Lady IMaria had been too much an idol at 
 home and abroad to restrain her displeasure 
 within due bounds. She endeavoured to dis- 
 K .5
 
 202 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 tress her rival by a number of spiteful little 
 speeches, which those who seek are sure to 
 find, and vex Sir John by saying what she 
 thought most likely to mortify and irritate him : 
 in this undertaking she was more successful 
 than in her attack on Miss Vavasour. 
 
 As the temper of the latter was good, her 
 vanity intense, and entirely free from any mix- 
 ture of envy, her anger at Lady Maria was only 
 momentary, while actually sustaining some act 
 of aggression. 
 
 Sir John's mind was less happily constituted : 
 he sometimes grew ill-humoured, and on other 
 occasions was entirely disconcerted ; but the 
 chief result of Lady Maria's warfare against 
 him was a great dislike to her, which it gra- 
 dually produced, and though she saw its pro- 
 gress, she was not sufficiently mistress of her 
 temper to endeavour to avert it. 
 
 The members of the party to Worgham Ab- 
 bey were summoned to a grand debate, as to 
 which way the party should direct their steps
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and observation. Lady Portbury, and a few 
 of the least enterprising, arranged themselves 
 with sundry novels, newspapers, and telescopes, 
 in a large tent which had been prepared for 
 their accommodation. 
 
 While the servants prepared the dinner in 
 another, some of the young people went to 
 survey the ruins, and others had recourse to 
 the less humane and dignified expedient of fish- 
 ing in the little river which ran by the Abbey, 
 and were soon deep in the mysteries of flies and 
 gentles. 
 
 Mr. Danby was addicted to geology, and al- 
 ways carried a hammer and a blow-pipe about 
 with him. Now everybody knows that a geolo- 
 gist breaks a bit of every stone he passes near, 
 putting it carefully into his pocket, then in- 
 sisting that several ignorant friends (who do not 
 know chalk from granite) should tell him of 
 what each piece is composed ; after hearing 
 their ineffectual guesses with contemptuous 
 laughter, he sub/nils the stones to the blow-pipe,
 
 204 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and assures the admiring beholders, that they 
 are turned into a black slag ; which satisfies 
 every body at once, though the majority go 
 to their graves without knowing what slag 
 means. 
 
 Mr. Danby, in obedience to this scientific 
 passion, proceeded to break the stones about 
 the Abbey. Mrs. Danby stayed in the tent 
 with Lady Portbury, where she made several 
 yards of tatting ; while Mr. Thoresby re- 
 peated his own sonnets, and then sang songs 
 of his own composition, which the hsteners as- 
 sured him were much better than any of Mr. 
 Moore's — an assertion he thought was very just 
 and moderate praise. 
 
 Mrs. Danby was a very stupid woman, just 
 pretty enough to be heard with patience when 
 she talked of " unhappy unions,"" — "joined, not 
 matched," — incompatibility, insensibility, error 
 of destiny, &c. to men entirely desamvres. Hav- 
 ing found out that this topic was the most fa- 
 vourable to her style of eloquence, it was the
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 205 
 
 subject she was most fond of discussing, not so 
 much with females, old or young, or elderly 
 clergymen, but with those persons whose way 
 of thinking seemed to invite such intimate con- 
 fidence : these were generally young officers, 
 idle men about town, particularly those who 
 had, in her hearing, been called '' sad roues,'' 
 and reckoned " rather wild." 
 
 No sooner had she seen Mr. Thoresby's 
 guitar, heard half a stanza, and above all ob- 
 served the aspiring and poetic arrangement of his 
 open collar, than it seemed she beheld a volun- 
 teer Werter, and she enlisted him in her band 
 of confidants, and frequently enumerated Mr. 
 Danby's faults and her own virtues with great 
 pathos. He lent an attentive ear apparently, 
 and repaid her communication with sentiment 
 and metaphysics ; nay, he addressed a very 
 laborious elegy of twenty halting stanzas, — 
 " To an amiable Lady unhappily married,'" — 
 till a friend reminded him that it was very old- 
 fashioned to head his poem in this manner, as
 
 206 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 such an address enabled the reader to guess 
 what he was going to say, whereas, if the poem 
 
 is called " Elegy to /' you are obliged 
 
 to read it through before you can possibly 
 
 guess the nature of 's afflictions. Mr. 
 
 Thoresby adopted the advice of this critic with 
 many acknowledgements. 
 
 The party that chose to survey the ruins 
 consisted of some of the most youthful and 
 frisky of the chaperons, and all the maiden 
 belles of course : Lady Maria and Miss Vava- 
 sour were included ; and they proceeded in^ 
 inimical union to clamber through broken walls, 
 covered with ivy. Those who drew, expressed 
 their admiration of what appeared picturesque ; 
 those who were most dull, and therefore chose 
 to be witty, repeated all the ancient and com- 
 mon-place jests upon convents, monasteries, and 
 their inhabitants, which have been in use since 
 the Reformation, and perhaps before. 
 
 Lord Sedley wondered what sort of choir had
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. ^7 
 
 sung there, adding, " By Jove ! I should like 
 to have heard them sing.'' 
 
 Lady Maria said that she thought, after all, 
 it was a pity convents were done away with ; it 
 was certainly the best way of disposing of a 
 number of portionless girls who were always 
 in the way in England^ and as they could not 
 all be governesses and half-boarders in schools, 
 led an uncertain and disagreeable life as hum- 
 ble companions, and if they were at all pretty, 
 had their heads turned by the flattery of idle 
 and inconsiderate men, who, to pass away a 
 vacant hour, made no scruple of misleading the 
 poor things into thinking themselves goddesses, 
 and perhaps prevented them from accepting 
 matches in their own line, as tradesmen, at- 
 torneys, curates, &c. 
 
 The short and scornful laugh, flushed cheek, 
 and wandering eye which accompanied this 
 tirade, would have told a duller person than 
 Olinda that it was spoken solely for her bene-
 
 208 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 fit; she so understood it, but was only sur- 
 prised that Lady Maria could suffer her envy 
 to master her politeness so entirely. 
 
 Sir John Creswell, who now feared some 
 epigrammatic observation against himself when 
 Lady Maria spoke, listened uneasily, and dared 
 not answer; but Lord Sedley said, if all pa- 
 rents, friends, and guardians took care to have 
 girls so situated taught music properly, had 
 their voices cultivated, and made them perfect 
 mistresses of thorough bass, there could be 
 no difficulty in providing for them, as long as 
 there were so many theatres existing. 
 
 This he said in perfect innocence, but Lady 
 Maria, enchanted at what she thought an at- 
 tempt to second her in mortifying Olinda, 
 laughed triumphantly, and flushed still deeper, 
 little thinking that Lady Mardiston had, by 
 affirming that Lord Sedley's musical talents 
 were undervalued by Lady Maria, entirely 
 secured his heart from her attacks. 
 
 After a fatiguing walk, enlivened by many
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 209 
 
 ebullitions of ill-will, the party once more col- 
 lected in the tent, and hunger produced a 
 truce. 
 
 The scene was beautiful ; a bright autumnal 
 sun and mild air, plenty of cloaks and tippets, 
 allowed the ladies to gaze on the prospect with- 
 out shuddering with cold — a rare advantage in 
 the contemplation of English scenery ! 
 
 The table was long, and as Lady Maria and 
 Olinda were seated at the same side, though 
 with several persons between them. Sir John 
 had the comfort of not being under the eye 
 of the former, which enabled him to be gal- 
 lant with less restraint : he made several of 
 those vague and complimentary professions 
 which young ladies are not obliged to consider 
 as serious enough to be discouraged, and which 
 Olinda received with so flattered and flattering 
 a manner as might have misled a man less vain 
 than Sir Jolin Creswell. 
 
 Opposite to them sat Mrs. Danby and Mr. 
 Thoresby. She asked for some of the dish
 
 210 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 before them, adding, " Very much done, if you 
 please — only think of Mr. Danby liking every 
 thing quite raw ! I declare, I am quite starved 
 at home ; it is so very shocking to be obliged 
 to eat raw meat ! Now, Mr. Thoresby, would 
 you insist upon your wife eating every thing 
 quite raw ?" 
 
 Mr. Thoresby exclaimed with terror at the 
 bare supposition that females of refinement 
 could be treated with such indignity. Mrs. 
 Danby sighed and shook her head. 
 
 Soon after, somebody admired a phaeton 
 which had been among the carriages that 
 brought the company. Mrs. Danby exclaimed, 
 " Yes, that is a delightful carriage : I wish ours 
 was a phaeton ; but we have but one carriage ; 
 and only think of Mr. Danby, though he knows 
 I like a phaeton, he wiU always have a chariot ! 
 Now, Mr. Thoresby, would you insist upon 
 your wife always having a chariot ?'''' 
 
 Mr. Thoresby started, and would not dis- 
 burthen his fork of some cold lamb then sus-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 211 
 
 pended on it, till he had expressed his un- 
 qualified abhorrence of such unexampled ty- 
 ranny; adding, " that were he fortunate enough 
 to be a married man, he should only consider 
 himself, and desire to be considered, as the most 
 devoted of his wife's servants.'' Mrs. Danby 
 sighed and shook her head. 
 
 She took Mr. Thoresby's opinion on several 
 more of Mr. Danby*s faults, and received an 
 asseveration that he was perfectly free from 
 similar errors. > 
 
 Meanwhile it was surprising to see how Sir 
 John's attentions grew more marked, and 
 Olinda's manner of receiving them more gra- 
 cious; yet she looked no farther than the 
 present moment, and wished him to admire, 
 perhaps to love, but had not an idea of his 
 proposing, and was herself determined to marry 
 Fleetwood. 
 
 I will not record Sir John's pretty speeches, 
 because they were not a jot better than those 
 Captaip. Aubrey had spoken a short tunc since,
 
 212 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 perhaps not so good ; but they were new, and 
 therefore welcome. In the midst of a rather 
 encouraging and flattering reply from the lady, 
 she raised her eyes to behold whom Lord Port- 
 bury was greeting as a new accession to the 
 company, and beheld — Fleetwood, who she saw 
 had already taken a survey of the party, and 
 was perfectly aware of the nature of her present 
 entertainment. 
 
 Vermilion, lake, madder, carmine, and every 
 other shade and sort of known and unknown 
 red, are pale to the varieties in the long and 
 painful blush which this discovery forced into 
 Olinda's fair cheek : she was angry at her 
 own coquetry ; she was angry at Sir John for 
 exciting it, and with Fleetwood for being a 
 witness to it. Fleetwood, being a very dark 
 and pale man, could not conveniently blush, but 
 a little spot of dusky-orange appeared on his 
 cheek, as the nearest approach to that process 
 which anger could produce, and his eye gleamed 
 all manner of dark threats at the self-condemned
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 213 
 
 Olinda. Her gaiety evaporated directly, and 
 Sir John found her much less agreeable and 
 animated than he had hitherto seen her. Mean- 
 while, Fleetwood paid his compliments to the 
 more important married ladies of the company, 
 and explained his unexpected visit as proceed- 
 ing from a journey on business, from which he 
 was returning, and finding he was not far from 
 Fanover, he could not refuse himself the plea- 
 sure, &c. He was very kindly received by Lord 
 and Lady Portbury, who prevailed on hiin to 
 stop for a few days. 
 
 In due time he approached Olinda, and ad- 
 dressed her with divers sarcastic compliments 
 on the benefit her looks had derived from the 
 quiet repose of the country. 
 
 After a dinner, pleasant to some, and endless 
 to others, as is the case in most large parties ; 
 after much champagne and many moderate 
 jokes, and less tlian moderate puns, from those 
 who undertook to ])rovide wit for the rest ; 
 after duetts sung by some who had voices, and
 
 2i4f AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 some who had not, the whole company ascend- 
 ed their respective carriages, and the jaunting- 
 car, which had been the most triumphal car 
 in coming found its contents infinitely more 
 pensive and reserved when returning to Fan- 
 over.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 215 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 It availed little to Olihda to receive Sir 
 John CreswelFs attentions with indifference 
 now, her previous encouragement had done so 
 much to satisfying his vanity, that her change 
 of manner was hardly observed. Vainly did she 
 vow, if she could once civilly rid herself of this 
 man, never again to suffer the least spark of 
 coquetry to appear in her manner in future, to 
 behave with the utmost simplicity and reserve, 
 never to give Fleetwood the slightest reason to 
 find fault. Meanwhile, she saw she must en- 
 counter a lecture from him ; and her apprehen- 
 sions were well founded.
 
 216 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Fleetwood began by setting before her the 
 impropriety of endeavouring to attract and en- 
 gage those over whom she had not any real 
 design, at the time she was affianced to him ; he 
 repeated with great force and truth, all that 
 has ever been said on this subject, and if any 
 thing had hitherto remained unsaid, I believe 
 he brought it forward on this occasion. Had 
 that been all, he would have done well ; but as 
 people who Teprove, are apt to grow irritated 
 by the bare enumeration of the offender's delin- 
 quencies, he grew angry ; and after beginning as 
 a sensible friend, he concluded like an enraged 
 and jealous lover, with the bitterest reproaches, 
 urged in the most furious manner. 
 
 Olinda wept — first excused herself as only 
 guilty of want of reflection, then confessed she 
 was wrong, promised amendment, wept again, 
 but experienced a very disagreeable surprise. She 
 had always imagined, as young ladies often do, 
 that a flood of tears, of the tears of youth and 
 beauty, would atone for any thing, and produce
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 217 
 
 a surprising eflPect even on a man who is in- 
 different — but that on a lover ! it was almost 
 too powerful an engine to employ ! 
 
 She had now an opportunity of observing 
 the extraordinary sang-froid with which she 
 would be allowed to weep by Mr. Preston 
 Fleetwood, and was quite alarmed at his stern 
 insensibility to her affliction. It was astonish- 
 ing — unaccountable. Can all men be so harsh 
 and unrelenting, or is it only his disposition ? 
 This was an important consideration, upon 
 which it would be very desirable to satisfy 
 her mind. Moreover, as lovers are more ob- 
 sequious and humble, it is supposed, than hus- 
 bands, and Preston, in this chrysalis state of 
 lover, is such a tyrant, what will he be when 
 he attains the dignity, and is, as Congreve 
 says, " beyond measure enlarged into a hus- 
 band ?" This was a frightful subject of medi- 
 tation. 
 
 Yet nothing alarmed Olinda more than his 
 concluding thus : — " Thouoh I think your con- 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 duct highly reprehensible, yet I beseech you 
 to remember, that should you repent your con- 
 cessions in my favour, Olinda, — should the 
 destiny offered by any other man seem to pro- 
 mise a hfe more consonant to your idea of 
 happiness, you will find me ready, at all times, 
 to sacrifice my claim on your regard." 
 
 Olinda wept more abundantly, and gave the 
 assurances called for by this declaration ; and 
 at last appeased her arbitrary lover, though 
 not without retaining an impression, that he 
 would make a most awful and blue-beard-like 
 husband. 
 
 This disagreement and its cause produced 
 also some ill effects on Fleetwood's mind. He 
 had a natural tendency to jealousy and sus- 
 picion, which was aggravated by the proof 
 he had received of Miss Vavasour's coquetry 
 and indiscretion. He grew unjust, and fre- 
 quently reproached and found fault with her 
 when she had not afforded any reasonable 
 ground for his doing so.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 219 
 
 If he entered a room, and found her speaking 
 to any man, particularly if she seemed in gay 
 spirits, the scrutiny of his eye and the cold- 
 ness of his manner gave her an embarrassed 
 and anxious air, which seemed to him an evi- 
 dence she had been flirting. When any man 
 spoke to her with an appearance of interest, 
 he examined the manner of each with so much 
 grave attention, that her whole soul was bent 
 on avoiding all offence. She was, therefore, 
 under a sort of constraint in his presence, and 
 thought him rather exigeant ; and when any 
 person's presence is a constraint, their absence 
 is a kind of relief, little as you may choose 
 to own it to yourself. 
 
 Fleetwood, therefore, was frequently able 
 to convict Miss Vavasour of talking and laugh- 
 ing more before he came into the room than 
 afterwards, and this gave him great offence ; 
 and though Olinda wished to see him every 
 hour in the day, she was fatigued with watch- 
 ing her own words, and regulating her own 
 L 2
 
 220 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 looks. So that, upon the whole, this last visit 
 of Fleetwood did not conduce to the harmony 
 and good understanding of the lovers. 
 
 Luckily he could not stay more than a few 
 days; still they both had opportunity, while 
 it lasted, to fret a great deal at each other's 
 proceedings. If either could have mustered 
 patience enough to make the trial — had Olinda 
 persisted long enough in her abstinence from 
 flirting to convince him she was in earnest 
 in renouncing it, — had Fleetwood been con- 
 tent to watch her with unprejudiced eyes till 
 he had satisfied himself, both would have been 
 spared much disquiet: but neither were at 
 that time equal to such an exertion of reason, 
 and he returned to town displeased and dis- 
 trusting. 
 
 Olinda, who was now very anxious for Sir 
 John's departure, out of respect to Fleetwood's 
 will, had avoided giving the former any oppor- 
 tunity of speaking to her apart, and hoped 
 that his apparent penchant and visit would
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 221 
 
 blow over together. But Sir John, who ad- 
 mired himself as much as he could admire 
 another, thought her avoidance was owing to 
 accident, and never dreamed it was possible 
 that she could like another better. 
 
 One morning, at post time, there arrived a 
 quantity of new music. After breakfast. Lady 
 Portbury said: — *' Come, OHnda, and prac- 
 tise these things : I want so to hear them, 
 and I know they are very difficult." 
 
 The ladies repaired to the drawing-room. 
 But a moment afterwards. Lord Portbury en- 
 treated his wife to come to the hall-door to 
 view a horse which he was in treat}' to pur- 
 chase ; and as it was one of those peculiarly 
 dedicated to Lady Portbury's use, and she 
 was very fastidious respecting their appear- 
 ance, the examination was likely to be long 
 and minute. 
 
 Sir John, who was following Lord Portbury, 
 deserted the horse-committee for a place by the 
 piano-forte, which he held long enough to de-
 
 222 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 clare his attachment to Olinda in due form. 
 The lecture of Fleetwood yet rang in her ear. 
 She felt it was an atonement to him, and a 
 relief to her, to refuse Sir John Creswell ; and 
 entertaining an erroneous idea that a very kind 
 and complimentary refusal ought to keep a man 
 in good-humour as much as acceptance, she 
 gracefully and politely declined Sir John's offer 
 at once. 
 
 Great was her alarm and confusion when she 
 saw him as much irritated as a well-bred man 
 can be, and, perhaps, a little more : he over- 
 whelmed her with reproaches for the encou- 
 ragement he had previously received, and said 
 all that a vain man under mortification, and an 
 ill-tempered man under disappointment, may be 
 supposed to think and feel ; but which, per- 
 haps, he would not have expressed, had he not 
 secretly entertained an idea that his offer did 
 Lord Portbury's portionless cousin a great deal 
 too much honour, and that a refusal from her 
 was insolent and ungrateful.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 223 
 
 Though Miss Vavasour's conscience smote 
 her in some degree for her past civility, she 
 could not help considering Sir John'*s uncourtly 
 vehemence and unmeasured reproaches as more 
 than the offence deserved ; for, after all, she 
 could only accuse herself of listening attentive- 
 ly and smiling sweetly ; she did not take into 
 the account the expression of her manners. 
 
 Sir John accused her of more blame than 
 she deserved, and she assigned herself less — the 
 real balance was between. However, she was 
 both shocked, frightened, and mortified by his 
 anger and want of consideration ; and when his 
 indignant harangue ceased, she retired to her 
 own chamber, wishing that she had been bred 
 in the Romish faith, that she might instantly 
 enter a nunnery of the strictest rule known, in 
 order to shut the male division of human kind 
 for ever from her sight and hearing. 
 
 People must suffer very often from their 
 besetting sin, before they are convinced their 
 suffering arises from their fault, and not from
 
 224f AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 their misfortune ; and Olinda thought it was 
 her's to have met the most vain, irritable, and 
 unjust of men in Sir John Creswell. 
 
 The report of some of the visiters who quit- 
 ted Fanover at this time, led Fleetwood to 
 guess with tolerable accuracy what had passed 
 there relative to Sir John ; and his letters to 
 Olinda, in the double office of lover and 
 censor, were more filled with what belonged to 
 the latter than the first of these situations: his 
 reproaches and animadversions were severe, and 
 proved as grievous to Olinda's heart as morti- 
 fying to her vanity* 
 
 For a fortnight, a whole fortnight, did she 
 preserve inviolate the good resolutions she 
 made ; and then she again began to bear with 
 complacency the flatterers of her society. She 
 forgot her late severe lesson, acquitted herself 
 of all fault upon reflection, and began to dread 
 Fleetwood's presence ; not that she had ceased 
 to love him, but she was easier without his con- 
 stant inspection. 
 
 An occasion of visiting Fanover at this time
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 225 
 
 presenting itself, be came thither, and a few 
 days elapsed without any reproof on his part. 
 But there was something in his manner that she 
 did not feel quite easy in observing. 
 
 One day he asked to speak to her, and said, 
 " Olinda, I have said nothing till now on a sub- 
 ject most important to us both, because I would 
 not rashly, and from the impulse of a sudden 
 feeling, decide on a step, and risk repenting it 
 when under a different state of mind. I think 
 I now see with unprejudiced eyes the line 1 
 ought to pursue for your welfare and my own 
 peace. In spite of your natural disposition, 
 which is excellent, and of your understanding, 
 which is superior to most young persons of your 
 age, your vanity is so impetuous and over- 
 whelming, that you are not to be depended on. 
 You would not be content in the situation I 
 have to offer; and I tell you honestly, I am 
 naturally distrustful and suspicious — faults pro- 
 bably as likely to make you unhappy, as yours 
 are quite certain to make me miserable. 
 L 5
 
 226 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " With this conviction, why should I hold a 
 claim on your hand which cannot advance the 
 happiness of either ? I have warned you 
 against your errors, and in spite of the interest 
 (and I am quite sensible that you do take some 
 interest) in satisfying my mind, you cannot con- 
 quer that rage for admiration which mingles in 
 ail you say and do. My dear Olinda, you are 
 not aware of the fearful tendency of this fault : 
 if you cannot obtain sufficient self-control to 
 amend it, be assured you will betray and be 
 betrayed ; you will never see what is real in life 
 till too late to avail yourself of the perception. 
 
 " Olinda, I restore to you the power over 
 your own destiny, which 1 was a few months 
 since so happy as to claim, and which, I fear, 
 you will fatally misuse. Henceforth you are 
 free. As a friend, you will still, perhaps, per- 
 mit me to counsel — perhaps you will have more 
 confidence in that counsel than when it might 
 be suspected of a bias from selfish feelings ; 
 but be assured my anxiety will be as fervent
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 227 
 
 and durable for your single interests, as when I 
 once hoped they would be inseparably connect- 
 ed with my own."" 
 
 Every word Fleetwood uttered seemed to 
 Miss Vavasour as a thunderbolt; she could 
 hardly believe she was awake. The fear of 
 being unable to speak without weeping bitterly, 
 kept her silent a few minutes, and prevented 
 the eager abjuration she was going to make of 
 her faults; but it occurre^d suddenly to her 
 that promises of amendment would seem as if 
 she wished to avert the relinquishment Fleet- 
 wood had so readily made of his right in her 
 heart — it was almost beseeching him not to 
 abandon her. No, the best plan for her was 
 to acquiesce in his quitting her, and to show 
 him by a long course of prudence and reserve, 
 that she had conquered the propensity of which 
 he had complained, even without expecting it 
 would concern him personally ; and then what 
 might she not expect from his penitence for the 
 distrust which had induced him to resign her i'
 
 22S AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 He would deserve some alarm for tiiat he had 
 given her ; and when he saw her excellent con- 
 duct, though surrounded by admirers ; when he 
 
 saw her conversing with them Olinda was 
 
 even then beginning to coquet in imagination, 
 though unconsciously. 
 
 These reflections passed rapidly through her 
 mind, and restored her self-possession. Instead 
 of the humble and conciliating profession she 
 first meditated, she repHed firmly, and with a 
 very dignified air, that she entirely approved 
 the frankness and decision with which he 
 acted ; that where persons thought and felt dif- 
 ferently, it was not likely their agreement could 
 be durable; and that as his judgment on her 
 conduct was entirely contrary to her own, even 
 upon reflection, she readily agreed to consider 
 him in future as a disinterested friend. 
 
 Olinda here would have added some pro- 
 fession of the value she would always have for 
 his opinion, and for him ; some assurance of 
 the regret she felt at off*ending him ; but she
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 feared, if she did so, she should say too much ; 
 and she also feared that if she once began to 
 express her "compunctious visitings," she might 
 not be able to say anything, at all, but be cut 
 off by a violent passion of tears in the flower of 
 her discourse, which would be extremely beneath 
 the dignity of a young lady so lovely and so 
 ill-used. 
 
 By this reserve she was enabled to conclude 
 the interview with great . appearance of self- 
 possession, and so effect the greatest possible 
 dis-service to her own secret interest; for Fleet- 
 wood, from the ease and insensibility which he 
 thought she displayed on this occasion, was 
 con^nced not only that she did not love him, 
 but that she was a heartless young person, and 
 a mere coquette. 
 
 He applauded his own strength of mind for 
 resolving on the sacrifice of so ill-placed an 
 attachment ; admired his discernment in read- 
 ing her heart ; made several severe reflections 
 on the nature of womankind in general — their
 
 230 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 vanity, worldliness, and frivolity. He thought 
 of Eve, Dalilah, Jael, Cleopatra, and every 
 treacherous and unworthy woman from their 
 times to the present ; but as he was obliged to 
 mount his horse and ride with Lord Portbury, 
 who very generously poured forth his own re- 
 collections upon all subjects, and required an 
 occasional observation in reply, he could not 
 even enjoy his uncharitable musings in peace. 
 
 Olinda retired to her room, and wept abun- 
 dantly. So she had actually lost Fleetwood ! 
 offended him beyond forgiveness ! and for 
 what ? for the pleasure of hearing all sorts of 
 folly talked by all sorts of fools ! She thought 
 of writing a kind of exculpatory letter, re- 
 proaching him for his readiness to give her up 
 and believe the worst of her ; but it was beneath 
 her dignity to do so — and he was unreasonable, 
 very unreasonable, and unjust. 
 
 Well, he had lost an excellent wife, (and she 
 wept,) and a great beauty, (and she looked in 
 the glass,) but she vowed to herself no man
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 231 
 
 should ever again have an opportunity of tell- 
 ing her he loved : that was the only point upon 
 which she was entirely resolved. She was to 
 be a model to all future old maids. 
 
 But it was impossible to go down to dinner 
 with her hair in disorder, her eyes red and 
 swollen ; Fleetwood must not suppose that he 
 was regretted. She bathed her eyes in rose- 
 water, and took great pains to arrange her 
 hair and dress, which exercise offered a little 
 distraction, and gradually her tears ceased, and 
 she found very slight traces of her grief re- 
 mained to mar her effect when she joined the 
 company, with a determination to be in very 
 high spirits. 
 
 Lord Portbury had that day increased the 
 party that was staying at Fanover by several 
 officers belonging to a regiment quartered in 
 the neighbouring town ; and Miss Vavasour 
 found herself placed between General Carkton 
 and Major Holt, directly opposite to Fleetwood. 
 
 As General Carleton had a little bottle put
 
 2S2 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 down by his plate which appeared to contain 
 some strange mixture, and a little silver salt- 
 cellar with some uncommon-looking powder 
 therein, Olinda easily guessed he was an invalid, 
 real or imaginary, and she was but ill-provided 
 with suitable conversation, and saw it would be 
 difficult to have very gay conversation with her 
 neighbour on the right. 
 
 Turning to the left, she took a survey of 
 Major Holt : he was one of those agreeable 
 men, who having spent the time they consider 
 best worth remembering always with their re- 
 giments, can only remember what was said by 
 Mr. Such-a-one of ours, when we were in 
 quarters at such a place. Olinda asked him if 
 he had ridden much about the neighbourhood 
 since his arrival — if he had seen Worgham 
 Abbey ? To which he replied, " that he intend- 
 ed to go there, but it must be a fine ruin indeed 
 if it was equal to one in the neighbourhood 
 of Ballinasloe, called Kilmagarry, where the 
 officers of our regiment used to give public
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 233 
 
 breakfasts to the young ladies of that neigh- 
 bourhood, — particularly to the Miss Dawes — 
 nine charming girls ! all life and spirit ! one of 
 them in particular, Angelina, an absolute wit — 
 very superior creature indeed ! — the tricks she 
 used to play us !" 
 
 A large gold basket, filled with flowers, in 
 the midst of the table, partly intercepted the 
 view which Fleetwood and Olinda might have 
 had of each other, and limited their respective 
 opportunities of investigating each other's pro- 
 ceedings to casual glances. Fleetwood was 
 content to appear himself, that is, rather sulky 
 and discontented ; but Miss Vavasour thought 
 herself bound in honour to be mirth personified. 
 Foreseeing it would be easy to elicit a long story 
 from Major Holt, she looked so delighted with 
 his description of the Kilmagarry festivities, 
 and questioned him with so much interest re- 
 specting Miss Angelina Dawe, that he favoured 
 her with all the anecdotes of that gifted person 
 his memory aflbrded.
 
 234 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 " Oh ! she was the merriest girl ! You 
 might hear her laugh a mile off. When some 
 fellows of ours were visiting her father of a 
 morning, when they looked for their hats, they 
 were sure to find them full of sand, their 
 feathers cut to pieces, and perhaps a jug of 
 water poured upon their heads when they were 
 going to mount their horses. Never saw such 
 a clever girl in my life ! — most talented crea- 
 ture ! She would hunt ! — ride any horse with- 
 out a saddle! A cricket-player! — stand to 
 her bat for hours, and never get bowled out ! 
 Never saw such a talented creature ! 
 
 " And Rosabella Dawe was almost as clever. 
 I have seen her land a salmon that weighed 
 fourteen pounds as if it was a minnow ! — shoot 
 half a dozen swallows flying ! And yet Mrs. 
 Dawe often told me, her daughters' educa- 
 tion had never cost her a single farthing ! 
 Never taught any thing — picked it up by 
 themselves ! And you know. Miss Vavasour, 
 what nonsense and fuss mothers in general
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 235 
 
 make about governesses and masters. Well, 
 I assure you, Mrs. Dawe always said, she 
 should have been quite ashamed to put Mr. 
 Dawe to such an expense as educating nine 
 young ladies would have been ; so she let 
 them educate themselves, and gave herself no 
 sort of uneasiness. 
 
 " She was a very superior woman, Mrs. 
 Dawe ; and they all turned out perfectly well, 
 except, indeed, Annette Seraphina. She ran 
 away with the riding-master of our regiment ; 
 but old Dawe was after them directly, and 
 brought her back. It blew over. She was 
 a quiet lump of a girl, not as clever as the 
 rest; and, as Mrs. Dawe said, 'Girls will be 
 girls, and you can't put an old head on young 
 shoulders; and you know, Holt,' she said, 
 ' girls seldom run away tivice. 1 dare say An- 
 nette Seraphina will be wiser anotlier time.' 
 Mrs. Dawe was so sensible and quiet ; she took 
 every thing as it came." 
 
 During this speech, or rather harangue, of
 
 2S6 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Major Holfs, Olinda, by a frequent hysterical 
 laugh, and commendatory ejaculation, seemed 
 enchanted with the Dawe memoirs, though a 
 very small part of Major Holt's conversation 
 in reality was heard and understood by her ; 
 but her manner of listening was very good pan- 
 tomimic acting. 
 
 Fleetwood felt provoked at her behaviour : 
 he attributed to coquetry and indifference that 
 which was really the effect of pique and mor- 
 tification. 
 
 A man will sometimes admit that mankind 
 do not know themselves, but he reckons him- 
 self an exception from the rule ; and few have 
 an idea how imperfect our knowledge of our 
 neighbours' characters must always be. Life 
 itself is an education — a course of instruction. 
 Each event that interests us is a process of 
 experience, by which our dispositions are some- 
 times entirely changed, often gradually affect- 
 ed, perhaps always in some degree. 
 
 A man who in early youth is giddy, in-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 237 
 
 discreet, and confiding, may suffer so much 
 from these qualities, as to obtain in maturer 
 age the reputation of being cunning, reserved, 
 or prudent. Our minds are changed, like our 
 faces, by time ; and we can no more expect 
 to have our friend's way of thinking and temper 
 the same at the end of ten years, than we 
 can expect to see him look the same. 
 
 " When Time's transmuting hand shall turn 
 Those locks of gold to silvery wires, 
 Those starry eyes must cease to burn 
 As now with more than heavenly fires." 
 
 How often, if some superior intelligence 
 would predict our conduct on some distant 
 future occasion, we should reply, like Hazael, 
 " Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this 
 great thing !'"* How differently, on reflection, 
 does every candid being judge his own conduct 
 in former scenes, to what he thought while 
 those scenes were passing. 
 
 May not Olinda hereafter lose her coquetry, 
 as she has now lost her simplicity, and be (^uite
 
 238 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 a different woman ten years hence ? — These 
 reflections, followed by this inference, brought 
 Fleetwood into better humour ; for, like all 
 jealous persons, he was subject to alternate 
 fits of affection and disapprobation; and when 
 either was unusually keen, the reaction kept 
 pace with it. However, he resolved to let her 
 natural disposition fight with its temptations 
 before he again essayed a word of interference, 
 even as a friend; and for any other inter- 
 ference, '' never more," &c. 
 
 Here followed a plentiful stock of the most 
 vigorous good resolutions on his side of the 
 table, while Miss Vavasour, catching the ap- 
 pearance of thought on his countenance in a 
 rapid coup-d'ail taken between two carnations 
 and the handle of the gold basket, said in- 
 ternally : — " So, Mr. Preston Fleetwood, you 
 are not then so entirely degage and indifferent 
 as you would try to make me believe. How 
 I will make you repent this insubordination 
 before I forgive, and we are again friends !
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 239 
 
 Of course this will pass by, and we shall be 
 friends. It is impossible he can resolve on 
 giving me up so readily ; it is not natural : 
 no man can do so. Of course, next week — 
 l)ut he shall beg pardon for his injustice and 
 harshness. Still I do not like his looks : — 
 how very unfeeling, when he knows how I 
 must be grieved ! To be eating truffles, when 
 he saw me weep ! — to talk of Rome and Naples 
 to Mr. Danby ! Men are all brutes — no feel- 
 ing ! I will not formve him for five weeks — 
 perhaps not so soon !'' 
 
 But Olinda had leisure to form and reform 
 her plans ; time wore away, and her forgiveness 
 was not sought : nay, Fleetwood actually com- 
 pleted his visit and returned to London, with- 
 out having given her an opportunity of exe- 
 cuting her various schemes of vengeance, with- 
 out her obtaining from him one word of more 
 distinguishing interest than might have been 
 addressed to his great-grandmother. 
 
 Miss Vavasour remained sad, angry, and full
 
 240 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 of self-reproach. She remained, and so did 
 several young men, who were neither sad nor 
 angry, but very anxious to make themselves 
 agreeable to her ; and strange to say, contrary 
 to all the " fixed and settled rules'" of romance 
 for the government of the heart and affections 
 in the absence of a beloved object, Olinda 
 pleased, and was pleased to please. 
 
 For one week, indeed, she thought. Of what 
 use is it to engage any heart but Preston 
 Fleetwood's ? A few days afterwards, she con- 
 sidered he was very unreasonable, and rather 
 too rigid in his ways of thinking. Why should 
 that fault of his make her condemn herself? 
 Then of what use is it to fret for what you 
 can't help ? When this reflection occurs to any 
 mind, the proprietor may be assured he or she 
 is more than half consoled : it is the last drop 
 of the shower. 
 
 Then she wished Fleetwood could see the 
 submission and admiration of the men at pre- 
 sent round her; what an example for, what a
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 241 
 
 reproach to him ! Would it not alarm and 
 make him try to save the portion of her regard 
 he had so lately appeared highly to value ? 
 She often pondered on the possibility of bring- 
 ing him back by an acute fit of jealousy, and 
 resolved the pretensions of various beaux should 
 become the instruments of this infliction. 
 
 Miss Vavasour forgot how heartily she had 
 repented the encouragement bestowed on Sir 
 John Creswell, and the many vows she had 
 made against repeating the experiment ; and 
 now speculated on the wish Fleetwood might 
 have in her remaining single. Siie thought 
 that he saw some splendid establishment offered 
 by some man sufficiently pleasing to save her 
 from incurring the imputation of marrying for 
 money : he could, would certainly be tempted 
 to try to dissuade her from accepting what 
 would place an eternal bar between her and 
 himself; he would re-assert a claim resigned in 
 sudden pique. 
 
 Suppose Lord Sedlcy, wlio always paid her 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 212 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 great attention, was to propose, what would 
 Fleetwood say ? Lord Sedley's visits to Fan- 
 over were frequent ; he would not probably die 
 of ffrief if refused ; and he was much better 
 
 o 
 
 tempered than Sir John Creswell— in fact, a 
 creditable lover for any girl : it would certainly 
 look alarming to Fleetwood to read in the 
 Morning Post, 
 
 " A treaty of marriage is said to be on the 
 tapis between Lord Sedley and the beautiful 
 Miss Vavasour, a near relation of the Earl of 
 Portbury." 
 
 Surely it would frighten him ! He would 
 write, or perhaps come down to Fanover to en- 
 treat for pardon ; she would make him sensible 
 of his past folly ; he would swear never to feel 
 distrust and jealousy again without due provo- 
 cation, and she would, after a decent interval of 
 penitence, forgive and marry him. Their future 
 life would be all the more happy for a little 
 trial, which would cure him of unjust suspicion, 
 and her of all wish to charm any other man.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 243 
 
 This plan was dramatic; it would close a 
 comedy admirably, but in real life catastrophes 
 are not always complete and satisfactory. How- 
 ever, the private meditations of Olinda were 
 much soothed by the sketches she drew in her 
 own mind of the letters of passionate apology 
 she should receive from Fleetwood, and of the 
 sensible apophthegms with which she would in- 
 tersperse the short sermons she meant to ad- 
 dress to him on the subject of his faults. 
 
 Such speculations beguiled her solitary walks, 
 and sometimes made her absent and dull in 
 society. But Lord Sedley was more graciously 
 received from their influence ; she viewed him 
 as an angler contemplates a good fly-rod, with 
 which he hopes to land the finest trout in the 
 stream. 
 
 Lord Sedley was a fair, slight young man, 
 without much countenance, with the animal 
 vivacity and cheerfulness that youth and health 
 usually bestow ; perfectly good-humoured, 
 having the obhging and graceful manner of 
 M 2
 
 244 AIMS AND ENDS, 
 
 one educated in good society ; but silly, trifling, 
 and vain — defects which in the early part of 
 life are seen with more indulgence than when 
 standing forth in the salient prominence they 
 acquire from years. He admired Olinda as 
 much as any one did ; and though being of a 
 pliant disposition, and vehemently pursued by 
 many young ladies who desired to become 
 Lady Sedley, his attentions were sometimes 
 forcibly diverted into other channels when he 
 obtained a moment of free will and opportunity, 
 he showed her decided preference, and his visits 
 to Fanover Castle were more frequent, since 
 she became a part of the family. 
 
 The autumn passed rapidly without produc- 
 ing any great change in the sentiments of Lord 
 Portbury's society
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 245 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Christmas filled all the vacant chambers of 
 Fanover ; winter walks tinged with unwelcome 
 rose the fairest noses that dared to encounter 
 the cold and eastern blast, even enveloped in 
 black lace, and the proprietors fortified with 
 ermine and sable. The gentlemen often pre- 
 ferred the billiard-room, and the most leisurely 
 dawdling in the stable, to a more varied excur- 
 sion. The small birds hopped near the build- 
 ings with blank eye and ruffled plumage. The 
 whole society of the castle felt more ennui, 
 and inspected each other's looks, manners, and 
 mind, witli a keener desire to disapprove, than 
 during the careless hours of a more genial 
 season.
 
 246 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 When the post-bag arrived, Olinda sent a 
 curious glance to Lord Portbury's share of the 
 arrival, after she saw her own contained no- 
 thing she wished to see. One day a letter was 
 brought her, which, being folded square, Uke a 
 gentleman's letter, and not the fatal oblong dis- 
 patch of a dun (which often excites nearly as 
 much agitation in the bosom of the indigent 
 fair), seemed directed in a free bold hand. 
 Olinda, before Lord Portbury (whose custom 
 it was to distribute the letters) had even ascer- 
 tained the address, already ruminated on the 
 answer she should give. She would make him 
 wait a few days for it ; she would make him 
 some well-deserved reproaches; she would not 
 forgive him directly — this would make him 
 more careful in future of offending. 
 
 She opened the letter, and the words Bill 
 delivered, which headed the paper, unfitted her 
 even to mourn over the scanty notices it con- 
 tained, of forgotten Levantines, and unpaid 
 for Gros de Naples. After all, it was a
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 24/7 
 
 mercer's bill ! Poor Olinda ! this disap- 
 pointment humbled her ; and the next day, 
 and the next, she looked with less hope and 
 more anxiety to the avenue leading from that 
 lodge by which London visiters approached 
 the castle. 
 
 " Why should I (thought Olinda) be unfor- 
 giving ? Five weeks is too long to bear malice to 
 a friend. I will not keep Fleetwood so long in 
 suspense — a fortnight will suffice for my dig- 
 nity. / was in some degree to blame — a fort- 
 night is enough. Heavens ! do I see a yellow 
 hack chaise, covered with mud, coming from the 
 London lodge? I do ! — one man in it — that 
 must be he ! — Why, this is better than writing. 
 Poor dear Preston ! — it shows his anxiety. I 
 need not, and will not hold out a fortnight ; I 
 will forgive him this evening, — or to-morrow at 
 farthest. Poor Fleetwood ! I hope he will not 
 guess why I walk in this avenue: no, impos- 
 sible -f I will pass the chaise slowly without 
 looking up."
 
 248 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Suddenly the occupant cried " Stop P' and a 
 man put his head out of the window — it was 
 crowned not with willows, but a brown scratch 
 wig; — it was Mr. Spriggins ! who exclaimed, 
 " Miss Vavasour, Ma'am, I beg ten thousand 
 pardons, but will you allow me to ask if his 
 Lordship is at home to-day ? — something very 
 particular here for his Lordship's inspection ;" 
 and he pointed to a roll of parchment tied with 
 red tape, and covered with " Whereas' s."" 
 
 Olinda wished Mr. Spriggins's wig at the bot- 
 tom of a piece of artificial water that skirted the 
 walk ; its calm and sleepy surface seemed to 
 insult her agitation by the contrast. I am not 
 sure that she did not, for an instant, wish poor 
 Mr. Spriggins to accompany his wig ; but if 
 she did, it was a momentary ill-nature. With as 
 civil a smile as could be got up at a short 
 notice, she answered his question, and proceed- 
 ed sadly on her walk. 
 
 Many similar shocks did she receive from 
 incidents in themselves trifling ; but the pain
 
 AIMS AND ENDS 249 
 
 they inflicted will easily be understood by those 
 who have been anxious and disappointed. 
 
 Vanity, in persons of good understanding and 
 dispositions, operates in paroxysms : between the 
 fits, during the humiliation of failure, or the 
 want of excitement, their perception of what is 
 real in this life, their judgment on modes of 
 action, and of their own conduct, are as just and 
 complete as if they were not liable to temporary 
 perversion. They feel, like Araspes, the war 
 of a double soul ; and that, to have acted as 
 they did, they " must have eaten of the insane 
 root that takes the reason prisoner."" 
 
 Thus Olinda saw her past folly exactly as 
 the most severe censor or uncharitable foe could 
 have done. But the penalty must be paid, 
 and repentance was of no avail ! — at least it was 
 very doubtful that she should again engage 
 Preston Fleetwood. 
 
 It seemed very unlikely, when a report 
 reached Fanover that he was paying great 
 attentions to Miss Montresor, an heiress of 
 M 5
 
 250 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 great wealth and some beauty, who, it was 
 farther stated, seemed " exceedingly in love 
 with him." 
 
 This was disagreeable intelligence, and not 
 rendered less so by some one of the party ex- 
 claiming, " Is he really going to marry Miss 
 Montresor ? I declare I used to think some- 
 times he was in love with Miss Vavasour." 
 
 " Think ! sometimes !" said an echo in Olin- 
 da's heart ; " onli/ sometimes !" — The report 
 seemed to acquire more credit every day, till 
 Olinda thought it was time to leave off regret- 
 ing another girPs lover. 
 
 From the interval of torpor and discontent 
 induced by this conviction, Olinda was aroused 
 one day, after lazily singing the first part of a 
 duet, while Lord Sedley sang the second a 
 little out of tune, by his eager praise of their 
 joint musical effect, which he ended by saying, 
 " By Jove ! Miss Vavasour, you are so good a 
 musician, such an excellent timist, that no man 
 can sing ill who accompanies you : I improve
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 251 
 
 every day we sing together." He then adverted 
 to her other merits, mental and personal, and 
 closed his eulogy with a formal proposal, — to 
 which Olinda had no opportunity of replying, 
 ere Lady Portbury entered, saying, 
 
 "• Here is one of my prophecies coming to 
 pass ; Preston Fleetwood is directly to marry 
 Miss Montresor ; I knew he would — he so 
 sensible ! and she has seven thousand a-year !" 
 
 " But she is ugly," said J.ord Sedley, " and 
 not musical !" 
 
 " Well, it 's quite settled," replied Lady 
 Portbury, " I can assure you." 
 
 This intelligence was a shock to Miss Vava- 
 sour ; in spite of the state of discouragement re- 
 lative to Fleetwood her mind had previously en- 
 dured, she was now convinced that all was over. 
 
 " You see, my dear Olinda," said Lady Port- 
 bury," (the first moment they were alone to- 
 gether,) " you sec now the extreme folly of 
 talking, and Hirting, and wasting your time 
 with a man entirely out of the question. Vou
 
 252 ATMS AND ENDS. 
 
 know I always said. Where is the use of talking 
 to Preston Fleetwood ? what good will it do ? 
 Why, you may be dead of old age before he is 
 Chancellor; and you could not think of marry- 
 ing him. I always said, &c." 
 
 " So that young man is going to be mar- 
 ried !" said Lady Grimthorpe : " Why, my dear 
 Miss Vavasour, is he not one of your revolted 
 subjects ? do you suffer them to escape this 
 way ?" 
 
 Lady Juliana Dixon " hoped her heart was 
 not interested in Mr. Fleetwood,'' adding, 
 " that a man who could prefer Miss Mon- 
 tresor to Olinda, could have no soul /" 
 
 Colonel Dixon said, " Money does everything 
 in these times; but never mind. Miss Vavasour, 
 there are as good fish in the sea as ever were 
 caught !" 
 
 This metaphorical consolation of Colonel 
 Dixon's gave the young lady to whom it 
 was addressed quite as much offence as the 
 animadversions of the matrons.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 25S 
 
 At first Olinda grieved, but she soon felt 
 mortified at Fleetwood's inconstancy, and began 
 to consider whether Lord Sedley was as foolish 
 as he had seemed to her at the beginning of 
 their acquaintance ; and if he was, whether a 
 silly man might not make an obliging husband, 
 an easy companion, a kind friend ? To love 
 again, was of course out of the question — such 
 a thing was never heard of; but friendship— a 
 marriage of esteem, was possible. She thought 
 she could make an excellent wife to a good- 
 tempered, kind-hearted man, though he was 
 her inferior in understanding. Of course, she 
 should have all the influence a superior mind 
 must always have over a weak one ; she should 
 always use it for his advantage, and suggest the 
 wisest line of conduct. It would be a good 
 thing for Lord Sedley if she could make iij) 
 her mind to become his guide for the future. 
 And what would Preston Fleetwood say ? He 
 would be convinced that she did not care for 
 him, and feel a good deal mortified and hum-
 
 254 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 bled at finding she could live without him — 
 that she had become indifferent ; he would be 
 overwhehned with repentance when he should 
 see how entirely mistaken his view of her cha- 
 racter and disposition would prove ; he would 
 see her a model of conduct and prudence — a 
 guardian angel to her husband — a pattern to 
 all her acquaintance. 
 
 Olinda's presumption need not excite de- 
 rision. How is it that, severely as a human 
 being may condemn his past conduct, he never 
 feels a doubt that, in future, it will be most 
 exemplary — never supposes it possible that 
 passions may again mislead, or temptations con- 
 quer him ? Sometimes, when this sanguine 
 estimate of her future virtues struck her mind, 
 she would doubt whether she could be happy 
 with a man her inferior in understanding. Then 
 she remembered, that Lady Portbury seemed 
 perfectly happy solely from riches and situa- 
 tion ; why should not the same materials pro- 
 duce happiness for her?
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 255 
 
 She is soon persuaded who persuades herself; 
 and Olinda made up her mind to accept Lord 
 Sedley. 
 
 Parhament had met ; Lord Portbury's family 
 returned to town, and every thing conspired 
 to put Miss Vavasour in good-humour with 
 her late resolution, — the congratulations of 
 Lady Portbury, and the reverence always paid 
 to those who seem fortunate. One moment of 
 triumph she particularly anticipated, — that in 
 which she should inform Fleetwood of her in- 
 tended marriage. 
 
 She did inform him ; and Fleetwood heard 
 it without any apparent agitation — with gra- 
 vity — perhaps sachiess. He appeared to con- 
 sider what she had said for a few moments, and 
 then offered many good wishes, expressed with 
 warm interest, with some solemnity, without 
 the distance that had for some time shaded his 
 manner. 
 
 " I could have wished,"' he concluded, ** that 
 the man whom you chose, my dear Olindu,
 
 256 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 had been of a character more likely to sub- 
 jugate yours. You will require, for some 
 years, a guide — a ruler ; but Sedley is kind- 
 hearted — gentleman-like in feeling, I should 
 think ; and he is your choice^ 
 
 Olinda had expected that he would make 
 some reflections to the disadvantage of Lord 
 Sedley ; she was touched with the directness 
 and simplicity of Fleetwood's manner, and felt 
 so great a disposition to weep, that she was 
 obliged to recollect he was Miss Montresor's 
 lover, and therefore said, with forced flip- 
 pancy : 
 
 " Well, I mean to make a very good wife ; 
 so, when Miss Montresor is Mrs. Fleetwood, 
 I know you will let us be friends, and not fear 
 evil communication." 
 
 " Miss Montresor would not, I suspect,"" 
 replied Fleetwood calmly, " be much flattered 
 at having it supposed that she should draw 
 so humble a lot in life; and most assuredly it 
 never occurred to me to wish she should.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 257 
 
 Marriage must, in your eyes, resemble a qua 
 drille ; — no sooner have you found a partner, 
 than you seek for a vis-d-vis.'''' 
 
 " Is it not true, then,^' said Olinda, " that 
 you — that Miss Montresor — I thought — people 
 say — we all heard ?" 
 
 " If there was such a report," said Fleet- 
 wood, without noticing her confusion, " it is 
 as entirely unfounded as any report of the kind 
 ever was ; c'est beaucoup dire.'''' 
 
 Olinda coloured, and began to speak inco- 
 herently enough upon some other subject ; to 
 which Fleetwood replied in so grave and mat- 
 ter-of-fact a manner, that pure shame at being 
 affected by a discourse in which he was so 
 composed, restored her self-possession. 
 
 Why should we dwell on white satin blonde 
 and plum-cake, silver-knots and orange-flow- 
 ers ? All these things contributed tlieir in- 
 terest to this civil and religious contract. En- 
 treaty and reproach were lavished on tardy 
 shoemakers and idle mantua-makcrs, who, in
 
 25S AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 return, exhausted every variety of lying excuse 
 to restrain the torrent of invective poured out 
 against them. 
 
 All the younger brothers and idle men in 
 London, who had ever thought Olinda hand- 
 some, or heard her reckoned so, now assured 
 her, with deep sighs, that if they had had 
 50,000/. a-year, they would long since have 
 laid it at her feet : but elder brothers, and men 
 who considered themselves of importance in 
 female eyes, contented themselves with less em- 
 phatic sighs, and the observation " that Sedley 
 was a happy man." 
 
 All the elderly matrons who had not daugh- 
 ters, now discovered that Olinda was a very 
 lovely girl, of whom each had always pre- 
 dicted that she would make a very good match. 
 Those who had daughters retained their ori- 
 ginal opinion, " that she was pert, dull, con- 
 ceited, plain, Sec."" adding, " that Lord Sedley 
 must be mad, or silly, &c." Every body
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 259 
 
 remembered some fault of conduct and cha- 
 racter in every person of the name of Vavasour 
 whom they had seen or heard of, and all pre- 
 dicted, that sucli faults would, if they did 
 not already, appear in Olinda. Indications of 
 every vice and folly under heaven were seen 
 in her features and heard in her voice, and 
 pointed out by friendly warnings to Lord 
 Sedley, or his near relations. 
 
 A large division of society solaced their ill- 
 nature, and that of their friends, by assuring 
 each other, that such a marriage was impos- 
 sible ; that they knew, for a fact, that there 
 was not the slighest idea of marriage in Lord 
 Sedley's head ; that he was deeply attached to 
 another person, and, had told them he rather 
 disliked Olinda. 
 
 Some of the most active enviers wrote press- 
 ing accounts of Lord Sedley's danger to Lady 
 Mardiston, advising her by all means to pre- 
 vent the success of Miss Vavasour's artifices :
 
 260 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 but this measure, though holding forth a greater 
 prospect of success than any other that could 
 have been adopted, failed. 
 
 Lady Mardiston, like many other clever per- 
 sons, and many more foolish ones, always con- 
 sidered her view of things the only just one, 
 and seldom thought of revising it. She had 
 settled, that the person most to be feared as 
 a sister-in-law, was Lady Maria; that Olinda 
 was a little simple girl, who had not brains, 
 or wilfulness enough to be dangerous. She 
 had a thorough knowledge of her brother'^s cha- 
 racter, and knew what to fear. Then, were 
 she to quit General Cartwright now, whose 
 health and temper grew every hour more criti- 
 cal, she might lose the fruit of four months 
 of slavish attention. The same warnings as 
 now reached her, had poured in the year before, 
 respecting a young girl whom Lord Sedley 
 had not admired at all. Lady Mardiston re- 
 solved to remain at Nice. 
 
 The preparations for the marriage proceeded
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 261 
 
 rapidly. Miss Vavasour had sometimes mo- 
 ments of misgiving : she began to wish people 
 should admire Lord Sedley ; to watch with in- 
 terest his replies, and the effect they produced 
 on the hearers ; and when, as frequently hap- 
 pened, they were not exactly what she had 
 wished, how earnestly she longed to retrench 
 some words, to explain others ! Sometimes she 
 longed to persuade herself and the listeners that 
 they had mistaken what he said ; and she blush- 
 ed and sighed painfully when she detected that 
 almost imperceptible expression, wliich will 
 pierce through the mask of good breeding oc- 
 casionally, when the evidence of our neighbours'' 
 folly is forced upon us. 
 
 Already the leaven of humiliation mixed 
 with the vain pleasure which she had expected 
 rank and riches would supply. Like Haman, 
 vexation at the want of the gratification withheld 
 destroyed the enjoyment of what was granted. 
 She was sorry for Lord Sedley ; he was good- 
 looking, good-humoured, obliging, and very
 
 262 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 much in love : all the other girls, she saw, want- 
 ed to marry him. It was not absolutely neces- 
 sary a man should be sensible ; Lady Portbury 
 was happy with one very much his inferior. 
 In the comparison of the men, Olinda had the 
 humility to forget to compare the women and 
 their tastes — to consider that what made Lady 
 Portbury happy might not have the same effect 
 for her; and " qtie c'est par avoir ce qn'on 
 aime qu'on est heiireux, non par avoir ce que 
 les autres trouvent aimabk.'^
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 263 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Miss Vavasour felt a slight chill when 
 she repeated the irrevocable replies after the 
 clergyman ; she felt the truth of Madame 
 d'Epinay's remark ; " qu'en se mariant o?i 
 tire un parti du rideau qui cache ravenir;'"' 
 but there was no time to " bolt this matter to 
 the bran." The chariot was ready : Olinda 
 departed for the villa in which her honeymoon 
 was to be spent. 
 
 The weather was fine : Lord Sedley admired 
 his bride — the bride admired herself: she sang 
 to him ; and he played the violin, as she had 
 every reason to fear he would, extremely ill. 
 She received millions of letters filled with pro-
 
 264 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 testations of affection and joy at her marriage : 
 these were written by almost all the people to 
 whom she had ever been introduced ; and the 
 most singular circumstance attending them was 
 that the persons who had disliked and been 
 most rude to, and envious of her, were those 
 who expressed themselves with the most eager 
 and animated affection. The marriage had 
 been what they desired most on earth, and felt 
 sure would take place — they had always wished 
 and frequently foretold it, &c. 
 
 Olinda at first smiled contemptuously at the 
 sudden change in her acquaintance ; but in an 
 incredibly short space of time she began to 
 think that their professions were the genuine 
 expression of their feelings, and that she had 
 fancied their anterior slights, — so easy is it to 
 ascribe to our own merit the homage which in 
 fact is paid to our situation ! 
 
 In the long tete-d-tete to which custom has 
 consigned a new-married pair, Lord Sedley 
 seemed more sensible than when among other
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 265 
 
 objects of comparison. There was nothing to 
 humble her vanity, and Olinda was contented. 
 She even argued with her own regrets, and 
 persuaded herself she had made a happier 
 match in accepting Lord Sedley than she would 
 have done in becoming the wife of Preston 
 Fleetwood. 
 
 " Surely I must be happier with a man who 
 does not distrust me, who does not seek to read 
 and criticise every feeling of my heart ! If my 
 companion is not clever and sensible, at least 
 he is easy and good-tempered. I need not 
 watch his eye when I speak, to see how he 
 bears every sentence. I need not stop in con- 
 fusion when I see Fleetwood looking thunder- 
 clouds at me. It is much better to hear my 
 husband say, ' By Jove ! Olinda, you arc right,' 
 than to hear Fleetwood begin, * I am sorry, 
 Miss Vavasour, to be forced to observe.' It is 
 such a comfort not to be obliged to think how 
 one looks, and what will be thought of every 
 word one says. No, Lady Portbury is right : 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 a sensible man is not the kindest husband ; 
 easy temper, good-humour, and attachment, 
 must be the real materials for happiness in 
 marriages."'' 
 
 Olinda recalled this conclusion very often to 
 her mind, yet was not always equally struck 
 with its justice. She dwelt with pleasure, how- 
 ever, on such traits of Lord Sedley's character 
 as seemed to indicate good qualities : not only 
 his devotion to her seemed to bode well for her 
 happiness, but it pleased her to see the strength 
 of his attachment to his sister, of which he gave 
 frequent proofs. 
 
 One day, soon after their arrival at his coun^ 
 try house, Olinda had been giving some direc- 
 tions to the gardener, when it occurred to her 
 that one of the flower-beds under the windows 
 might be altered in some way, and she gave 
 orders for the purpose ; but Lord Sedley, who 
 heard her, exclaimed, 
 
 " No, my dear Olinda, that 's quite impos- 
 sible — I beg you a thousand pardons, but Pul-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 267 
 
 cheria had that flower-bed laid out by her own 
 directions, and she cannot bear to have any 
 thing altered that she has once settled ; you 
 can't think how strict Pulcheria is about these 
 things — it is one of Pulcheria's little ways.*" 
 
 He said this with an eagerness that showed 
 how anxious he was to please his sister ; and 
 Olinda said mentally, " So kind a brother must 
 be a good husband." 
 
 Sometimes, when he asserted an opinion with 
 more than usual confidence, he would add (as 
 if expecting to convince at once by the commu- 
 nication) " I assure you, Ladi/ Mardiston thinks 
 so," or, " that is my sister's decided opinion — I 
 have heard her say so a thousand times."' 
 
 From this much valued sister, there came 
 letters of congratulations, or rather protesta- 
 tions of the most tender affection to her bro- 
 ther, and assurances of her anxiety to return tt) 
 England, that she might become the guide and 
 friend of Lady Sedley. She " should ere now 
 have been on licr way, had not the attachment 
 N 2
 
 268 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and duty she owed her beloved uncle, General 
 Cartwright, imperiously forbid her leaving him 
 in so uncertain and distressing a state of health 
 as he at present endured." 
 
 Lord Sedley was deeply touched by this in- 
 formation. " This is so exactly like her !" he 
 exclaimed; "a sort of kindness you cannot meet 
 with anywhere else. My dear Olinda, you will 
 be so happy when Pulcheria returns ! she will set 
 us all to rights. She is one of the cleverest wo- 
 men in the world — and so ready to advise, and 
 arrange any thing for her friends ! I may say 
 I am most fortunate in such a relation ; in fact, 
 I had not any decided opinions till I had con- 
 versed a good deal with her ; — she taught me 
 to think.'"' 
 
 Ohnda would not confess even to her own 
 mind, that Lady Mardiston had not had much 
 success in teaching her brother to think. It 
 was her duty and wish only to contemplate his 
 good qualities, and she promised herself such 
 deference to Lady Mardiston's (Jpinion, and rea-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 269 
 
 diness to consult her on all occasions when she 
 had need of advice, as should prove her anxiety 
 to adapt her conduct to her husband's standard 
 of excellence. 
 
 The remainder of the year was passed in 
 visiting, and a few weeks at Paris ; from which 
 Lady Sedley returned, with a surprising accu- 
 mulation of such purchases as handsome young 
 women delight to make on that ocean of temp- 
 tations. 
 
 Lord Sedley did not restrain her expense, he 
 rather encouraged it, — though there was little 
 need to do so, as few sciences are so easily learn- 
 ed as that of spending money, and Olinda found 
 she had a natural talent for it, that hardly re- 
 quired cultivation. She was not, however, one 
 of those ladies who consider it praiseworthy 
 and expedient that all the money expended In 
 tlieir family should be dedicated to their own 
 use and amusement alone ; she served many 
 persons in need of assistance with the utmost 
 activity and judgment, and showed so much re-
 
 270 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 flection and prudence in the exercise of her be- 
 nevolence, as justified the regret of those who 
 witnessed it, when they saw that, on other oc- 
 casions, these qualities in her were often want- 
 ing. 
 
 Among minor instances of good-nature and 
 attention, she did not forget to send Lucy- 
 Watson such pieces of furniture as she thought 
 might be suitable to, and useful in, the more 
 humble abode of her old companion, of whom 
 she frequently thought with deep compassion, 
 when she recollected her walk to the dismantled 
 parsonage, and considered all the toils atten- 
 dant on reducing such a chaos to order, and 
 even then the limited comforts it could afford ! 
 Poor Lucy ! what a melancholy fate ! Yet 
 the letters which occasionally came from Mrs. 
 Watson were expressive of content and cheer- 
 fulness ; she did not seem oppressed by her 
 humble cares and mechanical activity. 
 
 Readily as OHnda contributed to the ex- 
 penses of Lord Sedley, and little as she had
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 271 
 
 hitherto known of the use and abuse of money, 
 she was surprised at the unsatisfactory pro- 
 fusion of her husband, instances of which oc- 
 curred every day. 
 
 Mr. Danby entered one morning, and be- 
 gan : — "You know my horse, Sedley — w.y 
 horse Nutcracker ?" 
 
 '^ Yes, I do ; what of him ?" 
 
 " Only that, having observed you like him, 
 I have made up my mind you shall have him ; 
 and I do not know another man in England to 
 whom I would part with him !" 
 
 " No, my dear fellow, I certainly will not 
 deprive you of a horse you Hke ; and I really 
 at this moment do not want one, and I know 
 you value him." 
 
 " I shall have, however, a particular pleasure 
 in knowing he is yours ; and I have ordered 
 him to the door. — Here he is!" added ]Mr. 
 Danby, going to the window, where he stootl 
 slapping his boot with his riding-whip, whilr 
 Lord Scdlcy tlirew open the window, and pro-
 
 272 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 ceeded into the balcony, making some com- 
 mendation on the animal's appearance. 
 
 After some desultory conversation, Mr. Dan- 
 by approached the table, saying: — "Well, 
 Sedley, it is yours ; and you shall give me 
 but 250/. which is the offer Penrose and Grims- 
 forth persecuted me to take. I will not hear 
 of a farthing more." 
 
 Lord Sedley wrote a draft for the money, 
 and his friend departed. 
 
 " Not that I wanted that horse," said Lord 
 Sedley, throwing himself down on the sofa; 
 " but Danby is a good-natured fellow ; he 
 would have been quite vexed if I had not 
 agreed to buy it." 
 
 " Surely," said Olinda, " that is the creature 
 which Colonel Brudenell said Mr. Danby had 
 offered to him for 150/." 
 
 " Well, perhaps it is not worth more than 
 that ; but Danby was fond of it, and would 
 have been quite disappointed if I had not 
 taken it."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 273 
 
 Many instances of complaisance as expensive 
 as the foregoing did Olinda witness in the 
 course of two years' married life, which passed 
 without producing any change in her exterior 
 situation, though not without effecting much 
 alteration in her view of it. 
 
 The new playthings which riches conferred 
 on her had sunk considerably in her estimation : 
 when she had worn her splendid jewels about a 
 dozen times, she discovered that a couple of 
 roses in her hair were more becoming than her 
 diamond aigrette and comb ; and though her 
 welUstufTed carriage and handsome horses were 
 as useful as when she first obtained possession 
 of them, she quite forgot she had ever been 
 without, or indeed that it is possible to have 
 recourse to a less distinguished conveyance. 
 
 When habit has changed luxuries to ne- 
 cessaries, they cease to give pleasure, though 
 their absence may give pain. All that her 
 change of situation had bestowed, soon hecanie 
 a matter of course in her eyes; all it had in- 
 N 5
 
 274 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 flicted, her siily and unsuitable partner, and the 
 ceaseless humiliation of having chosen to de- 
 pend upon him, remained in full force. 
 
 The only amusement which unfortunately 
 retained all its early attraction for Olinda, was 
 that of being admired ; for that, she still 
 haunted the crowd of London society, and 
 toiled to look and talk her best; and might 
 perhaps have continued for some time content 
 with the hollow enjoyment her vanity afforded, 
 had she been permitted to enjoy it in peace ; 
 but disquiets soon arose from a source whence 
 she had not apprehended their origin. 
 
 Lady Mardiston had been freed, by General 
 Cartwright's death, from the slavery imposed 
 by his temper and her own avarice. She had 
 not, however, been without unforeseen diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Soon after General Cartwright had establish- 
 ed himself at Nice, he discovered a former 
 companion of his Indian life, who having 
 squandered all he had gained in Asia during
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 275 
 
 a few years' residence in England, which he 
 had been obliged to quit, had settled in France. 
 An immoderate love for play, and tlie repu- 
 tation of being very unscrupulous in all trans- 
 actions connected with it, made him an in- 
 eligible companion, though he was rather agree- 
 able in conversation. 
 
 To General Cartwright he possessed a great 
 attraction, from having been known in that 
 early and better part of life, which we love to 
 dwell upon and refer to in later and less cheer- 
 ful years. He found, in a short time, he could 
 not dine or spend the day without Mr. Bewd- 
 ley. Lady Mardiston saw this increasing in- 
 timacy with great alarm ; and all the indirect 
 attempts which, from time to time, she cau- 
 tiously made to diminish it, only seemed to adii 
 to the General's good-will to his friend,— par- 
 ticularly as Mr. Bewdley resembled his op- 
 ponent so much in disposition and views, that 
 he generally provided against her attacks with 
 a foresight like her own.
 
 276 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 General Cartwright grew worse, was alarmed 
 about his situation, and very low-spirited. His 
 attentive niece, having leanied that an Eng- 
 lishman, said to be a Methodist preacher, then 
 resident at Nice, had held forth in company on 
 the sin of gaming, she contrived to make ac- 
 quaintance with him, and to introduce him to 
 her uncle, who was extremely struck with his 
 conversation, and soon won to his opinions. 
 
 From that time Mr. Bewdley's influence ra- 
 pidly declined — so did General Cartwright''s 
 health. Lady Mardiston redoubled her at- 
 tentions, and was ably seconded by her new 
 ally, who had first prevailed on the General to 
 think of another world. Lady Mardiston as- 
 sured Mr. Tacker this was an obligation she 
 should never forget, — and it is probable the 
 impression was indelible ; for on the General's 
 death, which took place three weeks after, Lady 
 Mardiston received a bequest of 500/. and Mr. 
 Tacker appeared as his heir, and in right of the 
 will obtained 170,000/. burthened only with an
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 277 
 
 injunction to erect an almshouse for five old 
 invalid soldiers of the Honourable East India 
 Company. 
 
 It may be doubted if Lady Mardiston con- 
 tinued to applaud herself for the share she had 
 taken in her uncle's reformation : at all events, 
 she returned to England directly, to fulfil Lord 
 Sedley's prophecy that she would " set them 
 all to rights." 
 
 She appeared anxious to do so, and assumed 
 the right to argue on the expediency or pro- 
 priety of ever3'body's plans and proceedings; 
 and frequently seemed to have no better reason 
 for opposing her neighbour's scheme, than its 
 not having: originated with her. 
 
 Olinda, who was naturally good-humoured 
 and obliging, and wished to satisfy Lord Sed- 
 ley''s partiality to his sister by showing the 
 same deference to her which he felt, follow- 
 ed the advice which Lady Mardiston so libe- 
 rally bestowed in all her purchases and family 
 arrangements, changed housekeepers, horses, as
 
 278 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 her notable sister-in-law indicated ; and would 
 not have found such acts of complaisance at all 
 difficult to perform, but Lady Mardiston soon 
 interfered with Olinda's mode of living. 
 
 The opera-box was too dear — a private-box at 
 the play was needless — so many assemblies and 
 balls would " ruin Sedley :" they had double the 
 number of horses they needed — and a villa near 
 London and a house at Brighton, and the eter- 
 nal furnishing and papering, would " ruin Sed- 
 ley :" if Lady Sedley would live more quietly, 
 he would not be so much at clubs, and not 
 have so many temptations to lose his money at 
 play, &c. These counsels were beginning to 
 trench upon Olinda's patience ; which was still 
 more likely to give way when she heard them 
 followed by others yet more unpalatable. 
 
 " It was shocking to see the house full, all 
 the morning, of idle young men coming to 
 dawdle in the drawing-room, — Lady Sedley 
 ought not to encourage danglers, — reputation 
 — dignity — family union, &c."
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 279 
 
 These remonstrances came so home, and 
 threatened so much to interfere with Olinda's 
 pleasures, that after a time they conquered the 
 resolution she had formed to please and con- 
 ciliate. Lady Mardiston, who resembled the 
 storm-loving peterel, and appeared more active 
 and prominent as gloom and disquiet increased 
 around her, was not sorry to discover that her 
 sister-in-law was more pertinacious and irritable 
 when reproved for her real faults, than when 
 limited in her expenses ; and found to her sur- 
 prise that there could be interests that were not 
 pecuniary. She availed herself of her influence 
 over her brother, and very soon produced disa- 
 greements, which grew more bitter as they 
 occurred more frequently. Olinda was sur- 
 prised to find the good-humoured and unob- 
 serving Lord Sedley so entirely changed to- 
 wards her. 
 
 It is, I believe, the very sensible but worldly- 
 minded Lord Halifax, who has in his " Advice 
 to his Daughters" this injunction : " If your
 
 280 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 husband is a fool, take care that he is your 
 fool.'^ Olinda had a thousand opportunities of 
 seeing that Lord Sedley was not " her fool," 
 but very much Lady Mardiston's. 
 
 Every hour strengthened the disagreeable 
 conviction. Though she had suffered herself 
 to be surrounded by a number of young men 
 who professed to admire her, and who she be- 
 lieved did really admire. She only wished to 
 hear their indirect professions, and to suppose 
 that they were deeply attached. She not only 
 considered herself incapable of misconduct, but 
 even of giving them direct encouragement, and 
 would have thought the imputation of doing so 
 entirely unjust ; she, therefore, considered her- 
 self as the excellent and ill-used wife of a man 
 who did not deserve the extraordinary blessing ; 
 owned to herself that she was " thrown away," 
 and bitterly repented having become Lord 
 Sedley's wife. Not that she wished to stand in 
 the same relation to any of the men who hourly 
 tried to make her believe that,
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 281 
 
 " Had she tarried 
 To be married, 
 She'd liave had a suitor more ;" 
 
 but she felt " ill-used," a vague and compre- 
 hensive term, of infinite service to all discontent- 
 ed persons, as a short abstract of indescribable 
 causes of irritation and lamentation. She sighed 
 and wondered if her existence would have been 
 more agreeable in a small house in Upper 
 Guildford Street, waiting for Fleetwood's re- 
 turn from Lincoln's Inn to their domestic 
 t^te-a-t^te. 
 
 When Lord Frederick Danesford was an- 
 nounced, and before he had time to follow his 
 name, it had passed through her mind how 
 Fleetwood's brow would have contracted had 
 Lord Frederick''s entrt been made in the little 
 drawing-room in Upper Guildford Street, which 
 fancy had then assigned her. And if happiness 
 is not to be found at cither side of I^ondon, 
 with a poor man whom you do love, and a rich 
 man whom you do not love, — if you must sigh,
 
 2S2 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 whether you sit in Bloomsbury or St. George's 
 parish, what is to be done ? 
 
 Ohnda had not time to answer this question, 
 for Lord Frederick was very agreeable that 
 morning. He talked well and much ; and if he 
 flattered, and if he expressed himself with more 
 interest than is permitted towards another man's 
 wife, it was so delicately, so imperceptibly, that 
 it was rather to be detected by the impression 
 it left on her mind, than by any word or look 
 that might be recorded ; it was like the per- 
 fume of your handkerchief when taken from 
 the most Parisian of Sachet's — exquisite, indis- 
 tinct and mysterious. 
 
 It would have been bad taste to have shown 
 the least approach to consciousness ; but Lady 
 Sedley looked forward with much pleasure to 
 the suffering a hopeless attachment for her 
 would inflict on Lord Frederick, and his cogi- 
 tations were perhaps equally selfish and less 
 refined. 
 
 When they paid their annual visit at Fan-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 283 
 
 over Castle, for the first time since her mar- 
 riage, Olinda encountered Preston Fleetwood. 
 His manner, for a moment, was slightly embar- 
 rassed, but time, new interests, had now made 
 her more careless of his approbation ; and after 
 the first meeting she was unconstrained in his 
 presence : he had, therefore, many opportuni- 
 ties of seeing her coquetry with others, but 
 without seeming to observe it. 
 
 Only once when he appeared engaged with a 
 book by the fire, OHnda, who sat with a little 
 court of beaux around her at the other end of 
 the room, happened to raise her eyes, and saw 
 that those of Fleetwood were observing her 
 with attention, though not apparently with 
 painful interest ; there was something haughty 
 and disdainful in his expression. She felt 
 humbled and vexed at not being what he had 
 often foretold she might be ; and yet the feeling 
 was mingled witli a meaner regret at the proof 
 his look afforded, that " her eyes had lost the 
 turnpike-way that led directly to his heart.'*
 
 284 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Yet Olinda would have condemned another for 
 regretting the power of ruling and governing a 
 man whom she imagined she had once intensely 
 loved. 
 
 Fleetwood''s stay was short : he neither avoid- 
 ed nor sought Lady Sedley; when the acci- 
 dents of society brought them into conversation, 
 he talked cheerfully, though with rather more 
 distance of manner than had formerly existed 
 between them.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 285 
 
 CHAFTER X. 
 
 A Newmarket meeting was to take place, 
 Lord Sedley was to proceed thither, and Olin- 
 da being alone, felt a great wish to spend a day 
 with Lucy Watson, to whom she offered a visit, 
 which was eagerly accepted. 
 
 Lady Sedley remembered the dimensions of 
 the Parsonage too accurately to astonish its 
 inhabitants by the incursion of her lounging 
 men-servants and fine lady's-maid. These 
 evidences of splendour were sent to the inn, 
 three miles off, when Olinda was deposited at 
 the abode of lier friend ; as she intended, for the 
 ensuing twenty-four hours, to resume the al- 
 most forgotten task of attiring her own jierson.
 
 286 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 An agreeable change seemed already to have 
 taken place in the Parsonage : a smart green 
 gate stood where the fragments of the former 
 white one had been lying during her first visit ; 
 the little avenue was newly gravelled, the 
 shrubbery was bright with the colours, and 
 perfumed with the odours of all the later offer- 
 ings of summer. The clematis, jasmine, and 
 honeysuckle had resumed their upright posi- 
 tion, and covered the repaired porch ; the little 
 hall, new covered with marbled floor-cloth and 
 India-matting, was fragrant with plants in green 
 basket- stands. 
 
 At the door stood Mrs. Watson, looking 
 happy, and rather pretty; she welcomed Lady 
 Sedley with the most delighted cordiality, and 
 led her to the little drawing-room, which no 
 longer looked on a duckweed-covered pond and 
 forest of nettles. The little lawn was Hke green 
 velvet, and was interspersed with flower-beds; 
 the pond had disappeared. The window had 
 assumed French doors, and was protected by a
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 287 
 
 verandah which many creepers were struggling 
 to cover. The room was neatly, and even ele- 
 gantly furnished (partly with Olinda's own gifts), 
 the sofas, curtains of clean gay chintz. It was 
 a pretty miniature of the rooms Lady Sedley 
 usually saw, though there was nothing expen- 
 sive or inconsistent with the modest establish- 
 ment to which it belonged. 
 
 Olinda could not help expressing her admira- 
 tion at the change in this once comfortless 
 dwelling ; and Lucy then showed her the whole, 
 the little library allotted to Mr. Watson, and 
 above all, the dining-parlour, which had in 
 this parsonage been " the very head and front of 
 its offending." It was now painted to imitate 
 oak, and the formerly sky-blue cupboards now 
 seemed neat oak book-cases : every thing was 
 clean, suitable, and comfortable. 
 
 Mrs. Watson knew where every thing was 
 placed, and there was a place for every thing; 
 their sini})le meals were neatly served, though a 
 tidy maid and a shining dumb-waiter were all
 
 288 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 their attendants. Mr. Watson was absent, but 
 expected home that night. Olinda observed 
 that Lucy made many little arrangements, " be- 
 cause Watson was coming home," with an air of 
 great satisfaction, and her opinions were fre- 
 quently prefaced with " Watson thinks so and 
 so.'' 
 
 " You are quite happy here, Lucy ; you 
 seem not to have the least wish for any thing 
 not within your reach ?'* 
 
 " Yes, I am indeed as happy and contented 
 as it is possible to be in this world." 
 
 " Yet you live in complete retirement, and 
 have a number of little cares and duties which 
 I should have thought annoying. Are you not 
 sometimes provoked not to be able to sit quiet 
 on your sofa to read a new book which enter- 
 tains you, which you must give up to attend 
 to a thousand little dull domesticities ?''"' 
 
 " Why, whatever my situation had been, 
 I could not always have engaged in the occupa- 
 tion I preferred, and I believe almost any oc-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 289 
 
 cupations of constant recurrence become agree- 
 able, or at least so customary that we would 
 not willingly relinquish them. Have you not 
 heard innumerable stories of tradesmen, who, 
 having retired on good fortunes to their coun- 
 try houses, have found time hang so heavy on 
 their hands, that, as an amusement, they every 
 day. repaired to watch the operation going on at 
 their own counter, though their presence was 
 no longer needed there ? Besides, I give up a 
 certain portion of time to those cares ; and with 
 method you would be surprised to find how 
 great a part of the day may still be spent as 
 we choose." 
 
 ''And do you never wish for society — general 
 society ?'' 
 
 " No : though I should hear with pleasure of 
 any agreeable person coming to settle in our 
 neighbourhood whom I could occasionally see and 
 chat with, yet I feel no want of society. And 
 tell mo honestly, if all j/uur large acquaintance 
 were suddenly banished, how many of them 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 290 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 should you regret individually, and wish back 
 in their places ?" 
 
 " Why, not very many, certainly,'"' said Lady 
 Sedley laughing ; " yet I should not like to 
 live alone, and some I should miss very much : 
 in fact I should miss all; for it so happens, 
 Lucy, that to please, and to be liked, are the 
 greatest pleasures of my life :" and this sentence 
 she concluded with a half sigh. 
 
 " Of course, those you wish principally to 
 please are dowagers and elderly gentlemen ? — 
 at least I hope so, or such a taste may prove 
 dangerous." 
 
 " I should like to please everybody, but I 
 fear it is not possible." 
 
 " You must not, however, try to please 
 everybody too much, but, like Cleopatra, ' set 
 a bourne how far to be beloved.' I fear, 
 Olinda, I fear you are not quite wise, even 
 now." 
 
 Lady Sedley, as a defence to this charge, 
 owned to Mrs. Watson the domestic disturb-
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. ^1 
 
 ances she had endured for the last year ; and 
 was exhorted not to give offence bj the real 
 fault of flirting, and to endeavour, at least, to 
 reform the profusion which had caused Lord 
 Sedley's difficulties. 
 
 To this she objected the little share she had 
 latterly been allowed to have in consulting him, 
 owing to the active and constant interference of 
 Lady Mardiston. 
 
 Lucy replied that, even if her friend could 
 not be of service in that way, the general pru- 
 dence of her conduct would at least show she 
 deserved to have more weight with Lord 
 Sedley. 
 
 Olinda admitted the justice of this, and made 
 many good resolutions. 
 
 " I do not, however, understand, Lucy, why 
 you should be so much better contented than I 
 am. We neither of us were what is called ' in 
 love"* with our husbands. Mine was, strictly 
 speaking, a prudent and very advantageous 
 match. I have obtained all that people told me 
 o 2
 
 292 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 was desirable — I have heard of nothing but my 
 good fortune since the hour Sedley proposed, yet 
 — And you ! Lucy, — all who overwhelmed me 
 with congratulations united in finding fault 
 with your match — and yet you are completely 
 happy!" 
 
 " I was not a beauty — I had no right to 
 form high expectations," said Lucy. " I 
 sought a rational and good-tempered com- 
 panion, with vvhom I could live in very humble 
 independence, and I was not disappointed. 
 You were told that riches and rank would 
 make you happy, and that you must marry 
 a man of fashion — that your beauty entitled 
 you to expect it : perhaps the opinions that 
 guided you were mistaken ones; but you are 
 naturally ambitious, and would not have 
 been contented had a man hke Watson, with 
 manners unpolished by intercourse with that 
 society (which, naturally enough, you have 
 made your standard of excellence) proposed 
 to you. Though his situation had been much
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 293 
 
 superior to my husband's, and his fortune 
 approaching to wealth, you know, Olinda, 
 you would not have been satisfied — you 
 would not have married him. We cannot have 
 every thing we wish : many of the circum- 
 stances which contribute the most to comfort are 
 in Lord Sedley's situation; many of the quali- 
 ties of his disposition are those which minister 
 the most to a quiet and cheerful home. Re- 
 member all this, and resolve to be contented 
 with your lot, and do your duty." 
 
 " I know you are right, Lucy. All that you 
 have just said often passes through my mind: 
 I make all manner of good resolutions; but 
 sometimes my patience is on the eve of fail- 
 ing, when I see that ill-natured Lady Mardis- 
 ton, whom I have taken so much pains to 
 please, always trying to make disagreements 
 between Lord Sedley and myself; — and to see 
 him so completely guided by her, it is so dis- 
 couraging ! And you will admit, that con- 
 stant disapprobation at home inclines us to
 
 ^94 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 listen with more pleasure to constant admira- 
 tion abroad. But you are right, Lucy, and I 
 will be reasonable evermore. I can conceive 
 all the peace and satisfaction felt by those who 
 are suffering injustice with patience, from a 
 sense of duty ; I can believe in, and will ex- 
 perience it." 
 
 Lucy expressed her delight at this resolu- 
 tion ; and they were interrupted by the maid, 
 who told Lucy " Mrs. Gribble and old John 
 Hutchins wanted to speak a word." 
 
 " Oh, Lady Sedley," she exclaimed, *' you 
 say you are curious to see the whole progress 
 of my domestic affairs — now you shall see me 
 as Lady Bountiful." She led the way to the 
 little hall, where four or five poor people were 
 waiting. 
 
 On a little table stood a small cabinet with 
 folding doors, from which repository Lucy took 
 various small parcels inscribed with names. 
 " Here, Mrs. Gribble, are the powders for
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. ^6 
 
 your child; and Hutchins, here is something 
 for your rheumatism." She distributed medi- 
 cine, advice, and condolence to each of her 
 poor patients. Some of the poorest received 
 papers, containing arrow-root and isinglass ; 
 when all were kindly dismissed, with an in- 
 junction to call in three days, and give an 
 account of themselves and their ailments. 
 
 *' I think," said Lady Sedley, " your medical 
 proceedings are too daring, my dear Lucy. 
 Suppose you kill some of your patients ! — you 
 have not had a very scientific education at 
 Fanover." 
 
 " Oh, my caution proves I am not a quack ; 
 I never prescribe but in slight illness, and give 
 but simple remedies. The common people in 
 general are so ill^udging, that my most va- 
 luable secret as a physician is to tell them 
 what they should not do. I am rather, as St. 
 Lambert said of Madame de Houdetot, when 
 she enforced the restrictions laid on his gout.
 
 296 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 ' Vintendante de leur privations^ than an active 
 practitioner; and with the ignorant it is, I 
 assure you, a very necessary affair." 
 
 When Lady Sedley's carriage arrived the 
 next day, she bade Mrs. Watson a very kind 
 adieu, and said, " Well, my dear Lucy, I see 
 your life is a happy and a useful one ; it has 
 done me good to see it, and I go full of plans 
 to imitate your benevolence and activity." 
 
 These good resolutions were sincere. When 
 Newmarket restored Lord Sedley, his wife was 
 for many weeks, not only attentive to his 
 slightest wish, but full of vain endeavours to 
 propitiate Lady Mardiston ; who was not, how- 
 ever, to be conciliated, as she very much wished 
 to sever her brother and Ohnda. Their disunion 
 she promoted, but did not wish for a legal 
 separation, as that would again make him an 
 object for female contention. She knew the 
 world too well, not to see the dangers Lady 
 Sedley ""s vanity and coquetry created ; and 
 wished to see her blamed, but not divorced.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 297 
 
 Lady Sedley began at Jength to grow im- 
 patient at her want of success ; and not having 
 the highest of all motives for fulfilling her 
 duties under mortification and discouragement, 
 she grew to wish for the approbation of those 
 who witnessed her conduct, and were not pre- 
 judiced against her. 
 
 Several young men endeavoured to make her 
 observe ; that they considered her matched be- 
 neath her merits. At first she affected not 
 to notice the furtive expression of this feeling; 
 but whether they detected her growing irrita- 
 tion, or wished to profit by the provocation 
 constantly given to her, the indications of their 
 sympathy grew more marked. 
 
 One day, Lady Mardiston talked so much 
 at Olinda, and excited so many vexatious 
 speeches from Lord Sedley, that it required 
 a most surprising effort of self-command to pre- 
 serve a calm and disengaged manuLT, especially 
 as the conversation took place in the presence 
 of two young men, Colonel Fitztravers and 
 o5
 
 298 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 Lord Frederick Danesford. The former seem- 
 ed uneasy, and made various attempts to draw 
 the conversation to less irksome topics : the 
 latter was for some minutes silent, then, sud- 
 denly rising, uttered some words about being 
 too late for some engagement, and departed. 
 
 Two days afterwards he again called, when 
 Olinda was alone. After a pause, he said : — 
 " I fear I ought to apologise for the confusion 
 and abruptness — for the sudden departure the 
 other morning ; but you will, I hope, par- 
 don "' 
 
 " Doubtless,*" said Lady Sedley, laughing, 
 '' it would, indeed, be hard upon any man who 
 might not be allowed to end his morning visits 
 in London as soon as he liked to do so." 
 
 " You would, perhaps, be surprised to hear 
 how insupportable my visit had become when 
 I quitted you the other day." 
 
 " Not at all; I can conceive being bored to 
 any extent in the course of one's devoirs de 
 societey 
 
 ** I could not, I own to you, have sat a
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 299 
 
 moment longer to witness that diabolical Lady 
 Mardiston's malice without an entire loss of 
 temper, which would have deprived me of the 
 civil forbearance women are entitled to expect 
 from us.'"* 
 
 " To own the truth,'' said OHnda, " my 
 ' civil forbearance' was on the eve of exhaus- 
 tion. Lady Mardiston's malice and deliberate 
 enmity will soon conquer my patience wholly. 
 I begin to dislike her as much as it is allowable 
 for one human being to dislike another." 
 
 The first complaint of a sufferer is made 
 with timidity and moderation : there is less 
 reserve and more energy in every succeeding 
 one. The subject animated Lady Sedley, and 
 she repaid her ill-natured sister-in-law all the 
 dislike she owed her. 
 
 Lord Frederick was an able second : his 
 comments were equally severe. At length, he 
 exclaimed : " But what are her faults towards 
 you, compared to those of that miserable fool — 
 I will not call him your husband.'"' 
 
 *' Nevertheless," said Olinda, haughtily, *' I
 
 300 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 must remind you, Lord Frederick, that he is 
 my husband, and I require that }'ou should 
 speak respectfully of him in my presence/' 
 
 Lord Frederick eagerly excused himself, by 
 protesting " his devoted friendship, admiration, 
 and reverence for her character, had for once 
 conquered the reserve and politeness which was 
 due to any object, however insignificant or un- 
 worthy, that had the happiness of belonging 
 to her." 
 
 An animated dialogue followed, in which 
 even the apologies of Lord Frederick were 
 interspersed with many bitter reflections on 
 Lord Sedley ; and though Olinda, at the be- 
 ginning of the conversation, had attempted 
 honestly to rebuke him, she was, at heart, 
 too really angry with Lord Sedley not to see 
 with pleasure that some persons did her jus- 
 tice, and thought of him as he deserved to 
 be thought of. 
 
 Lord Frederick was sufficiently interested to 
 detect this feeling, and avail himself of it. He
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 301 
 
 continued to inveigh against Lord Sedley, to 
 set his conduct in the most unfavourable point 
 of view ; but was full of apologies to Olinda, 
 who, he pretended to suppose, heard all he 
 s:iid with impatience and anger. " Yet, in a 
 situation so singularly isolated as hers, the ad- 
 vice and sympathy of an entirely devoted friend 
 might be useful. At times he flattered himself 
 she was so just — he was sure she was so dis- 
 cerning, that she did not, could not doubt his 
 sincere wish to serve her as a friend, or bro- 
 ther. He had lived a good deal in the world ; 
 was some years older than her ; could claim 
 no other distinction than that of being per- 
 mitted to point out occasionally the line of 
 conduct most likely to conduce to her advan- 
 tage. He conjured her to confide implicitly in 
 his brotherly attachment. There had been a 
 time when, if circumstances had permitted him, 
 he would have sought the happiest destiny ; the 
 only consolation Fate had allowed him — that 
 of being a guardian and brother to the first
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and most deserving of human beings — would 
 be sufficient to make one happy, whose fault, 
 at least, was not selfishness." 
 
 This is but the sketch of a discourse, or ra- 
 ther soliloquy, which lasted an hour and a half. 
 During its progress. Lord Frederick some- 
 times rose and walked about the room ; at other 
 times he continued striking an amber paper- 
 knife, against a Dresden china inkstand, with so 
 much vehemence that he broke the flowers off 
 it. During the more touching parts of his dis- 
 course, particularly when he alluded to what 
 might have been his fate, he wept very grace- 
 fully, and buried his face in the very prettiest 
 India handkerchief I have ever seen. 
 
 The by-play (as theatrical people call it) on 
 Olinda's side was very various. The girlish and 
 usual resource of tearing a bouquet in small 
 pieces, and then eating it, hardly helped through 
 Lord Frederick's exordium ; and vshe had after- 
 wards time to write the alphabet in capital 
 letters on a very small piece of paper, before
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 303 
 
 she resorted to the expedient of twisting and 
 untwisting one of her bright black ringlets. 
 This practice may be safely recommended to any 
 lady while listening to an agitating disclosure, 
 unless she is obliged to dress for dinner in a 
 hurry afterwards, and will not have time to curl 
 her hair. 
 
 This interview was followed by many more ; 
 and Lady Sedley began to think, that a male 
 friend, who knew the world, and was a sensible 
 man, might be of great use as a counsellor. She 
 recollected Dean Swift''s observation, " that he 
 never knew a tolerable woman who was fond of 
 the society of her own sex."" She had the con- 
 solation of being flattered, pitied, and (she be- 
 heved) loved ; yet she was but half a dupe, 
 and meant to accept of friendship only, which 
 she decided was no failure in her duty to Lord 
 Sedley. Why should not Lord Frederick be 
 the friend to her, Lady IMardiston was to him ? 
 
 She soon acquired the habit of consulting 
 Lord Frederick, complaining to him, and tell-
 
 304 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 ing him all that passed. To save her conscience, 
 and obtain some applause for the generosity of 
 her disposition, when her friend's abuse of her 
 husband passed the bounds of moderation, Olinda 
 defended him. She did not examine her own 
 motives of action, or recollect that, during the 
 short experience of the world gained during 
 her unmarried life, Fleetwood had begun by 
 giving counsel, and ended by making love. 
 
 This platonic friendship was at its height 
 during a stay at Brighton the Sedleys made 
 after the Newmarket meeting ah'eady mention- 
 ed : every day Lord Frederick rode out with 
 the Sedleys, or walked with them, and every 
 day dined in the same party. 
 
 The society being very small at that time, 
 part of its ingredients were a family named 
 Trenchard, consisting of husband, wife, and un- 
 married daughter ; a family whose great riches 
 had enabled it to mingle " with the magnates 
 of the land," an advantage, for which their lives 
 were a perpetual thanksgiving.
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 305 
 
 Mr. Trenchard was a plain, unaffected man 
 of business ; his wife was comely, noisy, loud, 
 vulgar, and overbearing ; the daughter, a mass 
 of affectation and conceit. As Mrs. Trenchard 
 was aware that her strength was in metal, she 
 never omitted an opportunity of recalling the 
 company to the recollection of the price of every 
 thing, and was a walking tariff. 
 
 To those who had wealth and titles, she was 
 invariably gcod-natured and obliging ; to those 
 who did not possess either of these qualifica- 
 tions, she was equally rude and disobliging, — 
 not so much from ill-humour, as from the pru- 
 dent consideration she should gain nothing by 
 the opposite conduct, and from the agreeable 
 novelty of finding that she had those whom she 
 might treat as inferiors, and be rude to them 
 with impunity. Excellent dinners, wine, and 
 magnificent balls, obtained so much favour in 
 the eyes of a " discerning public,'' that the 
 Trenchards could not doubt that their per- 
 sonal merits had obtained for them the esteem
 
 306 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 and respect of all included in the British do- 
 minions. 
 
 Mrs. Trenchard was shrewd, and soon saw 
 that a great intimacy subsisted between the Sed- 
 ley family and Lord Frederick ; and caring less 
 for the consequences of promoting it, than she 
 did for the reputation of having " the pleasant- 
 est dinners in the world," (which eulogy she was 
 sure to have from those who met there, whom 
 they considered as the pleasantest people,) she 
 never failed to ask Lord Frederick Danesford 
 to meet Lady Sedley. They were amused ; the 
 dinner was gay ; Lord Frederick danced at the 
 balls with Miss Trenchard, and spent all the 
 time in their house that he did not spend at 
 Lord Sedley's. 
 
 Mrs. Trenchard vindicated the delicacy of 
 her sense of propriety by saying, when she 
 despatched invitations to both, " I suppose, as 
 I ask Lady Sedley, I must ask Lord Frederick : 
 loell, if I was Lord Sedley, I know what / 
 would do :'"* — or to those females with whom she
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 307 
 
 was intimate, slie observed, " I never saw any 
 thing like it in my life ! — such a flirtation, quite 
 shocking ! — poor thing ! what a pity somebody 
 does not advise her I" 
 
 She had the recompense of her courtesy and 
 forbearance, in hearing the sea-breeze on the 
 Chain Pier and Marine Parade bring to her 
 ear the murmur of her passing acquaintance, 
 " Why, Lord Frederick Danesford never leaves 
 the Trenchards ! — he must mean to marry the 
 daughter." 
 
 This, however, was said by those who had 
 been friends of the Trenchards ten years be- 
 fore, who, not being initiated into the deeper 
 mysteries of fashion, were forced to content 
 themselves with hearing of an attachment when 
 the parties were in Doctors' Commons — of a 
 duel, when it appeared headed by " affair of 
 honour"" in the Morning Post ; who never could 
 regale on a scandal till it was " run to earth" 
 by the severer papers. 
 
 As things in general are reckoned valuable
 
 308 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 in proportion to the difficulty of attaining them, 
 such persons are always more eager than any 
 others to obtain some insight into the affairs of 
 their superiors. Much to be pitied as these 
 " fond inquirers" are, it would soothe their 
 pains to know that there is a grade still lower 
 in the scale of worldlings — people who absolute- 
 ly " burst in ignorance,*" who, from being un- 
 acquainted with persons, confuse and misapply 
 names, and in telling a story, buckle the sins of 
 a young spendthrift on some pious old peer's 
 back, and relate divisions between couples who 
 are known to live like avadavats on the same 
 perch. 
 
 The Trenchard having gradually travelled 
 through these two stages of know-nothingness, 
 was quite aware of the bles&ing it must prove 
 
 to her to know precisely how much Lord E 
 
 lost at Newmarket, — to see with her own eyes 
 from beneath a scarlet beret (shadowed with 
 two heron-plumes, and lighted with diamonds 
 of unequalled size and lustre) how often Lord 
 B danced with Lady Julia M .
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 309 
 
 The last of these Briiihton dinners that 
 Olinda joined, she found Lady Grinnthorpe and 
 Mrs. Danby with the hostess, and felt that 
 thev had been criticisino^ her before her en- 
 trance. She complained of cold, and Mrs. 
 Trenchard said the weather had half killed her, 
 " which obliged her to wear this^^^ holding up 
 the end of a most splendid Indian shawl. 
 
 " What a beautiful shawl !" said Mrs. 
 Danby. 
 
 *^ I am glad you like it,'' said Mrs. Trench- 
 ard, " for this is one of my worst ; it cost two 
 hundred pounds. I had ordered a dozen, but 
 there were but six that were the sort of shawl / 
 ever wear. I can only bear the very softest and 
 finest ; and Mr. Trenchard's agent in India 
 knew it was of no use to send me any thing 
 that was not the best of its kind. 
 
 " This is magnificent ^ said Mrs. Danby. 
 *' I often tell Mr. Danhy how much I should 
 like to have a very magnificent shawl ; but — '* 
 she sighed, and shook licr head. 
 
 The dinner procecdud ; the guests talked and
 
 310 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 laughed, and lamented that their pleasant so- 
 ciety was so soon to break up, and that they 
 must part. A thousand schemes for bringing 
 the same party to meet in London were pro- 
 posed and resolved on, though the greater part 
 of the company cared not if that very dinner 
 had been their last meeting on earth. 
 
 Though Olinda thought it civil to heave one 
 sigh of compassion to Lord Frederick, she did 
 not violently regret their parting ; though she 
 was conscious she should miss the sympathy 
 and admiration he had been used to pay, and 
 she pitied him for the violent despair she sup- 
 posed must then oppress him. 
 
 They had conversed so much and so freely 
 on what was painful in her situation, that he 
 had gradually emancipated himself from the 
 respectful forbearance in speaking of Lord 
 Sedley which she had at first exacted ; and for 
 the words regard and friendship, soon after were 
 substituted attachment and devotion. He spoke 
 less in praise of her character, and more in
 
 AIMS AND ENDS. 311 
 
 praise of her beauty ; and very much more in 
 lamentation of his ill fortune, in not having had 
 it in his power to prevent her having become 
 Lady Sedley. 
 
 She felt it was necessary to put an end to 
 professions, the tendency of which she could 
 no longer affect to mistake, yet could not re- 
 solve to deprive herself of the society which 
 had been her only consolation for several weeks ; 
 but she was glad of the check absence would 
 be to their increasing intimacy. 
 
 Lord Frederick asked permission to write to 
 her ; and after some objections, she agreed that 
 he should, desiring that he might always write 
 in a manner not liable to the slightest miscon- 
 struction if read by the most indifferent ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 Lord Frederick contrived to evade this by 
 sending one sheet which might have been sub- 
 mitted to the most critical eye without animad- 
 version, containing only those topics which 
 might amuse an acquaintance; but the same
 
 S\2 AIMS AND ENDS. 
 
 cover usually conveyed another sheet less cal- 
 culated for public perusal. 
 
 All coquettes, from a secret consciousness 
 how much vanity mingles with and prompts 
 the attentions of their admirers, are at great 
 pains to disguise from them how little they are 
 cared for ; well knowing there is no species of 
 dismissal more effectual, than showing it is the 
 homage, and not he who offers it, that was 
 valued. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, 
 
 Dorset Street, Tleet Street.
 
 m