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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
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 979 
 
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 L161 — O-1096
 
 TALES 
 
 OF 
 
 REAL LIFE, 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. OPIE. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. L 
 
 Hontsan: 
 
 PRINTED rOR 
 
 I^KGMAy, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWX, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1813.
 
 Printed ly R, Taylor and Co.f Shoe-Lane^ London,
 
 Qp3t 
 
 LADY ANNE and LADY JANE. 
 
 A TALE. 
 
 Well, Harry," said Mr. Percy to his 
 son, " which of my fair and noble wards 
 am I to call daughter ? You have been 
 seemingly a long time suspended like Ma- 
 homet's tomb between two magnets." 
 
 " Alas for Mahomet's tomb, my dear 
 
 father, if it be not more equally balanced 
 
 than my affections." 
 
 > ' " Then what think you of another si- 
 
 ^mile — a child that is undecided whether 
 
 |to choose a peach or a nectarine ?" 
 
 ^ " No — that will not do, because the 
 
 U5 
 
 child has probably his choice of either, 
 -Jland I have not mine of the ladies in ques- 
 ^tion." 
 
 1^ VOL. I. B *' But
 
 2 LADY ANxNE AND LADY jANE. • 
 
 " Rut I think you maij have. — Lady 
 Anne Mortimer is a grand lovely creature! 
 w-hat bright dark eyes she has!" 
 
 *' Yes, — and what fascinating eyes, co- 
 lour unknown, has Lady Jane Langley! 
 I am sure I know not whether they be 
 gray, blue, or hazel, — but by turns I be- 
 IJLve they are all three, — and like a change- 
 able silk, they are beautiful to the sight 
 without one's being able to tell what is 
 the pfedohlinant hue " 
 
 '' Eyes like changeable silk, Harry ! 
 Humph 1 I hope you do not extend the 
 simile to her Ladyship's temper ?" 
 
 " To her humour I do, and like her 
 
 the better for it^— 
 
 * From grave to guy, from lively to severe.' " 
 
 " That n:iay be a recommendation to a 
 mistress, Hairy, but surely not to a wife.— - 
 Bright- coloured silks, to borrov^ your 
 metaphor in part,, are not good for every 
 day w ar ; one of a more sober and eitn 
 
 colour
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 3 
 
 colour would do better. Lady Anne is the 
 woman for a wife ; she is not so dazzling 
 as her cousin, but I think her more 
 estimable — nay, she has more beauty also, 
 for she has certainly better features." 
 
 " Better features, sir ! So she has, I dare 
 say, according to measurement : but there 
 is one thing which Lady Jane has, 
 which her cousin wants, and without 
 which a beauty is almost plain, and with 
 which a plain woman is almost beautiful— 
 and that is charms or, as the French call 
 it, agrement, — It is what women feel in 
 our sex, but cannot understand in their 
 cwn ; and when they see us admire a wo- 
 man in whom they can discover no personal 
 attraction, they begin measuring her nose 
 and her mouth, and criticizing the colour 
 of her eyes, and hair, and complexion, 
 till they end with ' In short, 1 call her 
 plain, and think it is madness'in men to ad- 
 mire l>er.' And to this gift called * charm/ 
 B 2 and
 
 4 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 and which I believe to have been Psyche's 
 celebrated box of beauty. Lady Jane adds 
 handsome if not regular features, and a 
 form, a complexion " 
 
 " By no means as fine as Lady Anne's." 
 
 " Why, perhaps not ; for sometimes 
 she's pale^ and sometimes red ; and Lady 
 Anne's colour is permanent and unva- 
 rying." 
 
 " Unvarying, Harry ! when her bloom 
 is every moment deepened by the blush of 
 feeling and modesty — while her tall figure 
 and majestic carriage .inspire respect as 
 veil as admiration." 
 
 " There again, sir — it is that very 
 height, that very majesty that I do not 
 admire. — Not but that Lady Jane can be 
 majestic too — but she had rather please 
 than awe ; rather attract than repel." 
 
 " Lady Jane majestic ! By the side of 
 Lady Anne she is rather short than other- 
 
 wise.'*- 
 
 Short
 
 LADY ANNE AND I.ADY JANE. 3 
 
 " Short by the side of Lady Anne! to 
 be sure she is — an acacia by the side of a 
 Lombardy pophir ! Lady Anne is 
 
 * Tall and as straight as a poplar tree. 
 And her cheeks are as red as a rose :* 
 
 but she wants grace ^ — and so does a pop- 
 lar. There's Lady Jane throwing her 
 lovely person into a thousand graceful at- 
 titudes hke a bending woodbine, while her 
 'cousin sits in one posture like a cedar of 
 'Lebanon. Lady Jane is a beautiful run- 
 ning accompaniment, while Lady Anne is 
 four minims in a bar. Besides, Lady Anne 
 often speaks disagreeable truths, and Lady 
 Jane none but agreeable ones/' 
 
 " In short, my dear son, you are in 
 love with Lady Jane, and to a man in love 
 there is only one beautiful w^oman in the 
 world." 
 
 " There you wrong me, sir, — I think 
 Lady Anne very handsome, and I adore 
 her virtues j and if she would but conde- 
 scend
 
 O l.ADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 scend to be agreeable^ she would be ir- 
 resistible." 
 
 " Well, well, I see all hope for her is 
 over, and I am sorry for it ; — for I feaK 
 that you like Lady Jane, and Lady Anne 
 likes you.'* 
 
 " I hope not. But, sir, don't you think 
 Lady Jane loves me a little .^" 
 
 " I can't tell — for that ' charm y' as 
 you call it, throws such a bright halo 
 round her, that I have as yet been unable 
 to see her clearly enough to discern what 
 her real feelings are. — However, as my 
 first wish is to see you happy, and as you 
 can only be so v;ith the woman of your 
 heart, I will watch Lady Jane. I should 
 have preferred Lady Anne. Besides, she 
 has a great fortune, and her cousin com- 
 paratively a small one. But you have 
 wealth enough, and more than enough 
 with your late uncle's, in possession, and 
 mine in prospect: therefore you can please 
 
 yourself
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 7 
 
 yourself without violating the dictates of 
 worldly prudence ; and I hope I shall live 
 at least to see you married." 
 
 " I hope you will live,'* said Harry 
 Percy affectionately, " to see me and my 
 children married, dear sir." Then seeing 
 Lady Jane and Lady Anne in the garden, 
 he eagerly ran to meet them. 
 
 It would indeed have been more for 
 Harry Percy's interest to marry Lady 
 Anne, as, not from vice but thoughtless- 
 ness, he had, though but just five-and- 
 twenty, been forced to mortgage his only 
 unentailed estate so considerably, that, as 
 he had no ready money, a large sum with 
 a wife could alone set him free ; and as he 
 knew that his father had no money to spare, 
 he had carefully concealed from, him an em- 
 barrassment which he well knew it would 
 distress him not to be able to remove. 
 
 Lady Jane was the daughter of the 
 
 Earl
 
 8 . LADY AUNE ATiD LADY JANE. 
 
 Earl of M , and Lady Anne of the 
 
 Marquis of D , and both were left by 
 
 their fathers to the guardianship of Mr. 
 Percy. As Mrs. Percy was Hving when 
 these noblemen died, her husband's wards 
 came to reside with her ; and till he went 
 abroad with a tutor at the age of eighteen, 
 Percy had many opportunities of being 
 with the young and beautiful cousins, of 
 whom one was four, the other three years 
 younger than himself. 
 
 At one-and-twenty he returned, and 
 found Lady Jane, who with her cousin had 
 been presented at court, a reigning belle 
 in the fashionable world, and more full of 
 fascination than ever : but though courted 
 by all who beheld her, her eyes seemed, 
 he thought, to look as tenderly as ever on 
 him. Not so Lady Anne's; her eyes never 
 sought his; on the contrary, they seemed 
 to avoid them : and w hen he returned, 
 
 after
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 9 
 
 after a long and severe illness, during 
 which his life was despaired of, the one 
 wounded his self-love, while the other 
 soothed it. Lady Anne, when she saw 
 him, was so struck with the change in his 
 appearance that she could not at first 
 speak ; and when she did, it was to say in 
 a faltering voice, and with eyes filled with 
 tears, — " Oh ! Harry, how ill you look ! 
 I declare I should scarcely have known 
 you ! and you look so old !" 
 
 " Don't inind what that raven says, 
 Hariy," exclaimed Lady Jane, " she al- 
 ways sees the worst side of every thing ; 
 and I assure you 1 think, though you look 
 as if you had been umvdly you never 
 looked handsomer nor younger in your 
 life.'* 
 
 Harry held a hand of each at this mo- 
 ment; and it is certain that he pressed Lady 
 Jane's very tenderly, while he held Lady 
 Anne's so coldly that she withdrew it.-— 
 a 5 From
 
 10 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 From that moment Lady Jane stood on a 
 vantage ground with Harry Percy which 
 she never lost ; for he thought the remark 
 of Lady Jane kind, that of the other 
 cruel ; and though deeply impressed be- 
 fore he went abroad in favour of Lady 
 Anne, he saw not, he heeded not, he un- 
 derstood not the faltering voice, the in- 
 voluntary tears that accompanied her re- 
 mark, — a remark impelled by real tender- 
 ness thrown by. the anxieties of tenderness 
 completely off its guard. Nor did he ob- 
 serve that, though her words were flatter- 
 ing, Lady Jane's feelings were cold. He 
 therefore banished Lady Anne from his 
 best affections, and received Lady Jane to 
 them, — like many others, rejecting the 
 substance for the shadow. 
 
 Lady Anne soon saw, and secretly de- 
 plored, the superiority of Lady Jane's in- 
 fluence over Percy to her own ; for she 
 thought she loved him better than her 
 
 cousin.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 11 
 
 cousin, and for his own sake she wished 
 that he had preferred her. But hers was 
 no common mind, no common character. 
 She thought that passions were given us 
 for our slaves, not our tyrants j and the 
 love which was not likely to be returned, 
 she felt it her duty first to conceal, and 
 ultimately to subdue^ or at least to keep 
 within proper bounds. But her trials were 
 severe ; and while she witnessed the pro- 
 gress of Percy's attachment to Lady Jane, 
 she sighed to think how happy such evi- 
 dences of love would have made her ; and 
 she sighed the more, because she felt as- 
 sured that this devoted love was thrown 
 away on one who was too volatile to feel 
 the. value of it. No wonder, therefore, that 
 the usually brusque and severe manner of 
 Lady Anne should become still more so. 
 
 " The carriage has been at the door 
 this hour, Jane, and Mrs. Corbet and I 
 have been waiting twenty minutes foir 
 
 you,"
 
 12 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 you," said Lady Anne one mornings 
 " and yet you are not ready — It is very 
 strange you can never be punctual." 
 
 " Nor you patient^ Anne." 
 
 "What is the matter?" said Percy 
 entering. " Lady Anne, you look disturb- 
 ed." 
 
 " Oh ! she has only been scolding me> 
 as usual." 
 
 ^' Scolding you ?" 
 
 *' You, I suppose, think no one can be 
 so hard-hearted as to scold such a divi- 
 nity 1" replied Lady Anne with a laugh 
 that was no laugh. 
 
 " But what has Lady Jane done ?" 
 
 *' She is not ready, according to custom 
 1 — and I am sure, Harry, I have heard you 
 say that punctuality is a virtue." 
 
 *' True, — but is not impatience a viceV* 
 
 " There, Anne ! do you hear that ?" 
 
 " I do," she replied, blushing deeply 
 from pain at being reproved by the man she 
 
 loved J
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 13 
 
 loved ; '• and I dare say, yes — I was — I 
 am too imp itlent.*' 
 
 "Amiable candour!" cried Percy: 
 " and I in return must own that I think 
 Lady Jane's habit of not being punctual 
 a most vile one, and " 
 
 " What is that you are saying, young 
 gentleman ?" said Lady Jane turning 
 round from the glass, at which she was 
 adjusting her head-dress, and looking at 
 him with one of her most arch looks and 
 dimpled smiles. 
 
 " I was saying the truth — that you are 
 not perfect ;" but looking fondly and 
 even familiarly in her face as he spoke, 
 
 * If to thy share some female errors f.ill. 
 Look in thy face and one forgets diem all.' 
 
 " Thank ye, young man — very civil, 
 and very new. But Lady Anne has a face 
 also, and a very handsome one it is." 
 
 " But not a face to be looked up at as 
 
 yours
 
 14 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 yours was just now," said Lady Anne al- 
 most pettishly, 
 
 " There, Harry ! do you not see her 
 meaning ? She is such a prude, she thought 
 your look and manner too free, and that 
 no one dared look at her so." 
 
 Lady Anne had no such meaning : but 
 conscious that she spoke in envy^ though 
 not in blame^ she remained silent; and 
 Percy, quite lost in admiration of her rival, 
 cared not to reply. 
 
 " How that gown becomes you ! " said 
 Harry, " and how pretty it is !" 
 
 *' Do you think so ?" 
 
 " Yes — or else it is you who become 
 the gown, and impart to it your graces." 
 
 " Do you like it better than Lady 
 Anne's?" 
 
 " I may be wrongs — but I certainly 
 do." 
 
 " A fair take in !" replied the mis- 
 chievous
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 15 
 
 chievous lady Jane laughing, " for they 
 are both alike : only I know how to put 
 on a gown, and she does not. Only see 
 h3w her gown sits ! — Why, my dear, one 
 would think you were crooked." 
 
 " I dressed myself," she replied. 
 
 " And why, pray ?" 
 
 ^' Because my maid was not quite well." 
 
 " But you could have had mine." 
 
 " Am I never to learn to wait on my- 
 self, and be an independent rational 
 being?" 
 
 " There ! Now Anne is in her heroics 
 and moral sublimities, Harry, I must inter- 
 rupt her : therefore pray go and call up 
 the carriage." 
 
 " So, Anne 1 you thought Harry's look 
 too free, did you ?" 
 
 " No such thing, Jane," she answer- 
 ed, her ingenuous mind disdaining the 
 least approach to falsehood, — " I meant 
 very differently — I meant, — " and here 
 
 her
 
 16 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 her voice faltered, — " I meant that my 
 face had not the charms of yours, and 
 therefore was not Hkely to be looked at 
 so^ so fondlv." 
 
 " Well said, modest, humble Lady 
 Anne ! But I must tell Harry, — may I V* 
 
 " If you please ; for the disingenuous- 
 ness of being silent when you accused me 
 before, is on my mind/' 
 
 " What a delicate conscience is thine 1 ** 
 said Lady Jane laughing. 
 
 " O Percy !" she exclaimed, as he re- 
 turned and hung over her delighted while 
 he handed her down stairs, " I have Anne's 
 confessions to make.'* And Lady Anne 
 staid behind till she thought all was said. 
 Then, with one of her most majestic looks, 
 she gave him her hand when he returned 
 to meet her. But if she meant the look 
 to awe Percy into forbearing to compli- 
 ment her on her modest idea of her own 
 face, it was thrown awayj for he felt 
 
 that
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 17 
 
 that what Lady Anne said was just^ — he 
 could not have looked at ker in that man- 
 ner, — and he was too honest to say what 
 he could not mean. Whether Lady Anne 
 suspected this truth I know not ; but she 
 felt sad and uncomfortable, and was very 
 glad Percy did not accompany them in 
 their drive. 
 
 It is very certain that Lady Jane dearly 
 loved Lady Anne, and when alone with 
 her every feeling but of affection towards 
 her was at rest ; but when with her in the 
 presence of others, she had such a con- 
 sciousness of Lady Anne's superiority, and 
 such a restless dread lest others should per- 
 ceive it too, that she could not be easy 
 without playing upon her noble cousin, and 
 pointing out the bad style of her dress, and 
 her occasional roughness of reproofs and 
 manner. There are two sorts of jealousy : 
 —the one struts a heroine with a poisoned 
 bowl and bloody dagger — the other is only 
 
 armed
 
 18 LADY ANNE AND LADY JAN^. 
 
 armed with pins and needles, and is no he- 
 roine at all : — but she makes such a use of 
 her weapons, that she does as much and 
 more harm to domestic happiness, and the 
 interests of society, than her more lofty and 
 impassioned sister. — This anti-heroic jea- 
 lousy was f e t by Lady Jane, and it im- 
 pelled her to stick pins, that is, to inflict 
 trifling wounds on Lady Anne, except 
 when alone, and then affection was tri- 
 umphant. 
 
 " My dearest Anne," said Lady Jane 
 during their drive, " I am afraid I di- 
 stressed you by my flippancy just now ?* 
 
 " No — you only fretted me, and to that 
 I am pretty well accustomed." 
 
 '' How sorry I am ! But I will learn to 
 behave better — indeed I will — for I am 
 sure I love you, Anne! tenderly love you." 
 
 " It would be strange if you did not, 
 Jane ! it would be strange if two orphans 
 like us, left to the care of the same guar- 
 dian.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 19 
 
 dian, and nearly akin in blood, should not 
 love each other. It would be unnatural, 
 it would be base." 
 
 "Aye, indeed j and I should be wickedly 
 ungrateful, Anne, if I did not love you — 
 for you are so kind to me! How should I 
 get out of the embarrassments my extra- 
 vagance involves me in but for you ? " 
 
 "Nonsense!" replied Lady Anne. "I 
 have so few wants myself, that I can supply 
 yours — and I have a pleasure in doing so." 
 
 Here the coach stopped at a shop in 
 Bond-street, and the door was instantly 
 thronged with fashionable men. Away 
 flew all the pensive, sentimental graces 
 Lady Jane's countenance had worn as she 
 gazed on the saddened one of Lady Anne, 
 and she beamed on the beaux from the 
 door of the carriage in all the brilHance 
 of a reigning belle. 
 
 " I think I see Lady Anne in yon 
 VOL. I. B 10 corner,"
 
 20 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 corner," said Lord Lorimer, — " I hope 
 her ladyship's well," bowing very respect- 
 fully, having only given Lady Jane a nod. 
 
 The latter felt the difference, and was 
 piqued. " No," she replied for her cou- 
 sin, '' Lady Anne is very unwell. Don't 
 you see how she is muffled up ? " 
 
 " I never was better in my life," said 
 Lady Anne leaning forward, and speaking 
 in her most abrupt manner; " and my 
 being muffled up, as Lady Jane calls it, 
 is an act of choice, not necessity." 
 
 *' You hear her; you see she will not 
 allow me to make an. excuse for her old 
 woman's dress. — Is she not, my lord, a 
 beautiful blowsy?" 
 
 " Beautiful she always is/' replied 
 Lord Lorimer. 
 
 " Oh ! I know why you think so : — 
 it is in return for Lady Anne's saying you 
 were — but I dare not repeat what she said." 
 
 « You
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 21 
 
 *' You overpower me. Lady Jane,'* 
 said Lord Lorimer conceitedly. 
 
 " It is true, — is it not. Lady Anne ? 
 Did you not highly extol Lord Lonmer r" 
 — added Lady Jane, well knowing what 
 her answer would be. 
 
 " I never speak against my conscience," 
 replied Lady Anne roughly, " and there- 
 fore I could not do it." 
 
 " O fy, fy, Lady Anne ! what have you 
 said ? But indeeed, my lord, you need 
 not look so angry; for women, you know, 
 are always rude to those they like best." 
 
 " Yes, yes,'* said Lord Lorimer, " that 
 is human nature." « 
 
 " But it is not mine, my lord, I assure 
 you," cried Lady Anne angrily. " Lady 
 Jane, I choose to drive on, for I am tired 
 of this nonsense." So saying, she desired 
 the footman to give her order, and the 
 coach proceeded. 
 
 « Dear
 
 22 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANZ. 
 
 "Dear Anne!'* said Lady Jane, " I see 
 I have offended again/' 
 
 " Yes; — ^I am angry now. — What 
 could induce you to flatter that coxcomb 
 Lord Lorimer at my expense ? " 
 
 " I am sure I don't know ; but I be- 
 lieve it was from compassion, lest he 
 should fall in love with you ; — for your 
 haughtiness, Anne, is as powerful a pre- 
 servative from the effects of your charms, 
 as is the offensive smell of some beau- 
 tiful but poisonous berries : their hue at- 
 tracts, but their scent repels ; therefore 
 the thirsty traveller escapes." 
 
 " Am I so very rude, so very repellent, 
 
 Jane?" 
 
 " Rather so, my dear ; and but for 
 
 my little hint to save the poor man's self- 
 love, you would have made Lord Lorimer 
 your foe for life." 
 
 " No great harm if I had. But how 
 
 can
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 23 
 
 can you delight to talk such stuff to 
 these fops, these loungers, these killers 
 of time?*' 
 
 " Oh ! a very harmless amusement. I 
 am only spreading a few weak nets for a 
 few harmless birds, a few hopping spar- 
 rows, and they are so slender they can 
 break them at any time." 
 
 " But suppose, in the meanwhile, a 
 bird of real value should, angry at your 
 levity, escape from your net that is more 
 skilfully woven?" 
 
 " Oh ! if you mean Harry Percy ! be- 
 lieve me, Anne, his heart is too surely 
 mine for almost any thing I can do to 
 break the chain. — No, Anne, I fear no 
 rival influence, not even yours.'' (Mrs, 
 Corbet had just alighted to go into a shop, 
 or Lady Jane would not have said this.) 
 
 " Mine ! — It is unkind, Jane, to mock 
 me thus,'' replied Lady Anne : " you may 
 well scorn all fear of me as a rival." 
 
 « No
 
 2i LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " No such thing, Lady Anne ! Of all 
 women in the world, if you, as Percy says, 
 would but deign to be agreeable^ I should 
 fear ijou with him, and every one." 
 
 " Does Percy say that of me?" 
 
 *' Yes : — he thinks it is all you want 
 to be irresistible.*' 
 
 "I wish I had known that sooner!" 
 thought Lady Anne. 
 
 '' Positively, my dear girl," continued 
 Lady Jane, " you are like a man who has 
 the 20,000/. prize in his bureau, and 
 will not give himself the trouble of claim- 
 ing it. Here's a throat, white and round 
 as ever Phidias formed, and yet you con- 
 ceal it as if it were hideous ! Here is hair, 
 jetty and glossy as a raven's plume, and 
 you hide it under a bushel^ — I mean a 
 cap, — but it is a cap as big as a bushel ! 
 And here is a foot, a model for a statuary, 
 of which you don't suiFer even the tip of 
 a toe to be visible ! My dear Anne, if 
 
 - ■ you
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 25 
 
 you were to condescend to shine forth in 
 all your charms, I should hate you mor- 
 tally." 
 
 " Nay, this is mere trifling," replied 
 Lady Anne ; " why should I try to please ? 
 The only man, you know, as you have 
 unhappily surprised my secret, whom I 
 ever wished to please, is lost to me for 
 ever, and ' I can hope no more.' " 
 
 The deep desponding tone in which 
 this was spoken aroused all the af- 
 fectionate nature of Lady Jane, and she 
 exclaimed — " Don't talk so, Anne, I can> 
 bear it ; and I would resign fifty Percies, 
 rather than make you wretched." 
 
 " But there are 720/ fifty Percies, Jane. 
 Alas ! there is only one,'* 
 
 " No, not in your foolish eyes ; — but 
 in mine there may be many : — and really, 
 though I love him more than a little, only 
 say the word, my beloved Anne, and I will 
 say NO, should he ask me to say yea." 
 
 VOL. I. c " Bu.t
 
 *26 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE* 
 
 *' But he loves you, Jane ; — and I prize 
 his happiness beyond my own : — there- 
 fore I ii'ish him to marry you. — But tell 
 me, Jane! In order to reconcile myself to 
 the disgrace of loving a man who never 
 asked me to love him, don't you think 
 before he went abroad / was his fa- 
 vourite, and that his attentions warranted 
 my partiality?" 
 
 " Why, — ^yes, I do think so," replied 
 Lady Jane, a conscious feeling making 
 her blush deeply. 
 
 ** Enough, I am ^tisfied," replied 
 Lady Anne, and the coach stopped at a 
 shop in St, James's-street. A beggar im- 
 mediately came up, and asked charity of 
 Lady Jane. — " Do, dear Lady Anne/' 
 she cried, " lend me half-a-crown for 
 diis poor wretch.'* 
 
 •* What I give alms in such a public 
 street as this, Jane ! It looks so pharisai- 
 cal!" 
 
 " What
 
 LADY ANNS AND LADY JANE. 2? 
 
 " What signifies the look ? — Now do 
 oblige me ; for, as usual, I have no money." 
 
 " Well, — there is what you desire ; — 
 but it is so beggarly. Lady Jane, never 
 to have money in your pocket !" 
 
 '' No, — it is wise if you will give me 
 yours, — and it is fashionable , as no one 
 wears pockets.'* 
 
 " Nonsense I — You know that I mean 
 It is wrong to have no money of your 
 own about you. I wish, dear Jane, as 
 your true friend, I wish that you would 
 learn to pay your debts, and be just before 
 you are generous." 
 
 " Nay, Anne, remember what the man 
 gays in the play about Justice being a hob- 
 bling beldame, who can't overtake Gene- 
 rosity." 
 
 " Yes, Jane, I do remember j — and I 
 
 regret that the very great man who wrote 
 
 that speech should have put forth so 
 
 c 2 perni-
 
 28 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 pernicious a sentiment j — for the man 
 who " 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! dear Anne/' inter- 
 rupted Lady Jane, " or rather dear Jo- 
 seph ! for, if you disapprove one brother, 
 I hate the other ; and you were going on 
 
 so like him ; * for the man who ' 
 
 How do you do? How do you?" cried 
 L^dy Jane, interrupting herself, and Mr. 
 Percy came up to the coach-window. 
 
 "Joseph!" said Lady Jane, '* here's 
 cnir guardian." 
 
 *' What ! what did you call her ? " 
 asked Mr. Percy. 
 
 *' Why, sir, I am Charles, and her 
 ladyship Joseph Surface, at your service. 
 
 And you, guardian, why, you shall be 
 
 But come into the carriage, there's a good 
 gentleman :" and he got in, " Yes, 
 guardian, — y^s — ^you shall be Sir Peter 
 Teazle." 
 
 <' With
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 29 
 
 *' With all my heart, ward ; but where 
 is my Lady Teazle V 
 
 ** O sir ! " she replied, affecting to hide 
 her face and blush, '* if you would but 
 see her and accept her, sir, she is here 
 before you ! I have long wished for this 
 opportunity,, sir, and let my blushes speak 
 forme!" 
 
 " But what will my son say ?" 
 
 " O sir ! never mind what he says.-^ 
 I prefer you ; — and he can't help himself. 
 — I think you, indeed I do, a great deal 
 handsomer than he is."^ 
 
 " Handsomer I may be ; hut I fear that 
 I want what my son says you have so ex- 
 chisivelyy Lady Jane, and that is charm:-^ 
 therefore I advise you to prefer Harry to 
 me." 
 
 " Well then, what say you to Lady 
 Anne?" 
 
 " Alas ! I fear Lady Anne will have 
 nothing to say to me. But this I will 
 
 say.
 
 so LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 say, that were / a young man, I should 
 have much to say to her.'' 
 
 " O you cruel, mortifying, ungrateful 
 guardian ! So then I see you prefer Lady 
 Anne to me!'* and she hid her mortifi- 
 cation in a pretended sob. " What, are 
 you thinking of Lady Anne while you 
 are looking at me so intently?" 
 
 " I was thinking, Lady Jane, how airs 
 and graces like yours would become me ; 
 how / should look playing tricks like 
 these." 
 
 " Like an elephant dancing a bolero, 
 my dear!" 
 
 " So I thought ; — but how long, Jane, 
 will it become you to dance these bo- 
 leros ? 1 feel that all this may be charm- 
 ing in youth : but youth is a small part 
 of human existence ; — and I was carrying 
 my eye further, and beholding you a few 
 years hence." 
 
 « And
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, SI 
 
 '' And what do you see, Anne?" re- 
 plied Lady Jane in a tone of alarm. 
 
 «' Oh ! I hope, Jane, that all this play- 
 ful gaiety, harmless as summer lightning> 
 will end in the mild lustre of a calm sum- 
 mer's evening." 
 
 ^f Thank you, dear candid Anne," re- 
 plied Lady Jane. 
 
 *' You think all this lightning will go 
 oS" without any destructive storms, do 
 you. Lady Anne?'* said Mr. Percy. 
 
 " I hope so," hesitatingly replied Lady 
 Anne. " Jane has a good head, and an 
 excellent heart." 
 
 ** A truce, sweet Anne, with your 
 flattery ; or you will turn my head, how- 
 ever good it may be." 
 
 The coach at this moment stopped at 
 
 H t's at the corner of Sydney's alley, 
 
 and Lady Jane got out. After a few mi. 
 nutes she returned with a very handsome 
 shirt-pin in her hand, and followed by the 
 
 shopman
 
 32 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 shopman with a large case of jewels. As 
 soon as they had diiven off. Lady Jane 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Oh ! I have almost ruined myself — 
 but they were so beautiful I could not re- 
 sist ! Only see!*' So saying, she opened 
 the cases and exhibited a fine set of pink 
 topazes with strings of large pearl inter- 
 mixed, for necklace and bracelets — "And 
 here, guardian," said Lady Jane, " here is 
 a present for you I" (giving the pin to 
 Mr. Percy.) 
 
 " I hope you have not been so foolish,** 
 replied he gravely, " to squander much 
 money on this unnecessary piece of ex-p- 
 pense ? — Pray what did it cost, if I may 
 venture so rude a question ?" 
 
 *' I dare say Jane does not know her- 
 self,'* observed Lady Anne unguard- 
 edly. 
 
 " How ! then she cannot have paid 
 for it !" 
 
 ♦' Paid
 
 LADY ANNE A^^D LADY JANE. 3» 
 
 " Paid for it ! No, to be sure," replied 
 Lady Jane carelessly, " I have a bill there." 
 
 *' Then these fine things are not paid 
 for, which you have just made your own !" 
 
 " Certainly not ; for I did not expect 
 when I came out to be tempted to such 
 extravagance." 
 
 " And what will be the price of these 
 bawbles ?" 
 
 " Oh! a few hundreds!" 
 
 " A few hundreds !" exclaimed Mr. 
 Percy changing colour. — " There, ma- 
 dam ! take back your present ; for I will 
 not increase a debt so wantonly and need- 
 lessly incurred," 
 
 " You are not serious, sir?"' 
 
 « Indeed I am." 
 
 "There, this is all your doing, Lady 
 Anne," said Lady Jane pettishly. 
 
 ** If it was. Lady Anne foresaw not 
 the consequences of what she said," re- 
 plied Mr. Percy. 
 
 c5 "I be-
 
 Si LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 *^ I believe you think Lady Anne can't 
 do wrong, sir/' said Lady Jane in a tone 
 of pique. 
 
 *' I wish I could think the same of your 
 Ladyship; for, in my opinion, running in 
 debt thus carelessly and unnecessarily is 
 wrong ; and excuse me, Lady Jane, but 
 what vexes me in my ward, I should think 
 criminal, and it would make me miserable 
 in my 3071*6 luife" 
 
 Here Lady Anne felt faint, and let down 
 the glass for air. Though we know a 
 misfortune to be unavoidable, when it 
 comes we are not able to meet it with 
 firmness at first. It was evident from this 
 speech that Mr. Percy knew his son's in- 
 tentions viexe Jlxedy and that the offer 
 would soon be made, and she shrunk from 
 the certainty thus announced ; nor could 
 she contemplate without generous alarm, 
 from her knowledge of Lady Jane's ex- 
 trjivagance, the probable distress which 
 
 such
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 35 
 
 such an union would entail on the father- 
 in-law, if not on the husband. A perturbed 
 silence had succeeded to this conversation, 
 and to Mr. Percy's positive refusal to re- 
 tain the shirt-pin ; and as soon as they all 
 alighted at Mr. Percy's house in Gros- 
 venor-square they separated; and all, with 
 the exception of Mrs. Corbet, in no happy 
 frame of mind retired to dress. 
 
 Mr. Percy could not drive from his me- 
 mory the observation made unguardedly 
 by Lady Anne, because it was evidently 
 the result of a previous knowledge of her 
 cousin's habits and character ; — nor could 
 he forget the manner of Lady Jane when 
 he inteiTogated her respecting the jew- 
 els ; for, much as incurring the debt itself 
 alarmed and vexed him, her manner 
 alarmed him still more, as it showed that 
 such transactions were habitual to her, and 
 that she was at once free from her own 
 reproaches for her extravagance, and cal- 
 lous
 
 36 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 lous to his implied censure of It. Besides, 
 he himself had seen in Lady Jane a love 
 of high play ; he had also often heard 
 her bet, till he had been at length provoked 
 to tell her, that he considered betting in a 
 woman to be both indelicate and unfemi- 
 nine. But he knew he could never make 
 his son, as he was now seriously in love, 
 behold Lady Jane with his eyes : he there- 
 fore resolved to endeavour to think Lady 
 Jane's faults would, as Lady Anne said, 
 be rectified by her good heart and excellent 
 understanding. — Lady Jane's thoughts, 
 meanwhile, were as painfully busy as Mr. 
 Percy's : — she could not but feel that if 
 Mr. Percy was vexed at her incurring 
 one debt, he would sternly disapprove the 
 involvement of many, and she dreaded 
 lest chance or inquiry should bring to his 
 knowledge the amount of her pecuniary 
 embarrassments ; while Lady Anne also 
 walked pensively backwards and forwards 
 
 in
 
 LADY ANxVL AND LADY JANE. 3/ 
 
 in her own apartment, thinking over of 
 what had recently passed : bat uppermoi^t 
 in her mind was Percy's observation, that 
 if she would condescend to be agreeable, 
 she would be irresistible ; and Lady Jane's 
 flattering assurances, that if instead of 
 veiling she would display her beauty, 
 she, even she, should fear her for a rival. 
 — " And would I, if I could^ rival Jane 
 in the heart of the man she loves ?" said 
 Lady Anne to herself. — " But does she 
 love him ? No, — not as he ought to be 
 loved. — Still, perhaps, she loves him as 
 well as she can love, — and that is not 
 enough to induce her to conquer her mis- 
 chievous habits, which will, I foresee, alie- 
 nate the father, and make the son wretched. 
 Oh ! I fear that the lightning will not go 
 oflf without many a storm ! and the pro- 
 mised union will not be a happy one.** 
 Here, unable to pursue the course of her 
 own thoughts, she rung for her maid. — r 
 
 "And
 
 38 LADY ANME AND LADY JAKE. 
 
 •' And my dress too, as well as manner, 
 is wrong, I find. — At least I feel, I own it 
 is unlike other people's," thought Lady 
 Anne — *' Well, and that's wrong. Singu- 
 larity of appearance, I have said, speaking 
 of others, is either a mark of offensive 
 disregard to the opinion of other people, 
 or of excessive conceit, or of incipient in- 
 sanity — and yet, it seems, I dress singu- 
 larly myself ! But I will improve in this 
 respect. I will try to be admired. Suitors 
 and wooers I must have, as the daughter 
 
 of the marquis of D , and a great 
 
 heiress cannot fail of them — but Jane, 
 happy Lady Jane, is loved cldefly for her- 
 self alone, and that I envy her." 
 
 Mrs. Corbet was indeed, as I before 
 observed, the only one of the party who 
 returned home as happy, and only as wise, 
 as when she went out. This lady, the 
 daughter of a baronet, had married what 
 15 called prudently and respectably, and 
 
 had
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANK. 39 
 
 liad reached the age of fifty-eight with an 
 unblemished reputation. Her qualities 
 v/ere negative qualities ; and when she was 
 left a widow with an independent though 
 not a large income, Mr. Percy, then re- 
 cently deprived of a wife whom he adored, 
 and whom his wards both loved and respect- 
 ed, was very glad to take advantage of his 
 relationship to Mrs. Corbet's husband to 
 invite her to take up her abode at his 
 house, and be the companion and chape- 
 rone of Lady Anne and Lady Jane ; for 
 Mr. Percy knew that, if Mrs. Corbet did 
 them no good, she would do them no 
 harm; and that he thought was sutEcient, 
 as he flattered himself that an excellent 
 governess and the society of his admira- 
 ble wife had already satisfactorily com- 
 pleted the education which the parents of 
 his noble wards had begun. 
 
 And Mr. Percy could not have chosen 
 a chaperone for the fair cousins who 
 
 would
 
 40 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANEa 
 
 would have suited them better ; for Mrs. 
 Corbet was acquiescent in her temper^ 
 rarely gave a dissenting opinion, and was 
 much fonder of sitting silent, lost in her 
 own reveries, than in joining in any con- 
 versation whatever — And the saucy Lady 
 Jane used to say, that in case of a want of 
 more lights at one of their assemblies, she 
 thought Mrs. Corbet with a candle stuck 
 in her hand would make a good pendent 
 to the statue of Silence holding a lamp 
 in the back drawing-room, and be quite 
 as mute and motionless. By a being of 
 this description, therefore, the events of 
 the morning must hav^ passed unobserved 
 —and she retired to dress, wholly un- 
 conscious that her companions carried 
 with them imprinted on their brow the 
 stamp of inward and painful perturbation. 
 " What cap and turban, my lady, do 
 you wear today ?" said Barnes, Lady 
 Anne's woman. . 
 
 Lady
 
 t 
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 4\ 
 
 Lady Anne paused, then with a smile 
 replied, " Neirher, Barnes : — you shall 
 dress my hair without a cap today." 
 
 "Indeed, my lady I" cried Barnes, 
 looking delighted, " and shall I dress it 
 like Lady Jane's?" 
 
 *' Yes, if you please, Barnes:" and for 
 once, since she came into society, the 
 fine shape of Lady Anne's head was seen, 
 and her beautiful hair shown to the best 
 advantage. 
 
 " Dear me! my lady ! I am so glad !'* 
 exclaimed Barnes, surveying her owa 
 performance with rapture, — " I never saw 
 your ladyship look so well before.— You 
 do look something like now." And Lady 
 Anne could not help laughing within her- 
 self at the contrast to looking somQthirig 
 like now. 
 
 " So then," said she to herself, "It seems 
 that before I looked like nothing at all !" 
 
 " And pray what gown, my lady, do 
 
 you
 
 42 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 you wear today ? — There is a large party 
 of gentlemen to dinner, I find.** 
 
 " True. — By the by, I will not dine 
 below today, — my head aches, and I will 
 save myself for the evening, when Mr» 
 Percy has an assembly. Therefore, Barnes^ 
 you may leave me, I will not finish dress- 
 ing till it is time for the evening party 
 to arrive." While Barnes, sorry that the 
 dinner as well as evening party should 
 not see her lady looking sa beautiful, re- 
 luctantly retired. 
 
 Lady Anne's head did ache, because so 
 did her heart, and she wished to repose 
 the former and commune with the latter. 
 — When dinner was announced, which 
 usually waited for Lady Jane, her maid 
 told her Lady Anne was too unwell to 
 dine below ; and her good and affectionate 
 feelings taking the alarm. Lady Jane ran 
 to her cousin's room, and started and 
 blushed when she saw Lady Anne coiffte 
 
 en
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 43 
 
 en cheveiix, " So! you have taken my 
 hint, I see," she exclaimed ; " and as to 
 your illness, I believe it to be all pretence, 
 — for I never saw you look so well in my 
 life." 
 
 " I am so much given to pretence, that 
 I do not wonder you accuse me." 
 
 " No, no, Anne, you know I can't 
 really suspect you of fibbing — but what 
 ails you ?" 
 
 " O Jane ! I am sick with many cares, 
 and I wish to keep quiet till evening, as 
 ray head aches." 
 
 " Then do let me stay with you, dearest 
 Anne ! perhaps I could soothe you ?" 
 
 " Yes, Jane, as the sight of the gallov,'s 
 soothes the felon who is to be hanged 
 on it." 
 
 " Nay, Anne, I knov/ to what you aU 
 lude." 
 
 " No, you do 720/," replied Lady Anne 
 with quickness — " I am thinking of you 
 
 and
 
 44 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 and Percy, but not in the way you fancy.** 
 Here a servant came to say that dinner 
 had waited some time for Lady Jane ; and 
 affectionately kissing Lady Anne, while 
 the tears stood in her beautiful eyes, 
 she bade her adieu, and in a few mi- 
 nutes more she was the delight of Mr. 
 Percy's guests as usual, and the pride of 
 his son. 
 
 By the time the ladies retired. Lady 
 Anne had reasoned herself into calmer 
 thoughts, and her headache being gone^ 
 Lady Jane found her reading. " Not 
 dressed yet ! " said Lady Jane : " It is time 
 you were, dear Anne ! for it is ten. o'clock ; 
 and at eleven I dare say some of those 
 who go to six parties in an evening wiU 
 be here,'* 
 
 " Do you think I shall be an hour 
 dressing, Jane?" 
 
 " Yes, — if you mean to be dressed up 
 to your head — which is so elegant that 
 
 the
 
 ^ LADV ANNE AND LADY JANE. 45 
 
 the rest of your dress ought to be well 
 studied to suit it." 
 
 " I thank you for your solicitude about 
 my appearance," replied LaJy Anne 
 smiling ; " and if you will go to the com- 
 pany, I will join you as soon as the im- 
 portant business of the toilet is over.'* 
 
 *' What gown does your ladyship wear 
 today?" asked Barnes, apprehensive lest 
 the dress should not be as handsome as 
 the head-dress. 
 
 " That white satin gown like Lady 
 Jane's, which I have never worn." 
 
 " Indeed ! my lady ! Oh ! I am so glad! 
 I thought you would never have worn it 
 at all!" and with eager joy Barnes 
 brought the long neglected gown. 
 
 Lady Anne had accustomed herself so 
 much to wear dresses made high in the 
 neck, that she could not at first bear to 
 wear a dress lower than the throat, — till 
 the thought of self- approving beauty per- 
 haps
 
 46 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 haps reconciled her to her appearance. — 
 *' But I never can endure this petticoat so 
 short in front," said she to Barnes. *' I 
 declare it shows more than half the foot," 
 
 " Dear, my lady," cried Barnes, 
 *' and what then ? Lady Jane shows 
 hers ; and I am sure it is not half as beau- 
 tiful as your ladyship's!" And Lady Anne 
 was not a little mortified to find that 
 she was pleased with this observation. 
 
 *' Alas !" said Lady Anne to herself, 
 "I have at length learnt to find that 
 flattery, even from an inferior, is pleasant ! 
 O poor human nature !" 
 
 At last, and before the hour was out, 
 Lady Anne was ready, and the fine suite 
 of rooms was full of company before she 
 made her appearance. A pang of jea- 
 lousy shot through Lady Jane's bosom 
 when she beheld her ; and if instead of 
 the cold look which she still wore, and 
 the unbending majesty of her mien and 
 
 person.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 4? 
 
 person. Lady Anne had borrowed her 
 cousin's cestus awhile, Lady Jane would 
 have lost much of her power to please, 
 from conscious dread of so formidable 
 a rival. But Lady Anne's expression, 
 though placid, was pensive, and her man- 
 ner, as usual, any thing but inviting. 
 
 " I am easy," thought Lady Jane, es- 
 pecially as Percy was by her side breath- 
 ing in her ear words and accents to which 
 she was giving her delighted attention. — 
 Luckily for Lady Anne's composure, she 
 saw them not 5 but looking neither to 
 the right nor to the left, she walked cii 
 through two rows of company towards 
 the inner drawing-room. The Duke of 
 
 L , a fine- looking man of fifty, was 
 
 there, talking to Mr. Percy, Lord Lo- 
 rimer, and others : but when Lady Anne 
 appeared in sight, he suddenly broke off 
 his discouTse to ask her name. 
 
 *'It
 
 48 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " It is one of my wards," replied 
 Mr. Percy. 
 
 " Oh! I suppose it is the lady then 
 who is, as report says, to be your daugh- 
 ter also?" 
 
 *' No, indeed, your grace is wrong in 
 your conjecture," replied Mr. Percy with 
 a sigh : *' it is Lady Jane Langley, and 
 not Lady Anne Mortimer, on whom my 
 son has fixed his affections.'* 
 
 ** Lady Jane must be a very extraordi- 
 nary woman indeed to surpass that ex- 
 quisite creature," said the duke. • 
 
 " Yet she does surpass her, duke," 
 cbserved Lord Lorimer. 
 
 " Indeed i " returned the duke incre^ 
 dulously. 
 
 " Not in my opinion," cried Mr. Percy 
 hastily. 
 
 "Lady Anne Mortimer! Oh! the 
 
 daughter o£ the late Marquis of D ! 
 
 and
 
 LADY ANNE AXD LADY JANE. 49 
 
 and like him too. — What a noble carnage ! 
 She looks her rank !" 
 
 *' Yes,- — haughty enough ! " again ob- 
 served Lord Lorinier. 
 
 " 1 like a proud vvoman. iny lord," 
 replied the duke with quickness. 
 
 " Then Lady Anne would just suit 
 your grace ; and I should be very proud 
 to dance at your wedding/' rejoined Lord 
 Lorimer, bowing low as he spoke : "but 
 I suppose there would be nothing but 
 minuets danced at it ; — for the duchess is 
 much too stately for any thing else, and — '* 
 Here he was forced to break ofF, as 
 Lady Anne was near enough to hear 
 what he said ; and bowing to her with 
 the utmost respect, he hoped her ladyship 
 had quite recovered her illness of the 
 morning. 
 
 " I told you in the morning, my lord," 
 said Lady Anne very roughly, *^ that I 
 
 VOL. I. D V/aS
 
 50 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 was in perfect health ; therefore I must 
 wonder at such inquiries from you in the 
 evening." 
 
 Lord Lorimer, nothing daunted, re- 
 turned, " Why is Lady Anne Mortimer 
 like a hollytree ? — Answer — Because, 
 though beautiful and attractive to look 
 at, you cannot approach her without being 
 in danger from her prickles^ alias sharp- 
 ness." 
 
 " But the holly, my lord," said the duke, 
 (bowing, as he spoke, to Lady Anne) 
 *' is in its full perfection in winter only, 
 and this lady seems in the perfection of 
 her beauty in the very spring of life." 
 He then desired Mr. Percy to present him. 
 He did so ; and for awhile interrupted 
 her intended reply to Lord Lorimer. 
 
 " My sharpness, as you call it, my 
 lord," said Lady Anne, turning to Lord 
 Lorimer, '• has so improved your wit, that 
 
 were
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 51 
 
 were I to liken you to any thing in the 
 vegetable world, it would be to a bed of 
 chamomile, which is the better for being 
 trodden upon." 
 
 At this moment, in all the radiance of 
 her countenance, and with all the graces 
 of her manner, Lady Jane, flashed with 
 the bloom of happy love, joined the 
 group. 
 
 " Who is that Hebe?'* whispered the 
 duke to Mr. Percy. 
 
 " My other ward, — Lady Jane Lang- 
 ley ;" — and he presented him to her im- 
 mediately : — but before he could address 
 her. Lord Lorimer put his hand to his 
 check, as if in pain. 
 
 " What is the matter ?" asked Lady 
 Jane. 
 
 *' Oh ! the old matter. Lady Anne 
 has been giving me a blow. Would you 
 believe it ? she compared me to a whole 
 bed of chamomile!" 
 
 D 2 " Poor 
 
 .! 0:^ ^^^
 
 52 LA D Y ANN E AND L A DY JANE. 
 
 '"Poor dear! — Bat be consoled, my 
 lord. Recollect what I tola vcu tocav ; — 
 that I know in her heart she admires 
 you greatly." 
 
 ^^ O that I had at this moment a 
 Vv'Indovv in my heart I" cried Lady Anne 
 with indignation. 
 
 " Well, Anne, th-t's kind ; for it 
 would, I know, save Lord Lorimer's 
 m?.ny an ache." I 
 
 '' O thou generous, soothing being!" 
 cried he, *' but for your flattering as- 
 surance?, I could not support the misery 
 of thinking myself abhorrent to Lady 
 Anne." 
 
 " I must tell your grace," said Lady 
 J:ne, "that I .'all Lady Anne Sorrow, 
 and myself Pin-, in Mrs. Earbauld's 
 tharr;iing allegory — Pity being forced to 
 follow Sorrow through the worKi, to drop 
 balm into the wounds which she has 
 made." 
 
 " I should
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 53 
 
 " I should think," replied he, " that 
 your ladyship would have enough to do to 
 heal the wounds which you inflict yourself." 
 
 '^ Oh ! but the wounds which you 
 allude to, sir, are made by aiTows which 
 tickle while they wound. Those which 
 Lady Anne uses are of a very different 
 description, — and " Here she was in- 
 terrupted by Percy, who now drew near; 
 and while she turned en him eyes filled 
 with joy and tenderness, he took her 
 hand, and led her up to his father, who 
 retired with them into another apartment ; 
 where Percy, full of delight, in which 
 Mr. Percy did not share, presented Lady 
 Jane to him as his betrothed bride. Lord 
 Lcrimer mean while went to pay liis court 
 ' .where it would be more thankfally re- 
 ceived ; and the duke took this opportu- 
 nity of trying to engage Lady Anne in 
 conversation. 
 
 '' I had
 
 54 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " I had the honour," said he, " to 
 know your ladyship's father." 
 
 *' Indeed!" she replied with a look 
 beaming with affection : " it ii^as an ho- 
 nour to know him :" and the duke smiled 
 at the bluntness of this speech, a speech 
 so rarely addressed to a man of his rank, 
 and one too so renowned for his talents. 
 But he forgave it because of the filial 
 tenderness which dictated it ; and he de- 
 lighted Lady Anne so much by the praises 
 he bestowed on her father, that she invited 
 him to sit by her on the sofa. She also 
 said most cordially, when the duke reluc- 
 tantly took leave as soon as he saw that 
 €very one else was going, *' The manner 
 in which your grace has spoken of my 
 father, and the clear and just estimate 
 which you formed of his worth, prove 
 you to have been highly worthy of his 
 acquaintance ; and I doubt not, as yours 
 
 were
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 55 
 
 were kindred minds, that he highly and 
 properly valued i/ou,^* 
 
 " But may I presume, as his friend, to 
 pay my respects to his daughter ?" 
 
 '' Certainly, sir," she replied : and the 
 duke, more than half in love, sighed, 
 bowed, and departed. Some few of the 
 company however remained for the pur- 
 pose of playing cards ; and one lady 
 coming up to Lady Anne, who was talk- 
 ing to Mr. Percy, asked her to make up 
 a rubber. 
 
 *' No indeed," replied Lady Anne 
 roughly, " I never play cards ; I think it 
 a disgraceful waste of time :" and the 
 lady, looking displeased and foolish, bow- 
 ed coldly, and v/ent in search of a more 
 obliging person. 
 
 " My dear Lady Anne,** said Mr. Percy, 
 ** why did you make that woman your 
 enemy?" 
 
 " And have I done so ?'' 
 
 «Un.
 
 06 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " Undoubtedly: — you not only seem- 
 ed proud of your own superior wisdom in 
 not understanding cards, but you showed 
 that you thought meanly of her for being 
 a card-player. I own to you, your words 
 and manner shocked me ; — I felt liphari' 
 sakal (to use a phinse of your own).*' 
 
 " Indeed, sir ! Then I aiu sure I do not 
 Vvonder that ycu were shocked." 
 
 " You kno\v, Lady Anne, how highly 
 I admire you ; therefore I hope you will 
 pardon this freedom : but indeed this 
 brusqueriey as Percy calls it, is a fault, and, 
 as he also says, it is your only fault." 
 
 " Does Mr. Percy say so, sir ?" 
 
 " He does; and what he disapproves and 
 I disapprove, — we who love and honour 
 you, — surely you will think ought to be 
 well weighed before it is persisted in. As 
 to card-playing, I deem your objections 
 unfounded and unjust. It is theye?:;^ not 
 the many, who have talents for conver- 
 sation,
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY J \KE. 5? 
 
 sation, and who are capable of relishing 
 discourse on morals, politics, or the b^les- 
 lettres ; and unless persons have strong, 
 full, and generous minds, conversation in 
 all societies infallibly falls into gossip and 
 d'^-traction, unless cards are introduced ; 
 and v.hen in such partit-s, I have congratu- 
 lated myself on being able to play, as it 
 enabled me thereby to make an effort to 
 save reputations, and at least call f"oith a 
 degree, though a low degree, of mental 
 exertion." 
 
 " Eut I will never associate with people 
 who can't converse/' 
 
 " Lady Anne, you flatter yourself : you 
 must take human nature as you find it, 
 and bear v.ith the infirniities of other 
 people : else, what is your benevolence 
 but a name? However, since what I 
 have as yer said has no effect, let me put 
 iiother and commcn case to you. There 
 are diseases which, in their progress over 
 D o the
 
 5S LADY ANNE AND LADY JAN£. 
 
 the body, weaken even the strongest and 
 most studious mind, and doom the old 
 man or woman, however vigorous their 
 intellect previously, to utter incapacity of 
 relishing, or even attending to reading, writ- 
 ing, or conversation. In such instances 
 I have seen cards a very great resource, 
 and the afflicted object become suddenly 
 forgetful of his infirmities by the entrance 
 of a friend who could make up a rubber. 
 Now suppose me in this state, and you 
 and Lady Jane attending on me like affec- 
 tionate children: — Would you not envy 
 Lady Jane her power of aiding me by 
 making up my whist party, or engaging 
 me at picquet ? And would you not be 
 induced to think that any power which 
 may be necessary to minister to the com- 
 fort of an invalid, and soothe the irritable 
 moments of a suffering friend, is a power 
 which the proudest of human intellects 
 Reed not scorn to acquire ?" 
 
 •'But,
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 59 
 
 " But, dear sir, is it not shocking to see 
 a man or woman on the verge of the 
 grave, interested in the fluctuations of a 
 <:ard.table ? *' 
 
 " If it be the only amusement which 
 decaying faculties can enjoy, and if the 
 mind by being employed can be kept in 
 that cheerful quiet state which is necessary 
 to the preservation of what remains of 
 existence, I own to you I am not so rigid 
 in my notions, as not to view with coni- 
 placency the chamber of sickness cheered 
 by a harmless rubber, and the daemon of 
 news and lies, the spirit of detraction, 
 fi-ightened away by the four honours and 
 the odd trick ; for no one can be always 
 praying ; and I believe the Deity never re- 
 ceives more grateful incense than that of 
 a cheerful spirit, and a mind willing to 
 make the best of its situation." 
 
 " My dear sir/' said Lady Anne af- 
 fectionately, " I will learn to play at cards, 
 
 lest
 
 60 LADY ANME AND LADY JANE. 
 
 lest I5 if it ever be necessary, which God 
 forbid ! should be wanted to make up your 
 rubber." 
 
 That night Lady Jane followed Lady 
 Anne into her room, to tell her that Percy 
 had declared himself, and she had ac- 
 cepted him; and Lady Anne was very 
 glad when Lady Jane, too happy and too 
 delicate to notice her emotion, retired, 
 and left her to indulge her feelings 
 alone. — But when she rose the next day, 
 though her night had been a sleepless 
 one. Lady Anne's manner was calm, 
 and her countenance composed, and she 
 congratulated Percy without any visible 
 effort. 
 
 A few days after the Duke of L , 
 
 who had seen her several times since the 
 night of the assembly, made her proposals 
 in form, and in person, but was refused ; 
 and as he saw her change of countenance 
 when Percy suddenly entered the room, 
 
 he
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 61 
 
 he was sure her heart was engaged, and 
 therefore Jropped his suit entirely. 
 
 Percy, the object of affection to these 
 young and beautiful heiresses, was at this 
 time five-and-twenty ; and if personal 
 charms in a man could jusufy their admi- 
 ration, it was indeed completely justined. 
 But both the noble cousins required mind, 
 virtues, and accomplishments in the being 
 of their choice ; and Percy was in ht^art, 
 temper, and intellectual attainments, all 
 that their ambition could desire in a lover 
 or a husband. 
 
 At the early age of two-and twenty he 
 became a rich and independent man by 
 the death of an uncle, and was soon after 
 returned to parliament for the borough 
 which his uncle had representea. Nature 
 had given him great talenis, which educa- 
 tion had perkcted ; and the eloquence 
 whicii had early distinguished the school- 
 boy, study and incessant practice had ri- 
 pened
 
 62 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 pened into powers of oratory which did 
 honour to the man. His maiden speech 
 in parliament, on a question not of party 
 but of general interest, was received v/ith 
 universal applause, and he was hailed by 
 both sides of the house, as likely to 
 become an ornament and a support to 
 that party which he should ultimately 
 embrace. 
 
 But it was not the intention of Percy to 
 become the adherent of any set of men ; 
 for, like most young men who are con- 
 scious of great powers, he scorned to tread 
 in any beaten path, he scorned to have his 
 opinions influenced by any thing but his 
 own conception of truth, and his utterance 
 of them restrained by any bounds but 
 those which the strictest conscience ap- 
 proved. In spite, therefore, of those great 
 authorities which teach that parties are ne- 
 cessary in all free governments, and that 
 the exertions of individual patriots must 
 
 always
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JAN!:. 63 
 
 always be unavailing to serve or save their 
 country ; and full of that tenaciousness 
 the result of youthful inexperience, and 
 that ardent, sanguine temper which fiincies 
 that what is pure and perfect in theory 
 may be easily reduced to practice, — Percy 
 still adhered to his resolution of being 
 what is called an independent member, 
 though tempted by the offer of places 
 on one side, and the prospect of popu- 
 larity on the other. Therefore, as he 
 had not bound himself to think all that 
 was said or done on one side of the house 
 right, and all on the other side wrong, 
 Percy occasionally lent the aid of his elo- 
 quence to the measures of ministers, or 
 gathered laurels as a welcome volunteer in 
 the ranks of opposition ; while each de- 
 scription of politicians listened with ad- 
 miring attention to his eloquence; and like 
 all possessions which we covet and admire 
 without being able to call them our own, 
 
 they
 
 64 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 they probably admired it the more, because 
 it was out of their power to appropriate 
 its services to themselves. 
 
 When love assumed its turn to reis^n 
 over the susceptible heart of Harry Percy, 
 instead of impeding it only served to for- 
 ward the career of the orator ; for the 
 dear ambition of shining in the eyes of 
 the wt)man whom he adored, the hope of 
 receiving her praise when the debates of 
 the preceding evening greeted her eyes 
 on the breakfast table, inspired him to 
 new flights of eloquence: and while cheer- 
 ed by both sides of the house, the lover's 
 heart beat only with anticipation of the 
 applauses that awaited him from the lips 
 of Lady Jane, and he enjoyed '' the future 
 in the instant.'* But though Lady Jane 
 enjoyed her triumph over the heart of 
 a man so distin^^uished ; though her va- 
 nity was gratified, by leading him cap- 
 tive whose splendid talents could enchain 
 
 the
 
 LADY ANNS AND LADY JANE. 65 
 
 the aJmiration cf senate? ; still she was 
 too full of her own conscious powers, too 
 proud of her own ability to make c^.ptlves, 
 to enjoy as she might otherwise have dons 
 the exertions and the eloquence of Percy : 
 and while at her heart, at her admiration, 
 the vshafts of his oratory v:'ere directed, it 
 vas iht bosom of another that they reach- 
 ed; and it was Lady Anne alone who felt 
 what Percy wished that Lady Jane 
 should fsel. 
 
 Though Lady Anne had been of age 
 two months. Lady Jane was only twenty. 
 However, it was agreed that the lovers 
 should not wait till the last year of her 
 minority was expired, 'but that the nuptial* 
 should be solemnized as soon as the 
 necessary prcparatior.s could be made. 
 A few days alter this had beon finally 
 detenninv.^d upon, Lady Jane, evidently in 
 very low spirits, entered Lady Anne's 
 apartment. 
 
 ' *' Vv^hat
 
 66 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " What is the matter, Jane ?" asked 
 the latter In a tone of alarm. 
 
 " I am ashamed to tell you," said Lady 
 Jane, " though you alone are the person 
 who can relieve my distress.*' 
 
 " If I can relieve your distress, look 
 on it as already relieved," replied Lady 
 Anne affectionately. " Yet how you^ with 
 your prospects, can have any sorrows, I 
 cannot imagine," she added with a sigh. 
 
 " If you had my prospects, Anne, I 
 know you wouM have none," replied 
 Lady Jane ; " for you would have no 
 fears, no painful consciousness, no em- 
 barrassments : — and oh ! how much more 
 worthy are you of my happy prospects 
 than I!" 
 
 " I begin now to understand the nature 
 of your grief," answered Lady Anne 
 rather coldly ; " but I wish you would 
 come to the point at once." 
 
 '' I will : — Terror lest Mr. Percy should 
 
 conceive
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. €7 
 
 conceive a violent prejudice against me, 
 and forbid his son, on peril of his re- 
 nouncing him, to make me his wife, pre- 
 vents my daring to acknowledge that I 
 am in debt; and what I want you to do 
 is, to lend me money sufficient to pay 
 some heavy bills which my maid shall 
 give you.'* 
 
 " Give you money, you mean, Jane ; 
 lending it is out of the question.'* 
 
 " Indeed it is not ; I mean to pay you 
 back every farthing." 
 
 ** Yes, — no doubt you mean it, — but 
 you will never be able. However, i do 
 not even luish to be repaid : — to prevent 
 your becoming a wife against the appro- 
 bation of your husband's father, is a duty 
 
 which I owe you, and But to what do 
 
 your debts amount ?*' 
 
 '• Oh ! to a few hundreds." 
 
 " No more ? — Then I can assist you 
 without difficulry. But I thereby, I hope, 
 
 purchase
 
 63 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 purchase a right to conjure you, if you 
 value your husband's peace and your 
 own respectability, never never to incur 
 debts again !'* 
 
 Softened, obliged, and every worthy 
 feeling triumphanr, what was there Lady 
 Jane did not promise at this moment ? what 
 was there she did not think herself capable 
 of performing ? And Lady Anne con- 
 fiding, because she wished to confide, 
 authorised Lady Jane to send her her 
 bills, and promised to let ihem be dis- 
 charged. 
 
 Two days after, as Mr. Percy, Hariy 
 Percy, and the cousins were going to take 
 a morning's drive, they saw two respecta- 
 ble-looking people wich five children wait- 
 ing in the hall, whom the servants were 
 vainly trying to keep back; and v. hen 
 Lady Jane appeared, the others having 
 been waiting for her, the v;hole group 
 precipitated themselves forward, and ob- 
 
 . structed
 
 LADY ANNE A>?D LADY JANE. G9 
 
 structed her on her passage, exclaiming, 
 rs they did so, " God bless you, my lady ! 
 God bless you I" 
 
 Lady Jane visibly afxected, and saying 
 " There, go go, good people, you distress 
 me," endeavoured to get past ; but Percy 
 catching her hand stopped her, and in- 
 sisted on an explanation of the scene which 
 they beheld. 
 
 " It is nothing — nothing," she replied. 
 
 " Aye — God bless her i" critd the 
 mother, " your good folks never think 
 themselves '^ood, but I'll tell vour honour 
 ?11 about it :" and Lady Jane, though not 
 c'spleaGed at having her generosity known 
 to those whose good opinion she was most 
 ambitious of, attempted, but in vain, to 
 keep her silent. 
 
 '" You must know," said the poor wo- 
 m::n, " that good young lady, while alone 
 in her coach one morning, saw m.e crying 
 bitterly, and looking so ill ! and so she 
 
 asked
 
 70 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANI., 
 
 asked me what ailed me ; and I told her 
 as how my husband had been bound for a 
 friend, and had lost his all and was thrown 
 into prison, leaving me to work for these 
 five children and another a-coming!" 
 
 *' It is all true, your honour," said the 
 man bowing low, " and so the next " 
 
 ** Nay, John — let me tell the story my 
 own way — and so that blessed angel asked 
 me where I lived ; and the next day what 
 does she do, but comes to see me her own 
 self, and then she asked how much would 
 free my husband, and I told her a hun- 
 dred pound. And then if she did not send 
 some man to pay it, and my poor John 
 came home again I" 
 
 " A very good deed," said Mr. Percy, 
 looking pleased at Lady Jane, while Harry 
 Percy kissed her hand in silence, and Lady 
 Anne said nothing. 
 
 " But that's not all^ your honour ; no, 
 — for now says she, What would set yoii 
 
 up
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 71 
 
 up in business again ? and as true as I live 
 if she did not give us a hundred more ! 
 besides clothing us all as you see ; and 
 then when we begged to kno'.v her name 
 that we might remember it in our prayers, 
 she said, ' Pray for me as your friend, and 
 the reader of all hearts will be sufficiently 
 informed:' — and it was only yesterday that 
 we found out where she Hved, and then we 
 all said, says we. We will go and show 
 her our new clothes, and thank her, and 
 bless her ; for it is not right that such a 
 good deed should not be known, for it is 
 a fine example to be followed." 
 
 *' It is indeed, and this is all true, your 
 honour," said the poor man, " and I 'm 
 a slopseller, quite at your lordship's ser- 
 vice, if you want any thing in my v/ay." 
 
 " 1 honour your gratitude," said Mr. 
 Percy, " and can assure you, for Lady 
 Jane's sake /too will b. your friend." 
 
 " And //' said Harry eagerly j " and 
 
 so
 
 72 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 SO I dare say, if you need it, will Lady 
 Anne.'* 
 
 *' Undoubtedly," answered Lady Anne ; 
 while Lady Jane, on her guardian and 
 lover's tenderly commending her for that 
 true charity that fled from thanks and 
 notice, turned quickly round to Lr.Jy 
 Anne, and said in a tone of pique^ " Was 
 this Pharisaical^ Anne r " 
 
 " No, certainly not,'' she replied ; 
 " but — " darting a very significant glance 
 at her cousin. This glance was not lost 
 on Mr. Percy ; and he saw vtith pain, but 
 Percy v;ith indignation, that she had looked 
 cold and unmoved while Lady Jane's be- 
 nevolence was thus revealed ; and though 
 Percy attributed her manner and her si- 
 lence to a feeling of envy, his more just 
 and more discerning father suspected that 
 Lady Anne had purer motives for her 
 
 forbearance to oraiss an action which ccr- 
 
 * 
 
 tainly appeared praiseworthy. 
 
 The
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 73 
 
 The truth was, that just before Lady 
 Anne had got ready for the drive, Ellis, 
 Lady Jane's woman, had put into her hand 
 her lady's bills, and she beheld with pain- 
 ful surprise that they amounted to some 
 thousands, instead of hundreds. It could 
 not be supposed, therefore, that in the ge- 
 nerositij not founded on justice, but pro- 
 bably at the expense of it, which the gift 
 of two hundred pounds exhibited, Lady 
 Anne, the truly generous, because the 
 truly just and self-denying Lady Anne, 
 could so far prostitute her sense of right, 
 as to praise an action which her private 
 knowledge rendered reprehensible in her 
 eyes. Therefore, though she correctly in- 
 terpreted the expression of Percy's coun- 
 tenance, and sighed to think that he im- 
 puted her coldness to unworthy motives, 
 she still persisted in not joining the ge- 
 neral praise, and felt relieved when, the 
 proteges of Lady Jane, having been con- 
 
 voL. I. E signed
 
 74 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 signed to the hospitality of the servants' 
 hall, took leave with numberless bless- 
 ings, allowing them to depart on their in- 
 tended expedition. Percy was now the 
 only happy being of the party. Mr. Percy 
 was grave ; for Lady Anne's manner had 
 rendered him suspicious, especially as he 
 read on Lady Jane's countenance a con- 
 scious and fearful expression, and an in- 
 cessant watching of Lady Anne's, which 
 bewildered and alarmed him. — But Harry 
 Percy, absorbed in the recollection of La- 
 dy Jane's unobtrusive benevolence, and 
 in the contemplation of her charms, looked 
 on himself as the happiest'of men, in the 
 idea of being soon united to so much 
 beauty and virtue. 
 
 As they passed H 's shop, Lady 
 
 Jane blushed deeply, and her confusion 
 was augmented by I\Ir. Percy's telling his 
 son the anecdote of the shirt-pin, and his 
 reason for not keeping it. Percy looked 
 
 distressed.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 75 
 
 distressed, because Lady Jane did, and 
 with a forced smile said he was shocked 
 at his father's want of gallantry ; and that 
 if she had offered him such a gift, much as 
 he disapproved running in debt, yet his 
 principles were not so rigid but that he 
 should have accepted the present. " And 
 indeed, dear sir," added he, " I have no 
 fear that Lady Jane's debts will ever ruin 
 me." 
 
 Lady Anne at this speech looked out 
 of the window, — but her look was not un- 
 observed by Mr. Percy ; while Lady Jane 
 turned on her unsuspecting lover eyes 
 filled with tears of tenderness. 
 
 " I hope. Lady Jane," said Mr. Percy, 
 " you will, before you change your situa- 
 tion, call in all your little bills : — little no 
 doubt they must be, as my allowance to 
 you has been too ample for you to have 
 had any temptation to incur large ones. — 
 Your noble cousin had not one debt, and 
 E 2 I hope
 
 76 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 I hope that you have not been slow to 
 profit in some degree by so good an ex- 
 ample." 
 
 " Lady Anne is my superior in every 
 thing, sir," replied Lady Jane, bursting 
 into tears occasioned by a variety of con- 
 flicting emotions. 
 
 *' She is indeed a most superior being,*' 
 said Mr. Percy with a sigh ; while Lady 
 Anne, confused and distressed, remained 
 silent, and Percy whispered in Lady Jane's 
 ear, that he at least did not think her so; — 
 on which her April face soon brightened 
 into smiles again. 
 
 "Have you ordered H 's bill?" 
 
 asked Mr. Percy, still harping on the old 
 and to him suspicious subject ; — and Lady 
 Jane, her countenance again clouding as 
 she spoke, assured him that she had ; 
 while he saw at this assurance an expres- 
 sion of anxious alarm overcloud the brow 
 of Lady Anne. At length their drive 
 
 ended.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 77 
 
 ended, and Lady Anne found herself 
 alone with Lady Jane. 
 
 " I see, Anne," said the latter, " that 
 you were shocked, not gratified, at the 
 scene of the morning." 
 
 " I ivas, Jane — for I had recently re- 
 ceived and looked over your enormous 
 bills— 1" 
 
 " Enormous!** 
 
 " Yes, — to an amount which you, I 
 dare say, dream not of; and J think such 
 bills should have been paid before two 
 hundred pounds were expended on per- 
 sons who may, after all, not be the most 
 deserving objects possible. — But even 
 supposing that they are worthy, amongst 
 your creditors are some perhaps as poor, 
 who want the relief of being paid their 
 just debts — for, would you believe it ? 
 your debts are to this amount .' " giving 
 her the sum total, — over which Lady Jane 
 cast an eager and hasty glance, and ex- 
 
 claiming
 
 78 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 claiming " I could not have believed 
 it !'' hid her face on her arm, and burst 
 into tears. — Well indeed might she be 
 distressed ; for she knew that she did not 
 mean to disclose all her debts to Lady 
 Anne, and that nearly as many more re- 
 mained behind, to,be discharged by her- 
 self at the first opportunity. 
 
 " Weep not, but look forward, Jane !** 
 cried Lady Anne, " look forward to 
 amendment, and hear what I have to say 
 to you. — You know that besides my 
 estates I am worth personal property to 
 the amount of some thousands, part of 
 which I once meant to have expended on 
 new setting, altering and adding to my 
 mother's jewels, to do honour to your 
 nuptials." 
 
 Here her voice faltered — and while she 
 paused Lady Jane eagerly cried, " Once 
 meant to expend ! and do you then no 
 longer?" 
 
 " I can-
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 79 
 
 " I cannot ; for I must recall the order 
 I have given the jeweller, in order to pay 
 your debts/* 
 
 " O no ! I cannot bear it — it must not 
 be — you must have the jewels, your rank 
 requires it." 
 
 " But your necessities require the money 
 still more ; and I must not, will not, be 
 seduced even by you^ and to do honour 
 to you, to act against my principles, and 
 incur a debt I cannot poi:sibly discharge 
 within the year." 
 
 " And why not ? " 
 
 " Because the other thousands are dis' 
 posed of — I have two distant and poor rela- 
 tions whom I wish to render independent: 
 the rest of the family have neglected 
 them, therefore it is the mere incumbent 
 on me to do my duty by them ; — and as 
 they are old and infirm, they cannot wait 
 to a future opportunity." 
 
 I will
 
 80 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 I will not attempt to describe Lady 
 Jane's feelings at finding that the removal 
 of her own difficulties, the result of her 
 extravagance, (for charity like hers might 
 also be denominated extravagance,) was to 
 be purchased by a privation to her noble- 
 minded cousin! However, the case was 
 too urgent to admit of delay. Lady Anne's 
 jewels were sent for home, and the money 
 intended to be laid out on them, when she 
 drew for it, was to be employed in dis- 
 charging the bills of Lady Jane. 
 
 But suspicion once awakened is not 
 easily laid asleep again, and Mr. Percy's 
 suspicions were on the alert. The next 
 morning he m^et Lady Jane's woman on 
 the stairs looking over a long bill, and he 
 could not resist his wish of knowing what 
 it was, and what the amount. — " Is that 
 H— 's bill, which your lady told me she 
 had sent for .^" 
 
 "Yes,
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 81 
 
 *' Yes, sir, it is his, and another too," 
 replied Ellis, concluding that Mr. Percy as 
 her lady's guardian was to pay them. 
 
 *' Give them to me.'* 
 
 She did so, and he saw with wonder 
 and resentment that the two bills amounted 
 to several hundred pounds. But sup- 
 pressing his feelings and keeping the bills, 
 he desired her to tell her lady that he 
 had commissioned her to get in every out- 
 standing bill immediately. Ellis obeyed 
 him ; and Lady Jane, seeing that ail must 
 be disclosed, was forced to have recourse 
 to a glass of water to keep her from faint- 
 ing. In this emergency what could she 
 do? "At least," said she to herself, " I 
 will make a virtue of necessity, and be- 
 fore disclosure is no longer avoidable I 
 will confess all to Percy, and I trust 
 that in my ingenuousness he will forget 
 my fault." She did so j and Percy, 
 E 5 though
 
 82 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 though surprised and shocked, lover-like, 
 overlooked her errors in her imagined 
 greatness of mind in confessing them, 
 and assured her she was dearer to him 
 than ever. 
 
 Supported therefore by his approving 
 and confiding tenderness, she was the 
 better able to meet his father's awful 
 frown when she was summoned to his 
 presence, after he had received all the 
 bills which he had sent Ellis round to call 
 in, and which amounted to nearly two 
 thousand pounds ! On hearing the amount 
 of the debt, Percy himself was as di- 
 stressed though not as angry as his father ; 
 and he was the more grieved, because he 
 had not wherewithal to discharge it. 
 
 " I have now to ask you, madam, if 
 these are all your debts ! " said Mr. Percy 
 sternly. And Lady Jane, resuming at once 
 all the original honesty and generosity of 
 
 her
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 83 
 
 her nature, replied, " I will answer that 
 question, sir, only in the presence of 
 Lady Anne j" who was accordingly sum- 
 moned to the conference. 
 
 " Now, sir," said Lady Jane, as soon 
 as her cousin entered, and looking at 
 Lady Anne with an expression of affec- 
 tionate triumph, " now, sir, I will answer 
 your question. — I owe much more than 
 the amount of the bills now in your hand. 
 You must add to them the sum which 
 my generous cousin had undertaken to 
 discharge, though in order to do so she 
 was forced to make a great personal sa- 
 crifice." 
 
 " It was no sacrifice, none at all, my 
 generous, candid Jane," replied Lady 
 Anne, gratified and affected at this un- 
 expected virtue in Lady Jane ; who, over- 
 come by the effort, threw herself on her 
 cousin's neck and sobbed aloud. 
 
 " O sir ! " said Percy, seeing his father 
 
 himself
 
 84 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANEi 
 
 himself affected, " will you in a degree 
 excuse a fault so honourably confessed 
 and atoned for?" 
 
 " I honour, my son," he replied, " as 
 much as you can do, a generous and can- 
 did avowal of a fault which otherwise 
 could not have been known ; still my 
 resolve is irrevocable. — I have no money 
 to spare for unexpected demands, and 
 you, I know, have none ; nor can I, ivill 
 I allow Lady Anne to pay the money she 
 has promised : therefore, on pain of my 
 eternal displeasure, I command you to 
 give up all idea of marrying Lady Jane 
 till the whole debt is paid ; — for never, 
 with my consent, shall my son marry to 
 run the risk of being involved and poor 
 through life, by having a debt of this 
 magnitude to discharge. — In a twelve- 
 month Lady Jane will be of age, and 
 part of her fortune may then be sold to 
 liquidate her debts. — A twelvemonth too 
 
 is
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 85" 
 
 IS necessary at least for her to try to 
 break herself of her pernicious habits ; 
 and during that time she or you will have 
 an opportunity of changing your minds, 
 if you desire it, and breaking off an 
 union from which / foresee no good will 
 
 arise." 
 
 During this speech Lady Jane, bathed in 
 tears, reclined on Lady Anne's shoulders, 
 and Percy in great agitation paced up and 
 down the room. " Sir, sir," said he, " this 
 is harsh, this is criiel^ sir." 
 
 " May be so ; but it is unalterable," 
 replied his father. 
 
 " Dear sir ! hear me, let me speak," 
 cried Lady Anne, feeling deeply for both 
 the lovers. 
 
 " No, most dear and most revered 
 Lady Anne," said Mr. Percy, taking her 
 hand, " I cannot hear you. — Though no 
 longer your guardian, it is my duty still 
 
 to
 
 86 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 to watch over your interests, and not to 
 allow you to sacrifice yourself for others 
 not worthy such a sacrifice." 
 
 " Don't say so, sir, don't say so," cried 
 Lady Anne ; " Jane is 7iot unworthy, 
 and I should grudge no sacrifice for 
 her sake!" Percy instantly seized Lady 
 Anne's hand, and kissed it with grateful 
 emotion ; while, turning very pale, she 
 hid her face in her cousin's neck ; and 
 Mr. Percy, who saw her change of coun- 
 tenance, and understood her feelings, 
 more mortified than ever at his son's blind 
 preference, darted at him a look of in- 
 dignation, and left the room. 
 
 *' We must get this interdiction taken 
 off," said Lady Anne, after a pause of 
 much emotion on all sides. 
 
 " Do that, dear, generous Lady Anne, 
 and I shall bless you for ever!" cried 
 
 Percy. 
 
 " I will
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 87 
 
 '^ I will see what is to be done,'* she 
 replied coldly, and left the lovers alone. 
 But in vain did Lady Anne still request 
 to be permitted to pay part of the debt ; 
 in vain did she entreat that the marriage 
 might be allowed to take place, — Mr. 
 Percy was inexorable, and repeated, 
 
 " My son may marry if he chooses it, 
 but it will be against my publicly avowed 
 disapprobation of his choice ; — and I am 
 sure Percy will never expose the woman 
 he loves to such an insult : — besides, — 
 who knows but during a year's trial of 
 their constancy something may happen to 
 prevent the marriage for ever? — and if 
 so, O ! how I should rejoice!" 
 
 Lady Anne feared that ske should re- 
 joice too : — but too honourable to allow 
 even a chance so flattering to her feelings 
 to turn her aside from the duties of friend- 
 ship, she still persisted in her endeavour 
 to prevail on Mr. Percy to recall his man- 
 
 ' date :
 
 88 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 date : — but, " Never !'* was his constant 
 answer : " while Lady Jane remains in 
 debt, she never, if I can help it, shall be 
 the wife of my son." 
 
 Lady Anne, ever since Percy and her 
 cousin became declared lovers, spent much 
 of her time in her own apartment, from 
 feelings and motives easy to be guessed 
 at ; and therefore she was not soon aware 
 that something unpleasant had occurred 
 between them. At length, however, she 
 observed that Percy looked pale and 
 wretched, and Lady Jane sullen; — nor 
 was she slow to demand of the latter a 
 reason for what she saw. 
 
 " Oh ! it is only," she replied, " that 
 Harry is absurd and unjust." 
 
 ** Only that!'* answered Lady Anne 
 with an ironical air : *' I think that only 
 is a great deal, considering he was neither 
 absurd nor unjust before." 
 
 " That is liberal in you, Anne, all 
 
 things
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 89 
 
 things considered ; — but my guardian 
 would tell you he was both when he pre- 
 ferred me to you/* 
 
 " We will drop that subject, if you 
 please/' replied Lady Anne coldly ; " and 
 now explain in what respect Percy in your 
 eyes is absurd and unjust. Wretched I 
 see he is." 
 
 " Aye, — and he is absurd in heiiig 
 wretched ; — for the truth is, he is jealous. 
 — He cannot bear that 1 should flirt with 
 that man worth a million who is jubt 
 come from India." 
 
 '' Then why do you flirt with him ?" 
 
 " But it is not true : — I dont flirt ; 
 only the poor gentleman says civil things 
 to me, and I can't say uncivil ones to 
 liim in return, you know.'' 
 
 " Tell him you are an engaged wo- 
 man." 
 
 ** He knows ihat^ — and I take care al- 
 ways
 
 90 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 ways to let him see I love Percy. — But 
 Percy's fear is, since he has known my 
 propensity to spend money, that this agree- 
 able Nabob, for agreeable he certainly 
 is, should make me such offers as might 
 tempt me to give him the preference ; — 
 especially as, to be candid^ my pride is 
 not a little hurt at the style in which Mr. 
 Percy has presumed to talk to me, — hint- 
 ing as if he thought it was an honour to 
 Lady Jane Langley to be the wife of his 
 son Mr. Percy,'' 
 
 " And so it is^ Jane,'* interrupted Lady 
 Anne. " It would be an honour to any 
 woman, however high her rank, to be the 
 choice of such a nobly-gifted creature as 
 Harry Percy !'* 
 
 " Mighty fine! I wonder whether 
 your ladyship's father the Marquis of 
 D would have been of the same 
 
 opinion ! *' 
 
 'He
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 91 
 
 " He uouhly and so would your lady- 
 ship's father." 
 
 " But my ladyship's father's daughter 
 sees differently ; — not that she thinks she 
 confers honour. — O no, — far from it in- 
 deed ; — but she cannot think she receives 
 it. And there is my buckram guardian 
 setting up his large eyes and locking so 
 grand ! that for fear he should have put 
 some of his proud notions into Percy's 
 head, I take care to keep the honest lad's 
 pride down by teasing him a little, and 
 alarming him with the idea of losing 
 
 me!" 
 
 " Jane, I have no patience with you.'* 
 '' You never had any, Anne." 
 '* And shall have still less if you can 
 be so base as to delight in tormenting a 
 heart that loves you ; a heart that...." 
 Here, spite of herself, emotions, con- 
 scious emotions choked her utterance. 
 
 " I tell
 
 92 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE* 
 
 " I tell you what, Anne," replied Lady- 
 Jane, " every one scolds me now, and I 
 am almost weary of my life : — I see that 
 I have alienated from me my guardian's 
 good will, my lover's confidence, and 
 my only friend's esteem ; — and if my si- 
 tuation does not change soon at home^ I 
 cannot answer for not seeking something 
 better abroad." 
 
 So saying, with an air of grief and de- 
 spondence unusual to a countenance so 
 animated as hers usually was, she ran 
 out of the room, and left her aiFectionate 
 cousin in a state of alarm and agitation. 
 
 In the evening. Lady Anne on entering 
 the drawing-room found Percy alone, — 
 and she no longer avoided, but sought a 
 conversation with him ; — nor was it long 
 before, of his own accord, he revealed to 
 her the anxiety of his mind. Lady Jane 
 had been quite correct in her communi- 
 cations.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 93 
 
 cations. She had contrived to make Percy 
 jealous and miserable by the way in which 
 she received the agreeable Nabob's atten- 
 tions ; — having told him also, when he 
 expostulated with her, that his father's 
 authority had dissolved their engagement 
 for a year, and therefore inclination was 
 now the only bond between them, 
 
 " I can only say, my deaY friend,'' said 
 Percy, *' that if she goes on thus, neither 
 my brain nor health can bear the con- 
 stant wretchedness I endure ; for I have 
 discovered, Lady Anne, that of all pangs . 
 to which mortals are subject, there are 
 none so agonizing and so destructive as 
 the pangs of jealousy." 
 
 Lady Anne could have told him this 
 long ago ; — but she had gone through, 
 had survived, and conquered them. 
 
 " Harry," she replied, " you do not 
 suffer alone ; — Lady Jane is very wretched 
 too. — Your father's evident disapproba- 
 tion
 
 9i LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 tion of her, and your marriage with her, 
 have awakened all the pride, the proper 
 pride of her soul ; and I must say in Jane s 
 defence, that it must be a very galling, a 
 very disagreeable thing to any woman to 
 become the wife of the son, when the 
 father would, if he could, for ever forbid 
 the union." 
 
 " True, — most true: — but what is to be 
 done ? for even you have failed to move 
 my father's heart in our favour." 
 
 Lady Anne shook her head mournfully; 
 and company coming in, the conference 
 broke up. 
 
 At midnight, when the guests were de- 
 parted. Lady Anne retired, but not to 
 sleep. — She felt that, Hke Mr. Percy, she 
 too had almost unconsciously looked for- 
 ward with pleasure to the change which 
 might take place in the course of a twelve- 
 month ; — but Mr. Percy's words had 
 caused her to look into her own heart, 
 
 and
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 95 
 
 and her generous nature revolted at what 
 she saw there. To undress in order to 
 obtain sleep was impossible : therefore 
 she dismissed Barnes, saying she would, 
 when inclined to go to bed, undress her- 
 self; — and then, till it was daylight, she 
 paced up and down her apartment, strug- 
 gling with her selfish feelings, and en- 
 couraging her generous ones, till her re- 
 solution was taken and her plans fixed. 
 
 " He shall be saved if I can save him ; 
 he shall be happy if / can make him so," 
 she exclaimed ; and then with a lightened 
 heart she undressed and slept awhile. 
 
 When she was risen, she went for Ellis, 
 Lady Jane's woman — and asked her, un- 
 known to her lady, to let her once more 
 see the bills which she had delivered to 
 Mr. Percy. Lady Anne again cast up the 
 sum total; and having, without being forced 
 to deprive her poor relations of their little 
 fortune, contrived a way of discharging 
 
 them
 
 96 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 them all, she went to her bankers ; and 
 with the assistance of Ellis, who, as she was 
 tormented by the creditors, was delighted 
 to have her lady's debts discharged, all 
 Lady Jane owed was paid in three days 
 time: and Lady Anne therefore knew, that 
 as the deed was done, Mr. Percy could 
 no longer oppose it, nor could he have 
 any longer a plea to defer the marriage of 
 Percy and Lady Jane. 
 
 When Lady Anne had obtained all the 
 receipts, she put them on a file; and going 
 into Lady Jane's apartment, where she 
 sat alone and musing over her miseries, 
 she presented the file to her, and desired 
 her to see what it held. — Lady Jane having 
 surveyed it uttered a scream of surprise, 
 but so mingled with delight that Lady 
 Anne felt herself almost repaid ; and while 
 Lady Jane in an agony of gratitude, — 
 gratitude composed of so many mingled 
 feelings, that it amounted to pain, — hung 
 
 on
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 97 
 
 on Lady Anne's neck, and called her her 
 saviour, and the preserver of Percy. Lady 
 Anne's tears flowed as fast as hers did, 
 but iiords she spoke none. 
 
 " Where, where is Percy :*' cried Lady 
 Jane, " I must seek him." 
 
 " Do so,*' said Lady Anne, turning 
 pale. 
 
 "But first tell me how you got mo- 
 ney to pay these vile debts without disap- 
 pointing your cousins of their little wealth, 
 as well as yourself of the jewels." 
 
 " By altering my plans for the next 
 year and half at least. Instead of taking 
 a house with Mrs. Tyrawley as my cha- 
 perone, and living up to my income and 
 my rank, I shall take a small house, re- 
 taining Mrs. Corbet to reside with me ; 
 for, to be honest, the money I have paid 
 for you is the greater part of my income 
 for the ensuing year, which my bankers 
 
 VOL. I. F advanced
 
 98 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 advanced on my paying them interest for 
 the money." 
 
 " O Anne ! your goodness overpowers 
 me. And for our sake you give up all 
 that other women value!" 
 
 " No, Jane, not so. In making those I 
 love happy, I secure to myself what, in 
 my eyes, is of more value than a splendid 
 establishment. Nor should I thus point 
 out to you the extent of what you will 
 think privations to me, if I did not 
 wish to teach you, that the generosity 
 built on self-denial is the only true and 
 valuable generosity, and to lead you to 
 follow while you applaud my example." 
 
 To this well-meant hint Lady Jane re- 
 plied only by a shake of the head and a 
 deep sigh, and went in search of Percy, 
 whom she found brooding over his ima- 
 gined danger, and making his agonies 
 worse by dwelling on them. But in the 
 
 next
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 99 
 
 next moment he was lifted from the 
 depth of despondence to the height of hope 
 and happiness ! Yet still his joy was 
 damped by the consciousness of the sacri- 
 fice which Lady Anne had made, and he 
 more bitterly deplored than ever his own 
 early extravagance, which had made it 
 impossible for him to raise the money ne- 
 cessary to remove the embarrassments of 
 Lady Jane. 
 
 " Best of women !" cried Percy, when 
 he heard what Lady Anne had done, 
 *' how can we ever repay her ? Yes, 
 dearest Jane ! yes, we can repay her," 
 added he tenderly : " payment is in 
 our power — Let her see us happy, and 
 her generous nature will be amply re- 
 paid." 
 
 " And do you think we shall not be 
 happy, Harry? Have your father's pre- 
 judices infected you ?" 
 
 F 3 *' How
 
 ^00 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 *' How can you think so, Jane?" replied 
 Percy blushing. " If they had, do you 
 imagine I could thus rejoice in the pro- 
 spect of being united to you ? But let us 
 talk of your cousin : — ^This voluntary 
 kindness of hers in order to insure or ex- 
 pedite our union rejoices me also on her 
 own account ; for it convinces me she has 
 not that regard for me which you and my 
 father feared she had ; for I am sure, 
 from my own feelings, that no man or 
 woman in love could endeavour to faci- 
 litate the union of the beloved object with 
 another. I am sure I could not have 
 done all in my power^ Jane, to marry you 
 to the nabol\** 
 
 " Nor 1, Harry, to marry you to Lady 
 Anne, but — " 
 
 « But what ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing," replied Lady Jane. 
 '' But," she was going to say, " though 
 
 we
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 101 
 
 ue are not, Anne is capable of such a sa- 
 orifice. '^ Knowing how, ever fiow enthu- 
 siastic an admirer Harry Percy was of acts 
 of superior virtue, she could not bear, on 
 second thoughts, to let him learn the 
 whok extent of Lady Anne's superio- 
 rity. 
 
 " Now, Jane," said he, " I must leave 
 you, and go to the House, even without 
 seeing Lady Anne to thank, her for her 
 goodness j and do you return, and tell 
 her that she must put the finishing suroke 
 to it by breaking what she has done to 
 my father, and prevailing on him to put 
 matters ia train, for our speedy union.'* 
 
 '' I VI ill," replied Lady Jane. Then 
 saying to herself, " O poor Lady Anne!" 
 she, almost reluctantly, returned, to her 
 cousin. 
 
 *' I will go to him instantly,'* said Lady 
 Anne in reply, well knowing that when 
 
 efforts
 
 102 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 efforts are to be made they ought not to 
 be long reflected upon ; and hearing Mr. 
 Percy was in his library, she ventured to 
 join him there. Surprise, disappointment, 
 indignation, and regret, were Mr. Percy's 
 first feeling", en hearing what Lady Anne 
 had to communicate, mixed ^vith admi- 
 ration of her own generous self-command, 
 since, more quick-sighted than his son to 
 the state of Lady Anne's feelings, he 
 knew and could appreciate the greatness 
 of her conduct. 
 
 ^^'Buithisisrobbery, downright robbery^ 
 Lady Anne," he said at last, " for years 
 must elapse before either Percy or I can 
 ever repay you.'' 
 
 " And suppose I am never repaid," 
 cried Lady Anne, " there will be no 
 great harm — for, indeed, I can do with- 
 out the money:*' and afraid lest Mr. Percy 
 should know that she had already made 
 
 some
 
 LADY ANNj? and LADY JANE. 103 
 
 some sacrifices, and must make still 
 greater, she changed the conversation, 
 and earnestly preferred her petuion" that 
 preparations for the marriage might take 
 place without delay. Mr. Percy looked 
 at her with feelings of affectionate esteem 
 and admiration, but dared not express his 
 admiration, lest she should suspect why 
 he so much admired, and by that means 
 discover that the secret of her heart was 
 known to him. 
 
 " Lady Anne,*' replied he, " as it is 
 your wish, your request, I will do all in 
 my power to expedite this, in my eyes, ill- 
 starred union ; for you have acquired a right 
 to be alone consulted, and I will do for 
 your dear sake, what I positively assure 
 you I would do to oblige no one else. 
 But I tell you honestly I do not approve 
 this marriage, and I never never will say 
 that I do." And Lady Anne thinking it 
 
 politic
 
 104 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 politic to be contented with this ungracious 
 assent, as opposition might have rendered 
 it still more so, thanked him even warmly 
 for his promise, and retired to impart the 
 news to Lady Jane. — Though, in the first 
 instance. Lady Anne's bounty was the 
 result of pure, disinterested benevolence ; 
 still, upon a selfish principle of consider- 
 ation for her own feelings, the conduct 
 she pursued was the best possible in order 
 to support her under the downfall of all 
 her hopes ; for sweet and consoling to her 
 was the consciousness of her own he- 
 roism ; and that feeling of hopeless love, 
 which, if suffered to remain in quiet inac- 
 tivity, would have preyed on her health, 
 perhaps, and destroyed the energies of 
 her mind, by being forced into action and 
 exertion in the cause of the beloved ob- 
 ject, served as a balm to the wounds it 
 had inflicted, and enabled her even to vi^it- 
 
 nesg
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 105 
 
 ness with composure the ceremony which 
 gave the man of her affections to her en- 
 vied rival. 
 
 " He is my gift," said she mentally : 
 *' but for me, she might never have 
 called him hers ; and if he is happy, / 
 too shall have been the means of his hap^ 
 pinessJ"^ 
 
 Still, Lady Anne, as she stood at the altar, 
 was very glad of the assistance of the long 
 white veil which she wore, to conceal the 
 conscious fluctuations of her complexion. 
 Nor did she raise her veil, even to receive 
 the parting kiss of the bride, who with 
 her husband set off from the church-door 
 on a tour of some weeks; but she contented 
 herself with folding Lady Jane in an af- 
 fectionate embrace, and receiving without 
 returning the pressure of Percy's hand. 
 
 Lady Anne therefore succeeded in con- 
 cealing her deep emotion from every eye 
 F 5 save
 
 106" LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 save that of Mr. Percy, and to him her 
 feelings were sacred and inviolable. 
 
 " Shall we take a drive into the country. 
 Lady Anne;" said he, after handing her 
 and Mrs. Corbet into the carriage. 
 
 *' If you please, sir,** replied Lady 
 Anne, while through her veil the deadly 
 paleness of her cheek was visible, which 
 certainly no longer horeih2X full unvary- 
 ing colour with which Percy had re- 
 proached it. 
 
 Mr. Percy, conscious how great the 
 effort Lady Anne had made that morning, 
 was alarmed at her excessive paleness, 
 and the sort of desperate calmness and 
 stillness of her manner : — still, delicacy 
 forbade him to take notice of it, and Mrs. 
 Corbet was one of those persons who look 
 without seeing. At length, Mr. Percy, 
 who was well acquainted with the human 
 heart, fixed on a method likely to rouse 
 
 Lady
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 107 
 
 Lady Anne from her distressing state of 
 quietude, by calling forth the generous 
 indignation of her nature, and he ex- 
 claimed— 
 
 " O Lady Anne, married as my son is, 
 my only son, to a woman of high rank, 
 tolerable fortune, and of great beauty and 
 accomplishments, I must own that my 
 heart, my father's heart, is not as well sa- 
 tisfied as it hoped to be on this occasion. 
 I cannot, excuse me^ dear Lady Anne, i 
 cannot think your cousin calculated to 
 make him happy." 
 
 *' Sir, Mr. Percy!*' returned Lady 
 Anne vehemently, indignation bringing 
 back the full tide of crimson to her face, 
 "you surely, sir, forget we are not alone!** 
 
 " No, I do not," he replied, *' and in- 
 deed it is next to being alone ; for, if you 
 look at Mrs. Corbet, you will see that she 
 is attending to nothing but the pretty 
 shops, and pretty men and women." 
 
 '' StilL
 
 108 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " Still, sir, I must beg you, if you must 
 say any thing so painful to my feelings, 
 and so unjust at the same time, I must beg, 
 I say, that it may be kept for my private 
 ear." 
 
 " Unjust ! Well then, if our good friend 
 has heard the accusation, pray let her hear 
 the exculpation, and explain why I am 
 unjust.'* 
 
 " With all my heart : I am convinced 
 that Lady Jane is taught by past expe- 
 rience, and that the agony she has suflPered 
 on my account will be such as to make 
 her very cautious how she errs in future. 
 Besides, she has strong affections, she 
 loves her husband, and she will love her 
 children, and do her duty by them.'* 
 
 ** No, Lady Anne, no; she may love 
 her children, but you will be their mo- 
 ther." 
 
 " Oh, most gladly ! " cried Lady Anne: 
 but recollecting herself, she added rather 
 
 angrily.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 109 
 
 angrily, " I must again remind you that 
 this way of mentioning Lady Jane is un- 
 pleasant to me." 
 
 *' Well then, forgive me,*' said he, 
 taking her hand, which had no longer 
 the deadly cold feeling that had alarmed 
 him, " forgive me, and let me talk to you 
 of my plans, and consult with you about 
 yours. Now you will have an esta- 
 blishment of your own, and Lady Jane is 
 married, you know it is my intention to 
 dispose of my large house, and take a 
 small one ; for my income from my West 
 India estates has fallen off greatly, and I 
 wish to contract my expenses : besides, I 
 shall never be easy till you. Lady Anne, 
 are repaid." 
 
 " No more on that subject, sir,'* said 
 Lady Anne coldly, " or you will offend 
 me again." 
 
 " Well — well — I shall think, however, 
 
 of
 
 110 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 of it as much as I please. The Duke of 
 
 L has offered me a large sum for ir, 
 
 and I mean to accept it. Poor man ! he 
 would fain have a mistress for it, and I 
 believe he will very soon renew certain 
 offers." 
 
 *' I hope not/* replied Lady Anne ; 
 *' for, though I highly admire the Duke, 
 my determination on that subject is irre- 
 vocable." 
 
 " Forgive me — I will proceed on bu- 
 siness. I have heard of a small house 
 near my son's in Piccadilly, and there I 
 mean to reside. And now, Lady Anne, in 
 what part of the town, and in what fine 
 house, do you mean to take up your resi- 
 dence? for I flatter myself that 1 shall 
 have the satisfaction of seeing my old 
 friend's daughter, and I may say the pride 
 of my heart, living in a style worthy her 
 rank and fortune." 
 
 " Some
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. Ill 
 
 *' Some time hence you will, I trust/* 
 replied Lady Anne deeply blushing, " but 
 not yet.'' 
 
 " Not yet ? — What do you mean ?" 
 
 *' I mean that for a year or two I shall 
 be contented to live in a small house in 
 the vicinity of Percy and Lady Jane, and 
 with a small establishment, and Mrs. 
 Corbet has promised to live with me." 
 
 " I understand it — I understand you. 
 Lady Anne, and I see very clearly that 
 your bounty to your extravagant cousin is 
 the cause of this, and I shudder to think 
 of the extent of her involvements ; for I 
 concluded till now, that what I knew you 
 to possess of personal property was ex- 
 pended on her, and not any part of your 
 income." 
 
 " There you wrong Lady Jane, sir,'* 
 cried Lady Anne haughtily : " my per- 
 sonal property, great part of it I mean, 
 has been expended in a still more satisfac- 
 tory
 
 112 LADY ANKE AND LADY JANE.- 
 
 tory manner; and I earnestly beg that 
 you will forbear to give even an opinion- 
 on my plans, as they are fixed as the laws 
 of the Medes and Persians." 
 
 " Yet one word more — Surely Percy 
 and his bride will invite you to live with 
 them?" 
 
 *' O yes ! they have done so — but I 
 know better than to accede to such a pro- 
 posal. Young married people ought to 
 be left to themselves, and fix the way of 
 life they are in future to follow." 
 
 *' True, very true — but where is this 
 small house to be found ?" 
 
 " In Clargesstreet — and if you please 
 we will go and look at one that has been 
 recommended to me — for I should wish 
 to have your approbation of it." 
 
 Accordingly they drove to Clarges- 
 street ; and Mr. Percy, though grieved at 
 the smallness of the house, could not but 
 own that it was large enough for Lady 
 
 Anne's,
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 113 
 
 Anne's, at present, reduced income ; and 
 with a heart more filled with reverence for 
 her, and regret for his son's blindness, he 
 parted with her on their return home, — 
 
 he to dine with the Duke of L , and 
 
 Lady x^nne to spend the rest of the day 
 in her own apartments. 
 
 As he foresaw, the Duke renewed his 
 offers now Percy was married, but still in 
 vain : — and in a short time Lady Anne 
 and Mrs. C.orbet took possession of their 
 new abode. Mr. Percy went to lodgings 
 till his was ready for him, and the Duke 
 
 of L went to the house in Grosvenor- 
 
 square. 
 
 All these arrangements took place du- 
 ring the absence of the new-married pair^ 
 yrho at length returned to London to a 
 very elegant house in Piccadilly. Percy 
 looked, and evidently was, so happy that 
 his fond father could not help viewing 
 with complacency the woman who made 
 
 him
 
 114 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 him SO, and Lady Jane had every reason 
 to be satisfied with the reception he gave 
 her. But the joy she felt was damped by 
 the sight of Lady Anne, whose excessive 
 thinness and paleness called forth all the 
 anxieties of her affectionate heart ; — and 
 when she was alone with her she burst in- 
 to tears, and asked if she had been ill. 
 
 " No — not ill," replied Lady Anne 
 coldly, " and my paleness is only tempo- 
 rary : — time, by removing entirely the 
 cause, will also remove the effect, and I 
 assure you my mind is now quite at ease.'* 
 
 " I understand you,'* replied Lady 
 Jane ; " but believe me, in the midst of 
 my own happiness I shall be uneasy till I 
 see your usually fine colour as bright as 
 ever. And now, Anne, let us order the car- 
 riage and drive to your house." They did 
 so, and Lady. Jane could not see without 
 remorse amounting to agony, the humble 
 mansion comparatively to that she ought 
 
 to
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 115 
 
 to have inhabited, to which her errors had 
 doomed her cousin. 
 
 " Grieve not for what to me is no 
 source of grief," replied Lady Anne; *' but 
 repay me, if you think you owe me obli- 
 gations, by abstaining in future from the 
 follies, not to say vices, which forced me 
 to live here. — Alas ! Jane, I have had 
 more serious trials to bear, and I have 
 borne them, I trust, well ; nor of my past 
 weakness, as I may now call it, is there I 
 hope a visible trace left." 
 
 I can assure you," said Laiy Jane, 
 
 that it was never suspected by Percy — 
 but his father hinted to him his suspicions.'* 
 
 " His father ! did he suspect ?" 
 
 " Yes : — but, like his son, he most 
 probably has been convinced he was in an 
 error by your recent conduct." 
 
 '* My recent conduct!" 
 
 *' Yes : — Percy told me he was now 
 quite convinced, by your maldng such ef- 
 forts 

 
 116 LADV ANKE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 forts to bring about our union, that you 
 were not in love with him yourself — for, 
 if you had, you could not have done 
 what you did/' 
 
 Lady Anne listened at first in speechless 
 wonder. — "So then !*' thought she, " the 
 greatest proof of pure disinterested love I 
 could possibly give, he deemed a proof 
 of the contrary ! — Weil, I rejoice though 
 I wonder at his blindness ! — And pray,. 
 Jane," said she, '' what did you answer 
 to this curious speech ?" 
 
 *' I said that I could not have acted so 
 to marry him to t/ou — and there the con- 
 versarion ended.*' 
 
 One morning some country cousins, 
 accompanied by some London ladies, who 
 were glad of an excuse for gratifying their 
 own curiosity on pretence of gratifying 
 that of their companions, called on the 
 brid-e, and begged she would indulge her 
 rural visitors with a sight of her wedding 
 
 presents
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 117 
 
 presents and wedding finery ; — and Lady 
 Jane, ever obliging, indulged their wishes, 
 
 " And this/' said Lady Jane, " was 
 Mr. Percy's gift, and this my uncle Lord 
 's ;" and so she went on. 
 
 " But where is Lady Anne*s ? she is so 
 rich!" said a lady who disliked Lady 
 Anne : " she is so rich, that no doubt 
 her present is the handsomest of any." 
 And while the conscious Lady Jane, who 
 indeed knew the magyujicence of her gift, 
 blushed and hesitated, and would fain have 
 been guilty of evasion, Lady Anne coldly 
 replied, " Lady Jane has no gift of mine 
 to show you.*^* 
 
 " Dear me ! how extraordinary ! '* 
 cried one. *' Aye, well — I suppose you 
 save yourself for the christening gifts," 
 said another; while all by looks and shrugs, 
 and signs to each other, conveyed their 
 astonishment at Lady Anne^s meanness, 
 who having, instead of a fine house and 
 
 large
 
 118 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 large establishment, settled herself in a 
 quiet way in Clarges-street, had set many 
 persons wondering and talking, and su- 
 specting her of avarice ; and this declara- 
 tion of hers confirmed the idea. 
 
 *' Yes, yes," again said one, resuming 
 the subject, " it is clear Lady Anne will 
 make a most splendid christening of- 
 fering!*' 
 
 " Lady Anne has no such intention," 
 she replied, distressed more at the pain 
 Lady Jane suffered, than at their evident 
 opinion of her meanness; and knowing 
 Lady Jane, she every moment feared she 
 would, to exculpate her, inculpate her- 
 self. Therefore she rose up and said, " I 
 see clearly, ladies, what you now think of 
 me, and you are welcome to laugh at my 
 avarice as much as you please/' 
 
 ** Your avarice, Lady Anne!" cried 
 Lady Jane, "you, the most generous " 
 
 " Be quiet, Lady Jane, not a word 
 
 more !
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 119 
 
 more ! and if you say one word further to 
 vindicate me from censures which I de- 
 spise, I shall look on it as a personal af- 
 front." Then, with a look which awed the 
 company in spite of themselves, she left 
 the room ; and Lady Jane, but for her 
 cousin's prohibition, would undoubtedly 
 have betrayed herself, and expatiated on 
 Lady Anne's kindness. 
 
 " O Anne ! " said she when they were 
 gone, " the misery I felt at hearing you 
 blamed unjustly, was almost sufficient to 
 expiate the error which occasioned it.'* 
 Nor could she rest without telling Percy 
 what had passed. But as he when he heard 
 it exclaimed, " I am glad I was not pre- 
 sent, for 1 should have affronted the wo- 
 men! What! dare to degrade by their suspi- 
 cions the exalted goodness which not one 
 of them could imitate !" Lady Jane was 
 almost sorry that she had been so com- 
 municative. 
 
 If
 
 220 LADY AKNE ^KD LADY JANE. 
 
 If Lady Jane Langley was admired, 
 Lady Jane Percy was adored. — Her name 
 was given to every new and expensive 
 fashion, and put at the top of dedications 
 of numberless new works. — It figured 
 also in the list of every public charity, it 
 stood at the head of many a private one, 
 and it every day adorned the columns of 
 a fashionable paper. Lady Jane Percy 
 at whole length, or in half, was ex- 
 hibited in the gallery of each fashionable 
 artist, and engravings of her were hung up 
 in every print-shop ; while Percy enjoyed 
 this publicity as a homage due to the idol 
 of his heart, and as a proof of her tran- 
 scendent charms ; for now she was his, he 
 had too much generosity of nature, "and 
 too much confidence in her principles, 
 to be jealous of her, and he looked for- 
 ward to her approaching confinement as 
 the only event wanting to complete his 
 felicity. 
 
 That
 
 LADY ANN£ AND LADY JANE. 121 
 
 That Lady Jane might have as little 
 temptation as possible to run in debt, 
 Percy had settled on her an allowance 
 which even Lady Jane herself felt to be 
 generous to excess, therefore he had no 
 suspicion of her being again distressed in 
 a pecuniary way : and though the con* 
 sciousness that whatever she wore be- 
 came the ton immediately, led her to vary 
 her dress almost every morning and every 
 evening, it never occurred to him that 
 this could not be done but at a great ex* 
 pense. And as, unfortunately for his wife, 
 he was too close an attendant on his duty 
 in the House to accompany her often into 
 some certain circles, he was also uncon- 
 scious that she frequently entered into very 
 deep play, and that the money solemnly 
 destined in the morning to the payment of 
 debts, and even to the purposes of charity, 
 was lost in the evening in the intoxications 
 of the gamihg-table. 
 
 ¥0L. I. G Lady
 
 122 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 Lady Anne meanwhile was rarely her 
 companion. — Resolved to see as little of 
 Percy as possible, that the passion she 
 believed extinct mi^iht run no danG:er of 
 
 O CD 
 
 being revived, she seldom visited Lady 
 Jane when he was at home ; and after 
 she had accompanied her to Court, and 
 gone the round of bridal visits with her, 
 she preferred staying at home with her 
 books, her music, and her work, to the 
 giddy round of balls and assemblies, to 
 \yhich, untired as yet, the admired Lady 
 Jane resorted. But Lady Anne had 
 yet another amusement, which she fan- 
 cied rational and innocent at the same 
 time ; and that was, daily studying the 
 debates, for the delight of reading Percy's 
 speeches : and while his thoughtless wife 
 took no mterest in his excelling eloquence, 
 except when she heard it the theme of 
 commendation from those whose praise 
 was fame, Lady Anne knew every sen- 
 tence
 
 LADY ANKE AND LADY JANE. 1 2:> 
 
 tence that had commanded admiration, 
 and was aware of every new motion which 
 he was either to propose or second. Alas ! 
 wiiile making him thus the occupier of her 
 ioney hours, the Percy whom she beheld 
 in imagination only, was more likely to be 
 dangerous to her fancied freedom than he 
 could have been, beheld in reality ; for, 
 deprive any beloved object of the charms 
 which our own imagination gives it, and 
 love would soon be our slave, and never 
 again our tyrant. 
 
 At length Lady Jane became the mo- 
 ther of twins, and the delighted Lady 
 Anne pressed to her kind bosom two sons 
 of Percy's. But it was not without deep 
 regret, which was shared by their mother, 
 that Lady Anne heard lier cousin forbid- 
 den, on account of the delicacy of her 
 health, to be a nurse to her children, a..d 
 was forced to see them fed by other care 
 than the maternal one. 
 
 G 2 As
 
 124 I.ADY ANNE AND LADY JANE* 
 
 As soon as Lady Jane was able to go 
 out againj Lady Anne, who had during her 
 cousin's confinement seen more of Percy 
 than she thought proper, returned to her 
 own home, and her salutary occupations. 
 But she was soon to have her peace dis- 
 turbed by pangs of the sincerest sorrow 
 and regret — pangs which continued to b^ 
 felt by her, after Lady Jane and even 
 Percy had ceased to feel them. Mr. Percy 
 did live to see his son's sons, and to kiss 
 with tears of pleasure the cheek of their 
 happy mother: but he did not survive the 
 birth of the heirs more than six weeks j 
 and though apparently in perfect health, 
 he died suddenly when getting off his 
 horse^ a victim as it appeared to some dis- 
 ease of the heart. As Percy equally loved 
 and honoured his father, his grief at first 
 was overwhelmingly severe ; and Lady Jane, 
 though more relieved than affected by Mr, 
 Percy's loss, shut herself up at home, con- 
 tented
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JASE. 125 
 
 tented to support her husband by her pre- 
 sence and soothing fondness under the vio- 
 lence of his sorrow ; and Lady Anne, spite 
 of herself, was forced to come to the house 
 of mourning, to alleviate Percy's grief by the 
 evident sincerity with which she shared in it. 
 
 " You may well weep, dear Anne/* 
 said Lady Jane, " for he loved, he adored 
 you above all vi'omen ; and you Vvill misS 
 the pleasure of praise from lips from which 
 approbation was honour I " 
 
 Lady Anne made no reply, for she felt 
 that it was not natural for Lady Jane to 
 deplore Mr. Percy *s death as much as she 
 did, and she honoured her integrity in 
 net feigning what she did not feel. But 
 Lady Anne only too soon learnt to de- 
 plore Mr. Percy's sudden and untimely 
 decease, on Lady Jane's account as well 
 as her own, for she soon saw that 
 he had been a check on Lady Janets 
 thoughtless expenditure. 
 
 As
 
 i26 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 As soon as propriety warranted her re- 
 turn into the gay world, Lady Jane, pre- 
 suming on the addition to their income 
 which Mr. Percy's death occasioned, and 
 imawed by the dread of his reproofs, 
 launched forth into greater expenses than 
 ever, and gave entertainments of almost 
 eastern magnificence. — Even Percy him- 
 self became alarmed ; and as soon as Lady 
 Jane found that, if informed of any intended 
 decoration for an evening's fere, Percy po- 
 sitively and perem.ptorily forbade them, she 
 got into a habit of giving her orders with- 
 out consulting him ; and when he expo- 
 sjulated, she always assured him that these 
 decorations were only for effect, and that 
 they re.lly cost nothing worth mentioning: 
 an assurance Vv'hich she believed true, be- 
 cause, as she pever looked at the bills, she 
 was not aware how great was her extra- 
 vagance. It was for the interest of his 
 happiness that Percy should believe her 
 
 statement.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 127 
 
 statement, and he did believe it ; while 
 Lady Anne, awakened to anxious alarm, 
 felt consoled for the removal of Mr. 
 Percy, by the sad conviction that a scene 
 must soon be unfolded which would have 
 filled him with sorrow and indignation. 
 Afraid to speak, yet scarcely able to re- 
 main silent, Lady Anne therefore, whose 
 lease of her house was now nearly e^:pired, 
 was no longer averse to reside wiih Ptrcy 
 and Lady Jane, for a short time at least, 
 that she might be thereby enabled to have 
 the means of judging accurately of what 
 was passing, and she promised to remove 
 to Piccadilly as soon as the term for uhich 
 her house was taken had actually expired. 
 One morning that Lady Jane was to call 
 on Lady Anne to go cut with her en bu- 
 siness, she arrived while the latter was en- 
 gaged v^'iih her solicitor, and accordingly 
 chose to wait in a small room on the 
 ground- floor. Li this room Lady Jane 
 
 found
 
 128 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 found a poor woman shabbily clothed, 
 and her whole person and appearance in- 
 dicative of poverty and distress. To the 
 misery which she beheld^ Lady Jane's 
 heart was always vulnerable; and after 
 surveying the poor woman at first in com- 
 passionate silence, she at length asked the 
 cause of her evident unhappiness. 
 
 " O madam," she replied, " I am so 
 wretched, and it is all along of a great 
 rich lady who won't pay us our due, and 
 so we fear we must go to the workhouse : 
 but, indeed, my Sara says he won't go 
 there, but will run away and list for a 
 sojer first, and then what is to become of 
 me and my poor baby 1 " 
 
 '' You shall not go to the workhouse, 
 I promise you that," said Lady Jane. 
 '* But who is this lady that will not pay 
 you your just debt ? Surely, if she knew 
 of your distress, she would ! It cannot be 
 the lady of this house!" 
 
 "Shei
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 129 
 
 " She ! No, God bless her! But, how 
 somever, there is no need to name names 
 and make hinnemies, you know ; and if 
 so be as she pay me at last, it is all very 
 well, though to be sure as how I ha'n't 
 slept for many a night from the thought 
 of Sam's listing." 
 
 '' Poor creature !" said Lady Jane affec- 
 tionately. " But Sam shall not list, lil 
 take care of that. But what is the debt l^ 
 
 " O, madam, it is only 50/." 
 
 "No more?" 
 
 "Oh, and enough too for us poor folks 
 to miss it. You see as how, madam, ray 
 husband work at a builders, and this great 
 lady wanted to have a tempry building 
 run up for one of her feats j but she 
 grudged the money belike which my 
 husband's master charged ^ and sure 
 enough it was a great charge ! So what 
 does my poor Sam do to turn a penny, 
 but he follows the lady's agent out and 
 G 5 saysj
 
 130 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 says, says he, ' I would engage to do that 
 job for much less." ' Would you?' says 
 she; and accordingly Sam was employed : 
 but by the time he had got the materials and 
 all that, the job came to .50/., and he still 
 was paid little or nothing for his trouble. 
 Howsomever, the lady liked what he did; 
 though, after all, she never paid for it, and 
 I never, no never, could get to the speech 
 of her during this whole year." 
 
 " But has the lady no husband ? If 
 she has, why not send the bill to him?** 
 
 " Oh, because she don't like her hus- 
 band to know of her bills ; and so her 
 maid take 'em, and keep them for fear the 
 master get hold of them ; and so I can't 
 get paid, and we must go to a work- 
 house, and Sam for a sojer ; not to men- 
 tion a bad fever in the workhouse, and I 
 am afflicted with a lungs cough/' 
 
 " Howdreadfully unprincipled this lady 
 must be!" said Lady Jane. " But here, 
 
 good
 
 LADY ANNE: AN'D LADY JANE. 131 
 
 good woman, though I can but ill spare 
 it, here are 20/. towards the ^0/. and I 
 dare say Lady Anne will give the rest." 
 
 The poor woman was so overjoyed that 
 she could scarcely speak her thanks : at 
 length she said — 
 
 " But, dear lady, if the great lady 
 will pay us our right, we need not take 
 any from Lady Anne and you ; and I 
 came here, because they said she had such 
 tie like over her, that she mayhap could 
 prevail on her to pay us.*' 
 
 '' How !" exclaimed Lady Jane, turn- 
 ing pale, " has Lady x\nne such influence 
 over the lady? What is your name:" 
 
 '' Sarah Boddam." 
 
 ''And the lady herself? answer me, 
 I conjure you. Is it Lady Jane Percy ?" 
 
 That's she " sure enough." And Lady 
 Jane, conscience-stricken, sunk into a 
 chair and hid her face in her bands. 
 
 " Dear
 
 132 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " Dear me! what is the matter?" cried 
 the poor woman approaching her. At 
 this moment Lady Anne entered; and 
 surprised to see Lady Jane at all, as she 
 had not been announced, and especially; 
 in that room, she v/as still more sur- 
 prised to see her in evident agitation, and 
 the poor woman in evident confusion. 
 
 " What does this mean?" cried Lady 
 Anne. '' Speak to me, dear Jane, and 
 tell me what has happened : is your hus- 
 band, is Percy ill ? " 
 
 The names of Jane and Percy showed 
 the poor woman to whom she had been 
 talking, and of whom complaining ; and 
 frightened in the highest degree, she laid 
 down the twenty pound notes which she 
 had now, she thought, little prospect of 
 keeping, and was running out of the room, 
 when Lady Jane exclaimed — 
 
 " Stay, I desire you : stay where you 
 
 are.
 
 LADY ANNfi AND LADY JANE. 135 
 
 are. Anne/' she added, " dear Anne, 
 despise me if you will, but pay my debt 
 to that poor wronged woman.'* 
 
 " Oh dear, my lady, I am sure, my 
 lady, I did not think,'and I can't think — '* 
 
 *' Be silent, woman," cried Lady Anne 
 roughly, '' and let one of you at least speak 
 to be understood." 
 
 While Lady Anne was thus speaking,. 
 Barnes came eagerly into the room, saying 
 to Lady Jane, " Oh, my lady, Mrs. Elli^ 
 has sent your new court dress after you, 
 
 which Miss has sent home to know if 
 
 she shall put more point and silver fringe 
 on it?" and as she spoke she displayed 
 the costly dress in all its extravagant 
 beauty. Lady Anne, turning round, fixed 
 her expressive eyes on the humbled and 
 penitent Lady Jane, then said — 
 
 " Has your ladyship any fresh orders 
 to give?" 
 
 " No, no— lay the dress down, Barnes, 
 
 Iwill
 
 134 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 I will call and speak about it," replied 
 Lady Jane ; while the poor woman, gazing 
 with surprise at splendour such as she had 
 never seen before, wondered no longer 
 that Lady Jane could not pay her bills. 
 
 " To be as concise as possible, Lady 
 Anne," said Lady Jane in a voice of sup- 
 pressed agitation, " that poor woman and 
 her husband have been driven to the 
 greatest distress, and to the prospect of a 
 workhouse, by my not paying them a bill 
 of 50/. Pay it, and save me from their 
 curses and my ownP' 
 
 *' Oh dear ! my lady, I am sure I 
 should not have cursed you, my lady.*' 
 
 *' Peace, woman ! I tell you," cried 
 Lady Anne angrily. " We ought to 
 curse no one: — still, I could almost forgive 
 the sufferers by the vices of the Great^ as 
 they call the rich and the noble, and as we 
 call ourselves, if, in the bitterness of their 
 hearts, they did curse the thoughtless ex- 
 travagance
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 135 
 
 travagance which, itself unchastised, drives 
 them often to a workhouse and a prison." 
 
 " You are severe, Anne." 
 
 " May be, but I am just." 
 
 " Dear me, my lady!" again observed 
 Mrs. Boddam, " the lady looks so sorry 
 and so ashamed that I could not have the 
 heart to — " 
 
 '' Must I again desire to hear none of 
 your remarks? They fret me beyond my 
 patience. Here, I will write you a draft 
 on my banker for the money directly. 
 There— take it, and begone !" And while 
 the terrified woman, with a thousand curt- 
 sies and thanks, and even tears of joy, 
 came up to Lady Anne to receive the 
 draft. Lady Jane said, " Really, Anne, 
 your words are so i*bugh, and your manner 
 so violent, you alarm the poor woman." 
 
 " My words are rough, but my actions 
 kind," she replied. " Your words are 
 
 kind,
 
 136 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 kind, but your actions cruel. I wonder • 
 which, in the eyes of God or man, is 
 the more estimable/' 
 
 The conscious Lady Jane did not at- 
 tempt to reply. 
 
 The good woman waited till Lady 
 Anne had done speaking, to make her la&t 
 curtsy ; to which Lady Anne replied by 
 a kind nod of the head : then calling after 
 her, she said — 
 
 " Be sure to tell the servant to write 
 down where you are to be found, in case 
 I wish to inquire after you.'* 
 
 Mrs. Boddam, whose fear of Lady Anne 
 had not power to overcome her gratitude^ ' 
 turned on her eyes so full of joy and 
 grateful emotion, that Lady Anne, too ' 
 much affected to speak, again nodded 
 adieu, and shutting the door returned to 
 the wretched and self- convicted Lady 
 Jane, who relieved her feelings a little, by 
 
 relating
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JAN£. 137 
 
 relating to Lady Anne the whole of what 
 had passed while Lady Anne was pre- 
 paring for the projected drive. 
 
 " Well, Jane," said Lady Anne, kindly 
 forbearing to dwell on the repented fault, 
 
 *' shall we go first to Miss *s about the 
 
 dress?" 
 
 "Name it not," cried Lady Jane, "I shall 
 never be able to bear the sight of it again, 
 and if I go it shall only be to beg her to 
 dispose of it. — I cannot, indeed I cannot, 
 incur the guilt of buying it now, or ra- 
 ther of running in debt for it ; — and I 
 know Lady Laurel would gladly pur- 
 chase it." 
 
 " If you really 7vish to part with it,** 
 said Lady Anne kindly, " you need not 
 wait Lady Laurel's decision, — ^for / wili 
 purchase it.** 
 
 " You! Anne, you!" 
 
 " Yes — I ; — for I mean to go to court 
 on the birth-day," 
 
 "But
 
 138 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " But it will 'be too short for you !" 
 
 *'Oh! Barnes can lengthen it. There- 
 fore, if you are in earnest, the dress is 
 mine, and shall be paid for today ; and if 
 you think more point and silver neces^ 
 sary, you shall give your orders accord- 
 ingly, for I wish to have it as handsome 
 as ir can be made.'* 
 
 '• if I am in earnest ! To be sure I am ; 
 — and I, yes I, will go in an old dress." 
 And the sigh she gave while speaking 
 these words sufficiently proved that she 
 felt the sacriiice she was making. — Lady 
 Anne kindly praised her resolution, and 
 
 they set off for Miss 's ; where such 
 
 additions were made to the dress as Lady 
 Jane recommended, and Lady Anne, 
 seemingly delighted with her purchase, 
 returned home in unusual spirits. 
 
 At length the birth- day arrived ; and 
 Lady Jane, having made an old court- 
 dress as smart as she could, was preparing 
 
 ta
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 139 
 
 to put it on ; when Lady Anne, dressed in 
 a simple white crape with a white satin 
 train, and all its ornaments pearls and 
 white roses, entered her apartment, ready 
 for court, and, disaiissing Ellis, spoke to 
 the astonished Lady Jane as follows : — 
 " I have tried your resolution, dearest 
 Jane, on a point in which it has usually 
 been most vulnerable, and I have seen 
 with delight that it has stood the trial 
 nobly. — You have now for once practised 
 the virtue of self-denial, and I flatter my- 
 self that the pleasure which has been the 
 result to you from the consciousness of 
 your firmness will tempt you to the exer- 
 tion of similar forbearance in future. — 
 But as all virtue is the more stable, I 
 believe, for being propped with rev/ards 
 and praises, I must tell you I never 
 thought of purchasing the drciS for my- 
 self, but as a present for you, and you 
 
 will
 
 \ 
 
 140 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 will see it lying on your own bed ready 
 to be put on." 
 
 Perhaps Lady Jane had never known a 
 much happier moment ! She, even she, 
 had earned the most rich and beautiful 
 dress she had ever fancied, by an act of 
 self denial :-^But, in a different way. 
 Lady Anne was as much pleased as Lady 
 Jane ; — and it was with hearts full of re- 
 newed and even strengthened affection 
 towards each other that they proceeded 
 to St. James's. But, alas ! all Lady Jane's 
 good feelings were evanescent, and her re- 
 pentance only bloomed like the gum cistus, 
 that sheds its leaves almost as soon as they 
 lare blown, and Lady Anne's hopes of her 
 amendment were again blighted. 
 
 Yes — Mr. Percy was indeed a re- 
 straint on the extravagance of Lady Jane 
 — and she proved that he had been so,' 
 by prevailing on her indulgent husbarid' 
 
 to
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 141 
 
 to make great and unnecessary alterations 
 in the s-eat belonging to the family, as 
 soon as his father's death made him pos- 
 sessor of that venerable mansion. — Percy 
 thought, indeed, that the house which had 
 suited his noble and exemplary moiher 
 might have satisfied the pride and the 
 taste of his wife ; but the yieldingness of 
 his temper, assisted by the natural indo- 
 lence of his disposition, and that un- 
 uttered but conscious sentiment which I 
 believe has ruined many wives, " any 
 thing for a quiet life," made Percy sub- 
 mit to what he did not approve. And in a 
 fihort time after Mr. Percy was no more, 
 the house at Percy Park was filled with 
 workmen, who were going to modernize 
 entirely that side of it which commanded 
 the south-west, and a beautiful plain water- 
 ed by a meandering stream, which stream 
 was now to roll along a widely spreading 
 river; but the other side, which looked 
 
 on
 
 142 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 on rocks and mountains, and frowned in 
 castellated grandeur, was allowed to retain 
 its gloomy antiquity. 
 
 " Yes, Anne," said Lady Jane to her 
 cousin, who was alarmed at the idea of 
 these changes, both from principle and 
 tasre, " you need not fear ; I mean to 
 keep the grand, but add the agreeable : 
 — in short, I mean that one side of my 
 house should resemble 2/o?f, and the other 
 me. Agreeable in every sense of the 
 word will I endeavour to render my man- 
 sion both inside and out ; books, statues, 
 paintings, gems, and medals shall crowd 
 the modern part of the edifice 5 — and here 
 shall 
 
 from the mould to conscious being start 
 
 Those finer forms, the miracles of art 3 
 Here chosen geras imprest on sulphur shine. 
 That slept for ages in a second mine 3 
 
 and here — 
 
 ■ its warmest hues the pencil flings, 
 
 Lo ! here tlie lost restores, tlie absent brings, 
 i > And
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 14.1 
 
 And still the few best loved, and most revered, 
 Rise round the board their social smile endear'd," 
 
 added Lady Jane, leading Lady Anne to 
 the dining-room, which was already hung 
 with portraits by the first artists. " Now 
 follow me to the library," she exclaimed. 
 " Here shall I, 
 
 _ while the shaded lamp's mild lustre streams. 
 
 Read ancient books, or Vv'oe-inspiring dreams j 
 And, when a sage s bust arrests me here. 
 Pause, and his features with his thoughts compare. 
 Ah ! most that art my grateful rapture calls 
 Which breathes a soul into the silent walls. 
 Which gathers round the will of every tongue. 
 All on whose words departed nations hung. 
 Still prompt to charm with many a converse sweet. 
 Guides in the world, companions in retreat*." 
 
 ** Well, but, dear Jane," observed Lady 
 Anne, " could you not have dined in the 
 dining-room as it was before, and having 
 your friends around you, without these 
 
 * In all the lines quoted by Lady Jane on this 
 occasion, see *' Rogers's Epistle to a Pricnd." 
 
 expensive
 
 144 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 expensive alterations ? Could you not 
 have read in the study such as our dear 
 guardian left it?" 
 
 " Why to be sure I could, when hungry, 
 eat in a room hov^ever ugly ; when stu- 
 dious, I could read in a library however 
 untastily fitted up : but no rooms are the 
 worse for being fashioned by the hand of 
 Taste." 
 
 " No ; the rooms, Jane, will not be 
 the worse, but their owners may ; for 
 Taste is always followed by its evil genius 
 ^ Expense.' " 
 
 " Its evil genius, Anne ? No, not so, 
 when wealth and power warrant its at- 
 tendance on Taste." 
 
 " True, but '' 
 
 ** Nay, nay — no buts, most beautiful 
 Mentor ! for, remember, in all that I am 
 now doing I have my husband's approba- 
 tion." 
 
 This was indeed true, and Percy was, 
 
 charmed
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 14.5 
 
 <:harmed and gratified when he beheld the 
 result of Lady Jane's creative taste ; while 
 even Lady Anne smiled with adniirin^^ 
 wonder, as she surveyed the beauties it 
 had imparted, when all the decorations 
 were completely finished. But neither 
 Lady Anne nor Percy continued to smile 
 when the bills came in, and Lady Jane 
 herself was startled and alarmed when she 
 found that the expenditure was more than 
 double the estimate 1 Nor did the ex- 
 pense stop there. As Lady Jane had con- 
 trived a music-room, she must have con- 
 certs ; and during the four months which 
 they passed at Percy Park, musical pro- 
 fessors must be there as their guests. As 
 she had erected a room which could be 
 converted into a private theatre, she must 
 have private theatricals 5 and Percy found 
 that, whether in town or country, expen- 
 diture of a most enormous nature attended 
 him from night till moraing, as the Furies 
 VOL. I, H oa
 
 14:6 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 on the persecuted Orestes. Siill he was 
 hot much distressed, because he knew 
 that his income was equal to all his appa- 
 rent expenses: but had he been aware that 
 Lady Jane's expenses which he did not 
 know, were equal to those with which he 
 was acquainted, he would indeed have 
 lost all peace of mind, and have been 
 roused to exertions of authority, which 
 would have checked, though they would 
 not probably have cured, her thoughtless 
 extravagance. Still, though Percy did 
 not find in the country the retirement 
 which he sought, he loved the months 
 which he passed at Percy Park, because 
 he had there more enjoyment of his wife's 
 and children's society ; for Lady Jane, 
 though she could not give up the dear 
 delight of reigning as mistress of the 
 revels in the country, and displaying her 
 fine taste in festal decorations, had the 
 good feeling and the grateful affection, 
 
 whatever
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. l-i-7 
 
 whatever guests she had at her house, to 
 devote her whole mornings to her hus- 
 band : and all the hours which intervened 
 from the time when she rose to that when 
 she retired to dress for dinner, she spent in 
 walking, riding, driving, or reading with 
 Percy. 
 
 At length Lady Anne, having been se- 
 duced by the love, almost maternal, which 
 she began to feel for the children, and by 
 the hope of being some restraint on the 
 errors of Lady Jane, to consent finally to 
 become their guest for some months at 
 least, was, when those months were at an 
 end, persuaded to stay still longer. But 
 though the first months of her stay with 
 them were pleasant, she soon found that 
 the ensuing ones would make her conti- 
 nued residence not only painful, but im- 
 proper: it was also soon evident to her that 
 Lady Jane was not only unhappy, but that 
 something weighed heavily on her mind ; 
 H 2 and
 
 14S LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 and she could not but attribute it to her 
 being again deeply involved in debt, from 
 which she was resolved that vshe would not 
 even attempt to free her. Besides, like all 
 persons displeased with themselves, Lady 
 Jane was captious and irascible with 
 others ; and very often, when Lady Anne 
 had not the remotest idea of adverting to 
 such a subject, she would accuse her of 
 reproaching her with the obligations she 
 had conferred on her. But it was not the 
 pains so much as the pleasures of residing 
 under her cousin's roof, that determined 
 the conscientious Lady Anne to quit it. 
 Percy, since Lady Anne became their 
 guest, had found her conversation so 
 pleasant, and was so gratified by the evi- 
 dent interest which she took in his success 
 as an orator, and the every day increasing 
 fame which he acquired, that, instead of 
 accompanying Lady Jane to dinner parties, 
 be more than once preferred diningat home 
 
 with
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 149 
 
 with Lady Anne (who rarely dined out) 
 and his little boys, who, now three years 
 old, were permitted to dine at table with 
 their mamma Anne, or rather ate their 
 supper while she dined : and it was al- 
 ways very reluctantly that Percy left his 
 home, thus rendered agreeable to him in 
 a more domestic way than it had lately 
 been by Lady Jane, even to repair to the 
 House, and pursue the line of life which 
 he so warmly loved. 
 
 Nor v/as it long before Lady Jane be- 
 came alarmed at the evident delight he took 
 in her cousin's society j for her good sense 
 taught her that beauty, and even that 
 power of attraction which Percy denomi- 
 nated charm, must lose its influence by 
 custom over any husband however fond, 
 unless its sway be maintained by solid and 
 superior qualities of mind and heart, 
 which, like pure gold on which enamel 
 has been worked, retain their value when 
 
 the
 
 150 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 the enamel is worn away. She was only 
 conscious that, if compared to I.ady Anne, 
 she must shine with diminished lustre in 
 Percy's eyes ; and she was also conscious 
 that, though enamel might very well 
 represent her. Lady Anne was better 
 designated by sterling gold. Besides, she 
 thought, and justly too, that Lady Anne, 
 if conscious that she pleased, v/ould in 
 time study to be pleasing ; and Percy 
 himself had said, that if Lady Anne 
 would but condescend to be agreeable, 
 she would be irresistible — *' and alas!'* 
 cried Lady Jane, " have I not obscured all 
 my graces in the eyes of my husband, by 
 errors which not even the most partial 
 fondness can excuse ?" 
 
 While these saddening thoughts were 
 passing in Lady Jane's mind. Lady Anne 
 was calling herself to a strict account for 
 the deh'ght her thoughts afforded her. 
 She could not but feel, and the conscious- 
 ness
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 151 
 
 ness was delightful to her, that Percy 
 took greater pleasure in her society than 
 in that of any one, and this she considered 
 as an injury to Lady Jane. — " Well then, 
 it shall, it must be relinquished/' thought 
 Lady Anne: but aware that, if she lived 
 in London, he would be perhaps her 
 most frequent visitor, she resolved to give 
 up all idea of fixing her future establish- 
 ment in London, and secretly gave orders 
 to have a fme old castle in Wales, which 
 she inherited in right of her mother, got 
 ready for her reception. " Again^'* said 
 she to herself, " the hall of my fathers 
 shall resound to the loud welcome of hos- 
 pitality, and the harp shall awaken the 
 echoes of its walls:'' but she sighed to think 
 that she must leave the lovely children 
 behind her: might she be permitted to take 
 the little Harry Percy with her, she should 
 be contented ; nay more, she would be 
 happy ! But she still kept her plans un- 
 
 revealed.
 
 152 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 revealed, lest she should be exposed to 
 solicitations to alter them, which, as she 
 knew they would be unavailing, it would 
 be irksome to her to hear. 
 
 In the meantime Lady Jane continued 
 to run her giddy career, while, though 
 she still was the object of Percy's love, she 
 every day diminished in his esteem. One 
 day, while Lady Anne was sitting with 
 Lady Jane in her dressing-room, Percy 
 came in with an air and manner consider- 
 ?hly agilat^d; iind Vrhil^ I-ady Jane with a. 
 wife*s conscious right could ask what had 
 so evidently disturbed him. Lady Anne, 
 though equally anxious, could only dare 
 to look the anxiety which she felt. 
 
 ^* Do 'ijou ask what ails me, Jane?'* 
 said Percy. '^ 7'hen I will tell you 5 but I 
 already feel that I am a fool to be so dis-^ 
 turbed : the truth is, that I came suddenly 
 iipon your maid Ellis, as she was reading 
 a long paper which I took for a bill, and 
 
 which.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 1 J3 
 
 which, seeing me, she tried in great con- 
 fusion to put in her pocket. Alarmed at 
 this, and rendered suspicious by former oc- 
 currences, I sternly demanded what it was 
 she was so eager to conceal r on which, 
 she blushing and stammering replied, 
 * Sir, it is, sir, a letter from a young man 
 who is with the armies:' and I let her de- 
 part unquestioned further : but she might 
 or she might not speak truth : however, I 
 was willing to hope.the^r^^" Here he 
 paused, checked by the pale cheek, the 
 downcast eye of his conscious wife. 
 
 " I know," said the equally alarmed 
 Lady Anne, '* that Ellis has a lover with 
 the armies." 
 
 " Has she ? " returned Percy eagerly. 
 " Thank you 1 God bless you for that 
 assurance, kind Lady Anne !" 
 
 "I see you are very suspicious now, 
 Percy,*' said Lady Jane faintly. 
 
 H 5 " But
 
 154 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " But Still, dear Jane, tell me if I have not 
 an excuse for being so. — O believe me, to 
 be able to confide implicitly in ^^our pru- 
 dence is the dearest wish of my soul ; and I 
 •do, indeed I do, frequently repeat to myself 
 — * No, let me not distrust her; she cannot 
 be so cruel, she cannot be so base or so 
 ungrateful to her noble-minded cousin, 
 to go on as she formerly did ; she loves 
 me too well, and Lady Anne too well ; 
 nor could she bear to run even the risk, 
 
 which she would do, of losing " 
 
 ** Of losing what?'* asked Lady Jane, 
 *' Of losing me and my affections for 
 ever J for were you, best beloved of my 
 heart as you now are, to involve yourself, 
 and consequently me, in pecuniary em- 
 barrassments again, I would, though my 
 heart bled with pity and tenderness at 
 ever)^ pore, I would cease to live with you, 
 and separate from you for ever ! " 
 
 So
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 155 
 
 So saying, pale and agitated as Lady 
 Jane herself, he suddenly and hastily left 
 the room. 
 
 " Then I am lost 1 " cried Lady Jane, 
 throwing herself back on a sofa, and 
 clasping her hands in agony. 
 
 "Lost! say you?'* exclaimed Lady 
 Anne with more indignation than ten- 
 derness, " can it indeed be true that you 
 have deserved the sad penalty which your 
 husband has threatened you with ? '' 
 
 " It is indeed true,'* she replied, " that 
 I have incurred fresh debtsj and unless you 
 can and will assist me,'* she added with an 
 agony of tears, and catching Lady Anne's 
 hand, " you will soon see Percy wretched, 
 and me not only an outcast from his affec- 
 tions but his roof.'* 
 
 Lady Anne indignantly withdrew her 
 hand, regarding her guilty cousin with 
 looks of angry contempt. Lady Jane felt 
 them to the bottom of her heart , while 
 
 pride.
 
 156 LADY ANN£ AND LADY JANE. 
 
 pride, and that pettishness the result of 
 conscious degradation, prompted her to 
 reply. 
 
 " Well, Lady Anne, if nothing less 
 than my being punished for my faults by 
 the loss of my husband's love and pro- 
 tection will satisfy your rigid ideas of re- 
 tributive justice, be it so. — Yet I would 
 advise your ladyship to scrutinize accu- 
 rately your ovv^n motives for this rejection 
 of the prayer of my misery. Take care 
 lest it be because the idea of my losing 
 the heart of Percy is an agreeable one to 
 your imagination, and therefore you wish 
 It to be realized." 
 
 " Fallen as you were before in my es- 
 teem,'' replied Lady Anne with one of 
 her most haughty and contemptuous looks, 
 *' this speech has sunk you still lower : 
 but I am not to be frightened, by the dread 
 ©f incurring your mean suspicions, into an 
 action which my judgement may condemn; 
 
 nor
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 1 jT 
 
 nor can any consideration for myself. 
 Lady Jane, impel me to what I look upon 
 as wrong conduct. Had you, madam, 
 endeavoured to move my feelings by pic- 
 turing to me your own probable miseiy, 
 and the anguish of your husband when 
 your unworthiness shall be made known 
 to him, you would hnve succeeded better." 
 
 Long before Lady Anne had done 
 speaking, the self-jsdged Lady Jane had 
 felt every sensation of pride vanish into 
 humility almost amounting to abjectness ; 
 and when she had finished speaking she 
 sunk on her knees before her justly of- 
 fended cousin, and begged her to forgive 
 the petulance of a self-convicted and de- 
 sperate woman. 
 
 " Aud is it the envied wife of Percy 
 whom I behold thus desperate and thus 
 degraded 1 " thought Lady Anne: " she, 
 who might have been the happiest of the 
 
 happy '\ 
 
 :' Rise,
 
 iJS LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 "Rise,LadyJane,"saidLady Anne," nor 
 add such base self-humiliation to the faults 
 already committed. Your present words, 
 your looks, are more calculated certainly 
 to affect me than your former ones, and 
 have almost conquered my repugnance to 
 squander on you, and the payment of 
 the debts of extravagant profligacy, the 
 money which would, either lent or given 
 to honest industrious tradesmen, have 
 saved them from ruin, or have laid the 
 foundation of their future independence. 
 O God of benevolence and justice,'' she 
 added, clasping her hands and raising her 
 eyes to heaven, " how can I answer to 
 thee this waste of thy indulgent bounty !** 
 
 *^ Is there no ruin," answered Lady Jane, 
 (who, like all persons accustomed to be 
 in debt and to borrow money, had lost all 
 feelings of delicacy, ) *' is there no ruin 
 but ruin in trade that it would be virtue 
 to prevent ? Is not the ruin of a friend's 
 
 peace
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. l59 
 
 peace of mind, of a relation's fair fanac, 
 entitled to equal if not superior consi- 
 deration ? Can you without horror re- 
 collect the dreadful state of agitation in 
 which your and my beloved Percy left the 
 room, only on the bare suggestion of what 
 will soon be a reality ? Can you bear to 
 dwell on the image of this house deprived 
 of its mistress by the publication of her 
 errors? and Percy of the wife who, per- 
 haps, even spite of her faults, he may 
 cherish in the recesses of his heart ? Can 
 you bear to fancy me, your once loved 
 Jane, the companion of your youth, wear- 
 ing away the rest of life in retirement, 
 which the pangs of conscious degrada- 
 tion will forbid me either to enjoy, or to 
 improve ; while I every day undermine 
 that life of misery, by having recourse to 
 opiates to suspend my sense of suffering ? 
 Oh ! Lady Anne, if your timely assistance 
 could prevent the realization of this pic- 
 
 ture.
 
 160 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 ture, would it not be as great an act of 
 benevolence to afford it for that purpose, 
 as to aid one tradesman or make the for- 
 tune of another ?'' 
 
 Lady Anne shuddered while she listen- 
 ed to her; for she well knew that the 
 picture now only the creature of imagina- 
 tion, might only too soon become a reality; 
 and after communing with herself some 
 time in silence, she at last said, " I have at 
 this moment in my banker's hands a pretty 
 considerable sum : it was destined for 
 other purposes : but if this sum can be of 
 use in removing your embarrassments, 
 and preserving you and Percy from the 
 horrors you have described and I foresee^ 
 it is at your service ; but — " Here Lady 
 Jane interrupted her by clamorous ex- 
 pressions of gratitude, and an embrace 
 which Lady Anne as yet could not prevail 
 ikfH herself to return. 
 
 " Don't interrupt me,'* said Lady 
 
 Anne :
 
 LADY ANNE AKD LADY JANE. 161 
 
 Anne : " I wish to tell you that more I 
 cannot, luill not do ; and if you are ever 
 involved again, you mast take the conse- 
 quences of your own actions, and, how- 
 ever reluctantly, disclose all to your hus- 
 band. My paternal estates are, you know, 
 entailed on the male heir : but I have the 
 fee of those which I derive from my mo- 
 ther ; and I can, if I choose, sell or do 
 what I please with one of them : but this 
 1 will not do, for the sake of one very dear 
 to me. The elder of your twins, Lionel 
 Percy, must be a rich man, while the 
 younger can only inherit a younger bro- 
 ther's fortune. — But as I positively shall 
 never marry, I mean to adopt the little 
 Harry, and for him preserve my landed 
 property inviolate ; I mean, wdth your 
 and his father's approbation." 
 
 " Our approbation, Anne ! And can 
 you suppose that we shall withhold it, 
 
 evea
 
 162 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 even at the risk of your one day changing 
 your mind and marrying ?'* 
 
 " Marrying ! No — that I shall never do. 
 —Now let me t^li you my plans : — instead 
 ©f having an establishment in London, it 
 is my intention to reside, probably all the 
 year round, at a castle I have in Wales, 
 and 1 this day received a letter from my 
 agent to say that it is ready for me ; — and 
 I have also a letter from my relation Mrs. 
 Tyrawley, telling me that she and her 
 daughter will most gladly accept my in- 
 vitation to live with me, and they will 
 meet me at my new residence next week.** 
 
 " Next week !'* exclaimed Lady Jane : 
 ** and will you indeed leave me, and so 
 coon?" while the consciousness that ere 
 long she would require Lady Anne to 
 stand between her and her husband's 
 anger, shook her whole frame with evi- 
 dent emotion, 
 
 «Iam
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 163 
 
 *' I am resolved," said Lady Anne: "a 
 London life does not suit me: to me it is 
 heartless all : and though I occasionally 
 meet at your parties, and at others, such 
 society as it is both instructive and honour- 
 able to be one of, still these happy even- 
 ings are the few, and insipid ones the 
 many : but in my new abode I shall 
 have rational pursuits, leisure to follow 
 them, and active duties to fulfil ; a nu- 
 merous tenantry to make happy ; and I 
 shall be able to witness the happiness 
 which I promc'e.** 
 
 " But in the meanwhile you leave your 
 adopted son 1 " 
 
 ** Aye, that will be a pang, but '* 
 
 *' But what r would you have us resign 
 him to you ? " 
 
 " Oh ! mock me not with a thought so 
 blissful I'' 
 
 " Nay, Anne, whatever it costs me, if 
 Percy will consent and you will go, the 
 
 little
 
 164 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 iittle Harry shall go with you :" and 
 Lady Anne's heart being by this means 
 softened towards her cousin, she threw 
 herself on her neck c.nd warmly articulated 
 her thanks. Lady Anne, though she 
 loved home, doted on Harry Percy, per- 
 haps because his name w^as Harry, and 
 she also saw in him a likeness of his father ; 
 and to be able, while avoiding on princi- 
 ple further association with the father, to 
 recompense herself by being of use to the 
 son, was an idea so full of exquisite enjoy- 
 ment, that Lady Anne could not thank 
 Lady Jzne enough for having given it ut- 
 terance, and promised to give it sub- 
 stance. 
 
 Not to dwell on this subject, in a few 
 days all was ready for Lady Anne's de- 
 parture, and Percy consented that lit- 
 tle Harry should go with her, and be 
 in future her adopted child ! But so great 
 was the aorrow he expressed at the idea 
 
 of
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 16cj 
 
 of parting with Lady Anne as well as 
 Harry, that Lady Jane could not help re- 
 joicing, regardless of her own involve- 
 ments, that she was going away. 
 
 At length the carriage, a new and 
 handsome one, drawn by four horses, and 
 attended by two outriders in the Mortimer 
 livery, drew up to the door., followed by 
 an elegant little phaeton with four post- 
 horses ; and for the first time since she 
 came of age the daughter of the Marquis 
 
 of D had an equipage suited to her 
 
 rank in life. 
 
 " Do, Jane," said Percy, " come to the 
 window, and look at your cousin's new 
 carriages. This is as it should be, Lady 
 Anne. How pleased my poor father 
 would have been to see this day !" 
 
 This speech, though not meant as such. 
 Lady Jane could not help taking as a re- 
 proach to her, whose extravagance had 
 caused Lady Anne's oeconomy, and instead 
 
 of
 
 16G LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 of going to the window she burst into 
 tears. But Percy, attributing her emotions 
 to sorrow at parting with Lady Anne, and a 
 consequent dislike to see the carriage which 
 was to convey her away, sat down by her, 
 and affectionately assured her he sympa- 
 thized with her most sincerely in her grief 
 at losing her cousin. At this moment the 
 little Harry was led in by his attendant ; 
 and Percy, with a quivering lip, took him in 
 his arms and kissed his happy face, radiant 
 with the expected delight of riding in a 
 carnage along with dear mamma Anne. 
 
 '^ Take him, he is yours, dear Lady 
 Anne," said Percy, giving him to her 
 arms ; " and to no one less beloved, less 
 honoured, would I intrust a charge so 
 precious." 
 
 Percy's manner was solemn, and Lady 
 Anne caught its solemnity ; for, catching 
 the child to her bosom, she raised her fine 
 eyes as if calling on heaven to witness her 
 
 engagement
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 167 
 
 engagement to do her utmost duty by the 
 child so committed to her care, and bowed 
 her head on his, in order to express the 
 pleased aoquiescence which she could not 
 trust hci- voice to articulate. 
 
 " Yes, dear Lady Anne," continued he, 
 " the child is yours ; and if you make 
 him in any degree resemble you, he will 
 be all a father's heart can wish him." 
 
 " Come, let us go," said the child, 
 interrupting the general silence of emotion, 
 *^ Harry wants to go ride with mamma 
 Anne." 
 
 " Little wretch !" said Lady Jane, " he 
 is not at all sorry to leave me. Harry, are 
 you not vexed to leave poor mamma 
 Jane?'* 
 
 " No, no — I like to go with mamma 
 Anne; but we come again to see you, 
 sha'n't we, Anne ? " 
 
 " At least we hope mamma Jane will 
 come and see us." 
 
 " Yes,
 
 168 LADY ANNS AND LADY TANE« 
 
 " Yes, yes — mamma Jane come to 
 us. Good byej Jane," holding up his 
 pretty mouth to her. 
 
 Lady Jane clasped him in her arms, 
 weeping even to sobbing as she did so. 
 
 *' "We had better go and not prolong 
 this j^inful scene," said Lady Anne, her- 
 self visibly affected ; and having clasped 
 her cousin in a long and affectionate em- 
 brace, she gave her hand to Percy, and in 
 a short time found herself in the car- 
 riage ; while Percy, taking the child from 
 his attendant's arm.s, kissed him for the 
 last time, and, without uttering a word, 
 saw the carriages drive off. That evening. 
 Lady Jane's spirits were so depressed from 
 the loss of her cousin and her child, that 
 she gave up three engagements, and staid 
 at home with her husband, in whose eyes 
 she consequently looked more amiable 
 than she had done for many months. 
 
 Lady Anne, meanwhile, was on her 
 
 journey
 
 , LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 169 
 
 journey into Caernarvonshire, and much 
 happier than she had been for some time. 
 Percy had confided his child to her care, 
 desiring her to make him all a father's 
 heart could wish by making him like her^ 
 self; and Lady Anne could not help 
 giving herself up to all the delight this 
 idea occasioned her. Lady Anne, when 
 she approached Green Rock, the name 
 of her castle, found that she had judged 
 right in coming to it with a splendid 
 equipage, as her tenants would have been 
 disappointed if she had done otherwise; for 
 they all came out to meet her in their best 
 apparel, to welcome her to the abode of 
 her ancestors. Mrs. Tyrawley and her 
 daughter were waiting also to receive her; 
 and what with the pleasure and gratitude 
 they expressed at being invited to live 
 under her roof, the delight of the child at 
 the horses and their riders, and the harp- 
 VOL, I, I ers
 
 170 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 ers, raising the strain of welcome in the 
 grand hall of entrance, the beauty of th^,, 
 country, and the fineness of the weather, • 
 Lady Anne felt an almost overpowering 
 sensation of pleasure, and a scarcely 
 defined wish to live and die where she 
 was. 
 
 In a short time the Tyrawleys had their 
 suite of rooms allotted to them, and Lady 
 Anne hers; and Lady Anne began the 
 education of little Harry Percy. She had 
 taken, while inClarges-street, an instructor 
 in the Latin language, the rudiments of 
 which her father had taught her, and she 
 succeeded in learning enough of Latin to 
 enable her to be of great use to her young 
 charge : but finding that the village curate 
 was learned, virtuous, and poor, she hired 
 him, at a salary double that which he asked, 
 to assist her in educating her adopted son ; 
 while Miss Tyrawley, who had once been 
 
 a governess
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 171 
 
 a governess in a family that had travelled 
 and resided abroad, undertook to teach 
 him meanwhile as much as should be 
 necessary of French and Italian. 
 
 While the little Harry, now four years 
 old, was taught useful and regular ha- 
 bits of application, his health and Lady 
 Anne's too were much improved by 
 daily exercise ; and every morning be- 
 fore breakfast Lady Anne and Harry 
 breathed the fine air of the miOuntains, 
 and returned to breakfast blooming as the 
 natives themselves. Indeed, now she had 
 an object on whom her affections could 
 with propriety be placed, and all the bene- 
 volent usefulness of her nature exercised. 
 Lady Anne was become a different being, 
 and she resembled Gray's description of 
 ' Cheerfulness' — 
 
 a nymph of healthiest hue. 
 
 Her buskins gemm'd with morning dew :*' 
 while the hours, which during her residence 
 I 2 at 
 
 I
 
 172 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 at Lady Jane's had hung occasionally so 
 heavily on her hands, now flew with in- 
 credible rapidity. When she had been at 
 Green Rock three months Percy came 
 down for a few days, and was charmed to 
 see his child grown and improved both 
 in mind and body, even in that short 
 time ; and when he departed he expressed 
 his hope of bringing Lady Jane down 
 when the London season was over ; and 
 Lady Anne's delicacy and judgement 
 were better satisfied with the prospect of 
 seeing him accompanied by Lady Jane^ 
 than they had been by his visiting Green 
 Rock alone. 
 
 When Percy returned to London, Lady 
 Jane was pained, though pleased, to hear 
 with what delight he spoke of his visit, 
 and of the improvement visible already 
 in his little boy ; and she took occa- 
 sion to observe, that it would be a pity a 
 woman so calculated to undertake the 
 
 education
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 173 
 
 education of children should not herself 
 be a wife and mother. 
 
 " She will be both, I hope and trust/* 
 said Percy eagerly, " one day or other, 
 for I do not mind her resolutions to the 
 contrary.'* 
 
 " And do you really wish Lady Anne 
 to marry ?" as eagerly returned his wife. 
 
 " To be sure I do. Can you think so 
 meanly of me, as to suppose that any con- 
 sideration for my child's interest could 
 make me so base as to wish Lady Anne 
 not to fill that situation for which her vir- 
 tues qualify her?" 
 
 Lady Jane had no such meaning : but 
 she had no objection to Percy's remaining 
 ignorant what her real meaning was; and 
 assuring him that she spoke without much 
 thought, she left him to dress for a party, 
 a good deal relieved by the assurance that 
 he did wish Lady Anne to marry. 
 
 Three months after this, Percy entered 
 
 Lady
 
 174 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 Lady Jane's dressing-room one morning 
 with a strong expression of pleasure on 
 his countenance, which he explained by 
 telling her, that by a letter from his solici- 
 tor he learnt he had recovered for him a 
 debt of several thousand pounds which 
 his father had given up for lost. — But 
 Lady Jane's pleasure at this intelligence 
 w^as completely destroyed by what fol- 
 lowed : '' therefore," added Percy, " I shall 
 be able to fulfil my poor mother's wishes, 
 — which were, that I should sue for a ba- 
 rony that is in her family; her family 
 being, though not as eld and noble as my 
 fatjier's, a very respectable one, with a 
 t^ie in abeyance. — I know that it will cost 
 me some thousands to succeed : but my 
 right is indisputable ; and though I should 
 grieve much to leave the Lower House, it 
 is on my conscience to try to get into the 
 Upper one. — Therefore this m.oney comes 
 to v>het m.y ahiiost blunted purpose. — But 
 
 what
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 17^ 
 
 what is the matter, Jane ? you seem going 
 to faint !" And so she was, so much had 
 Percy's intentions overset her. But Percy 
 attributing her ilhiess to her situation, 
 which she had just disclosed to him, su- 
 spected not that it originated in a moral 
 cause, and after seeing her a little revived 
 he left her to the care of Ellis. 
 
 As soon as he was gone, she gave way 
 to the utmost violence of despair, and 
 shutting herself up alone she paced the 
 room in almost phrensied violence ; for, 
 having lately prevailed on herself to look 
 over the bills which Ellis had brought her, 
 she had convinced herself that at least two- 
 thirds of the money that Percy had reco- 
 vered would be necessary to discharge her 
 debts, — which must soon be disclosed, — 
 although the sum given her by Lady Anne 
 had served to pacify some of the most 
 clamorous creditors. — Could she then be 
 so treacherous and bas-e as to allow Percy 
 
 ta
 
 176 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 to enter into the expenses of law-pro- 
 ceedings, when she well knew he would 
 be distressed for money to defray them ? 
 No : she could be extravagant, and 
 even viciously prodigal; but she could 
 not so far betray the confidence of a 
 generous husband ; and she resolved 
 therefore, though at the certain risk of 
 being, as she told Lady Anne, " not 
 only an outcast from Percy's affections, 
 but from his roof also," to confess the 
 whole of her delinquency, and show him 
 the necessity of appropriating his thou- 
 sands, not in the acquisition of new ho- 
 nours to himself, but in preserving some 
 little reputation of common honesty to 
 her. But how could she endure to meet 
 his agonies and his resentment upon the 
 first disclosure ? She could not do it, and 
 therefore resolved to write the disclo- 
 sure, and set off unknown to him for 
 Lady Anne's abode, there to remain till 
 
 the
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 177 
 
 the first storm of his feelings had subsided, 
 and to await there his final decision re- 
 specting her future destination ; for, after 
 what he had said, she had no idea that he 
 would doom her to a less punishment 
 than banishment. Accordingly, after a 
 night of wretchedness, passed on pretence 
 of illness in a separate apartment from 
 her husband. Lady Jane arranged every 
 thing for her departure with Ellis, her 
 unavoidable confixlante. As soon therefore 
 as Percy went out on his usual morning 
 walk, the letter of disclosure was laid on 
 the table in his library. Then telling the 
 servants she was going out for a drive into 
 the country. Lady L^ne and Ellis got into a 
 post-chaise, without the former's having 
 dared to trust herself to see her little Lionel, 
 and she desired the postillion to drive in the 
 exact contrary direction to Wales ; but in 
 the next street she gave different orders, 
 and arrived in a frame of mind the most 
 1 S pitiable
 
 liS LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 pidable at the end of the first stage on the 
 road to Green Rock. Here, though very 
 ill, she took fresh horses and proceeded ; 
 but at the end of the second stage she was 
 too unwell to go on, and before night she 
 had symptoms of fever. 
 
 Percy meanwhile had been unavoidably 
 detained from home till a late hour, and 
 on his return his first question was, " How 
 is your lady?" 
 
 " My lady is very well, I believe, sir,'* 
 said the servants, " for her ladyship and 
 Ellis are gone out in a post-chaise to drive 
 into the country." 
 
 " In a post-chaise ! Why not in the 
 carriage?" cried Percy. But recollecting 
 himself, he concluded that Lady Jane was 
 gone on some errand of charity, and did 
 not choose to be known ; and void of all 
 alarm he entered his library ; nor, though 
 he saw a letter there directed to him in 
 Lady Jane's own hand^did he believe it was 
 
 any
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 179 
 
 any thing more than an explanation of her 
 errand into the country with Ellis. His 
 surprise and his misery therefore were un- 
 speakable when he read the letter^ and 
 found that LaJy Jane had withdrawn her- 
 self from his resen^^ient. — " But she has 
 done whely^'' said he, " and I thank her ^ 
 for, had I seen her in the first transports of 
 my just resentment, 1 might perhaps have 
 reproached her too bitterly!" 
 
 That livelong night he passed in 
 sleepless wretchedness ; but when morn- 
 ing dawned he had contrived to think 
 himself into more composure ; for he 
 had taught himself to set against her 
 guilt in incurring so vast a debt, her 
 generosity in avowing it, in order to pre- 
 vent his commencing a suit, of which 
 it would, not be in his power to pay the. 
 unavoidable expenses : " And she did 
 it too/* said he, " though at the risk of 
 losing me for ever ! — There was virtue in 
 
 that.
 
 180 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 that, and perhaps she is not wholly irre- 
 claimable. Perhaps, if I treat her with le- 
 nity, I shall shame her into reformation ; 
 and her generous nature, for generous it 
 certainly is, will be piqued into a requital 
 of my kindness by abstaining from evil 
 in future/' 
 
 It was Percy's 02^*72 generous nature 
 that spoke ; and having resolved to listen 
 to it, he went to bed, and to sleep. At 
 eight he awoke, resolved to go in pursuit 
 of his wife; for, though she told the driver 
 m hearing of the servants to go to such a 
 place, he had no doubt but she was gone 
 to Lady Anne ; and by nine o'clock the 
 next day he was on the road to Green 
 Rock, and in a post-chaise by himself, 
 that the servants might knov/ nothing of 
 what had passed ; and he took care to in- 
 form them before he dismissed them the 
 preceding evening, that he had found a 
 letter from Lady Jane, informing him 
 
 that
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. ISI 
 
 that she should not return for a day or 
 two. 
 
 When he reached the inn where Lady- 
 Jane had been forced to stop, he got out 
 while they were changing horses, and 
 he saw a female resembling Ellis going 
 up-stairs with a phial in her hand. He im- 
 mediately followed, and, overtaking her, 
 received the painful intelligence that her 
 lady was in one of the chambers in an 
 alarming state of indisposition brought on 
 by wretchedness of mind. In an instant 
 away fled all his projected reproaches,^ 
 all idea of meeting her coldly, and all the 
 angry dignity of an offended husband, 
 which he had resolved to assume when 
 they met. — Jane, his adored Jane, ill, per- 
 haps dying, at an obscure inn on the 
 road, was the image uppermost in his 
 HHnd, and he insisted on following Ellis 
 to the bedside of the invalid. He did so ; 
 and Ellis had scarcely said " My lady ! 
 
 heres
 
 182 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 here's my master !" when Lady Jane felt 
 herself in the arms of her husband, and 
 his tears trickling on her neck. 
 
 " This is too much — too much good- 
 ness, too much happiness!'' she exclaimed. 
 It was indeed! — happiness beyond what 
 her merits deserved, and beyond what 
 it was now in her power to enjoy. — 
 *' I will make no promises of amend- 
 ment," cried she m.ournfuliy to Percy, " I 
 dare not, for I distrust myself." 
 
 " I hail what you have now said," re- 
 plied Percy, " as a better omen of amend,- 
 ment than fifty promises would have 
 been; and from this moment, mybeloved, 
 only remember the past sufficiently to 
 warn you against the temptations of the 
 future!" 
 
 Lady Jane blessed him for his goodness, 
 and tried to be cheerful : but her body as 
 well as her mind was suffering ; and the 
 medical attendant whom the alarmed Ellis 
 
 had
 
 L/PDY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 183 
 
 had called in, assured Percy, that if the 
 lady were to travel immediately he could 
 not answer for the consequences. In 
 three days time, however, she was able to 
 be removed, and Percy proposed, that in- 
 stead of returning to town they should 
 proceed to Greeh Rock and surprise Lady 
 Anne. Accordingly, Ellis was sent to Lon- 
 don by a coach that passed the inn door, 
 and Lady Jane and Percy were to go on 
 in a post-chaise to the next stage, there 
 to remain till Ellis returned with Lionel 
 in their own travelling carriage. In two 
 days time they reached Green Rock, not 
 without Lady Jane's having experienced 
 excessive alarm from the badness of the 
 roads. But the welcome which they re- 
 ceived from Lady Anne, and the sight of 
 her child looking so healthy and so w^ell, 
 banished for a time all painful sensations 
 from Lady Jane's mind j and while she 
 saw with rapture the joy expressed by the 
 
 twins
 
 184 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANEr 
 
 twins at meeting, and the pleasure Harry 
 took in showing Lionel all his new toys, 
 new books, and pretty garden, Lady Jane 
 felt that dissipation and all its gaieties had 
 nothing to give equal to the pure pleasure 
 she at that moment experienced, and she 
 believed herself capable of living in future 
 for the enjoyments of the affections alone. 
 But other thoughts, of a far less pleasant 
 nature, soon obtruded themselves on her 
 mind 5 and though she had had so recent 
 a proof of the fondness which Percy felt 
 towards her, still she could not contem- 
 plate the now brilliant beauty of Lady 
 Anne, which formed a complete contrast 
 to her own sunk eyes, hollow cheeks, and 
 artificial complexion, without feelings of 
 jealousy and alarm ; especially as Lady 
 Anne never spoke without riveting Percy's 
 attention on all that she uttered. 
 
 I have known envious and jealous wo- 
 men more than once express the jealousy 
 
 they
 
 LADY ANNE AN'D LADY JANE. 185 
 
 they could not conceal, but in a way to 
 render it unsuspected by superficial ob- 
 servers ; for they have seemed to express 
 it as zjokcy though they themselves knew 
 the feeling to be a sad reality ; while the 
 unsuspicious hearers considered as a piece 
 of playful good humour^ what was in fact 
 of a very different description. Lady Jane, 
 taught by the same consciousness, had 
 the same way of venting it as those wo- 
 men had — and one day after dinner she 
 began thus : " Pray, Mr. Percy, how old 
 do you think Lady Anne was last birth- 
 day ? — I should think about seventeen by 
 her look, should not you?*^ 
 
 " Thereabouts,*' replied Percy, gazing 
 with admiration on Lady Anne, whose 
 cheek, before glowing with perfect health, 
 now bloomed with the blush of modesty. 
 
 " I protest I v.'ill not stay here — for I 
 look so old and so ugly by you, Lady Anne, 
 that I can't bear the sight of myself. Be- 
 sides,
 
 18t3 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 sides, if I do stay, 1 shall hate you cor- 
 dially ; for it is quite out of the question 
 you know, Mrs. Tyravvley, for a faded 
 fashionable belle to bear the sight of a 
 young beauty like Lady Anne, quite in 
 her prime!'' 
 
 " Your ladyship is joking,'* replied 
 Mrs. Tyrawley ; "for I think, if I recol- 
 lect right, that you are a year younger 
 than Lady Anne ? " 
 
 " Aye, according to age, — but what am 
 I in look, in health, and even in feelings ^ 
 I am sure Lady Anne might say with more 
 propriety than Monsieur de Coulanges did 
 when he writes to Madame de Sevigne, 
 * qu'a coup siir on a commis quelque grosse 
 erreur de date dans son acre de bapteme.'" 
 
 " Jane, Jane, be quiet," cried Percy 
 smiling, " you make Lady Anne blush/' 
 
 " Hold your tongue, foolish man 1 I 
 know what I am saying; and do you 
 really believe in your silly heart that Anne 
 
 is
 
 LADY ANNS AND LADY JANE. 187 
 
 is not woman enough to be pleased with 
 being complimented on her good looks ?'* 
 
 " No : — a J'tic compliments en her 
 looks may be pleading to any woman, even 
 to a Lady Anne Mortimer, — and so are a 
 few gentle coaxings on the back to a cat, 
 — but if long continued they become pain- 
 ful and irritating, and so is prolonged 
 flattery to a modest woman." 
 
 " There, Percy 1 — who has made Lady 
 Anne blush Jiom ? — and Ohow 1 triumph ! 
 I have clTcCted my wishes ; for, by dint of 
 blushing, as I have often seen happen to 
 her before, her colour is become purple 
 and coarse, and I should not be ashamed 
 now to show my genteeler face by the side 
 of hers. Trust me, I know how to destroy 
 a rival beauty. And now, Anne, that you 
 are no longer so intolerably handsome, 
 I feel friendly towards you again, and will 
 not go away till tomorroic" 
 
 Mrs. Tyrawley and her daughter, and 
 
 even
 
 188 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 even Percy, thought all this was mere Z'«- 
 dinage: — but it was a real transcript of her 
 feelings, and the flushed cheek and there- 
 fore diminished beauty of Lady Anne im- 
 parted to her in truth the pleasure which 
 she expressed. 
 
 The next day, and the next, and the 
 next to that, were days of variety, and 
 therefore of pleasure, to Lady Jane. But 
 when she had heard all Miss Tyrawley 
 had seen abroad, and Mrs. Tyrawley at 
 home J had witnessed the wonderful im- 
 provement in reading of the little Harry, 
 and seen, not without much pain, that Lio- 
 nel was a dunce to him; had been waited 
 upon by all the neighbours; had become 
 acquainted with all the drives and all the 
 walks ; she sighed to return to London, 
 and was very glad to hear Percy say that 
 he must return to his parliamentary duties: 
 — and the next day witnessed the prepa- 
 rations for their departure. 
 
 While
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 189 
 
 While Lady Jane and Lady Anne 
 were sitting alone together in the drawing- 
 room, and the twins were playing beside 
 them. Lady Jane catching Harry in her 
 arms, and violently kissing him, said, 
 *' Come, dear boy, get on your hat and 
 coat, for you snail go back to London 
 with us and Lionel." 
 
 " That I won't," said the boy, strug- 
 gling to get away from her, 
 
 " O yes ! you shall — To be sure you 
 love me, Harry?" 
 
 " Yes, I love you — but not so well as 
 mamma Anne." 
 
 *' No 1 — Still, when I tell you I wish you 
 to come and live with me again, to be 
 sure you will ?" 
 
 " No — I tell you I won't ! " cried the boy. 
 
 ** Aye! but you must," said Lady 
 Jane, " you must go with your poor 
 own pretty mamma Jane, as you used to 
 call me." 
 
 "But
 
 J 90 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE'. 
 
 " But you are not pretty inamma 
 now, — you are old, ugly, painted mam- 
 ma!" 
 
 •■'You little unnatural being!" cried 
 Lady Jane, irritated beyond measure, 
 " So, Lady Anne," she added, turning 
 on her a look of suspicion and reproach, 
 " you have not, I find, with all your fine 
 schooling, taught the boy the command- 
 ment to honour his mother ! And I know 
 not how such a child should understand 
 what being painted is ; but I comprehend 
 still less how he should have thought of ap- 
 plying it as a term of reproach, if he had 
 not been taught by some one older and 
 wiser than himself." 
 
 " Meaning me?" haughtily demanded 
 Lady Anne. 
 
 *' If the cap fits your ladyship, you 
 may put it on." Anger, the great level- 
 ler, making even a icoman of quality 
 
 vulgar. 
 
 Then
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 19 1 
 
 " Then now Lady Jane, hear my fixed 
 resolution," replied Lady Anne : " Your 
 various errors 1 could pity and forgive ; I 
 thoughtyou weak, not vicious; and I trusted 
 that time, kindness, and lenity might re- 
 form you: but now that you have displayed 
 such malignity of nature as to accuse me, 
 your earhest friend, of an act of baseness, 
 of trying to lower a mother in the opinion 
 of her child, — an action which you know 
 me to be incapable of, — I never will hold 
 communion with you more. My religion 
 teaches me to forgive you j but I feel that 
 i the woman who was capable of uttering the 
 ; malignant charge you have now uttered is 
 unworthy any longer to be my friend and 
 associate." So saying, she walked out of 
 the room; vvhilet he little Percy clung to her, 
 crying " Take me with you, take me with 
 you, good mamma Anne," and by that 
 means increased the pangs of the already 
 repentant Lady Jane, whose reflections 
 
 were
 
 192 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 were certainly of a most unpleasant na- 
 ture. 
 
 " Where is Lady Anne?" said Percy, 
 entering ready equipped for his journey — 
 ** the carriage is ready." 
 
 *' She is gone, I believe, to her own 
 toom,'* replied Lady Jane bursting into 
 tears, " and I, I fear, have seen her for 
 the last time." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" 
 
 ^' Why, you know she is sometimes 
 rather captious; and she is so offended at 
 something I said very innocently, that she 
 has renounced me for ever!" 
 
 " But," exclaimed Percy, after a 
 pause of indignant surprise, *'.you must 
 have been very much to blame, or Lady 
 Anne could not have formed so violent a 
 resolurion." 
 
 *' Yes — I knew you would take her 
 part," said Lady Jane provokingly. 
 ** However, I wish you would ring, and 
 
 send
 
 LADY ANKE AND LADY J AXE. 193 
 
 ' send your compliments to her, and beg 
 to be allowed to take leave of her." 
 
 Percy did so. Lady Anne imme- 
 diately sent word, that she should be 
 glad to see Mr. Percy in her dressing- 
 room — and he obeyed the summons. He 
 found Lady Anne pale and agitated ; 
 but, in reply to Percy's earnest wish to 
 know from her the cause of the quarrel, 
 she said, " I would not repeat Lady 
 
 -Jane's words to you on any account; 
 
 * suffice, that I never will voluntarily 
 ■ hold intercourse with any one that be- 
 lieves me, even for an instant, capable of 
 
 ^ a base action." 
 
 ^* And who caji^ who does^ or who 
 X ever did believe you capable of such a 
 
 * thing ? " 
 
 " Lady Jane, sir ; and any thing else 
 I could have pitied and forgotten." 
 
 " Amazement!" exclaimed Percy, 
 
 ^*^but if you will not explain, she shall :" 
 
 VOL. I- K and
 
 194 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 and rushing down stairs, he ran in search 
 of her. Bat Lady Jane, afraid of seeing 
 him alone after his interview with Lady 
 Anne, had left the drawing-room, and was 
 sitting with Mrs.Tyrawley and her daugh- 
 ter in the breakfast parlour. Thither Percy 
 followed her, and, entering with a very 
 agitated air, desired to see her alone. 
 
 " No, thank ye," cried Lady Jane, 
 forcing a laugh, " I had rather stay 
 where I am; for I know you are going to 
 be very fierce, and the presence of these 
 ladies may keep you a little in order." 
 
 " No trifling, madam : I have seen 
 Lady Anne " 
 
 ** Who, never trifles^ certainly ! — Well, 
 Mr. Percy, and I suppose her grim 
 ladyship told tales of me, and you believe 
 them, as you deem her infallible?" 
 
 ^' I wish I could think the same of 
 your ladyship," replied Percy sarcas- 
 tically : — " but as I wish not to pain 
 
 your
 
 I.ADY AKNE AND LADY JANE. 195 
 
 your feelings unnecessarily by talking xm 
 a certain subject before these ladies, I 
 must insist on leading you to another 
 room." — And Lady Jane no longer dared 
 to refuse compliance. 
 
 " Lady Jane," said Percy, " 1 cannot, 
 will not leave this house till I have seen 
 you reconciled to the mistress of it, to 
 whom we both owe so much, even 
 though your pride be forced to undergo 
 the misery of concessions.'* >' 
 
 "What, sir! I flattered myself you were 
 too proud for your wife, to bear to think 
 of her making concessions to any one?" 
 
 '* I must be proud of my wife before I 
 can be proud /or her, madam, and 1 am at 
 this moment thoroughly ashamed of her.** 
 
 '' Has Lady Anne then told you all ? " 
 
 '^ She has told me nothing; — but my 
 
 knowled^fe of her makes me think her 
 
 likely to be right as far as passion can 
 
 K 2 ever
 
 196 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 ever be right, for you say that she was 
 violent,^ 
 
 " And you believe me. Well, that is 
 a great deal. However, I cannot tell a 
 falsehood, and would rather, at any time, 
 own myself in the wrong, than not do 
 justice to another: therefore, I own that 
 / only was to blame ; and that, however 
 severe Lady Anne was, I deserved all and 
 every thing she said or intended." 
 
 ** Strange, inconsistent, faulty yet fas- 
 cinating being!'* cried Percy, disarmed 
 by this frank confession, " whenever I 
 feel inclined to throw you from me with 
 one hand, I long at the same time to clasp 
 you with the other." 
 
 "Thank you! thank you!" cried Lady 
 Jane, "you are only too good to me: but 
 go to Lady Anne, and try to mollify 
 her." 
 
 Percy did go, but Lady Anne was in- 
 exorable.
 
 JLADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 19? 
 
 exorable. — " I pity and forgive her," she 
 replied, " but I cannot associate with 
 her :" and Percy, distressed beyond mea- 
 sure^ returned to Lady Jane. 
 
 " I cannot live without her entire for- 
 giveness," said sbje, " I can't indeed^ 
 Percy. To be renounced by my friend, 
 my preserver, my benefactress, will kill 
 me! — But I will make one effort to affect 
 her; and if that fail, I fear that even your 
 love will not support me as it ought/' 
 Lady Jane immediately wrote a few lines, 
 and giving them to Percy, he went to 
 deliver them in person to Lady Anne. 
 Lady Anne took the note, and turned 
 very pale while she read it. Immediately 
 after, without one word of objection, and 
 in a faltering voice, she said^ '^ I will at- 
 tend you to Lady Jane immediately." 
 Then, as soon as she saw her, she ad- 
 vanced towards her with open arms, 
 
 and
 
 198 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 and faintly articulating " I forgive you," 
 she mingled her tears with those of Lady 
 Jane. 
 
 Lady Jane's note was as follows : 
 
 " You know my situation — and the de- 
 licate state of my health : — therefore, it 
 is not very improbable that you may 
 never see me more, even should your 
 relenting heart prompt you to wish to see 
 me, and to forgive the injustice towards 
 you of which I bitterly repent. — Ask then 
 your own heart, Lady Anne, whether, 
 should I die of my confinement, you w^ould 
 not exclaim, with intolerable and eternal 
 bitterness of remorse, — * O my beloved 
 Jane! would, would that I had forgiven 
 thee!'" 
 
 Lady Jane well knew the heart to 
 which she appealed, and she did not, 
 could not appeal in vain. 
 
 When all the adieus were over, and 
 
 Lady
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 199 
 
 Lady Jane and Percy seated in the car- 
 riage, " Now, Jane," said he, " do give 
 me some little hint what the quarrel 
 was about.*' 
 
 " Why — to be serious, I think I had 
 some right to be provoked, — though not 
 with Anne, — and it was all owing to 
 Harry. For, would you believe it? 
 when I, in joke, was teasing him to go 
 home with me, stating myself what he 
 used to call me, his * poor own dear 
 pretty mamma Jane,' the little wretch 
 replied in a great rage, ' No, — I won't. 
 You are not my pretty mamma now, — you 
 are my old, ugly, painted mamma.' " 
 
 " That was provoking, indeed." 
 
 " Aye, — was it not ? And can you 
 wonder that I wished to whip our little 
 hope into an utter despair?" 
 
 " Upon my word, I should have been 
 inclined to v>hip him too, if I had heard 
 
 him.
 
 ^00 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 him. But what had this to do with 
 Lady Anne ? '* 
 
 " Oh ! I chose to accuse her of not 
 teaching the urchin to honour his mother, 
 and hinted a suspicion, partly in fun and 
 partly in earnest, that some one must have 
 taught the boy that I was painted j and 
 so Anne thought I meant her J' 
 
 '' And did you not mean her?" 
 
 " Something very hke it, I own ; but 
 then 1 was in a passion, you know V 
 
 " Well — well! — let us say no more 
 on the subject," said Percy. " I see 
 yours is but a bad case; so I am very glad 
 that a juror was withdrawn, and that the 
 matter goes no further." 
 
 Though Lady Jane arrived in town 
 in perfect health, the agitation of mind 
 which she had undergone, and the alarm 
 she had experienced from the badness of 
 the roads, had a pernicious effect on her 
 
 frame.
 
 LAD\ ANNE AND LADY JANE. 201 
 
 frame, and a premature confinement was 
 the consequence soon after she was 
 again settled in London, during which 
 she had the satisfaction to see, by Percy's 
 affectionate attention, that though she had 
 deserved to lose his heart, that heart was 
 still fondly devoted to her. There are 
 men, I believe, in whom the habit of 
 constancy, and of undeviating attachment, 
 is as strong and unconquerable as in vir- 
 tuous women j and ill befall that wife 
 who, though conscious of her happiness 
 in possessing the faithful tenderness of a 
 devoted husband, can dare to abuse the 
 power which she possesses, and to tyran- 
 nize, because she may do so with impunity, 
 over the heart that loves her even with all 
 her faults ! 
 
 Whatever change dissipation, secret 
 
 anxiety, and late hours, might have made 
 
 in Lady Jane's person, there was no 
 
 alteration in her manners j they, and even 
 
 k5 her
 
 202 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 her countenance at times, possessed all 
 that abundance of charm which had in 
 her earlier hours so fascinated Percy : 
 and so powerful had been their united 
 influence on Mrs. Tyrawley and her 
 daughter, that Lady Jane gained more on 
 their afl"ections in a few days, than Lady 
 Anne had done in several months: — nay, 
 so strong were their prepossessions in 
 favour of Lady Jane, that they had no 
 doubt but that, in the late quarrel, Lady 
 Anne's proud, unyielding spirit was alone 
 to blame ; and they were quite shocked at 
 Mr. Percy's forcing his wife to make con- 
 cessions to her, which they had no doubt 
 he had done. '' For my part," observed 
 Mrs. Tyrawley, " I should have been 
 very jealous of the woman to whom my 
 Mr. Tyrawley should have forced me to 
 humble myself. Indeed / would 7iot 
 have done it. And if Lady Jane had asked 
 me mi/ advice, I should have told her mi/ 
 
 mind.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 203 
 
 friind. Men are entirely what we make 
 them ; and like spaniels, the more they 
 are ill-treated, the fonder they grow. 
 Remember thaty Mary, and never give up 
 an inch of your prerogative when you are a 
 wife. I am sure Lady Anne herself would 
 not do so, though she was the means of 
 her cousin's doing it." 
 
 Thus hasty in judging, and conse- 
 quently thus erroneous in judgement, a > 
 nine hundred and ninety persons out of a 
 thousand, who take upon themselves to 
 pass sentence on the actions and sen- 
 timents of others ! I have heard of an old 
 gentleman, a humourist, who, living in a 
 large city, and having appropriated one 
 room in his house to parties who assem- 
 bled there for the purposes of rational 
 conversation, had different texts of Scrip- 
 ture of a prohibitory nature, in black and 
 gold letters, on different sides of the 
 walls; — such as, " Keep thy tongue from 
 
 evil
 
 204 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 evil speaking !" " Judge not, kst ye be 
 judged ; for with the measure ye mete it 
 shall be meted to you again :" and many 
 others of the same kind. If any one, re- 
 gardless of these golden rules, ventured to 
 tell a tale of gossip, and to talk of persons 
 instead of things, — he used to point to these 
 warning letters ; and if that was not suf- 
 ficient, he used to take up a book of his- 
 jr ry ; and presenting it to the offender, it 
 was his custom to say, " I shall be very 
 happy to hear any little anecdote about my 
 friend Hannibal or Scipio, which may have 
 escaped the notice of historians; but you 
 must excuse my listening to modern hio^ 
 graphy. When I read or hear any thing 
 fabulous^ I can forgive its lies only in 
 favour of its antiquity J" — If this hint was 
 not taken, he was careful never to admit 
 the offending person again. And indeed 
 such exclusion was not often necessary ; 
 for those whose powers of animation could 
 
 only
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 205 
 
 only be awakened by dirty gossip, alias 
 news, and the v/agging of the tongue of 
 detraction, found his parties as dull to 
 them, as they themselves were odious to 
 him; and in a short time after these par- 
 ties were instituted^ and these rules ad- 
 hered to, those who composed them 
 might be said to breathe an air untainted 
 by the pernicious hydrogen of slander. 
 
 But to return to Lady Anne, who had • 
 not as yet learnt how injurious to the cause 
 of virtue are manners which repel, and 
 that even truth itself must wear a be- 
 coming dress, in order to make her wel- 
 come: — One evening the little Harry, who 
 had been to spend the day with some boys 
 rather older than himself, at a gentleman's 
 house in the village, came home crying, 
 and his temples bleeding profusely : 
 
 " Be not alarmed, my lady," said the 
 footman, who had been sent to fetch him, 
 " master Percy and another young gen- 
 tleman
 
 206 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE* 
 
 tieman quarrelled, and master Percy was 
 knocked down; and so, my lady, in fall- 
 ing he struck his head against something, 
 and set his temple bleeding, my lady.*' 
 
 " But I am afraid he is hurt,*' cried 
 Lady Anne, " as he cries so bitterly. 
 Come with me, my dearest boy, and let 
 me know evei*y thing." Accordingly she 
 took him to her own apartment ; and as 
 soon as he could speak intelligibly, the 
 child said, " I don't cry because I am 
 hurt, but because Master Apreece said I 
 was no gentleman, and he would never 
 play with me again ! Now, a'n't 1 a gen- 
 tleman, mamma Anne, and ought he not 
 to play with me again ? " 
 
 Lady Anne could not tielp smiling at 
 this serious appeal from a gentleman of 
 seven years old; but with great gravity she 
 answered, that it was not birth alone that 
 made the gentleman, that good behaviour 
 was necessary, and she must beg to know 
 
 what
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 207 
 
 what he had done, before she could de- 
 cide whether Master Apreece was right, 
 or not. 
 
 *' Nay, I am sure, mamma Anne, / 
 did no harm ; for I only spoke as 1 have 
 often heard you speak." 
 
 " Indeed ! and how was that ? " 
 
 " Oh 1 Master Apreece said something 
 which I did not think true: so I said, 'That 
 it is not, I know ; so let's have none 
 of that, if you please, for you don't 
 speak truth :' and so he knocked me 
 down." 
 
 " I do not wonder at it, my dear, as 
 you accused him of being a liar ; but 
 when did you ever hear me speak thus ?" 
 
 *' Oh ! I have often heard you say, — 
 * That's not true, I am sure, and I wonder 
 you can repeat such vile stories ;' and it 
 was only last week that, when Miss 
 Jones and her mother and aunt were 
 iiere, you interrupted Miss Jones in a 
 
 StOry
 
 208 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 Story she was telling, with — ' Say.no more. 
 Miss Jones — say no more, I will not hear 
 you ; I am sure the story you are telling 
 is false, and I wonder any one dare re- 
 peat such things : for my part, I hate 
 gossips, or gossippers:* — and I am sure, 
 mamma Anne, I wonder Miss Jones did 
 not knock you down. But she certainly 
 looked as if she had a great mind to do 
 it ; and if she had been Master Apreece, 
 she would have done it — though I am 
 sure, with all the pains I took, I know I 
 did not look and speak like t/oz^." 
 
 *' Pains! did you take pains then to 
 look and speak like me ? '' 
 
 " O yes 1 for Papa told me that the 
 more I was like you, the better he would 
 love me." And Lady Anne could not 
 resist kissing his poor wounded temple. 
 *' Well, Harry 1 I plead guilty to this 
 rudeness to Miss Jones, for rudeness it 
 was, and I must learn to improve for your 
 
 sake,
 
 LADY ANNE AND JLADY JANF. 2C9 
 
 sake, as you are such a shrewd observer 
 and close imitator of my actions/' 
 
 " i?z^c/e/zej5/" asked the child. "Aye, 
 they said they supposed I learnt such 
 manners oiyou; for, said Master Apreece, 
 ' your mamma Anne, as you call her, 
 does not mind ^vhat she says, and every 
 one thinks she is a disagreeable wo- 
 man.' And I was so angry at his speak- 
 ing thus of you, that I tried to knock him 
 down: but his brother held me back: 
 however, I did give him a pretty good 
 kick on the shins.'* 
 
 Lady Anne was too just to punish a 
 child for a fault of which she had been 
 the cause, and too wise not to profit by 
 the severe lesson which she had learnt. 
 She also saw that she could more easily 
 amend him by example than by precept ; 
 and what all the raillery and advice of 
 Lady Jane had failed to effect, was brought 
 
 about
 
 210 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 about by the artless eloquence of her af- 
 fectionate son. , 
 " Yes," said Lady Anne to herself, 
 ** I will at last, for this dear child's, sake,, 
 condescend, as Percy once said, to be, 
 agreeable. 1 will dismiss my advanced^ 
 guard of hrusqueries^ which used to 
 frighten many from approaching me. But] 
 hard indeed will the task be, and no mo-; 
 tive less powerful than mine could enable, 
 me to succeed in it : still, it is not ivu: 
 possible to reform one's manners. Moral, 
 habits, however wrong, cannot I believe; 
 be altered at my time of life, any more, 
 than a defect of form or face ; but man-, 
 ners may be improved and changed, as 
 certainlv, though not so easily, as one's 
 dress; and I must own that winning man- 
 ners are to the virtues, what a becoming; 
 habit is to the person : therefore, it is the 
 duty of those who wish to promote th^ 
 
 infill ence,
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 2H 
 
 influence of virtue, to make her appear in 
 as attractive a form as possible." 
 
 The next morning, Mrs. Tyrawley, af- 
 ter praising Lady Jane, ventured to hint 
 that, by her appearance at times, she feared 
 she was not happy, and from what she 
 saw she doubted that Mr. Percy was not 
 a kind husband. If Mrs. Tyrawley had 
 said this only the preceding day. Lady 
 Anne would have thundered upon her 
 with, " I wonder you dare, madam, pre- 
 sume to calumniate a most worthy man, 
 of whom you can know nothing,*' — or 
 words to that effect, accompanied by looks 
 and tones of the most indignant contempt, 
 ■ — But now, according to her late resolu- 
 tion, Lady Anne checked the ribing storm, 
 and forced herself on principle to swallow 
 down two large draughts of cold water 
 which stood near her, before she replied. 
 At length she said very gently, " The 
 error which you have fallen into relative 
 
 to
 
 212 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 to Mr. Percy is one, my dear Mrs. Ty 
 rawley, which your own penetration wi}: 
 soon convince you is an error, whenevei 
 you have an opportunity of seeing mor^ 
 of that gentleman." 
 
 " To be sure," said Mrs. Tyrawley 
 pleased at the implied compliment 
 " one ought not to be too hasty iij 
 judging." 
 
 " A wise and virtuous remark/' r^ 
 sumed Lady Anne. " I will not affroai 
 your sagacity, nor violate truth so much 
 as to say my poor cousin is quite happy^ 
 She has, I see, fears concerning th^ 
 event of her confinement, which woul(| 
 alone, you know, be sufficient to cast 3. 
 shade over her countenance," 
 
 " Certainly, certainly," replied Mrs^ 
 Tyrawley, thinking she never saw Ladyj 
 Anne so agreeable before. ^ 
 
 '' And I assure you, my dear Mrs. Ty. 
 rawley," she added, " I say it to you as 
 
 a friend.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 213 
 
 I friend, Lady Jane gave me such an in- 
 tance of her husband's recent kindness to 
 ler, as affected me even to tears." 
 
 " Really ! Well — to see bow one may 
 )e deceived !'* 
 
 " Pray," asked Miss Tyrawley with a 
 'cry wise look, " is it true that Lady Jane 
 jas lost a great deal of money at play ?** 
 
 Lady Anne could hardly command 
 erself at this coarse and direct question, 
 nd she had recourse to the water-bottle 
 
 |am. 
 
 ' Lady Jane has played certainly," ob- 
 erved Lady Anne at last : " but, my dear 
 liss Tyrawley, you know too much of 
 le world to place any confidence in news- 
 aper reports and gossip stories: therefore 
 am sure your candour will lead you not 
 tAy to disbelieve that Lady Jane s losses 
 re very great, but also to contradict such 
 aertions yourself whenever you hear 
 lem. Contradiction of such reports 
 
 from
 
 214 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 from a woman like you, must always hav< 
 weight with rational good people." 
 
 " I am very glad to hear your ladyship 
 say this," replied the flattered Miss Ty- 
 rawley, " and I will take care to contr* 
 diet the report whenever I hear it." 
 
 Soon after Harry came in, accompaniec 
 by a prosing old servant, who wanted tc 
 speak to his lady on business, — a man whc 
 usually tired out Lady Anne's patience 
 very soon; — and the poor man, conscious 
 of this, was always slower with Lady 
 Anne, from fear, than he was with anj 
 one else. This day he was perhaps slowei 
 than ever ; and Lady Anne could scarcely 
 refrain from saying, as usual, " Really; 
 Hibbert, you are so tiresome, I can't beai 
 it," and was inclined to give vent to even 
 more alarming expressions of weariness. 
 
 " I see, my lady, I see, as usual, I tin 
 your heart out," said the poor old maa, 
 " and you are quite impatient." 
 
 " You
 
 LADY ANxVE AND LADY JANE. 215 
 
 ^•i»^* You mistake, Hibbert,'* replied Lady 
 Anne gently, " I am not impatient — that 
 is, I mean that I will try never to be im- 
 patient again ; for it is a very bad custom, 
 and I mean to improve — for you know, 
 Hibbert, I am not yet too old to learn." 
 
 " Too old ! God bless your ladyship ! 
 No — that you are not, and I never seed 
 you look younger or more beautlfuUer in 
 your life, my lady ! I hope no offence." 
 
 " None at all, good Hibbert, but go 
 on — and don't fancy that you weary me." 
 And the old man proceeded. — But it re- 
 quired all Lady Anne*s firmness of cha- 
 racter to enable her to keep her resolution 
 of not expressing her impatience; and at 
 length the little Harry exclaimed with a 
 iaugh, " Dear me, Hibbert, have you not 
 done yet ? I am sure my mamma Anne 
 I is completely tired, and she has pleasanter 
 things to do than to sit here listening to 
 your tiresome speeches." 
 
 " Your
 
 216 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " Your mamma Anne, sir, is of a dif- 
 ferent opinion,^' replied Lady Anne, '*and 
 feels it her duty to listen with respectful at- 
 tention to a worthy old servant, who has 
 always done his duty by her and her family. 
 I must therefore desire you, Master Percy, 
 to leave the room, for having made that 
 fine speech ; and v hen I have finished talk- 
 ing to Hibbert, I have something serious 
 to say to yoiu^^ The child, accustomed 
 to obey, left the room, though in high 
 displeasure ; and at last, much to Lady 
 Anne's joy, Hibbert ended and departed. 
 
 " Well ! Lady Anne, I am sure I 
 wonder at your patience/' said Miss Ty- 
 rawley. 
 
 " You wonder, I presume, at its no» 
 velty, rather than its exterit^^ replied 
 Lady Anne smiling, and going in search 
 of Harry, whom she soon appeased by 
 telling him her own resolution to amend 
 her m.anners, and curb her impatience in 
 
 order
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 2l7 
 
 order to set him a good example ; and she 
 contrived to stimulate his pride and am- 
 bition in a virtuous direction, by begging 
 him to set her a good example in return. 
 When Lady Anne retired for the night, 
 she began on principle to recall the occur- 
 rences of the day, and to ask her own 
 heart, whether, by substituting gentleness 
 for roughness, and forbearance for impa- 
 tience, she had at all violated truth and 
 sincerity : and her heart entirely acquitted 
 her. " But suppose," said Lady Anne, 
 " instead of tr)'ing to set Mrs. Tyrawley 
 right concerning Percyj and her daughter 
 right concerning Lady Jane, I had replied 
 by indignant violence, as I usually do— 
 the consequence would have been, that 
 pique would have made them tenacious of 
 their opinion, and I should have injured 
 those whom I wish to serve. Aye, — let 
 me in future ever bear in mind the fable 
 
 VOL. I. L of
 
 218 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 of The wind and the sun ! and I will make 
 Harry get it by heart immediately." 
 
 The next week the Joneses were coming 
 to dine with her, — though Miss Jones, 
 resenting Lady Anne's rudeness, could 
 with difficulty be prevailed upon by her 
 father and mother to venture near her 
 again. To this family Lady Anne now 
 resolved to add the Apreeces, who, con- 
 cluding that Harry had told his aunt all 
 their son had done and had said, expected 
 never to be invited again : — it was there- 
 fore an agreeable surprise to them to re- 
 ceive an invitation written in Lady Anne's 
 own hand, and begging them to bring 
 their children with them — as she meant 
 to let Harry have a party as w^ell as her- 
 self. Accordingly, on the day appointed, 
 the little Joneses, (grandchildren of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Jones,) and the Apreeces with 
 their family, arrived at Green Rock. Miss 
 
 Jones
 
 LADY ANxVE AND LADY JANE. 219 
 
 Jones kept aloof from Lady Anne, and 
 looked cold and proud; but Lady Anne's 
 unwonted courtesy at length a little mol- 
 lified her: and though the Apreeces, 
 particularly Charles, the offender, looked 
 awkward and conscious at first, Lady 
 Anne seemed so gracious and good-hu- 
 moured, that they flattered themselves she 
 was ignorant of what had passed. 
 
 It was not long before Lady Anne took 
 an opportunity, in Harry's hearing, to say 
 to Miss Jones, " My conscience smites 
 me on your account, and tells me I was 
 rude to you when you last favoured me 
 with your company." 
 
 " Rude! my lady!" said Miss Jon'^s 
 blushing, confused, and with too little 
 firmness of character to dare to say 
 " Yes." 
 
 *' Your kindness may have led you," 
 
 continued Lady Anne, ** to excuse and 
 
 forget it; but I am sure that I contradicted 
 
 L 2 you
 
 220 I.ADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 you very rouglily, and said something 
 about gossips and gossippers which no- 
 thing could excuse. I therefore now, 
 my dear Miss Jones, tender my most sin- 
 cere apologies to you, and trust to your 
 indulgence for receiving them graciously.'* 
 Miss Jones did so, and was indeed so 
 gratiEed by this condescension from the 
 proud Lady Anne, that she wondered 
 how she could ever have been so weak 
 as not to like her. — This lesson and this 
 example were not lost on the little Harry ; 
 for Lady Anne saw him soon after go up 
 to Charles Apreece, and heard him say, 
 that knowing he had been very rude to 
 him, and deserved the blow which he 
 had given him, he begged his pardon for 
 what he had said; though he could not 
 for what he had done when lie spoke so 
 rudely of his dear mamma Anne. — 
 Charles Apreece, being old enough to 
 feel awkward at this address, as he was 
 
 sure
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 221 
 
 sure it was overheard, shook the little 
 Harry by the hand, and said, " I must 
 for-get aiid forgive ; " — and Harry took 
 him to look at his rabbits. 
 
 Lady Anne the whole day made a 
 point of showing marked attention to 
 Charles Aprcece, and in the course of 
 the evening she took hiin by the hand, tell- 
 ing him she wanted to speak Vvith him 
 alone ; while the terrified boy, having no 
 doubt but that she was going to take hini 
 seriously to task for what he had said of 
 her, would have refused to accompany 
 her, if he had not thought he ought to 
 be too much of a man to be afraid of a 
 woman. — When they had reached an- 
 other room. Lady Anne said, " You have 
 given Harry and me too a lesson, my good 
 boy, for which we shall, I trust, be the 
 better as long as we live. — To give any one 
 the lie, and speak coarsely and rudely, is a 
 sort of vice ; and 1 thank you for the 
 
 blow
 
 222 LADV ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 blow you gave Harry, and also for what 
 you said of me^ as it made me look into 
 myself, and I hope to be more agreeable 
 in future. I wish therefore to give you a 
 token of ray gratitude, and I have netted 
 this little purse for you, which I hope 
 you will do me the favour to accept.'' 
 —The poor surprised, sheepish boy 
 could neither look up nor speak, and 
 he took the purse with scarcely a bow of 
 thanks. — " Now/' said Lady Anne, " it 
 is my turn to give you a lesson : — you 
 were veiy wrong in speaking disrespect- 
 fully of me to my adopted child ; it was 
 a fault which though anger might occa- 
 sion, it could not excuse; and though 
 he was wrong in kicking you out of re- 
 venge, yet his feeling of resentment was 
 an honourable feeling. I know he has 
 made his apologies to you for his trespass 
 against you ; and if you are the generous 
 boy which 1 am disposed to think you, 
 
 you
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 223 
 
 you will ask him to excuse yours against 
 himJ* Charles Apreece found it easier 
 to look Lady Anne in the face when she 
 reproved, than when she thanked him ; 
 and when she ceased, he ventured to say 
 " I beg your pardon, and I will beg 
 Harry's." 
 
 " There's a good boy," said Lady 
 Anne: '^ and now, if you please, you and 
 I will begin our little ball together ; for I 
 have ordered the harpers into the hall, 
 and we will have a dance." 
 
 On which Lady Anne, leaning on her 
 young partner, entered the hall, where 
 the company was already assembled ; and 
 the delighted parents saw Lady Anne put 
 herself at the head of the set with Charles, 
 — while Mrs. Tyrawley and Mrs. Jones 
 were the only persons of the party who 
 did not join the dance. 
 
 " I cannot think," said Miss Tyraw- 
 ley to her mother in a whisper, " what 
 
 has
 
 224 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 has efiected such a change in Lady Anne. 
 To think of her dancing, and uith that 
 boy who knocked Harry down!" But 
 Lady Anne never danced except with 
 children; and now, meaning to pay Charles 
 Apreece a particular compliment, she 
 sat down, and danced no mqre, as soon 
 as she had danced two dances with him; 
 and Charles as soon as he quitted her 
 went up to Harry, and begged his pardoii 
 for having spoken ill of Lady Anne ; — 
 a pardon which the happy and generous 
 little boy immediately granted. 
 
 Oh ! what a revolution in every one's 
 sentiments had now taken place respecting 
 Lady Annei Her beauty had always been 
 unquestioned; but now her courteous 
 manners, her grace, her countenance, 
 were equally praised ; and Mrs. Tyrawley 
 was seduced, by the unusual suavity of her 
 manner, to accost her once by the title of 
 dear cousin! Lady Anne felt, forcibly 
 
 felt.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 225 
 
 felt, the altLTation of feeling towards her 
 which this appellation implied ; and turn- 
 ing towards her with one of Lady Jane's 
 smiles, she said, " Thank you, dear ma- 
 dam. I was afraid till now, that you did not 
 choose to own me for a cousin, as you 
 never favoured me by calling me so;" — • 
 while tears started into Mrs. Tyrawley's 
 eye, for shame at having so long mistaken 
 Lady Anne's character. 
 
 '' LadyAnne,*' said she, ''or my dear 
 cousin, you are one of the few persons 
 who ought to have a window in their 
 heart.'* 
 
 " I understand you," said Lady Anne 
 smiling, " but I trust that it will in future 
 be unnecessary ; for I mean to have an 
 inscription on the outside— to show what 
 there is ivithbu' 
 
 The next week they were agreeably 
 
 surprised by a visit from Percy and Lionel ; 
 
 and as Lady Jane was tolerably well, 
 
 L 5 Percy
 
 226 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 Percy took advantage of the Christmas 
 recess to steal down to Green Rock for 
 a few days. He gazed with all a father's 
 pride at the beauty and healthy appear- 
 ance of Harry, and with a father's anxious 
 tenderness on the contrast between him 
 ^nd his brother. Nor was he slow to per- 
 ceive that their minds were as different as 
 their persons; ?jid he found that, though 
 Lady Jane was quite as sensible and as 
 well-informed a woman as Lady Anne, 
 her want of regularity in her mode of teach- 
 ing, had prevented the child's profiting 
 as much as he ought by the instructions 
 he received from a private tutor ; and but 
 for the fear of hurting Lady Jane's feelings, 
 he would have left Lionel under Lady 
 Anne's care.' But the little Lionel had 
 a longer opportunity of sharing in Harry's 
 education than Percy expected ; for a deep 
 snow fell in one night, and continued so 
 long as to render the roads impassable 
 
 with
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 22? 
 
 with safety ; and the terrified Lady Jane, 
 losing in fear for the safety of her hus- 
 band and child, all dread of Lady Anne's 
 increasing influence, wrote to desire he 
 would on no account think of returning 
 till the roads were quite safe. 
 
 Could Lady Anne have thought it 
 right to rejoice at this detention, she 
 would have rejoiced ; but, accustomed to 
 struggle with and to conquer every feel- 
 ing that militated against her sense of 
 right, she tried to regret the necessity 
 which made Percy her inmate for so long 
 a time, and determined to see as little of 
 him as possible. Percy was not long be- 
 fore he perceived the change in Lady 
 Anne's manner, and also in h:s little 
 boy's. One day he v/as joking with Harry; 
 and the child, not understanding that he 
 spoke ironically, forgot himself so far as to 
 exclaim in his former rude way, '' That 
 
 it
 
 22S LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 it is not, though — and you don't speak 
 truth." 
 
 " Harry !" cried Lady Anne ; and the 
 conscious child added, with many blushes, 
 " I am sorry to contradict you, papa, 
 but I think you are wrong.'* And while 
 Percy hugged the little boy to his heart, 
 he said, " How is this. Lady Anne? There 
 are great changes and improvements 
 here." 
 
 Lady Anne smiled, and said, "Harry, 
 shall you and I tell papa what brought 
 about this improvement in our manner ?*' 
 
 " O dear 1 yes ; tell papa all about 
 It," said the delighted child ; and Percy 
 listened with the most interested attention. 
 But when Lady Anne had ended, he felt 
 a degree of embarrassment he could not 
 account for^, and an utter inability to ex- 
 press to her half of what he felt on her 
 candid avowal of her fault, and her reso- 
 
 lution
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 22J 
 
 iution to amend it for the sake of her 
 charge. Besides, he recollected how often 
 he had said Lady Anne's brusquerie was 
 her only defect; and he beheld her be- 
 fore him, as handsome and excellent as 
 ever, without this only barrier betweca 
 her and the power of being irresistible. 
 
 " You are an admirable creature," he 
 at last articulated; — '* and T shall bless 
 the day when my child became the child 
 of your adoption/'* Then with a deep 
 sigh he quitted the room — while Lady 
 Anne allowed herself to dwell neither on 
 the sigh nor the words. 
 
 The fortnight of enforced confinement 
 flew too rapidly for Percy and Lionel ; 
 and so it did for the ladies. The Tyraw- 
 leys lost all prejudice against Percy, and 
 imbibed a strong one for him ; — and 
 while Mrs. Tyrawley spim, Miss Ty- 
 rawley worked muslin, and Lady Anne 
 coloured maps for Harry, Percy read 
 
 aloud
 
 230 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 aloud to them; and the hours which he 
 did not pass in the House of Commons, 
 now for the first time of many years were 
 passed in rational amusement combined 
 with daily instruction. 
 
 '' O that my own home were like this!" 
 he exclaimed to himself. " It might have 
 been! and why, O why is it not?" — 
 But at length the parting hour arrived; 
 and Percy, with a full heart, departed 
 with his weeping child for that home so 
 different to the one that he had left. 
 
 About six weeks after his departure, 
 Lady Anne's peace was interrupted by a 
 letter from Lady Jane, urging her, if 
 she had any regard for the peace and 
 honour of Percy, and any wish to save 
 her from addresses which might end at 
 least in loss of reputation, to pay to 
 Lord Lorimer several thousand pounds 
 which she had lost to him at play ! he 
 having offered to give up the debt, if she 
 
 would
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 2S1 
 
 would allow him to prosecute his suit to 
 her as a lover; and stating that, though 
 she loathed the proposal, yet dread of 
 confessing her fault to Percy prevailed on 
 her to accede to it for a time. 
 
 Lady Anne sat for some minutes in 
 speechless, motionless horror, after she 
 had received this letter. Whatever her 
 errors might be, she had always con- 
 sidered Lady Jane's virtue as impregnable: 
 but now her confidence in that was de- 
 stroyed ; as she had proved that the dread 
 of incurring her husband's displeasure 
 was more powerful over her, than that 
 of exposing herself to the risk of dis- 
 honouring him. But Lady Anne was 
 wrong. Lady Jane well knew she was 
 in no danger by consenting to receive 
 Lord Lorimer's addresses, because she 
 was certain that Lady Anne would, when 
 informed of what she had done, imme- 
 diately hasten to her relief. But at first 
 
 Lady
 
 232 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 Lady Anne started wildly from her seat, 
 as she could not devise immediate means 
 of doing this. But she recollected that 
 money had been offered for one of her 
 estates very recently. " Yes, I will sell 
 it," cried she : " far better will it be 
 for the child to possess one estate less, 
 than to lose a dearer possession, the con- 
 sciousness of his mother's unblemished 
 honour and reputation ! " 
 
 In a few hours every thing was arranged 
 for Lady Anne*s departure for town ; and 
 telling her friends that indispensable busi- 
 ness summoned her away, she consigned 
 the weeping Percy to their care, while 
 with a beating heart she proceeded on 
 her journey — attended by an old steward 
 of her father's. — She drove immediately 
 on her arrival to her bankers; and patting 
 into their hands the writings of an estate 
 for which she had been offered 20,000/ , 
 she requested of them the immediate loan 
 
 of
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 233 
 
 of the sum she wanted ; and having re- 
 ceived it, she returned to the carriage in 
 which she had left her steward, and tell- 
 ing him she had business with Lord Lo- 
 rimer, she drove to his house. — Lady 
 Anne, though conscious of her own un- 
 sullied purity, and spotless character, had 
 too wise a regard to decorum, ar^d the 
 established usages of society, to call alone 
 on Lord Lorimer, even though on busi- 
 ness of such serious importance: there- 
 fore, when the servant said his lord was 
 at home, she insisted that her steward 
 Mr. IMoreton should get out with her. — 
 Lord Lorimer was at home, reading, and 
 in his dressing-gown, when his gentleman 
 entered, and said, a lady wished to speak 
 with him. 
 
 "A lady! what lady? — Is she young and 
 handsome ?** — " Young, and beautiful as 
 an angel, my lord.*' 
 
 " Bravo ! show her into the little par- 
 lour !*'
 
 234 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 lour !" — " My lord! I have shown her into 
 the drawing-room." — *' Blockhead! is she 
 proper drawing-room company, think 
 you ?" — " Yes, my lord ! I should think 
 her, by her look and manner, fit for a 
 palace — and that she was a queen. She 
 is not, I assure you, my lord, like any 
 ladies that ever call on your lordship.'* 
 
 ''Bravo I another Jane de Montfort! I 
 protest this beauty has made 'the fellow 
 eloquent ! — Well ; now to judge for my- 
 self." 
 
 " Stay ! stay, my lord I pray put on 
 your coat — I am sure the lady is a lady, 
 my lord ! " — However, Lord Lorimer 
 proceeded as he was^ having first looked 
 in the glass to ascertain whether he was 
 *' in face ;" and sauntering affectedly into 
 the drawing-room, his astonished eye 
 rested on the tall majestic figure and se- 
 vere though beautiful features of Lady 
 Anne Mortimer. 
 
 '' This
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 235 
 
 *' This is an honour, madusn," said he, 
 " really so unaccountable/' (though in his 
 heart he suspected why she came,) " that 
 I should not have thought of coming 
 down to your ladyship in this dress — 
 Pray excuse me while I change it." 
 And glad of an excuse for retiring in or- 
 der to recover himself, he went back to 
 change his gown for his coat. 
 
 " You are right, Dawlish," said he 
 to his man — " there is only one Lady 
 Anne Mortimer in the world, and I 
 might have known her by your descrip* 
 tion, could I have thought her high- 
 mightiness would have deigned to call on 
 such a sinner as myself." — Then, having 
 new tied his neckcloth, and new brushed 
 his fine black crop, he returned to Lady 
 Anne, who had relinquished none of her 
 dignity, but, with her arms folded in a 
 long velvet mantle, and her head and 
 face uncovered, stood motionless and 
 
 grand.
 
 236 LADY AKNE AND LADY JANJE. 
 
 grand, like Mr. Kemble in Coriolanus 
 on the hearth of Tullus Hostilius. 
 
 " I beg you will do nie the honour, 
 madam, to be seated." 
 
 '* No ! I will not, my lord," replied 
 Lady Anne, no longer the urbane, sm.il* 
 ing mistress of Green Rock j but cold, 
 haughty, and repellent as the Lady Anne 
 of former days — " My business with you 
 will be soon settled.'* 
 
 " I am sorry to hear it for my sake, as 
 I should be most proud to detain your 
 ladyship some time under my roof — ho- 
 noured, indeed, by such a presence!" 
 
 *' As I should not consider the honour 
 as mutual, my lord, I cannot regret the 
 unavoidable shortness of m.y stay. Allow 
 me to go with you into the next room, 
 and you, my good Moreton, stay here till 
 I return.'* She then entered the next 
 room through folding doers, which were 
 open ; therefore, though she spoke so 
 
 low
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 237 
 
 low that Moreton could not hear, he saw 
 her all the time. — " I came, my lord, as 
 you may guess, by desire of Lady Jane 
 Percy, to discharge the debt she owes 
 you ; and to assure you, that Lady Jane 
 has in me a friend and a relation, who 
 would spend the last shilling of her for- 
 tune sooner than allow her to owe for 
 one instant a pecuniary obligation to 
 Lord Lorimer, or any man." — So say- 
 ing, she laid down the money, and turned 
 her dark eyes upon him with a look of 
 such severe expression, while her full 
 red lip projected still more with con- 
 temptuous indignation, that even Lord 
 Lorimer was awed and abashed. 
 
 '^ Come, come. Lady Anne," said he, 
 recovering himself, — " unless Lady Jane 
 really desired you to pay this money, I 
 cannot take it." 
 
 " Sir ! I expressly told you that I came 
 by Lady Jane's desire j and if I did not, 
 
 you
 
 238 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 you must know that when one woman 
 confides to another a disgraceful secret, 
 she makes that other the judge of her 
 actions ; and if I had not waited on you 
 at the earnest request of Lady Jane, I 
 should have come to have satisfied my- 
 self'^ — " But now, really. Lady Anne,'* 
 replied Lord Lorimer, piqued into a wish 
 to provoke her, — " can you be such a no- 
 vice as to suppose Lady Jane wished in 
 her heart to get out of my debt ? " 
 
 *' My lord, can I, do you think, sup- 
 pose my cousin, Lady Jane Percy, an 
 abandoned woman?" 
 
 " Abandoned ! No. But do you think 
 it possible for a woman of her associations 
 and habits of life to be so much shocked 
 at this little debt to me? — Remember, 
 Lady Anne," taking her hand by force, 
 " Scripture says. One cannot touch pitch 
 without being defiled ! " 
 
 " Pitch has touched me," replied 
 
 Lady
 
 LAD\ ANNE AND LADY JANE. 239 
 
 Lady Anne, drawing her hand away with 
 an action expressive of loathing, " and 
 yet I trust I am not defiled!'' — Lord 
 Lorimer immediately turned away mutter- 
 ing a terrible oath. — " But, my lord,'* 
 said Lady Anne, " I am losing time: here, 
 as I said before, is your money ! — And 
 now, my lord, here ends the visit of Lady 
 Anne Mortimer." — Ihen, with a polite 
 but chilling curtsy, she beckoned More- 
 ton, and not waiting to have her carriage 
 called, tripped lightly down stairs be- 
 fore Lord Lorimer could even offer her 
 his hand. But he followed her to the 
 door, and stood bowing there till she 
 drove off. 
 
 " That is a woman, indeed !" said he 
 to DawHsh, when he came to dress him. 
 " Such a woman might tempt a man to 
 marry, for she has a proper sense of her 
 own value ; and though Lucifer was hum- 
 ble, compared to her — her pride is that 
 
 of
 
 of/ conscious virtue and a character • Uti- 
 taintedi" 
 
 Lady Anne went from Lord Lorimer to 
 Lady Jane ; dreading the emotion which 
 she knew they should both feel on meet- 
 ing, and perplexed to know what excuse 
 she should make to Percy for so sudden 
 and unexpected a journey to town.— 
 Yet surely business was a sufficient ex- 
 cuse ; and it was only her consciousness 
 that made the difficulty.— -She found 
 Lady Jane so unwell as to keep her .biid 
 greatest part of the day ; and Lady Amite 
 was so shocked when she saw her. faded 
 looks, that every other feeling was swal- 
 lowed up in pity and apprehension. — As 
 soon as Lady Jane heard Lady Anne an- 
 nounced, she screamed aloud with joy, 
 and sprung up in her bed; but as soon as 
 she saw her, she sunk down again and hid 
 her face in the bed-clothes. 
 
 " Nay, Jane, look up I I came not to 
 
 upbraid
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 241 
 
 upbraid you ; — ^I come as a friend, not a 
 reprover.'* And Lady Jane received her in 
 her arms. — " Well, Anne ! my good an- 
 gel ! will you, will you — save me ? '* 
 
 " No ; — for you are already saved. — 
 I have this moment paid Lord Lorimer.** 
 Lady Jane could not speak — and 
 aoitation soon forced her to lie down 
 again. But such power had Lady Jane's 
 mind over her body, that now her debt 
 to Lord Lorimer was discharged, and 
 Lady Anne had not reproached her, her 
 health returned, and she was able to join 
 Percy and Lady Anne zi dinner in her 
 own dressing-room.— Percy was delighted 
 to see Lady Anne, but very sorry that 
 she did not bring Harry with her. — " I 
 will tell you what, Percy," said Lady 
 Jane, '^ though I would not have sent for 
 I^dy Anne to be wiih me during my ap- 
 proaching confinement — now she is here, 
 I cannot part with her again j and I am 
 
 Yox*. I, M sure
 
 242 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 sure she cannot, will not, dare not refuse 
 to stay. Therefore, let Barnes come up 
 directly with Harry, and our cousin Ty- 
 rawleys remain to take care of Green 
 Rock." 
 
 Lady Anne did indeed not dare to 
 refuse; for she well knew, if Lady Jane's 
 confinement should be fatal, that she 
 should not forgive herself for having de- 
 nied her. Accordingly Barnes and Harry 
 were sent for, and arrived in three days 
 after in Piccadilly. 
 
 Thus then was Lady Anne obliged, 
 though very reluctantly, to take up 
 her residence once more in London. 
 Still she could not but own to herself, 
 that the society which Lady Jane assem- 
 bled at her house at least two or three 
 times in a week, for the purpose of 
 conversation, was productive of the highest 
 species of intellectual entertainment. Men 
 of talents, whether of rank or otherwise^ 
 
 graced
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 24-3 
 
 graced the parties of Lady Jane, and called 
 forth in their elegant and lively hostess 
 the colloquial excellence which peculiarly 
 distinguished her; while Lady Anne, gra- 
 tified in listening to these sallies in which 
 she thought herself not qualified to join, 
 sat in unmoved though intelligent si- 
 lence ; and while Lady Jane, light, splen- 
 did and changeable, sparkling like the drop 
 lustre that hung over her head, diffused 
 around her an ever-varying radiance, — 
 Lady Anne resembled more a tall and 
 stately candelabre, diffusmg a steady and 
 unvaried light, and keeping one fixed 
 though ever-graceful position. 
 
 But the great ornament, the great 
 charm, of these intellectual evenings was 
 Percy himself. The ready playfulness of 
 his fancy ; the graceful manner in which 
 he narrated, and the mild yet convincing 
 way in which he argued, made him at 
 once the delight of his guests, and the 
 M 2 pride
 
 ^44 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANEi 
 
 pride and pleasure of his wife and of Lady 
 Anne. But the latter suppressed, as if it 
 were a criminal indulgence, the pleasure 
 which she took in his conversation on 
 these occasions, and suppressed it the 
 iinore, because she suspected that Percy 
 had a secret satisfaction in shining before 
 her; — a suspicion which only too soon 
 was excited also in the breast of Lady 
 Jane. The latter was therefore very 
 glad when, all remains of indisposition 
 being vanished, she was able to mix 
 generally in the world again, and to 
 have an excuse for discontinuing those 
 meetings at her own house, which 
 could not fail to throw Percy more into 
 the presence of Lady Anne than her 
 jealous feelings could support with calm- 
 ness. For it was indeed only too true 
 that Percy felt his own home quite a new 
 abode to him^ since Lady Anne returned 
 to it; and several times he caught himself 
 
 calling
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY }.A>^£. 245 
 
 calling her " Anne," as he used to do in 
 
 his boyish days; but correcting himself, he 
 
 said "Lady Anne" the next moment. — 
 
 Still, he couJd not bear the formality of 
 
 that title, and therefore substituted " My 
 
 dear cousin," or "Coz/' for both. And 
 
 Lady Jane, having easily discovered the 
 
 reason of this change of appellation, in the 
 
 new feeling which Percy, unconsciously 
 
 perhaps, indulged towards Lady Anne, 
 
 became even more wretched than she had 
 
 been before. — Still, she felt that she had 
 deserved this misery ; for was it not the 
 
 contrast of her errors with Lady Anne's 
 virtues, which had excited in the mind of 
 Percy the feelings which distressed her ? 
 This conscious uneasiness had however 
 power to make her reflect more than she 
 had usually done ; and in one of these re- 
 flecting humours the following dialogue 
 took place between her and her cousin: — 
 '' It is impossible, Anne,*' said she, " to 
 
 account
 
 £46 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE* 
 
 account satisfactorily for the great differ- 
 ence which exists between you, and me, 
 though in our age and our rank in life we 
 are so equal, and in blood so very near to 
 each other ; and this difference was, I 
 know, discernible even In our childhood.'* 
 
 ** It fills me with no wonder, Jane,*' re- 
 plied Lady Anne, " for the varieties in 
 character are as many as in faces. I once 
 heard a great artist say, that no head or 
 face had its duplicate, properly speaking, 
 and I believe that the same thing may be 
 said of every mind.'* 
 
 " But, admitting that truth," replied 
 Lady Jane, '•' and admitting also the 
 forming power of circumstances, how 
 comes it that the same apparent circum- 
 stances operated so differently on you and 
 on me ? 
 
 " I, like you, was born a girl, when my 
 parents wanted a boy to inherit the titles 
 and entailed estates^ and were naturally 
 
 enough
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 247 
 
 enough disappointed, as they had no 
 other children, at the certainty that the 
 said titles and estates would go to a 
 cousin v/hoQi neither your parents nor 
 mine cared for, and whom they scarcely 
 knew." 
 
 " You should however add, Jane, that 
 both you and I were as fondly beloved as if 
 we had been of that sex which would have 
 gratified their ambition as well as their 
 Icve." 
 
 " True : — and that adds to the list of 
 operating circumstances in which we re- 
 semble each other. But to go on— I 
 was born an heiress, however, though not 
 an heir, and my father's personal and my 
 mother's entailed property were my ever 
 destined portion ; while your mother's 
 immense possessions were to descend to 
 you, and you therefore were always a pre- 
 destinate great heiress. Yet, there never 
 was a time when I was not extrava-j^ant 
 
 and
 
 il4S LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE^.: 
 
 znd you prudent, though I was not born, 
 and knew I was not, to above a sixth part 
 of your fortune; and I always used to 
 hear you called my rick cousin/ — And 
 I wonder how this could be — and.,.,. 
 You smile?" : 
 
 " Yes. I smile to see that you 
 wonder, -and imagine probably a remote 
 cause for this difference in our daily ha- 
 bits, when a proximate and very obvious 
 one would satisfactorily account for it." 
 : "Well, explain." 
 
 " My dear Jane, our mothers and 
 our fathers were as different ia their ha^ 
 bits as you and I are ; and I have always 
 felt my affectionate pity for your errors 
 increased by the consciousness that I owe-, 
 probably to your mother's warning exam- < 
 pie, that system of education which has 
 preserved me from those rocks which have 
 wrecked you ^ my own conscious safety 
 made me feel the more for your danger." • , 
 
 "Was
 
 L*ADV A>lN£ AND LADY JANE; 2^i^ 
 
 '* Was my mother so notoriously ex> 
 ti-avagant ? " 
 
 " Her sister, my beloved mother, 
 thought her so ;. and though her fortune 
 was not by any means equal to my mo- 
 ther's, who had been treated as an elder 
 soTty she always exceeded her in her ex- 
 penses as much as you have exceeded 
 me ; and conscious that the different sort 
 of education which they had received had 
 occasioned this difference of character, as 
 
 the Marchioness of D was brought 
 
 up by a sensible well-principled aunt, and 
 the Countess of L by a weak mo- 
 ther of great laxity of principle, my - be- - 
 loved parent, assisted by the strong intel- 
 lect and rigid integrity of her husband, 
 endeavoured to guard me by early habits 
 of right conduct from the errors of her. 
 sister ; — errors which would, she saw, 
 become the portion of her sister's off- 
 spring.*' 
 
 M 5 " Well.
 
 250 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 "Well. But how did your parents, 
 however able, guaranty you from the dan- 
 gers to which 1 was exposed ; namely, that 
 of being told by servants, and governesses, 
 that I was an heiress, and ought to have 
 all I wished ; and that money, — what was 
 money to me ? that I might eat gold if I 
 liked?" 
 
 *• In the first place, I never had a go- 
 verness, and my mother, as I was an only 
 child, kept me almost always in her 
 sight ) therefore I was very little with ser- 
 vants; and ideas of the true duties and 
 rights of heiresses were instilled into me 
 too deeply by my parents, to make me in. 
 any danger of being misled by the false 
 ideas which servants might attempt to give 
 me. — But our servants, from interested 
 motives, and also from respect to their 
 lord and lady, did what other dependents 
 in similar circumstances would do, they 
 chimed in with the plans of Lord and Lady 
 
 D— ;
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 251 
 
 D ; and I do not remember that any 
 
 servant ever offered to tempt me to an 
 action which principle, or my parents, 
 disowned. I use them as synonymous- 
 terms,*' added Lady Anne, with a glow 
 of filial pride on her cheek, and a tear of 
 filial regret in her eye ; "for the dictates 
 of my parents were, I well know, those 
 only of reason and of virtue." 
 
 '* I should like some of this chemical 
 process of theirs, w^hich produced pure 
 gold, while iny poor papa and mamma 
 produced gold full of alloy ; for I must 
 say, Anne, I think I have some gold about 
 me, and I believe I am as generous in a 
 pecuniary point of view as you are." 
 
 " In every thing," replied Lady Anne 
 modestly, ^' you would have been my 
 equal, if not superior, doubt it not, if you 
 had had my advantages." 
 
 " Wl-11, thank ye, Lady Anne ! it is 
 
 so
 
 352 LADT ANNE AND L A15Y' J AJTJKi j 
 
 SO pleasant to be able to lay the burthenb 
 of one's sins on another s shoulders ! " nl 
 " What! on those of a parent,. Lady/1 
 Jane ? O fy I" -- : ?t^n^ 
 . *' Aye, very true. And Fll say O fyib 
 also, if you will not look so,, . ,^,baB 
 But, dear Anne, I remember how my 
 poor mother laughed, when she came', 
 home from a visit to yours in the country/'- 
 and saw you looking so demure, and so 
 contented in a shabby cloak and hat ; and^ 
 when she asked why you were allowed iod 
 wear a dress so unworthy a great heiress, 
 the Marchioness answered, that it was be- 
 cause you had voluntarily offered to go 
 without a new cloak and hat, that the 
 money they would cost might be expended 
 on a poor family which you had discover- 
 ed in the neighbourhood. — ' What non- 
 sense!' replied my mother, (Lady L ,) 
 
 ' when you could afford to give Anne 
 
 those
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADrV^JAlTEj 2S3 : 
 
 those new clothes, and money besides 
 for the poor family!'—' I wish 80160011- 
 ly/ ans'.vered the Marchioness, ' to im- 
 press on my daughter's mind, that self- 
 denial is the foundation of every virtue, 
 and that on personal sacrifices is built the 
 most acceptable benevolence to others/ 
 And then/ added my mother, as she re- 
 lated this scene to my father, ' that solemn 
 child Lady Anne looked round at me so 
 self-satisfied, and so conceited, that I could 
 have whipped the little urchin/ " 
 
 '^^nd what effect had this maternal wis- 
 dom on you?" asked Lady Anne smiling. 
 
 *' What it might have had, I do not 
 know," said Lady Jane, *' for my father 
 replied, ' You had better stay at home 
 and whip your own urchin, Hoi tensia ; 
 for I suspect she deserves it rather more 
 than this good little Anne ; for, if she did 
 look conceited. It was the conceit of vir- 
 tue/^' But what right has a child to 
 
 look,
 
 254 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 look, or be, conceited at all?'— 'Ask 
 your daughter Jane, ma'am, whenever 
 you dress her in a new bonnet, and cry 
 out, How lovt^ly she looks! Come hither, 
 my beautiful child, and kiss me.' My 
 mother bit her iij), but did not reply: 
 and the pleasure which I felt at hearing 
 my mother laugh at you, of whom I was 
 always jealous, was damped entirely by 
 my father's defence of you; and I even 
 learnt to think that / should like to earn 
 what my father called the conceit of 
 virtue." 
 
 '' Your father, at least, seems to have 
 had wise ideas as a parent ? " 
 
 '^ Yes. But he was too volatile to 
 think long, and too indolent to act on his 
 own wise precepts. The light he shed 
 on my path was only that of lightning, 
 bright and transient, and more formed 
 by its sudden fiash, and as sudden ex- 
 tinction, to mislead than direct me." 
 
 " What
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 255 
 
 " What a pity ! for he had mind 
 enough to appreciate the conduct which 
 your mother ridiculed ; and believe me, 
 Jane, that to a succession of personal sa- 
 crifices like these, I owe that indifference 
 to dress, and consequently that want of 
 temptation to extravagance in it, which, 
 though I may have carried it too far, has 
 preserved me from many of the miseries 
 which you have endured. But Lady L — 
 only witnessed one instance in which, in 
 principle, my mother founded my edu- 
 cation on an annihilation of selfishness. — 
 From childhood I was taught to share 
 every thing that was given me with others, 
 and to consider myself last. That eager- 
 ness, that greediness to be first and 
 best served, which disgusts one every day 
 in children, was never conquered in me, 
 because it was never suffered to gain 
 ground, — and all my habits were those of 
 regard to the accommodation of others 
 
 before
 
 2^56 LXW'Ali>i^ Ai^b LADY JANL% 
 
 before that of my own. Less acute otP^ 
 servers than my revered parents wet^^'l 
 would laugh at these plans, and fancy 
 them triflmg and unnecessary; but de-^^ 
 pend on it that the moralists of all age^'^ 
 have not only considered man as a bundlif'4 
 of habits, but the human character as^ 
 made up of almost as many imperceptible*' 
 particles, of which habits are the chidF'" 
 ingredient, as those which compose a 
 mosaic pavement — and it is on the purity; ^*- 
 the brilliancy, and the strength of those 
 component parts that the value of a cha- 
 racter or the beauty of a pavement de-" 
 pends/* 
 
 " Very true, Anne. But still thie 
 question is not decided to my satisfaction, 
 why I was so different from you, from: 
 earliest childhood. Lavish I always was; ' 
 and though I was always ready to give 
 to others, I was equally fond of giving 
 to myself. — I should have been a princess 
 
 certainly.
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY, JANE. 257,, 
 
 certainly, for where others gave ten . 
 pounds I always gave fifty." 
 
 *' Then I hope you would have been a 
 princess without a principality, else your 
 subjects would have been greatly to be 
 pitied ; for, unless ceconomy be the basis 
 of even a prince's virtues and charities, he 
 will in time be as poor as the meanest of 
 his subjects.** 
 
 ** Aye — but ceconomy was never a word 
 in ray vocabulary, nor in that of any one 
 belonging to me; and when I read of Cleo- 
 patra*s dissolving a most precious pearl 
 and drinking it off, I always admired her 
 spirit, and wished I could do the same." 
 
 "That is exaggeration, Lady Jane: 
 but still a weaker and uncorrected feeling 
 of that sort has been the cause of your 
 errors ; — but I fear that these results of a 
 bad education cannot now be gotten rid 
 of, and all we can do is to endeavour to 
 
 caib
 
 258 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 curb the propensities which we cannot 
 wholly remove." 
 
 " Heigho ! " cried Lady Jane, " I fear 
 what you say is just. But don't you think, 
 Lady Anne, the safest way would be to 
 put me, not into a house of absolute lu- 
 natics, but in a receptacle for those who 
 are only half and-half ?" 
 
 " But there is no such place." 
 " Very true, Anne, and I fear that 
 there never can be ; for the demand for 
 such houses, if once begun, w^ould be so 
 great, that there would never be found 
 hands enough to build, nor ground enough 
 to build upon. But a truce with reflec- 
 tion and satire, and let me dress for the 
 opera. Yet, no — I have a confession to 
 make," she added, her beautiful eyes 
 suddenly filling with tears, " which has 
 long weighed on my mind. The forget- 
 fuiness of selj\ which was taught you in 
 
 childhood-
 
 LADY ANKE AND LADY JANE. 259 
 
 childhood, has distinguished you in every 
 action of your riper years — and that con- 
 sideration of self which was taught me 
 in childhood, has shown itself, in many 
 serious instances, in mv matured hfe." 
 
 *' Well, Jane — but this is no new con- 
 fession." 
 
 " No : — but have patience. — Alas ! 
 dear, unsuspicious Anne, no sooner did 
 I see that Percy preferred you, than my 
 jealousy of you took fire, and though I 
 did not love Percy, I could not bear that 
 he should love you better than me. The 
 consequence was, that I left no art un- 
 tried, when he returned from abroad, to 
 convince him that I was deeply impressed 
 in his favour; and as I felt no r.al ten- 
 derness, it was easy for me to affect it in 
 my manner ; while you^ too conscious to 
 dare to let your real feelings be known, 
 wrapt yourself up in coldness and reserve, 
 till the poor youth, fancving you almost 
 
 disliked
 
 260 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANB^ 
 
 disliked him, sought refuge i>n my invitiri^ 
 smiles and obvious partiality.'* 
 
 "Why do you tell me this?" ex 
 
 w 
 
 •^- 
 
 claimed Lady Anne much agitated — '* it 
 can do me no good.*' 
 
 " No — but it relieves my mind : — ^and 
 Oh ! Anne, grudge me not this relief, 
 for a severe retributive justice has over- 
 taken me ; and the heart of Percy, whom 
 I now love as he ought to be loved, is at 
 length estranged from me by my faults, 
 and attracted towards you by those virtues 
 which, but for my base selfishness, would 
 have rendered him happy." So saying 
 she rushed out of the room, leaving Lady 
 Anne resolved that she would return to 
 Green Rock as soon as ever she could. 
 
 But the jealous pangs of Lady Jane 
 were soon lost in others of a more terri- 
 ble, though not so bitter and corrosive a 
 nature. 
 
 Who can say where the consequence^ 
 
 of
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 2G1 
 
 of a wrong action will end? A criminal 
 or an erroneous act is like an arrow 
 winged out of sight — no one knows 
 whither it is gone, nor whom it may 
 wound. It was impossible for a Lord 
 ^Lorimer not to boast of having had a 
 visit from Lady Anne Mortimer, of whom 
 he now chose to profess himself deeply 
 enamoured. 
 
 " A visit, and alone!" 
 
 *' Yes, that is to say, attended only by 
 Jier servants." 
 
 L " You are a happy fellow ! I did not 
 even know she was in town." 
 
 *' Very likely not : mine was the first 
 house she drove to." 
 
 'Vl can't believe it," said one. — ^^ Fins 
 is one of your boa>ts," said aiiother. — 
 However, at last, one gentleman who 
 heard it, and who hated Lord L'irimer, 
 thought proper to tell Percy what he had 
 heard. Percy immediately exclaimed, 
 
 "It
 
 262 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 " It must be false — Lady Anne Mortimer 
 Gould never degrade herself so much, nor 
 violate decorum so grossly.'* 
 
 " But I heard Lord Lorimer assert it ; 
 and whether true or false, his prating 
 ought to be put a stop to.'* 
 
 " What can I do ? — Stay — I will write 
 him a note, asking him whether he did 
 say so and so." 
 
 " Do so." 
 
 And Percy, having dispatched his note, 
 received the following answer : — 
 
 *' Dear Sir, 
 
 " I certainly did say that I had the 
 *' honour of a visit from Lady Anne INIor- 
 " timer as soon as she arrived in town, and 
 " attended by servants only ; for in so 
 *' saying I told the truth. 
 
 " Yours, &c. 
 
 " Lorimer." 
 
 "Amazement!" cried Percy, more 
 
 hurt 
 
 A
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 26S 
 
 hurt and more alarmed than he wished 
 to appear ; for this was no boast ; he was 
 afraid it was some business of Lady Jane's, 
 some wish to serve her, that could alone 
 have led her to such a deed ; and telling 
 his friend Colonel Rothrie that he would 
 be back very soon, he went to interrogate 
 Lady Anne herself. Luckily he found 
 her alone. And after some vague, em- 
 barrassed conversation, he said, " Oh ! a- 
 propos, — a gentleman toicl me, what I 
 could not believe, that you had paid a vi- 
 sit to that coxcomb Lord Lorimer, and 
 attended only by servants." 
 
 " And did the gentleman believe it?" 
 said Lady Anne, struggling to appear 
 calm. 
 
 " O no ! — it has been much talked of, 
 but nobody believed it." 
 
 " I thought so," said Lady Anne 
 proudly. " I knew the world was gene- 
 rally just, and that it would not be ready 
 
 to
 
 264 IiAD¥ ANNE vA.ND liADT JANE. 
 
 to believe a tale to the prejudice of Lady 
 Anne Mortimer!" 
 
 " Then it is not true — and you did not 
 call at Lord Lorimer's ? '* 
 
 " I did not say so," replied Lady Anne 
 turning pule*. 
 
 " O heaven ! " cried Percy, turning 
 pale also, " then you did call on him ! 
 and I am sure that nothing but the neces- 
 sity of doing some great kindness to my 
 unhappy wife could have led you to do so 
 strange a thing.'* 
 
 " I had Vir. Moreton, a very respecta- 
 ble man, with me the whole time, or ra- 
 ther in sight : therefore, though he is my 
 servant in one sense, he is a gentleman, 
 and my Lord Lorimer tells a falsehood in 
 saying I w as attended only by servants.'* 
 
 " You evade answering my question,- — 
 Why did you go to Lord Lorimer's?** 
 
 " Mr. Percy," replied Lady Anne, ** I 
 am not accountable to you for my actions, 
 
 nor
 
 I.ADY AKNE AND LADY JANE. 265 
 
 nor will I answer a question which I deny 
 your right to ask.'* 
 
 " It is very well — very well," replied 
 Percy, " I shall know in time ;'* and 
 rushing out of the room, he hastened into 
 the street, and rejoined Colonel Rothrie. 
 
 '' 'lis indeed true," said he, " Lady 
 .i4j,Anne owns it. — What shall I now do ? — 
 
 - ;He is a scoundrel for mentioning her visit, 
 r-.iand I suspect I have more reasons than 
 
 - fine. for calling him to account." 
 
 " You have heard the other report 
 4*4hen?" 
 
 « No:— What is it?" 
 
 " That Lady Jane has lost a large sum 
 
 to him, and that the gentleman does not 
 
 wish to be paid either in gold or notes:— 
 
 but I dare say it is only talk." 
 
 ^-^ . Percy struck his forehead as if in 
 
 ♦^ony, and, having called for pen, ink, 
 
 * -and paper, im r.ediately wrote to demand 
 
 of Lord Lorimer on what pretence Lady 
 
 VOL. I, N Anne
 
 266 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE* 
 
 Anne called on him. The answer waa 
 this : — 
 
 " I have not told nor will I tell 
 *' the reason which induced Lady Anne 
 *' Mortimer to honour me with a visit. 
 "I cannot do it. as a man of honour. 
 
 " LORIMER." 
 
 This letter provoked a reply from 
 Percy, in which he asked Lord Lorimer 
 if it was acting like a man of honour^ to 
 boast that he had received a visit from 
 Lady Anne Mortimer attended only by 
 her servants ; when the fact was, that 
 she was accompanied by a respectable 
 gentleman who alighted with her. — 
 "When once an angry correspondence 
 takes place between men of the world, 
 the consequences are usually obvious and 
 unavoiv'able ; and in a short time a chal- 
 lenge was given and accepted, and the 
 
 time 
 
 J
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 267 
 
 time and place of meeting appointed. 
 But it was not without many " com- 
 punctious visitings of conscience" that 
 Percy complied with what he considered 
 as the indisput?-ble commands of worldly 
 honour, and prepared to risk the valuable 
 life of a husband and a father, against 
 the weapon of a thoughtless profligate, 
 one who might have said in the words 
 of Orlando, «' If killed, I shall do my 
 friends no wrong, for I have none to 
 lament me ; — only in the world I fill up a 
 place, which may be better supplied when 
 I have made it empty."— Besides, he 
 found it impossible to conceal from him- 
 self that his resentment against Lord 
 Lorimer was occasioned more by a feel- 
 ing of jealousy of Lady Anne^ than of 
 Lady Jane ; — and that his thirst of venge- 
 ance was excited not so much by Lord 
 Lorimer's reported designs on his wife, 
 as by his now avowed admiration of her 
 N 3 admirable
 
 268 LADY ANNE AND LADY JAN£. 
 
 admirable cousin, " I will not return 
 home this evening, till I am sure my 
 children are in bed," said Percy to him- 
 self, as he leaned in mournful thought 
 on a table in the coffee-house whence 
 he had dispatched the fatal notes to Lord 
 Lorimer ; " for, if I were to see them 
 again with the consciousness that I saw 
 them possibly for the last time, my 
 agitation would certainly betray me. — No] 
 nor will I return till I think Jane and 
 Lady Anne a^e both retired for the 
 night " — And he kept his resolution, — 
 but in vain ; for he found Lady Anne 
 "reading in the drawing room, and when 
 he saw her he started with the con- 
 scious confusion of guilt : while Lady 
 Anne, aware that something was the 
 matter with him, regarded hun with looks 
 of anxious inquiry. 
 
 " How is Jaiie," said he, " my dear 
 
 cousin?" 
 
 Very
 
 l.ADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 269 
 
 " Very unwell, and gone to bed/* 
 " Indeed ! " he replied. " Then I shall 
 continue to sleep where I have done since 
 her illness, lest I disturb her." And so far 
 her illness was convenient. Soon after, 
 catching Lady Anne's eyes fixed upon 
 him, he started up, unable to bear their 
 expression, and ran out of the room. He 
 then went softly into Lady Jane's apart- 
 ment ; and as she was in a sound sleep, 
 he gazed on her some minutes, wishing 
 but not daring to imprint a kiss on her 
 flushed and fevered cheek; till, fearful of 
 being surprised while thus indulging his 
 feelings, he suddenly left the room, and 
 shut himself up in his own apartment, 
 whence he returned no more that night. 
 Therefore Lady Anne, whose fears were 
 dreadfully excited, had no means of as- 
 certaining whether they were just or not, 
 and she went <q bed in a state of great 
 agitation. 
 
 Alarming
 
 270 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 Alarming thoughts kept Lady Anne 
 awake all night, and she had not closed her 
 eyes, when, being alive to every noise, she 
 heard some one go sofily down stairs at 
 six o'clock in the morning, open the hall- 
 door, and go out. She instantly ran to 
 the uindow, and saw Percy and ( 'olonel 
 Rothrie walk to a hackney-coach which 
 waited at a little distance, and which drove 
 ofF with them very rapidly. — '' Then all 
 my fears are realized, and he is gone to 
 meet Lord Lorimer!'* she exclaimedj 
 beginning to dress herself with almost 
 frantic haste, though when dressed she 
 knew not how to act, nor how to pre- 
 vent the meeting which she feared. — 
 '' But why should I thus torment my- 
 self with apprehensions that may be 
 groundless?" thought Lady Anne: " Percy 
 may be gone out as second only to Co- 
 lonel Rothrie!" But when she recol- 
 lected his question concerning her visit to 
 
 Lord
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 271 
 
 Lord Lorimer, and hi* evident dejection 
 of the preceding evening, she felt that 
 her alarm was only too well-founded, and 
 she threw herself on her bed in an agony 
 of grief. The next moment she started 
 up, resolved to hasten to the Park, for 
 she recollected to have heard that duels 
 were usually fought there. But she 
 immediately gave up this v;ild idea, 
 remembering how improper, and how 
 fatal to the reputation of a man, is female 
 interference on such occasions ; and sum- 
 moning all her self-command, she deter- 
 mined on the fortitude of remaining per- 
 fectly quiet and inactive; that difficult task 
 when the mind is anxious and agitated, 
 but which, generally speaking, is the most 
 frequent and becoming duty of woman. 
 Still, however, when the clock struck 
 seven. Lady Anne could remain inactive 
 no longer; but throwing her veil over her 
 head she ran down stairs; and telling the 
 
 porter
 
 272 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 porter she was g''-'^^^ to take a turn in 
 the Park, she hastened thither in a state, 
 of almost frantic anxiety, and turned] 
 down the path that led towards the Ser- 
 pentine River. Suddenly her haste was 
 impeded, and even her breath suspended, 
 for she heard the sound of pistols; and in 
 a terror that nearly deprived her of sense, 
 she clung to the railing near her for sup- 
 port, unable to proceed, yet equally in- 
 capable of remaining where she was. At 
 length, however, she made a violent ef- 
 fort, and ran rapidly towards the spot 
 whence the sound had proceeded. But 
 long before she was near enough to be 
 recognised herself by any one on the 
 banks of the water, she saw a gentleman 
 advancing, whom she instantly knew to 
 be Percy, and evidently in perfect safety 1 
 It was enough 1 and uttering " Thank 
 God ! he lives ! he is safe!'' Lady Anne, 
 ashamed of her emotion, and afraid of 
 
 being
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE» 273 
 
 being seen and known, turned back, and 
 endeavoured to leave the Park as rapidly 
 as she entered it. But this was impossible i 
 tears, amounting to sobs, impeded her 
 power of motion, and she was forced to 
 lean against the same rail for support 
 under the agonies of joy, which she had 
 so lately leaned against in all the misery 
 of apprehension. But while she did so^ 
 she turned round again, in order to make 
 '^ assurance doubly sure" that Percy was 
 unhurt; and then she plainly saw Lord 
 Lorimer, supported by two gentlemen, 
 evidently wounded, though able to w^alk, 
 while Percy and Colonel Rothrie were 
 walking by his side. Lady Anne had 
 seen enough to quiet her alarms entirely, 
 for Percy was not only safe himself, but 
 apparently he had not endangered the ex- 
 istence of another ; and invigorated by this 
 consciousness she pressed rapidly forward, 
 nor did she stop again till she reached 
 N 5 home.
 
 274 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 home. But, alas! when she re-entered 
 the house, such tidings awaited her, as 
 banished from her mind even the sense of 
 joy excited there by the safety of Percy. 
 By a most unfortunate coincidence, a 
 favourite little dog of Lady Jane's had 
 that morning followed some one into 
 the street, and was brought home worried 
 to death, just as one of the house- maids, 
 who had seen her master go out and drive 
 off in a hackney coach, was conferring 
 with Ellis on this subject at the door of 
 Lady Jane's apartment. It so happened 
 that this woman had lived in a family, 
 the master of which, while she was ser- 
 vant there, had been brought home 
 killed in a duel; and having observed 
 Lady Anne's alarmed and mournful ex-, 
 pression, when she passed her on the 
 stairs in her way to the Park, she had 
 little difficulty in persuading herself that 
 Percy was gone to fight a duel, and that 
 
 Lady
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 275 
 
 Lady Anne knew and suspected his in- 
 tentions ; and she was communicating 
 her fears to Ellis, when a bustle in the 
 hall made her break off, and run to- 
 wards the gallery leading to the stairs. 
 The noise proceeded from the servants, 
 who were gathered round the body of 
 the poor little dog, which was just now 
 brought home by a neighbour, and the 
 house-maid reached the gallery just as 
 one of the servants exclaimed, " Yes ! 
 he is killed I quite killed ! What will my 
 poor Lady say?'* — This was enough for 
 the house-maid, whose fears for her 
 master were already excited; and hasten^ 
 ing back to Ellis, who was just going 
 into Lady Jane's room to answer her bell 
 which had that moment rung, she ex- 
 claimed, *' I was right, he is killed ! my 
 poor master! he is killed! my poor 
 master ! '' 
 
 As
 
 276 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 As her door was open. Lady Jane 
 distinctly heard these words; and spring- 
 ing out of bed, she saw by the coun- 
 tenances of her two servants that her ears 
 had not deceived her. The whole truth 
 immediately rushed on her maddening 
 brain Percy on her account had chal- 
 lenged Lord Lorimer, and she had been 
 the means of destroying her husband ! ! ! 
 She fainted, tottered, fell ; and in a few 
 hours, amidst dreadful convulsions and 
 In a state of utter unconsciousness, she 
 gave birth to a dead child, and her life was 
 despaired of. 
 
 Her danger and her sufferings called 
 back all Percy's tenderness towards her, 
 though his esteem was he feared irrecover- 
 able; and when he considered that her life 
 would in all probability fall a sacrifice to 
 her affection for him, and agony for his 
 supposed deaths he scarcely knew how to 
 
 endure
 
 LADY AN^^NE AND LADY JANE. 2YY 
 
 endure the contrariety of his feeling?, — and 
 he was never easy except when hanging 
 over her pillow, and lavishing on the un- 
 conscious sufferer fond but mournful ca- 
 resses. From that restless pillow, from 
 that unconscious sufferer, Lady Anne ne- 
 ver never stirred. The cause of her suf- 
 ferings, and her danger, endeared her to 
 her heart still more. — Percy's presence, 
 Percy's influence were no longer felt or 
 dreaded by her ; her thoughts, her looks 
 were fixed on one darling object alone, 
 whose errors, serious as they were, were for- 
 gotten, while only her charms and her vir- 
 tues lived in her remembrance ; and Lady 
 Anne, still herself in every situation, now 
 shone in the new character of an af- 
 fectionate and untired nurse. At length 
 her anxiety was repaid by the recovery, 
 the rapid recovery, of the object of it : 
 for in one month after her life had been 
 despaired of, Lady Jane, though still very 
 
 weak,
 
 278 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 weak, was able to be In her drawing-room. 
 When she was thus far advanced towards 
 convalescence, Percy begged Lady Anne 
 to inform her of the duel, and its cause, 
 in hopes that a consciousness of the dan- 
 ger in which her errors had involved her 
 husband, would have a salutary effect on 
 her conduct in future. 
 
 This was the first time that the subject 
 of the duel had ever been mentioned, and 
 Lady Anne took that opportunity of 
 asking Percy whether the dispute with 
 Lord Lorimer was not chiefly on her ac- 
 count ; and on Percy's answering in the 
 affirmative, she replied, *' I needed no 
 champion, Mr. Percy. I am myself 
 the guardian of my honour ! and strong 
 in an ' umblemished life, I can defy the 
 calumnies of any one. — Surely, surely, 
 then,'* she added, with more tenderness 
 of voice and manner, " you will not think 
 it necessary, when Lord Lorimer recovers, 
 
 to
 
 LADY ANNE AND LATT'T JANE. 279 
 
 to risk again so needlessly a life so pre- 
 cious r " 
 
 But to this direct question Percy gave 
 an evasive answer, and all Lady Anne's 
 fears were again excited In consequence 
 of which, she wrote a letter to Lord Lo- 
 rimer unknown to Percy, which, much 
 to his honour, induced him to write such 
 an apology to Lady Anne for having 
 boasted of her visit, and such a note to 
 Percy as would have precluded any neces- 
 sity for even a professed duellist to call 
 him out again ; and it was judged expe- 
 dient, both by Percy and Lady Anne, 
 that, in order to prevent unpleasant re- 
 ports and surmises, Lord Lorimer should 
 be received at the house as usual, as an 
 occasional guest. 
 
 Lady Anne, when all was thus amicably 
 settled, disclosed the whole affair to Lady 
 Jane; but she had the mortification of 
 seeing, that though her cousin s agonies 
 
 at
 
 280 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 at the recital nearly amounted to phrensy, 
 no hope, or expectation, seemed av/akened 
 in her mind of being able to conduct her- 
 self so as to avoid similar errors in future; 
 for, too honest to feign the hope she felt 
 not. Lady Jane never once said ••' I will 
 reform, I will profit by my past bitter, 
 experience." ''^^ 
 
 One day as Percy and Lady Anne ' 
 were sitting with the children, Lady Jane 
 returned from her morning's drive, and*-' 
 entered the room with a very grave coun- 
 tenance : then, sending the little boys 
 away, she said she wished to talk with 
 Percy on business of importance. 
 
 *' I come," said she, " from my uncle 
 the minister, from my cousin ditto, and 
 my uncle the bishop, on a deputation to 
 you^ Percy." 
 
 *' Indeed ! — Well ; open your creden- 
 tials." 
 
 *' My relations well know all the kind- 
 ness 
 
 i
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 28 i 
 
 ness you have ever shown me; for, in 
 order to set you off in your true light, 
 believe me I have never spared myself." 
 
 " That I believe indeed," said Percy, 
 pressing her hand. — " That we are sure 
 of/' said La-:!y Anne kindly. 
 
 " Therefore, they feel themselves 
 bound in gratitude to do something, if 
 they CAN, to mend the fortune I have 
 tried to mar ; and thus then they speak 
 through me. They know you wish for the 
 Albany peerage, though you shrink from 
 the trouble of suing for it. It shall be 
 yours without suing for it, — yours by 
 creation, — and they offer you your choice 
 of the places now vacant by certain high 
 resignations ; or the embassy, now to dis- 
 pose of also, to the Ottoman Porte; 
 which if you accept, as I earnestly hope 
 you will, I shall have an opportunity of 
 shining forth another Lady Mary Wortley 
 Montague in ' letters addressed to the Lady 
 
 A
 
 262 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 A M / These are offers made 
 
 warm from the heart ; for most eagerly do 
 ministers, whether miy relations or not, 
 wish to be joined by a man of your ta- 
 lents and weight in the House." 
 
 " No doubt," said Lady Anne. But 
 Percy was slow to reply : at last he said, 
 *'You well know, Jane, that I honour 
 both the talents and integrity of your rela- 
 tions, as men : but as 1 have the misfor- 
 tune to differ with them on two or three 
 essential points; I must, however my pride, 
 my ambition, and my wants may urge 
 me to accept their offers, most unequi- 
 vocally, though alas most unwillingly^ 
 reject them." 
 
 " Oh! how I rejoice!" cried Lady 
 Anne. " And I grieve," said Lady Jane, 
 *' for /am no politician,** 
 
 *' Nor I neither, Jane," returned Lady 
 Anne, " and I thinly the term when ap- 
 plied to a woman is a term of rep'*oach. 
 
 But
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 283 
 
 But if I were a wife, I should value my 
 husband's political integrity, were he 
 Whig or Tory, equal with his Hfe, and 
 should wish the one to be resigned only 
 with the other. Therefore, as Percy, 
 without an utter surrender of his political 
 character, cannot accept these offers, I re- 
 joice that he has rejected them ; for it 
 would indeed be a severe blow to me to 
 be forced to forgo the exalted idea of him 
 which I now entertain." 
 * " Thank ye, thank ye, my noble 
 iftinded friend!" cried Percy with great 
 emotion. 
 
 " Aye ! and could you have said no- 
 ble minded wife too," s::id Lady Jane 
 mournfully, " you would not have been 
 in a situation to have felt such offers 
 temptations. Would I had died when 
 I could unconsciously have breathed my 
 last ! Why did you try, why did you 
 wish to save me ? It would have been 
 
 better
 
 284 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 better for us all, if you had let me die." 
 Here she gave way to an agony of di- 
 stress, which gave exquisite pain to the 
 hearts of her auditors. 
 
 " Jane, this must not be. You have no 
 right," said Percy, " to distress us thus." 
 
 '' No right ! Have I no right to feel 
 my own un worthiness — and, feeling, to 
 deplore it?" 
 
 *' Stop ! " said Lady Anne, willing to 
 turn the course of her ideas — " an idea has 
 just struck me : — Is it true^ Percy, that 
 your affairs are in such a state as to make 
 offers of this kind tempting to you ?" 
 
 " They are indeed. My West- India 
 estates have lately yielded little or no- 
 thing, and, and" — " I will fill up the sen- 
 tence," cried Lady Jane, " he has had 
 to pay unexpected sums for me !" — 
 *' Then hear me," replied Lady Jane, 
 *' the best of us may yield in a moment of 
 unexpected weakness to strong temptation. 
 
 As
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 285 
 
 As an Archbishop Cranmer yielded to 
 it, — who can say that he shall always be 
 proof against it ?'* 
 
 " True !" replied Percy sighing: '* and 
 who should therefore presume severely to 
 blame another who has been found frail? '* 
 *' Well, then ; I can v ithout a single pang 
 give up my establishment at Green Rock, 
 and retire into some cheap part of England 
 on one third of my income. The rest I 
 conjure you to appropriate to the gra- 
 dual payment of your debts 5 and pay me 
 when — " 
 
 " Hold !" cried Percy, *'ncr insult us 
 so much as to suppose, if retrenchment 
 be necessary, that it shall not be made 
 by us — not you. No, generous woman ! 
 It is my intention to give up my town- 
 house next year; and, if 1 continue in par- 
 liament, to come to a lodging when my 
 presence is necessary j and this arrange- 
 ment
 
 ^86 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 ment will, I trust, in a year or two set 
 me free entirely." 
 
 " This arrangement ! " cried Lady 
 Jane: "and have you then fixed your 
 plans without consulting me?" 
 
 " May I ask your ladyship,'* said 
 Percy, " if after what has passed you can 
 think you have any right to be consulted ?" 
 
 '* Oh no, no, no — forgive me! I 
 know my own unwcrthiness. So then 
 you prefer this scheme,'' said she recover- 
 ing herself, " to acceptance of the offer 
 I broug:ht you!" 
 
 *^ Most assuredly." 
 
 *' I am glad of it ; as glad as Lady 
 Anne : for if you had accepted it I know 
 I should never have liked you so well 
 again. I remember when I was a child I 
 spent all my little money on a fine dress 
 of my own invention for my doll, de- 
 stroying the one it wore when 1 bought it j 
 
 and
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 2^57 
 
 and I procured so iie gold leaf too to 
 cover its nose and its cht^eks vith ; and 
 ■when I had thus made ' a thing of my 
 own/ I never liked it as well as I did in 
 its original state. And thus, had I made 
 Percy a minister, and smeared him over 
 with the gold leaf wf places and privileges, 
 I should never have liked him so well 
 again, as I ciJ a hen he was the inde- 
 pendent man I first knew him. O my 
 dearest husband ! how glad I am that 
 you have iniegrity, though 1 have nonel" 
 
 " What you have just said, Jane, pr-wes 
 the contrary, and that virtue, though spell- 
 bound, is not dead within you." 
 
 *' But, my dear Anne, if it never 
 breaks the spell, it might as well be dead, 
 you know." Here she burst into a long 
 lau^h, which almost alarmed Percy and 
 her cousin. When ii was over, she said, 
 ** A very charming idea has just struck
 
 288 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 me, my dear Percy, — I want you to sit 
 
 to for a fancy portrait. But no, I 
 
 forgot, you have no picture- money. How- 
 ever, Lady Anne has, and she will be 
 very glad to pay for it ; and the subject 
 shall be Hercules between Pleasure and 
 Virtue — that is yon just now, between 
 Anne and me. Here was I, Pleasure 
 you know, tempting you with places and 
 embassies and all manner of fine things, 
 Turkish beauties, and what not? and 
 there was Anne, with her fine sentiments, 
 and morals, and heroics, bidding you be 
 a good boy, and not listen to naughty 
 
 I am glad to see you can be so 
 merry, Jane,*' said Lady Anne. 
 *' Merry ! '* cried Lady Jane. 
 " Well ; light-hearted, if you will.'* 
 *' Light hearted ! O the weight of such 
 lightness ! 
 
 •liaugh'dj 
 
 women
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 289 
 
 * I laugh* J ; but 'faith I am not light of soul : 
 And he who most Misfortune's scourge has felt, 
 Will tell you, Laughter is the child of Misery*.' 
 
 My mirth is embroidery on a pall ; it is a 
 gay and glittering mantle wrapped round 
 a corpse. O Anne! Is the brilliancy of 
 lightning wholesome? Is the hectic of fe- 
 ver healthy ? Are these faded cheeks, these 
 hollow eyes, signs of mirth and light- heart- 
 edness? Nay, mock me not, my cousin !. . . . 
 But check those tears, Anne : I deserve 
 them not.— Gracious Heaven ! what a 
 contrast 1" (seeing her own face and 
 Lady Anne's together, in the glass.) 
 " Look at that cheek — even, pure, and 
 wholesome as the mind to which it be- 
 longs ; and yet it is an older cheek than 
 mine ! Anne, indeed I am very generous 
 not to hate you." 
 
 " Jane ! I must interfere,'' cried Per- 
 
 ♦ See Miss BaiUie's Plays. 
 VOL. I. o cy :
 
 290 l.ADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 cy : — " you distress your cousin, and me 
 too. My dear love, you are very nervous 
 and irritable to-day, and fanciful ; — I 
 doubt that — *' 
 
 '' Yes, you are right ; I am under the 
 influence of a strong opiate. — Dearest 
 Anne ! compose yourself," she added ; 
 but Lady Anne hastily quitted the room. 
 *' Nor is the contrast in person, greater 
 than in mind," continued Lady Jane. 
 " How strange it is ! The only wish of 
 her pure and innocent heart was dis- 
 appointed, yet she had not recourse to 
 dissipation or vice. She did not fit her- 
 self to exclaim with the poet: — 
 
 * — all this giddy waste of years j — 
 This tiresome round of palling pleasures! 
 
 Hadst thou been mine, had all been hush'd. 
 This cheek, now pale with early riot. 
 
 With passion's hectic ne'er had flush'd. 
 But bloom'd in calm domestic quiet !* 
 
 while
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 291 
 
 while I, happy in every granted wish of 
 mine, / could not exist without taking 
 drams forsooth !'* 
 
 *' Drams?" 
 
 ** Aye, drams :— what is gaming but 
 a mental dram — an alternation of hope 
 and fear, which the disappointed and the 
 wTetched fly to, men and women sated 
 and sick of every thing, in order to give 
 them that artificial interest which their 
 feelings are become incapable of? But I 
 was not disappointed — I was happy : — ^ 
 ' blessed beyond my sex's charter; ' 
 and yet I gamed, and yet I squandered 
 money 1 and yet I wasted the most pre- 
 cious years of life in heartless dissipation! 
 O why did you save me from an un- 
 conscious death ? for, if I am conscious, 
 my death-bed will be a dreadful one." 
 
 "My dear Jane," said Percy, '' this 
 
 distressing agitation is the result of too 
 
 o 2 fiT-qvient
 
 292 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 frequent stimuli and want of sleep ; and 
 I insist on your lying down and trying 
 to compose yourself/' 
 
 " But will you stay with me ? will 
 you watch by me as in our happier 
 days ? " 
 
 " Yes, I will : — I will do my duty, 
 Jane." 
 
 '* Your duty ! O Percy ! your duty 
 was your pleasure once ! *' 
 
 ** And is now, dear, captious, suspi- 
 cious being!" 
 
 *' And you will sit by me ? ** 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then perhaps I may once more 
 sleep quietly." And Percy had soon the 
 satisfaction of seeing her sink into a to- 
 lerably composed slumber. 
 
 Such scenes as the foregoing now fre- 
 quently took place ; and sometimes when 
 Percy and her cousin urged her to retire 
 
 with
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 293 
 
 with them and thechildren to Green Rock, 
 and give up the dissipation into which she 
 was again plunging, she very justly re- 
 plied, " I know and feel the value of these 
 rational and virtuous pleasures, which 
 you hold out to me ; but I have now 
 no power of enjoying them. Rich meats, 
 fine fruits, and choice wines are delicious 
 things ; but, if one has lost one's taste or 
 one's digestion, they are offered to cur 
 lip in vain ; — and so it is with me. My 
 pursuits compared to yours, are as sour 
 small beer to pure Burgundy ! But, if I. 
 can only digest the former, I must 
 persist to refuse the latter. You should 
 have let me die ; and that would have 
 been better for us all : — and yet, and 
 yet ! After death comes judgement, Anne! 
 And how does my account stand ?'* 
 
 Though Lady Anne's rigid principles 
 made her wish to withdraw herself from 
 
 the
 
 294 LADY ANN£ AND LADY JANE. 
 
 the society of Percy, she gave up all Idea 
 of leaving Lady Jane while she continued 
 in her present state of mind, because she 
 did not think it right that Lady Jane 
 should be left to thepainful influence of her 
 own corroding reflections ; nor could she 
 give up all hope of awakening her, in some 
 moment of self-reproach, to strong and 
 effective eflTorts towards amendment : so 
 diflicult is it for affection to relinquish the 
 cheering expectation of reforming its ob- 
 ject, — so prone is it to hope on, till a re- 
 •sistless conviction flashes on the soul, that 
 the reformation, at first improbable per- 
 haps, is now, even to the sanguine eye of 
 love, become impossible. 
 
 Bur in order to explain the events 
 that are soon to follow, I must go back 
 to a fete given a few months before 
 her illness by Lady Jane. I have be- 
 fore said that her taste was unrivalled, 
 
 and
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 2i>J 
 
 and her expenditure to gratify it un- 
 bounded. An inner apartment, in which 
 
 supper was to be served for the , 
 
 was converted into an entire bower of 
 roses — and roses so natural in their ap- 
 pearance, and at a distance even in their 
 fragrance, especially as real ones were 
 mixed with them, that the eye and even 
 the smell were deceived. She had be- 
 spoken these admirable flowers of her 
 great man on such occasions, and he had 
 procured them from a poor man near the 
 Seven Dials, who had been taught to 
 make them by an indigent Italian who 
 had lodged at his house, and died there. 
 This man, whose name was Walters, was 
 the most improper person possible to be 
 employed for a paymaster like Lady Jane, 
 as he always owed his money before he 
 earned it ; not so much from extra- 
 vagance, as from the wish to buy little 
 comforts for his wife, on whom he doted. 
 
 Walters
 
 296 LADY ANNE AND LADY JAN£. 
 
 Walters had seen better days, and his 
 pride had not fallen with his fortunes ; 
 he had a virtuous horror, I may call it, 
 both of a workhouse and a prison ; but 
 he wanted at the same time that virtuous 
 firmness of character which resists running 
 in debt, as the sure precursor of both. As 
 soon therefore as his money for the flowers 
 was due, he dunned Mr. ■ for it; 
 
 and he, knowing Lady Jane would not pay 
 him for years perhaps, refused to advance 
 the smallest sum out of his own pocket, 
 but desired him lo go with his demand to 
 Lady Jane herself, and say he sent him. 
 Lady Jane therefore got the bill, accom- 
 panied by a statement of great poverty ; 
 and she had on this occasion the feeling, 
 and the justice, to go to Percy with the 
 account, which amounted to a consider- 
 able sum, as since the fete he had made 
 for her roses and other flowers. Percy 
 immediately gave her the money ; but 
 
 that
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY'jANE^ 5&? 
 
 that evening she lost it all at the card- 
 table, and the poor wife of Walters was 
 dismissed the next day with promises in- 
 stead of payment. Again and again she 
 came, till Ellis once more presented 
 the account to Lady Jane, who started 
 with conscious baseness when she saw it : 
 nor could she be easy till she told Lady 
 Anne the circumstance, and received mo- 
 ney to discharge it. But the next mbm- 
 ing a tale of woe was presented to her of 
 a VQiVy shocking kind ; and as the general 
 patroness of distress. Lady Jane gave to 
 Charity what she ought to have given to 
 Justice, and Mrs. Walters was again dis- 
 missed unpaid. — This was certainly an 
 aggravated case ; but still, severe was the 
 retribution. 
 
 Poor Walters, oppressed with debts, 
 though two-thirds of the money due would 
 have paid them all, continued to dun by 
 
 turns Mr. and Lady Jane j but the 
 
 o 5 latter
 
 298 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE, 
 
 latter never heard of his repeated applica- 
 tions, as the rule of the house was, not to 
 trouble their lady till creditors grew very 
 
 clamorous ; and Mr. still refused to 
 
 pay him, because he was not yet paid him- 
 self. To fruitless dunning soon succeeded 
 the mischievous alternative of drinking. 
 The patience of Walrers's creditors was at 
 last exhausted ; and one day, when to the 
 temporary exhilaration of dram-drinking 
 had succeeded its consequent irritation 
 and exhaustion, two bailiffs entered his 
 now denuded apartment, and produced a 
 writ against him. In vain his wife 
 shrieked, and knelt, and prayed for time ; 
 it could not be granted, and poor Wal- 
 ters must go to prison. They had just 
 been eating their dinner (alas ! their last 
 meal together), and the table was not 
 cleared. 
 
 "You know, Fanny," said he, " I have 
 always said I never would go to prison, — 
 
 npr
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 299 
 
 nor wiif^l now:" and in an instant he cut 
 his throajwith the knife with which he had 
 been eatiSg, and sunk a bleeding corpse 
 on the floor. 
 
 His wife — but she, I hope, was spared 
 some agonies, even by the violence of 
 thos^^p- endured, as all sense was imme- 
 diatf^Mspended in her, and reason com- 
 pletely^ferthrown. So that in ten days 
 after l^ec poor husband's suicide she was 
 the inmate of a mad-house! whence, how- 
 ever, she had been dismissed as cured, at 
 the very time that Lady Jane was first 
 able to visit as usual. 
 
 Lady Anne and Percy had at length 
 succeeded, they thought, in calming Lady 
 Jane's mind, and convincing her that, if 
 she would but forgo her bad habits, she 
 would in time acquire good ones, and 
 that the virtues of her future life (and she^ 
 was not yet thirty) would expiate, they 
 trusted, the follies of her youth. 
 
 But
 
 sou LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 But Lady Jane was not so likely to 
 amend her conduct, as many other wo- 
 men under her circumstances would 
 have been ; because she had those popu- 
 lar virtues which throw a glittering veil 
 over the vices of a character, and thereby 
 bestow on it a false radiance difficult to 
 detect. Lady Jaiiv knew that those errors 
 which had injured her husband's peace 
 and fortune, and lowered her in his 
 esteem, were either not known to the 
 world, or were forgotten in her deeds of 
 charity, her active btnevolence, and the 
 fascinations of her person : and though 
 her heart was wounded by a sense of her 
 faults, it required more strength of mind 
 than she possessed, to break through ha- 
 bits the indulgence of which did not 
 destroy that popularity which was her fa- 
 vourite idol. 
 
 Perhaps there are no characters so dan- 
 gerous in society as those which unite 
 
 great
 
 LADV ANNE AND LADY JANE. 301 
 
 great virtues with great faults, and seduce 
 by the former into imitation or toleration 
 of the latter ; while the unwary imitator, 
 who w^ould have shrunk with aversion 
 from the contagion of errors unaccompa- 
 nied by the attractions of virtues, becomes 
 a prey to the one unconsciously, by means 
 of the other, — as he, who would on prin- 
 ciple reject the alcohol of a dram-shop, 
 eagerly and unconsciously swallows the 
 pernicious spirit when hidden in the pa- 
 latable shape of a liqueur, 
 
 " Well, give me only till the season is 
 over," said Lady Jane one evening, " and 
 then I will turn hermit and live at Green 
 Rock. And then 
 
 * .may I breathe my last, 
 
 Blesb'd by the tongues that chiirmM my youthful 
 
 ear, 
 Mourn'd by the few my soul acknowledged here. 
 Deplored by those in early days allied, 
 And unremembcr'd by the world beside ! ' 
 
 But
 
 302 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE.. 
 
 But I am now so much improved in my 
 looks, that 1 begin to relish society again. 
 See, Anne, don't you think I am very 
 I good-looking to-night ? But I am not quite 
 dressed yet. When I burst on you in all 
 iny glory, I flatter myself you will ad- 
 mire." 
 
 *' Poor soul ! in all her glorj/ J Is that 
 a woman's glory ?'* said Lady Anne to 
 herself; and she was glad to be roused 
 from a painful reverie by the entrance of 
 Percy and the children. 
 
 " I thought you were going with Lady 
 Jane," said Percy. — " No — I have a bad 
 headach, and wish to go to rest early," she 
 replied ; — when, dressed most becomingly 
 in a robe of white satin, and in a blaze 
 of jewels. Lady Jane entered the room. 
 
 " 1 flatter myself, good people," cried 
 she gaily, " that I aai quite beautiful to- 
 night. — I have coloured my cheeks as 
 like Anne's as possible, and what with ju^ 
 
 dicious
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 303 
 
 dicious displays, and more judicious con- 
 cealnients, I think I am quite the thing." 
 
 *' You look like a young bride, Jane," 
 said Percy. 
 
 " If I look young I am contented, as I 
 do not wish to be a bride again." 
 
 Alas ! she was more hke a victim 
 dressed for sacrifice. 
 
 " Well, my darlings," said she to the 
 boys, " I see you are dazzled by my 
 jewels. But, in truth, as the wise Cornelia 
 said, you are my jewels ; and I trust that 
 ere long I shall prove by my actions that 
 I think so." 
 
 " God speed the time !" cried Percy.— 
 ** Amen 1 " said Lady Anne ; while Lady 
 Jane, aftectionarely kissing her, said with 
 one of her sweetest smiles, " Aye, kind, 
 good Anne, I know I have always 
 your good wijihes ; and v. hen I deserve 
 your good vccrd too, it will be the 
 
 proudest
 
 S04 LM)Y ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 proudest day of my life." — Percy now in- 
 terrupted her, to bid her good night, as 
 he must go to the House, being already 
 later than he wished to be. Soon after 
 his departure, her carriage was announced, 
 and Lady Jane took leave of her children 
 and Lady Anne, which she did with 
 much of her former playfulness; and turn- 
 ing back at the door, she kissed her 
 hand, smiling as in her happiest hours, — 
 destined, alas ! to smile no more in this 
 world, — A crowd, as usual, had assem- 
 bled at the steps, where her carriage 
 usually waited some time, to see Lady 
 Jane get in. She now appeared brilliant 
 and beaudful as ever, and stopped an in- 
 stant on the last step, perhaps for the 
 pleasure of displaying herself. At this 
 instant a woman rushed up to her, and 
 almost buried a knife in her bcdy. Lady 
 Jane shrieked and fell, while the incensed 
 
 populace
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 305 
 
 populace seized the assassin, and one of 
 the servants drew the knife out of the 
 wound. 
 
 Lady Anne had luckily just sent the 
 boys to bed, who had been allowed as a 
 frolic to sit up till eleven ; — for the 
 shriek reached her ears, and she flew ra- 
 pidly into the hall. Alas ! what a sight 
 met her view ! That beloved being, who 
 had so lately left her radiant with con- 
 scious loveliness, and full of renewed hope 
 of happiness to come, now bleeding and 
 motionless, borne on the servant's arms, 
 and probably in the very agonies of death ! 
 A deep groan burst from Lady Anne, 
 which roused the senses of the sufferer; 
 and Lady Jane, opening her eyes, recog- 
 nised the pale and agonized countenance 
 which bent over her in tearless, speechless 
 sorrow ; and shaking her head mourn- 
 fully, she motioned to lay her head on 
 her bosom. Jennings, meanwhile, had 
 
 ordered
 
 306 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANZ. 
 
 ordered the coachman to drive full speed 
 to the House for his master, but only to 
 say an accident had happened to his lady. 
 
 " What is to be done with the mur- 
 derer, my lady ?" said one of the ser- 
 vants to Lady Anne. 
 
 " Murderer !" cried she shuddering. 
 
 ** Yes, my lady, — this is she ;" and 
 Lady Jane, involuntarily following the di* 
 rection of his eyes, saw a poor wild 
 wretched-looking woman held between 
 two men. 
 
 *' Take that woman away ! take her 
 .away ! the sight of her distracts me I" 
 said Lady Anne with a scream of horror j 
 and she was taken into a room below. 
 
 *' Who is she, do you know?*' mur- 
 mured Lady Jane, who as yet resisted 
 their wishes to carry her up stairs. 
 
 " I don't know who she is, my lady, 
 but she says her name is Walters." 
 
 " Walters !" muttered Lady Jane, 
 
 " Walters [
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JAJJE. 307 
 
 " Walters! I should know...." and sud- 
 denly recollecting her debt to the poor 
 flower- man, she hid her face in Lady 
 Anne's bosom, and groaned piteously. 
 
 " Do, dearest Jane, let us remove you 
 up stairs," said Lady Anne. 
 
 *' No, — lest 1 bleed to death before 
 Percy comes." Nor, when a surgeon 
 arrived, would she allow herself to be 
 examined till Percy came. 
 
 Percy had left Lady Jane that evening 
 with much of his former tenderness to- 
 wards her renewed. She had looked 
 more Hke her former self than she had 
 lately done. She had promised well, too : 
 she had looked and spoken like a mo- 
 ther ; and ever apt to regard the bright 
 side of every thing, he had, on his way to 
 the House, felt happier and more satisfied 
 with his wife and his prospects than he 
 had done for years .... when, on his ap- 
 proaching
 
 308 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 proaching the house, he was met by a 
 man who told him his carriage was wait- 
 ing for him. Alarmed he knew not Avhy, 
 he rushed hastily forward, exclaiming, 
 *' John, what is the matter ?" 
 
 " My lady, sir/' replied the man, 
 scarcely able to speak, *' an accident to 
 my lady ! " And Percy, not daring to ask 
 more, was driven home in a state of terri- 
 ble anxiety. But his wildest fears could 
 not have imagined a more dreadful scene 
 than awaited him on his entrance to that 
 home, which he had quitted so full of 
 joyful expectation, and his feelings were 
 still more agonized by what he heard 
 from the crowd at the door. 
 
 " Percy is come!" whispered Lady 
 Anne, averting iier eyes from the over- 
 coming agony of Percy's look, v^hile with 
 an exclamation oi horror he rushed for- 
 ward to clasp the poor victim in his arms. 
 
 " Oh !
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 309 
 
 " Oh ! w ho has done this ? " exclaimed he, 
 dreading to be told that it was the hand 
 of revenge. 
 
 " A mad person/' replied Lady Anne, 
 '' who is in custody ; but more of that 
 hereafter. She would not be moved or 
 examined till you came, and Oh I the time 
 has been very long I !*' 
 
 " Let Percy carry me," faltered out 
 Lady Jane ; and his scalding tears fell on 
 her bosom, w-hile he bore her in his 
 trembling arms to her own apartment. 
 Lady Jane was right ; the motion, slight 
 as it was, made the blood gush out afresh, 
 and she fainted before she was laid on 
 the bed. By this time two of the first 
 surgeons in London were arrived, whom 
 Lady Anne had sent for ; and having cut 
 away her dress, the wound was examined. 
 It was deep, but they hoped not mortal ; 
 yet there was great danger to be appre- 
 hended.
 
 SlO LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 hcnded, danger of a mortification. Mean- 
 while Lady Jane had recovered from her 
 swoon, but her countenance wore the set- 
 tled habit of despair ; and Percy, unable 
 to bear the scene, left the room for a 
 while. It then occurred to him that it 
 was right he should interrogate the mur- 
 derer ; and though Jennings violently op- 
 posed his doing it, he was resolved, and 
 went into the room below. '^ A wo- 
 man r' exclaimed he, averting his head 
 with agony from the being who had per- 
 haps murdered his wife : " What, poor 
 wretch ! could lead you to such a crime?" 
 
 " She is mad, dear sir," said Jennings 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Yes, — I am mad,'* replied she, " but 
 then who made me so ? My Lady Percy !'* 
 
 Percy started, but said, " Go on — who 
 are you?*' 
 
 " I am nobody now, and have nothing; 
 
 but
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 311 
 
 but I was once Walters the flower-maker's 
 happy wife j — for he was the best of hus- 
 bands." 
 
 " And where is he ? '* asked Percy. 
 
 *' In heaven, I hope, though he did 
 cut his throat rather than go to prison, 
 because my Lady Percy would not pay 
 him, and so he ran in debt ! " 
 
 Here, if Jennings had not supported 
 him, Percy would have fallen on the 
 ground, and the woman went on, for he 
 
 could not interrupt her. " Well, — I 
 
 saw him die ; — and for two months I was, 
 I fancy, dead too, — but 1 came to life 
 again, and went home, — to a home with- 
 out Walters : but as soon as I got set- 
 tled, he appeared to me ; but I won't tell 
 what he said, though I did as he bade me, 
 — and that very night amongst some rub- 
 bish 1 found the very knife he used to 
 kill himself. Oh ! says I, this is what he 
 meant : — so I hid it in my bosom, for I 
 
 knew
 
 312 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 knew a use for it, — and I did as Walters 
 bade me, and 1 revenged him, for I have" 
 killed Lady Percy." 
 
 Percy could bear no more, and was 
 rushing out of the room ; — but making a 
 great -effort, he turned back, saying, "See 
 that she is kindly and humanely treated, 
 for the poor creature is certainly insane." 
 — True ; but he felt only too bitterly that 
 she had " method in her madness," and he 
 well recollected giving Lady Jane money 
 to pay Walters a flower-man. 
 
 The poor woman had, on her return 
 home, found by accident the knife her 
 husband had used in his suicide ; and the 
 sight of it having overset her reason again, 
 her bewildered brain had fancied she saw 
 Walters, and that he told her to kill Lady 
 Jane, and with that same weapon. 
 
 It was certainly with increased agony 
 that Percy returned into his wife's apart- 
 ment, who was now undressed, and lying 
 
 composedly
 
 I.AIjY ANNE AND LALV JANH. 3l3 
 
 composedly in her bed, — while Lady 
 Anne, white and motionless as a statue, 
 s-ood gazing on her in mournful silence. 
 " Let me speak to you one moment," 
 said Percy, alarmed at her deathlike ap- 
 pearance, and Lady Anne suffered him to 
 lead her from the bed. — " Do you not 
 remember the name of Walters, a flower- 
 man, who made those beautiful roses for 
 one of the poor souFs fetes ? " 
 
 " I do, — but I also know that this bill 
 was paid, for I gave her money to pay it." 
 " Aye — and so did 7; but depend 
 upon it, it was never paid.*' 
 "No!'' 
 
 " Though the poor woman be mad, 
 her story is but too probable I " 
 
 *' No, no — I will hear no n>ore,^ said 
 Lady Anne, turning very faint, and lay- 
 ing her head on Lady Jane's pillow. Per- 
 cy, too restless to be stationary, and 
 anxious to know the truth, now went in 
 VOL. I. p search
 
 314 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 search of Ellis, and interrogated her so 
 closely, that Ellis, bursting into tears, 
 confirmed all the woman had said ; add- 
 ing that, though she knew the end of the 
 unhappy Walters, she had carefully kept 
 it from Lady Jane, for she well knew how 
 it would afflict her. 
 
 " Dreadful ! " said Percy to himself, 
 *' what a fate is mine ! for I nrmst in justice 
 and humanity maintain through her future 
 existence the being who has deprived my 
 wife of hers ! Yet I must do it — must, 
 where I can, atone for the errors of the 
 wretched Jane ! " 
 
 Percy now returned to the apartment of 
 the sufferer, but he forbore to name to 
 Lady Anne what he saw she wished to re- 
 ir^ain ignorant of. That night Lady Jane, 
 though she did not sleep, lay quiet and 
 silent, except that every now and then 
 she groaned dreadfully; and when Lady 
 Anne, who never movtd from her, ten- 
 derly
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 315 
 
 derl.y inquired whether it was pain from 
 the wound that occasioned her to groan, 
 she shook her head, and faintly mur- 
 mured — "Pain of the mind! — Pain 
 of the mind !*' Percy meanwhile wan- 
 dered from room to room, too wretched 
 to sit stiil, and too anxious concerning 
 his unhappy wife to think of endeavour- 
 ing to take repose. 
 
 Early in the morning the surgeons 
 came again, and seemed to think unfa- 
 vourably of the appearance of the wound, 
 while Lady Jane fixed her eager eyes on 
 their face as if she would read their every 
 thought. When they had ended their 
 consultation, Lady Anne followed them 
 out to ask their real opinion, and Lady- 
 Jane was therefore left alone v.iih the 
 physician who attended with them. — 
 " I cannot make out entirely," said 
 Lady Jane in a sort of whisper to him, 
 " who it was that thus wounded me : 
 p 2 do
 
 3\G LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 do you know, sir ? for I feel that 1 
 should be much easier if I knew the 
 whole truth, a5 then I should be spared 
 these ever restless conjectures:" — and 
 the physician, not suspecting that she had 
 a clue to Mrs. Walters's bloody deed which 
 he had not, and feeling that anguish and 
 restlessness in her situation must be mis- 
 chievous, told her that a mad woman of 
 the name of V/alters had wounded her ; a 
 poor woman, who had gone mad in conse- 
 quence of seeing her husband cut his throat 
 to avoid going to prison for debt. And as 
 soon as he had said this, he saw Lady 
 Jane hide her face in the bed clothes, ami 
 heard Fier utter groans to which he could 
 not endure to listen, till Lady Anne over- 
 hearing her ran into the room, with a 
 f.ice cvtn of more woe than she had when 
 she qriiiieJ if. As soon as the physician 
 was gone, Lady Jane slowly and with 
 great effort told her, she found her sus- 
 picions
 
 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 31? 
 
 piclons true, and that it had been blood for 
 blood : — nor could Lady Anne's declara- 
 tions of ignorance on the subject, which 
 were literally true, at all weaken Lady 
 Jane's horrible but just convictions — 
 " Let me unburthen my mind to some 
 one," said she. — " Shall I send for your 
 uncle?*' a^ked Lady Anne. — ''No!" 
 she replied, " I will see him before I die, 
 but I will not shock his affections and 
 wound his pride by unveiling to him the 
 whole of his niece's delinquency." But 
 before any clergyman could arrive a violent 
 delirium came on, and her children whom 
 she had wished to see were forbidden to 
 enter. 
 
 What were not the agonies of Percy 
 and Lady Anne, to find that the images 
 uppermost in her mind were the self- 
 murdered Walters and his frantic wife ! 
 •' Look ! there they are ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Take them away! take them away!" 
 p o while
 
 318 LADY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 while she pathetically prayed her hus- 
 band and her cousin to shield her from 
 their wrath, and from their just retri- 
 bution. 
 
 Alas ! while she was thus severely ex- 
 piating the result of error, which, though 
 not leading to intentional guilt, yet from 
 its pernicious magnitude was as dreadful 
 in its consequence as guilt which had 
 been intended, the newspapers were full 
 of loud laments for her danger, and loud 
 execrations of her assassin. The son- 
 neteer wrote and published verses de- 
 claring the probable extinction of such a 
 luminary as Lady Jane Percy to be as 
 much to be dreaded as that of the sun 
 himself; for that her bounty and in- 
 jBuence, like his, diffused happiness and 
 plenty on all around her : while relations, 
 friends, acquaintances, and even stran- 
 gers, thronged her door from night till 
 morning with inquiries after her situation ; 
 
 and
 
 LADV ANNE AND LADY JANE. 3\9 
 
 and even the gayest assemblies were 
 rendered gloomy, by the appearance in 
 every corner of the room of groups evi- 
 dently formed to discuss the mournful 
 fate of the once certain ornament and 
 delight of every scene that she honoured 
 with her presence ; and on her table at 
 home, the eye of the unhappy and con- 
 scious husband was continually met by 
 books, in the first page of which he read 
 a dedication, praising Lady Jane Percy as 
 the most exalted, most benevolent, and 
 most spotless of her sc:-: ; till maddened 
 by what to him appeared nwckery at 
 such a moment, ha used to dash the 
 lying pages with indignation on the 
 ground. 
 
 But' if it was a;:^ony to them to witness 
 Lady Jane's deih-ium, it was even ten-fold 
 p\in to watch beside hirr dying bed 
 \Vhen delirium had subsided, when mor- 
 tification had actually taken plac% wlien 
 
 returning
 
 320 LADY ANNE AND LADY JA^NE. 
 
 returning sense, and absence from pain, 
 proclaimed her dissolution near, and she 
 was at her own earnest desire assured that. 
 her fate was inevitable. ^^ 
 
 " And is it really so ? And must L 
 die ?" she violently exclaimed, — " I^ who 
 am so ill prepared for death ! 1, who 
 have wasted what all the good value and 
 improve in vicious pleasures, and neglect 
 of positive duties!" 
 
 "Jane, Jane! have mercy on me!" 
 said Percy, falling on his knees beside her, 
 and kissing her clenched hand, clenched 
 with the agony of her souL " Look at 
 your poor cousin- ! see how she suffers — 
 and do not torture us thus. " 
 
 *' Suffers! she suffers! Why the greatest 
 sufferings of virtue hke hers, are plea- 
 sures to the pangs I feel from the con- 
 sciousness of guilt ! Do you forget,*' she 
 wildly added, " that there is blood upoa^ 
 my conscience?'* 
 
 " These
 
 ladVanne and lady jane. 321 
 
 '* These are the ravings of a distem- 
 pered imagination, dearest Jane. Do 
 yourself justice ! Remember your virtues 
 as well as your failings ! Remember you 
 have been a fond, faithful wife I'* 
 
 *' And with such a husband that was 
 great merit, was it notP'Vshe said with 
 an ironical smile. — Here she paused ; for 
 a sudden alteration took place in her 
 countenance, and Lady Anne's ever 
 watchful eye read in it the approaches of 
 death. 
 
 "Quick, quick 1" cried Lady Jane, 
 " send for my uncle ! — let me — let me — 
 have his prayers in my last moments!** 
 And Ellis ran into the apartment below to 
 fetch both her uncles, who in mournful 
 silence were waiting to attend the death- 
 bed of one who had ever been the pride 
 and often the charm of their existence. 
 But they arrived too late. Lady Jane 
 again deplored her past life, her waste of 
 
 time.
 
 822 l.ATDY ANNE AND LADY JANE. 
 
 lime, her neglect of her cousin's precepts 
 and example, the distress she had occa- 
 sioned both to her and to her husband ;* 
 when, suddenly seizing Lady Anne's 
 hand, she exclaimed, " Pray for me ! 
 pray for me, Anne, 1 am dying ! and 
 Oh ! how full of dread 1 how full of re- 
 luctance! Yet, let me die performing 
 one just deed." — Then putting Lady 
 Anne's hand in that of Percy's, she joined 
 and pressed them together, and tried to ex- 
 press her wishes and her meaning. But the 
 power of utterance was gone ; and press- 
 ing their united hands to her cold, clamm.y 
 lipSj she seemed, as she raised her eyes 
 to Heaven, to murmur an inward prayer; 
 and sinking back on her pillow she ex- 
 pired without a groan. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Printed ly iihharu Taylor ^ Co., Shoe-Lafie, London.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILUN019-URBANA 
 
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 3 0112 055267055 
 
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