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 Of ILLINOIS 
 
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Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/matchgirlnovel01edge 
 
THE 
 
 MATCH GIRL. 
 
 A NOVEL, 
 IN THREE VOLUxMES. 
 
 BY MRS. EDGEWORTH. 
 
 Ail is well ended, if this suit be woti. 
 
 That you express content ; 
 
 Shakspearz. 
 
 VOLUxME I. 
 
 LOiVDO.V: 
 
 Printed by J. Dennett, Leather Lane, Holborn; 
 
 FOR J. F. HUGHES^ 
 
 15, PATERNOSTER ROW, AND 
 
 5, WIGMORE STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARK. 
 
7 
 
 
 4 
 
 ^ 
 
 THE 
 
 MATCH GIRl 
 
 CHAPTER I.* 
 
 He is the half part of a blessed man. 
 Left to be finished by such a she j 
 And she a fair divided excellence. 
 Whose fulness of perfection lies in him. 
 Oh I two such silver currents when they join. 
 Do glorify the banks that bound them in. 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 ^* Oh, merciful heaven ! will nobody 
 pity my distress ? Will nobody purchase 
 even a few matches of a wretched crea- 
 ture to save her from perishing ? For 
 
 VOL, I. B 
 
the love of God, madam, relieve a poor 
 unfortunate !" 
 
 These last words were addressed 
 to Lady Anne Norval, as she was pass- 
 ing through the Mall of St. James's 
 Park ; there was a wild energy in the 
 tones of the speaker, that differed 
 widely from the affected misery of com- 
 mon mendicants, which attracted her 
 ladyship's attention ; and aided by that 
 innate principle of charity, which ever 
 urged her to assist a fellow creature, 
 fche extended her hand, and turning her 
 eyes to the petitioner, she beheld an in- 
 teresting girl, scarcely seventeen, whose 
 air and demeanour spoke her of no com- 
 mon stock, although her threadbare 
 garments and emaciated countenance, 
 too plainly evinced her extreme poverty. 
 On one arm hung suspended, a little 
 
basket with a few bunches of matches, 
 and her streaming eyes, and uplifted 
 hands, expressed the anguish that wrung 
 her bursting hekrt. 
 
 " Surely young woman/' said her 
 ladyship, ^^ you might find a more suit- 
 able employment for your years, than 
 soliciting charity: where is yoar pa- 
 rish ?'' 
 
 " I am not an English woman, madam ; 
 I was born in Prussia." 
 
 " That is the too common reply," 
 returned Lady Anne, who felt herself 
 peculiarly interested, and again opening 
 her purse, dropped another shilling into 
 the beggar's hand, and prepared to pur- 
 sue her walk. 
 
 " You are not going to leave me !" 
 exclaimed the almost exhausted object 
 
 B 2 
 
of her ladyship's benevolence, ** Oh' 
 have pity, pray have pity ! do not leave 
 me to misery and destruction ; rescue 
 me from passing such a night as the 
 last — I shall be all gratitude for protec- 
 tion if you place me in a hovel, but if I 
 again feel myself the deserted orphan I 
 was half an hour ago, madness or sui- 
 cide must ensue." Having uttered these 
 words, she sunk almost lifeless upori the 
 bench b\^ which she had clung for sup- 
 port. 
 
 " You shall not," said her ladyship, 
 " suffer those horrors you so much 
 dread, while I have the power of pre- 
 venting it." 
 
 These words acted as a cordial to the 
 unfortunate girl, who uttered expres- 
 sions of gratitude in a frantic style. 
 
*^ James," said Lady Anne, address- 
 ing her servant, who had stood a si- 
 lent, though not unmoved spectator oH 
 the scene, " take this young woman in a 
 hackney coach to your grandmother, 
 desire she will immediately have medical 
 advice, and procure every comfort her 
 weak state seems to require, and I will 
 call upon her to-morrow myself; I am 
 &G near the gatCi you ne^d not attend 
 me to my carriage, but use what dis- 
 patch you can in conveying your charge 
 to Mrs. Newton.*' Giving another look 
 at the interesting object before her, who 
 reclined on the seat, incapable of arti- 
 culating her thanks ; her benevolent 
 ladyship tripped lightly on to her cha- 
 riot, while the delight (though so com- 
 mon a one) of doing a good action^ 
 
spread an emanation over her countenance 
 which made it appear almost celestiaL" 
 
 Her first enquiry when the carriage 
 stopped in Flanover Square, was, " Is 
 Mr. Nerval within ?" And being an- 
 swered in the affirmative, she hastened- 
 to tell him her singular adventure. " To 
 relieve her at any rate/' said Lady Anne, 
 " must be a charity, and if she is an im- 
 postor I will never a^-ain he r1p/>«iy^/j 
 
 for it is the last time Twill trust to ap- 
 pearances, the poor girl is really weak, 
 ill, and exhausted, and the method of her 
 application, and the dread she entertained 
 lest I should quit her, interested me." 
 Mr. Norval entered into all Lady Anne's 
 feelings upon the subject, and was as 
 earnest as her ladyship, for the return 
 of James. 
 
Mrs. Newton his grandmother, had 
 been nurse to Lady Anne, and now en- 
 joyed all the comtbrts her declining 
 years required from the liberality of Mr. 
 Norval, who had crowned all the bene- 
 fits he had already heaped upon her, by 
 taking her grandson, the darling orphan 
 of an only child, into his service to 
 wait upon Lady Anne. 
 
 It sppcur^d sn ngd till ilie servant 
 returned from Hampstead, where Mrs. 
 
 Newton resided. 
 
 James who had a feeling heart, entered 
 with the traces of grief upon his counte- 
 nance. " My grandmother, my lady," 
 said hej in reply to the enquiry, of How 
 is the poor girl ? sends her most dutiful 
 service to your ladyship, and bids me 
 ^ay, that Mr. Dawson, who, as your 
 B 4 
 
8 
 
 ladyship Grclered^ was immediately sent 
 for, thinks tiie poor young woman very 
 ill — he is certain she has gotahrain fever, 
 r.s grandmother said ; even while I staid, 
 she raved so, it almost broke her heart 
 to hear her, she fainted dead away the 
 minute your ladyship went, and I was 
 obliged to carry her to the coach, and 
 when it rattled over the stones, she did 
 open her eyes, but it was only to talk as 
 if she was quite beside herself, and to 
 say somebody had killed her grandfather^ 
 and then, (begging your ladyship's par- 
 don,) I thought of my poor old grand- 
 mother, and — and " Here James 
 
 paused,it was unnecessary to proceed; the 
 tears that were rolling down the honest 
 fellov/'s cheeks, proved the effect the 
 incoherent expressions of his charge had 
 liad upon Kim in the coach. 
 
9 
 
 Those were the sensibilities of unso- 
 phisticated nature ; happy state of ignor- 
 ance when the feelings can have their 
 full play I the man of learning blushes 
 at what he ought to glory in, and shame 
 usurps that seat in his heart, lately oc-- 
 Gupied by tenderness ; if his fellow man 
 sees his eyes moistened by a tear, he 
 studies to obtain callosity of feeling, and 
 alas! it does not elude his pursuit; soon 
 the iron ma&k of insensibility to the 
 woes of others envelopes his features, 
 and though his heart-strings were burst- 
 ing with his innate ideas, still not a- 
 muscle must relax, lest those who- are 
 observing him, should think him kss 
 than man ; habit becomes second nature^ 
 and he soon in reality clasps that viper 
 ] •>- 
 
10 
 
 to his breast, that must ultimately make 
 existence horrible. 
 
 Lady Anne was at an earlier hour than 
 usual in her carriage the morning fol- 
 lowing. When she arrived at Mrs. New- 
 ton's, the apothecary was there ; he ap- 
 peared a worthy man, he thought his 
 patient in very great danger, and deemed 
 his own skill incompetent to carrying her 
 through the disorder. 
 
 Her ladyship who felt still more in- 
 terested for the object of her benevo- 
 lence, when she beheld her in so early 
 a stnge of existence stretched on the 
 bed of sickness, deprived of reason, .and 
 apparently destitute of every support, 
 save that which her own philanthropic 
 bosom tempted her to yield ; she there- 
 fore wrote a note, and dispatched James 
 
11 
 
 with it to the family physician, while 
 she remained with the delighted Mrs^ 
 Newton in her neat little parlour, wait- 
 ing his arrival. 
 
 Mr. Dawson had sent a nurse to at- 
 tend his patient the night before, as he 
 judged neither Mrs. Newton or the 
 young girl who acted in the capacity of 
 servant to her, were equal to the charge 
 of one who laboured under so dreadful a 
 malady as a brain fever » 
 
 Dr. Brown soon arrived ; he did 
 not deem the illness of so serious a na- 
 ture as Mr. Dawson had ; he prescribed 
 for her, and ordered quiet ; and Lady 
 Anne returned to Mr. Norval with re- 
 vived hopes. 
 
 Lady Anne Sefton was the only child 
 B 6 
 
12 
 
 of Lord Mahon, consequently heiress 
 to his iiiymense possessions : this made 
 his lordship dread lest she should be 
 earnestly sought by the men, and from 
 he gaiety of her disposition, and inno- 
 cent thoughtlessness of her heart, fall 
 an easy prey to the specious appearance 
 of some fortune-hunting younger bro- 
 ther ; this idea agonised him, and made 
 him withhold her from mixing in so- 
 ciety ; but by way of compensation, not 
 one species of accomplishment that she 
 wished to attain was denied her, and at 
 the early age of seventeen^ her delighted 
 father beheld her mistress of music and 
 drawing in several of their branches, and 
 a proficient in French and Italian ; 
 while he gloried in his daughter, he 
 trembled — still this rich gem must be 
 
13 
 
 confined; but at length chance ope- 
 rated in favor of Lady Anne. 
 
 Lord Mahon, in a small party, met 
 the young elegant sensible Henry Nor- 
 vaU His first appearance pleased the 
 earl, his refined conversation raised 
 hopes in his bosom, that he was almost 
 afraid of cherishing, but at the end of 
 three months, after being very fre- 
 quently in the society of Henry, and 
 hearing his friends unanimous in their 
 praises of him, he ventured to intro- 
 duce him to Lady Anne. 
 
 The event proved him an able de- 
 signer — in a very short time after their 
 first interview, Lord Mahon was reliev- 
 ed from the restraint of restraining, 
 though he lived but a very few years to 
 witness tlie perfect happiness of his son 
 and daughter. 
 
14 
 
 Their philanthropic benevolence was 
 proverbial, their servants had chiefly 
 been either the faithful attendants of 
 Lord Mahon^or the late Mr. Norval, — to 
 them they were real friends. Two boys 
 and one girl formed their amusement 
 and care. 
 
 Lady Anne's figure was tall and ele- 
 gant : her face owed its principal attrac- 
 tion to a pair of dark eyes, which united 
 fire with softness, and seemed to express 
 every emotion of her expanded soul,, 
 while benevolence and animation con- 
 spired to cast their veil over her other 
 features, and render the tout ensemble 
 interesting to every beholder* 
 
15 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 So shews^ a snowy dove, trooping with crowsj 
 As yonder lady, o'er her fellows shows. 
 The measure done ; I'll watch her place of stand. 
 And touching her's, make hapj^y my rude hand. 
 Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight j 
 I never saw true beauty till this night. 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 JLady Anne continued to visit Hamp- 
 stead two or three times a week. The 
 violence of the fever soon abated, but 
 Dr. Brown trembled for the intellects 
 of the poor invalid. She appeared to 
 have something on her mind which she 
 dreaded lest anyone should be made ac- 
 quainted with, and which seemed to 
 
have dislodged reason. She was never 
 violent, and would for liours, sit weep- 
 ing, and lamenting that some one had 
 taken away her grandfather ; she would 
 then throw herself at Mrs. Newton's 
 feet, and beg earnestly th^it she would 
 not betray her. Occasionally she would 
 have lucid intervals ; — she then fre- 
 quently asked the good old vi*oman. 
 where she was, and if she really was 
 safe ; but before she could receive the 
 delightful certainty of being so honorably 
 protected, recollection recalled the ter- 
 rors of her mind, and incoherent raving, 
 or entire inanity succeeded. 
 
 Thus passed the three first months^ 
 of her residence with Mrs. Newton. 
 
 Lady Anne, and Mr. Norval, who 
 frequently from molives of piety and 
 
curiosity, accompanied her Iadysliip> 
 felt themselves peculiarly 'iuterested in 
 the fate of the unfortunate girl whom 
 they protected and supported with such 
 true philanthropy and liberality. 
 
 Dr. Brown ordered her the most 
 nourishing things that could be procured, 
 and her preservers had the happiness at 
 length to perceive, that as her strength 
 began to return, her iacid intervals were 
 more frequent and longer. He cau- 
 tioned the worthy Mrs. Newton to avoid 
 at those times, leading to any conver- 
 sation wfiich might revive in her mind, 
 the recollection of events which seemed 
 replete with terror to her, and merely 
 to answer her constant question of 
 Were she in safety ? by the most friendly 
 
18 
 
 assurances ; these, by degrees, traii- 
 quilised her mind. 
 
 Lady Anne, who had repressed her 
 curiosity to know the particulars of a 
 life which, though short, she felt as- 
 sured must be replete with something 
 peculiar, at length yielded to the earnest 
 solicitation of her young charge, who, 
 while tears of gratitude streamed from 
 
 lit;! ^j^ty rtrCJUtrblCU, m tUC luv^ot ^^-laua- 
 
 sive manner, that her ladyship would 
 permit her to repose her sorrow^s in the 
 bosom of friends so benevolent — so es- 
 teemed. 
 
 Lady Anne therefore consented that 
 the day following, the carriage should, 
 at an early hour, be sent to convey her 
 to Hanover Square. 
 
10 
 
 She was met at the door when she 
 alighted, by Lady Anne, who, taking 
 her kindly by the liand, led her into the 
 dressing-room, where Mr. Norval wel- 
 comed her to their house. 
 
 Seated between them, she related 
 those events which had pressed upon her 
 yo\xth, and nearly crushed her to the 
 dust. 
 
 stoned by tears, which agonised recollec- 
 tion called into her ^yti. But' as 
 there were circumstances she conceived 
 it unnecessary to dwell upon, and seme 
 parts of her father and mother's history 
 that she was not perfectly acquainted 
 with ; armed with my quill, I choose to 
 take upon myself, the office of narrator ; 
 and though her storv, told in her own 
 
*20 
 
 words, might speak more to the hearts 
 of my renders, yet as the lieroes aiul he- 
 roines are the automata of an authors 
 imagination^ n)y will, in tliis case, is ab- 
 solute ; therefore you must yield, fair 
 Frederica, to my superior claims. 
 Ferdinand Koningsberg was the youngest 
 fon of the count, (whose name he bore) 
 a noble Prussian. He had himself early 
 entered the army under the great Fre- 
 derick, and signalized himself particularly 
 in many daring military exploits ; he 
 wished all his boys to shine as he had 
 done, and to unite the soldier and gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 His two eldest sons had visited France, 
 Italy, and England. Ferdinand was 
 now twenty. Tlie old count obtained 
 hi^ sovereign's permission forhisyoungesfe 
 
21 
 
 hope to follow the example of bis bro- 
 thers. He was to be absent two years, 
 one of which he determined to dedicate 
 to England. 
 
 He had been near three months in 
 London, when he was urged by two 
 young men with \Vhom he had been in 
 habits of intimacy, both in France and 
 Italy, to accompany them in a tour they 
 purposed making through Wales. He 
 complied with alacrity. 
 
 On their return through Wrexham, 
 Captain Bowen, one of his companions, 
 recollected that an old friend of his fa- 
 ther's, a captain who had sold out, had 
 retired with his only daughter, a few 
 years since, to reside within two miles 0£ 
 that place. 
 
 He proposed to his friends, beating 
 
22 
 
 up the veteran's quarters. As an addi- 
 tional inducement, he told them he re- 
 membered Maria Hildebrand, at the age 
 of- fourteen, when he last saw her, gave 
 promise of being one of the sweetest 
 girls he ever beheld. 
 
 Half an hour brought them to the 
 neat elegant little cottage of the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 It was evening, and he was sitting 
 before the door, contemplating the glo- 
 ries of the setting sun. 
 
 Captain Bowen advanced, and \vas re- 
 cognised with the utmost satisfaction. 
 
 His friends were introduced, and 
 Miss Hildebrand enquired after in the 
 space of three minutes. 
 
 " Maria is presiding at a rustic feast, 
 giving under her inspection,'' returned 
 
23 
 
 the father. " A good girl, who has 
 lived with us in the capacity of servant. 
 last week married, and we wished to 
 prove to the friends of her husband, who 
 are rather opulent, the sense we enter- 
 tained of her worth, in the way most 
 pleasing to herself. She chose that in 
 which Maria is now engaged. We will, 
 if you like it, join the party, that I may 
 immediately introduce my daughter to 
 the son of my old friend." 
 
 The young men, of course, complied 
 with alacrity, and a very few minutes 
 brought them to the villatic scene of 
 festivity. 
 
 " That is. my girl," said the captain, 
 exultingly, pointing to a lovely creature 
 about sixteen, who was lightly bounding 
 down a dance. 
 
24 
 
 Maria did not immediately perceive 
 her father, and the young men had an 
 opportunity of contemplating, for a short 
 time^ that truly soul- inspiring sight of a 
 really beautiful woman exerting herself 
 with elegance, under the fantastic ban- 
 ners of Terpsichore. She was dressed 
 in a short white muslin jacket and petti- 
 coat, which discovered to advantage, her 
 pretty little foot, which seemed scarce 
 to bend the grass it was lightly spring- 
 ing over, and well turned ancle. A 
 bunch of jessamin ornamented her bo- 
 som, and a wreath of the same, cut 
 from the white walls of the cottage, and 
 formed by Maria, into a wreath, was 
 carelessly twisted round a little chip hat, 
 which was placed on her head in a style 
 which discovered the glossiness of her 
 
25 
 
 bright brown hair, and her sweet coun- 
 tenance to the utmost perfection. 
 
 Koningsberg received a wound from 
 one of Cupid's sharpest arrows. He 
 had not gazed enraptured for three mi- 
 nutesj before he had finally resolved, 
 that if he could not obtain Miss Hilde- 
 brand, he would never marry. 
 
 Maria had, by this time, arrived at 
 the bottom' of the dance, and perceiving 
 her father attended by three young 
 strangers, she advanced timidly towardi^ 
 them. 
 
 Captain Bowen, she recollected as 
 soon as he was introduced, and gc.ve 
 him her hand with a degree of naivete 
 and frankness, that made Ferdinand ad- 
 mire her more than even and almost 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
 \ 
 
26 
 
 hate the envied Bowen, wlioni he in- 
 stantly eonsidered as a rival. 
 
 The harper again striking the melo- 
 dious strings, as a signal for comineneing 
 a new dance, Captain Bowen led out 
 Miss Hildebrand, who, now she had got 
 a partner worthy of lier, danced with 
 increased lightness and animation, and 
 added fresh torments to the preceding 
 ones Koningsberg bad sustained. 
 
 The dance over, they were summoned 
 by Maria, to the front of the cottage 
 occupied by the new married pair, where 
 there was a table simply, yet elegantly 
 laid out. 
 
 Miss Hildebrand made the bride sit 
 by her at the top, wliile the haj^py Ko- 
 ningsberg, as a stranger, was seated on 
 her right hand. 
 
^7 
 
 He was now at what he would a few 
 minutes before have considered the pin- 
 nacle of his wishes, but if Maria ad- 
 dressed Captain Bowen, wiih only the 
 common civility that the table, aiid a pre- 
 vious acquaintance demanded, he was 
 again a prey to jealousy. 
 
 Before they parted, Captain Hilde- 
 brand requested they would prolong 
 their stay for some days, and not let the 
 same evening witness the commence- 
 ment and annihilation of their acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 Ferdinand and Captain Bowen readily 
 acquiesced, but the other young man 
 (who was on the point of marriage, had 
 that day received a letter from his in- 
 tended, announcing her arrival in Lon- 
 don,) excused himself, and early the 
 c 2 
 
28 
 
 following morning quitted Denbighshire 
 unaccompanied. 
 
 The image of Maria Hildebrand was 
 too strongly imprinted on the mind of 
 Ferdinand, to permit his getting much 
 sleep that night, and he met Captain 
 Bowen at breakfast, with a languid 
 countenance, occasioned by his internal 
 agitations, and answered the enquiries 
 of him whom he considered in the light 
 of a dangerous rival, in a pettish irri- 
 tated style that surprised his friend. 
 
 They set off for the cottage early in 
 the forenoon, mutually dissatisfied. 
 
 Captain Bowen, at a loss to account 
 for the behaviour of Koningsberg, and 
 Ferdinand, eying a face and figure very 
 Inferior to hi^ own, and thinking Maria 
 must yield herself a willing victim to so 
 many attractions, mental and personal. 
 
29 
 
 Oh, love ! oh, jealousy ! how do you 
 sport with the feelings of poor mor- 
 tality ? by turns chilling the warm blood 
 that delights in playing round the gay 
 heart of the. beau^ or as your fanciful 
 brain dictates, decking the pedant in all 
 tlie smiles and witcheries of the late un- 
 thinking flutterer. 
 
act 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Tiiey equal move 
 
 111 an unbroken yoke of iaithlul !uve. 
 
 Glanvil. 
 
 Jl HE young men approached the cot- 
 tage in silence, but the sight of the 
 worthy captain who came from his 
 humble mansion to meet them, attended 
 by his lovely daughter, soon restored 
 their good humour. 
 
 Maria, whose natural gaiety, was 
 heightened by the society of two agree- 
 able young men, was all smiles and fas- 
 cination ; and in a long walk, which 
 Uiey took among the wild scenery of 
 
31 
 
 North Wales, was the cleliglit of the 
 little party. 
 
 The kindness of heart that Captain 
 Hildebrand possessed, made him origi- 
 nally take a great deal of notice of the 
 elegant young foreigner ; but he soon 
 continued his attentions from other mo- 
 tives as he found him sensible and well 
 informed; he had already obtained the 
 Order of Merit for his services, and his 
 grandfather had been one of the firtt 
 who had been presented with the order 
 of the Black Eagle, the day previous to 
 the coronation of the Great Frederick, 
 his father was nov/ a knight of the 
 order. 
 
 Captain Hildebrand, who idolized a 
 profession his circumstances had obliged 
 him to quit, looked upon the youno^ 
 
 C 4 
 
3'2 
 
 chevalier as descended from a race of* 
 warriors, valued him accordingly. 
 
 Ferdinand, while he was discoui*sii1g 
 with the father,, was all eyes and ears to 
 every action and w^ord of the daughter 
 and Captain Bowen ; and again the foul 
 fiend Jealousy possessed him. 
 
 In the evening, he gained a great ad- 
 vantage over the man whom he thought 
 must be a rival, as who could behold 
 such an assemblage of beauty, sense, 
 and sweetness, without adoring the ob- 
 ject ? ' ^ 
 
 Music was proposed, Captain Bowen 
 had not the least turn for the delightful 
 art. 
 
 Maria struck the harp with skill and 
 sweetness, Koningsberg, who regarded 
 music with a species of idolatry, was 
 more enraptured than ever. 
 
3S 
 
 An old fiiite of Captain Hildebrand's 
 was produced, and Ferdinand accom- 
 panied Maria. 
 
 Thus passed sev^eral days, the che- 
 valier could not buU perceive that he 
 gained ground in the esteem of his lovely 
 mistress, and he forgot that he had vi^ 
 sited England from any other motive 
 than to behold the fair Maria, till he 
 vtas roused from his reverie, at the end 
 of a week, by Captain Bo wen observing 
 H was high time for them to think of 
 returning to the metropolis, if he could 
 tear himself away from Maria Hilde- 
 brand. 
 
 " Can ^ou f returned the chevalier. 
 
 " Assuredly," said his friend, " but 
 had not my heart for years been fixed 
 on an object, who, in my opinion, 
 c ^ 
 
34 
 
 cannot yield to any one, I could not 
 liave gazed upon this fascinating girl, 
 with the apathy I have done. 
 
 A weight was removed from Konings- 
 berg's heart, an e^cplanation succeeded 
 his incomprehensible conduct, for which 
 Captain Bov^en could now well account, 
 was entirely understood, and a resolu- 
 tion passed the lips of Koningsberg, to 
 throw himself at the feet of Maria, and 
 leain his fate. 
 
 Suspense appeared intolerable, and he 
 hastened to the cottage. 
 
 He was received with the accustomed 
 smiles, by Captain Hildebrand, with 
 whom he was a most wonderful favorite, 
 and his daughter. 
 
 The captain was just preparing to 
 pay a visit to a poor neighbour, who 
 
35 
 
 was very ill ; and Ferdinand. a> sooa 
 as he was left alone \vith Maria, declared 
 his passion. 
 
 She listened to his tale with a satis- 
 faction she did not possess sufficient 
 art to disguise, and assured him of her 
 consent, if she could obtain her father's. 
 
 Koningsberg was elated beyond the 
 jx)wers of expression, every difficulty 
 appeared overcome, and he enjoyed the 
 most perfect happiness, till the arrival 
 of Captain Hildebrand. 
 
 He lost not a minute in relating the 
 conditional consent he had received from 
 Miss Hildebrand. 
 
 The Captain listened v;iih the most 
 profound attention till he had conclud- 
 ed, and then said, '^ Will your father 
 consent to this. Chevalier?'' 
 c6 
 
36 
 
 Koningsberg had not even given this a 
 thought ; he felt thunderstruck, without 
 either power or inclination to interrupt 
 the father of Maria, who thus proceeded : 
 — *' That my daughter has so quickly 
 surrendered her heart to you, I am not 
 surprised. Shut up in the bosom 
 of solitude — confined to the society of 
 simple rustics, it is far from astonishing 
 that such a man as he who I am now 
 addressing, should get such immediate 
 possession of her affections ; nor am I 
 at all at a loss to account for the sensation 
 such a girl as mine must give place to, 
 in a bosom that glows with every senti- 
 ment that should dignify humanity. 
 But my Maria labours under circum- 
 stances the most disadvantageous : her 
 family, though respectable, is not great. 
 
^7 
 
 and her little fortune will by no means 
 counterbalance her want of high birth. 
 Early in life, I offended the only relation 
 I had, a brother twenty years older than 
 myself, by marrying her mother, who 
 had not any thing to recommend 
 her, but worth and loveliness. Such as 
 Maria now is, such was she. My bro- 
 ther, who had, at an early period of ex- 
 istence, been cruelly treated by the wo- 
 man he adored, turned misanthrope, and 
 forswore female society. Because his 
 brother did not do the same, he has 
 been forbid his house and society for 
 ever. Maria Hildebrand would cast a 
 dignity upon any family — those that 
 would despise her, shall never receive 
 so valuable a treasure. It is now, Che- 
 valier, your time to speak." 
 
as 
 
 Immersed in disagreeable reflections, 
 Koningsberg was scarcely sensible that 
 the captain was waiting his reply, till 
 it was again urged. He then said he 
 thought his father would consent to any- 
 thing that would forward his happi- 
 ness. 
 
 This was not sufficient for Captain 
 Hildebrand ; he would not sanctioi> 
 their union without the approbation of 
 the count. That obtained, he would, 
 with joy, bestow his daughter upon one 
 who appeared really worthy of her ; but 
 of that, he himself despaired. He in- 
 sisted that Ferdinand should immedi- 
 ately quit Wales with Captain Bowen,: 
 and not return agaiti, unless the answers 
 from Prussia were favorable. 
 
 He entreated for permission to remain 
 
39 
 
 near Maria, till his father's letters ar- 
 rived; but Captain Hildebrand answered 
 in a style that demanded submission. 
 
 He obeyed with reluctance, and tore 
 himself away from the weeping girl, in 
 a state of distraction. 
 
 Weeks passed on, and Koningsberg 
 did not write, as Captain Hildebrand 
 had forbade all correspondence between 
 him and his daughter, till he received a 
 favorable answer from Prussia. 
 
 The captain perceived, with agony, 
 the ravages suspense made in the mind 
 and person of the late lively, blooming 
 Maria, and to divert a melancholy 
 for which he could too well account, 
 proposed a visit to the metropolis. 
 
 His daughter acquiesced with avidity. 
 It \^as possible she might see Koningsberg, 
 there. 
 
40 
 
 The idea inspired her with a ray of 
 hope, and a smile would, while they 
 were making preparations for the jour- 
 ney, occasionally gladden the heart of a 
 father, who lived but in her happiness. 
 
 Captain Hildebrand, after his marriage, 
 had been under the necessity of selling-^ 
 his commission, and retiring into Wales, 
 as he found his pay inadequate to support 
 his wife. 
 
 While he continued in the army, five 
 thousand pounds had been left him by his 
 father; but that he entirely run through 
 while he was a subaltern. He thought all 
 liis companions as worthy as himself, and. 
 a fictitious tale of woe would make him 
 part with his last farthing, while thosewho 
 imposed upon him, as soon as his back 
 was turned, ridiculed his credulity. 
 
 Till he married, his brother supported 
 
4i 
 
 his benevolent extravagance with libe- 
 rality, but after that event took place, 
 the captain did not receive another gui- 
 nea from him. 
 
 Abotit the present period, Captain 
 Hildebrand's agent wrote him word that 
 his money which, upon selling his com- 
 mission, ha d been vested in the funds, 
 might be turned to much better account, 
 and produce nearly double the interest, 
 by letting him have it in his busi- 
 ness ; and if he could visit London, he 
 would explain it by word of mouth, far 
 better than by writing. 
 
 The captain was pleased with the idea 
 of procuring his Maria so many com- 
 forts that she had hitherto been deprived 
 of, and to converse with his agent on 
 the subject, and dissipate his daughter's 
 
42 
 
 melancholy, he resolved to lose no 
 time in visiting the metropolis. 
 
 During Captain Hildebrand's absence 
 one morning, Koningsberg appeared be- 
 fore Maria, pale and dejected. He told 
 her the letters from Prussia had been 
 the very reverse of what he had hoped. 
 That he dreaded appearing before her 
 father, as he had been forbidden ; but 
 urged, with all the eloquence that love 
 could inspire, that she would, during her 
 stay in the metropolis, consent to a pri- 
 vate union. When his father, who 
 loved him tenueily, found that he was 
 actually married, he would relent, and 
 Captain Hildebrand, after the first gust 
 of passion, would tbrce the stern dictates 
 of honor to yield to tlie soft pleadings of 
 paternal afrcction. 
 
43 
 
 A'laria was verv vouns:: she loved the 
 pleader tenderly, and though she trem- 
 bled at the idea of deceiving so kind a 
 father, yet believed all Koningsberg 
 urged, and consented to the very first 
 act of disobedience she had ever bee a 
 guilty of. 
 
44 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 When sorrows come, they come not single spies. 
 But in battalions. ^ 'First her father slain. 
 
 Shaksfeare. 
 
 -It is unnecessary to dwell on those par- 
 ticulars which may be so perfectly well 
 imagined by the reader who feels in the 
 least interested in this little story. Such 
 as the grief of Captain Hildebrand, at 
 finding himself so deceived in one whom 
 he placed implicit trust, as he considered 
 his own honor wounded in the conduct 
 of his daughter ; nor her despair, which 
 all the efforts of an adoring husband 
 
45 
 
 could not dissipate, till she had obtained 
 her father's pardon and promise to ac- 
 company them to Prussia, where the 
 chevalier was or<^ered to join his regi- 
 ment. 
 
 The old count continued inexorable, 
 and left his youngest son without any 
 provision, save what his commission pro- 
 duced, and the little income of Captain 
 Hildebrand. 
 
 Ferdinand's brothers never loved 
 him, and were completely unamiable. 
 From them, he neither derived, nor ex- 
 pected assistance. 
 
 In a battle against the Poles, Konings- 
 berg fell, and the shock made such an 
 impression upon his wife, that not all 
 the uinted efforts of Captain Hildebrand, 
 nor the child of a beloved husband — the 
 
a6 
 
 dear Frederica, now sixteen, could charm 
 away her melancholy, and at the age of 
 thirty-six, she breathed her last, in the 
 arms of her lather and daughter. 
 
 When the first violence of excessive 
 grief began to resign its place to calm 
 sorrow, the captain, now sixty- seven 
 years of age, resolved upon leaving 
 Prussia with his beloved grand-daughter. 
 Every object they there beheld, served 
 but to remind them of Koningsberg and 
 his Maria. *^ I will take you, my love," 
 said the honorable veteran, " to that 
 place where your sainted mother first 
 drew breath. While I am leaning upon 
 your arm, contemplating the rnajestic 
 picturesque scenery of North Wales, or 
 behold you lightly bounding before me, 
 I shall forget that eighteen years have 
 
47 
 
 elapsed, and think tl:at I behold my 
 Maria in the person of her Frederica.'* 
 
 Captain Hildebrand was one of those 
 surprising men that you rarely meet 
 with. Before his spirits received the 
 cruel shock that had so recently op- 
 pressed them, he seemed very little more 
 than fifty ; his manners possessed all 
 the hilarity of early youth, and he never 
 for a minute, forgot that he once was 
 young, or rather, he did not reflect that 
 he was now old. 
 
 When they arrived in London, the 
 TStage in which Frederica and her grand- 
 father came, from the port at which they 
 landed, set them down at an inn in the 
 Borough. 
 
 For that night, he determined -to take 
 up his lodging there, and go the follow- 
 
48 
 
 ing morning to his agent, obtain a suf- 
 ficient sum to purchase a cottage in 
 North Wales, and retire immediately 
 there with his beloved companion. 
 
 Accordingly, after breakfast, he left 
 her, and returned in about an hour, with 
 a countenance that terrified Frederica, 
 who flew to him, exclaiming, '' My 
 dear grandfather, what has happened ?'* 
 
 He tottered to a seat, and burst into 
 tears, while he caught the affrighted 
 girl in his arms, exclaiming, " My child, 
 we are beggars !" 
 
 *' Beggars, dear sir ! How can that 
 be?" 
 
 " My agent, child, in whose hands 
 
 was every guinea I possessed, has not 
 
 'only committed the horrible act of sui- 
 
 -cide, but not left suflicient money to 
 
49 
 
 pay the demand of the most trivial of 
 his creditors. Frederica, your wretched 
 grandfather has not five pounds in the 
 world!" 
 
 " Then, sir, we must support ourselves 
 by our own ingenuity/' she returned, 
 smiling throHgh her tears. '^ That edu- 
 cation which your kindness, and that of 
 my beloved parents, bestowed upon me, 
 will now turn to a good account. I 
 can return, in part, to my dear grand- 
 father, the many obligations I owe him. 
 Pray dry up your tears ; — think how 
 sweet that bread will eat which is pro- 
 cured by the industry of your little 
 girl." 
 
 The veteran sobbed, while he pressed 
 her to his heart. 
 
 When he was a little composed, lit 
 
 VOL. J. D 
 
50 
 
 began to reflect upon what coLir?e he 
 must pursue. He had not a friend to 
 whom he could apply : Frederica and 
 himself were the whole world to each 
 other; they had not another connection 
 in it. 
 
 The death of his brother^ he had 
 read in a London newspaper^ several 
 years since, and it mentioned tljat his 
 large estates devolved to a young man 
 whom he had adopted. To this person, 
 the captain now resolved to write, to 
 ask if his brother had entirely omitted 
 his name in his will. 
 
 To remain at the house they then 
 were in, was impossible ; he therefore 
 went out, and hired two very miserable 
 rooms in the neighbourhood, to which 
 Frederica and their baggage were imme- 
 diately removed. 
 
51 
 
 Now came the time of trial. — When 
 the exertion of mind the captain had 
 been necessitated to employ, began to 
 subside, he was attacked by a most 
 violent illness. 
 
 Frederics, half frantic^ sent the wo- 
 man of the house for medical aid. 
 
 Before he was pronounced out of 
 danger, all their money was spent, their 
 clothes sold, and themselves deeply in 
 debt to the ignorant, unfeeling widow, 
 who kept the house, and became cla- 
 morous for her money, and treated the 
 wretched Frederica with cruelty. 
 
 As soon as her grandfather could 
 
 <:onnect his ideas, he bade her wiite to 
 
 the heir of his deceased brother, as he 
 
 bad intended doing previous to his ill- 
 
 D 2 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 -noxrv OF mWO^S 
 
52 
 
 ness, and to relate their distress. The cap- 
 tain spurned at the idea of asking assist- 
 ance ; but what was he to do ? A prison 
 glared him in the face, and thefateof a be- 
 loved female was connected with hi^own. 
 The letter was soon dispatched, and 
 the landlady, to whom it was read, a 
 little pacified ; but no answer coming 
 for several days, her former clamours were 
 renewed. 
 
 What was Frederica to do ? She saw 
 her grandfather actually dying for want 
 of nourishment. 
 
 She had quitted him one day for five 
 minutes, and upon returning to the 
 room, found him struggling, and speech- 
 less* 
 
 In an agony she flew to the mistress 
 of the house, beseeching, with tears, for 
 
53 
 
 a little of the brandy she had seen come 
 in the day before. 
 
 It was refused with unfeeling igno- 
 rance. 
 
 Frederica knew where it was depo* 
 sited; she entered the room, opened the 
 closetj and made herself mistress of a 
 bottle of the cordial in less than a mi- 
 nute. 
 
 Gasping for breath, she returned to 
 the captain, poured a large quantity 
 down his throat, and had the happiness 
 to see him revive. 
 
 Her countenance assumed the anima- 
 tion of hope, and she was gazing with 
 delight at his recovering features, when 
 ■the door opened, and the landlady ap- 
 peared before them, accompanied by 
 two ill-looking men, exclaiming, **' That 
 n 3 
 
54 
 
 is your prisoner; that is tiie pretty miss 
 who stole iTiy brandy." 
 
 Frederica was staiicling witli the bot- 
 tle ill her hand; she gazed with asto- 
 nishment, while one of the men, taking 
 it from her, and seizing her roughly by 
 the arm, said, " Come, you must go 
 along with us ; this honest woman has 
 had patience enough with you. And 
 my advice is^ for her to send that old 
 fellow to the King's Bench ; it is hard 
 by ; and if I was her, I would not let 
 him die in my house, for d'ye see, it is 
 not a pleasant thing." 
 
 Frederica clung to her grandfather, 
 who, fortunately, was not sufficiently 
 recovered to know what was going for- 
 ward, cxclaiminir, '' I cannot — will not 
 leave liim/' 
 
" We will see that," &aid>the spokes- 
 man, **' if you could have kept your handle 
 from picking and stealing, so you might, 
 but as you could not, come along. 
 
 She fainted away, and was conveyed, 
 as on similar occasions, after going 
 through the usual process of law, to 
 Newgale. 
 
 She suffered but a very few days, all 
 the horrors she was there exposed to, 
 her own agonised thoughts, and the 
 society of several of the most depraved 
 of her sex, was augmented by their con- 
 tinually telling her, that transportation 
 she must consider as a lenient punish- 
 ment for her offence ; when on the fifth 
 evening of her imprisonment, the gaoler 
 entered the room where she. had been 
 sitting all day in trembling expectation 
 D 4 
 
56 
 
 of being summoned to appear befoi-e 
 her judges; with the pleasing informa- 
 tion, that she was at liberty, as a bill 
 had not been found against her. 
 
 The terms of law she was unac- 
 quainted with, she only knew she was 
 no longer to be detained, and not stay- 
 ing to hear the envious vulgar congra- 
 tulations of her partners in misery, she 
 hastened after the gaoler, who released 
 her from the haunts of guilt and wretch- 
 edness. 
 
 After many enquiries, she at length 
 arrived at the miserable house where 
 she had left her grandfather, but when 
 she saw it, her terrors of its owner, su- 
 perseded every other consideration, and 
 she stood gazing at the windows, not 
 daring to enter. 
 
57 
 
 All that she had left, that was of any 
 value, was a locket with both her parents' 
 hair set in gold. 
 
 This she had treasured, and hoped 
 never to part with, and kissing the case 
 that had contained the valuable relic, 
 she took out the hair, which she placed 
 in her bosom, and entered a miserable 
 public house, opposite that of her dread- 
 ed enemies. 
 
 By the bribe of her locket, she en- 
 gaged the dirty servant of the house 
 to go and make enquiries respecting her 
 grandfather, she soon returned with the 
 account that the inhuman woman said 
 she could not afford to keep those who 
 would not pay any longer, and had that 
 evening sent him to the King's Bench, 
 but that she might have saved her* 
 
 D 3 
 
58 
 
 self the trouble; for. an noiir after be 
 went, a smart gentleman came, who 
 settled her bill, got her receipt, her law- 
 yer's address, and then followed the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 The servant who really felt for P>e- 
 derica, forced her to eat a piece of bread, 
 and drink some porter, and then shewed 
 her the nearest way to the King's 
 Bench. 
 
 When she got there, it was near ten 
 o'clock, but the gaoler humanely told 
 her that one of the name she enquired 
 for, had that afternoon remained only 
 a few hours in the prison, as he had 
 been followed by a gentleman who re- 
 leased him, and that he appeared very 
 weak and ill. 
 
 What was now to become of her ; 
 
59 
 
 she knew not a soul in the worlds she 
 had not strength to return to Newgate, 
 her shoes were worn from her feet, 
 which were almost cut to pieces. 
 
 She tottered to London Bridge, and 
 seated herself on one of the benches, 
 unable to move, from cold and illness — 
 insulted by the refuse of the creation — 
 a prey to anguish, she hoped never 
 again to see the ligiit, but fata ordered 
 it otherwise. 
 
 At the dawn of day, a poor woman 
 who had observed her distress, and un- 
 like the rabble who had insulted her, 
 really compassionated her sufferings — 
 approached where shewiis sitting discon- 
 solate, and enquired if she could be of 
 any service to her. 
 
 Fredcrica thanked her in a gentle 
 
60 
 
 tone, and telling her in a few words, 
 her present urgent distress, entreated 
 her to direct her to Newgate, 
 
 The woman complied with her re- 
 quest ; but observing how faint and 
 wretched she appeared, she said to her, 
 " Although I pity your wants, I cannot 
 relieve them, for I have no money myself. 
 But here, take this little basket, perhaps 
 somebody will buy a few of these 
 matches, and that will get you a morsel 
 of bread, and is better than begging. 
 
 Frederica received the gift of the be- 
 nevolent stranger with gratitude mixed 
 with anguish, for she could not help 
 thinking of the disgrace her noble family 
 received in her being reduced to the 
 degraded station of a match girl. *' Yet 
 have I not been in prison ?" exclaimed 
 
61 
 
 she ; '' and for theft ? And shall I* talk 
 of being above any thing after that ?'* 
 
 Full of these thoughts, she endea- 
 voured to trace her way to Newgate, 
 certain that her grandfather would in- 
 quire for her there ; but the terrors of 
 her mind had --evented her from attend- 
 ing properly to the direction given her,- 
 and she wandered about until she got 
 into the Park, where she was fortunate 
 enough to address the benevolent Lady 
 Anne NorvaK 
 
6a 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Charity, modest, decent, easy, kind. 
 Softens the high, and rears the abject mind j 
 Knovys with just reins, and gentle hand, to guide 
 Betwixt vile shame, and arbitrary pride. 
 Soft peace she brings, wherever she arrives ; 
 She builds our quiet as she forms our lives -, 
 Lays the rough paths of peevish nature even. 
 And opens in each heart, a little heaven. 
 
 Prior. 
 
 VVhex Frederica had finished the 
 narrative of her sorrows, which had 
 often been interrupted by tears, " Can 
 your ladyship wonder," said she, turning 
 to Lady Anne, " that I have so long 
 
6a 
 
 laboured under mental derangement, as 
 good Mrs. Newton tells me I have ?'* 
 
 " Indeed I do not," she replied, ten- 
 derly embracing her ; " I am only asto- 
 nished that reason ever returned ; I could 
 scarcely have thought it possible for any 
 one to hav€ endured what you have gone 
 through. But where can Captain Hil- 
 debrand be ?'' 
 
 *' Ah !" said Frederica, " while I am 
 in a state of uncertainty respecting him, 
 I never can be happy. To you, sir, 
 (turning to Mr. Norval,) I must appeal 
 for advice and assistance — already under 
 so many obligations, I still entreat for 
 more." 
 
 Mr. Norval, who felt himself equally 
 interested with Lady Anne, promised to 
 make every enquiry possible respectinc;- 
 
64 
 
 the captain, adding^ " If there is any- 
 thing. Miss Koningsberg, that can set 
 your mind at ease, tell rae, and it shall 
 be done.'* 
 
 " There is one favor that I scarce 
 know how to ask," said Frederica ; 
 " but to prove how I impose upon bene- 
 volence ; it is to request that you will 
 accompany me to that horrid prison that 
 kept me from my dear grandfather. 
 You would command respect from the 
 gaoler ; me alone, he would treat with in- 
 solence, and possibly not answer. My 
 only friend would surely send there to 
 enquire after his poor girl. If it is an 
 improper request, sir, tell me, who am 
 so ignorant of the ways of the world ; I 
 can only speak from the dictates of my 
 heart." 
 
03 
 
 " Continue ever to do the same," said 
 Mr. Norval ; " you are fortunate in hav- 
 ing so long escaped those prejudices of 
 society which warp the generous senti- 
 ments of the mind. I will accompany 
 you with pleasure^ and we will go to the 
 house of the inhuman woman where 
 you lodged ; Captain Hildebrand may 
 have sent there. Under my protection, 
 you will not, surely, be afraid of her ;" 
 seeing Frederica shrink with fear. 
 
 " Certainly not^ sir," she replied ; 
 '* but the ideas her very name inspires, 
 are dreadful. But for her I should not 
 have been separated from my grand- 
 father — should not have endured the 
 horrors of a prison, the dread of a trial, 
 transportation, or may be, ignominious 
 death, for an act that I cannot help glo- 
 rying in, since it certainly rescued my 
 
00 
 
 grandfather from death ; yet had it not 
 been for iicr, 1 should never have known 
 these esteemed, these respected friends," 
 taking a hand of each, while the tears of 
 gratitude moistened her eyes. 
 
 Early the following morning, Mr. Norval 
 promised to take her in the chariot, to 
 Newgate. James was, therefore, sent 
 to Hampstead to desire Mrs. Newton 
 not to expect Miss Koningsberg till the 
 next eveiiing. 
 
 Lady^ Anne that day shut her doors 
 to all visitors, so pleased was she with 
 tlie society o^ the young foreigner, and 
 the artless siinplicity of many of her re- 
 marks. 
 
 The carriage, at an early hour, con- 
 veyed Fredcrica and her benevolent at- 
 tendant^ to Newgate. 
 
 As she approai^hed the dreaded walls^ 
 
an agony that she could not overcome, 
 seized her, and it was with dilficulty, 
 that the powerful salts which Lady 
 Anne had made her take in the chariot, 
 could keep her from fainting. 
 
 The gaoler^ under whose care she had 
 been committed, was immediately re- 
 cognised by Frederica, though he did 
 not appear to recollect one whom he 
 had regarded as a common thief, now 
 seated in an elegant carriage. He told 
 Mr. Norval he perfectly well remembered 
 releasing a young woman who had been 
 committed for stealing a bottle of 
 brandy, and that a few hoars after she 
 was gone, two gentlemen stopped at the 
 prison gate, in a post-cliaise, one an old 
 one, who appeared sick. 
 
 *' Ah !" cried Frederica, '' that was 
 my dear grandfather." 
 
68 
 
 ^*Was it, miss ?" returned the gaoler* 
 '* I cannot say as to that ; but the 
 youngest of the two, got out, and came 
 and asked me about the young thief, 
 and I told him a bill was not found 
 against her. So he said, ^ It is all very 
 well, If she should come here again, 
 tell her her grandfather is better, and 
 not to make herself unhappy about him, 
 for he would be well taken care of." ^ 
 
 "Thank God!" ejaculated Frede- 
 rica. 
 
 " I told him I would remember it, 
 but I did not think it very likely she 
 would make me a friendly visit, unless 
 her love of brandy should make her to 
 be caught tripping again." 
 
 ' The gaoler laughed at what he consi- 
 dered as wit. 
 
 Frederica threw herself back in the 
 
69 
 
 carriage, and Mr. Nerval asked if that 
 was all that had been said. — Yes, to the 
 best of his recollection, the man replied. 
 
 The carriage was then ordered to the 
 Borough. 
 
 At the extremity of a dirty lane, was 
 situated that house which had for so 
 many weeks, been the wretched abode 
 of the brave Captain Hildebrand and 
 his grand-daughter. 
 
 When the carriage stopped at the 
 door, Mr. Nerval, observing Frederica 
 turn very pale, said, ^^ You have nothing 
 to dread, Miss Koningsberg ; I am your 
 protector." 
 
 She felt ashamed of her fears, and by 
 an exertion, endeavoured to conquer 
 them. 
 
 " Open the door, James,'' said Mr. 
 
70 ^ 
 
 Nerval ; *' we are going to get out 
 here." 
 
 " Dear sir, I hope not/' exclaimed 
 Frederica. 
 
 "For shame!'' returned he, taking 
 her hand to assist her from the carriage; 
 ^' you have not any thing to dread now. 
 Surely my power is superior to the owi^er 
 of this miserable house." 
 
 Mrs. Green, the dreaded landlady, 
 had been observing all their motions 
 from her window, w^th a species of 
 curiosity and surprise, excited by seeing 
 so elegant an equipage in so wretched a 
 lane ; but the latter was wonderfully 
 augmented when she observed the foot- 
 man knock at the door, and the lady 
 xmd gentleman alight. 
 
 She went to receive them with a pro- 
 
fusion of smiles and courtesies. The 
 trembling Frederica, in a deep white 
 muslin veil, she did not recognise, but 
 begged her ladyship would walk into her 
 humble parlour, while she was favored 
 with his honor's commands. 
 
 Supported by Mr. Norval, she entered 
 the very room from which she luid 
 taken the brandy. 
 
 Mr. Norval and Frederica seated 
 themselves, and the former said, " Sit 
 down, Mrs. Green — I think that is your 
 name — as I wish to speak to you." 
 
 She r-eplied, she knew better how to 
 behave herself before such gentry, while 
 exultation sparkled in her little grey 
 eyes, at the idea of the consequence she 
 should^derive in the neighbourhood, from 
 the visitors she had been fortunate 
 enough to receive under her roof. 
 
72 
 
 These cogitations were broken in 
 upon by Mr, Norval demanding if she 
 knew any thing of Captain Hildebrand. 
 
 *' No, please your honor," she re- 
 turned, courtesying low as she spoke, 
 "not any thing since the evening that 
 he left my house to go ." 
 
 " To the King's Bench," interrupted 
 Mr. Norval. " How could you have 
 the inhumanity to send a man of his age 
 and respectability, ^nd in a dying state 
 too, to prison, after sending his grand^ 
 daughter to Newgate — an innocent young 
 creature of your own sex too, who was 
 impelled by your barbarity, and the 
 dangerous situation of her only friend, 
 to commit a deed at which, on a less 
 trying occasion, her very soul would 
 have revolted ?" 
 
 The crest-fallen Mrs* Green stood 
 
73 
 
 twlrlmg her fingers, while die natural 
 malignity of her disposition again began 
 to gloom conspicuous in her counte- 
 nauce. 
 
 Frederica sobbed aloud, and IVIr. 
 Norval, fearful of her fainting, threw 
 up her veil, and discovered her face lo 
 her ancient enemy, whose passion, at 
 the sight of her, outstripped every ra- 
 tional consideration/ ^ " Oh, oh, my 
 pretty lady," said she, *^ what you arc 
 come again, are you ? I begin now to 
 find out what this fine carriage, and all 
 the bullying I have received, means. I 
 always thought you would turn out no 
 better than you should be, and this 
 shews me that I can see through a stone 
 wall as well as most people." 
 
 Mr. Norval here interrupted her, in a 
 
 VOL, I. K 
 
74 
 
 style that commandecl respect, and pro- 
 moted fear. He threatened her with 
 the fate that Frederica Iiad so severely 
 SLitfered from, and assured iier that the 
 defamer of innocence was never treated 
 with lenity ; and after again expatiating 
 upon the extreme inhumanity of her 
 conduct, he left her a prey to her own 
 feelings — the very worst companions 
 she could have. 
 
• «3 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 Such is the weakness of all mortal hope, • 
 So fickle is the state of earthly things. 
 
 That 'ere they come into their aimed scope. 
 They fall so short tf our fair reckonings. 
 
 Spencer. 
 
 VV HEN Frederica was a little recovered, 
 she asked Mr. Nerval's advice of what 
 she was to do, concerning her grand- 
 father. '• Till I receive some informa- 
 tion respecting him, I cannot attempt 
 to feel ease, for indeed, sir, it would be 
 vain. If you do not disapprove of it, I 
 will write to his brother's heir ; it is 
 possible he may know something of 
 him. Who could it be that released 
 
76 
 
 him from prison, save Mr. Abbot ? He 
 had not a claim upon another creature. 
 Yet how could the most tender of re- 
 latives leave his poor girl a prey to every 
 species of misery, in a place that she 
 was- totally unacquainted with, without 
 a friend in the world, and entirely desti- 
 tute of money and clothes? How dif- 
 ferent from every former action of liis 
 life!'' 
 
 Absorbed in grief, she Hstened to Mr. 
 Nerval's acquiescence of her scheme, 
 who said, " If it will make you the 
 least more easy, dear Miss Koningsberg, 
 we will go to Mr. Abbot's seat in Buck- 
 inghamshire ;— he must know some- 
 thing respecting Captain Hildebrand." 
 
 A gleam of satisfaction beamed from 
 tlic tearful eye of Frederica, while she 
 
/ / 
 
 thanked Mr. Nerval with real gratitude 
 for the proposal. 
 
 When they arrived in Hanover Square, 
 they found Lady Anne very mucli 
 alarmed by the sudden, and violent ill- 
 ness of her eldest boy. 
 
 She had sent otf for Dr. Brown, 
 who pronounced his conn.plaint to be a 
 scarlet fever. 
 
 The whole house was in a state of 
 agitation. Lady Anne could not be 
 prevailed upon to leave her child, but 
 wrote an affectionate note to Frederica, 
 requesting she would directly order the 
 carriage, and go to Hampstead, lest she 
 should catch the infection in her weak 
 state. 
 
 '' To leave town at present," said 
 Mr. Norval, ** Miss Koningsberg, is 
 E 3 
 
7B 
 
 impossible ; tliereforc write this evening 
 to Mr. Abbot, and as soon as you have 
 an answer, pray send it to me, as I shall 
 be very anxious to hear." 
 
 As soon as she arrived at Mrs. New- 
 ton's, Frederica lost not an instant in 
 writing to the only person she judged it 
 Irkely would know any thing respecting 
 her grandfather, entreating that he would 
 not delay answering her enquiries, and 
 painting, in strong colours, the misery- 
 she endured from the uncertain state 
 she was in, concerning Captain Hilde- 
 brand's fate. She mentioned the ho- 
 norable protection she was under, and 
 the meditated visit to his seat, likewise 
 what had postponed, though she hoped, 
 not entirely prevented it, as she could 
 not help flattering herself that her grand-- 
 father was with him. 
 
The letter dispatched, Frederlca be- 
 gan to give way to the pleasing visionsr 
 of hope. It is very unnatural for ex- 
 treme youth to dwell long upon the iron 
 characters of despair. She soon ar- 
 ranged it in her own mind, that Captain 
 Hildebrand was certainly with his bro- 
 ther's heir ; and as she could not settle 
 to her own satisfaction, his conduct sub- 
 sequent to being released from the King's 
 Bench, she determined to banish it froni 
 her memory, and give way to the illusions 
 of expectation, that derived a great part 
 of their strength from returning conva- 
 lescence, and the heakli-inspiriug breezes 
 of Mav". 
 
 The second morning brouglit her the 
 desired — the expected answer. 
 
 '- This will realise all mv enchantinrr 
 
 K 4 
 
80 
 
 anticipations/' sair] Frcderica, eagerly 
 taking the letter from the servant, and 
 hastening to her room to peruse the 
 contents at leisure. 
 
 It never occurred to her ardent ima- 
 gination that il was possible for the re- 
 ply-to differ from her wisheS; and she 
 opened it with a delight that was very' 
 soon checked. 
 
 It was liOt written by Mr. Abbot, but 
 a most particular friend. By his desire, 
 it acquainted tlie unhappy Frederica 
 that he did not knov/ any thing respect- 
 ing Captain Hildebrand, and that the 
 letter she mentioned having written, had 
 never come to hand. He congratulated 
 her upon the protection she received 
 from IvJ^r. Norval and his lady ; and 
 concluded by offering her-, in Mr, Ah- 
 
81 
 
 bot*g liaine, any pecuniary assistance 
 sliC n}ight require, as lie derived his for- 
 tune from the Hildebrand estate. He 
 observed, his friend would think it a 
 pleasure, and consider it a duty, to assist 
 a branch of that familv. 
 
 Frcderica threw down the letter In 
 despair, and folding her arms on the ta- 
 ble by which she was sitting, she threw 
 her miserable head upon them, and 
 sobbed with a vehemence she did not 
 seek to repress. The dreadful epistle 
 seemed the death-warrant of her happi- 
 ness. She had for so many liours 
 given way to the most pleasing ideas^ 
 that she felt the shock she now received> 
 with added violence. 
 
 She remained insensible to every 
 thing but her own sorrows, for near an 
 
 £ 5 
 
82 
 
 hour, till Mrs. Newton, In passing the 
 door, was attracted by the sound of 
 grief, entered the chamber. 
 
 The noise the door made in opening, 
 attracted the poor sufferer's attention, 
 and raising her head, she beheld the 
 friendly old woman, who approached 
 her with compassion, saying, " Sweet 
 lady, what is the matter ? Come, dry 
 your tears ; you will break my old hearty 
 if you go on so." 
 
 The ever attractive accents of friend- 
 ship never sounded more soothing to 
 Frederica than in the present instance. 
 Throwing herself into the good woman's 
 arms, she exclaimed, " Oh, Mrs. Nev\^- 
 ton, I have not a friend in. the world !" 
 " Do not say so," returned the good 
 creature. *' Think of my lady and Mn 
 
83 
 
 Norval ; and James and I would do any 
 thing to serve you.** 
 
 « Yes;' replied Frederica, " I feel 
 my ingratitude ; I have had many more 
 benefits heaped upon me than I deserve. 
 I ihall go distracted," said she, pressing 
 her hand npon her beating head. 
 '' Kind Mrs. Newton, send that fatal 
 letter te Mr. Norval. I will throw 
 myself on the bed, and perhaps you will 
 come and sit by me, and let me talk ta 
 you of my grandfather, and while you 
 are with me, I shall not think myseir 
 the deserted being I in real it}- am. 
 
 Mrs. Newton again assured her she 
 must not call herself deserted, and again* 
 named the four that were so willing ix> 
 serve her; and then darkening theroom^ 
 she quitted it for a few minutes^ to send 
 
81 
 
 the letter to Hanover Square, but very 
 soon returned to Frederica. 
 
 Her piety, and the extreme simplicity 
 of her remarks, joined to the attachment 
 she professed for our heroine, tended to 
 tranquilizc the poignancy of her affliction, 
 and admit, by very slow degrees, the 
 entrance of hope again into her mind. 
 
 The evening brought a most kind 
 letter from Lady Anne, who said she 
 longed very much to see Frederica, but 
 was fearful yet awhile. Her child was 
 still very unwell, but Dr. Brown assured 
 her that he never had been in danger, 
 nor was there any reason for apprehend- 
 ing that he would, as the complaint 
 certainly diminished, instead of increas- 
 ing. She added, " Mr. Norval and 
 myself are very much obliged to you for 
 
85 
 
 sending the letter, but were sincerely 
 concerned by the account of your ex- 
 treme depression^ that Mrs. Newton sent 
 us. Exert yourself, dearest Miss Ko- 
 ningsberg, there is certainly a mystery 
 that envelopes the fate of your grand- 
 father, and which must be pierced 
 through. I have been so much taken 
 up with my boy that I have not yet had 
 time to consult Henry on the most ex- 
 pedient method of unravelling this clue. 
 For the sake of Captain Hildebrand, 
 who must be found, exert yourself; do 
 not suffer your spirits to sink under this 
 new disappointment. You are in honor- 
 able protection-^safe with those who 
 sincerely feel for your many and unde- 
 served trials, and who esteem you al- 
 ready at this early period of acquaintance^' 
 
86 
 
 These assurances soothed the dejected 
 girl, and obtahied for her a little respite 
 from the agony of reflection in sleep. 
 
 She received daily accounts from 
 Hanover Square, -and the little boy stili 
 continued mending. 
 
 Frederica had now sufficient time to 
 think of her dependent situation. She 
 had been four months under the protec- 
 tion of one on whom she had actually 
 forced herself; the very clothes that she 
 wore, were presented her by Lady Anne 
 Norval. 
 
 She was now living in a lodging cn^ 
 tirely at that lady's expence, and though 
 she bestowed her gifts with a kindness 
 and delicacy rarely exampled, yet Frede- 
 rica had a proud heart ; she felt as that 
 there was a degree of pusillanimity in 
 
87 
 
 her conduct, when she was the possessor 
 of a variety of accomplishments, suffer- 
 ing herself to be supported now her 
 health was restored, and she was enabled 
 to gain a maintenance ; she therefore 
 seized a pen, and wrote as follows : 
 
«8 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Bat fix'd, unalterable care. 
 
 Foregoes not what she feels within; 
 Shews the same sadness ev'ry where, 
 . And slights the season and the scene. 
 
 C0WPER» 
 
 W II EN EVER I have had the happi- 
 ness, madam/of being with your ladyship. 
 or Mr. Norval, I have never been per- 
 mitted to utter those heartfelt expressions 
 of gratitude which were bursting from my 
 bosom ; but the truly generous are 
 usually characterised by being amply 
 content with the silent, though gratify- 
 ing reward of an approving conscience. 
 
^0 
 
 But now^ 1113110.11, when you cannot 
 b.iy, ' Dear Miss Koningsberg, you will 
 otFend us if you proceed/ I seize with 
 avidity, the opportunity afforded by ab- 
 sence, to pour out the effusions of a 
 grateful soul, to thank your ladyship, to 
 thank the philanthropic Mr. Norval for 
 the unexampled benevolence bestowed 
 upon the unfortunate orphan who cast 
 herself upon your mercy. — To say that 
 your God will reward you for your kinrl- 
 ness to his creatures, and believe me, 
 madam, on my knees^ I have prayed 
 (and shall ever continue to do the same) 
 for a continuance of the happiness you 
 now enjoy, to you and yours; to entreat 
 for an increase, would be impious, as I 
 fancy, in this life, it is impossible. Lest 
 I should offend, I will not say any more 
 
90 
 
 011 this subject, but pix)ceed to the ori- 
 ginal cause that induced me to trouble 
 your ladyship by addressing a letter to 
 you. — I have now, madam, for some 
 months, been the object of your bound- 
 less liberality ; illness and mental de- 
 rangement prevented any exertion on 
 my part, though those spirits that used 
 to enliven my youth are fled, I fear, for 
 ever. Yet my health is entirely restored^ 
 and I shall now, through your ladyship's 
 assistance, be enabled to turn the few 
 accomplishments I possess, to account. 
 My prophetic mother often stimulated 
 me to acquire a degree of proficiency in 
 the several branches of my studies, by 
 saying, if they only need be exerted 
 for the amusement of my friends, it 
 would compensate amply far my trouble; 
 
91 
 
 •r such were the changes of fortune^ I 
 might be necessitated to call them forth 
 for my own support. That time is now 
 arrived, and to your ladyship I turn for 
 directions how to apply them. I believe 
 I am competent to instructing in French^ 
 Italian, and the harp ; drawing I studied 
 principally as an amusement, and conse- 
 quently know less of that than music, 
 which art I was early initiated in. My 
 knowledge of the Prussian language will 
 be, I should conceive, of little utility in 
 the present case ; and indeed, although 
 I was born in Regal Prussia, yet I know 
 less of that (my mother tongue) than 
 any, as our servants were French and 
 Italian, and my father never spoke his 
 own language, except when necessity 
 compelled him, as he often said the 
 
9^ 
 
 cruelty of ihe Count Koningsberg made 
 him wish to forget iie was a Prussian* 
 Your ladyship is now acquainted with 
 my wishes. May I hope for another 
 obligation, added to the many I have 
 already felt my^ gratitude so awakened 
 for, by your condescending to instruct 
 me how I may turn the liberal education 
 I have received, to account. It is with 
 great satisfaction that I hear of the 
 daily amendment of your little charge, 
 whom I hope soon to be permitted to 
 see again ; and with respects to Mr. 
 Nerval, I remain your ladyship's 
 
 " Gratefully obliged 
 
 " F. K." 
 
 Lady Anne and Mr. Norval were sit- 
 ting together when Frederica's letter 
 
93 
 
 arrived. " The more I hear and see of 
 tills girl," said her ladyship, '^ the more I 
 feel myself propelled to admire her. I 
 highly approve the indepetidence of her 
 spirit, that feels such gratitude for the few 
 benefits she has received, yet cannot bear 
 the idea of incurring more. I think she 
 would be a valuable acquisition in our 
 family ; she could assist me in the care 
 of the children, and be a delightful 
 companion while you are awav, and in 
 two or three years, if she sl^ould continue 
 with us, she will be highly serviceable 
 to our little Anne. Do you not agree 
 with m.e, Henry ?'* 
 " Not entirely.'* 
 
 *' Really ! Why^ where do your ob- 
 jections to my plan rest ?" 
 
 ^* I will tell you, Anne. Instead of 
 
94 
 
 being advantageous to Miss Konings- 
 berg, it will, in my opinion, be highly 
 the contrary. You might derive plea- 
 sure from her society when you are at 
 home, but consider the numberless en- 
 gagements you are necessitated to enter 
 into, and the variety of company you 
 receive. Miss Koningsberg would then 
 be in solitude ; her talents and accom- 
 plishments would rust for want of being 
 called into action. On the other side 
 of the question, were you to make her 
 the companion of your visits, her situa- 
 tion would be yet more unpleasant. 
 Youth, beauty, and accomplishments 
 such as her's, would be sufficient to 
 awaken the' envy of her own sex ; not 
 even your protection would shield her 
 •from that cutting contempt that little 
 
93 
 
 minds too frequently bestow upon those 
 who are their superior in every thing 
 but fortune. Some of your friends are 
 acquainted with the singular particulars 
 of your meeting ; they, of course, have 
 told it theirs ; therefore she would be 
 an object of observation and cariosity, 
 and treated as your dependent ; for de- 
 pend upon it, the story of the match 
 girl will be remembered." 
 
 ^^ I cannot help agreeing with you,'* 
 said Lady Anne^ ^' I really think I should 
 be rendering her a disservice. But 
 what are we to do ? She is too young 
 to undertake the education of children ; 
 however competent she may be to the 
 task, few would like to trust such ex- 
 treme youth ; and there are very few 
 situations as companions that are eligible. 
 
1)0 
 
 As soon as little Henry Is well enongli 
 for me to quit him, I will consult Mrs. 
 Claresby ; she may be able to strike out 
 somctJhing that may do." 
 
 Mrs. Claresby, whom Lady Anne 
 mentioned, had formerly been governess 
 to her ladyship ; but before Lady Anne 
 Sefton had attained her thirteenth year, 
 she had married Mr. Claresby^ who was 
 in a Manchester warehouse in the city. 
 
 As he was assiduous and clever in the 
 business, they soon gave him a small 
 share of it, and at his death, he left his 
 widow a genteel annuity, each of his 
 daughters three thousand pounds, and 
 recommended his son earnestly to his 
 partners, who, from the friendship they 
 bore the father, immediately gave him 
 the half of the part Mr. Claresby had had. 
 
97 
 
 Lady x\nne Norval was particularly 
 fond of Mrs. Claresby, u'ho was a wo- 
 man of good sense ; her manners frank 
 and easy, though they frequently deviated 
 from the genteel. ..^ 
 
 Enthusiastically fond of her own fa- 
 mily, she thought there perfection 
 reigned triumphant, and only there. 
 Although she had a manner that made 
 all her friends, or rather acquaintances, 
 fancy, while they were with her, that 
 they were all the world to her, till they 
 began to reflect, that when they had en- 
 tered her drawing-room, they had seen 
 her caress a departing visitor with every 
 mark of the most unfeigned regard, but 
 no sooner had her carriage driven from 
 the door, than tlwse who remained were 
 amused with the caricatured follies of 
 
 VOL. J. F 
 
98 
 
 of her, who, five minutes before, had to 
 her face, been praised and flattered. 
 
 The two Miss Claresby's were plain 
 clever girls ; the former they did not 
 not know — with the latter they were 
 too well acquainted. Their motlier 
 thought one pretty — the other hand- 
 some, and had actually told it them so 
 very often they could not doubt such 
 good authority. James, the only son, 
 and family darling, was three years older 
 than his si-sters ; not devoid of sense, 
 but the complete little puppy — quite the 
 city beau, rushing into all the extre- 
 mity of fashionable dress, and fashionable 
 amusements, till he stepped beyond gen- 
 tility, and proved to those who conde- 
 scended to notice him, the extreme want 
 <^f real elegance there was about him. 
 
99 
 
 This youth was mamma's pride, who 
 delighted in having so perfectly genteel 
 ■a son, and sisters' glory. 
 
 His mother had so often assured him 
 that he and the girls were so entirely 
 what they ought to be, that he, like 
 them, would not doubt the authority, 
 and loved iiiniself and his sisters most 
 ^sincerely. 
 
 Very soon after Mr. Claresby's <leath, 
 James found out that it was impossible 
 to live in the city, and the family re- 
 moved to a genteel house in Clifford 
 Street, where Mrs. Claresby gave parties 
 that she really thought elegant ; and as 
 Lady Anne Norval had graced one or 
 two of them, and the former situation 
 .she held about that lady was never 
 F 2 
 
100 
 
 glanced at, she imagined herself com- 
 pletely the thing. 
 
 Lady Anne had a real friendship for 
 her, and as she was not sufficiently at 
 her house to discover her reigning pre- 
 judices, she considered her as a really 
 good-hearted woman, and her daughters 
 clever, unaffected girls ; James she had 
 never given herself the trouble to think 
 about. 
 
101 
 
 CHAP. VIII, 
 
 The love of praise, howe'er conceal'd by art., 
 Ilclgiis more or less, and glows In ev'ry heart. 
 
 YoUN'O^ 
 
 JLady Anne Norval immediately, 
 upon the receipt of Frederica's letter, 
 dispatched a short, bat very kind note^ 
 saying how much she approved of her 
 plan, and how willing herself and Mr. 
 Norval would be to forward it, and in 
 the course of a very few days, she should 
 be enabled to receive her again in Ha- 
 nover Square. 
 
 Mean time, Frederlca, not having any 
 t 3 
 
102 
 
 circumstaiice of sufficient importance to 
 turn her ideas into another channel, 
 thought incessantly of her grandfather, 
 giving herself up alternately to the 
 deepest dejection, and the soothing voice 
 of hope. In her dreams, she was con- 
 stantly with him, and she awoke, each 
 morning, to fresh disappointment. 
 
 With delight did she receive the w^et- 
 Gome summons to attend Lady Anne 
 Nerval, who sent the carnage for her 
 as soon as Dr. Brown pronounced that 
 there could not be the least dread of in- 
 fection. 
 
 She was received with the utmost 
 kindness by her generous protectors, 
 who very soon entered upon the subject 
 nearest her heart — the mysterious fate 
 of Captain Hildebrand. 
 
103 
 
 Mr. Nerval proposed advertising in 
 the public prints, the anxiety of Frede- 
 rica, and where she might be found. 
 
 Eager to catch hold of any thing that 
 might lead to discovery, she accepted 
 the offer with gratitude. 
 
 Air. Norval, therefore, lost no time 
 in drawing up an advertisement, which, 
 after submitting to the perusal of the 
 ladies, and meeting with their entire 
 approbation, he dispatched to two of the 
 most popular morning papers and an 
 evening one. 
 
 This done, Frederica felt more easy, 
 While anything was going forward, she 
 experienced less distress, as there was 
 constantly something to hope. 
 
 Lady Anne proposed taking Frederic a 
 a shopping with her, and when they 
 F 4 
 
104 
 
 were seated in the carriage, she led to 
 Uie subject of her letter. 
 
 Her ladyship then related the con- 
 versation she had had with Mr. Norval. 
 " And now, Miss Koningsberg," she 
 saidj *^ do your sentiments coincide with 
 ours ? Do oblige me, by giving me your 
 sincere opinion on the subject.'* 
 
 ** I really will, madam/' returned 
 Frederica. *' To enjoy your ladyship's 
 society would be the greatest happiness 
 I could experience; but were I not to 
 visit with you, and be in your parties, I 
 fed how very seldom I could have that 
 pleasure ; and I too well agree with Mr. 
 Norval, respecting the treatment a de* 
 pendent orphan would meet with, in 
 the society of those so in every respect 
 her superiors, though honored with 
 
105 
 
 your ladysliip's smiles. Therefore^ as I 
 could not make myself useful in your 
 family, madam, and must in either case 
 experience mortifications, place me, if it 
 is possible, where my story is not known, 
 yet where I may oft^n hear of your lady- 
 ship, and sometimes be permitted to see 
 the only friends my untoward fate has 
 left me." 
 
 " I cannot help agreeing with botli 
 you and Mr. Norval,'* returned Lady 
 Anne, " although it is impossible to 
 avoid being selfish enough to say, what 
 an addition it would be to my domestic 
 happiness to have so charming an in- 
 mate." 
 
 "Ah, madam r* exclaimed Frederica, 
 ** do not be so condescendingly flattering, 
 or you will make me waver in a resolu- 
 
 F 5 
 
io6 
 
 tion that must be riglit, since you a 
 prove it." 
 
 The carriage was ordered to CHfford 
 Street. 
 
 Lady Anne told her young friend, 
 that as they were to part, she wished to 
 consult a lady with whom she had been 
 long acquainted, and of whose judgment 
 she formed a very high opinion, what 
 plan it would be the most expedient to 
 pursue. ^'^ ^-^ y^ 
 
 When the chariot stopped at the 
 door, she told Frederica she thought she 
 had better not alight, as it might be un- 
 pleasant to her to hear her own fate 
 canvassed. 
 
 She acquiesced with pleasiire, as the 
 idea of seeing strangers was not consonant 
 to her present feelings. 
 
107 
 
 Her ladyship remained above halt an 
 hour, and when she returned, she ap- 
 peared to have something very agreeable 
 to communicate. 
 
 When they drove from the door, 
 Lady Anne said, '' I hope, my dear 
 girl, that I shall have it in my power to 
 place you in just the kind of situation I 
 should wish. Mrs. Claresby and her 
 daughters will this evening take tea with 
 us, and if you are mutually pleased, she 
 is the lady under whose protection I 
 mean to place you. Her daughters are 
 good girls, nearly of your own age. Thz 
 eldest is very shortly going to be married, 
 and Mrs. Claresby will, if you like it, 
 take you to supply her place, and to 
 assist Emma, the youngest, in the pro- 
 secution of her accomplishments. Wliea 
 F 6 
 
108 
 
 I am In town, you can often be with me, 
 and if you are settled there previous to 
 Sophia's* marriage, you and Emma shall 
 come and stay a month with me in 
 Suffolk. I do not doubt, when we find 
 your grandfather, but what Mr. Norval 
 has interest enough to procure him some 
 comfortable place under Government, 
 suitable to his years. If so, you can 
 either reside with him, or if circum- 
 stances preclude that, you will be conr 
 tinually together, and he will have the 
 happiness of seeing you in a society 
 suitable to your sex and age.'' 
 
 The prospect was enchanting. The 
 sparkling ey^es, and glowing cheeks of 
 Frederica proved the effect Lady Anne's 
 discourse had upon her. Already did 
 irhe, in her mind's ey^e, see herself seated 
 
109 
 
 between her grandfather and Lady Anne 
 Nerval, and in the bosom of a family 
 that she must love. 
 
 Taking one of her ladyship's hands, 
 and pressing it respectfully to her lips, 
 she said, '' How do my obligations, 
 madam, daily augment? How can I ever 
 pay the vast debt of gratitude I owe 
 you ?" "^ 
 
 *' By letting me see you cheerful, my 
 dear girl.'* 
 
 *' Ah, madam !" she replied, sighing 
 at the ideas that flashed upon her ima- 
 gination, " were I but certain of my 
 grandfather's fate, you never should 
 accuse me of depression of spirits, but 
 while I am the victim of torturing sus- 
 pense, I cannot clothe my countenance 
 in a garb that my heart cannot sanction.'* 
 
no 
 
 When they arrived in Hanover Square, 
 her ladyship said in a lively way, " I 
 have been answering for a great deal, 
 my dear Frederica, this morning, on 
 your account. Now let me see if I am 
 justified, or if I must suffer for my rash- 
 ness." 
 
 Lady Anne, who was complete mis- 
 tress of both French and Italian, now 
 entered into conversation with Fredeiica 
 in the two languages, and found her 
 knowledge of them not inferior to her 
 own. 
 
 She then requested of her to strike 
 the harp. 
 
 "With tears in her eyes, she obeyed. 
 The last she had struck had been her 
 mother's, and her last auditor her grand- 
 father* 
 
Ill 
 
 She played with skill and execution, 
 and the touching tones of her voice, 
 mellowed by her poignant reflections, 
 made the soul-breathing harmony seem 
 something more than mortal. 
 
 "Do not exert yourself any more, my 
 dear;" said her ladyship ; '' you have 
 convinced me, that for once, I have not 
 been to blame in making myself answer- 
 able for accomplishments, the great ex- 
 tent of which I was unacquainted 
 with." 
 
 Mrs. Claresby and her daughters were 
 announced between eight and nine. 
 
 Frederica was introduced by Lady 
 Anne, and of course, approved. 
 
 The young Prussian was very much 
 pleased with them. It was impossible 
 to avoid being flattered by Mrs. Clares- 
 
by's attention ; there appeared so much 
 friendship and kindness. And the young 
 ladies, who kissed her with the utmost 
 esteem at parting, hoped that Lady 
 Anne would not long withhold her frona 
 their society. 
 
 " Well, my dear," said her ladyship, 
 when they were gone, " how do you 
 like this family ? — well enough to be» 
 come a member of it ?'* 
 
 *' Indeed, madam, I do, and consider 
 myself extremely fortunate in your lady- 
 ship's recommendation.'' 
 
 '' I am very glad you approve them, 
 and if my wishes can render you 
 happy, you will be most completely 
 so/' 
 
 The following morning, they went to 
 Ilampstead to order Fredericas things 
 
113 
 
 to be sent, and to take leave of Mrs. 
 Newton. 
 
 The good old woman shed many tears 
 at parting with her young inmate, and 
 requested sl^e would not quite forget 
 her, but sometimes come and see her, 
 which the afrectionate girl, who was all 
 gratitude for any mark of kindness, rea- 
 dily promised to do. 
 
 Mean time, Lady Anne employed 
 herself in giving directions for a genteel 
 well furnished wardrobe for Frederica, 
 and Mr. Norval presented her with an 
 elegant little pocket book, as a trifling 
 testimony, he said, of the regard he bore 
 her, which contained a note of twenty 
 pounds. 
 
 But days passed on, and the adver- 
 tisements remained unanswered ; there- 
 
114 
 
 fore the gratification Frederica experi- 
 enced from the kindness of her friends, 
 though they produced temporary gleams 
 of cheerfulness, yet grief clung to her 
 heart. 
 
115 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Not far beneath her in renown is she. 
 Who through good-breeding, is ill company j 
 Whose manners will not let her larum cease. 
 And thinks you are unhappy when at peace. 
 
 Young. 
 
 VVhex the day arrived for Frederica's 
 quitting the hospitable mansion of Mr. 
 Norval, she could not disguise the 
 grief that oppressed her heart ; she was 
 going to leave those friends from whom 
 she had experienced such marks of the 
 most unexampled philanthropy. 
 
 Lady Anne perceived her distress, 
 and caught the infection. 
 
ii6 
 
 As the hour drew near which was to 
 separate them, the tears that Frederica 
 had long endeavoured to restrain, poured 
 from her eyes. '' I hope your ladyship 
 will excuse me/' said the sobbing girl ; 
 *• but indeed, indeed, I should be the 
 most ungrateful of beings, if I could feel 
 calm in the moment that I am going 
 to quit my benefactress — her to whom I 
 owe every good I possess." 
 
 " I feel gratified, my dear," returned 
 Jl»ady Anne, '' even by your tears, since 
 they prove to me that you really feel a 
 friendship for me ; — mine for you, will 
 remain in its original force as long as 
 you continue to deserve it, and that, I 
 feel persuaded, will only terminate with 
 your being ; all that I have seen of yoiv 
 has conspired to create for you, an in- 
 
117 
 
 terest in my bosom. With Mrs. Clares 
 by, I think you will be as happy as you 
 can any where. She is a pleasing, lively 
 woman; her spirits are remarkably good, 
 her conversation entertaining, and that 
 kind of attention in her manner that is 
 peculiarly attractive to young people. 
 You will, in your turn, be a great acqui- 
 sition to her ; therefore you will remain 
 in a state of mutual obligation. Me 
 you will see continually, and depend 
 upon it, the very instant we hear any 
 thing of Captain Hildebrand, you shall 
 immediately be informed/' 
 
 The carriage was now at the door, 
 and Lady Anne, who determined to 
 place her young friend herself under the 
 protection of Mrs. Claresby, took the 
 weeping Frederica by the hand, and led 
 her to it. 
 
118 
 
 They were received by the family iu 
 Clifford Street with every demonstration 
 of friendship, and after the departure of 
 Lady Anne, the Miss Claresbys exerted 
 themselves to dispel the grief of Fre- 
 derica. 
 
 Impelled by gratitude, she endeavoured 
 to shak« off the depression of her spirits, 
 lest they should think she was not sen- 
 sible of the kindness of their atentlons. 
 
 *^ I am very sorry, Miss Koningsberg,'* 
 said Mrs. Claresby, " that Mr. Claresby 
 was obliged to dine out to-day ; but he 
 will come home as early in the evening 
 as he can, for the girls told him what a 
 tharmante creature you were ; he is a 
 most genteel young man himself, and 
 consequently is delighted when he can 
 find out any thing in tlie opposite sex 
 worthy his notice." 
 
ug 
 
 - Young men were a species of beings 
 that Frederica was almost totally unac- 
 quainted with. The chevalier, her fa- 
 ther, had given up all his young asso- 
 ciates after his marriage with Maria Hil- 
 debrand, and as their income was very 
 limited,, and all their happiness derived 
 from the./amily circle, they did not form 
 any acquaintance in the neighbourhood 
 where they lived. 
 
 Before her father's death, she had 
 been considered in the lio-ht of a mere 
 child by the very few men that chance 
 had brought to their house, and when 
 she arrived at Lady Anne's, her ladyship 
 had never required her attendance when 
 she had visitors — the male, as well as 
 the female part of them, being people 
 of the first rank, the prudent Mr. Norval 
 
120 
 
 thought it more proper for her not to 
 appear. He had studied, with attention, 
 her mind ; it was in a state of the most 
 unsophisticated purity, ready to receive 
 any impression that might be stamped 
 upon it. It excited his admiration, and 
 he was resolved, while she was under his 
 immediate protection — while she culled 
 the flowers of instruction from the en- 
 lightened mind of Lany Anne, that not 
 one of the baneful weeds that spring in 
 the horticultural bed of fashion, should 
 insinuate itself into the fair soil of her 
 present ideas. 
 
 About eleven at night, Mr. Claresby 
 made his appearance. He was a short 
 dark young man, with his black hair 
 combed all manner of ways, and actually 
 standing an end, to look careless and 
 
m 
 
 degagee ; and his throat was surrounded 
 by a profusion of muslin, above vvhicli 
 stood his shirt collar. The rest of his 
 dress was in complete unison with that 
 already described ; in sliorl, in his little 
 person, fashion was entirely carica- 
 tared. 
 
 " And is this a genteel young man r" 
 said Frederica, mentally, as she gazed at 
 him, with surprise. '^ Ye.-;, I dare say 
 he is; but I aiii so unacquainted with 
 the English style of dress, thatJ certainly 
 am not a competent judge." 
 
 Tlie next morning when they met at 
 breakfast, Frederica was kissed by the 
 female party, who hoped she had slept 
 well. 
 
 Emma Claresby could scarcely move 
 from the side of her new friend, whose 
 
 VOL. I. e 
 
J 22 
 
 extreme kindness oppressed her, though 
 she could not avoid feeling obliged and 
 gratified. 
 
 Lady Anne had informed Mrs. Clares- 
 by and her daughters of the leading par- 
 ticulars of Frederica's history, though 
 she had desired that they would not 
 communicate them, as it must necessarily 
 make her an object of observation, 
 which, in her circumstances, was certainly 
 not desirable. 
 
 Mrs. Claresby had made the offer to 
 Lady Anne, that she would receive Fre- 
 derica into her family, merely for a wish 
 to oblige one of her ladyship's rank, and., 
 tiie pleasure with which the proposition 
 was received, made her delighted that 
 the idea had entered her imagination ; 
 but when she saw Frederica, she was 
 
1'23 
 
 more than ever charmed at the idea of 
 the pleasing addition they should have 
 to their society, ever alive to new impres- 
 sions, and feeling more affection for the 
 dear friend of -a few days, than the old 
 acquaintance of years. Slie was en- 
 chajited with Frederica, and could not 
 talk of any thing else. 
 
 For the first few weeks of our heroine's 
 residence in Clifford Street, every thing 
 was done that could tend to promote 
 her happiness, and when Lady kune 
 quitted town, Frederica assured her 
 she had only one wish ungratified. Mrs. 
 Claresby and her daughters were more 
 kind than her most sanguine expecta- 
 tions could have led her to hope or ex- 
 pect. 
 
 Her ladyship thanked them with real 
 
 G 2 
 
124 
 
 gratitude, and made the young ladies 
 some very elegant presents, to evince 
 the satisfaction their kind conduct to 
 her protege had given her benevolent 
 heart. 
 
 Tlie young man whom Sophia Claresby 
 was engaged to marry, had not yet 
 been seen by Frederica, though by re- 
 port, she seemed intimately acquainted 
 \vith Jiim. He was a subaltern iira re- 
 giment then quartered in Lancashire ; ' 
 but as the eldest captain had been pro- 
 moted, Mr. Seymour had paid the 
 money into the agent's hands, and was 
 ta take the rank the other had risen 
 above. 
 
 As his presence was now requisite in 
 London, to settle the^aifair finally, Miss 
 Claresby received the pleasing intelli- 
 
125 
 
 gence, that in three days from the pe- 
 riod of his writing, she might expect to 
 see him. 
 
 It put the house into a degree of plea- 
 sing confusion, as it was entirely taking, 
 them by surprise. 
 
 In the evening ofthe day Miss Claresby 
 had the account, was the time to expect 
 Mr, Seymour. Sophia had fifty things 
 to do, and did not know which to begin 
 with. 
 
 She had a very excellent) taste for 
 drawing, and had nj;ide some degree of 
 proficiency in the art. 
 
 She had began sovetTil litilcMirnamcnl^ 
 for Mr. Seymour s nparuucnts, that sl^c 
 wished particularly to prr^rnt liim with 
 while he remained in t(»\vn. She knew, 
 ihmng his stay, she could not expect to 
 
126 
 
 have sufficient time to hersel-f, and la- 
 mented that she had not made better 
 use of his absence. 
 
 Frederica ^^illingly offered to under- 
 take finishing them, if Miss Claresby 
 would trust her. 
 
 Sophia had a mucli better opinion of 
 her own style, but there was no alterna- 
 tive, and she accepted the proposal with 
 the most profuse expressions of grati- 
 tude. 
 
 Frederica retired to her own room, 
 and set to work, requesting Mrs. 
 Claresby would excuse her attendance 
 below stairs, till she had completed the 
 painting she had undertaken. 
 
 With great difficulty, she obtained 
 her request, and it was not till after 
 dinner the following day, that her little 
 ornaments were finished. 
 
127 
 
 CHAP. X, 
 
 So weak are human kind, by nature made. 
 Or to such weakness, by their vice betrayed. 
 Almighty vanity ; to thee they owe 
 Their zest of pleasure, and their balm of woe. 
 Thou, like the sun, all colours dost contain. 
 Varying like rays of liglit on drops of rain. 
 
 Young, 
 
 When the ladies retired from the din- 
 ing-room, the Misr? Clarcsbys ran up 
 to Frcderica's apartment, and were de- 
 lighted to find that the things were per- 
 fectly ready for Mr. Seymonr. 
 
 Sophi.'^ took then) iinmrdintely to 
 r, 4 
 
128 
 
 her mother^ who said they were ex- 
 tremely pretty ; but added, " How dif- 
 ferent they are, Sophia, from your style! 
 I never saw any one's painting who- 
 could equal yours ; there is natural ge- 
 nius in every stroke. To be sure, you 
 wished these things to be finished, but 
 ' I am fearful Seymour will think that you 
 have not bestowed all your skill and at- 
 tention upon them." 
 
 Sophia's opinions were .perfectly con- 
 sonant ; and had she not actually told 
 Mr. Seymour, that very morning, that 
 she had a present for him, she w^ould 
 have withheld them, but as it was, she 
 reg;arded the late admired painting with 
 the utmost discontent, and actually 
 searched for faults. 
 
 Firedcrica came down, accompanied 
 
r2y 
 
 by Emma^ to pay her respects to Mrs. 
 Claresby, and to request that she might 
 for that evening, be excused from join- 
 ing the party. '' I have suffered my 
 thoughts to dwell too much," said she, 
 '^ since yesterday, upon the sole existing 
 cause of unhappiness to me. The fate 
 of my dear grandfather makes me very 
 miserable. To-night I will exert myself 
 to regain my wonted composure, and to- 
 morrow I will promise not to distress 
 you with my gravity, as I know, by ex- 
 perience, the effect it would have on 
 your good hearts.'* 
 
 But Mrs. Claresby would not admit 
 of any excuse ; she told Frederica, as 
 she had given way to melancholy impres- 
 sions, it proceeded from the solitude she 
 had experienced in her own apartment. 
 o 5 
 
il30 
 
 She therefore Insisted upon her taking 
 her place, that evening, as president of 
 the tea-table ; and then, with the most 
 gratifying professions of friendship, spoke 
 of Captain Hildebrand, and the interest 
 that her and her girls took in every 
 thing that concerned one whom they 
 loved with such reason. 
 
 So much kindness, in the present 
 weakened state of Frederica's mind, 
 quite overcame her, and she sobbed 
 aloud, while she uttered all that the gra- 
 titude of her nature dictated. 
 
 '' Now, my dear, go to your room,'' 
 said Mrs. Claresby, "and recover your- 
 self When tea is ready, your friend 
 Emma shall come for you. 
 
 . Frederica complied, and putting her 
 bonnet a la rep eater , to hide her swollen 
 
:3i 
 
 yes, waited for the summons to attend 
 the tea-table. 
 
 Emma soon tripped up to her, and 
 they descended together. 
 
 She entered the room with a timidity 
 which the sight of strangers, particularly 
 of the male sex, always inspired, and 
 which she had not yet mixed sufficiently 
 in society to overcome. 
 
 " This," said Mrs. Claresby, present- 
 ing her to Mr. Seymour, ^^ is Miss Ko- 
 ningsberg, the young lady who honors 
 my girls with her society .'^.^^ 
 
 The young officer paid his compliments 
 entirely a la militaire, and the blushing 
 Frcderica silently took her seat next to 
 Mrs. Claresby, and began her accus- 
 tomed office of tea-making. — — - 
 
 *' Mr. Claresby,'* said his mother, 
 g6 
 
132 
 
 " why do you not pay your respects to 
 Miss Koningsberg, and say how unfor- 
 tunate we have considered the indispo- 
 sition that has deprived us of her com- 
 pany for two days ?" 
 
 A slight ilhicss had been the excuse 
 made to the gentlemen for Frede- 
 rica*s non-appearance at the dinner- 
 table. 
 
 Mamma was obeyed and delighted at 
 the same time, by the air of elegance 
 and fashion with which her partiality 
 made her conceive her son had addressed 
 Miss Koningsberg, saying mentally, 
 "* Poor thing ! I hope this assemblage 
 of uncommon gentility ^i\\ not make 
 too deep an impression on her heart." 
 
 Mr. Seymour was quite the lover, and 
 paid very little attention to any one but 
 Sophia. 
 
133 
 
 In the caiirse of the evening, he re- 
 minded her of her promise to give him 
 some of her paintings. 
 
 She was obliged to comply, and fetched 
 the expected gift, which was received 
 with satisfaction, and examined with at- 
 tention and delight. 
 
 ** Upon my honor,'* said Mr. Sey- 
 mour, " some of these figures would 
 do credit to the first artists. I used to 
 tliink, Sophia, that you designed better 
 than you executed : there was a defect 
 in your finishing that you have entirely 
 overcome ; there is a brilliancy, an ele- 
 gance in your colouring, that cannot be 
 surpassed. How have you acquired per- 
 fection in so short a time ?" 
 
 " And does not your vanity suggest 
 to you the cause ?" said the ever-ready 
 
134 
 
 Mrs. Clarcsby. " Consider in wliose 
 service, and for whose service, those 
 colours were laid on, and then think of 
 the blacksmith who acquired such re- 
 nown in the painting art, who only took 
 the pencil in hand to procure the mis- 
 tress of his aifection." 
 
 " Dear mamma/* said Sophia, " do 
 not exalt him so in his own estimation/' 
 
 This was spoken with an air of pique 
 that she did not attempt to disguise. 
 Tlie panegyric Mr. Seymour had uttered 
 upon the paintings disconcerted her ; 
 every encomium had gone to her heart, 
 because she knew that she did not de- 
 serve one, as the only parts that had been 
 praised by Mr. Seymour, were those 
 that she was not concerned in ; and she 
 f<?lt a degree of dislike for Frederka 
 
135 
 
 take immediate possession of her" mind, 
 while the innocent object of her anger 
 felt perfectly unconscious of any merit 
 being attached to her in the performance, 
 and sat silently wishing that she could 
 equal Miss.Claresby. 
 
 Sophia and Emma sung duetts, accom- 
 panied by the grand piano, and occa- 
 sionally Frederica played the harp to 
 their singing. It was a thing they by no 
 means excelled in. 
 
 From the skill in music Sophia pos- 
 sessed, she never grated the ears of her 
 auditors, but her voice was weak and 
 unmusical. 
 
 Emma's was stronger than her sister's, 
 but when she sung, she gave all the 
 affected grimaces of professional Italian 
 singers, which made it intolerable to 
 
136 
 
 look at her, as those airs are only indii- 
 Table rn those who sing exquisitely, and 
 even then destroy the effect. 
 
 Mr. Se}'mour, who had frequently 
 taken the liberty of an intended brother, 
 had laughed at her for it. 
 
 But this evening, Mrs. Claresby had 
 desired Frederica to sing, and unfortu- 
 nately for her, Mr. Seymour praised her 
 style very much, and desired Emma to 
 copy her manner of singing. Miss 
 Koningsberg, he said, had a divine 
 voice, which was made more exquisite 
 from her being so totally devoid of affec- 
 tation. Adding, '' We might suffer a 
 little from her; but indeed, little Emma, 
 with your voice, it does not do to throw 
 up your head, and shut your eyes, at 
 every cadence." 
 
J37 
 
 This was more than Einma .could 
 bear ; her mother, and many more who 
 did not understand tlie least of music, 
 had extolled hor singing to the skies ; it 
 was what she had principally prided her- 
 self upon, and as she had been told she 
 .was a capital singer, she had studied 
 with attention and minuteness, all the 
 contortions of countenance the profes- 
 sors acquire from almost a regular sys- 
 tem, and she now considered herself in- 
 ferior to none. Mr. Seymour's opinion, 
 till this evening, «he iiad never regarded; 
 fcM- he had never before made a compa- 
 rison ; but now to find herself depreciated 
 merely, as she conceived,, to exalt an- 
 other, Avas more than she could tolerate, 
 and she in an instant, regarded the poor 
 Frederica with sentiments exactly similar 
 to her sister's. 
 
138 
 
 Ilcr feelings were more than she 
 could bear, and she burst into tears. 
 
 This called all the family about her, 
 Mrs. Claresby upbraided Mr. Seymour 
 for his cruelty to her daughter, and So- 
 phia declared, if he had any regard for 
 her, he must treat her sister with the 
 utmost delicacy and attention. 
 
 While he endeavoured to pacify the 
 angry fair ones, in which he at length 
 succeeded, and Frederica, for the first 
 time, feeling uncomfortable in the 
 Claresby society, was suffered, unopposed, 
 to quit the party, and retire for the night. 
 
i3g 
 
 CHAP. XI, 
 
 Aivi next to hiaij malicious envy rode 
 
 Upon a ravenous woJfe^ and still did chaw. 
 
 Between his cancred teeth, a venemous toad. 
 That all the poyson run about his jaw, 
 But inwardly he chawed his own maw. 
 
 Sl'ENCEB. 
 
 Xhe events of the preceding evening 
 were obliterated from the mind of Fre- 
 derica, by her own predominant reflec- 
 tions, and the general tranquilizer, sleep, 
 and she met the family at breakfast, with 
 her accustomed sensations of esteem and 
 gratitude. 
 
140 
 
 But their sentiments respecting her, 
 had undergone an entir^ revolution ; 
 envy had crept into the minds of the 
 Miss Claresbys, and before they retired 
 for the night, on which its corroding in- 
 fluence had been first felt, they had 
 talked tlieir mother into the beUef that 
 Frederica was not near so pleasant as 
 she used to he ; that her frequent flts of 
 melancholy were intolerable, and that 
 extreme obligingness of disposition she 
 possessed, was affectation. 
 
 Saphia declared that she was extremely 
 sorry that she had suffered her to finish 
 her paintings, as she had no*: succeeded^. 
 by any means to her wishes ; and Emma 
 said lier singing was quite disagreeable, 
 as it wanted that certain style, without 
 which the finest voice was intolerable. 
 
141 
 
 Mrs. Claresby entirely acquiesced in 
 the supposed infallibility of her daugh- 
 ters' reasoning. 
 
 The poor Frederica was condemned, 
 and the day that introduced her into their 
 society, stigmatized with opprobrium. 
 
 Mr. Seymour arrived an hour before 
 dinner, with two brother officers, and 
 told the ladies they might wish him joy 
 as his purchase was completed, and the 
 day following he purposed berng intro- 
 duced at Court on his promotion. 
 
 Sophia was of course pleased, and 
 Mrs. Claresby, the whole day, could 
 only talk, of and to Captain Seymour. 
 
 The two young men who accompanied 
 him, were Colonel Ashfbrd, and Captain 
 Fitzraymond. 
 
 They were fashionable, elegant men, 
 
142 
 
 particularly the captain, who had a figure 
 and countenance rarely equalled. In 
 his discourse, there was a matchless va- 
 riety ; he could converse on the reigning 
 topicsoftheday with that degree of facility 
 that madeyou suppose that there his fprte 
 lay, till he would diveiinto the depths of 
 literature,^ and surprise you with the 
 profundity of knowledge he had acquired, 
 which seemed almost incompatible with 
 his military duties. With the gay, he 
 seemed all hilarity and ghe, and with 
 the grave, the pathos and solemnity of 
 his ideas delighted and astonished. 
 
 Colonel Ashford was the complete 
 officer of fashion ; — talkative, animated, 
 and perfectly genteel. 
 
 These were the men that graced the 
 table of the enchanted Mrs. Claresby, 
 
143 
 
 and who almost entirely overlooked the 
 now neglected Frederica. Her form, 
 though elegant,' passed unnoticed^ and 
 her pallid cheeks, and fireless eyes, had 
 not suflicient attraction for two of the 
 most dc.shing men the army ever pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The Miss Claresbys, who dreaded her 
 being taken notice of, scarcely addressed 
 a word to her, and they heard, with the 
 utmost satisfaction, a request she made 
 to their mother, to retire after tea, as 
 they feared her being asked to sing, as 
 even the very little attention Captain 
 Seymour had paid her, hurt Sophia. 
 
 Tlie house was now constantly filled 
 with company, as Captain Seymour, who 
 had got a prolongation of leave, received 
 his numerous acquaintance in Clifford 
 Street. 
 
144 
 
 Mrs. Claresby was in the height of 
 her glory, as she imagined that receiving 
 company in style, was a thing she parti- 
 cularly excelled in ; and Mr. Claresby 
 was as charmed as his mother, as he, by 
 that means, had sometimes the honor of 
 hammering, the fashionable pavements, 
 arm jn arm, with regimentaled officers. 
 
 Colonel Ash ford and Captain Fitzray- 
 mond were constant visitors, and the 
 latter Mrs. Claresby very soon set down 
 for Emma, whom he danced, laughed, 
 and sung with. 
 
 Colonel Ashford was under the ne- 
 cessity of frequently attaching himself 
 to the almost neglected JPrederica, whose 
 spirits sunk under the extreme difference 
 of conduct she experienced from her 
 late assiduously attentive friends, who 
 now amused every one, when she quitted 
 
14o 
 
 the roora, with accounts to her preju- 
 dice, which were very mach increased 
 by the praises that several of tlie many 
 male visitors had uttered to both Mrs. 
 and the Miss Claresbys respecting Fre- 
 derica. 
 
 Lady Anne Norval had written several 
 times to both Mrs. Ciaresby and Frede- 
 rica since she had been in Suffolk, and 
 now requested earnestly, to have Miss 
 Koningsberg's and Emma Clar^sby's 
 company for a few weeks. She said 
 that she did not ei^pect any more people 
 than she then had in the house, for some 
 time, therefore she particularly wished 
 for the society of her young frieixls, 
 
 Frederica's heart palpitated with hope, 
 while Mrs. Ciaresby read the letter. 
 
 Captain Fitzraymond, who was there^ 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
146 
 
 told Emma that It would be very wrong 
 to leave the house, when she was so soon 
 going to lose her sister. 
 
 This was sufficient for the mother, 
 who construed that into a dread the 
 captain felt lest he should have the wo- 
 man he loved taken from him, and she, 
 therefore, gave up the delight she would 
 have experienced in having her daughter 
 upon a visit to an earl's daughter, for 
 the more substantial good of having her 
 tnarried to one of the most elegant 
 voung men about town, and who was 
 even nobly allied. 
 
 Mrs. and the Miss Claresbys settled 
 that it would be just as well to suffer 
 Frederica to go to Lady Anne's for 
 !>.ome time, as she had been taken 
 rather more notice of than they 
 
^47 
 
 wished, in the parties in Clifford Street, 
 and Colonel Ashford always enquired 
 after his little pensive favorite, if she 
 was out of the room when he called ; and 
 Captain Fitzraymond had appeared too 
 much pleased with her singing for Emma 
 to feel any thing but envy when she was 
 present. This she did not even allow 
 to herself, but set down the unfortunate 
 object of her jealousy as the most altered 
 being in the world. She had thought her, 
 at first, every thing that was agreeable ; 
 she was now comfortably situated, and 
 therefore did not consider it expedient 
 to wear the mask any longer : but it was 
 in her jaundiced imagination that the 
 change lay, augmented by the family fail- 
 ing — that strong attachment every branch 
 of it experienced for novelty. 
 H 2 
 
MS 
 
 Frederica was still the same amiable, 
 unaffected girl, she had ever been. It 
 was with the most extreme delight she 
 received the permission to accept of 
 Lady Anne's invitation ; and with a 
 satisfaction scarcely inferior, she listened 
 to the reasons Mrs. Clarcsby gave for 
 not permitting Emma to accompany 
 her. 
 
 '^ It must be sufficiently perceptible, 
 my dear, to you," said that lady, " that 
 Captain Fitzraymond isvery much struck 
 with my Emma. Indeed I do not myself 
 vvonder at it, for she is a very charming 
 girl, and looked very handsome last 
 night, and I thought Sophy one of the 
 prettiest women in the r om ; her coun- 
 tenance is so interesting. But that is 
 straying from my subject. I intended 
 
149 
 
 informing you, tliat as I have every 
 reason to suppose Captain Fitzraymond 
 very iTiUch attached to my youngest 
 daughter, and that he will soon make a 
 declaration in form to me, I think it 
 v/ould be unkind and imprudent to se- 
 parate them, particularly as it is a match 
 that far exceeds my expectations, though 
 not superior to Emma's merits." 
 
 Frederica could not but acquiesce 
 with Mrs. Claresby, in the propriety of 
 keeping Emma at home, and rejoiced in 
 the pleasing prospect that Mrs. Claresby 
 expatiated with such energy upon. 
 
 Bred up in solitude, and scarcely 
 knowing any thing of the world she 
 lived in, Fredcrica's ir^ind had acquired 
 rather a romantic turn. Any fabulous 
 histories she had read, were tales of chi- 
 li 3 
 
ioO 
 
 valry in which both her father and gr;ind- 
 father had particularly delighted. 
 
 These had taught her to expect that 
 the conduct of a lover, in the presence 
 of his mistress^ would be widely different 
 to that of Captain Fitzrayinond when 
 with Emma. She even contrasted his 
 behaviour with the really attached Cap- 
 tain Seymour's, and found it so different 
 in every respect, that she could not help 
 sayirg mentally, " If this man is a lover, 
 howpeculiarly disrespectful hisconductis ; 
 how can Emma suffer it from one who 
 ought to be all submission to her will?'* 
 
J51 
 
 CHAP. XII, 
 
 Now In the cowslip's dewy cell. 
 
 The fairies make their bed j 
 They hover roun'^. the crystal well. 
 
 The turf in circles tread. 
 The lovely linnet now her song 
 
 Tunes sweetest in the wood ; 
 The twitt'ring swallow skims alon^ 
 
 Tije azure liquid flood. 
 
 SHEN'liTON-E, 
 
 jylris. Clares BY wrote a long letter, 
 that evening, to her clear Lady Anne, in- 
 forming her of the reasons that prevented 
 Emma's accepting her ladyship's invita- 
 tion j and saying that Miss Koningsberg 
 
 H 4 
 
lo'Z 
 
 was at her service for a few weeks, 
 whenever lier ladyship chose to name 
 tlic (lay, and the manner >n which ^he 
 was to go down. 
 
 By return of post, an answer came 
 fiOtn Lady Anne Norval. politely regret- 
 ting that she could not have Emma's 
 society, though rejoicing in the cause. 
 She said, as Frederica was now deprived 
 of her travelling companion^ she had 
 written to Mrs. Newton to attend her 
 young favorite into Suffolk ; as she made 
 a point of having the good woman down 
 for a short time, every summer, she 
 thought the present a very good oppor- 
 tunity, and should send James to town 
 to wait MissKoningsberg's commands ; 
 and as soon as she could make it conve- 
 nient to come, and Mrs. Claresby would 
 
153 
 
 spare her, the more happy her ladyship 
 would be.. 
 
 Frederica's delight was so great at the 
 idea of again seeing Lady Anne Norval, 
 that for five minutes, even the uncer- 
 tainty she was in respecting the fate of 
 her grandfather, was forgotten in the 
 anticipation of the projected visit. 
 
 At dinner, Emma received a severe 
 mortification, by Captain Fitzraymond 
 saying, " When do you mean to go into 
 Suffolk r" 
 
 Her face was sulTused wiih Lluslic^. 
 and she felt too angry to reply; but 
 Mrs. Claresby relieved her, by answering 
 tiie captain. '' You knov/ I tolJ you 
 yesterday, I had written to my old friend, 
 Lady Anne, to excuse Emma from wait- 
 ing upon her ladyship, as I really agree 
 II ') 
 
154 
 
 with you, in thinking it wrong to se- 
 parate my girls, as they will be so little 
 together ; and I have this day had a re- 
 ply, in which I perceive her ladyship is 
 very much hurt at our non-compliance 
 with her wishes. I do not wonder at it, 
 as Emma's gaiety would be an enlivener 
 of every society." 
 
 The captain turned off his forgetful- 
 ness with an ease peculiar to himself, 
 and an elegant compliment to the of- 
 fended Emma, with the utmost facility 
 got himself reinstated in her former opi- 
 nion, which was as high as the most en- 
 raptured lover could desire. 
 
 Frederica watched all that passed in 
 silence, but still her original ideas pre- 
 ponderated, and she yet thought, " This 
 man does not love Emma Claresby." 
 
I5b 
 
 While they were sitting at desert, the 
 servant entered, and told Frederica that 
 James was arrived from Suffolk, with 
 Lady Anne Norval's very kind love^ and ^ 
 that she had sent him to attend her 
 commands respecting the journey. ♦ 
 
 She immediately requested permission 
 to retire, and went to the honest grand- 
 son of Mrs. Newton, who was delighted 
 to see her ; as he had been with his lady 
 when Frederica first attracted her notice, 
 he always considered himself very much 
 interested in all that concerned her. 
 
 Frederica, after her first enquiries 
 were over, respecting Lady Anne, Mr. 
 Norval, and the children, asked parti- 
 cularly after his grandmother, whom 
 she had only had one opportunity of 
 seeing, since she quitted Hampstead. 
 
 H.6 
 
IS6 
 
 "Thank you, miss; she is quite well," 
 he replied^ " as I could not help going 
 to see her first;, and she sends her hum- 
 ble service to you, and says she is quite 
 pleased that my lady lets her go down 
 at the time you do, and &he hopes you 
 will settle a speedy day for your journey, 
 as she so longs to see her ladyship."' 
 
 Frederica, who was equally anxious, 
 and did not wish to detain James, said 
 she would ask Mrs. Ctaresby when she 
 thought it adviseable, and let him 
 know immediately. 
 
 She accordingly returned to the din- 
 ing-room, where the ladies yet were, and 
 desired to know if Mrs. Claresby ap- 
 proved of her going the following morn- 
 ing. 
 
 " No, indeed ; you must not think 
 
157 
 
 of leaving this society so soon," said 
 Captain Fitzraymond ; '' we shall be 
 quite lost without your aid in our little 
 musical parties." 
 
 This speech, which provoked Mrs. 
 Claresby^ made her answer, in an ill- 
 humoured tone^ that she certainly 
 ?nu.st go the next morning. As Lady 
 Anne had sent her footman for his old ■ 
 grandmother. Miss Koningsberg was to 
 accompany her, and could not form any 
 pretence for detaining her kdyship^s 
 servant. 
 
 Fr-ederica did not wait to hear any 
 more, but directly informed James she 
 should leave town the following morn- 
 ing, and asked at what hour they must 
 set off. 
 
 rie replied, if it was agreeable^ he 
 
158 
 
 would bring his grandmother, in the 
 chaise, at ten, and they could get to 
 Norval Park, with ease, to tea 
 
 Frederica did not return to the party, 
 but made an excuse of having to pack 
 her things, and to make preparations for 
 the journey^ which would detain her all 
 the evening. 
 
 The apology was readily admitted, as 
 her absence gave now far more satisfac- 
 tion than her presence to the female 
 part of the family. 
 
 Colonel Ash ford, who called in the 
 evening, lamented the loss they would 
 sustain, and praised her very much; but 
 Captain Fitzraymond, who perceived it 
 was not a pleasing theme, forbore utter- 
 ing a syllable of the high opinion he 
 entertained of her, which forbearance 
 
159 
 
 restored peace to Emma, who had felt 
 seriously angry and uncomfortable at his 
 late conduct, and in high spirits, called 
 to sit with Frederica half an hour before 
 she went to bed, to unburtlien her full 
 mind. 
 
 Captain Fitzraymond was of course 
 the only person she could speak of. He 
 had perceived that he had taken too 
 much notice of Frederica, and as he only 
 admired her as an amiable, interesting 
 girl, with a charming voice, he deter- 
 mined not to oiFend one from whom he 
 really derived amusement, as Emma's 
 airs were a constant source of merriment 
 to him. She gave herself all the man- 
 ners that generally distinguishes an abso- 
 lute beauty, and from one who was 
 really plain, it afforded constant novelty 
 to the gallant captain. 
 
*^ I have every reason," said the de- 
 lighted Emma, '' to think, when we- 
 meet again, I shall no longer be a 
 Ciaresby. Captain Fitzraymond's man- 
 ncr, this evening, admitted of only one 
 interpretation. Do you not think him* 
 perfectly divine, Miss Koningsberg ?'* 
 
 ^* I certainly," replied Frederica^" never 
 saw a handsomer man, and- he appears* 
 entire master of every subject he under- 
 takes ; and I think, if you have him,, 
 your's will be a fortunate lot." 
 
 '' Every one speaks well of him," said 
 Emma ; " wherever we go, he is both 
 known and admired. He is the delight 
 of his corps, Seymour says ; the officers 
 are all equally fond of him, and the pri- 
 vates know him to be their firm -friend* 
 He is humane and liberal in the extreme, 
 and is perfectly well acquainted with 
 
i6i 
 
 those widely distinct bouncls which se- 
 parate generosity from profusion. Yes, 
 indeed, with such a man, 1 must be 
 happy, unless it is my own fault." 
 
 *' Yet," said Frederica, " are you 
 certain respecting the extent of the at- 
 tachment he bears you ? Do not suffer 
 your affection to strengthen, until you 
 are convinced that his sentiments are 
 entirely consonant with your own. Has 
 he ever professed himself your lover r'^ 
 
 " Never by words, but surely his 
 actions siiew it. Is he not continually 
 here ? My mother he esteems^ but her 
 society alone could not attract him ; 
 Sophia is taken up with Seymour, and 
 Seymour with Sophia ; James has num- 
 berless engagements — then what can be 
 the attraction, if it is not me ? on whom 
 is all his attention lavished ? Such a 
 
1 62 
 
 man as he is^ though it is a most un- 
 fashionable time of year, and many of 
 his friends are out of town, might still 
 meet with multitudes who would rejoice 
 in his society, but yet he is constantly 
 here. What can you say against these 
 facts?" 
 
 " That he admires you/' said Fre* 
 derica; " that he takes the greatest 
 pleasure possible in your company; — but 
 you have not adduced one argument in 
 favor of his love. Take care, your 
 heart is- tottering ; preserve it while it 
 13 in your power, and do not surrender 
 the inestimable jewel till it is supplicated 
 for." 
 
 Emma grew displeased; she said Fre- 
 derica talked like a disappointed old 
 maid, who had never had a lover, 
 
 Frederica declared she never had one. 
 
1()3 
 
 *^ Oh," returned Emma, '^ then I 
 forgive you heartily ; you cannot be a 
 competent judge, as all your know- 
 ledge is derived from books, not 
 man. But, believe me, my dear, the 
 days of chivalry are over, when the 
 men proclaimed their passion to all the 
 world ; they now only prove by their 
 actions, what they feel, to their mis- 
 tresses, and them alone." 
 
1&4 
 
 CHAP. XHI. 
 
 Nciiher man nor angel can discern 
 
 Hypocrisy ; the only evil that walks 
 
 Invisible, except to God alone : 
 
 By his permissive will, thro' heaven and earthy. 
 
 And oft' tho' wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps 
 
 At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity 
 
 Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill 
 
 Where no ill seems. 
 
 Milt ON". 
 
 Jtrederica awoke with the lark the 
 following morning ; the pleasure she 
 anticipated in seeing Lady Anne, was of 
 too vivifying and enlivening a nature to 
 SLifler sleep to intrude for any length 
 of time. 
 
l65 
 
 She therefore rose, and dressed her- 
 self, waiting with impatience till the 
 breakfast hour. 
 
 They had only been seated a short 
 time, when Mrs. Newton arrived, and 
 Mrs. Claresbv desired she would come 
 in, as she wished to pay every attention 
 in her power to one so esteemed by 
 Lady Anne. 
 
 The good woman was delighted to 
 see Frederica. ^^ My lady's nursing, 
 and the pure air you will breathe at 
 Norval Castle, my dear young iady," 
 said she, *^ will, I hope, fatten youoip, 
 and freshen your cheeks ; for you do 
 look dismally pale and thin, just for all 
 the world as if you were in a decline. 
 You must take something to heart I am 
 sure ; for it is not natural for so young 
 a lady to look so deadly bad." 
 
160 
 
 The tears came into Frederica's eyeSj 
 from the bitter reflection of what caused 
 her death-like appearance, while she 
 sighed, and said mentally, " Ah, my 
 grandfather ! one month of your so- 
 ciety would have more effect upon this 
 shattered form, than the most salubrious 
 air I could breathe/' 
 
 Mrs. Claresby and her daughters took 
 a most affectionate leave of Frederica, 
 particularly Sophia, who it was probable 
 she might not see again for some time, 
 as she was to be married very shortly, 
 and go into Lancashire with her hus- 
 band, to join his regiment. 
 
 Emma said, " Remember our con- 
 versation of last night ; we shall see 
 who is right." 
 
 *^ I sincerely hope you may," replied 
 Frederica, who felt all her affection and 
 
167 
 
 gratitude return for the flimily from their 
 kindness of that morning, and forgot in 
 an instant, themanyslightsand rudenesses 
 she had of late received from them, 
 while the idea, that she could no longer 
 attract any of the attention which the 
 female part of the family considered solely 
 as their due, inspired them with the ut- 
 most good-humour, and apparent re- 
 gard, and they kissed their hands to her, 
 as the chaise passed the window, fol- 
 lowed by James on horseback, with 
 every mark of attention ; and then sit 
 down round the break fast- table, to 
 abuse one who was counting them in 
 the confined catalogue of her few, 
 though sincere friends. 
 
 They arrived at the end of their 
 journey early in the evening, and Fre- 
 
\6b 
 
 derica was received with kindness and 
 attention by Mr. Nerval and Lady 
 Anne, who were very much shocked at 
 the alteration a few months had made 
 in her appearance. 
 
 " My dear girl," said Lady Anne, 
 ** what have you been doing to your- 
 self? Are you ill?" 
 
 ^' No," returned Frederica ; " my 
 health, dismally as I look, is perfectly 
 good ; but it is my mind, dearest Lady 
 Anne, that is diseased, and while 
 care is corroding my heart, my coun- 
 tenance and person must look emaci- 
 ated." 
 
 " But I fear, Miss Koningsberg," 
 said Mr. Norval, " that you suffer the 
 image of Captain Hildebrand to dwell 
 too much upon your imagination. You 
 
do not endeavour to chace away that 
 idea that so constantly wishes to intrude 
 itself; you rather encourage melancholy, 
 than repel it. Speak truth," added he, 
 smiling, *' is not that the case ?" 
 
 *' I fear,'' ' she returned, "^ I must 
 plead guilty ; b-jt what am I to do ? 
 Were I even certain that my dear 
 grandfather were no more, I should feci 
 it a duty to bear the knowledge of it 
 with resignation ; but I own I have not 
 even yet been suliiciently tried in the 
 school of adversity, to acquire sufficient 
 fortitude to endure this trying state of 
 suspense with the philosophy I ought to 
 assume. But I am confident of one 
 thing, and that is, that the society of 
 that benefactress v/ho was every thing 
 to me when 1 was an outcast of the 
 
 VOL. I. - 1 
 
170 
 
 creation, will act as balm to my wonndexl 
 mind, and ameliorate the poignancy of 
 my present feelings," 
 
 Lady Anne thought it better not to 
 pursue the discourse in the same serious 
 vein^ and therefore said in a laughing 
 way, that she must insist upon her ex- 
 erting herself, and setting her cap 
 at an old bachelor who was then on a 
 visit at the castle. " He is gone to 
 enjoy the beauties of the evening in the 
 woods," added her ladyship, " He is a 
 most estimable character, though in many 
 instances, a cynical misanthrope. His 
 knowledge is general, and his taste re- 
 fined ; his fortune is very large, and his 
 benevolence equal to it ; but this lie 
 does not publish to the world : he is 
 one of those who * Does good by stealth. 
 
3/1 
 
 and blush to have it fame ;' and by way 
 of finale^ he has a very great objection 
 to^ the female sex, that is, the unmar- 
 ried part. Now the task I give you^ 
 my dear, is to endeavour to make him 
 waver in his long settled opinions." 
 
 Frederica, with a faint smile, pro- 
 mised to undertake the arduous case, 
 though she thought herself very incom- 
 petent to it. 
 
 They tlien went to the Claresby fa- 
 mily, and Lady Anne said she supposed 
 the two sisters would be married on the 
 same day. 
 
 Frederica observed, she could not 
 help thinkhig that the excessive affection 
 the mother bore her daughters rendered . 
 her too sanguine respecting Ecnma. 
 Lady Anne replied, she iuiagincd 
 I 2 
 
17'2 
 
 from Mrs. Claresby's letter, that every- 
 thing was arranged ; but when Frede- 
 rica informed her how the case stood, 
 both Mr. Norval and her ladyship agreed 
 it never appeared likely to be. 
 
 " I know Fitzraymond perfectly/' 
 said Mr. Norval, ^* and do not think 
 there is a more noble fellow exist- 
 ing. Emma Claresby is an amiable 
 girl, but not at all the*kindof female 
 I should think to gain such a heart as 
 his. I never saw a man more completely 
 the gay, flirting, thoughtless soldier, at 
 times ; but when he is with those peo- 
 ple whose abilities are equal to his own, he 
 evinces more brilliancy, and real solidity 
 of understanding, than I ever met with. 
 As a military man, I am sorry to say, he 
 has many more occasions to display his 
 
1/3' 
 
 former character, by which means he is 
 generally beloved by all who know him; 
 were he indiscriminately to shew the 
 sense he possesses, he would by no means 
 be the favorite he is with his brother 
 officers.*' 
 
 " This man must be a consummate 
 hypocrite," returned Frederica. 
 
 " By no means,'' replied Mr.Norval; 
 " there are very few that possess the 
 variety of character that he does, and 
 each form that he tai:es up is €0 natural, 
 and sits so easy upon him, that it seems 
 in every new one, that you have at last 
 discovered wherein his peculiar excel- 
 lence lies ; his forte depends upon the 
 society chance throws him in." 
 
 *' Poor Emma !" said Frederica. 
 ** How is it to be supposed that she 
 13 
 
J74 
 
 t^aii resist the fasciiiatjons of this Pro- 
 teus?" 
 
 A very sliort time btTore supper, Mr. 
 Maiden, the gentleman of whom Lady 
 Anne had spoken, entered. He was a 
 tall figure, with the remains of dignity; 
 for he seemed near seventy. 
 
 There was an energy in his counte- 
 nance that at once awed and interested; 
 and there was still sufficient fire in his 
 large dark eyes to repel familiarity, and 
 demand respect. 
 
 He fixed them on the timid Frederica, 
 when she was introduced to him, with a 
 penetrating scrutiny that made her 
 heart sink, while she secretly wished 
 that he had quitted the castle previous 
 to her arrival. 
 
 When they were seated at supper, 
 
175 
 
 Lady Anne remarked that she fan- 
 cied he had extended his walk, as they 
 had been deprived of his company for a 
 longer time than usual. 
 
 "Yes, Anne," lie returned; "though 
 spring, summer, and autumn, have 
 passed with me, and I am in the winter 
 of my days, still the evening, such as 
 we have just passed^ has more charms 
 for me than ever. When I see that 
 majcctic orb that has enlivened and 
 cheered us during the day, sinking with 
 calm dignity, and shedding such variety 
 i)f tints on the cloud?, it fills mv heart 
 with a species of adoration for the 
 sublime Di-^tator of its glorious move- 
 ments, 1 iecl all rapture and enthusiasm. 
 ATv heart swells in my bosom while 
 ccntemplating tho>e soul-inspiring scenes 
 
I7(i 
 
 of Nature, and I rise a pitch above mor- 
 tality. I forget that near seventy sum- 
 mers have passed over my head — I for- 
 get the detestable duplicity of mankind; 
 youth and vigour seem rekindled in my 
 tottering frame, and animation and joy 
 pervade my system. I am insensible of 
 the lapse of time — darkness succeeds. 
 I am still near my favorite spot ; it re- 
 minds me I must return — it reminds me 
 that I am still one of the frail sons of 
 earth, and recollection, and its attend- 
 ant disagreeables, succeed to reveries 
 the most exalted." 
 
 Frederica stared. " Is this man per- 
 fectly sane ?" she thought. She looked 
 alternately at Mr. Norval and Lady 
 Anne, to discover if his discourse had 
 surprised them as much as it had her ; 
 
177 
 
 ^but she perceived no variation of coun- 
 tenance, but observed, that in a style 
 perfectly natural, they answered him, 
 and appeared to enter into his feelings. 
 
 The first thing she thought of in the 
 morning, was the peculiar old man, who, 
 though he inspired her with fear, awaken- 
 ed respect. He seemed nearly the age 
 of Captain Hildebrand ; occasionally he 
 reminded Frederica of him — that was 
 sufficient to make her feel a deg-ree of 
 interest towards him. 
 
 i 5 
 
17S 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 '*TIs thine, oh nymph, with balmy hands to bind 
 The wounds inflicted by misfortune's storm. 
 And blunt severe affliction's sharpest dart ! 
 'Tis thy pure spirit warms my Anna's mind, 
 Beams thro' the pensive softness of her form. 
 And holds its altar on her spotless heart! 
 
 Charlotte SmitJis Sonnet to Friendsh'q). 
 
 h OR several clays after Frederica's arri- 
 val at Norval Castle, Mr. Maiden scarcely 
 addressed a syllable to her, bat seemed 
 attentively to notice every word she 
 spoke, and gazed at her with a i^wQd 
 penetration that seemed to read her 
 soul. 
 
379 
 
 rt dlstresssed Frederica. and a great 
 part of the pleasure she h:id anticipated 
 from her visit, was damped^ from his 
 constant observation of her actions. 
 
 Lady Anne made Frederica both rise 
 and retire early^ and insisted upon her 
 riding on horseback several miles every 
 day. 
 
 Mr.' Norval, with whom she was a 
 gv^at favorite, very frequently accom- 
 panied her. He listened with patience 
 to the recitation ot' her sorrows, and was 
 charmed with the genuine simplicity of 
 her remarks. 
 
 While they were taking one of their 
 
 rides, Mr. Maiden entered Lady Anne's 
 
 dressing-room, where she was sitting 
 
 with her children, and amused himsel£ 
 
 I 6. 
 
180 
 
 with them till their servants fetched 
 them to dinner. 
 
 For some sime, the conversation 
 turned solely upon their little favorites, 
 as Mr. Maiden was excessively fond of 
 them, and said theirs were unvitiated 
 minds. Their innocent prattle delighted 
 him ; to him, the study of unsophisti- 
 cated nature was enchanting. 
 
 *' Yes/' returned Lady Anne; ^^ that I 
 know perfectly to be the case; and there- 
 fore I confess it astonishes me that you 
 take so little notice, except by looks, of my 
 favorite Frederica. Though you bear 
 a strong enmity to the sex in general, 
 yet you honor a few of the individuals 
 with your esteem." 
 
 '' Very few, Anne," he replied. 
 
181 
 
 " That I am perfectly aware of,'* said 
 her ladyship ; '' yet I am convinced, 
 my little Anne does not possess a purer 
 mind than Miss Kouingsberg ; she, 
 poor girl, has been constantly excluded 
 from society, and undergone more mi- 
 sery than I could have supposed one so 
 young, and so delicate, could have en- 
 dured ; her affectionate mind is now 
 weighed dovai by a pressure of sorrow. 
 I had intended to have kept her little 
 story from you, but I cannot resist 
 communicating it, as we have got on 
 the topic, as I am convinced you must 
 pity her." 
 
 Lady Anne then related the particu- 
 lars of their m^eeting in the Park, and 
 every part of Frederica's history that 
 she was acouainted with. 
 
182 
 
 When she came to where she stole 
 the brandy, and the fatal consequences 
 it produced, Mr. Maiden paced the 
 room in an agony of passion, saying, 
 *^ Such a wretch as the landlady ought 
 to be extirpated from society ;" and 
 when her ladyship pathetically dwelt 
 upon the many miseries she had endured 
 in Newgate, the tears rolled down his- 
 venerable cheek. 
 
 •' Poor child ! poor child !" said he, 
 when Lady Anne had finished. '^ Anx:l 
 all these manifold oppressions have not 
 been sufficient, but I must add to your 
 uneasiness. You shall have retribution, 
 though from me; the extent of my 
 fault shall be extenuated in your eyes." 
 
 Lady Anne was charmed with tho 
 effect her story had produced, as she 
 
183 
 
 well knew the advantage such a friend 
 as Mr. Maiden must be to Frederica ; 
 she therefore proceeded to give him 
 several instances of the excellence of 
 her heart, and soundness of under- 
 standing* 
 
 Mr. Norval and Frederica soon after 
 arrived, when Mr. Maiden relaxed from 
 his former severity, and spoke to her in 
 terms of such kindness, respecting her 
 grandfather's uncertain fate, that tears 
 ^ of gratitude fell from Frederica's eyes, 
 and from that time, they were constant- 
 ly together. 
 
 Mr. Maiden pronounced, that though 
 a female, her heart was free from guile^ 
 and he was never more happy than 
 when leaning on Frederica's arm, and 
 pointingout the beauties of the surround- 
 
184' 
 
 iaig scenery, in a stjie of wild enthusiasm^ 
 that often startled her. 
 
 *' What a lover you are of Nature,. 
 sir," said Frederica, in one of their 
 walks* 
 
 " Yes, child," cried he, stopping,, and: 
 clasping his hands, " I am. I once, 
 though, was a lover of art ; but such a 
 lovely masterpiece was it, that till I sunk, 
 deep into the abyss of misery, I mistook 
 it for nature. Frederica, I am near 
 seventy ; but an impression of agony 
 that I received forty years since, can. 
 never be obliterated, but with a tcrmi-- 
 nation of thought. I loved — I fancied 
 my passion returned in its full force : t 
 was deceived by the object of my fondest 
 idolatry. Is it then surprising, that I 
 am hard of belief, wlien they speak of 
 
183 
 
 the virtue of ^^our sex ? I was . lively, 
 happy, enchanted with the world ; one 
 single half hoar transformed me^ to 
 what yoQ now behold. I have since 
 been a scrutinzing observer of the follies 
 of mankind ; and when they tell me of 
 the virtue of human nature, I feel my- 
 self a fastidious sceptic. But why should 
 I, so early in your journey, make you 
 discontented with the passengers you 
 must travel with. Child, I am a dirap- 
 pointed old man, weighed down by 
 years, and the acuteness of my feelings; 
 I wish to make you careful — to prepare 
 you for the deceit you must encounter, 
 but not to make you suspicious, for that 
 is a poison that should not infuse itself 
 into so young a heart.'* 
 
 Mr. Norval and Lady Anne were de- 
 
180 
 
 Ughted at the friendship that subsisted 
 between their old and young friend, as 
 they were certain that they must derive 
 equal benefit from the society of each 
 other. The conversation of a man 
 who possessed the general informatiori 
 of Mr. Maiden, mu&t be a peculiar ad- 
 vantage to Frederica, and fertilizing the 
 buds of genius^ which, with a very little 
 cultivation, were ready to burst forth, 
 in the mind of our heroine, and reward 
 i\ie fostering hand that called them into 
 being, softened down the asperities of 
 his nature, and made the cvnic's coun- 
 tenance frequently rehx into a smile of 
 approbation. 
 
 So generally caressed, every things 
 that she did producing such approbation, 
 ic is not to be wondered at. that a qirl: 
 
187 
 
 of eighteen, whose natural bent had 
 been extreme gaiety, tliough it had been 
 early chilled by the frost of affliction, 
 should begin to thaw under the smiles 
 of the eternal sunshine of friendship, 
 and that the acuteness of her grief for 
 her grandfather, should sink into a 
 calm pensiveness. She began to feel 
 assured he was no more, as it was now 
 near a year since she had been torn from 
 him, and had he been really alive, he 
 loved her too sincerely to suffer her to 
 be ignorant of his fate. 
 
 It was with regret she received a letter 
 from Emma Claresby, announcing that 
 her sister^s marriage was to take place 
 in a fortnight, accompanied by a request 
 from Mrs. Claresby, that Frederica 
 would hold herself in readiness to come 
 immediately after, if Lady Anne could 
 
188 
 
 spare her, ''As," added Emma, " I am to 
 accompany my sister into Lancashire 
 after the ceremony. We are to go in 
 two cliaises ; Fitzraymond and I are to 
 follow the bride and bridegroom. I was 
 tortured last week beyond expression, 
 by hearing that he had long been en- 
 gaged to a very beautifal young Irish 
 woifian ; I taxed him with it, and you 
 will hardly believe me, when I tell you 
 the cruel creature did not deny it» 
 Mamma says he only does it to teize 
 me, as I have treated him with great 
 cruelty of late ; but at any rate, I can- 
 not resist travelling into Lancashire with 
 liim, as there will then be such ample 
 opportunities for him to open his mind. 
 You know the old saying, Going to one 
 wedding brings on another.'* 
 
 Mr. Maiden promised to take Fre- 
 
18CJ 
 
 derica to town^ and to call upon her 
 very frequently. 
 
 *' Pray do/' she replied ; ^^ we can 
 then talk over the castle, and its dehr 
 inhabitants. What a change shall I 
 experience ! But I ought not to utter a 
 complaint, when I think of the many 
 comforts I now enjoy, and what my 
 wretched lot must have been, had I not 
 met a Ltidy Anne Norval." 
 
 Mrs. Newton was so very happy when 
 under the same roof with her dear ladv, 
 tljat Mr. Norval told her she had better 
 not think of quitting the castle till the 
 ficmily did, which would not be till after 
 Christmas. 
 
 She accepted the proposal with de- 
 light, as the steward's room had now so 
 many charms for her, as James liad 
 
]00 
 
 been taken out of livery, and held the 
 rank of butler, whicli made the old lady 
 hold up her head, and say she should 
 hve to see her grandson a great man. 
 
 Mr. Norval made a point of never 
 quitting the country till some days after 
 the commencement of New Year. 
 
 As the owners of the castle derived a 
 great part of their happiness from dif- 
 fusing it, they never accosted their te- 
 nants with forbidding ostentation, but 
 were the real friends of their tenantry. 
 " The allotment of riches and happiness,, 
 my dear Anne," Mr. Norval would say, 
 *' are very unequal ; we possess both, 
 and it is our duty to bestow as large a 
 portion of each upon our dependents as 
 we can. Equality is, from the present 
 system of things, totally out of tlie 
 
-question ; therefore money bestowed 
 indiscriminately on the uneducated 
 would only produce idleness and drun- 
 kenness, but by employing it jucliciou:5iy 
 in their service, we can be of real utility, 
 and we shall find, by increasing tb.eir 
 comforts, we shall multiply our own. 
 
igi 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 •Sighing, I resign 
 
 Thy solitary beauties — and no more^ s 
 Or on thy rocks,, or in thy woods recline. 
 Or on the heath, by moon-hght, lingering pore 
 On air-drawn phantoms. 
 
 Charlotte Smith. 
 
 VV iTH a grief too violent for disguise, 
 Frederica parted from those friends at 
 the castle, v/hom she loved with such 
 reason, and Mr. Maiden's stern lessons 
 of philosophy were for some time dis- 
 regarded, and his admiration of the va- 
 rious prospects unattended to ; but he, 
 
!93 
 
 ^'ho was well acquainted with the wind- 
 ing mazes of the human mind, turned 
 the subject of his conversation to her 
 grandfather. Her ideas were attracted 
 into a different channel, the violence of 
 her sorrow was forgotten, and the cause 
 of* her settled depression discussed. 
 
 Mrs. Claresby received Frcderica with 
 the most extravagant demonstrations of 
 affection. She had a thousand things 
 to tell her concerning her daughters. 
 Thoiigh it was plain to discover her 
 hopes respecting Captain Fitzraymond 
 were by no means so sanguine as they 
 had been, yet still she said she was as- 
 sured that he loved Emma ; but that 
 he had many powerful relations, who 
 would think mere raental and personal 
 attractions insufficient. 
 
 VOL. I. £^ 
 
194 
 
 The day following, Mr. Maiden called 
 upon Frederica. 
 
 Mrs. Claresby, who had heard much 
 of his birth and fortune, paid him the 
 most fulsome attention, and said he was 
 a gentleman to whom she had, for many 
 years, longed to be introduced, as fame 
 had not been silent respecting him, and 
 his praises had frequently met her ears. 
 
 This was not the kind of style to at- 
 tract the woman-hater, and he took an 
 opportunity of telling Frederica, whea 
 Mrs. Claresby quitted the room, that he 
 must deprive himself of a satisfaction he 
 experienced in her conversation, on ac- 
 count of the lady under whose protec- 
 tion she was. Adding, ** You, I think, 
 possess a guileless heart ; she, I am sure, 
 <ioes not. The society of a woman like 
 
her, would make me wretched, and 
 those principles which are now as firmly 
 fixed as if they had been coeval with my 
 existence, would burst out into fresh 
 ramifications, and I should not be able 
 even to endure an individual of your 
 sex. Therefore, poor child, do not ask 
 me to come and see you, but when I 
 am inclined; fori would not but esteem 
 your affectionate, ingenuous mind, for 
 Indies, and I am only fearful that it 
 will be warped by the pernicious preju- 
 dice of example ; but still the womanish 
 artifice of this iMrs. Clarcsby is Of so 
 glaring a nature, that you must perceive 
 she is despised and laughed at for it.'* 
 
 *' She is a very clever woman, sir," 
 said Frederica. 
 
 '' Do you mean by that, child, to ex- 
 K 2 
 
tenuate her conduct?" reUimed Mr. 
 Malderij angrily. ** If you do, you are 
 mistaken ; the only thing that could 
 excuse her flattery, would be want of 
 sense; for a woman of any abilities to 
 prostitute them to the use she does, is 
 unpardonable. I have heard of this wo- 
 man, who is the panegyrist of the present, 
 and 'the defamer of the absent. Be cau- 
 tious of her, Frederica. Why should 
 ahe spare you more than the rest of her 
 acquaintance ?'* 
 
 Mrs. Claresby coming in, prevented 
 any further conversation on the subject^ 
 when Mr. Maiden, rising to take his 
 leave, she pressed him, most earnestly, 
 to stay dinner, frequently repeating the 
 very high honor it would confer upon 
 her. 
 
 In a style truly peremptory, and rather 
 
K>7 
 
 uncivil, he declined tlie invitation, and 
 was no sooner gone^ than Mrs. Claresby 
 declared he was the greatest boor she had 
 ever seen, thought liim a most disagree- 
 able old fellow, and she was very glad he 
 did not stay dinner, though she thought 
 it would please her dear Frederica to 
 ask him, who mentally said, aa she re- 
 turned to her own room, " Wiiy should 
 she spare me more than the rest of her 
 acquaintance }'* 
 
 Mr. Maiden did net appear again for 
 above a week, v.hen, one morning thnt 
 Mrs. Claresby was frOm iiome, to the 
 great joy of Frederica, he was an- 
 nounced. 
 
 He told licr he knew the mistress ot 
 the house was from home, or he should 
 not have called, and it was then merely 
 k: 3 
 
to take leave, as lie was going to his es- 
 tate in Cornwall. 
 
 Freclerica could not refrain fronr tears, 
 while slie exclaimed, " Then I shall not 
 have a friend near ! — no sympathizing 
 heart that Vw ill listen to, and bear with 
 my sorrows 1" 
 
 "Child/' said Mr. Maiden, "you 
 are not a crocodile, are you ?" 
 
 " Sir !" returned she, with surprise. 
 " Are those tears real ? Answer me 
 without disguise." 
 
 " Indeed they are," she replied ; 
 ** and even the bad opinion you enter- 
 tain of the female sex, might lead you to 
 credit the assertion, as they proceed 
 from selfishness. You suffer me to 
 talk to you of my grandfather, a-nd I 
 am certain of receiving comfort and ad- 
 
. !ce from yoa. Few indeed are the 
 beuelits 1 derive from my acquaintance 
 with the world ; your friendship has 
 been a very principal one;, and of that- 
 I am going to be deprived." 
 
 '' Not of my friendship, child, only 
 my conversation." 
 
 ** Will you, sir, suffer me to write to 
 vou ?" 
 
 " Receive a letter ! — and from a fe- 
 male !'* he replied. ^' Oh, no, do, no. 
 Child, child, you will crack the strings 
 of m.y old heart, if you talk of letters ; 
 I never receive any, except urgent busi- 
 ness renders it necessary : all the people 
 I employ know it. Do not write." 
 
 '^ I certain] v must forbear then," said 
 Frederica, sighing ; *' but stay as long 
 with mc as vou can now, dear sir," 
 
 K 4 
 
20O • 
 
 *■•' I am fearful of the woman retarn- 
 ing," he replied ; "yet I wish to give 
 you a little advice. — Preserve, during 
 your existence, if yoa can, and you raay» 
 with a small portion of mental exertion, 
 the openness of charactor you now pos- 
 sess ; — start as you would from the poi- 
 sonous sting of a viper, at the new fan- 
 gled doctrines of modern philosophy. 
 There are very few women who are 
 competent to the task of analyzing its 
 various principles, and unless they are 
 analyzed with the most profound atten- 
 tion, they will only dazzle and bewilder 
 the understanding. There are many 
 points that a well-directed imagination, 
 and a highly 'cultivated brain, might im- 
 prove to the last degree upon, but you, 
 Frederica, are incapacitated by the erro- 
 
201 
 
 iiepus custom of sexual education ; there- 
 fore shun them, or yoa will be in danger 
 of being lost in the quicksands of error, 
 without sufficient skill to v^ave your little 
 bark from destruction. I myself would 
 not be allured by any of their principles^ 
 I do not possess sufficient depth of un- 
 derstanding to bear it. I have gained a 
 superficial idea of knowledge in general, 
 but I have as it were, been buoyed upon 
 corks in the river of information, and 
 never in any instance, dived to the bot- 
 tom. Preserve the natural independence 
 of your mind : yield readily, when you 
 think you are wrong; but when right, 
 do not, from the pusillanimous fear of 
 appearing obstinate, give up a well- 
 grounded opinion, merely to obtain a 
 temporary esteem, which will, upon re- 
 
 K 5 
 
202 
 
 flection, insure lasting contempt. Be 
 firm, or you will be with justice accused 
 of possessing imbecility of mind; but 
 scorn obstinacy, as that is always accom- 
 panied by weakness of judgment. — Lady 
 Anne Norval esteems you ; she is supe- 
 rior to the generality of her sex. Be 
 sedulous to obtain her friendship ; it 
 must be productive of good ; from her 
 opinions you may learn how to correct 
 your own ; but avoid being a servile 
 copyist. I would not wish the natural 
 bent of your mind altered, and by even 
 emulating perfection, sophistry will 
 creep in. Those ideas that in any de- 
 gree resemble Lady Anne's, you may 
 improve from studying her ; but there 
 are many points in her character, that 
 in the benevolent mother, are charming, 
 
^03 
 
 yet in the youthful dependent, would be 
 ridiculous. Cull, with care, the fiower? 
 of genius, but beware tliat a poisonous 
 weed, of a lovely appearance. d_es not 
 obtrude in amongst them, unseen, un- 
 known by yourself, till its rancorous 
 power blights the whole. And now, 
 poor affectionate child, fareweil. May 
 that God who rewards the good, take 
 you under his peculiar protection, and 
 grant, that in a very few months, we 
 may again meet, and that you may have 
 received some account of your grand- 
 tather!'* 
 
 Kd- 
 
20'S 
 
 CHAP. xvr. 
 
 Oh, come J and shew how vain the cares that press 
 
 On my weak bosom — and how little worth 
 Is the false, fleeting meteor, happiness. 
 
 That still misleads the wanderers of the earth I 
 Strengthen'd by thee, this heart shall cease to melt. 
 
 O'er ills, tl:mt poor humanity must bear 3 
 Nor friends estranged, or ties, dissolved be felt 
 
 To leave regret and fruitless anguish there. 
 
 Charlotte Smith's Sonnet to Fortitude. 
 
 Jl REDERiCA saw Mr. Maiden depart 
 with the utmost regret; his peculiarities 
 had now become familiar to her, and the 
 friendship he had manifested for her, 
 since he had been made acquainted with 
 
205 
 
 her story, added to a likeness she 
 thought she perceived between him and 
 Captain Hildebrand, made her entertain 
 a real esteem for him. 
 
 Weeks passed on in the same dull 
 monotony : Mrs. Claresby saw very little 
 company, except morning visitors, as 
 her daughters were away, and a mind 
 like Frederica's, could not deriv^e enter- 
 tainment from listening to the bombastic 
 expressions of regard and admiration 
 that was bestowed upon them when 
 present, nor the keen satire of her re- 
 marks when they disappeared. 
 
 Sophia and Emma constantly wrote. 
 The latter was, at first, enthusiastic 
 respecting Captain Fitzraymond ; lie 
 was the darling of the regiment, and 
 she believed there was not a private be- 
 
20G. 
 
 longing to it but would lay down 
 his life for him. But there was soon 
 a most visible alteration in her style 
 of writing concerning him. She was 
 now very glad she had not given 
 him much encouragement;, as she began 
 to perceive that he was not in the least 
 calculated to make her happy; and she 
 was/ if possible, more violent in he? 
 praises of Mr. Harcourt, a subaltern, in 
 the regiment, than ever slie hacl been in 
 Captain Fitzraymond's : he was just the 
 young man her dear mamma would like — 
 so well-bred, so attentive — had not that 
 nonchalante air that the affected Fitz- 
 rayraond thought it very pretty to as- 
 sume r in short, he was every thing he 
 ought to be. 
 
 The ci-devant admired captain^ ob- 
 
207 
 
 talning a majority in the regiment, put 
 the finishing stroke to his reign ; and 
 now Emma's letters were lillcd with the 
 pride this accession of rank had bestowed, 
 and she really belie\-ed, was he not 
 going to Ireland, that she'should actu- 
 ally have quitted her dear Sophia, and 
 almost broke Harcourt's heart, so very 
 disagreeable was his society now to her. 
 Mrs. Claresby felt, at first, seriously 
 mortified, as independent of its being a 
 match after her own heart, she had told 
 all her friends in confidence, that it was 
 a thing that was to be ; and she was 
 now obliged to endeavour to make them 
 believe that her versatile Emma had 
 changed her mind, and had refused 
 him. This was so very improbable, 
 that she got very few to credit her as- 
 sertion. 
 
208 
 
 Frederica, unacquainted as she was 
 \vith love, bad iievcr supposed that 
 Fitzrayirtond had thought more of Emma 
 ihau as a lively girl, whose oddities 
 amused him, though she could not ac- 
 count tor the reasons that made Miss 
 Claresby so inveterate against her for- 
 mer favorite^, little knowing that 
 
 " Hell has IK) fary like a woninn scorn'd.'* 
 
 James Claresby's society could not 
 amuse. He grew daily more puppyish — 
 consequenily more ridiculous. He was 
 very little at home, but when he was, 
 he took every opportunity his mother's 
 absence gave him, to make strong love 
 to Frederica, whom he imagined would 
 be charmed with his condescension, 
 and find him irresitible. 
 
 Her situation, from this circumstance. 
 
became daily more disagreeable. She 
 was well aware that the slightest fiiiit to 
 Lady Anne Norval would be sufficient, 
 and she should immediately be removed, 
 but weighed down as she was^ by tlie 
 obligations that lady liad conferred upon 
 her, and acquiescing in her ladyship's 
 reasons for not residing in Hanover 
 Square, she .^dreaded the idea of being 
 thrown amongst strangers, and deter- 
 mined to endure all the disagreeables for 
 the present, and hope it would be more 
 pleasant when Miss Claresby arrived, 
 who was now soon expected. She was 
 certain that Lady Anne Norval would 
 make her time far more agreeable, and 
 it was possible Mr. Maiden might soon 
 surprise her with a visit. All hope of 
 ever again seeing her grandfather, she 
 
210 
 
 had entirely i'esigned^ as she felt com- 
 pletely convinced that not any thing- 
 but death would have prevented his 
 finding her out. 
 
 They were surprised and pleased one 
 morning, by a visit from Colonel Ash- 
 ford. 
 
 Mrs. Claresby very naturally almost 
 overwhelmed him with'cnquiries respect- 
 ing her girls. 
 
 He said Mrs. Seymour was a great 
 favorite In the regiment, and that Emma 
 was in love with young Harcourt. 
 
 '' You mean, coloiiel, I suppose, that 
 Mr, Harcourt admires my girU" 
 
 *' I stand corrected, dearest madam ; 
 that is a thing oi' coi-rse. Who could 
 avoid being captivated with Miss Clares- 
 by r Do you give your consent ? He is. 
 
1\\ 
 
 a very well-disposed lad, bat none of U3 
 can compare to George Fitzraymond." 
 
 *' Talking of \\\m, I used to think he 
 v^oiild be my son-in-law ; but Emma 
 possesses such a charming versatility of * 
 disposition, that I own 1 am not fasti- 
 dious enough to disapprove, though it 
 inflicts many pangs on your sex. But 
 what brought you town ?' 
 
 Colonel Ashford, who felt tliat he 
 could not have carried on the conversa- 
 tion respecting Major Fitzraymond 
 without rudeness, was well-bred enough 
 to be pleased at the discourse falling into 
 another channel, replied, the sudden 
 illness of an uncle that lived at Acton, 
 and whom he was happy to sav, he found 
 out of danger upon his arrival. " I am 
 now going to see him. What say you» 
 
212 
 
 ladies, are you disposed to make ine 
 completely happy^ by honoring me with 
 your company ? The morning is divine, 
 my horses are fiimous, my coachman 
 expert, and myself a very amusing tra- 
 velling companion. I will not detain 
 vou half an hour." 
 
 " Will it be perfectly comma il faut ?'* 
 thought Mrs. Claresby. 
 
 Her eyes turned to the window — the 
 two grooms and the elegant chariot 
 were irresistible. Besides, they were 
 going to an earl's. 
 
 She consequently acquiesced, and was 
 followed to the carriage by Frederica, 
 who never considei-ed whetlier they 
 were acting properly or not, but felt 
 gratified at the idea of the variety it 
 would produce, and pleased at having- 
 
ai3 
 
 Colonel x\shford of the party, who was 
 a great favorite of her's, as he had al- 
 ways been kind and attentive to her. 
 He had neither exaggerated respecting 
 his horses, coachman, or self, as they 
 were exactly what he had lepresented 
 them. 
 
 The colonel addressed a great deal of 
 his conversation to Frederica, who, 
 pleased with his attention, answered 
 him in a spirited way, and was more 
 lively than Mrs. Claresby had ever seeii 
 her» 
 
 When they arrived at the Earl of 
 Kilvaine's, Colonel Ash ford wished them 
 very much to alight, and take some re- 
 freshment ; he said his cousin, Lady 
 Charlotte, would, he was certain, be 
 f^xtremely happy to see them. But al- 
 though Mrs. Claresby wished it ex- 
 
214 
 
 tremely, yet as the earl was very ill, she 
 thought there would he too great a 
 species of indecorum in it ; they there- 
 fore remained in the carriage, watching 
 the movements of the dashing colonel, 
 till the porter closed the doors. 
 
 " This is quite the man to my mind/' 
 said Mrs. Clareshy, '* he is so perfectly 
 elegant and unaffected ; I should like 
 Emma to have had him — I wonder 
 she did not — but daughters think so 
 differently respecting men to what their 
 mothers do." 
 
 Frederica could not help smiling at 
 the idea of Emma Clareshy rejecting and 
 accepting who she pleased, and she 
 merely answered, he appeared most com- 
 pletely the gentleman. 
 
 " I must make many enquiries of him,'* 
 observed Mrs. Claresby, " respecting this 
 
215 
 
 Mr. Harcourt, who is so violently in 
 love with Emma." 
 
 Another smile was Frederica's only 
 reply, as she was fearful of trusting her- 
 self to speak, lest she should displease 
 her companion, who now turned to her, 
 and said, '^ My dear Miss Koningsberg, 
 I have long wanted to speak to you on 
 a subject I have near my heart ; — I be- 
 lieve you love my son — I do not wonder 
 at it — but let me advise you against en- 
 couraging any hopes respecting him." 
 
 Frederica stared with astonishment, but 
 before she could reply, Colonel Ash ford 
 came to the carriage ; he desired the 
 coachman to drive through the grounds, 
 as he would not get in till they came to 
 the road, as he wanted to speak to his 
 old friend at the Lodge. 
 
2l6 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 My tough old soldier's heart melts at the sight. 
 
 ROWE, 
 
 A s the chariot rolled on. Colonel Ash- 
 ford walked by the side, answering Mrs. 
 Claresby's interrogatorres respecting the 
 earlj and his lovely daughter, the colonel 
 replied, his uncle mended rapidly, and 
 that his cousin looked extremely hand- 
 sorfie ; and as soon as her father could 
 be removed with safety, they were to 
 come to town, as he was earnest for 
 Lady Charlotte to be presented. The 
 
t2l7 
 
 carriaee now drove oat of ihe :;roundi^, 
 aiid drawing to the sideof t4^ road, one 
 of the grooms opened the door, which 
 he held waiting for his master, wlio 
 was shaking hands with his uncle's 
 old servant: this was not th^ tim^ for 
 Frederica to enter upon her vindication, 
 and sat silent and depressed at having an 
 >accusation so indelicately brought against 
 her. 
 
 Colonel Ashfcrd liOw approached — 
 his foot was on the first step of the car- 
 riage, when to the surprise of Mrs. 
 Claresby and himself, Frederica uttering 
 ,a scream, darted out of the chariot, and 
 was in an instant m i\\e arms of an old 
 man, who was passing down the road; 
 the colonel perceiving her fainting, and 
 liiat the veteran had not sufficient 
 VOL, I. t 
 
21S 
 
 strength to support her, flew to her as- 
 sistance : she revived iu an instant, ex- 
 clainiing, " My grandfather, u'hy did 
 }^ou desert your poor girl ? hut we will 
 never,, never part again." 
 
 The tears rolled down the venerahle 
 cheeks of Captain Hildebr^nd, for it 
 was he himself; he was unable to reply, 
 siud could only press the affectionate 
 girl in his arms, who wiped away the 
 drops of joy that prevented hi& seeing 
 her distinctly. 
 
 The few people that passed, gathered 
 iiuout them^ and Colonel Ashford who 
 i}ad been a feeling spectator of the scene, 
 .said, " Dear Miss Koningsberg, return 
 to the carriage." 
 
 •' Not witliout my grandfather, sir; 
 1 would not separate myself from him 
 . for kingdon)s. ' 
 
23 9. 
 
 *^ Nor would I have my atTectionate 
 Jittle friend ; your new found relative 
 shall take my place, and I will ride one 
 of my servant's horses." > 
 
 A look of gratitude was the only re- 
 turn Frederica made, while she put 
 Captain Hildebrand's arm within her's, 
 saying, " Happy girl,- how you are re- 
 minded of former days." 
 
 The captain appeared weak imd ex- 
 hausted, and was obliged to be almost 
 lifted into the carriage, where Mrs. 
 Claresby had sat all the time a curious 
 and attentive observer of what passed ; 
 though she was very sorry to exchange 
 the veteran for the young soldier, yet she 
 received Captain Hildebrand with great 
 civility, and when Frederica introduced 
 her as the lady under whose protection 
 I. 2 
 
she then was, listened with great com- 
 placency to the effusions of his thanks, 
 which he was in almost too exhausted 
 a state to utter. 
 
 When they were near Clifford Street, 
 Colonel Ashford rode to the side of the 
 carriage, and asked Mrs. Claresby if he 
 had better not order it to his lodgings, 
 as Captain Hildebrand should be accom- 
 modated there with great pleasure. 
 
 The offer was inviting — it would be 
 very troublesome to have the old man 
 m her house ; she paused, but then it 
 would please Lady Anne, her dear Lady 
 Anne — she resolved he should go to her 
 house, the chariot accordingly soon set 
 them down at her door. With much 
 more difficulty than he had got in, Cap- 
 tain Hildebrand was taken out ; he was 
 
221 
 
 in a state of the utmost weakness when 
 Frederica had encountered him^ and in 
 his condition the variety of feelings he 
 had experienced in so short a time were 
 too mucii for him. and he was conveyed 
 to bed in apparent insensibility, and 
 . medical advice sent for. 
 
 Frederica who could not be prevailed 
 upon to quit the room, was almost dis- 
 tracted till the apothecary arrived, who 
 gave it as his opinion that the captain's 
 malady originated entirely from extreme 
 weakness, and all that he appeared to 
 require was nourishment and quiet ; he 
 desired Frederica to leave her grand- 
 father to the care of a servant, as her 
 presence might agitate him^ and that 
 would be dangerous. But this she po- 
 altively refused to do, alledging that there 
 
 L 3. 
 
222 
 
 could not be any one so proper to act in 
 the capacity of nurse as herself, and 
 that she was convinced that when her 
 grandfiither becanne sensible of her at- 
 tendance, it would act as a cordial, in- 
 stead of affecting him. Tiie inan of 
 medicine yielded, and the now happy 
 girl took her station by the bed-side, 
 where she sat contemplating the features 
 of her only relation, who had fallen lata 
 & trccp sicrep. 
 
 The first question he asked when he 
 awoke was, *' Is my darling near me ?" 
 
 " Yes, dearest grandpapa, and will 
 never leave you. But do not speak — . 
 only take what I give you ; in a few 
 days we can listen to each other without 
 pain : we are now together — only think 
 what a happiness that is; we will con- 
 
223 
 
 template that delightful certdinty in 
 silence, for the less you speak now, the- 
 sooner you will be enabled to talk 
 more." 
 
 '^Beloved persuader," said the captain ; 
 *^ any thing my Prederica desires, shall 
 be complied with." 
 
 The delighted girl presented hat cor- 
 dial, and smoothed the old man's pillofif 
 while she gnzcd at hini with an affec- 
 tion that was balin tu hid wourided 
 mind* 
 
 She wrote the day following to Lady 
 Anne Norval, who immediatelv an- 
 swered her letter, saying, Mr. Norvai 
 would exert all the interest he possessed 
 to procure a situation under Govern- 
 ment, adapted for Captain Hildebrand, 
 
 h 4 
 
224 
 
 whose history they were all anxiety la 
 know. 
 
 In less than a week, Frederica had the 
 happiness of supporting her grandfather 
 into Mrs. Claresby's drawing-room. 
 
 During the course of his short con- 
 finement, he had frequently desired she 
 would rehite to him all she had suffered 
 since they parted ; and that he would 
 in return inform her of the few circum- 
 stances he had to communicate. 
 
 But she would not listen, and always 
 said, *^ Believe me, grandpapa, I am not 
 so very curious as you think me ; and I 
 will not hear your story, nor shall you 
 mine, until you are well enough to quit 
 your room." 
 
 *' Yes, but my child, I wish to convince 
 you, tliat though my person has been in 
 
225 
 
 a state of imprisonment, yet my mind 
 has ever been with my darling.'* 
 
 ^' Deanest sir, your grateful girl is per- 
 fectly aware of that ; all that I ask is for 
 you to gain a little strength, tor I am 
 sure that sufferings, however trifling, 
 experienced by your Frederica, will af- 
 fliet jou too much." 
 
 Mrs. Claresbv had invited Colonel 
 Ashford to take tea with her the evening 
 Captain Hildebrand left his room ; there 
 was a something in the captain's appear- 
 ance that insured esteem, and com- 
 manded respect, and the colonel was 
 greatly prepossessed in his favor. 
 
 After tea, Frederica was called upon 
 to gratify her grandfather's curiosity. 
 As Colonel Ashford was totally unac- 
 quainted with their hibtory, Frederica, 
 L 5 
 
220 
 
 at Captain Ilildebrancrs request, took it 
 up from the marriage of her mother, 
 and related every particular from that 
 period till her meeting her grandfather 
 again at Acton. 
 
 In some parts, Captain Hildeb rand's 
 emotions were so strong, he could not 
 suffer Frederica to proceed. Though 
 she did not paint in their prismatic co- 
 lours, all she suffered in prison, and tlie 
 night previous to her claiming the pro- 
 tection of Lady Anne, still they were 
 sufficiently strong to affect the most 
 unconcerned auditor for one so young, 
 and so unacquainted with the world, to 
 be left without a single protector. 
 
 Colonel Ashford, whose glossy and 
 dazzling outside contained a generous, 
 feeling heart, paced the room during 
 
227 
 
 many parts of her narrative, exclaiming, 
 " It is much too bad ! My pensive 
 little favorite, how great have been your 
 sufferings !'* 
 
 *•' Pensive no longer," said the smiling^ 
 Frederica. '^ I have found my grand- 
 father; my cares are forgotten, and 
 those good spirits that are natural to me 
 will now return.'* 
 
 When she had finished, Mrs. Claresby 
 called upon Captain Hildebrand for his 
 recital. 
 
 Frederica begged it might be deferred^ 
 as he had been too much agitated, but 
 he insisted he was perfectly competent 
 to the task, and began as follows : 
 
 x(5 
 
228 
 
 CHAP, xviir. 
 
 Come, listen to my mournful tale. 
 Ye tender hearts and lovers dear ; 
 
 Nor will you scorn to heave a sigh. 
 Nor will you blush to shed a tear. 
 
 Shenstone. 
 
 ii T 
 
 1 HAVE scarcely patience to speak of 
 
 the villain whom I have so often been 
 heard to execrate during my child's me- 
 lancholy history, but yet necessity com- 
 pels me ; therefore I will make mine as 
 short as I can. 
 
 *^ For near an hour after Frederica 
 left me, I remained in a state of insen- 
 sibilitv. 
 
229 
 
 " When I came to myself, my first 
 idea was my beloved child — my only 
 comfort. I looked about the room for 
 her, but in vain. I then had an imper- 
 fect recollectiqu of some men coming 
 into the miserable apartment, but could 
 by no means connect my thoughts. 
 
 '' Shortly after, Mrs. Green entered 
 with some water-gruel with gin in it; 
 she said, a neighbour who pitied me 
 more than she did, had sent it. 
 
 " I replied, nourishment, though I 
 stood in great need of it, was not what I 
 wished for so much as to hear of my 
 child. 
 
 ^^ She then informed me I had been the 
 cause of her being sent to prison ; that 
 to save the life of a miserable old man, 
 she was amenable to the laws of her 
 
230 
 
 country. — This was told me In the most 
 coarse, unfeeling nfianner. 
 
 «^ I was again relieved from my suffer- 
 ings by temporary insensibility. 
 
 ^' When I revived, I got up, and was 
 near two hours putting on my clothes. 
 
 ^' At last, I effected my purpose, and 
 liad quitted the room with a view to 
 follow my child, when I was stopped by 
 my landlady, who enquired whither I 
 was going. 
 
 ^* Upon my informing her, she loaded 
 me with a torrent of abuse, accusing 
 my noble girl and myself of being a 
 couple of sharpers, and saying, if I 
 quitted her house, I should be stopped 
 and sent to prison, as I was indebted to 
 }ier near ten pounds. 
 
 " I saw it was in vain to rebel, and in a 
 
231 
 
 state of indescribable horror, threw my- 
 self on my wretched bed. 
 
 '^ For five days, I was supported by 
 the benevolence of a neighbour of Mrs. 
 Green's, who never appeared, but sent 
 me sufficient merely to save me from 
 actually starving. 
 
 '• The fifth evening, Mrs. Green in-*, 
 formed me she had let her lodgings, 
 and should send me to the King's 
 Bench. 
 
 " I was perfectly passive ; — separated 
 from my child, a prison had as many 
 charms for me as a palace, and I was 
 lifted into a carriage that conveyed this 
 wretched machine to the King s Bench. 
 
 **' When I arrived there, the jailer saw 
 the deplorable state I was in, and with 
 the greatest humanity, encjuircd into 
 
232 
 
 my circumstances, and asked if my fi- 
 nances would enable me to hire a room. 
 
 '' I informed him how they actually 
 were, and said I had not a shilling in the 
 world — I must then be condemned to 
 be with those who were in the same 
 wretched state with myself. 
 
 *' He assured me he would do what 
 he could to make my horrid abode as 
 tolerable as possible. 
 
 " He saw the extreme debility I la- 
 boured under, and took me into a room 
 where many of the men employed abotit 
 the prison were drinking. There was 
 an excellent fire, which he said, might 
 cheer me, and I might remain there tiil 
 locking-up time. 
 
 " Here I sat for near two hours, inat- 
 tentive to the discourse of my companions, 
 
233 
 
 ?ny mind occupied with the idea of my 
 child solely, when my reveries were 
 broken in upon by the entrance of the 
 jaiJer, who said, ' I think your name is 
 Hildebrand ?' 
 
 '^ Immediately upon my answering in 
 ^the affirmative, he quitted the room, 
 but returned directly, followed by the 
 villain, Vincent. — But I will be patient ; 
 his arrows can wound no more, but their 
 sharpness have probed to the heart. I 
 see, my Frederica, that you are fearful 
 that I should agitate myself, but I am an 
 obstinate old man, and possess all the 
 garrulity of age, therefoie I am deter- 
 mined to proceed. 
 
 ** The exterior of the vounoj man who 
 appeared, was prepossessing in the ex- 
 treme. The expression of his counte- 
 
234 
 
 nance was intere;>ting, his figure elegant^ 
 and his manners easy. He approached 
 with a benign air, and extending his 
 hand, said, ' Captain Hildebrand, I am 
 happy at being the humble instrument 
 in restoring yau to liberty^ By the 
 command of my friend, Mr. Abbot^ 
 your deceased brother's feole heir, I 
 request of you to quit this infernal 
 abode/ 
 
 •'• 1 scarcely know whether I fxrsi 
 thanked him for my freedom, or told 
 him I must not delay a minute seeking 
 my beloved girl. 
 
 " Pie acquiesced to my proposal, and 
 I may say, that for half an hour, youth 
 appeared to be renovated within me, 
 and I took leave of my friendly jailer 
 with smiles ; my whole system appeared 
 
235 
 
 invigorated by the idea of again behold- 
 ing my child. 
 
 ** The postillion whirled us quickly 
 along ; the benevolent conversation of 
 my hypocrite companionj and the sua- 
 vity of his manners, beguiled the time> 
 and even I, who was all impatience, was 
 delighted and surprised to find myself so 
 soon at the other receptacle of misery. 
 
 " When arrived there, the temporary 
 Buns'nine of lYiy spirits subsided, and I 
 could scarce support myself. 
 
 ** Vincent perceived the state I was 
 in, and requested I would not alight 
 till he had made some enquiries. 
 
 *' I yielded, ' being really unable to 
 move, and oppressed as it were, with a 
 presentiment of the agony that awaited 
 me, and overcome by extreme debility, 
 
236 
 
 the old soldier sat in the chaise, sobbing" 
 with a violence neither to be restrained 
 or mitigated, when Vincent returned, 
 accompanied by a man. 
 
 '' He told me my grand-daughter 
 had been released a few hours before 
 our arrival, and that he made no doubt 
 but that she was at our old lodging. 
 
 " Then for the love of mercy, let 
 us hasten thither, said I, gasping be- 
 tween the delight of her confinement 
 being at an end, and the fear of missing 
 her. 
 
 " It was nearly dark, and the chaise 
 proceeded with the rapidity of lightning. 
 ' We shall soon be there/ said my 
 companion. ' But, dear sir, you arc 
 very ill. Let me prevail upon you to 
 taste a cordial I never travel without ; 
 
237 
 
 you will find great benefit from it, and 
 it wrll enable you to meet Miss Ko- 
 fiingsberg with more composure.' 
 
 " For some time, I refused, but liis 
 reiterated entreaties at length prevailed. 
 I complied, and found the chaos of my 
 mind subside; the ideas that had chilled 
 my soul were lulled to rest^ — the most 
 peaceful and refreshing calm seemed to 
 take possession of me, and I sunk into a 
 deep sleep. 
 
 " When I awoke, I was in bed In a 
 small, though beautifully neat room. 
 The pleasing images that had last occu- 
 pied my waking thoughts, flitted for 
 some time before me ', but, alas ! they 
 were soon chased away, and horrible 
 certainty took too firmly hold of my 
 mind. — My Frederica was ever in iny 
 
238 
 
 heart, and I drew aside the curtain, 
 hoping to see my child ; but I was 
 cruelly disappointed, and rung the bell 
 with violence. 
 
 " A stern looking middle-aged man 
 entered, and I immediately began asking 
 a variety of questions about my child — 
 where I was, and how I had been con- 
 veyed there? 
 
 " He bade me, in a sullen tone, be 
 silent, 
 
 " I replied, I would not, and persisted 
 in making vehement enquiriCvS respecting 
 Frederica, 
 
 ** It was in vain; an impatient silence 
 was my only reply. 
 
 ** I rose, and was assisted by the 
 man to dress myself. The refreshing 
 sleep I had had, seemed to have reno- 
 
^9 
 
 vated my system, and the fibres of ex- 
 istence seemed rebraced. * Where, 
 where/ exclaimed I, * has my darling 
 passed the night ? The cruel woman 
 who was the cause of her imprisoment, 
 ^vould not receive her. Without money 
 — without friends, where can my sweet 
 one have found a place to shdt-er her ? 
 Why was I not taken to her ? W^zy 
 was I brought i>ere ? — Where is Mr. 
 Vincent ?' 
 
 " The man answered my various in- 
 terrogatories vvitli * What is that to 
 you? Take care of yourself; do not 
 make me angry, or I shall use cocrslve 
 -cneaeures.' 
 
 ** To be brief, I very soon found that 
 I was supposed to be a madman ; all 
 that I said — all my protestations of prr- 
 
240 
 
 feet sanity, seemed only to confirm the 
 belief. I was guarded and watched with 
 the most unremiuing attention. 
 
 ** Twice was I on the point of eluding 
 the vigilance of my keeper^ and twice 
 ,\vas I detected, and forced back to my 
 place of confinement, beating my breast, 
 and tearing my hair, impressing still 
 more strongly on the minds of those 
 who had charge of me, the certaifity of 
 my mental derangement. 
 
 ** 1 was at a loss to conceive the rea- 
 son of my detention. That it originated 
 with Mr. Abbot and Vincent, 1 was 
 aware of, and for many weeks, I could 
 not assign a probable cause for it. At 
 length an idea occurred, that I was as- 
 tonished had not before, namely, that 
 my brother had relented before he died. 
 
241: 
 
 and that Mr. Abbot was the illegal- 
 possessor of his estate, every thing, 
 seemed to stamp the suggestion with- 
 the seal of probability. 
 
 " The fate of Frederica made me mi- 
 serable. What -would become of her 
 without a protector or adviser, I shud- 
 dered to think of it ! Yet it vi'as- con- 
 stantly present to my mind^ and almost 
 produced actual desperation. Yet, foi 
 her, did lendeavour to support- my self— 
 for her sake, did I attend to my nou- 
 rishment ; I always flattered myself with 
 the cheering hope of again seeing her, 
 and Heaven be praisfid^ it has not been 
 dcliisive; 
 
 SND OF TliE FIUST VOL'v.'Mi'. 
 ' D'iunett, Priuter, L-eullier I*iuf lIv».'Lv;a. 
 
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