P952wi\ 3««h. M m' I- i a I B R.ARY OF THE UNIVERSITY or ILLINOIS 823 v./ W Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library £0 I L161— H41 WARWICK CASTLE, J.V THREE VOLUMES. ' By miss PRICKETT. DEDICATEn TO THE HIGHT HONOURABLE THE COUNTESS OF CLONMELL. Containing, amongst other desultory Information, the Desce-^t and Achievements of the Ancient Earls of Warwick, froia the earliest Period of iheir Creation to the present Time. VVith some Account of Warwick, Birmingham, Lemming- ton, Kenilworih, Stratford-upon-Avon, &c. &c. ; inter- spersed with Pieces of Local Poetry, Incidental Biogni- phy, and Authentic Anecdotes of English History. " I bring no ensigns of surprise: L>ocks stiff with gore, and saucer eyes. No spirits summon'd from the tomb Glide glaring ghastly through the gloom. In all the usual pomp of storms. And horrid customary forms : But with Decortim's needful grace. Keep to the laws of time and place." Cuurchill, VOL. I. LONDON: 'RINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY, 47, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1815. il3 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE COUNTESS OF CLONMELL. MADAM, ;jv, IN presenting the following pages "^ for your Ladyship's perusal, I have been actuated by motives of high personal r* respect. To one so well acquainted with scenes ^to which my pen cannot possibly do jus- ^ tice, these volumes, " with all their im- ^ perfections on their head," will in some -[^degree prove interesting, inasmuch as >they may record, however imperfectly, ^he historical glories of your paternal "Thome ; and should they fortunately ex- ~|cite the flattering meed of approbation ^rom her who Crowns with fresh wreaths the British matron's fame. And adds new honours to an honoured name, I shall indeed be gratified^ PREFACE. XN oiFering to the Public the follow- ing Volumes, the Author is well aware that much of the information which they contain may also be found else- where ; but for the reader of deep re- search the work was not compiled, and an attentive perusal of the voluminous tracts from which it has been partly selected would be wholly incompatible with the limited leisure of the passing traveller, or the occasional half-hour viii PREFACE. readings of the gayer visitant of Lem- mington.* Warwick Castle is a place of great historical interest, and although much may be found respecting its early pos- sessors in the works of the more an- cient writers, which however are but in the hands of few, little of it is very generally known, and the Author has long meditated a work which, concen- trating whatever w^as interesting, and requiring little time in the perusal, might convey such information as, un- less it were read in the shape of a * This Work was completed three years since for publication, but circumstances then delayed it. Mr. Bisset has in the interim published a Lemming- ton Guide, which affords much historical and topo- graphical infonnatioD. PREFACE. ix novel, would by many never be read at all. — This end, it is hoped, is here accomplished, though some objection may perhaps be urged against the in- troduction of a long historical narra- tive of facts and personages of real life in the middle of a fictitious tale j but the plan is not altogether without precedent. In sketching the character of a sol- dier and a gentleman, the Author is sanguine enough to hope that she has in some measure succeeded, since the resplendent likeness of Montague ex- ists ; a Nobleman of distinguished worth, one of the brightest models of imita- tion for our Patrician youth, sat for the 4 X PREFACE. picture. — May he long survive this faint memorial of his virtues ! The heroine of the work, it is hoped for the honour of her sex, is a common character ; she has endeavoured to pour- tray her as what, in her judgment, Bri- tish wives and British daughters ought to be ; and, notwithstanding the licen- tious gallantry which now stains the page of domestic history, as what num- bers of her fair countrywomen most indubitably are. It is possible that the account of the achievements and high employments of the ancient Earls of Warwick may be considered somewhat too prolix ; but reared and resident for years upon the 2 PREFACE. xi spot where these great men have lived and died, she feels a sort of veneration for their departed glories; and almost considers herself as doing injustice to their memory, by the necessary suppres- sion of such parts of their history as are foreign to the present Work. Should it however be deemed, " A chronicle of day by day; a relation not fit for a breakfast, or befitting this Jirst meet- ing ;" all similar attempts for the future are at an end, and the Author is content to pursue in silence the " noiseless tenour of her way." WARWICK CASTLE. CHAPTER I. LADY MONTAGUE TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. FORTESCUE, AT MADRAS. Parh Lodge, July 1807. X HE crisis that has decided my fate is past, and you will see, my dear Maria, by the contents of this voluminous packet, that my marriage with Lord Montague has at length taken place ; but surely at a time, and attended with circumstances, under which no woman but myself, 1 think, ever yet became a bride ! My friends however acquit me of the slight- est shadow of impropriety, although the busy world yet sits in judgment on my VOL. I. B 2 WARWICK CASTLE. conduct. With regard to its decision, I feel perfectly at ease ; and, satisfied with the unqualified approbation of my family connexions, to the opinion of strangers I avow myself indifferent. Particular and painful circumstances, which I shall explain hereafter, have rendered it ne- cessary for us to retire for the present from public observation, but wrapped in the calm dignity of conscious rectitude, I patiently await the welcome moment which shall restore me to society, graced with the enviable distinction of which I now more than ever feel the inestimable value. Nearly twelve months are yet wanting of the period originally fixed upon for our marriage, but an imperious necessity unavoidably shortened the term. My mother, on her death-bed, solemnly consigned me to the protection of Lord Montague, should circumstances, which as she truly foreboded proved to be the case, render our earlier union expedient; WARWICK CASTLE. 3 and the conduct of my father, since Lord Rathfarnham's official residence at St. Petersburgh, has been such as justi- fied the very worst of her apprehensions, and compelled me to accept it at all risks of inconvenience, and even in de- fiance of its alleged impropriety. Had Lady Rathfarnham passed the period of my brother's absence in Ireland as she at first intended, the extreme awkwardness of our marriage being concluded before Montague was at liberty to form a suit- able establishment for it, might possibly have been avoided, for I should then have passed the interval with her upon the Irish estate ; but she had already quitted this country in consequence of a new arrangement, and I should suppose that long before this you must have r^- ceived the letters which were transmitted to you on their departure for Russia, where they are still resident, and from which, I believe. Lord Rathfarnham is not yet likely to return. B 2 4 WARWICK CASTLE. Montague has written, by the last dis- patches, to apprize him of the change which has taken place in our affairs, ac- companied by a long detail of the un- pleasant circumstances which led to it. This information will not astonish, or even surprise him, although you, who are less acquainted with Lord Carlo- raine's real character, would scarcely believe him capable of the depravity which at last drove me for ever from my paternal home. And as I am well con- vinced that both you and Fortescue, notwithstanding our immense distance, will feel deeply interested in the particu- lars, I shall, at my leisure, narrate them for your perusal ; although some of them are of a nature to which you would scarcely deem it possible for me to have been exposed ; — for instance, amidst all the varieties of fate, and all the vicissi- tudes of fortune, could it ever have oc- curred to you that /, born in a rank so distinguished, and placed amongst con- 1 WARWICK CASTLE. 3 nexions so illustrious — the wife of a Bri- tish Peer, and the sister of a British Ambassador, should at this moment be literally wandering about my native country, sheltered under the disguise of a fictitious appellation, and shunning almost the light of heaven, lest it should betray the interesting companion of my present painful seclusion ? Such how- ever, incredible as it may appear, is at this juncture my actual situation ! But, to enable you to enter into my feelings upon this subject, I shall relate to you some particulars v/hich, having princi- pally occurred before your marriage with Fortescue, you can be but imperfectly, even if at all, acquainted v;ith. My mother, the late Countess of Rathfarnham and Carloraine, the orphan heiress of an ancient and honourable Irish house, and a Peeress in her own right, having succeeded to that honour whilst an infant, on the death of her only bro- ther, was married at an early age to the 6 WARWICK CASTLE. younger brother of a nobleman of high respectability in her native country ; of which marriage. Lord Rathfarnham, and Fortescue, are the only surviving issue. Their father, an officer in the army, lost his life at an early period in an engage- ment, during the American war ; leav- ing his elder brother, Lord Fitzmaurice, and the present Earl of Carloraine, exe- cutors of his will, and guardians of his two boys ; the eldest, then, in right of his mother. Viscount Clencorrie, about ten years of age; and Fortescue, the other, a few years younger. As long as the education of her sons would permit her to do it with propriety, Lady Rathfarnham resided upon her Irish estate ; for, partially attached to a country where tlie happiest years of her life had been spent, she had not hitherto felt a wish to change her residence, although she was possessed of another beautiful seat in Devonshire. Wholly wrapped up in her children, she had not WARWICK CASTLE. •^ yet found the solitude irksome, to which, on the death of their father, she had devoted herself; or once given a sigh to the remembrance of metropolitan splen- dour, in which, previous to her early widowhood, she had moved with distin- guished eclat. The death of her brother-in-law, in a few years, placing the guardianship of her sons wholly in the hands of Lord Carloraine, the welfare of her children, which his Lordship assured her w^ould be materially benefited by their immediate removal to a public school, once more lured her from her retreat at Clencorrie; and, wrought upon by his representation of its general convenience, she at length quitted Ireland, and fixed her residence in England. The Earl of Carloraine had been the early friend of her deceased husband ; and anxiously interested as he now ap- peared for the boys, you, w ho so many yeai's afterwards admired his fine person ^ WARWICK CASTLE. and imposing manners, may form some idea of the impression he was then capa- ble of making upon an inexperienced heart, wlien he chose to exert his talents with effect, and will probably acquit Lady Rathfarnham of imprudence, when, after an interval of five years from the death of Captain Fortescue, she gave her hand in second marriage to Lord Carlo- raine : a step which she afterwards most bitterly repented ! At this period Lord Clencorrie was nearly fifteen, and Fortescue about ten years of age. — They w^ere then educat- ing at Westminster school, but occasion- ally receiving the benefit of private in- struction from Dr. Grey, a clergyman of a most cultivated mind ; who, having been for years the domestic chaplain of Lady Rathfarnham, had accompanied her family to England, and was now set- tled upon a living to which he had some years before been presented by his mu- nificent patroness, near her seat in De- WARWICK CASTLE. 9 vonshire, at which place his pupils usually passed the summer. These boys disliked Lord Carloraine exceedingly : the tiresome and unneces- sary restraints to which his Lordship's new code of regulations subjected them, after their arrival in England, and to "which they had experienced nothing similar under the mild influence of Dr. Grey, soon rendered him an object of their inveterate dislike ; whilst the haughty indifference which he affected towards them as mere school-boys, daily and almost hourly increased their disgust. Clencorrie, in particular, associated from infancy in most of his mother's schemes of happiness, could not patiently endure the strict discipline imposed upon him ; and, indignantly resenting the epithet of " Irish ciibs^'^ which Lord Carloraine had upon some previous occasion con- temptuously applied to them, they ex- pressed their di:>approbation of her mar^ riage with a man to whom, of all others, B 5 10 WARWICK CASTLE. they felt the strongest antipathy, in terms little likely to conciliate their new father-in-law's regard. Accustomed to speak his sentiments upon all occasions without reserve, Lord Clencorrie, who even at that early age possessed an un- derstandingfar superior to his years, could with difficulty suppress his aversion to Lord Carloraine ; though, as the hus- band of his mother, he strove to conquer his feelings, and compelled himself to treat him witli some appearance of re- spect. He well remembered his own father, and incessantly contrasting the high-soul ed liberality of his nature, the national characteristic of his native coun- try, with the cold and specious elegance of Lord Carloraine's courtly manners, he invariably regarded him with distrust and dislike. Lady Carloraine, deeply hurt by their evident disapprobation of her new alli- ance, vainly endeavoured to abate the coldness which she soon perceived ex- WARWICK CASTLE. h isted between her husband and her sons : in vain she shaded his faults from their ready observation, and carefully conceal- ing the selfish traits which she herself hourly discovered in his character, she laboured to impress them with a belief that he w^as anxiously interested in their welfare. But her efforts were unavail- ing ; and, much as she strove to disguise it, the boys soon perceived that their mother was unhappy, and saw, or at least fancied they saw, that self was the sole and darling object of Lord Carlo- raine's solicitude ; and though time w^ore away, they still grew up with sentiments of increasing aversion to him. A year after her marriage. Lady Car- loraine again became the mother of a son, who died however before he had completed his first year, and thus disap- pointed the expectations of his father, upon whose eldest male heir a consider- able property had been entailed by a xleceased relative of the family. The 12 WARWICK CASTLE. Earl^ if he was ever capable of feeling affection for any human being besides himself, certainly did feel it for this dar- ling boy, for he wept over the corpse of the lifeless infant in all the bitterness of sorrow, and deplored his loss with the keenest feelings of regret. I was born the next year, but my father, who had looked anxiously forward to the birth of another son, saw me with an indifference which, I am tempted to be- lieve, was never afterv*'ards removed. Lady Carloraine received me as the choicest gift of Heaven ! although she had, in this instance, been desirous of another boy, whose birth might gratify the ambitious wishes of her mercenary husband, she herself ardently longed for a daughter, in whom she might find a companion for her solitary hours, and, at seme distant period, form into a friend. Lord Carloraine, whose extravagance, as far as related to his own gratification, was unbounded, and whose habits of WARWICK CASTLE. 13 high play frequently led into inconve- niences of the most serious nature, had latterly passed most of his leisure hours abroad. The rank and beauty of my mother, added to the admiration which she every where excited, had gratified his vanity in the early days of their union ; but when these transient tri- umphs had subsided, and the liberal re- sources which her partiality had supplied liim with were exhausted. Lady Carlo- raine gave place to more lucrative asso- ciation ; his nights became invariably devoted to the gaming table, and his days passed in society, to which her doors were closed. Lord Carloraine v/as in fact the " gay Lothario'' of his time, a general favourite amongst the women : he was the idol of the circles where he chose his talents should shine forth, though little better than a moody tyrant in his own house, which he now rarely visited but for the purposes of an hotel. As I began to grow up witli sense 14 WARWICK CASTLE. enough to make my observations upon the glaring impropriety of his conduct? unsparingly communicated by the voice of public report, I wept over the suffer- ings I wanted power to alleviate, and shared in the sorrows of my deeply wounded mother. Lady Carloraine, painfully as she was aware that she w^as not only neglected, but literally despised, by the very being who, as long as he could drain her purse, seemed to exist but in her smiles, still confined her an- guish to her own gentle bosom. The dereliction of her husband sunk deeply into her heart ; but considering it as a prohibited subject between us, she la- mented it in silence, nor ever uttered a com.plaint that might injure him in the estimation of his child. His conduct, reprehensible as it was now become, she attempted not to palliate ; but, abstain- ing from all comment upon his behaviour, she pined in secret over the deception she had so cruelly endured. WARWICK CASTLE. 15 My brothers were then nearly grown up into inanhood, and being accustomed to receive daily marks of their tenderest affection, it was no wonder that I con- templated them as the first and best of human beings. Lord Clencorrie, who being much older was less of a play -fel- low to me than Fortescue, frequently fondled me for hours upon his knee, whilst he conversed with my mother upon his future views in life. — He was nearly one and twenty — many years my senior — and, accustomed to hear nothing but kindness from his lips, I looked up to him for the affection which my father seemed to deny me. It had been settled, during the last year of his minority, that as soon as he was of age he should leave England to make the usual tour of the Continent, accompanied by For- tescue, and under the conduct of Dr. Grey ; and to this parting Lady Carlo- raine looked forward with much uneasi- ness. It was the first time that she had 16 WARWICK CASTLE. been entirely separated from her sons ; and though her judgment acceded to the propriety of the measure, the mother's heart throbbed with terror, at the bare idea of distant danger. Lord Clencorrie strove to dissipate these maternal appre- hensions ; and, to alleviate, in some de- gree, her regret at their separation, he proposed that she should accompany them to Ireland, which she had never visited since her marriage with Lord Carloraine, and pass a few weeks with them at Clencorrie, when he went over to take possession of his estates, and make himself personally known to his tenantry before his departure for the Con- tinent. Lady Carloraine, much as she desired to gratiiy herself with this indul- gence, so natural to a mother's feelings, scarcely dared venture to decide upon accompanying them ; for, added to the prospect of soon losing their society, she had lately experienced the mortifica- tion of an open rupture between her WARWICK CASTLE. 17 husband and her sons. Lord Carloraine, in consequence of his boundless extra- vagance at tlie hazard table, had fre- quently lost sums of incredible amount ; and having misapplied some very consi- derable ones which had been raised from the rents, and intended by Lord Clen- corrie for the particular expenditure of improvements on the Irish estate, he had been under the necessity of partly ac- knowledging the real cause of the defi- ciency in his guardianship accounts ; though he artfully concealed the dark- est shades of the transaction, and glossed over the rest in a way that redounded but little to his honour. Lord Clencorrie, however, was not to be so easily imposed upon : with a judgment beyond his years, and matured by the polish of superior education, he readily saw through the flimsy subterfuges of the Earl; and, dis- gusted at the discovery of principles which, much as he disliked him, he had not hitherto imputed to him, irritated too 18 WARWICK CASTLE. by his vain attempts to blind him by his plausibility, he expressed his disapproba- tion of his conduct in the most spirited terms, and warmly avowed his determi- nation never to sanction excesses which might ultimately expose his mother to in- convenience or disgrace. Much high language passed between them on this occasion, and the ill opi- nion which Lord Clencorrie had previ- ously entertained of his father-in-law was considerably increased by this un- pleasant altercation. He now regarded him with a suspicion which he had never felt before, and examined the accounts of his disbursements, during his guar- dianship, with a minuteness and preci- sion that only served to add to their mu- tual aversion. The landed property of Lady Carlo- raine, both in England and in Ireland, had been originally placed in settlement on the heirs of her former marriage ; the Earl had consequently no claim upon the WARWICK CASTLE. 19 estates, although her personal property, which had been very considerable, had long since been dissipated by his extra- vagance. The rents of the Devonshire estate, settled in jointure upon Lady Carloraine, and upon her second mar- riage retained for her private expendi- ture, he generally contrived to obtain upon some pretence or other, and amidst the multiplicity of claims to which his necessities gave birth, she had frequently nothing left for her personal expenses. Lord Clencorrie feeling the painful deli- cacy of her situation, upon the day on which he became of age, presented her with a deed of gift for ten thousand pounds, with power to dispose of it in any way she might think proper here- after, but under the conditional proviso, that no part of it ever passed into the hands of Lord Carloraine. On the day following he departed for Clencorrie, accompanied by his solicitor, and his worthy preceptor Dr. Grey, 20 WARWICK CASTLE. leaving Fortescue to attend his mother to Ireland, where Lady Carloraine had finally agreed to join him in the ensuing month. We had celebrated Lord Clencorrie's birth-day with great festivity in Devon- shire — the Earl, notwithstanding Lady Carloraine's earnest request (for, anxious to restore unanimity, she had, contrary to her son's desire, persisted in inviting him to the fete), sullenly remaining in town, under the influence of sensations that left him but little inclination to re- joice at a circumstance which deprived him of the disposition of a princely in- come, and afforded him no future op- portunity of gratifying his extravagance at Lord Clencorrie's expense. My mother, accompanied by Fortescue and myself, shortly afterwards returned to town, and, on announcing her inten- tion of passing a few weeks in Ireland with her sons, the Earl coolly but de- cidedly prohibited the execution of her WARWICK CASTLE. gl plan. Astonished — thunderstruck, at a conduct in which no motive but a desire to thwart her could be traced, and for which he chose to assign no cause but his sovereign pleasure, my mother was at first prompted to give up her design ; but warmly urged by Fortescue, who in- dignantly reminded her that her promise had been given to Clencorrie^ at whose earnest desire the visit had been agreed on. Lady Carloraine, at length roused into the exertion of her slumbering spirit, signified her determination to fulfil her promise to her son, and on the succeed- ing day commenced her journey to Ire- land. CHAPTER II. *' O sad is ray fate, said the heart-broken stranger. The wild deer and wolf to a coTert can flee, But I have co refuge from insult and danger, A home and a country remain not for me ! But yet all its fond recollections suppressing, One dying wish my fond bosom shall draw, Erin I an exile bequeaths thee a blessing — Land of my forefathers! Erin go Bragh ! JL OUNG as I was at the period of our Connaught visit, the early impressions of simple grandeur made upon my mind by the wild and magnificent scenery of the western coast of Ireland are yet lively in my imagination. Delightful scenes! where oft, a sportive child, I roved in thoughtless ease your shades among, Made the shores vibrate with my carols wild, And woke responsive echo with my long! After an interesting stay at Clencorrie, prolonged somewhat beyond her original intention by the solicitation of her sons. WARWICK CASTLE. 23 Lady Carloraine bade a reluctant adieu to this favoured scene of early happi- ness, and with her children departed for England, breathing many a painful sigh to the memory of hours fled for ever. The darling of my indulgent parent, and the humoured pet of both my bro- thers, by whom my caprices were all to- lerated, and my childish follies only en- couraged, I felt the strongest emotions of infant sorrow at leaving Ireland; and, exceedingly indignant at being carried, maugre all my struggling, on board the vessel destined to convey us to England, I wept most vociferously as we receded from the Irish shore. My brothers were to remain a week in London, while Dr. Grey returned into Devonshire to settle some business rela- tive to the discharge of his ecclesiastical duties ; but, fixed in their determination never again to inhabit a roof o£ which Lord Carloraine was the proprietor, they took up their abode at an hotel for the 24 WARWICK CASTLE. short time they were to stay in London, nevertheless continuing their daily visits to their mother in Grosvenor Square. Lord Carloraine received us upon our re- turn with his usual cold civility ; he was more than commonly engaged abroad, and as he abstained from all remarks upon our excursion to Clencorrie, Lady Carloraine herself wisely forebore to re- vive the subject. It was now the middle of May, and though the usual time of our leaving London for the summer was fast approaching, ray mother prolonged her stay in the metropolis, for the pur- pose of meeting there an old and valued friend, who, having been absent for some years upon a foreign station with her husband, an officer of high rank in the army, was recently returned to her na- tive country 5 and this lady she hoped to prevail upon to accompany us into Devonshire. My brothers, during this interval, were busily engaged in prepara- tions for their departure, though all WARWICK CASTLE. 25 tiieir leisure hours were given to their mother ; but Dr. Grey having settled his affairs in the country again returned to town, and every arrangement being completed, they at length took an affec- tionate leave of Lady Carloraine, and set out for Paris, from whence they were to proceed at their convenience to Rome. They had no sooner quitted England, than the smothered storm burst on our heads : their proximity had hitherto stifled the resentment of Lord Carlo- raine ; but, sheltered no longer under the protection of her sons, his passion broke forth, and now raged with double fury against their unoffending mother. He accused Lady Carloraine of com- bining with them to vilify his honour, of inciting her sons to open rebellion against his authority during his guardianship, and, finally, of joining them in a con- spiracy to degrade him in the estimation of the world, by promulgating suspicions of his honour and veracity. My mother VOL. I. C 26 WARWICK CASTLE. most strenuously denied this bitter charge ; she asserted her total innocence of the whole fabrication, and pleaded her known anxiety to conciliate their warring passions. In vain she urged her unavailing efforts of mediation : the never to be forgiven Irish expedition rose in judgment against her ; and, after a series of insult, to which she could no longer submit with her usual patience, she indignantly exerted the independ- ence of her mind, and quitted London with a firm determination never to return to it, till the conduct of Lord Carloraine should be materially changed. For some months she steadily per- severed in her resolution, until the Earl, deeply involved by his increased habits of dissipation, began to feel the want of Lord Clencorrie's ample rent-roll, and aware that the product of his wife's join- ture estate would probably be now with- held from him, he thought it prudent to conciliate her by an appearance of con- WWRWICK CASTLE. 27 trition. Lady Carloraine was not de- ceived by the concessions of the crafty Earl ; but, still willing to believe that he felt what he professed, she lent a favourable ear to his overtures of recon- ciliation J and, after a separation of twelve months, once more revisited London. But this amnesty lasted not long : Lady Carloraine's resources were as usual soon exhausted, and her purse not unfrequently drained of its solitary guinea ; and as I began now to grow up to an age that required more instruction than her broken spirits could afford me, this consideration occupied her reflec- tion, and she felt the necessity of acting with more decision. Reared under the eye of this inestimable parent, at fifteen J was tolerably mist 'ess of the usual ac- complishments of my station ; for in Devonshire, where we always passed the summer, our leisure was but little inter- rupted by company ; and in London the winter was invariably devoted to the ac- c 2 28 WARWICK CASTLE. quisition of such knowledge, as our dis- tance from town precluded at other sea- sons. — To the increased expenses of my education. Lord Carloraine did not ap- pear to have given a single thought : if my mother in their accidental interviews ever led to this topic, he politely profess- ed to leave the sole direction of it to her, and instantly dismissed the subject w^ith- out allowing her to proceed. He affected neither leisure or ability to form a judg- ment on such affairs ; and the approba- tion of a father never once stimulated the exertion of my talents. About this time the Earl had obtained a lucrative post under government, which occasionally did occupy some portion of his time ; but the profits of which, added to his former annual income, being scarcely adequate to his personal expendi- ture, he felt little inclination to curtail it for that of his daughter. About this period too Lady Carlo- raine's health began visibly to decline. 1 WARWICK CASTLE. 29 Her constitution, naturally delicate, had been severely shaken by the harassed state of her mind, and she was slowly recovering from a severe indisposition, when, after an absence of five years, Lord Clencorrie, and Fortescue, having met your family at Florence, accompanied them back to England. I need not here recapitulate the cir- cumstances attending Fortescue's subse- quent appointment to his present post in India, or your marriage, and conse- quent departure with him for Madras, but pass on to that of Lord Clencorrie, who, several years after his return from the continent, married the eldest daughter of the late Earl of Northallerton, a no- bleman at that period of high ministerial influence. The splendid connexion he had thus formed, added to the numerous aUiances of his mother's ancient family, the brilliancy of his political talents, and the weight of sohd knowledge which he indubitably possessed, soon gave him so WARWICK CASTLE. a consequence in society but rarely at- tained at such an early period of life ; and before he had reached his thirtieth year, Lord Clencorrie found himself looked up to as a leading member of the administration. Lady Clencorrie, now Countess of Rathfarnham, you have since become acquainted with, and from her present appearance you may form some idea of her charms in early youth. She has since been the mother of a large and lovely family ; but at the period of her marriage she was the most beautiful creature I had ever beheld. Lord Clencorrie, with his usual affec- tionate consideration, made a point of my participating in their nuptial festivi- ties, and having, at my mother's request, addressed a civil letter to Lord Carlo- raine, in common with the rest of his con- nexions, to announce his intended mar- riage, the Earl did not withhold the per- mission, which Lord Clencorrie had flattered his consequence by soliciting, WARWICK CASTLK. 31 and I consequently accompanied the bridal party to Ireland in a style of splen- dour suited to the occasion. The gaieties of this visit surpassed my wildest expectations. Totally secluded in Devonshire, and but rarely indulged in the amusements of a London winter, it seemed as if I had literally become the inhabitant of another world. From the peer to the simple cotter all was anima- tion and delight ; and the castle at Clen- corrie was the brilliant scene of our en- joyments. Lord Clencorrie was highly national ; the alliances of his family by intermarriages were numerous; and a marking spirit of hospitality opened his doors to the neighbouring gentry. Balls, breakfasts, and dinner parties, succeed- ed without cessation ; and while the in- terior of his ample mansion rang with the festive strains of the native harper, the peasantry roared around us in the drunken transports of Irish jollity. After the bustle incidental to this 32 WARWICK CASTLE. event had subsided, late in the summer we returned to England, and the new- married pair passed the autumn with us in Devonshire. A brilliant winter in the British metropolis succeeded, where Lady Clencorrie shone forth a conspicu- ous leader of haut-ton ; but at this period my mother wisely judged me too young to participate in its amusements, and my time was as before ckvoted to instruc- tion. During the w^hole of this winter we saw but little of Lord Carloraine. JHe was scarcely ever at home 5 and, if there, never accessible to my mother or myself, except we sometimes met by accident on the staircase, when his habi- tual indifference invariably marked his manners. Although Lady Carloraine, when in London, still resided under his roof, she had entirely given up the regulation of his household. A separate suite of apart- ments had been appropriated to her use; and as she had long ceased to preside WARWICK CASTLE. 33 over the Earl's table, she saw her private circle of acquaintance without any inter- ference in his domestic concerns ; but at these sober parties his Lordship never appeared. The payment of her own regular set of servants, with the increas- ing expenses of my dress and education, were solely defrayed from her private purse, and these additional disbursements naturally left her without the means of af^ fording Lord Carloraine the occasional supplies which he still expected. Her ab- solute inability to satisfy his demands soon produced a renewal of their former differ- ences ; and my mother, wearied by these disputes, and worn down by illness and mental sufferings, at length determined to put an end to such fruitless altercation, and under the advice of Lord Clencorrie she wrote a long explanatory letter to the Earl, in which she unequivocally declared her comparative poverty, and avowed her resolution of lessening her expenses in every possible shape, upon my account^ c 5 34 WARWICK CASTLE. by retiring wholly into Devonshire, ex- cept for three months in the year, which it was absolutely requisite I should pass in town, and her consequent intention of retaining in her own hands, for the future, the sole product of her jointure rents. To this arrangement, however secretly he disapproved it, the Earl could not object ; for it was also stated to him in a personal interview by Lord Clen- corrie, and had previously received the approbation of such of her family as she had chosen to consult. The business therefore was soon set- tled ; and Lady Carloraine, dehghted with her emancipation, quitted London without regret. Ill health had long made the calmer scenes of the country more congenial to her harassed mind, and the valued society of the few friends who occasionally enlivened our solitude served to render it more interesting. Lady Clencorrie, who had recently become the mother of a beautiful boy. WARWICK CASTLE. 35 passed most of the first summer witli us ; but as her Lord, from being much in public life, had been newly appointed to a diplomatic situation abroad, she left us in the autumn to accompany him to Vienna, where they resided for several years. Lord Carloraine did not once honour our distant abode with a visit ; and the only connexion which he now maintained wuth us arose from the corre- spondence Lady Carloraine made a point of my still keeping up with him. How- ever reprehensible his conduct might have been to he)\ she was still anxious that he should feel like a parent towards me ; and under the influence of this de- sire she carefully exacted the perform- ance of every duty, the principles of which she had perseveringly inculcated in my mind. In pursuance of this wish, I regularly transmitted to his Lordship tlie particulars of my attainments, ac- companied by occasional solicitations for his direction of my studies. Sometimes 56 WARWICK CASTLE. he did condescend to notice my letters, sometimes he did not, but his short and hurried answers were all composed in the same strain. " He was always busy, most excessively busy, but vastly happy to congratulate me on the progress of my improvement; exceedingly anxious for my welfare, but perfectly satisfied \vith Lady Carloraine's superintendance of it, and then with a polite hope for her Ladyship's better health, and a civil re- quest to know if he could have the plea- sure of doing any thing for me in town, his Lordship professed himself my most anxious, most gratified, and most affec- tionate, &c. &c. &c." Once, in the pride of my heart at this condescension, and emboldened somewhat by the affec- tionate " anxiety" he expressed, I did venture to put his sincerity to the proof; for having accidentally broken a favourite globe, which I could not replace with one of equal value in the country, I respectfully solicited the Earl to pro- WARWICK CASTLE. 37 cure me one : but as in the multiplicity of his engagements he could not find time even to notice my request, it effec- tually precluded me from again taxing his politeness ; and convinced by this in^ cident, trifling as it seemed, of the little reliance to be placed upon his courtly professions, I deemed it fruitless to re- peat my applications, though I still re- gularly continued my monthly gazette of information. CHAPTER III. At this period I was nearly eighteen, and having been for years almost the only companion of my sorrowing mother, I had acquired a solidity of mind, tinc- tured by habits of reflection, somewhat unusual at such an early age. Lady Carloraine, from her frequent indisposi- tion, looking forward with pain to the probable event of our separation, began to feel anxiously solicitous to see me more eligibly established than under the protection of my father ; and under the impression of fears which assailed her in various shapes, she determined not to delay my presentation at court till an- other year, as she had previously deter- mined. In consequence of this altera- tion in her plan, she announced her in- tentions in a letter to Lord Carloraine, WARWICK CASTLE. 39 and directions were given to prepare for our reception in town, a month or two earlier in the winter than the usual time of our removal from Devonshire. Lady Carloraine's ill health did not permit her to attend St. James's ; but the Duchess of Albemarle, a near relation of Lord Carloraine's, and a woman of the first consequence in fashionable society, rea- dily undertook the arduous office of presenting me to the royal notice, and of being my chaperon through the gaieties of the season. Preparations were accordingly made, under her Grace's superintendance, for my entree, with a splendour befitting the rank, rather than the expectations, of a daughter of the united houses of Rathfarnham and Car- loraine ; and my mother, with a sort of pardonable vanity, spared no expense for the decorations of dress and orna- ment. But these advantages I derived only from her individual partiality. From my father, though previously apprized of 2 40 WARWICK CASTLE. its necessity, I received no assistance upon this important occasion of female embellishment. Lord Carloraine had too many powerful necessities of his Own to think of parting with any of his money for the more trivial wants of his daugh- ter ; and satisfied that if he did not do it for me my mother would, he did not give himself the trouble of inquiring how the expenses of my presentation were to be defrayed. Had his assistance, though fortunately rendered unnecessary by my mother's munificence, been merely offered to my acceptance, it would have gratified my affection : I should have felt that he possessed some of the natural feelings of a parent, and I should have experienced the happiness of believing that he was, in one instance at least, entitled to my gratitude. But even this solitary comfort was denied me ; a residence, a bare residence in the house he called his home, was all the tie which now united us, was all for which WARWICK CASTLE. ' 41 Lady Carloraine, in return for her squan- dered thousands, was indebted to her selfish Lord. Of the allowance originally settled on her at the period of her mar- riage with him, she had for years re- ceived nothing ; it had even at first been irregularly paid, and having at length ceased by his Lordship's direction, she had disdained to remind him of her in- creased occasion for money. The sav- ings of her jointure, originally destined for my future provision, were unavoid- ably swallowed up by her establishment in Devonshire ; and aware of the impro- bability of my inheriting a fortune from my father, equal to the rank I was born to, my mother anxiously retrenched every possible part of her expenditure, to leave Lord Clencorrie's generous gift undiminished for my use ; the interest of which, from the day of my presentation, sha entirely appropriated to my separate purse. It had been agreed upon with the Duchess of Albemarle, that I should 42 WARWICK CASTLE. be presented at the drawing-room held on her Majesty's birth-day, and the ne- cessary arrangements were made for the occasion. Previous to our leaving De- vonshire, Lady Carloraine had promised to pass the holidays with Mrs. Aylmer, the old and valued friend whom I have before mentioned, and a few days before Christmas we went upon our promised visit to Richmond, where General Ayl- mer had been some years established in a beautiful villa, situated upon the banks of the Thames. A large and fashionable party w^ere assembled there ; for the General, a man of high connexions, though in the de- cline of life, was of a lively disposition, and occasionally fond of seeing young society about him. He was the life and soul of our party ; and when elevated, as was sometimes the case, by the indul- gencies of the dinner table, his jocund humour knew no bounds. For the first few^ days of our visit, we saw but little WARWICK CASTLE. 43 of our host ; for the regiment which he commanded had recently returned from foreign service, and his mornings were much occupied in mihtary business at the War-office, from which he usually returned to a late dinner in the evening. It was during this eventful visit that I first became acquainted with Lord Mon- tague, then the Hon. Richard Neville Montague, and a Major in the regiment of Royal Horse Guards Blue. The Ge- neral had one day staid in town later than usual, and Mrs. Aylmer, having a dinner party of some consequence, some- what pettishly refused to accept his apo- logies for keeping them waiting. — He promised to bring a better excuse the next day—" For do you know," said he, " I have been running about all the morning with Montague. He is in town upon some business about his regiment, and if he can get it settled he will be down with us to-morrow. — But do you hear, Lady Frances," added he, address- 44 WARWICK CASTLE. ing himself jocosely to me, " I advise you to arm yourself with a seven-fold .shield, for if ' all hearts were open, and all desires known/ my friend Montague has been the ' secret wish of every virgin heart,' so long, that, like Alexander the Great, he may sit down and sigh that he has nothing left to conquer." " Indeed ! you quite alarm me. Ge- neral," said I, laughing ; " but till I see this paragon of perfection, I cannot en- tirely pin my faith on your assertion. I flatter myself that my heart will not be so easily subdued." " Aye, aye, fine talking ! but we shall see," replied the General, leading my mother into the dining parlour, where, in the bustle of a large party. Major Montague and his conquests were entirely forgotten. On the following day our visitor ar« rived. He accompanied the General back from London to dinner ; and, ill the course of the evening, I learnt that WARWICK CASTLE. 45 he was to stay a week. Montague was at this period about three and twenty, very tall, and elegantly formed, with a striking military air and fine dark eyes, that, when his countenance was bright- ened by exercise, or animated by emo- tion, spoke volumes, and a complexion, brown only from the service which he had been engaged in. Upon his first entering into a military life, under the auspices of General Aylmer, he had served for several years in the General's own regiment, under his immediate care; and during that period he had borne the standard of his country into the four quarters of the world, and had since progressively advanced to his present military rank. Such was Montague when I first beheld him ! When he was pre- sented to us by his partial friend, I cer- tainly admitted the General's represen- tation to be just; for I undoubtedly considered him as the finest young man I had ever seen ; and whether he really 46 WARWICK CASTLE. was, as the General had gaily described him, " the secret wish of every virgin heart ^^ I leave for others to determine \ but I will candidly acknowledge that, from the first week of our acquaintance, he became the cherished hope of mine ! The military avocations, which had at first occupied the General, subsided by degrees, and he was more frequently at home. Montague also gave us all his leisure time, and being easily prevailed on to prolong his visit beyond the week, our family party insensibly grew more interesting. Our evenings were devoted to music, or dancing, and on these oc- casions he was generally my partner. If we rode out, Montague was my escort ; if we walked, he was invariably at my side % and, long before the short period of our visit had expired, his eyes, his expressive eyes, had informed me that our partiality was mutual. When the weather permitted, some out-door scheme of amusement usually filled up our WARWICK CASTLE. 47 mornings, and cards in the evening principally occupying our sage elders, except at dinner we were rarely all to- gether, and in the bustle incidental to a large family party, Montague's devotion to me passed unobserved by my mother, or Mrs. Aylmer, and even escaped the notice of the jest-loving General. A happy fortnight had imperceptibly flown away, and the period at length arrived for ^our visit to conclude. Two days before the important ceremony of my presentation was to take place, we took leave of our hospitable friends and returned to Grosvenor Square. Mon- tague, who had already staid a week longer than he ought to have done, was also to depart for his regiment on the following day. I left Richmond with a heavy heart. — No explanation, not a single expression of preference on either side, had as yet passed between us ; but, confidently relying on the accredited honour of his noble heart, I felt so as- 48 WARWICK CASTLE. sured of his regard, that I looked for- ward without doubt, though certainly not without anxiety, to the period when he should think proper to declare it un- equivocally. The probability of any failure in my hopes never entered my imagination, and lulled into perfect se- curity I yielded my whole mind to the illusion which stole so sweetly over my senses. The next day all was bustle and con- fusion ; it seemed as if this grand event was to decide the colour of my fate. My mother was full of anxiety, up stairs and down, in the drawing-room, in the dining-parlour ; hourly she exercised me in the proper ceremonies of the day, so desirous was she that I should acquit myself with elegance and propriety ; and while I saw every one around me occu- pied on my account, / only remained uninterested in the event. Montague had usurped the sole pos- session of my thinking faculties; and WARWICK CASTLE. 49 certain that he^ in whose eyes I most wished to shine, would not be there to witness my triumph, I felt inattentiv^e to all that passed, and even ungratefully indifferent to my personal appearance ; nay, so utterly careless as to its effect, that had not my mother's heart been wholly bent on my making this brilliant entree, I should scarcely have regretted any circumstance which might have hap- pened to prevent it. At length the important morning came. The Duchess dressed early, and came to Grosvenor Square to superin- tend my toilet. Two tedious hours passed in the business of decoration, and practising the instructions I had pre- viously received. At last I was dressed — armed for conquest, as her Grace gaily protested, and blazing in all the jewellery of my mother's ransacked stores, I ac- companied the Duchess in her new equipage to St. James's. Never shall I forget the emotions, the exultations, of VOL. I. D 50 WAllWICTK CASTLE. my proud and partial mother, as, habited in my couft chess, she surveyed me with eyes of transport from head to foot. — It could only be equalled by the sensations which overpowered her, as the Duchess afterwards recounted the gracious recep- tion I had been honoured with. The drawing-room was on tliat day uncommonly full j a crowded and bril- liant assemblage had met to congratulate the Sovereign upon his recovery from a painful indisposition, and the pressure was inconceivable. A considerable time elapsed before we could approach the throne, and, oppressed with the unusual weight of my magnificent drapery, the excessive heat of the room, and the over- powering observation of the crowd about me, I felt nearly fainting with fatigue ; and the awful ceremony of my presenta- tion to her Majesty being concluded, the Duchess only waited to introduce me to some of her particular fiends, who were still within the circle, before WARWICK CASTLE. 51 she requested a nobleman of her ac- quaintance to get her carriage up, for the heat was becoming too fiitense to permit us to stay an instant longer than was unavoidable. As I followed her slowly down the room, led by a young man of high fashion, to whose care her Grace had consigned me, my eyes carelessly wan- dered over the brilliant circle that sur- rounded us, and placed at a distance amidst the glittering throng, and ear- nestly regarding me, my glance casually rested on the countenance of Montague! The blood rushed instantaneously to my face, the deep tint upon my cheek be* came evidently deeper, and my heart beat with surprise and pleasure, as I perceived him attempting to make his way to us through the crowd. Surely it was not too flattering to believe, that the interest which he had before appeared to feel for me had now brought him hither; for his departure from Rich- Ui^iVERSlTY OF IWHOB 52 WARWICK CASTLE. mond had been positively fixed for the preceding morning, and I knew that he had before exceeded the time which the General approved of for his absence from his regiment. Be this as it might, this silent, but conclusive proof of his attention, gratified my feelings infinitely more than all the loud-whispered admira- tion which had on that day greeted my ears. Montague joined us in the anti- room, and, pressing my hand with a look and manner sufficiently expressive of his partial approbation, he inquired respectfully after Lady Carloraine, and was proceeding to give some reason for his lingering in town, at a time when he ought to be elsewhere, when the Duchess's carriage being loudly an- nounced, and re-echoed through the long line of servants in waiting, Lord Robert Spencer, my conductor, hastily drew me after her Grace, who was already descending, and hurried me from Montague, without giving me time WARWICK CASTLE. 53 even to bid him farewell. I soothed my vexation, however, with the hope that something might occur to detain him longer in London ; and consoling myself with the prospect of soon seeing him again, fatigued and dispirited I returned to Grosvenor Square. CHAPTER IV '^' Hope lold a flattering tale, That joy would soon return, But nought can sighs avail, For love is doom'd to mourn ! " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick'' Of the painful verification of this well-known adage, I soon became an involuntary instance ; for, during the two months which succeeded this day of conscious triumph, I looked for Mon- tague in vain! in vain my wandering eyes hourly sought him amidst the changing circle of public places, for I saw him no more ; and the explanation so anxiously anticipated, so eagerly de- sired, came not at all, and my visionary hopes faded into air ! Slowly and reluc- tantly my confidence in him was with- drawn, and I secretly experienced the bitterest feelings of disappointment. WARWICK CASTLE. 55 Under the mortifying influence of these sensations, I deeply lamented the folly which had induced me thus to throw away my heart upon a being who evi- dently slighted it, and I wept in proud anguish over the demolition of my fairy prospects. Montague, however, rose superior to all my efforts to forget him, and still kept possession of the deepest recesses of my aching heart. I could not bear even to condemn him for the humiliating feelings I endured ; and if his remembrance, associated with the idea of deception, crossed my imagina- tion, I indignantly drove the hateful vision from my mind. Hurried from place to place, and in- cessantly dragged from one scene of gaiety to another, in the perpetual round of dissipation in which the splendid con- nexions of the Duchess of Albemarle engaged me, my name became conspi- cuous in the annals of fashionable so- ciety. My simple manners were admired. 56 WARWICK CASTLE. my dress copied as a model of imitation in the public prints of the day, and I unconsciously became an object of tonish notoriety. The admiration I had thus excited, or rather the fashion I was in, for it was to the exertions of her Grace of Albemarle that I was indebted for my celebrity, filled the heart of my mother with exultation and delight ! Amidst the splendid follies of the world, she feared not the contamination of my principles, or my heart. Secure in the purity of the morals she had in- culcated, Lady Carloraine dreaded not the annihilation of my reflective habits, and glorying in the approbation I had so generally excited, she proudly prognos- ticated the triumph which eventually crowned my path. My mind was, not- withstanding, torn with torturing recol- lections ; the image of Montague inces- santly haunted my thoughts ; and these painful sensations had visible influence on my person. — I became pale, thin, WARWICK CASTLE. 57 and dispirited, but this was attributed to late hours and change in my habits of life : the former was easily remedied by the applications of art, but the latter remained irremediable. My malady was beyond the reach of medicine ; I lite- rally ^' pined in thought;'^ and, as no- thing could relieve me from the un- guessed sufferings of my aching heart, my nights were still sleepless, and my days passed in tears. " Oh ! how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glories of an April day, Which uow-shows all the beauty of the sun And by and by a cloud takes all away ! " Lord Carloraine, possibly flattered bj the estimation in which I was held, for I had also been described as slightly re- sembling him in person, found his vanity infinitely gratified even by this trivial circumstance, and honoured me in con- sequence with a larger portion of notice. He now occasionally condescended to mix in parties to which I was invited D 5 58 WARWICK CASTLE. and once or twice during the winter, led me out from the Opera with a sort of something like parental pride; and though he contributed nothing to the personal splendour of my appearance, he was by no means unwilHng to appro- priate the credit of it to himself; and, upon some few occasions, he also gave entertainments at which he directed me to preside. My mother, secretly rejoiced at the change in the EarPs behaviour, hourly urged the necessity of improving his growing regard. She, however, still passed her own time as before, much alone : a very limited number of visitors were admitted to her circle, and of these, Mrs. Aylmer and the General invariably claimed the preference. Mrs. Aylmer had been the bosom friend of her earliest years, and she still considered her with the affection of a favourite sister. The General was also much attached to her, and partially fond of me from my infancy. He remarked my faded countenance WARWICK CASTLE. 59 with regret, and cursing the late hours which he said had stolen my roses, he pressed my mother to follow them for a week or two to Richmond. Lady Car- loraine readily promised tq accept their invitation, but delayed it till near the usual time of our leaving London. She vainly flattered herself that Lord Carlo- raine was growing fond of me ; and, at lier desire, I sedulously endeavoured to incite his future affection. The interest I had acquired was however merely transient ; I had gratified his vanity, but I had never interested his heart ; and now that the first blaze of my appearance was over, and the public curiosity re- specting me had subsided, the momen- tary impression which it had made on him evaporated, and he relapsed, if not into his former indifference, at least into negligence very nearly approximating to it. During the winter Sir Edward Mon-^ tresor, a young baronet of an ancient 60 WARWICK CASTLE. family, whom I had occasionally met iii the Duchess's circle, had been captivated by my appearance, and made proposals of marriage in due form. Lord Carlo- raine, who it is possible looked forward to a more dignified alliance, merely named them to me, and allowed me to decline them without even asking my reason for it. To these succeeded others, and the Earl of Winterborne, a nobleman many years my senior, but a widower, and a man of fashion, was amongst them a candidate for my hand. His connexions were of the first rank^ his fortune large, and his person still' attractive ; but the predominant form of Montague still floated in my imagination, and I declined the offered honour with- out a moment's hesitation. Lord Car- loraine, in this instance, seemed amazed at my indifference ; he could discover no possible reason for my objection to this alliance, and in spite of my entrea- ties he appeared disposed to favour Lord WARWICK CASTLE. 61 Winterborne's pretensions. My earnest assurances that I felt no regard for him, he treated with ridicule ; he begged that I would not indulge him with any speci- mens of romance ; and it appearing, that with his Lordship nothing but conveni- ence was to be consulted in a matrimo- nial speculation, I augured a painful trial should any other proposal of the Hke nature be made to me. Public re- port, however, had already disposed of me ; and my rejection of Lord Winter- borne becoming known, another alliance became talked of as actually decided upon. Lord Robert Spencer, whom I have before named, a young man of high rank and captivating manners, the se- cond son of a noble Duke, and the heir to all the honours of a rich uncle, was generally reported to be the object of my choice. I had danced with Lord Robert at many balls during the winter; we were intimately acquainted, and both being looked up to as the " glass 1 62 WARWICK CASTLE. of fashion'* for our respective sexes,, a mutual attachment was deemed inevit- able ; and by these means our names be- came associated in the chit-chat of the day, without more foundation than the customary civilities of polished so- ciety. Whenever Lord Robert was named to me as my captive, I invariably disclaimed the envied conquest of his wandering heart ; but the report of our approaching marriage was already spread abroad, and my denial of it was con- sidered as the mere result of maiden mo- desty. Lord Robert himself, possibly flattered by the circumstance of two such eligible offers being believed to be rejected for him, did not perhaps give himself the trouble to contradict it very decidedly ; and continuing his usual at- tentions in public, which, as they were confined to general civilities, I saw no cause to decline, the rumoiir still gained ground, and even the exact day of our union was reported to be fixed. Lord WARWICK CASTLE. gg Carloraine had frequently queRrioned me on the subject, and though I had repeatedly assured him that there was not the smallest foundation for the re- port, he did not give to my assertion all the credit it deserved. There appeared to be but one opinion prevalent respecting it, and his Lordship considering it as an improvable prospect himself, signified his pleasure that it should be encouraged by me. A match with Lord Robert would have gratified his vainest hopes ; for his elder brother was known to be in a deep decline, and he was confidently looked up to as the heir of his family honours: but, con- scious that I had never received any attention from him to warrant the inde- licacy of conduct w^hich Lord Carloraine suggested, I shrunk with disgust from the execution of his mercenary project, and strove to lose in dissipation the re- flections that still distracted me. Weary of the fiivolous amusements I was daily 64 WARWICK CASTLE. engaged in, I began to count the hours till our departure^ from London. I de- tested most of the persons I was obliged to associate with, and looked forward with anxiety to our promised visit to Richmond. There I vainly hoped to find tranquillity and repose, or, at least to be freed from the arduous task of sup- porting the character I was in town compelled to perform. From the day on which we bad been so abruptly separated by Lord Robert, at St. James's, the vision of Montague had never once blessed my sight ; and, during the whole of this busy winter, through which I had fluttered a " sea- son's glitter^'' I had not even heard his name. I had latterly seen but little or the Aylmer family, and in those short interviews a spirit of wounded pride had deterred me from seeking intelligence of him. Placed from the time of his father's death, under the immediate care of General Aylmer, he was, both by his WARWICK CASTLE. 65 Lady and himself, considered as the son of their best affections. They had lost their only child in infancy, but Mon- tague had richly supplied the vacuum in their hearts, and I knew that he was in habits of affectionate correspondence with them. That I had been deceived, most cruelly deceived, by appearances, I was perfectly, well aware ; and although I could not acquit Montague of having been accessary to my present wretched- ness, in misleading me by attentions which he now obviously meant not to continue, and by these means disinge- nuously exciting hopes that he had no intention to realize, I yet hesitated to believe him guilty of intentional decep- tion ; and however his former conduct had been calculated to impress me with the certainty of his regard, I well re- membered that he had carefully abstained from uttering a single syllable upon the subject ; and blaming myself, chiefly, for the weakness which had drawn me into 66 WARWICK CASTLE. this ^'paradise of fools ^*' I tasked my heart to recover its serenity in vain 1 Montague was still the worshipped idol of my imagination ! By his stand- ard I estimated the merit of every hu- man being I became acquainted w^ith ; and he was the criterion by which I judged the worth of all the world. The sentiments be had occasionally ex- pressed, the observations I had heard him utter, were all tenaciously treasured in my memory : I invariably referred to them for authority upon every subject, and never, never, but in the solitary instance of his own misconduct, did his judgment once deceive me I Lady Car- ioraine had not the slightest suspicion of JXiy attachment ; had it once occurred to her, she would instantly have gained a clue to the frequent indisposition which I was not always successful enough to conceal from maternal observation ; but, attributing them entirely to the hur- ried life I lived in town, she flattered WARWICK CASTLE. 67 herself that air and exercise, with the resumption of my former early habits, would effectually restore my faded bloom, when we became quietly settled in the country again. I suffered her to soothe her uneasiness with these fancies ; I ut- tered no complaints that might dissipate her hopes ; but I had " that within which passeth show;** and, mentally con- vinced that my cure would not be so easily accomplished, as soon as the birth- day issued its sovereign mandate of dis- missal, we left London and once more visited Hichmond, CHAPTER V. A FEW days after our arrival, the General's two nieces came upon a visit to their aunt. Mrs. Aylmer had invited them to pass the period of our stay there ; for, apprized of my indisposition, she fancied that the society of these young people might be beneficial to me. Their father. Sir James Aylmer, the General's elder brother, and a man of dissipated character, had wasted a splendid patri- mony in pursuits which afforded him neither profit or pleasure in the recollec- tion ; and by way of recruiting his shat- tered finances, he had married, somewhat late in life, the gay daughter of a rich citizen of St. Mary Axe ; and his Lady, suddenly transplanted into the improving soil of the western hemisphere, entered, with equal avidity, into the generar WARWICK CASTLE. 69 Imbits of her new connexion, and readily assisted him in dissipating the property with which she had first purchased the Baronet's affections, or rather his title. They were now, with a family of two daughters and a son, all growing up with an equal taste for extravagance, a very necessitous, but very fashionable pair. Sir James played high, and in conse- quence of this habit he supported his town establishment with much difficulty. The General had frequently assisted him with large sums to provide for the heavy contingencies which occasionally assailed him ; but provoked at the thoughtless manner in which they were sometimes disposed of, he had repeatedly urged him to part with his expensive residence in Park Lane, and retire into the country till his affairs were better settled. Lady Aylmer, a woman of a weak mind, though possessed notwithstanding of a considerable degree of art, was still blindly partial to the gaieties of a London 70 WARWICK CASTLE. life; and strenuously objecting to the execution of this plan, she warily pur- suaded her husband that the interests of her daughters, now rapidly advancing to womanhood, would be materially injured by it. The Baronet, easily prevailed upon to agree to that which he best liked, seized upon this pretence as an excuse for his non-compliance ; and the Lady carrying her point in defiance of the General's advice, a sort of coolness had subsisted between the families, for some time, upon this account. Lady Aylmer how^ever still cast a longing eye upon the ample fortune of her wealthy brother-in- law, and well aware of the risk of offend- ing him too deeply, had latterly taken much pains to mollify his anger ; and in- finitely gratified by Mrs. Aylmer, who was by no means fond of them, having, upon the occasion of my visit, invited her daughters to Richmond, she had carefully directed them^ at all events, to possess themselves of their uncle's appro- WARWICK CASTLE. 71 bation. But to these girls I soon con- ceived an iusAiperable dislike ; tliey had been cducateti at a fashionable boarding school, which they hud recently quitted, and to the usual frivolous loquacity of school girls, superadded an assurance that would not have disgraced even the brow of a veteran Barrister. In their unimportant . and wearying babil^ the horrors of " balm tea beverage" and the threatened terrors of the " clock seat," with the comparative merits of their late preceptress and her competitors, were in- cessantly discussed ; whilst the powerful claims of S n, C h, and others of our patrician dashers, to the super- eminence of notoriety, hourly under- went the trying ordeal of their criticism ; and even Lord Robert Spencer, of whose reported engagement to me I soon found them well informed, came in for his share of these never-ending discussions. Ellen, the eldest, was about eighteen, tall and slightly formed, with flaxen hair and 6 72 WARWICK CASTLE, and blue eyes of the most languishing softness; her manners were, at times, even childish from affectation ; but under the appearance of almost infantine sim- plicity, I readily discerned an ample share of her mother's art. Well aware of the lucrative consequence of the General's partiality, she had strictly com- plied with Lady Aylmer's injunctions, and now wheedled and fondled round her uncle with a servility disgusting to an unprejudiced observer, while the good old man, flattered by the playful follies of his pretty niece, appeared insensible of the motive, and tolerated her ca- prices with boundless indulgence. Mar- garet, the other sister, was literally ^^ breathi?ig brass :'' her manners were bold and forward ; and infinitely disgust- ed with her kittenish familiarity, I re- pelled her advances towards intimacy with dislike. These girls were my abo- mination ; the youngest in particular an- noyed me exceedingly ; and although I WARWICK CASTLE. 73 invariably conducted myself with all the hauteur I was mistress of, I could with difficulty repress the occasional pertness of her manners. She had acquired a liabit of saying smart things, and having naturally a quick turn of the eye, and much archness of countenance, she fancied herself a wit, although she had in reality no pretensions to the character; but affecting it upon all occasions, and sparing none in her rude sallies, she made herself, to me at least, excessively disagreeable ; and a sort of civil hostility soon commenced between us. We had been at Richmond about a week, when one day the General, who had brought some friends home to dinner with him, casually informed Mrs Aylmer that he had met Lord Montague in tow^n, and that he had promised to spend a few days with them at Richmond. " He is going into the North," said he, " as soon as poor Beauchamp's affairs are set- tled, and I have made him promise to VOL. L E 74 WARWICK CASTLE. give us a clay or two before he sets out. I should think that he will be clown on Friday, or perhaps Saturday." Of Lord Montague I had frequently heard before : during our former visit he was at Bath, in an indifferent state of health, and I had heard Montague, to whom he was an elder brother, speak of his indisposi- tion with uneasiness. I had never how- ever seen him, and 1 pondered in my mind on his probable likeness to his brother. The following Friday, Lord Montague arrived. I saw a curricle pass the win- dow, whilst I was writing in the library ; but engrossed by my employment, our expected visitor did not occur to my re- collection, till on entering the breakfast room, nearly half an hour afterwards, Montague himself, dressed in the deepest mourning, rose to meet me ! I felt as if I should have sunk upon the floor. My whole frame was in a tremour from agita- tion and surprise ; but hastily recovering WARWICK CASTLl-:. 75 myself, I replied to his salutation with assumed firmness of manner, and readily accounted for my ignorance of his being the expected guest of the General, when I shortly learned from thetenourof the con- versation, that his brother, the previous Lord Montague, was recently dead ; and that Montague, having succeeded to the title and estates, had been some time in London, arranging his affairs, w^hich had been left in great disorder. He was but little altered in his person since we had last met, except that as I glanced my eye over him, I fancie a brisk gale springing up, they were shortly under way, and in a few hours scarcely visible. I watched their spiry masts, as one by one they sank receding from my sights and when at length not the faintest vestige of the fleet, which contained all that blest my existence, still cheered my aching vision, and its in- distinct and shapeless forms were all faded into mist, I turned from my window to the mournful occupation of brooding over my fears, and conjuring up every possible imagery of danger, to which, on such hazardous service, my boding fancy represented it as possible for Montague to be exposed. The torturing suspense I endured, dur- ing the awful interval which succeeded this parting, was intolerable. We shortly re- turned to London, and in the bosom of my brother's family, where my feelings were understood^ and my regrets tenderly VOL. I, M 242 WARWICK CASTLE. participated, I alone found relief; and glad to escape from the oppressive re- mark of Lord Carloraine, who, apprized of Montague's being engaged in it, frequently magnified with cruel malice the reported danger of the undertaking, I flew for solace to Lord Rathfarnham's far happier home, and pouring my sor- rows into the gentle bosom of my amiable sister-in-law, I passed the principal part of my time with their family in Berkeley Square. At length the daring object of the enterprise was arduously accomplished, and the brilHant termination of its achievements reached our ears! Tlie British colours waved triumphant on the soaring heights of Monte Video; and crowned with glory by the subjugation of South America, the conquerors re- turned ! As our brave troops disembarked from fishtins: the glorious battles of their country, her white cliffs resounded with WARWICK CASTLE. 243 acclamations of delight 1 Thousands rushed to the beach to behold their debarkation from the transports ; and an invigorating huzza hailed every boat on its arrival. The glittering arms of the forming phalanx gleamed resplendent in the sun ; their battered banners, borne on high, proudly floated on the breeze, and as the loud strains of martial music burst triumphantly on the ear, the thronged shores reverberated with the pealing shouts of congratulation, every heart throbbed with rapture, and every hand was extended to welcome their re- turn ! All was joy and tumult! and Mon- tague, having seen the troops safely land- ed, and every possible arrangement for their accommodation completed, quitted his regiment at Dover, and posted up to town. Never, oh! never, can I for- get the struggling triumph which swelled my bosom, as, covered with laurels, I pressed my hero to my heart! Lord M 2 244 Warwick castle. Montague upon this expedition, which on the first blush of the business had held out such delusive prospects of ad- vantage to the British nation, had been attended by the youngest and favourite brother of Lady Rathfarnham, the honourable Captain Garth. Enthusiasti- cally attached to him, and glorying in the distinction of his private friendship, this estimable young man, although serving in a different regiment, then stationed in a distant part of the king- dom^ being accidentally at Ramsgate upon leave of absence with his sister's family, at the sailing of the expedition, and incited by the enthusiasm which per- vaded all ranks, had voluntarily accom- panied him as a supernumerary aide-de- camp. He also had highly distinguished himself upon the service, and, having amply participated in the dangers of the campaign, every individual of their con- nexions shared the transports of their return. WARWICK CASTLE. 245 Lord Rathfarnbnm gave several grand entertainments upon the occasion ; and the Countess, unwilling to be out-done by her Lord, shortly issued tickets for a splendid ball, to which all the officers engaged in the reduction of Monte Video, and then in London, were indiscrimi- nately invited. It was intended to be conducted upon an extensive scale, and in the highest style of fashionable elegance ; and as London was at this period unusually full, a numerous and brilliant assemblage were expected. The taste of Lady Rathfarnham had in ^any previous instances been successfullydis- played ; but in honour of this event she gave ample scope to her fancy : expense on the present occasion occupied no share of her consideration, and most of the numerous branches of the Royal Family being invited to the fete, the me- tropolis literally rang with the decorative splendours of her preparations- CHAPTER XIV '* up springs the dance along the lighted dome, Mix'd and evolved a thousand different vayy, The glittering court effuses every pomp, The circle deepens— beam'd from gaudy robes, Tapers, and sparkling gems, and radiant eyes ! ''' Anxious to do honour to Montague's choice, and to an entertainment of which he was in part the ostensible cause, I had on this evening arranged my dress with unusual care, and decorated my person with a profusion of valuable ornaments. A brilliant diamond tiara, the gift of my partial Montague, sparkled on my brows, and, figuratively blazing in jewellery, I was stepping into my carriage, to proceed to Lady Rathfarnham's, when one of the horses suddenly became restive, and obstinately plunging forward, tlie coach- man declared that he could not venture to drive him amidst the throng of car- WARWICK CASTLE. 247 riages in Berkeley Square. It \vas ne- cessary therefore that another horse should be substituted, and I returned into the hall, to wait while the carriage went round to the stables for the change to be effected. My spirits were slightly hurried by the alarm of this circumstance, and Baptiste opened the library door for me to sit down, while he went below to procure a glass of water. Lord Carloraine, who had dined abroad and returned earlier than usual, was sitting by the fire with his back towards the door, and Mrs. Sutton busily engaged in pouring out his tea. Suppos- ing it some familiar visitor who had casually dropped in, he arose on my en- trance with a movement towards a bow; but hastily checking his meditated civility, he regarded me for an instant with in- voluntary surprise, then scornfully glanc- ing his eye over my magnificent attire, he bowed profoundly low, and, with all the mockery of sarcastic homage, the- 248 WARWICK CASTLE. atrically exclaimed from Holcroft's po- pular work, *• All hail to the hero ! whom victory leads Triumphant from fields of renowii ! From the shrieks of the orphan, from scenes drench'd in blood, And the sacking of many a fair town !" The expression and countenance of Lord Carloraine beggared all description ! but the malicious allusion of the lines roused the warmest feelings of my heart, and I was on the point of giving utterance to them, with a warmth perhaps pardonable from the provocation, when Baptiste re- turned with the water, and fortunately prevented my departing from my usual self-possession. I had sufficient resolu- tion to conceal their effect upon me in his presence, and the carriage at that moment draw-ing up to the door, I curtsied to his Lordship with all the dignity I could assume, and quitted the room ; leaving Mrs. Sutton, who had arisen on my entrance, standing perfectly motionless, awed as it seemed into re- WARWICK CASTLE. 249 spect, by the glittering splendours of my appearance. My calmness was never- theless but momentary ; my passions were all in arms, and, throwing myself into a corner of the carriage, I vented my feelings in a copious flood of tears ; and, almost sobbing with emotion, the carriage stopped in Berkeley Square, be- fore I had time to dry them from my cheeks. Lord Rathfarnham met me upon the staircase at the grand entrance^ and amidst the blaze of light which burst from the laurelled arcades of the bril- liantly illuminated ball-room, he readily discovered my visible uneasiness. None but the family party were yet assembled; and Montague, as he placed my arm within his own, questioned me anxiously as to the cause : pressed by their in- quiries I v/as at length forced to acknow- ledge the recent insult I had received. LordCarloraine was my father, and, solely from consideration for my feelings, Mon- H 5 250 WARWICK CASTLE. tague delicately abstained from all his re- sentment j but the choler of Lord Rath- farnham, generally ready raised, now broke forth with sudden fury, and he was volubly pouring forth a plentiful volley of execrations, when a thundering rap announcing the arrival of other com- pany, recalled him to his recollection, and the Countess to her banished smiles. This incident however destroyed my comfort for the evening ; for the bitter- ness of the quotation, and its mischievous application to Montague, excited reflec- tions which served only to lessen the pleasure I had anticipated. My ideas were quite deranged, I could think of little else ; and so cruelly had Lord Car- loraine's malicious irony succeeded, that I could scarcely find enjoyment in the festive purpose of this brilliant meeting. I would wilHngly have declined dancing at all, but Lady Rathfarnham, whose spirits were on the wing, was all smiles and gaiety ; she would accept no excuse. WARWICK CASTLE. 251 and giving her hand to one of the Royal Dukes with whom she opened the ball, she led or rather flew down the dance with almost aerial viv-acity. My spirits however, were unequal to the exertion ; I could not surmount my vexation; and as soon as the set was ended, I declined dancing again, and for the rest of the evening, either patrolled the rooms, or talked apart with Montague. 1 saw Lord Carloraine no more for some weeks after this affair ; but the bit- ter recollection of his ill-timed sarcasm cost me many a secret pang. Before Christmas Montague went with his regi- ment over to Ireland ; it had suffered very severely upon the service in South Ame- rica, and many important changes having consequently taken place, the vacancies occasioned by deaths or removal were now being filled up, and amongst such a number of young and inexperienced of- ficers as it necessarily brought under his command, he considered his presence at ^52 WARWICK CASTLE. bis post altogether indispensable. For myself, my time passed as usual during the winter ; but Mrs. Aylmer, who was still suffering severely under the loss of our revered General, had been latterly attacked by a painful rheumatic com- plaint, and being sometimes confined for weeks together to her apartment, I de- voted all my leisure hours to her com- fort and consolation. CHAPTER XV. ^* He that getteth a Tvife bei;inneth a possession, a brlf^ unto himself, and a pillar of rest : where no hedge is, tfal possession is spoiled ; and he that hath no Avife will wander up and doMrn moivrnrng." JLORD Montague, as it seemed, fully experienced the truth of this sacred as- sertion ; for, tired of the wandering and uncertain sort of life in which from his military avocations he had been for many years engaged, he began to look forward with anxiety to the expiration of the re- strictions upon his property, and to an- ticipate the' completion of our union w4th increased impatience. His regi- ment had been stationed for some months in the North of Ireland, and in this remote situation, where the morn- ing's lounge afforded little variety, and the mess-room dinner still brought with it no change, he began to feel weary of 254 WARWICK CASTLE. the unvarying routine of country-quar- ters, diversified only by the uninteresting recital of petty conquests, or parade amours of his junior officers, (many of them little better than boys of fashion just emerged from the trammels of a public school,) or of listening for hours to tedious details of the hunting and shooting achievements of these youthful " heroes of lace and feather." From the insipi- dity of such occupation, his capacious mind turned with disgust, and occasion- ally seeking relief from the emiui which he frequently experienced, he passed much of his time in desultory rambles about the island, or in visiting en pas- sant the few families he was connected with by former acquaintance or present vicinity. " Ah ! say -without our hopes, without our fears, Without the home that plighted love endears, Without the smile from partial beauty wob, Oh ! what were man? A world without a sun!" Ta this opinion, so elegantly express-- WARWICK CASTLE. 255 ive of the fascinating power of female influence. Lord Montague most unques- tionably subscribed ; for from these ram- bling visits he invariably returned to his solitary sojourn, with the pictured home of his imagination more predominant in his wishes : it was the haven of his fondest hopes, the cessation of all his toils, and, looking forward to it with in- creasing anxiety, it imperceptibly be- came the constant subject of his corre- spondence. But from the gratifying an- ticipation of individual happiness, he was suddenly aroused by considerations of higher import ; for at this period the question respecting the propriety of the Catholic emancipation had begun every where to excite a considerable degree of interest, but more particularly in the sis- ter kingdom, where its utility was be^ come generally insisted upon. Amidst the party feuds to which this popular subject gave birth, the internal divisions, which upon a former occasion had plung- 256 WARWICK CASTLE. ed Ireland into all the horrors of a ruin- ous rebellion, seemed to be upon the point of again breaking forth ; and whilst s}l ranks beheld the ferment with the most alarming expectations, it required thQ strictest vigilance and intrepidity to avert the baneful consequences of this desolating furor. In private societies, as well as in open meetings of all des- criptions, this subject of general interest was universally declaimed upon, and the public mind agitated to such an unusual height, that it demanded the most ener- getic exertions of the civil department, aided by the powerful efforts of military co-operation, to cheek its influence on the irritable feelings of the unlettered Irish peasantry, and by these means re- strain their impetuosity from bursting forth into general rebellion : indefatiga- bly engaged, where his services were of such importance, Montague remained during the winter months in Ireland. At this crisis the obvious progress of disaf- WARWICK CASTLE. 257 iection shook the United Kingdom with alarm ; and Montague, the patriotic Mon- tague^ beheld the mischievous operation of the religious panic which incited it, with virtuous indignation. Attached to no party, entirely independent of minis- terial influence, and equally unbiassed by the florid arguments of its general op- posers, Montague upon all occasions dared to think for Wraself ; and the an- nihilation of the Irish Catholic restric- tions being again brought before Parlia- mentj he came to England early in March to add his testimony to its impro- priety, and bear his part in the execution of his legislative duties. A short time prior to his return, Lord Rathfarnham had been appointed ambassador to the court of St. Petersburg, and a few weeks before Montague came from Ireland, his family had sailed for Russia, attended by a splendid retinue. Some events of great national import- ance had recently occurred j and at this 258 WARWICK CASTLE. juncture the Catholic emancipation was become in England, as well as in Ireland, the subject of general debate. Whilst the measure was, agitating with unusual interest in both Houses of Parliament, the unrestrained discussion of it formed in all parties the prevalent topic of con- versation ; and the official situation of Lord Carloraine making his table the oc- casional rendezvous of his political com- peers, the sentiments of the leading ora- tors on both sides of the question were daily reiterated in my hearing. Our private, as well as cabinet dinners, during this busy session, were frequent, and amidst the conversation that passed at his Lordship's table, I soon learnt that my " Heroy^' my '* wanderwg Knight- errant y^ as Lord Carloraine sarcastically denominated him, shone forth as a speaker of distinguished eminence against the extension ; well aware of the steadi- ness and liberality of Montague's re- ligious principles, I gloried in the elo- WARWICK CASTLE. 259 (jLience those principles called forth ; his sentiments were given as authority upon all occasions, his speeches were detailed diurnally in the public prints, and whilst they were hourly rung in my ears under the bitterest animadversions of party spirit, I listened with exultation to the angry triumph thus awarded him. Lord Carloraine, for sundiy cogent reasons, took no active part in these debates j although he could upon occasion speak much to the purpose, he now contented himself with giving a silent vote in the business ; for his own part he cared but little how the matter was decided, and as long as he could preserve the " loaves and fishes" unmolested, the Cathohcs or their claims were of little consequence to him. For a history of these political feuds I must refer you to the publica- tions of the times ; some of them were intimately connected with, and induced, the most interesting occurrences of my life, and I cannot therefore entirelv omit 'i^eO WARWICK CASTLE. them, but it is wholly incompatible either with my ability or inclination to detail them more copiously. It is not however to be supposed, but that women feel deeply interested in the political scenes passing around them ; monarchs cannot be dethroned, or states shaken to their base, without exciting strong sen- sations in minds capable of reflection ; but warmly as the amor patrice undoubt- edly glows in the female bosom, and bril- liantly as their talents may have been oc« casionally called forth, it seems to me that women have necessarily little to do in the discussion of public affairs. If it be true that " where the v/omen are depraved, the state totters in its founda- tion," (a fact latterly exeraplilied by nu- merous instances in a neighbouring king- dom,) their devotion to the interests of their country is best proved by the faith- ful discharge of their domestic duties ; and as long as the modest charms of re- tiring virtue constitute the acknowledged WARWICK CASTLE. gCl attributes of feminine excellence, the petticoat patriot clamouring for distinc- tion apd boldly challenging notoriety, can excite only sentiments of pity and contempt. At the period I am describing, the " broad bottomed administration," as it was expressly denominated from its con- centration of superior talent, was in the zenith of political glory, and under the duration of its influence, a series of events occurred, which, calling forth the most strenuous exertion of the Royal Preroga- tive, impressed the public mind with a general feeling of amazement. A motion had been introduced nearly at the same time into both Houses of Parliament, re- specting the extension of the Catholic privileges, in consequence of which some spirited debates arose as to the pro- priety of pressing the measure, after the Royal disapprobation of it had been openly avowed. It was evident from all that passed upon the subject, that an un- 6 262 WARWICK CASTLE. fortunate misunderstanding had some where taken place, and while the minis- try professed to consider it as resting with the Sovereign, it was expressly an- nounced from the " highest authority ^^ that the Royal opinion had been uniform- ly declared : much political altercation arose from this extraordinary affair, but it still remained enveloped in mystery, and those in office declining to give the assurances demanded of them, the whole of the ministry w^ere incontinently dis- missed, and a new administration ar- ranged without delay. At this eventful crisis the demon of party spirit, as it seemed, had broken loose, and the war- ring controversies of the nation reached an unprecedented height : they were in fact become alarming in the highest de- gree, inasmuch as they threatened to in- volve, in the mischievous consequences that arose from them, every dear and so- cial tie ; friends became foes, and the nearest connexions under their influence WARWICK CASTLE. 263 changed to inveterate enemies ; there seemed to be no neutral point to rest upon : and amidst this tumult of political warfare, the paroxysms of rage in which Lord Carloraine sometimes returned wearied and disappointed from the late sittings of the Upper House, and in which I occasionally accidentally encountered him, threw me into terrors I cannot now describe. His Lordship, though he had taken no conspicuous part in the affair, had in common with the rest of his party been displaced, and, smarting with dis- appointment under the loss of his official emoluments, he vented his resentment in terms of the most vindictive opprobrium on the new ministry. It was after one of these midnight cabals, that the circum- stance to which I have before alluded took place, and at length drove me an alien from my parental home. On the memorable night on which I finally quitted my father's roof, I had been at the opera with the Duchess of 1 264 WARWICK CASTLE. Albemarle ; we had staid later than usual on account of a new ballet beins: performed, and had afterwards returned to a splendid supper party in Portland Place. It was past three o'clock when I reached home, and excessively fatigued by the lateness of the hour, I went im- mediately to my apartment. Almost slumbering while Norris took the jewels from my hair, she at length left me ; the house was soor» perfectly quiet, and I sunk into a profound sleep, from which I was suddenly aroused by terrific cries of fire ! I started instantly from my bed, and, under the stupifying influence of drowsiness and alarm, vainly essayed to withdraw the night-bolt of my chamber- door ; I accomplished it with difficulty, and, rushing into the gallery, beheld the staircase wrapt in flames and the affright- ed servants flying in all directions! Roused into instantaneous recollection, a moment's thought showed me that my father only seemed absent, and rushing WARWICK CASTLK. 265 towards his apartment, where the fire raged with fury, I beheld the room en- veloped in flames but the bed untouched ; I uttered a shriek of agony, and fled from the blazing chamber to seek for him elsewhere. The house was by this time filling with people who had forced the doors from the street, the firemen were already playing the engines on the front, but all within was confusion and dismay ; and nearly suffocated r'-vijth smoke, and still shrieking for my father, I flew from room to room imploring them to seek for him. At the foot of the second stair- case I was stopped by Johnson, the EarFs valet, whoj catching my arm, forcibly drew me back to the lower gallery, and leaving Baptiste in charge of me, with a look of commiseration which even at that moment of honor did not escape my observation, he again darted through the flames in search of his absent master. Frantic w;th terror, I burst from his aged grasp, and rushing up the blazing stair- VOL. I. N 266 WARWICK CASTLE. case reached the upper gallery time enough to behold Johnson drag Lord Carloraine from the apartment of Mrs. Sutton, who, roused from her affrighted slumbers, clung screaming to him for safety, and materially impeded their mu- tual preservation. The exclamation of joy which I was uttering at beholding him safe, at the sight of his companion died instantly upon my lips ; and shock- ed beyond expression at this public dis- covery of his disgrace, I sunk in speech- less agony against the balustrades of the staircase, whilst. Johnson, shaking the abandoned woman from his arm, dragged Lord Carloraine, who was by this time wide awake, into the gallery, and leaving him to provide for the safety of his frail associate, carried me down almost life- less into the hall, amidst the pity and ex- ecrations of the multitude that surround- ed us ! What followed I know not ; for, overpowered with shame and terror, I sunk into a state of insensibility, in which WARWICK CASTLE. 267 I was removed to Admiral Crawford's on the opposite side of the Square, where at day -break, when I recovered my re- collection, I found ifiyself in a strange apartment, and Mrs. Crawford anxiously watching by my bed-side ; I had before been slightly knowui to this amiable family, but the kindness I experienced from them on this alarming event laid the foundation of a friendship w^hich I trust will expire but with our existence. Thoroughly^ awake to all the horrors of my situation, the sensations which now rushed into my mind were infinitely distressing. Mrs. Crawford, who had heard all the circumstances, exerted her- self to calm my uneasiness, and assuring me that Lord Carloraine, whom I could not bring myself even to name to her, was perfectly safe, and that the fire was got under with less difficulty than was expected, insisted upon my endeavour- ing to compose myself to sleep. Re- pose however was out of the question, I N 2 268 WARWICK CASTLE. could not for an instant close my ey^s, and I passed the first hours of the morn- ing in ruminating on the circumstances which had thus deprived me of a home, and in writing to Lord Montague to ap- prize him of what had happened. I knew that it was not possible for him to have yet heard of the fire, for he had left town the preceding evening for the purpose of hunting with his Majesty at Windsor, and it was still so early, that I hoped my letter might reach him before the Royal train had departed from the castle. My wishes were fortunately realized ; Mon- tague had not yet quitted Windsor, and on receiving my hurried summons he hastened back to town, and came imme- diately to Admiral Crawford's, where we passed the morning in deliberating on the mode of conduct which it was now pro- per for me to adopt with respect to Lord Carloraine. It has ever been my decided opinion that, from the moment a woman accepts WAKWK'K CASTLE. 269 the addresses of a man of honour, and he consequently becomes the acknowledg- ed object of her choice, she is undoubt- edly accountable to him for the propriety of her conduct in every action of her future life ; such however, have ever . been my feelings respecting Lord Mon- tague, and under their influence I have invariably regulated my conduct ; un- able to conceal from him any longer the indignities which I had been exposed to by the shameless conduct of Lord Car- loraine, I circumstantially informed him of every circumstance which had oc- curred. Montague blamed me severely for having hitherto kept it from his know- ledge, and, indignant at the repeated in- sults I had experienced from the Earl, he expressed his detestation of his princi- ples in the highest tone of resentment. He w^ould not entertain for an instant any idea of my returning to my former home, and, absolutely prohibiting all mention of it in future, he urged, as I 270 WARWICK CASTLE. had foreseen, that our marriage should take place without delay. Of the lease of his town-house more than twelve months were yet unexpired, and the family seat in Cumberland had been for years too much neglected to be readily made habitable ; but to obviate the ob- jection which these untow\ard circum- stances presented, he proposed to be- come the tenant of a ready-furnished house in London, till his own should be at liberty, and to pass the interim in tra- velling, or as circumstances might render it eligible. Notwithstanding all his re- presentation, and attractive as this scheme of happiness appeared, I dared not im- mediately decide upon it ; I dreaded to involve him in unnecessary expenses, and I wished for quiet and solitude to collect my harassed thoughts. Montague, find- ing all his rhetoric upon this point in- effectual, next pointed out the jiropriety of my going immediately to Mrs. Ayl- mer's till the bruit which the discovery of WARWICK CASTLE. o?! LordCarloraine's disgrace would natural- ly occasion had subsided, since there we could arrange our proceedings more at leisure. In the agitated state of my nerves, this idea had not occurred to me ; but, soothed by the hope of comfort which it promised, I embraced the pro- posal with delight ; and Montague, infi- nitely gratified by having in some mea- sure tranquillized my mind, waited only to express to the Crawford family our grateful sense of their kindness, and set out for Richmond to prepare Mrs. Ayl- mer for my reception. At Mrs. Craw- ford's desire, my own servants, and such of my private property as they could ob- tain in the present deranged state of af- fairs, were removed to her house, and the next morning her carriage conveyed me to Richmond. Montague himself at- tended me thither, and staid the whole of the day in the hope of reconciling me, aided by Mrs. Aylmer's advice, to his 272 WARWICK CASTLE original plan ; but, fully aware of the in- convenience which must necessarily at- tend its execution, I postponed my deci- sion for the present, and, desirous that I might have no omission of duty towards Lord Carloraine to reproach myself witli hereafter, I consulted Montague as to the propriety of informing his Lordship of my present residence^ and determina- tion not to return to Grosvenor Square, and with his approbation, the same day, addressed the following letter to the Earl. " My Lord, Richmond, April 1807. " Considering it a duty incumbent on me to apprize your Lord&hip of my per- sonal safety and present residence, I have embraced the earliest opportunity of informing you that I am now under the protection of Mrs. Aylmer at Rich- mond-, and also of conveying to your WARWICK CASTLE. 273 Lordship my determination as to my fu- ture conduct, made under the approba- tion of friends deeply interested in my welfare and reputation. After such a discovery as I am compelled to recall to your recollection, your Lordship must be perfectly well aware that /, the daughter of a chaste and honourable mother, can never again inhabit a home dishonoured by the abode of your Lordship's present associate. Under the painful considera- tion of these circumstances, I have been compelled to seek the protection of a lady well known to you as the revered friend of my estimable mother, and your Lordship will not be surprised, nor I am persuaded displeased, to learn, that for the future I feel myself under the necessity of entirely declining yours. Notwith- standing my determination upon this subject, I shall still hold it my duty to apprize your Lordsliip of any material change in my fate ; and in the sincere hope that you may be induced to reflect N 5 274 WARWICK CASTLE. seriously on the disgraceful circum- stances which have driven me from my paternal abode, " I am my Lord, &c. &c. " F. H. C. Delamere." " "Lord Carloraine,'" To this letter Lord Carloraine deign-^ ed no reply ; and as soon as my packages arrived at Richmond, I busied myself in assisting Norris to arrange their contents in the apartments which Mrs. Aylmer had allotted me. In this employment my mind became somewhat relieved, and in a few days I began to consider myself entirely at home. CHAPTER XVL •' Skilled to pronounce what noblest thoughts inspire. To blend the s-peakcr, with the patriot's fire, Bold to conceive, nor tiinorous to conceal, What Britons dare to ihiiif:, he dares to tell." iVx this juncture the United Kingdom was in a state of indescribable commo- tion : a new administration had recently come into office, and the sudden dissolu- tion of Parliament having sent the Com- mons back to their constituents, a gene- ral election had in consequence taken place, and the pressure of public busi- ness being unusually heavy, the new Par- liament were summoned to meet without delay. Some few days were necessarily occupied in the administration of the oaths to the members, and other forms in>- cidental to the opening of a new session ; and this period Lord Montague passed 276 WARWICK CASTLE. principally at Richmond, fondly urging me to the adoption of his former plan, and for which he hourly fancied he discerned stronger necessity. Mrs. Aylmer was evidently in a very precarious state of health, she was frequently confined for weeks together to her apartment -, and he dreaded lest in some of his unavoidable absences with his regiment, her death should eventually deprive me of her pro- tection. Under this presentiment he anxiously pressed upon my mind the pro- priety of our immediate union, and having gained Mrs. Aylmer to his party, I at length acquiesced. As soon as this important point was decided, Montague went immediately to town to make the necessary arrangements for it. The Bishop of , Lady Rathfarn- ham's paternal uncle, as a family con- nexion, had long claimed the office of unit- ing us whenever our marriage should take place ; and apprizing his Lordship and Captain Garth of our intentions, he pro- WARWICK CASTLE. 277 cured a special licence, and it was settled that the ceremony should take place at Richmond on the following day. Mon- tague had previously proposed that, as soon as it was over, we should depart on a summer tour for a few months into the North, where his regiment was then stationed, leaving our winter plan for the present unarranged ; but the final discussion of the Catholic question having been in the interim fixed for the ensuing Wednesday, a special call of both Houses of Parliament had taken place, and as the attendance of the members was par- ticularly required, we were under the necessity of either delaying our marriage, or at least keeping it secret, till this im- portant business was settled. Montague preferred the latter, and having arranged every thing for its private solemnization, the ceremony was performed in Mrs. Aylmer's drawing room in the presence only of her household, and Lady Rath- farnham's youngest sister, her brother 2 278 WARWICK CASTLE. , Captain Garth, upon this occasion officiating for Lord Rathfarnhani by giving me away. As soon as it was ovxr, our friends returned to town, and Mon- tague having previously ascertained that Lord CarJoraine, accompanied by Mrs. Sutton, was gone to Brigliton, while the house in Grosvenor Square was under- going the necessary repairs, wrote a cool but civil letter to him^ to announce the celebration of our marriage. He also transmitted an account of it to Lord Rathfarnham at St. Petersburg ; but, satisfied of his affectionate regard, w^e had little doubt either of his approbation or concurrence in our proceedings. Three happy days flew rapidly away, during which Montague remained wholly at Richmond 5 but on the morning of the fourth he rode to town, and on his return to dinner gave orders to be called at an earlier hour than usual the following morning, that being the day fixed upon for the final discussion of the Catholic ques- 1 WARWICK CASTLE. 279 tion. On this important occasion he was to sustain a prominent part ; his unbiass- ed principles were well known, and the frequency of his official residence in Ireland having afforded him opportuni- ties of superior information for ascertain- ing the propriety of the desired measure, his sentiments were anticipated with much anxiety. Deeply interested in a question which involved the dearest and most sacred rights of the British Empire, he had given to the Catholic claims his most serious consideration ; and he prepared on this day to discharge his duty to his country, by giving his opinion the fullest force of his political eloquence. In the memorable debate which had pre- ceded the sudden dissolution of the former Parliament, he had borne a dis- tinguished share, and it was therefore expected that, entering more fully into the subject, he now w^ould support his avowed opinion with an adequate force 280 WARWICK CASTLE, of argument, drawn from the undeniable sources of his personal observation. Montague, as had been foreseen, spoke long and eloquently upon the sub- ject. The interests of thousands yet unborn seemed to hang upon his exer- tions, and, animated into more than his usual energy of declamation, a rich strain of impassioned eloquence burst impres- sively from his lips ! He roused the feel- ings of his compatriots into perfect unison with his own ; and whilst the admiration of the concurring senate broke forth in loud and grateful cheerings, his argu- ments brought conviction to the bosom of his applauding hearers ! He had left Richmond at an earlv hour, but it was nearly four o'clock in the morning when he again reached it ; for the House, deeply occupied in this interesting subject, sat unusually late j and we were yet lingering over a pro- tracted breakfast, when a gentleman on WARWICK CASTLE. 281 horseback, attended by a groom in a plain livery, rode up to the hall door, and inquired for Lord Montague. He was shown into the library, where Mon- tague shortly attended him. They con- tinued together a considerable time ; but as he was in the habit of having gentle- men frequently visit him there, I scarcely noticed the circumstance, though I re- marked that, after he was gone away, Montague seemed unusually thoughtful. Towards dusk the same gentleman re- turned on horseback as before ; Mon- tague was again closetted with him in the library, and after more than an hour had elapsed in private conversation, he rang for his servant^ and giving orders for his carriage to be immediately prepared, he came into the dining parlour and, affectionately embracing me, said that he was going to town with his visitor upon business which admitted of no delay. Mrs. Aylmer had been for some days 282 WARWICK CASTLE. indisposed with her rheumatic affection, a cold and chiHing atmosphere had con- fined her to her chamber, and for the last two days she had not ventured down stairs. I passed the hours of his absence therefore principally alone : after the evening closed in, a book occupied my attention till nearly eleven o'clock, when I began to grow impatient for his return. It was a clear moonlight evening, and though late in the spring, it was still cold and frosty. The sandwich tray stood undisturbed upon the table, and, stirring up the fire till it burned brightly for his reception, I threw up the window and listened anxiously for the sound of his carriage on the turnpike- road : still however he came not, and I was beginning to feel somewhat uneasy at his absence, when the groom returned from town alone, bringing me a short note from his master, which merely said that, being unavoidably detained by important WARWICK CASTLE. 283 business, he should not return to Rich- mond before mc^'ning. With this information I went immedi- ately to rest, and, little dreaming of the painful trial that awaited me, slept away the hours in temporary forgetful ness. I was scarcely awake in the morning, when I fancied I heard Montague's voice under my window. I immediately arose, and, drawing aside the curtain, softly opened the window to ascertain if he was returned. I felt disappointed when I perceived that it was Captain Garth, who, standing upon the hall steps with the bridle upon his arm, waited for the groom to take his horse round to the stables, while he directed the house-maid, who was busy in the hall, to inform me immediately that he was come to break- fast with me. In consequence of this intimation, I was half dressed when the messenger reached my room, and, some- what surprised at his unusually early visit, I speedily descended to the break- L^84 WARWICK CASTLE. fast parlour. It was yet very early, and the room cold and comfortless ; the tire was scarcely lighted, for the servants were not all risen ; and Cap- tain Garth, weary of waiting for the tardy services of the slumbering groom, had gone round into the stable yard to put his horse up himself. I rang to hasten the preparations for breakfast, and while I was still speaking he came back into the parlour. I fancied he looked agitated, and much paler than common, as, shaking me by the hand, he repeated that he was come to breakfast with me. *' Aie you not very early ?" said I, smiling ; *' this is not your usual habit I believe.*' He smiled in return, but it was evi- dently forced, and I readily discovered that something clouded his spirits. " Montague is in London," said I, as I poured out the coffee. '' Yes, I know, I have seen him there," he answered. WARWICK CASTLE. ^SJ ••' He went last evening," I resumed, " and I am now in momentary expecta- tion of his return ; indeed when I heard you, I thought he was come." Captain Garth placed his coffee upon the table, and hesitated for a moment before he spoke. " Montague cannot be at home yet," said he ; " he is unavoid- ably detained. I have seen him this morning, almost within the last hour, but at present you must not expect him ; you must make up your mind to the dis- appointment," continued he, seeing me look anxiously ; " for his absence, I assure you, is both unpleasant and unavoid- able." " Good Heavens !" I exclaimed — " You quite alarm me. What is the reason that he cannot return ? Tell me, I entreat you," continued I, trembling with I know not what sort of apprehen- sion. " What can have happened ?" " You have courage, my dear Lady Montague," said Captain Garth, " and 2S6 WARWICK CASTLE. you must now exert it. Do not terrify yourself," added he, rising and pressing my hands between his own, while I shook with alarm. " Montague is safe ; he is quite safe," continued he, as my agitation increas- ed, " but— " But what ? Tell me at once, in mercy tell me," cried I. " He has been engaged in a duel." « A dud ! merciful God !" I ex- claimed, sinking back in my chair. " Be composed," cried Captain Garth, anxiously supporting me ; " Montague as I have before told you is safe, I have left him in perfect safety. I assure you upon my honour that he is safe," reiterated he. " Why then is he not here ? Why does he not return ?" " He must not be seen coming hither," replied he ; *' even my being here is attended with danger. It is useless to de- ceive you : this affair may yet terminate seriously for Lord Maynooth, who was WARWICK CASTLE. 287 the instigator of it ; and Montague, for the present is best out of the way." I felt almost suffocated till tears came to my relief, and leaning on the break- fast table I covered my face with my handkerchief, and wept without control as Captain Garth related the circum- stances of this unhappy affair. It appeared that in consequence of Montague's speech in the House of Lords on the preceding day, some ob- servations had fallen from him respect- ing circumstances which had occurred in the Irish rebellion of 1798 ; and that in elucidating what he had advanced, an allusion had been made to the conduct of a certain noble Lord at a later period, which in some involuntary instance had been considered as bearing towards per- sonal reflection, in consequence of which Lord Maynooth, the son of the Noble- man alluded to, a young man of high spirit and impetuous disposition, had thought proper to demand a retraction of Lord Montague's assertion. Mon- 288 WARWICK CASTLE. tague, fully aware of the miscon- ception of this rash youth, readily ex- plained away the most offensive part of the indignity; but fresh objections being started as to the explanation itself, and apologies demanded upon grounds that were inadmissible, Montague con- sidered other concessions incompatible with his character as a soldier and a gentleman, and declining farther cor- respondence on the subject, a challenge had been given and consequently ac- cepted between them. A meeting had taken place at Kensington, whither Mon- tague was attended by his friend Captain Garth ; and Lord Maynooth, as the of- fended party, had fired first and without effect: Montague instantly discharged his pistol in the air, having little inclination to risk the life of his young adversary ; but Lord Maynooth, constitution ally irritable, and impressed with the beHef of imagi- nary insult, still professed himself dis- satisfied, and Montague disdaining any farther mediation the aflfair proceeded. WARWICK CASTLE. ^89 Montague was wounded in the arm by the second fire of his antagonist, and, writhing with pain, his own was given probably unsteadily ; and unfortunately reaching Lord Maynooth, he fell instantly to the ground, bathed in blood, which flowed copiously from the wound. Little alive to fear upon his own account, Mon- tague waited to see him in the care of his surgeon before he provided for his own safety, and a carriage being in readi- ness he was cautiously conveyed back to his father's house in town ; but by this time the alarm of the duel was spreading rapidly round the neighbourhood, and, fearful lest any premature reports of it should reach Richmond, he dispatched Captain Garth to prepare me for the event, and procuring a hackney-coach he returned to London, and sent for Mr. H to attend him at his hotel. While the life of this young man was in danger, and Captain Garth reluctantly acknowledged that his danger^ was ex- VOL. I. O 290 WARWICK CASTLE. treme, Montague's safety appeared soine- \vhat precarious ; for, vindictive from previous resentment and added misfor- tune, it was not improbable, should any fatal consequences ensue, that his family might pursue the same intemperate con- duct as had now plunged their only son into this unfortunate predicament; and for the present I learned that it was proper for all parties to be invisible. As soon as Captain Garth had informed me of all which he deemed expedient, he prepared to return to town, where Montague was anxiously awaiting his return, and whi- ther I prayed in vain that he would permit me to accompany him. Captain Gartli did not consider it prudent to be seen openly returning towards London him- self, but procuring a boat to row him up to Chelsea, he took a hasty leave of me, and, embarking at the garden stairs, pro- mised to bring Montague back to Rich- mond by a similar conveyance in the dusk of the evening. As soon as he was WARWICK CASTLE. 291 gone I strove to calm myself sufficiently to break the intelligence to Mrs. Aylmer, without unnecessarily alarming her, but the task v/as far less difficult than I imagined : accustomed for years to live in military society, she was in some sort familiarized to the frequency of such ren- contres, and perfectly well acquainted with all the minutia? of their arrange- ment. Montague^s conduct in this par- ticular instance met her warmest appro- bation ; she applauded him for the mag- nanimity he had displayed throughout the affair, and descanted upon the sub- ject without manifesting the least alarm. I listened to her with involuntary amaze- ment. But Mrs. Aylmer was a heroine n action as well as in heart ! Her youth, for she had been married to General Aylmer at a very early age, had been passed amidst the trying varieties of a military life. She had accompanied him during the wliolc of the xlmerican war ; all the severities of which she had un- o 2 292 WARWICK CASTLE. hesitatingly shared with him. The perils of actual warfare, when opposed to what she believed her duty, she had heroically despised, and, firm in her determination of administering to his domestic com- fort, she had personally braved the dangers from which her sex naturally shrunk, and, secure in the triumphant exertions of British valour, smiled un- daunted even as the ordnance bellowed round her canvas dwelling ! As she ad- vanced in years she gloried in being considered as a mother by the regiment of which the General had the command. Abroad or at home, in sickness or in sorrow, it ever claimed the soothing comforts of her personal attention ; and every suffering individual, from the veteran field officer to the " aspiring youn ST hero" of the rank and file muster roll, under circumstances of dis- tress, experienced alike the alleviation of her cares. She was sorry, she said, that this affair had occurred just at this critical WARWICK CASTLE. 293 period, because it would naturally turn the tide of observation upon me ; but it was upon that account principally that she regretted it. The young man deserved punishment for his impetuosity, and Montague's character was too highly esta- blished to be liable to misrepresentation. Lord Maynooth's danger she treated lightly. '' These things are always much exaggerated,'' said yhe, pursuing her own thoughts, " this young boy may have received a trifling wound, but it has possibly been mi!ch magnified by alarm ; at all events it will give him a consequence in the world which he might never other- wise have attained." Too much agitated to listen calmly to such reflections, I soon left her to make some arrangement for my departure from llichmond ; for having ascertained that Montague's pre- sent safety depended upon his absence, I had previously determined at all risks to accompany him wherever he might go, and I now hastened to commence 294 WARWICK CASTLE. my preparation for it I directed Norris to put up every thing for a journey of some length; and, this care removed Ij'om my mind, I waited witli impatience for the promised hour of liis return. Never did any day seem so long ! In- capable of fixing my thoughts to any oc- cupation, I walked from room to room in restless uneasiness, and totally unable to content myself in the house, as soon as evening approached I wrapped myself in a large Indian shawl and wandered into the gardens. It was a fine clear evening, the moon rose with unusual brilliancy ; but though early in May it was nevertheless extremely cold. Re- gardless however of the keen chilling air, I still lingered in the gardens in momen- tary expectation of Montague's arrival. The candles were already lighted in the parlour, the bubbling tea urn steamed upon the table ; but harassed by a thou- sand nameless fears for the object of my solicitude, I drew mv shawl closer round WARWICK CASTLE. 295 me, and, almost freezing with cold, still paced the willow-walk in trembhng an- xiety. At length the gentle splashing of oars broke the stillness of the water ; a boat approached the stairs, and as I hur- ried with a beating heart towards the spot, Montague and his friend leaped on shore. Alarmed at finding me alone in the gardens at such an hour, Montague, as h^ pressed me to his bosom, tenderly re- proached me for exposing myself to the damps of the evening ; but, delighted to again clasp him to my heart in safety, I thought little of personal inconvenience to myself, and, grateful that he was once more restored to me, I hurried them into the house, and busied myself in prepar- ing the grateful beverage for my shiver- ing friends. Montague threw ofTa loose wrapping-coat which he had worn during their chilling sail, and, tossing it careless- ly on a chair, I discovered for the first time that his arm was in a shng. The tea- cup trembled in my hand, I became 296 WARWICK CASTLE. pale as death ; but instantly perceiving the cause of my alarm, he smilingly loos- ed the silk handkerchief which sup- ported it, to dissipate my fears. *' 'Tis of no consequence," said he carelessly, "it is a mere trifle, from which in a few days I shall experience no inconvenience, it is not worth a thought ; do not therefore alarm your- self, or embitter the few moments we have to pass together. All we have now tinie to think of, my Frances, is how yoii?^ comfort in my absence may be best secured." " For 7711/ comfort," answered I de- cidedly, " I have already provided ; I shall be wretched at a distance from you, and I am resolved to accompany you, go whithersoever you will. Do not deny me," continued I earnestly, for he was eagerly interrupting me ; " for upon this subject I am fixed, my resolution is firm, and nothing but your commands shall in- duce me to forego it." WARWICK CASTLE. 297 " My authority then," said he, folding me in his arm, " shall never be exerted to render you unhappy, and though I re- gret that any circumstances should in- volve you in the inconveniences I am subject to, it is the proudest triumph of my life that you are desirous to share them with me ! You shall go then, my love," added he ; " your society will cheer my solitude ; your participation will render my banishment less painful." " Carried nemine contradicente^^ cried Captain Garth, hastily finishing his tea ; " and since Lady Montague is so mag- nanimously bent upon going into exile with you, I think I shall change my plan of proceeding also. My lady mother wuU perhaps hear of this affair more ex- peditiously than I wish, and I dare swear with a delectable host of additions. I know that the good old soul will never be persuaded that I am safe till she has ocular demonstration of the fact; so that I think, wisely taking all things into 298 WARWICK CASTLE. consideration, that I shall give up my scheme of going with you, and get back to London again, time enough to jump into the mail for Northallerton, I wish however you would let me write a letter or two first, for I shall not I believe be early enough in town," added he, look- ing at his watch. Thus then it was set- tled, and while Captain Garth retired to write his letters, Montague drew his chair nearer the fire, and, resting his aching temples on my bosom, detailed more fully his plan for our departure. As soon as he had hurried over his letters Captain Garth rang for hisgroom, and warmly shak- ing hands with both of us, and desiring Montague to write to him at his brother's seat near Northallerton, he mounted his horse and gallopped back to town. As soon as he w^as gone, Montague went up to Mrs. Aylmer's dressing-room to take leave of her before she retired to rest^ and, finely as she had talked it in the morning, she now appeared quite sub- WARWICK CASTLE. 299 dued by the necessity of this speedy part- ing. Next to the General, she had loved Montague beyond every other earthly being, and she shed torrents of tears as, affectionately embracing her, he pro- nounced his farewell, and went down to the stable-yard to give orders for our de- parture. With the earliest dawn of morning we commenced our journey, Montague for obvious reasons choos- ing to take no servants but Norris and a confidential one of his own, and travel- ling with hired horses, under the assum- ed name of Colonel Elliott, he took the road towards the north. END OF VOL. I. C. Baldwin, Printer, Kcw Bridge-street, Londor.. T. & M. KENNARO AXCIKNT ANI> MOIJFR.N BOOK8KI>UKHS. L.KAMIXGTOX Spa. UNIVERSrTY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 12 084218251 ,,-.v