the south of France, preceded generally by something about the cooing of doves, and followed by a copy of verses, or a serenade from some noble lover in disguise. This is but the fanciful theory of love, not the dull and vulgar reality."

"Oh, breathe not," I replied, "such treason of the human heart. You, indeed, have never felt such love, for where is he who is worthy to be its object! But, believe there is at least one bosom

I paused, for agitation choked my utterance; my limbs refused their office, and I stood with every fibre quivering, rooted to the spot.

She too stopped.

In a few moments my powers were restored, and I knelt before her.

"Yes," I exclaimed, "I have dared to love you; turn from me with disdain-I know my crime, and I ask only for its punishment. I know you are above my sphere-I know such passion is folly, is madness-I know its fate, and I am prepared to meet it."

As I spoke, her frame too trembled, and she stood silent and with downcast eyes.

66

"Oh, speak," I continued ; one word, not of anger, but of pity, is all-all I require."

She stood still unmoved before me; there was no motion of her lips, but in a faint, and scarcely audible voice, I heard the word

"Rise."

I obeyed, and stood once more beside her.

"I know, I feel that I have given you pain, and would not willingly prolong it. Command me from your presence--bid me quit you for ever, and you shall be obeyed. My lips shall but breathe one farewell, and henceforward I shall be to you but as a dream."

She was silent. I know not what there was in her look, for I saw it undergo no change, but hope dawned suddenly on my heart, and I took the hand that hung motionless by her side.

Her face, which had till now been pale, became in one instant the colour of carnation. Her very fingers reddened as I raised them to my lips, but they were not withdrawn. Words cannot express the blessedness of that moment, for then my heart told me I was beloved.

For some seconds, perhaps minutes, (for who in such a situation could take note of time?) we stood silent and motionless. No-not motionless-for the bosom of the Lady Melicent VOL. II.-10

heaved tumultuously, and her heart even visibly beat itself against the walls of its prison, as if struggling to be free. I felt the small quick pulses of her hand, which still lay passively in mine, and encircling her in my arm, I drew her to my bosom with a pressure as soft and gentle as a mother's first embrace to her new-born babe.

She started convulsively as she felt this, and her eyes, which till then had never met mine, were raised to my face, with a gentle look of fear, and of reproach.

It was understood. I asked for no declaration of passion, no avowal of love, and, releasing her from my scarcely perceptible embrace, I placed her arm within my own, and we walked on silently, in a path sheltered by shrubs and underwood, from the chance of observation.

Long did we wander that morning, and swiftly fled the winged hours; and ere the sound of the dinner-bell had warned us of the necessity of our return, I had imprinted the first kiss on the glowing lips of Lady Melicent.

At dinner, we met again. Never did conqueror advance to a triumph with lighter step, or prouder heart, than those with which I entered the drawing-room. Lady Melicent was there, and never had she seemed in my eyes so transcendently lovely. All the radiance that elegance of adornment can lend to beauty had been contributed, as if to barb the arrows of her charms, and render their wounds incurable. In every thing connected with Lady Melicent, there was something pre-eminently refined and recherché. On that day she wore jewels. They were few, but rich and beautiful; and I could have exclaimed, in my enthusiasm, as I gazed on her—

Up, up, fair bride! and call

Thy stars from out their several boxes; take

Thy rubies, pearls, and emeralds forth, and make
Thyself a constellation of them all.

The colour on her cheeks was more brilliant than usual, and her eye, though restless and unfixed, was if possible brighter. Once, and but once only, it met mine, and it was instantly withdrawn ; but her glance, transient as it was, had spoken what volumes would have been insufficient to express.

For myself, though my mind was, by the events of the morning, freed from a burden, which had pressed on it almost to madness, I was even less capable than formerly, of entering into the spirit of society. So perfect was the enjoyment I derived from the concentration of my own thoughts, that I found it

almost impossible, to divert any part of my attention to the scene in which I mingled.

I had the misfortune, again to sit next Lady Greystoke at dinner, and my conduct must have certainly formed a striking contrast, to what it had been on a former occasion. Lady Greystoke talked a great deal, but not one particle of her discourse, did I either hear or understand; and when the expression of her countenance made it palpable that an answer on my part, was become necessary, it was generally so little apropos to the subject, as to excite in the old lady, serious doubts with regard to the perfect sanity of my intellects. To do her justice, I do think she bore with me very patiently; but when my absence of mind extended so far, that, instead of port, the wine she preferred, I ordered the servant to fill her glass with porter, and in place of chicken, sent her plate back loaded with the leg of a goose, her choler was very pardonably roused, and endurance could extend no farther. I never afterwards recovered her good graces.

Of what passed in the dining-room, after the departure of the ladies, I have not the slightest recollection. Till the gentlemen returned to the drawing-room, I was completely cut off, from all communication with the external world, as a new-born puppy. All the avenues of my senses, were blocked up. I neither saw, heard, smelt, touched, nor tasted, and partook more of the nature of a pure and abstract Ens, than I recollect ever to have done before, or since.

Corporeal life again, dawned with the presence of the ladies. One look of bashful consciousness from Lady Melicent, as I entered the drawing-room, recalled me once more to the material world. In my then state of excited feeling, I durst not trust myself to approach her. I was jealous of observation, and imagined that every look and word, was scrutinized by those around me. I dreaded lest the secret confined to two conscious bosoms, might be laid open to profane eyes.

Aware as I was of the necessity of present concealment, reserve towards Lady Melicent was palpably dictated by prudence. But what weak and inconsistent creatures we are! How few of our actions are guided by reason, how many by impulse! Lord Amersham, who was fond of music, asked his daughter to sing.

"Don't ask me, papa," she answered; "indeed I cannot." "Come, Lyndhurst, and you, Thornton, do you try your influence. Two young men may succeed, when one old one

fails," said Lord Amersham, laughingly. "Now, Lyndhurst, you try first."

Lord Lyndhurst, who was lolling in an easy chair, slightly raised himself on this appeal, and in the letter, though scarcely in the spirit of his instructions, yawningly joined in the request for music.

Lady Melicent instantly declined, even more decidedly than before.

"Come, Thornton, you're our forlorn hope; exert yourself, or all's lost."

"Where the request of Lord Lyndhurst and your Lordship has been denied, it were vain, indeed, to hope that mine would be granted."

"Ah, who knows?" said his lordship; "make the experiment at all events."

Vain and senseless as I was, I could not resist the silly and dangerous triumph which I saw before me. I approached Lady Melicent, who was seated alone at some distance, and in a voice low and inaudible to the rest of the party, I added my entreaties to those which had already been ineffectual. She answered

"If you ask it, I will try; but I fear I cannot." glance of fond reproach accompanied her words.

And a

I then, to avoid suspicion, addressed her in a louder tone. "You have heard, Lady Melicent, that I am deputed to beg of you, in the name of Lord Amersham and Lord Lyndhurst, to oblige the company by singing. What I durst not presume to ask in my own character, I now humbly solicit as their deputy."

Lady Melicent sang. Her voice was weak and tremulous, but never did it sink so deeply into my heart. That indeed was to me a moment of pride, which kings might envy!

I was soon, however, awakened to a full sense of the danger I had incurred, by observing the look of strong displeasure that marked the countenance of Lady Greystoke. That Lady Melicent should have been influenced by my entreaties, to grant a favour which she had already denied to her father, and the man selected by her family as her future husband, seemed in her eyes a flagrant violation of that propriety, for which she was on all occasions a rigid stickler. Even Lord Amersham, I thought, was not much gratified by the success of my mission, but I could never discover that any serious suspicions had been excited by my folly.

CHAPTER XI.

Hope is a lover's staff; walk hence with that,
And manage it against despairing thoughts.

Two Gentlemen of Verona.

I LOVED, and if there be truth in woman's words, I was beloved again. Yet not with the consciousness of reciprocal affection, ceases a lover's fear. Seldom calm and unruffled, are the waters of his spirit. There is a tide of dread and apprehension, which is continually ebbing and flowing in his soul. Even in the very excess of my good fortune, there was something which had a tendency to excite fear Could I look

on the Lady Melicent-all that nature, all that rank and fortune had made her-and at once undoubtingly and confidingly believe, that, being all I saw and knew her to be, she was, she could be mine?

Yes, often I did so believe, and then indeed I was happy. Yet how many obstacles to our union, still remained. Could I hope for the consent of Lord Amersham? What had I to offer, which could serve as a counterpoise, in his estimation, to the high rank, and immense fortune of Lord Lyndhurst, who had already declared himself her suitor? How small, how utterly insignificant, were my worldly claims, when put in competition with his? If I excelled him in personal qualities—and, without vanity, I felt I might assume such a superiority-what was this, in the calm and calculating eye of a father, compared with the splendid settlements, the influence, and the distinction, which belonged to an union with my rival? Under the circumstances, indeed, it seemed as if there was something even ridiculous, in my venturing to make proposals to Lord Ainersham for an alliance with his daughter. What could I expect, but that they would instantly be rejected, with scorn and contempt? I was too proud to encounter such a rejection. A mortification so humiliating, was one, to which I felt that all my philosophy, could not enable me to submit with patience.

The interviews of Lady Melicent and myself, were rare, for the circumstances in which we were placed, rendered it necessary that they should be arranged, with the greatest prudence and caution. Our intercourse was secret, and on that account perhaps more sweet. It was seldom that we met alone, and