his wife, there was no principle on which lord Burton could account for it. It was strange-it was unlike any other part of his conduct; but Frederic made no attempt to pry into his confidence, and so upright and honourable was the young German in every thing, that his friend could not but hope and believe that this extraordinary treatment of the beautiful Adelaide, would some day appear in a more advantageous light. In the mean while, as the event which had so deeply affected him at Naples receded in the field of time, lord Burton became more calm; and he often wondered himself at that buoyancy of the human mind, which so soon shakes off the first weight of affliction. But there were other feelings in Frederic's breast, which occupied a great portion of his attention. Louisa Stanhope was not to be forgot; he had struggled hard to do so, or to think of her more calmly; but so far from succeeding, every hour shewed him that he loved her more

fondly,

fondly, more distractedly than ever. From the letters of his friend Mr. Malden, he had often received news of her during his stay on the Continent; and the opinion expressed by lady Jane Evelyn gave him still a hope to cling to, and he tried to persuade himself that if he could again meet with her, he might by some means gain her heart. Perhaps, at first leaving Sturford Abbey, there had been a degree of mortification and wounded pride in his feelings towards her; but all that had now subsided, and he would often accuse himself of vanity, and ask what reason he had to imagine he could win her affection in the short space of their acquaintance. There was one fear, however, that would sometimes come over his hopes like a cloud across the sunshine, and overwhelm his prospects in shadow and in gloom. Could her heart be given to another before he knew her? he would ask himself. It was not unlikely. Of her family and connexions he was totally uninformed. H 2 Lady

Lady Jane Evelyn, he understood, was acquainted with them, and to her he resolved to apply as soon as ever he arrived in London. He had plenty of time in travelling to revolve all these thoughts in his mind; but the only resolutions good for any thing are general ones; for most frequently, let us determine ever so strongly to do any particular thing, some slight change, over which we have no control, arises in the circumstances, and of necessity we must alter our plan of action accordingly. It was so with lord Burton. From Calais he wrote to his uncle lord Ainsfield, to inform him of his approaching return to England; and immediately on his arrival at his own house in London, a note was put into his hands, addressed in the writing of his cousin, lady Cecilia Evelyn. It was like herself, polite, cold, and unfeeling; and bore him the very painful information, that her amiable, but thoughtless sister, lady Jane, had eloped with captain Malcolm. Her father, lord Ainsfield,

Ainsfield, she said, indignant at her sister's conduct, had not attempted to trace her (though without doubt she had gone to Scotland), but casting her off for ever, had vowed that he would never behold her again, or grant her his forgiveness.

Lord Burton, though of course he highly condemned lady Jane's conduct, felt much for her, and resolved to use his utmost endeavours to make her peace with her father, if possible. He knew that he had more influence with his uncle than most men had-partly on account of their relationship, partly from a kind of habitual confidence lord Ainsfield had in him; but he was well aware that he owed his ascendancy chiefly to his long line of ancestors, and undiminished family possessions. But at the same time, lady Jane's father was not a man to be easily moved; in the present instance, his pride (the most unforgiving passion of our nature) was injured, and Frederic felt afraid that she would have to brook his most fixed resentment.

H 3

şentment. There were many good points in lord Ainsfield's character: he was a man of the most strict honour, and some degree of feeling: but pride had been the fault of his education, and he had never been able to subdue it to a par with the present more liberal feelings of society; and though it was not to be seen in his general demeanour, it existed with no less dominion in the deeper recesses of his bosom; and far from being destroyed by the checks his politeness placed upon it in his casual commerce with mankind, from that very circumstance it acquired more unbending determination in the greater events of life. There was only one thing which gave Frederic more hopes for lady Jane, and rendered the matter more bright; she certainly always had been his favourite child. Lady Cecilia's coldness had extended even to her father, while lady Jane's kind-hearted, enthusiastic feelings, led her to devote her whole -time and attention to him, in those fits of sickness