Lady Hamlet Vernon, in consequence of her recent accident, received society at home instead of seeking it abroad; and for several evenings the Élite of ton, passed their prima sera at her house. Lord Albert D'Esterre was constant too in his attendance there, and was evidently much occupied with Lady Hamlet Vernon. His attentions did not escape remark, and though Lady Tilney's object, in wishing to possess an influence over Lord Albert, was quite of another nature, still she felt some disappointment at finding he was interested in another quarter, and therefore less likely to yield to the designs which she had formed upon his political independence.

"I'll tell you how that matter stands," replied Lord Rainham, as she inquired his opinion on the subject, "the love is at present entirely on the lady's side; Lord Albert is not at all captive, and he has such obsolete ways of thinking, that I imagine he will not be easily caught. I should recommend his being given up altogether, he will never play a part among us, depend upon that; and you will not find him worth the trouble of educating."

"Oh! as to playing a part, my dear Lord, one does not want every body to play a part, at least not a first part you know; and as for educating them, that is quite out of the question."

"But," rejoined Lord Rainham, "you forget there is such a thing as persuasion; and it is said D'Esterre took his seat on the side of ministers by some means of that sort. Now it is possible, that although no liaison de coeur exists between him and Lady Hamlet Vernon, yet as a clever woman, she may have decided his vacillating judgment; to say the truth, I believe she has." Lady Tilney bit her lip, and something like the word provoking, escaped her, as she replied, "I would scorn to persuade any body to any thing against his will; there is nothing I have ever maintained more strenuously, than that every individual should have a free choice in all the different elections of life." Lord Rainham smiled. "But after all," she added with an affected indifference, by which she attempted ineffectually to conceal her mortification, "it is of very little importance which side Lord Albert has taken."

"One would have thought so indeed but for the disappointment which is evident since he has declared himself," replied Lord Rainham, drily.

However much Lady Tilney felt chagrined at the thought that another had succeeded in turning Lord Albert's mind in a direction contrary to her wishes, yet she was too politic to betray her disappointment to the person who had triumphed; and therefore, on the evening in question, she paid more than usual attention to Lady Hamlet Vernon.

"Dear Lady Hamlet Vernon," said Lady Tilney addressing her, as she took a seat by her, "you must not pretend to be ill any longer, we positively cannot do without you;" and then turning to Comtesse Leinsengen, she added, "did you ever see any thing to equal the beauty of her fairy foot?"

This was a sore subject, as the reverse of the proposition always suggested itself to the Comtesse's fancy, in respect of her own; and she pretended on the present occasion not to hear it, but tossing up her head, took Lady Baskerville's arm, who was sitting on the other side of her, and whispered in her ear, "Lady Tilney does take such engouements, and then is as quickly tired of them, des feus de pailles," shrugging her shoulders contemptuously; "but I wonder she like to dat old story of her admiration for feet, when she made herself so very ridiculous in her affected praises of dat soi-disant princesse. De lady who professes to worship liberty, independence, and all dat sort of ting, to sit holding anoder woman's foot upon her knee, and making all dat sort of fuss, for my part, je n'ai jamais pu conÇevoir ce plaisir lÀ."

"It does seem to me rather extraordinary," replied Lady Baskerville; "but then Lady Tilney is so very good-humoured, she always protects every body she thinks put down or in distress." This was a prudent answer on Lady Baskerville's part, but not well received, which on perceiving, she quickly added:

"As to myself, I confess I do not take any pleasure in those sort of out-of-the-way admirations; I can admire beauty in other women; but I cannot affect to be so exceedingly enchanted by it as to turn fille de chambre in its honour. But there are many things in the world vastly ridiculous; for instance, can any thing be more so in its way than that Duke and Duchess D'Hermanton, who have been married I don't know how long, and are still aux premiers amours; one sees them eternally dawdling about together, as if persons came into company to be always setting a pattern of conjugal felicity. It is pardonable, perhaps, for very young people, during a few months to fancy themselves vastly in love; but after that time it is sickening—don't you think so, Comtesse?"

"Oui, vraiment; au reste it is only in dis country that people do give themselves such ridicule, and to say truth, not often, even here."

"But pardon me, Comtesse," said Lady Baskerville, withdrawing from her; "I must go away, for I see Lord Boileau waiting for me, whom I had promised to take to Almack's, and had nearly forgotten;" so saying she passed into an adjoining room, and addressing him said:

"Lord Boileau we are very late, and if we do not make haste we shall be shut out."

"Oh, no—all that is left out of the evening's entertainment, I can assure you, for they begin to be afraid that nobody will go in, though the doors are left wide open all night."

"I am not surprised, for I hate the whole thing, and think it is become quite detestable, only I promised Lady Aveling to go to-night, so if you are ready let us begone;—but I have not made my curtsey to Lady Hamlet."

"Indeed, Lady Baskerville, you may spare yourself that trouble, if you mean to be agreeable, for do you not see she is enamoured pardessus les yeux with that Lord Albert D'Esterre."

"Ah," rejoined Lady Baskerville, looking in the direction where they sat, "is it so? Well, every one has her taste; but I cannot say such a person would ever touch my heart."

"Oh! your heart we all know is assailable but by one, and that Baskerville is the man, the most to be envied in all the world; to be sure there never was such a wife as you are, quite perfect, Lady Baskerville, only too perfect." Lady Baskerville cast back her head, and looking at Lord Boileau with one of her intelligent smiles, they passed on, and stepping into the carriage, drove off to finish their evening amusements in the insipid glitter of an Almack's ball.

After the lapse of some weeks Lady Hamlet Vernon was completely restored to health and beauty, and again resumed her usual routine of existence. She sought dissipation at all times eagerly, from habit; but now there was added to this impulse a restlessness of feeling, an anxiety if alone, and a void in her heart, from the evening in which her accident happened, such as she had never before experienced. It was in vain for her to conceal from herself, that she had perhaps hitherto unconsciously courted the society of Lord Albert D'Esterre more than of any other person, without considering how far she was yielding to the gratification consistently with any probable chance of happiness to herself in the ultimate issue. She certainly had a decided preference for Lord Albert D'Esterre, or why did she seek every opportunity of seeing him; or why feel uneasy when she heard of his acknowledged affiance to another? These feelings prompted her to know more of the appearance and character of his intended bride, whom circumstances had as yet prevented from appearing in the great world of London, and to whom she was an utter stranger.

Under this influence, she determined to address a letter to one with whom she was in the habit of corresponding, and whom she knew to be on a visit to Dunmelraise, the seat of Lady Adeline's mother. She felt confident that she might take this step without compromising herself, and without her inquiries being deemed strange, or indicative of any thing beyond a natural curiosity. Shortly after this letter had been written, the following reply came from her friend, Mr. G. Foley; the contents of which were not at all calculated to tranquillize Lady Hamlet Vernon's feelings, if she really had any affection for Lord Albert.

Letter from Mr. Foley to Lady Hamlet Vernon.

"When one is not to write of that which one is thinking about, it is the most difficult thing in the world to write at all. But you command, and I must endeavour to obey. Let me see how am I to commence? Perhaps it is best that I do so by giving you the history, as one young lady writing to another would say, of the Lady Adeline Seymour. You know that Lady Dunmelraise, her mother, lost her husband and an only son soon after Lady Adeline's birth; she then fell into low spirits and bad health, but by degrees roused herself to live for this child; and I must do her the justice to say, she has fulfilled her task admirably.

"As to personal appearance, Lady Adeline Seymour is of that height which just escapes being too tall; of that slimness which just escapes being too thin; of that untutored manner which is often nearly being gauche, were it not that it is accompanied by a childish grace which evades the charge. Quick of perception, and quicker still in feeling, she has a peculiar way of checking these impulses so as never to allow them to betray her into any unbecoming harshness or abruptness of manner; the very fear one entertains that she may overstep the boundary of polished rÉtenu gives an additional zest to her, but gare a ceux qui voudroit l'imiter—for she is perfectly original and defies all copyists. As to her face it is not marvellously beautiful, still less regularly so, but it is of such love-like paleness, chased by such sunny gleams of joyous youth continually playing over her features, that one could not wish it changed even for a more regular beauty. She is the very model of the poet's dream when he wrote—

----'Her pure and eloquent blood
Spoke in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought,
That one would almost say her body thought.'

"Thus much for Lady Adeline's appearance and manners. In regard to the acquirements and endowments of her mental being, I am perhaps not myself qualified to speak—she is not precisely what the laborious educating mammas would call accomplished, but she has a master genius for one art and a love for all. Her musical talent certainly requires much instruction to bring it to any perfection, but the scraps of airs she warbles as she flies about the house, are in the best taste as far as they go—and a few Venetian ballads which she sings to her guitar, and which she says her cousin taught her, are quite inebriating.

"She unfeignedly undervalues all she does; perhaps too much so; but you read in her countenance that she is perfectly sincere; that all spoken praise distresses her; and you are involuntarily led to seek to give her homage in some more palatable shape.

"What do you think of this portrait of the young Adeline? It looks like that of a heroine in romance, as I glance my eyes over the words, and yet I have such a nausea at all the persons bearing that designation, that I would fain save the delightful one of whom I am writing from that hacknied name. You must have heard, of course, that she is engaged to her cousin Lord Albert D'Esterre; but like all those engagements made for people when they are children, I do not think it will be fulfilled con amore—not but what she blushes whenever she speaks of him, and that she does pretty frequently; and if he is grown up like a certain bust (for I have not seen him these three years, and boys change so from eighteen to one and twenty), he really must be un bel Giovane. By the way, she has made an exquisite drawing of mon beau cousin, but that is neither here nor there, the fiction of seventeen is always beautiful. Pray in your next gracious letter inform me what sort of man he has become, for I feel a brotherly regard for this very nice person, Lady Adeline Seymour, and should like to think she had a chance of happiness. Happiness, what a sound! but the reality, where is it?

'Come L'Araba FenicÈ
Che ci sia, ciascun lo dicÈ
Dove sia, nessun lo sÀ.'

"I should have told you, by the bye, that with all the gaiety, which is one of her greatest charms, Lady Adeline has a tincture of seriousness mingled with it, which some might suppose approached to Methodism; but even if it is so, À son age elle en guÉrira.

"I have been a long time here: but it has been a great gratification to me, and time has glided softly by; for in addition to the charms of the daughter, Lady Dunmelraise is in all respects a very agreeable and sensible woman, has seen a great deal of the world, and besides all that, honours your humble servant with her very particular regard; which she tells me is bestowed entirely for the sake of my mother, the friend whom she loved most in the world next to her own family; but I am vain enough to flatter myself that she likes me a little for mine own sake too. And you, who understand every thing À demi mot, will know how soothing it is to a sick heart to receive kindness; this has induced me hitherto to linger on from day to day; but I shall vary the scene soon, for I begin to think that even I may be de trop; for I hear frequent mention made of Lord Albert D'Esterre's expected arrival; so to-morrow I set off for Luryddicath Park. Lord Tresyllian's; who, you know, is father to Lord Albert.

"And now, my dear Lady Hamlet Vernon, having given you the particulars you required, I will not weary you with more of myself: but in pity to me, seeing that I am still for a time cut off from that only tolerable place in England, London, do write me a brief, gracious missive, that I may feast upon it till I am once more restored to your presence, and in the mean while believe me to be the most devoted of your slaves. Can I say more?

"G. Foley."

Lady Hamlet Vernon, after perusing this letter, fell into a deep train of reflection, if such can be called intense feeling usurping the mind, to the exclusion of every other idea. The image of Lady Adeline, thus vividly pourtrayed by Mr. Foley's pen, stood in actual presence before her; and combined with that image, rose the vision of Lord Albert D'Esterre. The happiness which would be the growth of an union between two such persons as her knowledge of the one, and her fancied knowledge of the other, represented them, was embodied with forcible reality, and tears coursed each other involuntarily down her cheeks as she sat, more like a marble image than a living being.

From this state she was suddenly roused by the servants announcing Lord Albert D'Esterre himself; and making an effort to subdue the feeling which either she was too much ashamed, or too proud to own, she endeavoured to receive him with as much composure as she could assume. After the first words of course had passed, Lady Hamlet Vernon was too deeply absorbed in one subject for her readily to turn to any indifferent topic; and she at length addressed Lord Albert on the subject of her solicitude, saying, "Do you know I have received a letter this morning full of the praises of a person, in whom I believe you are much interested; it is from a friend of mine now staying at Dunmelraise, and who draws such a picture of the charms of Lady Adeline Seymour, that I wonder, Lord Albert, to see you here—but you are going to Dunmelraise, are you not, immediately?" Her tears almost flowed afresh as she pronounced these words; and unconsciously she cast a look of tender intreaty on Lord Albert. The latter had involuntarily started, coloured, and hesitated to reply to this unexpected question; at length he answered:

"No, not immediately; I am unable to leave town yet."

"You are not in love," Lady Hamlet Vernon exclaimed, "no, you are not in love with Lady Adeline Seymour—I read your heart in the measured calmness of your words; she is not the mistress of your affections."

The sentence seemed to have escaped Lady Hamlet Vernon's lips without the power of control, in a moment of excitement; and her eyes, which had been fixed on Lord Albert, now as suddenly fell beneath his gaze as he exclaimed with astonishment,

"What can you mean, what do you mean, Lady Hamlet Vernon?" At that moment Lady Tilney was announced, and a minute after Lord Gascoigne. Conversation became general; but Lord Albert, evidently labouring under some painful feeling, took no part in it. Still he seemed determined to remain, to await the departure of the others, when Lady Tilney proposed to Lady Hamlet Vernon to accompany her to the Park; and the latter, fearing that she had compromised herself in the too open expression of her feelings relative to Lord Albert and Lady Adeline Seymour, availed herself of the opportunity to avoid any renewal of the theme. With a heart ill at ease, she prepared to attend Lady Tilney to the dazzling throng of Hyde Park; while Lord Albert, seeing it was vain to look for any explanation of Lady Hamlet Vernon's extraordinary address to him at the moment, reluctantly handed her to Lady Tilney's carriage; and, trusting to some future opportunity to ask an explanation, he mounted his horse and rode off; but not with a mind so tranquil or a heart so buoyant as he had possessed a short time before.

In proposing to take Lady Hamlet Vernon to the Park, Lady Tilney's real object was to withdraw her from Lord Albert, whose anxiety had not escaped her observation, and whose political career she still had hopes might not be positively decided; at any rate, if hope remained, it was worth the trial; and should she have been correct in her idea that Lord Albert had not committed himself irrevocably, no time was to be lost; that very moment perhaps he waited only the voice of Lady Hamlet's influence, to decide his wavering intentions. Lady Tilney's part was therefore quickly taken; and as they proceeded to the Park, she endeavoured to turn Lady Hamlet Vernon's mind from Lord Albert, if he really occupied any share in it, by adverting to every topic of the day; among other things she said:

"What do you think! Miss Melcomb's marriage with Lord Glenmore is at length declared. I had long had my suspicions that it would be so; but I cannot say I approve of the affair; and I am sure you will think with me, Lord Glenmore is too great a card to be played by that little miss, who has never left her mamma's wing; and has, of course, imbibed all her prejudices. But although Lord Glenmore has allied himself with this family, we must not wholly give him up; besides the Georgina is pretty, and she may yet not prove quite such a simpleton as she looks." Lady Tilney, however, in vain endeavoured to interest Lady Hamlet Vernon in any subject she discussed; the former acquiesced in every thing her companion said, in order to avoid the argument which would have followed any dissent from her opinion. Lady Hamlet Vernon's remarks, when she made any, were short, and little to the purpose; and at length, wearied and ill at ease, she complained of a head-ache, and besought Lady Tilney to set her down at home.

When the carriage-door closed, Lady Tilney flung herself back, exclaiming as she drew up the glass, "How provokingly discreet, she did not once commit herself!" and Lady Tilney drove once more back to the Park, in the hope of seeing Lord Albert; and if possible, by courting his attention, of counteracting any influence which might have been exercised on his opinion by Lady Hamlet Vernon. She looked, however, in vain for him in the crowd; and at length drove home, disappointed and displeased at her want of success, and out of humour with every thing.