mz- 
 
 * - e-*O CJ/ / 
 
" ' "Which style is considered the more fashionable: 1 inquired Felicia, turning to Alfred, whc 
 having met hers, instantly dropped." Page 52. 
 
tlim: 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 B Y HENRY COCKTON. 
 
 " Mr. AYilkins and Fidcle stopped to gather a variety of wild flowers, when Alfred and 
 Felicia as if they really understood all about it went in advance." Fmje 248. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY, 
 227 STKAXD. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY HENRY COCKTON, 
 
 // 
 
 AUTHOR OF ' VALENTINE VOX." " 8VLVESTER SOUND," iVr..,Vr. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY, 
 227, STRAND. 
 
 M1>CCCLII. 
 
LONDON : 
 J. HADDON, PRINTER, CASTL1 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. MR. WILKINS . .15 
 
 CHAPTER III. FELICIA . . . .35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. THE CONSULTATION . . .54 
 
 CHAPTER V. THE AMBASSADRESS ... .64 
 
 CHAPTER VI. THE DISCOVERY . 86 
 
 CHAPTER VII. ILLIBERAL VIEWS . . . . .108 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. THE RESOLUTION . 135 
 
 CHAPTER IX. THE ELOPEMENT . . . .146 
 
 CHAPTER X. THE SPECULATION . 164 
 
 CHAPTER XI. THE ANNOUNCEMENT . ... 178 
 
 CHAPTER XII. REVENGE . 192 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. A POPULAR DEMONSTRATION . . .212 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. THE HONEYMOON . . . .228 
 
 CHAPTER XV. THE SECRET . . . . . .252 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. ARISTOCRATIC PATRONAGE . . .262 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. THE MARRIAGE OF MR. WILKINS . . .276 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. NOVEL VIEWS . ... 292 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. BUSINESS . . . . . .306 
 
 CHAPTER XX. THE MYSTERY SOLVED .... 322 
 
 CHAPTER XXL THE CONCLUSION . 330 
 
 M78923 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. , ' 
 
 INTKODTJCTION. 
 
 IN the celebrated borough of Sudbury, some years before 
 the patriotic struggles of the enlightened freemen had won 
 for it that political repose and parliamentary independence 
 by which it is now so peculiarly distinguished, there was a 
 glorious electioneering contest between Lord Charles Jocelyn 
 and Captain Coleraine. 
 
 The immediate cause of this contest was not at the time 
 held to be extraordinary : it was indeed simply this, that Sir 
 William Wardle, whom the freemen had previously elected, 
 had lost his seat merely in consequence of its having been 
 proved before a Committee of the House of Commons that he 
 had performed divers acts of generosity which, by virtue of a 
 singular political fiction then in existence, were designated acts 
 of bribery and corruption. 
 
 It may to some appear to be strange that a man's generosity 
 should have involved the loss of that which it cost him forty 
 thousand pounds to gain; but such, notwithstanding, was the 
 fact, and the only consolation Sir William had was that of 
 strongly recommending his friend Lord Charles to those by 
 whom that generosity had been experienced. 
 
 Lord Charles was a Blue; the gallant Captain was a Yellow 
 colours which at that ennobling period of British history com- 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 prehended all the political virtues; but although in point of 
 colour the candidates were opposed, their aspirations were 
 equally pure and patriotic: they both aspired to the honour 
 of representing in Parliament the views and feelings of the 
 independent freemen; and as those views and feelings were 
 based upon the principle of bringing their votes to the best 
 la irket,', e^qh; .^ajidjdate naturally conceived himself to be 
 strictly', if nV)t indeed peculiarly, eligible. 
 
 Froni'.ttiip gre4t ^principle of political economy those freeinen 
 were 1 never known "Swerve. Nothing could ever induce them 
 to violate it. If not immaculate, they were, in this respect, 
 immutable. Having the privileges of freemen, they exercised 
 those privileges like freemen they sold their votes to the 
 highest bidder, to be collectively sold again. 
 
 They had no bigoted predilection for this or that particular 
 faction not they ; they had no desire to keep this or that 
 party in power : on the contrary, the more frequently the reins 
 of government changed hands the more gratified they were, 
 provided always that every change involved a fresh election. 
 
 It will hence be perceived that the honour of representing 
 these highly enlightened freemen was sufficiently great to 
 warrant strong exertions ; and as both the noble Lord and 
 the gallant Captain had been inspired with an exalted appre- 
 ciation of that honour, they resolved on doing all in their 
 power to secure it. 
 
 The result of the petition against the return of Sir William 
 having been with confidence anticipated, arrangements were 
 made for the canvas before that result was absolutely known. 
 Agents were appointed, committees were formed, musicians 
 were secured, and blazing banners were displayed, while the 
 public-houses were all "open" houses, to which the philan- 
 thropic freemen daily flocked, with a view to the development 
 of their love of enlightened liberty, by eating, and drinking, and 
 singing, and shouting, and thus preparing themselves to fight 
 
LADY EELICIA. 3 
 
 for that glorious colour to which the superior amount of pay 
 might be attached. 
 
 There was, however, one freeman residing in the borough 
 and it may be held to be a marvellous fact that there was one 
 who had invariably kept aloof ; who had, in the midst of tempt 
 ations, maintained a position of perfect neutrality ; whom no 
 one had ever been able to bring to the poll ; and who had never 
 been induced even to "name his own terms !" 
 
 Of course, all his brother freemen held him in contempt ; 
 they pronounced him to be both a fool and a rogue a fool to 
 himself and a rogue to his family; and marvelled that he 
 should thus refuse to exercise that privilege, the sale of which 
 they conceived to be their indisputable and inalienable right. 
 
 His name was Murray. He was not a rich man ; he had, on 
 the contrary, barely sufficient capital to carry on his business, 
 and as this was known, he was never given up : he was in- 
 variably importuned ; and as the warm solicitations of highly 
 influential men attached to both parties proved in this instance 
 as usual unavailing, they combined to starve him into com- 
 pliance to force him to vote either one way or the other not 
 only by withholding their custom, but by pouring in their bills 
 and demanding immediate payment. 
 
 Conceiving, however, that as the election was so near he 
 should be able to stand against this, and that when the excit- 
 ing contest was over the virulence of the combination would 
 subside, he still adhered to his principle of neutrality, sustained 
 by the conviction that the purity of his motives for however 
 impolitic they might have been considered, they really were 
 pure would never be permitted by Providence to involve him 
 and his family in ruin. 
 
 Well, the day of nomination arrived, and the borough presented 
 a series of scenes which in those days of civilization were held 
 to be essential to success. The band of the Blues first paraded 
 the town, playing patriotic airs with more power than precision, 
 
4 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 and followed by a troop of dauntless freemen bearing aloft with 
 constitutional pride their flags and their banners which boldly 
 proclaimed their noble devotion to the altar and the throne, 
 and armed with bludgeons of every description from the rough 
 hedgestake to the lead-loaded cane. 
 
 The Blues, however, had not been out long when the equally 
 pure Yellow patriots appeared with their band, banners, and 
 bludgeons ; and as they soon met the Blues in a narrow street, 
 each party prepared to walk into the other's ranks. Both 
 scorned to give way, and the battle commenced. Patriotic 
 blood flew about in all directions. Heads were broken, banners 
 were rent, and musical instruments were hurled into the air 
 amid shouts of "Britons never will be slaves!*' "Yellow for 
 ever !" and " Blue to all eternity !" 
 
 As the Yellows were the stronger body, they very soon made 
 it appear ; when the Blues, finding most of their best men 
 disabled, beat a retreat, and were pursued by the Yellow 
 patriots with the most enthusiastic shouts of victory. 
 
 At the end of the street, however, the Blues, who had sent 
 to head quarters for assistance, met a powerful reinforcement, 
 the leader of which called upon them to rally, and promptly sent 
 a detachment round for the purpose of attacking the enemy 
 in the rear. The formidable character of this reinforcement at 
 once caused the Yellows to halt; but they were still determined 
 to stand their ground, and they did so for some time valiantly ; 
 but when they saw the detachment coming down upon their 
 rear with blue colours flying and Blue patriots cheering in a 
 state of wild rapture, they were seized with an universal panic, 
 and finding themselves thus completely hemmed in, they rushed 
 into the houses, barricaded the doors, and then flew to the 
 windows, from which they hurled upon the hot devoted heads 
 of the Blues every article of furniture they could find. 
 
 At this interesting juncture, a desperate and formidable body 
 of the Yellows rushed to the rescue with shouts of revenge ; 
 
LADY FELICIA. 5 
 
 when the Blues who had been harassed by the, missiles from the 
 windows for not even a poker, a chair, or a pair of tongs could 
 descend without doing some slight execution, while a bed-post, 
 a table, or a small chest of drawers invariably laid a few low 
 retreated just in time to establish a barricade, with two waggons, 
 a cart, and a showman's van which happened to be passing at 
 the time, and which contained a British lion, whose services 
 they certainly would have solicited, had they been sure of his 
 being a Blue behind which barricade they formed themselves 
 into line, and thus left the Yellows in possession of the field. 
 
 Broken heads had now to be mended, and beer had to be 
 drunk in considerable quantities, in order to keep the spirits of 
 the patriots up; and when these two grand desiderata had 
 been accomplished, the eventful hour fixed for the nomination 
 arrived. 
 
 This was the most imposing scene of the day a scene in 
 which the forces of both parties were concentrated and when the 
 candidates appeared upon the hustings, surrounded by their 
 influential friends, a glorious chorus of yells, groans, and 
 cheers burst forth with electric effect. 
 
 No time was now lost. In the midst of the din, the return- 
 ing officer came forward and opened the proceedings, briefly, it 
 is true, but with infinite tact ; when the highly influential indi- 
 viduals who had the honour to propose and to second the " fit 
 and proper persons" to represent the enlightened freemen of that 
 independent borough, performed their parts with a fine sense of 
 pantomimic propriety. They made a most eloquent display of 
 their arms: their voices of course were not allowed to be heard, 
 but they evidently felt that the eyes of all Europe were upon 
 them, and hence deemed it highly correct to call to their aid the 
 true poetry of motion, in order to strike conviction into the 
 noble freemen's souls. 
 
 ISTor were the freemen blind to these striking pantomimic 
 appeals : they watched them narrowly, expecting every moment 
 
6 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 to be called upon to show what effect those appeals had had upon 
 them ; but when the show of hands had been called for, neither 
 that returning officer, nor any other returning officer in Europe 
 could have told on which side the majority stood. This gentle- 
 man, however being a strictly conscientious man guessed at it: 
 he declared the result to be in favour of the Blues, when a poll 
 was demanded on behalf of the Yellows, amid terrific cheers on 
 the one hand, and maniacal yells on the other. 
 
 The band of the Blues now struck up enthusiastically, and 
 the Yellow band, inspired with the spirit of emulation, struck 
 up too. It was strongly suspected that they played different 
 tunes ; but the particular tune which either played was above 
 suspicion. It was then, and has been ever since, questionable 
 whether the musicians themselves knew what they were playing. 
 Their object was to blow away as hard they could blow, and 
 certainly that object was attained. 
 
 Meanwhile a highly influential Blue, upon the hustings, was, 
 with unexampled energy, expatiating on the varied virtues and 
 purely patriotic principles of the party to whom he was devotedly 
 attached, and of whom he was one of the most conspicuous orna- 
 ments; but as it was very soon felt that on such an occasion he 
 was rather too long-winded, a detachment of the Yellows, with 
 the view of supporting their own eternal principles, brought a 
 fire engine, laden with liquid filth, and played upon him and all 
 around him, not only with spirit and precision, but with the 
 most refreshing impartiality. 
 
 To obtain possession of this engine, the Blues now directed 
 all their energies; and as the object of the Yellow party was to 
 retain it, a battle of course immediately commenced, and although 
 many sanguinary battles have been fought for objects of less 
 intrinsic value, there is not on record one in which more heat 
 was displayed, or of which the result more completely involved 
 the destruction of that for which both sides contended ! The 
 engine was utterly demolished ; and when the patriots had 
 
LADY FELICIA. 7 
 
 fought until they felt that they wanted a little more beer, they 
 retired from the field, as if by mutual consent, while the bands 
 played simultaneously " See the conquering heroes come /" 
 
 During the two following days, drinking, voting, parading, 
 and fighting, formed the chief constitutional amusements of the 
 people. Every effort was made to buy and bring up the inde- 
 pendent freemen: they were brought from all parts of the 
 country, until both sides experienced some difficulty in polling 
 even one man an hour, when, as the numbers were nearly equal, 
 it was mutually agreed that the poll should finally close at four 
 o'clock. 
 
 Now it was under these highly exciting circumstances that 
 the Marquis of Kingsborough the noble father of Lord Charles 
 walked gaily into Murray's establishment, ostensibly in 
 order to have a little chat with him, albeit he had just been 
 mysteriously informed that that gentleman was out at the time, 
 endeavouring to borrow a little money to meet a bill. 
 
 " G-ood morning," said the Marquis, addressing Mrs. Murray, 
 whom he found in the shop alone. " Mr. Murray within ?" 
 
 " No, my Lord," replied Mrs. Murray, with a feeling of 
 embarrassment inspired by the presence of so great a man. " He 
 is not in the way just now, my Lord; but I expect him in 
 shortly." 
 
 " Oh ! its a matter of no consequence. I merely called : 
 nothing more. How is business ?" 
 
 " Dull, my Lord: exceedingly dull." 
 
 " Indeed ! Dear me ; why how do you account for that ?" 
 
 " Mr. Murray doesn't vote, my Lord ; and all our best 
 customers have in consequence left us." 
 
 " Oh ! that's it ! I see ! But dear me he must be a very 
 simple man to injure himself and family in that way! He 
 certainly ought to vote on one side or the other ! A neutral man 
 in a town like this can never expect to get on. I am no advocate 
 myself for exclusive dealing, but, as you know, men in general 
 
8 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 will not deal with those who refuse to oblige them. Besides, 
 men who have the privileges of freemen, ought to exercise those 
 privileges ; if not, they become, of course, perfectly valueless." 
 " I wish, my Lord, that Mr. Murray was not a freeman." 
 " JN"o doubt of it ; but as he is, he ought not to abstain from 
 acting like a freeman. But you fascinating daughters of Eve 
 have so much influence over us ! I suppose now that you have 
 been persuading him not to vote ?" 
 
 " JN"o, indeed, my Lord ; I wish him to vote ; but his impres- 
 sion is, that if he doesn't vote at all, he cannot permanently 
 offend either party." 
 
 " But surely a woman of your good sense cannot fail to 
 perceive that he thus offends both ! He has not, I presume, 
 any very strong political predilections ?" 
 
 " He never interferes, my Lord, with politics at all !" 
 
 " Then, let him vote which way he will, he cannot be charged 
 with apostacy. Let him vote by all means. If I were you," 
 continued the Marquis, with a smile, " I wouldn't let him rest 
 until I had driven him to the poll ! It isn't as if you wished 
 him to do anything wrong ! I'd make him go ! that is, I would 
 use all my influence with a view of inducing him to go. It's 
 folly perfect folly for a man thus to lose all his trade, when 
 by the mere act of exercising his right he might be prosperous ! 
 Talk to him the silly man talk to him well ! The idea of a 
 respectable establishment like this having no trade is monstrous ! 
 But come, do some business : for goodness' sake do some busi- 
 ness : send some 'goods up to the Hall : some sheetings and 
 shirtings you know what to send say thirty pounds' worth 
 to begin with." 
 
 " I feel indeed exceedingly obliged to you, my Lord." 
 
 " !N~ot at all : not at all. Here, I'd better pay you now." 
 
 " That, my Lord, is perfectly unnecessary." 
 
 " It may be ; but thirty pounds in hand shall be always 
 worth as much as thirty pounds in the book." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Tour Lordship is very considerate. Shall I send the bill 
 up with the goods, my Lord ?" 
 
 " ~No, write down now goods thirty pounds, and put paid to 
 the bill." 
 
 Mrs. Murray now felt so exceedingly tremulous that she 
 scarcely knew how to hold the pen : she did, however, manage 
 to make out the bill, and the Marquis immediately paid the 
 amount. 
 
 " Send the goods up," said he, " at your own convenience 
 any day will do and mind that you talk to that silly man well. 
 He ought, for the sake of his family. By the way, what family 
 have you ?" 
 
 " Two children, my Lord." 
 
 " Oh ! two ; and another I perceive very well two. Are 
 they boys or girls ?" 
 
 " Girls, my Lord." 
 
 " Ah ; then the next child, of course, you expect will be a 
 boy ! Never mind me : I'm an old married man. You do 
 expect a boy I'm sure of it ! Now, listen. Let your husband 
 go at once to the poll, and if it be a boy I'll stand godfather to 
 him ! If it be a girl I'll not neglect her ; but if it be a boy I'll 
 make a man of him. Take no notice of this to any one but 
 your husband. If you'll but persuade him to go to the poll, 
 I'll do what I say. Good morning." 
 
 For some time after the Marquis had left, Mrs. Murray felt 
 perfectly bewildered. The receipt of the thirty pounds, under 
 the circumstances, had alone been sufficient to cause deep 
 emotion ; but the thought of her boy for a boy she felt sure 
 that it would be her own boy, being the godson of a Marquis, 
 inspired her with rapture ! 
 
 Feeling, however, that Murray had yet to be persuaded, she 
 regained her self-possession, and calmly awaited his return ; 
 and when he did return, he with an overhanging brow went at 
 once to his desk without noticing her smile. 
 
10 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Have you been successful, my dear ?" she inquired. 
 
 " JS"o," he replied, angrily, " I have not. You may oblige, 
 people as long as you please : you may even impoverish yourself 
 to oblige them ; but when you want them to oblige you, they'll 
 see you ruined rather than make an effort. The very men 
 whom I have assisted now refuse to assist me. Even Johnson, 
 whom I have constantly served whose cheques I have cashed 
 and kept week after week, when I conceived that he was short 
 at the bank even he although I know that he has plenty of 
 money now couldn't make up the sum if I'd give him the 
 world!" 
 
 " Well, well, my dear, their conduct is unkind, but we shall 
 be able to manage without them." 
 
 " Louisa, how you talk ; how can you speak so lightly of 
 that which is to us of so much importance ? Tou know that 
 my credit in London is at stake. I wouldn't let that bill go 
 back." 
 
 " My dear, we have more than sufficient to meet it ! You 
 want twenty pounds to make up the amount, and while you 
 were out I took thirty." 
 
 " Thirty pounds !" exclaimed Murray, with an expression of 
 amazement. " Have the Palmers been here then to settle 
 their bill?" 
 
 " No, dear : no. I've received an order for goods to that 
 amount, and the money you'll find in the desk." 
 
 In an instant Murray opened the desk, and the six five- 
 pound notes met his wondering gaze. 
 
 " Why," said he, having convinced himself of their real 
 presence, " who, my dear who has been here ?" 
 
 " One who, when I told him that business was dull, gave me 
 the order, and paid me at once." 
 
 u But who who gave you the order ?" 
 
 " The Marquis ; and a nice, kind, good-tempered creature 
 he is." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 11 
 
 Murray's countenance fell. 
 
 " The Marquis !" he exclaimed, " I see ! This is intended 
 for a bribe. Did you in my name promise him a vote ?" 
 
 " No, my dear, I did not. He gave me the order, which, of 
 course, I felt justified in taking ; and when he insisted upon 
 paying the amount, I was but too happy to receive it." 
 
 " I have a great mind much as I want money to send it 
 back." 
 
 " Nay, dear, that would be very unwise. But come in, and 
 then I'll explain all that passed." 
 
 "With a thoughtful expression, Murray followed his wife, and 
 when they were seated in the parlour behind the shop, she 
 thus continued : 
 
 " Now my dear, there can, of course, be no doubt that the 
 object of the Marquis in calling here was to induce you to vote 
 for Lord Charles." 
 
 " Then he'll not gain his object." 
 
 " But listen, dear ; listen. I say that, notwithstanding this 
 order was given without any direct reference being made to its 
 having been given to induce you to vote, it is quite clear that 
 that was his object in calling. But this is not all. Having, in 
 the course of conversation, very justly ascribed the loss of our 
 trade to the fact of your being neutral, he expressed a hope 
 that instead of injuring yourself and family by keeping aloof, 
 you would ensure prosperity by exercising the privilege you 
 possess, and promised mark! absolutely promised, that if 
 our next dear child were a boy, he would, in the event of your 
 going to the poll, stand godfather to him ! * If/ said he, { it be 
 a girl, I'll not neglect her ; but if it be a boy, I'll make a man 
 of him!'" 
 
 " And what said you to that ? " 
 
 " He gave me no time to say a word. Having made this 
 promise he moved to the door, bade me good morning, and 
 hastily left." 
 
12 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 A pause ensued, during which there was a struggle in 
 Murray's mind between his principle of neutrality and his 
 interest. His wife watched the development of this conflict 
 anxiously; and, when she feared that neutrality would triumph, 
 enforced her own views with all the eloquence at her command, 
 portraying the most brilliant scenes of prosperity, and dwelling 
 especially upon the bright prospects of her boy, until Murray, 
 with a resolute air, rose to leave, when she cried with thrilling 
 intensity, " William, dear ! "William ! "Where where are you 
 going?" 
 
 " My mind 's made up," said he, thoughtfully. 
 
 " To what, dear William ? Pray tell me." 
 
 " To vote." 
 
 " Grod bless you!" she exclaimed, and embraced him with 
 rapture. " Oh," she added, " you have made me so happy ! 
 But fly, dear ; speak to no one on the way ; don't stop to talk 
 to a soul; and when you have voted come back at once to me." 
 
 Murray kissed her and left to record his vote, and that vote 
 secured the return of Lord Charles. 
 
 Of course, when they saw him go up to the poll, both the 
 Blues and the Yellows were struck with amazement, and as 
 they had no knowledge of his having been bribed, they 
 conceived that in order to prove his independence he had 
 absolutely given his vote away, which was held by them to 
 be the most monstrous act of folly it was possible for any 
 sane man to commit. The Blues, notwithstanding this, gave 
 him three cheers ; but the Yellows yelled and groaned with 
 desperation. They moreover broke his windows in the course 
 of the night; but in the morning he received anonymously 
 sufficient to repair them. 
 
 From this time his business increased rapidly, and when a 
 month had expired, Mrs. Murray was confined with her third 
 child, which, to her inexpressible delight, was a boy ! And 
 oh ! how brilliant, in her gentle judgment, was that dear boy's 
 
LADY FELICIA. 13 
 
 prospects ! And such a sweet boy ! such a noble boy ! "Who 
 could tell that the patronage of the Marquis would not enable 
 him to become the First Minister of the Crown, the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, or the Lord High Chancellor of England? Why, 
 even then to her the germs of greatness were perceptible ! 
 to her he developed surpassing genius at the breast ! and 
 often while he slept would she sit and gaze upon him with a 
 true mother's feelings of pride, and then clasp him to her 
 heart in the perfect conviction that he was absolutely born 
 to be illustrious ! 
 
 The Marquis to whom the birth of his protege had become 
 known shortly afterwards called and saw the child, and was 
 really delighted with its appearance; and when the day 
 appointed for its baptism arrived, he performed his promise, 
 and expressed a hope that "his Alfred" would be well taken 
 care of. And he was taken care of: indeed, in one sense, too 
 much care was taken of him, and physical delicacy was the 
 result. Having completed his seventh year, however, he was 
 sent by the Marquis to a boarding school, at which his health 
 improved, and he became a fine boy. He remained here until 
 he was nearly fourteen, when he was about to be sent to Eton 
 with a view to his being prepared for Oxford ; but as at this 
 period the noble Marquis died, the youth's brilliant prospects 
 sank below the horizon. 
 
 He had by this time received a sound preliminary education; 
 but as Murray was unable to bear the expense of its completion, 
 and equally unable to give him a profession, Alfred went home 
 in order to learn his father's business, with the only prospect 
 then in view of being eventually able to conduct it. 
 
 To this change mortifying as it was to all concerned 
 Alfred endeavoured to reconcile himself: he endeavoured to 
 acquire tradesman-like habits, and to bring his mind to bear 
 upon the one grand object, but with very equivocal success, for 
 the talent which was in that sphere most applauded, appeared 
 
14 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 to him to resemble low cunning too closely, while the practices 
 to which it was deemed necessary to have recourse did not 
 accord with his notions of honour. He, notwithstanding, 
 remained at home until he was twenty-one, when his father 
 conceiving that if he were to see how business was conducted 
 in London, it would tend to enlarge his views and to render 
 him more competent to commence on his own account made 
 arrangements with the proprietor of a celebrated establishment 
 in. the metropolis, to which Alfred was transferred, and in 
 which he appeared under the immediate patronage of Mr. 
 Bartholomew Wilkins the principal assistant, and the most 
 accomplished salesman of the day who undertook, with 
 feelings of pleasure and pride, to "polish him positively up." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 15 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 ME. WILKINS. 
 
 ME. WILKINS was an exquisite of the most exalted caste : 
 his style of dress was distingue. An immense gold chain 
 adorned his vest which was either of white cassimere, crimson 
 velvet, or emerald satin and while his bosom was studded with 
 brilliants, and his fingers were duly embellished with rings, 
 his air was that of a milliner's pet, and his tout ensemble 
 striking. 
 
 His toilet never occupied less than three hours : it might be 
 said indeed to have occupied the whole of the day, for, as the 
 shop was lined with glass, he was throughout the day engaged 
 in admiring himself in every possible point of view, and really 
 he sometimes appeared to be absolutely lost in admiration. 
 There was not a man in Europe who entertained a higher 
 opinion of his personal appearance, and had it not been for his 
 hands, he, beyond all doubt, would have considered himself 
 not only irresistible, but perfect. 
 
 Those hands of his were a source of great mental affliction : 
 they were the only real trouble he had. They were large and 
 red, and he could neither reduce the size of them, nor blanch 
 them. Pancy soaps of which he had a great variety were 
 ineffectual: cosmetics of every description failed; even poultices, 
 applied in gloves, night after night, proved unavailing: they 
 were still large and red, still calamitously ugly. JNTor did his 
 nails in the slightest degree redeem them; they were short, 
 and stumpy, and shapeless, and flat, while by some mysterious 
 process of nature, the skin made everlasting efforts to conceal 
 
16 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 them. He rubbed it down, and trimmed it up, and tried to 
 check its progress by all the means in his power ; but as it 
 would grow, and that in the most ragged manner possible, he 
 had as much trouble to keep it back, as the spirit of supersti- 
 tion has to keep back intelligence. 
 
 It will hence be perceived, why he could not with any 
 degree of justice to his discernment, or by virtue of any stretch 
 of the imagination consider himself perfect; but with the 
 exception of his inelegant hands, he certainly held his appearance 
 to be faultless. And who could attend to a lady with more 
 grace ? who could address her more eloquently, or in language 
 more suasive and deferential ? What could surpass in beauty 
 his style of showing a shawl? It was great truly great. 
 With what consummate tact would he display its peculiar 
 excellences! With what masterly effect, while throwing it 
 out for inspection, would he strike a stately histrionic attitude ! 
 He was, in this department, the first man of the age, and, in 
 consequence commanded the highest salary on record. 
 
 His genius, however, was not confined to style: he was 
 highly nay, magnificently imaginative. He was the author of 
 the history of every valuable shawl in stock a history embel- 
 lished with romances of sterling interest. He was, moreover, a 
 student of Indian warfare. He read with avidity all the public 
 despatches and would have a shawl of course nominally from 
 the glorious scene of action, wherever that glorious scene might 
 be, and, as the intrinsic value could not be defined, he would 
 set a price upon it, exactly in proportion to the splendour and 
 importance of the achievement. 
 
 At first, while listening to these interesting romances, 
 Alfred regarded them as lessons got by rote, to be repeated 
 whenever an opportunity offered, and fancied that he should 
 very soon discover a sameness in them calculated to weaken, if 
 not to destroy their effect ; but when he found that the ima- 
 gination of his mentor was illimitable, that he was never at n 
 
LADY FELICIA, 17 
 
 loss for something novel, and that his versatility was as 
 striking as the style in which it was displayed, he feared 
 that Ms Pegasus was but a screw, and felt anxious to give the 
 thing up. 
 
 " I quite despair/' .said he, on one occasion, when Mr. 
 Wilkins had sold a cashmere shawl for a hundred guineas, by 
 virtue of representing it to have been taken from Tippo Saib, 
 at the storming of Seringapatam " I quite despair of ever 
 being able to compete with, or even to approach, you." 
 
 "Despair, sir !" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, "Despair! Folly, 
 Mr. Murray, sir ! absolute folly. Can the eaglet soar like the 
 parent bird ? Can a man reach the top of the tree without 
 climbing? Did Hubens, Handel, Shakespeare, Burke, Demos- 
 thenes, or Alexander ? They all excelled in their respective 
 spheres, as I excel in mine ; but was this excellence attained 
 all at once ? Most unequivocally not ! Before a man reaches 
 the top of the tree he must of necessity surmount the lower 
 branches. Emulation, Mr. Murray, emulation and hope are 
 the best half-and-half any student can drink, and beats all the 
 grog he can take to inspire him. Despair ! Had Milton or 
 Correggio despaired, would they ever have been what they 
 were ?" 
 
 " Perhaps not," replied Alfred, " but they were great men !" 
 
 " Great men ! Every man is great who can do something 
 better than every other man. I can't write like Milton, it is 
 true ! nor can I paint with Correggio ; but could either of 
 them sell a shawl with me ? They had genius sufficient, no 
 doubt! Milton might have been taught to show a shawl: 
 Correggio might have been instructed how to sell one; but that 
 was not their mission : each stuck to his own sphere, and they 
 both achieved greatness, but neither was greater in Us sphere 
 than I am in mine !" 
 
 Alfred smiled, and was about to draw a line between the 
 greatness of Mr, Wilkins and that of Correggio; but as a 
 
18 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 customer happened to enter at the time, the subject dropped 
 without receiving any additional illustration. He nevertheless 
 felt that the "mission" of Mr. "Wilkins was, in his estimation, 
 a high one, although he could not but think that it was far 
 more honourable to grind the colours for a man like Correggio, 
 than to invent with a view to deception, even so brilliant a 
 romance as that which had reference to Tippo Saib's loss at 
 the storming of Seringapatam. 
 
 The next morning, while the great Mr. Wilkins and his 
 "principal" were engaged in conversation, Alfred had an 
 opportunity of distinguishing himself in that particular 
 "sphere" in which his mentor shone with so much effulgence- 
 A lady entered, and expressed a wish to look at a certain 
 scarf, which was then displayed in one of the windows. She 
 spoke to Alfred, who immediately placed it before her, and 
 as she did not appear to approve of it much, he submitted 
 several to her notice, and although much embarrassed, said a 
 few words occasionally in their favour, while Mr. Wilkins 
 hovered near him, with the view of interposing, in the event of 
 his being unable to effect a sale. At length he showed her 
 one with which she appeared to be quite delighted, and Alfred 
 in consequence, became eloquent in its praise. The lady 
 looked at him earnestly while he was speaking, and seemed to 
 linger at every pause, as if she wished him to proceed, until 
 he blushed and became more embarrassed than ever, when 
 perceiving this, she said, "Yes it is very beautiful. I'll 
 take it." 
 
 " Allow me, sir," said Mr. Wilkins, coming forward. And 
 having seized the scarf, he folded it up on the instant, while 
 the lady produced a brilliant purse. 
 
 " WTiere will you permit me to send it ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 " Our carriage is at the door," replied the lady, who rose 
 and bowed to Alfred with an elegance the most refined. 
 
 Having received the parcel from Mr. Wilkins, Alfred fol- 
 
LADY FELICIA. 19 
 
 lowed, and gracefully handed the lady into the carriage, in 
 which sat an elderly gentleman, who took no notice either of 
 her or of him, and as the carriage drove off, she bowed again, 
 and Alfred returned to the shop. 
 
 "Bravo!" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, as he grasped Alfred's 
 hand in a state of enthusiasm. " Well done, sir ! Excellent ! 
 elegant ! good !" 
 
 " You did it very well, Mr. Murray," observed the principal; 
 " very well very well indeed." 
 
 " I wonder who she is," said Mr. "Wilkins. "As the carriage 
 didn't drive up until she was about to leave, I hadn't time to 
 examine it minutely, but I'm sure I saw a coronet upon it., 
 However, Mr. Murray has made an excellent beginning, and I 
 have not the slightest doubt of his success." 
 
 These words of encouragement were pleasing, of course, 
 and Alfred acknowledged them mechanically ; but his thoughts 
 were engaged in reviewing that scene in which he had played 
 so conspicuous a part. An analysis of the feelings with which 
 he had been inspired was perfectly impracticable then: the 
 more he dwelt upon them the more embarrassed he became ; 
 and yet what, after all, had occurred ? She had spoken to 
 him ; but then that voice ! so soft, so silvery, so sweet ! in 
 imagination he heard it still, and it sounded like celestial 
 music ! She had smiled. Well ? Oh ! but what a smile ! In 
 that smile her whole soul seemed centred ; and as she gazed 
 at him as if enrapt, what eloquence beamed from her beautiful 
 eyes ! But what could have been the cause of that electric 
 sensation which ran thrilling through his veins ? Could it have 
 been her exquisite loveliness ? He had seen lovely women 
 before ! TJiey had never inspired him with feelings at all 
 comparable with those which he experienced then! But had 
 he ever before seen one so lovely ? He fancied he saw her 
 still, and felt enchanted : that fascinating smile of the soul 
 
 c 2 
 
20 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 re-inspired him with ecstacy ! But while she appeared to gaze 
 with rapture upon him, Mr. Wilkins broke the spell. 
 
 " Mr. Murray," said he ; and on the instant Alfred started 
 as if from a dream, " we have a beastly thing here, the 
 intrinsic value of which is infinitesimally small, but which it 
 strikes me you '11 be able to make a tidy price of." 
 
 Alfred approached, and found that the "beastly thing" 
 referred to was a dingy^coloured, ill-looking shawl, which 
 appeared to be worth about eighteenpence. 
 
 "It's a Frenchman," continued Mr. Wilkins, "and its 
 unrivalled ugliness has been hitherto its sole recommendation. 
 Hence no one has fallen in love -with it ; and as it will never 
 be sold on its own merits, some extrinsic virtue must be 
 attached to it in order to make it move off these premises, 
 to which it has stuck from time immemorial, and to which it 
 will otherwise still stick to all eternity. The man who 
 designed it is, I hope, in heaven; but I wish that he had 
 been there before he had compassed his design; indeed, he 
 had no business to be on earth at all, for his mind must have 
 been in a frantic state of infelicity. If, therefore, you wish 
 to immortalize yourself, sell it." 
 
 " At what price ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 "Why," replied Mr. Wilkins, "there is a legend that it 
 originally cost three guineas ! and this may have been the 
 veritable golden legend, but I don't feel that I have the 
 power to stretch my credulity to that extent. It is, however, 
 worthy of belief that it originally cost something, notwith- 
 standing it was all that something too much ; and as it will 
 not go off at any sacrifice, however tremendous or alarming, 
 we must put a value upon it commensurate with its idiocratic 
 character. Its price has been marked down year after year 
 until it has reached the lowest depths of degradation. "We 
 must snatch it from this abyss. It must rise like the phoenix 
 from its ashes, to which it ought long ago to have been literally 
 
LABT FELICIA. 21 
 
 reduced; and as it Is a species of phoenix for it may with 
 perfect safety be affirmed that it is the only one of the sort 
 in creation its single existence at a striking price will offer 
 a temptation which cannot long be resisted. Now, let me see. 
 Being a Frenchman it must, of course, be attached to the 
 history of France, and have reference to some stirring period. 
 The revolution! That will do. The unhappy Queen of 
 Louis the Sixteenth was beheaded. Very good. This was 
 her shawl her favourite shawl the shawl which, just before 
 she was dragged to the guillotine, she gave to one of her 
 maids of honour, who, having taken refuge in England, became 
 short of money and sold it to us. Eh ? What do you think 
 of that ? Don't you think it will do ?" 
 
 "No doubt of it," said Alfred, "but you'll be able to 
 manage it better than I shall." 
 
 "I don't know so much about that, Mr. Murray. Try at 
 all events what you can do. If you succeed in selling the 
 extraordinary work of art, no matter by what means the sale 
 may be effected, you will prove, sir, to my satisfaction at least, 
 that you are able to sell anything upon earth." 
 
 "Well ! Alfred, of course, promised to do what he could ; but 
 immediately after that promise had been given his thoughts 
 again reverted to Tier whose mysterious influence had been so 
 irresistible. He tried to take a common sense view of the 
 matter to seduce himself into the belief that there was 
 nothing extraordinary in what had occurred that her fascinat- 
 ing manners were the mere result of social refinement, and 
 that even her smile, of which the effect had been so thrilling, 
 was a purely conventional smile ! Still there was something 
 which he could not define ; some species of magic which defied 
 common sense ; some mystery which he was utterly unable 
 to solve. 
 
 But, then, who and what was she ? "Was she an aristocratic 
 coquette ? Did s.he lavish upon all such smiles as, those by 
 
22 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 which he had been enchanted ? It might be so ! And yet 
 how could he believe it ? "What could be her motive ? The 
 gratification of vanity ! The thought of her being vain was no 
 sooner conceived than repudiated. She vain ! Impossible ! 
 No ; his heart told him that she was not only beautiful, but 
 good, amiable, gentle, intellectual, and pure an angel of 
 beneficence and love. 
 
 Upon her all his thoughts were throughout the day centred; 
 and when the evening came, instead of going with his friend 
 he repaired to his room to enjoy the sweets of solitude. Here 
 fancy held a festival and revelled unrestrained : she created 
 bright visions of hope, love, and joy ; she led him through her 
 realms, in which every sense was dazzled, and united him to 
 her in whose honour the festival had been held ; and even 
 when he had retired to rest she opened before him a series 
 of scenes illustrative of illimitable felicity. 
 
 In the morning he felt languid and looked somewhat pale, 
 and Mr. Wilkins, who noticed this immediately after he had 
 completed his toilet, looked at him with an expression of 
 anxiety. 
 
 "Have you," said he, "been taking a black draught this 
 morning?" 
 
 No," replied Alfred. 
 
 " Then you want one. You don't look the thing'; and 
 there's nothing in Nature to beat a black draught : it purifies 
 the blood, polishes up the imagination, and sweeps away the 
 cobwebs from every corner of the soul. You must have one, 
 my boy, by all means. Eut what were you doing with yourself 
 all last evening ? Beading, I suppose. Well ! there's nothing 
 like it to begin with ; but when a man has laid a solid 
 foundation, if he be anything of an architect at all, he may 
 build for himself an observatory upon his books, and take a 
 practical survey of all around : he may then .study man as he 
 finds him, with some chance of mastering his subject, and 
 
LADY FELICIA. 2 
 
 acquire that sound substantial knowledge of the world which 
 books alone never can impart. You should have been with me, 
 my boy, last night! You would then have had a practical 
 illustration of this. We had a glorious evening! Greek 
 meeting Greek ; intellect clashing with intellect ; genius 
 eclipsing genius, and wit darting from soul to soul. That's 
 the style of thing, sir ! that's what I call intellectual recrea- 
 tion! that's the way to prepare a man for the duties of the 
 morrow ! I only wish, Mr, Murray, that you had been 
 there." 
 
 Alfred could not respond to that wish : he felt, that in 
 imagination at least, he had been throughout the night in far 
 more enchanting society : still his mind was filled with anxiety 
 the most intense ; his eye was upon every carriage that passed, 
 and he panted with impatience for the approach of that, into 
 which he had the previous day handed her who had acquired 
 so much influence over him. 
 
 " Am I never," thought he, having watched in vain for 
 hours " Am I never to see her again ? My heart prompts 
 me to believe that I shall ; and yet she does not appear." 
 
 At length a carriage dashed up to the door; but not the 
 carriage : no ; it had a more aristocratic appearance, and Mr. 
 Wilkins prepared for a triumph ; but although it was not the 
 carriage, the lady who alighted from it was the lady ; and as 
 Mr. Wilkins saw this at a glance, he courteously called 
 Alfred forward. 
 
 Alfred instantly turned pale as death. Her presence at 
 once checked the action of his heart, and he became so exceed- 
 ingly tremulous, that he felt scarcely able to appear before her. 
 He did, however, manage to approach, and having bowed, 
 seemed to inspire a vague notion that she had asked to look 
 at something, but what he was utterly unable to tell. Perceiving 
 his embarrassment, Mr. Wilkins immediately came to his 
 aid. " French cambrics, Mr. Murray ?" said he. " The last 
 
24 LADY TELICIA. 
 
 consignment are of the most superb texture. Allow me to 
 point them out to you." 
 
 Alfred blushed deeply, and followed Mr. Wilkins who 
 added, in a whisper, " Courage, sir courage ! nothing on 
 earth can be done without courage !" and having received 
 the French cambrics at his hands, returned to her before 
 whom all his courage had fled. 
 
 She looked at them for a moment, and then looked at him. 
 She appeared to be endeavouring to recall something to her 
 mind, and, although Alfred did not pretend to understand it, 
 he could not but think that her manners were extraordinary. 
 
 At length, she said, with some slight degree of hesitation, 
 " Mr. Murray, I think, I just now understood your name to 
 be?" 
 
 Alfred bowed, and his face became crimson again. 
 
 " Have you," she added, " been living here long ?" 
 
 " Scarcely a week," replied Alfred. 
 
 " Indeed ! You came from the country, I presume ?" 
 
 " From Sudbury, in Suffolk." 
 
 " Sudbury ! We have an estate near Sudbury ! Murray," 
 she added, thoughtfully. " Are you the young gentleman in 
 whom the late Marquis of Kingsborough took so great an 
 interest ?" 
 
 " The late Marquis was indeed extremely kind to me." 
 
 " Aye ! Tou were one of the Mr. Montague's pupils. 
 
 " I was with him seven years," returned Alfred. 
 
 " Exactly ! Oh, I perfectly well remember you now ! It 
 struck me yesterday that I had seen you before somewhere, 
 but I couldn't at all recollect where. I also fancied that you 
 recognized me ! But in that, of course, I may be mistaken. 
 I will, if you please, take this piece." 
 
 Alfred bowed, and then said, with an expression of intense 
 earnestness, " Will you allow me to know whom I have the 
 honour of addressing ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 25 
 
 The lady smiled, and slightly blushed, as she opened her 
 card-case, and having presented her card, smiled again. 
 
 Not another word was said on the subject. Alfred glanced 
 at the card, and almost unconsciously placed it in his bosom ; 
 and when the cambric had been packed up and paid for, he 
 handed her into the carriage as before. 
 
 " Very fair, Mr. Murray, very fair," said Mr. Wilkins, as 
 Alfred re-entered the shop. " I only wish you had a little 
 more confidence. What made you so tremulous ? What had 
 you to fear ? I saw your colour come and go, like that of a 
 regular virgin. Modesty is all very well in a woman, but it's 
 out of its natural element in a man. That which tends to 
 elevate her, depresses him. It is to him a peculiarly sinking 
 virtue : it drags him below the surface of society, to which he 
 never can rise again until he shakes it off. Modesty always 
 keeps a man back, whereas confidence carries him forward ; 
 modesty lingers about the fortress confidence walks up and 
 takes it by storm. Tour retiring men are of no use in this 
 world ! they do but retire from such opportunities as those 
 which they ought to embrace, and thus make way for others to 
 seize them. Women don't like modest men: they like a rattle: 
 they tolerate them only when they are known to have talent, 
 without a tithe of which, others possessing confidence shine. 
 G-o into society. What is a modest man there ? The very 
 incarnation of insipidity, while he who has confidence blazes 
 away. There are some men who act like buffoons in society, 
 and what is the consequence ? Why laughing eyes encourage 
 and reward them. Men, in general, have too much self-respect, 
 too much pride to be so ridiculously vain, and it is, of course, 
 correct that they should have : I don't recommend the cultiva- 
 tion of such an accomplishment; but I hold it to be incumbent 
 upon every man to acquire confidence, which is absolutely 
 essential to success, and in no place is it more essential than 
 in an establishment like this. But you'll gain it by and by, 
 
26 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 I've no doubt," he added. " You have but to appreciate its 
 importance ; a little experience will do all the rest. Now that 
 lady gave you every opportunity. I saw her chatting to you 
 in the most familiar style." 
 
 " She knows me," said Alfred. 
 
 "Indeed! Who is she ?" 
 
 Alfred gave him her card. 
 
 " The Lady Felicia Jocelyn !" he exclaimed, with an expres- 
 sion of the most intense amazement. " Well, but how came 
 she to know you ?" 
 
 "The late Marquis was my godfather." 
 
 "What! Tour godfather! The kte Marquis ? What 
 Marquis ?" 
 
 " The Marquis of Kingsborough." 
 
 " The Marquis of Kingsborough ! Your godfather !" Your 
 godfather!" reiterated Mr. Wilkins, who really looked as if he 
 felt bewildered. "Do you mean to say Grod bless my soul 
 the Marquis of Kingsborough ! Stop : let's have a look at the 
 Peerage." 
 
 The peerage was referred to, and there it was found that the 
 Marquis of Kingsborough had three daughters, of whom Lady 
 Felicia was the youngest. 
 
 " Well," resumed Mr. Wilkins, having satisfied himself on 
 this point, "you have to an almost inconceivable extent 
 amazed me. But, having such brilliant connections being as 
 you are spiritually related to one of the first families in 
 England how is it that you are here ? Why don't they give 
 you a commission in the army, place you in the treasury, 
 attach you to an embassy, or send you to Parliament ? They 
 certainly ought to do something } " 
 
 "I have no claim upon them," said Alfred. 
 
 " No claim ! I consider that you have a strong claim, as the 
 godson of him from whom they descended, and whose memory 
 of course they revere." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 27 
 
 " I am afraid,' ' said Alfred, " that you are not doing justice 
 to your practical knowledge of the world. But we'll talk this 
 matter over together quietly, this evening ; and then we can 
 enter fully into the matter without the slightest chance of 
 being disturbed." 
 
 This was agreed to with pleasure by Mr. "Wilkins, who, having 
 a deep veneration for the aristocracy, began to regard Alfred 
 as one of the " order," and consequently as a superior being. 
 On the other hand, Alfred's spirit was depressed : his vivid 
 imagination had been checked in full career; his fancy had 
 been supplanted by matters of fact which were death to all 
 the hopes he had inspired. Nor can this change be deemed, 
 under the circumstances, extraordinary. The occurrence of 
 anything for which we are unable to account prompts us at 
 once to give the reins to imagination ; but when that which 
 we hold to be a mystery is solved, we " pull up" to contemplate 
 reality. Alfred could now account for all that had occurred 
 between him and Lady Felicia; he could account for her 
 manner the preceding day, which had struck him as being so 
 mysterious, and viewed as the natural effect of curiosity that 
 which he had fondly ascribed to love. Everything appeared 
 to be clear to him then. She had seen him before ; and being 
 unable to recollect where, she had looked at him with the view 
 of refreshing her memory. Could anything be more natural ? 
 But, then, while looking she smiled ! What then ? "Was 
 there anything extraordinary in that ? But why should her 
 smile have had so thrilling an effect ? Simply because while 
 she looked at him so earnestly he couldn't understand the 
 real object she had in view. Thus he sobered down his 
 rapture, thus he cooled his warmest hopes, and thus eclipsed 
 those visions of joy by which he had been so enchanted. But 
 could he ever forget that smile, or cease to remember its 
 effect? "What feelings were those which that smile had 
 inspired ? Were they not in reality those of love ? They must 
 
28 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 have been! But if even they were, ought he to encourage 
 those feelings ? Had she fallen in love with him, there might 
 have been some ground for hope ; but he felt that to cherish 
 a love for her, she being indifferent, would be madness. But 
 was she indifferent ? He was quite disposed to believe that 
 she was not ; but feared that that belief would have vanity 
 for its basis. She had, it was true, been exceedingly polite ; 
 but was not her recognition of him alone sufficient to account 
 for that politeness ? He dwelt upon this throughout the day, 
 and viewed it in every possible light; but the gulf fixed 
 between her position and his own convinced him that he 
 ought to repudiate an object, the attainment of which he 
 could not but deem hopeless. 
 
 In the evening, having repaired to a tavern with his friend, 
 he felt somewhat more reconciled to that which he had, by a 
 popular process of reasoning, transferred to fate. He ate a 
 chop and enjoyed it, and so did his friend; but neither said 
 a syllable having reference to the subject under consideration 
 until the brandy had been brought, when Mr. Wilkins 
 thoughtfully filled his glass and proposed as a toast, with 
 due solemnity of expression, " May the prospect which now 
 brightly opens before you, and of which the effulgence is 
 glorious, be realized beyond your most brilliant expectations, 
 and lead to an illustrious career !" 
 
 "I thank you," said Alfred, with a smile, "but I really have 
 no particularly brilliant expectations !" 
 
 Mr. Wilkins looked at him intently for a moment, and then 
 exclaimed, " What ! Why, if I were as you are, the godson 
 of a Marquis, I wouldn't give that, sir, to call the King 
 my uncle!" And Mr. Wilkins snapped his middle finger 
 emphatically. 
 
 " But," said Alfred, "what have I any right to expect ?" 
 
 " Patronage, power, high consideration, and a lucrative berth 
 to begin with." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 29 
 
 " But the present Marquis doesn't even know me !" 
 
 " Of what importance is that ! The very fact of his illustrious 
 father having been your illustrious godfather will alone be 
 sufficient to prompt him to give you a fair, if not indeed a 
 magnificent, start. See what a variety of brilliant berths 
 there are, with salaries ranging from one to five thousand a 
 year, either of which he could procure for you with all the 
 ease imaginable ! See with what facility the thing may be 
 done ! He goes to the Minister and says with that elegant 
 sang froid which so peculiarly characterises our glorious 
 aristocracy ' I want an appointment for a young friend of 
 mine, a gentleman in whose welfare the late Marquis took 
 considerable interest, and who is indeed, in a spiritual sense, 
 related to our family. Have you anything at all good on 
 hand? "What can you give him ?' * Why/ says the Minister, 
 * I've so and so; but that's only worth about a thousand 
 a year ! ' * Well,' says the Marquis, ' give him that give 
 him that : let him begin low give him that.' The thing is 
 done; and there's an immediate end of the matter." 
 
 "Well," said Alfred, "but assuming that it might be thus 
 easily accomplished, how would it be possible for either the 
 Marquis or the Minister to know that I am competent to fill 
 the vacant office ?" 
 
 " Competent ! They wouldn't trouble their heads about 
 that. They would take it for granted, of course, that you 
 were competent, and so in reality you are : you must be 
 competent to look at the subordinates while they are doing 
 the work!" 
 
 "And yet my salary would be considerably higher than 
 theirs!" 
 
 "Of course! That's legitimate! Work and pay, almost 
 universally, keep pace with each other in an inverse ratio: 
 maximum work ? minimum pay : minimum work ? maxi- 
 mum pay. That's the system a system of which some may 
 
30 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 complain, but with which, good or bad, you have nothing 
 to do; you are not responsible for it; it was not established 
 by you; there it is, and that's enough. "Without, therefore, 
 presuming to enter into the abstract merits of a system which 
 has worked so well, and which is, moreover, sanctioned by the 
 highest authorities, let us go at once to the primary point ; 
 that is to say, the first step to be taken. You are not known 
 to the Marquis. "Well, your first object will therefore be to 
 make yourself known to him. But how ? By what means ?'' 
 "Why, if at all," replied Alfred, who was anything but 
 sanguine on the subject, " it had better be done, perhaps, by 
 letter." 
 
 " I think not," said Mr. Wilkins " I decidedly think not : 
 I submit, sir, that that would not be the better plan : it strikes 
 me that the simple course which I shall suggest will have more 
 effect than ten thousand letters. You are known to the Lady 
 Felicia : very well. The familiar style in which she conversed 
 with you this morning prompts me to believe that she is well 
 affected towards you. What follows ? Enlist her ! solicit 
 her advocacy l^get her to speak to the Marquis ; and if your 
 cause be not triumphant I'll die ! I'll stake my existence 
 upon the result. A single word from her will be amply 
 sufficient to start you on the high road to wealth and distinc- 
 tion. Speak, therefore, to her! secure her interest and 
 there you are! all right placed in a position to pursue a 
 magnificent career." 
 
 " Well," said Alfred, " certainly, the course you suggest is 
 the one most likely to be successful ; but it is at the same 
 time one which I feel I should be utterly unable to adopt." 
 
 " But why ? What possible objection can be raised ? Can 
 the mind of man conceive the slightest degree of impropriety 
 in the pursuit of such a course ? She knows you : she has 
 known you from boyhood ; and, while from her manner I infer 
 that she respects you, I feel that she would do all in her power 
 
LADY FELICIA. 31 
 
 to serve you. "What more can you want? Can any man 
 breathing be placed in a better position to solicit a favour ?" 
 
 " Perhaps not," replied Alfred. " I do believe that I could 
 ask such a favour of any one else, but I feel quite sure that 
 I couldn't ask her." 
 
 " Well, but why not ? That's the point which puzzles me? 
 Why not ?" 
 
 " I don't know, and therefore can't explain." 
 
 " You have, I presume, a high respect for her ? 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " And were it in your power to promote her happiness, 
 you would exercise that power ?" 
 
 " I would by all the means at my command." f 
 
 " Yery good : then exercise it now. You possess it ! the 
 opportunity of promoting your interests would delight her !" 
 
 " It might ; but if her efforts should fail, she would be in at 
 least a corresponding degree mortified.'' 
 
 " Fail ! She would not fail. There wouldn't be the most 
 remote chance of her failing. The Marquis couldn't refuse 
 her ! at her request he'd go to work at once." 
 
 " He'd consider it, I apprehend, strange that she should 
 take so much interest in me." 
 
 " He might at first; but when she had explained to him that 
 you were the godson of the late Marquis; that she knew you when 
 you were a boy, and that she had recognized you here, he'd no 
 longer consider it strange, but perfectly natural, and therefore 
 correct. Now I'll tell you how I'd go to work, if I were 
 fortunate enough to have your chance. The very next time 
 she called, I'd delicately intimate in the course of conversation, 
 that had the late Marquis lived he would have placed me in a 
 position very different from that which I occupy now; and if 
 I found that this hint had no effect, I should at once express a 
 wish that the present Marquis had some knowledge of me, 
 seeing that if he had, and I could prevail upon some friend to 
 
32 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 speak for me, he might be induced to exercise his influence in 
 my favour. This would be sufficient: she'd take it at once! 
 she'd say, l I'll do myself the pleasure of naming you to the 
 Marquis,' and the thing would be done. Don't you see?" 
 
 "Oh! I understand what you mean, perfectly, and as you 
 appear to be so sanguine on the subject, I'll think about it." 
 
 " Think about it! do it sir ! do it at once. Never dream 
 of allowing so splendid an opportunity to slip. There's not a 
 man in a million who has such a chance, and if you fail to 
 embrace it, you may never have another, if you live a thousand 
 years! What says Shakespeare the greatest plagiarist 
 Nature ever had what does he say on the subject ? 
 
 * There is a tide in the affairs of men 
 Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune : 
 Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
 Is bound in shallows and in miseries.' 
 
 Had those lines been written expressly for you, they could not 
 have been more to the purpose." 
 
 " Well," said Alfred, there's of course no necessity for being 
 precipitate ! When I have seen and conversed with her again, 
 I shall know, perhaps, better how to act." 
 
 In the judgment of Mr. Wilkins it was perfectly impossible 
 for Alfred to know better how to act then he ought to have 
 known then: he continued to urge the necessity for immediate 
 action, to show the facility with which patronage can enable a 
 man to achieve greatness, to portray in glowing colours the 
 various phases which in his view, characterised the transition 
 from obscurity to immortality, and to contend for the influence 
 of the Marquis being limitless; and as the more brandy and 
 water he imbibed the more enthusiastic he became, it at length 
 appeared abundantly clear to him, that there was scarcely an 
 office under government to which Alfred was not eligible, or 
 which he could not procure with the most perfect ease. 
 
LADY EELICIA. . 33 
 
 As a matter of courtesy Alfred listened until the hour 
 prescribed for their departure had arrived ; but his thoughts 
 had reference less to the prospects portrayed by his eloquent 
 friend, than to Lady Felicia herself. It is true, facts tended 
 to dispel the bright visions he conceived, but as the realms 
 of fancy were to him realms of bliss, he continued to revel in 
 them still. 
 
 In the morning the head of Mr. Wilkins troubled him even 
 more 'than his hands. This he ascribed solely to the energy 
 with which he had enforced his views the previous evening. 
 He was, however, still enthusiastic in the cause, and embraced 
 every possible opportunity of reverting to that which he 
 conceived to be Alfred's grand object. But Alfred although 
 he wished it to appear that he appreciated his friend's 
 solicitude panted for the re-appearance of Lady Felicia 
 without reference to those ulterior views which had alone 
 excited the imagination of Mr. Wilkins. He watched for her 
 with impatience the most intense ; but he watched throughout 
 the morning in vain. Why would she not come? Why 
 should she come? Her curiosity had been gratified! She 
 knew then that she had seen him before! she also knew 
 where she had seen him. What more could she want to 
 know? Nothing ! Then why should she come, unless indeed, 
 with the view of making a purchase? Having recognized him, 
 she had treated him with courtesy and would do so again 
 if she ever had occasion to call again; but weeks, or 
 even months, might elapse before she re-appeared there ! 
 she might indeed never call again: she was not confined 
 to that particular establishment! Why then should her 
 absence be deemed strange? It was true he expected her. 
 But why did he expect her? for what purpose did he wish 
 her to come ? It was not his intention to pursue the course 
 suggested by Mr. Wilkins. The prospects which he had 
 portrayed had not dazzled him. He in reality cared nothing 
 
34 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 about them. All he cared for was to see her and why ? He 
 knew not: he only knew that he anxiously wished her to 
 come. 
 
 The day passed ; and but for the hope the blessed hope 
 of seeing her on the morrow his thoughts would have been as 
 gloomy as the night. Her card he looked at a thousand times, 
 and while pressing it passionately to his lips, he resolved on 
 having it framed in gold and wearing it as an amulet. 
 
 The morrow came : but what to him was the morrow ? 
 Felicia came not with it. Felicia ! Aye ! Felicia : the title he 
 abhorred. 
 
 The third day came, and his spirit sank. Felicia still 
 absented "herself; and hope ceased to sustain him. Oh! that 
 she had moved in a sphere less exalted. 
 
 His friend, Mr. "Wilkins, who had become most sincerely 
 attached to him, and who felt deeply interested in his welfare, 
 perceiving his depression, and ascribing it to the assumed fact 
 of his advancement being delayed, did every thing which he 
 thought calculated to cheer him, and suggested the expediency 
 of writing to Lady Felicia, with the view of inducing her to 
 speak to the Marquis at once; but Alfred to whom his friend's 
 enthusiasm on this subject had become painful courteously 
 opposed the pursuit of such a course, by contending that it 
 would be considered presumptuous. No! he would never 
 write to Tier on such a subject : he would never apply to her to 
 promote his advancement ; although he was nothing to her 
 although she did regard him with perfect indifference she 
 was the last in the world to whom it should appear that he was 
 actuated by any selfish feeling. 
 
 Alfred, however, in thus assuming that she regarded him 
 with indifference, was mistaken; he was not indifferent to her; 
 but in order to explain the nature of the feelings she had 
 inspired, it will be necessary to introduce her formally. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 35 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 FELICIA. 
 
 LADY FELICIA was a beautiful blonde: her figure was 
 petite, yet perfect ; and while her countenance had a peculiar 
 sweetness of expression, her skin was as fine and clear as that 
 of an infant. She was amiable, elegant, ingenuous, and gentle ; 
 her manners were of the most refined caste : she possessed a 
 true and trusting heart, full of the purest sympathy, and 
 seemed to have been created to be universally beloved. 
 
 And yet her sisters, Lady Florence and Lady Augusta never 
 loved her. Being fine, bold, commanding girls, haughty and 
 imperious, they regarded the gentle spirit of Felicia with 
 contempt, and proudly assumed an authority over her, which 
 tended to alienate her from them. Even when they were 
 children, they never loved her ; for being a special favourite of 
 the old Marquis, who invariably called her his i: own little 
 angel," while he took but slight notice of them, jealousy 
 prompted them to conceive a dislike to her which proved to be 
 perfectly invincible. 
 
 JN~or had the Marquis, her father, any deep affection for her : 
 for as her birth and the death of the Marchioness occurred 
 simultaneously, and as by that death he lost a splendid estate, 
 strange as it may seem, he never could look at Felicia without 
 wishing that she had never been born. 
 
 Being thus virtually excluded from all affectionate inter- 
 course with her immediate relatives, it will not be deemed 
 marvellous that Felicia should have attached herself to one 
 whose devotion she knew to be ardent and pure, notwithstand- 
 
 D 2 
 
36 LADY TELICIA. 
 
 ing the social position of that one was inferior to her own. 
 Fidele had been her companion for years ; she knew that 
 Fidele loved her passionately, and that although she was then 
 but her maid, she was not only affectionate and highly accom- 
 plished, but descended from one of the first families in France 
 a family whose wealth and influence excited the brutal 
 vengeance of the sanguinary Robespierre. In Fidele she 
 confided they were, indeed, like sisters and to her she com- 
 municated the fact of her having recognized Alfred. 
 
 "Fidele," she observed, "I have again seen him whom I 
 yesterday told you I fancied I knew." 
 
 "Indeed!" said Fidele. "Well, and do you really know 
 him?" 
 
 " I knew him when he was a boy : and such a sweet boy ! 
 so intelligent, sd handsome, and so affectionate !" 
 
 " And is he much altered ?" 
 
 " He has grown amazingly ! but there are the features still. 
 Oh, what a favourite I used to be of his ! how delighted he 
 always was to see me ! The moment the carriage stopped, out 
 Alfred would run, clapping his hands enthusiastically, while 
 his beautiful eyes danced for joy! I remember being very 
 wicked once : I hid myself in a corner of the carriage ; and 
 as he could not see me, he mournfully said, ' She's not well,' 
 and wept. Oh ! how sorry I was ; I sprang from my hiding- 
 place instantly, and kissed the tears away." 
 
 Fidele looked at her archly, for a moment, and then said, 
 "You did?" 
 
 " Oh, yes!" replied Felicia, "but we were children then!" 
 
 " How many tears would he have to shed now, before you 
 would check them with a kiss ?" 
 
 "You are a wicked girl, Fidele," said Felicia, playfully; "he 
 is now a man !" 
 
 " And is he still enthusiastic ?" 
 
 " He was very much embarrassed !" v 
 
LADY PELICIA. 37 
 
 "Ah" said Eidele, thoughtfully "embarrassed. And is 
 lie really very handsome ?" 
 
 "If you were to see him," replied Felicia, with a blush, "I 
 think that you would say so !" 
 
 " Oh, I must see him ! "When can I go ?" 
 
 " "When you please ! Gro at once. Take a coach ; you will 
 not be gone long." 
 
 " But how shall I know him from the rest ?" 
 
 " By his brilliant complexion, and I need not say more : 
 you cannot possibly make a mistake." 
 
 Delighted with this opportunity of seeing him whom Eelicia 
 had loved when a child, and inspired with a somewhat romantic 
 idea of his personal attractions, Fidele prepared to start 
 immediately, and having sent for a coach, proceeded to the 
 establishment in question, ostensibly in order to make some 
 trifling purchase. 
 
 On her arrival, the appearance of Alfred struck her at once ; 
 but Mr. "Wilkins came forward: and while he was attending to 
 her with all his characteristic politeness, she had an excellent 
 opportunity of noticing Alfred, who stood as if enrapt. She 
 watched his countenance narrowly, and admired him much, 
 and marvelled that features so pleasing should be so rigid; 
 but although she could scarcely perceive a muscle move, his 
 eyes proclaimed the existence of rapturous emotions. 
 
 Having effected a purchase in doing which it was by no 
 means apparent to Mr. "Wilkins that she was in any particular 
 haste, while in his gentle judgment she did not sufficiently 
 appreciate the importance of his original observations she 
 bowed to Mr. Wilkins, with an elegance which pleased him, 
 and hastened home to communicate her impressions to 
 Felicia. 
 
 " Oh!" she exclaimed, "what a love of a man! so elegant, 
 so handsome, and has such eyes ! he is in my view the very 
 perfection of manly beauty. But dear me," she added, "how 
 
38 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 thoughtful he appeared ; What could he have been thinking 
 about so intently ? Have you no idea ?" 
 
 " How should I have ?" returned Felicia. " Eut was he very 
 thoughtful ?" 
 
 " He stood all the time I was there as if lost in admiration 
 of some beautiful vision ; and if it were a vision, " she added? 
 archly, "I think that I can tell who presided ! Can't you?" 
 
 " How is it possible, dear, for me to tell ?" 
 
 " Can you not guess ?" 
 
 " "Why should I guess ?" 
 
 " Poor feUow. I feel for him. Don't you ?" 
 
 " What do you mean ?" h f i 
 
 " Shall I explain ? Do you wish me to explain ? I think 
 not. Besides, there is no necessity for it. What a pity it is 
 that he is not in a somewhat higher social position ; is it not ? 
 But how came you, even as children, to associate ?" 
 
 " The late Marquis," replied Felicia, was his godfather, and 
 used to take me with him, whenever he went to see his little 
 protege. 
 
 " The late Marquis his godfather ! Oh ! then his family is 
 distingue?" 
 
 " Respectable," said Felicia. 
 
 " And rich ?" 
 
 " I really don't know ; I should say, that if his family were 
 wealthy, he would not be in business." 
 
 " Oh, that does not, I apprehend, by any means follow at 
 least not in England. You have merchant princes men, who, 
 notwithstanding they have amassed millions, are in business 
 still !" 
 
 " True," said Felicia, " but he is not a millionaire." 
 
 " Then I wish he was. However, he is a very charming person ; 
 
 and would, I have no doubt, make a most delightful husband." 
 
 Felicia now felt more strongly than ever, that she still loved 
 
 him whom she had loved when a child. She could ascribe her 
 
LADY EELICIA. 6V 
 
 emotions to nothing but love. Even the preceding day 
 when unable to recognize him her sensations had been 
 peculiarly thrilling ; but when she had ascertained who he 
 was, she had re-inspired all those beautiful feelings which had 
 formerly given her so much delight. Nor could she for a 
 moment doubt that he still loved her. She felt sure that 
 he loved her! if not, why should he have been so much 
 embarrassed ? why so tremulous ? Why should he have 
 begged so earnestly to know who she was ? and above all why, 
 when she gave him her card, should he have placed it so 
 promptly in his bosom ? He did love her ! fondly ! she 
 knew that he loved her ! But then, alas ! how hopelessly ! 
 Had he been highly connected : had he been in the army or the 
 navy, or the church : had he been a physician, a judge, or a 
 banker, or even a mere member of Parliament, he might have 
 ventured to solicit her hand ; but occupying the plebeian 
 position he did, without influential friends, without wealth or 
 distinction the son of a tradesman, and the servant of a 
 tradesman, without the prospect of being anything but a 
 tradesman himself how could he attempt to make the 
 slightest advance without its being considered in the highest 
 degree presumptuous ! What would the Marquis Florence 
 Augusta what would the whole world say if such a proposal 
 were made ? Why, ridicule the most caustic, and contempt 
 the most galling, would follow as a matter of course ! No ! 
 the idea appeared to be monstrous ! She loed him it was 
 true ; and he loved her ; but never again must they meet on 
 earth ! Oblivion was essential to the happiness of both. 
 
 Having arrived at this conclusion, Felicia endeavoured to 
 wean her thoughts from him : she " made up her mind " to 
 see him no more: she "made up her mind" to forget him; 
 and with that view associated more with her sisters, notwith- 
 standing their haughty bearing pained her ; but, although she 
 held oblivion to be essential to happiness, oblivion was not at 
 
40 lijLDY FELICIA. 
 
 her command! do what she might, go where she might, see 
 or converse with whom she might, Alfred was ever present to 
 her imagination : Alfred engrossed all her thoughts. 
 
 For three weary days and nights she struggled with her 
 feelings, and made every effort in her power to crush them : 
 she had recourse to ridicule ; she summoned all her pride, and 
 sought to inspire her heart with contempt; but ridicule, 
 contempt, and pride combined, were unavailing : Love proudly 
 triumphed over all, and Felicia became pale and spiritless. 
 
 Fidele, who watched her anxiously, perceived this change 
 with grief; and, prompted by the purest and most affectionate 
 solicitude, made every possible effort to cheer her. She 
 guessed the cause the real cause but feared to breathe a 
 word having reference to it. JSTor did Felicia revert to the 
 subject until the morning of the fourth day, when, in mournful 
 tones, she inquired of Fidele who could not conceal her tears 
 why she wept ? 
 
 " I weep," replied Fidele, "because your sadness grieves me. 
 If you were to smile, I should not weep !" 
 
 " Fidele," said Felicia, " I am indeed unhappy. You may 
 have divined the cause you doubtless have but oh ! how 
 I have struggled to forget him !" 
 
 " Forget whom ?" inquired Fidele. 
 
 " Forget whom ? The only one on earth whom I care to 
 forget. Have you not then discovered the cause of my 
 unhappiness ? Fidele, you have ever been dear to me: in 
 you I have ever confided, and will confide still : to you, I will, 
 therefore, entrust this secret that the only one whom I am 
 anxious to forget, my heart tells me I love." 
 
 " I perceive," said Fidele, who now resolved on diverting her 
 thoughts if possible, " and he whom you love or rather fancy 
 you love is the man for whom you had an affection when a 
 child. Eut why should that make you unhappy ? "Why are 
 you so anxious why struggle to forget him? You may as 
 
LADY FELICIA. 41 
 
 weH strive to forget that you live. Repudiate at once a task 
 so utterly hopeless. Strive rather to subdue this anxiety ; to 
 conquer these feelings which you now ascribe to love, and to 
 smile at the thought of your having condescended to entertain 
 them for one who is of course beneath your notice." 
 
 " Teach me to do this, Fidele I have endeavoured to teach 
 myself in vain teach me how to treat him with contempt : 
 prove that he is beneath my notice ; prove that he is unworthy 
 of my love: awaken my pride ; stir up the soul of dignity ; 
 fill my heart with scorn, excite my ambition : inspire me with 
 feelings of any description sufficiently powerful to conquer 
 those of love, and you will render me a service indeed." 
 
 " Do you really wish me to do this ? " 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "To embody the objections that may be urged with the 
 view of inducing you to repudiate the idea of loving such a 
 man ? " 
 
 " State them all : omit none : let me have the whole list, 
 that their combined weight may at once crush those feelings 
 which are unhappily now in the ascendant." 
 
 " Well, then, in the first place look at your position. You 
 are the daughter of one of the first peers of the realm : you are 
 living in a style of magnificence moving in a most distinguished 
 sphere, and able to command the devotion of the highest nobles 
 in the land. To be a Princess, a Duchess, a Marchioness, or a 
 Countess, appears to be your destiny. Who but a man of high 
 rank would aspire to your hand ? Wlio without a coronet 
 would be considered eligible ? Surrounded by splendour, you 
 have power at your command, with all the collateral advantages 
 of which rank is the germ. This is your position. Now look 
 at that of the man whom you fancy you love. He is the 
 servant of a tradesman trained to servility the obsequi- 
 ous slave of every one who calls to make a purchase 
 excluded from all refined society hopeless of emerging 
 
42 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 from his grovelling state, powerless, spiritless, low-born, 
 contemned" 
 
 " Eidele," exclaimed Felicia, with an expression of indignation, 
 " if you proceed thus I shall hate you." 
 
 "You will remember," said Eidele, "that you engaged me 
 as an advocate, and that it was therefore incumbent upon me 
 to paint him in the very darkest colours, and to make him 
 appear as contemptible as possible, with the view of striking 
 down his pretensions. It is the practice the usual practice. 
 Custom prescribes it, and the highest authorities not only 
 sanction but encourage it. It is, in fact, termed the, sacred 
 duty, of an advocate to do all in his power to wither the hopes 
 and to ruin the reputation of him against whom he appears. 
 But as this practice is displeasing to you and I am sure that 
 it is not very pleasing to me, for I believe him to be at least 
 respectable I'll pursue another course which will be less 
 offensive, seeing that I shall simply state that as you occupy 
 one of the highest social positions, while he occupies one of 
 the lowest, it would be considered madness on your part to 
 descend from your position to his, and thus to exchange wealth 
 and magnificence for poverty and contempt." 
 
 " Why poverty and contempt ?" exclaimed Felicia. " They 
 would not, I apprehend, necessarily follow?" 
 
 " Comparative poverty must," replied Eidele : " the contempt 
 of your brilliant connections would." 
 
 " But what are brilliant connections to one, who in the very 
 midst of them cannot be happy ?" 
 
 " Do not believe that you cannot be happy in the circle to 
 which you have been ever accustomed. To those who have 
 not been accustomed to it, that circle appears to be a perfect 
 Elysium : thousands upon thousands struggle through life to 
 secure the privilege of moving within it ; and although it is to 
 you of course familiar, and therefore less attractive, you must 
 not even dream of descending from it, for it is indeed exceedingly 
 
LADY FELICIA. 43 
 
 questionable whether the recollection of what you were, and 
 the thought of what you might have been, would not destroy 
 your happiness for ever. "Wliy should you not be happy, 
 surrounded as you are by all the luxuries and elegancies of 
 life w hy should you not hope to be happier still as the adored 
 wife of some illustrious man, whose name and fame would be 
 immortal ? Besides, it does not follow that because you 
 admire this person you really love him. The passion you have 
 inspired may indeed be but transient. It was quickly 
 conceived, and may be quickly subdued. Call reason to your 
 aid. Think of the unexampled sacrifices you would of necessity 
 have to make in the event of your allowing this passion to 
 supersede reason. All would have to be given up family 
 connections, state splendour all." 
 
 "And I feel," said Felicia, with an intensity of expression, 
 " that I could give up all for him !" 
 
 "You may have that feeling now," returned Fidele, "but 
 an appeal to your judgment would soon prove its weakness." 
 
 " Its weakness ! " exclaimed Felicia. " Its strength is 
 unrivalled ! It surpasses that of all the other feelings 
 combined!" 
 
 "Its strength may appear to be incomparable at present 
 because it happens to be now in the ascendant. The other 
 feelings have allowed it to reign for a time, but they will 
 not allow it to be permanently despotic ; they will not allow 
 it to trample upon them!" 
 
 " But it does trample upon them !" 
 
 " Then its reign will be short." 
 
 A pause ensued, during which the expression of Felicia's 
 countenance was intensely contemplative, while Fidele dis- 
 played the utmost anxiety to read her thoughts. At length 
 she said, " Fidele, I understood you to say just now that ttie 
 circle in which I move being familiar to me, was therefore 
 the less attractive. Do you think that 'if I were familiar 
 
44 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 with him that he would appear to me to be less attrac- 
 tive?" 
 
 "No doubt of it," replied Fidele, who now conceived that 
 she should be able to carry her point triumphantly. " Such 
 familiarity would, indeed, create contempt! You could not 
 associate long with such a man. The more you knew of him 
 the less you would like him." 
 
 "Then I'll bring it to the test," said Felicia. "I have 
 the utmost confidence in your judgment, and therefore I'll 
 bring this point to the test. I'll see him frequently; I'll 
 converse with him familiarly; I'll accustom myself to him; 
 and then, if indeed there be any truth in your doctrine, his 
 attractions will fade." 
 
 " But," said Fidele, in a state of alarm, for she did not at 
 all expect this, "would not that be rushing into danger?" 
 
 "The only danger to be apprehended, according to your 
 view, is that of his incurring my dislike, which you would 
 not hold to be any very great calamity." 
 
 " But why not abandon the thought of seeing him again ? 
 Why not keep aloof entirely from him?" 
 
 " Because I have discovered it to be of no use. I have 
 tried it for three days, and found it to be even worse than 
 useless ; absence tends but to strengthen that feeling which I 
 am so anxious to subdue. No; I'll act upon your sugges- 
 tion ; I'll try your plan ; and if it should be successful, I shall 
 have more faith in the soundness of your judgment than 
 ever." 
 
 " "Well," said Fidele, somewhat hopelessly, for it really 
 was not in her judgment the best course to pursue; "but 
 it will look so strange if you call there frequently." 
 
 " I do not intend to call at all," returned Felicia, "I mean 
 to have him here." 
 
 "Have him here!" echoed Fidele, with an expression of 
 amazement " Have him here !" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 45 
 
 " It will I think be better ; because we shall be able to 
 converse here without the slightest fear of interruption." 
 
 " But surely you do not mean to send for him ?" . 
 
 " I do, Eidele ; and I want you to be my ambassadress." 
 
 " Well, but what earthly excuse can you make ? what 
 can you possibly say ? how can you explain to him why he 
 was sent for?" 
 
 " No explanation will be needed. He is, as you say, but 
 the servant of a tradesman " 
 
 " Forgive me!" exclaimed Fidele, earnestly. "Do not be 
 angry with me for that: I had no idea of hurting your 
 feelings, which you know I would not willingly wound for 
 the world. It is true that I said this ; but why did I say 
 it ? what was my motive ? can you not appreciate it ?" 
 
 "I can, and do I am not angry! I am, on the contrary, 
 gay ! I was merely saying that as he is the servant of a 
 tradesman, he ought to attend to his master's customers; 
 and that as I am one of those customers, he ought to attend 
 to me. I mean to have him here on business ! and all I 
 wish you to do is, to call and select a few pieces of silk for 
 him to bring here. You understand me ?" 
 
 " I do ; but had it not better be deferred ?" 
 
 " I never was in a better humour to receive him. You 
 perceive I am not unhappy now ! I feel quite inclined to be 
 playful ! I have not been in such high spirits for days." 
 
 " But have not those high spirits been induced by the pros- 
 pect of seeing him again ?" 
 
 " How can you entertain such an idea ? G-o, Fidele, and 
 you shall see how grandly I'll receive him! Don't let him 
 bring many for me to select from. Two or three will be 
 quite sufficient. Don't overload the poor man I And Fidele 
 you can if you like just notice his countenance when 
 you tell him" that they are for me to select from. You, of 
 course, understand." 
 
4b LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " I fear," said Fidele, " that I understand too much ; but 
 for Heaven's sake remember the immense disparity which exists 
 between your position and his." 
 
 "I shall not forget it," returned Felicia, and smiled as 
 Fidele left the room. 
 
 Now Alfred that morning felt more depressed than ever ; he 
 despaired of ever seeing Felicia again : the bright visions 
 by which he had been charmed, had disappeared, and it seemed 
 to be abundantly clear to him, that he was no more to her 
 than the 'most perfect stranger. Nor was Mr. Wilkins in 
 particularly high spirits that morning ; he had discovered that 
 Alfred's estimate of the value of his advice was not even 
 remotely comparable with bis own. He knew that is to say 
 he fancied, which to him was precisely the same thing that 
 Alfred ought to write to Lady Felicia, in order to get upon 
 that glorious line of which obscurity and immortality are the 
 termini, and to commence at once that brilliant career which 
 his vivid imagination had portrayed ; but as Alfred could not 
 see so far as Mr. Wilkins, as he had not had the vast experience 
 of Mr. "Wilkins, as he knew not the influence of a Marquis so 
 well as Mr. Wilkins, and repudiated the idea of writing in 
 opposition to the advice of Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Wilkins felt 
 and very naturally that that advice had been thrown away, 
 and in consequence lost that sublime equanimity for which 
 he had been theretofore distinguished. 
 
 Eut this was not all ! When Fidele arrived notwithstanding 
 he bowed with all the grace he had in him notwithstanding 
 he actually placed himself before her notwithstanding it 
 could not fail to live in her memory, that he and no one else 
 had attended to her before she absolutely passed Mr. 
 Wilkins, and went direct to Alfred ! Grods ! what could be 
 the meaning of this extraordinary procedure ! He turned and 
 looked with an expression of amazement the most intense ! 
 Could such a thing 
 
LADY FELICIA. 47 
 
 "be, 
 
 And overcome him like a summer's cloud 
 Without his special wonder ?" 
 
 What had he done? what "ignorant sin" committed? He 
 looked back with all the serenity at his command, with the 
 view of recollecting whether anything occurred, when she 
 previously honoured the establishment, calculated to render 
 him in the slightest degree obnoxious ; but no ! the only 
 thing which could be held to be at all remarkable, was the fact 
 of her not appearing to be particularly tied to time ! beyond 
 that, his memory contained no record having reference to her 
 previous visit. "What on earth then could be the cause of this 
 mysterious manifestation of contempt ! He couldn't tell : 
 he couldn't even conjecture ! He only knew that during the 
 whole course of his experience a case of the kind had never 
 occurred to him before, and hence it was indeed a "heavy 
 blow," and a very "great discouragement." 
 
 " Meanwhile Alfred was attending to Eidele, and as she was 
 exceedingly affable, he got on remarkably well, until, having 
 chosen two pieces of silk, she said, " Will you do me the favour 
 to send these to Kingsborough House, in order that my lady 
 may decide upon one of them ?" when in an instant the 
 colour left his cheeks, and he was seized with an universal 
 tremour. "They are both so very beautiful," continued 
 Eidele, without appearing to notice his embarrassment, " that I 
 really do not know which to choose ; Lady Felicia must there- 
 fore decide for herself. Will you be so obliging as to send 
 them about four ?" 
 
 "I will" replied Alfred tremulously "I will do so, with 
 pleasure." 
 
 Eidele rose, and having bowed gracefully to Alfred, left ; she 
 also bowed, as she passed, to Mr. Wilkins ! which was some- 
 thing ! it caused him to feel a little better : he accepted it 
 
48 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 as a slight composition, but by no means in full of all 
 demands. 
 
 "Have you not effected a sale?" he inquired, as Alfred 
 stood and looked as if bewildered. 
 
 "Not yet," replied Alfred, confusedly. " Not yet. Not 
 yet no not yet. Just let me have a word with you," he 
 added, and Mr. Wilkins as a natural matter of courtesy 
 approached him. " Now," resumed Alfred, " these two pieces 
 are to be sent, about four o'clock, to Kingsborough House, for" 
 
 " Kingsborough House!" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, "Kings- 
 borough House ! "What, the house of the Marquis of Kings- 
 borough ?" 
 
 " Yes, in order that Lady Felicia " 
 
 " Give me your hand," cried Mr. Wilkins, in a state of wild 
 rapture. " Give me your hand. "Why this accounts for all ! 
 That conduct that marvellous conduct which I considered 
 incomprehensible, can now be distinctly understood ! I see 
 it all ! The lady passed me in that extraordinary fashion, 
 because, and solely because, she had been deputed to address 
 you ; and that which I painfully ascribed to contempt, was but 
 an act of strict obedience to orders. I congratulate you 
 fervently ! I give you joy with all my heart ! But now," he 
 added, with an effort to subdue his enthusiasm, " let's look at 
 the matter serenely ; don't let's make a mess of it now. You 
 have to go at four o'clock " 
 
 " They have to be sent at four o'clock !" 
 
 " Sent ! What do you mean ? You'll go yourself, of course." 
 
 " No, she said, send them, not 'bring them." 
 
 " And have you eaten so many tons of country pudding 
 that you can't understand that when she said send, she meant 
 bring ? Why did that lady pass me to get to you ? Was it 
 because she conceived that I wasn't old enough, or fat enough, 
 or tall enough, to attend to her? or because she had been 
 instructed distinctly instructed to address you ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 49 
 
 " She might have been instructed to address me as a matter 
 of courtesy," said Alfred, " but does it therefore follow, that 
 she wished me to attend there myself?" 
 
 " Why, what in the name of all the pantheonic gods, is the 
 matter with you, Mr. Murray ? There has been during the last 
 few days some spider spinning his web in your brain, to catch 
 your brightest intellects for slaughter. You have not been 
 yourself; you've been nothing like yourself: what is the 
 meaning of this mighty change ? In spirit and appearance 
 you have been altered for days, and now you are going to 
 allow the same influence to annihilate your judgment ! You 
 have one of the finest chances man ever yet had no man 
 under Heaven ever had a finer chance and yet you refuse to 
 seize it : you have been sent for absolutely sent for to have 
 the foundation of your fortune laid, and yet you hesitate to 
 go! Is there a man out of St. Luke's like you? G-o by 
 all means ; don't hesitate a moment : go boldly ; go with all 
 the confidence of a man. What have you to fear ? Nothing ; 
 but all to hope for. Never allow a chance like this to slip ! It 
 is manifest it must be, even to you, manifest that that 
 young lady whoever she is would not have come here if she 
 hadn't been sent. Is it likely that she would is it anything 
 like likely does it appear to you to be anything like likely ?" 
 - " No," replied Alfred, " doubtless she was sent !" 
 
 " And by whom ? that's the point ! by whom was she 
 sent ?" 
 
 " By Lady Felicia, of course !" 
 
 " Very well then ! Of course she was sent by Lady Felicia ; 
 but why ? for what purpoes ?" 
 
 " To look at the silks !" 
 
 " Save you no soul?" inquired Mr. Wilkins, as if doubtful 
 whether Alfred really had one or not. " Of course she was 
 sent to look at the silks ostensibly ! but what was the latent 
 object? Why, to get you up there! Lady Felicia says in 
 
 E 
 
50 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 effect of course I don't pretend for one moment to give the 
 very words, but she says in effect to this young lady she 
 didn't say who she was, did she ?" 
 
 "No," replied Alfred, "but as she said, 'my lady,' I 
 thought she might be Lady Felicia's maid !" 
 
 " Very likely : come that isn't half a bad guess ; but no 
 matter : she says to her, I know the young man whom you saw 
 in that shop the other day" 
 
 " Whom she saw ?" 
 
 " Yes ! she was here about three days ago ; I waited upon 
 her, and I'll bet ten to one she was sent then ; for, now I 
 recollect, she kept her eyes almost constantly upon you. 
 Well ! she says to her, ' I know that young man she might 
 say that gentleman, but that's of no importance I knew him 
 when he was but a child ; the late Marquis was his godfather, 
 consequently, he is spiritually related to our family, and, 
 therefore, I should like to have a little conversation with him, 
 in order to ascertain how his interests can best be promoted ; 
 but as I find that I cannot converse with him in the shop, 
 without being interrupted, or exciting the notice of those 
 around, I have been thinking, that I had better have him 
 here, that he may calmly explain his present views, and thus 
 enable me to exalt his future prospects. Gro, therefore, and 
 look at some silks go straight up to him ; don't let any other 
 soul attend to you : if he should be engaged, say you'll wait 
 and when you have selected two or three pieces, tell him that 
 you wish to have them sent for me to choose from. Don't 
 ask him to come himself, because that would appear to be 
 somewhat too pointed : tell him to send them ; he's certain 
 to bring them, and thus the object I have in view will be 
 attained, as a perfectly natural matter, of course.' Now, what 
 do you think of that ? Isn't it feasible ?" 
 
 " Certainly, much of it appears to be so !" replied Alfred. 
 
 " It is so ! its all so ! mark my words, its neither more 
 
LADY FELICIA. 51 
 
 nor less than the true state of the case. She wants to give 
 you an opportunity of stating your views, and soliciting her 
 interest with the Marquis, and if you fail to embrace so 
 glorious an opportunity, I shall begin to think that you really 
 are about the most verdant goose in creation. G-o at once : go 
 with all the confidence in nature. Heaven and earth ! never 
 allow a chance like this to slip ! There, say no more about it : the 
 idea is too monstrous to be dwelt upon. G-o, sir, and be 
 assured of this, that I wish you warmly and most sincerely 
 wish you all the success you can wish yourself." 
 
 This Alfred believed; and, certainly, some of the observa- 
 tions of Mr. Wilkins appeared to be perfectly correct. It 
 seemed clear that Felicia had sent this young lady, and that, 
 with the view of enabling him to make his appearance at 
 Kingsborough House ; and, although it was not so clear that 
 her object was that which Mr. Wilkins had suggested, it was 
 manifest that she had some object, the nature of which he 
 panted to ascertain, and yet he felt disinclined to go ! 
 
 The time drew near ; and Mr. Wilkins, perceiving that 
 Alfred was still irresolute, pulled out his watch, and said, 
 " JSTow, Mr. Murray: punctuality's the life and soul of business ; 
 time's getting on/' 
 
 " Do you still think," said Alfred, " that Lady Felicia really 
 wished me to go ?" 
 
 " Most decidedly !" replied Mr. Wilkins. " Nothing can 
 be more abundantly plain. But, even if she did not, what 
 possible objection can you have to attend to her ? But she 
 did ! she sent that lady expressly for the purpose of inducing 
 you to go ! therefore, say no more about it : go boldly, and 
 at once." 
 
 Well! if Alfred could have invented any excuse in the 
 slightest degree calculated to satisfy Mr. Wilkins, he would 
 not have gone even then ; but as he found it impossible to 
 do this, and as he did not wish to make it appear that he 
 
 E 2 
 
52 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 had not sufficient courage to go, he resolutely made up his 
 mind at once, and with a feeling of actual desperation started. 
 
 Fidele, on her return to Lady Felicia not wishing to 
 attach any importance to the fact of Alfred having been 
 tremulous merely stated, without reference to. his embarrass- 
 ment, that she had selected the silts, and requested them 
 to be brought at four o'clock. This, however, failed to satisfy 
 Felicia : she wished to know how he looked, how he appeared 
 to feel, and how he acted; to which Fidele briefly replied, 
 that like most other inexperienced persons, he appeared to 
 be "exceedingly diffident." 
 
 Anxiously, and with a throbbing heart, did Felicia watch 
 for his arrival, and when he had arrived, she felt scarcely 
 equal to the task of meeting him. Summoning, however, all 
 the courage at her command, she desired the servant, by 
 whom he had been announced, to show him up, and requested 
 Fidele to assist her in making the purchase, which Fidele 
 at once discovered to be necessary, seeing that he had no 
 sooner entered the room, than Felicia became quite unable 
 to speak. 
 
 " Oh : you have brought the silks," said Fidele, and Alfred 
 mechanically opened the parcel. " These are the two," she 
 added, turning to Felicia. " They are both very beautiful, 
 are they not ? 
 
 " They are, n replied Felicia, faintly. " Which do you 
 prefer?' 1 
 
 " Upon my word, I don't know." 
 
 "Which style is considered the more fashionable?" in- 
 quired Felicia, turning to Alfred, whose eyes, having met 
 hers, instantly dropped. 
 
 " I really am unable to say," returned Alfred. 
 
 " Which do you think is the more quiet ?" 
 
 Alfred again ventured to raise his eyes and said, tremu- 
 lously, " I think this." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 53 
 
 " Exactly," said Felicia, making a strong effort to regain 
 her self-possession. " Then upon that I'll decide. Your 
 friends, I hope, are well, Mr. Murray ?" 
 
 " I thank you," replied Alfred, blushing deeply, " quite 
 well." 
 
 " I knew Mr. Murray," said Eelicia, addressing Eidele, 
 " when he was but a youth ! " 
 
 " Indeed !" said Eidele archly. 
 
 " Oh, I used to see him frequently when he was at school." 
 
 " You were, I hope, a good boy at school?" said Eidele, 
 with a playful expression. 
 
 " I was at least happy," returned Alfred, with a sigh. 
 
 " And are you not happy now ?" inquired Eelicia. 
 
 " I cannot expect to be so now. I thought of no social 
 distinctions then." 
 
 " Well/' interposed Eidele promptly, " it is, I believe, the 
 happiest time: but we must not be unhappy because we 
 cannot all be kings and queens." 
 
 " It is not, I apprehend, necessary to be either," suggested 
 Alfred, " in order to ensure happiness." 
 
 "Certainly not!" returned Eidele. "But," she added, 
 with the view of changing the subject, "there is, I presume, 
 quite sufficient here for a dress." 
 
 Alfred bowed, and Eidele paid him ; but he said no more ; 
 nor did Eelicia utter another word; she kept her eyes fixed 
 upon him earnestly until he had retired, when she sank 
 into a reverie, from which Eidele, perceiving that she had no 
 desire to be disturbed, did not disturb her. 
 
54 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE CONSULTATION. 
 
 DTJEING the absence of Alfred, Mr. Wilkins gave the reins 
 to his imagination, which took him at once to the Treasury, 
 leaped over a variety of lucrative appointments, flew to 
 Sudbury, where Alfred was elected without the slightest 
 opposition, brought him back to town, and went with him 
 into the House to see his friend take his seat, and to hear 
 him deliver his maiden speech, amidst thunders of applause, 
 which had scarcely subsided' when the flight of his steed 
 was checked by the Honourable Member's return to the 
 shop. 
 
 " Well," he exclaimed, rubbing his hands joyfully, " how 
 did you get on ? how did you get on ? All right ?" 
 
 " Yes," replied Alfred," I have sold one of the dresses." 
 
 " Sold one of the dresses ! Do I want to know about your 
 selling one of the dresses ! I'm all on fire to ascertain what 
 has been done to enable you to commence an illustrious 
 career, and you tell me that you have sold one of the dresses. 
 Of course you saw her ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, I saw her." 
 
 " Well ! and what did she say ?" 
 
 " Nothing on the subject to which you allude." 
 
 " Nothing ! But of course you said something ?" 
 ' " Not on that subject." 
 
 " No ! Heaven and earth ! why, what could you have been 
 about! Not a word? not a hint? not the ghost of an 
 allusion?" 
 
 " No. If even I had felt inclined " 
 
LA.DY FELICIA. 55 
 
 " If even you had felt inclined ! Did you not then feel 
 inclined?" 
 
 " I was about to say, that if I had felt inclined to do so I 
 had no opportunity." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " That lady was there." 
 
 "What a pity. That was awkward very awkward. But 
 was she there the whole of the time ?" 
 
 " Yes : she was there when I entered, and there she re- 
 mained." 
 
 " Then she ought to have known better : she ought to have 
 retired. But it's just like these ladies' maids blister them ! 
 they assume more than their mistresses, twenty to one, and 
 give themselves five hundred times as many airs." 
 
 "I don't Jcnoiv that she is the lady's maid," said Alfred. 
 
 "I'll bet ten to one of it!" rejoined Mr. Wilkins. "It's 
 just how they act ! Still I think you might have got in a word 
 or two somehow : you might have introduced the small end of 
 the wedge!" 
 
 " That I think I have done." 
 
 "Bravo! Bravo!" 
 
 " I am not quite sure ; but I think that I have as you 
 say introduced the small end of the wedge." 
 
 " And yet you told me that nothing had been said on the 
 subject!" 
 
 " Nor was there on the subject to which you referred. That 
 which Jwish to open, and to which I think the wedge has been 
 slightly applied, is one of far more importance than that which 
 you contemplate." 
 
 "Indeed!" cried Mr. Wilkins, with an expression of wonder. 
 "One of far more importance ! What what do you mean to 
 say ? more important ? more important than why, what on 
 earth is it ? more important ?" 
 
 " Aye ! Ear more important." 
 
56 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, but what can it be ?" 
 
 " You shall know all," said Alfred, " by and bye ; we can't 
 conveniently enter into the whole matter here. "When we 
 close we'll go to the house we went to the other evening, and 
 then I'll explain all. I wish to consult you: I want your 
 advice. The subject is one of extreme delicacy, but I feel that 
 in you I may confide." 
 
 " My dear boy, ' Honour calls me to the field' when a man 
 reposes confidence in me. But just by the way of keeping 
 me off" the rack of conjecture can't you give me a notion the 
 spectre of a hint the merest and most impalpable apparition 
 of an idea of what it is, now ?" 
 
 11 1 could" replied Alfred with a smile ; " but if I were to do 
 so without explaining all the circumstances, you would, I am 
 sure, be unable to appreciate its importance. It had therefore 
 much better be deferred until the evening : we shall then be 
 able to enter into the whole matter calmly, and without the 
 chance of being interrupted." 
 
 "Well ! Mr. Wilkins could not, he conceived, with anything 
 bearing the semblance of courtesy, press the point although 
 he felt, and strongly too, that the slightest intimation would 
 have been a relief. But what on earth could it possibly be ? 
 Something more important than that which he had contem- 
 plated ! Grods ! had he not in imagination planted him in the 
 Treasury ? had he not taken him from the Treasury, to make 
 him a Member of Parliament ? and was he not about to bring 
 him back to the Treasury in order to make him First Lord ? 
 More important ! To what heights did ambition prompt men 
 to aspire ! Did he want to be a duke ? more important ! 
 Well! he supposed that he should know all about it in the 
 evening ; but when he looked at the position of the First Lord 
 of the Treasury ; when he looked at the salary, the patronage, 
 and the power attached to that distinguished position, he really 
 thought it was high enough for any man to aim at. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 57 
 
 Being utterly unable to guess the point of Alfred's ambition, 
 and having a high opinion of his own power to control his 
 thoughts, Mr. Wilkiiis at once set himself to work, with the 
 view of banishing suspense; and although he was not in this 
 particularly successful, it, in some degree, relieved him until it 
 was time to close, when he and his friend repaired to the tavern. 
 
 " Now," said Alfred, having ordered a pint of wine, " in the 
 first place let it be distinctly understood, that whatever may 
 pass between us this evening, must be held to be strictly con- 
 fidential." 
 
 " Most decidedly," returned Mr. Wilkins, " here's my hand 
 and here's my heart." 
 
 " Very good. Now during the last few days you have 
 observed that my spirits have been somewhat depressed." 
 
 " I have not only observed it, I have told you of it." 
 
 " You have, and you shall now know the cause. When 
 Lady Felicia first called I thought her manners most extra- 
 ordinary ; she looked at me with an expression of curiosity the 
 most intense, and seemed to listen with rapture to every syllable 
 I uttered. This, of course, I thought strange ! inexplicable ! 
 but what appeared to me to be more extraordinary still, 
 was the fact of her inspiring me with feelings which I never 
 experienced before. "Well ! she left ; but her vision remained ; 
 and upon that delightful vision I dwelt, giving free scope 
 to fancy, which being thus encouraged, created scenes of 
 enchantment which need not be described. The next day, 
 however, her expression of curiosity was accounted for; she 
 had felt that she had seen me before, but was then quite unable 
 to recollect where. So far, therefore, the peculiar intensity 
 with which she regarded me the preceding day was explained ! 
 Still there was something which I could not fathom some 
 mystery which I could not solve : the feelings with which she 
 had inspired me gained strength, and forced upon me the 
 conviction that I loved her." 
 
58 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 "Well!" said Mr. Wilkins, having listened with great 
 attention, " all you have to do is, to make her believe it. Do 
 that, and you'll make yourself as safe as the bank. She'll do 
 anything on earth for you then ; she'll promote your interests 
 by all the means in her power, and never know when she's 
 done enough. If you want a woman to serve you, make her 
 believe that you love her. It's about the best game on the 
 board. "Women like to be loved : it gratifies their vanity ; it 
 enhances their own estimate of the influence they possess, and 
 makes them feel as well again. There can't be a safer specula- 
 tion. It's perfectly sure to succeed. Make her believe that you 
 love her no matter whether you do or do not and whatever 
 you want through her you'll have, if it be within the pale of 
 possibility. It's a good scheme of yours ; I like it much : it 
 proves that you know a thing or two ; and now that we have 
 settled this point, let's go to that which you say is far more 
 important than any which I have at present conceived. Now 
 what is it ?" 
 
 " You have taken such a strange view of the subject," said 
 Alfred, " that I scarcely know how to proceed. When I told 
 you that I loved lady Felicia, I thought you would have under- 
 stood all ; instead of which you regard it merely as the means 
 of inducing her to promote my interests in the manner you 
 have suggested." 
 
 " Well ! and it will be the means of inducing her to do so, if 
 you can but induce her to lelieve that you love her !" 
 
 " But I have no thought of inducing her to promote my 
 interests in the way you contemplate ! In loving her, I have 
 a higher object in view !" 
 
 " But when you talk of loving her, you don't mean to say, I 
 suppose, that you love her as you would one whom you thought 
 of making your wife ?" 
 
 "I do, indeed," replied Alfred, with a sigh. 
 
 " Pooh, pooh, pooh ! Mr. Murray : pooh, pooh, pooh ! The 
 
LADY FELICIA. 59 
 
 thing's absurd ! Ton mustn't dream of anything half so irra- 
 tional. What ! Do you mean to say that you think of making 
 Tier your wife ?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " "What, the Lady Felicia ! the daughter of the Marquis of 
 Kingsborough ! one of the first peers of the realm !" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then let me advise you, as a friend, not to utter a syllable 
 on the subject to any other soul upon earth ! "Why you 
 perfectly astonish me ! You! a man of sense and education 
 you, who are capable of reasoning with a philosopher you 
 entertain an idea so preposterous !" 
 
 "Well," said Alfred, calmly; "it may appear to be pre- 
 posterous nay, it may be so in reality still it is an idea 
 which I do entertain, whether its realisation be practicable 
 or not." 
 
 "Practicable!" echoed Mr. Wilkins, "Practicable! Don't 
 dream of it ! don't allow yourself even to dream, of it ! You 
 might just as well have fallen in love with one of the daughters 
 of the Emperor of China. It's all very well to love her to 
 love her as I love her that is to say, as I love every beautiful 
 woman but to love her with the view of making her your wife, 
 is far beyond the scope of consistency." 
 
 " But suppose she loves me ?'' suggested Alfred. 
 
 " To suppose that," returned Mr. Wilkins, " were to suppose 
 what I should call a social impossibility." 
 
 " Why so ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 " Oh ! I don't at all allude to your personal appearance 
 which is perfectly unexceptionable ; nor do I speak with 
 reference to your intellectual attributes, which are, in my 
 judgment, of a high order; but I really don't believe that 
 these aristocratic creatures ever love ! Coronets, wealth, and 
 magnificence are the objects of their affection not men ! 
 What are men to them without rank ?" 
 
60 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, but suppose I put it hypothetically suppose 
 that she is au exception to the rule assuming it to be the 
 rule and that, being an exception, she reallv loves me?" 
 
 " "Well, we'll take it so, if you like ; but even in that case, 
 you'd be as far off as ever ! She'd never be allowed to form 
 an alliance with you ! She might love you fondly passion- 
 ately but would they care a straw about that ? If she wept, 
 she might weep what care they for tears ? If she broke 
 her heart, she might break her heart what do they care 
 about hearts ? Had she five hundred hearts, full of love, and 
 all pure, they'd infinitely rather the whole of them were 
 broken, than see her give her hand to a man like you." 
 
 " But suppose she felt perfectly convinced that by such 
 a marriage only could her happiness be secured." 
 
 " Why, they'd say she knew nothing about it. They 
 wouldn't let her know. l What,' the Marquis would say, 
 for one, ' would you disgrace the whole family ? Happiness ! 
 Look for a coronet, girl ! one which will reflect additional 
 lustre upon our race. Love ! fiddlesticks ! don't talk to me 
 about love ; if you do, I'll lock you up in a lunatic asylum !" 
 
 " Yery good: I anticipate all this," said Alfred; "but 
 suppose she were to act independently of all considerations 
 having reference to her family ?" 
 
 " Is it conceivable that, in a case of this description, she 
 would do so ? That's the point. Is it conceivable that she 
 would leave a princely home, surrounded by all the wealth, 
 rank, splendour, and magnificence, for which the British 
 Peerage is peculiarly distinguished that she would give up 
 the whole of her brilliant connections, abandon the unrivalled 
 glories of the court, and repudiate all those scenes of enchant- 
 ment which ravish every feeling, and dazzle every sense is it, 
 I ask, conceivable that she would make all these gorgeous 
 sacrifices, merely for the purpose of living with you ?" 
 
 " She might, it is not impossible! I do not say that 
 
LADY FELICIA. 61 
 
 she would ; but she might do so ; and if she did, what 
 then/' 
 
 " My theory of the stars is this, that every star is a separate 
 world ; ? and whenever I see a star shoot that is, whenever 
 I see it attracted from its sphere by another star I say, 
 ' There goes the destruction of both.' Do you understand ? 
 Very well, then ! I hold this to be an analogous case. If 
 she were to shoot if she were to be attracted by you from 
 her own sphere that is, the sphere to which she has always 
 been accustomed I should say the same thing : I say, ' There 
 goes the destruction of both P " 
 
 " But, why should it be so ?" 
 
 " You marry. Yery good. One of her friends calls you 
 out ; he shoots you through the head, and she dies broken 
 hearted. That's about the quickest way to settle the matter. 
 Eut, suppose he did not do so suppose you were both 
 allowed to live could you ever be happy ? Could you be 
 happy if she were not ? and is it likely that she would be 
 happy, deprived as she would necessarily be of those luxuries 
 by which she has ever been surrounded ? Say that the 
 luxuries to which I refer have a tendency to create a distaste 
 to cloy, to pall upon those who have them what of that ? 
 It is when they can't get them they feel their loss ! then 
 it is that their appetite returns, and that too considerably 
 keener than ever. But we are talking now precisely as if she 
 loved you, and that with sufficient desperation to make all 
 these sacrifices for you. You have, I suppose, no grounds for 
 believing that she is in so frantic a state of mind have 
 you?" 
 
 " I don't believe that she is particularly frantic," replied 
 Alfred ; " but I do believe that I am not indifferent to her." 
 
 " Indifferent ! No ! It would be, indeed, strange if you 
 were ! She knew you when you were a child : her grandfather 
 was your godfather ; and as you have done nothing to forfeit 
 
62 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 her respect, she respects you. But respect and love are 
 opposite feelings ! they are, indeed, so opposed that they 
 cannot co-exist ! you must not, therefore, take it into your 
 head, that because she respects you she loves you. If she 
 were to give you any reason for believing that she absolutely 
 loves you, it would be a different thing, but" 
 
 " She has given me reason to believe that she does. I feel 
 convinced that she does."^ 
 
 " Yery good ! So you may ! But what has induced that 
 conviction ?" 
 
 " Her general manner towards me. Her eyes tell me that 
 she loves me, and^her smiles confirm the fact." 
 
 " But we must not imagine that every girl who looks at us, 
 and smiles, is in love !" 
 
 " I do not imagine anything so absurd ; but there are eyes 
 and smiles which are eloquent indeed ! Besides, why should 
 she feel so embarrassed ? To-day, when I went, she could 
 scarcely speak, and when she did, every word was faint and 
 tremulous." 
 
 " She might not have been well ! That might have been the 
 cause of her not coming herself 1 But look here, my dear 
 fellow ; the human imagination is a vagabondizing attribute ; 
 there's no stability about the human imagination ; it's here, 
 there, and everywhere, supplying men with reasons for 
 believing whatever they wish to believe. It has been at work 
 in this case; it has pandered to your wishes; it has veiled 
 reality, and caused you to ascribe every look, word, and action 
 to love. That's it ! But if even it were not so ; if even 
 she did in reality love you the thing would be hopeless ; 
 she'd never make the sacrifices we have contemplated ; and 
 as to your love for her, you'd be better without it than 
 with it. Stick to her by all means stick to her with 
 the view of inducing her to promote your advancement ; but 
 don't allow love and his legions to annoy you; if you do, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 63 
 
 mark my words, you'll be lost. You've a good chance now, 
 a capital chance, a chance of a million, a glorious chance; 
 embrace that ; and make the most of it ! leave no stone 
 unturned, and who knows ? you might in a few years get up 
 to such a pitch, that the world wouldn't know you to be the 
 same man. Make your way! there's nothing like it why 
 not work up to the peerage itself? If you were to do so, 
 that would be the time to talk about loving Lady Felicia." 
 
 " I wish that she had no title." 
 
 " No doubt. But she has that's the point it's of no use 
 to wish, we must take things as we find them. I know a 
 girl a beautiful girl I only wish that she had ten thousand 
 pounds ; I'd marry her to-morrow if she had, but she hasn't, 
 and therefore we are as we are." 
 
 " I should not care for money in that case," said Alfred. 
 
 "Ah," said Mr. Wilkins, with a smile of great significance, 
 " when you are about ten years older you'll be a better judge of 
 its value. But come," he added, " let's have a chop. "We shall 
 talk about love till it's time to go." 
 
 The chops were ordered ; and as Alfred, who was not in high 
 spirits made no attempt to re-open the subject, Mr. Wilkins 
 felt that it had been quite exhausted. He therefore started 
 another topic, on which he had it all his own way, and when 
 they had supped and drunk a glass of grog, they with opposite 
 feelings and thoughts returned home. 
 
64 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 THE AMBASSADEESS. 
 
 ANTIOUS to divert her thoughts from Alfred, Felicia that 
 evening went to a ball. It was one of the most brilliant of the 
 season, and if countenances faithfully portrayed real feelings, 
 all present must have experienced the delights of Elysium. 
 Even Felicia looked happy the joyous glance and conventional 
 smile having -nothing whatever to do with the heart but she 
 felt indeed wretched. She danced, she conversed, she joined 
 the promenade, she did all in her power to enter into the spirit 
 of the brilliant scene around her society having enjoined a 
 look of delight even though the heart bleed but the absence 
 of one threw a gloom over all. She looked calmly round ; she 
 resolved on forming an impartial judgment ; she would not be 
 prejudiced in his favour. Well, was there in all that gorgeous 
 assembly one at all comparable with him ? No ; not one : to 
 her they appeared as so many automata, ticketed with titles, 
 and dressed up for show. Her sisters, Florence and Augusta, 
 were in their glory. They took but slight notice of her : nor 
 did the Marquis trouble himself at all about her ; her principal 
 companion throughout the evening was Alice Hardwicke, a fine 
 high-spirited, light-hearted girl, who having no fortune, was not 
 much annoyed by those who dealt in undying affection, and 
 with her she chiefly conversed until ordered by her sisters to 
 accompany them home. 
 
 Florence felt sure that she had made a conquest: it was 
 perfectly impossible, in her judgment, for the young Earl of 
 Elfin to resist her last coup, and forty thousand a year was not 
 
LADY FELICIA. 65 
 
 despicable ; while Augusta, although she had " secured" Lord 
 Loraine, had heard that his estates were dreadfully encumbered, 
 and hence resolved on ascertaining the truth or falsehood of 
 the statement before she took any farther steps. 
 
 On these interesting " affairs of the heart" they conversed 
 with each other until they reached home ; but not a word was 
 addressed to Felicia. Being neglected, she was silent until she 
 retired to her room, when she gave free vent to her tears. 
 
 " What has happened ? " inquired Fidele, anxiously. " What 
 has occurred to distress you thus you are not well?" 
 
 "I am not happy," replied Felicia. 
 
 " Nothing, I hope, occurred at the ball to annoy you ?" 
 
 " No, Fidele no." 
 
 " Was it very magnificent ?" 
 
 " Yes ; but I never felt more lonely." 
 
 " Indeed ! Did you not dance ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; but I felt as if in solitude, Fidele, notwith- 
 standing. I have no taste for such entertainments: they 
 impart no pleasure to me now: I have a contempt for the 
 brilliant surface when I look at the hypocrisy and heart- 
 lessness beneath. To the heartless such scenes may be 
 pleasing as evil deeds are to the evil disposed ; but to those 
 who seek pure and tranquil happiness they are abhorrent." 
 
 " But why should this have thus distressed you ? You 
 knew it all before!" 
 
 " I never felt it so deeply before ! Oh, Fidele," she added 
 with a sigh, " if I could but exchange this dazzling sphere for 
 one of peace and tranquil joy, I should be indeed the happiest 
 of the happy. Ah, me !" 
 
 Fidele understood all this perfectly; but not a syllable 
 having reference to the real cause escaped her : she did what 
 was necessary almost in silence, and, having done so, retired 
 for the night. 
 
 In the morning Felicia felt more wretched than ever. She 
 
DO LADY FELICIA. 
 
 had had a dream a dream in which the purest love and the 
 most heartless tyranny were mingled a dream in which it 
 appeared that she and Alfred were united ; that their union 
 had been early blessed with several sweet children, and that 
 they lived most happily in a delightful little cottage, when 
 the Marquis came, purchased the estate on which it stood, 
 and immediately razed it to the ground. 
 
 This, although but a dream, had a painful effect ; she viewed 
 it as the harbinger of oppression, and dwelt upon it bitterly, 
 though silently, until her friend, Alice Hardwicke, was 
 announced. 
 
 Alice Hardwicke ! Alice ! Should she reveal the secret 
 to her ? Would it be safe ? Had she sufficient stability to 
 conceal it ? "Was she not too light-hearted ? somewhat too 
 much of a rattle ? She had not time to answer these questions 
 before Alice appeared. 
 
 " I am delighted to see you," said Felicia, as they embraced. 
 " This is indeed kind." 
 
 "I told you," said Alice, with a playful expression, "that 
 I would call and have five minutes' chat. Well! how did 
 you^enjoy yourself last evening?" 
 
 " JSot much," replied Felicia, " except, indeed, while I was 
 with you." 
 
 " Why that is the very compliment that I was about to 
 pay, and that with the most perfect sincerity; for with the 
 exception of the time I was with you, I did not enjoy myself 
 at all. That, however, is nothing unusual : I very very 
 seldom indeed derive much pleasure from assemblies of that 
 description : in fact, I don't believe that I really ought to go 
 to such assemblies at all ; nor would I go, were it not to smile 
 at the gilded wings of folly, and to notice how they flutter. 
 I have no business in the 'best' society I speak in a purely 
 mercantile sense I have really no business there, for it is but 
 a mart a marriage mart in which beauty is bartered for gold." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 67 
 
 " Are you not too severe ?" 
 
 " Not at all, my love ! I believe that you know that I am 
 not. What business have I there ? "What am I ? The 
 daughter of a general officer. Well ! but what am I not ? 
 An heiress. Should I not have more homage paid me were 
 I the daughter of a sweep with half a million ? Not that I 
 want their homage ! I know its value too well. But 
 were I a paragon of perfection were I celebrated above all 
 others for beauty, wit, intelligence, and sweetness of dispo- 
 sition I should stand no chance in this, the 'best' society, 
 with an idiotic girl worth two or three hundred thousand 
 pounds." 
 
 " I believe that you are correct," said Felicia. " Wealth is, 
 indeed, the great idol." 
 
 " And the only one, I fear, sincerely worshipped. Look at 
 that Julia Lollard, for example. There's a fright ! Can any 
 one be more tasteless or inelegant ? Did you ever notice her 
 eyes ? I never beheld so inveterate a cast. It is really quite 
 an optical illusion. When she is looking at you she appears 
 to be directing her attention to something over her left 
 shoulder. She cannot help that, poor thing ; but what a host 
 of admirers she has ! And why ? She is the only child of 
 a man who is said to be worth a million! The men are, 
 however, in this respect, by no means the worst. Lady 
 Hawke last night was in a desperate pet ; I really thought 
 that she would have slapped her daughter Mora for being 
 civil to Lieutenant Wright. 'Have I not,' she exclaimed, 
 1 told you again and again that he is a beggar ! Let me see 
 no more of it, I desire. Devote your attention to Sir William 
 Elazon, Miss!' 'Well, ma, I do,' said the poor girl, 'but 
 he's so excessively odious!' 'Odious!' retorted the enraged 
 mamma, 'I've no patience with you! Look at his wealth!' 
 Thus, my dear, are girls bought and sold ; thus are their 
 natural feelings outraged. They are sacrificed at the shrine 
 
 F 2 
 
68 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 of splendour; and Cupid, once the King of Hearts, is now 
 but the Knave of Diamonds." 
 
 " Splendour," said Felicia, " instead of being essential to 
 happiness, appears to have a tendency to destroy it." 
 
 " It has that tendency when hearts are not left really free. 
 They may say what they please about the influence of 
 sp n endour, but freedom of choice is the only true source of 
 happiness. Look at Louisa Delisle and Charles Livingstone ; 
 they were devotedly attached. I do not believe that there 
 were ever two persons who loved each other more fervently ; 
 but their friends interfered; there was not sufficient wealth 
 on either side to enable them to live in splendour, and the 
 match was broken off. Their feelings were not consulted; 
 their hearts were not considered ; their happiness was not for 
 a moment studied. No ; the match was broken off: she was 
 married to a wealthy fool, he was tied to the daughter of a 
 rich banker, and now they are all living in a state of splendid 
 misery. Give me happiness sweet, enduring, tranquil 
 happiness ! I care not who has the splendour." 
 
 " But how is this tranquil happiness to be secured ?" 
 
 "I don't know mind! I don't pretend to know but I 
 believe that pure happiness is to be secured by being united to 
 him whom you love." 
 
 " "Were you ever in love, dear ?" 
 
 " What really in love absolutely in love with a man ? 
 Well, I never had that question put to me before. Do you 
 mean really truly sincerely in love ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 : " Well, upon my word, I don't know. I don't think that I 
 ever was ; but I'm sure that I should like to be : it must be so 
 sweet. Oh ! I should like it dearly ! I know that I should 
 it must be so nice, so delightful ! But then whom is one to 
 fall in love with ? It might be practicable if one were morally 
 blind ; but the idea of falling in love with ones eyes wide open, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 69 
 
 with any one of the set whom we meet, is absurd. They are 
 all so selfish so glaringly selfish we must look a little below 
 the sphere in which they move, if we think of inspiring pure 
 love." 
 
 " But would you be content to look below your own 
 sphere?" 
 
 "Most certainly! If I loved a gentleman he must be a 
 gentleman ; but that is of course understood, for if he had not 
 the feelings of a gentleman, I could'nt love him if, I say, 
 I loved a gentleman, and he loved me, and I felt that our 
 mutual happiness depended upon our marriage, I'd consent 
 without the slightest hesitation, if even we had but sufficient to 
 live in a quiet and moderate style." 
 
 " But would you not wish to return to the sphere in which 
 you had been in the habit of moving ?" 
 
 " "Why should I ? why should I wish to return to scenes 
 from which I derive no pleasure ? If I had a brilliant fortune ; 
 if I could go blazing with diamonds, and were thus in a position 
 to command the adoration of the satellites of wealth and splen- 
 dour, my vanity might prompt me to return ; but I should be 
 absolutely mad to wish to return to scenes in which I knew 
 that I should experience nothing but humiliation. How many 
 poor girls are, rendered unhappy by 'being doomed to move in 
 circles in which they are but ciphers! Give me, as I said 
 before, happiness, the great object proposed, the grand aim of 
 our existence, and I should no more think of returning to 
 scenes of heartlessness and hypocrisy, than I should think of 
 undervaluing the blessings of Heaven." 
 
 "Unfortunately," said Felicia, "this happiness is so vulner- 
 able : we are so susceptible of vagrant thoughts and ephemeral 
 feelings, that it is capable of being wounded by a breath. The 
 grand point is, could you, in a lower sphere, be happy?" 
 
 " Yes ! in a cottage ! with him whom I loved." 
 
 This Felicia held to be conclusive ; and as the subject was 
 
70 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 not pursued, Alice proceeded to give a graphic description of 
 what she termed, " a funny amour" between the Dowager 
 Lady Dewlap and an octogenarian Peer, which ended in his 
 running away with her ladyship's daughter; and having suc- 
 ceeded in painting their portraits to perfection, she left 
 Felicia, with many expressions of affectionate esteem. 
 
 For some time after the departure of Alice, Felicia dwelt 
 upon all that had passed, recapitulating emphatically every 
 point which had a tendency to strengthen the resolution she 
 had formed. But then, how was that resolution to be 
 carried into effect? In what manner was she to proceed? 
 She could not send for Alfred, in order to declare her views 
 and feelings : nor, if even she did send, would he declare his. 
 "What then was to be done ? That she loved him fervently, 
 she knew: that he loved her with corresponding warmth, 
 she believed ; and that their mutual happiness depended upon 
 their union, she had far less reason than ever to doubt. But 
 how was he to know all this ? Should she write to him ? 
 How could she write on such a subject ? What would he 
 think if she were to do so ? what could he think ? No : 
 she could not write : nor could she enter into any verbal 
 explanation. He ought to have known that she loved him : 
 she knew that he loved her ! But perhaps he did know and 
 omitted to declare himself, solely on account of that " social 
 distinction " to which he had referred. It might be so nay, 
 she felt that it was so ! but how was she to communicate to 
 him the fact that such a declaration would not be displeasing ? 
 He might linger in a state of unhappiness for years : he 
 might, indeed, never declare his love : he might pine and die 
 and all because she omitted to give him sufficient confidence 
 to declare that which she panted to hear him declare. How 
 how was she to act ? Perhaps Fidele could assist her : 
 perhaps she could suggest to her the means by which this 
 primary object could be with delicacy accomplished. In Fidele 
 
LADY FELICIA. 71 
 
 she must confide, and could with safety. She therefore rang 
 for Fidele, and while doing so made up her mind to reveal all. 
 
 " You rang, I believe," said Fidele, as she entered, and 
 found Felicia deep in thought. 
 
 " Oh yes," returned Felicia. " Come and sit down, Fidele ; 
 I wish to consult you on a subject of some importance." % 
 
 Fidele, who felt that she knew the nature of that subject, 
 approached, and sat beside her. 
 
 " Fidele," continued Felicia cautiously, " when Mr. Murray 
 stated yesterday that he could not expect to be so happy as 
 he was when at school, because he then thought of no ' social 
 distinctions,' what did you imagine he meant ?" 
 
 " Merely, I presume," replied Fidele, " that he considered 
 childhood to be the happiest period of existence." 
 
 " Because," added Felicia, " he thought of no ' social dis- 
 tinctions ' that is to say, because he could then freely love 
 without the fear of any ' social distinction' forming a barrier 
 tween him and the object of his love. "Was not that what he 
 meant?" 
 
 " It might have been." 
 
 " It was, Fidele ! I feel sure that it was : but I am not more 
 convinced of the fact, Fidele, than you are ! You know that 
 he loves me: you must have perceived it you did perceive 
 it ! for when he sighed you were anxious to change the sub- 
 ject on which you feared he might dwell. Fidele," she added, 
 with an expression of intensity, " I know that you have an 
 affectionate heart : I know that you are sincerely attached to 
 me, and would be, indeed, delighted to see me happy : I can, 
 therefore, appreciate the motive which has prompted you to 
 say what you have said, in order to induce me to repudiate the 
 idea of having Mm, in whom all my hopes of earthly happiness 
 are centred: you do not believe that my happiness depends 
 solely upon him : you do not believe that I cannot be happy 
 without him : you, on the contrary, fear, that the loss of that 
 
72 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 splendour to which I have been accustomed would cause me to 
 be wretched that I should long to return to that brilliant 
 sphere in which so many ignorantly aspire to move that, in 
 fact, I should be unable to reconcile myself to a life of pure 
 tranquillity : but be assured, Fidele, that a tranquil life is the 
 highest point of my ambition that the sacrifices of which you 
 have spoken would not be regarded as sacrifices by me and 
 that, if even I valued my social position, I would give it up 
 freely for him, so convinced do I feel, that I should but 
 exchange empty splendour for love, peace, and joy. Seek not, 
 therefore, to turn my heart from him, for that no power on 
 earth can do ! seek rather to aid me in accomplishing that, by 
 which alone my happiness can be secured." 
 
 " You know," said Fidele, " that I am entirely devoted to 
 you : you know that if I can promote your happiness, I will do 
 so most willingly : you also know that when I appeared to 
 speak in disparagement of him it was done at your request : do 
 not therefore be under the slightest apprehension that I shall 
 either say a word to wound your feelings, or urge anything in 
 opposition to your views : if you believe that the pursuit of the 
 course you contemplate will secure your happiness, hope will 
 prompt me to believe so too ; and if you think that I can in any 
 way promote the attainment of the object proposed, you may 
 command me." 
 
 " But I want you to see," said Felicia, " as clearly as I see, 
 that happiness will be the result. He loves me, and I love 
 him : he will be devoted to me, and I shall be devoted to him : 
 can anything but happiness spring from such an alliance? 
 Say that we shall not live in splendour: what then? Is 
 splendour essential to happiness ?" 
 
 " JS"o," replied Fidele, " we well know that it is not, but 
 splendour is not, I would submit, the only sacrifice that you 
 would have to make ; you would have to repudiate your family 
 and connections." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 73 
 
 " Say rather, Fidele, that they would repudiate me. Eut let 
 us look at that serious point calmly. I have a father whom I 
 am bound to honour ; but does my father really love me ? I 
 have never, I hope, been disobedient: I have never, to my 
 knowledge, done aught to offend him ; but is he an affectionate 
 father to me ? I leave you, Fidele," she added, bursting into 
 tears, " I leave you to answer these questions. And then my 
 sisters," she continued, " are they kind to me ? Have they 
 ever behaved to me like dear sisters ? Do they not seek to 
 humiliate me by all the means at their command, to tyrannize 
 over me and treat me like a slave ?" 
 
 " They are not so kind," replied Eidele, " as sisters generally 
 are ; but then their whole souls are centred in society." 
 
 " Yes, Fidele, and such society as that which I could, with 
 great pleasure, give up, "What is such society to me ? Its 
 charms are confined to the designing and the thoughtless ; 
 pride and insincerity form its chief characteristics, and therefore 
 I do not see that I should make any very great sacrifice were I 
 to exchange it for the purer and more tranquil society of him 
 whom I love. Do you not perceive, Fidele, that I must 
 sacrifice either the one or the other ? that I must either give 
 up this hollow-hearted society or sacrifice my happiness for 
 ever ? and can you for a moment hesitate to say which 
 sacrifice you think I ought to make ?" 
 
 "Happiness, certainly," returned Fidele, "is the one grand 
 object proposed. But how is Mr. Murray you will pardon 
 me for putting the question how is he situated I mean in a 
 pecuniary sense?" 
 
 " I know not," replied Felicia, " I do not believe that he is 
 rich, nor is it necessary to my happiness that he should be." 
 
 " JSTo ; that I understand ! Still it would not be so well if 
 he were desperately poor !" 
 
 " If he were, my feelings towards him would be unchanged ; 
 but he is not : besides, were it found to be necessary, I could 
 
74 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 always procure for him some lucrative appointment ! I know 
 all the Ministers well ; I was conversing with two of them last 
 evening, and I am sure that either of them would do anything 
 to oblige me." 
 
 "Would it not be as well," suggested Fidele, "to procure 
 for him some such appointment at once ?" 
 
 " I am not at all aware of its being necessary. If I find 
 that it is, it can very soon be done. But how am I to ascertain 
 whether it is or not ?" 
 
 " You might easily inquire if such an appointment would be 
 acceptable." 
 
 " But how ? Can I send for him in order to make this 
 inquiry ?" 
 
 " Well, I don't see how you can send for him expressly for 
 that purpose. It might, in the course of conversation, be 
 named." 
 
 " But how am I to have this conversation with him ?" 
 
 "I understand," said Eidele, smiling archly. "You mean 
 how are you to communicate to him the fact of your being 
 anxious to have some conversation with him." 
 
 "I'll not attempt to conceal it," said Felicia. "That is 
 what I mean. It is clear that the first step must be made, 
 either directly or indirectly, by me ; he has manifestly not 
 sufficient confidence to declare his love in the first instance ; 
 and it is, Fidele, on this very point that I am anxious for 
 your advice and assistance." 
 
 " You wish him, in the first place, to know that a declaration 
 of love would not be offensive ?" 
 
 " Exactly. Now do suggest something, there's a dear." 
 
 " Well ; it must, of course, be done indirectly : any direct 
 intimation of the kind would amount to a declaration on your 
 part. Have you any friend whom you could depute to 
 manage the matter delicately for you ?" 
 " I have one," replied Felicia. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 75 
 
 "Miss Hardwicke?" 
 
 " No : one in whom I repose the utmost confidence, and 
 upon whose devotion, judgment, and delicacy I can rely: I 
 mean you, Fidele ; you are the only friend in whom I can, 
 in such a case, with safety confide." 
 
 "I feel proud of the possession of your confidence," said 
 Fidele, " and will, conditionally, undertake the task." 
 
 " Conditionally ?" echoed Felicia. 
 
 " Tes ; I will not see you sacrificed without making an effort 
 to save you. If I find that he is unworthy of you ; if I find 
 that he does not really love you ; if I find that he is selfish 
 and unamiable, or discover anything tending to convince me 
 that unhappiness must be the result of your union, I will not 
 promote it; but if, on the other hand, I find that he loves 
 you, and that he is in reality the dear, kind, devoted soul I 
 trust that he is, there is nothing within the scope of my ability 
 that I will not do to bring your hopes to a happy issue." 
 
 "I accept your conditions," said Felicia, with a smile of 
 confidence. "I willingly subscribe to them all. Exercise 
 your judgment; study him well. I have not the slightest 
 fear of the result. "Will you see him to-day ?" 
 
 "Shall I?" 
 
 " Will it not be kind of you to do so ? Will you not 
 thereby relieve him ? Be assured that you will." 
 
 " Then I'U see him to-day." 
 
 " There's a dear, good girl. G-o at once. You must not 
 distinctly tell him. But I'll leave all to you. Use your own 
 discretion, and I shall be content." 
 
 Having no very exalted opinion of rank and splendour as 
 sources of pure happiness, and believing that Alfred loved 
 Felicia as fondly as Felicia loved him, Fidele had no disinclina- 
 tion to perform the task she had undertaken, and therefore 
 prepared for her departure at once. But how was she to 
 commence ? How was the subject to be opened ? This point 
 
76 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 now occupied all her thoughts, and continued to occupy them 
 until she reached the shop, when she decided upon letting 
 chance prescribe the commencement. 
 
 As she entered, Alfred who, without being able to tell why, 
 had been expecting her all the morning approached, and 
 bowing tremulously, handed a chair. She wished to see some 
 lawn, and Alfred showed her some lawn, while Mr. "Wilkins, 
 although engaged in completing one of his triumphs, watched 
 him anxiously. 
 
 "Do you feel more happy to-day, Mr. Murray?" inquired 
 Fidele, with a smile. 
 
 Alfred smiled too, but very slightly, and blushed as he 
 replied, "I spoke, I believe, comparatively." 
 
 " You did ; but Lady Felicia feared that you were not 
 happy at all!" 
 
 " Lady Felicia is very considerate," returned Alfred. " She 
 was when a child. She is also," he added with an earnest 
 expression, "very beautiful." 
 
 "And as amiable as she is beautiful," responded Fidele. 
 " She has a heart, Mr. Murray as pure a heart as ever beat 
 in human breast." 
 
 " I believe it," said Alfred, in tremulous accents, and with 
 an expression of the most intense earnestness. " She cannot 
 'but be pure." 
 
 "He who secures Lady Felicia, Mr. Murray, will be a 
 happy man." 
 
 " He must be, if indeed he be able to appreciate her good- 
 ness ; for she is good; I feel that she is." 
 
 " You do not overrate her. You were enamoured of her 
 once, were you not ?" 
 
 Alfred moved his head mournfully and sighed. 
 
 " I mean," added Fidele, "when you were a youth !" 
 
 "Ah," said Alfred, "as I yesterday observed, I thought of 
 no social distinctions then." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 77 
 
 " To what social distinctions do you allude ?" 
 
 " To those, for example, which exist between Lady "Felicia 
 and myself." 
 
 " Why need they distress you ?" 
 
 " I have of late held titles in abhorrence." 
 
 "You are not a republican, I hope, Mr. Murray ?" 
 
 " No," replied Alfred mournfully, "I am not a republican." 
 
 " Then why abhor titles ? You do not wish that Lady Felicia 
 had no title?" 
 
 " I do indeed." 
 
 "But why?" 
 
 " I dare not explain," 
 
 " You dare not explain ?" 
 
 " If I were to do so I should be deemed one of he most 
 presumptuous men upon earth." 
 
 " Why presumptuous ? What do you mean ?" 
 
 " If I were an Earl I should be justified in explaining." 
 
 " Then you wish you were an Earl ?" 
 
 " For that purpose I do." 
 
 "You are a very funny man," retorted Fidele, playfully. 
 " You hold titles in abhorrence, and yet you would have one. 
 But if Lady Felicia had no title, what possible difference could 
 it make to you ? I perceive," she added smiling, " you mean 
 that if she had no title, you would propose for her ! Well! none 
 could blame you! But why should the title make all this 
 difference ? Why not do so as it is ?" 
 
 " Because I would not incur her displeasure for the world." 
 
 "Are you quite sure that by pursuing such a course you 
 would incur her displeasure ?" 
 
 "I fear that I should; but if even I did not, with what 
 chance of success could /propose ? A proposal from me would 
 at least be laughed at/' 
 
 "You do not know Lady Felicia," said Fidele. "You do not 
 know the natural sweetness of her disposition. Such a proposal, 
 
78 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 sincerely made, would meet with neither ridicule nor dis- 
 pleasure." 
 
 " Do you really believe" said Alfred earnestly, " that I should 
 not offend her ?" 
 
 " I do : I feel convinced that you would not." 
 
 " If I were sure of that ! " 
 
 "Be sure of it!" 
 
 " It would be a great relief if I did but explain to her the 
 feelings with which she has inspired me : if she did but know 
 the nature of those feelings, I should regard it as some con- 
 solation!" 
 
 " Then let her know at once. You are not a stranger to her ! 
 You were friends in childhood playfellows ! let her know at 
 once." 
 
 " But how ?" inquired Alfred " how is this to be done ? By 
 letter?" 
 
 "Yes, write to her. You can mention my name, if you 
 please : you can even say that I encouraged you to write." 
 
 "You have imparted new life to me," said Alfred. "You 
 have filled my heart with joy ! But the Marquis !" 
 
 " It will be as well not to consider him at present. If you 
 conjure up all the difficulties at once, they may appear too 
 great to be surmounted. Your first task is to write to Lady 
 Felicia. Enclose the letter in an envelope addressed to me, 
 and I'll undertake to deliver it to her." 
 
 " I know not how to thank you," said AJfred. 
 
 " Then make no attempt." 
 
 " But I do thank you, with all my heart !" 
 
 "Here is my card. And now about this lawn. Your 
 people will wonder what we have been chatting about so long. 
 This piece, I think, will do." y 
 
 " ShaU I send it ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 " No : I'll take it with me ; I have a coach outside." 
 
 Alfred packed up the lawn with alacrity, and when he had 
 
LADY TELICIA. 79 
 
 handed her into the coach, he said, " Allow me again to thank 
 you." 
 
 "Mr. Murray," returned Eidele, ^1 feel interested in your 
 success, and will do what I can to promote it." 
 
 Alfred bowed, and the coach drove off. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Wilkins, before Alfred had fairly re-entered 
 the shop, " anything up ? anything new ? anything fresh ?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Alfred, " something of great importance." 
 
 "You don't mean that!" said Mr. "Wilkins, with a singular 
 expression of doubt mingled with amazement, "You don't 
 mean to say that you've got a brilliant berth to begin with ?" 
 
 "No," replied Alfred, "but I feel more than ever convinced 
 that Lady Eelicia loves me." 
 
 "It'll spoil it," said Mr. Wilkins, shaking his head doubt- 
 fully, " I fear it'll spoil it !" 
 
 "I hope not," said Alfred. 
 
 " Very good ! So do I ! But give me something substantial. 
 There's nothing substantial about love : there's nothing at all 
 palpable in it ! A lucrative berth is full of meaning ! it means 
 a position in society : it means a splendid establishment : it 
 means an interest in our glorious constitution : it means a full 
 purse, and a balance at the banker's ; but love means nothing 
 but sighs and simplicity : it is but a ghost in an armour of 
 muslin a mere bubble, blown in the sun, but to burst and 
 resolve itself into its original soapsuds. Love is all very well 
 after business ; but do business first. Gret a splendid appoint- 
 ment make that secure and then you may talk about love, if 
 you like. I wouldn't be pestered with it if I were you; 
 because it can come to nothing ! if you loved her like life, you 
 couldn't have her !" 
 
 " I am not sure of that," said Alfred calmly. 
 
 " Not sure ! but is it likely ?" 
 
 " I think that it is. I am at all events going to make an 
 effort to secure her. I shall write to her to-night and explain all." 
 
80 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " What ! explain how you love her, and that sort of thing ? 
 Do you mean that ?" 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then you'll cut the throat of the finest chance a young 
 man ever had of becoming illustrious. You write to her ; you 
 declare your passion ; you tell her she's the idol of your soul, 
 and so on ; well ! what will be the consequence ? This ! 
 eternal estrangement from that very hour ! You are sure to 
 offend her ! safe as death ! and if you do you'll for ever be 
 done." 
 
 "I have been led to believe," said Alfred, "that such a 
 declaration will not be displeasing !" 
 " Who has led you to believe it ?" 
 
 " The lady with whom I have been conversing. She, in fact, 
 advised me to write." 
 
 " Did you tell her then that you loved Lady Felicia ?" 
 " She appeared to me to know it !" 
 
 " Stop a bit. A thought strikes me. I think I see a move. 
 She advised you to write." 
 
 " Yes ; and told me that if I enclosed a letter to her, she 
 would deliver it : she, moreover, said that I might, if I pleased, 
 state that she had encouraged me to write." 
 
 " Very good," said Mr. Wilkins, with an expression of deep 
 thought. "Then I'll bet ten to one that she was sent by Lady 
 Eelicia, expressly, in order to induce you to write. Now look here. 
 To love Lady Felicia or Lady Anybody else hopelessly that 
 is to say, without half a chance of having her were to put 
 yourself into a state of moral perspiration to no purpose ; but 
 if she is so desperately enamoured of you, that she is willing to 
 make a mob of sacrifices for you, that's a shawl of another 
 pattern, and one too in which you'd be a natural idiot not to 
 speculate. When I, last night, set my face dead against love, 
 I'd no conception of its being at all likely that she *would 
 dream of making the sacrifices which she will have to make ; 
 
LADY FELICIA. 81 
 
 but now that it appears she has an idea of making these 
 sacrifices, love not only enters into the speculation, but 
 becomes absolutely the leading article. "Write, therefore, by 
 all means. I'll be bound to say she has a mint of money ; in 
 which case you'll not want an appointment at all. But mind 
 Jww you write : a great deal depends upon style ! I don't know 
 whether you are much of a hand at it ; but magnanimity and 
 poetic ardour are indispensable." 
 
 " I fear," said Alfred, " that my style of composition is not 
 particularly striking; but, perhaps you'll be kind enough to 
 assist me." 
 
 "By all means; certainly; I'll do so with pleasure! Til 
 think of a thing or two worth the money, and when we shut 
 up we'll go at it. But, heaven and earth! what a fortunate 
 dog ! Why, you have absolutely the luck of a legion. Well ! 
 fortune may be blind ; but she has a fine nose." 
 
 The composition of this letter now engrossed all their 
 thoughts; and when the time for closing had arrived, they 
 repaired to a private room, and went to work. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances Alfred was a somewhat rapid 
 writer, having commenced, he would go on without waiting to 
 enrich his sentences with new thoughts ; but so deeply 
 impressed was he with the importance of this epistle, that he 
 was for some time unable to write at all. The same, however, 
 cannot be said of Mr. Wilkins : he allowed nothing to check 
 his career : he went away triumphantly, and flourished with so 
 much enthusiasm, that three sides of foolscap were filled before 
 he permitted his pen to rest for a moment ! But when he 
 reviewed what he had written, he found that his task was by 
 no means complete : indeed, he made so many erasures and 
 interlineations, that but little of the original remained. This, 
 however, he held to be a matter of no importance : he resolved 
 at once on making a fair copy, and did so with consummate 
 tact. 
 
82 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Now," said he, having completed his task, "just let ine 
 know what you think of this. Here, I'll read it to you. Now : 
 are you ready ?" 
 
 " I'm all attention," replied Alfred ; and Mr. Wilkins, having 
 effected the clearance of his throat, read as follows : 
 
 " BRIGHT 
 
 " Vouchsafe to receive, with all that benignity which consti- 
 tutes one of the sweetest characteristics of your illustrious 
 nature, the fervent declaration of one whose devotion is 
 unrivalled, whose whole soul is centred in your smiles, and 
 who, to secure the supreme felicity of basking in your 
 effulgence, would make any sacrifice, however alarming. 
 
 " As Jacob loved E/achel or, to come down to our own 
 times as Borneo loved Juliet even so, delicious Pelicia, do 
 I love you. In infancy I loved you ; in manhood I adore you : 
 and had I the wealth of worlds to lay at your feet, I'd deposit 
 the lot, and revere you. 
 
 " Tou are my idol ! Without you, the world to ine would 
 be an incomprehensible chaos, Tou are my world my 
 atmosphere ! I must breathe that or die. 
 
 " "When, after seven or eight weary years, I beheld again 
 your incomparable loveliness ; when I heard the celestial 
 music of your voice saw the seraphic expression of your eyes, 
 and gazed upon the smile which danced divinely round your 
 angelic lips, I felt enchanted ! no tongue can express, no pen 
 can describe the ecstatic ardour of the love which you inspired ! 
 neither JEtna, nor Vesuvius, burns so fiercely as the flame 
 which your surpassing beauty kindled. I felt at once ravished 
 and racked ! ravished by the wonderful combination of 
 matchless elegance and unexampled loveliness, and racked by 
 the reflection that I was not a monarch. 
 
 " Oh ! that I were an Emperor, that I might place you on 
 the throne to be the envy of surrounding nations, and the 
 
LADY FELICIA. 83 
 
 glory of the world ! And yet, after all, what are rank and 
 magnificence, compared with the pure and devoted love of him 
 who, to secure to you unbounded joy, would sacrifice his life ? 
 What are pride, pomp, and splendour, when compared with 
 connubial felicity, and inexhaustible affection ! Life without 
 love, is the body without the soul, the crown without the head, 
 the violet without the perfume, the moon without the sun. 
 
 " Deign, therefore, dear one, to grant me an interview, in 
 order that I may pour out my soul in streams of rapture, and 
 lay my fond and faithful heart bare. Of that heart you are 
 supremely the mistress. You have the power to wither it utterly, 
 or to fill it with the purest conceivable joy. It throbs but for 
 you. Day and night it pants to develop itself to you. Do 
 not oh ! do not permit it to pant in vain. Believe it from 
 the tartaric acid of suspense : change its contents from anxiety 
 to rapture. One delicious hour dear divinity of earth will 
 be sufficient for its perfect analysis. Name that hour that 
 blessed hour and I will fly with the wings of immortal love to 
 register my vows of eternal fidelity. 
 
 " With a pulse beating quickly to urge on the time, and 
 a soul full of thrilling impatience to behold you, 
 
 " I have the honour, 
 
 " Sweet Lady Felicia, 
 " To be, 
 
 " With the highest admiration 
 " And esteem, 
 
 " Tour Ladyship's 
 
 " Most devoted Adorer, 
 
 "ALFRED MURRAY." 
 
 " There, sir ! " exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, with an air of triumph, 
 " What do you think of that ? That's the style of thing to 
 create a sensation ! Here, you see, you have the two grand 
 principles magnanimity and poetic ardour conspicuously 
 
 G2 
 
84 LADY TELICIA. 
 
 developed. You offer to sacrifice everything for her, from 
 the wealth of worlds even to your life, and having thus proved 
 yourself magnanimous enough for anything, you do the 
 ardent by comparing the flame of your love with the blazes 
 of Mina, and Vesuvius." 
 
 " I perceive ;" said Alfred " oh ! I perceive : but the flight 
 is, I fear, too high : I can't sustain it." 
 
 " Not sustain it ? "Why I could keep it up for a month !" 
 
 " No doubt of it ! But I should break down in a moment. 
 The effect of this would be to induce her to regard it as a 
 mere sample of what she might expect in the event of an 
 interview, when, in fact, as far as I am concerned, it is the 
 bulk ! I could add nothing ! You have said all that I could 
 say, and more than I should ever have thought of saying, 
 It is not only the title, but the book ; not only the text, but 
 the whole sermon ! My object has been, to say as little as 
 possible, in order that I may have the more to say when I 
 see her." 
 
 " Well, then, let's have a look at what you have said." 
 
 " Shall I read it ?" 
 
 "Aye, do. Now, then, let's have a specimen of your style." 
 
 Alfred took up the paper on which he had been writing, 
 and read his epistle, which ran briefly as follows : 
 
 "DEAE LADY FELICIA! 
 
 " Pardon ie for thus presuming to address you. Miss 
 Legrange knows why I have not done so before; and how 
 delighted I was to hear that if I did so, it might not be dis- 
 pleasing. 
 
 " I dare not venture to express to you the warmth of those 
 feelings of love and admiration with which you have inspired 
 me ; but believe me to be, 
 
 " Dear Lady Felicia, 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " ALFEED MUEBAY." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 85' 
 
 " Cold enough," said Mr. Wilkins " quite. And jet I 
 think I see the move. You mean this to be a mere intro- 
 duction?" 
 
 "Nothing more," replied Alfred. 
 
 " I understand : so that you can bring in my points when 
 you see her ! Well they might then have more effect. I 
 don't at all dislike the idea : on the contrary, I think it rather 
 good ! Tour first object is to obtain an interview ; and then 
 you can go in to any extent. Jsee! Well, it only affords 
 another proof that two heads are better than one." 
 
 Alfred was quite pleased that he had not offended Mr. 
 Wilkins; and when he had thanked him for the trouble he 
 had taken, he copied the note in his neatest hand, and sent 
 it enclosed to Fidele. 
 
$6 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 - 
 
 THE DISCOVEBY. 
 
 I 
 
 WHEN Fidele had explained the substance of all that occurred 
 during her interview with Alfred, Felicia expected an immediate 
 communication; and although the conviction expressed by 
 Fidele, that he was all that she could wish him to be, gave her 
 joy, she notwithstanding felt painfully anxious when she found 
 that no communication would arrive that night. 
 
 In the morning, however, the arrival of the note repaid her 
 for all the anxiety she had endured. Having received it from 
 Fidele, she passionately kissed it again and again, and then 
 proceeded to read it with rapture. 
 
 She had not been mistaken : he did indeed love her ! The 
 note was brief! very brief! she wished that it had not been 
 so brief! Had it extended to fifty or even a hundred and 
 fifty pages, it would not have been too long! She would 
 have read and rehearsed it diligently, until she had committed 
 every word of it to memory it could not have been too 
 long ! Still, brief as it was, it contained sufficient to prove 
 that he dearly loved her. 
 
 " But," she observed, having several times perused it, " he 
 does not solicit an interview!" 
 
 " No," said Fidele, " but that he seeks one is of course 
 understood!" 
 
 " How then are we now to proceed ?" 
 
 " That depends upon you," replied Eidele, with a smile. 
 " Do you feel inclined to grant him an interview ? or will you 
 reply to his note, and tell him that his temerity and presmnp- 
 
LADY FELICIA. 87 
 
 tion Lave amazed you ? The pursuit of the latter course would 
 only kill him !" 
 
 " Then, having no desire to compass his death, I decidedly pre- 
 fer the pursuit of the former. But how is it to be managed ?" 
 
 " Will you allow him to be my lover for a time ? I'll not 
 altogether deprive you of him ; but if you'll transfer him for an 
 hour or so, I'll invite him to come and see me." 
 
 " Excellent, Fidele," exclaimed Felicia, " And then" 
 
 " Why, when he has sufficiently made love to me, I must, I 
 suppose, quietly give him up to you." 
 
 " But when can this be done ?" 
 
 "You are anxious, I presume, to see him as soon as 
 possible ?" 
 
 " Need I confess that I am ?" 
 
 " Well, the Marquis goes down to the House about four, and 
 Lady Florence will be, of course, with Lady Augusta in the 
 Park : shall I appoint four, or half-past, to-day ?" 
 
 " Do, there's a dear girl." 
 
 " Yery good, then I'll write a note at once. We can then 
 arrange about his reception." 
 
 The following note was accordingly written : 
 
 " Miss Fidele Legrange presents her compliments to Mr. 
 Murray, and begs to inform him that she will be happy to see 
 him at Kingsborough House, about half-past four. 
 
 " Mr. Murray will, of course, inquire for Miss Legrange." 
 
 " Now, how shall I send it ?" inquired Fidele. 
 
 "Send one of the servants," replied Felicia " send James." 
 
 " Had it not be better sent by the post ?" 
 
 " As you please. But a note from you sent to a house of 
 business can excite no suspicion. Besides, if it be sent by the 
 post he may not receive it in time." 
 
 " Well, then, we'll send it by James," returned Fidele ; and 
 when James had been summoned, she despatched him at once. 
 
88 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 James, however, did not like this job ; there were, indeed, 
 very few jobs that he did like, but this he having lost at 
 dominoes three pints of half-and-half, and being in the midst 
 of a winning game when summoned was peculiarly unpleasant; 
 still, ascribing it in a philosophic spirit to fate, he proceeded 
 with the note, and having arrived at the shop, near the door of 
 which stood Mr. Wilkins, he delivered it into the hands of 
 that gentleman, with an air of the most superb hauteur, and 
 said in a pseudo-aristocratic drawl, "Ah, note or-r for Mr. 
 Morray." 
 
 "Does it require an answer ?" inquired Mr. "Wilkins. 
 " Don't know." 
 
 Mr. Wilkins handed the note to Alfred, who opened it 
 tremulously and turned pale as death and having read it, he 
 made an eifort to compose himself, and said, addressing James, 
 " Very good." 
 
 " Oh ! " said James, who had watched him with an expression 
 of curiosity, " no ansor oh ! Grood morning," he added with 
 a patronising air ; and throwing rigid dignity into his calves, he 
 by virtue of setting in motion the extensive machinery of 
 his hips very dexterously wriggled away. 
 
 Alfred then submitted the note to Mr. Wilkins, who had no 
 sooner read it than he exclaimed, " Bravo ! Excellent ! Out 
 and out ! Nothing could be better. Here you have what you 
 want in a style of extreme delicacy a positive appointment 
 but, as a precaution, ' Mr. Murray will, of course, inquire for 
 Miss Legrange.' You certainly are, without any exception, 
 the luckiest fellow alive. Half past four. Well, there are my 
 waistcoats ; wear which you please ; there are also my rings, 
 studs, and pins, take your choice: you are welcome to any- 
 thing I have." 
 
 " I thank you," said Alfred, " but I shall not require anything 
 of the sort. I shall go as I am." 
 
 " Gro as you are ! You must do no such thing ; you must go, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 89 
 
 sir, in style, and the higher the style you go in the better. 
 Your object is to excite admiration." 
 
 " But not of rings, waistcoats, and pins !" 
 
 " They are the legitimate germs of admiration. Being, as it 
 were, engrafted on the man, they become part and parcel of the 
 man, and attract admiration to the man. You don't attach 
 sufficient importance to dress, notwithstanding its importance 
 is held to be paramount. Its effect upon men is great ; but its 
 effect upon women is infinitely greater. We cannot dress too 
 well for them ; nor can they dress too well for us. They make 
 their remarks upon us, as well as we make our remarks upon 
 them; and as nothing attracts our admiration so much as a well- 
 dressed woman, so nothing attracts their admiration so much as 
 a well-dressed man. What do we think of women who dress in 
 a tasteless and slovenly manner? and what do you imagine 
 they think of men who display a corresponding want of taste 
 and attention ?" 
 
 " But," said Alfred, " there is a medium between dressing as 
 you say in a slovenly manner, and coming out in the highest 
 style of fashion!" 
 
 " True ; but he whose style is the most attractive, is, by virtue 
 of that style, the most attractive man. Society expects every 
 man to dress in the best style he can, and if he doesn't dress 
 well, it is, in the judgment of society, because he can't." 
 
 "But a man may dress well without being an exquisite! 
 Simplicity, as well in dress as in manners, forms the general 
 characteristic of a well-bred man." 
 
 " But simplicity will not tell with women : they want some- 
 thing more than simplicity. Why do they admire peacocks ?" 
 
 " Because they are beautiful !" 
 
 " They admire their plumage ; and as dress is our plumage, 
 the more attractive it is the more they admire us. Therefore 
 taie my advice, and put on something striking: that em- 
 broidered emerald waistcoat, for instance, looks slap !" 
 
90 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 "Well," said Alfred, with tlie view of compromising the 
 matter, for he would not have worn the waistcoat for fifty times 
 its value, " I'll try it on ; and as I shall not return to business 
 this evening, I'll go to the old place and wait till you come !" 
 
 This met the approbation of Mr. "Wilkins, who promised to 
 be there immediately after they had closed ; and when Alfred 
 had obtained leave of absence, he prepared for that interview of 
 which the result he felt certain would either secure or wither 
 his happiness for ever. 
 
 Now, when James had returned to the servant's hall, he 
 called the elite together, and having laughed for a few moments 
 merrily, with the view of preparing them to receive some 
 humorous communication, said " "Well ! of all the queer goes 
 in natural philosophy, the go I've jest witnessed and experi- 
 enced, is beyond all human comprehension, about the queerest 
 of the queer.'' 
 
 "WTiat is it? What is it?" inquired the elite eagerly. 
 " Oh ! do tell us what it is !" 
 
 " Then bring your comprehension to a focus," said James, 
 "and I'll expostulate. Miss Legrange says to me, says she, 
 'James' I knew in a moment she wanted me to go some- 
 where for her ' James,' says she, ' be kind enough to take 
 this,' and gives me a note, which I subsekently found was 
 addressed to a fellbwe named Morray. Well, I goes ; and 
 when the fellowe took the note, if we'd bin a going to 
 have a hailstorm of stars, if an earthquake had been about to 
 swallow him whole, if all the horrid ghosts in immortal creation 
 had come in a body to take him away and skin him, he couldn't 
 have trembled more. I never saw a fellowe so desperately 
 dished, or one which looked so dead and diabolically doubled 
 up. He was ready to sink into the earth ! His eyes seemed fit 
 to fall out of his head ; his joints was disordered, his blood left 
 his cheeks, and he looked altogether the image of one who had 
 jest bin and done some excruciating murder." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 91 
 
 "I wonder what he's bin up to," cried one of the elite. 
 
 "No good," said another, " I'll warrant." 
 
 " Did you ever see him before ?" inquired a third. 
 
 "Yos," replied James. "It's the fellowe which brought 
 some silks heor the other day. He's bin doing some dirty 
 swindle, doubtless. But to see the fellow shake ! That was 
 fun if you like ! You'd a split your sides a laughing. I 
 thought drop he must. Look here : here he stood : just look 
 here," he added, and gave a variety of ingenious imitations, 
 which, by exciting the mirth of his friends, enlivened the 
 sphere of their usefulness. 
 
 "When, therefore, Alfred arrived, and James had informed 
 them of the interesting fact, they all felt exceedingly anxious 
 to see him ; but as he had not only been announced to Fidele, 
 but shown into the room in which she sat working apparently 
 with praiseworthy diligence, the gratification of their natural 
 curiosity was unavoidably deferred. 
 
 On entering this room Alfred felt very nervous, but as 
 Fidele received him with an air of cheerfulness, he to some 
 extent recovered his self-possession. 
 
 " "Well, Mr. Murray," said Eidele, with a smile ; "then you 
 adopted the course I suggested." 
 
 " I did venture to do so," returned Alfred, " but I fervently 
 hope that I have given no offence." 
 
 " "Well, Mr. Murray, the offence which you have given is 
 not, I apprehend, very great: you will know the extent to 
 which you have offended when you have apologized to Lady 
 Felicia; but if you hope to be forgiven you will explain to 
 her ingenuously the feelings by which you were prompted. 
 Recollect, Mr. Murray, that she whom you seek is no 
 ordinary prize : I speak not with reference to her social 
 position : I allude to those qualities of heart and mind 
 which are the sources, not only of admiration, but of the 
 most intense affection. Let me, therefore, beg of you to 
 
92 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 be ingenuous. If the hope you have inspired be realized, the 
 result will depend upon you, and you alone ; your devotion 
 will secure the most perfect felicity; but unkindness or 
 neglect will plunge into utter misery one of the most 
 amiable creatures upon earth." 
 
 " I beg of you," said Alfred, "to believe" 
 " Pardon me," interrupted Fidele, " I feel so much inclined 
 to believe all you would say, that it is really quite unnecessary 
 for me to hear it. Besides, I require no confession ! That 
 you must reserve for Lady Felicia !" 
 
 "But when may I hope to have the happiness of seeing 
 her?" 
 
 "Why," replied Fidele, smiling archly, "I could introduce 
 you even now ! and will if indeed you really wish me to 
 do so." 
 
 " Need I say that the introduction would give me great 
 pleasure ?" 
 
 "Well, perhaps that is not absolutely necessary: I'll 
 therefore introduce you at once. "Will you do me the favour 
 to step this way?" 
 
 Anxiously and with considerable embarrassment, Alfred 
 rose and followed Fidele, who, having opened a door which 
 led into a splendid apartment in which Felicia sat apparently 
 reading, said, "I have the pleasure, Lady Felicia, to present 
 to you one who is anxious to make some apology." 
 
 Felicia, who looked extremely pale, rose and gracefully 
 extended her hand, which Alfred took tremulously, and not 
 only held, but, scarcely knowing what he was about at the 
 time, kissed it ! 
 
 In an instant Felicia's blushes mounted, but she made no 
 attempt to withdraw her hand, which he still held and pressed 
 as he gazed at her in silence, but with an expression of 
 rapture, until Fidele had politely placed a chair by his side, 
 and retreated to one of the windows with a book. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 93 
 
 " I have ventured," said lie, at length, with great intensity 
 of feeling " I have ventured to address you ; and in that 
 venture I have embarked every earthly hope I have. I knew 
 that I was presumptuous, and therefore feared that I might 
 offend you : I was painfully apprehensive of incurring your 
 displeasure ; but this kind reception tends to banish my fears, 
 to prove that I was not altogether mistaken, to convince me 
 that I am not wholly indifferent to you, and thus to inspire 
 me with joy ! Lady Felicia, my position is not unknown to 
 you: it is, compared with yours, obscure. I have neither 
 rank, influence, nor wealth; but if through the eyes soul 
 communicates with soul, I may, I think, reasonably infer 
 that you do not therefore despise me. I have but a heart 
 to offer a heart which, whether it be rejected or not, must 
 for ever be devoted to you." 
 
 " I know not how it is," said Felicia, in tones which to 
 Alfred were musical indeed, " I am perfectly unable to account, 
 for it ; but when I saw you the other morning, I felt notwith- 
 standing the lapse of years as if some sweet sensation had 
 been revived. I knew not what it was, but some youthful 
 feeling appeared to be re-awakened some chord was struck 
 which had vibrated before and the effect was like that of the 
 holy influence of a hymn, which we remember to have heard 
 in infancy. We were but children when we knew each other 
 first, and yet the feelings then created still live." 
 
 "Such words from you," said Alfred, "re-animate all my 
 hopes. The feelings then created still live ! You loved me 
 when a child ?" 
 
 "As a child," replied Felicia. 
 
 "And that is one of the feelings which happily still live. 
 May I not draw that sweet inference ?" 
 
 Felicia was silent, but that silence was sufficiently eloquent. 
 
 "lam aware," continued Alfred, "I cannot but be aware, 
 that the course which I would prompt you to pursue involves 
 
94 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 the sacrifice of that splendour by which you are surrounded ; 
 but I need not suggest to you that splendour is not essential 
 to pure happiness." 
 
 " I do not believe that it is," said Felicia. 
 
 " Nor need I remind you that happiness is the one grand 
 object at which we all aim, and to secure which no sacrifice can 
 be too great. If then, this sacrifice were made for me, what 
 on earth would I not do to make you happy ? My whole life 
 would be devoted to the grateful task of rendering your happi- 
 ness complete, and that this is a task which I could perform, 
 your amiable spirit and gentle bearing, the purity of your mind 
 and the natural sweetness of your disposition, forbid me to 
 entertain a doubt." 
 
 " I will not ask you," said Felicia, " if you are sincere, because 
 that would imply a want of faith, when faith itself is in the 
 ascendant ; but you give me credit for the possession of qualities 
 which in me you have net yet had time to discover." 
 
 " My heart tells me that you are all that I have intimated, 
 and more; if you were not gentle, amiable, and kind, you 
 would not have received me as you have done to-day; 
 independently of which, my heart's impressions have been 
 confirmed by one whose opportunities of forming a correct 
 judgment, have been ample." 
 
 " You allude to Fidele. She is a good girl and worthy of all 
 confidence, but her attachment to me has prompted her, 
 perhaps, to say more than an impartial judgment might 
 warrant." 
 
 Alfred smiled, and again took her hand, and gazed with 
 an expression of the utmost tenderness, and continued to 
 contemplate her beauty in silence, until Fidele, conceiving that 
 it would not be wise to allow their interview to be prolonged, 
 came forward, and said, " I am sorry to disturb you, but you 
 really know not how the time flies." 
 
 This was held to be very premature. Both Felicia and 
 
LADT EELICIA. 95 
 
 Alfred, indeed, marvelled at it ! To them it did not appear 
 that they had been with each other two minutes ! still giving 
 Fidele credit for knowing more about the flight of time than 
 they knew they rose, but were even then in no haste to part. 
 
 " Now," said Eidele, " do you quite understand each 
 other?" 
 
 "I hope so," replied Alfred, smiling. "But," he added, 
 addressing Felicia, " when shall I have the pleasure of seeing 
 you again ?" 
 
 "That," returned Felicia, "I must leave to Pidele." 
 
 " Tes, I'll arrange that," interposed Pidele, " but discretion 
 now enjoins haste. Now, take leave of each other, and part." 
 
 " Felicia !" said Alfred: and having looked at her rapturously 
 for a moment, he embraced her ! " Grod bless you ! " You 
 have filled my heart with joy ! Grod bless you !'' 
 
 Felicia fervently bade him farewell, and he followed Fidele, 
 who, having promised that she would very soon write to him, 
 playfully hurried him away. 
 
 While descending the stairs, he met some of the servants, 
 who looked at him in a somewhat peculiar manner, and smiled ; 
 but he neither understood this, nor cared to understand it : 
 he reached the hall door, which the gouty porter managed, 
 by dint of great exertion, to open, and left the house in a 
 reverie of rapture. 
 
 He had however, no sooner left, than the servants assem- 
 bled, and felt quite indignant with James for placing him in 
 so ridiculous a light. He was such a nice young man ! so 
 handsome ! so excessively handsome ! so young, and yet so 
 manly ! He shake, and feel fit to drop ! It was their unani- 
 mous opinion, that if he knew what master James had said 
 about him, he would quickly make him shake and feel fit to 
 drop ! He was dressed so nicely, and looked so happy, and 
 had such a lovely head of hair ! They never in their lives 
 saw a more delicious man; and when James appeared, they 
 
96 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 told him so flatly, and wondered he wasn't ashamed of himself ! 
 But he wasn't ! Not he, indeed ! not a bit of it ! Tie ashamed? 
 No! He knew who ought to be ashamed! he knew who 
 ought to sink with shame ! and, what was more, he could 
 tell if he liked; but he didn't like, and wouldn't tell, and 
 nobody could make him tell. 
 
 " "Why, what on earth do you mean ?" they inquired. 
 " No matter," replied James. " "What I know, I know ; 
 and what I've seen, I've seen ; what I tells, I tells ; but what 
 I means to keep, flesh don't get out of me I I've seen, within 
 the last few minutes more than I ever saw in my born days 
 before." 
 
 " Good heavens!" they exclaimed; "why, what have you 
 seen?" 
 
 "Seen! What have I seen! I've seen enough to make a 
 man's hair stand up like the squills of a prickly porkipine ! 
 I could hardly believe my own eyes. That she so modest, 
 so meek, and so mild that she should ever have done 
 such a thing" 
 
 " She ! "What, Miss Legrange ? Oh ! do tell us do, James 
 there's a good soul." 
 
 "I expected as much," said one of the housemaids; "I 
 never thought she was a mite too good." 
 
 " You never thought" said James, contemptuously " You 
 don't know what you're a-talking about! I never said 
 nothing about Miss Legrange! Miss Legrange, I dare say, 
 is as good as some people ! as it happens, I don't mean 
 Miss Legrange at all!" 
 
 ""Whom, then, do you mean, James?" inquired the rest, 
 soothingly ; for, as the housemaid who had spoken was no 
 favourite of James, her observations had displeased him. 
 " Whom, then, do you mean ?" 
 " I mean Lady Eelicia." 
 " Indeed ! Well well, James ! well ! "What of her ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 97 
 
 "That's locked up here" said James, striking Ms breast; 
 " and the key's locked itself up." 
 
 " Oh, but you may as well tell us, you know ; it won't go 
 any further." 
 
 " No, I know it won't oh, dear me, no ! it would be all 
 over Europe in the course often minutes." 
 
 " No, indeed, James ; indeed, we'll not say a word about it ; 
 we'll not breathe a syllable to any living soul." 
 
 " Keep as you are, and then you can't," said James. " It'll 
 be just as good for your health, and less trouble." 
 
 " But, surely," said one of his favourites, " you might 
 tell us in confidence." 
 
 " May I trust you ? That's the point. May I trust you ?" 
 " What ! not when we pledge you our honour ?" 
 "That's another thing. If you pledge me your honour, 
 that alters the case. But, look here ! if I have any specie 
 of interruption however inconceivable I shut up at once 
 and for ever." 
 
 " You shall not be interrupted, James : now, then." 
 " Well, having an ideor that all was not right conceiving 
 that something uncommon was wrong fancying that what 
 was up was made too much of a mystery of imagining that 
 whatever it was, it ought not to be kept so much in the dark 
 knowing that the fellowe had trembled as if he'd been doing 
 a crime supposing that he'd been sent for here to clear him- 
 self if he could, and thinking that he and Miss Legrange 
 had been together long enough, I listened at the door of the 
 room in which I'd left them, and to my unbounded astonish- 
 ment I heard nothing ! not a word ! not a whisper ! 
 not a breath ! all was as still as the silent grave. Ask me 
 not what I thought don't inquire of me what I imagined : 
 question me not about the horrid ideas which flitted across 
 my indignant brain! form your own judgment: judge 
 yourselves : judge of the thoughts that rushed into my mind 
 
 H 
 
98 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 judge of the feelings that stuck in my throat. I felt 
 horrid! What! thought I. But just as I was going to 
 follow this thought, a great idea came up and struck me. 
 In an instant in the twinkling of an eye like a flash of 
 forked lightning it struck me, that as I couldn't hear them, 
 they mightn't be there ! and recollecting that there was a door 
 in that room which opened right into the next, I made no 
 more to do, but progressed to the next and listened there, 
 and presently peeped through the key-hole, when, wh&t should 
 I see what should I behold but Lady Felicia Heaven and 
 earth ! a hugging that fellowe like life ! " 
 
 " "What ! " exclaimed his favourite, " a hugging him ?" 
 
 " A hugging him." 
 
 " What ! right down hugging him ?" 
 
 " What means this illiteration, woman ? as the black man 
 said the other night at the play I tell you that Lady Felicia 
 was a hugging him ! aint that plain English ?" 
 
 " "Well, but look here, James, you dorit mean to say " 
 
 " I mean to say neither more nor less than what I do say, 
 and that is that she was a hugging of that fellowe !" 
 
 " "Well, but surely, James, you're joking !" 
 
 " Are you a unbelieving Jew ? are you a Turk, or a Greek, 
 or a Hottentot, or what are you ? I'll show you how she did 
 it! then, perhaps, you'll believe me. Look here. You're 
 that fellowe, and I'm Lady Felicia. Now then," he added, 
 embracing her warmly, " now will you believe me ?" 
 
 "James!" she exclaimed, having very correctly struggled, 
 " Don't be so silly : ha ! done now, do /" 
 
 "I was only a showing you how it was managed, there's 
 nothing like placing a fact before your eyes." 
 
 " Well, but where was Miss Legrange ?" 
 
 " She was at that critical junction a making her way to her 
 own room door." 
 
 " Then she did not see this ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 99 
 
 " Didn't she ! Was a woman's eyes made to shut at such a 
 time? Could they shut? Would the lids come down? It 
 aint in nature. She saw it all : it aint likely she didn't, 
 although she pretended, of course, not to see." 
 
 " I won't believe a word of it," said one. 
 
 " Nor will I," said another. 
 
 " JN~or I neither," said a third. It's a fib on the very face 
 of it a right down scandalous falsity ! and it's shameful to 
 take a lady's character away so." 
 
 "Who's a taking away a lady's character?" demanded 
 James. "When I say she was kissed, do I take away her 
 character? Don't you all like to be kissed? Does your 
 character go when you're kissed? If so, you haven't got a 
 mite to bless yourselves with! not one of you!" 
 
 " But we won't believe she was kissed at all !" 
 
 " You may believe, or believe me not, I aint a going to 
 undertake to find you all in belief; but if I didn't see them 
 a kissing and a hugging, I'll go for a soldier, and fight till I 
 drop !" 
 
 "But is it," said one, "likely that she would bemean herself 
 so much as to take up with one like him ? Is it natural ? 
 Look at their different situations !" 
 
 " Nature," returned James, " don't trouble her head about 
 difference of situations. She didn't make the difference. That 
 aint her work. She made them both flesh and blood, and that's 
 quite enough for nature. 7 ' 
 
 " Aye, but I mean in the nature of things !" 
 
 " Well, in the nature of things they may love each other : in 
 the nature of things they may kiss each other ; in the nature 
 of things they may marry each other ! they may do all this in 
 the nature of things." 
 
 " Marry ! ridiculous. She marry him !" 
 
 " Is there the ghost of a law to prevent it p" 
 
 " Don't be so innocent, pray. The idea is stupid. She 
 
 H 2 
 
100 LAJ)Y FELICIA. 
 
 many him, indeed ! There, don't say another word about it. 
 It's my belief that it's all made up, and the rights of it ought 
 to be known !" 
 
 " So Jsay !" cried one of her immediate friends. 
 
 " And I agree with you" said another. 
 
 " You'd better go and ask her," interposed James. 
 
 " I don't know I shan't." 
 
 " If you do, you don't ought to die a natural death !" 
 
 " Oh, I aint one to get fellow servants into scrapes ; but I 
 mean to say that such barefaced stories are disgraceful to any 
 sex." 
 
 "It isn't a story!'' 
 
 " We know better ! we all know better ! Lady Felicia to 
 do such a thing ! she above all other ladies in the world ! 
 The idea's too monstrous to be swallowed. "We won't have 
 it ! so the less you say about it the better !" 
 
 Well! James had no desire to say much more about it! 
 He knew what he had seen, and had told them what he knew, 
 and if they wouldn't believe him, why he couldn't help it : 
 he couldn't absolutely compel them to believe ! still he did 
 think it hard that they should be so incredulous, and he told 
 them so pointedly, and that too in tones which could not be 
 mistaken ; but they again declared that they would not believe 
 him, and he, having a contempt for their scepticism, left 
 them. 
 
 But although this strong declaration was made, and, before 
 him, subscribed to unanimously, the majority of them did 
 believe him, and immediately held a privy council. They had 
 no desire to injure James. They all declared they'd "scorn 
 the action." They wouldn't tell Lady Felicia for the world ! 
 They knew themselves better than that, they hoped. But they 
 of course confidentially told Lady Augusta's maid, who in 
 confidence communicated the fact to Lady Augusta, who, 
 although she thought the secret worth knowing, did not at the 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 same time consider it worth keeping- an 
 
 it at once to Lady Florence, by whom ik was hailed with 
 
 malicious delight ! 
 
 " Discovered at last !" she exclaimed, with an air of triumph, 
 " I knew that there was something beneath the surface of that 
 meekness ; I knew that that soft, smooth tongue was but 
 the organ of rank hypocrisy. The sly, insidious, artful 
 creature !" 
 
 " But," said Lady Augusta, " you do not imagine that she 
 has really disgraced herself?" 
 
 " Why, what else can I imagine ? You say that they 
 embraced each other ! "What is the rational inference ? what 
 can any one infer from it, but that instead of being all gentle- 
 ness and purity, she is forward and vicious, if not utterly 
 abandoned. I am glad that the mask has been removed 
 exceedingly glad that her vice has been discovered." 
 
 " But she may not be vicious !" urged Lady Augusta. " She 
 may have conceived a pure affection for this person !" 
 
 " Augusta, how you talk ! A pure affection ! She has an 
 affection for him, doubtless ; but, for Heaven's sake, say nothing 
 of its purity." 
 
 " Well, how are we to act ? Shall we speak to her on the 
 subject ?" 
 
 " Certainly not. Why should we ?" 
 
 " I think we ought to put her on her guard !" 
 
 " What, and thus spoil all ? No : that will never do. Put 
 her on her guard, and she'll deprive us of that amusement, of 
 which I anticipate her pure affection will be the source. Let 
 us appear to know nothing whatever about it ! We shall then 
 be able to watch her actions, without creating the slightest 
 suspicion. By whom do you say it was discovered ?" 
 
 " By James." 
 
 " Oh, he it was who witnessed the affectionate scene. I 
 must speak to him privately on the subject." 
 
102 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 just; no,w. suggested the propriety of appearing 
 
 t A ) knO'V BOth-Jlg. ai )<? lit ,it, ? ' 
 
 " Of appearing to her to know nothing about it. I want his 
 version of the affair, and must have it." 
 
 " But when he knows that the fact has been communicated 
 to you, he will quarrel with those whom he told in confidence, 
 and thus cause the affair to be known to all !" 
 
 " You need not be at all apprehensive on that point : I'll 
 lock up his lips securely. He shall not say a syllable to them 
 on the subject, I know how to manage him" 
 
 Being somewhat less malicious than her sister, Lady 
 Augusta suggested the expediency of explaining the matter to 
 the Marquis, in order that lie might check Felicia's assumed 
 vicious career ; but this course was strongly opposed by Lady 
 -Florence, who was anxious to prove the degradation of 
 Felicia, and then to denounce her; and in order that she 
 might proceed on sure grounds, she embraced the earliest 
 opportunity of summoning James, that he might not only 
 explain what he had seen, but assist in the achievement of the 
 object she had in view. 
 
 " James," she commenced, calmly, when that confiding 
 victim appeared before her unconscious of the treachery of 
 those in whom he had confided, " I wish to speak with you on 
 a subject of some importance. I may, I presume, trust you ?" 
 " Oh yes," my lady, replied the betrayed, with a comic 
 expression of solemnity " with anything." 
 " Aye, if even it be a secret ?" 
 " Certainly : by all means." 
 
 " Well, in the first place, I wish you to explain to me 
 distinctly, what occurred this morning between Lady Felicia 
 and the person by whom she was visited." 
 
 Had an earthquake angrily rumbled at that moment, its 
 effect upon James would not have been more powerful than 
 that which this tranquil announcement produced. It checked 
 
LADY FELICIA. 103 
 
 at on.ce the natural action of his heart^ and made him feel 
 particularly ill. 
 
 " My lady," said he, at length, tremulously " do you 
 mean what occurred ?" 
 
 " Yes. I have heard something of it ; but I wish you to 
 explain the particulars." 
 
 " The particulars, my lady ? "What particulars ?" 
 
 " The particulars of what transpired at their interview 
 the particulars of what you saw! you understand what I 
 mean!" 
 
 "I saw no particulars, my lady," said James, who still 
 trembled with great violence ! " Who has been telling you, 
 my lady, that I did ?" 
 
 " Let it be sufficient for you to know, that I was not told 
 Jby either of the servants." 
 
 " But it must have come from one of them, my lady !" 
 
 " Indirectly it might ; but that is immaterial. Tell me at 
 once what you saw." 
 
 " But I hope you'll not name it to Lady Felicia. I shall 
 get into horrid disgrace, if you do !" 
 
 " It is not my intention to name it to her." 
 
 " I hope not, my lady. I'm sure, if I'd known that it 
 would have gone further, I wouldn't have said a word about it 
 for the world." j 
 
 " Well, it is useless to talk of that now : therefore, let me 
 know at once what occurred. You were, I believe, at the 
 door." . 
 
 " I was, my lady unfortunately." 
 
 " Why unfortunately ? I hold the circumstance to be 
 extremely fortunate ! But, proceed ! You looked into the 
 room, of course." 
 
 " I did, my lady." 
 
 " Well, what did you see ?" 
 
 " I saw Lady Felicia, and this Mr. Murray." 
 
104 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, they were embracing each other, were they not ?" 
 
 " Tes, my lady, I believe they were." 
 
 " You believe they were! "Why are you so reluctant to state 
 what you know ?" 
 
 " I'm not reluctant, my lady : I only wish I had'nt got to 
 do it." 
 
 " Absurd ! It is your duty to explain all. You saw them 
 embrace. Well : what elss did you see ?" 
 
 "Nothing else, my lady." 
 
 "You saw them kiss each other, I presume'?" 
 
 " Yes, my lady ; I certingly did." 
 
 " Was Miss Legrange in the room at the time ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, my lady : oh ! she was in the room ; but while they 
 were kissing, she turned her head of course !" 
 
 "Of course! as a matter of delicacy! Is that person 
 frequently here ?" 
 
 " He never was here but once before, and that was when he 
 brought some silks." 
 
 "About what time was it when he called then ? ?) 
 
 " About the same time, my lady : four or half-past." 
 
 " Aye ! the time at which we are usually from home ! Well, 
 now I'll explain what I wish you to do, and what you must do 
 if you wish to save your character. When next he calls 
 which will be I've no doubt in a day or two, in all probability 
 to-morrow let me know privately I'll be at home let me 
 know immediately after his arrival, that I may take the respon- 
 sibility off your hands. Do you quite understand me ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, my lady, I quite understand." 
 
 " Very well. Then act up to my instructions. You must 
 neither take the slightest notice of this, nor say a syllable 
 having reference to my knowledge of what has occurred. If 
 you do I'll procure your discharge with this character that 
 you not only peep through key-holes, but prate about all 
 that you happen to see a character which, you are as well 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 aware as I am, would effectually exclude you from every family 
 of distinction." 
 
 " My lady," said James in a tremulous voice this severe 
 intimation having touched him nearly " I know that that 
 would be a horrid character indeed one which would ruin my 
 prospects for ever but I hope that by paying attention, my 
 lady, and doing all that you wish me to do, to avoid having 
 such a fatal character given me as that. This is the first time 
 I ever peeped, my lady, and therefore I hope you'll forgive me. 
 Whatever you tell me to do shall be done : I'll do all in my 
 power to give satisfaction." 
 
 " Yery well. At present I have nothing more to say. I'll 
 give you some additional instructions in the morning." 
 
 With an air of deep humility James bowed and withdrew. 
 His bosom swelled with conflicting emotions. His heart had 
 been torn : he experienced the most acute sense of humiliation, 
 and with all the finer feelings of his nature deeply wounded, he 
 shut himself up in a state of misery the most intense, in order 
 to call the roll of his afflictions. In his eclipsed judgment all 
 was dark : his views, which were formerly brilliant, were now 
 wrapped in gloom, and while his hopes appeared clad in the 
 most dismal mourning to follow his murdered prospects to the 
 grave, he contemplated with suicidal horror the clinching clear- 
 headed but cruelly cold-blooded intimation of Lady Florence, 
 in which the annihilation of every hope was involved. He had 
 no consolation ! not even that of relieving his overburdened 
 heart by a strong, indignant, withering declaration of what he 
 thought of those whose perfidy he panted to proclaim. 
 
 "If," said he, confidentially to himself and he really then 
 appeared to be the only living creature in whom he could with 
 safety confide " if I could but explain to them exactly what 
 I think of their utterly un-fellow-servant-like conduct, I should 
 feel in my soul a little happy. But as the warlike ghost says 
 
106 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 on the stage this eternal blazon must not be to ears of flesh 
 
 and blood ! I must not breathe a breath on the subject to 
 
 mortal! If I do as Lady Florence said, when she told my 
 
 fortune if I do, I'm doomed. I can neither say a word, 
 
 nor move a peg ! I'm bound hand and foot, soul and bones ! 
 
 I can neither put Lady Felicia on her guard, nor save that 
 
 fellow from having his neck broke for if it should come to 
 
 the ears of the Marquis, out of the window, of course, he 
 
 goes ! I might just as well have been born, demme, dumb ! 
 
 And wouldn't Lady Florence keep her promise ? Look at her 
 
 eyes ! they'll tell you. Feeling ! she has about as much as 
 
 a rattlesnake. Look at her, when she knew that she had me 
 
 in her power, as tight as if she'd screwed me up in a vice ! 
 
 why that thing which strikes people dead with its eyes, don't 
 
 belong to a more varment specie ! She'd do it ! safe. She'd 
 
 give me a character ! send I may live. I should get 
 
 another sitivation ! in a hurry. But, ought I as a man to 
 
 submit to all this ? Ought I not, as a man, to put Lady 
 
 Felicia which has always been very kind to me on her 
 
 guard ? That's the point, the whole point, and nothing but 
 
 the point. "Well," he added, " You're a free born Briton ! 
 
 and Britons never will be slaves ! There are two roads before 
 
 you ! choose which you please ! one of them leads to a 
 
 butler's place, and the other to a soldier's sitivation you've 
 
 only to choose ! But, must the other force me to 'list ? Can't 
 
 I in private put Lady Felicia up to it ? Can't I secretly tell 
 
 her it won't answer her purpose to have that fellow here ? I 
 
 might do so ; and yet, if that basilisk should bowl me out. 
 
 But how could she ? I'm not the only one which knows that 
 
 he was here ! nor am I the only one which knows that she 
 
 knows, it ! Why, then, should I alone be suspected ? I 
 
 must turn this point seriously over in my mind. I mustn't 
 
 altogether forget number one ; but, if I can save Lady Felicia 
 
LADY FELICIA. 107 
 
 from disgrace, without bringing disgrace upon myself, my 
 heart tells me plump that I ought to do it ; and if I can do 
 it, I will !" 
 
 Having arrived at this manly conclusion, he felt a little 
 better, and eventually rejoined those perfidious fellow-servants 
 with whom he could no longer associate with pleasure, because 
 he could no longer regard them as friends. 
 
108 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 ILLIBEEAL "VIEWS. 
 
 DELIGHTED with Ms reception which was indeed far more 
 gratifying than his brightest hopes could have led him to 
 anticipate Alfred having wandered about the Park in a 
 delirium of rapture, kept his appointment with Mr. Wilkins, 
 whom he found in a state of intense anxiety, and who, grasping 
 his hand, cried, " Is it all right P" 
 
 " It is," replied Alfred. 
 
 " That's glorious ! Gods ! what a state of suspense I've 
 been in. But sit down, and let's hear all about it." 
 
 "With a heart filled with joy, and a countenance brightly 
 proclaiming its existence, Alfred proceeded to describe the 
 happy interview, giving the substance of all that had passed, 
 and dwelling minutely upon various points, which he conceived 
 to be of the most thrilling interest. 
 
 At first, Mr. Wilkins, making an effort to be tranquil, 
 listened with the most profound attention; but he soon became 
 excited, and that excitement increased gradually, until he 
 heard that Lady Felicia had actually permitted Alfred to 
 embrace her, when his enthusiam reached the highest possible 
 pitch, and he called for a bottle of champagne. 
 
 " In nothing less," said he, with an expression of delight, 
 " will I drink to her glorious health ! She's a stunner ! an 
 angel! a trump of the first water! Bravo, my boy!" he 
 added, rubbing his hands joyously. "Bravo ! I'm as glad as if 
 the chance had been mine. Tou lucky dog ! But do I envy 
 you? No! not in the mean sordid sense of the term envy! 
 
LADY FELICIA. 109 
 
 you are worthy of her, and she's worthy of you. That's 
 the style of girl ! a girl after one's own heart ! repudiating 
 6 pride, pomp, and circumstance, 1 for love, and sacrificing 
 splendour for tranquil joy !" 
 
 " I believe that we shall be very happy,' ' said Alfred. 
 "Happy! G-ods! you must be happy. ISTow then," he 
 added, when the waiter had placed the champagne before him, 
 " I'll give you health, wealth, long life, happiness, joy, and 
 every other conceivable blessing, to the amiable and strong 
 minded Lady Felicia !" 
 
 " I drink it," said Alfred, " with all my heart ! Grod bless 
 her." 
 
 "Amen!" responded Mr. Wilkins. "But now to business. 
 In the first place, you haven't got her yet. That's a fact 
 which should ever be present until it absolutely ceases 
 to be a fact. JS"ow, there are various popular apothegms 
 bearing directly upon this very point ; such as, ' The course 
 of true love never did run smooth* * There's many a slip 
 'twixt the cup and the lip ' c We're all born, but we're not 
 all buried ' ' Don't play with a mouse till you lose it '-^and 
 so on ; but my motto is, ' Strike the iron while it's hot !' 
 which, in reality, comprehends all. Strike the iron while it's 
 hot ! Don't allow it to cool ! in other words, don't dilly dally, 
 and thus give time for the intervention of friends who may 
 cause her to weigh one thing against another, until your 
 dearest hopes kick the beam. It's clear that this must be a 
 clandestine marriage, and therefore the sooner it takes place 
 the better. If you were to wait till you both became grey, 
 you'd never obtain the consent of the Marquis, and there- 
 fore you've nothing to wait for at all. "What then is the 
 next move ? What do you conceive the next move ought to 
 be?" 
 
 " That, I apprehend," replied Alfred, " must depend upon 
 the nature of Miss Legrange's communication !" 
 
110 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Not at all : not at all. The next move is to Doctors' 
 Commons ! to get the licence !" 
 
 " "What, before I have gained her consent ?" 
 
 " Decidedly ! Can you not gain her consent as easily with 
 the licence, as without it ?" 
 
 " Oh, but that will look so precipitate !" 
 
 " It will look as if you really meant business, and that will 
 be one grand point gained. You take my advice: go to 
 Doctors' Commons in the morning ; get the licence, and keep 
 it in your pocket." 
 
 " "Well ! I need not show it to her directly." 
 
 " Certainly not : you need not even hint that you have 
 it, until you've made sure that the sight of it will be 
 pleasing." 
 
 " But suppose they should know who she really is !" 
 
 " Make your mind easy on that point. You'll find them 
 men of business pounds, shillings, and pence men: they II 
 not go into her pedigree : all you 11 have to do is to give in the 
 names and swear that you are both of age, which you can do 
 for vou see by the Peerage she's three months over -and all 
 they'll care about is your money." 
 
 " Eut if they should by any chance know her ?" 
 
 " It isn't in the slightest degree likely that they know her, 
 or ever heard of her ; and even if they should have heard the 
 name before, they'll write it, of course, as a matter of business, 
 and think no more of Felicia Jocelyn, than they would if her 
 name were Caroline Clerk. Therefore don't be at all appre- 
 hensive on that point. Gro boldly, and state what you want, 
 and if the next communication you receive be as favourable as 
 I anticipate it will be, you can at least show it to Miss 
 Legrange. Take my advice, my boy, and go to-morrow 
 morning !" 
 
 " Well," said Alfred, " I will do so. And now there is 
 another point upon which I am anxious to have your opinion. 
 
LADY EELICIA. Ill 
 
 It has reference to the governor. Do you not think that I 
 had better now explain all to him ?" 
 
 For a moment Mr. "Wilkins pressed his lips and knit his 
 brows, and thus proclaimed the existence of thought the most 
 profound ; and having, by virtue of this process, screwed up a 
 conclusion, he replied, " "Well, look here : he's all right where 
 he takes, although it's only by fits and starts that he does 
 take ; he's a perfect man of business : IVe no fault whatever 
 to find with him as a governor; he has always behaved very 
 well indeed to me; but he's a Scotchman." 
 
 " A Scotchman," echoed Alfred, smiling, " Well ?l 
 " Never trust a Scotchman. Have that sentiment engraved 
 upon your heart of hearts ! Never trust a Scotchman." 
 " I believe," said Alfred, "that I am, remotely" 
 " So you may be," interrupted Mr. "Wilkins, " but you are 
 no more a Scotchman not what I call a Scotchman than I 
 am a Welshman. I know what Scotchmen are; I have 
 studied them deeply, and having analyzed their chief charac- 
 teristics, I find that they are not to be trusted." 
 "But why not?" 
 
 " Simply because they can't stand the test of civilization." 
 " Because they can't stand the test of civilization ?" 
 " Civilization spoils them. Take them in the rough in 
 their wild or native state and they'll do ! They are bold, 
 manly, generous, high-spirited, and erect ! But bring them 
 here let them associate with civilized beings and their 
 boldness changes to sycophancy, their generosity to the most 
 sordid meanness ; their high spirit sinks into servility, and, 
 instead of standing like men erect, they are the most 
 obsequious slaves." 
 
 "But I have known Scotchmen," said Alfred, "to be as 
 proud as Englishmen can be !" 
 
 "Yes!" when they have crawled up to eminence. That's; 
 when they change again ! They then become haughty, over- 
 
112 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 bearing, tyrannical! You can no more depend upon the 
 friendship of a Scotchman than you can upon the colour of 
 a cameleon." 
 
 " I must say," rejoined Alfred, " that this is a very illiberal 
 view to take of the general character of Scotchmen ; indeed, 
 as far as it has reference to the effects of civilization, it is 
 quite a Tory's view !" 
 
 "It is a Tory's view," said Mr. "Wilkins, with an air of 
 triumph, " and I am proud of being a Tory ! Toryism is the 
 only correct system upon earth ! Look at the map the map 
 of the world look at one as large as this table, and England 
 will occupy the space of this spoon ; and yet this speck, this 
 atom, this almost imperceptible little spot, is the mightiest 
 of the most mighty nations upon earth ! What has brought 
 this about ? To what do you ascribe it ?" 
 
 " Chiefly to the genius of the people," replied Alfred. 
 
 " The geniuS of the people ! No such thing, sir ! It is 
 solely ascribable to the genius of Toryism !" 
 
 " But Toryism has ever been opposed to progress !" 
 
 " It has ever been opposed to innovation !" 
 
 " Which proves that our present position has been achieved, 
 not ly it, but in spite of it." 
 
 " Why, it is the foundation of England's glory !" 
 
 Alfred smiled. 
 
 "Would you," continued Mr. Wilkins "would you strike 
 at the very root of society ?" 
 
 " No," replied Alfred ; "but I'd lop off the useless branches." 
 
 " Would you lop off Toryism ?" 
 
 " The tree would be far more healthy without it." 
 
 " Then you deem it useless ?" 
 
 "It is happily harmless." 
 
 "But useless that's the point you deem it useless ?" 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Why look at its glorious struggles for ages !" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 113 
 
 . " It's struggles have not been particularly glorious : it has 
 always been eventually defeated. Those struggles have been 
 invariably to keep the nation back, and were useful only in 
 so far as they tended to check precipitation. Bui we shall 
 have, I hope, plenty of opportunities of discussing this subject; 
 the point to which I am anxious to return is that which has 
 reference to my explaining all to the governor. You intimate 
 that I cannot depend upon his friendship. I have no wish at 
 present to bring his friendship to the test. I should name 
 it as a mere matter of courtesy !" 
 
 " I know. But take my advice, and don't name it at all. 
 I'll tell you why. He might I don't say that he would, but 
 he might wither all your hopes." 
 
 " But how ? It's a matter of no consequence to me what 
 his views may be on the subject ! I should not think of 
 asking him what course I ought to pursue ! His opposition 
 would have no effect !" 
 
 " You don't look at the matter in the right light," said 
 Mr. Wilkiiis. "You don't understand what I mean. I'll 
 explain. He's a Scotchman ; and, as I said before, never trust 
 a Scotchman. Now, suppose when you had told him all, he 
 were to go and explain the matter to the Marquis ?" 
 " Well, but what could be his object in doing so ?" 
 " The patronage of the family, and through that family 
 higher patronage ; say the patronage of royalty. I merely 
 say suppose I put it hypothetically suppose he were to do 
 this, where would you be then ?" 
 
 " There is something in that," said Alfred, thoughtfully. 
 " There is, certainly, something in that." 
 
 " Mind ! I don't mean to say that he would, but he could ! 
 you give him the power to do it ! and I don't see any 
 necessity for placing that power in his hands !" 
 " You are quite right," said Alfred, " quite right." 
 " It's unsafe, sir," continued Mr. Wilkins, who, having been 
 
 i 
 
114 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 on one occasion, by virtue of treachery, supplanted by a 
 Scotchman, had cherished a mortal hatred of Scotchmen ever 
 since, " it's unsafe, sir, to trust any man with a secret, when, 
 by revealing it, he may feather his own nest ; but, to trust 
 a dirty Scotchman, who will stoop to any species of meanness 
 a sweep who will sell his benefactor when he has used him 
 up, for sixpence a crafty, crawling, servile viper, who will 
 cringe, and fawn, and lick the dust, until you invest him with 
 the power to sting you to trust Mm with a secret, when its 
 betrayal might enrich him, would be an act of absolute 
 madness." 
 
 " Tou have said quite sufficient," said Alfred, " to convince 
 me that it would be unwise thus to make the matter known ; 
 and, as there is no necessity for running the risk involved, I 
 shall certainly follow your advice." 
 
 This decision was highly satisfactory to Mr. Wilkins ; but 
 he wished to achieve another triumph that evening : he was 
 anxious to prove that the principles of Toryism comprehended 
 all the virtues, and that every man was a Tory at heart ; and 
 as Alfred to whom the subject was not interesting then 
 listened, or appeared to listen to his eloquence without 
 disputing his points, he held them, of course, to be perfectly 
 indisputable, and the consequence was, that when he retired 
 for the night, he did so on excellent terms with himself. 
 
 In the morning, Alfred dressed himself with somewhat 
 unusual care, and immediately after breakfast, repaired to 
 Doctors' Commons, where he found that Mr. Wilkins was 
 quite correct, in stating that he would experience no difficulty 
 in obtaining what he wanted. It was, indeed, a mere matter 
 of business. Felicia and Fanny, Jocelyn and Johnson, were 
 all the same to them : they wasted no thought upon either : 
 the document wa& prepared, they received the money, and 
 Alfred returned with the licence to Mr. Wilkins, who, on 
 hearing that all was right, expressed his satisfaction warmly. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 115 
 
 The promised communication from Fidele, now occupied 
 all Alfred's thoughts, and he looked for it with the most 
 intense anxiety. Business with him was quite out of the 
 question : he had conceived an utter distaste for business : 
 he couldn't reconcile himself at all to it he had, in fact, 
 suddenly inspired a contempt for it. 
 
 "I have been thinking," said he, in the course of the 
 morning, " that Fd better speak to the governor, and leave." 
 
 " What, leave entirely ?" inquired Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " Yes," replied Alfred ; " I can do no good here. I can't 
 attend to business." 
 
 " No ; I don't suppose you can pay much attention to it ; 
 but you'd better not leave F" 
 
 " Of what use am I here ?" 
 
 " But little, it's true ; still, you'd better not leave. If you 
 say a word to him about leaving, you must give some reason 
 for wishing to leave, and I know that he'll put all sorts of 
 searching questions, which you'll find it very difficult to evade. 
 No : instead of leaving, I'll tell you what Fd do : if r when you 
 receive Miss Legrange's communication, you find you're all 
 right, I'd tell him that certain circumstances have occurred 
 which render your absence for a few days imperative. " 
 
 " But he'll want to know the nature of those circumstances/" 
 
 " That you need not explain. You can easily get over that. 
 They are circumstances of a strictly private nature which 
 is perfectly correct and those circumstances render your 
 absence from business necessary. That will be quite sufficient. 
 I don't anticipate anything like a failure : if I did I should urge 
 the adoption of this course on the ground that, if you did fail, 
 you could at once return ; but I know what you want : you 
 want to be continually meeting ; therefore, take private lodgings 
 for a week, and let Miss Legrange know where you are." 
 
 " Well, I think that that would be much better," said Alfred. 
 " But when I engage the lodgings, to whom can I refer ?" 
 
 i 2 
 
116 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Kefer to me. That will be sufficient. liefer to me." 
 
 Well ! that point was settled, and Mr. Wilkins had in con- 
 sequence another cause for congratulating himself on the 
 correctness of his judgment ; but while they were conversing, a 
 scene which would have alarmed them was being enacted by 
 Fidele and the truly unhappy James, just outside. 
 
 Fidele had been commissioned by Felicia to make arrange- 
 ments with Alfred for the next interview, and James had been 
 commanded by Lady Florence to watch her, which he did until 
 he could have no doubt that she was about to enter that which 
 he termed the "fatal shop," when he approached her in a state 
 of excessive trepidation. 
 
 "Miss Legrange I beg pardon"- said he "but don't go/' 
 
 Fidele very naturally looked at him with an expression of 
 the most perfect amazement ! 
 
 "Pray don't go in," he continued, "I've something on my 
 inind, and I'll ease it if you'll hear me." 
 
 " Why, what is the meaning of this ?" 
 
 " Every thing's known," replied James, " and through me ; 
 and now I've been sent out to watch you !" 
 
 " To watch me ?" exclaimed Fidele, indignantly. " To watch 
 me ? By whom were you sent, sir ?" 
 
 " I was sent by Lady Florence ; but don't be angry with 
 me only listen: through my wooden-headed stupidity, she 
 knows that Lady Felicia and Mr. Murray embraced each other 
 yesterday morning. I saw them it is with shame I confess 
 it ! and told the other servants, who betrayed me to her." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " exclaimed Fidele. " WeU ! Proceed ! " 
 
 " Well, she had me on the carpet and made me confess, and 
 with a horrid promise to ruin my character if I dared to say 
 she knew a word about it to a soul ; she bound me to her hand 
 and foot, and now she has sent me to watch you. But I am so 
 unhappy, I can't bear it. I felt that I must come up and tell 
 you. So pray don't go in. If you do, and I tell her you did'nt, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 117 
 
 her eyes will be sure to find me out. If you do want to see 
 Mr. Murray, Miss, go into this confectioner's shop, and I'll 
 let him know you're there." 
 
 " May I trust you, James ?" inquired Fidele severely. 
 
 " You may, Miss : indeed, indeed you may. I am so horrid 
 savage with myself, that if I lose fifty characters I'll not say a 
 word." 
 
 " Very well," said Eidele. " Then I'll go in here, and you 
 can say that I wish to see him." 
 
 Without any of his characteristic dignity of deportment, 
 James rushed to "the fatal shop," and having entered in a 
 highly excited state, called Alfred aside, and said in a tremulous 
 whisper " Mr. Murray, sir come to the pastry-cook's some- 
 thing something wrong, sir horrid discovery fit to knock 
 my head off Miss Legrange sir come at once." 
 
 Without waiting one moment for the solution of the mystery 
 involved in this fitful communication, Alfred, who felt suffi- 
 ciently alarmed, ran for his hat, and on his return was accosted 
 by Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " What's the matter ?" inquired that gentleman anxiously. 
 
 " Something wrong, I fear," replied Alfred. 
 
 "G-ods! I hope not!" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins ; but before 
 that exclamation had been fairly exploded, Alfred had quitted 
 the shop with James. 
 
 "In there, sir," said James, having arrived at the confec- 
 tioner's ; and Alfred, as he entered, saw Eidele in the soup room. 
 
 "My dear Miss Legrange," said Alfred, earnestly, as he 
 approached her, " what is the meaning of this ?" 
 
 " All has been discovered," replied Eidele. " The servant 
 James, who came for you, and who has been sent by Lady 
 Florence, for the purpose of watching me, has just informed 
 me that she, at least, knows all. He yesterday saw you take 
 leave of Lady Felicia, and told the other servants, through 
 whom it came to the ears of Lady Florence." 
 
118 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " The scoundrel !" cried Alfred, indignantly. 
 
 "He is heartily sorry for it, now," said Fidele, "and wishes 
 to make all the reparation in his power." 
 
 " Reparation ! the wretch ! What reparation can he make ?' ' 
 
 "If we are calm, Mr. Murray, we may make him useful yet." 
 
 " I understood you to say that he has been sent to watch 
 you!" 
 
 "Yes; but being 'thoroughly ashamed of his conduct, he 
 addressed me, in order to put me on my guard." 
 
 " What then is to be done ?" 
 
 " I know not. I tremble to think of the consequences. I 
 came here in order to appoint another interview, but that is of 
 course utterly out of the question now." 
 
 "Is Lady Florence an amiable person?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 "Unfortunately," replied Fidele, she is not." 
 
 " Then she will at once communicate the fact to the 
 Marquis ?" 
 
 " No ; my impression is, that instead of telling him, she will 
 exercise the power which this secret gives her of tyrannizing 
 over her more gentle sister, and trampling upon her feelings." 
 
 Alfred, with an expression of rage which he struggled in 
 vain to conceal, turned pale, and breathed violently. 
 
 " I know her so well," continued Fidele, " that the fact of 
 her having taken this affair into her own hands, convinces me 
 that she intends to humiliate Lady Felicia by all the means at 
 her command." 
 
 " Something must be done to prevent this," said Alfred, in 
 tones of the most thrilling intensity, " Something must be 
 done! That wretch is outside still," he added, as James 
 passed the window. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Eidele, " he'll of course remain until I leave 
 here. I wish him to do so." 
 
 "But he had better not wait there! He may be seen by 
 some part of the family, to whom he will have to explain why 
 
LADY FELICIA. 119 
 
 he is there. Allow me to send him to the tavern just above. 
 I have yet much to say to you. Let him wait there." 
 
 "As you please," returned Fidele." " But do not speak 
 harshly to him. I know that he is exceedingly sorry for what 
 he has done. Besides, it will not be politic, under the circum- 
 stances, to speak harshly." 
 
 Duly appreciating this observation, Alfred went out to 
 James, and said, as calmly as he could, " Gro to that tavern, 
 and wait till I come. You had better not walk about here. 
 I'll let you know when Miss Legrange is #bout to leave. 
 Here's a crown : go and have a glass of wine." 
 
 " I'm ashamed to see you, sir," said James, " I could kit 
 myself to atoms." 
 
 " We'll not talk about that now," said Alfred. " "We must 
 make the best we can of it." 
 
 " Anything in life that I can do, to undo what I've done, or 
 in any earthly way to make up for it, I'll do. I'm so wild with 
 myself, I feel fit to swallow pison !" 
 
 " A glass r of wine will suit you better," said Alfred. " G-o 
 and get one." 
 
 James looked at him for a moment, and burst into tears ; 
 for hearts whether rough or refined, are wounded more deeply 
 by undeserved kindness, than by severity, however just. 
 Eternal nature will be triumphant, let us struggle against her 
 as we may. Had Alfred spoken harshly to him, he might have 
 felt that it was, perhaps, a little more than he deserved; but as 
 he not only spoke kindly, but gave him a crown, he couldn't 
 stand it. 
 
 " Now," said Alfred, on his return to Fidele, " as I was 
 saying, something must be done. But what ? How can that 
 pure and gentle creature be saved from the galling indignities 
 you contemplate ? Can you suggest any course, the pursuit of 
 which will destroy that power which you have with so much 
 force described, and the exercise of which upon her I dread?" 
 
120 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " I cannot indeed," replied Fidele. " I know not what to 
 suggest." 
 
 " Miss Legrange," said Alfred, calmly, but with the most 
 intense earnestness, " that you have a pure affection for Lady 
 Felicia, I feel convinced ; I believe that you would do all in 
 your power to promote her happiness, and that if you conceive 
 that her happiness could be secured by the adoption of even 
 a course which under any other circumstances might fairly 
 be deemed precipitate, your assistance would not be solicited 
 in vain." 
 
 " You do me but justice," replied Fidele. " I have indeed 
 a pure affection for her. I regard her as a dear, dear sister, 
 and would do anything by which I conceived her happiness 
 might be secured." 
 
 "Do you believe that I have the power to secure her 
 happiness ?" 
 
 " I do. I'll no longer attempt to conceal the fact that you, 
 and you alone, have that power. She loves you devotedly ; 
 she would make every possible sacrifice for you ; and if I had 
 not believed that you were worthy of her love, I should not 
 have taken the part which I have taken with a view to the 
 realization of your hopes." 
 
 " I feel indebted to you deeply indebted to you and yet 
 I seek to be even to a greater extent your debtor ! Tou have 
 kindly thrown off all restraint, and so will I : feeling that a 
 crisis is at hand, and being painfully apprehensive of losing 
 her for ever, I'll at once propose a course of which the 
 adoption will secure the grand object I have in view, and 
 save her from all humiliation. This morning," he continued, 
 having opened his pocket-book, " I obtained this at Doctors' 
 Commons : it is, as you will perceive, a marriage licence. I 
 should not have shown, nor should I at present have named 
 it, had it not been for this discovery ; but seeing the necessity 
 for immediate action, I do not hesitate to hand it to you. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 121 
 
 Could you not prevail upon her," he added, after a pause, 
 during which she perused the license with an expression of 
 the most pleasing curiosity "could you not prevail upon 
 her to consent to that document being at once used?" 
 
 " You have lost no time !" said Eidele, with a smile. " This 
 is one of the most powerful arguments I ever knew to be 
 advanced. Shall I take it with me ?" 
 
 "Do," replied Alfred. "I need not explain to you what 
 I would say : I need not prompt you to argue the expediency 
 of avoiding those indignities which I cannot bear to think of: 
 I will leave all to you. But," he added earnestly, " do you 
 not think that you shall be able to prevail upon her ?" 
 
 " I'll endeavour to do so, be assured; and in order to prove 
 that I do not despair, I'll lend you this ring; it was hers, 
 and fits her!" 
 
 " I know not how to thank you," said Alfred. 
 
 " Then pray do not make the attempt. Defer it, at all 
 events, until I have been successful." 
 
 " Heaven grant that you may be successful !" 
 
 " I believe that I shall be. This licence will aid me. It is 
 one of the most delightfully suggestive documents I ever 
 perused ! But it does not state when it is available !" 
 
 "Oh, it is available immediately!" said Alfred. "The 
 ceremony might take place to-morrow morning !" 
 
 "But you do not, of course, dream of its taking place 
 to-morrow morning?" 
 
 " I need not say" 
 
 " I'm aware of it ; nor do I wait for you to say that you 
 would like it all the better. But to-niorrow morning ! I shall 
 scarcely have time even to name the subject, and having a 
 serious task to perform, I must of course proceed with all 
 possible caution. I have, in the first place, to communicate to 
 her the knowledge of this discovery, and then to explain how 
 its consequences may be averted. I have to place the bane 
 
122 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 and antidote both before her, and therefore I cannot see how 
 it will be possible for your hopes to be realized to-morrow 
 morning. To-morrow being Saturday, you may entertain the 
 thought of Sunday morning, and as Sunday is not the day 
 for marriages in ' high life,' the expediency under the circum- 
 stances of naming that day will be sufficiently obvious." 
 
 " But suppose Lady Florence should in the interim explain 
 all to the Marquis?" 
 
 " I'm not at all apprehensive of that ; but if she should, why 
 then we must do the best we can. Lady Felicia, although 
 gentle, is not without spirit ; and the spirit with which too 
 much oppression will inspire her, will be that of resistance. 
 All this however, I hope, will be avoided." 
 
 " I hope so too. But when shall I hear from you ?" 
 
 " This evening." 
 
 " Pray, let it be as early as possible." 
 
 " By seven o'clock I'll let you know what progress I have 
 made. And now I must return. "Will you be kind enough to 
 let James know that I am going ?" 
 
 Alfred took her hand and pressed it warmly, and having told 
 her that her kindness would be ever remembered, he left her 
 to look after James. 
 
 He had however no sooner entered the Tavern than he found 
 that young gentleman's sonorous nasal organ in full play, and 
 having aroused him could not fail to perceive that he was in a 
 most mysterious state of intoxication. 
 
 " James," he exclaimed, " "Why how is this ? Tou are 
 tipsy." 
 
 " Not tic'lr tips'," replied James, as well as he could, for his 
 tongue was by no means glib. " Your're spec'bl gen'lm an' 
 I'm sorry for it can't say more no man say more cut'm 
 throat hie can't say more transport me, hang hie pison 
 me hie can't say more ! I'm sorry for it." 
 
 " "Well, but you cannot go home in this state," said Alfred ; 
 
LADY FELICIA. 123 
 
 and James appeared to entertain precisely the same opinion, 
 for he immediately dropped off again to sleep. 
 
 " What has he had ?" inquired Alfred, of the waiter. 
 
 " Two pints of wine, sir." 
 
 "Two pints ?" 
 
 " Tes, sir. But he appeared to be very much excited 
 when he came in." 
 
 "Shouldyou, knowing this, have allowed him to haveso much?" 
 
 " Oh it wasn't with drinking that he was excited ; it wasn't 
 by any means with drink. He appeared to have something very 
 heavy on his mind." 
 
 " "Well, he's in a nice state to go home with a lady, certainly; 
 I'll be in again directly," he added, and immediately returned 
 to Fidele. 
 
 " "Why that fellow," said he, having re-entered the shop, " is 
 perfectly tipsy." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " exclaimed Pidele." 
 
 " I told him, certainly, to have a glass of wine, but he has 
 been drinking two pints." 
 
 " Dear me ! "Why, what is to be done ?" 
 
 " He cannot go home in his present state. If he were to do 
 so he'd spoil all. I must get him to bed and let him sleep a 
 few hours ; he may be all right again then." 
 
 " Will you see him when he awakes, and impress upon him 
 the necessity for keeping our interview a secret ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Very well ; then I'll return." 
 
 " You will not forget seven ?" 
 
 "I will not, be assured," replied Tidele. And when Alfred 
 had taken leave of her, with many warm expressions of esteem, 
 he returned to that interesting object of his solicitude, who 
 was still in a state of oblivion the most profound. 
 
 " Can we get him to bed ? " he inquired of the waiter. " A 
 few hours' sleep will bring him round again." 
 
124 LADY EELICIA. 
 
 " I dont know how we're to get him up stairs" replied the 
 waiter, who looked as if he were endeavouring to solve a difficult 
 problem. " But there's a sofa in the next room ; we might get 
 him on that." 
 
 " That will do very well," returned Alfred. " 'Now, James," 
 he added, shaking that model of a spy with considerable violence, 
 "James!" 
 
 " What-sh lock ? " inquired James, with remarkable in- 
 distinctness. 
 
 " Never mind the clock," said Alfred, " get up come." 
 James had no desire to move. He was perfectly content to 
 remain where he was. But Alfred and the waiter carried him 
 into the other room, and having placed him on the sofa, left him. 
 "I'll look in again by-and-by," said Alfred. "Don't allow 
 him to leave here until I have seen him." 
 
 The waiter promised that he would not, and Alfred returned 
 to Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " G-ods ! what a state of suspense I've been in," exclaimed 
 that gentleman earnestly. ""What was it ?" 
 
 " Why," replied Alfred, " the servant who came for me, it 
 appears, saw me yesterday embrace Lady Eelicia" 
 "And made if known ?" 
 "Yes." 
 
 " The vagabond ! the crawling, sneaking, servile wretch 
 I'll bet ten to one he's a dirty Scotchman the sweep ! Did 
 you kick him ?" 
 
 " JSTo, I think I'm not sure you shall know all about it by- 
 and-by but I think that I shall yet have to thank him for his 
 interference." 
 
 " Well, but what did you say to the vagabond ? " 
 " I told him to go and get a glass of wine. 
 " Wine !" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins indignantly, " give him 
 wine ! Give a donkey oats ! or a Hottentot tight pantaloons ! 
 But you don't mean to say that you gave him wine ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 125 
 
 " I gave him a crown to get a glass of wine, while I was 
 conversing with Miss Legrange whom he had been sent by 
 Lady Florence to watch and when I went to tell him that 
 she was about to leave, I found him in a state of the most 
 helpless intoxication." 
 
 " Bravo ! Excellent ! Where is he now ?" 
 " At the tavern just below fast asleep on the sofa." 
 " Grlorious ! But here comes the governor ; he has been in 
 a desperate way about you." 
 
 The " governor" approached, and, addressing Alfred with an 
 expression of severity, said, " You appear to be very unsettled, 
 Mr. Murray ! I have noticed it during the last few days very, 
 very unsettled." 
 
 " I am unsettled," replied Alfred, calmly, " and shall be 
 unsettled for the next few days. Indeed, circumstances of a 
 strictly private nature have occurred, which render my absence 
 for a few days necessary !" 
 
 " You had, perhaps, better leave altogether, Mr. Murray. 
 This is a house of business ; and business-like habits, sir, must 
 be observed. The inattention and the irregularities which I 
 have lately noticed, no man of business can sanction. You 
 have been out this morning not on business ! and you are 
 unsettled still. I am sorry to make these observations, Mr. 
 Murray, because I respect your father. I have known him for 
 years, and respect him highly : but I must not, sir, on that 
 account, have my business neglected." 
 
 Alfred made no reply : he left the shop, and having packed 
 I up his things, returned with the view of taking leave of the 
 governor ; but as the governor was then from home, he left a 
 message with Mr. "Wilkins, to the effect, that he hoped the 
 next time they met they should meet in a more friendly spirit. 
 " Well," said Mr. "Wilkins, " it's fortunate under the cir- 
 cumstances that he said what he did; but I know that he 
 doesn't mean you to go /" 
 
126 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " If that be the case," said Alfred, " I'd better be off at 
 once ! At seven o'clock/' he added earnestly, " I shall have a 
 most important communication from Miss Legrange : pray 
 send it to me the moment it arrives." 
 
 " I will do so certainly. Where will you be ?" 
 
 " At the tavern just here. Let me see you as soon as you 
 have closed. I have much to say to you. Grood bye." 
 
 On his return to the tavern, Alfred, having ascertained 
 that his interesting charge was still soundly asleep ordered 
 dinner, which was served with remarkable promptitude, and 
 which, although alone, he enjoyed highly, and settled himself 
 down with a pint of wine before him, to contemplate seriatim 
 the brilliant prospects of happiness with which his imagination 
 teemed. 
 
 He had, however, scarcely conjured up the first vision 
 that of leading the amiable Lady Felicia to the altar when, 
 notwithstanding the truly delightful character of the scene 
 notwithstanding its natural tendency to engross his whole 
 soul to the utter exclusion of every other thought a great 
 idea struck him, and with so much force, that his heart sank 
 within him. 
 
 In an instant, as if by magic, his purse was before him, 
 wherein he found three pounds ten ! He looked at it with 
 an expression of bewilderment he felt, indeed, faint ! Three 
 pounds ten ! He, about to be allied to a lady of rank to 
 take her from scenes of surpassing splendour when he had 
 in his possession but three pounds ten ! The thought appalled 
 him : it never occurred to him before. Three pounds ten ! 
 Of what use was that truly ridiculous sum of money ? Three 
 pounds Why, what was to be done ? That day was Friday. 
 If he were to write home by that night's post, he could not 
 receive a remittance the next day, and on Sunday no letters 
 were delivered in town ! And yet he hoped fervently hoped 
 to lead Lady Felicia to the altar on Sunday. He began to 
 
LADY FELICIA. 127 
 
 perspire freely! and the wine became perfectly tasteless. 
 "Where could he obtain the money required ? Of whom could 
 he borrow it ? Of his friend Mr. Wilkins ? How could he 
 tell that Mr. Wilkins had any considerable sum at his com- 
 mand ? He might have a pound or two but what was that ? 
 
 and to whom else could he apply ? It was true, he might 
 go down that night by the mail : but then, look at the import- 
 ance of his remaining in town ! Still, as the promised com- 
 munication from Miss Legrange would arrive at seven, and as 
 the mail did not leave till past eight, he might go ; might ! 
 
 he must go ! if he could not obtain the amount required 
 of Mr. Wilkins, He therefore immediately wrote the follow- 
 ing note : 
 
 " DEAR WILKIKS, 
 
 " Come to me at once for a moment ! I have but to ask 
 you one question but one ! I shall be on the rack till I see 
 
 This he at once despatched by the waiter, who had not been 
 absent more than two minutes, when Mr. Wilkins without 
 his hat rushed into the room in a state of alarm. 
 
 " Why," said he, " what on earth is the matter ?" 
 
 " Have you any money ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 " Yes ! what do you want ?" 
 . " Have you any considerable sum ?" 
 
 " I've not more than fifty pounds in my desk, but 
 
 "That will be sufficient," said Alfred, who was greatly 
 relieved. " Sit down for a moment, I feel quite faint." 
 
 " Well but is that all you want me for ?" 
 
 " All ? I've been torturing myself. It never struck me till 
 just now, that money would be required, and unless I go down 
 by the mail to-night, I can't get any from home until Monday." 
 
 " I've enough in my pocket to last you till then." 
 
128 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " But I hope to be married on Sunday morning !" 
 " On Sunday morning ? What ! next Sunday morning ?" 
 " Yes ! I told you that I had much to say to you, and I 
 will, when you come in the evening, explain all ; but let it be 
 sufficient at present for you to know, that I have reason 
 ample reason for believing, that on Sunday morning Felicia 
 will be mine !" 
 
 " Gods ! I'm right glad to hear that ! And Sunday, too ! 
 Why I can be with you " 
 " You must be with us !" 
 
 "But I mean without having to ask leave of absence. 
 ]^o thing could be better. Was this your suggestion ?" 
 
 " No, it was suggested by Miss Legrange, seeing that as 
 Sunday was not the day for fashionable marriages " 
 
 " I see, I see ! A very clever girl that Miss Legrange. I 
 must have a little talk with her she's no fool. But Grods ! 
 On Sunday morning ! and next Sunday too ! I don't wonder 
 now, at your feeling alarmed when you found that you had not 
 enough money to carry on with ! How much have you got?" 
 " Here it is !" replied Alfred. " Three pounds ten." 
 Mr. Wilkins on the instant burst into a roar. He laughed 
 convulsively, and rolled about his chair, and held his sides, and 
 shook his head in a perfect paroxysm of merriment. " Three 
 pound ten!" he exclaimed, as soon as he could. " Grods ! what 
 a job it would have been if you had'nt thought of it until the 
 very morning! Three pound ten! Why, the parson alone 
 would swallow that little lot ! and would'nt be satisfied then, 
 for I suppose its a five-pound pill hell want to take ! And 
 yet no : as you don't go as a brace of the aristocracy, such a 
 dose would excite suspicion. A guinea, or a couple, will be 
 considered handsome ; but even then, when you consider the 
 congregation I mean the congregation of mortal cormorants 
 by whom you are surrounded, and whom you can't satisfy at 
 all your three pound ten would'nt get you out of the church !' 
 
LADY FELICIA. 129 
 
 What sort of a dinner did you mean to give us on that auspi- 
 cious occasion ? Bread and cheese with onions, and a pot of 
 half-and-half?" 
 
 " The fact is, I never gave it a thought." 
 
 " Never mind, old fellow : you shall not want for money : you 
 shall not be at a loss for that. You can have what I've got in 
 my desk to begin with, and next week I'll sell out as much as 
 you want." 
 
 " Oh that will be quite unnecessary," said Alfred. " I can 
 easily get some from home." 
 
 "Do nothing of the kind! Astonish them thoroughly! Never 
 dream of going to old people for money when you want to 
 delight them! It takes the edge off! You leave it to me. 
 But where' s that sweep ?" 
 
 " He's still in the next room." 
 
 " Let's have a look at him." 
 
 Alfred rose, and conducted Mr. Wilkins to the sofa on which 
 the model spy was profoundly reclining. 
 
 "Fast as a church" observed Mr. Wilkins "the very 
 picture of vigilance ! He's a beauty ! and I could say exactly 
 what I think of him, but as you tell me you may yet have cause 
 to thank him, I abstain. And now, old fellow, I must be off. 
 The governor's in an out-and-out rage : I never saw him in half 
 such a way as he was when he heard that you had left. But 
 that's nothing. At seven, my boy, I'll see you: again. I 
 feel just as anxious about it as you are/' 
 
 He then left ; and Alfred, whose mind was now at ease on 
 that point, at least, which had so much alarmed him resumed 
 his seat, with the view of dwelling again on the vision which the 
 fact of his having but three pounds ten had so suddenly dispelled. 
 
 This vision had, however, scarcely re-appeared before him, 
 when the door of the next room slowly opened^ and James, in 
 a state of extreme anxiety to know where he was, peeped 
 mysteriously in. 
 
 K 
 
130 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Oil ! sir," said he, faintly, having recognized Alfred, "what 
 have I been about." 
 
 " Getting tipsy," replied Alfred. " How do you feel now ?" 
 
 "Horrid, sir horrid." 
 
 " "Well, you must have some soda water." 
 
 " I wish, sir, I'd had some instead of the wine, for that, and 
 my savageness, upset me wholly. I felt fit to gnaw the very 
 flesh off my bones !" 
 
 Soda water was ordered; and when James had drunk one 
 bottle, he felt in some slight degree refreshed, and went to the 
 glass, with the view of restoring the characteristic respect- 
 ability of his appearance, and having accomplished this, as far 
 as he was able there, he said, " I'm ashamed, sir, to look you 
 in the face." 
 
 " Gro up and have a wash," said Alfred, without replying 
 to this remarkable observation of the penitent. " You'll feel 
 better then." 
 
 Appreciating at once the propriety of this suggestion, 
 James applied to the waiter, who took him up stairs, and when 
 he had put himself somewhat in order, he slowly returned to 
 his friend. 
 
 " However I shall get over this," said he, " I've no more 
 notion than an unborn babe. Lady Florence will fly at me 
 like a wild tigress." 
 
 " Is she, then, a violent person ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 " Violent, sir ! She's a rattlesnake. I can't compare her to 
 anything else. She's got a pair of eyes that flash like lightning, 
 and a tongue that'll tell you exactly what she means. What 
 I can say to her, I can't think : whatever excuse I can make, 
 I don't know." 
 
 " You'd better say that you were taken very suddenly 
 unwell, which as far as it goes will be the truth. You'll, of 
 course, not intimate to her that Miss Legrange has seen 
 
LADY EELICIA. 131 
 
 " I'd rather liave my tongue torn out than do it ! No, sir ! 
 I've done enough mischief as it is. She shall not hear a 
 word of it, either from me, or through me, and all that I can 
 do, sir, to make things right again, shall be done with all the 
 pleasure in life." 
 
 " Very good : then we understand each other, as far, at least, 
 as my interview this morning with Miss Legrange is concerned. 
 And now, have another bottle of soda water, with a litle 
 brandy in it." 
 
 " I'll take another bottle of the water, sir ; but if you 
 please without the brandy." 
 
 He accordingly had another bottle, without the brandy ; 
 and, having again and again expressed his sorrow for what had 
 occurred, he left, with an exalted opinion of Alfred's generosity, 
 and, at the same time, the most perfect dread of again 
 encountering the flashing eyes of Lady Florence. 
 
 From this time, until seven o'clock, Alfred's suspense 
 increased gradually ; but, precisely at that hour, Mr. Wilkins 
 rushed in with a note, which was opened with the utmost 
 eagerness. 
 
 "All right?" cried Mr. "Wilkins, with an expression of 
 anxious hope " Not all right ?" he added, still more anxiously, 
 on perceiving that Alfred's countenance fell. 
 
 "Read it," replied Alfred; and Mr. "Wilkins read as 
 follows : 
 
 " DEAB SIB, 
 
 " Having promised to write, I perform that promise ; but 
 I have not yet seen Lady Felicia. 
 
 " On my return I ascertained that she had left home, 
 accompanied by the Marquis, Lady Florence, and Lady 
 Augusta ; x but where she is gone, or at what hour she will 
 return, I know not. 
 
 " Let not this, however, alarm you. If practicable, she shall 
 K 2 
 
132 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 know all to-night ; but you shall, in any case, hear from me in 
 
 the morning, 
 
 " I remain, 
 
 " Dear sir, 
 
 "Yours truly, 
 
 " IT. LEGBAKGKE." 
 
 " "Well !" said Mr. Wilkins, having read the note attentively, 
 " I see nothing very disheartening in this !" 
 
 "The Marquis knows all," said Alfred, mournfully. "They 
 have taken her away in order to conceal her." 
 
 " Pooh, pooh, pooh, nonsense choo, choo absurd ! She's 
 gone with them, doubtless, to visit some friend : I see nothing 
 in that!" 
 
 " Depend upon it they have taken her from home in order 
 that I may see her no more." 
 
 " Don't you be ridiculous, old fellow, and torture yourself 
 with these baseless fancies, for that they are baseless I feel 
 quite convinced. She's out with them. Well! What on 
 earth is there in that ? She'll come home with them ; and 
 when she does come home, Miss Legrange will if practicable, 
 as she observes explain all, and let you know the result. 
 I see nothing in it ! It appears to me to be a mere common- 
 place occurrence ! If Lady Eelicia, having had all explained, 
 had refused to consent to the course proposed, you might then 
 indeed feel justified in conceiving that all was lost ; but the 
 mere fact of her having gone out for a few hours with her father 
 and her sisters affords no justification for excitement or alarm. 
 For my part, I see nothing in it at all. Let me, however, 
 hear what passed this morning between you and Miss 
 Legrange: I shall then, perhaps, be able to form a more 
 correct judgment. Don't fidget yourself. Explain all calmly." 
 Alfred did so ; but instead of thereby changing the views 
 of Mr. "Wilkins, he confirmed them. 
 
 " You perceive," said that gentleman, having listened most 
 
LADY FELICIA. 13 
 
 attentively to Alfred's recital, " that Miss Legrange herself 
 feels convinced that Lady Florence will not at present tell the 
 Marquis!" 
 
 " Yet, in spite of that conviction, Lady Florence may have 
 told him!" 
 
 " Granted," returned Mr. Wilkins. " Granted ! She may 
 have told him ; but depend upon it she has not done so. I 
 feel that we really ought to have the utmost confidence in the 
 judgment of that Miss Legrange ! She knows the lady much 
 better than we do, and as she feels convinced that the Marquis 
 has not been told, we ought, by all means, to adopt that 
 conviction." 
 
 "I wish that I could do so," said Alfred, with an air of 
 sadness ; " but I cannot : I feel sure that all has been 
 explained, and, if so why then for ever farewell hope !" 
 
 " But why ?" said Mr. Wilkins. " Why, even in that case, 
 bid farewell to hope ?" 
 
 " Suppose he were to take her to some remote place and" 
 
 " Well ! we'll put it so ! Say to some enchanted castle, 
 guarded by genii duly disguised as fiery dragons, prepared 
 to swallow all who approach; or to some capacious cavern 
 established somewhere about half-way between us and our 
 antipodes, to which admission can be obtained only though 
 the influence of a close corporation of griffins ; or to some 
 frightful phantom ship, manned with immortals and armed 
 with the mortars of Jove ! Pooh, pooh where can he take 
 her, to cut off effectually all communication between you? 
 Have you any faith in her affection ?" 
 
 " I have," replied Alfred, " faith the most unbounded !" 
 
 "Very well then; let him take her where he may, she'll 
 manage, at least, to let you know where she is ! Don't fidget 
 yourself about any such nonsense. Mark'my words. She'll be 
 home to-night, and in the morning you'll laugh at your fears." 
 
 Alfred, notwithstanding every effort was made by his friend 
 
134* LADY EELICIA. 
 
 to re-inspire him with hope, felt wretched, and continued to 
 feel wretched throughout the evening : nothing could rouse 
 him: his imagination teemed with the most painful appre- 
 hensions, and when at length Mr. "Wilkins had bade him 
 adieu, he retired to his room with a heavy heart indeed. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 135 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. : 
 
 THE EESOLTJTIOK. 
 
 ME. "WiLKEffS was perfectly correct in his conjecture : 
 Felicia did return that night. She had been to Eichmond on 
 a visit to her aunt, Lady Loftus, and returned about half-past 
 eleven. 
 
 Fidele, whose apprehensions had been as painful as those of 
 Alfred hailed her arrival with feelings of delight, and, having 
 as usual accompanied her to her room to which she as soon 
 as possible retired prepared to impart to her all that had 
 occurred. 
 
 " Did you see him ?" inquired Felicia, the very moment they 
 were alone. 
 
 "I did," replied Fidele. "But I have," she added with 
 startling deliberation " I have to communicate to you some- 
 thing which I fear will not only astonish but alarm you." 
 
 " Grood heavens !" exclaimed Felicia. " Is he not well ?" 
 
 " He is as well at least as he can be expected to be but 
 listen: Lady Florence knows more than you imagine: she 
 knows that the last time you parted he embraced you ! James 
 saw you; and through him it came to her knowledge. This 
 morning she sent him to watch me !" 
 
 "Is it possible!" exclaimed Felicia, with an expression of 
 terror. " He saw us ?" 
 
 "He did." 
 
 " Then all is lost." 
 
 " ISTo ! All is not lost, if you be but firm. She will not teU 
 the Marquis ! She has another object in view. Her object is 
 
136 LADY EELICIA. 
 
 to keep you in her power ! to trample upon your feelings to 
 subject you to every species of humiliation ! n 
 
 44 Indeed!" said Felicia, assuming an air of dignity "in- 
 deed. She sent him to watch you this morning ?" 
 
 " She did." 
 
 " How did you ascertain that ?" 
 
 Fidele explained what had passed between her and James, 
 while Felicia listened with a look of contempt. 
 
 A pause ensued, during which Felicia's eyes expressed wan- 
 dering thoughts, while her curled lip proclaimed the existence 
 of indignant feelings. 
 
 " I perceive," she said at length " I perceive. Her object 
 is first to accumulate proofs, and then to descend with her 
 whole weight upon me. But proofs of what ?" she added with 
 the most intense expression of earnestness. " Proofs of what ? 
 of pure affection ? No : these are not the proofs she would 
 have ! This, then, accounts for that extraordinary change 
 which I have noticed in her conduct to me during the day : 
 this accounts for her anxious solicitude her affectionate 
 attention her gracious smiles her wonderful beneficence ! 
 Does Alfred know of this ?" 
 
 " He does. I told him all ; and when I had explained to him 
 my fears that the object of Lady Florence was to wound your 
 feelings, his manly bosom swelled with indignation. ' Some- 
 thing must be done,' said he, ' to prevent this : something must 
 be done to save that pure and gentle creature from the indig- 
 nities you contemplate' and then he proceeded with mingled 
 feelings of hope and fear to suggest what might be done." 
 
 " What did he suggest," inquired Felicia anxiously. " What 
 did he propose ?" 
 
 "As if in anticipation of what was about to occur, he had 
 procured this document which he intended to wear at least 
 for some time as an amulet ; and suggested the propriety of 
 prevailing upon you to consent to its being immediately used." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 137 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "The marriage licence," replied Fidele, and on the instant 
 Felicia's eyes sparkled with delight. 
 
 "The marriage licence !" she exclaimed " What, our mar- 
 riage licence?" 
 
 " Yes ; and an interesting document it is." 
 
 Felicia perused it, with an expression of rapture ; but felt 
 somewhat tremulous nevertheless. 
 
 " He would not have shown it at present," resumed Fidele ; 
 " nor would he have even intimated that he had it in his 
 possession, being apprehensive that he might be deemed 
 precipitate ; but feeling that, under the circumstances, it 
 would save you from tyranny the thought of which appalled 
 him! he begged of me at once to submit it to you. He 
 spoke" she continued, as Felicia's eyes wandered over the 
 licence still : " he spoke of to-morrow morning ! But, as 
 I told him, if even you did consent, it could not take place 
 before Sunday" 
 
 " And did he urge it warmly ?" 
 
 "Hush!" cried Fidele, in a thrilling whisper "What 
 was that ? I heard something !" 
 
 She went to the door, softly, and having opened it, dis- 
 covered Lady Florence ! 
 
 " Oh !" said that lady, addressing Felicia with one of her 
 most bewitching smiles, " Good night, dear ! Perceiving a 
 light, I thought you might have been reading. Good night." 
 
 "Have you been listening, Florence?" inquired Felicia, 
 with a look of severity. 
 
 In an instant the blood of Lady Florence was up, and her 
 dark eyes flashed with fury "Listening!" she exclaimed, 
 imperiously " listening ! How dare you accuse me of an act 
 so mean ! and that, too, even in the presence of your maid ! 
 Listening ! I could, if I felt disposed, sink you to the earth !" 
 
 " No ? Florence, no ! *' replied Felicia, firmly ; " you may, 
 
138 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 indeed, wound my spirit, but you have not the power to 
 crush it." 
 
 Tearing that if she said more, she might defeat the object 
 she had in view, Lady Florence looked at her haughtily for 
 a moment, and then, with a sneer of contempt, withdrew. 
 
 " Is it possible !" said Felicia, when the door had been closed 
 " Is it possible that she could have heard us ? " 
 
 " I hope not I think not ;" replied Fidele, who trembled 
 violently. " I feel quite sure that she could not : if even she 
 heard our voices, it must have been indistinctly. But oh! 
 what a terrible look she gave you !" 
 
 " Her looks," said Felicia calmly, " have no terrors for 
 me. "With regard to this suggestion I'll reflect upon it ; and 
 do you reflect upon it too. Let me know your impressions in 
 the morn ing : let me know how you would advise me to act. 
 As Alfred says, something must be done ! And now leave me, 
 Fidele ; I wish to be alone. Grood night good night." 
 
 Inspired with the spirit of resistance by the fears expressed 
 by Fidele, that the object of Lady Florence was to humiliate 
 her fears, which the imperious conduct of her sister that 
 night had proved were but too well founded Felicia, on being 
 left alone, soon made up her mind to adopt Alfred's suggestion. 
 It was clear, that the fact of his having embraced her could 
 not much longer remain a secret : it was clear that an ex- 
 planation would soon be demanded, and that when that 
 explanation had been given, every possible barrier would be 
 placed between her and the consummation of her hopes ; and 
 as the consent of the Marquis could never be obtained as it 
 must necessarily be a clandestine marriage she firmly resolved 
 on the pursuit of that course which she felt would at once 
 save her from the tyranny of Lady Florence, and render her 
 happiness secure. 
 
 But oh! how earnestly she wished that Alfred then knew 
 that this resolution had been formed, that he might be relieved 
 
LADY EELICIA. 139 
 
 from those tortures of suspense which she could not but feel 
 that he endured. The thought, however, of the rapture in 
 store for him the delight he would experience when the 
 intelligence reached him tended to diminish her sorrow for 
 what he endured then, and she dwelt upon visions of peace, 
 love, and joy, until having, as usual, prayed for protection 
 from on High she calmly retired to rest. 
 
 In the morning Lady Florence re-assumed her lofty bearing, 
 but said nothing having reference to the preceding night; 
 and when Felicia, who was also, of course, silent on the subject, 
 had been through the ceremony of breakfast for with her it 
 was but a mere ceremony then she returned to Fidele, to 
 whom she had previously declared her resolution, and who had 
 been most eloquent in Alfred's praise ; and after a long con- 
 versation, in which every point was satisfactorily discussed, 
 Fidele was deputed to "communicate the intelligence to him 
 who was absolutely panting to receive it. 
 
 Having obtained this commission with an expression of the 
 most perfect confidence that she would execute it with all 
 possible delicacy, Fidele hastened to impart the joyful news to 
 Alfred, and indulged, during her progress towards the shop, in 
 the most delightful anticipations. 
 
 On her arrival, however, Alfred was not to be seen. She 
 looked round anxiously but he was not there, nor was Mr. 
 Wilkins. 
 
 u ls Mr. Murray within ?" she inquired of the proprietor, 
 by whom she was addressed with due promptitude and tact. 
 
 " Mr. Murray has left us," replied that gentleman. 
 
 "Left?" said Fidele, with a look of amazement. "Left 
 entirely?" 
 
 " Yes, he left yesterday morning." 
 
 " Indeed ! Will you be kind enough to tell me where he 
 is to be found?" 
 
 " Upon my word I have no conception, I don't know at all." 
 
140 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " He is, I presume, still in town ?" 
 
 "He may be I really don't know. He may be in town 
 or he may have returned to Sudbury indeed I think it most 
 likely that he is gone there, for he told me, that circum- 
 stances of a strictly private naturesome family matter, in 
 all probability demanded his immediate attention. If, how- 
 ever, he should call here I shall be most happy to hand him 
 your card." 
 
 " I thank you ; but that will be unnecessary. By-the-by I 
 sent a note here for him last evening, perhaps you will do 
 me the favour to let me have it again ? " 
 
 " I'm not aware that any note came for him last evening." 
 
 "Jt was sent about seven o'clock." 
 
 "It hasn't yet been delivered. If it had been I must of 
 course have seen it." 
 
 " Very extraordinary," observed Fidele. " However, I beg to 
 apologize for the trouble I have given you," she added, and 
 having bowed left the shop. 
 
 "What news for poor Felicia!" thought Fidele. " What a 
 state of anxiety she will be in. How very unfortunate nay, 
 how very wrong. He ought not to have left town without 
 informing me." 
 
 At that moment Mr. Wilkins, who had been to see 
 Alfred for about the twentieth time that morning, to tell him 
 that no communication had yet arrived, approached without 
 his hat. He might have passed and she would not have 
 noticed him, but he recognized her on the instant, and 
 without the slightest ceremony addressed her. 
 
 "I'm so glad to see you," said he, in a state of rapture. 
 " He's pretty well dead with suspense." 
 
 Fidele looked at him she didn't know him. 
 
 " Miss Legrange, I believe," he added hastily, " Mr. 
 Murray" 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Fidele, " Where is he ? " 
 
LADY FELICIA. 141 
 
 " Just here -just below." 
 
 " Oh ! I'm so glad that you recognized me," said Fidele, as 
 she walked by the side of Mr. Wilkins, " I feared that he had 
 left town." 
 
 " Oh dear me, no ; he is here," said Mr. "Wilkins, having 
 by this time reached the tavern. " Will you step in, or shall 
 I go in and tell him ? He's quite alone." 
 
 " In that case 111 go in," replied Fidele ; and they entered 
 the room in which Alfred was sitting. 
 
 In an instant he rose and, grasping her hand, surveyed her 
 countenance anxiously. " But one word," said he ; " has she 
 returned ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," replied Fidele. " She returned last night." 
 
 He led her to a chair, and was about to seat himself, when 
 Mr. Wilkins beckoned him out of the room, and said " Look 
 here old fellow, I can't come out again for the next quarter of 
 an hour; ifit's all right let me know before I leave; I'll remain 
 here I am so anxious/' 
 
 Alfred promised that he would, and returned to Fidele, 
 who, in order to startle him with delight, announced to him 
 at once that Felicia had consented. 
 
 As she had anticipated, he was indeed startled; he seized 
 her hand, and pressed it warmly, and felt for a moment 
 overpowered. 
 
 "Let me," said he, in a voice tremulous with emotion, 
 " let me communicate this to my friend, that he may share 
 the delight I experience now/' 
 
 He left the room, and grasping the hand of Mr. Wilkins, 
 exclaimed, "All right! Felicia has consented." 
 
 "Grods!" cried Mr. Wilkins. "That's glorious indeed! I 
 give you joy," he added, shaking his hand heartily " I give 
 you joy, my boy ! I give you joy ! I give you joy !" when as 
 he absolutely felt that the tears were about to start, he turned 
 and left him. 
 
142 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Alfred now endeavoured to compose himself, and to some 
 extent succeeded. He returned to Fidele, and felt much more 
 calm, and listened with the most intense earnestness to all that 
 she had to impart. 
 
 " And now," she added, having explained to him minutely 
 the feelings, expressions, and hopes of Felicia, and dwelt upon 
 her virtues in a touching strain of eloquence " how are we to 
 act in the morning ?" 
 
 " I have promised," replied Alfred, " to leave the entire 
 management of the affair to my friend Mr. Wilkins, who has 
 taken the deepest interest in my success, who has towards me, 
 in fact, the true feelings of a brother, and who, I know, will 
 do all in his power to promote our comfort." 
 
 " Do you mean the gentleman who came here with me ?" 
 " Yes, that is Mr. Wilkins, and a warm-hearted creature he 
 is. Somewhat too enthusiastic, perhaps ; but true." 
 
 "That's the great point," observed Fidele. "He appeared 
 when he fortunately recognized me, to have your interest 
 deeply at heart. But how are we to meet in the morning ?" 
 
 " Can we do better than meet at the church ? Shall we 
 send for Mr. "Wilkins, and hear what he suggests ?" 
 " It will be, I think, as well," replied Fidele. 
 Alfred wrote a note, and despatched it by the waiter ; and 
 Mr. Wilkins very soon made his appearance. 
 
 "We wish to consult you," said Alfred, "on the subject of 
 our proceedings in the morning. In the first place, how are we 
 to meet ?" 
 
 " Well," replied Mr. Wilkins, " according to the arrange- 
 ments which I have conceived, I call for you here, at half-past 
 seven, and we enter the church at eight, precisely!" 
 " And meet there ?" 
 
 " Much better meet there, because no suspicion can then be 
 excited. When we leave the church, a carriage, of course, will 
 be in attendance. We then proceed to a beautiful spot, which 
 
LADY FELICIA. 143 
 
 I have in my eye, to breakfast, and thence to another delightful 
 place, about ten miles farther, where, having spent a glorious 
 and truly happy day, I mean to leave you. I presume," he 
 added, addressing Fidele, " that we shall have the additional 
 charm of your society ?" 
 
 " I hope to be with you," replied Fidele. 
 
 " But do you leave Kingsborough House ?" 
 
 "Of course!" 
 
 " But, I mean, leave entirely !" 
 
 " Oh yes ; my presence there would not, of course, be very 
 agreeable, after this." 
 
 " I understand. JN"ow will you allow me to offer a sugges- 
 tion ?" 
 
 " I shall be, indeed, happy to hear it." 
 
 " I know what you ladies are. I have sisters at home, and 
 when they go out if it be only for two or three days they 
 are loaded with every variety of box, and trunk, filled with 
 things which they tell me they cannot by any conceivable 
 possibility, do without. I don't pretend to know to the 
 contrary, and, therefore, am bound to believe them ; and as I 
 imagine that you and Lady Felicia may require, at least, one 
 trunk, filled with this indispensable machinery, whatever it may 
 be, and as you cannot, with any degree of convenience, bring it 
 with you in the morning, I would suggest the expediency of 
 packing one up, and sending it by one of the coaches, to-night, 
 directed to me, to be left till called for, at the Booking-office, 
 Greenwich, Kent." 
 
 " A very excellent suggestion, indeed," said Fidele, " and one 
 which can be very easily adopted ! I have been at a loss to 
 conceive how we could manage, but this removes the difficulty 
 at once !" 
 
 " But," said Alfred, " will the adoption of this course be 
 wise ? The very moment Felicia's absence is discovered, 
 the most searching inquiries, of course, will be made; and 
 
144 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 when they have ascertained that a box has been sent to 
 Greenwich, they'll pursue us in that direction, and we may be 
 annoyed !" 
 
 " Exactly," replied Mr. "Wilkins, " very true. But we are 
 not going in that direction ! When they have ascertained that 
 the box has been sent to Greenwich, they will naturally infer 
 that we have gone into Kent, and will pursue us doubtless ; 
 but we shall not be there! I shall send a man over for it 
 early in the morning, who will bring it to town, and despatch 
 it to where we shall be !" 
 
 " Very good !" said Alfred, " very good indeed P 
 
 " Beally," Mr. "Wilkins, observed Eidele, " I cannot wonder 
 at the fact of Mr. Murray having left the entire management 
 of this affair to you ! Have you any other suggestion to make ?" 
 
 " One more," replied Mr. "Wilkins " but one. I would 
 suggest the propriety of I may say, the necessity for Lady 
 Felicia keeping up her spirits ! Tell her to fear nothing ! for 
 there is in reality nothing to fear. Let her but keep up her 
 glorious spirits, and then we shall all be as happy as birds. I 
 anticipate a day of days ! with your assistance, our happiness 
 will be enthusiastic! And now, my boy," he added, " just 
 order some wine, for I want to drink the health the glorious 
 health, of the lovely and strong-minded Lady Felicia !" 
 
 The wine was ordered; and when the toast had been 
 proposed, and responded to, Mr. Wilkins poured forth a flood 
 of eloquence, which ran and sparkled through a variety of 
 subjects including those of love, hope, felicity, and fear 
 until Fidele, who was perfectly delighted with him, reluctantly 
 intimated that she must return. 
 
 "Miss Legrange," said Alfred, as he pressed her hand 
 warmly, " with all my heart, I thank you ! Tell dear Felicia 
 G-od bless her ! that she has made me beyond conception 
 happy, and that my devotion shall prove the purity and 
 strength of my affection." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 145 
 
 " I will tell her all this, and much more," said Eidele. " You 
 need not expect to hear from me again ; but, if anything 
 should occur." 
 
 " Pray, write in any case !" 
 " Well, then I will." 
 
 " Where's the licence ?" inquired Mr. Wilkins. 
 " Dear me !" exclaimed Fidele, " what a fortunate thought ! 
 I certainly should have taken it back with me. What we 
 should do without you, Mr. Wilkins, I really don't know !" 
 
 The licence was at once returned to Alfred, and when Eidele 
 had shaken hands with them both cordially, she with a light 
 heart and joyous spirits left them. 
 
 " A spicy girl, that," observed Mr. Wilkins, " Ladylike, 
 clever, intelligent ! I must have a little more talk with her ! 
 And now, my boy," he added, " I must leave you. The 
 governor will frown like a thunder cloud when I go back ; but 
 that's nothing. We'll have a glorious evening ! I need not 
 tell you now to keep up your spirits ! Go, and get the ring, 
 and then run to the parson. Eight o'clock, mind ! precisely ! 
 Good bye." 
 
 He then returned to the " governor," who, being indeed 
 enraged, at once gave him notice to leave, declaring that he 
 would not stand such perfectly un-business-like irregularities 
 to please the most highly accomplished salesman in the 
 realm' 
 
146 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 THE ELOPEMENT. 
 
 FIBMLY adhering to the resolution she had formed, Felicia 
 having had but little sleep during the night rose early in the 
 morning, and with the assistance of Fidele, prepared to leave 
 her magnificent home. 
 
 She was tranquil : pensive, indeed, but not sad ; her counte- 
 nance proclaimed neither levity nor gloom. Fidele, by the 
 exercise of the most pleasing arts, endeavoured to inspire her 
 with gaiety, portraying the brightest prospects of happiness, 
 and speaking continually in Alfred's praise ; but Felicia was 
 still calm, and thoughtful, and pale, as if her heart had 
 summoned all the blood in her veins, within its own immediate 
 region, to sustain it. 
 
 The hour appointed approached; and Fidele informed one 
 of the servants that they were about to take advantage of that 
 delightful morning by going for a walk which, although 
 unusual, excited no surprise and when the time for their 
 departure had arrived, Felicia rang the bell for the servants 
 to let her out, and left the house firmly, accompanied by Fidele. 
 
 At first, they proceeded in the direction of the Park ; but 
 turning to the right, they went round towards the church, near 
 which not a soul was to be seen. Finding the door open, 
 however, they entered ; and on the instant Alfred and his friend 
 approached. 
 
 " Noble girl !" said Alfred fervently, as he pressed her hand, 
 and gazed with an expression of rapture. 
 
 " Alfred," said Felicia, somewhat faintly, " I have followed 
 
LADY FELICIA. 147 
 
 the dictates of my heart; not upon impulse, Alfred, but 
 reflection.'' 
 
 " My dear, my own Felicia !" he exclaimed, and pressed her 
 hand still more fervently, and drew her arm gently within his 
 own ; and, having briefly introduced Mr. Wilkins, who had 
 already begun to chat gaily with Fidele, they proceeded to the 
 vestry, where the minister received them, and then led the way 
 to the altar. 
 
 During the ceremony which was most impressively 
 performed Felicia's firmness never forsook her: indeed the 
 very points which under ordinary circumstances would have 
 affected her to tears, tended to impart to her additional 
 strength, and 'while she knelt before the altar, with true 
 humility, the spirit of prayer subdued all her worldly thoughts, 
 and rendered them subservient to its holy influence. 
 
 The ceremony ended, they returned to the vestry; and 
 there, for the first time, Felicia wept ; and while Alfred, with 
 the most affectionate solicitude, embraced her, and wiped away 
 her tears, Mr. Wilkins did all that was necessary, and more, 
 with the view of giving satisfaction to those whom the mani- 
 festation of his generosity concerned ; and having taken leave 
 of the minister, who had been extremely courteous throughout, 
 they left the church, and immediately entered the carriage, 
 which at that very moment drew up. 
 
 The blinds were down in an instant: for, although there 
 were but very few persons about, it was held to be advisable 
 to defy even the possibility of recognition; and Mr. "Wilkins, 
 having Fidele by his side, began to inspire them with gaiety. 
 
 The route had been changed the previous evening : Brighton 
 was now the point proposed ; and in less than an hour, which 
 did not appear to be half an hour, they stopped at Croydon. 
 Here breakfast was ordered, and shortly afterwards the man 
 whom Mr. Wilkins had despatched with a horse and gig to 
 Greenwich, arrived with Felicia 1 s trunk. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 "Dear me!" exclaimed Fidele, whom this arrival not only 
 delighted, but amazed. " How very kind ! and with what 
 admirable promptitude !" 
 
 " Promptitude" observed Mr. Wilkins, who had staked his 
 reputation upon his arrangements " Promptitude in an affair 
 of this character is absolutely essential to perfect enjoyment : 
 without it, doubts and fears arise, which are, of course, inimical 
 to happiness. You would have thought of this trunk all day : 
 you might even have been apprehensive that it was lost. Now, 
 here it is ! and by its presence, apprehension is defied. "When 
 I marry," he added, with a look of peculiar significance "if 
 I ever should but we'll talk about that another time." 
 
 "Talk about that another time!" thought Fidele. " How 
 very odd!" 
 
 He said no more : indeed, he left the room with the view 
 of giving some additional instructions ; but, certainly, the idea 
 of his talking about that another time, struck her as being 
 remarkable. 
 
 Breakfast was now announced ; and considering the short- 
 ness of the notice, it was, on a small scale, a splendid set-out ; 
 which quite astonished Mr. "Wilkins, because so many apolo- 
 gies had been offered, and he had heard so many expressions 
 of an earnest wish, that he had only sent them word that he 
 was coming, that they might have provided something deli- 
 cious ! Really, everything appeard to be sufficiently delicious ! 
 It is true, neither Pelicia nor Alfred ate much, but Fidele and 
 Mr. "Wilkins ! Well ! It will be, perhaps, sufficient to state, 
 that they were worthy of all belief when they declared that 
 they never before ate such a breakfast." 
 
 Having enjoyed their repast, during which the facetiae of Mr. 
 "Wilkins had been very agreeable, the expediency of " moving 
 on a little farther" was suggested, and when the necessary 
 instructions had been given, and Mr. "Wilkins had had a private 
 interview with the landlord, to whom the highest satisfaction 
 
LADY FELICIA. 149 
 
 was expressed, and by whom the highest satisfaction was 
 received, they re-entered the carriage and were off. 
 
 Now, leaving them for the present to pursue their journey 
 under more cheerful influences then they were when they 
 commenced it for even Felicia, although still calm, had had 
 her spirits somewhat raised it will be quite correct at once to 
 return to Kingsborough House, inasmuch as their departure 
 from Croydon and the startling discovery of Felicia's flight 
 occurred simultaneously. 
 
 Lady Florence, and her sister Lady Augusta, were dressed 
 for church, which they seldom, during the season, omitted to 
 attend, seeing that that which they patronized was, at that 
 period, one of the most aristocratic churches in town, and 
 therefore a church which, though consecrated to the worship of 
 the Most High, was virtually a Temple of Fashion, in which 
 everything said and done appeared to be an absolute mockery 
 of the spirit of true religion. From the actor in the pulpit, 
 who went in state to preach humility to those who went in 
 state to hear him to the brilliant devotees the gorgeously 
 . apparelled actors and actresses who represented the congre- 
 gation all seemed to be engaged in a purely histrionic display 
 of which they themselves formed the very centre of attraction. 
 They appeared to be, moreover, devoted to irony, not only 
 when they craved Divine mercy as "miserable sinners" 
 prayed to be delivered " from all blindness of heart, from pride, 
 vain glory, and hypocrisy ; from envy, hatred, and malice, and 
 all uncharitableness" and invoked the Holy Spirit to incline 
 their hearts to keep the fourth commandment, when all their 
 arrangements had been made for the day in which their man- 
 servants and their maid- servants, and their cattle would be 
 engaged but throughout the whole service, which smacked of 
 Rome and rendered the road to it easy. The very sermon 
 seemed to be ironical for exhortations to purity, simplicity, 
 devotion, prostration of spirit and humility of heart, were 
 
150 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 delivered in the midst of an impious pantomime, in which some 
 of the most conspicuous performers were pantaloons with 
 painted faces, gloating upon the Columbines, who in the 
 exercise of all the arts of fascination at their command, seemed 
 to regard the brilliant scene as Christianity's Masquerade. 
 
 To this Temple of Fashion, or Fashionable Church, in which 
 all this appeared Grod alone knew the hearts of the gorgeous 
 congregation Lady Florence and Lady Augusta were dressed 
 to go when the intelligence reached them, that Felicia went out 
 for an early morning walk and had not yet returned. 
 
 " Out ' " exclaimed Lady Florence, " and not yet returned." 
 
 Both she and her sister were struck with amazement, and 
 
 rushing to the room, in which the Marquis was, as usual, having 
 
 his breakfast alone, and reading the most facetious of the 
 
 Sunday papers, communicated the fact to him at once. 
 
 "Well:" said the Marquis coolly, "what of that? Shell 
 return, I dare say, when she's tired of walking !" 
 
 "I fear," said Lady Augusta, "that she'll never return/' 
 " What do you mean ?" demanded the Marquis. 
 " I feel quite convinced that she is gone expressly to meet 
 that person whose object is to disgrace her ?" 
 " That person ! What person ?" 
 " He whom, the last time he came, she embraced." 
 "Embraced!" echoed the Marquis, with a look of alarm. 
 "Embraced!" 
 
 " If I had done that which I ought to have done, this would 
 not have occurred. " 
 
 " Who saw her embrace him ?" 
 " One of the servants." 
 " And did you know of it ?" 
 "I did." 
 
 " Then why not tell me ?" 
 
 "I should have done so, but Florence would 'not allow 
 me." 
 
LADY EELICIA. 151 
 
 " Why not ?" 
 
 " She wanted, she said, to enjoy the sport I" 
 
 "The sport!" exclaimed the Marquis. "The sport! The 
 sport of seeing your sister disgraced! Why, you infamous 
 creature ! what do you mean ?" 
 
 " I said that I wanted additional proof" said Lady Florence, 
 darting a look of fury at her sister. 
 
 "You said sport." 
 
 "It is false!" 
 
 " Out of my sight ! " cried the; Marquis fiercely, and Lady 
 Florence, with a haughty expression, left the room. " Who is 
 this 'villain ?" he demanded of Lady Augusta. 
 
 " His name, I believe, is Murray !" 
 
 "What is he P" 
 
 " A mercer, I believe." 
 
 " A mercer !" cried the Marquis, with a look of disgust. 
 
 " I believe so : he came here with silks !" 
 
 " How often has the wretch been here ?" 
 
 " Twice, I understand." 
 
 "Where does he live?" 
 
 " Upon my word, I don't know. James knows much more 
 about him than I do." 
 
 " Ring, then, for James." 
 
 Lady Augusta did so ; and the Marquis rose and paced the 
 room with an aspect of ferocity. 
 
 " Send James up," said he, when a servant appeared. 
 
 "James, my lord?" said the servant. "He's just gone to 
 church with Lady Florence !" 
 
 "Bun and bring him back, then, immediately. You ought 
 to be ashamed of yourselves," he added, when the servant had 
 left the room, " both of you ! You are just as bad as Florence. 
 You ought to have told me, in order that I might have put a 
 stop to it at once." 
 
 " I should have done so had it not been for Florence." 
 
152 LADY PELICIA. 
 
 " Don't talk to me about Florence ! How could she prevent 
 you?" 
 
 "You don't know how imperious she is !" 
 
 "Curse her imperiousness ! " exclaimed the Marquis, who 
 continued to pace the room violently until James, in a state 
 of alarm, appeared. 
 
 " Now, sir," said the Marquis, " do you mean to say that 
 you saw Lady Felicia and that fellow who was here embracing 
 each other? If you tell me a falsehood I'll strangle you. 
 Did you, or did you not, see them ?" 
 
 " I did, my lord." 
 
 " You are quite sure ?" 
 
 "I am, my lord, quite." 
 
 " Did you let her out this morning ? " 
 
 " No, my lord ; but I saw them go." 
 
 "Yousaw^mgo?" 
 
 " Yes, my lord ; I mean Lady Felicia and Miss Legrange." 
 
 " Had they anything with them ?" 
 
 " Nothing but what they had on, my lord ; but a trunk was 
 sent away last night by Miss Legrange." 
 
 " A trunk, do you say ?" 
 
 " Yes, my lord, a large trunk ; I saw the direction ; it went 
 by the coach to Greenwich." 
 
 " To whom was it directed ?" 
 
 "To a Mr. Wilkins, to be left at the coach-office till 
 called for." 
 
 "Order post horses quick four immediately! Don't 
 lose a moment away ! I'll spoil the sport of the scoundrel 
 now." 
 
 " Shall I go with you ?" inquired Lady Augusta. 
 
 " Do you know him ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then keep at home." 
 
 He summoned his valet and went up to dress, while Lady 
 
LADY FELICIA. 153 
 
 Augusta, whose only fear was that the "family" might be 
 disgraced, imagined Felicia sitting at breakfast with Alfred 
 and Fidele, and the utter consternation that would be created 
 by the sudden appearance of the Marquis. 
 
 As the utmost possible haste had been enjoined, the carriage 
 was goon at the door, when the Marquis, armed with a loaded 
 cane and attended by James and a powerful groom, who was 
 also armed, started for Greenwich. 
 
 Having reached the Marsh Gate, which has since disappeared, 
 he ascertained that a carriage and four had passed through 
 about nine that morning ; and feeling now convinced that he 
 was on the right track, he urged the postillions forward. 
 
 On reaching, however, the Kent Road Gate, no information 
 whatever could be obtained; nor had they at either of the 
 other gates seen a carriage and four pass through : he, never- 
 theless, conceiving that there might be two roads, dashed on 
 to Greenwich, and stopped at the first coach-office he came to. 
 
 "Have you a trunk here directed to Mr. "Wilkins?" he 
 inquired. 
 
 " We had," replied the book-keeper ; " but a man came and 
 took it away this morning." 
 
 " Do you know the man ?" 
 
 "JS T o." 
 
 " Do you deliver trunks to men of whom you know 
 nothing?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; especially when they bring their cards. This 
 man brought the card of Mr. "Wilkins !" 
 
 " Does he live in the town, think you ?" 
 
 " The man, or Mr. "Wilkins ?" 
 
 " The man." 
 
 " I don't know : he may : very likely he does. I don't 
 know either of them myself." 
 
 " Have you seen a carriage and four pass through here this 
 morning?" 
 
154 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " No, not this morning." 
 
 One of the postillions here intimated to his lordship, that 
 if they were ahead he should he sure to hear of them at the 
 top of Blackheath Hill, and as the Marquis thought this very 
 probable, they at once dashed up to the hotel on Blackheath. 
 
 Here, however, the people declared positively that no 
 carriage and four had passed there that morning; and the 
 Marquis, on being assured that if it had they must have 
 seen it, ordered the post-boys to drive back to Greenwich, 
 conceiving that they must have put up there, and went round 
 to every house at which they could have put up there were 
 not many of that kind there then and feeling at length 
 convinced that they had not been there at all, he told the men 
 to drive back as fast as they came. 
 
 That they had passed the Marsh Grate, the Marquis felt 
 assured, and it was at the gate in the Kent Road, that he had 
 missed them. He therefore thought and very naturally 
 that they must have turned off at the Elephant and Castle and 
 on his return to the Elephant and Castle, he turned up the 
 Camberwell Eoad, and inquired at the "Walworth Grate, but no 
 carriage and four had passed through there. He then came 
 back, and went round to the Kennington Grate, through which 
 they really had passed ; but fortunately for the reputation of 
 Mr. "Wilkins, at least ! the man in attendance had not been 
 there an hour, and, therefore, of course, knew nothing about it. 
 He did not by any means explain to the Marquis, that he had 
 not been there an hour! No: having seen no carriage and 
 four pass, he felt justified in stating distinctly, that nothing of 
 the kind had passed, and that if it had, he must have seen it! 
 he wasn't blind ! 
 
 "Well ! "What was to be done ? They might have passed 
 the Marsh Grate, merely for the purpose of putting him on the 
 wrong scent, and, returning by one the of other bridges, proceeded 
 in another direction ! This struck the Marquis as being the 
 
LADY FELICIA. 155 
 
 course, which, in all probability, they had pursued, and, there- 
 fore, he gave the word, " Home." 
 
 On his way home, however, he called on Lord Thurleigh, with 
 whom he was on terms of the closest intimacy, and to whom he 
 communicated all that had occurred. 
 
 " Is she of age ?" inquired his lordship, calmly. 
 
 "Yes," replied the Marquis. 
 
 ""Well, then, they have not gone to Gretna. They are 
 married by this time." 
 
 " Married !" exclaimed the Marquis, with a countenance 
 strongly expressive of a desire for anything rather than that ! 
 " "Why the scoundrel is but a mere mercer !" 
 
 " "Well ! there is no law to prohibit such a marriage !" 
 
 " No law ! but is it likely !" 
 
 " I think that it is ! very likely indeed ! If a marriage had 
 not been contemplated, she would not have left home." 
 
 " Well, but where could they get married ?" 
 
 " Either in your own parish, or that in which he has been 
 residing." 
 
 " Good God ! But I cannot believe in anything so 
 monstrous !" 
 
 "You had better go at once, and ascertain! I'll go with you. 
 But, in any case, keep the affair close." 
 
 The church of the parish, in which the Marquis resided, 
 being at hand, they went directly there, and at once ascertained 
 that Felicia was married that morning. 
 
 " The minx !" exclaimed the Marquis, having looked at the 
 register. " She who appeared to be so gentle, so calm ! the 
 wanton, base, deceitful minx ! Oh, curse her!" 
 
 " Hush !" said Lord Thurleigh. " Kingsborough ! Be 
 cool. Come, come : let us leave. It's a bad job a lad job 
 but let us consider what's best to be done." 
 
 " "What can be done !" exclaimed the Marquis. 
 
 " Nothing, to undo what has been done ; but something may 
 
156 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 suggest itself, calculated to subdue the most galling features of 
 the case. Come ! let us return." 
 
 " If," said the Marquis, having re-entered the carriage, "if 
 the vagabond had been but a gentleman, I shouldn't have cared 
 so much ; but the idea of being the father-in-law of a mercer, is 
 monstrous !" 
 
 " Do you know him at all ?" 
 
 " Not I." 
 
 " You don't know whether he's intelligent, or not ?" 
 
 " I know nothing whatever about the vagabond!" 
 
 " My object in asking you, is to suggest, that if he be not a 
 fool and I don't believe he is you might get him some 
 appointment abroad." 
 
 " I get the scoundrel an appointment ! If he dare to come 
 near me, I'll knock out his brains ! I'll do that for him, the 
 villain !" 
 
 " There is no necessity for him to come near you ! The 
 farther he is from you the better. I would therefore get him 
 some appointment abroad. Keep this affair a secret which 
 you easily can do until he is gone, and then proclaim that 
 your daughter is allied to an attache, to such an embassy, and 
 so on." 
 
 "If they alone were concerned," said the Marquis, "I'd let 
 the wretches starve I'd let them starve! but as such a vulgar, 
 detestable alliance must, if known, reflect disgrace upon the 
 family, I'll think of your suggestion I'll think of it." 
 
 " Keep the affair to yourself!" urged Lord Thurleigh. 
 " Don't let even the members of your family know of it ! Treat 
 the matter lightly : you know all about it ! her absence has 
 been accounted for, and there's an end of it" 
 
 Having left Lord Thurleigh at his residence, and stated by 
 way of precaution to James, that his fears had been groundless, 
 that his noble friend had ascertained that Lady Felicia had 
 left town for a few days, and that all had been accounted for, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 157 
 
 the Marquis proceeded home, and was immediately accosted by 
 Lady Augusta. 
 
 " Have you been successful ?" she inquired, earnestly. 
 " Yes/' replied the Marquis; "I have succeeded in ascertaining 
 that she has been driven from home !" 
 " Driven from home !" 
 " Aye ! by you and Florence." 
 
 " Nay, do not say by me ! Florence, I know, has not treated 
 her kindly : the night before last, she was very severe/' 
 
 " She'll endure no more of it ! She's now beyond the reach 
 of your tyranny, at least !" 
 
 " Believe me, J have not been tyrannous ! But, where is 
 she gone ?" 
 
 " "What ! Do you want to continue your annoyances in an 
 epistolary form ?" 
 
 " No ! indeed, indeed, I do not. I will not annoy her ! 
 "Where is she ?" 
 
 " I know all about it, and that's sufficient. Leave me : I 
 wish to be alone." 
 
 This, although unsatisfactory, per se, was quite enough to 
 convince Lady Augusta that " the family " had not been 
 disgraced, and in less than five minutes it was understood 
 distinctly by every member of the establishment, that Felicia 
 had left to escape the tyranny of Lady Florence and no one 
 blamed her. 
 
 It was now two o'clock, and the happy marriage party for 
 even Felicia, although calm and thoughtful, felt happy with 
 ^ Alfred, while Fidele and Mr. "Wilkins were supremely so ! 
 1 were within about six miles of Brighton, which they reached 
 precisely at half-past two, and proceeded to an hotel on the 
 East Cliff, to which Mr. "Wilkins had been strongly recom- 
 mended, and which he at once pronounced to be superb ! 
 
 The ladies, immediately after their arrival, retired to change 
 their dresses, and the gentlemen went for a short stroll on the 
 
158 LAJ)T FELICIA. 
 
 beach ; but they were not absent long : they very soon 
 returned ; and, as Alfred pressed Felicia to his heart, and 
 thought that she had 'never before looked so lovely, the 
 appearance of Fidele quite enchanted Mr. "Wilkins. 
 
 They went to the window to gaze upon the sea ; but to 
 them its attractions were transient : they turned from the sea 
 to look into each other's eyes; and, while Alfred pressed the sweet 
 lips of Felicia, Mr. Wilkins absolutely kissed the hand of Fidele! 
 
 They were silent : it must as a remarkable fact be recorded, 
 that even Mr. "Wilkins was silent ! but their eyes were 
 eloquent ! darting love's electric light from soul to soul, and 
 thrilling their hearts with rapture. 
 
 The silence, however, of Mr. Wilkins, could not be expected 
 to be of long duration : nor was it : he soon began again, and 
 without interfering with the happy occupants of the other 
 bay-window directed Fidele' s attention to every visible object, 
 from the distant horizon to the boy catching shrimps. 
 
 " There," said he, at length, enthusiastically, " there's a 
 sea ! a sea of which England glorious little England is the 
 mistress ! a sea, on which Britannia bids defiance to the 
 world! and yet the rascally French dream of wresting it 
 from her!" 
 
 " Nay," said Fidele, smiling archly as she spoke, " that is 
 not at all like you !" 
 
 " What's the matter?" inquired Mr. Wilkins, who thought 
 his remarks rather telling than not. 
 
 " Oh ! that is not complimentary at all !" 
 
 " Complimentary ! What not to the frog-eating French ?" 
 
 " You surely do not know that I am a French woman !" 
 
 " You a French woman !" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, who really 
 began to feel warm ! You ! Oh, you are jesting !" 
 
 " No, indeed, I am not, replied Fidele ; " I was born in 
 France, and educated in France !'' 
 
 " You perfectly amaze me !" returned Mr. Wilkins, who 
 
LADY FELICIA. 159 
 
 now absolutely perspired ! " You do not speak like a French 
 woman ! I cannot discover anything in your accent to justify 
 the slightest suspicion of your being one !" 
 
 "Now you are yourself again !" exclaimed Fidele, archly, 
 " this is complimentary indeed !" 
 
 " If you view it as a compliment, you may be sure that, in 
 passing it, I am sincere ; for if I had had the remotest con- 
 ception of your not being a thorough-bred English woman, I 
 should not have got into this scrape ! It may be all prejudice 
 doubtless it is ! but we Englishmen are taught to view the 
 French with contempt, and I dare say that the French return 
 the compliment !" 
 
 " England and France," replied Fidele, " are two great 
 nations, between whom peace will remove all prejudices even- 
 tually. They will know each other better by and by, and live, 
 as it were, in each other's hearts." 
 
 " I hope so," returned Mr. Wilkins; " but as far as you 
 are concerned, I'll appeal to any mortal I'll appeal to Mr. 
 Murray" ^ ; 
 
 " What's that ?" inquired Alfred, on hearing his name 
 mentioned. 
 
 " "Why look here," replied Mr. Wilkins, "I was speaking of 
 the French" 
 
 " And so severely !" interposed Fidele. 
 
 " Fie, Mr. Wilkins !" said Felicia, with a smile. 
 
 " Well, but who alive upon earth could tell that English 
 was not her native tongue !" 
 
 " Her English is certainly pure ;" said Felicia. 
 
 " Pure ! I'll defy all the linguists living to discover the 
 slightest French accent or tone ! Why, didn't you tell me, 
 you villain!" he added, addressing Alfred, who was laughing 
 very merrily, " Why didn't you tell me that Miss Legrange 
 was not English ?" 
 
 " Why did you not tell me," said Alfred, "that you were 
 
160 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 about to speak severely of the French! But," he added, 
 turning to Fidele, "I was not aware myself that you were 
 a French lady until this morning ; and as I am quite sure 
 that if he had known it, or even suspected it, he would 
 not have been quite so severe, you must, I think, forgive 
 him." 
 
 " Must I P Well, then, I will;" said Fidele, and gave him 
 her hand with a smile. 
 
 This was satisfactory, as far as it went, but Mr. Wilkins 
 couldn't forget it ; he knew by her playful manner that 
 Fidele was not in the slightest degree offended; but there 
 was the fact before him still! he couldn't get it out of his 
 mind: every word that he spoke, and every look which he 
 gave, denoted the recollection of that " grand scrape," until 
 dinner was announced, when the weight of the responsibility 
 he had undertaken pressed upon him, and sank it for a time 
 in oblivion. 
 
 The dinner was splendid ; elegantly served, and deliciously 
 varied, it was all that even Mr. "Wilkins could wish ; and 
 was, throughout, highly enjoyed. The only drawback he 
 experienced, was when he assisted Fidele to a glass of wine : 
 his hands, which were then unusually red, became, as he 
 grasped the bottle, conspicuous. This, however, caused but 
 a momentary pang : he was at once happily relieved by the 
 thought, that if even his hands were noticed of which he was 
 not sure they might imagine that he was an amateur sculler, 
 and every one knew that the hands of a sculler would spread 
 and become full of blood when warm. This, therefore, could 
 scarcely be deemed a drawback: it was but a speck on the 
 sun of delight, which imparted its influence to all. 
 
 When the dessert had been spread, and the waiters had left 
 the room, Mr. Wilkins, with an expression of thought, filled 
 his glass, and with a most profound sense of the responsibility 
 attached to him, rose to propose " Health, peace, long life, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 161 
 
 and unmingled joy, to the beautiful, strong-minded, noble- 
 hearted bride !" 
 
 " I feel," said he, " at a loss for words to express my 
 profound admiration of one who has proved that she belongs 
 not only to the gorgeous nobility of the land, but to the 
 perfect nobility of nature. Nature, whose grand and glorious 
 scheme embraces the heavens and the earth ; which guides the 
 course of the glittering stars, and lights up the love of the 
 glow-worm ; which hurls the thunder-bolts of Jove, and 
 whispers to the afflicted heart the words of hope, and peace, 
 and joy ; which governs the universal world, and elaborates the 
 delicate machinery of the insect ; which forms the stupendous 
 cloud-capped mountains, and paints the beautiful butterfly's 
 wing ; which raises the storm and calms the soul ; makes JEtna 
 boil and beauty blush ; and, while convulsing the fathomless 
 sea, hushes the innocent babe to sleep. Nature has prompted 
 the heart of the bride to obey her pure and perfect laws. 
 Some may contend that in doing this the bride has made 
 an awful sacrifice : but what is empty pomp compared with 
 sound substantial happiness, which is, in whatever sphere 
 we move, the grand and glorious aim of existence ? She 
 possesses a soul above tinselled splendour, preferring a life 
 of tranquil joy. She might have married a coronet ! She 
 has married a man ! a man in every sense of the term : 
 amiable, honourable, generous, and true, he may stand erect 
 as a man should stand, without a blush, in the presence of 
 the greatest! If the amiable be united to the amiable, the 
 intelligent to the intelligent, the pure and noble-hearted to 
 the pure and noble-hearted, the union must be blessed : and 
 as this is such a union as it is essentially a union of 
 hearts a union from which I feel convinced every possible 
 blessing will spring, I give you, with all my heart and soul, 
 Health and long life to the beautiful bride ; or, as they are 
 perfectly worthy of each other, and, as the minister said this 
 
 M 
 
162 ADY FELICIA. 
 
 morning, ' Those whom Grod hath joined together let no man 
 put asunder,' I'll couple them in this case, and drink Health, 
 happiness, peace, and pure joy to the bride and the bride- 
 groom Grod bless them !" 
 
 Fidele was delighted; she openly declared that she never 
 heard anything more beautiful; and when she had lavished a 
 series of elegant and well-directed compliments upon Mr. 
 Wilkins who felt within himself that what he had said was 
 not amiss Alfred calmly rose to acknowledge the toast on 
 behalf of Felicia and himself, and having eloquently dwelt 
 upon the prospect of happiness which then brightly opened 
 before them, he concluded by proposing the health of Mr. 
 Wilkins, whom he eulogized highly, 
 
 Having got over this, the enjoyment of the evening was all 
 that Mr. Wilkins had to think of, seeing that it had bqen 
 arranged between him and his "governor" whom he some- 
 what softened before he left that, instead of returning to 
 town that night, he should start by the earliest coach in the 
 morning. His mind was, therefore, perfectly at ease, and, 
 being susceptible of the most joyous influences, he never 
 before felt so happy. 
 
 But they were all happy. Felicia and Alfred were compara- 
 tively silent ; but they were not, therefore, less happy. They 
 gazed on the tranquil scene before them : the sea was calm, 
 the air serene, the spray was scarcely visible ; and as they 
 viewed the vast expanse, their souls partook of its repose. 
 
 They had coffee ; but sat at the window still, and watched 
 the western horizon, with its brilliant tints, its glittering 
 peaks, and its gorgeous lakes of ethereal gold, until the 
 peaceful moon appeared, serenely reflecting the glory of 
 her God. 
 
 Having viewed this truly magnificent scene with feelings of 
 pure adoration, Mr. Wilkins suggested the expediency of 
 having lights, conceiving that on an occasion like that, they 
 
LADY FELICIA, 163 
 
 ought not to be too contemplative, and when lights had been 
 brought, they withdrew from the window, and all was gaiety 
 again. 
 
 The time flew fast, but at twelve o'clock Fidele disappeared 
 with the bride ; and, as soon after this Mr. Wilkins retired, the 
 bridegroom sat in a reverie alone, until aroused by the 
 mysterious re-appearance of Fidele, who smiling archly, said 
 G-ood night. J> 
 
164 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 THE " SPECULATION." 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the precautions of the Marquis not- 
 withstanding the belief, with which he had inspired the whole 
 establishment, that the flight of Felicia was ascribable solely 
 to the tyranny of her imperious sister, Florence, the first 
 thing which attracted his attention in the morning, when he 
 opened the fashionable paper of that period, was the following 
 paragraph conspicuously displayed : 
 
 " ELOPEMENT IN HIGH LIFE. Yesterday morning a noble 
 family, residing not more than a hundred miles from * * * 
 Square, was thrown into a state of the most afflicting 
 consternation, by the sudden and somewhat mysterious 
 disappearance of one of its most lovely branches. "We do not 
 pretend to know at present the particulars ; but the beautiful 
 
 and highly accomplished fugitive is Lady , the second 
 
 daughter of a noble Marquis, and " the gallant, gay Lothario" is 
 connected, if not with the government of India, at least with 
 the Indian empire's shawls." 
 
 With an oath, which startled the servant in attendance, the 
 Marquis rose and paced the room trembling with passion. 
 
 " The Indian empire's shawls" he exclaimed, furiously. 
 " Leave the room ;" he added, turning fiercely to the servant, 
 who appeared on the instant to wither away, so magical was 
 his ^disappearance. " Had a thunder-bolt fallen and crushed 
 her on the road The Indian empire's shawls ! " 
 
 Parched with rage he rang the bell, and the sprite who had 
 just before vanished re-appeared. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 165 
 
 "The carriage! send Lady Augusta here!" cried the 
 Marquis, who continued to pace the room groaning with 
 fury. 
 
 "Look at this!" he exclaimed, as Lady Augusta entered. 
 "For this curse I have to thank you! One word from you, 
 and all would have been averted.'* 
 
 Lady Augusta glanced over the paragraph eagerly, and 
 started with a well-defined expression of horror. " The second 
 daughter !" she wildly exclaimed. " The wretches have made 
 a mistake ! they mean me!" and tottering towards a couch, 
 she sank upon it and fainted. 
 
 The Marquis took no notice of this; he left the room, and 
 proceeded to dress, and when the carriage had been announced 
 he started to call on his friend Lord Thurleigh. 
 
 " Thurleigh,'' said he, as he entered the room, in which he 
 found his noble friend at breakfast ; " this cursed affair will 
 drive me mad." 
 
 " Pooh, pooh," said Lord Thurleigh. " Mad ! Make the best 
 of it." 
 
 "Have you seen this?" inquired the Marquis, pointing to 
 the paragraph in question. 
 
 His lordship coolly put on his spectacles, and having read 
 the paragraph as coolly took them off. : "'{p 1 
 
 ""Well," said he, "it only shows that nothing can be 
 kept from these fellows. How they manage to get their 
 information Grod knows. Now who could have told them of 
 this?" 
 
 "It matters not now who told them," said the Marquis. 
 " There the thing is ! Now what's to be done ? " 
 
 " What can be done ? The fact can't be denied ! By the 
 way they say your second daughter. She is the youngest, is 
 she not ?" 
 
 " Yes, the wretch, the idiot, the fool !" 
 
 " Well, that's so far good. You may, even now, get over it. 
 
166 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Tell them that they have been misinformed, and insist upon 
 having the statement contradicted. And yet, as they don't 
 like to contradict themselves, and never will, however wrong, 
 unless they are absolutely forced to do so, they'll soon ascertain 
 that instead of the second daughter, it's the third, and then 
 another statement will appear in their own vindication. No ; 
 the better plan will be to let it rest as it is* Know nothing of 
 it. Tour name is not mentioned. The appearance of your 
 second daughter, as usual, will prove that they are, at least on 
 that point, wrong : therefore, take no notice of it ; let it die 
 away." 
 
 " It's easy to say, Thurleigh, ' let it die away;' but an affair 
 of this character is never forgotten." 
 
 " Oh, that will rub off. All you have to. do is to send him 
 abroad, and the sooner you do so the better. You can then 
 announce the marriage, formally, with whatever embellishments 
 you please." 
 
 " If the other girls were settled, I shouldn't care so much, 
 but this you see will seriously interfere with their prospects !" 
 " I don't see why it should !" 
 
 " It must ! Who of any importance would marry a girl 
 whose sister eloped with a fellow like that! It must blast their 
 prospects, necessarily : we shall be the laughing-stock of the 
 whole town!" 
 
 " I don't see it :" returned his noble friend. I can't see it ! 
 TJiafll blow over. Make no stir about it: keep quiet. It 
 will soon wear away, and be thought nothing of. Do they 
 know of this at home ?" 
 
 " I have shown it to one of them." 
 
 " Tell them, when you return, to know nothing about it. It 
 will be perhaps, as well too to get them out of town. They'll 
 be better away, for the present, at least. Pack them off: by 
 next season all will be forgotten, or pretty nearly so; pack 
 them off." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 167 
 
 This appeared to the Marquis to be about the best thing he 
 could do ; and as his noble friend had no farther advice to 
 offer, he shortly afterwards left him, with the view of ascer- 
 taining how he could most conveniently adopt the suggestion. 
 
 During his absence, however, instead of keeping the thing 
 quiet, Lady Augusta whose fainting fit was not of long 
 duration did all in her power to let the " world " know, that 
 the newspaper people had made a mistake that instead of the 
 second daughter, they ought to have said the third that it 
 was her sister Felicia who had eloped and that she would 
 rather be burnt alive, than form such a vulgar connection ; 
 while Lady Florence, having ascertained from James, that 
 the Marquis and Lord Thurleigh had been to the church, had 
 her suspicions, and went there too, and saw the register, and 
 thus discovered all. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. "Wilkins who, in order to be home in time 
 for business, had started from Brighton at six returned, much 
 to the satisfaction of the "governor," to whom he at once 
 proceeded to explain the substance of all that had occurred. 
 
 At first, the "governor" felt incredulous, he openly declared 
 that he could not believe it ; but when Mr. Wilkins had 
 assured him, with due solemnity of expression, that every word 
 of it was gospel, his scepticism vanished. 
 
 "This then," said he, "accounts for his being so unsettled ! 
 But why not tell me! Surely he might have told me ! A lady 
 of title, do you say ? absolutely the daughter of a peer ?" 
 
 " Yes !" replied Mr. Wilkins, with feelings of pride " Lady 
 Felicia you'll find it all in the peerage -third daughter of 
 the most noble the Marquis of Kingsborough ! worth a mint, 
 and such an angel ! Jhad the honour of giving her away !" 
 " Then it was a clandestine affair ?" 
 
 " Of course ! But what of that ? There she is ! as lovely 
 as life, and as happy as all the birds in Paradise ! Heaven and 
 earth ! what a glorious day we had of it ! Magnificent !" 
 
168 
 
 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " ~No doubt," observed the governor, as a bright and purely 
 business-like thought flashed upon him. " No doubt. But 
 being a clandestine marriage, how did the bride get her 'ward- 
 robe away ?" 
 
 "How could she? She could'nt bring it with her! nor 
 could her companion bring hers ! They have but one trunk 
 between them." 
 
 " Dear me ; why that must be very inconvenient ?" 
 
 " It will be, of course, for a time ; but they'll very soon get 
 a new stock." 
 
 " Had we not better supply them ?" 
 
 " Well," replied Mr. Wilkins, " it will be as well !" 
 
 " I think so ! It must be peculiarly inconvenient for a lady 
 of title to be without a wardrobe ! and I'm sure that if I could 
 in any way promote the interest or the happiness of Mr. Murray, 
 or save his lady from the slightest inconvenience, I should feel 
 the greatest pleasure in doing so. Let us make up a parcel, 
 and send it at once. Let's see : what things will they most 
 require ? A shawl or two a few dresses of course ! a few 
 pieces of lawn some French cambric. Just select what you 
 fancy most likely to suit." 
 
 Mr. "Wllkins, with the assistance of the governor, did so. 
 They selected a variety of things, and made up "a hundred 
 and twenty pound parcel," which the governor would have 
 doubled " with infinite pleasure" had not Mr. Wilkins suggested 
 the propriety of not overloading them at once. 
 
 " You'll not have the money just yet, I dare say," observed 
 Mr. Wilkins confidentially. 
 
 " JSTever mind the money," replied the governor. " I respect 
 aim too highly to think about that. Let him pay when it suits 
 him. If he wants goods to treble the amount he shall have 
 them. But I'll write to him myself. I must congratulate him 
 on his good fortune. He's an elegant, gentlemanly fellow, and 
 I feel quite delighted with his brilliant success." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 169 
 
 In a state of mind bordering on enthusiasm, the "governor" 
 went to the desk with the view of ponring forth upon paper 
 the ink of his warmest and most profound congratulations. He 
 had however scarcely commenced, when a carriage drew up 
 the very carriage in which Felicia had called and the Marquis 
 having alighted, addressed Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " Are you the proprietor ?" he haughtily inquired. 
 
 " No, my lord," replied Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " Do you know me ?" 
 
 " The carriage, my lord, induces the belief that your lordship 
 is the Marquis of Kingsborough." 
 
 " Oh ! I wish to speak to the proprietor in private." 
 
 Mr. "Wilkins, having shown his lordship into a private room, 
 rushed back to deliver the message to the "governor," who 
 immediately obeyed the summons, bowing most profoundly. 
 
 " You have," said the Marquis, " or had, a person named 
 Murray, living here." 
 
 "I had, my lord," replied the governor; "but he has left." 
 
 " Why did he leave ?" 
 
 " To get married, my lord." 
 , " Do you know to whom ?" 
 
 " I have just been informed." 
 
 "By whom?" 
 
 " By Mr. Wilkins, whom your lordship first addressed." 
 
 " What does he know about it ?" 
 
 " He tells me, my lord, that he had the honour of giving 
 the bride away !" 
 
 Groaning forth an oath which made the governor tremble, 
 the Marquis convulsively clenched his hands, and stamped with 
 indignation. 
 
 " Who is this person ?" he demanded " this Murray ?" 
 
 " He is the son, my lord, of an old friend of mine, and a 
 highly respectable young man he is." 
 
 " Eespectable ! " echoed the Marquis, contemptuously. 
 
170 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, my lord, he certainly is respectable ; and, moreover, 
 very intelligent !" 
 
 " Artful, you mean," said the Marquis. " Artful ! But not 
 quite artful enough. I suppose that he conceives her to be 
 wealthy, does he not ?" 
 
 " I don't know, indeed, my lord : but I presume that her 
 ladyship is, or will be rich ?" 
 
 " She hasn't a shilling !" returned the Marquis. " JSTor shall 
 she ever have one from me ! Has lie any property ?" 
 
 " I believe not, my lord." 
 
 " Then starvation stares them in the face !" 
 
 "But your lordship's influence will be sufficient, I appre- 
 hend, to promote" 
 
 " "What influence I have," interrupted the Marquis, " may 
 be exercised ; but, certainly, not in their favour ! Let them 
 starve !" 
 
 " Your lordship, on reflection, will not be so harsh." 
 
 " Harsh ! Just, you mean ! Just ! They shall not be saved 
 from beggary by me ! Do you know where they are ?" 
 
 " At Brighton, my lord." 
 
 " At some fine hotel, I suppose P" 
 
 " I believe so." 
 
 " Ah ! What little money he may have will there be spent, 
 and then they'll have to face the world naked. But where did 
 this incipient beggar come from ?" 
 
 " Sudbury, my lord." 
 
 " Sudbury ! Then, I suppose, this hateful connection was 
 first formed there ?" 
 
 " I really don't know. It may have been : he never said a 
 word on the subject to me. If I had known it if I had had 
 even the slightest conception of what was about to take place, 
 I should have deemed it my duty to put your lordship on your 
 guard ; but I knew nothing of it ; and, therefore, all I can say 
 is, that I feel extremely sorry that any one connected, or in 
 
LADY FELICIA. 171 
 
 any way identified with iny establishment should have been so 
 presumptuous. " 
 
 " Presumptuous indeed !" exclaimed the Marquis. 
 
 " Still," resumed the governor, " knowing his father so 
 well, I cannot but express a hope that, notwithstanding the 
 young man has incurred your lordship's just displeasure, the 
 influence of your lordship will not be used to crush him." 
 
 "Crush him! He has crushed himself! They are both 
 crushed effectually! If a look of mine could raise them 
 from the depths of degradation, I'd close my eyes ! They 
 have chosen their own course, and let them pursue it ! 
 Loaded with contumely, let them gravel through the world!" 
 
 Having obtained all the information he required, the 
 Marquis abruptly took his leave, and, as he passed through 
 the shop, cast a look of contempt at Mr. Wilkins, which that 
 gentleman thought very discourteous. 
 
 "He doesn't look particularly joyful!" said Mr. Wilkins, 
 when the governor, bowing with profound humility, had 
 attended the Marquis to his carriage. " He doesn't like it 
 much, I presume !" 
 
 " JSTot much," replied the governor, who, having no 
 inclination to be communicative, thoughtfully returned to 
 his desk. 
 
 Well ! It was, of course, clear to Mr. Wilkins, that if the 
 governor wished to keep it all to himself, he couldn't make 
 him reveal it ; still he did think it strange that, under all the 
 circumstances, "not much" should have been the only reply 
 vouchsafed. He, therefore, began to imagine what had passed, 
 and drew a series of deductions from ,the haughty and 
 contemptuous bearing of the Marquis, and the somewhat 
 extraordinary taciturnity of the governor, who had been just 
 before so remarkably enthusiastic ; but as all these deductions, 
 based, as they were necessarily, upon apocryphal evidence, 
 failed to impart the full amount of satisfaction required, he 
 
172 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 resolved, having duly considered the matter, on making another 
 effort to draw the governor out. 
 
 " I find," said he, having approached the desk, "that a coach 
 starts at four, so that, if you have finished your letter, the 
 parcel had better be sent off at once !" 
 
 "Well," said the governor, with a look of indecision, 
 notwithstanding his mind had been fully made up ; "I have 
 been thinking that, after all, it had better not be sent ! He 
 may imagine that my object is to thrust the goods upon him." 
 
 " He'll not imagine that," said Mr. Wilkins. "He'll view 
 it as an act of considerate friendship !" 
 
 " I fear not," returned the governor ; " and I have too much 
 respect for him to cause him, for one moment, to believe that 
 I am actuated by the slightest desire to make a market of him." 
 
 " I am quite sure that no such belief will be induced by the 
 adoption of the course you proposed. Instead of thrusting the 
 goods upon him, you merely submit them: if they are not 
 required, all he has to do is to send them back." 
 
 " He'd not return them : he'd feel, as it were, bound to 
 keep them, whether they were really required or not. No : 
 they'd better not be sent. They say second thoughts are 
 best : they had better not go." 
 
 " Well ! As you please, of course ! Eut I think it's a pity, 
 after having selected the goods, not to send them." 
 
 " It's the trouble we have taken that he'll think of! He'll 
 say at once, ' These goods have been selected with great care, 
 and, therefore, whether they suit or not, I must keep them: 
 they must not have all this trouble for nothing!' Besides, 
 the inconvenience that struck me will not be so great as I 
 imagined! Brighton's a large place a fashionable place: 
 they can easily get supplied there ! And, moreover, select 
 for themselves, which, with ladies, is always a great consider- 
 ation. I therefore think that, under all the circumstances, we 
 had better not send the goods at all." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 173 
 
 " Very good" said Mr. Wilkins. " But if you have the 
 slightest doubt about the money, Til be responsible for the 
 amount." 
 
 " You'll be responsible ?" 
 
 " Willingly ; and would if the amount were double." 
 
 " Tou Jiave, I believe, a little money in the funds ?" 
 
 " Tou know that I have." 
 
 " Then keep it there ! Take my advice, Mr. Wilkins : 
 what you have keep ! Tou are, I know, good for treble the 
 amount, and, under ordinary circumstances, I shouldn't for 
 a moment hesitate about accepting your responsibility ; but 
 these are not ordinary circumstances : I know somewhat more 
 than you imagine." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said Mr. Wilkins. " What is it you mean ?" 
 
 " "Well," replied the governor, " I'll tell you because it 
 appears, from what you have said, that you might otherwise 
 have reason, and ample reason, to complain of my silence. 
 The fact is, Mr. Murray has made a mistake ! a grand 
 mistake ! an alarming mistake ! The speculation into which 
 he has entered is a failure ! a dead failure ! a miserable 
 failure ! Lady Felicia hasn't a shilling." 
 
 "Indeed!" 
 
 " Not" a shilling ! nor will she ever have ! The Marquis has 
 just explained all. 
 
 Mr. Wilkins was thoughtful for a moment ; but at length he 
 said, "Well! it can't be helped! they must do the best they can !" 
 
 " But what can they do /" cried the governor. " She has a 
 .title ; but what's a title ? a title won't pay rent and taxes ! 
 nor will it feed and clothe them. A title will do with plenty 
 of money, but what is the use of a title without ? She is 
 highly connected ; she has friends influential friends if 
 friends they may be called but what's the use of having 
 friends, if they'll do nothing for you ? I don't see how they're 
 to get along at all !" 
 
174 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " I have not the slightest fear of them," observed Mr. 
 Wilkins. 
 
 " Well, but what are they to do ! She's fit for nothing ! and 
 he's above his business now ! "What can they do ? There 
 they are, comparatively naked in the world, with a title to live 
 upon nothing but a title ! which is, of itself, utterly value- 
 less repudiated by her family, friends, and connexions, not 
 one of whom will make the slightest effort to serve them." 
 " But how is it possible for us to know that ?" 
 " The Marquis declared to me distinctly, that if a look of 
 his could raise them from the depths of degradation, he'd close 
 his eyes !" 
 
 " He's a beauty!" observed Mr. Wilkins. " But the Marquis 
 isn't everybody !" 
 
 " Look at his influence ! And what did he say to me when 
 I mentioned it to him ? ' What influence I have,' said he, 
 may be exercised, but certainly not in their favour,' which, 
 being interpreted, clearly means, that what influence he has 
 will be used against them! That's what I look at: they'd 
 better have no influential friends at all, than have to contend 
 against their influence ! In fact, instead of having influential 
 friends, they have a lot of influential enemies. How then are 
 they to get along ? He has no property : she has no property : 
 her friends won't aid them, and his friends can't. There 
 they are.*' 
 
 " Then you think there's no hope for them ?" 
 "JSTot the slightest." 
 "Are his friends poor ?" 
 
 " Poor ! no, they're not poor ; but they haven't got more than 
 they know what to do with. Besides, just look for a moment 
 at the style to which this Lady Felicia has been accustomed. 
 Lapped in luxury brought up in splendour surrounded by 
 magnificence and dressed like a Queen, with all the delicacies 
 and elegancies of life at her command it were madness to 
 
LADY FELICIA. 175 
 
 suppose that a tranquil existence if even sufficient to support 
 it could be ensured would have any permanent charms for 
 her. A creature petted and pampered as she has been never 
 can be reconciled to mere respectability. Hence, assuming 
 that he had sufficient to enable them to move in a respectable 
 sphere the speculation would be a bad one ; but when we come 
 to look at the absence of all means, the prospect is frightful to 
 contemplate. Had he married a tradesman's daughter he 
 might, and I dare say would, have got on ; but to marry the 
 daughter of a peer without a penny ! Poor fellow, it's all up 
 with Jiim as the Marquis said, starvation stares them in the 
 face." 
 
 A slight smile played round the mouth of Mr. Wilkins, which 
 the governor observed, and at once resumed. 
 
 " Look at her!" said he, "What can you expect? Can a 
 creature like that be kept for nothing ? Can a trifle- support 
 her ? Can any business stand against it ? "Will she be content 
 with plain clothing and food ? No ; all will be dissatisfaction 
 and disgust. When she rises she will miss her maid ; when she 
 wants to go out she'll miss her carriage when her finger aches 
 she'll miss her physician; when she dines she'll miss her delicacies 
 her jellies and creams, and her sparkling champagne ; when its 
 warm she'll miss her delicious ices ; when its cold she'll miss 
 her delicious soups : when the evening comes she'll miss her 
 entertainments her conversaziones, soirees, operas, and balls 
 and when she goes to bed she'll miss her gold fringes, her blue 
 satin curtains, and rich damask quilts. Here's a creature 
 who'll miss all the luxuries of life, and who'll hence be from 
 morning till night disgusted, day after day, and year after year 
 and yet although she's the wife of a friend you smile at the 
 frightful prospect." 
 
 " I smile," said Mr. Wilkins, " not at the prospect, because 
 although sufficiently frightful, no doubt I can't see it. It is 
 not at the prospect of seeing our friend and his beautiful wife 
 
176 LADY EELICIA. 
 
 reduced to misery, that I smile. I smile because you really 
 know neither the one nor the other. "Why he's a fine high- 
 spirited fellow ! while she" 
 
 "Why don't you"- interrupted the governor why don't 
 you take a man-of-the- world's view of the matter ? High 
 spirited ! The spirits of a man are in his pocket. If his 
 pocket's full, he's full of spirits : as the money dwindles his 
 spirits dwindle, and when its gone his spirits follow. Spirit's 
 the soul of society, and society's the soul of civilization, but 
 money's the soul of spirit ! Look at that ! I say the soul of 
 spirit ! " 
 
 " I know you do," said Mr. Wilkins ; " I perfectly well 
 understand what you say; but what I mean by his being high- 
 spirited is, that he is not a man to be easily crushed ! When 
 he finds that her family will render no assistance, his pride will 
 prompt him to prove to them that he can do without it. I 
 have no fear of him ! He is not a man to despair ! He has 
 too much energy too much intelligence ! he'll make every 
 effort to work his way up, and she'll aid him ! if not with her 
 hands, with her smiles, which are frequently far more efficient." 
 
 "It's all very well," said the governor, "to talk; but 
 it isn't so easy to do. When a man has no money his spirit 
 leads off, and his energies must follow suit." 
 
 " I don't see that," observed Mr. Wilkins. " We find that 
 they frequently do follow suit; but I don't see that they of 
 necessity must. Besides ! your remarks apply to a state of 
 destitution ! Now, he is not destitute : he's not without 
 money ; nor will he be in any case just yet ! He'll at all 
 events have time to turn himself round, and to ascertain what 
 can be done. As I said before, I've no fear of him ! He'll do 
 something, and promptly too ! He'll not wait till the wolfs at 
 the door." 
 
 " Well," said the governor. "We shall see ! But mark my 
 words : it's an awful speculation." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 177 
 
 The parcel intended for Alfred was unpacked, and the goods 
 were duly restored to stock : no letter of congratulation was 
 written by the governor; but Mr. Wilkins sent one by that 
 night's post, in which after playfully hinting the expediency 
 of not going "too fast " at first, and stating, that when he saw 
 him on Sunday, he should have to communicate something 
 " worth while " he sent his four asterisks, thus * * * * 
 to Eidele, and enclosed a half of a hundred pound note. 
 
178 LADY FELICIA, 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 THE ANNOOTCEMEtfT. 
 
 "LOUISA! Louisa!" exclaimed Alfred's father, rushing 
 with a letter into the room behind his shop, immediately after 
 the post came in on the Tuesday morning. 
 
 " Gracious, dear !" cried Mrs. Murray, feeling somewhat 
 alarmed. " What has happened ?" ;> 
 
 " What has happened?" he echoed, with an expression of 
 rapture. "What has happened ? Joy has happened! fortune 
 has happened! wealth, honour, distinction, everything has 
 happened ! Give me a kiss : give me a kiss : a good, one ! 
 JN"ow then," he added "But don't put yourself at all out! 
 don't be in the slightest degree excited ! Be calm, and cool 
 and read it yourself." 
 
 Mrs. Murray took the letter eagerly, and perceiving at once 
 that it came from Alfred, her anxiety became still more intense; 
 but when she had read the announcement of his marriage with 
 Felicia, she instantly burst into tears. 
 
 "My boy!" she exclaimed, with thrilling fervour "my 
 dear, my own, my soul's sweet boy ! My proud heart told me 
 that he would be great ! I always felt that he was lorn to be 
 illustrious !" 
 
 "Illustrious!" cried Mr. Murray. "There he is! It's all 
 over ! The point's achieved ! My life and soul, though, here's 
 a job ! Isn't it glorious ! Where are the girls ? Julia ! " he 
 shouted, having opened the door. " Come down all of you 
 quick come along. Bob ! run for your uncle Cy ! Tell him 
 
LADY FELICIA. 179 
 
 to come like a flash of lightning ! * Soul and body ! here's news 
 to be sure." 
 
 Down came the girls, and away ran Bob for uncle Cy ; and 
 while Mrs. Murray, with feelings of pride, was announcing the 
 happy event to her daughters, Murray rushed to his friend the 
 chemist next door, in whose shop he found some of the mag- 
 nates of the town. 
 
 " I've just heard from Alfred," said he, as he entered. 
 
 " How does he get on ?" inquired the chemist. 
 
 "He's married!" 
 
 "What, already?" 
 
 " Yes, and whom do you think to ?" 
 
 " Can't imagine." 
 
 " To one of the daughters of our Marquis : the Lady Felicia!" 
 
 " What ! Why, you don't mean that ! " 
 
 " It's a positive fact. They were married in London " 
 
 " What's that ? what's that ?" inquired those around. 
 
 "Why," replied the chemist, " young Alfred Murray is 
 married to one of our Marquis's daughters." 
 
 "And ducks!" said Mr. Chubb, who, although a coarse 
 person, held nearly half the mortgages in the borough. 
 
 " It's true," said Mr. Murray. 
 
 " And ducks, I teU you !" 
 
 " Well, but I pledge you my word that it is so." 
 
 " I'll bet a five pound note of it ! " 
 
 " I'll not rob you : I tell you i^'s a fact." 
 
 " Well, but which of them ? Come now : what's her name ?" 
 
 " Felicia." 
 
 * It will here be highly correct to explain that Mr. Murray did not mean 
 this strictly, seeing that as Cyrus weighed two and thirty stone, it was physi- 
 cally impracticable. Mr. Murray merely meant that uncle Cyrus should be 
 urged to come quickly, which if he did considering the extremely slow rate 
 at which he usually travelled would be, comparatively, "like a flash of 
 lightning." 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Felicia ! Lady Felicia ! Now, are you joking p" 
 
 " ~No, indeed, I am not." 
 
 "Well, but oh/' said Mr. Chubb, who felt incredulous still 
 " it seems so out of all character !" 
 
 " I readily believe it ! " observed the chemist. " He's a fine, 
 handsome fellow!" a very handsome fellow! She saw him, 
 fell in love with him, and married him! That's all natural 
 enough!" 
 
 ""Well, then, why don't you start off the bells?" said Mr. 
 Chubb. 
 
 " Well, I don't know about that]' replied Murray. 
 
 " Start them off, by all means ! We must have a peal on 
 such an occasion as this ! Start them off! " 
 
 " Well, I'll speak to Mrs. Murray about it." 
 
 " Start them off at once ! " 
 
 " Shall I send to the ringers ?" inquired the chemist. 
 
 " Well, do : I wish you would. It's nothing but right ! 
 We'll have a merry peal. Now will you believe me ?" 
 
 They were satisfied then quite satisfied then and began 
 to indulge in expressions of amazement mingled with warm 
 congratulations . 
 
 " I suppose," said one, "they'll make Mm a lord!" 
 
 "Not a bit of it," returned Mr. Chubb: "he hasn't got 
 bounce enough in him ! WTien they make lords of them which 
 are not kids of lords, they make them of them which bully 
 the lords, and which, when they become lords themselves, grow 
 very mild, and stick to their order ! But," he added, turning 
 to Murray, " we must celebrate this, you know, in some way ! 
 What are you going to stand ? " 
 
 " Anything you like ;" replied Murray. " Gro. into the 
 Crown, and we'll have a nice lunch. I'll be with you directly. My 
 brother has just passed : I must go and have a word with him." 
 
 He accordingly left them, and found " uncle Cy '' in a state 
 of steaming perspiration. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 181 
 
 " Grods in heaven!" said uncle Cy in his characteris- 
 tically ;deep, fat voice, as he blew out his cheeks and wiped 
 his brow, and adjusted his chins of which he had three and 
 another coming " Is the house on fire ? Has the bank 
 stopped payment or what ?" 
 
 " Come in," said Murray, " Such news ! Come in !" And 
 uncle Cy followed him into the room ; but the moment he 
 entered, the girls flocked round him, and all began to tell him 
 together. 
 
 " Let's have a solo," said uncle Cy: " a duet may do ; but 
 I can't stand a chorus." 
 
 Mrs. Murray then went to the point at once. She an- 
 nounced the fact triumphantly ; and having done so, proceeded 
 with her embellishments, until uncle Cy, feeling slightly 
 bewildered, expressed a wish to look at the letter. 
 
 " Let's read the letter first," said he, "and then we can 
 have a fair start." 
 
 The letter was placed in his hands, and as he read it, his 
 happy face glowed with delight. 
 
 " Grods in heaven !" he exclaimed. " There's a boy ! Ha 
 ha ha ! There's a boy ! Why, they'll make him a magistrate ! 
 Ha, ha, ha !" 
 
 " Hark ! mamma," cried the eldest girl, as the church bells 
 struck up merrily. " Oh ! how delightful ! How sweetly they 
 sound ! They are ringing for Alfred ! I know that they are. 
 Ok ! how I do long to kiss him !" 
 
 They listened to the joyous peal, and tears began to sparkle 
 in their eyes. Those bells ! They never sounded so before ! 
 The effect was thrilling ! Mrs. Murray wept aloud : Murray 
 himself stood motionless ; the girls were entwined in each 
 other's arms, and uncle Cy exclaimed, " Grod bless him !" 
 
 " I started them," said Murray, at length ; and the girls 
 ran up and kissed him ; and then they kissed uncle Cy, who, 
 wiping the tears ineffectually from his eyes, cried, " Out with 
 
182 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 the wine! My heart is full: it swells with warmth and 
 gladness ! Out with the wine ! There's a boy ! Ha ha ha 
 ha ha." 
 
 The wine was brought ; and when uncle Cy felt sufficiently 
 recovered for while he laughed, the tears flowed freely he 
 said, with an air of solemnity, and in tones which proclaimed 
 deep emotion, " May Heaven shower blessings upon them ! 
 May they be happy G-od bless them !" 
 
 He put down his glass : he could't drink then : he said that 
 he'd drink it presently.: he wanted to go to the window to 
 think ! and he turned to the window ; and gave vent to his 
 " thoughts," which rolled down his cheeks unperceived. 
 
 " How often," said the eldest girl, " how often have we 
 heard those bells, and thought them an annoyance : yet now 
 they seem to speak of love, and trusting hearts, and hope, and 
 
 joy!" 
 
 Uncle Cy having become somewhat calm again turned 
 to that household god, the Bible, in which were registered the 
 births and deaths of the family, from time immemorial ; and, 
 having ascertained the respective ages of the girls, he drew out 
 his check-book which proved to be another source of amaze- 
 ment to Murray, who never before knew that he had one and 
 wrote five cheques giving to each of the girls guineas for years 
 and told them to get new dresses by Sunday, when he'd come 
 and look at them, and kiss them, and dine with them, and thus 
 duly celebrate the happy event." 
 
 The girls loved uncle Cy before! they always did love 
 uncle Cy ! he had such a warm heart, was so merry, so kind ! 
 but, albeit their love had been disinterested and pure, they 
 then appeared to love him more than ever. How they did 
 kiss him ! The younger ones were especially enthusiastic, and 
 felt that the world could not produce another uncle comparable 
 with uncle Cy. 
 
 Murray then thought of his friends at the Crown, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 183 
 
 and explained to Mrs. Murray the nature of his engage- 
 ment. 
 
 " Cyrus," he added, " you'll join us ? We are just going to 
 have a bit of lunch, and a glass of wine : of course, you'll 
 join us." 
 
 "I'm ready for anything," Cyrus replied. "But, I long to 
 see that boy !" 
 
 " William, dear," said Mrs. Murray, privately. " You'll 
 not remain long ?" 
 
 " No, my love, no," replied Murray, " I'll not." 
 
 "Sometimes, dear," she added, with a smile, "when the 
 heart is full of joy, wine makes love to the head." 
 
 " I'll be careful," said Murray, and giving Cyrus his arm, 
 proceeded at a rapid rate for Cyrus to the Crown. 
 
 As they entered, they found their friends already uproarious, 
 for, having drank the health of the bride, they were giving 
 their celebrated three -times -three -with-one-cheer-more-and-a 
 little-one-in ! 
 
 "Who said he wouldn't come?" they exclaimed, having 
 accomplished this feat to their entire satisfaction. " Here he 
 is!" 
 
 " Now then," said Chubb, addressing Murray, "here you 
 are. We've just drunk the bride's health go in." 
 
 " All right," returned Murray, " let's sit down, and be 
 comfortable. Grentlemen," he added, " with far more pleasure 
 than I'll venture to express, I join you in drinking the health 
 of the bride!" 
 
 " Bravo ! Bravo !" cried the guests. 
 
 " And I join you too !" said uncle Cy, who was hailed with 
 corresponding expressions of approbation. " I don't know the 
 lady," he added, " but this I know she has taste !" 
 
 " I know her," said the chemist. " She's small, but 
 very beautiful, and appears to be exceedingly amiable and 
 mild." 
 
184 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Is she anything like the Marquis ?" inquired Mr. Chubb. 
 " Because he, you know, appears to be particularly mild, even 
 while he is letting you know the difference ! He reminds me 
 of the old judge which came round last year : he was one of 
 your remarkably mild men : indeed, so mild, that when he was 
 about to pass sentence upon a criminal, he'd make the fellow 
 believe that he was going to upset the verdict, and get him off, 
 until the blow came, and then he knew the difference ! like 
 my old schoolmaster, Eumble : he was another mild man : he'd 
 be so mild if you did anything wrong, that you thought he 
 must mean to forgive you: he was so sorry no one knew 
 how sorry he was he hoped it would never occur again, he 
 sincerely hoped you'd know better in future, only, for this time 
 you had to take that I and he'd give you such a winder, you 
 hardly knew you lived! It's the same with the Marquis: 
 only get under his lash, and you'll feel it : the more he means 
 to give you, the milder he becomes." 
 
 " Tve seen him in a passion," observed the chemist. 
 
 " Very likely ! but not with a man which he means to 
 crush. I've seen him in a passion too ! and I've heard he can 
 swear, pretty tidily ! but when he means to crush a man, he'll 
 be as mild as milk." 
 
 " Well," said the chemist, " it may be so ; and if it be, I hope 
 the lady is not like the Marquis. But, gentlemen," he added, 
 rising, " an observation fell from our friend Cyrus Murray, 
 which reminds me that we have only drunk the health of the 
 bride. He said that ' he hadn't the pleasure of knowing her, 
 but he knew that she had taste,' and I agree with him : she has 
 taste, and has displayed it conspicuously, in choosing him 
 whose health I am about to propose. We all know Alfred 
 Murray : we all know what he is : we all know him to be 
 amiable and intelligent, and, therefore, I need not dwell upon 
 the qualities of his heart and mind before you. He is married : 
 he has married into a noble family, and a brilliant prospect 
 
LADY FELICIA. 185 
 
 opens before him. Under such auspices, his career may be 
 glorious ! he may become one of the first men of the age ! 
 Wealth and distinction are now within his grasp, and if 
 compassed by him, I shall heartily rejoice. I therefore give 
 you Health, happiness, and prosperity, to Alfred Murray ! 
 May his marriage be the source of domestic felicity, and 
 world- wide renown." 
 
 This brief speech was hailed with enthusiastic cheers : 
 and when the toast had been drunk, with all the honours, 
 Mr. Murray rose and said, with some emotion, " In the name 
 of my son, I thank you." 
 
 "Now look you here," said Mr. Chubb, rising, "I ain't 
 nothing much at a speech, because it's right out of my lati- 
 tude ; but I rise on this occasion to do myself the privilege 
 of proposing the health of the father of the son which we 
 drank his good health just now. Gentlemen : you know what 
 I am ; you know my politics, and all about me ; and although 
 I'm not going to lug in politics here, I must say that this 
 marriage betwixt the daughter of one which is a lord, and the 
 son of one which is one of ourselves, only proves that a sort 
 of a revolution is about to take place, in which them which 
 are lords, and them which are not lords, will mix together 
 more than they ever did before. Now, gentlemen, look here : 
 they begin to see the madness of things ; they begin to see 
 it's no go to fling away their daughters upon them which are 
 old men before they want shaving: they begin to see that 
 rank is not rapture ; that titles are but toys ; that coronets 
 are curses to them which wed them, and that pride is but 
 poverty of some sort in disguise : they begin to see that their 
 children won't stand it ! that they won't marry foozles because 
 they are rich, nor idiots because they are lords : they see 
 this, and say to their daughters, ' Look here you've got the 
 affections and sentiments of Nature, which is the great card 
 after all: you've got eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to 
 
186 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 feel in the regular way look about you; if you meet with 
 a fine young fellow you fancy and feel you'll be happy with, 
 have him! never mind whether he's a lord, or not have 
 him!' and this, it's quite clear to my mind, has been the go 
 in this case ; and I glory in it ! I like to see them mix ! 
 they've got their sensibilities as well as we have! and as 
 such, I give you the health of our friend and may he live to 
 be the grandfather of forty ! " 
 
 "When the cheering which followed this speech had subsided, 
 Mr. Murray again rose and said, " Q-entlemen : I ' appreciate 
 the compliment you have paid me. I don't know whether 
 our eloquent friend Chubb who ought, after this, to be one 
 of our members [Sear, hear, hear] is, or is not, right in his 
 conjecture having reference to the way in which this happy 
 marriage was brought about, because I've not yet received 
 the particulars; but whether he be correct or not whether 
 the aristocracy, I may say the glorious aristocracy, take the 
 same view of the matter as our clear-headed friend does I 
 beg most respectfully, and with heart-felt sincerity, to give 
 you the health of the noble Marquis !" 
 
 This was warmly responded to by all but Chubb, who 
 said quietly, "Blow him: I know him!" And as the waiter 
 at this juncture entered the room to announce that the lunch 
 was all ready in No. 2, they were about to adjourn, when Mr. 
 Chubb rose and said, " Hold hard a bit : look here, gentlemen. 
 Before we go to lunch, we can't do less than drink the health 
 of one which is one of the family one which is not more 
 respectable than respected one which we know to be a 
 capital sort which is one of ourselves, right up and down 
 straight, just and jonnick, and no mistake about him; and, 
 as such, I'll give you the jovial good health of the bridegroom's 
 merry-hearted uncle." 
 
 In the midst of cheers, which were loud and protracted, 
 notwithstanding lunch was ready in No. 2 ? uncle Cy slowly 
 
LADY FELICIA. 187 
 
 rose, and having blown out his cheeks as if to get up the 
 steam, spoke in a rich, deep voice as follows : 
 
 " I glory in meeting you on such an occasion, and thank you 
 for the compliment you have paid me. I feel proud of my 
 nephew : and why ? Because I know him to be a noble-hearted 
 boy. I am no advocate for unequal matches ; nor do I consider 
 this an unequal match. He has had the education of a gentle- 
 man an excellent education ; he was at a boarding school for 
 seven years, and his master, Mr. Montague, has frequently 
 told me that he is one of the best classical and mathematical 
 scholars he ever had. He is, moreover, an honourable boy : 
 his moral principles are sound. Handsome, well-formed, high- 
 spirited, full of energy, with a happy disposition and a fine 
 constitution, can you wonder that Lady Felicia should fall in 
 love with him ? Grods in heaven, if I were a woman I should 
 fall in love with the boy myself! All that can be said against 
 him is, that he was not born a lord ; but if a title will weigh 
 against the qualities I have mentioned, a title must be valuable 
 indeed ! But it will not ! and therefore I contend that the 
 match is not unequal." 
 
 "Certainly not!" they all exclaimed. "Decidedly not! 
 Unequal? No!" and finding, after a pause, that uncle Cy 
 had no intention to proceed, they instinctively rose and 
 repaired to ~No. 2. 
 
 Here they had lunch oysters au naturel, broiled ham, 
 devilled chickens, maccaroni, veal cutlets, rump steaks, collared 
 eels, lobsters, wine, and cold punch to which they did ample 
 justice ; and shortly afterwards, Murray, recollecting the mild 
 suggestion of his amiable and truly happy wife, rose, and 
 having intimated to the jovial party that he should look in 
 again, retired. 
 
 On reaching the street, however, he suddenly found himself 
 in the midst of another jovial party, who hailed his appearance 
 with enthusiastic cheers, and hinted, with all the delicacy at 
 
188 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 their command which wasn't much that the health of the 
 happy couple, was the object of their solicitude. 
 
 ""Well, my good people," said Mr. Murray, "go and drink 
 their health, and wish them joy. Here's a guinea for you : let 
 it be fairly divided." 
 
 This inspired the "good people " with additional enthusiasm, 
 during the manifestation of which Murray bowed, and passed 
 on, and having reached home, found the parlour full of Mrs. 
 Murray's female friends, who had flocked in to have the news 
 confirmed, and to offer their warm congratulations. 
 
 Heavens ! what a grand event it was ! Their anticipations 
 were brilliant in the extreme. In their gentle judgment, the 
 foundation of the fortune of the whole family was laid. Alfred 
 would be created a baronet, at least ! Julia would be at once 
 presented at court, and in all probability marry an earl : and 
 when she^ became a countess, what might she not do for her 
 sisters ! they might all marry lords ! while Bob or rather 
 Master Robert instead of sticking to the shop, would receive 
 some excessively lucrative appointment. They traced the whole 
 family's future career with surpassing ingenuity. Their vivid 
 imagination ran absolutely wild! They had, however, one 
 request to make one earnest request which was, that when 
 the lovely bride honoured the family with a visit which her 
 ladyship would do of course, immediately after the dear delicious 
 honeymoon they might have the delightful privilege of being 
 presented. They presumed that Mr. Murray would now 
 shortly retire : of course he couldn't think of remaining in 
 business! They presumed, that at least the younger girls 
 would be sent to one of the most fashionable seminaries, to be 
 prepared to fill with grace the stations to which they were 
 destined ! they presumed, in short, a thousand things, 
 calculated to inspire, not only Mrs. Murray, but the girls 
 who thought nothing impossible with the most lofty notions ; 
 and left, full of hope that their intimate acquaintance with 
 
LADY FELICIA. 189 
 
 the family whose friendship they meant to cultivate more 
 assiduously than ever might be highly advantageous to 
 themselves. 
 
 The bells rang merrily still, and throughout the town 
 nothing but " The Marriage" was thought of. The ladies 
 were especially eldquent on the subject this, however, need 
 not have been recorded and had privately heard from the most 
 authentic sources, a conflicting variety of deeply interesting 
 particulars. Some of them knew how the bride was dressed, 
 how lovely she looked, and what diamonds she wore ; while 
 others knew how many bridesmaids she had, and how brilliantly 
 they were attired ; but they all agreed in this ; that as Alfred, 
 whom they knew and esteemed would be sure to distinguish 
 himself; and as Lady Felicia, whom they also knew and 
 admired, was blessed with "the sweetest disposition in the 
 world," their marriage could not fail to be the source of 
 unmingled joy. 
 
 And now a fresh rumour arose; a rumour that Mr. Murray 
 was treating everybody absolutely scrambling his money 
 away in order that all might rejoice. The guinea which he 
 had given to the enthusiasts outside the Crown was magnified 
 into an indefinite amount ; which no sooner reached the ears 
 of a highly distinguished coterie of immaculate freemen who 
 were at all times prepared to do anything for beer, and who 
 principally lived by the undoubted exercise of their sound 
 constitutional privileges as freemen than they loyally enlisted 
 a glorious and independent band of musicians o their own 
 peculiar caste in the cause, and proceeded to the house of 
 " The jolly good Trump ! the true-born Briton! the liberalest 
 fellow in the world !" for the nonce Mr. Murray. 
 
 As they struck up " Haste to the Wedding" before the door, 
 and shouted " Murray for ever ! Joy to the Weddiners ! Long 
 may they never want noth'n. Hooray!" Mr. Murray called 
 Simon Kibble whom he knew to be one of the ringleaders 
 
190 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 in, and expostulated with him on the extreme impropriety of 
 the proceeding telling him that he had no objection to give 
 them a guinea to enable them to drink his son's health and 
 that of the bride, and explaining to him emphatically that, 
 although he had caused the bells to ring, he by no means 
 approved of such a popular demonstration as that; whereupon 
 Simon Kibble, promising to remove the "jolly nuisance," and 
 slipping the guinea into his own personal pocket, returned to the 
 Sons of Harmony, and having told them that " Murray would' nt 
 stand noth'n, and would' nt have em play," they, inspired with 
 indignation, proclaimed him to be " a muck !" He allus was a 
 muck ! they knew him to be a muck ! he was never noth'n 
 but a muck ! and, despite Simon's efforts to induce them to 
 leave, they struck up " The Rogue's March" furiously. 
 
 " Now really," said Mr. Murray, going out and addressing 
 the trombone, " this is not kind. Having given you a guinea 
 to leave quietly" 
 
 " A guinea !" exclaimed the trombone, " who to ?" 
 
 " Simon Kibble," replied Mr. Murray. 
 
 The signal was given! They saw Simon pelting up the 
 street, and away they went after him, full cry, with the view of 
 tearing him limb from limb. 
 
 Shortly after they had started on this benevolent expedition, 
 the local paper which, although bearing Wednesday's date, 
 was published on the Tuesday came in, and Mrs. Murray, 
 by whom it had all been arranged, having called the family 
 into the parlour, read the following felicitous announce- 
 ment : 
 
 " MABEIAGE IN HIGH LITE. It is with peculiar gratifica- 
 tion that we have to announce the marriage of Alfred Murray, 
 Esq., of London, eldest son of William Murray, Esq., of 
 Sudbury, and godson of the late noble Marquis of Kings- 
 borough, to the beautiful and highly accomplished Lady 
 
LADY FELICIA. 191 
 
 Felicia Jocelyn, third daughter of the present Noble Marquis 
 of Kingsborough, by Florence Adeliza Elizabeth, only daughter 
 of Kupert, tenth Earl of Fitzgall." 
 
 " The marriage was solemnized on the 27th inst., and soon 
 after the interesting ceremony the happy pair, having had a 
 magnificent dejeuner, left town to pass the honeymoon at 
 Brighton." 
 
 " There ! " said Mrs. Murray, triumphantly. " There, 
 William, what do you think of that !" 
 
 " It reads very well," replied Murray. " But why call me an 
 esquire ?" 
 
 " Mr. Howe, whom I consulted on the subject, assured me 
 that under the circumstances it was not only correct but 
 indispensable !" 
 
 " Well, but what do you say they had a dejeuner ? What's 
 that?" 
 
 " Breakfast, pa, of course ! replied Julia. 
 " Then why not say breakfast?" 
 " Oh ! dejeuner is more elegant more fashionable !" 
 " Oh : that 's it, is it ? Well ! Then in future, I suppose, 
 when I want my breakfast I must say that I want my de- 
 jeuner /" 
 
 Mrs. Murray smiled, and playfully patted his cheek, and then 
 proceeded to make out a list of the friends to whom she 
 intended to send papers, soon after which, Murray business 
 having no charms for him then rejoined his jovial companions at 
 the Crown, with whom he spent a long and merry evening ; and 
 when he returned, Mrs. Murray although too happy to say 
 anything severe discovered that she had been quite correct in 
 stating that, when the heart was full of joy wine made love to 
 the head. 
 
192 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 BEYEKGKE. 
 
 the Marquis who as usual received the local paper 
 in the morning saw the marriage of Alfred and Felicia thus 
 paraded, he was furious ! he groaned with rage, and ferociously 
 swore that he would bring down destruction upon the Murray s. 
 
 He consulted no one. Acting solely upon his own judgment 
 which was not a very safe guide then he sent to order post 
 horses immediately resolved on counteracting the effect of 
 the announcement, at least among those whom he held to be 
 "his own." 
 
 The preparations for the journey were but slight his inten- 
 tion being to return as soon as possible he did not even take 
 his valet with him : he started with James and his powerful 
 groom, and sought congenial amusement on the road by darkly 
 brooding over the "indelible disgrace," and fiercely invoking 
 the spirit of revenge. 
 
 On his arrival he put up at the Eose and Crown, and 
 immediately sent for his agent he being the only man whom 
 he wished to see but as the landlord of the Crown as the 
 house was then more commonly called conceived that his 
 friend Murray might like, under the circumstances, to pay his 
 respects, he went to him and told him that the Marquis had 
 arrived. 
 
 "Indeed!" exclaimed Murray, whom the announcement 
 somewhat startled. " I wonder what he's come down for." 
 
 "To arrange some business with his agent, I should say: he's 
 just sent for him." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 193 
 
 " He didn't send for me ?" 
 
 " No," replied the landlord ; "" but you'll go just to pay your 
 respects, of course ?" 
 
 " I don't know about that/* said Murray, doubtfully. " He 
 might not like it." 
 
 "Nonsense, man! These great ones will take all the homage 
 you can pay them, I don't see how you can do less than go! 
 I wouldn't show a want of respect to him now !" 
 
 " No, but that's not the thing ! I should be indeed sorry to 
 show any want of respect ; but the question is, wouldn't he 
 consider it presumptuous ?" 
 " Presumptuous !" 
 
 " I mean the question is does he want me to call ? and if 
 so, wouldn't he have sent for me ?" 
 
 " They never make the first advances : it isn't likely. I 
 should say myself, that you are bound to go! If you don't 
 expect intimate friendship to follow, it may promote a good 
 understanding between you !" 
 
 " Well, I'll go and speak to Mrs. Murray about it. I'll hear 
 what she says. I should like to see him ! but I'll hear what 
 she says." 
 
 He then went to consult Mrs. Murray, who, delighted with 
 the prospect of promoting "a good understanding," advised him 
 to go by all means ! and Murray, although he felt nervous, 
 accordingly went. 
 
 " Now," said the landlord, on reaching the Crown, " do you 
 remain here, in this room, and I'll go and announce you 
 myself." 
 
 " Aye, do. You can say you know " 
 "Now, don't at all trouble your head about what 'I'm to say 
 I'll go in and do it like print." 
 
 Having been admitted to the room occupied by the Marquis, 
 the landlord, bowing profoundly, said, "I beg your lordship's 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 pardon; but, Mr. Murray, having heard of your lordship's 
 arrival, is anxious to pay his respects." 
 
 A dark frown clouded 'the brow of the Marquis, when he 
 heard the detested name of Murray announced, but, having 
 re-assumed an air of perfect tranquillity, he said in a calm tone, 
 " admit him." 
 
 " Now then," said the landlord, on his return. "All right : 
 come along. All you have to do is to mind your stops. Didn't 
 I tell you he'd like it ? come on." 
 
 Murray followed, of course, and, on being introduced, bowed 
 respectfully, as the landlord withdrew. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Murray," said the Marquis, with an expression 
 of the most perfect calmness, " you have, of course, heard of 
 your son's marriage ?" 
 
 " I have, my lord, and rejoice exceedingly. I hope that he 
 will be all your lordship can wish." 
 
 " "What property has he ?" 
 
 " Property, my lord ? He has no property." 
 
 " What have you to give him ?" 
 
 " I have a large family, my lord, and what capital I have is 
 locked up in my business." 
 
 " Then you can give him nothing ?" 
 
 " I must, of course, be just to the rest of my children." 
 
 " You mean, that you depend entirely upon your business, 
 the profits of which are not more than sufficient to support 
 them." 
 
 " I do, my lord." 
 
 " Then how does he mean to live ?" 
 
 " I really have no knowledge of his views, my lord ; but I 
 venture to hope that your lordship's influence will be exerted 
 in his favour." 
 
 " I know nothing of him : I have never even seen him." 
 
 "Indeed, my lord!" 
 
 " Were you not before aware of that fact ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 195 
 
 " I really had no conception of it. But I hope, my lord, 
 that they did not marry without your lordship's consent ?" 
 
 " They certainly did not marry with it." 
 
 " Dear me ! I am sorry to hear that." 
 
 " No doubt." 
 
 " But I nevertheless hope that your- lordship will forgive 
 them." 
 
 " She was of age : she felt that she had a right to choose for 
 herself, and has chosen. "What's done cannot be undone : 
 they must do the best they can. I have nothing more to 
 say on the subject." 
 
 " Still, my lord," said Murray, as the Marquis rang the bell, 
 " I do most sincerely hope that your lordship, taking into 
 consideration " 
 
 "The fact is," interrupted the Marquis, "I have scarcely 
 had time to think about it. I happen to have some business 
 of importance on hand business which has brought me down 
 here and hasn't Mr. Slane arrived yet.?" he inquired, as the 
 servant at this moment opened the door. 
 
 " Just come, my lord," replied the servant. 
 
 " Then show him in immediately ! Grood morning, Mr. 
 Murray." 
 
 Well! Murray most certainly wished to say more much 
 more with the view of propitiating the Marquis ; but as that 
 was entirely out of the question then, he respectfully bowed, 
 and withdrew. 
 
 On his return to the bar-parlour he found his friend Chubb, 
 who having heard that he had sought and obtained an inter- 
 view with the Marquis, was anxious of course to hear how he 
 got on. 
 
 " All right ?" he inquired. 
 
 " Well," replied Murray with a doubtful expression; "I 
 hope so : I think so : I think it's all right." 
 
 "Only think so?" 
 
 o2 
 
196 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, the fact is, they married without his consent." 
 
 " Oh, that's it ! I see ! Well, was he in a passion ?" 
 
 " Not at all ! On the contrary, he doesn't seem to care much 
 about it. He mentioned the fact, it is true : but then, he said 
 c What's done can't be undone ! They must make the best 
 of it ! Jhave nothing more to say on the subject !' " 
 
 " Then he was calm ?" 
 
 " Quite so ! He seemed to view it as a matter of no conse- 
 quence at all ! I never saw a man more calm." 
 
 "Blow him, I know him of old," said Chubb. "He means 
 something ! Mark my words, he means something ! I know I'm 
 right ! I know it ! When he means something he's always calm." 
 
 " Well, but what can he mean ?" 
 
 " Here sit down and have a glass of wine." 
 
 "No, I want to be off: Mrs. Murray will be anxious." 
 
 " Sit down, I tell you ! We shan't be a month over a pint ! 
 Now, look here," he added, having ordered the wine. " In 
 the first place, who's your landlord ?" 
 
 " Thompson. But I have a lease, of which five years are 
 unexpired!" 
 
 " It wouldn't matter if you hadn't : Thompson's all right. Do 
 you do much business up at the Hall ?" 
 
 " Nothing very considerable ! But I don't believe he means 
 anything of that sort ! Why should he go against me ? I did 
 nothing to promote the marriage ! I knew nothing of it until 
 it was over, and therefore if he were ever so angry, he couldn't 
 be angry with me ! But I don't believe that he's angry at all ! 
 'The fact is/ said he, 'I have scarcely had time to think 
 about it!' Hes not angry not to say angry! the fact of 
 their having married without his consent may nettle him a 
 little, and very naturally; but that'll soon wear off: I feel 
 convinced of it !" 
 
 " Oh ; he'd scarcely had time to think about it." 
 
 " He has some important business on hand business which 
 
LADY FELICIA. 197 
 
 has brought him down here and that, it seems, has engrossed 
 all his thoughts." 
 
 " Yes, it may seem." 
 
 "He said as much." 
 
 " And thus confessed himself to be an unnatural scoundrel ! 
 His daughter has married without his consent that is to say, she 
 has run away and he hasn't had time yet to think about it ! 
 Murray, I know him ; and if I were under his lash I should fear 
 him." 
 
 " But I am not under his lash. How can he injure me ? If 
 even I lose the Hall it will be of no very great importance. 
 Besides, why should he injure me ? why should he wish to try 
 to do so ? I had nothing to do with the marriage. But I don't 
 believe that he has any such object. I feel, in fact, sure that 
 he has not." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Chubb, "we shall see; I hope I may be 
 wrong of course I hope I may be wr ong, but when he means 
 mischief he's always so calm." 
 
 " That may be too ; but surely he may be calm without 
 meaning mischief?" 
 
 " He may be it's possible he may be but the fact of the 
 matter is, he's a man which I don't like, and that's all about 
 it." 
 
 This confession of prejudice Murray held to be sufficient to 
 account for his friend's apprehensions, and when he had taken a 
 second glass of wine he returned to Mrs. Murray, and com- 
 municated all. 
 
 "Dear me!" she exclaimed, having heard that the marriage 
 had taken place without the consent of the Marquis. " What 
 a pity ! I am very, very sorry to hear it. And yet it proves 
 that she dearly loves him. But," she added, " the girls must 
 know nothing of this ; it must, of course, be concealed from 
 them, for if either of them were to follow the example I should 
 never be happy again. And yet you say he doesn't appear to 
 
198 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 care much about it. "Why, I should go out of my senses. 
 "What a lamentable want of feeling these great men must have! 
 I should like to see Alfred a great man, certainly it would be 
 my pride to see -him great, but I'd rather he should move in 
 a less exalted sphere, than see him destitute of feeling. I 
 suppose that, having the affairs of state on their minds, great 
 men cannot feel like other people, and yet I have a perfect 
 conviction, that as far as Alfred's feelings are concerned, no 
 affairs of state, however mighty, could destroy them." 
 
 Murray was thoughtful; he could not at all understand 
 what the Marquis had in view when [he asked him how Alfred 
 meant to live ! Of course Lady Felicia had property ! of 
 course she had ! In his judgment there could be no doubt 
 about that ! Perhaps she had not a very brilliant fortune ! 
 "Well, that was very likely, and that was doubtless what the 
 Marquis meant when he said, " They must do the best they 
 can." And yet, even assuming that she had not a brilliant 
 fortune, why should he have inquired how Alfred meant to 
 live ? Of course they must live within their income whatever 
 that income might be, and therefore it appeared clear to him, 
 that the only reply to the question, of how they meant to live, 
 must be, that that was how they meant to live! Still the 
 question puzzled him ; it also puzzled Mrs. Murray ; they both 
 dwelt upon it most anxiously, and endeavoured to fathom the 
 meaning involved, but in vain. " How does he mean to live ?" 
 still rang in their ears, and inspired them with apprehension. 
 
 Having been with his agent in close consultation for nearly 
 two hours, the Marquis had some slight refreshment, and 
 immediately afterwards took his departure. The important 
 business on which they had been engaged did not, of course, 
 transpire, but some idea of its nature may be formed by a 
 careful perusal of the following address, which, in the shape of 
 a hand-bill, was, during the evening, freely distributed through- 
 out the town : 
 
LADY FELICIA. 199 
 
 "TO THE INHABITANTS OE SUDBTJBT. 
 
 " The announcement paraded in the paper you patronize, of 
 a certain marriage, between Alfred Murray, Esq., of London, 
 son of "William Murray, Esq., of Sudbury, and godson of the 
 late Noble Marquis of Kingsborough, to the beautiful and 
 highly accomplished Lady Felicia Jocelyn, third daughter of 
 the present Noble Marquis of Kingsborough, &c., &c., &c., 
 must, on reflection, create feelings of the most intense disgust ! 
 
 "It is unhappily true, that the vulgar man Murray the 
 junior esquire aided by a French woman, and prompted by the 
 senior esquire the one esquire being a common shopman, and 
 the other, as you are aware, a draper in this town : it is, I 
 say, unhappily true, that this profligate has by some foul means 
 succeeded in seducing the inexperienced and unsuspecting 
 Lady Felicia, from the bosom of her noble and affectionate 
 family, from wealth and magnificence, from all the luxuries 
 and elegancies of life, from peace and happiness, innocence 
 and joy, to plunge her into an inextricable abyss of poverty, 
 shame, and despair : all this is true ! it is also true that the 
 highly respectable journalist, whom you patronize, announces 
 the fact with ' peculiar gratification !' 
 
 " But what is the prospect the ' gratifying ' prospect 
 which opens before this beautiful but most unhappy girl ! 
 She has not a shilling -prize as the profligate thought he had 
 secured! nor is he worth a shilling nor is the respectable 
 senior esquire in a position to support them! What then are they 
 to do ? How are they to live ? Is it to be expected, that the 
 noble Marquis after having had his very heart-strings torn his 
 paternal authority set at defiance, and his ancient and illustrious 
 family disgraced is it reasonable, I ask, to expect that lie will 
 support the vile adventurer ? No ! and if not ! the unhappy 
 lady has but to choose between absolute infamy and utter 
 starvation ! 
 
200 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " But the godson forsooth ! of the late noble Marquis ! 
 De mortuis nil nisi lonum ; but can the mother of this godson 
 explain how he became the godson of the Marquis, without a 
 Trtush ? Fathers ! who have daughters whom you love and 
 would protect, whose virtues are your pride your household 
 gods ! Mothers ! whom truth and honoit/r guide! who have no 
 cause to blush ! whose children have no noble godfathers ! 
 can you associate with, countenance, or even tolerate, those 
 who are connected with practices so vile ? Prove .that you 
 are true to the principles of virtue prove your appreciation 
 of all that is pure ! denounce such wretches by all the means 
 at your command, for they merit your severest condemnation. 
 
 "AN OLD INHABITANT." 
 
 The effect of this address delivered in every part of the 
 town simultaneously was electric! It appeared, prima facie, 
 to be the most cruel case of seduction on record. The ladies 
 were peculiarly appalled ! Poor Lady Felicia ! Poor dear 
 young lady, what must her feelings be ? And that shocking 
 French woman ! They all knew what French women were! 
 the unscrupulous, disgusting creatures ! The foul means used 
 were drugs, no doubt ! And all because they believed her to 
 be a prize! They pitied the lady they did pity her but they 
 were very glad indeed that she hadn't a shilling. The 
 Murray's had been, at all events, in that respect foiled, but 
 that was not a single tithe of what they deserved ! nothing 
 could be too bad for them / in short, the prevailing impression 
 was, that the father and son were ogres. 
 
 And then that dreadful Mrs. Murray! "What a truly 
 shameless woman she must be! And her husband had, no 
 doubt, encouraged her in it. They always thought there was 
 something ; and now that they came to recollect, the late 
 Marquis had the reputation of being gay ? Why should he 
 have stood godfather to a child of hers ? That was the question: 
 why ? They didn't want an answer : they only asked why ! 
 
LADY FELICIA. 201 
 
 That was quite enough for them ! Grood heavens ! why this 
 marriage was a species of spiritual incest ! And yet that very 
 Mrs. Murray had been held up as a pattern of purity and 
 piety, and went with her family every Sunday to church ! It 
 was absolutely awful to contemplate ! They had never heard 
 of .anything more truly appalling ! 
 
 JNTow, when Uncle Cy received one of these startling bills he 
 was walking in his garden, and conceiving that it related to 
 parish affairs for there had been some talk about adding to the 
 rates, for which he thought there was no necessity, and was, 
 indeed, prepared to contend that there must be some sort of 
 mismanagement somewhere ! he was about to return it to 
 his housekeeper, that she might place it on the table to be 
 read another time ; but as on glancing at it he perceived the 
 name of " Murray," he read a few words, and then called for 
 a chair. 
 
 Before, however, the chair could be brought, he had 
 hurriedly run through the whole ; and when the chair came 
 he at once sank upon it as if exhausted, and faintly said, 
 "Bring me some brandy." 
 
 "Dear bless me!" exclaimed the housekeeper, as she 
 perceived the big drops of perspiration on his brow. " Why, 
 what on earth is the matter?" 
 
 " Some brandy," he repeated, and she rushed into the house. 
 
 "Now let me be calm," said he; "let me be calm: this is 
 indeed dreadful but let me be calm." 
 
 " Come," said the housekeeper, on her return, " drink this. 
 Do you feel any better ?" 
 
 " I shall, I hope, presently. Leave me. I wish to be alone." 
 
 She obeyed him; but with an expression of anxiety, and 
 had no sooner left than he burst into tears. 
 
 "All my fond hopes," he exclaimed bitterly, having wept 
 for some time like a child, " are thus withered. But," he 
 added, in tones of indignation, "it's false ! every word of it !" 
 
202 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 I'll not believe a word ! no foul means were used ! You Jcnoiv 
 all about poor Louisa to be false, and that's a fair sample of 
 the sack. But who is this savage ? This cowardly savage ? 
 I'll find him out ! He shall not escape me ! The villain ! " 
 
 He rose with the view of calling upon his brother, and as 
 he passed through the passage he met his housekeeper, who 
 was about to speak, when he exclaimed, "Don't believe it !" 
 
 "Don't believe what ?" she inquired. 
 
 " It's false ! every word of it ! Don't believe a word !" he 
 continued, and left her to wonder. 
 
 He had not proceeded far when he saw a fellow flitting 
 about with these bills, and, going up to him, immediately caught 
 him by the throat. 
 
 "You scoundrel!" he exclaimed. "Tell me at once who 
 employed you ! Speak the truth, and I'll forgive you : if not 
 I'll transport you, as sure as you're alive ! "Who gave you 
 those infamous bills ?" 
 
 The man was alarmed, and spoke somewhat incoherently: 
 still it might be gathered that he didn't know! He didn't 
 know noth'n about the bills ! He couldn't even read the 
 bills ; and, what was more, he didn't want to ! Blow the 
 bills! 
 
 " By whom, sir, were you employed ?" 
 
 He didn't know ! It was some gent ! He never seed the 
 gent afore ! He came in the Tap and gave 'em all a crown 
 a-piece to do it, and said he give 'em another crown if he 
 found they did it well ! That's all he knew ! 
 
 " "Where did you leave him ?" 
 
 " In the Tap." 
 
 "Which Tap?" 
 
 " The Dragon." 
 
 " Then come with me." 
 
 They accordingly went to the Dragon Tap, but found that 
 the bird had flown. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 203 
 
 " He's safe to come back," observed the man ; " 'cos in course 
 he's got to give us t'other crown !" 
 
 " I fear not," said Uncle Cy. " But do you remain here, 
 and if he should come, let the landlord know. Til pay you." 
 
 He then spoke to the landlord, and having explained what 
 he wished him to do in the event of this " gent" re-appearing, 
 he proceeded to his brother's, and there beheld a scene of 
 appalling affliction. 
 
 The shop was closed, and in the parlour, Mrs. Murray was 
 lying on the sofa, insensible, while the poor girls were 
 shrieking around her. 
 
 " Cyrus," said Murray, as he grasped his brother's hand, 
 with an expression of despair, " we are ruined, Cyrus ! for 
 ever ruined !" 
 
 " No," exclaimed Cyrus. " No, William ! No ! We shall 
 find out the cowardly scoundrel yet !'' 
 
 " Eind him ! I know him already, too well." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
 " The Marquis." I 
 
 " The Marquis ! That'll do. I'll trounce him ! If he had 
 fifty coronets, I'd trounce him ! But we'll talk about that by 
 and by." 
 
 " Are we not ruined, Uncle ?" cried Julia, weeping bitterly. 
 
 " Euined, my love ! No ! It's a, blow ! It's certainly a 
 blow! but, fear nothing: there is a G-od in heaven, my love, 
 who'll so manage it that truth will be triumphant. See," he 
 added, as Mrs. Murray gave signs of re-animation, " she revives." 
 
 " William," said Mrs. Murray, faintly, having looked round 
 the room, "William Cyrus my poor dear children !" 
 
 " Louisa," said Cyrus, soothingly. " Why, why is this ?" 
 
 " Have you not seen that dreadful paper ?" 
 
 " What, the squib ! Why, you're not going to be wholly 
 struck down by a squib ? You live in Sudbury, and allow a 
 squib to alarm you ! Pooh, pooh G-ods in heaven ! havn't we 
 
204 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 seen squibs enough to despise them ! Havn't we, in times of 
 excitement, known the very best amongst us charged with every 
 possible crime, .from kidnapping to murder? And it's not 
 only here, but everywhere else. In the city of London the 
 very centre of civilization I've seen on the walls, as large as 
 life, ' WOTE FOB "WENABLES THE ASSASSIN!' and when I 
 came to look closely at it, I found , added, in the smallest 
 of all small letters, the words l of the King's English.' There 
 are small letters in this ! but we'll have those small letters 
 made larger! well have them made so that people shall see 
 them, and understand the drift of the whole." 
 
 " But, look at this," said Mrs. Murray, pointing tremulously 
 to the last paragraph. "Look at this ! " 
 
 " "Well, I see ! But don't we know it's all wrong ! don't 
 we know it's all false ! There, go to bed go to bed and 
 sleep it all away. I'll send for the doctor presently, and then 
 you'll think you really have something to fret about ! G-o to 
 bed : go to bed : good night : God bless you ! but," he added, 
 with an effort to conceal his emotion, " Louisa, don't be a 
 fool !" 
 
 Assisted by her weeping daughters, Mrs. Murray, whose 
 feelings were those of deep anguish, retired ; but, as she again 
 fainted on reaching her chamber, the family doctor was sent 
 for at once. 
 
 " I feared this," said Cyrus, "I feared that the shock would 
 be too great for her ; but, let us hope let us hope for the 
 best. "William," he added, with an expression of solemnity, 
 " this is a rough look out : I have treated it lightly before 
 them ; but it really is a serious affair. Now, you say that you 
 know the Marquis to be the villain. In the first place, how do 
 you know that ?" 
 
 Murray explained to him all that had occurred during his 
 interview with the Marquis, and added, " therefore there can 
 be no doubt." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 205 
 
 " No," returned Cyrus, " there can be no doubt ; but, 
 unfortunately, all this affords no proof I mean, of course, 
 no legal proof of his connection with these infamous bills. 
 "We cannot prove that he is the author : we cannot prove that 
 he ordered them to be printed ; nor do we know where or by 
 whom they were printed, no printer's name being attached. 
 We are, therefore, in a position to prove legally nothing; but 
 we can, and will, make it quite clear that the Marquis is the 
 man." 
 
 "But," said Murray, "if even we could prove it legally, we 
 are not able to go to law with him." 
 
 " Are we not ? " returned Cyrus, significantly " Are we 
 not ? My boy, you don't know all. Place me in a position to 
 prove that he ordered these bills to be printed, or had even 
 the slightest connection with them, and we'll see what we're 
 able to do ! we'll see ! We shall not have to stand still for 
 money. But pen and ink!" he added, "come, let's go to 
 work ! No time shall be lost ! We'll do it right off! We'll 
 let him know, at least, what we mean !" 
 
 Having had the desk placed before him, he commenced, with 
 a triumphant flourish of the pen ; and as Murray shortly 
 afterwards left him to accompany the doctor up stairs, he 
 proceeded without interruption. 
 
 He was not a ready writer in general; but on this par- 
 ticular occasion he wrote away as if he felt inspired : indeed, 
 the rapidity with which the pen travelled, amazed him; he 
 had never written half so fast before. 
 
 "Well," said he, when Murray, having been for some con- 
 siderable time absent, returned " I'm getting on ; I'm getting 
 on !^ But how is poor Louisa ?" 
 
 "Very faint," replied Murray, "and very much distressed. 
 The doctor says that she must be kept quite quiet. He's 
 going to send her something which he hopes will soothe 
 her." 
 
206 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, I hope it will I hope it will. And now let me go 
 on with this I've nearly finished don't interrupt." 
 
 At this moment Mr. Chubb was announced. 
 
 " Shall we have him in ?" inquired Murray. 
 
 " By all means yes :" replied Cyrus j " only talk to your- 
 selves." 
 
 Mr. Chubb was shown into the room, and grasping Murray's 
 hand, said, " Never mind this ; never mind it, old fellow ! But 
 was'nt I right ? Why, I knew I was right ! I knew it ! I 
 knew he meant something, although I didn't think that he'd 
 go and attack a woman in such a cruel, cold-blooded manner 
 as this. If he'd let Mrs. Murray alone, I shouldn't have 
 thought so much about it- all the rest might have been 
 winked at, and treated with contempt ; but the idea of cutting 
 against her, and that in such a vicious style of virtuous indig- 
 nation, is rotten ! He talks about fathers' < household gods,' 
 as if we didn't know him ! I wonder how many of these 
 'household gods' he's smashed the prospects of! Look at 
 Mary Ann Jones, which is now in the workhouse ! Look at Lydia 
 Johnson, whose heart he broke ! Look at the girl Cole, which, 
 although so mild and gentle once, has become, through him, a 
 tigress. And yet he talks about honour and virtue ! But 
 what do you mean to do ? how do you mean to work him ? " 
 
 " Stop a bit," said Cyrus, " Til show you presently." 
 
 " I'm afraid," observed Murray, " of getting into a law-suit 
 with Mm!" 
 
 " Don't you be a mite afraid about that," returned Chubb, 
 "he can't stand the racket; for a Marquis, I know he's as 
 poor as a mouse. I know it ! and so does your brother. 
 Everything's dipped that can be dipped, and dipped pretty 
 tidily deep." 
 
 " Now, then," said Cyrus, having thrown down his pen, 
 " this is what we mean to do, to begin with ; I'll read it. Now, 
 then : 
 
LADY FELICIA. 207 
 
 " ONE HUNDBED POUNDS BEWAED ! 
 
 " Whereas, some evil-minded, cowardly wretch, signing 
 himself 'An Old Inhabitant,' has caused to be printed and 
 distributed, certain handbills, reflecting upon the character of 
 my family : Notice is hereby given, that the above reward of 
 one hundred pounds will be paid to any person who will give 
 such information as may lead to the conviction of the author or 
 even the printer thereof! 
 
 " Signed, 
 
 " WILLIAM MTJBBAY," 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Chubb, " Well ! that'U do, as far as it 
 goes ; but why not go into the matter more at large ?" 
 
 " I have done so here," replied Cyrus, who then read as 
 follows : 
 
 " TO THE INHABITANTS OF SITDBUBY. 
 
 " An infamous handbill, designed by one who styles himself 
 ' An Old Inhabitant,' has been issued with the view of 
 denouncing the family of Mr. William Murray of this town. 
 
 " It appears that Mr. Alfred Murray has been guilty of 
 the crime of marrying the object of his affections the beautiful 
 and amiable Lady Felicia Jocelyn without the consent of the 
 Marquis of Kingsborough. This is, ' the very head and front 
 of his offending.' Loving her with all the ardour of a pure 
 and noble heart, he married her without the consent of him 
 whose consent he well knew not being a lord it would be 
 useless for him to solicit ; and for this crime for a crime it 
 appears to be considered not only is he denounced by this 
 1 Old Inhabitant,' but his mother as virtuous and as amiable a 
 woman as ever breathed is assailed with the vilest and most 
 cowardly insinuations. 
 
 " ' Can the mother of this godson,' inquires this ' Old 
 Inhabitant/ ' explain how he became the godson of the Marquis 
 
208 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 without a blush ? ' I answer, yes ! and will briefly explain for 
 her. Many of my fellow townsmen remember the contest 
 between Lord Charles Jocelyn and Captain Coleraine, when 
 Lord Charles gained the election by one vote only. That vote 
 was given by Mr. William Murray, and the late Marquis 
 promised to stand godfather to his next child. Mrs. Murray 
 had never spoken to the Marquis before ; but he, in due time, 
 performed his promise, and for this, it appears, she is expected 
 to blush ! 
 
 " But who is this ' Old Inhabitant ?' The statement of a few 
 simple facts will enable you at all events to guess ! 
 
 " The Marquis yesterday came down post-haste : he arrived 
 at the Rose and Crown at two o'clock, and immediately sent 
 for his agent, Mr. Slane : at a quarter past two Mr. William 
 Murray had a private interview with him : at half past two 
 Mr. Slane arrived, and remaine'd with him, in close consult- 
 ation, for nearly two hours : at half past four the Marquis left 
 the town, and at seven o'clock these infamous bills were 
 issued ! 
 
 "Who then is this 'Old Inhabitant?' Can there be a 
 doubt about who he is ? No ! there can be no moral doubt on 
 the subject; but we want the legal proof! the legal proof is 
 all that we require, and whoever will give such information as 
 may enable us to get at that legal proof, shall receive from me 
 one hundred pounds, in addition to the reward which has been 
 offered by my brother. 
 
 " I sign my name which the pitiful coward dared not do 
 
 and am, 
 
 " Fellow Townsmen, 
 
 " CYEUS MUKKAY." 
 
 "Bravo !" exclaimed Mr. Chubb, "That'll do. That'll show 
 him what you really mean ! It'll also show, that if the boy 
 himself hasn't a shilling, he's got them connected with him., 
 which has. But I don't believe she has got no property ! I 
 
LADY FELICIA. 209 
 
 know the old Marquis was very fond of her, and 1 don't think 
 he'd leave her destitute, because he could, you know, leave her 
 a little. We can, however, get at his will, and see." 
 
 "I don't care," said Cyrus, "so much about that. If she 
 hasn't a shilling, that will not afflict me. If she be what I 
 believe she is, he'll rise in spite of their teeth. Marry a girl 
 above you, and she'll pull you up ; marry a girl below you, and 
 she'll drag you down she'll bring you at least to her own level 
 somehow. I have no fear of him." 
 
 "Nor have I," said Chubb. "But when do you mean to 
 have these bills printed ? r ' 
 
 " As soon as possible. I'll give these papers to Jackson to- 
 night ; he'll be at the Crown ; if not I can send for him, so that 
 he can have them printed early in the morning." 
 " "Well," said Murray, " I must leave it all to you." 
 " Do so, my boy. "We'll stick to you." 
 " That we will," interposed Chubb, " to the last. But come, 
 let us be off." 
 
 " Stop a moment," said Cyrus, " we'll just hear how Mrs. 
 Murray is before we go ; " and Murray went up with the view 
 of ascertaining, and when he had announced that she was 
 much more calm, the friends took their leave for the night. 
 
 For some time after they had left Murray sat alone, wondering 
 what Cyrus meant, by saying that he did'nt know all. He had 
 never imagined that Cyrus was a rich man ; he knew, of course, 
 that he had so me property ; but the way in which he had acted 
 in this affair, coupled with what his friend Chubb had said, 
 convinced him that Cyrus in saying, that he did'nt know all 
 was quite right. This, however, although higlily gratifying, 
 did not engross his thoughts long ; they soon reverted to the 
 position in which he then stood. "What had he done to deserve 
 censure ? JSTo charge had ever been brought against him 
 before, and this was of course unmerited. He had been just 
 to all honourable in his dealings steady, industrious, quiet 
 
 p 
 
210 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 and respectable through life and yet he and his family were 
 now the objects of persecution, and might be thenceforward 
 despised by those who had theretofore esteemed them. This 
 he thought cruel, and dwelt upon it mournfully, until it was 
 announced that Mrs. Murray had expressed a wish to see him, 
 when, following the example of Cyrus, he made an effort to look 
 comparatively cheerful. 
 
 As he entered the chamber as noiselessly as possible, Mrs. 
 Murray, who was sitting up supported by pillows, extended her 
 hand, and with a tranquil expression, intimated a wish for him 
 to sit on the bed beside her. 
 
 " William,' ' she said calmly, yet faintly, " I may never recover 
 from this cruel blow." 
 
 " My love,'* said Murray soothingly, " you must not talk 
 thus ; although severe, we must not allow it to crush us. 
 You feel faint and ill, of course, now ; but you' 11 very soon 
 revive." 
 
 " I fear not, love ; but hear me : I have been indirectly accused 
 of a crime" 
 
 " "What of that ? Do we not know the accusation to be 
 false ?" 
 
 " I do, William. That I have ever been faithful" 
 
 "Why, why is this?" 
 
 " Still hear me. If my heart should break, I shall die in 
 the sweet consciousness of innocence, and when we meet in 
 heaven, William, you will hear the pure angels proclaim " 
 
 " Louisa, do not wound my feelings. I have no more doubt 
 of your truth than I have of the purity of those angels. Let 
 this consciousness of innocence sustain you : let it inspire you 
 with fortitude." 
 
 " William ! " she exclaimed, as she fondly embraced him : " I 
 already feel relieved. Accusations, my love, are the germs of 
 doubt " 
 
 " Not when they are known to be false ! Louisa, I never had 
 
LADY FELICIA. 211 
 
 a doubt of your purity. But let us say no more on that subject. 
 I have much to tell you much that will relieve you. Listen, 
 my love. I do not say that all your apprehensions will vanish 
 at once : but listen, and they will be, at least, subdued." 
 
 He then calmly proceeded to explain to her the substance of 
 all that had passed below, and having placed every point in the 
 most favourable light, succeeded in rendering her comparatively 
 happy. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 A POPIJLAB DEMONSTRATION. 
 
 tlie bills composed by Cyrus had been distributed, a 
 fresh outcry was raised against Murray an outcry proceeding 
 from the purely independent and peculiarly immaculate free- 
 men, who had from time immemorial considered their votes 
 private property, of which it was their duty, as well as their 
 "eternal principle" and "sound constitutional privilege," to 
 make all they could. 
 
 Here was a man if a man he could be called who had 
 pretended to despise that fine old English practice of buying 
 up and paying for independent votes, which, by virtue of a legal 
 fiction,, had been pronounced bribery who had done all he 
 could to discountenance that practice, to bring it into con- 
 tempt, and thus to take the very bread out of their mouths 
 publicly proclaiming that he had voted for Lord Charles- in 
 consideration of the late Marquis standing godfather to his 
 son ! Could anything in their judgment be more disgusting ! 
 To do that in secret which it was their practice and their pride 
 to do openly, and for which he had so frequently denounced 
 them, appeared to them to be monstrous in the extreme- 
 Nothing could surpass it in turpitude: nothing was too bad 
 for such a man : lie ought to have his house pulled about his 
 ears, the hypocrite ! 
 
 They thus viewed it as a personal affair between him and 
 themselves ; and, knowing them too well not to know that the 
 explanation on this point would incense them, the agent to 
 whom the cause of the Marquis had been entrusted sent round 
 
LADY FELICIA. 213 
 
 to the various public-houses certain confidential satellites, with 
 a view of feeling the pulse of the indignant party, and getting 
 up a popular demonstration of disgust. 
 
 The achievement of this object, however, was known to be 
 impossible until that party had been well filled with beer : 
 they were, therefore, well supplied by those "jolly good 
 fellows" who never "dropped in" without treating them, 
 because they " dropped in" only when they wanted something 
 done j and who "calculated" that towards the evening their 
 jovial friends would be pretty well primed. 
 
 But this was not the onJy party whose indignation the 
 efforts of Cyrus increased. The ladies connected with that 
 interesting borough deeply felt that, as far as the marriage 
 was concerned, the matter had been made worse by that which 
 appeared to them to be a defence of Alfred's conduct. Cyrus 
 Murray didn't deny that foul means had been used ; he didn't 
 deny that the sole object was wealth; nor did he deny that Alfred 
 had been infamously assisted by that odious French woman 
 the wretch ! They therefore felt justified in assuming that 
 these accusations, at least, were true ; and as to that which 
 had reference to Mrs. Murray's character, it was quite clear to 
 them that there must be something in it ! 
 
 It was all very well for her to get Cyrus Murray to say that 
 it was solely in consequence of her husband having voted for 
 Lord Charles : but how were they to know that it was solely in 
 consequence of that ? It was all very natural for her to make 
 an attempt to get over it; but was there anything to prove 
 that she had not been guilty of the conduct ascribed <to her ? 
 No ! They therefore couldn't think of associating with her, or 
 with any one who even appeared to countenance such truly 
 disgraceful doings. 
 
 Besides, Cyrus Murray seemed to think that the fact of a 
 young lady marrying without the consent of her parents was 
 nothing of any consequence ! nay, he absolutely appeared to 
 
214 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 them to justify the frightful example ! Were they to have the 
 anxiety of bringing up their daughters were they to have 
 them educated with the utmost care were they to have them 
 taught music, dancing, drawing, and the rest of it, and dress them 
 like the daughters of the aristocracy for no other purpose 
 than to see them, when they became sufficiently accomplished 
 to move in a higher sphere, throw themselves away upon 
 persons beneath them ? The idea was dreadful ! and all who 
 attempted to justify the dangerous example which Cyrus 
 Murray had attempted to justify, ought to be not only avoided, 
 but denounced. They would not have their girls associate 
 with such creatures for worlds ! and the girls were accordingly 
 enjoined to shun the Murray s with as much care as if they had 
 been lepers. 
 
 Meanwhile, Cyrus and his Mend were anxiously endeavour- 
 ing to glean the opinions of those with whom they had been in 
 the habit of associating ; and although Cyrus picked up nothing 
 but praise for the bold and manly spirit he had displayed, his 
 friend Chubb, before whom they were not quite so anxious to 
 conceal their real feelings, discovered that, in their view, the 
 Murrays were " no better than they should be." 
 
 Even the chemist, who had been so eloquent in Alfred's 
 favour, had had his opinion changed by the ladies. 
 
 "You can't, after all," said he to Chubb, who undertook 
 to defend the whole proceeding, " You can't, after all, much 
 wonder at the Marquis being angry." 
 
 " Certainly not," returned Chubb. " And as I can't, I 
 don't. I don't wonder at all at the Marquis being angry." 
 " Then why do you assail him ?" 
 
 " Because he has assailed a virtuous woman, the coward ! 
 I don't assail him because he is angry ! I should, doubtless, 
 under similar circumstances, be angry myself. But, does it 
 follow that because he is angry, he should thus endeavour to 
 crush the spirit, to break the heart, and to blast the reputation 
 
LADY FELICIA. 215 
 
 of an innocent woman ? Had he attacked Alfred alone, I 
 should have thought nothing of it : he might even have called 
 the young dog a villain, and I should' nt have been at all 
 amazed ; but the fact of his having spit his venom upon the 
 fair reputation of an unprotected woman for a woman upon 
 this point is always unprotected : neither the shield of virtue, 
 nor the breast-plate of prudence, can protect her from this 
 vile species of cowardly scoundrelism ! the very fact, I say, 
 of his having thus endeavoured to deprive a virtuous woman 
 of that which she holds dearer than life, proves him to be at 
 heart a ruffian!" 
 
 " "Well," said the chemist, " on that point he may have gone 
 a little too far." 
 
 "A Z^Zetoofar!" 
 
 " Well, we'll say he might have left Mrs. Murray out of the 
 question ; but that which the women complain of most, is the 
 fact of Cyrus having attempted to justify clandestine mar- 
 riages !" 
 
 " Well, the women will talk : poor things, they must talk : 
 it's their privilege to talk : and if it was'nt, they'd talk. But 
 Cyrus does nothing of the kind ! he merely states the fact 
 of its being a run-away match." 
 
 " Which they hold to be a very bad example." 
 
 " Of course ! and I agree with them it is a bad example 
 an example which certainly ought not to be followed; for I 
 believe that, in nineteen cases out of twenty, such marriages 
 are the source of unhappiness : it therefore is a bad example ; 
 especially to set girls, who thus frequently become the victims 
 of unprincipled men. Eut what would they say if one of their 
 sons were to marry a lady of title clandestinely ? Would any 
 one of them, being the mother of that son, have any particular 
 objection to that ? I think not. I may be wrong ; but it 
 strikes me that she would'nt say a great deal against it. 
 Why, then, should they be so inveterate against Alfred ? Is 
 
216 LADY FELICIA.. 
 
 there one of their sons who, if he'd had the chance, would 
 not have done what Alfred has done ? If there be, I would'nt 
 give twopence for his spirit. But thus it is. If the son of 
 our parson, or of any ol:her parson, were to run away with the 
 daughter of an earl, the reverend gentleman would endure it 
 with due humility; "but if his daughter were to follow suit 
 with his miller, his humility and the miller would'nt mix. And 
 it seems to be natural. Ambition is the universal prompter. 
 It enjoins us to rise in the social scale: rise! rise! keep 
 continually rising ! and we obey the injunction : we keep on 
 struggling to get up up up ! toiling and panting to rise 
 one above another ! climbing climbing climbing still ! 
 until Death just beckons us down into the grave, and then 
 we're all level again." 
 
 " Certainly," said the chemist, " ambition is our prompter. 
 But is it not well that we are ambitious? should we have 
 made the progress in the arts and sciences we have made, if 
 we had not been ambitious ? Are not all our wonderful dis- 
 coveries those in chemistry, for example ascribable to the 
 struggles of ambitious men ?" 
 
 " Then why denounce Alfred for being ambitious ?" 
 
 " I don't denounce him ! his ambition, no doubt, is to be 
 great, and notwithstanding the opposing influence of ihe 
 Marquis, he may achieve greatness. I don't denounce him ! 
 I merely alluded to the impressions of the women !" 
 
 " Well, the women, God bless them, must have their own 
 way ; they wouldn't be happy if they hadn't. "What they say 
 is orthodox they believe it's heterodox, of course, to con- 
 tradict them ; they are right in the long run sometimes. But 
 isn't there a little spice of envy at the bottom of all this ?" 
 
 " If the prospect portrayed by the Marquis be correct, there 
 isn't much in it to envy !" 
 
 " True : but that prospect in which we see his fond 
 paternal hopes! has yet to be realized. We shall see all 
 
LADY FELICIA* 217 
 
 about this ' infamy' on the one hand, and 'absolute .starva- 
 tion' on the other: we shall see how calmly they'll steer 
 between them ! If they haven t a shilling they'll not be lost. 
 We shall see ! we shall see." 
 
 " Well," said the chemist, "I hope he'll get on !" 
 
 "Hope seldom paints desperate doubts," returned Chubb, 
 who, conceiving this to be sufficiently severe, left him to call 
 upon Murray, whom he found sitting in a thoughtful mood 
 with Cyrus. 
 
 " "Well, "said he, as he entered, " how are you by this time ?" 
 
 Murray shook his head. 
 
 " What now ?" inquired Chubb. 
 
 " It will ruin me," said Murray. " I know it will ruin me !" 
 
 " Is that what you've made up your mind to ?" 
 
 "I see it!" 
 
 " Of course ! Its wonderful how quickly a man can see 
 ruin! If it were the brightest luminary in the universe he 
 could'nt see it with greater facility. No sooner does anything 
 happen to a man than up rises ruin to stare him in the face." 
 
 " I haven't had a soul in the shop to-day !" 
 
 " What of that ? Are you going to be ruined in a day ? You 
 must have the rickets to be ruined all at once ! I didn't expect 
 that you'd do much to-day ! People haven't yet made up their 
 minds as to whether they ought to come or not." 
 
 " I tell him so," said Cyrus. " It will be all right again by 
 and by." 
 
 " Why, of course ! Suppose they don't come for a week ? You 
 can bear the sight of ruin for one week can't you ? I know 
 men who have seen it every day for the last thirty years : they 
 have looked at it through a glass which has the peculiar pro- 
 perty of making it appear nearer the farther it's off: they look 
 at it still with astronomical regularity, and will continue to 
 look at it as if they had a relish for the sight, until whether it 
 be far or near the sight can no longer affect them. It's not a 
 
218 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 bad sign for a man to see ruin : it proves, at least, that he's on 
 the look out." 
 
 " "Well," said Murray, " it won't do to go on so long : I can't 
 stand it long, that's quite clear." 
 
 " Nor will you be called upon to stand it long. People are 
 very soon tired of wondering ; they seldom wonder more than 
 four or five days together ; and when they cease to wonder, 
 things go on as usual. But how is Mrs. Murray ?" 
 
 "Calm," replied Murray "comparatively calm, but she 
 feels it more acutely than ever." 
 
 " Indeed ! "Why how is that ?" 
 
 " Not a friend has been near her! not one of them has either 
 called, or even sent, to inquire how she is !" 
 
 " Then let them keep away ! You are just as well without 
 such friends, as with them." 
 
 " I don't want them ! only you see, the fact of their keeping 
 aloof proves to her, that they believe the imputation cast upon 
 her to be true." 
 
 " That's the mischief of it. I shouldn't have cared for 
 anything but that. Had he left her alone the unfeeling 
 scoundrel ! all the rest might have been winked at ; but he 
 knew what effect it would have upon her, and therefore the 
 coward couldn't spare it. This, however, must be met with 
 fortitude : her grief must give place to indignation. I know 
 what it is when a woman's attacked I know well what it 
 is ! but she mustn't be struck down, because, if she is, 
 her ' friends ' will ascribe it to conscious guilt. Eut it'll come 
 home to him mark my words : it shall come home to him, in 
 one way, at least ! I know what I know, and you'll see what 
 I'll do ! I can do a little, and all I can do I will ! But come," 
 he added, having delivered these words with a mysterious 
 expression, which Cyrus, however, appeared to understand, 
 " it's of no use to sit moping here ! Come to my house, and 
 we'll have a glass of wine." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 219 
 
 " I'd rather not," said Murray. " Indeed, you must excuse 
 me." 
 
 " "Why excuse you ?" 
 
 " Because," replied Murray, " if I go out, Mrs. Murray 
 will know there's nothing doing, and that will distress her still 
 more." 
 
 " Yery good ! Then we'll stop and have a glass of wine here. 
 Keep up your spirits, my boy ! Make up your mind to it ! 
 Don't be struck down. We'll let the noble Marquis into a 
 secret before we've done with him !" 
 
 Here Mr. Chubb winked mysteriously at Cyrus, and Cyrus 
 winked mysteriously at him, while Murray who didn't wink 
 at all, for he really saw nothing to wink at thoughtfully got 
 out the wine. 
 
 As evening approached, the indignant freemen having been 
 well supplied with beer had become nearly ripe for action ; 
 and knowing from experience that a glass or two of rum 
 upon the beer would be likely to have the desired effect, the 
 sub-agents had arranged, that at eight o'clock their tools should 
 assemble at one public house, ostensibly in order to drink the 
 health of the Marquis. 
 
 Accordingly at the time appointed they met, and as there 
 was no room large enough in the house, they adjourned to the 
 yard, where they found one of their own bands of music, and 
 of course a fair sprinkling of women and children ; and when 
 silence had been obtained by those who could make the most 
 noise, one of their "friends" mounted a table and said: 
 
 " Grentlemen ! I rise to propose to you the health of the 
 Marquis ; for, although he is a Marquis, a better-hearted fellow 
 never breathed [cheers]. Gentlemen, I think that on an 
 occasion like this, when we find that his heart has been almost 
 broken, in consequence of his having lost, not by the hand of 
 death, but by the hand of a profligate, one of his beautiful 
 daughters ; when we find that his feelings have been wounded, 
 
220 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 his high spirit crushed, and his authority as a father basely 
 trampled upon; I say that when we find all this, gentlemen, 
 we ought not to let the occasion pass without showing that we 
 can feel for him as fathers and as men, and take up his cause 
 like true-born Britons [loud cheersJ] Gentlemen, his beauti- 
 ful child has been stolen! Stolen" he continued, amid the 
 groans of the freemen, and the shrieks of their wives " stolen 
 from the bosom of her family and her once happy home, to become 
 an outcast of society for ever [vehement groans~\. Gentlemen, 
 I will not harrow up your feelings by describing the misery 
 to which an outcast of society is exposed, because that would 
 touch a heart of stone ; nor will I name him. by whom she has 
 been stolen, because that might excite your indignation to 
 somewhat too high a pitch; I'll simply propose to you the 
 health of the Marquis, and to show that we mean it we'll 
 drink it in rum !" 
 
 Enthusiastic cheers at once followed this announcement. 
 The idea of rum inspired them with rapture, and when after 
 an interesting scramble the rum had been distributed, while 
 the band played "Drops of Brandy," Joe Braywell, one of 
 their spokesmen, rose and delivered the following speech 
 indignantly : 
 
 " Brother freemem ! "We have just drunk the health of the 
 Marquis, and I'll add, may he have his revenge ! [ Bravo ! 
 So he ought to /] Brother freemen, we know what it is to 
 have children. We've some on us got too many perhaps, but 
 we don't like to have 'em stole ! [Loud groans.'] Now, this 
 poor young lady has been stole ! stole from her friends, and 
 her happy home and who's the villain? who's the thief? 
 "Why one the late Marquis stood godfather to, and who, to 
 show his gratitude, stole away his grandchild ! [Tells, hisses, 
 and groansJ] But why did the Marquis stand godfather to 
 him ? That's the point ! Why ? Brother freemen, I'll tell 
 you. There's a man in_this town named Murray [Down with 
 
LADY FELICIA. 221 
 
 Mm /] which has allus pretended that them which sold their 
 votes didn't ought! [Renewed groans. ~] Why, what's the 
 good, I ask, of being freemen, if we haven't the privileges of 
 freemen ? and what's the good of having the privileges of 
 freemen if we don't use those privileges like freemen, and make 
 the most out of 'em we can ? I say, every freeman's vote is 
 his property, as much his property as the bed he lies 
 on, and he which gives his property away is a rogue and 
 a fool. [ So he is /] "Well, now it comes out, that this man 
 Murray, who's been saying all he could to deprive us of our 
 property or, what's the same thing, to make it worth nothing 
 to us [Down with him.] now it comes out that this very 
 man sold his vote for this godsonship to the Marquis, and for 
 this very son, which has stole away she which is now to be 
 an outcast for ever ! [Shame ! Shame-!] Can anything bo too 
 bad for such a man ? Don't he ought to be scouted from the 
 Borough ? Isn't he a rank disgrace to us ? and don't we 
 ought to let him know it ? [ We will ! We will /] I mean to 
 say he's a black sheep among us : a snake in the grass-^a 
 viper in the bosom a wolf in sheep's clothing a monstrous 
 muck ! and, as such, I propose three cheers for the Marquis- 
 whose cause is our cause and three glorious groans for the 
 Murray s !" 
 
 When the groans had been given for the Marquis for they 
 were all so impatient to groan, that they couldn't wait and 
 then, by particular desire, transferred to the Murrays, it was 
 proposed that, in order to prove that the cause of the Marquis 
 was really their own, they should inarch round the town with 
 their band. This was agreed to unanimously : the procession 
 was formed, and they started with shouts of " The Marquis for 
 ever !" " No child stealing !" " Down with the kidnappers !" 
 and so on ; when the agents, conceiving that they had done 
 their duty, left them as usual to themselves. 
 
 They had, however, no sooner started, than old Sam Cray- 
 
222 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 brook, one of their elect having a brilliant eye to business, 
 and believing that there would be, at least, " a crown hanging 
 to it," conceived the idea of warning the Murray s of their ap- 
 proach, and accordingly ran round to the house on the instant. 
 
 " Mr. Murray," he cried, rushing into the shop. " Shut up, 
 sir ! Shut up, if you vally your life !" 
 
 "What's the matter?" cried Murray, darting out of the 
 parlour, quickly followed by Cyrus and Chubb. " What's the 
 matter ?" 
 
 " A mob's coming round, sir ! a drunken mob ! They'll 
 pull the house down sir ! they'll smash all your windows at 
 the lessest !" 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 " They've been drinking the Marquis in rum !" 
 
 " Grods in heaven !" cried Cyrus. 
 
 "Where are they, Sam?" inquired Chubb. "Where are 
 they ? " 
 
 " They'll be round here directly ; I thought it my duty to 
 come and tell you." 
 
 " You're a good fellow, Sam ; you shall not go unrewarded ; 
 leave this to me," he added, turning to Murray, who stood 
 pale and trembling. " Shut up, but leave it to me ; I'll manage 
 it. Come along, Sam, I want you." 
 
 "But I marnt be seen in it," cried Sam. "They marnt 
 know I told you." 
 
 " Nor need they," said Chubb, " come along. Now," he 
 added, having got Sam out of the shop, " you go round to the 
 band don't say that I am in favour of the Murrays but tell 
 them that if they'll play up to the Dragon, I'll stand half a 
 barrel of beer." 
 
 " All right," said Sam, " that's an-out-and-out move." And 
 away he started and met the band, and when he had com- 
 municated the pleasing intelligence, they struck up of course 
 with additional vigour and marched to the Dragon direct. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 223 
 
 Here Mr. Chubb met them, and was instantly hailed with 
 enthusiastic shouts of "Chubb for ever!" during which he 
 gleaned from Sam a slight idea of what had previously occurred, 
 and then went in to order the beer. 
 
 But how was it that Chubb was so liberal ? They never 
 before thought that he was half such a jolly good fellow. 
 What was the meaning of it ? They could'nt tell, nor did 
 they much want to know : they wanted the beer, of which they 
 felt more than ever in need, for they were really very warm 
 and very thirsty. 
 
 "Now then," said Mr. Chubb, on his return to the yard, 
 " I've got a double health to propose to you ! [Bravo /] It 
 isn't often we have a mug of ale together ; but as you all seem 
 so happy, I don't see why, as a brother freeman, I shouldn't 
 be happy with you. \_Loud cheer s.~\ But this is about the 
 happiest town in England! Gro where you will about it, 
 the people look happy ! And so they ought, for although 
 I say it, the freemen of Sudbury are about the best and 
 j oiliest fellows alive! [Enthusiastic cheers. ~\ The bells were 
 ringing the other day we were so happy ! But that was for 
 a wedding [Hisses] and a rare noise there's been made 
 about it. JSTow, I know the whole particulars ! I've got to 
 the bottom of it all ! We are not exactly fools, you know, 
 brother freemen ! [Cries of- No! not exactly. ~] We are not 
 to be led by the nose, you know ! We can find out things and 
 form our own opinions ; and, having found this out, I will say 
 what you'll all say when you hear it that the young man is 
 not to be blamed. [Well, but didn't he steal the young lady?'] 
 Steal her ! I'll tell you how he stole her. They loved each 
 other ; they made up their minds to have each other ; and as 
 they couldn't get the consent of the Marquis, they met one 
 morning and married without it. [Was that all f] That's 
 the sum and substance of the matter; and how many of us, 
 brother freemen, when we were young dogs how many of us 
 
224 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 are there who wouldn't have done the same ? I speak to you, 
 you know, as men of the world as men of sound, sterling, 
 common sense and as men who are not to be gulled by a 
 sham tale of woe. All this hubbub has been made because she 
 didn't marry a lord, as if lords, brother freemen, were better 
 than ourselves, [cheers and laughter]. And as to her being 
 an outcast of society, reduced to starvation, and the rest of 
 it, it's all perfect rubbish. You'll see them when they come 
 down: you'll have a frolic then [cheers]. He'll give you all 
 a glorious jollification [vehement cheers]. Instead of a pro- 
 fligate, as he's been called, you'll find him, and no mistake, 
 a prince [enthusiastic applause]. He's one of us, brother 
 freemen, and as he rises we shall feel the benefit of it. He's 
 worth fifty lords I say fifty of them because he's a regular 
 trump [loud cheers']. And then as to his father, there's 
 so much talk about ; he knew nothing of the matter before 
 it was over. \But he did sell his vote for the godsonship.~] 
 What* of that ? Don't we all sell our votes ? Don't we 
 consider it our privilege to do so ? "What's the uso of having 
 votes ? "What's the use of being freemen ? \_But hasn't he 
 allus cut against us?~] No ! Whoever tells you that, tells you 
 that which is false. He cut against you ? cut against his 
 brother freemen he so highly respects ? It is'nt likely ! I 
 speak to you, you know, as sound rational men as men who 
 won't be led away by a parcel of tales, although they do appear 
 in the shape of a handbill. All in that handbill is nothing 
 but nonsense sheer, spiteful, miserable nonsense and more 
 especially that which speaks of their poverty. They in poverty ! 
 Wait till they come down ; you'll see them then ; you'll see the 
 style they'll live in, and as I know you'll like him, while your 
 wives will like her. I'll give you, brother freemen, the ' Health 
 of the happy couple !' " 
 
 The toast was hailed with enthusiastic cheers, and drunk 
 with infinite alacrity. There were no cries heard against 
 
LADY FELICIA. 225 
 
 " child stealing " then the " kidnappers " had been completely- 
 metamorphosed he had taken the exact length of their ears, 
 and had filled them to their entire satisfaction. But he didn't 
 leave them ! No : he sent Sam to let Murray know that all 
 was right, and remained to " enjoy their society." And 
 interesting society it was of the sort: but that which interested 
 Mr. Chubb most, towards the latter part of the evening, when 
 the majority of them had left with their wives, was the phrensied 
 eye he had but one of a man of genius, whom he knew 
 one Mr. Bob Bradley, a celebrated weaver, who had been 
 honoured with the sobriquet of the Lushingtonian Poet, and 
 whose pride it was to "compose a song" upon every subject of 
 local importance. Mr. Chubb, having watched him for some 
 considerable time, at length approached him respectfully, 
 of course ! and said to him, " Bob, what are you up to ?" 
 
 " Only stringing a few lines together," replied the poet, who 
 was, even then, rather " far gone." 
 
 " What about, Bob ?" inquired Mr. Chubb. 
 
 The poet, with all that innate modesty which is said to be 
 inseparable from genius, quietly handed the paper to Mr. 
 Chubb, who read the following refined freak of fancy : 
 
 THE HAND-BILL BATTLE. 
 
 Have you heard of the hand-bill battle, 
 
 'Twixt one with a thirty stone carcass 
 And him which drives his slaves like cattle, 
 
 The regular lath of a Marquis ? 
 
 This Marquis, he had a fair daughter 
 
 Which wasn't too young for to marry, 
 And which the son of a draper sought her, 
 
 And she didn't much want to tarry. 
 
 Says she, " I can go to a levee, 
 
 And pick from the friends of the Marquis ; 
 
 But, oh ! I do love that 'ere nevy 
 Of him with the thirty stone carcass." 
 Q 
 
226 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 So he rose and went to her running, 
 
 And as his love wasn't a tame thing, 
 Says he, " My life ! I love you stunning ! 
 
 I wish now you'd just say the same thing." 
 
 " Well," says she; then, if that's the caper, 
 And you'll promise to make me right happy, 
 
 I'll rather have you, my illustrious draper, 
 Than be tied to a titled sappy." 
 
 Then they went off to church together, 
 
 Flying rage, and prepared to defy it. 
 And the knot was tied, round hearts light as a feather 
 
 May they never once wish to untie it ! 
 
 When the Marquis heard of the business 
 
 He flew into a furious passion, 
 Which brought on a sort of a dizziness, 
 
 Cause the match wasn't after his fashion. 
 
 So down he came post-haste, like lightning, 
 
 And issued a handbill severe enough, 
 And gave all the Murrays a tightening, 
 
 Which the thirty stone man saw through clear enough. 
 
 " Then," said he with the four or five fat chins, 
 " If that's what you mean, 111 just show you, 
 I'll 
 
 blow you ! " 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Chubb, " but you haven't yet finished it." 
 
 " Oh, dear me, no," returned the poet, " I have a number of 
 verses to add. Would you like to have it, when finished ? 
 Stand a quartern of rum, and it's yours." 
 
 Well! Mr. Chubb had no objection to become a patron of 
 literature! He purchased the copyright for a quartern of 
 rum full half a quartern more than it was worth, it is true ! 
 but he wanted to show it to Cyrus. 
 
 When, however, the copyright was sold, and the quartern 
 of rum had been drunk, the poet couldn't possibly do any 
 
LADY FELICIA. 227 
 
 more to it ! Instead of being mounted on his Pegasus, he 
 found that he was on "a dead horse," and shortly afterwards 
 performed the celebrated feat of " dropping into the arms of 
 Morpheus." 
 
 Under these untoward circumstances, Mr. Chubb viewing 
 the matter in a philosophic light took the manuscript as it 
 was; and having no desire to prolong his stay all danger 
 then being at an end he bade those with whom he had been 
 conversing, good night, and left the house with a " glorious " 
 reputation indeed J 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 LAPY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIY. 
 
 THE HONEYMOON. 
 
 UNCONSCIOUS of the course pursued by the Marquis, Alfred 
 and his beautiful bride were entranced! Rapture the most 
 thrilling, joy the most intense, happiness the most pure and 
 perfect, were theirs ! To them nature never before looked so 
 lovely. They felt as if they had for ever escaped from a world 
 of envy and ambition : for whom could they envy then ? of 
 what could they then be ambitious having attained the very 
 apex of delight ? Their world was within themselves a 
 paradise ! they held the artificial " world" they had left to be 
 a chaos of folly and pride, and hoped for nothing more on earth 
 than to live together thus in simplicity and peace. 
 
 "Whether, fondly locked in each other's arms, gazing from 
 the window calmly on the sea, or walking on the Downs like 
 children, hand in hand, occasionally stopping to look into each 
 other's eyes, which drank fresh draughts of bliss while contem- 
 plating perfection for while Felicia was, in his view, per- 
 fection, he was perfection in hers every hour teemed with 
 sweet sensations which endeared them to each other more and 
 more, and inspired them with love and gratitude to Him who 
 had strung their hearts with those ethereal chords which 
 rendered them susceptible of so much felicity. 
 
 Felicia would sometimes calmly review the brilliant scenes 
 in which she had been an actress, and in which, as on the 
 mimic stage, happiness was often represented by those who 
 were perfect strangers to it, she sometimes reflected upon the 
 stately establishments in which a hundred were engaged to 
 
LADY FELICIA. 229 
 
 supply the wants of one upon the gorgeous halls, the splendid 
 liveries, the magnificent equipages, and the dazzling entertain- 
 ments at which smiles were wreathed when the heart was racked, 
 and glittering tiaras proudly worn encircled the cells of convict 
 thoughts, and bosoms, though blazing with brilliants without, 
 were dreary, and .dark, and cold within : but instead of once 
 wishing to return to those scenes, she would not have sacrificed 
 the joy she then experienced for all the wealth and splendour 
 in the world ! 
 
 She was happy, most happy, and her own dear Alfred was 
 happy too ; what more could she desire ? She desired nothing 
 more, nor did Alfred to whom Felicia appeared to be angelic ; 
 still, although in a delirium of love the thought of his position 
 in a pecuniary point of view, would sometimes intrude itself 
 for a moment, He saw no fear, however, not the slightest ; 
 and therefore deferrec^for a time, with the most perfect con- 
 fidence, the full consideration of what was to be done. 
 
 Fidele had undertaken the domestic arrangements, which, 
 seeing that they were at an hotel, were but slight ; still she 
 had undertaken them ; but she did not think more of those 
 domestic arrangements than she did of Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 She did'nt know how it was, exactly; but she had serious 
 thoughts, and extraordinary dreams, and felt peculiar pleasure 
 in being alone; not because she perceived that Felicia and 
 Alfred were enamoured of retirement, but because she felt 
 happier in solitude, and dearly loved to wander on the beach, 
 and to watch the snowy spray, and to listen as if she expected 
 to hear some voice she had somewhere heard before. She. 
 moreover, thought it a very long week, whereas Alfred and 
 Felicia considered it a short one, which was very remarkable : 
 she really could'nt account for it : she could'nt, of course, 
 pretend to account for it : but she actually appeared to wish 
 for Sunday. She had nothing particular on her mind to cause 
 her to wish to go to church so earnestly ; and yet Sunday was 
 
<>230 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 the day to which throughout the week she had anxiously 
 looked forward. It could'nt be because Mr. "Wilkins had inti- 
 mated his intention to visit them on Sunday ? Oh no ! and 
 yet well, she would wait until Sunday, and see ; she might 
 know more about it then. And she did know more about it 
 then ; for when on Sunday Mr. "Wilkins arrived, her heart 
 explained the whole matter to her. 
 
 Mr. "Wilkins had started the previous evening by the mail, 
 and having slept a few hours at the inn., at which it stopped, 
 reached Alfred's hotel before they sat down to breakfast ; and 
 no man was ever received more cordially, not only by Fidele, 
 but by Alfred and Felicia, who shook him warmly by the hand, 
 and expressed to him the pleasure his arrival imparted. 
 
 This reception, indeed, somewhat touched him; it was so 
 cordial; but having gracefully congratulated Felicia on her 
 appearance which really proclaimed the existence of hap- 
 piness he very soon recovered his self-possession, and began 
 to chat gaily with Fidele. 
 
 Fidele, however although it was impossible for her not to 
 manifest delight did not talk to him so playfully as before : 
 she felt as if his presence imposed some restraint ; and when 
 their eyes met she blushed, and seemed slightly embarrassed, 
 and laughed considerably less than she did the previous Sun- 
 day. She wasn't sad! not at all! but then she wasn't 
 merry ! Her cup was full of gladness, but she couldn't pour 
 it out. 
 
 Mr. "Wilkins, nevertheless, rattled on; but Alfred noticed 
 a great improvement, both in his language and his manners 
 the former being much less inflated, while the latter were 
 much more refined the true secret of which was, that he had 
 admired the easy eloquence and gentle bearing of Felicia so 
 much, that he had resolved on adopting her as his model. She 
 was in his view a superior being, and he studied her with 
 profound admiration ; and as she was much more communica- 
 
LADY EELICIA. 231 
 
 tive then, he was enabled to "pick up something extra" every 
 minute ! 
 
 With this view he constantly addressed her but always 
 with the most respectful deference and felt that a few more 
 lessons from her and Fidele, would " positively polish him up 
 to such a pitch," that he should be able to shine in the highest 
 sphere, to which his ambition could rationally point, and to 
 prove when he got there, to all around, that he had moved in 
 the best society. - v: ,! 
 
 He discovered that he had theretofore made a mistake that 
 magniloquence was not eloquence, nor stiffness grace : he 
 could then duly appreciate Alfred's quietude, as well in dress 
 as in language and deportment : he saw clearly then, that to 
 be pompous was to be vulgar, and that a quiet, easy, graceful 
 bearing was, in reality, the very acme of elegance, and 
 regarded the opportunity of studying " the real thing,'' as one 
 of the most fortunate events of his life. 
 
 After breakfast, Felicia retired with Fidele, with the view 
 of preparing for church ; and Mr. "Wilkins, grasping Alfred by 
 the hand, said, "My boy: I need not ask whether you are 
 happy or not, because I know that you are : I can see it ! I 
 can also see that Lady Felicia is happy, and I rejoice at it 
 most sincerely rejoice. But have you heard from the Marquis?" 
 
 Alfred drew from his pocket-book an envelope, bearing the 
 seal and signature of the Marquis. 
 
 " This envelope," said he, contained a letter which Felicia 
 had sent to him, and which he returned, unopened. It is, you 
 perceive, addressed to ' Mrs. Murray ;' but look inside." 
 
 Mr. "Wilkins did so, and read as follows : 
 
 " Lady Florence desires that Mrs. Murray will not presume 
 to write to Tier. 
 
 (( Kingsborough House/ 1 
 
 " Lady Augusta announces in order to avoid the annoyance 
 
232 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 of any attempt to effect a reconciliation that she will neither 
 correspond with, nor own Mistress Murray. 
 * Kingsborough House." 
 
 " Bather short of paper, at Kingsborough House," said Mr. 
 "Wilkins, sarcastically. " They might have enclosed two notes 
 instead of writing on the inside of an envelope. Eut what 
 effect had all this upon Lady Felicia ?" 
 
 " Tears sprang into her eyes, but she instantly" recalled 
 them, and assumed an expression of firmness." 
 
 "Admirable !" exclaimed Mr. "Wilkins. " That's the style 
 of creature! All soul! Rather spitfiery though, on their 
 part," he added, "rather serpentified and splenetic! I don't 
 know what I should do with one of those girls. I should'nt 
 be safe in bed." 
 
 % "I am rather pleased," said Alfred, "that they made no 
 attempt to conceal their real feelings." 
 
 " I understand. Any manifestation of kindness might and 
 doubtless would have affected her more. But how are such 
 girls to be tamed ? What are you to do with them when you 
 have got them ? How are you to manage them ? What sort of 
 harness are you to put them into ? You could'nt live in the 
 same house with them, if even you ventured to live in the 
 same street ?" 
 
 " They are very imperious," said Alfred. 
 
 " Imperious ! Heaven help their husbands, whoever they 
 may be ! But is this all that you have heard ?" 
 
 "Prom them," replied Alfred. "Here's a note from my 
 uncle my old uncle Cy one of the warmest-hearted fellows 
 that ever breathed. Look at that." 
 
 Mr. Wilkins read the note, which ran thus : 
 
 "MY BOY, 
 
 " Do you want any money to go on with ? 
 
 " Only one word Tes, or Ko. 
 
 " CYBTTS MTIBBAY." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 233 
 
 
 
 " That's the style of correspondence," he exclaimed. " There's 
 no beating about the bush here ! Do you want any money ? 
 Only say! yes, or no. "Well, and what did you say? c my boy.' " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " That's right. Don't have any of them yet. It will bring 
 their ideas down from heaven to earth. There's no poetry in 
 money : there's nothing poetic in the sound. But how are you 
 off for that article now?" 
 
 " I have the note which you sent me! I have not yet broken 
 into that." 
 
 " JS T ot broken into it yet ?" 
 
 " Oh, no': I'm not permitted to be extravagant. Unnecessary 
 expenses are not allowed." 
 
 " "What, not by Lady Felicia ?" 
 
 " Certainly not." 
 
 " Have you then an economist as well as an angel." 
 
 "I have! She will not cause a pound to be spent unne- 
 cessarily." 
 
 " That'll do," said Mr. Wilkins, " That'll do. The style in 
 which she would expect to live was the only thing I feared." 
 
 "The style in which she hopes to live is that of pure 
 simplicity. The carriage you left here has not been used once. 
 I have proposed a trip to Lewes, and another to Worthing ; 
 but the Downs were so delightful; and a walk was so very bene- 
 ficial to health! That there were other considerations I suspect!" 
 
 " But there's no necessity for going on so ! You must do a 
 little to it ! You must, you know, enjoy yourselves now !" 
 
 " We do," returned Alfred, with a tranquil smile. "We have 
 the purest enjoyment. I believe that Felicia is one of the 
 happiest beings upon earth, while I I cannot express to you 
 how I feel, but imagine every sense I have, charmed by the 
 great Creator, with the view of testing the amount of rapture 
 of which His creatures are capable, and you may form some 
 idea of the ecstacy of which this marriage has been the germ." 
 
234 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Tne operation of those senses is a mystery " said Mr. 
 "Wilkins " a mystery as inscrutable as that of the soul. How 
 they are worked is marvellous : the *very machinery is incon- 
 ceivable ; we perceive the effect, and we sometimes know the 
 cause; but there is a refined something between the cause and 
 the effect, the contemplation of which makes a man feel little. 
 But do we all go to church? Does Miss Legrange go with us?" 
 
 " Of course !" replied Alfred. 
 
 " "Well, but I thought the French were Catholics I mean 
 Roman Catholics." 
 
 " The great majority of them are, but she is a Protestant." 
 
 " But how is that ?" 
 
 " I suppose because her parents were Protestants." 
 
 " "Well ! there's a great deal in that. If mine had been 
 Jews or Muggletonians, I might have been a Jew or a Muggle- 
 tonian : if Pythagoras had been my father, I might have been 
 one of the Metempsychi. I suppose it's a matter of chance, 
 chiefly. But who were her parents ?" 
 
 "Do you recollect speaking to me about a shawl which you 
 thought would sell, as the favourite shawl of the unfortunate 
 Queen of Louis XVI., which, just before she was dragged to 
 the guillotine, she gave to one of her maids of honour, who, 
 being short of money " 
 
 u Keep out of the shop :" said Mr. Wilkins. " It isn't fair : 
 keep out of the shop." 
 
 "But you recollect it?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " Well then, at the period to which you referred, Fidele was 
 connected with one of the first families in France, whose wealth 
 and influence excited the vengeance of Bobespierre." 
 
 " Indeed ! I must get up the history of that sanguinary 
 period." 
 
 " To amuse her ?" 
 
 " No, but just to show that one knows something about it." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 235 
 
 " You would not, I know, willingly wound her feelings." 
 
 " Indeed I would not for the world." 
 
 "Then never, in her presence, refer to that period. The 
 slightest word haying reference to it has, I understand, a 
 most frightful effect upon her. Her sorrows have not been 
 common sorrows. She has seen her mother, father, uncles, all 
 whom she held dear on earth, lying headless !" 
 
 " Heaven and earth ! Is it possible ? Oh ! how glad I am 
 that you told me of this." 
 
 " I'll tell you all one of these days. But you have something 
 to tell me, have you not ?" 
 
 " Something to teU you ?" 
 
 " You stated in your letter that you had something to 
 communicate." 
 
 "Oh yes exactly I remember. But that's of no 
 immediate importance. "We'll talk about that another time." 
 
 " Has it reference to the Marquis ?" 
 
 " "Well it has. We shall have, however, plenty of time to 
 talk about that. I shall not leave until to-morrow night." 
 
 " Indeed ! I am very glad of that. Felicia, my love," he 
 added, as she entered the room at this moment with Fidele, 
 " I have news for you ! Mr. Wilkins does not leave us until 
 to-morrow night !" 
 
 " That is indeed kind," said Felicia, 
 
 " Nay," said Mr. Wilkins, " do not call it kind. My object 
 is of a selfish character. It is to enjoy your delightful society." 
 
 Fidele looked at him, as Felicia slightly bowed, and thought 
 that if that compliment had been addressed pointedly to her, 
 its effect upon her might have been more pleasing. She soon, 
 however, found that she had but little reason to complain, for 
 as they walked to church together he lavished upon her, as 
 pointedly as she could desire, a series of the most graceful 
 compliments he ever thought of. Some of them were, in his 
 judgment, strikingly elegant ; but they all hit the mark at 
 
236 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 which they were aimed, with sufficient force to make an 
 indelible impression. .' 
 
 But truth now prompts the disclosure of that which will not 
 reflect credit upon Mr. "Wilkins. He very seldom went to 
 church ! 
 
 He had been in the habit of spending his Sundays by no 
 means in accordance with canonical prescription. He would 
 rise in the morning and dress for breakfast, over which he 
 would read the weekly journals, picking out murders and 
 monstrosities of all kinds, breaches of promise, and other 
 "legal" diablerie, theatrical critiques, romances in high life, 
 and facetia3 in low ; after which he would dress for the day, and 
 if he had no engagement to dine at Eichmond, Twickenham, 
 Hamp stead, or Greenwich, he would have a French dinner and 
 go to Rotten 'Row ; he would then proceed to some suburban 
 tea-gardens, and having chatted, quizzed, drank, and smoked 
 sufficiently there, he would finish the evening at his favourite 
 tavern with jokes, devilled kidneys, bottled stout, and cigars. 
 
 All this was, of course, incorrect: there was not, at that 
 period, a bishop on the bench who would not have told him so 
 distinctly : and the only palliation for the pursuit of such a 
 line of conduct was, that, it being the usual practice of those 
 with whom he associated, he had no one with sufficient 
 influence over him to tempt him to follow a more correct 
 example. 
 
 It must, however, in justice here be added that, having on 
 this occasion been attentive to all that passed having been 
 touched by the impressive chanting of the Te Deum and 
 Jubilate and reminded by a hymn which he had often sung 
 in childhood that he had still religious feelings with inhim 
 he felt so much relieved, so much lighter, so much more 
 satisfied with himself, that he made up his mind, on leaving 
 the church, not only to attend more frequently in future, but 
 to go every Sunday, at least once ! 
 
LADY FELICIA. 237 
 
 Pidele knew that he had been moved to tears, because she 
 saw one of them fall upon the hymn-book. She, of course, 
 took no apparent notice ; but as it proved to her that, however 
 gay he might appear, he had a heart susceptible of sweet 
 emotions, the incident was pleasing. 
 
 Having returned to the hotel, the feelings of solemnity 
 which the service had inspired, gave way to others of a more 
 lively caste. They had lunch : and then a walk was proposed, 
 and as the proposition met the views of all, they started, 
 Alfred and Felicia leading the way and it may as well at once 
 be recorded, that when they reached one of their favorite spots, 
 they were allowed to have a very considerable lead ! Whether 
 Mr. Wilkins had tight boots on, or fancied that the shoes of 
 Eidele were not in fine walking condition, was never minutely 
 explained ; but, certain it is, that he hung back in. a very 
 extraordinary style, and equally certain is it, that Fidele made 
 no effort to hurry him on. 
 
 But that which struck Fidele as being most extraordinary 
 at this period, was the fact of his being silent ! It was very 
 mysterious ! He had scarcely spoken a word for ten minutes 
 Why was he so silent ? "What could he be thinking of ? He 
 could not be unconscious of her presence, because her right 
 hand, which she had gracefully passed through his left arm, 
 had got by some means into his right hand, which was very 
 remarkable ; and, what was more remarkable still, she made 
 no attempt to withdraw it ! He was, moreover, pressing that 
 right hand of hers, and, therefore, he couldn't be unconscious 
 of her presence. Why, then, was he silent ? 
 
 She had seen his four asterisks, which she conceived repre- 
 sented four letters; and as neither "respects" nor "compliments" 
 could by any possibility be spelt with four letters, she had an 
 idea of asking what letters they were really intended to repre- 
 sent ; but she found that she hadn't the courage to do it. 
 
 At length, having rejected one stepping stone after another, 
 
238 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Mr. Wilkins boldly made up his mind to say something. He 
 had been thinking profoundly of an appropriate exordium, but, 
 as he eventually felt that nothing formal would do, he said, 
 " "Well, what think you now of this marriage ?" 
 
 " What I have always thought," replied Fidele, " that it will 
 be a source of mutual happiness." 
 
 " They appear to be very happy !" 
 
 " They are very happy, and I have not the slightest doubt 
 of their happiness being permanent/' 
 
 "Nor have I," said Mr. "Wilkins. "But," he added, 
 mysteriously, "how very delightful the marriage state must 
 be !" 
 
 Fidele had nothing to say to this extraordinary observation, 
 but she felt that it would do, that it would lead to something. 
 
 "Really," continued Mr. "Wilkins, "my impression is, that 
 it must be delightful in the extreme." 
 
 Fidele had precisely the same impression ; but she thought 
 it right not to tell Mm so. 
 
 " Upon my word," he added, " I should have no objection to 
 try it myself." 
 
 Eidele could say nothing at all to it. What could she say ? 
 The style was so very extraordinary ; it did'nt give her a chance 
 of saying anything. 
 
 "I have often thought," he resumed, "that marriage that 
 is to say the marriage state must be enchanting." 
 
 Eidele was determined to say something this time : she 
 would'nt be silent any longer : it was so tiresome she there- 
 fore said, " Have you ? " 
 
 A pause ensued, and Mr. "Wilkins felt that if he could' nt 
 improve upon this he had better leave off. Still " Have you ?" 
 had to be answered, and he therefore said, " I have." 
 
 Well, there was an end of it. There was nothing more 
 absolutely demanded ; but Mr. Wilkins was by no means 
 satisfied. He never before felt so much confused, but he had 
 
LADY FELICIA. 239 
 
 no idea of letting it drop so. He, therefore, having recovered 
 himself a little, resolved on adopting a more playful style, and 
 said eventually, " What do you think of Lady Florence ?" 
 
 " Lady Florence!" echoed Fidele, quite unable to conceive 
 what Lady Florence had to do with it. " What do I think of 
 Lady Florence?" 
 
 " Would she suit me, think you ? Do you think she 
 would do? Can you recommend her strongly, as a mild and 
 gentle creature, calculated to make a steady, tranquil style of 
 wife?" 
 
 Fidele looked at him and smiled. 
 
 "What think you?'' he continued; "is she, in your view, 
 sufficiently lamb-like ? Would she, in your judgment, suit my 
 taste?" 
 
 " Admirably," replied Fidele, " if indeed you have a taste for 
 the display of spirit.*' 
 
 " Spirit ! spirit is the very thing I like to see displayed. I 
 admire spirit, and more especially in a woman : the spirit of 
 love, the spirit of hope, the spirit of gentleness, when she is 
 cherished, and the spirit of resistance when oppressed. The 
 spirit of pride, the spirit of revenge, and all the other evil 
 spirits, I leave out of the question, of course, because no one ccm 
 admire them; but gentleness and amiability, combined with 
 firmness and self-respect, are the germs of all I care to cultivate." 
 " But if the spirit you had to encounter were not that of 
 gentleness ?" 
 
 " Well, then, that spirit must be subdued. She is, of course, 
 to be tamed?" 
 
 - " It strikes me that you would have to set her the example : 
 you would have to go through the process first." 
 
 " Would that be the most effectual way ? If she were to 
 tame me first, would that teach me how to tame her ?" 
 
 "If tamed at all, it must be by the force of example; I 
 really know of no other force that would do. One must 
 
240 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 yield. If both held out you'd set fire to each other in a very 
 short time." 
 
 " But what sort of a husband do you think she would like ? " 
 
 " Either a nice quiet elderly Duke, with immense possessions 
 and brilliant establishments, who would leave the entire 
 management of everything himself included to her ; or a 
 very young Earl, with magnificent estates, and just sufficient 
 intellect to avoid a commission of lunacy." 
 
 " Well, I don't like to flatter myself," said Mr. Wilkins, 
 " but as I am neither of these interesting characters, suppose 
 I, as I am, were to attempt to woo her, how should I have to 
 go to work ? Should I have to compare her eyes to fire, her 
 teeth to pearl, her lips to the rose, and her cheeks to sun- 
 illumined peaches ?" 
 
 " If you were to do so it would have but slight effect. She 
 hasn't a charm of which she is unconscious. The only way to 
 woo her with any chance of success, would be to show her a 
 splendid rent-roll, with the sketch of a brilliant settlement, and 
 offer to place unlimited means at her command. I have no 
 wish to dishearten you," she added, with a smile, " but I 
 know of no other way to woo and to win her." 
 
 " Then 111 give her up at once," said Mr. "Wilkins ; " 111 
 think no more of her; I'll turn my attention to one" he 
 added, and as he pronounced that little word, he pressed the 
 hand he held emphatically, " who is as elegant as she is 
 interesting, who has proved her appreciation of pure happiness 
 who has inspired me with feelings which I never before 
 experienced ; who has, in fine, taught me to love." 
 
 He said no more. He looked at Fidele, who averted her 
 eyes and blushed, and felt somewhat tremulous ; when, finding 
 that she was silent, and that he had, in reality, no inclination 
 to say anything more then, they gradually drew nearer to 
 Alfred and Felicia, who appeared to understand the very 
 object which had kept Mr. Wilkins and Fidele so far behind. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 241 
 
 A smile from Felicia, and a playful remark from Alfred, on 
 the great inconvenience of having corns, were, however, the 
 only intimations then given of that object being understood : 
 they pursued their walk, conversing upon topics of general 
 interest, and in due time returned to the Hotel. 
 
 "While at dinner, Mr. Wilkins who was really relieved for 
 although he had made no direct declaration, he had, in his 
 judgment, said enough to begin with felt unusually gay : he 
 chatted to Fidele who, however, said but little addressed 
 Felicia, and rallied Alfred, with so much success, that he fairly 
 established the reputation he had acquired, of being one of the 
 most agreeable persons they had ever had the pleasure to meet. 
 
 Nor, when they had retired from the table to have the 
 dessert, as before, near the window, did he cease to amuse 
 them. He was full of anecdote, and every one " told:" there 
 was not a single failure amongst them a fact which " polished 
 up" his lively recollection " to such a pitch," that it absolutely 
 teemed with facetiae. 
 
 Towards the evening, at the suggestion of Alfred, Eidele 
 went to the piano, and very soon electrified Mr. Wilkins. She 
 was, indeed, a brilliant pianist perhaps one of the most 
 brilliant out of the profession but nothing could surpass the 
 ecstacy with which she succeeded in thrilling Mr. Wilkins. 
 He looked at her with an expression of amazement, watched 
 the lightning-like rapidity with which her delicate fingers 
 moved, and listened to the startling music she produced, with 
 feelings of intense admiration. He was " struck." He felt 
 bewildered. His veins tingled with rapture. He had never 
 heard such music before ! It was, indeed, in his view, 
 enchanting. 
 
 Having accomplished the brilliant finale, she rose, and 
 Mr. Wilkins really didn't know at all what to say. He felt 
 as if he were under the influence of some magic spell, and 
 instead of exclaiming "bravo," "excellent," or "beautiful" 
 
242 LADY FELICIA, 
 
 which, under ordinary circumstances, he would have felt 
 himself bound to exclaim he looked at her and marvelled, 
 but made no effort to express the admiration with which he 
 had been inspired. 
 
 "Favour us with one more, dear," said Felicia; and Fidele 
 at once returned to the piano with a hymn-book, and played 
 and sang in the most impressive style the very hymn which 
 had touched Mr. Wilkins in the morning ! 
 
 This turned the current of his feelings on the instant, and 
 tears again sparkled in his eyes : nor could he check them : he 
 endeavoured to do so, but they were not to be controlled : they 
 continued to flow more and more as she proceeded ; and it is, 
 indeed, questionable whether she could ever before have sung 
 that hymn with so much feeling. 
 
 As twilight approached, Mr. Wilkins mysteriously wandered 
 to the other window, to which he almost as mysteriously 
 attracted Fidele ; and, while Felicia was hanging fondly upon 
 Alfred's arm, and watching the horizon serenely, he set himself 
 a most extraordinary task, namely, tjiat of arranging and 
 smoothing Fidele's hair, 
 
 Now, it will be as well here to state that Fidele's hair was 
 not out of order. It was, on the contrary, as well arranged 
 and as smooth as the most fastidious could desire. But 
 Mr. "Wilkins, nevertheless, endeavoured to improve it : he 
 was amazingly particular about this hair; and smoothed it 
 first on the right side and then on the left, and then on both 
 sides at the same time! Of course, Fidele thought this a 
 remarkable proceeding ! She was unconscious of having 
 neglected her hair ! Still she thought that an improvement 
 might possibly be made !- and immediately after this thought 
 had been conceived, an improvement was made in her view, a 
 very decided improvement for while he was thus smoothing 
 both sides at once, he absolutely bent forward and boldly 
 kissed her brow!. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 243 
 
 And Pidele endured this ? Yes ! she endured it with all 
 the fortitude at her command. She blushed, but she didn't 
 feel angry ! she didn't exactly know how to feel angry ! nor 
 did she particularly wish to feel angry. It certainly was a 
 bold proceeding ; she couldn't conceal that fact from herself ; 
 but having taken all the circumstances into consideration, she 
 eventually made up her mind* to forgive him. 
 
 Her hair went very well indeed after that. Mr. Wilkins 
 was perfectly satisfied with it ; and he drew her arm in his 
 and took her hand as before, and remained at the window 
 until lights were produced, when they rejoined Alfred and 
 Felicia. 
 
 It was then extremely questionable which was the happiest 
 of the four. They were all happy then, truly happy, and 
 enjoyed each other's delightful society until they retired to rest. 
 
 Having arranged with Alfred to have a walk before break- 
 fast in the morning, Mr. Wilkins rose early, and when Alfred 
 appeared they went together down to the beach. 
 
 The tide was low, and as they walked on the sands, Alfred 
 again calmly inquired of Mr. Wilkins what it was that he had 
 to communicate. " You may as well tell me at once," he 
 added, " it will do away with all conjecture." 
 
 " "When I assure you," said Mr. "Wilkins, " that it is of no 
 immediate consequence, let that for the present be sufficient. 
 Let us defer it till the month is up, and then we'll calmly talk 
 the matter over." 
 
 " I'd rather know it now !" urged Alfred. " Why not calmly 
 talk it over now ?" 
 
 " Well, we certainly can do so ! My only objection is, that 
 it may in some slight degree interfere with your present 
 enjoyment ! and yet, I don't see why it ought to do so !'' 
 
 " Then be sure that it will not. If it ought not, it shall 
 not ! What is it ?" 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you ! Last Monday, the Marquis called to 
 E 2 
 
244 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 see the governor, with whom he in private conversed for some 
 time, and when he left I was informed that Lady Felicia had 
 no property." 
 
 " I am aware of it," said Alfred. " She will, I understand, 
 be entitled to some on the death of Lady Loftus, her aunt ; 
 but at present she has none. Is that all ?'* 
 
 " That is the chief point," replied Mr. Wilkins. " The other 
 is merely the declaration of the Marquis, that she shall have 
 nothing from him." 
 
 " I don't expect anything from him," said Alfred, " nor does 
 Felicia ; but I am satisfied ! I know, of course, that something 
 must be done, and I feel assured that something will be done, 
 to render us at least independent of him." 
 
 " I have not the slightest doubt of it. I have no fear what- 
 ever. I felt, when I heard that she had no property, that the 
 fact would arouse all your energies. My only fear was, that 
 you might perhaps live a little too fast at first, and thus create 
 some slight dissatisfaction, when the time came to pull in ; 
 but that fear vanished at once, when you told me that economy 
 at her suggestion was the order of the day. But how old is 
 this aunt ?" 
 
 " About seventy, I believe." 
 "An old maid?" 
 " No, a dowager." 
 
 " Ah : then that's settled. It's of no use to calculate at all 
 upon her. An old maid might fidget herself to death, and so 
 might a widow of fifty ; but, directly she gets above sixty, 
 regard her as one of the immortals. "Widows above that age 
 won't die. They live as if they meant to be immortal. Their 
 whole proceedings smell of immortality. They'll talk about 
 death, and live all the longer for it : the very exertion of talking 
 about it, tends to promote longevity. They'll sometimes drop 
 ofF, if you happen to be rich ; but the poorer you are, the longer 
 they'll live. They are the most obstinate people upon earth. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 245 
 
 They'll do nothing to kill themselves when above sixty ! They 
 settle themselves down, and begin life again : it is their spring 
 of immortality. Life insurances then, are a bad speculation : 
 you literally insure their lives then ; for, if they know it, they 
 won't die at all ! We may well call old age second childhood. 
 It is then, that these knowing ones start off afresh, and begin 
 the world again with a better chance than ever. Every child 
 born in the family gives them new life. Children are the 
 dolls of second childhood, with which the old children play 
 with as much delight as they played with the dolls of their 
 earlier infancy. You can't by any means persuade them to 
 die ! They know better ! They have a life's experience to guide 
 them ! jNTow, I've an immortal old grandmother," he continued, 
 " I don't want her to die ; but if I did, she wouldn't ! She's 
 been reckoned immortal for the last thirty years, and seems 
 more immortal now than when I first knew her. She goes 
 like a clock ; and knows, not only how to wind herself up, 
 but how to keep the machinery in order. I'm her favourite 
 grandson : but what of that ? When I have a son, he'll be 
 sure to cut me out ; and when he has a son, he'll be cut out 
 himself, as a natural matter of retributive justice ! If she 
 doesn't go off in fifty years or so, I shall really begin to 
 entertain the belief that she has discovered perpetual motion. 
 I mention these things," he added, " in order to show that it 
 is not only useless, but worse than useless, to calculate upon 
 the death of this aunt." 
 
 " I should not think of calculating upon it," said Alfred ; 
 " still it may come eventually." 
 
 " It may. She may die to-morrow, and she may live to see 
 you out. Don't depend upon that ; depend upon yourself. 
 I've no fear of you. You'll get on ! " 
 
 " I hope so," said Alfred. " But, by the way, do you think of 
 following my example ?" 
 
 " Do I think of following your example ? In what respect ? 
 
246 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Oh ! with Fidele, you mean ! Ah. "Well ! I should nt be in the 
 slightest degree astonished ! The fact is, I admired her before : 
 that which you told me about her family rendered her, in my 
 view, more interesting still; and that which subsequently 
 passed between us convinced me that, if we were to make 
 a match of it, I should'nt be at all amazed." 
 
 " But, I thought that there was a young lady in town, for 
 whom you had an affection." 
 
 " Pooh ! If I had married her it would have been merely as 
 a matter of business ; and as a mere matter of business she 
 would have married me. That was understood. It was to have 
 been a mere commercial partnership. I was to manage the 
 shop below, and she was to manage her show-rooms above. 
 The firm was to have been that of ' "Wilkins and Co./ and she 
 of course was to have been the ' Co.' But this is a very, very 
 different affair an affair not of the shop but of the heart." 
 
 " But suppose this affair of the heart were to involve you in 
 an action for breach of promise to the shop ?" 
 
 " Breach of promise ! We used to meet on a Sunday, and 
 talk the matter over in a purely commercial spirit, just to 
 ascertain how the speculation would answer, but no promise of 
 the kind was ever made. Besides, this was by mutual consent 
 broken off long ago. She has now another commercial lover, 
 and I believe the deed of partnership between them is all but 
 signed. Such a cold-hearted, calculating matter of business, 
 however, ought not even to be thought of now. The amiable 
 and interesting Fidele has created within me feelings which I 
 never before experienced, and which prompt me to believe that 
 the example to which you allude will at no remote period be 
 followed." 
 
 " Well," said Alfred, " I congratulate you on the progress 
 you have made. She is a very superior girl, and the fact of 
 your having won her affections alone proves that you are a 
 very superior fellow." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 247 
 
 Mr. "Wilkins raised his hat, and when Alfred had explained 
 to him all that he had heard of Fidele from Felicia, they left 
 the sands light-hearted and refreshed, and returned to the hotel 
 to breakfast. 
 
 "What have you been laughing at?" inquired Felicia, 
 " Fidele and I have been watching you on the sands, and you 
 really made us laugh, you were so merry." 
 
 "Mr. "Wilkins," replied Alfred, "has been introducing a 
 dear friend his grandmother to me. But could you see me 
 laughing at that distance ?" 
 
 " Through the telescope, distinctly !" 
 
 " The telescope ! Oh ! it will not do to walk on the sands, 
 then, I find." 
 
 "But have you really a grandmamma living?" inquired 
 Fidele. 
 
 " Oh, yes," replied Mr. Wilkins, " and likely to have for the 
 next half century." 
 
 " Indeed ! She must be very aged ?" 
 
 " Aged ! Juvenile comparatively juvenile she has just 
 commenced a new era of existence." 
 
 This was a fine opening for Mr. Wilkins an opening of 
 which he felt bound to take advantage : he therefore amused 
 them while at breakfast, with a series of anecdotes, having 
 reference to this immortal grandmother of his, and succeeded 
 in throwing them into convulsions. 
 
 Having thus had their appetite taken away for neither 
 Felicia, Fidele, nor Alfred could be said to have the power of 
 making a fair breakfast they prepared to accompany Mr. 
 Wilkins to whose sole direction the proceedings of the day 
 had been confided and shortly afterwards the happy party 
 started for Worthing. 
 
 Worthing which is not a very lively place now was, at 
 that period, dull in the extreme. But this suited them all the 
 better ! It tended to enhance their enjoyment. Surrounded by 
 
248 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 attractions, their attention would have been diverted from 
 themselves. They required no amusement but that which they 
 could afford no "life" but that which was within them: 
 they, in short, wanted nothing to excite their admiration, they 
 were so well content to admire each other. 
 
 Now, the first thing which Mr. Wilkins thought of on his 
 arrival was lunch ; which he ordered, and which they all highly 
 enjoyed: the next thing of which he thought was dinner; which 
 he also ordered privately, and in his own peculiar style : he 
 then thought of a walk a thought which especially delighted 
 Fidele and in order to avoid telescopic observation, he pro- 
 posed to abandon the beach for a time, and seek scenery of a 
 character more rural han marine. 
 
 There were at that time some very delightful walks about 
 Worthing, and to one of the most delightful Mr. Wilkins led 
 the way. He did not, however, maintain the lead long : having 
 reached a lane sufficiently secluded, he and Fidele stopped to 
 gather a variety of wild flowers, when Alfred and Felicia as if 
 they really understood all about it went in advance. 
 
 Their admiration of these wild flowers, however lovely as 
 they were with their "quaint, enamelled eyes" was but 
 transient : for Mr. Wilkins gently drew Fidele's arm within 
 his own, and while pressing her hand, led her forward. 
 
 " Fidele," said he, at length and it being the first time 
 he had thus addressed her, the very sound of her name was 
 delightful " Fidele, do you remember what I said to you 
 yesterday ?" 
 
 " On what subject ?" inquired Fidele, who well knew, but it 
 had had so sweet an effect upon her that she wished it to be 
 repeated. 
 
 " The subject was love, Fidele," he replied. " I alluded to 
 one who had taught me to love. You remember ?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "How wonderful is memory ! how inscrutable its machinery ! 
 
LADY FELICIA. 249 
 
 how mysteriously it works ! If I knew how impressions 
 were created and retained, as if the mind kept an everlasting 
 record, I might have some idea of the mystic workings of the 
 equally marvellous machinery of love. Love ! " he continued 
 with an expression of tenderness, mingled with estacy " Love ! 
 The very name is a sweet one, while its sound is suggestive 
 of the most delightful feelings of which we are susceptible. 
 But they who really love I find communicate their thoughts 
 without giving them utterance. Their senses are charged 
 with love's electricity for the conveyance of feelings from heart 
 to heart. For example : I have never said that I love you, and 
 yet you know that I do. You have never said that you love 
 me, and yet I know that you love me ! I need not declare that I 
 love you ; nor do I need any declaration from you. We have 
 communicated the interesting fact to each other fifty times at 
 least, even within the last few minutes. Our hearts have done 
 the business our hearts which have become dear friends 
 confiding, sympathetic friends : separate them ten thousand 
 miles, and they'll communicate fondly with each other still. JSTor 
 is it through the eyes alone that this mysterious communication 
 is kept up. Every touch produces an electric thrill. That 
 kiss which I stole last evening, it was but a kiss, and yet what 
 a marvellous sensation it created. Now all this is very 
 mysterious, Pidele. But our hearts, my love, are the engineers. 
 They manage it : they understand each other well, and as they 
 perceive no 'just cause or impediment' why they should not 
 be for ever united, they glory in keeping up the mystic corre- 
 spondence. Independently of which, Fidele, mine will prompt 
 me now to write to you every evening, and yours will prompt 
 you, to write every evening to me. I shall, moreover, every 
 evening, precisely at eleven, be induced Fidele to kiss your 
 signature, and you will find yourself induced at the same time 
 exactly to kiss mine. I shall come down as often as I can .to 
 kiss you. And as soon as I am able to leave the house in which 
 
250 LADT FELICIA. 
 
 I am engaged, without behaving unhandsomely, we'll commence, 
 my love, that career of happiness of which we have the fore- 
 taste now. Fidele," he added, " you are indeed very dear to 
 me. And now, as I have nothing more at present to say, as I 
 don't expect you to say anything, and as Alfred and Lady 
 Felicia are far in advance of us, I think that we may as well 
 walk a little faster/' 
 
 Well, certainly Fidele thought this a strange address. The 
 style was not in itself displeasing, but it was in her view so 
 extraordinary ! He had assumed that she loved him ; he had 
 assumed that she would marry him ; he had, in short, assumed 
 all he could assume. But then, was not all that he had assumed 
 true ? She knew that it was quite true : and knowing this, 
 she felt happy. Why, he had simplified the whole matter ! 
 He had not only thus declared himself; he had decided 
 upon the whole course of wooing at once ! But could this be 
 called wooing ? There had been no entreaty no solicitation 
 everything had been taken for granted. Could that be 
 called wooing ? She did think that there might have been a 
 little importunity ! And yet, -to what would it have amounted ? 
 But then, might he not imagine that she had been much too 
 easily won ? But in what had she acquiesced ? She had said 
 nothing to it ! she had not been won yet ! The letters which 
 were to pass between them would afford her ample oppor- 
 tunities of showing that she expected to be wooed a little. 
 Why, of course they would ! and doubtless it was with this 
 view that that course of correspondence had been proposed. 
 Besides, what was the substance of all that he had done ? He 
 had embraced the very earliest opportunity of declaring that 
 she was indeed dear to him, and, without expecting any reply, 
 had left her to think the matter over. Why that was precisely 
 what she had wished him to do : and although the style in 
 which it was done still struck her as being extraordinary, she felt 
 
LADY FELICIA. 251 
 
 it she could not but feel it to be at the same time peculiarly 
 pleasing. 
 
 Having rejoined Alfred and Felicia, Mr. Wilkins re-assumed 
 an air of gaiety, and fondly urged Fidele, who was still 
 thoughtful, to throw off all restraint ; and when they had 
 had a delightful round, they returned to the hotel to dine. 
 
 The dinner was delicious ; and when it had been by all 
 highly enjoyed, Mr. Wilkins came out with a long string of 
 anecdotes having reference to another relation of his an 
 interesting hypochondriacal individual, who had been in the 
 habit of fancying himself transformed into all sorts of animals, 
 from the lion to the lamb ; and as he gave imitations of each 
 animal as he proceeded, the effect was particularly comic. 
 
 Having thus been kept in a state of merriment until the 
 evening, the party gaily returned to Brighton ; and although 
 Mr. Wilkins bade them all adieu that night having to start 
 by the coach at six o'clock the next morning he was quite 
 unexpectedly summoned at five to have breakfast alone with 
 Fidele. 
 
252 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 \ 
 
 THE SECEET. 
 
 IN the course of the ensuing week, Sudbury was visited 
 again by the Marquis. He came down as before, post-haste, 
 and his arrival was announced, as before, to Murray, before 
 whose imagination fresh handbills flitted, and who felt, in 
 consequence, dreadfully alarmed. But the object of the 
 Marquis was business this time, and business, too, "of some 
 importance." He had business with his agent, business with 
 his steward, and business with his attorney ; but his principal 
 business was with Mr. Chubb. 
 
 All this business, however, was conducted in a most 
 mysterious manner. None but the parties immediately con- 
 cerned knew anything of its nature a fact which teemed 
 with a thousand conjectures, based upon "the best authority." 
 All that was really known of this business was gathered from 
 one of the waiters, who heard Mr. Chubb mysteriously say, 
 " My lord, what I have done I mean to stick to ;" and when 
 the Marquis asked, " Why ?" he replied, " That, my lord, is 
 my business." 
 
 This was, of course, something to build upon : but what had 
 Mr. Chubb really done ? They didn't blame him for sticking 
 to it ! No ; they by no means blamed him for sticking to it ; 
 but what, in reality, was it ? Their utter inability to ascertain 
 that was felt by the community at large to be galling. 
 
 During the progress of this business, Cyrus who knew all 
 about it, he being one of the "parties immediately concerned," 
 although he studiously kept aloof was visited by Murray, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 253 
 
 whose object was to suggest to him the propriety of his seeing 
 the Marquis, in order to expostulate with him, and to show 
 that, having committed an act of injustice, it was his duty 
 to make all the reparation in his power ; but Cyrus, who knew 
 that such an appeal to the feelings of the Marquis would be 
 useless, if not worse than useless, of course refused to adopt 
 the suggestion. 
 
 " "What," said he, " do such men care about justice ? Might 
 is right, with them, and justice a scarecrow. Had he been 
 acting under any erroneous impression had he been on any 
 point misinformed I would go to him without the slightest 
 hesitation ; but as he knew at the time that he was acting 
 unjustly, an interview would only add fuel to the fire." 
 
 " My impression, was," urged Murray, " that if it were 
 calmly explained to him, that I really had no knowledge of 
 Alfred's intention, and that all which relates to Mrs. Murray 
 has no foundation whatever, he might be induced, as a matter 
 of justice, to retract those portions at least." 
 
 " Eetract ! "Would he admit his connection with any part 
 of it ? No : he would at once deny all participation in the 
 matter. Suppose I were to go to him it is questionable 
 whether he would allow me to be admitted but suppose that 
 he did, and I were to point out to him what a cowardly 
 scoundrel he was, to assail an innocent woman, what would be 
 the effect ? In the first place, he'd say that he had nothing to 
 do with it ; and in the next, he'd want to know how I dared to 
 assume that it was done through his instrumentality." 
 
 " Nay, but you might go more calmly to work." 
 
 " Calmly ! Grods in heaven ! "Who could speak of such a 
 libel to its cowardly author, calmly ? No : we had better not 
 go near him : we had better leave the matter as it is. An 
 interview could have no good effect ; but it might have a bad 
 one : it might incense him still more ; not that / either care 
 about his rage, or expect that he will ever do anything for 
 
254 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Alfred : but it might induce the coward to inflict an additional 
 wound upon the feelings of Lady Felicia. No : let it rest as 
 it is." 
 
 " Cyrus," said Murray, with a mournful expression, "something 
 must be done. If things go on much longer so, I shall be a 
 ruined man. Having lost all my trade, what am I to do ?" 
 
 " Have patience," said Cyrus. " It will not be always thus. 
 How much more would you have taken if this had not occurred ? 
 Thirty or forty pounds, perhaps." 
 
 "Aye, sixty." 
 
 " Say sixty ; and say the profit would have been five and 
 twenty per cent. ; that's fifteen : an awful loss, certainly, to 
 conjure up ruin ! You have proved to me that you're in a 
 fair position ! You have nothing immediately pressing upon 
 you ! Have patience. Things will come round again by and 
 by ! I see nothing desperate yet : when I do, I'll recommend 
 you to give up business entirely." 
 
 " "Well, but what am I to do in that case ? How am I to 
 support my family, then ?" 
 
 "Oh, you'll not be lost. We'll find something for you to 
 do." 
 
 "Cyrus," said Murray, "this mysterious 'we' puzzles me 
 more than any thing else. You say well do so and so : we'll 
 see about it. "What is it you mean by we ? " 
 
 " Ah," replied Cyrus, with a smile, " you'll know more by 
 and by. We have not been doing nothing for the last twenty 
 years." 
 
 " But what have yqu been doing ? I have no knowledge' of 
 your having done anything !" 
 
 " Very few have, my boy ; very few have ! They who do the 
 most business don't make the [most noise ! Business is to be 
 done very quietly sometimes !" 
 
 " Certainly, business is to be done quietly ; but yours must 
 be a quiet business indeed." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 255 
 
 " You'll know all about it, my boy, by and by. In the 
 meantime have patience, and don't be alarmed/' 
 
 Mr. Chubb was now announced, and as he entered the room, 
 Cyrus inquired if the Marquis had left. 
 
 " No" replied Mr. Chubb, " he's there still." 
 
 " All right ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes. He did'nt like it much though," 
 
 " I suppose not. Slane there ?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 This was, of course, unintelligible to Murray, and as he really 
 had a wish then to bring Chubb out, he ventured to inquire if 
 he had seen the Marquis. 
 
 " Yes," replied Chubb. " Oh, how is Mrs. Murray ?" 
 
 " Thank you," said Murray. " Pretty well in health, but 
 her spirits are of course still very much depressed." 
 
 " Why, of course ? Pooh ! nonsense : why, of course ? She 
 ought to have got over that by this time." 
 
 " Is the Marquis still angry ?" 
 
 " I don't know what he may be in his heart ! There may be 
 a storm there ; but he's quite calm outside." 
 
 " He didn't say anything about me, did he ?" 
 
 " Not a word." 
 
 " Then I hope there'U be no more handbills?" 
 
 " He has something else to think about now." 
 
 " I heard that he had come down on business. Is it any- 
 thing very important ? 
 
 " It isn't settled yet." 
 
 Well, as his friend Chubb would not be " drawn out," and 
 as he felt that his absence would not be disagreeable, Murray 
 rose, and, with a look which seemed to intimate that he 
 hoped to know a little more about it by and by, left the close 
 ones together. 
 
 " I feel more satisfied than ever," said Cyrus, that we have 
 pursued the right course. As a mere speculation it will be a 
 
256 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 good one. The thing will pay ; it will build him up, and create 
 no little sensation." 
 
 " It'll stun a few of 'em, it strikes me," said Chubb. " But 
 the thing must be kept, you know, dark as night. If he has 
 the slightest notion that we want it, he'll make any sacrifice 
 rather than let us have it." 
 
 " Quite right," returned Cyrus. " "We have only to keep 
 quiet. "We shall get it ; I feel quite sure that we shall get it. 
 The thing can't pay as they manage it now. We have but to 
 keep it to ourselves. We'll not even give the boy the slightest 
 notion of it. I want to see what he'll do. He'll do something ; 
 but I want to know what. He has six months before him ; and in 
 that time, unless I am greatly mistaken, he'll make a spring of 
 some sort. Does the Marquis seem to care much about it ?" 
 
 " Well, he does'nt seem to care a great deal about it. But 
 then who can tell what he means ? He cares more than he 
 seems to care ; if he did'nt, he would'nt have come down. But 
 that may wear oif. When he comes to look into the manage- 
 ment of it, and finds that it is'nt worth his while to make any 
 sacrifice in order to keep it, the loss of it will not annoy him 
 much until he ascertains what we mean." 
 
 They then went into a variety of calculations, the whole of 
 which tended to prove that they were right ; and having arrived 
 at this highly satisfactory conclusion, they went to have a pint 
 of wine together at the Crown. 
 
 As they passed through the gateway of the hotel, they saw 
 James standing stiffly with folded arms, and looking charac- 
 teristically majestic. They had no personal knowledge of 
 James not the slightest ; but as his gorgeous livery 
 proclaimed that he was one of the servants of the Marquis, 
 they felt more deeply interested in his appearance than if he 
 had been one of the private servants of the King. 
 
 "I'd give a five pound note," said Cyrus, "to have five 
 minutes' private conversation with that fellow." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 257 
 
 "You can have it cheaper than that/' returned Chubb. 
 " But it won't do for me to be seen with him/' 
 
 " Of course not ; nor will it do for me to be seen with him 
 publicly. You go into the bar, I'll see if I can manage it." 
 
 Having ascertained where the landlord was, Cyrus went to 
 him, and said, " Greene, do me a favour. There's one of the 
 servants of the Marquis outside ; now I'm anxious, of course, 
 to learn a little, and with that view I should like to have some 
 talk with him about Alfred you understand? Can't you 
 manage to get him into some private room with me ?" 
 
 "Oh! yes," replied Greene, "I'll soon manage that. Step 
 in here ; I'll bring him." 
 
 " Send a bottle of wine in first, and then you can ask him to 
 have a glass with you." 
 
 " All right," said Greene, who sent in the wine and imme- 
 diately afterwards re-appeared with James. 
 
 As he entered the room James bowed to Cyrus, and Cyrus 
 said, " How are you, sir ?" and when James had taken his seat 
 at the table, Cyrus passed the wine. 
 
 " I should like to be just your size, sir," said Cyrus. 
 " I should just like, sir, to be yours" said James. 
 " Ah," returned Cyrus, " Thus it is ; we are never content to 
 be what we are." 
 
 " Never content," sir ! Why you look the very picture of 
 content ! A man of your size, sir, always looks jolly ! I like 
 the size, sir ! It looks so Shakesperian ! " 
 " "Was Shakespeare stout, sir ?" 
 
 " Falstaff was, sir ; and he's a Shakesperian character. I 
 always think that a man of your capacity and bodily dimen- 
 sions, sir, looks so aldermanic, the model of justice, with 
 nothing to do but to eat, drink, laugh, and be jovial. He is 
 also the model of substantial respectability Inone of the sort 
 ever come to the workhouse." 
 
 k 
 
258 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Grood health to you, sir ! You're a very pleasant fellow. 
 You must have seen a great deal of life !" 
 
 " Life, sir ! I've lived all my life in life !" 
 
 "Have you been with the Marquis long?" inquired Cyrus, 
 as the landlord rose to leave the room. 
 
 " Well," replied James, " a few years." 
 
 " You have lately had a marriage in the family P" 
 
 " Well, we've had a marriage in the family, but not, you 
 know, what I call a family marriage." 
 
 " A run-away match, I understand ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " What sort of person is this Lady Felicia ?" 
 
 " A regular angel, and no mistake ! a regular angel, sir ! 
 Her sisters belong to another parish." 
 
 " Is she very amiable ?" 
 
 " I believe you ! I don't think there's another in life like 
 her ! I only wish her husband was a little more nobby ; but 
 he only wants a lift to be as big as the best of 'em !" 
 
 " You know him, then ? " 
 
 " Know him ! What Murray ! I know him well ! And, 
 between you and me, I don't care a button about what they 
 say; they may call him what they like ; he's a fine, high-spirited, 
 gentlemanly fellow! But this is, of course, between us!" 
 
 " Whatever you say to me," observed Cyrus, " I shall regard 
 as being strictly confidential ; and I may as well tell you at 
 once that I am the uncle of Alfred Murray." 
 
 " You are ! " exclaimed James, with an expression of amaze- 
 ment, I'm proud to know you ; and I'll say again though you 
 are his uncle, and perhaps may not exactly approve of 
 what he's done, that a better-hearted fellow than Mr. Murray 
 doesn't breathe !" 
 
 " I believe it," said Cyrus, " I firmly believe it. But in what 
 manner was the thing managed ?' ' 
 
 " I'll tell you. He came with some silks, and she fell in 
 
LADY FELICIA. 259 
 
 love with him ; he came again, and he fell in love with her : 
 and I don't mind telling you, because, of course, it'll go 
 no further that through me they were speedily married. Had 
 it not been for me, and my what I may call vigilance, they 
 wouldn't have been married so soon, if at all : I was, sir, in 
 fact, what another Shaksperian character calls the instrument 
 of their pleasures !" 
 
 " There was no under-hand work, I hope ?" said Cyrus. 
 
 " Under-hand work ! The Marquis was kept in the dark, of 
 course !" 
 
 " But the lady was not tempted to leave her home by any 
 unfair means ?" 
 
 " Certainly not ! She went off in the cool of the morning, 
 like a lamb with all her intellects about her." 
 
 " Alone r 
 
 " No, her maid was with her the lady's maid." 
 
 " A French woman ?" 
 
 " Yes : a Miss Legrange." 
 
 " What sort of a person is she ?" 
 
 " A capital sort : speaks forty or fifty languages ; crammed 
 with accomplishments : got 'em wholesale, sir ; and, as she 
 retails 'em, increases the stock : an out-and-out sort : good 
 and amiable : something like Lady Felicia, and just about as 
 much of a maid to Lady Felicia, as a maid of honour is to a 
 Queen." 
 
 " Is she with Lady Felicia now ?" 
 
 " Safe ! They're like sisters. I'll warrant they're together. 
 Her boxes went away only yesterday. They wanted to detain 
 'em : they wouldn't give 'em up : not a bit of it ! But the 
 gentleman who called a Mr. "Wilkins soon let 'em know the 
 difference : he went before a magistrate, and soon settled that !" 
 
 " Does the Marquis say much about the marriage at home ?" 
 
 " Well, he doesn't say much before us, of course ; but he's, 
 been in a rage ever since !" 
 
 s 2 
 
260 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Is he, then, a very passionate man ?" 
 
 " Don't mention it ! Isn't he ? Can't he go in ? See him 
 out, and see him at home, and you'd hardly know him to he 
 the same individual. People often say to me, what a very 
 nice man the Marquis is ! so quiet, so mild, so remarkable 
 pleasant !' They praise him clean up . to the skies ! But, as . 
 Shakespeare says, ' All the world's a stage,' and the best actors 
 get the most applause. He's now in a rage an awful rage 
 about something. He and his steward can't hit it at all. He 
 will have this account, and will have the other. I wouldn't be 
 his steward for a trifle. But, about this affair, our ladies are 
 the worst : they say most about it : they're always at it, they 
 are. They'd skin poor Lady Felicia if they could, and excru- 
 ciate her afterwards, they would. According to them, she's to 
 beg from door to door in about a fortnight, and I'll warrant 
 they'd like to see her do it." 
 
 " But they won't !" said Cyrus. "They won't !" 
 
 " I hope not." 
 
 " If they see her at all, they'll see her happy !" 
 
 " That'll gall 'em !" 
 
 " Then, they shall be galled." 
 
 " As for that Lady Florence do you know Lady Florence ?" 
 
 " I may have seen her." 
 
 "You can't have seen her at all, if you don't know her. 
 You've only got to see her once : you'll know her for ever 
 after that. She's a tigress. You've only got to look at her 
 eyes ; they'll tell you what she is they're as big as coat 
 buttons and such awful blazers they come down upon you 
 like a flash of forked lightning. She's the worst she's ten 
 to one worse than Lady Augusta. She'd have Lady Felicia 
 burnt alive. I do believe that if she were to see her she'd 
 pretty well tear her eyes out." 
 
 " Let her touch her, if she dare" cried Cyrus indignantly. 
 " Let her lay & finger upon her, if she dare." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 261 
 
 " I am glad to hear you say that/' said James. " It proves 
 you haven't taken a dislike to her, although she has married in 
 this way. But who that has a heart can take a dislike to her ? 
 Such a man as you can't dislike her. She'll make you like her. 
 The first time you see her you'll love her, and when you come 
 to know what she really is how amiable, affectionate, and 
 good, she'll be just as much to you as if she were your own 
 child." 
 
 " I feel that I love her already," said Cyrus. " I feel that I 
 love her already, and if" 
 
 At this moment Greene entered the room, and announced 
 that the Marquis was just about to leave, when James started 
 up on the instant, and said, " Nothing could have given me 
 greater pleasure than the privilege of spending the evening 
 with you, but I must go." 
 
 " Stop," said Cyrus, as he drew a five-pound note from his 
 pocket-book. " Take this ; buy a ring or something when you 
 get to town. G-ood bye success to you good bye but not 
 a word about your having seen me to a soul." 
 
 James, who felt this last proof of affection deeply, gave the 
 necessary promise, and took his leave, when the kind-hearted 
 Cyrus, delighted with the information he had obtained, gaily 
 rejoined his friend Chubb in the bar. 
 
262 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AEISTOCEATIC PATEONAGE. 
 
 HATING prepared themselves for the performance of those 
 duties, which true love converts into pleasures, by intertwining 
 their affections, studying each other's characteristics, and 
 testing the sources of mutual delight, with the view of 
 rendering the sweetness of the honey-moon permament, Alfred 
 and Felicia returned to town. 
 
 Fidele accompanied them of course, and Mr. "Wilkins 
 engaged furnished apartments for them; Felicia having 
 stipulated for only one week, to enable her to procure an 
 appointment for Alfred, before they went to visit his friends. 
 
 Her first task, however, was to write to her aunt, for whom 
 she had ever cherished a warm affection, and this task she 
 performed in a style, which she imagined well calculated to 
 remove any unfavourable impression rumour might have 
 created. She therefore sent the letter off at once, and directed 
 the messenger to wait at Richmond for an answer, and being 
 pleased with the manner in which she had succeeded in 
 portraying the happiness of which her marriage had been* the 
 germ, she was not only sanguine of success, in so far as a 
 reconciliation was concerned, but felt sure that her dear aunt 
 would send for her and Alfred without delay, in order to 
 promote, by her advice and assistance, the object they had 
 immediately in view. 
 
 Anxiously, but without apprehension she was too full of 
 hope to be apprehensive then Felicia awaited the messenger's 
 
LADY FELICIA. 263 
 
 return, and when he did return, and that too with an answer, 
 she joyously opened the note, which ran thus : 
 
 "Lady Loftus sends her love to Lady Felicia. She sends 
 her love, but begs to state that, as the accounts she has 
 received are of a character so afflicting, she is not yet prepared 
 to receive her. 
 
 " Lady Loftus is not indisposed to pity Lady Felicia : she is 
 not indisposed to make every allowance for her youth and 
 inexperience ; nor is she indisposed to believe, that when Lady 
 Felicia degraded herself and disgraced her family, she was 
 labouring under an aberration of intellect seeing that to 
 nothing but a species of insanity can such a monstrous pro- 
 ceeding, in her judgment, be ascribed; but although Lady 
 Loftus feels disposed to view the lamentable affair in this 
 charitable light, she cannot consent to receive Lady Felicia, 
 until she has repudiated utterly the despicable set with whom 
 she is now unhappily associated. 
 
 " Lady Loftus notwithstanding Lady Felicia is cast off by 
 all whom she ought to have held dear notwithstanding she is, 
 in the view of the world, lost and degraded will, in that case, 
 afford her an asylum ; but she values her own reputation too 
 highly, to venture to do even this, until Lady Felicia's 
 connection with her present low associates shall have ceased. 
 
 "Lady Felicia may yet be restored to society, and Lady 
 Loftus is willing to assist in restoring her notwithstanding 
 the expense of a divorce is great ! but she cannot consent to 
 render her the slightest assistance, until she has washed her 
 hands for ever of the vulgar set with whom she is now unhap- 
 pily connected. 
 
 " "When this has been done, the fact may be communicated 
 to Lady Loftus ; but unless it be expressly to announce that 
 fact, any farther communication from Lady Felicia must be 
 deemed by Lady Loftus obtrusive." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Felicia," said Alfred, who had watched her while she read 
 this malicious epistle, and who perceived by the convulsive 
 curling of her lip, which expressed the most intense indignation, 
 that it was galling " Felicia ! If you have been unsuccessful, 
 let it not distress you ! Tour aunt, I presume, is not willing 
 to receive you!" 
 
 " Not yet," replied Felicia, with an effort to conceal her 
 feelings, "not yet. She sends her love; but she is not yet 
 prepared to receive me." 
 
 " Well, my dear ! thus let it rest for a time. She writes 
 then in an affectionate strain ?" 
 
 " She sends her love ! The very first sentence is, ' Lady 
 Loftus sends her love to Lady Felicia. !" 
 " To lady Felicia ! So distant !" 
 Felicia wept. 
 
 " My sweet girl I" he added, " Be firm, my love ! Come, 
 come, be firm !" 
 
 " It is so cruel," said Felicia. " I cannot but feel it." 
 " If it be cruel, despise it, as cruelty in every shape ought to 
 be despised. Among men, none but cowards are cruel : among 
 women, none but the vile. Cruelty is accursed by God and 
 man! it demands scorn, not tears. But come," he added, 
 tenderly, " this will never do. What ! Are you my own 
 Felicia, and weep because an aunt, either actuated by malice, 
 or prompted by calumny, refuses to receive you ! Is it the 
 mere fact of her having refused, that you consider so cruel ?" 
 
 "No, dear: not the fact alone ; but the bitter terms in which 
 that refusal has been conveyed." 
 " Well, but what does she say ?" 
 " Tou had better not know, my love." 
 "Why not?" 
 " It will but annoy you." 
 
 " It will annoy me much more, my sweet girl, to see you 
 annoyed, while I have no knowledge of the cause ! Besides ! 
 
LADY EELICIA. 265 
 
 unless I know how she attempts to justify her refusal, I may 
 judge her motives too severely ! Let me see the style in which 
 she writes : I like to see different styles !" 
 
 " I am really ashamed to let you see it : it is so gross." 
 
 " Gross ! Oh ! if it be gross, its effect will be but slight ! 
 nay, in that case, it will not annoy me at all ! Now, if you do 
 not allow me to see it, I shall really begin to think that your 
 amiable aunt is a somewhat indelicate person ! Are you afraid 
 that the style will corrupt me ?" 
 
 Felicia tremulously gave him the note which he read, while 
 she anxiously watched its effect ; but the only effect developed 
 by him was a smile. 
 
 " Well," said he, having read it attentively, " all this is very 
 amusing ! It would not have been nearly so amusing had it 
 contained any particle of truth! ' The accounts she has received 
 are of a character so afflicting/ Well, they must have been 
 afflicting, if true ! It strikes me that, if she knew the truth, 
 nothing would afflict her more ! Still, she is not indisposed to 
 pity. Oh! no. Pity, however, is a sentiment she does'nt 
 understand. But that appalling ( aberration of intellect,' 
 Eelicia ! That is, indeed, dreadful ! And what an exceedingly 
 charitable view to take of such an awful state of things ! The 
 ' despicable set' has one merit at least ! if despicable, it is 
 very select. But the 'asylum!' Think of that, my love ! If 
 even the worst should come to the worst, she will afford you 
 an ' asylum,' and an asylum is a perfectly proper place for the 
 insane ! But the way in which you are to be restored to society 
 is the richest and most amusing feature of all, seeing that your 
 restoration to 'society' is to be effected by a divorce! The 
 expense of a divorce would be great, she says. It would be, 
 in this case, great indeed! We cannot be divorced without 
 grounds, my sweet one, and therefore these grounds, this pure 
 and amiable creature she must be pure as well as amiable 
 would have which not only proves her affectionate solicitude, 
 
266 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 but proclaims the extreme delicacy of her feelings ! It has 
 been said that, * to the pure all things are pure.' This is your 
 aunt's illustration of its truth. Beally, my love, we ought to 
 feel exceedingly obliged to her ! I do ! This has had the effect 
 of making me feel thankful that she cannot consent to receive 
 you ; for with such gross ideas, such low and corrupt senti- 
 ments, such despicable feelings and impure thoughts, she is not 
 a fit associate for you. The fact of your being shut out from 
 such pure society, may well induce tears !" 
 
 " Alfred," exclaimed Felicia, with thrilling intensity, " it is 
 not believe me it is not that !" 
 
 " I know it, my love ; I was speaking ironically. I was 
 merely endeavouring to prove to you, Felicia, how little, in 
 reality, you have to regret the loss of such impure society. As 
 for the grossness contained in this note, smile at it, my love, 
 as I do, with contempt ; and as it will be deemed ' obtrusive ' 
 to write to her again, until I shall have become the heartless 
 villain she contemplates, you must wait for that interesting 
 event with becoming patience ! It is certainly fortunate," he 
 added, with a smile, " that you have friends willing to assist 
 you in obtaining a divorce ! " 
 
 " Heaven forbid that such assistance should ever be re- 
 quired!" 
 
 " Then would you not be divorced ?" 
 
 " Not for worlds," she exclaimed, clinging fondly to him, 
 with an expression of the most unbounded confidence and 
 love : " Not for worlds ! " 
 
 Alfred tenderly embraced her, and a compact was sealed, 
 that not another word should be said on the subject. 
 
 "Well! the " advice and assistance" of Lady Loffcus being 
 now, of course, entirely out of the question, Felicia who had 
 a list of highly influential persons, the whole of whom, she felt 
 sure, would do all in their power to promote the object she 
 had in view set to work to prepare her applications. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 267 
 
 In the sphere to which she had been accustomed, she had 
 heard appointments spoken of as matters of course : they had, 
 indeed, in her presence been claimed as a right, while anything 
 in the shape of a refusal had been considered a species of 
 personal insult. She had, therefore, no conception of there 
 being the slightest difficulty about the matter; she, on the 
 contrary, felt, that mere courtesy would prompt them to send 
 an appointment at once, and, accordingly, wrote with the 
 utmost confidence. 
 
 The first person to whom she applied was Lord Lough. 
 She selected him, not because he stood the highest on her 
 list in official importance, but because, having always been 
 extremely attentive to her, he might, she imagined, feel some- 
 what annoyed if she omitted to apply to him first ; and she 
 was, of course, very unwilling to show him the slightest 
 disrespect. 
 
 In her letter she was eloquent in Alfred's praise. She 
 knew not what appointment to ask for: that she would 
 leave to his lordship, of course : she only knew that Alfred 
 was highly intelligent, and would distinguish himself in 
 any position to which he might have the honour to be 
 appointed. 
 
 His lordship was evidently pleased with this letter, and in 
 order to show how highly he appreciated the courtesy which 
 had prompted her to apply to him first, he sent the following 
 answer by one of his private servants : 
 
 " Lord Lough presents his compliments to Lady Felicia 
 Murray. 
 
 " Had Lady Felicia's application been made a few days 
 earlier, Lord Lough might have been of some service to Mr. 
 Murray ; but he exceedingly regrets that there is, at present, 
 no vacancy either in his immediate department, or in any 
 department over which he has the slightest control." 
 
268 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 "Dear me!" exclaimed Eelicia, having read this note. 
 { " How very unfortunate ! Only a few days earlier : what a 
 pity: is it not?" 
 
 " If true," replied Alfred. 
 
 " True, my love : oh ! it is perfectly true ! He would, I 
 know, have been delighted to oblige us. However, I'll write 
 now to Lord Delolme. He knows me well, and is, moreover, 
 one of the most influential men in the cabinet." 
 
 She accordingly wrote to Lord Delolme, and by post next 
 day received the following reply : 
 
 " Downing Street. 
 
 " MADAM, 
 
 " I am directed by Lord Delolme to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your letter of the 4th instant, and to state that, in conse- 
 quence of the numerous claims on the patronage at his 
 lordship's disposal, and the reductions in progress in the 
 public departments, his lordship can hold out no hope what- 
 ever of an appointment. 
 
 " I am, Madam, 
 
 " Tour obedient servant, 
 " Q. P. C. W. E. FOXE." 
 
 This was somewhat disheartening, certainly ; and more 
 especially coming, as it did, from so important a person as 
 Lord Delolme ! "What could be the meaning of it ? He had 
 spoken, through his secretary, of the public departments in the 
 aggregate, and could " hold out no hope." The " reductions 
 in progress" she ascribed to the "Whigs, and she had a vague 
 notion that the Whigs were the enemies of the country, 
 because she had often heard the friends of the Marquis thus 
 denounce them ; but how it was that appointments, which had 
 been just before so plentiful, should become all at once so 
 remarkably scarce, she was utterly unable to conceive. 
 
 But although in some slight degree discouraged, she was 
 
LADY FELICIA. 269 
 
 not by any means dismayed. The next on her list was Sir 
 Nicholas Byrne, and conceiving that a personal interview 
 would have more effect than a letter, she called upon Sir 
 Nicholas, who received her with due courtesy, and listened 
 to her warm introduction of Alfred with the most polite 
 attention. 
 
 " But," said he, " you forget that our party is not in power!" 
 " Upon my word," said Felicia, " I knew not to which party 
 you belonged!" 
 
 " Oh ! we are in opposition, and consequently have no 
 patronage! You should apply to some one connected with 
 the government!" 
 
 " To whom would you advise me to apply ?" 
 " Well, let me see. You know Sir James Joliffe ?*' 
 " Perfectly well." 
 
 " Apply to him, He'll do something for you. He has the 
 power : I have not. I should feel great pleasure in promoting 
 your views ; but, as I have explained to you, being in 
 opposition, it is perfectly impossible for me to do so." 
 
 Having expressed her sense of the politeness with w r hich 
 Sir Nicholas had received her, Felicia took her leave, and the 
 next morning called upon Sir James, whose manners were 
 equally courteous. 
 
 " Well," said he, when the object of her visit had been 
 explained. " I hope that Mr. Murray will be successful, and 
 I regret that it is not in my power to promote his success ; I 
 should be, of course, delighted with the opportunity of doing 
 so, if it were practicable ; but, at present, it really is not. I, 
 at all events, have not the power to procure him an appoint- 
 ment : nor do I think that my colleagues have an appointment 
 to spare ; for the fact is, the present state of parties is so 
 precarious, that every vote is an object. Let me not, however, 
 dishearten you. Why not apply to Lord Delolme?" 
 f "I have done so," replied Felicia. 
 
270 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Well, and what did he say ?" 
 
 " He said that the claims on his patronage were so numerous 
 that he could hold out no hope." 
 
 " Exactly : I, therefore, see no chance for Mr. Murray, 
 unless, indeed, an application were made through the Marquis. 
 he might manage it but that, I presume, you wish to avoid. 
 What has Mr. Murray been accustomed to ?" 
 
 " Mercantile affairs," replied Felicia. 
 
 " Ah : why doesn't he go to America ? There's plenty of 
 room there for young men of activity and enterprise. He's 
 sure to get on there : here there's no chance for him, unless he 
 can secure the most powerful interest. I am sorry," he added, 
 as Felicia rose somewhat abruptly the idea of Alfred going 
 to America being distasteful " I am very sorry that it is not 
 at present in my power to do anything because, I should be, 
 indeed, delighted to oblige you still, if anything within the 
 sphere of my influence should occur if any office should 
 become vacant, to which I have the power to appoint him 
 you shall certainly hear from me." 
 
 Felicia bowed, and withdrew ; discouraged, of course ; but 
 she did not despair even then. There were other influential 
 men to whom she could apply, and among them was the Earl 
 of Elfin, whom she had frequently met, and of whom she had 
 for some time considered herself a favourite. 
 
 Finding, however, that her week was fast wearing away, she 
 wrote to several of these influential persons at once, and was 
 perfectly astonished when she found that all their answers 
 were unfavourable, save one ! She couldn't account for it at 
 all ! People whom she had heard speak of appointments, had 
 spoken of them as things for which they had but to ask, and 
 yet she had applied to more than a dozen persons the whole 
 of whom were highly influential and all their answers had 
 been unfavourable, save one ! "What the meaning of it could 
 be, she was unable to conjecture ! It appeared to be so 
 
LADY FELICIA. 271 
 
 extraordinary ! Still, this one might possibly make up for 
 all. 
 
 It was from Sir Percival Potts, who had stated that he 
 would see what could be done: that he would use all the 
 influence at his command, and that he had not the smallest 
 doubt of being able to do something: which was certainly 
 satisfactory as far as it went. 
 
 Two days elapsed, and Felicia's impatience began to resolve 
 itself into despair ; but on the third day she received a second 
 note from Sir Percival, which she opened with avidity, and read 
 as follows : 
 
 "Sir Percival Potts presents his compliments to Lady 
 Felicia Murray, and has the pleasure to announce that he has 
 succeeded in procuring through the postmaster-general, an 
 appointment for Mr. Murray, which he hopes Mr. Murray, by 
 strict attention to his duties, will be enabled to retain. 
 
 " Sir Percival has enclosed the necessary letter of introduc- 
 tion to the postmaster-general, which Mr. Murray will have 
 but to deliver in person, in order to be set on at once. 
 
 " The appointment is not very lucrative, although it is one 
 which hundreds are anxious to obtain. It is that of one of his 
 Majesty's postmen, and the salary is nominally a guinea per 
 week; but Sir Percival is informed that there are many 
 perquisites receivable principally at Christmas." 
 
 Having read this note, Felicia's bosom swelled with indigna- 
 tion ! This then was the result of all her exertions ! It 
 awakened a spirit which she could not control, and which 
 prompted her at once to write the following reply : 
 
 " Lady Felicia Murray, with feelings of scorn, acknowledges 
 the receipt of Sir Percival' s studied insult. 
 
 "Lady Felicia had imagined that Sir Percival was a gentleman; 
 she is sorry to find that he is not. She returns the' enclosed 
 letter, with all the contempt at her command, and recommends 
 
272 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Sir Percival to bestow his distinguished patronage upon one 
 who has the honour to wear his livery." 
 
 This note she immediately dispatched ; and expecting the 
 return of Alfred, who happened fortunately as she imagined 
 to be from home at the time, she endeavoured to recover that 
 tranquillity with which this "appointment" had so seriously 
 interfered. 
 
 She paced the room, and anxiously endeavoured to imagine 
 the cause of Sir Percival' s conduct. She was unconscious of 
 having in any way offended him. He had always been exceed- 
 ingly attentive and agreeable, while she had always appreciated 
 his politeness too highly to treat him with the slightest 
 disrespect. What then could have prompted him thus to 
 insult her ? "What could be his motive ? What could he 
 mean? 
 
 While she was endeavouring to answer these questions, and 
 before the return of Alfred, a carriage drew up, from which 
 Sir Percival alighted, apparently in a state of trepidation. 
 
 Felicia, who although pale, was firm, at once prepared to 
 receive him, and desired the servant who brought up his card 
 to admit him. 
 
 " My dear lady," said he, having entered the room, " there 
 must be some mistake ; I am quite at a loss I don't under- 
 stand your note to me at all." 
 
 " Why have you insulted me ?" demanded Felicia. " In 
 what way, Sir Percival, have I offended you?''' 
 
 " In no way. But how have I insulted you ? " 
 
 "Mr. Murray, Sir Percival, although not a man of high 
 birth, is in every true sense of the term a gentleman, and yet 
 you offer him an appointment like that. The insult is gross, 
 sir the animus brutal." 
 
 " My dear lady, my motives were pure. Is he not in a state 
 of destitution?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 273 
 
 " Do we look as if we were ?" 
 
 " No ; and that has amazed me since I have been here. I 
 expected to find you in miserable lodgings." 
 " By whom were you led to expect that ?" 
 " I'll explain. I have been the cat's paw in this business, I 
 find ; and therefore in order to justify myself, I'll explain that 
 which was to have been kept a secret. Now do me the favour 
 to listen one moment. Having received your first note I 
 called upon the Marquis, in order to ascertain what could be 
 done. I expressed my regret that I was not in a position to 
 do anything just then, and urged him to exercise Ms influence. 
 He replied that he would not directly do anything himself, but 
 suggested that if I would procure the appointment in question 
 I should be the means of saving you both from starvation. I 
 Mnted that such an appointment as that would not be likely to 
 suit Mr. Murray, but he replied, l you don't know him ; he'll 
 be glad of anything ; he is but a shopman out of place, and 
 bitter experience has taught him, that beggars must not be 
 choosers." 
 
 "Beggars!" exclaimed Felicia, contemptuously. "If it be 
 beggary to apply for an appointment, the whole of the 
 aristocracy are beggars-^-importunate, perpetual beggars ! 
 Through ignorance of the matter I have erred, I perceive. 
 But if I have been a beggar, Mr. Murray has not been one. 
 My applications were not made at Ms suggestion." 
 
 " The Marquis said that you had made several ; that all 
 whom you had written to had spoken to him, and that he had 
 been the cause of your being unsuccessful ; still, in order, as he 
 said, to save you from utter destitution, he urged me to pro- 
 cure this appointment, and so did your sister, Lady Florence ; 
 and being thus led to believe that the case was indeed despe- 
 rate, I applied to the Postmaster-general at once. This is 
 the only insult I have offered ; but I think that you will now 
 acquit me of the intention to insult you." 
 
 T 
 
274 3LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " I do," replied Felicia ; " and have to apologize to you for 
 the warmth I displayed." 
 
 " No apology is needed : I can well understand your feelings ; 
 and can no longer wonder at your being indignant. I shall 
 certainly tell both the Marquis and Lady Florence that when 
 next they want a tool, they had better not select me. And 
 now, as regards a suitable appointment for Mr. Murray, 
 ministers cannot act independently at present. It is a very 
 close run between them and the opposition. Every vote is 
 important, and if they offend a man like the Marquis, they 
 offend twenty others. Every trimmer and every waverer must 
 now be secured.; all the patronage at the disposal of the 
 Government is now claimed by such men ; for personal 
 interests have become the only spurs to public duty, Mr. 
 Murray must therefore wait. Let him wait until things are 
 a little more secure, and I pledge you my honour that some- 
 thing shall be done. Meanwhile, if you should require any 
 assistance, let your first application be to me." 
 
 Felicia was about to thank him, but Sir Percival checked 
 her; nor would he hear a word of an apology: he declared 
 that he felt disgusted with the conduct of the Marquis, and 
 having re-assured, her that something should be done, left her 
 comparatively tranquil. 
 
 She then perceived that she had done too much ; that she 
 had written to too many persons ; and that her very anxiety 
 had induced the belief that they were in reality destitute. She 
 felt sorry for this ; but then who had been the cause ? Why 
 the Marquis ! The Marquis, aided by her sister Florence, 
 how could she cherish feelings of affection for either? had 
 rendered so many applications necessary. It was cruel 
 unnatural ! still, knowing that their object was to humiliate 
 and annoy her, if not absolutely to break her heart, she felt it 
 incumbent upon her to be firm. 
 
 Soon after the departure of Sir Percival, Alfred returned, 
 
LADY FELICIA. 275 
 
 and perceiving at a glance that Felicia had been excited, he 
 inquired if anything had occurred. 
 
 " I have had a visitor/' replied Felicia, " who has explained 
 to me why I have not been successful. I thought it very 
 strange ; but he has accounted for all." 
 
 " By pointing to the adverse influence of the Marquis, I 
 presume." 
 
 "Exactly." , 
 
 " No matter, my love. "We shall be beyond the pale of his 
 influence soon. Tou have had your week, and now it is my 
 turn." 
 
 " But Sir Percival he it is whom I have had here has 
 pledged me his honour that something shall be done !" 
 
 " It will not do to wait for that something, my love. I have 
 no faith whatever in the promises of great men, unless, indeed, 
 they promise to annoy you. He said before that something 
 should be done ; that he had not the smallest doubt of being 
 able to do something ! ISTo matter. It is, perhaps, all for the 
 best ! " 
 
 He then proceeded to explain to her the purport of a letter 
 which he had had just received from his uncle Cyrus ; and 
 having shown her how anxiously they were expected, they 
 decided on leaving town on the foUowing Monday. 
 
276 LADY FELTCIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XYIL 
 
 THE MAEEIAGE OF ME. WILKIKS. 
 
 IF ever two persons could with truth be said to possess a 
 perfect knowledge of each other, those two persons were Fidele 
 and Mr. Wilkins. They absolutely knew each other's thoughts! 
 which was very remarkable. 
 
 Words with them were supererogatory. If Fidele wanted 
 anything, Mr. Wilkins by virtue of some extremely occult 
 species of necromancy knew what it was : if Mr. Wilkins 
 wanted anything, it was known to Fidele. This may to some 
 appear incredible! It is, notwithstanding, well worthy of 
 belief, as subsequent events will show. 
 
 Now, in the first place, it had been arranged that they were 
 to accompany Alfred and Felicia : it had also been arranged 
 that they were at the earliest convenient period to be married ; 
 and as the week for which Felicia had stipulated, and the 
 month prescribed by Mr. Wilkins for the election of a new 
 member of that establishment, of which he had been so 
 distinguished an ornament would both expire on the same 
 day, it occurred to Fidele that one of these arrangements would 
 not be satisfactorily carried into effect. This occurred to her. 
 She did not breathe a syllable on the subject to a soul! 
 How could she ? The point was delicate. It merely occurred 
 to her; and yet Mr. "Wilkins when he came that evening 
 and heard that Alfred and Felicia had decided on leaving town 
 on Monday looked at Fidele and read her thoughts ! 
 
 " Fidele," said he, "you are perfectly right." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 277 
 
 " In what, dear ?" inquired Fidele, who, by some means, had 
 taught herself thus to address him. 
 
 " I quite agree with you," replied Mr. Wilkins. " I think 
 as you think. It must be so. Do me the favour to lend me 
 that ring. Is it sufficiently tight for that finger ?" 
 . " This finger, dear ?" 
 
 Fidele knew which finger! Let it not be imagined for a 
 moment that she didn't ! But she, of course, very correctly 
 pointed to the wrong one. 
 
 Mr. Wilkins tried the ring on the right finger, and then 
 inquired if it were really a fit. 
 
 " Tes, dear ; but what do you mean ?" 
 
 Pidele made this inquiry obviously because she loved to 
 hear him give expression to his meaning. 
 
 "I mean," he replied, "that I have a little article to 
 purchase, and an interesting document to obtain, to-morrow, 
 without which our arrangements cannot be completed. You 
 have been thinking of this ; and, very fortunately, seeing that 
 you have just communicated that thought to me : you have 
 just caused a glowing idea to strike me, that if these things be 
 not procured to-morrow, we shall be for three weeks, in the 
 eye of the law, vagabonds upon the face of the earth. I shall 
 leave my present habitation to-morrow, and unless I get the 
 licence before I leave, we shall have to endure a species of 
 excommunication. I'll therefore give you fourteen hours to 
 decide." 
 
 " Upon what, dear ?" inquired Fidele. 
 
 ""Whether we are to be married on Monday morning, or 
 wait another month." 
 
 " My love, you know that I am in no haste !" 
 
 " Nor am I ! But I don't like the idea of being excom- 
 municated." 
 
 " But why on Monday morning ?" 
 
 " Because we start on Monday morning. "We can't be 
 
278 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 married at Sudbury ; nor can we be married here if I omit 
 to procure the licence to-morrow until we have ceased to be 
 in the eye of law vagabonds, having no recognized place of 
 abode. To-morrow, therefore, at eleven o'clock, I shall expect 
 your decision. And now about the bridesmaid. It is too late 
 now to send for one of my sisters : it is also too late to send 
 for one of Alfred Murray's : shall we have Lady Florence ?" 
 
 " Lady Florence !" exclaimed Fidele, whom the idea amused. 
 " I wonder what she would say, if she were to be asked p" 
 
 " Would she not regard it as a compliment ? I want to 
 know that gentle young lady : I should like to have the honour 
 of her company for a few agreeable days. Would you like to 
 call and ask her ?" 
 
 " Not at present," replied Fidele. " Nor is it necessary. 
 Lady Felicia will act." 
 
 " Oh ! then you have settled it between you ! Yery good : 
 and Alfred, of course, will give me away." 
 
 " Give you away ?" 
 
 "You, I mean: it's all the same. But Fidele," he added, 
 with a serious expression, " I need not, however, be at all 
 apprehensive; still, any one else hearing me talk thus of 
 marriage would imagine that I treated the subject with 
 levity; but you know me better. By the way, have you 
 preserved my letters ?" 
 
 " I have, dear, the whole of them." 
 
 "And I have preserved the whole of yours. Be there- 
 fore cross with me at any time, if you dare ! If you be, I'll on 
 the instant produce one of those letters, and convict you of 
 inconsistency ! I think of having them published." 
 
 "I hope not," said Fidele. 
 
 " They would make a very nice little volume, and I'm not 
 quite sure that it wouldn't become popular ! "What could we 
 call it ? ' The Loves of the Angels, ' l The Young Ladies' 
 Best Companion,' or ' The True Course of Courtship?' We 
 
LADY FELICIA. 279 
 
 couldn't call it ' The Course of True Love' because, according 
 to Shakespeare, that ' never did run smooth,' whereas ours has 
 been without a ripple I perhaps Letters of Lovers ' would be 
 the be&t title ? We'll speak to Lady Eelicia, and get her to 
 edit it; 'Edited by Lady Eelicia Murray,' would look well. 
 But, as I was saying, some people might imagine that I regard 
 the subject of marriage with levity, but I feel convinced that 
 those letters of mine have sufficiently proved that I really do 
 do not. We marry to be happy. Yery good. Stop ! Here's 
 a point for profound consideration. Look at Alfred, and look 
 at me. When Alfred is happy, he's perfectly calm : when I 
 am happy, I must be gay ! Now I wonder which enjoys the 
 state of happiness most. We cannot but be happy, it is true ; 
 but which is the happier man he who gives expression to all 
 his happiness, or he by whom it is quietly cherished ? Now 
 there's a job for a philosopher !" ' ^"' 
 
 " Could a philosopher decide the point ?" inquired Eidele. 
 
 " He might try," replied Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " Would he be the proper person to make the attempt ?" 
 
 " He would think so." 
 
 " Can philosophers understand gaiety ?" 
 
 " They who do not are no philosophers." 
 
 " But are philosophers ever gay ?" 
 
 " Graiety is part of their philosophy ! A recluse is not a 
 philosopher! Philosophy is not austere and ascetic. Philosophy 
 loves a glass of wine : philosophy loves to marry ! Philosophy 
 has its amenities as well as its severities ! But which do you 
 think is the happier man ?" 
 
 " I. feel scarcely competent to form a judgment," replied 
 Eidele; " but I should say that if they be equally happy, neither 
 is the happier man !" 
 
 " Very good," said Mr. Wilkins. " That isn't so much amiss. 
 But which enjoys happiness most ?" 
 
 " As far as the show of happiness is concerned, the difference, 
 
280 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 I apprehend, may be ascribed to temperament ! Certainly," 
 added Fidele, as Mr. Wilkins began to feel that he shouldn't 
 get over it; " Certainly, he who expresses all his happiness does 
 more to inspire those around him with gaiety, than he who 
 keeps it within his own breast ; but is he not more likely to 
 depress them, by giving full expression to his sorrow or his 
 anger ? Mr. Murray is happy ; and although he is calm, he 
 makes us all feel that he is happy. But can he who is 
 habitually calm, and he who is habitually gay endure troubles 
 with an equal amount of fortitude ?" 
 
 " There's something in that," replied Mr. "Wilkins, who felt 
 that it was all over with him on that point. " There certainly 
 is something in that : not that I can pretend to know anything 
 about it, because I never had any troubles." 
 
 " Heaven grant that you never may have !" exclaimed Fidele. 
 " I have known " 
 
 " That is to say," interrupted Mr. "Wilkins, perceiving that 
 her thoughts had reverted to the period of which Alfred had 
 spoken, and to which she had touchingly referred in one of her 
 letters. " That is to say, I never had but one, and that was 
 through a servile thief of a Scotchman." 
 
 He then proceeded rapidly to relate to her how this "vaga- 
 bond" had served him, and thus amused her until Alfred 
 and Felicia who had been to a concert returned, when 
 he playfully charged Alfred with a malicious intention to 
 put his marriage off for three weeks, and having spent, as 
 usual, a merry hour with them, he bade them adieu for the 
 night. 
 
 Fidele failed not, of course, to embrace the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of communicating to Felicia the grand point at issue. 
 This was done shortly after the departure of Mr. Wilkins. 
 The consultation was but short, and the result of it was that, 
 precisely at eleven o'clock the next morning., Felicia Fidele 
 could'nt do it herself informed Mr. Wilkins that, if he really 
 
LADY FELICIA. 281 
 
 were anxious for the marriage to take place on the Monday, 
 Eidele did'nt see how she could offer any objection. 
 
 The ring and the licence were therefore procured, and due 
 preparations were made for the event ; and on Monday morn- 
 ing, at half-past eight, Fidele became Mrs. Bartholomew 
 Wilkins ! 
 
 The whole of the arrangements for the day were left to 
 Alfred ; and as there was, of course, no necessity, as in his case, 
 for haste, they returned to his lodgings to breakfast. It is 
 however worthy of remark, that Mr. Wilkins was not so merry 
 that morning : nor did he eat as if he enjoyed his breakfast : 
 everything on the table was tempting, but his appetite was not 
 particularly keen. He looked at Fidele who, although calm, 
 was happy, and whom he had never so much admired before 
 as if he had'nt become exactly reconciled to the novelty of the 
 position in which he had been placed. He smiled, it is true, 
 but did'nt laugh: nor did he "come out" with any anecdotes 
 of a strictly comic character : he certainly said that he had not 
 the slightest doubt that the moon the honeymoon he meant 
 would be as bright at Sudbury as it had been at Brighton; but 
 beyond this he did'nt say much. 
 
 Alfred was, on the contrary, remarkably gay, and so indeed 
 was Pelicia. They enjoyed the novel position of Mr. Wilkins 
 highly, and didn't fail to rally both him and Pidele but to 
 very little purpose during the progress of breakfast. After 
 breakfast Mr. Wilkins felt a little more buoyant, and when 
 they had started he became lighter still, and continued 
 to improve upon it gradually, until they reached Chelms- 
 ford, when he threw off all restraint and was " himself 
 again !" 
 
 Here they had lunch, and Mr. "Wilkins both laughed and 
 ate heartily : he very soon made up for the loss of his break- 
 fast : nor did Fidele fail to enjoy herself here, although her 
 countenance still wore a certain thoughtful expression, which 
 
282 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 none but those who are conversant with these matters can 
 understand. 
 
 They had then twenty-five miles to go, and as Alfred was 
 anxious to arrive at Sudbury at the time appointed having 
 commissioned his uncle Cyrus to order dinner at the Crown 
 they almost immediately after lunch pursued their journey. 
 
 The time appointed for their arrival was four o'clock; but 
 Mrs. Murray became so exceedingly anxious, that she couldn't 
 wait till four! nor could Cyrus. They therefore ordered a 
 carriage at the Crown, and at two o'clock started to meet 
 "the boy!" 
 
 They reached the G-eorge, at Halstead, about three, and 
 shortly afterwards Alfred and his party approached ; and 
 having changed at the White Hart, at Braintree were about 
 to pass through, but, were stopped by one of the postboys, 
 who knew Alfred well, and who informed him that^ his mother 
 and his uncle were there to meet him. Alfred therefore in- 
 stantly alighted, and rushed into the room in which they were. 
 
 " My boy ! my boy !" exclaimed Mrs. Murray, in tones of 
 thrilling ecstacy, as she fell upon his neck, " Grod bless you ! 
 God bless you ! J> she added, and kissed him, with rapture, 
 again and again. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha, ha !" exclaimed Cyrus, as he grasped his hand, 
 convulsively, " Welcome, my dear boy ! Ha, ha, ha, ha !" 
 
 "Mother," said Alfred, with deep emotion, "Mother!"- 
 He could say no more. Still clinging fondly to him, and 
 looking at him, as a dear mother only can look, she unmanned 
 him. 
 
 Cyrus went to the window. There was something in his 
 throat: something which continued to swell! he couldn't 
 keep it down, and, therefore, drew forth his handkerchief 
 privately. 
 
 At length he made a desperate effort, and turned. " The 
 bride, my dear boy," said he ; "I want to see the bride. Come 
 
LADY FELICIA. 283 
 
 along. G-ods in heaven !" he added, as he felt the tears 
 rolling down his cheeks, " this'll never do : she'll think we're 
 not happy to see her. Louisa : come, come : now, compose 
 yourself. There ! I say, my boy, go and bring her in : I 
 want to fall in love ; bring them all in. Here, here, a glass of 
 wine, and then go and bring them in." 
 
 Alfred, having led his fond mother to the sofa, left the room, 
 and soon returned with Felicia, who no sooner saw Mrs. 
 Murray, than she flew to embrace her. 
 
 The beauty of Felicia struck Cyrus with amazement, and 
 as she lingered in the arms of Mrs. Murray, he stood for a 
 moment as if bewildered. 
 
 " Uncle," said Alfred, " Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins," 
 
 Cyrus seized them both by the hand, and exclaimed, " I'm 
 glad to see you ! proud to know you ! I have heard of you 
 both ! Grod bless you both ! May you be as you deserve to 
 be happy /" 
 
 He then turned to Felicia, and having looked at her 
 earnestly, while pressing her hand, said, " I haven't exactly my 
 faculties now. You have taken them away. When I have 
 recovered them I'll tell you what I mean." 
 
 Fidele and Mr. Wilkins were then presented to Mrs. 
 Murray, while Cyrus rang the bell, and ordered champagne. 
 " Now, sit down," said he, " for Jive minutes. We have plenty 
 of time. We have but eight miles to go. But," he added, 
 how are we to do that eight miles ? How are we to be 
 divided ?" 
 
 " The ladies," suggested Alfred, " perhaps, would like to go 
 together ?" 
 
 " I don't think," said Cyrus, " that the ladies would like 
 to deprive us of their society ! I don't think that they have 
 the hearts to do it ! Will you do me the favour to accompany 
 me?" he added, addressing Felicia, who still nestled near 
 Mrs. Murray. 
 
284 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Eelicia bowed. 
 
 " And so will you," said Cyrus, turning to Mrs. Murray. 
 " There, you see, I've won two already ! Tou young dogs are 
 not to have it all your own way ! I must not, of course, 
 to-day attempt to win Mrs. "Wilkins ; but two will be sufficient 
 for me." 
 
 This was held to be a very good arrangement ; and when the 
 champagne had been twice round, they started. On the road, 
 however, Cyrus had but little to say. He had enough to do 
 to look at Felicia, who conversed almost incessantly with 
 Mrs. Murray. He had quite enough to do to admire her, for 
 in his view it was perfectly impossible for any one to be more 
 intelligent, or more beautiful. She eclipsed all that he had 
 conceived her to be, and his conceptions had been of a very 
 high caste : she was the only one who had ever approached 
 his ideas of perfect loveliness, and he thought of the words of 
 James : " The very first time you see her, you'll love her ; and 
 when you come to know what she really is how amiable, 
 affectionate, and good she'll be just as much to you as if she 
 were your own child." 
 
 On their arrival at the Crown, they were joyfully received 
 by Murray and his eldest daughter, Julia; and when warm 
 congratulations had been again and again repeated, the ladies 
 retired to dress for dinner. 
 
 Cyrus had invited Mr. Chubb, as one of Alfred's warmest 
 friends; but Mr. Chubb had declined the invitation on the 
 ground of his not being one of the family. "When, however, 
 it was known that Mr. Chubb was in the house, Cyrus would 
 have him up ; and when he did come up, he was not permitted 
 to go down again. Nor, after the first five minutes, did he 
 wish to go down, for he took so deep an interest in all that 
 concerned Alfred, and found Mr. "Wilkins so exceedingly 
 agreeable, that although he was not, as he said, one of the 
 family, he felt quite as much at home as if he had been. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 285 
 
 The ladies having rejoined them, dinner was announced, and 
 a really sumptuous dinner it was. Cyrus had told Greene 
 to spare no expense, and Greene was proud of showing what 
 he could do. The most delicious things that he could think 
 of were produced, and he knew he didn't want to be told, he 
 knew that there was no man in the eastern counties capable 
 of getting a dinner up like him ! 
 
 During dinner, however, delicious as it was, Felicia was 
 the centre of attraction. Her grace, her beauty, her amiable 
 attentions, and easy elegance charmed them. Cyrus shed 
 tears, he was so delighted with her ; and Chubb said privately, 
 and of course in strict confidence, that if " when he was young 
 he ha' happened of her, he'd ha' fallen right dead in love 
 himself." Fidele, they admitted, was very elegant and very 
 beautiful she was exceedingly lady-like and pleasing; but 
 Felicia ! " They may well call her an angel," whispered Cyrus- 
 " True," returned Chubb, " and they may well call the Marquis 
 no matter." 
 
 After dinner Alfred's sweet little sisters arrived to "kiss 
 dear Lady Felicia," who was delighted with them, and had 
 them all near her, and supplied them with the choicest fruits 
 on the table, and chatted with them all so familiarly, that 
 they very soon became the best friends in the world. They 
 felt that they loved her before they saw her, but then they 
 loved her dearly, while Felicia, in the bosom of so amiable a 
 family, whose affection was so genuine, felt happy indeed. 
 
 In consequence of a little freemasonry between Mrs. Murray, 
 Felicia, and Fidele, which Cyrus, however, appeared to 
 understand, the ladies retired unusually early, when Alfred, 
 who in his letters had spoken of Mr. Wilkins in very high 
 terms, proposed in a speech of much eloquence and tact, the 
 "health of the bride and the bridegroom." 
 
 This was received with much warmth, and when they had 
 not only cheered him, but shaken him by the hand with the 
 
286 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 utmost cordiality, he rose to acknowledge the compliment, 
 amid silence the most profound. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, " when hearts are all right, how 
 soon perfect strangers are converted into friends ! I have a 
 great idea of the knowledge of the heart. I believe that 
 hearts become acquainted with each other, and fall in love 
 with each other : that by virtue of some mysterious species 
 of electricity, they communicate with each other ; that Ithey 
 teach themselves to cling to each other, and nothing clings to 
 that which it abhors. "We say that our hearts tell us to like 
 such and such men, and to dislike such and such others ; and 
 when we say this, depend upon it, there is more in what we 
 say than human reason can define. Grentlemen ! you are 
 strangers to me ; I never saw you before ; and yet I feel that I 
 know that you have warm and generous hearts. My own heart 
 tells me that you have ; your hearts have communicated the 
 fact to mine, and prompted me to respect you. Grentlemen ! 
 I appreciate your friendship, which is the more pleasing to 
 me, because you are connected with one for whom I have a 
 'brother's love, and of whose friendship any man, whether he be 
 a merchant or a marquis, might be proud. You, sir, are his 
 father: there is no man in Europe, sir, blessed with a more 
 noble-hearted son. You are his uncle ; and of all the affection 
 which I know that you have for him, he is worthy ; while you, 
 sir, who are his friend, possess in that name, sir, a title as 
 honourable to you as if it were that of an earl. [Here Mr. 
 Chubb seized the hand of Cyrus, and, with a mysterious ex- 
 pression, shook it heartily.] Gentlemen ! f> continued Mr. 
 Wilkins, " we are all men of business, and therefore can speak 
 as men of business. This is not a thoughtless, extravagant 
 creature, whom Alfred Murray has married ! She is not one 
 who will squander away every shilling she is able to get hold 
 of not one of those who can think of nothing but drawing- 
 rooms, dress, and dancing ! She is a wife who will take care 
 
LADY FELICIA. 287 
 
 of number one, and who will not spend a pound unnecessarily ! 
 This has been proved, and the proof, considering the style in 
 which she has lived, not only delighted but amazed me. In 
 society you have seen what she is, you saw how attentive she 
 was to us all, and how delighted she was with those beautiful 
 children ! Amiable, affectionate, elegant, and pure she must 
 command the admiration of all but the vicious. This is one of 
 Nature's matches, gentlemen ! Nature made this match ! and 
 I have a large idea of Nature. I feel that when Nature becomes 
 the study not of the few but of the mass, we shall, in the aggre. 
 gate, act more in conformity with her laws. She is, or ought to 
 be, in all things our guide. We go to her for instruction, and 
 she imparts it : we have but to study to adore her. "We talk of 
 our inventions, and think much of them ; but what are they 
 but copies from Nature! Genius is a flash of Nature's light- 
 ning ! she is the universal genius. Go through the whole of 
 our professions and our trades, and we shall find that Nature is 
 the genius of them all. She is the finest doctor, the finest lawyer, 
 the finest preacher, the finest machinist, the finest chemist, and 
 the finest mathematician: she is the finest weaver, look at her 
 webs; the finest joiner, look at her joints : the finest tailor, look 
 at her bears : the finest draper, look at her birds : the finest 
 tanner, look at her hides. Over all creation Nature presides. 
 We see her in the valleys, and we see her on the mountains ; 
 we see her on the ocean, and we see her in the stars ; we see 
 her in the wonderful trunk of an elephant, and we see her in 
 the very hind quarters of a flea. Look at a flea, we're all after 
 him ; but he who catches one of those fellows catches one of 
 the finest works of Nature. Look at his hind quarters, look at 
 his spring. If we could leap as far in proportion to our size, 
 a leap and a half would take us over Europe. I mention these 
 matters in order to show that in all Nature's works there 
 is much to admire ; and as this match, gentlemen, is one of Na- 
 ture's works, it is worthy of all admiration. Lady Felicia is a 
 
288 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 wonderful work of nature, and I am happy to say, that through 
 Alfred I should never have known her but for him I have a 
 wife of the same pattern. They have been companions for 
 years, and will be I hope for years to come. I hope that we 
 shall all be companions. I don't know where I may be settled, 
 but this I know, gentlemen, that I tyave so high an appreciation 
 of the kindness of your hearts, that if I live ten thousand miles 
 away, I shall ever cherish a fond recollection of you all." 
 
 The hand of Mr. Wilkins was again in requisition ; they 
 really felt as if they couldn't shake it enough. They did, 
 however, eventually allow him to sit down ; but he had no 
 sooner done so than he rose again, and in a brief speech pro- 
 posed to them the health of Mr. Murray. 
 
 This toast was hailed with great pleasure, and after a pause, 
 Mr. Murray slowly rose, and said, in tremulous accents 
 " G-entlemen : I thank you for the compliment you have paid 
 me. My heart is too full to allow me to express what I feel, 
 but if the theory of Mr. Wilkins be sound and I believe that 
 to a great extent it is the expression of my feelings on this 
 occasion, may be dispensed with. Grentlemen, I am glad to 
 see you all. May we long enjoy each other's society in this 
 world, and meet again hereafter." 
 
 Cyrus then left the room he had evidently something on his 
 mind and during his absence his health was proposed by Alfred, 
 when Mr. Wilkins, who was listened to with the most profound 
 attention, began to explain the characteristics of various 
 domestic animals including the dog, the cat, the rat, and the 
 mouse and eventually gave an elaborate definition of the line 
 which separates instinct from reason. 
 
 To Murray, and his friend Chubb, this was amusing, but 
 Alfred wondered what detained his uncle, seeing that he 
 had been absent then more than half an hour ! Presently, 
 however, he heard carriages start, and Cyrus re-entered the 
 room. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 289 
 
 The interesting fact of his having had his health drunk, 
 with all the honours, during his absence, was then communi- 
 cated to him, with due propriety ; and when he had had a 
 glass of wine, with the view of doing full justice to the toast 
 by drinking his own health, he rose and said, in tones of 
 peculiar depth and "fatness:" "Gentlemen: I'm a stout man 
 a very stout man I weigh no-matter-how-many stone ; but 
 were I twice the size which Heaven forbid ! I shouldn't have 
 a breast half big enough to hold the joyous feelings which this 
 happy meeting has inspired. I have seen so much beauty, 
 witnessed so much affection, proved the existence of so much 
 manly friendship, and* heard so many generous sentiments 
 expressed, that were I to call this the happiest day of my life, 
 I shouldn't be very far wrong. I am delighted with Lady 
 Eelicia. I'm delighted with you all. I'm delighted with 
 everybody and everything, and all I can say is, Grod bless you 
 all, and may you always feel as happy as I do now." 
 
 Murray then proposed the health of Mr. Chubb, and when 
 that gentleman had very appropriately explained, that he agreed 
 with all that had been said by those who had spoken before 
 him, and that he had never enjoyed himself so much since he 
 was born, Cyrus gave them, " The Ladies," and added with 
 much gusto, "When we've drunk their health Grod bless 
 them ! we'll rejoin them." 
 
 The toast was drunk with enthusiasm, and Alfred then 
 inquired in which room they were. 
 
 " In which room ?" returned Cyrus. " They're in no room 
 in this house ! They're off, bag and baggage !" 
 
 "Off! Where?" 
 
 " Home, of course !" 
 
 "What! father's?" 
 
 " JSTo, your own home ! Do you think you hav'nt got a 
 home to go to ?" 
 
 " Well, but where is it ?" 
 
 TJ 
 
290 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Not far," replied Cyrus. " One of Mr. Wilkins's fleas 
 would leap tlie distance in no time. Come along." 
 
 Alfred couldn't understand this at all! He nevertheless 
 followed his uncle, and found a carriage ready to convey them. 
 
 "Now," said Cyrus, "you are the youngest; mount that 
 horse : we can't all get in here." 
 
 Alfred accordingly mounted the horse, while Cyrus, Murray, 
 Chubb, and Mr. "WilMns, entered the carriage, when Greene 
 the landlord, who had all his men and many more who did'nt 
 belong to him ready, gave Alfred nine enthusiastic cheers, in 
 the midst of which the happy party started. 
 
 They had but three miles to go, and Cyrus explained to 
 Mr. "Wilkins on the road that, in order to promote the comfort 
 of all, he had furnished a house at Melford. " You'll feel more 
 at home there," he added; "you'll be more to yourselves, more 
 quiet, more retired than you could be by any possibility at 
 an inn." 
 
 Mr. Wilkins, of course, highly appreciated this, and expressed 
 his sense of the obligation warmly. 
 
 " How far have we to go ?" inquired Alfred, riding up to the 
 carriage when within half a mile of the town of Melford. 
 
 "To the first house on the left," replied Cyrus; and Alfred, 
 perceiving Felicia and her friends on the lawn, galloped off on 
 the instant. 
 
 "Oh! Alfred," exclaimed Felicia, before he dismounted, 
 " What a beautiful place ! so handsomely furnished, and such 
 a sweet garden !" 
 
 " I'm glad that you like it, my love," returned Alfred. " I 
 had no idea of this." 
 
 The carriage now arrived, and when Cyrus had alighted, 
 Felicia said: "I know not how to thank you," and kissed 
 him! 
 
 Mr. Wilkins then rallied his "run-away wife." It was a 
 fine theme for him, and he made the most of it ; and when they 
 
LADY FELICIA. 291 
 
 had all walked round the garden together, admiring everything 
 they saw, and seeing everything to admire, they had coffee in 
 what was pronounced to be " one of the sweetest little rooms 
 they had ever seen." 
 
 Certainly Cyrus had displayed great taste : there could be 
 no doubt about that. Everything was on a small scale 
 splendid ; and everything had been admirably arranged. Felicia 
 knew not how to express her delight : she knew that all had 
 been done to delight her, and felt more happy than ever ! 
 
 But they all felt happy truly happy and happily they 
 passed the evening together, until at the time appointed the 
 carriages arrived, when after the most affectionate expressions 
 of endearment, and infinitely more kissing than ever took 
 place on any occasion in that house before, Cyrus and Chubb, 
 with Mr. and Mrs. Murray and their beautiful girls, left 
 their happy friends for the night. 
 
 u2 
 
LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 tfOVEL VIEWS. 
 
 FIDELE and Felicia were now more like sisters than ever. 
 There never had been any display of superiority on the part of 
 Felicia ; nor would it have been at any time felt, but for the 
 deferential conduct of Fidele ; but now, although she assumed 
 no more, Fidele ceased to feel that conventional inequality by 
 which she had been almost unconsciously influenced, and, loving 
 Felicia fondly as she did, she regarded her as a sister indeed. 
 
 Nor did Alfred and Mr. Wilkins to whose manners example 
 had given a refined tone, and whom Fidele now called " Barley" 
 and he admitted that " Bartholomew" was "a mouthful"- 
 appear less like brothers. They consulted each other on every 
 point, and drew out a variety of plans for the future, the chief 
 of which was that of going into partnership, and " carrying all 
 before them ;" but the whole of these well-conceived plans were 
 set aside by a singular observation of Mr. "Wilkins. 
 
 " Alfred," said Felicia, having dwelt upon the idea which 
 this observation had engendered, " I have been thinking of the 
 playful proposition of Mr. "Wilkins to publish that volume of 
 correspondence which passed between him and Fidele." 
 
 "A good speculation!" said Alfred, with a smile. "I'll 
 certainly be one of the subscribers!" 
 
 " Yes, dear ; but that jest of his has been the germ of a 
 thought which may tend to supersede the necessity for your 
 going into business." 
 
 "Indeed!" 
 
 " You are an excellent scholar," pursued Felicia. "You 
 
LADY FELICIA. 293 
 
 write with great purity of expression : you are studious, 
 reflective, persevering, and patient ! Could you not write 
 a novel?" 
 
 "A novel?" echoed Alfred, thoughtfully. 
 
 " I feel sure that you could ! " 
 
 " I fear that I have not sufficient knowledge of the world." 
 
 " Younger men than you have written novels, my love ! 
 And I feel quite convinced, dear, that you could. I know 
 that you can write with great spirit and feeling, both of which, 
 in a novel, are delightful." 
 
 " But /have not been a novel reader !" 
 
 " So much the better,, my love ! You will be likely to write 
 with more originality." 
 
 " But what description of novel? Not a fashionable novel?" 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " I have not moved in fashionable circles !" 
 
 " You mean in what is falsely called the best society. But 
 I have, dear! and I could suggest to you such a host of 
 incidents ! all drawn from real life : and such a variety of 
 singular characters ! Oh ! I feel perfectly sure that you 
 could do it!" 
 
 " "Well," returned Alfred, " I am certainly not quite sure 
 that I could not ! I like the idea much, and would adopt it 
 with pleasure, if I felt that I could do so successfully." 
 
 "My love, have confidence. Feel sure that you could. 
 I have heard that, ' They can conquer who believe they can.' 
 Now, do oblige me, dear, by inspiring this belief. Ill give 
 you such a number of kisses ! I'll be kissing you all the time 
 that you are writing." 
 
 " I shall be able to get on then, no doubt ! " 
 
 " But seriously,, dear, will you try ?" 
 
 " Certainly I will, and that with infinite pleasure, although 
 I still feel afraid" 
 
 " Fear nothing ! You have but to try, to succeed." 
 
294 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " I am not quite so sanguine, my sweet girl ! However, 
 
 I am pleased with the suggestion, and will endeavour to adopt 
 
 it, although I am unconscious of having the necessary talent." 
 
 " I know that you have tact, my love, and I have heard that 
 
 tact is the highest order of talent !" 
 
 " They may co-exist, my dear : certainly, a man possessing 
 the highest order of talent may have tact ; but I apprehend 
 that tact and the highest order of talent are by no means con- 
 vertible terms. There can be no doubt that he who has tact 
 is enabled to get on faster than he who possesses the highest 
 order of talent, seeing that the highest order of talent generally 
 struggles against the stream, while tact is content to glide 
 smoothly with the tide. There are some men who will not go 
 with the current : there are others who have not the power to 
 stem it : still, although, of course, conscious of not having the 
 highest order of talent, and perfectly unconscious of having 
 the necessary tact, I'll try what I can do, and shall not be 
 entirely struck down if I should fail." 
 
 " You will not fail : I'll not dream of a failure ; and if I once 
 know that you do, I'll awake you. I have, of course, no idea 
 of how long it' will take ; but we hear of such sums being 
 given for novels, that were you to write only one in a year, it 
 would enable us to live in a style of independence." 
 
 " Those sums, my love, are, of course, given only to men 
 who have become popular men who are well known, and 
 whose works are extensively appreciated !" 
 
 " Still, every one of them had a beginning. Besides ! what 
 a delightful place this is to write in ! so quiet, so retired, so 
 suggestive of thought ! Now, which room, dear, shall we con- 
 vert into a study ? this which overlooks the garden ?" 
 
 " I'll leave that entirely to you ; I don't know how I shall 
 get on, but" 
 
 " I do ! I know that you will get on excellently well ! And 
 what a pleasing occupation it is ! so intellectual and so 
 
LADY FELICIA. 295 
 
 independent ! You will sit down immediately after breakfast, 
 and when I fancy that you have written sufficient we'll go out 
 for a walk, and then towards the evening you can do a little 
 more, and when I think that you are tired we'll go out again, 
 or in the winter we can sit together, and while I am reading 
 to you some suggestive work, you can take notes and reflect 
 upon what you have written, and think over what you have 
 still to write. It will be so delightful ! And then I can read 
 what you have written, and soon become sufficiently bold to 
 make observations and to offer suggestions, and tell you how I 
 like it, and that which pleases me, dear, may please many more l'\ 
 
 " If you were to be my only critic," said Alfred, "I should 
 not be much alarmed 1" 
 
 " But if the thing be really good, my dear, you need not fear 
 even professional critics ! " 
 
 " In the works of some men critics look for the beauties : in 
 the works of others, they look for faults." 
 
 " But we'll be before them ? If there be any faults we'll 
 find them ourselves, and not let the critics see them ! Of 
 course, a thing of this kind, although light, requires thought : 
 it is not to be dashed off and done with like a letter ! you 
 will require some little preparation some training !" 
 
 " Well, including this necessary training, how long do you 
 imagine that I should be about it !" 
 
 " I have really no idea : we shall be better able to judge 
 when you have made a beginning ; but suppose that it should 
 occupy six months ?" 
 
 " That's a long time to speculate upon," said Alfred, 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " I am aware of it. And I know what you are thinking of: 
 but we can manage : I can manage it myself! The question 
 with you is, how are we to live in the interim without the 
 assistance of friends ? Now leave that entirely to me, my 
 dear. Don't give it a thought. I know exactly how much we 
 
296 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 shall require. I've made all my calculations. Let us say six 
 months. It may not require so much time ; nor do I believe 
 that it will, but we'll say six months ; I can manage." 
 " But how, my love ?" 
 
 " Be kind enough to leave that to me" replied Felicia, 
 playfully. " Now when will you commence ?" 
 " "When you please !" 
 
 " Then begin to-morrow morning. I'll have the room ready. 
 I'll allow you two hours to draw out a sketch : you must not 
 do too much to begin with." 
 
 " Very good. Now, what tone am I to take ? Am I to 
 write severely ?" 
 
 " For a fashionable novel, the truth is at all times 
 sufficiently severe. It has often been remarked, that they 
 who have moved in aristocratic circles, portray aristocratic 
 manners and feelings most severely. This is merely because 
 they know the truth and tell it. Real characters will do, my 
 dear : caricatures are not at all required." 
 
 " Well," said Alfred, thoughtfully, "we shall see." 
 " I'll ascertain what uncle Cyrus thinks of the plan : he'll be 
 here by and by. But you have made me so happy, by falling 
 so readily into my views, and I feel so sure of your being 
 successful !" 
 
 He embraced her, and she left him; and the subject at 
 once engrossed all his thoughts. It opened to him quite a new 
 field for contemplation a field too, which he contemplated 
 with pleasure. The idea was, in his view, excellent; and 
 although he had no lofty opinion of his own powers, and could 
 have no knowledge of their extent, he saw nothing insuper- 
 able ! nothing which perseverance might not enable him to 
 accomplish. Hence, instead of waiting until the morning to 
 commence, he began to work at once ; and when Cyrus called, 
 as usual, to take Felicia for a drive, he found him in his 
 appointed " study," deep in thought. 
 
LADY TELICIA. 297 
 
 " My boy," exclaimed Cyrus, as he entered the room, "what's 
 the matter ? Lost your spirits ? "What's the matter ?'' 
 
 " I'm endeavouring to work out an idea," replied Alfred, 
 " an idea which pleases me much." 
 
 " Tou don't appear to be particularly pleased !" observed 
 Cyrus. 
 
 " I am, uncle, nevertheless, But Felicia will explain the 
 matter to you. I'm busy." 
 
 " Very good !" returned Cyrus, who didn't, of course, 
 pretend to understand it ; but, as Felicia, who was then 
 dressing, would explain all to him, he said no more, but went 
 to wait for her in the garden. 
 
 Cyrus, who was not only delighted with Felicia, but almost 
 beyond conception proud of her, visited them daily. He had 
 purchased a horse and phaeton, expressly for the purpose of 
 driving over to Melford, and taking her out, sometimes accom- 
 panied by Fidele and her " Barley," but generally alone ; and 
 nothing pleased him more than to drive her into Sudbury, 
 that all there might see that the Lady Felicia was yet some 
 distance from starvation point. 
 
 Nor was she the only attraction on these occasions : Ms 
 personal appearance created a sensation. He had previously 
 paid but slight attention to dress : a suit of black put Ofi 
 "anyhow," and a hat of which the shape was anything but 
 distingue, formed the chief characteristics of his daily " turn 
 out ;" but now with his broad- brimmed beaver, turned up at 
 the sides, his blue coat studded with brilliant metal buttons, 
 his primrose waistcoat ample enough to envelope three men? 
 his cassimere "smalls," as they were called in those days, 
 and his black silk stockings and polished silver buckles he 
 looked like " a squire of high degree," and absolutely felt as if 
 he were one ! 
 
 "My love," said he, when Felicia had joined him in the 
 garden, "Tou have to explain to me the cause of Alfred's 
 
298 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 thoughtfulness this morning. He says that he is pleased, but 
 he does not appear to be particularly gay ! "What is it all 
 about ?" 
 
 Felicia explained, and while doing so praised Alfred's talents 
 so highly, and spoke with so much confidence of his success, 
 that Cyrus, whose latent views it suited precisely was 
 perfectly charmed with the idea. 
 
 " That will do," safd he. " The very thing ! That will just 
 do. You may have noticed, my love, that when he and Mr. 
 Wilkins whom I highly respect have spoken about entering 
 into partnership, I have been silent : not because it might not 
 or could not be managed, but because I've no desire to see 
 him established in business a fact which you will both under- 
 stand by and by. JN~ow this if he can do it, and you appear 
 to be very sanguine on the subject is the very thing that I 
 should like to see him do ! it will, at all events, enlarge his 
 views, and train him to habits of reflection and application. 
 Encourage him, therefore, by all the means of which you are 
 capable your encouragement will go a great way and 
 although I don't pretend to understand much about it, I shall, 
 for your sake, glory in his success." 
 
 " He'll succeed, dear uncle ! I know that he will. And 
 now," she added, archly, " I want you to do me a favour a 
 favour which involves a secret, which must not at all events 
 at present be revealed." 
 
 "Well, my love ! let us go into the arbour. -Now then," he 
 added, having led her to a seat, and sat beside her, " what 
 is it ?" 
 
 " I have no idea," replied Felicia, " how long it will take him 
 to write this novel ; perhaps three or four months ; perhaps five 
 or six ; but to be safe we had better say six months ; and during 
 that time I am anxious for him not to be troubled with matters 
 of a pecuniary nature : in fact, I have undertaken to manage 
 this without him, and hence it is that I want your assistance." 
 
LADY EELICIA. 299 
 
 " You shall certainly have it, my love ! I'll lend you what- 
 ever sum you may require. How much will you want ?" 
 
 " Nay ! I do not wish to borrow ; nor will I do so : I'll not 
 tax your kindness in that way : I appreciate your affection : 
 I'll not tax your purse. The favour I wish you to do for me 
 is not to lend me money : it is certainly to get me some, and 
 that in a way which, as I have said, involves a secret. Now, 
 I have a few diamonds, the value of which I don't know, but 
 which I shall never again want to wear." 
 
 " How is it possible for you to know that ?" said Cyrus. 
 " How is it possible for you to know that ?" 
 
 "Well, it certainly is impossible fo,g me to know, but I 
 should say that, in all probability, I never shall ! Now, some 
 of these diamonds were given to me by a dear, kind soul, 
 whom you knew." 
 
 " The late Marquis, I presume." 
 
 " Exactly : and those if even I never again wear them 
 I am anxious to retain ; but there are some to which I attach 
 no value beyond their intrinsic worth, and those I wish you to 
 sell for me." 
 
 " Do you wish to have a desperate quarrel with me ? 
 Because if you sell any one of them, or say another word 
 about selling any one of them, we shall have a very desperate 
 quarrel indeed ! "Where are these diamonds ?" 
 
 " Shall I go and bring them to you ?" 
 
 " Do so, my love. I should like to see them." 
 
 Felicia accordingly left the arbour, while he thought of a 
 plan to supply their wants without letting either of them 
 know " too much." 
 
 " These," said Felicia, on her return, " are the jewels I wish 
 to preserve. To those I attach no importance." 
 
 "Very pretty," said Cyrus, having examined them; "very 
 very pretty indeed ; and I think that they would look quite as 
 pretty upon you as they would upon any one else ; indeed, 
 
300 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 I know that they would! and if you don't wear them, or 
 some of them, every time I dine with you, I shall regard it as 
 ; a want of courtesy. Wear them, by all means ! I like to see 
 you look like what you are ! Everything which tends to 
 enhance your natural beauty delights me! "Wear them, my 
 dear ! Don't say another word about parting with one of them ! 
 What money you want, from time to time, you shall have ; 
 but if you say another word about parting with your jewels, 
 you will give me great pain, which I know that you would not 
 do wantonly. These, however, are not the only jewels you 
 have, or will have. Lady Loftus has in her possession a suite 
 of brilliants which willy at her death, revert to you." 
 
 " Indeed ! I was not aware of that/' 
 
 " I have had the will of the late Marquis examined, and in 
 that will those brilliants are named." 
 
 " Can you then tell me what property I shall have in the 
 event of my aunt's death ?" 
 
 " Yes : five thousand pounds." 
 
 " Has my aunt the power of bequeathing that sum to any 
 one else ?" 
 
 " Certainly not. Both the money and the jewels are left in 
 trust for her use during her life, and at her death they become 
 absolutely yours. Her death, however, must not be calculated 
 upon. It is, of course, as well for you to know these things. I 
 have heard of Lady Loftus ! Eut we'll not talk about anything 
 disagreeable now. You preserve your jewels, my love, and if 
 it be only to delight me wear them. And now," he added, 
 " we'll go for a drive. As Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins are at my 
 brother's, shall we go, my dear, and meet them ?" 
 
 Felicia, of course, with pleasure consented, and as Alfred, 
 who was still "busy," wished to remain at home, they left hirn ? 
 and started for Sudbury. 
 
 Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Murray had become great friends, 
 and this morning had been appointed for Mr. Murray to 
 
LADY FELICIA. 301 
 
 explain to Mr. Wilkins the true cause of his trade having fallen 
 off. 
 
 While, therefore, Eidele was engaged with the girls the 
 whole of whom she had set to work, one to learn Trench, 
 another drawing, another embroidery, and so on Mr. Murray 
 produced the hand-bills, and with an expression of solemnity 
 proceeded with his sad explanation. 
 
 At first, Mr. Wilkins was exceedingly thoughtful, and shook 
 his head very severely at that which was, of course, understood 
 to be the hand-bill of the Marquis. 
 
 " Does Lady Felicia know of this ?" he inquired. 
 "No," replied Murray, "nor does Alfred." 
 " That's right. Better keep it from them both if you can. 
 It would only distress them. But," he added, having read the 
 bill issued and signed by Cyrus : " this upsets that altogether!"' 
 " But look at the effect it has had upon my business !" 
 " Oh ! you'll soon get over that." 
 
 " I fear not," returned Murray. " The trade appears to be 
 irrecoverably lost !" 
 
 " And will be, doubtless, if you appear to be irrecoverably 
 lost ! Make a stir, and bring it back, sir ! There's nothing in 
 life like a stir." 
 
 " But what stir can I make ? what sort of a stir ?" 
 "I'll tell you what sort of a stir I should make! I'd 
 renovate the whole establishment. I'd send to London for a 
 man whom I know, and get his estimate for a splendid new 
 front. You have a lease, I suppose ?" 
 " Yes, with five years unexpired." 
 
 " Well then, in the first place, stick in a new front, and in 
 the next, make a brilliant show, and advertise well. Let it be 
 the cheapest, as well as the most attractive shop in the town. 
 Look more to returns, and less to large profits. Five per cent, 
 upon large returns, will give a man a splendid income : fifty 
 per cent, upon small returns, will hardly enable him to live. 
 
802 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Thus the big ones swallow the little ones up ! The little ones 
 can't compete with them in either agriculture or commerce ! 
 Look, therefore, principally to the returns, and with a renovated 
 establishment, you'll soon get your trade back, and twice as 
 much to it; but if you go on in this dull despairing way, 
 people will begin to think that you can't last long, and then, 
 of course, the thing will dwindle down to nothing. Everybody 
 goes where everybody goes : but where nobody goes, sir, 
 nobody will go. Eats abandon a falling house, and in this 
 respect men and women are like them. Let a house have the 
 appearance of prosperity, and people will make it in reality 
 prosperous; but let it have the appearance of poverty, and 
 they'll make it, by keeping away, poor indeed. People don't 
 like the look of poverty ; they can't bear the sight of it, and 
 the poorer they are, the more they admire splendour ! There- 
 fore, stick in a splendid shop front to begin with, and have 
 your name emblazoned as if you were proud of it. Let it be 
 in letters of gold, six feet high !" 
 
 " But a new front would cost a deal of money, would it 
 not?" J^ 
 
 "Not so much as you might imagine. But look at the 
 speculation ! never mind a little expense ! Suppose it cost 
 eighty or a hundred pounds! it would soon clear itself! 
 Attraction is the great point, and such a front as that which 
 I mean, would, in a town like this, be of itself a great attrac- 
 tion ; and that, combined with cheapness, would inevitably 
 bring them. They would come. They couldn't keep away. 
 They don't deal with a man to oblige him ! they do it to 
 accommodate themselves. They'll not give him a great price 
 because they respect him ! they'll go to the cheapest market 
 as we do. The more they believe that a man wants support, 
 the less they'll give him ; but the less he appears to want it, 
 the more he'll have. The appearance is the thing ! Now, just 
 think the matter over. Send for this man he'll be glad to 
 
LADY FELICIA. 303 
 
 come down on speculation, and you can't get it properly done 
 by any one here send for him: he'll give to the place an 
 appearance of prosperity, whereas it looks now like the abode 
 of despair. Now, do think the matter over. Will you ?" 
 
 Murray not only promised that he would do so, but Was so 
 highly pleased with the suggestion that he went into a variety 
 of calculations with Mr. "Wilkins, who continued to illustrate 
 the expediency of a "grand stir," until Fidele rejoined him, 
 when, unconscious of Cyrus and Felicia having started to meet 
 them, they left with the view of walking home. 
 
 "Barley, dear," said Fidele, as they passed through the 
 town, " don't you think that if I were to open a school, I 
 should have a fair number of pupils ?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. "Wilkins; "I have not the slightest 
 doubt of it." 
 
 "Well, I'm very fond of children, and I'm very fond of 
 teaching ; and Mrs. Murray has just informed me that there 
 is, at the present time, a very excellent opening here !" 
 
 " Well, my love ?" 
 
 " Well, dear, suppose I were to open a school." 
 
 " There is no necessity for it, Fidele !" 
 
 " Necessity ?" 
 
 " No one, except as a matter of necessity, would, I appre- 
 hend, think of keeping a school!" 
 
 " But teaching, to me, is a pleasure !" 
 
 " It may be, my love, on a small scale ; but it strikes me 
 that, if you had twenty or thirty pupils, you would not find 
 it quite so pleasurable !" 
 
 " I feel sure that I could manage them." 
 
 "No doubt of that!" 
 
 " Well, then, calculate how much in the course of the year 
 I should receive for the instruction of twenty or thirty pupils !" 
 
 " Why, what are you dreaming about, Pidele ! Do you 
 imagine that I would alloiv you to be pestered" 
 
 " Nay, dear ! Still, I might render some assistance." 
 
304 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " When I can't support a respectable establishment without 
 your assistance except, indeed, in so far as affairs of a purely 
 domestic character are concerned I'll consent, my love, to 
 think the matter over ; but I shall have, even then, to think 
 a very long time before I consent to have you troubled with 
 a school. I don't, of course, know yet where I may settle ; 
 but let me settle where I may, Fidele, I shall always be able 
 to support you, I hope, without bringing your accomplish- 
 ments to market. But look," he added, as Cyrus and Felicia 
 approached. " What a fine-hearted, splendid old fellow he is ! " 
 
 " Well, my boy," said Cyrus, " I thought we should meet 
 you. Jump up." 
 
 " Are you going to your brother's ?" inquired Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " JSTo : I think not. We haven't time. I have an invitation 
 to dine with you to-day, and I don't want to hurry the horse." 
 
 JIaving entered the phaeton, Fidele began to chat with 
 Felicia; and as Cyrus knew why the appointment that 
 morning had been made, Mr. Wilkins proceeded to explain 
 to him the substance of all that had passed. 
 
 " Ah," said Cyrus, " he wants a man like you to join him ! I 
 like your views much, and he shall adopt them, too, if I have 
 any influence over him ; but he wants a little spirit infused 
 into him, and you are the very man to do it !" 
 
 " I have endeavoured to do so this morning ! " 
 
 " Ah ! but he wants a man like you to be constantly with 
 him! and I'm not quite sure that it would'nt answer your 
 purpose ! " 
 
 " I don't know that it would not" returned Mr. Wilkins. 
 
 " There's a very fine trade to be done ! a capital trade-^-an 
 excellent trade. I think it would answer the purpose of both : 
 but that we can talk about, of course, another time." 
 
 Well, this idea pleased Mr. Wilkins. Feeling, with Cyrus, 
 that an excellent trade might be done, he thought that it 
 would indeed answer his purpose. But then what was Alfred 
 to do? 
 
LADY TELICTA. 305 
 
 They had not proceeded far before Cyrus explained to him 
 what Alfred not only thought of doing, but was even then 
 anxiously preparing to do, which induced Mr. "Wilkins to think 
 still more seriously of entering into partnership with Murray. 
 He however said no more on the subject then ; but resolved 
 on embracing the first opportunity of going fully into the 
 matter. 
 
 On their arrival they were gaily received by Alfred, who with 
 a smile of confidence whispered to Felicia, " I can do it !" and 
 while the ladies were dressing for dinner, he drew Cyrus and 
 Mr. Wilkins into the garden, and there explained to them 
 how easily it was, in his judgment, to be done. They said all 
 they could to encourage him, of course, and he really was in 
 excellent spirts ; but when Felicia and Fidele appeared, to be 
 led in to dinner, his countenance instantly changed. 
 
 Felicia, solely in order to please Cyrus, wore her best suite 
 of diamonds, and Alfred in consequence became apprehensive 
 that she was, after all, really fond of display. He was there- 
 fore during dinner, exceedingly thoughtful, and began to dread 
 the consequences of that which appeared to him to be the 
 revival of a passion for the splendour she had sacrificed. But 
 when Cyrus having been urged by Felicia had explained to 
 him why she on that occasion wore them, Alfred recovered his 
 spirits, smiled at his fears, and playfully congratulated her on 
 her appearance. 
 
 Cyrus, having read Alfred's thoughts, enjoyed this, and 
 quietly expostulated with him when Felicia had retired with 
 Fidele for believing that a creature so pure, and so fond of 
 simplicity, could ever regret the loss of that of which she 
 knew the moral worthlessness. But all this was soon set 
 aside by Mr. Wilkins, who reverted to his contemplated 
 partnership with Murray, and as this was a subject which 
 interested not only Cyrus and Alfred, but Felicia and Fidele, 
 nothing else was talked of the whole of the evening. 
 
 x 
 
306 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 BUSINESS, 
 
 " BUSINESS is business." The author of this celebrated 
 apothegm is supposed to have been buried for ages in oblivion ; 
 but the apothegm itself is immortal. 
 
 He might have been the author of " eggs is eggs ;" he might 
 have been the antediluvian Whig, who first, called for "the 
 bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill ;" or the legist, who 
 originally enjoined "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
 but the truth ;" or the ancient chartist, who started "the hog, 
 the whole hog, and nothing but the hog :" but certain it is 
 that he was a man of business, who wished to impress upon the 
 minds of men of business, that business is business, and nothing 
 but business ; and equally certain is it, that Mr. Wilkins was 
 one of his disciples ; for, after daily consultations and hourly 
 calculations, within a month from the time that Cyrus offered 
 his suggestion, a new front had been " stuck " into Murray's 
 establishment ; the parlour, and even the garden had been 
 " thrown" into the shop, and on a board of Brobdingnagian 
 dimensions, and in letters of gold, the very largest under 
 heaven, stood proudly forth " MURRAY AND WILKINS." 
 
 ^or was the presiding genius in his calculations " out !" 
 The attraction of splendour was " immense :" the appearance 
 of prosperity did " draw :" the " big ones" did " swallow the 
 little ones up ;" and " everybody" did go where " everybody" 
 went : for they had no sooner opened than they had a " roar- 
 ing trade ;" and in less than three months they were " carrying 
 all before them !" , 
 
LADY FELICIA. 307 
 
 Meanwhile Alfred delighted with his new occupation 
 charmed by Felicia, and panting for famepursued his task 
 with surpassing diligence. At first his progress was but slow ; 
 he wrote tremulously ; he was afraid to give expression to his 
 conceptions, and when he had done so, the erasures, the inter- 
 lineations, and restorations confused him ; but as he proceeded 
 he wrote with more confidence, and was able, in a very short 
 time, to dash through a scene with facility. Felicia, however, 
 having watched him with the most anxious solicitude soon 
 became alarmed. He looked pale ! She therefore feared that 
 a sedentary occupation must undermine his fine constitution ; 
 she felt sure that the necessary application was too severe, and 
 frequently declared a fortnight's rest to be absolutely essential 
 to the preservation of his health ; but Alfred, being anxious 
 to get on, did all in his power to allay her apprehensions : he 
 assured her that, although he looked pale, he never felt better 
 that although he seemed thoughtful, his spirits were high ! 
 Still she feared that he studied too much. Well, then, .he 
 wouldn't work so hard ; he wouldn't devote so much thought 
 to it ; he wouldn't sit so long at one time ; he'd begin an hour 
 later in the morning; he'd leave off an hour earlier in the 
 evening; he'd promise anything to calm her fears, and by 
 virtue of these promises he was permitted, without having one 
 " fortnight's rest," to finish the work. 
 
 It then had to be carefully read. Eelicia had read it again 
 and again ; but it had to be read as a whole. And it really 
 read well ! There were many very beautiful passages in it 
 many beautiful thoughts well expressed ! It was very good 
 very good indeed ! They felt sure that the critics would like 
 it, and if they liked it, everybody else would, of course ! But 
 who was to publish it ? That was the question. They con- 
 sulted Mr. Wilkins on this important point ; and in doing so, 
 consulted the very man ! 
 
 Mr. "Wilkins had the honour of knowing Mr. Douall, the 
 
 x 2 
 
308 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 celebrated publisher of fashionable novels he had known him 
 for years : he knew him when he was one of the first men in one 
 of the first publishing houses in town: he had had, in fact, "many 
 a glass of grog " with him : independently of which, he knew 
 that he had published several novels in the course of that year; 
 the whole of which had been spoken of highly. Mr. Douall 
 was, therefore, the very man ! He would see justice done to 
 it : he would advertise it well : he would, in one word, " push " 
 it into circulation. 
 
 Accordingly, Alfred and Felicia accompanied Mr. Wilkins 
 to town it was deemed by all, of course, extremely fortunate 
 that Mr. Wilkins happened to know such a publisher and 
 the next morning Alfred was introduced to Mr. Douall, whom 
 he found to be the very quintessence of politeness. His 
 courtesy was indeed of an affectionate caste. Had Alfred been 
 his own son, he could'nt have received him more warmly : he 
 was such a very nice man. 
 
 Having introduced Alfred as a man of sterling talent, the 
 husband of Lady Pelicia, and so on ; Mr. Wilkins proceeded 
 to introduce the novel, which he said was " a really magnificent 
 thing," and when Mr. Douall having received it with delight 
 had succeeded in inspiring Alfred with a high appreciation 
 of his importance as a publisher, and general amiability as a 
 man, he promised to " peruse it with infinite pleasure," and to 
 give him a final answer in a week. 
 
 Well, this was held to be an excellent beginning. Alfred 
 was perfectly delighted with the interview, and congratulated 
 Mr. Wilkins on his knowledge of such a man. 
 
 " He is one of the right sort," said Mr. "Wilkins ; " a gentle- 
 man and a man of the world. He'll have it : I feel sure that 
 he'll have it : and if he should, he'll give you a rattling price. 
 There are things in it which I have seen myself worth the 
 money. It requires but to be pushed, and he's the very man 
 to push it : he is, in fact, the man ! Of course, you can't expect 
 
LADY FELICIA. 309 
 
 to get so nrncli now as you will by and by, when your name is 
 up ! But Tie' II make it answer your purpose : I feel convinced 
 of it ! you see what he is ! He doesn't look like a niggardly 
 man. I never had any transactions with him, but you can see 
 that he is straightforward, candid, and liberal." * 
 
 " I like his appearance much," returned Alfred, " and shall 
 feel quite proud of his friendship.'* 
 
 Having reached the hotel at which they stopped, Felicia 
 who had been anxiously awaiting their return perceived at a 
 glance that they were both highly pleased, and felt, therefore, 
 elated ; but when Alfred had explained to her how warmly he, 
 had been received, and how courteous, encouraging, and 
 friendly, Mr. Douall had been throughout the interview, she 
 was quite overjoyed. 
 
 " Oh !" she exclaimed, " how I should like to see him ! I 
 know that he is a dear good soul, and I almost love him for 
 being so kind to you." 
 
 Business ! business again interposed : Mr. Wilkins had 
 business in the city. He had to purchase a lot of goods which 
 were wanted at home, and wished to return to Sudbury that 
 night. He, therefore having again and again expressed his 
 conviction that Alfred would be eminently successful left 
 them, full of hope mingled with joy. 
 
 The week was before them. How were they to spend it ? 
 "What were they to do ? They would visit all the places of 
 public amusement Alfred might have to describe them: they 
 would read all the papers, and all the magazines, and all the 
 new novels, in order to ascertain whether any one of them 
 were comparable with Alfred's. They would go no, they 
 would not go into the Park. They would go yes ! they'd go 
 down to Brighton that sweet place ! they must spend a day 
 or two there. Should they go down at once, and put up at 
 the hotel where they had passed so many delightful hours 
 together ? Yes ! they'd start in the morning ; remain there 
 
310 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 two days only two days and then return to London. And 
 they did start for Brighton ; but, instead of two days, they 
 remained the whole week their reminiscences were so 
 enchanting. 
 
 !; With heads full of visions and hearts full of gladness, they 
 then returned to town, and on the following morning, Alfred 
 called upon Mr. Douall, who received him with even more 
 warmth than before. 
 
 " Well," said he, having made a few preliminary observa- 
 tions, " I have perused your very interesting novel, and like it 
 much/' 
 
 "I am happy to hear it," said Alfred. 
 
 " I think that it will do ! that it will be likely to create a 
 sensation, and make a hit ! provided Lady Felicia's name be 
 attached." 
 
 " Attached ? in what way ?" inquired Alfred. 
 " As the authoress, my dear sir, of course ! It would take 
 like wild fire! it would be, in a word, the novel of the 
 season." 
 
 Alfred was thoughtful, he knew not what to say. 
 " You see, my dear sir," resumed Mr. Douall, " the very 
 title will tell ! that alone will give it an impetus ! an impetus 
 that will impart a velocity to the sale. Authorize me, there- 
 fore, to announce Lady Felicia as the authoress, and I shall be 
 able to treat with you liberally." 
 
 " But," said Alfred, " I should, in that case, be authorizing 
 the announcement of that which is not really true." 
 
 " My dear sir," returned Mr. Douall, with a most playful 
 smile, " we view these things as mere matters of business. It 
 is, after all, merely nominal. "We place on the title page her 
 ladyship's name instead of yours, that's all ! "What possible 
 difference yes, it will make a difference : it will make a 
 difference of a hundred pounds to you but, in other respects, 
 what difference can it make ? You and Lady Felicia are one 
 
LADY FELICIA. 3ll 
 
 legally, morally, religiously one! bone of one bone, you 
 know, and flesh of one flesh !" he added, laughing very 
 merrily. " Don't you see ! The work belongs to the firm ! 
 We are all fond of our children; and our works are our 
 children ; but your children, I hope, are Lady Felicia's also ! 
 What possible objection, therefore, can you have to our calling 
 this Tier child ?" 
 
 " She," replied Alfred, " would have a very great objection to 
 it, I know." 
 
 " But my dear sir, why should she have ? The publication 
 of a work like this, with her name, would do honour to the 
 aristocracy to which she belongs. She would play the sun to 
 the aristocracy's moon : she would give it light, life, and glory. 
 The aristocracy would regard it as an honour, and seize it with 
 avidity. ' Here,' they would say, with an air of triumph, * you 
 talk of rank and talent being inimical, look here ! ' It would 
 sell like wildfire." 
 
 " I have no doubt that her name would give an impetus to 
 the sale," observed Alfred, " but she would' nt consent to be 
 announced as the authoress, seeing that she really is not." 
 
 " I am aware," said Mr. Douall, very blandly, " that these 
 high-souled people are scrupulous. I am, of course, perfectly 
 well aware of that. But let's see if we can't overcome these 
 scruples ; let's see whether we can't announce her ladyship's 
 name with a strictly religious adherence to truth. Has her 
 ladyship perused any portion of this novel ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; she has read the whole of it." 
 
 "Very good. Did she, while perusing it, suggest alter- 
 ations?" 
 
 "Yes, several." 
 
 "And those alterations were made, I presume f" 
 
 " In most cases they were" 
 
 " Then she at least edited the work ?" 
 
 "Well, if you call that editing" 
 
312 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 "It is more, much more, than some editors do. She, by 
 perusing it and suggesting alterations, to all intents and 
 purposes edited the work." 
 
 " Well, she suggested the work itself." 
 
 " Then she is absolutely the authoress of the work. But as 
 I perceive that there may be some difficulty in inducing her to 
 consent to be thus announced, suppose we adhere to the gospel 
 truth, and say ' Edited by Lady Felicia Murray.' She can have 
 no objection to that." 
 
 " That certainly would not be so objectionable. But I must, 
 of course, consult her on the subject.' 1 
 
 " By all means ; certainly ; consult her, of course. And let 
 me see," he added thoughtfully, " are you particularly engaged 
 to day ? If not, come and dine with me. Say you'll come." 
 
 " I shall be most happy to do so," said Alfred. 
 
 " That's right. I shall be indeed delighted to see you. We 
 poor publishers, you know, don't live in a very grand style. 
 But you II not care much about that ; men of sterling talent 
 seldom care much about grandeur. Say six, and in the interim 
 you can speak to Lady Felicia. By the way," he added with some 
 hesitation, " would her ladyship condescend to honour us with 
 her company ?" 
 
 " She will come with great pleasure, I am sure," replied 
 Alfred. 
 
 " We shall feel indeed proud to receive her." 
 
 Having had his hand pressed and shaken with really unex- 
 ampled energy, Alfred left him ; and on his return to Felicia, 
 explained to her what Mr. JDouall had proposed. 
 
 At first Felicia was silent and thoughtful : she felt appre- 
 hensive that unless her name appeared, the work would not 
 be published at all." 
 
 " Did he," she at length inquired, " Did he distinctly say 
 that he could publish it on this condition only ?" 
 
 " No, my love, no!" replied Alfred; "he merely intimated 
 
LADY FELICIA. 313 
 
 that if your name were attached, lie could give us a hundred 
 pounds more clearly meaning that it was not a sine qua non 
 that it was not absolutely indispensable !" 
 
 " Then I think, my dear, that we had better make the sacri- 
 fice. I would, love as you are aware -consent readily to 
 anything which might tend to promote your views : but I 
 don't think that eventually this would do so : on the contrary, 
 I think that its tendency would be to defeat them. Tour 
 object is, to become popular ; and irrespective of all pecuniary 
 considerations, I should glory in your success. But how is 
 it possible for you to become popular if you thus remain 
 unknown ? Besides, my love, there is one point pray do not 
 allow it to influence you unduly still let me name it : I will 
 at once consent, if you wish me to do so ; but the point that 
 I would mention is this : If my name were to appear, it would 
 be said at once by those who would, I fear, rejoice at our 
 downfall: 'He cannot support Tier: she therefore writes to 
 support him ! ' which would place you, my love, in a position, 
 the very appearance of which would give me intense pain. All 
 the credit would then attach to me : whereas I am anxious for 
 it all to attach to you. I would have them know that you 
 possess talent of which they little dream, and that the exer- 
 cise of that talent enables us to live in a style of independence. 
 I, of course, my love, merely suggest this point." 
 
 " Felicia ! how can I fail to feel its force !" 
 
 " It would be not only unjust to you ; it would give them 
 apparently a triumph ! Still, if you wish me to consent" 
 
 " I do not, my love : no ; when it was proposed I hesitated 
 only because I was unwilling to give a flat refusal, and without 
 doing so, I really knew not what to say." 
 
 They then began to talk of the invitation, with which Felicia 
 was highly pleased conceiving that it might tend to establish 
 a lasting friendship between Alfred and Mr. Douall and at 
 the appointed time they were received by that gentleman 
 
314 LA.DT FELICIA. 
 
 and his lady with much ceremony, and many expressions of 
 delight. 
 
 Mrs. Douall who had been a handsome woman, and whose 
 manners were courteous, if not indeed refined had invited 
 two ladies whom she was anxious to provoke to meet " Lady 
 Felicia, the lovely and accomplished daughter .of the noble 
 Marquis of Kingsborough " to whom they were of course very 
 formally presented and when dinner had been announced by 
 a servant, whose livery proclaimed a startling struggle with the 
 gorgeous, Mr. Douall who profoundly bent himself nearly 
 double while offering Felicia his arm led the way into a room 
 which struck Alfred as being, for a "poor publisher," sufficiently 
 magnificent. 
 
 Nor was the dinner at all unworthy of the highest consi- 
 deration of any "poor publisher" who happened to have an 
 appetite ! everything was done with a view to the superb, and 
 the failure was by no means conspicuous. 
 
 During the ceremony the gentle elegance of Felicia excited 
 admiration: had she dined with them fifty times before she 
 could not have appeared more at ease. Nor were the graceful 
 and pleasing manners of Alfred unattractive ; but as a pure 
 "piece of acting," the performance of Mr. Douall surpassed 
 all! 
 
 Business, however, was still business ; and that gentleman 
 when the ladies had retired was not long before he was 
 in it. 
 
 " Charming lady," said he, " charming lady, Mr. Murray : a 
 very, very, very charming lady: I never had the honour of 
 conversing with a more delightful person. But you can always, 
 sir, tell the true stock! There is always a certain sort of 
 something about them which stamps them I may say abso- 
 lutely stamps them with an air of aristocratic superiority ! 
 By the way, have you spoken to Lady Felicia on that little 
 point ?" 
 
LADY FELICIA. 315 
 
 "I have," replied Alfred; "but there are certain strictly 
 private considerations which render the announcement of her 
 name inexpedient." 
 
 " I am very sorry for it very, very sorry for it. Her name* 
 would have sent the work flying through the world. Can 
 nothing induce her to allow us to say, ' Edited by Lady Felicia 
 Murray ? " 
 
 " She is unwilling to have her name in any way announced." 
 
 " But it might ooze out that you are her husband ?" 
 t " "Well, I've no objection to that, if it be not paraded." 
 
 " Oh, there need be no parade. It might be done in a 
 paragragh, as an on dit, for example. ' It is said in the 
 highest circles, that the gifted author of the forthcoming 
 novel is connected by marriage,' and so on. There need be no 
 parade." 
 
 " Well, if you think that it would assist the sale, let it be 
 done so." 
 
 " Very good. Well, then the next point is, how are we to 
 arrange ? My system the liberality of which I am proud to 
 say has been highly appreciated is to give an author the full 
 benefit of his first production to give him the whole of the 
 advantage of the sale that is to say, to publish it for him on 
 his own account ; advertise it well, get it well reviewed, push it 
 by all possible means into circulation, get his name up, establish 
 his fame in short to manage the whole matter for him, 
 charging him a mere ten per cent, upon the proceeds. This is 
 my system, and I am happy to say that it has given universal 
 satisfaction. I have, of course, as you are aware, facilities for 
 establishing an author which no other publisher has. I don't 
 say this in any boasting spirit the fact is universally known ; 
 and I may add that, although many of them have left me, for 
 gratitude forms no part of the composition of some men there 
 is not in literature a popular man who does not owe his 
 introduction to me. I brought them all out. They are all 
 
316 I/ADT FELICIA. 
 
 my literary children ; and although some of them have been 
 ungrateful children running away as soon as they found they 
 could run alone I am proud of them still, and that pride 
 prompts me to wish for many more. The money that I have 
 spent in order to get authors' names up is beyond calculation. 
 I have given them the full benefit of their first productions 
 without imposing any condition ; but I have at length resolved 
 on giving this advantage to an author no more, unless he 
 pledges me his honour as a gentleman, that he will let me 
 have, for at least two years, the first offer of every work that 
 he may write. Do you blame me ? " 
 
 " I should say, that an author studies his own interests by 
 entering into such an agreement. 1 ' 
 
 " Of course he does. But there really are some who will not 
 stick to one man. They will run to different publishers in 
 order, I presume, to show their independence." 
 
 " Well, it certainly strikes me as being unfair, if indeed you 
 are willing to give as much" 
 
 " My dear sir, I can give 'more. It answers my purpose 
 to give more : for who has the facilities for pushing a work 
 that I have ? I have of late required a written agreement to 
 this effect, but your word will be quite sufficient. Pledge me 
 your honour that you will let me have the offer of every work 
 that you produce within the next two years, and I shall be 
 happy to publish this, your first production, and give you 
 minus ten per cent. the full advantage. of the sale." 
 
 " As far as the pledge is concerned," said Alfred, " I will, 
 of course, willingly give it ; but suppose, instead of publishing 
 the work on my account, you give me a certain sum for 
 the copyright, and do the best you can with it on your 
 own." 
 
 " That would not be fair towards you. No : I wish to take 
 no advantage : nor will I. I value your friendship too highly. 
 I am satisfied with my ten per cent. Sometimes it yields me 
 
LADY EELICIA. 317 
 
 two hundred pounds, and sometimes not so much ; but, if I 
 take one with the other, it pays me sufficiently well." 
 
 "Two hundred pounds!" exclaimed Alfred. "That's ten 
 per cent, on two thousand." 
 
 " Oh, that might be almost taken as the average. I don't 
 mean to say that namby-pamby things will do it ; but a work 
 written in your dashing style, is perfectly certain to pay." 
 
 " "Well," said Alfred, who scarcely knew what to think of it, 
 " I can't be expected to know much about the matter, but I 
 taught that you would have purchased the copyright." 
 
 " You take my advice," returned Mr. Douall. " I have had 
 some experience, of course, and I don't for a moment hesitate 
 to give you the benefit of it, because you are no common man. 
 Let it be published on your own account. I'll take care that 
 justice is done to it and you'll see how much better it will 
 answer your purpose." 
 
 " Well then," said Alfred, " let it be so. I place it entirely 
 in your hands, with a feeling of the utmost confidence, and all 
 I can say is, do the best you can." 
 
 "Depend upon that. I'll announce it immediately, and 
 raise the public mind to the highest pitch of expectation. It 
 shall sell : I'll make it sell : I'll push it into every corner of 
 the globe. And now, when do you think of returning ?" 
 
 " I have nothing now to detain me in town." 
 
 " Then return at once, and commence another work, so that 
 it may follow on the heels of this. I'll send you down the 
 proofs to correct ; but, get on with another. Z7Z keep you at 
 work," he added, playfully. If you are idle, I'll haunt you ! 
 Will you commence immediately ? Do, by all means ; because, 
 you see, when your name is up, it will be a thousand pities to 
 let it go down. Therefore, set to work immediately on your 
 return." 
 
 "With golden visions floating before him, Alfred promised to 
 do so ; and when Mr. Douall had portrayed his impressions 
 of the leading literary men of the day which, under the 
 
318 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 circumstances, deeply interested Alfred they rejoined the 
 ladies, who were in excellent spirits, and with whom they 
 passed the evening very agreeably. 
 
 Having explained all to Felicia who had been led to repose 
 the utmost confidence in the honour of Mr. Douall Alfred, 
 anxious to begin work again, proposed that they should leave 
 town the following day, and as Felicia felt equally anxious for 
 every suggestion of Mr. Douall to be adopted, they started by 
 one of the early coaches in the morning. 
 
 The work was immediately put in hand, and the announdk- 
 ments were certainly of a most attractive character, and 
 calculated to excite the very highest expectation. It didn't 
 " ooze " out ; it came out at once, that " Alfred Murray, Esq." 
 was a " gifted writer," that that " gifted writer " was " allied to 
 Lady Felicia ;" that Lady Felicia was " the young and lovely 
 daughter of the most noble the Marquis of Kingsborough ; and 
 that the work would not only " create a startling sensation," 
 but be " celebrated as one of the most true and trenchant 
 pictures of high life extant !" 
 
 It was published, and a rush was made to the libraries : 
 " the last new novel" was considered " a great card.'* Felicia 
 ordered a dozen copies, and had them elegantly bound : one 
 for Fidele, who still lived with her, one for Mrs. Murray, 
 one for Mr. Murray, one for each of the girls, one for uncle 
 Cyrus, one for Mr. Wilkins, one for Mr. Chubb by whom she 
 was admired " above all other creatures under heaven !" and 
 one for herself. Papers were sent down constantly, containing 
 very favourable reviews, and Mr. Wilkins, who was frequently 
 in town, ascertained that the work was well known in " the 
 trade ;" that it was understood to have sold very well ; that it 
 was to be found at all the libraries, and that the next, by the 
 same author would, in all probability, sell as well. 
 
 During the whole of this time Alfred worked very hard : 
 the road to fame was in his view clear, and he made up his 
 mind to pursue it with diligence. Still he was anxious to 
 
LADY FELICIA. 319 
 
 know how he was going on : he wanted to see the realization 
 of some of those " golden dreams" by which he had so long 
 been enchanted. When, therefore, three months had expired, 
 he wrote to Mr. Douall on the subject, and that gentleman 
 very promptly, and with infinite politeness, appointed a day 
 for " the settlement as far as the thing had gone." 
 
 Alfred accordingly went up to town, and was received by 
 Mr. Douall with all his characteristic courtesy. He hoped 
 that he was well : he hoped that the delightful Lady Felicia 
 was well : he hoped everybody connected with him was well : 
 he was particularly anxious to know if there had been any 
 increase in the family, and was altogether very pleasing, 
 playful, and affectionate. 
 
 " Well," said he, having fired a volley of civilities, " our 
 novel didn't go off" so well as I expected : I pushed it well too ! 
 but the public mind is flat : times are not what they used to 
 be : pockets are not so well lined as they were : people haven't 
 the money to spend. This Currency Bill has played vengeance 
 with the circulation pinched everything up. There's nothing 
 stirring: all is spiritless and dull, and, therefore, in spite of 
 every effort, it hangs fire. But you mustn't be disheartened ! 
 it was, you know, but a first production after all ! we shall 
 improve upon it ; the next will tell the tale." 
 
 " But," said Alfred, " I understood that it sold very well!" 
 
 " I caused that to be understood by the public at large : I 
 
 made every earthly effort to induce them to believe it : that 
 was, of course, a mere matter of business. However, I don't 
 know how we stand ! I have directed my clerk to make out 
 the account ; he may have done it by this time : we'll ring 
 and ascertain." 
 
 A dark veil fell between Alfred and his hopes, and all his 
 bright visions became indistinct. 
 
 " Mr. Murray's account made out ? " inquired Mr. Douall, of 
 a sleek and obsequious, but very artful card. 
 
 " Yes, sir/' replied the card in question, "just finished it." 
 
320 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " Bring it in." 
 
 The clerk went for the account, and during his absence Mr. 
 Douall directed Alfred's attention to a painting, which had just 
 been presented to him, he said, by one of the most celebrated 
 artists of the day. The painting, however, had no charms for 
 Alfred ; he wanted to see the account. 
 
 "Well, how do we stand," inquired Mr Douall, when the 
 clerk had returned." 
 
 " There's a balance, sir, of ninety odd pounds." 
 
 " Oh, said Mr. Douall, as he perused the account, while 
 Alfred thought ninety odd pounds would be something. 
 " But," he added, " you have put the balance here on the wrong 
 side." 
 
 " No sir ; the balance is against Mr. Murray." 
 
 "Against Mr. Murray!" said Mr. Douall, with a well- 
 defined expression of amazement. Haven't you made Some 
 mistake ? " 
 
 "No sir; it's all correct." 
 
 " G-o and bring the books, bills, vouchers, and all. Dear 
 me," he added, as the clerk left the room, " I made so sure that 
 it would sell, that I advertised it more than I otherwise should 
 have done ; but I certainly had no idea of this." 
 
 Alfred was silent ; the books were produced, and when Mr. 
 Douall had examined them as minutely as if the whole thing 
 had been new to him, he directed the clerk to leave the room. 
 
 " Well/' said he, " certainly this is correct. It struck me 
 when I found that it hung fire, that it would'nt be a very great 
 card, but I did think that it would, at any rate, have cleared 
 itself. It's a sad job, certainly a very poor beginning. But 
 I'll tell you what I must do : I must give you two hundred for 
 the next." 
 
 " But I don't understand this" said Alfred. " You said 
 that you would give me the full benefit of the first production, 
 and you bring me nearly a hundred pounds in debt. This 
 surely is not what you meant by the full benefit." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 321 
 
 "My dear sir, if I had dreamt that the thing would' nt pay 
 and that handsomely too I would'nt have published it, 
 either on your account or on that of any other man alive. 
 But these things are, after all, speculations. "We can't expect 
 them always to succeed. They will, in spite of you, sometimes 
 fail. I'm of course sorry for it very sorry for it. I feel, 
 nevertheless, conscious of having done all I could to make it 
 pay. However, as I said before, in order to meet the thing as 
 far as I can, I'll give you two hundred for the next.'' 
 
 Alfred took no apparent notice of this ; his eyes were 
 wandering through a labyrinth of charges for composing, 
 correcting, printing, binding, advertising, and a host of et ceteras, 
 which he did'nt understand, and therefore could'nt dispute. 
 The only thing which he understood distinctly was that " the 
 balance of ninety odd pounds was against him." But then 
 what could he say ? He knew what he thought, but how could 
 he prove that what he thought was correct? 
 
 Mr. Douall endeavoured, with the most affectionate 
 solicitude, to raise his spirits. He playfully alluded to the 
 difficulties and struggles of " other great men," and assured 
 him that his were over that his name was up that he was 
 already popular, and that all he had to do was to achieve 
 immortality. 
 
 " Now think no more of it," he added, at length. " Don't 
 allow it to depress you for a moment. Finish the work you 
 have nearly completed, bring it to me ? and there's your 
 money. You'll dine with me to-day ?" 
 
 Dine with him ! Alfred thought not. He didn't feel disposed 
 to dine with any one then. Having left Mr. Douall who 
 up to the last moment laboured to assure him, that in his 
 esteem he occupied a lofty position ! he had a savage dinner 
 alone. 
 
322 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE MYSTEBY SOLVED. 
 
 ALFBED, on his return to Sudbuiy, was met at the inn by 
 Cyrus and Mr. Wilkins, and when he had explained to them 
 that instead of receiving, as he had expected, " five hundred 
 pounds at least," he had been brought by Mr. Douall nearly 
 a hundred in debt, they didn't fail to express their amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " What !" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins indignantly for he felt 
 himself to some extent compromised " Oh ! it's a swindle ! 
 it must be a swindle ! a dirty, disreputable, swindle ! But how 
 does he make it out ?" 
 
 Alfred produced "the true and particular account," which 
 Mr. Wilkins understood almost as much about as he did, and 
 when he had sufficiently confused himself among the "ads " and 
 the "pars," and the startling figures connected therewith, he 
 said " Let me have this. Til see about this. I shall be in 
 town again in the course of the week. I'll see about it. Leave 
 it to me." 
 
 "Why, my boy !" exclaimed Cyrus, with a smile, "this is a 
 lucrative profession you've got into. After all your anxiety 
 and care after racking your brains from morning till night, 
 and sticking to work like a leech for months to be rewarded 
 with a balance of a hundred pounds against you a very, very 
 lucrative profession indeed ! We'll have no more of this, my 
 boy ! "We'll see after something that will pay a little better. 
 This is worse than nothing per cent, upon capital. But never 
 mind : keep up your spirits ; you'll know more before you're a 
 week older. It doesn't much matter, after all." 
 
LADY FELICIA. 323 
 
 " Not matter, uncle ?" said Alfred, "not to have ones hopes 
 blasted" 
 
 " My boy," promptly interrupted Cyrus, don't give way to 
 any bitter feeling. Do you mark my words. You'll know 
 more before you're a week older ! Before you are a week older, 
 you'll care no more about this than I do, and that is but little. 
 I am glad that you have done what you have done, because 
 you have proved what you can do. I am proud of it, and you 
 may be proud of it too ; but had it turned out more profitable 
 even than you expected, you would never have written another 
 work !" 
 
 " Why not?" 
 
 " Because I have something better for you to do ! As I 
 have said, you'll know more in less than a week. Therefore 
 don't fret at all about this. Keep up your spirits, my boy! 
 and above all, say nothing about this failure to Felicia!" 
 
 " How is it possible for me to keep it from her ?" 
 
 "You can say that the thing isn't settled: nor is it! Mr. 
 "Wilkins will see about it when he goes to town." 
 
 " If I live /" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, energetically. "I will, if 
 I live ! If it be possible to ascertain the truth, the truth shall 
 be ascertained !" 
 
 " But," said Alfred, " had I not better complete what I am 
 now about first ? I shall have, at all events, a hundred pounds 
 to receive then !" 
 
 "Have nothing more to do with such a man," returned 
 Cyrus. " Besides, you haven't time to do anything more for 
 this ' celebrated' individual now. But come," he added, "let 
 us be off". Felicia will be anxious." 
 
 Having left Mr. "Wilkins, who was still most indignant, they 
 started for Melford ; and notwithstanding Alfred's efforts to 
 look cheerful when he arrived, Felicia, at a glance, saw that all 
 was not right. 
 
 " I fear," she observed, after the first affectionate greeting, 
 T 2 
 
324 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 " that you have not been so successful as you expected, love 
 have you ?" 
 
 "Well/ 1 replied Alfred, "the thing is not settled. The 
 account was made out, but not satisfactorily." 
 
 " Then have you to go up again, dear ?'* 
 
 " Not at present/' 
 
 " Dear me ! that is very, very tiresome. He said, distinctly, 
 that he would settle as far as he could. If he were not pre- 
 pared to do so, he ought not to have sent for you. What did 
 he say, dear ?" 
 
 " He said, that for the next he was willing to give me two 
 hundred pounds." 
 
 " Two hundred ! Not more than that ! And did you say 
 that you would accept it ?" 
 
 " Not distinctly. But we shall hear from him again, by 
 and by, I've no doubt." 
 
 Felicia at once perceived that he wished to avoid the 
 subject, and therefore would not press it then ; but having, 
 during dinner, watched him anxiously, she felt quite certain 
 that something was wrong. While, however, she was watching 
 Alfred, Cyrus was watching her ; and as he saw clearly that 
 Alfred had failed to satisfy her natural curiosity, and that she 
 was in consequence full of apprehension, he made up his mind 
 to relieve them at once, by revealing to them that " profound 
 secret," which he had intended to conceal another week. 
 
 Accordingly, after dinner Fidele being absent he assumed 
 an expression of deep mystery, and said, " I have something 
 of great importance to communicate something, indeed, so 
 important, that it involves the prosperity and the happiness 
 of the remainder of your lives." 
 
 He drew nearer to the table, while Alfred and Felicia 
 whom this startling and mysterious exordium amazed looked 
 at each other and marvelled. 
 
 " The Hall," he resumed, with emphatic deliberation, " has 
 
LADY FELICIA. 325 
 
 been, as you are, of course, aware, for some time advertised 
 for sale. It is mortgaged, deeply mortgaged, and has been 
 for years : it is mortgaged for more than it will fetch seeing 
 that it has of late been sadly neglected but not for so much 
 as it is absolutely worth. That mortgage was six months 
 ago called in, and various attempts have been made to get 
 another, but as no one could be found to invest more than 
 two-thirds of the present estimated value of the estate, it 
 must come to the hammer nominally, in consequence of the 
 Marquis having purchased a larger estate; but virtually, 
 because he cannot find the money, even with that two-thirds, 
 to clear off the old mortgage. Yery well. Now, on "Wednesday 
 next, the estate is to be sold at Grarraway's, and you shall 
 buy it !" 
 
 " I !" exclaimed Alfred, with a look of amazement. " I ! I 
 buy it!" 
 
 " Yes ! You shall buy it, my boy ! Ha, ha, ha I We are 
 not at starvation's door yet." 
 
 Again, Alfred and Felicia, in a state of amazement, looked 
 at each other, and wondered what he really meant. 
 
 " My dear," resumed Cyrus, addressing Felicia, " you were 
 born at the Hall : you passed the greater part of your early 
 youth there : you shall pass the greater part of your life there, 
 my love : you shall be, as you deserve to be, its mistress." 
 
 " But," said Alfred, " tell me distinctly what you mean." 
 
 " I mean," replied Cyrus, " that you shall buy the estate ; 
 I mean that you shall reside at the Hall in which Felicia was 
 born, and which is dear to her, I know. I have told you that 
 it is mortgaged : I have now to tell you, that we hold that 
 mortgage ! and when I say we, I mean Chubb and myself 
 although my name does not appear. We hold the mortgage ! 
 We have been working together, quietly, for years ! You 
 don't know all, my boy ! although you are a " very popular " 
 man, you don't know all ! nor does your justly " celebrated " 
 
326 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 publisher. I don't mean to tell you, that when you have 
 purchased the estate, it will be at once absolutely, yours ! But 
 the thing can be managed, my boy ! it can be managed ! and 
 let that, for the present, be sufficient. It has been of late very 
 much neglected : I know that it has : the Marquis must have 
 lost, through neglect, a deal of money ; but, if you, with a view 
 to its improvement, will but work half as hard as you have 
 worked in that lucrative profession, from which you'll now 
 happily retire, it will pay. And now give me a glass of wine, 
 and I'll tell you a little more." 
 
 Eoth Alfred and Felicia looked as if bewildered, and when 
 Cyrus had had a glass of wine, he thus continued : 
 
 " Now in the first place, don't say a word about this to 
 mortal ; not a word ; if you do, you will, in all probability, spoil 
 all. There may, nay, there doubtless will be, two or three 
 bidders, whose surveyors have of late been hard at work, but 
 if we keep the thing secret we shall have it. Certain reasons 
 will prompt me to go a little farther than it will answer the 
 purpose of most men to go ; but if we strictly keep what 
 we mean to ourselves, we shall have it, and that without much 
 competition. Understand, that in buying this estate, you 
 can't be said to go against the Marquis. It is publicly 
 advertised ; it is open to be purchased by any one ; and when 
 you have purchased it, my boy, you will not appear to be quite 
 so near starvation point, as some people predicted you would 
 be." 
 
 "Who were they ?" inquired Alfred. 
 
 " No matter for the present ; you'll in all probability know 
 by and by. All I wish to observe having reference to the 
 Marquis is, that in purchasing this estate you will not appear 
 to be actuated by any desire to injure him. And now," he 
 continued, " I'll tell you why I have kept this from you so long. 
 In the first place, as the old adage says, ' There's many a slip 
 'twixt the cup and the lip,' and as I know that you would feel 
 
LADY FELICIA. 327 
 
 very seriously disappointed, in the event of the estate passing 
 into other hands, I would not in this respect raise your 
 expectations. In the second place, I thought that if I told 
 you what I intended, it might possibly ' ooze' out, as your 
 celebrated publisher would say; in which case I knew that any 
 sacrifice would be made to keep it from us. And in the third 
 place, I wished, my boy, to see what you would do, and although 
 the profession you adopted has, in your case, been amazingly 
 lucrative, I am proud of what you have done, for it proves 
 beyond doubt that you have energy, talent, and perseverance. 
 Nor should I have told you even now," he added, turning to 
 Felicia, " had I not perceived, my dear, that you were full of 
 apprehension, in consequence of Alfred's inability to satisfy 
 you that all was right in town." 
 
 " All then is not right ?" 
 
 " Certainly not. This young gentleman has been struggling 
 all this time to get a hundred pounds in debt to his celebrated 
 publisher." 
 
 " Indeed !" exclaimed Felicia. 
 
 " Oh ! it's a fact. He has been working hard for a celebrated 
 balance of ninety odd pounds against him." 
 
 "But I don't understand." 
 
 " Nor do I, my dear ; nor does Alfred ; nor indeed does Mr. 
 Wilkins, who has taken the matter in hand ; the celebrated 
 publisher alone understands it ; all that we understand is the 
 interesting fact, that when the nominal proceeds of the sale are 
 deducted from the nominal expenses of publication, there is not 
 only a nominal, but an actual balance of ninety odd pounds left 
 for Alfred to pay." 
 
 " Dear me," exclaimed Felicia, " it was very wrong indeed of 
 Mr. Douall to mislead us." 
 
 " "What does Mr. Douall, my love, care about that ? "What 
 would he care, my dear, if even he knew that you had absolutely 
 no other resource ? Nothing. Nor need we care much about 
 
328 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 it. Feeling, however, that when it came to your knowledge you 
 would not only care but fret about the matter, and knowing 
 that while you were kept in the dark, you would continue to be 
 tortured with apprehensions, I made up my mind to impart 
 that secret which I certainly intended to conceal another 
 week." 
 
 " Tou are, as you ever have been, kind and considerate. I 
 should have felt indeed distressed, had I known this alone." 
 
 " Of course you would ! But let us say no more about the 
 courteous Mr. Douall : let us fix our attention upon the one 
 grand point, and remember, that the slightest hint may have 
 the effect of frustrating the object we have in view." 
 
 He then proceeded to enter into a variety of calculations,^ 
 in order to prove to Alfred that the estate, if well managed, 
 would yield a very splendid revenue ; and having remained 
 with them explaining his connexion with the Bank and 
 various other matters, of which they had no previous know- 
 ledge until Pidele and the indignant Mr. Wilkins came 
 home ; he privately gave them one more serious caution, and 
 left them in a state of amazement the most intense. 
 
 It really appeared to them to be a dream. This accounted 
 for his quiet display of conscious independence. It accounted 
 for the extraordinary willingness on the part of the Bank to 
 afford the firm of Murray and "Wilkins the " accommodation" 
 of which they had spoken so highly. It accounted, in short, 
 for numberless things which had always appeared to be 
 mysteries. 
 
 Well ! The " writing" was set aside of course. Alfred had 
 got his lovely heroine into an appalling dilemma, and there he 
 left her. He never got her out. She is in it to this very day. 
 There she and the " perfidious one" stand. He had no time to 
 see after either. His time was devoted to Uncle Cy and Mr. 
 Chubb, with whom he was engaged in calculations on and off 
 the estate, until the day before the sale, when they went up to 
 
LA.DT FELICIA. 
 
 town, where they met Mr. "Wilkins, who informed them that 
 Mr. Douall's clerk had " made a mistake." 
 
 At the time appointed for the sale to commence there were 
 several persons present, who looked like purchasers, and when 
 an hour had been allowed for conversation, business began, and 
 the sale proceeded slowly. Chubb, being known to the agents 
 of the Marquis, kept studiously aloof from Cyrus and Alfred, 
 until the auctioneer, notwithstanding the offers made were 
 insufficient to cover the mortgage, appeared to be really in 
 earnest, when he promptly gave the pre-concerted signal, and 
 Alfred made an offer. This put one of the bidders, who was 
 accompanied by his surveyor, and who appeared to be determined 
 to have it, upon his mettle, and a somewhat severe competition 
 ensued, but Alfred, urged by Chubb and Cyrus, out-bid him, 
 and to Alfred the estate was eventually " knocked down." 
 
 Chubb then introduced him to the Marquis's solicitor, who 
 promised that no time should be lost in preparing the con- 
 veyance; and when all the necessary arrangements had been 
 made, Alfred took possession of the estate. 
 
330 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 THE expansive powers of a social circle, of which wealth is 
 the centre, are known ; but those powers in the case of Alfred 
 and Felicia were not tested. 
 
 They had no sooner taken possession of the estate with the 
 reputation of being almost inconceivably rich, a reputation 
 which Conjecture, with B/umour, his wife, can at all times with 
 infinite facility establish, than the neighbouring "gentry" 
 the butterflies who are seen only where the sun shines 
 fluttered round them with fascinating smiles, and expressions 
 of intense admiration ; but Felicia, who loved tranquillity still, 
 and who well knew the value of these conventionalities, gave 
 them no encouragement whatever to persevere in their efforts 
 to " draw her out." She knew the constitution of society, 
 and looked beneath its surface. She knew that if hearts were 
 open, and feelings were material things conspicuously developed, 
 circles of " friends" would be but small ; and therefore pursued 
 her gentle course was courteous and kind to all around her, 
 and enjoyed that sweet tranquillity of soul which purity only 
 can impart^ and which social hypocrisy tends to destroy. 
 
 But the greatest sensation prevailed in the town. "Where 
 had Alfred procured the money to purchase the estate ? How 
 had it been done ? "Who had made him so rich all at once ? 
 There had been no death in the family of Lady Felicia, because 
 she was not in mourning ! and if the Marquis had made them 
 a present of the estate, why had it been advertised and 
 publicly sold ? Had it been done for a blind ? It might have 
 been ; and yet the Marquis was not the man to conceal his 
 
LADY FELICIA. 331 
 
 generosity. Perhaps one of Lady Felicia's rich relations had 
 taken pity upon her ! It must have been so : and yet why 
 must it ? Had they not been living in a style of independence 
 ever since they came down ? Had he not been writing novels ? 
 "Who could tell what they had realized ? And yet he couldn't 
 have written a sufficient number in the time. No : it wasn't 
 that they were sure that it wasn't that : what it was they 
 couldn't tell ! nor was it necessary for them to know. The 
 tradesmen's wives who once had a chance of being introduced 
 to Lady Felicia, now reproached themselves bitterly, while the 
 tradesmen who had waited with the utmost impatience, to 
 see Alfred and Felicia wandering about the streets in a state 
 of starvation, for the express purpose of fulfilling the predic- 
 tion of the Marquis humbly solicited their patronage and 
 support. 
 
 Meanwhile, Alfred was full of energy. He had procured 
 the advice and assistance of the most eminent practical 
 agriculturists of the day: he broke up two-thirds of the 
 park, which had never before yielded a shilling : in short he 
 made every possible effort with a view to the improvement of 
 the estate, and his success was beyond even the most sanguine 
 expectations of uncle Cyrus and Mr. Chubb. 
 
 About twelve months after they had taken possession, 
 Felicia received a letter from Richmond, stating that Lady 
 Loftus felt exceedingly ill, and was anxious to see her once 
 more. She accordingly, accompanied by Alfred, went to 
 Richmond, and saw her aunt, whose death was then daily 
 expected, and who received her most affectionately : she begged 
 to be forgiven for all the pain she had inflicted, and explained 
 with much emotion, that the accounts which she had heard 
 from Florence and Augusta the whole of which she had 
 proved to be false were of a character so shocking, that she 
 felt it her duty to act as she had done. " Do not leave me, my 
 love," she added, at length. " This house is yours. Do not 
 leave me. I shall not be here long." 
 
332 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 Nor was she. She died the next day, and left all she 
 possessed to Felicia. 
 
 This incensed the Ladies Florence and Augusta still more ; 
 for they had been led to expect that all beyond the five 
 thousand pounds, which reverted to Felicia, would be divided 
 between them. They were frantic with rage when the fact 
 became known to them, and charged Felicia with having 
 "wheedled" her aunt on her death bed, not because she 
 wanted the property, but in order to be revenged upon them. 
 No robbery was ever, in their judgment, committed with more 
 consummate impudence ! They wouldn't go while they knew 
 that she was there, nor would the Marquis : they only wished 
 they had gone ! It would have been, however, quite useless : 
 the will was made before Felicia arrived. 
 
 Florence, about six months after this, married : she married 
 Lord Delorme, who had a spirit as imperious, and a temper 
 as violent, as her own; and having spent the "honeymoon" 
 with him " a honeymoon," characterized by the most furious 
 efforts on both sides to obtain the mastery ! she returned to 
 .Kingsborough house, disgusted with him ; and he left England 
 declaring that he would not even live in the same land with her ! 
 
 This, however, did by no means intimidate Augusta. She 
 was not to be daunted, not she ! She married the Earl of 
 Ellesmere ; and in a few weeks they arrived at a point of 
 indifference, which prompted them to enter into a compact to 
 keep up " appearances" as man and wife, Jmt not to interfere 
 at all with each other's pleasures. 
 
 Mr. Ohubb about this time wrote to the Marquis on the 
 subject of an account which was still between them, and which 
 ought long before to have been settled ; and as the Marquis, 
 who had then no agent in Sudbury, was anxious to have "more 
 time," he went down himself, and saw Mr. Chubb ; and when 
 an arrangement had been made for Mr. Chubb had no desire 
 to be severe so long as the thing was arranged in some way 
 the Marquis inquired " how those people got on at the Hall ? " 
 
LADY EELICIA. 333 
 
 " Excellently well," replied Mr. Chubb. " It is impossible 
 for any man to get on better. Active, intelligent, full of 
 energy, and spirit ; that young man is coining money fast." 
 
 " I was robbed," said the Marquis, " I see it now daily and 
 hourly robbed." 
 
 "Very likely, my lord," returned Mr. Chubb coolly. "I 
 think it very likely, indeed. But Alfred Murray is not above 
 attending to his own business ! You should see the estate 
 now, my lord. You'd scarcely know it. It would be worth 
 your lordship's while to ride up and have a look at it. Let 
 me recommend you to do so, my lord. Just go over it." 
 "What, I?" 
 
 "Why not, my lord? You will find Mr. Murray as 
 gentlemanly a man as you ever spoke to, while his amiable 
 lady is an angel, my lord, if there ever were one upon earth." 
 " Do you forget, Mr. Chubb ?" 
 
 " JN"o, my lord ; but I think that it's high time for you to 
 forget, or at all events, my lord, to forgive." 
 
 " To forgive in such a case, is to countenance an example, 
 which i in itself pernicious. No girl ought to marry without 
 the consent of her parents." 
 
 " I admit it I admit that the example is bad, and therefore 
 one which ought not to be countenanced ; but do you counten- 
 ance an act of disobedience, by forgiving the child who has 
 committed it ? Does nature, or even common justice, prompt 
 a father to crush such a child ? Must he labour to crush her, 
 or hope to see her crushed, in order to prove that he cannot 
 countenance her fault ? WTiat becomes of our paternal 
 affection what becomes of Christianity itself, if such a 
 doctrine be admitted ? The practice is a bad one ; and in the 
 great majority of such cases, lasting misery is the result ; it is 
 seldom, indeed, that true happiness springs from a clandestine 
 marriage ; but is it our duty to mark our disapprobation by 
 rendering that misery more acute, or by wishing that our 
 children may be miserable that they may become outcasts of 
 
334 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 society that they may, to use the words of a certain handbill, 
 have to choose between infamy and utter starvation ?" 
 
 " I know what you allude to," said the Marquis ; " but that 
 did not emanate from me." 
 
 " I don't know, my lord, whom it emanated from ; I only 
 know that it must have emanated from a coward. But, as I 
 was saying, ought we to wish for destruction to alight upon 
 our children because we have neglected to inspire them with 
 that love for us which is the very germ of obedience ? Who 
 ever heard of an instance of a child, whose parents had properly 
 taught her to love them, being in this grand respect disobedient ? 
 Disobedience springs almost invariably from neglect. When I 
 point to the happiness of Lady Felicia, I do not point to it as 
 the result of a clandestine marriage ; because her case on that 
 point is one out of a thousand no, I point to it merely as the 
 result of a combination of purity, energy, and honour. It must, 
 my lord, be remembered that if there ever were a case in which 
 an act of disobedience it may more properly be called an act 
 of independence, seeing that as your lordship had no know- 
 ledge whatever of its being contemplated, you could'nt have 
 forbidden it I say if ever such a case could be held to be venial, 
 that case is Lady Felicia's. She had no dear mother to guide 
 her she never felt the sweet influence of a fond mother's love 
 which I, old and rough as I am, my lord, have felt, and still 
 feel although she is gone and shall continue to feel until the 
 heart over which it ever reigns shall cease to throb. She had 
 no dear mother, my lord : you could'nt attend to her ; and her 
 sisters to say the least were unkind. Ought she not there- 
 fore, my lord, to be forgiven? I speak irrespective of her 
 present prosperity, because that is, of course, adventitious ; 
 but I say, that a father, possessing the heart and the feelings 
 of a father, can't in his own breast, my lord in his own breast I 
 -justify himself in refusing to forgive her." 
 
 " Does she ever mention me ?" inquired the Marquis, with 
 some emotion. 
 
LADY FELICIA. 335 
 
 " Frequently ; and I know that if she had but your forgive- 
 ness, her happiness would be indeed perfect." 
 
 " Then, I'll go and speak to her." 
 
 "Youwt'ZZ, my lord!" 
 
 " Yes : I'll go and see her. "Will you accompany me ?" 
 
 " With much more pleasure than I am able to express." 
 
 The Marquis rang the bell and ordered his carriage at 
 once, and when it was ready they started for the Hall. 
 
 Felicia, who was at the window with Alfred playing with 
 their beautiful boy, no sooner saw the carriage approach, than 
 she clung to him as if for protection. 
 
 " My love !" said he, " why so tremulous ? " 
 
 He had, however, scarcely spoken, when he recognized 
 James, and then, of course, knew the cause. 
 
 " Be firm," he added. " Be firm, my love !" 
 
 The carriage stopped, and when Chubb alighted with the 
 Marquis, Alfred felt that the visit was not hostile. He did not, 
 however, go out to receive them : the Marquis was shown into 
 one of the rooms, and Chubb went to announce his arrival. 
 
 " The Marquis," said he, addressing Felicia, with an expres- 
 sion of gladness. " The Marquis ! It's all right ! He has 
 come in the most friendly spirit ! He has come to make you 
 happy ! Gro to him, my dear ! " 
 
 Felicia, still instinctively clinging to Alfred fear, not love, 
 being the lesson which the Marquis had taught her trembled 
 with increased violence. Alfred, however, tenderly led her to 
 the room, and when he found that the Marquis embraced 
 her, retired. 
 
 "Felicia!" said the Marquis, as he held her in his arms, 
 " I am much pleased to see you. A feeling has been awakened 
 which has long lain dormant. Let all that has passed be, if 
 possible, forgotten. Be happy. Grod bless you. Where is 
 your husband ?" 
 
 Felicia rushed from the room, and clinging to Alfred, drew 
 him in. * 
 
336 LADY FELICIA. 
 
 "Mr. Murray," said the Marquis, as he took Alfred's 
 hand, " I have been wrong very wrong. Be prosperous and 
 happy." 
 
 " I am delighted, my lord, to see you here !" said Alfred. 
 " But you will not leave us yet ?" 
 
 " I called, but for a moment," replied the Marquis. 
 " Felicia," he added, " write to me : call upon me when you 
 come to town. Grod bless you G-od bless you both." 
 
 He embraced her once more, and having again shaken 
 Alfred by the hand, he returned with friend Chubb to the 
 carriage. 
 
 Felicia now felt completely happy. The presence of the 
 Marquis had overpowered her, and rendered her unable to 
 utter a word the fond name of father she had never been 
 taught to utter still, the fact of his having called was, in her 
 view, sufficient, and when Cyrus heard of it, every feeling 
 of resentment vanished. He always spoke of the Marquis 
 respectfully after that, and he had constant opportunities of 
 doing so, seeing that he then resided entirely at the Hall, 
 and there continued to reside until his death, when the estate 
 became Alfred's own. 
 
 Friend Chubb soon followed his warm hearted " brother :" 
 the loss was too great for him to bear : he saw him in his 
 grave, and wept bitterly, but came out of his house alive no 
 more. His manners were rough, but his nature was kind ; and 
 his pride was to love Felicia, who was, indeed, beloved by all 
 who could appreciate purity, and whose life was that of a 
 gentle spirit, inspired with tranquil joy. 
 
 J. HADDON, PRINTER, CASTLE STREET, FINSBL'RY. 
 
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