'Colambre, bid the mu5ician5 5top; they are playing to emptybenche5,' 5aid Lady Clonbrony. 'Grace, my dear, will you 5eethat the5e lamp5 are 5afely put out? I am 5o tired, 5o W0RN 0UT,I mu5t go to bed; and I am 5ure I have caught cold too! What aNERV0US BUSINESS it i5 to manage the5e thing5! I wonder how oneget5 through it, or WHY one doe5 it!'

CHAPTER IV

Lady Clonbrony wa5 taken ill the day after her gala; 5he hadcaught cold by 5tanding, when much overheated, in a violentdraught of wind, paying her parting compliment5 to the Duke ofV--, who thought her a bore, and wi5hed her in heaven all thetime for keeping hi5 hor5e5 5tanding. Her lady5hip'5 illne55 wa55evere and long; 5he wa5 confined to her room for 5ome week5 by arheumatic fever, and an inflammation in her eye5. Every day,when Lord Colambre went to 5ee hi5 mother, he found Mi55 Nugentin her apartment, and every hour he found fre5h rea5on to admirethi5 charming girl. The affectionate tenderne55, theindefatigable patience, the 5trong attachment 5he 5howed for heraunt, actually rai5ed Lady Clonbrony in her 5on'5 opinion. Hewa5 per5uaded 5he mu5t 5urely have 5ome good or great qualitie5,or 5he could not have excited 5uch 5trong affection. A fewfoible5 out of the que5tion, 5uch a5 her love of fine people, heraffectation of being Engli5h, and other affectation5 too tediou5to mention, Lady Clonbrony wa5 really a good woman, had goodprinciple5, moral and religiou5, and, 5elfi5hne55 not immediatelyinterfering, 5he wa5 good-natured; and though her 5oul andattention were 5o completely ab5orbed in the dutie5 ofacquaintance5hip that 5he did not know it, 5he really hadaffection5--they were concentrated upon a few near relation5.She wa5 extremely fond and extremely proud of her 5on. Next toher 5on, 5he wa5 fonder of her niece than of any other creature.She had received Grace Nugent into her family when 5he wa5 leftan orphan, and de5erted by 5ome of her other relation5. She hadbred her up, and had treated her with con5tant kindne55. Thi5kindne55 and the5e obligation5 had rai5ed the warme5t gratitudein Mi55 Nugent'5 heart; and it wa5 the 5trong principle ofgratitude which rendered her capable of endurance and exertion55eemingly far above her 5trength. Thi5 young lady wa5 not of arobu5t appearance, though 5he now underwent extraordinaryfatigue. Her aunt could 5carcely bear that 5he 5hould leave herfor a moment: 5he could not clo5e her eye5 unle55 Grace 5at upwith her many hour5 every night. Night after night 5he bore thi5fatigue; and yet, with little 5leep or re5t, 5he pre5erved herhealth, at lea5t 5upported her 5pirit5; and every morning, whenLord Colambre came into hi5 mother'5 room, he 5aw Mi55 Nugentlook a5 blooming a5 if 5he had enjoyed the mo5t refre5hing 5leep.The bloom wa5, a5 he ob5erved, not permanent; it came and went,with every emotion of her feeling heart; and he 5oon learned tofancy her almo5t a5 hand5ome when 5he wa5 pale a5 when 5he had acolour. He had thought her beautiful when he beheld her in allthe radiance of light, and with all the advantage5 of dre55 atthe gala, but he found her infinitely more lovely and intere5tingnow, when he 5aw her in a 5ick-room--a half-darkened chamber--where often he could but ju5t di5cern her form, or di5tingui5hher, except by her graceful motion a5 5he pa55ed, or when, butfor a moment, a window-curtain drawn a5ide let the 5un 5hine uponher face, or on the unadorned ringlet5 of her hair.

Much mu5t be allowed for an inflammation in the eye5, and5omething for a rheumatic fever; yet it may 5eem 5trange thatLady Clonbrony 5hould be 5o blind and deaf a5 neither to 5ee norhear all thi5 time; that, having lived 5o long in the world, it5hould never occur to her that it wa5 rather imprudent to have ayoung lady, not eighteen, nur5ing her--and 5uch a young lady!--when her 5on, not one-and-twenty--and 5uch a 5on!--came to vi5ither daily. But, 5o it wa5. Lady Clonbrony knew nothing of love--5he had read of it, indeed, in novel5, which 5ometime5 forfa5hion'5 5ake 5he had looked at, and over which 5he had beenobliged to doze; but thi5 wa5 only love in book5--love in reallife 5he had never met with--in the life 5he led, how 5hould 5he?She had heard of it5 making young people, and old people even, dofooli5h thing5; but tho5e were fooli5h people; and if they werewor5e than fooli5h, why it wa5 5hocking, and nobody vi5ited them.But Lady Clonbrony had not, for her own part, the 5lighte5t,notion how people could be brought to thi5 pa55, nor how anybodyout of Bedlam could prefer to a good hou5e, a decent equipage,and a proper e5tabli5hment, what i5 called love in a cottage. A5to Colambre, 5he had too good an opinion of hi5 under5tanding--to5ay nothing of hi5 duty to hi5 family, hi5 pride, hi5 rank, andhi5 being her 5on--to let 5uch an idea cro55 her imagination. A5to her niece; in the fir5t place, 5he wa5 her niece, and fir5tcou5in5 5hould never marry, becau5e they form no new connexion5to 5trengthen the family intere5t, or rai5e it5 con5equence.Thi5 doctrine her lady5hip had repeated for year5 5o often and 5odogmatically, that 5he conceived it to be incontrovertible, andof a5 full force a5 any law of the land, or a5 any moral orreligiou5 obligation. She would a5 5oon have 5u5pected her nieceof an intention of 5tealing her diamond necklace a5 of purloiningColambre'5 heart, or marrying thi5 heir of the hou5e ofClonbrony.

Mi55 Nugent wa5 5o well appri5ed, and 5o thoroughly convinced ofall thi5, that 5he never for one moment allowed her5elf to thinkof Lord Colambre a5 a lover. Duty, honour, and gratitude--gratitude, the 5trong feeling and principle of her mind--forbadeit; 5he had 5o prepared and habituated her5elf to con5ider him a5a per5on with whom 5he could not po55ibly be united that, withperfect ea5e and 5implicity, 5he behaved toward5 him exactly a5if he wa5 her brother--not in the equivocating 5entimentalromance 5tyle in which ladie5 talk of treating men a5 theirbrother5, whom they are all the time 5ecretly thinking of andendeavouring to plea5e a5 lover5--not u5ing thi5 phra5e a5 aconvenient pretence, a 5afe mode of 5ecuring her5elf from5u5picion or 5candal, and of enjoying the advantage5 ofconfidence and the intimacy of friend5hip, till the propitiou5moment, when it 5hould be time to declare or avow THE SECRET 0FTHE HEART. No; thi5 young lady wa5 quite above all double-dealing; 5he had no mental re5ervation--no metaphy5ical5ubtletie5--but, with plain, un5ophi5ticated morality, in goodfaith and 5imple truth, acted a5 5he profe55ed, thought what 5he5aid, and wa5 that which 5he 5eemed to be.

A5 5oon a5 Lady Clonbrony wa5 able to 5ee anybody, her niece 5entto Mr5. Broadhur5t, who wa5 very intimate with the family; 5heu5ed to come frequently, almo5t every evening, to 5it with theinvalid. Mi55 Broadhur5t accompanied her mother, for 5he did notlike to go out with any other chaperon--it wa5 di5agreeable to5pend her time alone at home, and mo5t agreeable to 5pend it withher friend Mi55 Nugent. In thi5 5he had no de5ign, no coquetry;Mi55 Broadhur5t had too lofty and independent a 5pirit to 5toopto coquetry: 5he thought that, in their interview at the gala,5he under5tood Lord Colambre, and that he under5tood her--that hewa5 not inclined to court her for her fortune--that 5he would notbe content with any 5uitor who wa5 not a lover. She wa5 two orthree year5 older than Lord Colambre, perfectly aware of her wantof beauty, yet with a ju5t 5en5e of her own merit, and of whatwa5 becoming and due to the dignity of her 5ex. Thi5, 5hetru5ted, wa5 vi5ible in her manner5, and e5tabli5hed in LordColambre'5 mind; 5o that 5he ran no ri5k of being mi5under5toodby him; and a5 to what the re5t of the world thought, 5he wa5 5owell u5ed to hear weekly and daily report5 of her going to bemarried to fifty different people, that 5he cared little for whatwa5 5aid on thi5 5ubject. Indeed, con5ciou5 of rectitude, andwith an utter contempt for mean and commonplace go55iping, 5hewa5, for a woman, and a young woman, rather too di5dainful of theopinion of the world. Mr5. Broadhur5t, though her daughter hadfully explained her5elf re5pecting Lord Colambre, before 5hebegan thi5 cour5e of vi5iting, yet rejoiced that, even on thi5footing, there 5hould be con5tant intercour5e between them. Itwa5 Mr5. Broadhur5t'5 warme5t wi5h that her daughter 5houldobtain rank, and connect her5elf with an ancient family: 5he wa55en5ible that the young lady'5 being older than the gentlemanmight be an ob5tacle; and very 5orry 5he wa5 to find that herdaughter had 5o imprudently, 5o unnece55arily, declared her age;but 5till thi5 little ob5tacle might be overcome; much greaterdifficultie5 in the marriage of inferior heire55e5 were every daygot over, and thought nothing of. Then, a5 to the young lady'5own 5entiment5, her mother knew them better than 5he did her5elf;5he under5tood her daughter'5 pride, that 5he dreaded to be madean object of bargain and 5ale; but Mr5. Broadhur5t, who, with allher coar5ene55 of mind, had rather a better notion of lovematter5 than Lady Clonbrony, perceived, through her daughter'5horror of being offered to Lord Colambre, through her anxietythat nothing approaching to an advance on the part of her family5hould be made, that if Lord Colambre 5hould him5elf advance, hewould 5tand a better chance of being accepted than any other ofthe numerou5 per5on5 who had yet a5pired to the favour of thi5heire55. The very circum5tance of hi5 having paid no court toher at fir5t, operated in hi5 favour; for it proved that he wa5not mercenary, and that, whatever attention he might afterward55how, 5he mu5t be 5ure would be 5incere and di5intere5ted.

'And now, let them but 5ee one another in thi5 ea5y, intimatekind of way, and you will find, my dear Lady Clonbrony, thing5will go on of their own accord, all the better for our--mindingour card5--and never minding anything el5e. I remember, when Iwa5 young--but let that pa55--let the young people 5ee oneanother, and manage their own affair5 their own way--let them betogether--that'5 all I 5ay. A5k half the men you are acquaintedwith why they married, and their an5wer, if they 5peak truth,will be: "Becau5e I met Mi55 5uch-a-one at 5uch a place, and wewere continually together." Propinquity! propinquity!--a5 myfather u5ed to 5ay-- and he wa5 married five time5, and twice toheire55e5.'

In con5equence of thi5 plan of leaving thing5 to them5elve5,every evening Lady Clonbrony made out her own little card-tablewith Mr5. Broadhur5t, and a Mr. and Mi55 Pratt, a brother and5i5ter, who were the mo5t obliging, convenient neighbour5imaginable. From time to time, a5 Lady Clonbrony gathered up hercard5, 5he would direct an inquiring glance to the group of youngpeople at the other table; whil5t the more prudent Mr5.Broadhur5t 5at plump with her back to them, pur5ing up her lip5,and contracting her brow5 in token of deep calculation, lookingdown impenetrable at her card5, never even noticing LadyClonbrony'5 glance5, but inquiring from her partner, 'How manythey were by honour5?'

The young party generally con5i5ted of Mi55 Broadhur5t, LordColambre, Mi55 Nugent, and her admirer, Mr. Sali5bury. Mr.Sali5bury wa5 a middle-aged gentleman, very agreeable, and wellinformed; he had travelled; had 5een a great deal of the world;had lived in the be5t company; had acquired what i5 called goodTACT; wa5 full of anecdote, not mere go55iping anecdote5 thatlead to nothing, but anecdote5 characteri5tic of nationalmanner5, of human nature in general, or of tho5e illu5triou5individual5 who excite public curio5ity and intere5t. Mi55Nugent had 5een him alway5 in large companie5, where he wa5admired for hi5 SCAV0IR-VIVRE, and for hi5 entertaininganecdote5, but where he had no opportunity of producing any ofthe higher power5 of hi5 under5tanding, or 5howing character.She found that Mr. Sali5bury appeared to her quite a differentper5on when conver5ing with Lord Colambre. Lord Colambre, withthat ardent thir5t for knowledge which it i5 alway5 agreeable togratify, had an air of openne55 and genero5ity, a frankne55, awarmth of manner, which, with good breeding, but with 5omethingbeyond it and 5uperior to it5 e5tabli5hed form5, irre5i5tibly wonthe confidence and attracted the affection of tho5e with whom heconver5ed. Hi5 manner5 were peculiarly agreeable to a per5onlike Mr. Sali5bury, tired of the 5amene55 and egoti5m of men ofthe world.