no good, and must not be renewed. Go; and God bless you."

With that she gave me her hand, which with all her kindness she had never done before, and I left her in a tumult of curiosity as well as of anxiety; for, while I considered this conversation more than ever decisive of my fate, there was a mystery about it, which I would have given more than I was worth to unravel.

That day there was another great dinner at Lord Castleton's, very different from the last I described, as having been so honoured by the attendance of the illustrious Paragraph. In my then frame of mind, perhaps this was the best thing that could have happened, to divert it from the consuming thoughts which my interview with Lady Hungerford had generated. But my thoughts, not at all prepared to wander into the world, were centered more than ever in the comparatively little spot which contained all that, in my mind at least, that world could boast of, that was worth pursuing.

I would, therefore, far more readily have shut myself up with Granville, who called upon me an hour before dinner, to whom I related all that had passed with Lady Hungerford, and whom I in vain sounded, and at last entreated, as one in confidence of the family, to supply what Lady Hungerford thought it her duty to refuse me.

"I have long," said I, "thought there was some mystery hanging over this too fascinating being-fascinating, you know, to others as well as to me, but whose addresses she refused. At her age, and with her great part in the world, if she choose to play it, to remain shut up within so small, though seemingly so magic a circle as Foljambe, from which, as if spell-bound, she does not issue, never coming to London, or approaching the court, which she seems formed to adorn as well as a rural shrine; her father, though old, not being any obstacle to this from want of health or even inclination :-all this surely must appear as marvellous to you as to me, unless you have a key to it."

"You forget," said he (endeavouring, as I thought, to parry my question), the domestic calamity they suffered, not so long ago as for its effect to have subsided. With all his faults, Mr. Hastings loved his son, and she her brother, so much so, that although not in the same degree, we might almost compare her feelings to those of the lady Olivia in Twelfth Night, who also lost a brother,

'For whose dear love,

They say she hath abjured the sight
And company of men.

"Were this only the first year of that sad catastrophe," I replied, "the reason might suffice; but even Olivia, it should appear, did not remain a re

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cluse three years, nor even in her retirement abjure the sight, at least, of the proper man. In short, her grief was not confined to the loss of a brother. Here, therefore, there not only may be, but from Lady Hungerford's plain admission, there is a proper man. For the love of heaven, therefore," said I, as well as for the effectual cure it will prove to myself, tell me if it is so. Once convinced that her affections are engaged, though to whom, in the recesses where she has so long been buried, it would puzzle a magician to discover, I shall far sooner recover my senses, than under the impression that her heart is still virgin."

Granville smiled, but I never liked him so little as in his reply. For, far from endeavouring to calm the agitation in which he saw me, he coolly observed, that if Lady Hungerford had plainly admitted it, I wanted no further proof.

"You are unkind, Granville," said I.

"We shall be too late for Lord Castleton's," replied he, and left me to dress.

It was plain to me that he knew more than he chose to reveal, and at the moment I hated him for it.

CHAPTER XIV.

MORE OF SOCIETY; AND OF TWO NOBLE PERSONS

I MEET WITH AT LORD CASTLETON'S.

Or else a feast,

And takes away the stomach; such are the rich,
That have abundance, and enjoy it not.

SHAKSPEARE.-2 Henry IV.

You must consider that a prodigal's course

Is like the sun's, but not like his, recoverable.

Timon of Athens.

AFTER all, there is an elasticity of mind attendant upon a young gentleman of three-and-twenty, who has little upon his conscience, who has experienced no great misfortune, but who, on the contrary, views the world in all the prodigality of hope, for which kings and emperors might wisely exchange their diadems. Heaven be thanked, this is not confined to any particular condition of life, but is equally enjoyed by the prince and the peasant; for it is the gift of the Author of nature to all his creatures who know how to use it. Happy are they

with whom it lasts longer than the age I have mentioned.

From some of the guests I met at Lord Castleton's on the day I am now commemorating, if ever they had possessed it, it had long fled with their years, and, unfortunately, had not been replaced by any other blessings, such as I had met with in Manners.

The agitation I had undergone was at least not new it had often risen and subsided, and I was not so absorbed by it, as not to make one or two of these characters my particular study. They were living proofs that neither rank nor wealth, and certainly not abilities, can command" our being's end and aim,"-happiness.

This being a speculation I was always fond of, by degrees the absorption of my mind yielded before it; and, though the thought of company, when I wished to be a hermit, had at first revolted me, the company in which I found myself, at length diverted and engaged much of my attention. There was indeed no illustrious Paragraph to amuse by his empty effrontery; but there was that happy mixture of the distinguished of the land for high rank and good-breeding with those celebrated for talent and good-humour, in which my patron, " in his happier hour," used frequently to indulge his fine mind.

Two persons in particular, from what I had