CHAPTER IX.

For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart

In compliment extern, 'tis not long after,
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve,
For daws to peck at:-I am not what I seem.

OTHELLO.

WALTER was of a sanguine temperament, and being not only proud of the kindness he had experienced from so powerful and distinguished a statesman as the Earl of Sunderland, but persuaded that his fortune was about to be rapidly made, he lost not a moment in giving his father a full account of every thing that had occurred at Clarendon House, urging the immediate transmission of the fresh supplies necessary to complete his outfit, without which

he could neither be presented to the King, nor avail himself of the brilliant prospects that were now opening upon him. As his constant and affectionate heart derived an additional gratification from the hope that his success might quickly enable him to complete his engagements with Hetty, he failed not to communicate to her that he was in high favour with the Prime Minister, engaged to dine with him on the following Friday, about to make his appearance at Court, and, in short, on the high road to preferment; assuring her in the tenderest terms, that as soon as he had achieved any sort of independence, however small, he should hail it as the happiest moment of his life, since it would enable him to come forward, and claim the hand of his affianced wife. This letter he enclosed to Christopher the servant, alias comical Kit, who was the medium of communication between the lovers.

It was quite consistent, however, with his unshaken allegiance to Hetty, that he should feel an undiminished curiosity respecting the

fair and witty incognita whom he had encountered at Westbury. Indeed, she had never been long absent from his thoughts since his departure from that place; and he had often laughed heartily in recalling his adventure with the drunken Mayor. With the excusable vanity of a young man just entering the world, he wished to present himself before her as a protegé of my Lord Sunderland, and a debutant in the circles of Whitehall; but as his inability to defray the trifling sum he had borrowed would be little compatible with such lofty claims, he resolved to adhere to his first resolution of deferring his visit until he should have received the expected remittance. Still, there could be no objection, he thought, to his reconnoitring her residence, and accordingly when he sallied forth to put his letters in the post, he made his way to St. James's Square, cautiously approaching the house, which he easily distinguished by the description she had given him. From its handsome appearance he inferred that its occupant must be a person of

distinction, and having placed himself in a recess at some little distance, he peered at every window, hoping that at one of them he might obtain a glimpse of the mysterious Catherine, or at least of her friend. In this expectation he was disappointed; he could not even get a sight of a servant, although two richly decorated sedan-chairs were in waiting. Curiosity, at least where a lady is concerned, is as deeply implanted in the male as in the female bosom, and Walter having made up his mind that his incognita was about to occupy one of the chairs, remained patiently ensconced in his hidingplace, waiting for her appearance.

Nearly half an hour had thus elapsed, and he was beginning to get weary of lying perdu, when the sedans were taken into the hall, whence they shortly afterwards emerged, carried by chairmen in rich liveries, and followed by servants similarly bedizened. As they passed him, Walter could distinctly recognize his incognita, splendidly attired, attended in the second sedan by the friend who had accom

panied her at Westbury. Having allowed them to get a little way in advance, he left his place of concealment, and following at a trifling distance, saw the chairs quit Pall-mall, and cross the Park to the private door in the garden of Whitehall Palace, which was opened as they approached, when the gay, glittering little procession passed in, and the gate was again closed. It was evident, therefore, that his unknown was a person of high distinction attached to the Court, for none but the most favoured individuals had the privilege of this entrance, and his curiosity being now inflamed to the highest pitch, he returned towards Pallmall, resolving to enquire who was the occupant of the house from which he had seen her take her departure. While proceeding to put this design in execution he met Seagrave, and not choosing to make him his confident, nor indeed having any right to compromise the fair Catherine, who had doubtless good reasons for travelling incognita, he accepted his invitation to accompany him to the Cock-pit, where a