of the first set, the hand of the fair Geraldine. Yet would he not even then relinquish so invaluable a possession, till he had first obtained her promise to become his partner in the third set; and unwilling in the interim to engage any other fair, he pleaded fatigue, and reclining against the trunk of a tree, surveyed with ecstatic delight the graceful movements of the youthful beauty who had captivated all his attention.

Lady Courteney, who was a woman of grave composed manners, of austere morals, and of strict religious principles, possessed no relish for this gay and bustling scene; she would much rather have held with those holy men of her creed, who promulgate and explain the Gospels, social conversation, which oscillating between the upper and nether world, would alternately take into consideration the conversion of the unbelievers here on earth and the bliss of the elect in heaven. But such as these sought not nor found admission

admission in such tumultuary scenes; occasionally employed therefore on the contemplation of her own pious thoughts, to which she 'made, in defiance of the gay crowd, faithful and frequent recurrence, she sat in the temple where the refreshments were spread, and which overlooked the sprightly scene, a tranquil but indifferent spectator. Yet strange to tell, the natural apathy of her character seemed for an instant to abandon her, as she beheld major Blandford lead Miss Courteney to join the dancers at the commencement of the third set; and a something of interest gave a new-born expression of animation to her cold features, while she inquired of a lady who sat next her concerning the gentleman's character and expectations. Whatever might have been the information which lady Courteney received on this occasion, it had, after some minutes of deep meditation, a most happy effect in relaxing into a kind of smiling complaisance her usually grave countenance.

She

She appeared to observe with pleasure the major's polite attention to her daughter, and when on a summons to supper, the company withdrew from the gardens into the house, she committed, with an affable and frank confidence, the young lady to his protection.

Geraldine, disciplined for the last eight years in the severe school of rigorous selfdenial, could no otherwise account for this extraordinary condescension in her frigid mamma towards major Blandford, but by supposing that gentleman endued with superlative perfections. This supposition caused the young lady, naturally enough, to relax somewhat of the reserve she usually assumed towards strangers, more indeed in compliance with the oft-repeated maternal admonition, than in conformity 'to her own frank and candid nature. Major Blandford had no cause therefore to be dissatisfied with the polite courtesy of his noble hostess, or the encouragement which his gallant and tender assiduities obtained from her fair daughter.

VOL. I.

C

CHAP.

CHAPTER II.

This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes-I hear it now above me.
SHAKESPEARE.

THE sun, just peering above the clouds, began to cheer with his enlivening ray the animal world, when the company departed from Dermont Castle; and lady Courteney, quite exhausted with such long sitting-up, and her calm spirits disquieted by the riotous scene, retreated in eager haste to her apartment. With the assistance of her attendant, Mrs. Kitty Hobbs, she threw off her upper garments, the superfluous robes of vain pomp and vanity, and put on a loose wrapper and her nightcap, when, instead of retiring to seek repose, she withdrew, as was her usual custom, to her closet, in rigorous self-examination and fer

vent prayer, to make some amends for the trespasses of the past day.

Accustomed, in the eagerness of her supplicatory petition, to burst occasionally forth into audible and ardent ejaculations, lady Courteney exclaimed-" Purify me, O Lord, after my reluctant intercourse this night with the unrighteous, that I may stand justified in thy sight, and not be classed with the wicked. Maintain in my husband a true spirit of godliness, that may prevent him in future from making of his sober dwelling the temple of Babylon. Preserve the lovely young creature, whom thy divine providence hath committed to my care, from the fascinating spell by which such pleasures might lead her into errors, and purify her heart of all carnal affections that"

"Sinful woman!" cried a voice from above, "purge thy own wicked heart of its foul sins-no human effort can atone for human frailty."

Lady Courteney started-the prayer she