I commit my cause, not doubting his especial care. "Rest satisfied, my lord, with an assurance of never more being troubled with solicitations on my account.

"The spirit of my father, which, I think,
"Is within me,"

prompts me to exertion, not intreaty; it points out the road of virtue and honour as the only road to happiness, and makes me think lightly of any toil which can conduce to the ease of a parent, whose virtues render me proud, and give me a passport to the favour and countenance of the world.

"EGBERT OSWALD."

All hope of succour from the marquis being at an end, and extreme distress urging an immediate exertion, Egbert sallied forth one morning to the house of a merchant, whom his father had essentially served; and who, though he had never in any degree returned the obligations conferred upon him by lord Henry, had never wholly declared a disinclination to do so.

Egbert now resolved to put his sincerity to the test: he was received in a manner which gave rise to the most flattering expectations. But scarcely had he entered upon the purport of his visit, when the merchant interrupted him to say he had for several days been making a strict inquiry after him, as he had something of importance to communicate. He then briefly informed him, that by the last packet from Jamaica, he had received an account of the death of colonel Moreland, together with his will, to which he himself was appointed sole executor, and by which Egbert became entitled to the sum of ten thousand pounds; two to be paid immediately

D

from a deposit in one of the English banks, and the remainder as soon as the colonel's affairs were finally settled in Jamaica.

This gentleman, from whom Egbert received so unexpected a bequest, was the identical officer who had assisted lord Henry in carrying off Rosaline. In the course of time he accompanied his regiment to the West-Indies, where he soon formed a matrimonial connexion with the widow of a rich planter. Upon her demise, which was not till many years after their marriage, he was preparing to return to England, when an illness seized him, which the physicians at once pronounced mortal.

He gave up, therefore, all hopes of ever revisiting his native country, and immediately set about arranging his worldly affairs.

The merchant whom he had appointed his executor, was the person who transacted all his affairs in England, and to whose care his letters to lord Henry, with whom he kept up a constant correspondence, were consigned....letters expressive of the warmest friendship, and strongest anxiety about Egbert, his godson and namesake.

Not so much on his own account, as on his mother's and her venerable father, did Oswald rejoice at this sudden reverse of fortune.

The feelings of lady Henry on hearing it, canbetter be conceived than described; yet, amidst the happiness it imparted, a sudden pang of sorrow seized her heart at the idea of its coming too late to be shared by her husband. She soon, however, recollected herself, and, checking the tears of useless regret, bent with gratitude and resignation to the will of Heaven.

It was her ardent wish to quit London immediately.... the scene of her most exquisite miseries, and

which continually revived the keen remembrance of them.

The merchant, who was now become her zealous friend, no sooner learned this wish, and that she preferred a residence in one of the remote counties, to any bordering upon the metropolis, than he proposed giving Egbert an introductory letter to his brother-in-law, Mr. Frankland, who lived in Cheshire, and in whose neighbourhood, he understood, there were some pleasant dwellings to be let. This proposal was accordingly accepted, and he arrived about the commencement of christmas at Mr. Frankland's, who received him with the utmost courtesy and politeness.

The pleasures of his hospitable mansion did not render Oswald forgetful of the purpose for which he had visited the country; but he remained so undecided in his choice of a habitation, that he at length determined to leave the decision to lady Henry. This determination being declared to Mr. Frankland, he invited her and the major to his house in the most pressing manner; and Oswald, as has been already mentioned, went up to London to attend them in their journey from that capital.

Lady Henry was neither selfish nor aspiring; she had suffered, indeed, too severely, from the passions of avarice and ambition in the bosom of another, to give any encouragement to them in her own, and had consequently no objection to her son's union with Jacintha, but that which arose from the extreme youth of both parties; this, however, he contrived to over-rule, and it was agreed his happiness should not be deferred.

On arriving at Mr. Frankland's, they found him confined to his bed by the gout. Oswald, too impatient to wait for his recovery, set out for Wye

field with his servant. He stopped at the inn, from whence he wrote a short letter to Jacintha, acquainting her with his arrival, and begging her to fix an hour for his waiting upon her father.... Mrs. Greville and Gertrude were both upon the watch; the latter received the letter from his servant, whom she immediately dispatched, in order to prevent his being seen by any of the rest of the family, with a verbal message, importing, that a written answer would be sent after him. She and her mother then retired to a chamber, where, locking themselves in, they contrived, according to a previously concerted plan, the following letter.

66 SIR,

TO THE HON. EGBERT OSWALD.

"Trifling as this letter may make me appear in your eyes, I prefer the imputation of lightness or inconstancy, to the still more shocking imputation of perfidy or ingratitude.

"In short, sir, to be explicit, I must inform you, that I deceived both you and myself, when I imagined I returned your passion; time and reflection have since convinced me, I never did ....never can make such a return to it, as it merits.

"Regard, therefore, for your own happiness (for surely, very little, if indeed any, can be expected in a married state, without mutual affection and good-will), will, I doubt not, induce you to exonerate me from every promise I made you.

"But, from your generosity, I expect even more than this....I expect you will keep the con

tents of this letter, and your visit to Wyefield, a profound secret. Were either known, I should be overwhelmed with the resentment and reproaches of my friends, whose anxiety to see me advantageously settled, would never permit them to pardon my rejection of proposals, so infinitely superior to any they had a right to expect for

me.

"When you reflect upon the candour with which I have dealt towards you, I am sure you will allow I have some right to expect your compliance with my wishes in this respect.

"How many of my sex, situated as I am, would have yielded to the allurements of your wealth, and without even feeling for you those sentiments of esteem, which I must forever entertain, have accepted your hand, and thus entailed upon you the exquisite misery a mind of sensibility must ever experience, in an union where love is not reciprocal!

"But I scorn duplicity, and have solemnly determined, never to give my hand, unaccompanied by my heart. Could the impulses of that heart be regulated by the judgment, be assured, you would have received a very different letter from me; but, alas! inclination, like imagination, is uncontroulable.

"I cannot conclude, without entreating you to make Mr. Frankland (to whom, upon consideration, I cannot object to your shewing this letter) promise not to mention to my parents any thing relative to the sentiments with which you honoured me, or the intentions which you formed in consequence of those sentiments; as his dropping a hint upon the subject, would involve me in the greatest wretchedness...