hopes that I have studied your character, hopes moved from the place where I had been known as a coquette. I seemed, as it were, beginning life again, with an unstained character, and a large stock of experience. The good and virtuous are ever unsuspicious; and Mrs. Beville, I am convinced, had not the slightest idea that I had ever been otherwise than a discreet, exemplary, and somewhat haughty girl, attracting admiration by my beauty, but repelling it by my reserve. Such, I have reason to believe, was the charac- Cleveland. Your conduct, I am sure-past, "Do not be out of spirits, Olivia,' pursued ter she gave of me to a friend of Mr. Beville's, present, and future-may stand the test of the of the name of Cleveland, a young man of fine strictest scrutiny; in fact, your manners are just talents and irreproachable conduct; his stay such as would delight and charm Mr. Davenwith the Bevilles was originally intended to ex-ant; and when I return home I shall introduce tend to a month, but day after day wore on, and he was still charmed to the spot ; I need not say by what influence." "Oh! I can well comprehend, aunt," said Janet. "Now comes the history of your fourth passage of coquetry.” "No, my love," replied Miss Desmond. "The evil spirit of coquetry was expelled by the good one of true love. I made no extraordinary efforts to attract the attention of Cleveland; I appeared in no artificial character; I entered with real enjoyment into his society; and when at length he revealed to me his love, I did not keep him in suspense, but candidly and unhesitatingly confessed to him that I returned it." "I fear, aunt, that the conclusion of your story will be a trial to you, and that you lost this beloved object by death." you to him without a fear for the result. The satisfactory part of the letter to which I have if he is pleased with my choice, of enabling me alluded is that my uncle signifies his intention, to encounter matrimonial expenses by making a handsome addition to my income.' "Cleveland left me: eight months elapsed, and my conduct was such as might have fully satisfied the dreaded Mr. Davenant himself, had he taken up his abode in my vicinity in the character of a guardian sylph.' "Oh! aunt, surely when you had got through eight months of the year of separation, you did not enter into any new coquetry?" "You must not be too sure of that, Janet. Do* you not remember the story of the third Calendar in the Arabian Nights Entertainments? The forty princesses were to be absent forty days, and the Calender did not open the prohibited golden door till the day before their return." "But I can scarcely tell what golden door could have presented itself to you in that retired village, and under the care of the kind and pru|dent Mrs. Beville.” "I did lose him, Janet, not however by death; but I will not anticipate my story. Cleveland immediately made known to my father his affection for me; his property, it appeared, although moderate, was sufficient for comfort; and my father, after giving a few pensive sighs to the remembrance of Sir Francis Egerton's eight thousand a-year, consented to receive Cleveland as a son-in-law. Unfortunately, however, our marriage could not immediately take place; the greater part of Cleveland's property was in America, and he had settled some time ago to accompany a friend thither, for the purpose of making several arrangements of sales and transfers, in which they were mutually concerned. A voyage to America was not then the rapid excursion that it is at present; and as it would be necessary for Cleveland to remain some time at New York, it was not expected that he would return to England in less than a year from the time he quitted it. Assured, however, of my constancy, he pre-wretched, alive or dead. My natural quickness pared to leave me in tolerable spirits. “I shall, at all events,' he said, 'have a competency to offer to my dear Olivia, and I have sanguine hopes that it may be much more than she expects. As I have ever held it a proof of bad taste to boast of expectations from rich relations, I have never yet told you that I am the happy possessor of a wealthy bachelor uncle. I have written to Mr. Davenant to inform him of my engagement to you, and received an answer from him which is, on the whole, very gratifying, although filled with a great deal of that distrust and suspicion which are the characteristics of single gentlemen of a certain age; he "You shall speedily have your curiosity gra tified. A little while before Christmas I received a letter from Mrs. Etheridge, one of our neighbours in our former residence, requesting me to pass that season at her house, and informing me that she had already secured the company of several very pleasant guests, and trusted to be able to make my visit agreeable to me. Now Mrs. Etheridge had never been a favourite of mine; she was a thoroughly cold-hearted, worldly woman, and she had never, since we quitted her neighbourhood, taken the slightest means to ascertain whether we were happy or immediately enabled me to discern the reason of her present attentions; she was emulating the custom of those greater than herself, in filling her house with Christmas visitors; and she knew that on such occasions a young and handsome girl who can sing, dance, and play well, and whose general manners are lively and ladylike, is a great acquisition, and accordingly she took means to procure me as an efficient and gratuitous prima donna for the ensuing month. I kept my opinions, however, on this head, to myself; for I confess I felt anxious to partake once more of gaieties and flatteries, to dance on chalked floors, and sit in illuminated rooms; and I put Mrs. Etheridge's letter into my father's hands without comment. "Mrs. Etheridge is very kind, indeed,' was his unsuspecting observation. You are certainly passing a very dull winter here, my dear, and I think you cannot do better than accept her invitation. My old friend, Captain Bryant, has promised, for some time, to come and stay with me; and his conversation, and chess, and backgammon, will amuse me very well through the long evenings.' "I went to call on Mrs. Beville, whose good opinion I was particularly anxious to retain, not only because I really liked and respected her, but because I knew that Cleveland had a high esteem for her character and reliance on her judgment. I did not show Mrs. Etheridge's letter to Mrs. Beville, but enlarged upon the excellencies of the writer, in a style somewhat at variance with reality. I represented her as an exemplary, amiable woman, a true friend, and a pattern to all British matrons in the conduct and order of her household. I entirely kept in the back ground the Christmas guests whom I was asked to meet, and made it appear that my visit would really be an act of kindness to a tried and valuable friend. "Go, then, my dear Olivia,' said Mrs. Beville, unhesitatingly. It would be selfish were I to wish to detain you. I do not think I can yield to Mrs. Etheridge or any one else in the sincerity of my regard for you; but old friends are not to be put aside for new ones, and such a woman as you describe Mrs. Etheridge to be must be a companion from whose society you will derive not only pleasure, but benefit. I will take all possible care of your good father in your absence.' "I instantly wrote to accept the invitation of Mrs. Etheridge, and a week afterwards arrived at her house. She had collected together a tolerably large assemblage. It is said that a party at a country house ought, like a popular novel, always to have a beauty, a bore, and a wit in it, and she had probably studied that rule: she had at least half a dozen bores; she had a wit, of whom more anon; and she did me the honour of telling me that I was now decidedly her beauty, although while she was uncertain whether I might not be pre-engaged (that is uncertain whether or not I should have sufficient spirit to refuse her tardy civilities), she had secured a young lady who was quite the belle' of the country town where she resided. Miss Sibthorpe was evidently not much pleased with the new star which promised so decidedly to outshine her; but she, like the rest of the company, received with much politeness the dear young friend' who was introduced to them by Mrs. Etheridge with an air of such marked interest and attachment. One person alone, of all the assembled guests, appeared completely deaf and blind to my attractions, and most unfortunately for my amour propre, he was the one whose notice would have been the greatest distinction to me, since he was not only the sole wit, but the sole nobleman of the party. "Lord Elwyn was a clever and entertaining man, apparently about five-and-forty, fashionable in appearance, and polished in manners. Mrs. Etheridge had been introduced to him at Brighton a month ago, and as soon as she received my letter accepting her invitation, she summoned courage to write to him, entreating the favour that he would join the circle of her guests, which, to her great delight, and, I believe, somewhat to her surprise, he promptly and willingly did. She had quite prepared herself to see him enchanted by my singing and fascinated by my conversation; but such was not the case. He treated me in a manner as slighting as good breeding would permit; nay, sometimes his deportment towards me would verge on rudeness; he never asked me to dance, generally walked away from the piano when I was singing, and pointedly refrained from addressing to me any of those light, playful compliments which he profusely bestowed upon the other ladies of the party. I could not refrain from noticing this circumstance to Mrs. Etheridge one day when I was alone with her. "I have my own suspicions on the subject, Olivia,' said she. 'Lord Elwyn's apparent indifference does not proceed from admiring you too little, but from apprehension lest he should admire you too much. When men reach the age of five-and-forty, they do not part with their hearts without a struggle.' "I was very ready to adopt this version of the subject, more especially as I remarked that Lord Elwyn's eyes were frequently fixed on me, although constantly withdrawn the moment I took notice of his silent glances.' I resolved to compel him to enter into conversation with me, and one evening requested to know his opinion on a point of literature in which I was aware he took an interest. He could not, without decided ill breeding, refuse to answer me; my rejoinder was apt, and the circle around us kept silence, evidently expecting something entertaining from the encounter of our wits. Our dialogue continued for half an hour, and at the conclusion of it I felt quite convinced that Lord Elwyn considered me a suitable companion for him, and that his avoidance of my society could not arise from contempt of my understanding. That evening I sang a very difficult air of Handel's, which I had been privately practising for two days, for the purpose of gratifying Lord Elwyn, whom I had overheard expressing his admiration of it to Miss Sibthorpe. My scheme succeeded; he did not, as usual, quit the piano when I sat down to it, and he solicited me for another air of the same kind with evident and increasing interest in my performance. Mrs. Etheridge was extremely pleased with his change of manners; not so Miss Sibthorpe. Possessing a little showy beauty, a few superficial accomplishments, and a pert power of ready repartee, she had imagined herself fully capable of conquering the heart of a refined and intellectual nobleman; she had exulted in the preference which Lord Elwyn evidently gave her to me, and could not bear to think that I, in my turn, should have occasion to triumph in his assi- | concluded us to be engaged lovers, and Mrs. duities. The next evening I had just concluded a song which I had taken great pains to sing well; Lord Elwyn was by my side; no one was sufficiently near to listen to our conversation. 66 6 'Why will you not suffer me to dislike you?' he asked, in a subdued voice. "Because,' I replied in the same tone, I have an exceeding horror of injustice, and am convinced that you can have no good, true, and sufficient cause to allege for your dislike to me.' "May I not fear the injuries that you may inflict upon me?' he inquired. "To seem to fear injuries,' I replied, 'is often the surest mode of inviting them; but I am afraid you must have heard sad slanders respecting me if you really believe me likely to prove this formidable foe to your peace.' Etheridge delighted herself with the anticipation of invitations at a future time to Lady Elwyn's brilliant parties in London. One evening I thought it time to advance matters to a conclusion, and said to Lord Elwyn, with whom I was alone in the conservatory: I trust I have disproved the first report you heard concerning me; now, will you have the goodness to give me the opportunity of clearing myself from the second.' "I will,' he replied; and instead of wondering that I avoided you from having heard that report, you will perhaps be rather disposed to wonder that I should have summoned sufficient courage to be on such intimate terms with you, without being thoroughly persuaded that it was unfounded. I have heard that you are engaged to be married to a young man of the name of Cleveland, now in America.' "I have heard,' he said, fixing his eyes on me, two reports concerning you; either of which, if true, would be sufficient to make me "This was an unexpected shock to me; my avoid you. One of them is, that you are a sys-engagement was unknown to Mrs. Etheridge, tematic, heartless coquette-awakening hopes and I could not conceive how it could have to destroy them, winning hearts to cast them reached the ears of Lord Elwyn. away; and, in a word, verifying the sarcastic remark, 'There are some ladies who use their lovers as jugglers do cards, only to play tricks with them!' "I must at all events hope,' I replied, that you will do me the honour of cultivating an acquaintance with me, when I trust you will acknowledge from experience that I have been misrepresented. Now to the second count of the indictment. You alluded to two reports.' "I did,' he replied. But the second must sleep in oblivion till I have, as you have kindly invited me to do, satisfied myself of the falsity of the first.' "From that moment Lord Elwyn was my constant cavalier, my partner in the dance, my second in the duet, my companion in the curricle, my escort in the morning walk." "Oh! aunt," said Janet, "I thought you had made such good resolutions to be prudent and reserved during Cleveland's absence." "So I had, my dear," replied Miss Desmond; "but my good resolutions were something like the Dutchman's anchor, which he always left at home when he went to sea! My good resolutions were formed in a quiet village, and did not accompany me to Mrs. Etheridge's gay Christmas festivities; still, however, my attachment to Cleveland remained unabated, and had I never seen him I could not have loved Lord Elwyn: he was old enough to be my father, and he was also evidently a hackneyed, cold-hearted man of the world. I was, however, anxious to receive an offer of his hand, and to refuse it; the exclamations of Mrs. Etheridge, the envy of Miss Sibthorpe, the varied remarks of the whole party, all rose before me in brilliant phantasmagoria, and I determined to give him every possible reason to believe that he would be accepted if he proposed to me. I received several presents from him, certainly of trifling value, but still marking his preference of me. Several new comers who arrived at that time immediately "You have so long been a denizen of the fashionable world,' I replied, that you doubtless know how frequently report avers that a couple are to be married next week who, perhaps, have scarcely yet been introduced to each other.' "I am interested, Olivia,' said Lord Elwyn, warmly pressing my hand, more deeply interested than you can imagine, in knowing the state of your affections. You may be engaged, and yet repent, and wish to retract your plighted faith; in which case no man of honour, I am sure, would wish to render the engagement binding on you. Answer me one question, I entreat you, my dear Olivia: in your kind encouragement of my attentions, in the evident preference that you have shown to me, not only in your words but in your looks, were you sincere ?3 66 Janet, you will despise me when I tell you that in soft, faltering, but perfectly distinct tones, I replied, 'Yes, I was.' I anticipated that this answer would lead to an immediate offer of Lord Elwyn's hand, which I intended to decline on the spot; but I had scarcely uttered my false and insidious speech, when Miss Sibthorpe joined us, accompanied by two or three of the other guests, evidently full of curiosity to know the reason of our protracted interview. 66 6 Promise to meet me in the library tomorrow, at twelve,' exclaimed Lord Elwyn, taking hold of my hand, and his words were so audible, and his action so decided, that the newly-arrived group plainly noted them, and put their own constructions on them. "I will,' I replied; and I felt glad to think that matters were so soon approaching to a crisis, and that before that time to-morrow I should have refused the distinguished and admired Lord Elwyn. I slept little that night, and having paid particular attention to my morning toilette, descended to the breakfast-table; several of the guests were there, but Lord Elwyn, usually an early riser, was absent. Mrs. Etheridge now entered; she had not yet attained the fashionable, | uncle, and also to make preparations for our easy, indifference of aristocracy, and it was evi- marriage without delay. dent from her countenance that something had occurred to discompose her. "I cannot imagine,' she said, 'what can be the reason of Lord Elwyn's sudden caprice: he ordered his curricle to be brought to the door at seven o'clock this morning, and has taken his departure; the post had not come in at that time; he surely must have known his own intentions last night.' "I should rather surmise not,' said Miss Sibthorpe, for I heard him make an appointment with Miss Desmond to meet her in the library this morning at twelve o'clock.' "All eyes were turned towards me. 'I do not, I am sure,' I falteringly said, 'understand the mystery of Lord Elwyn's movements.' 666 Has he not left any note for you, Olivia?' asked Mrs. Etheridge, with great want of delicacy. 66 6 He has not,' I was obliged to say. "He left a few lines for me,' said Mrs. Etheridge, conveying his thanks for my hospitalities, and begging to be remembered to my guests; but he did not particularize any one of them, neither did he mention his reasons for going.' "I suppose," said Miss Sibthorpe, he had the very excellent reason of being tired of us all; indeed there was nothing in every-day people like ourselves to gratify so refined and fastidious a judge; and I am sure I, for my part, am very glad he has taken his leave.' "I could not echo her declaration, and was thoroughly humbled and indignant. Lord Elwyn had clearly left the house, to avoid the necessity of following up his marked attentions to me. Even supposing that any unexpected event had called him away, he might have written a few lines to me as easily as to Mrs. Etheridge; but his neglect of me was unmistakable, and I, who had so often deceived and deserted others, was now destined to be deceived and deserted myself. One week of my visit remained unexpired, and that week was a season of great although deserved mortification to me. Miss Sibthorpe openly exulted in my defeat; and the assurances she volunteered to Mrs. Etheridge, that Lord Elwyn had left the house in displeasure at my forward advances, were not repelled by that lady with the incredulity or the indignation which in my opinion they merited. I "I returned home-alas! how altered in my spirits and feelings; my former pursuits appeared insipid to me; the calm and even manners of Mrs. Beville were a reproach to me. dreaded that my conduct to Lord Elwyn might be mentioned by him in society, and from thence reach the ears of my friends, and worst of all, of my lover. As week after week, however, wore on without anything occurring to alarm me, I became comparatively easy and tranquil. "Early in April we removed to furnished lodgings in London. Cleveland had requested we would await the time of his arrival there, as he was anxious immediately to present me to his "I am sure, Olivia,' said my father, 'I shall tell Cleveland that you have been a model for all engaged damsels; in fact, you have carried your constancy and affection to an immoderate excess, for you have become literally moping and low-spirited. I was in hopes that the Christmas party at Mrs. Etheridge's would have done you good; but I think since you have returned from thence you have been duller than ever.' "I made no answer; my father's undeserved praises gave me more disquietude than his bitterest censures could have done. "At length Cleveland arrived: he came to us immediately, and our meeting was as tender and joyful as the meeting of long-parted lovers ever ought to be. His affairs in America had turned out more favourably than he could possibly have anticipated; his affection for me seemed to have increased instead of having diminished by absence; and All went merry as a marriage bell; But hush, hark, a deep sound strikes like a rising knell.' "After a conversation of two hours, 'I must leave you for a short time, my beloved Olivia,' said Cleveland; but I shall soon return. I came to you directly on my arrival in London, but my uncle would be much hurt were I to allow a day to pass without paying him a visit.' I am quite anxious to see Mr. Davenant,' I replied. 66.6 "You will never see him under that name,' said Cleveland. My uncle has become a great man since my departure from England, Olivia; and although I am sure you would wish to gain his good opinion in any event, you will be still more desirous of doing so when I tell you that in October last my uncle unexpectedly, through the death of a cousin in the prime of life, succeeded to the title and estates of Viscount Elwyn.' “Oh! Janet, imagine how I felt. It was now evident that Lord Elwyn's whole conduct had been a scheme to discern the true character of the contracted bride of his nephew. "Why did you not tell me that such an event was likely to happen?' I faltered out. "Because,' he answered gaily, 'I did not think it in the least likely to happen; the late Lord Elwyn was in excellent health, and as he was not particularly fond of any of our family, we seldom spoke of him or troubled our heads about him. I am not one of those who take pleasure in boasting of their relationship to the nobility; perhaps this circumstance, however, shows my pride rather than my humility, since I agree with La Bruyère-" If it be a happiness to be nobly descended, it is no less to have so much merit that nobody inquires whether you are so or no.' "Thus saying, he left the room. Alas! what a tale was he going to hear! He did not return that evening, and my father remarked to me self in such deep seclusion during my absence, when you were conscious that you had done me such bitter wrong? Let all explanations to your worthy father come from you; I am unequal to them. Farewell for ever; may you meet with one who will love you as well as myself, and whose love may ensure a more grateful return from you.' "I had scarcely read to the end of these words when I fainted; and my father having summoned assistance, and seeing that I was coming to myself, felt anxious to see the letter that had been the cause of my agitation. I recovered only to meet with upbraidings, which, however severe, did not equal those of my own conscience. My brother was sent for; be advised my father to speak to me kindly and soothingly, otherwise the consequences might be serious; and this judicious recommendation on his part probably preserved me from a nervous fever. over and over, in astonishment, that I seemed just as low-spirited now that my lover had come back safe and well, as I did while he was away.' | "I passed a sleepless night, blaming repeatedly my own folly in having always imagined Mr. Davenant to be a cynical, prim old bachelor, in a powdered wig, green spectacles, and square shoe-buckles. The mystery was now cleared up of Lord Elwyn's knowledge of my engagement to Cleveland, and also of his eager acceptance of the invitation of the silly, affected Mrs. Etheridge; he was doubtless anxious to make inquiries concerning me in my neighbourhood, and when he found that these inquiries were unfavourably answered, he had still sufficient candour to wish to judge of my character by his own personal experience. Had I remained patient under his neglect, and made no efforts to attract his attention, it is probable that he would have considered my attachment to his nephew had reformed all that was faulty in me, and that the discretion of my present conduct atoned for my past thoughtlessness. I had never mentioned to my father that Lord Elwyn had been one of Mrs. Etheridge's party, for his name was connected with such unpleasant associations that I felt reluctant to utter it; consequently he received the news of Mr. Davenant's accession of title without an idea that the name of Elwyn was more familiar to me than to himself, and luxuriated in the idea, that as Lord Elwyn would most likely die unmarried, Cleveland might eventually be possessed of his title and estates, and prove, as he expressed himself, 'a better match than even Sir Francis Egerton.' These castles in the air were all to be levelled to the ground in a very short time. The next morning a letter was delivered to me from Cleve-containing a confession of the whole of my reland; the contents were as follows: "I am now, Olivia, with my uncle, Lord Elwyn; I have had a long conversation with him; on his firm truth and his tried affection for me I can implicitly rely. He has confided to me the minutest particulars of your conduct towards him at the house of Mrs. Etheridge; the anxiety with which you strove to dispel his indifference; the eagerness with which you met more than half way his tardily-offered attentions; the contemptible equivocation, almost amounting to a falsehood, with which you strove to disclaim your engagement to me; and the decided | assurance which you gave to him that you were sincere in your encouragement of his addresses. My uncle had heard various reports to your disadvantage at that time; but as you were beautiful and accomplished, he was willing to suppose that you might have been the victim of misrepresentation. Even now he honourably declines to acquaint me with the nature of these reports, since he has only been made acquainted with them through the agency of others; his own plain, unvarnished history, however, is quite enough to make me not only willing to part with you for ever, but anxious to do so. Oh! Olivia, was mine a heart to be trifled with? how could you receive me so joyfully yesterday? how could you accept my thanks for having immured your "Cleveland never again wrote to me or visited me. I could not bear the idea of returning to Mrs. Beville's neighbourhood. The apartments we occupied in London were too expensive for our finances, and finally my father and myself removed to a small cottage in the neighbourhood of London. "There, in the strictest retirement, we lived for four years; and as I have so frankly con fessed all my faults to you, Janet, I think I may venture to say that during that time I conducted myself with uniform propriety. My father's health was impaired; he was querulous and irritable; he constantly reproached me with my former levities and indiscretions. I bore all with patience and meekness, and I schooled my proud spirit to write a letter to Mrs. Beville, prehensible conduct, and of my remorse, and received from her a kind and affectionate answer, encouraging me to persevere in the right course. My trials were not yet over; I had to sustain the destruction of the faint, lingering hope that yet clung around my heart touching a future reconciliation with Cleveland; he married another, and his bride, Janet, has already occupied a place in my history. You must well remember the gentle, unassuming Hester Compton: her mother had died a few months after Luttrell's desertion, and Hester had obtained a situation as resident governess in a family at the west-end of the town. After her numerous small blanks in the lottery of tuition, she at length was so happy as to draw a capital prize; she was loved, esteemed, and valued by the mother of her pupils; she was constantly requested to be present at the small friendly parties of the family, and in this manner became introduced to the acquaintance of Cleveland. He did not fall in love with her quite so quickly as Luttrell had done; he fol lowed the advice of his prudent uncle-watched her deportment and studied her character. His sad experience during his acquaintance with me had taught him to place a light value on showy manners and shining accomplishments; he found in Hester an intelligent mind, a fine temper, |