'Pure blood, Doctor-no soap and molasses, no tea and tobacco traceable through a lineage from the Conquest to the present year of grace. Well, what think you will the union of good Norman, Irish, and Gaelic blood bear from the fourth descendant of an epicier? They say in Ireland the expense of throwing a waiter out of a window is made sa item in the traveller's bill. I disbelieve it. I have been an extensive wayfarer in that pleasant and peaceable island, and have never seen a gentleman and his napkin ejected from the presence, excepting through the doorway. In England, you are more particular. What according to your tariff in matters appertaining to broken bones would be the probable expense of horsewhipping the greatest puppy in the peerage, and in the fourth descent from a turtle-eating alderman, who swept his master's shop like a dutiful apprentice in his youth, lived afterwards among figs and firkins, and rose to the high and mighty dignity in his old days, of playing Punch upon the 9th of November? You perceive that I know that Tom-Fool's day-having once been honourably employed in escorting a corpulent cordwainer in his gingerbread coach through Cheapside.'

"The cold contemptuous tone and language with which the hotblooded Irishman alluded to his haughty rival, were not calculated to diminish my fears of the consequences attendant on the approaching emente, and I hinted that he should remember that he was but a stranger in the county, while Lord Evrington was surrounded by numerous and powerful friends.

"True, Doctor, in this point the grocer's grandson has an advantage; and, save yourself and one other tried and trusty friend, I can boast none other nearer than the head-quarters of my regiment.'

"My services, sir, have been confined to yielding an unwilling consent to the entreaty of a much-esteemed and interesting lady, altogether irrespective of what the nature of the business was, or to whom, or on what subject, the letter was addressed. On the score of accidental service I can lay no claim to be called a friend.'

"The stranger coloured. The truth was, I felt that unintentionally I had lent myself to an affair which, like a loaded mine, was ready for explosion; and I feared that were my agency, although given in perfect ignorance, once discovered, the united wrath of the two most influential families in the county would be poured upon my head ;-and it would be hard to decide whether the enmity of the peer or the anger of the lady, would prove most prejudicial in the end to a man so dependent on public opinion as myself.

"Well, Doctor, although you decline my friendship,' said the stranger, you will at least accept my gratitude. And to my old and trusty companion, who never failed me yet, I must trust for deliverance from coming danger. With this precious document, bearing the sign-manual of the most ignorant scoundrel that ever affixed a plate of iron to a horse's hoof, I shall dare the anger of the haughty dame,'and he replaced the certificate of his marriage at Gretna in his sabertash, and, with the assistance of mine ancient comrade, I must abide the wrath of the descendant from a fig-dealer.'

"Do not,' I said, deal rashly with Lord Evrington. His family influence is all-powerful, and, if report may be credited, his spirit is most imperious, and his temper uncontrolled. How, think you, will he brook the loss of a fair girl and a rich inheritance?'

"I hope, my dear Doctor,-with christian resignation,' returned

the pseudo-corporal. But should he prove too choleric, in inflammable cases do not you learned leeches prescribe phlebotomy?'

"Really, sir, you treat a serious matter with too much levity.' "By no means, Doctor. I was apprized of the arrogance of my rival before I came, and I therefore requested my old friend, Terence O'Dwyre, to accompany me.'

"Oh, Lord!' I'involuntarily exclaimed; another of those d-d O's!-Murder is certain!'

"You never made a greater mistake, my friend. A more amiable man than honest Terence does not exist. With his kind offices and those of two persuasive friends, reposing in a mahogany case in No. 3 in the "Chequers," I fancy we'll bring this cockney Hotspur to as amiable a state of mind as that of the old tea-dealer, his great-grandfather, when he received a Christmas order from the country. But it grows late, and I must return to the Priory.'

"The Priory!' I exclaimed in astonishment.

"You seem surprised. Think you that I would leave my lady unprotected, and sleep at a rascally change- house, as they call village inns upon the Border? No, no.-Obedient to circumstances, I yield to the necessity of stepping through a window for the present; for poor Emily is yet too weak and nervous to enact a dénouement of “the Clandestine Marriage," and possibly a double duty, in a few days, may devolve on you, Doctor.'

He made a pause. "Proceed, sir.'

"Of apprizing the gracious lady of Holmesdale Park, that for the last four months she has had, in the person of your humble servant, a most dutiful son,-and of conveying to her the still more gratifying intelligence, that an apartment in the Priory long since disused will in due time be placed in requisition,-to wit, the nursery.'

"I was horror-struck at the very thought. I venture to communicate to the imperious dame of Holmesdale that the daughter she had affianced to Lord Evrington was already a wife, and in a few months would be a mother! Egad! I would not breathe the secret even to be made state surgeon. The dragoon read my feelings in my looks.

"Come, you seem alarmed, Doctor,' he said, with a smile; and I fear you will not undertake the task. No matter;-the comfort is, that it is one of those secrets which, if left alone, will be certain to betray itself. But I must beat a retreat. I shall see you to-morrow in the Park.' And finishing his brandy and water, he put on his cloak and cap, left the surgery trolling a song, while I resumed my chair,— the most unhappy practitioner within fifty miles.

Ralph Devereux was one of those men whose nerves are not to be shaken by coming events which ordinary mortals would tremble to encounter. With the extent of the trial which awaited him he was perfectly apprized; and he seemed not only to regard it with indifference, but contempt. As to my part, the distant speck in the horizon which merely indicated the gathering tempest, was fraught with fear and trepidation. But when the thunder-cloud should burst, why nothing in my imagination could approximate to it, unless an earthquake swallowed my sanctum, my bottles, and myself! No wonder, then, that when the hour for my morning visit came, a more nervous M.D. never set out to feel a patient's pulse.

"I found Mrs. Devereux-for we must drop the maiden appellation

of Hunsgate-walking on the terrace; and when she perceived me, she closed the book she had been reading, and advancing with a smile, gave me the kindest welcome. A few common-place questions satisfied me that her convalescence was progressive.

"So, my dear Doctor, you had a new patient yesterday evening,' she said with a smile; one who declined your medicine, but would not refuse your brandy. My dear Ralph has made me laugh at the horror you betrayed, when he proposed that you should announce to the lady of the Priory the arrival of her dutiful son-in-law.'

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Really, Miss Emily, I think that he would be a daring man who would essay the task. Have you no dread yourself at the fearful explosion which must, from your own knowledge of your mother's temper, attend the discovery when it shall be made?'

"I never think of it, Doctor. Could the bold step I have taken be recalled, and were I allowed free agency, ere another hour elapsed I would plight to Ralph Devereux unchanging love, and for him give up fortune, family, the world! Nay-think me not an enthusiast-I feel that in my union with him, my hopes of happiness are anchored; and he whom I wedded secretly, before another sun shall rise, I will publicly acknowledge lord of my hand, as he is of my heart.' "Be cautious, dear young lady,' I whispered.

"Caution is good, Doctor; but firmness, at times, is better. think you comes here to-day?'

"I have not heard.'

"Lord Evrington! to ask my hand in form.'

"Good Heaven! and how will you act?' I asked, in alarm.

Who

"Give him the best reason in the world for declining the honour he intended, by the introduction of a husband.'

"What! venture in Holmesdale Hall to-' "Announce Ralph Devereux its future lord. Indubitably such is my intention. But our establishment, Doctor, like Shakespeare's times, are out of joint.' The gamekeeper has sprained his ankle, the cook scalded her arm, and my lady-mother's favourite poodle exhibited asthmatic symptoms, which I ascribe to indolence and over-feeding, and she to a general break-up of Pedro's constitution; and she laughed at the ridiculous picture she had drawn herself.

"May I enquire where Captain Devereux is?'

"You have given him what they call in military parlance a step. The lieutenant is killing an hour or two before the arrival of my Lord Evrington, in yonder clump, where no doubt he will be delighted to see you. But here comes Dame Hunsgate, and it is full time for Mrs. Devereux to disappear.'

She turned in an opposite direction to that by which the Lady of the Priory approached, bowed a farewell, and vanished.

"Proud, imperious even to insolence, as the lady of Holmesdale Priory was, I could observe that she was much more agitated than her daughter. A skilful actress though she was, she could not mask her 'uneasy mind' from me; and I readily perceived that her secret thoughts were racked by anxiety and doubt. She spoke for a minute on subjects merely connected with her household; her cook's scald; her gamekeeper's sprain; and even mentioned Pedro's indisposition. But I saw that the assumption of indifference was put on- and that weightier considerations than cooks and poodles engrossed her. Doctor,' she continued, with increasing gravity, 'tis said that

666

every house conceals a skeleton, and mine cannot claim an exemption to a rule so general. More must be opened to professional men than others; and, from your close attendance on my daughter lately, you must have observed that our relations are not such as commonly exist between parent and child. The crisis comes to-day; and in another hour Emily will consent to listen favourably to my Lord Evrington's suit, or I will snap the tie between us-ay, though it broke my heart. Of course I anticipate some teazing scene; some re-enactment of recent folly, and I wish you not to leave the Priory until the matter is over. Go, see the sick domestics; and, when I send to you, attend us in the drawing-room. Need I add, that from all whose services I require I expect both secrecy and discretion.'

"I told her that on both she might rely; and left the terrace to visit those who needed my professional attention.

"An hour had scarcely passed when the sound of carriage-wheels brought me to the window of the apartment, where I was engaged fomenting the keeper's dislocated ankle. It was Lord Evrington's travelling-chariot; and I saw the steps thrown down, and the noble visitor enter the grand hall. A long, and to me most painful, interval followed. I dreaded what was to come, and would have given a Jew's eye to have been safe in my sanctum, and at a mile's distance from the scene which I knew was about to be enacted.

"The dreaded summons came; and a servant announced that my presence in the drawing-room was required. I followed down the corridor, like a criminal on the road to execution. The door was thrown open; and I found myself in the presence of Lord Evrington, Miss Hunsgate, and the person I dreaded most, her mother.

"Whatever passed before I was invited to the presence had evidently been unsatisfactory to all. Lord Evrington paced the carpet: his manner evincing wounded pride, and most unexpected disappointment. From a tremulous movement of the lips, and an angry flush which overspread her countenance, the dame seemed mortified and surprised; while the bloodless cheeks of the younger lady told that she too was wretched. Mrs. Hunsgate, after brusquely desiring me to take a chair, resumed a conversation which my entrance had interrupted. "Emily,' she said, 'I conjure you for the last time, by a daughter's duty, to listen favourably to his lordship's suit.'

"Madam, I have given it a firm and unalterable rejection.' 'By a mother's rights I command you.'

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And by those stronger still I decline,' replied Mrs. Devereux. "In the devil's name!' exclaimed the lady of the Priory, hurried into a paroxysm of rage which seemed to bid defiance to controul. What means this mystic language? Who has any right to direct you, but her constituted guardian by your father-Miss Hunsgate?'

"The younger lady interrupted her haughty parent,

"In addressing me you use a misnomer, madam; but it is time to bring to an éclaircissement matters at present entirely misunderstood. I claim your indulgence but for a few minutes; and on my return I will satisfy his lordship that a union with him is impossible; and, strange as the assertion may appear, that rights exist superior even to your own,' she said, and left the room.

"Is the girl crazed, doctor? or absolutely a lunatic?-madincurably mad?'

"If it be madness,' said his lordship, with a meaning smile, “methinks, lady, ere long we'll find a method in it.'

"I remained silent, well aware of what was coming; and, as I foresaw, before five minutes had elapsed, the peer's ambition, and the proud dame's cherished schemes, were shivered by a thunderbolt.

"The door was opened, and, leaning on the arm of a tall and distinguished-looking stranger, the heiress in expectancy of Holmesdale Priory entered the apartment. This last exertion, however, appeared to have taxed her nerves too severely, and exhausted her feeble strength; her face was pale as marble; her step tottered; and with difficulty she reached a sofa, on which she sank. Í rose, and hurried to her assistance, while Lord Evrington looked perfectly astounded, and the dame gazed at the stranger in speechless amazement, as if fixed to the carpet by a spell. No longer dressed in his humble uniform, the pseudo-corporal was attired in the brilliant costume of an hussar regiment; and certainly a finer or more commanding figure never confronted an angry mother and discarded suitor than the successful lover of Emily Hunsgate. A painful silence of a minute followed; and the dame was the first to break it.

"Who are you?' she exclaimed, 'what are you? and, in the fiend's name, what brought you hither?'

"Unmoved by the lightning glances of a flashing eye, which would, had it possessed the power, have withered the bold intruder on whom it was directed, the hussar drew himself proudly up, and coolly answered these hurried interrogatories.

"My name is Devereux-I am an Irishman by birth, a soldier by profession, and my business is to claim a bride.'

"A bride! exclaimed the lady, bursting into a contemptuous laugh. Oh, no, Mr. Devereux-the Irishman by birth, and soldier by profession, must, when he comes to woo, seek something better adapted for the barrack and baggage-wain than the heiress of Holmesdale Priory.'

"Not he, by heaven !' replied the dragoon, as he returned the lady's haughty stare with a look of marvellous composure. 'I come not, dame, to woo-but to claim a bride already won,'

"What means the fellow?' returned the lady, in a voice of fury. "What mean I? Heard ye, most respected dame, that ever man was required to woo a wife?'

666 A wife!'

"Ay, my good lady-mother, a wife. Here is written proof; though, 'faith! I now perceive the worthy blacksmith spells my name rather incorrectly.'

"Lord Evrington, when Mrs. Hunsgate took the paper, had followed her eyes with a keen glance as she hastily perused it; and, when she flung the paper on the carpet, with a contemptuous observation, ‘a filthy document, dated Gretna, four months ago,' for the first time expressed his angry disappointment.

"I could have wished, madam, that you had understood something of the position your daughter actually held before you made the house of Evrington a laughing-stock, by leading it into a most painful and degrading negotiation to effect a matrimonial alliance between our families, when the lady whose hand was to be the prize, was for month's past the actual wife of an Irish adventurer!'

"Whatever reply was on the lady's lip was interrupted by the hasty