curate, Henry continued inviolably con

ftant to his Lucy's

Dimpled fmile, and damak cheek,

And eye of gloffy blue.

He was relieved from a perfecution which was urged with fuch well-meant but mistaken carneftnefs as at length made it painful, by the death of his father. His regret for that event was foftened by receiving a letter from fir William a few days afterwards, inclofing the title deeds of the Merionethfhire eftate, and containing an affurance, that fince he wished to marry, he should have a house built for him within a mile or two of Powerscourt manor.

As in common with all Arcadian writers, I presume the village ruftic is too happily engaged with his flocks and his fhepherdess to attend to the affairs of his neighbour; and being perfuaded that the love of news and the fpirit of

interference of which I have formerly seen some traces at Danbury are merely local diseases; I fuppofe the acceffion to Mr. Powerscourt's fortune continued to be a profound fecret in the parish where his father refided: at least I cannot conceive that any whifper which the taylor, or the schoolmaster, or the barber, might circulate, could, through the medium of the curate, be diffused in the atmosphere of Mifs Hetty's best parlour; or that any one, by adding a unit to the rent-roll which fir William had refigned, could be the occafion of the extraordinary and even oppreffive civilities with which the diftinguished lady whom I have just named loaded Mr. Henry Powerscourt. Her house was at his fervice; her carriage was at his fervice; her fervants were at his fervice; nay, the world even said, that fhe more than hinted an offer of herself. This

E 2

This latter report I disbelieve, because it went fomewhat further than what the proverbial hofpitality of her country can account for. But if fhe had any latent views, they foon received a complete mortification. Henry's first step, after the arrival of the welcome gift, was to express his gratitude to the donor; his next, to request, that mifs Evans would render independence more valuable by fharing it with him.

"And now, my Geraldine," faid Lucy to the countefs, fcarcely allowing her time to finish the letter which had introduced this long digreffion, "I call "for your felicitations. Henry, you

fee, ingenuoufly avows the early at"tachment which made you the first "mistress of his heart. I have not "that extreme refinement, which can "only be content with a primary affec❝tion.

It is fufficient for me, that " after

"after long obfervation he owns a pre"ference which he is too noble to af "fect, and too upright to withdraw. "Secure in his honour and his virtue, "not even your attractions will excite

fufpicion; and though the tempered "expectations of four-and-twenty abate "much of the fanguine enthusiasm of "nineteen, neither experience nor re"flection teach me to doubt of the "general happiness of my future lot " with fuch a partner as my long-loved "Henry."

Lucy's head now reclined upon the fhoulder of the countefs, to conceal at once her blushes and her tears. "But," added the fweet girl after a moment's pause, " you exprefs neither surprise "nor pleasure at the wonders which I "am revealing."

The reader who remembers the connubial forrows which clouded the coun

tefs's mind, will not wonder, that, though free from envy, her Lucy's brighter hopes occafioned a painful comparison; and we cannot be furprised at events which ourfelves have directed. It was natural for Mifs Evans to wonder why fir William, who had fo long deJayed the promifed gift, fhould beftow it juft at that time; and why he, who had been generally hoftile to marriage, and decidedly averfe to Henry's forming any engagement which threatened to deprive him of his fociety, fhould even fuggeft a plan for his immediate eftablishment. But lady Monteith poffeffed the clue that could unravel the fecrets of the labyrinth. Her obfervations on her coufin's manner had convinced her, that he was no longer infenfible of her friend's worth, and fhe affiduously employed all her intereft with her father to expedite his intended donation to

the