OF ENGLISH LIFE. A NOVEL. BY THE AUTHORESS OF CLARA CAMERON, THE BELLE OF THE SEASON." IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: CHARLES J. SKEET, PUBLISHER, 10, KING WILLIAM STREET. CHARING CROSS. 1855. 249.2. 56. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF ENGLISH LIFE. CHAPTER I. "Chi vuol sapere appieno Se fu attento il cultor, guardi il terreno METASTASIO. The It was a bright morning in May. birds were singing cheerily, although within a very short distance of the busy metropolis, and the thick and overhanging branches of a row of chestnuts, at the back of a small grassplot, for it scarcely deserved the name of lawn, gave an air of perfect country to the scene. Nearer to the windows of the house, VOL. I. B lilacs, and other early summer shrubs, in full blossom, wafted their sweet odours around, and gave a cheerful aspect to the confined premises; while some beds of choice flowers, betokened female taste and care. There were three French windows opening to the ground, and encircled by honey-suckle and jasmine. The centre one was now open, and a very attractive, though not perfectly beautiful girl of about seventeen, was standing, half in the room, half in the garden. The apartment itself was scantily furnished, but a piano, a harp, and a long table with different implements for drawing, in various styles, scattered upon it, again told of feminine occupations. Still, the utter want of decoration, or even of what are now thought the comforts of life, contradicted the idea. The uncarpeted floor, the plain deal bench, and the only piece of furniture calculated for repose, a simple mahogany reclining board, "revealed the secret of the prison-house," and told that this was a seminary for young ladies. This is the dancingroom of Hampton House, and if, by my means, any of the lordly sex are now introduced into it-peace to the manes of its late good mistress! such sacrilege might well call her from the peaceful rest, where after schools "fitful fever, she sleeps well." the But, to return to the interior of this hallowed spot-hallowed then from from intruding gaze of men, and hallowed now, in the bosoms of many of its late occupants, as the scene of their early dreams—where, with life yet unknown, they stood on the verge of childhood's last step, and the next brought them into the vortex of a woman's hopes and fears. If a care-worn eye reads this page, say, does not a spark of girlhood's light flash back again at the recollection of by-gone hours? If so, cherish the influence, and if now tired with the realities of the world-sated with ambition, and it may be disappointed in love, turn back to the first |