I sought him-unfemininely-weakly-culpably; | dale had long departed, finding that there was no and vanity alone would instigate him to respond chance for her ugly daughter at Vernon Cliff. to my pursuit. Rightly am I punished for my But having heard that there was a very marrylevity and folly!" ing young man," at a neighboring seat, thence, Nor were Mr. Byron's feelings much more sat- by her diplomacy, she quickly obtained an invitaisfactory. tion; and thither, she still more quickly repaired.

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Sedley," said he, one day, to his friend, "Sed- And, as there may be no occasion for again menley, I am not happy.'

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"You !" exclaimed the other, in astonishment, you! Fitz-Roy Byron, not happy? A minute ago I should have deemed such an occurrence impossible."

"And so should I, one month ago." "But what is your sorrow?"

"Matilda Morden."

tioning her, we will at once state that she was successful in her speculation; and that she most skilfully transferred to the shoulders of this nuptial Sinbad, a burthen far more tenacious and peevish than that of the Old Man of the Sea-and quite as ugly.

Miss Temple and Lady Temple had departed, and, of course, Sir Sedley Manvers followed them. "I thought she was your love." All had gone, with, as I have stated, one excep"Ah," replied Byron, ruefully, "that is the tion, which must be obvious-Mrs. Colquhoun ; reason she is my sorrow. Love and unhappiness whom nothing could have induced to desert her —they are synonymes, I fear. At least, I know present location, until she had witnessed the terthat I live in a state of the utmost uneasiness. Oh, mination of the chase, and the game fairly run how unwisely have I acted! For the mere sake down. No, if the cholera had entered the house of a heartless amusement, and for the gratification in its most pestilential form, she would rather of my idle, wanton, guilty vanity, have I now been have voluntarily perished, than have deserted her for many weeks associating with this fascinating post, ere she had seen the objects of her interest creature, and publicly addressing to her what was once firmly secured in the arms of either Pluto, once my fictitious homage. But rightly have I or Hymen. And, to own the truth, as both were been punished for my callous deception! for, to grand and effective terminations, she would not the very being whom I regarded as my toy, and have been very particular with regard to the almy puppet, has my just fate ordained me to sur-ternative: a wedding, or a burial-they were render the custody of my heart. She has awakened in me feelings which I dreamt not to have existed; she has changed my whole nature, annihilated my volatility, destroyed all my reckless spirits, and rendered me, I fear, permanently attached to her. Yes-I fear, because, captivating, enchanting,ly exciting. lovely as she is, I have too much reason to believe Of course, this lady was of considerable use in her to be a person with as little heart and passion the development of the drama. Everything that as I once possessed. She seems to love me, it is mortal being could do, to advance, and to hasten true; but were she unequivocally to avow her af- the catastrophe, did Mrs. Colquhoun. Her zeal fection to proclaim it, and to swear it-by what was unflagging; it had a two hundred horse process of self-delusion could I ever induce my rea-power. By every possible innuendo, and skilful son to repose any confidence in her professions? How, in short, could I ever cajole myself into a belief in the truth of her, whose whole previous life has been one ceaseless career of deception?"

Such were the opinions and the apprehensions of "The Two Flirts ;" and, to own the fact, they were not wholly devoid of either judgment or foundation. But love is blind, and love is omnipotent, are two assertions that have been said and sung, repeated and received, until they have become established as facts. And facts, indeed, they must be, if causes are ever to be discovered from effects; for such is the conduct of the votaries of this precious deity, that it can only be explained by a religious belief in these attributes of his. None, therefore, will be surprised if the acts of Byron and Lady Matilda are found to be very inconsistent with their opinions.

pretty nearly the same. The only really important difference was that, in the one case, certain individuals wept in white satin, and in the other, in black bombazin. Both, however, were equally pageants-and better still, both were almost equal

artifice, for she did not want tact, she was perpetually directing the attention of both to their mutual fitness. She often reported the kind words, and expressions of eulogium, which had been uttered by each during absence; and never tired of extolling the one to the other. Indeed, she carried her matrimonial meditations so far, as, when she had nothing agreeable to repeat, to invent the panegyric which neither had ever uttered.

What with these wiles, and the headstrong inclinations of the objects of her diplomacy, the course of true love at last conducted to a very customary termination.

During one of those mild and pleasant days which occasionally occur in December, as though for the express object of rendering one additionally sensitive to the ensuing frosts, Byron and Lady Matilda were strolling in the garden of Vernon They had now resided together beneath the Cliff. Who that could have followed this pair, same roof above three months; an age in the and unknowing who they were, have overheard history of the passions of volatile people. They their conversation, could ever have believed, that had outstaid all the guests they had originally those two sensible people were, but a few short found there, with one exception. Lady Teviot- weeks ago, volatile, wordly, and irrational! They

At this opportune question-and a more judicious one than which, at that moment, she could not have selected, even if she had been inspired by the profoundest principles of coquetry-his fervor reached its orgasm; and exploded with an effect which might have shamed the finale to the first act of the Cenerentola.

talked as gravely as a couple of mandarins, but | been forgotten; and, for the last half-hour, he had far more wisely; for the subjects of their talk been gradually approaching a crescendo of passion. were neither Cham-ho, nor Cham-he, the form of an obeisance, nor their sovereign's consanguinity to the sun and the moon. Nor, yet more barbarous still, did they find their topics in that narrow and conventional sphere, which generally alone interests their class; but to the vapid and eternally hackneyed discussion of which only the most sterile, frivolous, and insensible minds can ever voluntarily adhere. No; their true, but unfortunately mutually suspected love, dignified them; and their discourse assumed a high and intellectual tone.

"What would I give you ?" he exclaimed impetuously: "all that the world-all that the universe contains-these would I give to you, had I the blissful power of bestowing them! But as I am but a poor and limited individual, I can only In the vast and stupendous works of nature, and offer you my sole possessions-my heart, and in their mysterious and inscrutable relation to hand! Say, dearest Matilda," he continued, themselves, did these two examples of the occa- sinking on one knee, seizing her unresisting hand, sionally elevating powers of their divinity, first and passionately pressing it to his lips; say, do find the food for their converse. But gradually it you accept my terms of exchange? That rose became more restricted; and at last it entirely shall convey your answer. If you resign it, my centred in their own feelings and passions. I happiness is eternally secured to me; but if you will not attempt to repeat the many flattering and withhold it, you exile me from your presence foraffectionate sentiments which, while upon this too ever."

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captivating and dangerous topic, Mr. Byron implied She cast one long, fond, and yet investigating rather than proclaimed for the object of his hom-glance upon him. In the expression of tenderage. At last, the combustible nature of their dis-ness, and of truth, his eyes more than equalled her course conducted to a very usual termination-own and in that moment, they stood mutually agitation; which, in its turn, led to an equally revealed, and believed. inevitable result-silence.

The goal was won! Fitz-Roy loved her! really loved her-She felt the proud consciousness—triumphed in it, gloried in it—and instantly the better mood and tone of feeling which affection and anxiety had conjointly engendered in her, vanished like a dream; and all the factitious dispositions, and caprices of the coquette, which time and indulgence had matured into a second nature. revived within her in their fullest vigor.

The flush of delight gradually faded from her cheek; and a far less captivating expression, that of self-command, assumed possession of her countenance.

"There, take the rose," said she, "it is not

Byron received the gift with rapture, and tes tified his gratitude on the lips of his fair mistress. In this manner did the Two Flirts affiance themselves.

As she thus spoke, she hastily entered the hot-worth my preservation.' house, and plucked one of the flowers which had excited her sudden admiration. She then returned, and with a pair of scissors fashioned for the purpose, busily trimmed and clipped her prize; and when this operation was completed, after having been prolonged to its utmost possible extent, she devoted an equal time and zeal to the arrangement of the flower in the attire of her bosom.

With great interest and a profound silence, Mr. Byron had watched all these eloquent manœuvres. "I should like to have that rose," at last, said he, timidly, and wistfully eying the coveted

treasure.

"You would like to have this rose?" half unconsciously repeated Lady Matilda, her former confusion rapidly reviving. But she quickly added, with great apparent gayety, "What would you give me, if I were to bestow it upon you?”

All had been elysium; every word, look, and action of Lady Matilda had abundantly satisfied him. His resolutions and apprehensions had long

But though Byron was delighted by her acquiescence, there was something in its tone, and phrase, that grated upon him, even at that moment. But when the first intense ebullition of his passion had subsided, he became assured that, in her assent, she had not displayed the extent of feeling which he could have desired. He gazed inquiringly into her countenance; but there was upon it an expression of tranquillity that did not reässure or gratify him. Could he have seen but into her heart, what an entire content would he have experienced! But the face was a perjured dissembler; and while her mind was really revelling in an exulting sense of happiness, she manifested an impassiveness that was aught but gratifying to an enthusiastic lover. Several were the attempts he made to resume the tone of their former discourse,

And how did Lady Matilda reply?

but he received few responses, and no encourage- | you to tell me without the least disguise, whether ment from her; and, consequently, an entire silence it is true that, as he asserts, you really like him?" quickly ensued. Yet, to do her justice, this reluctance to converse originated less in a capricious wilfulness, than in the abstraction which the internal contemplation and indulgence of her happiness occasioned. The germ, however, of mischief and of wrong was in her countenance; which, with a guilty waywardness, she had composed into an expression of indifference, if not of levity.

They reached the mansion, when Byron immediately sought Lord Ambleside, and having acquainted him that he had reason to suppose that Lady Matilda was not repugnant, demanded his sanction to their marriage. His lordship replied, that, if his daughter was concurrent, he could see no reason for interposing any obstacle-and thus the matter was arranged.

But Byron was not delighted, he was not even sure that he was contented; and again he strolled into the garden to meditate upon what he had done. Unconsciously he bent his way to the hothouse where Lady Matilda had obtained the rose. He entered it, and seated himself.

"How intensely happy," thought he, "was I here, only one short hour ago! And why am I not equally happy now?"

He could not, or rather would not, answer the question. He feared to acknowledge to himself that a mere change in the expression of his mistress' countenance had revived all his former suspicions-had induced him again to apprehend that she was a mere heartless coquette, who had really neither truth nor feeling; but who had assumed the semblance of both for the sake of gratifying her unprincipled desire of parading him before the world as the slave and victim of her fascinations.

I will first tell you how she felt. While her father spoke, her face was crimsoned with blushes, her heart throbbed violently, and a gush of delight pervaded her whole frame. When he had concluded, her first impulse was frankly to avow to him all the deep and strong affection she experienced; but, in the next moment, the perverse vanity of the obdurate and pertinacious flirt again unhappily predominated; and her wantonly delusive answer was to this effect :-That she certainly did not dislike Mr. Byron-she thought him rather frivolous, it is true-he was not so staid, or possessed of quite so much fond, as she could have desired

but that she agreed with her parent in considering him, in a worldly point of view, a suitable parti-and, consequently, if her papa had no particular objection, she-would marry him.

Unhappy Mr. Byron! a pleasant time had you, during this flippant speech, in your luckless place of concealment! Such, many worthy but rather inquiring people would tell you, is only too often the result of clandestinely listening to other people's conversations. Not that Byron was premeditatedly an eaves-dropper. Heaven forbid ! No; in every respect, with the trifling exceptions of his coxcombry, and flirtations, he was an excellent, generous person, utterly incapable of an act of meanness. The fact is, he had heard involuntarily; spell-bound by the intensity of his interest.

Poor fellow his feelings were far too lugubrious to permit an elaborate description of them to be at all agreeable to the readers of a light tale; or to be at all in harmony with the general character of the tale itself. Melancholy was the prevailing feature of his mind; and as it is the He had been but for a brief time abandoning passion that makes, perhaps, the dullest picture, I himself to these melancholy meditations when he shall only succinctly allude to it. All his anticiobserved Lady Matilda advancing towards him. pations were confirmed; he had discovered Lady The sight somewhat soothed him, for from her air, Matilda to be the heartless, artificial person he had and the inquiring glances she cast around, he in-apprehended her to be; she had been assuming ferred, what was the fact, that she had seen him the semblance of truth and feeling, in the vain and issue from the house into the garden, and was now wandering in search of him. But his despondency was far from dissipated; and he was still consequently uncertain whether to advance and accost her, or to allow her to pass him; for though he could observe her, he was concealed from her view by the shrubs. While he thus hesitated, he saw Lord Ambleside quickly approaching from the opposite direction; and in another instant, the father and daughter met close to the hothouse.

selfish desire of inveigling him into an attachment to her. Yet this consciousness, grave as it was, formed but the less portion of his sufferings; for the far greater part was occasioned by the humiliating conviction that, in spite of his detection of her deficiencies, and comparative unworthiness, he still loved her with an unabated fervor. But he resolved that she should not have to glory in their knowledge; he would mete unto her as she had meted to him, and assume for her the insensibility which he believed her to really experience. No; she should no longer suppose that he was the poor pliant creature she deemed him; he would show her that he, at least, could exhibit, if he could not entertain, an indifference equal to her own.

"My dear Matilda," exclaimed the peer, "I have been looking for you everywhere, as I have no common intelligence to communicate to you. And yet, I dare say, that you do know that Byron has just been with me, and demanded your hand. For myself, I have no objection whatever to the After breakfast, on the following morning, Lady match; I think that in every point of view he is Matilda repaired to the library, for the first time a very suitable person. But, as I have always for many weeks, alone. She looked mournfully determined that your inclinations shall never in around her; every object, almost every volume in the slightest degree be restricted, I now request | the room, reminded her of a person who was too

CCLXXV. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXII. 24

Within the next ten minutes, in the most retired and sombre path he could have selected, Mr. Byron heard footsteps behind him; and he turned discontentedly to confront the intruder. Lady Matilda was rapidly approaching him; her cheek glowing, and her eyes flashing, with animation and exercise.

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Fitz-Roy," she exclaimed, holding forth her hand to him, " dear Fitz-Roy, I have been seeking you everywhere"—and she paused and panted to recover her breath.

A sudden gleam of pleasure flashed from his eyes, as he gazed intently upon her; but it quickly disappeared.

"I did not know that it was you," he replied coldly, at the same moment languidly accepting her proffered hand.

dear to her, to enable her, to support this un- glow! Hastily she quitted the apartment; and wonted separation with even common regret. hurried into the garden in pursuit of her lover. Besides, his mood and manner during the previous evening had filled her with anxiety. What could have occurred to occasion Fitz-Roy, the gay, and of late serenely cheerful Fitz-Roy, the despondence which he had then exhibited? A sentiment of increased uneasiness was the answer to this self-questioning. Little did she dream that he had overheard her flippant colloquy with her father; but well did she remember the manner she had assumed immediately after she had acquired a conviction of the truth of his affection for her. Upon a retrospection, in her now softened tone of mind, how ungrateful, how unnatural, did this conduct seem. Poor Fitz-Roy! could his keen sense of this ill return for his impassioned avowal have excited his dejection? Yes, such might be the sole cause; for, only too well did she personally know that, to the sensitive feelings of true love, the very slightest indication of a diminution, or even of a temporary suspension of affection in its object, occasions an acute pang. In another minute of reflection, doubt became converted into certainty; and she stood remorsefully self-convicted of being the source of her lover's grief. Oh, how honestly did she then condemn and hate her own levity! And tenfold was this tempted to relent. But he quickly mastered the painful sentiment increased, when she recollected impulse; and rejoined with much self-possession : how his unhappiness must have been strengthened "Upon my word, you are very flattering; but and confirmed by the neglect which she had ex- I confess that I cannot exactly understand why hibited to him during the whole of the previous you do me the honor of considering me a hypoevening; for, piqued and vexed by a gloom which crite. I can aver that, until Lady Matilda was to her, in her then still exulting state of feeling, kind enough to acquaint me, I was not at all was unintelligible, she had systematically ab- aware that I was addicted to dissimulation; nor stained from all attempts to enliven or conciliate even now, can I in the least comprehend what him. object I have in such a proceeding.'

During this contrite self-communion, she had stationed herself in the recess of a window, whence was commanded an extensive view of the garden. For a time, her eyes wandered unconsciously over the scene; but, at last, they were arrested by a figure which both the distance and the foliage continued to render obscure. Instantly an impulse which is known only to love-and most frequently, to feminine love-assured her that it was Byron; and she watched it intently. The figure was moving; and at length it arrived in a nearer and more exposed position; when her suspicions were confirmed. It was Fitz-Roy; and, in spite of the space that still intervened, to her quick eye, was apparent something in his attitude and air, that indicated that his melancholy mood had not passed away. While she gazed upon him, with the most intense interest, he advanced his arm towards his face, and continued it for a brief while in that position, evidently in contemplation of some object which it sustained; but which the distance would not allow her to distinguish. This object he then approached to his lips; and again, a secret and indefinable feeling instantly assured her that it was the rose.

This unimpassioned reception was not what she expected, or could have wished; but she was too highly wrought to be disconcerted by it.

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"Do not be so frigid," she said, or you will compel me to suspect that your demeanor is not in accordance with your sentiments.”

And as she spoke, she gazed upon him so affectionately, that again Mr. Byron felt terribly

Her flow and excitement of spirit had been too great to yet desert her; and still, therefore, unrebuked, she replied cheerfully and tenderly,

"I will tell you a very vain and fond conjecture of mine, which will reveal to you why I accused you of dissembling; as to the explanation of the wherefore, that lies neither within my province nor my power." She then added with increased archness, "I guess that you were thinking of me when I first accosted you-aye, and very kindly too."

At this seemingly very innocent question, mirabile dictu, the clear brown cheek of the What a thrill of delight then darted through stoical man of fashion, which, perhaps, during his her, causing her heart to leap and her blood to whole existence, had never before changed its

hue, became suddenly converted into a vivid crim- | ing cordiality and sincerity, again for a moment son!

"Oh! how can I ever sufficiently regret," The party at Vernon Cliff separated; and the thought he, "that so lovely and fascinating a affianced couple, among others, went to London. being should be so thoroughly artificial? When It had been previously settled that they should be she first accosted me, with her endearing manner, united in the early portion of the spring. During and her beautiful countenance beaming with seem- the two intervening months they continued to asso