that she was certain of was, that Mortimer seemed more than ever that superior and delicate minded, though perhaps, proud being, she had always thought him. As such, she looked at him with a meaning and a sincerity which a vainer man might have mistaken, but which, though it revited her charms more firmly than before, inspired him with no other feeling than a consciousness (very sweet to him,) that he had deserved her esteem. Lord Clanellan's return put an end to the interview; but we may confess that from that time forth De Vere became more than ever the study and prevailing source of interest to his charming cousin. CHAPTER XVI. AN EVENT. So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, SHAKSPEARE. WHILE this memorable discussion had been going forward at Castle Mowbray, much interest had been excited in town, as to the determination of Lady Constance in regard to the vacancy that had occurred in Parliament. Lord Oldcastle was surprised, and Lord Cleveland angry at the liberal proceeding of the marquess, a surprise and an anger with which the marquess himself was any thing but moved. Lord Oldcastle observed that the marquess knew not how to act with a party, which Lord Clanellan owned was true; and Lord Cleveland asserted that his support was not worth having. To both of which propositions the marquess himself assented, and to the latter in particular, because, as he said, his support was only given while deserved, and was, therefore, no favour. The keen fears of Clayton, which had lately been sharpened by many untowardnesses, reported upon this as symptomatic. Lord Oldcastle disliked, Lord Cleveland defied it. But when the latter found that the Mowbray seat had been offered to De Vere, and by his advice had been actually conferred on one of Mr. Wentworth's determined friends, the secret anger which he had cherished against Constance, and which his secret love had never been able to quell, determined him more than ever on revenge. His heart indeed, had long been the seat of tumult and vexation in regard to this lady, which had been any thing but assuaged by the asserted injustice of her father's will. Lord Cleveland exhibited just now a picture of human nature which the moralist who judges the world, and the candidate who courts it, would do well to examine. With the ball apparently at his foot, perhaps there was not habitually a more unhappy man. Three great passions absorbed him, ambition, desire of wealth, and love. All had been defeated. Soured, disappointed, baffled, and mortified, his temper, (never the best,) was ruined; and, spite of the good breeding which he could sometimes assume, he showed that it was so. He envied every whistling cottager he passed on a ride, and began to hate the court, but hated Lord Clanellan more for appearing there and wanting nothing. There was an odious placidity, he said, about both him and his wife, which marked them for vulgar, common-place people. There is no saying to what a pitch this would have extended, or with what event he would have closed his exhausted career, when a circumstance arose which excited him anew, and held out strong temptations to his strong passion of avarice, as well as to another, (not a weak one with him,) the desire of revenge. His expectations of succeeding to the Cleveland part of the Mowbray fortune, was, as has been observed, no secret, any more than his resentment at having been disappointed in a more tender object. While in the very act of brooding over these matters, he was surprised by a note, intimating, that if he would meet the writer alone in Kensington Gardens, at a given hour, he should, upon certain conditions, be put in possession of information which might prove of immense consequence to his pretensions to the estates which had been withheld from him, and either pave the way to success with a lady he was known to admire, or gratify the revenge he was known to covet. The pride of the noble lord was outraged to distrac 11* tion by this note, which in the round set terms we have given, was anonymous. At first he suspected trick, and was galled at the presumption, which could dare to take such a liberty. "Am I the sport of the world?" said he, in agitation," and have I had so little command over myself?" He read the note again, and perceiving it was in a sort of clerk's hand, too regular for the easy carelessness of an equal, became more and more exasperated at the impudent freedom of the address. At length, however, he began to think that the lower the condition of the writer, the greater the semblance of some real communication, of consequence, as it was said, either to his interest or his revenge. This excited him, and as he was a stranger to fear, he resolved to keep the appointment. Putting, therefore, a pair of pistols into his pocket, he sallied forth at the hour indicated, and was soon at Kensington. He met various persons whom he examined, most of whom he rejected. Some were too careless; they ran up and down the mount; the world went light with them. Some were too absorbed with their own thoughts; they were not on the watch for others. Some were reading, and had happier interests. At length he observed, in a retired part of the garden, a man in a rusty black coat, and still rustier wig, his beard unshaven, and linen marvellously foul, who looked earnestly at him as he passed. There was a scowl in his eye, mingled, however, with bold familiarity, amounting to audacity, which Cleveland did not like. The place was deserted, and the man looked cautiously round him, as if to ascertain that no one was near. The earl instinctively put his hand upon his pistols, which were not so small, but they showed plainly what they were. The man, wholly undaunted, gave a saucy smile, and fearlessly observed, "You need not have taken this precaution, my lord, for in me you see only a friend." "And pray," said the earl, with angry contempt, "who may such a friend be; and what his object in this note for I suppose I see the writer of it." "You do, my lord," returned the stranger, in the same cool but impudent tone;" and my object, as you may suppose, is to serve myself, in serving you." ger, Familiar enough," cried the earl, drawing back; for the man was advancing almost in contact with him. "I mean not to be disrespectful," returned the stran"but frankness is the life and soul of business." "Then frankly, but respectfully, if you please," replied Lord Cleveland, still holding back, "state what business it is which such a man as you can have to communicate, and what I am to pay for it, for pay I suppose I must." "You guess but rightly," said the man. "Know, however," continued Cleveland, "if you are one of those beings, which your appearance bespeaks, who are driven by their necessities to practise upon the credulity of others, not only will you find yourself mistaken, but I have at hand the means of punishing you." The stranger looked as it were instinctively round; then, seeing no one near, gave a smile of contempt, which, from one of his squalid appearance, astonished Lord Cleveland, not less than what followed. "Your threat, my lord," said he, "is useless, for I am one who care too little for life, or even liberty, which is so much better, to fear any thing. But make yourself easy as to my purpose. In a word, the communications I have to make, will give you a title to the Cleveland part of the Mowbray estates, and my price preliminary is fifty guineas." "Preliminarily!" "Yes! for without that, this important deed," taking a parchment from under his coat, "which, upon my honour, is authentic-" "Honour!" cried Lord Cleveland, whose pride and disgust, heightened by the terms proposed, now got the better of him. The man immediately put the deed in his pocket, and a scowl came over him which was quite terrific. At length, recovering his tone, he almost haughtily said, "Your lordship is the best judge of your own affairs, as I am of mine." "Your affairs!"murmured the earl, in a suppressed but indignant tone. "Yes, my lord; I suppose I am a man as well as your lordship, and have affairs perhaps as pressing. In a word, I am able to assist your wishes, and I am able too to refuse that assistance, unless I am paid for it. If you did not suppose I had some such power, why did you meet me?". The earl bit his lip. He felt that the man had, at least, some reason on his side; but, from his manners, and sordid figure, was angry that he should have exposed himself to a situation to be thus addressed. But he was also divided between his pride and his interest, and only hesitated from the doubts which so mean an appearance raised, as to the possibility of making good these assertions. The stranger, perhaps, saw this, for, with cool effrontery, and after looking at his own dress, he observed, "I see what is passing in your lordship's mind; but if I were, what perhaps you take me for, how much easier would another course have been! If I wanted merely the sum I have asked, we are here by ourselves, and you are so far right in the difference you put between us, that, I agree with you, it would be a most suspicious circumstance for the great Earl of Cleveland to be found alone in such a place, with such a wretch. What offers, therefore, against my honesty, might I not accuse you of?" "Rascal!" cried Lord Cleveland, both exasperated and alarmed, "Move off: I have trusted myself too long with you." So saying, he fairly pulled out one of his pistols and cocked it. The stranger, though still unmoved, and showing a coolness which the peer himself could not help admiring, took from his pocket a pistol on his part; but he also reproduced his parchment, and unfolding it, so as evidently to exhibit a legal instrument, observed, "You see I am armed as well as your lordship, should you proceed to violence. But this is the weapon I would rather oppose to yours. It is the actual deed of settlement made by your grand-uncle, John Cleveland, on his daughter, Lady Mowbray. To know its conTents is surely worth what I ask, but to possess it, and if success attend it, (which I profesionally predict it |