fidence that a little belied his words, "do I deserve this of you? But you are disappointed, and I am happy."

He then informed her, that circumstances in the political world rendered the visit to Meadowscourt, for the present, impossible; and that he was himself, as he phrased it, a gentleman at large, for lord Beaudesert was gone on a tour, and he had neither public nor private business to attend to.

Finding his company equally acceptable to both ladies, lord O'Melvyl waited on them home, where Mrs. Rainsford outdid her usual hospitality, by giving him a general and cordial invitation to her house.

Mr. Rainsford, who, like a sensible man, approved of whatever gave pleasure to his wife, confirmed it; and the lovers found themselves at once more united than ever.

Weeks flew unperceived, in a manner the most delightful to Geraldine; but it is unnecessary to be more particular, as it might not be so delightful to the reader; the

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the time being passed pretty much in walking, riding, and conversing with lord O'Melvyl, and then conversing, riding, and walking with him again.

During this period, Geraldine acquainted him with the sad story of her parents, and lord O'Melvyl adverted to his former intercourse with Matilda Southwell. From his first arrival in the kingdom, he had been, for obvious reasons, anxious to recommend himself to lady Louisa Southwell and her family, yet still not further than the bounds of friendship and politeness justified; for he had discovered, even as far back as the period of his first residence at Meadowscourt, how impossible it would be for a character like Matilda's ever seriously to interest him. Obliged to lady Louisa, even more than her generosity would suffer her to acknowledge, for his subsequent elevation in the scale of society, he found himself, he knew not how, on his meeting her family in Dublin, perpetually involved in a round of engagements,

ments, which threw him and Miss Southwell together; while her designing coquetry, his foreign education, and ignorance of the exact degree of attention a beautiful and fashionable female might have a right to require, united, perhaps, with the well-masked plans of her mother, to draw him into a species of entanglement, of which he did not feel the full weight, till Geraldine arrived, to eclipse every other competitor." You remember," he added, tenderly, "how instantly my heart declared in your favour; but the general admiration that surrounded you, the hurry of dissipation into which you plunged, and the insidious and constant attentions of another, led me afterwards to doubt your heart; and I asked myself if I had not better endeavour to cultivate an affection for your cousin, which seemed more likely to be rewarded. In vain; selfish, haughty, and overbearing, Matilda was incapable of a spark of disinterested attachment; and convinced that we never

could be conducive to each other's happiness, I had begun to withdraw myself from the society of lady Louisa Southwell, when the eventful ball-night, and my forced departure, convinced me how dear you were, and must ever be, to me; and I could not quit Dublin, for an indefinite time, without leaving a few words of explanation, which I prevailed on your maid to convey upon your toilet."

Geraldine became all ear, when lord O'Melvyl came to this part of the story. -"Now, now," she internally said, "he will explain the cause of his mysterious, his unaccountable disappearance."

But O'Melvyl started away from the subject, as if frightened at his own temerity, in having advanced so near it; and turning to Geraldine, with one of his rare and insinuating smiles, observed, that as he had now been so very frank with her, he trusted she would, in return, admit him to her confidence; and began inquiring when last she had heard from lady

Louisa,

Louisa, and in what state she had left her friends at Meadowscourt?

Geraldine felt happy to be able to reply that she was in correspondence with lady Louisa; for that lady, after her first gust of displeasure and irritation had subsided, by the removal of the object of it, had reflected, that Geraldine had certainly committed no fault which would entitle her to be the victim of marked and decided displeasure; and therefore, though she continued cold and inaccessible to the blandishments of former friendship, she occasionally wrote to her, and resumed all the observances of civility.

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"I," resumed lord O'Melvyl, "receive frequent letters from my father; let me read you a paragraph in the last."

.

He then read part of a letter from the marquis of Beaudesert, containing the most lavish encomiums on his "distinguished choice," as he termed Geraldine, and ending with expressing his impatience to have it in his power to see her again, when

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