CHAPTER IX. Vorrei che almen per gioco Chi sa che a poco a poco Di fingere il costume Non diventasse amor? METASTASIO. Il Trionfo di Clelia. Ir any thing was wanting to give Miss Southwell's pride an additional shock, it was supplied by the discovery, that, in the case of lord Templemore, it was one thing to waltz with her, and to fall in love with her was quite another. In spite of her coldness and discouragement, the young nobleman, in a short time, declared himself the passionate admirer of Geraldine; and she, on her part, was alarmed and astonished at the eagerness with which lady Louisa pressed his suit. Every objection that that she could urge against manners, habits, or education, was derided or overruled; and even the plea that he was totally indifferent to her was set aside as ridiculous. Lady Louisa, the kind, humane, considerate lady Louisa, seemed, from the time this affair was brought forward, to be transformed into a different woman. Geraldine discovered in her, with sorrow, the turn for which she had never till lately given her credit, that of a matchmaker; and besides the usual impulses which agitate such characters, her ladyship seemed actuated by some latent motive, which it was equally difficult for Geraldine to oppose or fathom." You say lord Templemore's manners are deficient in elegance," she would observe; "a few months intercourse with the world will amend all that, and, in the meantime, it is really refreshing to see something different from the commonplace sameness of a modern fine gentleman. You do not find his conver VOL. I. K sation sation amusing; yet he possesses, I assure you, a fine, though uncultivated understanding-an understanding that it would be the glory of a wife to direct to objects of utility and praise." Geraldine smiled at the ingenious sophistry with which lady Louisa defended even the defects of her favourite, and wondered at the zeal with which she appeared to desire to see her the wife of a young nobleman, who, in point of rank and fortune, would certainly be a fit match for Miss Southwell. The fact was, while lady Louisa had cherished a hope that Miss Southwell might be pleasing to lord Templemore, she had not wished that Geraldine should be particularly introduced to him; but when that was over, she was equally anxious, from other motives, to secure him for Geraldine. Sometimes she carried on the argument with temper; but, as her ladyship found persuasion ineffectual, the disappointment led to a display of asperity, that was equally new new and painful to her young relative. She was very anxious that Geraldine should give some decided answer before they left the country, and that this answer should be favourable." You feel eager to see that world which is new to you, Geraldine," she said; " you revel in anticipated conquests and pleasures-you wish, as the phrase is, to look about you before you decide. All young women do so, without considering how often this looking about' has terminated in seeing nothing. How happy would many be, at the end of a long suspense, in the offer of the support and affection of a man of honour, of principle, and, at the same time, of consequence to ensure that of the woman he made his wife; and if you knew, Geraldine, of what importance such protection is to you" Lady Louisa paused, unable, from the violence of her emotions, to continue the conversation. Geraldine found herself, as she had frequently been before, distressed, affected, and perplexed, by her friend's inexplicable allusions; yet still she felt an unconquerable repugnance to contract so totallyheartless an engagement. One evening that Geraldine called on lady Louisa in her dressing-room, to wish her a good-night, she renewed the argument with more earnestness than usual.— "You will meet few handsomer, more interesting men, as you young ladies phrase it, than lord Templemore. Why not give him a hearing? You surely do not experience a preference for any other person?" continued her ladyship; and as she spoke, she bent her eyes on her, with such an intense and painful scrutiny, that Geraldine, though conscious of innocence, felt herself blush like a person aware of secret guilt. At this moment, greatly to her relief, Mrs. Dillon glided into the room, and began officiously trimming the wax-lights that burnt on each side of a large mirror. "I just came in to see if there were |