Alice, or the Mysteries — Complete

								

compared to the gay Lord Vargrave. And yet a sense of honour, of what
was due to her dead benefactor, her more than father,--all combated that
repugnance, and left her uncertain what course to pursue, uncalculating
as to the future. In the happy elasticity of her spirits, and with a
carelessness almost approaching to levity, which, to say truth, was
natural to her, she did not often recall the solemn engagement that
must soon be ratified or annulled; but when that thought did occur, it
saddened her for hours, and left her listless and despondent. The visit
to Mrs. Merton was, then, finally arranged, the day of departure
fixed, when, one morning, came the following letter from Lord Vargrave
himself:--

To the LADY VARGRAVE, etc.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--I find that we have a week's holiday in our do-nothing
Chamber, and the weather is so delightful, that I long to share its
enjoyment with those I love best. You will, therefore, see me almost as
soon as you receive this; that is, I shall be with you at dinner on the
same day. What can I say to Evelyn? Will you, dearest Lady Vargrave,
make her accept all the homage which, when uttered by me, she seems half
inclined to reject?



          In haste, most affectionately yours,



                                   VARGRAVE.



     HAMILTON PLACE, April 30, 18--.

This letter was by no means welcome, either to Mrs. Leslie or to Evelyn.
The former feared that Lord Vargrave would disapprove of a visit, the
real objects of which could scarcely be owned to him; the latter was
reminded of all she desired to forget. But Lady Vargrave herself rather
rejoiced at the thought of Lumley's arrival. Hitherto, in the spirit of
her passive and gentle character, she had taken the engagement between
Evelyn and Lord Vargrave almost as a matter of course. The will and
wish of her late husband operated most powerfully on her mind; and while
Evelyn was yet in childhood, Lumley's visits had ever been acceptable,
and the playful girl liked the gay and good-humoured lord, who brought
her all sorts of presents, and appeared as fond of dogs as herself. But
Evelyn's recent change of manner, her frequent fits of dejection and
thought, once pointed out to Lady Vargrave by Mrs. Leslie, aroused all
the affectionate and maternal anxiety of the former. She was resolved
to watch, to examine, to scrutinize, not only Evelyn's reception of
Vargrave, but, as far as she could, the manner and disposition of
Vargrave himself. She felt how solemn a trust was the happiness of a
whole life; and she had that romance of heart, learned from Nature, not
in books, which made her believe that there could be no happiness in a
marriage without love.
The whole family party were on the lawn, when, an hour earlier than he
was expected, the travelling carriage of Lord Vargrave was whirled along
the narrow sweep that conducted from the lodge to the house. Vargrave,