DAMON

AND

DELIA:

A TALE. 

--NEQUE SEMPER ARCUMTENDIT APOLLO. HOR. 

LONDON:PRINTED FOR T. HOOKHAM, AT HIS CIRCULATINGLIBRARY, NEW BOND-STEET, CORNEROF BRUTON-STREET. M, DCC, LXXXIV. 

CONTENTS

PART the FIRST. 

CHAPTER I. 

_Containing introductory Matter. _

CHAPTER II. 

_A Ball_

CHAPTER III. 

_A Ghost. _

CHAPTER IV. 

_A love Scene. _

CHAPTER V. 

_A Man of Humour. _

CHAPTER VI. 

_Containing some Specimens of Heroism. _

CHAPTER VII. 

_Containing that with which the Reader will be acquainted when he hasread it. _

CHAPTER VIII. 

_Two Persons of Fashion. _

CHAPTER IX. 

_A tragical Resolution. _

CONTENTS. 

PART the SECOND. 

CHAPTER I. 

_In which the Story begins over again_. 

CHAPTER II. 

_The History of Mr. Godfrey_. 

CHAPTER III. 

_A Misanthrope_. 

CHAPTER IV. 

_Much ado about nothing_. 

CHAPTER V. 

_A Woman of learning_. 

CHAPTER VI. 

_A Catastrophe_. 

CHAPTER VII. 

_Containing what will terrify the Reader_. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

_A Denouement_. 

CHAPTER IX. 

_Which dismisses the Reader_. 

DAMON

AND

DELIA. 

PART the FIRST. 

CHAPTER I. 

_Containing introductory matter_. 

The races at Southampton have, for time immemorial, constituted a scene ofrivalship, war, and envy. All the passions incident to the human framehave here assumed as true a scope, as in the more noisy and more tragicalcontentions of statesmen and warriors. Here nature has displayed her mosthidden attractions, and art has furnished out the artillery of beauty. Here the coquet has surprised, and the love-sick nymph has sapped theheart of the unwary swain. The scene has been equally sought by the bolderand more haughty, as by the timid sex. Here the foxhunter has sought a newsubject of his boast in the _nonchalance_ of _dishabille_; thepeer has played off the dazzling charms of a coronet and a star; and the_petit maître_ has employed the anxious niceties of dress. 

Of all the beauties in this brilliant circle, she, who was incomparablythe most celebrated, was the graceful Delia. Her person, though notabsolutely tall, had an air of dignity. Her form was bewitching, and herneck was alabaster. Her cheeks glowed with the lovely vermilion of nature, her mouth was small and pouting, her lips were coral, and her teeth whiterthan the driven snow. Her forehead was bold, high, and polished, hereyebrows were arched, and from beneath them her fine blue eyes shone withintelligence, and sparkled with heedless gaiety. Her hair was of thebrightest auburn, it was in the greatest abundance, and when, unfetteredby the ligaments of fashion, it flowed about her shoulders and her lovelyneck, it presented the most ravishing object that can possibly beimagined. 

With all this beauty, it Cannot be supposed but that Delia was followed bya train of admirers. The celebrated Mr. Prattle, for whom a thousand fairones cracked their fans and tore their caps, was one of the first toenlist himself among her adorers. Squire Savage, the fox-hunter, who, likeHippolitus of old, chased the wily fox and timid hare, and had never yetacknowledged the empire of beauty, was subdued by the artless sweetness ofDelia. Nay, it has been reported, that the incomparable lord Martin, apeer of ten thousand pounds a year, had made advances to her father. It istrue, his lordship was scarcely four feet three inches in stature, hisbelly was prominent, one leg was half a foot shorter, and one shoulderhalf a foot higher than the other. His temper was as crooked as his shape;the sight of a happy human being would give him the spleen; and no mortalman could long reside under the same roof with him. But in spite of thesetrifling imperfections, it has been confidently affirmed, that some of thehaughtiest beauties of Hampshire would have been proud of his alliance. 

Thus assailed with all the temptations that human nature could furnish, itmight naturally be supposed, that Delia had long since resigned her heart. But in this conjecture, however natural, the reader will find himselfmistaken. She seemed as coy as Daphne, and as cold as Diana. She divertedherself indeed with the insignificant loquaciousness of Mr. Prattle, andthe aukward gallantry of the Squire; but she never bestowed upon either aserious thought. And for lord Martin, who was indisputably allowed to bethe best match in the county, she could not bear to hear him named withpatience, and she always turned pale at the sight of him. 

But Delia was not destined always to laugh at the darts of Cupid. Mrs. Bridget her waiting maid, delighted to run over the list of her adorers, and she was much more eloquent and more copious upon the subject than wehave been. When her mistress received the mention of each with gayindifference, Mrs. Bridget would close the dialogue, and with a sagaciouslook, and a shake of her head, would tell the lovely Delia, that thelonger it was before her time came, the more surely and the more deeplyshe would be caught at last. And to say truth, the wisest philosophermight have joined in the verdict of the sage Bridget. There was a softnessin the temper of Delia, that seemed particularly formed for the tenderpassion. The voice of misery never assailed her ear in vain. Her purse wasalways open to the orphan, the maimed, and the sick. After reading atender tale of love, the intricacies of the Princess of Cleves, the softdistress of Sophia Western, or the more modern story of the Sorrows ofWerter, her gentle breast would heave with sighs, and her eye, suffusedwith tears, confess a congenial spirit. 

The father of Delia--let the reader drop a tear over this blot in ourlittle narrative--had once been a tradesman. He was naturally phlegmatic, methodical, and avaricious. His ear was formed to relish better the hoarsevoice of an exchange broker, than the finest tones of Handel's organ. Hefound something much more agreeable and interesting in the perusal of hisledger and his day book, than in the scenes of Shakespeare, or theelegance of Addison. With this disposition, he had notwithstanding, whenage had chilled the vigour of his limbs, and scattered her snow over thosehairs which had escaped the hands of the barber, resigned his shop, andretired to enjoy the fruits of his industry. It is as natural for atradesman in modern times to desire to die in the tranquillity of agentleman, as it was for the Saxon kings of the Heptarchy to act the sameinevitable scene amidst the severities of a cloister. 

The old gentleman however found, and it is not impossible that some of hisbrethren may have found it before him, when the great transaction wasirretrievably over, that retirement and indolence did not constitute thesituation for which either nature or habit had fitted him. It has beenobserved by some of those philosophers who have made the human mind theobject of their study, that idleness is often the mother of love. It mightindeed have been supposed, that Mr. Hartley, for that was his name, byhaving attained the age of sixty, might have outlived every danger of thiskind. But opportunity and temptation supplied that, which might have beendeficient on the side of nature. 

Within a little mile of the mansion in which he had taken up his retreat, resided two ancient maiden ladies. Under cover of the venerable age towhich they had attained, they had laid aside many of those modes whichcoyness and modesty have prescribed to their sex. The visits of a man wereavowedly as welcome to them, and indeed much more so, than those of awoman. Their want of attractions either external or mental, had indeedhindered the circle of their acquaintance from being very extensive; butthere were some, as well as Mr. Hartley, who preferred the company ofugliness, censoriousness and ill nature to solitude. 

Such were the Miss Cranley's, the name of the elder of whom was Amelia, and that of the younger Sophia. Miss Amelia was nominally forty, and hersister thirty years of age. Perhaps if we stated the matter moreaccurately, we should rate the elder at fifty-six, and the youngersomewhere about fifty. They both of them were masculine in theirbehaviour, and studious in their disposition. Miss Amelia, delighted inthe study of theology; she disputed with the curate, maintained a godlycorrespondence with a neighbouring cobler, and was even said to bepreparing a pamphlet in defence of the dogmas of Mr. Whitfield. MissSophia, who will make a much more considerable figure in this history, wasaltogether as indefatigable in the study of politics, as her sister was inthat of theology. She adhered indeed to none of our political parties, forshe suspected and despised them all. My lord North she treated as stupid, sleepy, and void of personal principle. Mr. Fox was a brawling gamester, devoid of all attachments but that of ambition, and who treated the mobwith flattery and contempt. Mr. Burke was a Jesuit in disguise, who underthe most specious professions, was capable of the blackest and meanestactions. For her own part she was a steady republican. That couplet of Dr. Garth was continually in her mouth, _From my very soul I hate, All kings and ministers of state. _

CHAPTER II. 

_A Ball. _

Thus much it was necessary to premise, in order to acquaint the readerwith the situation of our heroine, and that of some other personages inthis history. Having discharged this task, we will return to the pointfrom which we set out. 

It was at one of the balls at the races at Southampton--the company wasalready assembled. The card tables were set, and our maiden ladies, together with many other venerable pieces of antiquity, were assembledaround them. In another and more spacious room, appeared all thatSouthampton could boast of youth and beauty. The squire and his sister, Mr. Prattle, and lord Martin, formed a part of the company. The firstbustle was nearly composed, when Damon entered the assembly. 

He appeared to be a stranger to every body present. And, as he is equallya stranger to our readers, we will now announce him in proper form. Damonappeared to be about twenty years of age. His person was tall, and hislimbs slender and well formed. His dress was elegance itself. His coat wasornamented with a profusion of lace, and the diamond sparkled in his shoe. His countenance was manly and erect. There appeared in it a nobleconfidence, which the spectator would at first sight ascribe to dignity ofbirth, and a perfect familiarity with whatever is elegant and polite. Thisconfidence however had not the least alloy of _hauteur_, his eyeexpressed the most open sensibility and the kindest sympathy. 

There is something undescribably interesting in the figure we havedelineated. The moment our hero entered the room, the attention of everyperson present was fixed upon him. The master of the ceremoniesimmediately advanced, and escorted him to the most honourable seat thatyet remained vacant. While Damon examined with an eager eye the gayparterre of beauty that appeared before him, a general whisper was excitedupon his account. "Who is he?" "Who is he?" echoed from every corner ofthe room. But while curiosity was busy in his enquiries, there was not anindividual capable of satisfying them. 

The business of every one was now the choice of a partner. But as oneobject had engrossed the attention of all, they were willing to see theelection he would make, though every one feared to lose the partner he haddestined for himself. Damon was therefore, however unwilling todistinguish himself in so particular a manner, constrained to advance theforemost. He passed slightly along before a considerable number, who satin expectation. At length he approached the seat of Delia. He bowed to herin the most graceful manner, and intreated to be honoured with her hand. She smiled assent, and they crossed the room among a croud of enviousrivals. Besides the lovers we had mentioned, there were four others, whohad secretly determined to dance with Delia. 

But if the gentlemen were disappointed, to whose eyes the beauty of Delia, however unrivalled, was familiar, the disappointment and envy of the fairsex upon the loss of Damon, whose external and natural recommendations hadbeside the grace of novelty, were inexpressible. The daughter of Mr. Griskin, an eminent butcher in Clare-market, who had indeed from nature, the grace of being cross-eyed, now looked in ten thousand more variousdirections than she ever did before. Miss Prim, agitated in every limb, cracked her fan into twenty pieces. Miss Gawky, who had unfortunately beeninitiated by the chamber maid in the art of snuff-taking, plied her boxwith more zeal than ever. Miss Languish actually fainted, and was withsome difficulty conveyed into the air. Such was the confusion occasionedin the ball at Southampton, by the election of Damon. 

Affairs being now somewhat adjusted, the dances began. Damon at everyinterval addressed himself to his lovely partner in the easiest and mostelegant conversation. He talked with fluency, and his air and manner gavea grace and dignity to the most trifling topics. The heart of Delia, acknowledged the charms of youthful beauty and graceful deportment, andsecretly confessed that it had never before encountered so formidable anenemy. 

When the usual topics of conversation had been exhausted, the behaviour ofDamon became insensibly more particular, he pressed her hand with the mostmelting ardour, and a sigh ever and anon escaped from his breast. He paidher several very elegant compliments, though they were all of themconfined within the limits of decorum. Delia, on the other hand, thoughshe apparently received them with the most gay indifference, in realitydrank deep of the poison of love, and the words of Damon made animpression upon her heart, that was not easily to be erased. 

But however delicious was the scene in which they were engaged, itnecessarily drew to a conclusion. The drowsy clocks now announced the hourof three in the morning. The dances broke up, and the company separated. Delia leaped into the chariot that was waiting, and quickly arrived at theparental mansion. Fatigued with the various objects that had passed beforeher, she immediately retired to rest. For some time however a busy trainof thoughts detained her from the empire of sleep. "How lovely a stranger!How elegant his manners, and how brilliant his wit! How soft and engagingthe whole of his behaviour! But ah! was this the fruit of reverence andadmiration? Might it not be no more than general gallantry? Oh that I weremistress of his heart! That he would lay his person at my feet! What acontrast between him and my former admirers! How doubly hateful does lordMartin, the lover favoured by my father now appear! But ah! who is thisDamon? What is his fortune, and what his pretensions? His dress surelybespoke him a man of rank. His elegant manners could have been learned inno vulgar circle. How sweet, methinks is suspence! How delightful theuncertainty that hangs about him! And yet, how glad should I be to have mydoubts resolved. "

Soothed with these and similar reflections, the lovely maid fell asleep. But even in sleep she did not forget the impressions she had received. Sheimagined that Damon now approached her pillow. But how unlike the Damonshe had seen! His eyes had something in them superior to a mortal. Hisshoulders were adorned with wings, and a vest of celestial azure flowedaround him. He smiled upon her with the most bewitching grace. But thegentle maid involuntarily stretched out her arms towards him, and thepleasing vision vanished from her sight. 

Again she closed her eyes, and again she endeavoured to regain her formerobject. Damon indeed appeared, but in how different a manner! hiscountenance was impressed with every mark of horror, and he seemed to flybefore some who inveterately pursued him. They appeared with thecountenances of furies, and the snakes hissed around their temples. Delialooked earnestly upon them, and presently recollected the features of theadmirers we have already celebrated. The noble peer under the figure ofTisiphone, led the troop. Damon stumbled and fell. Sudden as lightningTisiphone reached the spot, and plunged a dagger in his heart. She drew itforth reeking with blood, and the lovely youth appeared in the agonies ofdeath. Terrified beyond measure, Delia screamed with horror and awoke. 

In the midst of reveries like these, now agitated with apprehension, andnow soothed with pleasure, Delia passed the night. The sun appeared, hergold repeater informed her that it was twelve, and, assisted by the fairhands of Mrs. Bridget, she began to rise. 

CHAPTER III. 

_A Ghost. _

Mr. Hartley had breakfasted and walked out in the fields, before Deliaappeared. She had scarcely begun her morning repast, ere Miss Fletcher, the favourite companion and confidante of Delia, entered the room. "Mydearest creature, " cried the visitor, "how do you do? Had not we not amost charming evening? I vow I was fatigued to death: and then, lordMartin, I think he never appeared to so much advantage. Why he was quitecovered with diamonds, spangles, and frogs. " "Ah!" cried Delia, "but theyoung stranger. " "True, " answered Miss Fletcher, "I liked him of allthings; so tall, so genteel, and so sweetly perfumed. --I cannot think whohe is. I called upon Miss Griskin, and I called upon Miss Savage, nobodyknows. He is some great man. " "When did he come to town?" said Delia, "Where does he lodge?" "My dear, he came to town yesterday in the evening, and went away again as soon as the ball was over. But do not you thinkthat Mr. Prattle's new suit of scarlet sattin was vastly becoming? I vow Icould have fallen in love with him. He is so gay and so trifling, and sofond of hearing himself talk. Why, does not he say a number of smartthings?" "It is exessively strange, " said Delia. (She was thinking of thestranger. ) But Miss Fletcher went on--"Not at all, my life. Upon my word Ithink he is always very entertaining. He cuts out paper so prettily, and hehas drawn me the sweetest pattern for an apron. I vow, I think, I nevershowed you it. " "What can be his name?" said Delia; "His name, my dear;law, child, you do not hear a word one says to you. But of all things, give me the green coat and pink breeches of Mr. Savage. But did you everhear the like? There will be a terrible to do--Lord Martin is in such aquandary--He has sent people far and near. " "I wish they may find him, "exclaimed Delia. "Nay, if they do, I would not be in his shoes for theworld. My lord vows revenge. He says he is his rival. Why, child, thestranger did not make love to you, did he?" "Mercy on us, " cried Delia, "then my dream is out. " "Oh, bless us, " said Miss Fletcher, "what dream, my dear?" Her curiosity then prevailed upon her to be silent for a fewmoments, while Delia related that with which the reader is alreadyacquainted. 

In return, Delia requested of her friend to explain to her moreintelligibly what she hinted of the anger of lord Martin. "Why, my dear, his lordship has been employed all this morning in writing challenges. They say he has not writ less than a dozen, and has sent them by as manymessengers, like a hue and cry, all over the county--my lord is a littleman--but what of that--he is as stout as Hercules, and as brave aswhat-d'ye call'um, that you and I read of in Pope's Homer. He is in such avengeance of a passion, that he cannot contain himself. He tells it toevery body he sees; and his mother and sister run about the housescreaming and fainting like so many mad things. "

Delia, as we have already said, was endowed with a competent share ofnatural understanding. She therefore easily perceived, that from an angerso boisterous and so public, no very fatal effects were to be apprehended. This reflection quieted the terrors that her dream had excited, and whichthe young partiality she began to feel for the amiable stranger wouldotherwise have confirmed. Her breast being thus calmed, she made abouthalf a dozen morning visits, among which, one to Miss Griskin, and anotherto Miss Languish, were included. The conversation every where turned uponthe outrageousness of lord Martin. All but the gentle Delia, were full ofanxiety and expectation. The females were broken into parties respectingthe event of the duel. Many trembled for the fate of lord Martin, sosplendid, so rich, and consequently, in their opinion, so amiable and sowitty. Others, guided by the unadulterated sentiments of nature, pouredforth all their vows for the courteous unknown. "May those active limbsremain without a wound! May his elegant blue and silver never be stainedwith blood! Ah, what a pity, that eyes so bright, and teeth so white, should be shrowded in the darkness of the grave. "

The dinner, a vulgar meal, that passed exactly in the same manner as fiftydinners had before it, shall be consigned to silence. The evening wasbright and calm. It was in the close of autumn; and every thing temptedour lovely fair one to take the air. By the way she called upon herinseparable friend and companion. They directed their course towards thesea side. 

Here they had not advanced far, before they entered a grove, a spotparticularly the favourite of Delia. In a little opening there was a bankembroidered with daisies and butter-cups; a little row of willows bendingtheir heads forward, formed a kind of canopy; and directly before it, there was a vista through the trees, which afforded a distant prospect ofthe sea, with every here and there a vessel passing along, and the beamsof the setting sun quivered on the waves. 

Delia and her companion advanced towards the well known spot. The mellowvoice of the thrush, and the clear pipe of the blackbird, diversified atintervals with the tender notes of the nightingale, formed the mostagreable natural concert. The breast of Delia, framed for softness andmelancholy, was filled with sensations responsive to the objects aroundher, and even the eternal clack of Miss Fletcher was still. 

Presently, however, a new and unexpected object claimed their attention. Anote, stronger and sweeter than that of any of the native choristers ofthe grove, swelled upon the air, and floated towards them. Havingapproached a few paces, they stood still to listen. It seemed to proceedfrom a flute, played upon by a human voice. The air was melancholy, butthe skill was divine. 

The native curiosity of Miss Fletcher was not upon this occasion a matchfor the sympathetic spirit of Delia. She pressed forward with an eager anduncertain step, and looking through an interstice formed by two venerableoaks, she perceived the figure of a young man sitting in her favouritealcove. His back was turned towards the side upon which she was. Havingfinished the air, he threw his flute carelesly from him, and folded hisarms in a posture the most disconsolate that can be imagined. He rose andadvanced a little with an irregular step. "Ah lovely mistress of my soul, "cried he, "thou little regardest the anguish that must for ever be aninmate of this breast! While I am a prey to a thousand tormentingimaginations, thou riotest in the empire of beauty, heedless of the woundsthou inflicted, and the slaves thou chainest to thy chariot. Wretch that Iam, what is to be done? But I must think no more. " Saying this he snatchedup his flute, and thrusting it into his bosom, hurried out of the grove. 

While he spoke, Delia imagined that the voice was one that she had heardbefore though she knew not where. Her heart whispered her something morethan her understanding could disentangle. But as he stooped to take hisflute from the ground his profile was necessarily turned towards the innerpart of the grove. Delia started and trembled. Damon stood confessed. Butshe scarcely recollected his features before he rushed away swifter thanthe winged hawk, and was immediately out of sight. 

Delia was too full of a thousand reflections upon this unexpectedrencounter to be able to utter a word. But Miss Fletcher immediatelybegan. "God bless us, " cried she, "did you ever see the like? Why it is mybelief it is a ghost or a wizard. I never heard any thing so pretty--Ivow, I am terribly frightened. "

Delia now caught hold of her arm. "For heaven's sake, let us quit thegrove. I do not know what is the matter--but I feel myself quite sick. ""Good God! good heavens! Well, I do not wonder you are all in atremble--But suppose now it should be nothing but Mr. Prattle--He isalways somewhere or other--And then he plays _God save the king_, and_Darby and Joan_, like any thing. " "Oh, " said the lovely, tremblingnymph, "they were the sweetest notes!" "Ah, " said her companion, "he is afine man. And then he is so modest--He will play at one and thirty, andride upon a stick with little Tommy all day long. But sure it could not beMr. Prattle--He always wears his hair in a queue you know--but the ghosthad a bag and solitaire. " "Well, " cried Delia, "let us think no more ofit. But did we hear anything?"--"Law, child, why he played the nicestglee--and then he made such a speech, for all the world like Mr. Button, that I like so to see in Hamlet. " "True, " said Delia, --"but what he saidwas more like the soft complainings of my dear Castalio. Did not hecomplain of a false mistress?" "Why he did say something of that kind. --Ifit be neither a ghost nor Mr. Prattle. I hope in God he is going to appearupon the Southampton stage. I do so love to see a fine young man come onfor the first time with

 _May this alspishus day be ever sacred!_Or, _I am thy father's spirit. _"

CHAPTER IV. 

_A Love Scene. _

In such conversation the moments passed till they reached the habitationof Mr. Hartley. Miss Fletcher now took her leave. And after a supper asdull, and much more tedious to Delia, than the dinner, she retired to herchamber. 

She retired indeed, but not to rest. Her brain was filled with a croud ofuneasy thoughts. "Alas, " said she, "how short has been the illusion!--Butyesterday, I was flushed with all the pride of conquest, and busily frameda thousand schemes of ideal happiness--Where are they now?--The lovelyyouth, the only man I ever saw in whose favour my heart was prepossessed, and with whom I should have felt no repugnance to have engaged in thetenderest ties, is nothing to me--He loves another. He too complains ofslighted passion, and ill-fated love. Ah, had he made his happiness dependon me, what would not I have done to reward him! Carefully I would havesoothed every anguish, and taught his heart to bound with joy. But what amI saying?--Where am I going?--Am I that Delia that bad defiance to the artof men, --that saw with indifference the havock that my charms had made!With every opening morn I smiled. Each hour was sped with joy, and myheart was light and frolic. And shall I dwindle into a pensive, melancholymaid, the sacrifice of one that heeds me not, whose sighs no answeringsighs encounter!--let it not be said. I have hitherto asserted theindependence of my sex, I will continue to do so. Too amiable unknown, Igive thee to the winds! Propitious fate, I thank thee that thou hast sosoon discovered how much my partiality was misplaced. I will abjure itbefore it be too late. I will tear the little intruder from my heartbefore the mischief is become irretrievable. "

The following evening Delia repaired again by a kind of irresistibleimpulse to the grove. She asked not the company of her friend. She daredalone hazard the encounter of that object, at which she had trembled somuch the preceding day. Unknown to herself she still imaged a kind ofuncertainty in her fate which would not permit her to lay aside allthought of Damon. She determined at all events, to have her doubtsresolved. "When there is no longer, " said she to herself, "any room formistake, I shall then know what to do. "

As she drew near the alcove, she perceived the same figure stretched alongthe bank, and with his eyes immoveably fixed upon a little fountain thatrose in a corner of the scene. He seemed lost in thought. Delia approacheddoubtfully, but he heard her not. Advanced near to her object, shereclined forward in a posture of wonder and attention. At this moment asigh burst from the heart of Damon, and he raised himself upon the seat. 

His eyes caught the figure of Delia. ------"Ah, " said he, starting from histrance, "what do I see? Art thou, lovely intruder, a mere vision, anaerial being that shuns the touch?" "I beg ten thousand pardons. I meanednot, sir, to interrupt you. I will be gone. " "No, go not. " Answered he. "Thou art welcome to my troubled thoughts. I could gaze for ever. "

Saying this he rose and advancing towards her, seized her hand. "Be notafraid, " said he, "gentle fair one, my breast is a stranger to violenceand rudeness. I have felt the dart of love. Unhappy myself, I learn tofeel for others. But you are happy. " As he said this, a tear unbiddenstole into the eye of Delia, and she wiped it away with the hand which wasdisengaged from his. "And dost thou pity me, " said he. "And does suchsoftness dwell within thy breast? If you knew the story of my woes, youwould have reason to pity me. I am in love to destraction, but I dare notdisclose my passion. I am banished from the presence of her I love. Ah, cruel fate, I am entangled, inextricably entangled. " "And how, sir, " saidDelia, "can I serve you?" "Alas, " said he, in no way. My case is hopelessand irretrievable. And what am I doing? Why do I talk, when the seasoncalls for action? Oh, I am lost. "

"Dear Sir, " answered Delia, "you terrify me to death. " "Oh, no. I wouldnot for the world give you an uneasy moment. Let me be unhappy--but maymisfortune never disturb your tranquility. I return to seek her whose fateis surely destined to mix with mine. Pardon, loveliest of thy sex, thedistraction in which I have appeared. I would ask you to forget me--Iwould ask you to remember me--I know not what I am, or what to think. "

With these words he took the hand which he still held in one of his, andraising it to his lips, kissed it with the utmost fervour. Immediately hecaught up his hat, which lay beside him on the ground, and began toadvance along the path that led out of the grove on the side furthest fromthe town. But his eyes were still fixed upon Delia. He heeded not the pathby which he went; and scarcely had he gone twenty paces, ere he changedhis mind and returned. Delia was seated on the bank and seemed lost inreverie. Damon threw himself upon his knees before her. 

"Ah, why, " said he, "am I constrained to depart!--Why must I talk inriddles! Perhaps we may never see each other more. Perhaps the time willcome when I shall be able to clear up the obscurity that at present I amobliged to preserve. But no, it cannot be. I never was happy but for twopoor hours that I enjoyed your smiles, and, drinking in the poison of yourcharms, I forgot myself. The time too soon arrived for bitterrecollection. My mistress calls, the mistress of my fate. I must begone--Farewel--for ever. "

Saying this, he heaved a sigh that seemed almost to tear his breastasunder, and with the utmost apparent violence he tore himself away, andrushed along the path with incredible velocity. 

Delia was now alone. But instead, as she had flattered herself of havingher doubts resolved, she was more uncertain, more perplexed than ever. "What" cried she, "can all this mean? How strange, and how inexplicable!Is it a real person that I have seen, or is it a vision that mocks myfancy? Am I loved, or am I hated? Oh, foolish question! Oh, fond illusion!Are we not parted for ever! Is he not gone to seek the mistress of hissoul! Alas, he views me not, but with that general complacency, whichyouth, and the small pretensions I have to beauty are calculated toexcite! He had nothing to relate that concerned myself, he merely intendedto make me the confidante of his passion for another. Too surely he isunhappy. His heart seemed ready to burst with sorrow. Probably in thissituation there is no greater or more immediate relief, than to disclosethe subject of our distress, and to receive into our bosom the sympathetictear of a simple and a generous heart. His behaviour today corresponds buttoo well with the suspicions that yesterday excited. Oh, Delia! then, "added she, "be firm. Thou shalt see the conqueror no more. Think of him nomore. "

In spite however of all the resolution she could muster, Delia repairedday after day, sometimes alone, and sometimes in company with her friend, to that spot which, by the umbrage of melancholy it wore, was become moreinteresting than ever. Miss Fletcher, could scarcely at first be persuadedto direct her course that way, lest she should again see the ghost. Butshe need not have terrified herself. No ghost appeared. 

Disappointed and baffled on this side, Delia by the strictest enquiriesendeavoured to find out who the unknown person was, in whose fate she hadbecome so greatly interested. The result of these enquiries, howeverdiligent, was not entirely satisfactory. She learned that he had been fora few days upon a visit to a Mr. Moreland, a gentleman who lived aboutthree miles from Southampton. 

Mr. Moreland was a person of a very singular character. He had thereputation in the neighbourhood of being a cynic, a misanthrope, and amadman. He kept very little company, and was even seldom seen but bynight. He had a garden sufficiently spacious, which was carefully renderedimpervious to every human eye. And to this and his house he entirelyconfined himself in the day-time. The persons he saw were not thegentlemen of the neighbourhood. He had no toleration for characters thatdid not interest him. When he first came down to his present residence, hewas visited by Mr. Hartley, Mr. Prattle, squire Savage, lord Martin, andall the most admired personages in the country. But their visits had neverbeen returned. Mr. Prattle pronounced him a scoundrel; squire Savage saidhe was a nincompoop; and lord Martin was near sending him a challenge. Butthe censures of the former, and the threats of the latter, had neverreached his ears. His domestics were numerous, but they were hired from adistance, and were permitted as little communication as possible with thepowdered lacquies of Southampton. Of consequence, however much theunaccommodating conduct of Mr. Moreland disposed his neighbours tocalumniate him, scandal was deprived of that daily food which is requisitefor her subsistence, and the name of that gentleman was scarcely everheard. 

CHAPTER V. 

_A Man of Humour. _

We will now return to lord Martin. All his messengers, from what cruelfate we cannot exactly ascertain, miscarried; and it was not till Damonhad left the country, that he learned that he had been a visitor at thehouse of Mr. Moreland. Finding that he had missed his expected vengeance, he discharged his anger in unavailing curses, and for three days hebreathed nothing but daggers, death, and damnation. Having thus vapouredaway the paroxysm of his fury, he became tolerably composed. 

But adverse fate had decreed a short duration to the tranquility of hislordship. Scarcely had the field been cleared from the enemy he so greatlydreaded, ere a new rival came upon the stage, to whose arms, thoughwithout any great foundation, the whole town of Southampton had consignedthe charming Delia. 

The name of this gentleman was Prettyman. He was just returned from histravels, and was reckoned perfectly accomplished. He was six foot high, his shoulders were broad, his legs brawny, and his whole person athletic. The habits however he had formed to himself in foreign countries, will notperhaps be allowed exactly to correspond with the figure which nature hadbestowed upon him. He generally spent two hours every morning at histoilette. His face was painted and patched, his whole person stronglyperfumed, and he had continually in his hand a gold snuff-box set withdiamonds. His voice was naturally hoarse and loud, but with infiniteindustry he had brought himself to a pronunciation shrill, piping, andeffeminate. His conversion was larded with foreign phrases and foreignoaths, and every thing he said was accompanied with a significant shrug. 

The same period which had introduced this new pretender to the heart ofDelia, had been distinguished by the arrival of a Sir William Twyford, whopaid his addresses to Miss Fletcher. Sir William was exactly the reverseof Mr. Prettyman. With a genteel person, and an open and agreablephisiognomy, his manners were perfectly careless and unstudied. Apredominant feature in his character was good nature. But this was not hisruling passion. He had an infinite fund of wit and humour, and he neverwas so happy as when he was able to place the foibles of affectation in awhimsical and ridiculous light. 

As it was vanity alone, that had induced Mr. Prettyman to pay hisaddresses to the lady, who was universally allowed to surpass in beautyand every elegant accomplishment in the place in which he was, he wouldhave been less pleased that his amour should have terminated in amarriage, than that by his affectation and coquetry he might break theheart of the simple fair one. Accordingly, it was his business to make theaffair as public as possible. 

Lord Martin, had been sufficiently irritated by the pretensions of Damon. The new intruder had wrought up his passion to the highest pitch. In themean time he had renewed an acquaintance which he had formerly made withsir William Twyford. Sir William, upon all occasions, cultivated theintimacy of such, as, by any striking peculiarities, seemed to furnish aproper subject for his humour. He now contributed every thing in his powerto inflame his lordship against Mr. Prettyman. He offered to become thebearer of a challenge, and to be his lordship's second in any futurecombat. 

Lord Martin broke off the conversation somewhat abruptly, and began toreflect with himself upon what had passed. He had hitherto contrived, bysome means or other, though he dealt very largely in challenges, never tohave come to actual battle. But he had too much reason to think, that ifhe made sir William his messenger, he should not be able with any degreeof honour to contrive an evasion. "It is true, " said he, "I am in a mostconfounded passion, but a wise general never proceeds to action withouthaving first deliberated. Zounds, blood and fire! would I could put an endto the existence of so presumptuous a villain! But then it must beconsidered that Mr. Prettyman is six foot high, and I am not five. He isas athletic as Ajax, but to me nature has been unfavourable. It is true Iunderstand cart and terce, parry and thrust, but I have heard thatPrettyman studied under Olivier. Many a man has outlived the passage of abullet, or the thrust of a sword through him. But my constitution is sodelicate! Curse blast it, death and the devil, I do not know what to do. "

Sir William, as soon as he had left lord Martin, repaired to the lodgingsof Mr. Prettyman. After a short general conversation, he began, "My dearfriend, here has happened the unluckiest thing in nature. You have madesome advances, you know, to the charming Delia. " "True, " cried Prettyman, "I have bestowed upon her a few condescending glances. _C'est unecharmante fille_. " "Well, " added sir William, "and the whole town givesher to you. " "_Parbleu!_ the town is very impertinent. There will gotwo words to that bargain. " "My lord Martin, you know, has enlistedhimself amongst her admirers. " "Pox take the blockhead, I suppose he wouldmarry her. _Bien_. After I have led her a dance, he shall do what hepleases with her. " "But, " said sir William, "my lord intends to call youto an account. " "_Morbleu_, " cried Prettyman, "I thought I hadbeen in a land of liberty. " "But let me tell you, my lord is veryabsolute. He has fought some half a dozen duels in his time, and everybody is afraid of him. " "_J'en suis excèdè_. 'Pon honour, the girl isnot worth fighting for. " "Oh, " said the malicious wit, "but if you giveher up for a few threats, your reputation will be ruined for ever. ""_Mon Dieu!_ this reputation is a very expensive thing. _Jecrois_ that every girl is a Helen, never so happy as when people aremurdering one another, and towns are fired for her sake. Is this same_milord_ absolutely inexorable?"

"I cannot tell, " said sir William, "what may be done. If you were to fly, he would pursue you to the ends of the earth. But suppose now you wereupon your knees, to retract your pretensions to this silly girl. ""_Pardi_" answered Prettyman, "that is damned hard! are you sure hislordship is so compleat a master of the science of defence?" "Nay, "replied sir William, "I cannot tell. I believe indeed he never received awound, but I think I remember to have heard of one duel he fought, inwhich his antagonist came off with his life. " "Ah, _diablel'emporte!_ That will not do neither. These bullets are the aukwardestthings in the world. Do you think you could not prevail with his Lordshipto use only powder?" "Powder, " cried sir William, "that is an excellentjest. My lord always loads with six small slugs. " "Six slugs! ah thebloody minded villain! It is confounded hard that a gentleman cannot passthrough life, without being _degoutè_ with these unpolished Vandals. _Ah, mon cher ami_, I will put the affair entirely into your hands:do, _pour i'amour de Dieu_, bring me out of this scrape as well asyou can. " "Well my dear Prettyman, I will exert myself on your account;but, upon my soul, I had rather have an affair with half a regiment ofcommissioned officers fresh imported from America. "

Sir William Twyford, having thus brought the affair to some degree offorwardness, now waited on his lordship. "My dear lord Martin, " said he, "what have you resolved upon? The affair is briefly thus--you must eithergive up Delia, or fight Mr. Prettyman. " "Give up Delia!" exclaimed thelittle lord; "by all that is sacred I will sooner spill the last drop ofmy blood. But, " added he, "what necessity is there for the alternative youpropose? True, I fear no man. But to be continually engaged in quarrelswould acquire me the character of a desperado. " "Indeed, " said sirWilliam, "you have been somewhat lavish in those sort of affairs, but I donot see how you can be off in the present instance. Prettyman has heard ofthe bustle you made about the fellow at the ball, that tricked you of yourpartner; and he will never pardon the affront, if you pay less attentionto him. " "Pox take the blockhead, he is mighty nice, methinks, in histemper. I have a great mind not to gratify him. " "Oh, " cried sir William, "you never had such an opportunity to establish your character for ever. And the fellow I believe is no better than a coward at bottom. "

It would be endless to relate all the stratagems of sir William to bringthe business to the conclusion he wished. How he terrified the brawny_petit maître_, and anon he animated the little peer. His lordshipfelt the force of his friend's eloquence, but even his highest flights ofheroism were qualified with temporary misgivings. For poor Mr. Prettyman, he feared to stay, and dared not fly. If he could have forgotten thedanger he apprehended, his good natured friend by the studiedexaggerations in which he was continually clothing it, would haveperfectly succeed in refreshing his memory. But in reality it was neverabsent from his thoughts. His slumbers were short and disturbed. And hecould scarcely close his eyes, ere the enraged lord Martin, with his sworddrawn, and his countenance flaming with inexorable fury, presented himselfto his affrighted imagination. 

At length sir William by his generous interposition affected a compromise. It was agreed that Mr. Prettyman should fall upon his knees before lordMartin in the public room in the presence of Delia, and, asking hispardon, put a small cane into his hand. "My lord, " said sir William to thebeau, "is as generous as he is brave. He will not make an improper use ofthe advantage you put into his hands. He will raise you from the humbleposture you will have assumed, and, embracing you cordially, all that ispast will be forgotten. As his lordship will take you under hisprotection, not an individual will dare to reflect upon you. " "Mr. Prettyman, " said sir William to lord Martin, "unites the heart of achicken to the most absolute skill in the small sword that ever I saw. Ihave been only capable of restraining him by representing your lordship asthe most furious and impracticable of mankind. If he once suspect that Ihave misrepresented you, a duel, in which I am afraid your lordship wouldbe overmatched, must be the inevitable consequence. Might I thereforepresume to advise, your lordship should make use of the advantage I havegained you without mercy. "

CHAPTER VI. 

_Containing some Specimens of Heroism. _

The evening now approached, in which the scene sir William Twyford hadwith so much pains prepared, was to be acted. An imperfect rumour hadspread that something extraordinary was to pass in the public room. MissPrim was of opinion that a duel would be fought. "I shall be frightenedout of my wits, " said she. "But I must go, for one loves any thing new, and I believe there is nothing in it that a modest woman may not see. "Miss Gawky thought it would be a boxing match. "Bless us, my dear lordMartin could stand no chance with that great lubberly macaroni. " But MissGriskin, with a look of more than common sagacity, assured the ladies thatshe had penetrated to the very bottom of the matter. "Mr. Prettyman andlord Martin have ordered two large rounds of beef to be set upon the tableat supper, and they mean to lay about them for a wager. "

In this manner every one made her own conjecture, which she preferred tothat of all the rest. Curiosity was wrought up to the highest pitch, andthe uncertainty that prevailed upon the subject, rendered the affair stillmore interesting. The rooms were early filled with an uncommon number ofspectators. About nine o'clock Mr. Prettyman entered, but instead ofexerting himself with his usual vivacity, he retired to one corner of theroom, and sat in a sheepish and melancholy posture. Not long after, sirWilliam Twyford and lord Martin came in, arm in arm. 

The peer strutted immediately to the upper end of the room. Delia stoodnear him. "My lovely girl, " said he, with an air of vulgar familiarity, "Iam rejoiced to see you. I hope I shall one day prove myself worthy of yourfavour. "

While this passed Mr. Prettyman was by no means in an enviable condition. From the operation of fear and vexation he perspired very profusely. Vanity, as we have said, might almost be termed his ruling passion, and hewould never have sacrificed it so publicly to any consideration lessimmediate than that of personal safety. Ardently did he long to have theterrible scene concluded. But he had neither strength nor spirits toadvance a step, or even to rise from his seat. 

Sir William Twyford now came up to him, and took hold of his hand. "Mydear friend, " said he, "be not dispirited. It is no more than a flea-bite, and it will be over in a moment. You will acquire the friendship of thefirst personage in the county, and far from losing any thing in the publicesteem, you will be more respected than ever. " "_Morbleu_, " cried thebeau, "my shoulders ake for it already. But, _mon très cher & trèsexcellent ami_, do not desert me, and remind the peer of the generosityyou talked of. "

Sir William now raised him from his seat, and led him to the middle of theroom. Lord Martin, with a stately air, advanced a few steps. In spitehowever of all the heroism he could assume, as the important affair drewtowards a crisis, he began to tremble. Mr. Prettyman fell upon his knees, and sir William put a cane into his hand. But in this posture the beauremained still somewhat taller than his antagonist. "Most worthy lord, "cried he in a tremulous voice, "I am truly sorry for the misunderstandingthat has happened, and I am filled with the most ardent"----While he wasyet speaking he advanced the cane in the attitude of presenting it. "Villain, " said lord Martin, who between fear and rage could no longercontain himself, and snatched it from his hand. But he could scarcelyreach beyond the shoulder of his enemy, and blinded with emotion andexertion, instead of directing his blows as he ought to have done, hestruck him two or three very severe strokes on the head and face. The beaubore it as long as he could. But at length bellowing out, "_Mon Dîeu, jesuis meurtriè_, I am beaten to a jelly, " he rose from his knees. Hisantagonist being between him and the door, he fairly threw him upon hisback, and flying out of the room he stopped not till he arrived at theinn, where, ordering his phaeton and six, he ascended without a moment'spause, and drove off for London. 

In the mean time, every thing in the public room was in confusion anddisorder. Sir William flew to support the discomfited hero, who hadreceived a grievous contusion in his shoulder. Miss Griskin giggled, theother ladies screamed, and Miss Languish, as usual, fainted away. "Blessme, " cried Miss Fletcher, "it is the queerest affair"--"By my troth, " saidMiss Gawky, "it is vastly fine. " "But not half so fine, " cried MissGriskin, "as the buttocks of beef. "

By this time lord Martin had raised himself in a sitting posture anduttered a deep groan. "Best of friends, " said he, pressing the hand of sirWilliam, "tell me truly, am I victorious, or am I defeated?" "Oh_victoria_!" cried sir William; "never heed a slight skin wound thatyou received in the combat. " His lordship stood up. "Damnation, poxconfound it!" said he, a little recovering himself, "what is become of therascal? I have not given him half what he deserved. But, ladies, " added heflourishing his cane, "it is my maxim, as I am strong to be merciful. "

Saying this, he advanced towards Delia, and, with a flourish of importanceand conceit, laid the weapon, which he had so roundly employed, at herfeet. "Loveliest of women, " said he, "to your shrine I devote myself. Uponyour altar, I lay the insignia of my prowess. Deign, gentlest of thy sex, to accept thus publicly of those sighs which I have long poured forth uponthy account. "

Delia, though the native modesty of her character caused her whole face tobe suffused with blushes at having the eyes of the whole company thusturned upon her, regarded the peer with a look of ineffable disdain, andturned from him in silence. 

Such were the transactions of an evening, which will doubtless long beremembered by such as had the good fortune to be spectators. The naturalimpertinence and insolence of lord Martin were swelled by the event to tentimes their natural pitch. He crowed like a cock, and cackled like agoose. The vulgar of the other sex, who are constantly the admirers ofsuccess, however unmerited, and conceit, however unfounded, thought hislordship the greatest man in the world. The inequality of his legs wasremoved by the proof he had exhibited of his prowess. The inequality ofhis shoulders was hid under a rent-roll of ten thousand a year. And thenarrowness of his intellects, the optics of these connoisseurs were notcalculated to discern. 

The peer, as we have already hinted, was the suitor most favoured by thefather of our heroine. The principal passion of the old gentleman was thelove of money. But at the same time he was not absolutely incapable ofrelishing the inferior charms of a venerable title and a splendidreputation. Perceiving that his client continually rose in the publicopinion, he was more eager than ever to have the match concluded. LordMartin, though his organs were not formed to delight in beauty at thefirst hand, was yet tickled with the conceit of carrying off so fair aprize from the midst of a thousand gaping expectants. 

It will naturally be imagined that the situation of Delia at this momentwas by no means an enviable one. She was caught in the snares of love. Andthe more she struggled to get free, she was only the more limed andentangled. The recollection of the hopelessness of her love by no meanssufficed to destroy it. The recollection of her former carelessness andgaiety was not able to restore her to present ease. In vain she summonedpride and maiden dignity to support her. In vain she formed resolutions, which were broken as soon as made. Every where she was haunted by theimage of her dear unknown. Her nights were sleepless and uneasy. The fireand brightness of her eyes were tarnished. _She pined in green andyellow melancholy. _

The more dear were the ideal image that accompanied her, the more did sheexecrate and detest her persecutor. "No, " cried she, "I will never be his. Never shall the sacred tie, which should only unite congenial spirits, beviolated by two souls, distant as the poles, jarring as contendingelements. My father may kill me. Alas, of what value is life to me! It isa long scene of unvaried misfortune. It is a dreary vista of despair. Hemay kill me, but never, never shall he force me to a deed my soul abhors. "

CHAPTER VII. 

_Containing that with which the reader will be acquainted when he hasread it_. 

The cup of misfortune, by which it was decreed that the virtue and theconstancy of our heroine should be tried, was not yet ended. Thedisposition of a melancholy lover is in the utmost degree variable. Nowthe fair Delia studiously sought to plunge herself in impervious solitude;and now, worn with a train of gloomy reflections, she with equal eagernesssolicited the society of her favourite companion. 

By this time sir William Twyford and Miss Fletcher were become in a mannerinseparable. Of consequence the company of the one necessarily involvedthat of the other. And the gaiety and good humour of sir William, temperedas they were by an excellent understanding, and an unaffected vein ofsportive wit, were the sweetest medicine to the wounded heart of Delia. When she had first chosen Miss Fletcher for her intimate friend, her ownfaculties had not yet reached their maturity; and habit frequently rendersthe most insipid amusements pleasurable and interesting. Southamptonitself did not afford the largest scope for selection. And however ourreaders may decide respecting the merit of the easy, the voluble and thegood humoured Miss Fletcher, they will scarcely be disposed to deny thatof all the female characters we have hitherto exhibited, she was the mostamiable. 

One evening, as these three friends were sitting together, sir Williamtook occasion to lament the necessity that was laid upon him to quitSouthampton for a few days, though he hoped very speedily to be able toreturn. His inamorata, as usual, was very inquisitive to learn thebusiness that was to deprive her for a time of the presence of a lover, ofwhom she was not a little ostentatious. Sir William answered that he wasunder an engagement to be present at the marriage of one of his collegefriends, and that he should set out in company with Mr. Moreland. 

At that name our tender and apprehensive fair one involuntarily started. "Mr. Moreland!" said she to herself, "Ah, it was at his house that myunknown resided. It is very seldom that Mr. Moreland undertakes a journey. Surely there must be something particularly interesting to him in theaffair. The strange combination of circumstances terrifies and perplexesme. Would I were delivered from this state of uncertainty! Would to God Iwere dead!"

The uncertainty which afflicted her was however of a very short duration. Miss Fletcher, by an inexhaustible train of interrogatories, led sirWilliam to relate by degrees every thing he knew of the affair. The younggentleman his friend was the nephew and heir of Mr. Moreland. The presentmatch had been long upon the carpet, and was a very considerable one inpoint of fortune. "Did the nephew ever visit Mr. Moreland?" "Veryfrequently, " said sir William. "And he is visited" interposed Delia, "byother young gentlemen from the university?" "No, " answered sir William. "Mr. Moreland, who is an old batchelor, full of oddities and sensibility, has a general dislike of young collegians. He thinks them pert, dissolute, arrogant, and pedantic. He therefore never receives any but his nephew, for whom he has the most ardent affection, and sometimes by particulargrace myself who am his intimate friend. " "And how long is it since theyoung gentleman paid a visit to his uncle?" Sir William looked a littlesurprized at so particular a question, but answered: "He was here notabove a fortnight ago to invite his uncle to the wedding. But he is ratherserious and thoughtful in his temper, so that he is seldom seen inpublic. "

It was now but too certain that the friend of sir William, and the amiableunknown, who had made a conquest of the heart of Delia, were the sameperson. The surprise at which she was taken, and the unwelcome manner inwhich her doubts were now at once resolved, were too much for the delicateframe of our heroine. She sat for a moment gazing with an eager andunmeaning stare upon the face of sir William. But she presentlyrecollected herself, and, bursting out of the room, flew to her chamber inthe same instant, and was relieved by a flood of tears. 

Sir William was inexpressibly surprised at this incident. Delia, he wassure, did not even know the name of his friend, and he could scarcelyimagine that she had ever seen him. Miss Fletcher, though considerablyastonished herself, gave sir William an account of so many particulars ofwhat had passed between his friend and our heroine, as were perfectlysufficient to solve the difficulty. In return the baronet explained to herthe exact situation of the affair of Damon, told her that he did notbelieve the day was yet fixed, and assured her that Mr. Moreland andhimself waited for a farther summons, though it must be confessed that itwas expected every hour. 

These particulars, when communicated to Delia by the indefatigableassiduity of Miss Fletcher, afforded her but a very slender consolation. "What avails it me, " said she, "that the day is not fixed? Everyconsiderable circumstance, there is reason to believe, is determined. Hemarries, with the approbation of all his friends, a lady, my superior inrank and fortune, and who is probably every way worthy of him. Ah, why amI thus selfish and envious? No, let me pine away in obscurity, let me beforgotten. But may he live long and happy. Did he not tell me, that hewent to seek the _mistress of his fate_?--And yet, " interrupted she, "he accompanied the information with words of such sweet import, with somuch tenderness and gentleness, as will never be erased from my mind. Ahfoolish girl, wilt thou for ever delude thyself, wilt thou be for everextracting comfort from despair? No! Long enough hast thou been misguidedby the meteor of hope. Long enough hast thou been cheated by the visionsof youthful fancy. There is now no remedy left. Let me die. "

There were two passions that predominated in the breast of sir WilliamTwyford. The first was that of a humourist, and to this almost every otherobject was occasionally sacrificed. But he had likewise a large fund ofgood nature. He perceived, that in two successive instances, howeverunintentionally, his conduct had been the source of unhappiness to themost amiable of her sex. The victory of lord Martin had put it more thanever in his power to harrass Delia. She was incessantly importuned, now byher father, and now by her inamorato. And her distress, if it had wantedany addition, was rendered compleat by the expected marriage of one, whosepersonal accomplishments had caught her unwary heart. He lamented theundeserved misfortune of youth and beauty. His heart bled for her. 

Thus circumstanced, his active benevolence determined him not to lose amoment, in endeavouring to repair the mischief of which he had sounfortunately been the author. He had never cordially approved of theintended union between his friend and Miss Frampton. She was of the firstorder of coquettes, and it might have puzzled even an anatomist todetermine, whether she had a heart. Descartes informs us that the soulusually resides in the pineal gland, but the soul of this lady seemed toinhabit in her eyes. She had been caught with the figure of Damon. And hada figure more perfectly beautiful, if that had been possible, or anequipage more brilliant, presented itself, he did not doubt but that itwould carry away the prize. 

Miss Frampton was heiress to a fortune of fifty thousand pounds. Thefather of Damon, whose soul, in union with some amiable qualities, whichserved him for a disguise, had the misfortune to be exceedingly mercenaryat the bottom, had proposed the match to his son. Damon, who had never inhis life been guilty of an act of disobedience, received therecommendation of his father with a prejudice in its favour. He waitedupon the young lady and found her beautiful, high spirited, accomplished, and incensed by a thousand worshippers. Her disposition was not indeedcongenial to his own. But he was prejudiced by filial duty, dazzled by hercharms, and led on insensibly by the mildness and pliableness of hischaracter. In a word, every thing had been concluded, and the wedding wasdaily expected to take place. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

_Two Persons of Fashion_. 

In pursuance of the determination he had formed, sir William immediatelyset out for Oxford, where his friend still resided. As he had lived withhim upon terms of the most unreserved familiarity, he made use of theliberty of an intimate, and, without being announced, abruptly entered hischamber. Damon was sitting in a melancholy posture, his countenancedejected, and his eye languid. Upon the entrance of the baronet he lookedup, and struck with the sudden appearance of one to whom he was soardently attached, his visage for a moment assumed an air of gaiety andpleasure. 

"Ha, " cried sir William, with his wonted spriteliness of accent, "methinksthe countenance of my Damon does not bespeak the sentiments that become abridegroom. " "I am afraid not, " answered Damon. "But tell me to what am Iindebted for this agreeable and unexpected visit?" "We will talk of thatanother time. But when did you see my play-fellow, Miss Frampton?" "I havenot seen her, " replied our hero with a sigh half uttered, and halfsuppressed, "these ten days. " "What" cried the baronet, "nomisunderstanding, eh?" "Not absolutely that. I saw her, I fear, withoutall the rapture that becomes a lover, and she resented it with a coldnessthat did not introduce an immediate explanation. Since that time I havebeen somewhat indisposed, or probably affairs would now have beensettled. " "And what, " said sir William, "must we apply the old maxim, thatthe falling out of lovers is the consolidating of love?"

Damon from the entrance of his friend had appeared a good deal agitated. He was no longer able to contain himself. He eagerly seized the hand ofsir William and clasped it between both of his. "My dear baronet, I havenever concealed from you a thought of my heart. But my present situationis so peculiarly delicate and distressing, that I can scarcely form anysentiment of it, or even dare trust myself to recollect it. I have seen, "continued he, "ah, that I could forget it! a woman, beauteous as the day, before whom the charms of Miss Frampton disappear, as, before the risingsun, each little star _hides its diminish'd head_. Her features, fullof sensibility, her voice such as to thrill the soul and all she says, pervaded with wit and good sense. " "And where, " cried the baronet, in alively tone, "resides this peerless she?"

"Alas, " answered the disconsolate Damon, "it matters not. I shall see herno more. Virtue, honour, every thing forbids it. I may be unhappy, but Iwill never deserve to be so. Miss Frampton has my vows. Filial duty callson me to fulfil them. Obstacles without number, Alps on Alps arise, toimpede my prosecution of a fond and unlicensed inclination. The strugglehas cost me something, but it is over. I have recovered my health, I haveformed my resolution. This very day, (you, my good friend, will accept theapology) I had determined to repair to Beaufort Place. Doubt anduncertainty nourish the lingering distemper that would undo me. I willcome to a decision. "

Sir William was not of a temper to abdicate any affair in which he hadembarked, before success appeared absolutely unattainable. Like Caesar, itwas enough for him that the thing appeared possible to be done, to engagehim to persevere. He therefore begged leave to accompany his friend, andthey set out together that very afternoon. 

Beaufort Place, the habitation of Miss Frampton, was only six miles fromOxford. And, as he knew that Sir Harry Eustace, the son of that lady'smother by a second husband, was now upon a visit to his sister, sirWilliam Twyford made no scruple of proceeding with his friend immediatelyto the house. 

After a short general conversation, sir William drew the young baronetinto the garden. In the mean time sir Harry's chariot was preparing, as hehad fixed the conclusion of his visit for that evening. After an intervalof half an hour the servant brought word that the carriage was ready. SirHarry, who was a young man of little ceremony, bowed _en passant_before the parlour window, and immediately hurried away. 

Sir William stood for some time at the door of the house after sir Harryhad driven away. Presently he observed another carriage advancing by theopposite road. The liveries were flaunting and the attendants numerous. They drew nearer, and he perceived that it was the equipage of lordOsborne. Since therefore the lovers were to be so soon interrupted by theentrance of a new visitant, he thought proper immediately to enter theparlour. 

He had only time to remark the air and countenance of Damon and the younglady. They appeared mutually cold and embarassed. He could trace in hisfriend the aukwardness and timidity of one who was unused to act a studiedpart. Miss Frampton, with a countenance uninterested and inattentive, affected the carriage of a person who thought herself insulted. 

Lord Osborne was now announced. He was a young nobleman, that had spent aconsiderable part of his fortune upon the continent. With a narrowunderstanding and a contracted heart, he had been able by habitual cunningand invincible effrontery, to acquire the reputation of a man of parts. Courage was the only respectable quality, his possession of which couldnot be questioned. He was a debauchee and a gamester. There was nomeanness he had not practised, there was no villainy of which he could notboast. With this character, he was universally respected and courted byall such as wished to acquire the reputation of men of gaiety and spirit. The ladies were all dying for him, as for a man who had ruined moreinnocence, and occasioned a greater consumption of misery, than any otherman in the kingdom. 

The face of Miss Frampton visibly brightened the moment his name wasarticulated. She was all spirits and agitation, though she seemed to feelsomething aukward in her situation. When he entered the room, she flewhalf way to meet him, but, suddenly recollecting herself, stopt short. "Mydear Miss Frampton, " said his lordship, with a familiar and indifferentair, "I cannot stop a moment. I am mortified to death. The mostunfortunate man! But I could not live a whole day without seeing you. Believe me to be more impassioned, more ardent than ever. " Saying this bedirected a slight glance and a half bow towards our two friends. "Farewel, my charmer, my adorable!" said he, and kissed her hand. Miss Framptonstruck him a slight blow with her fan, and crying, with an easy wink, "Remember!" she dropt him a profound curtesey and his lordship departed. 

For a moment the whole company was silent. "By my soul, " exclaimed sirWilliam, "this is the most singular affair!" "Oh, nothing at all, "answered the young lady. "It is all _à la mode de Paris_. In Franceno man of fashion can presume to accost a lady, whether young or old, butin the language of love. But it means no more, than when a minister ofstate says to his first clerk, _your humble servant_, or to the widowof a poor seaman, _your devoted slave_. " "Oh, " cried sir William, "thatis all. And by my faith, it is mighty pretty. What think you Damon? Ihope, when you are married, you will have no objection to lord Osborne, orany other person of fashion making love to your wife before your face. ""What an indelicate question!" said Miss Frampton. "I declare, baronet, you are grown an absolute boor. Nobody ever talks of marriage now. A womanof fashion blushes to hear it mentioned before a third person. " "Why, tosay the truth, madam, I have been honoured with so great an intimacy byDamon, that I thought that might excuse the impropriety. And now, prayyour ladyship, must I wait till we are alone, before I ask my friendwhether his happy day be fixed?" "Since you will talk, " said MissFrampton, "of the odious subject, I believe I may tell you that it is not. We are in no such hurry. " "My dear sweet play-fellow, " said the baronet, "I must tell you once for all that I am no adept in French fashions. Sothat you will give me leave to use the unceremonious language of anEnglishman. My friend here, you know, is a little sheepish, but I havewords at will. I thought matters had been nearer a termination. " "Andpray, my good sir, let the gentleman speak for himself. If he is notdissatisfied, why should you be in such haste?" "Indeed, madam, "interposed Damon, "I am not perfectly satisfied. Perhaps indeed a loverought to think himself happy enough in being permitted to dance attendanceupon a lady of your charms. But I once thought, madam, that we hadadvanced somewhat farther. " "I cannot tell, " answered the lady with an airof levity. "Just as you please. But I cannot see why we should putourselves to any inconvenience. Lord Osborne"--"Lord Osborne!" interruptedsir William with some warmth, "and pray what has his lordship to do withthe matter?" "Really sir William, " replied Miss Frampton, "you are veryfree. But his lordship is my friend, and I hope Damon has no objection tohis continuing so. " "Look you, " answered sir William, "I would neitherhave lord Osborne for the rival of Damon now, nor for your_chichisbee_ hereafter. " "And yet I am not sure, " cried she, "that hemay not be both. " "Is there then, " said the baronet, "no engagementsubsisting between you and Damon?" "I believe, " cried Miss Frampton, alittle hesitating, "there may be something of the kind. But we may changeour minds you know, and I do not think that I shall prosecute upon it. Ha!ha! ha!" "To say the truth, " replied sir William, "I believe lord Osborneis not only the rival of Damon, but a very formidable one too. But let metell you, Bella, a character so respectable as that of my friend, and sotrue an Englishman, must not be allowed to dance attendance. " "As hepleases. I believe we understand one another. And to say the truth atonce, perhaps some time hence I may have no aversion to lord Osborne. "

The reader will not suppose that the conversation continued much longer. Damon and the young lady came to a perfect understanding, and partedwithout any very ungovernable desire of seeing each other again. And thusby the gay humour and active friendship of sir William Twyford, an affairwas happily terminated, which, from the timidity and gentleness of ourhero, might otherwise have lingered several months to the mutualdissatisfaction of both parties. Damon quitted the house in raptures, andwas no sooner seated in the chariot, than he pressed his friend repeatedlyto his breast, and committed a thousand extravagancies of joy. 

CHAPTER IX. 

_A tragical Resolution. _

Damon and his friend spent the evening together in the chambers of ourhero. They now discussed a variety of those subjects, which naturallyarise between friends who have been for any time separated. Damon threwaside that reserve which the consciousness of a fault had hithertoinvoluntarily imposed upon him, and related more explicitly who the ladywas of whom he was so much enamoured, and in what manner he had first seenher. Recollecting that the baronet was just returned from the environs ofSouthampton, he eagerly enquired into the health and situation of hismistress. 

Sir William related to him the adventure of Mr. Prettyman, as we havealready stated it to our readers, and deeply lamented the persecution towhich Delia was subjected from the haughty victor. "And is there, " criedDamon eagerly, "no prospect of his lordship's success?" "I believe, "answered sir William, "that he is of all men her mortal aversion. " "And isthere no happy lover in all her train, that she regards with a partialeye?" "None, " replied the baronet, "she is chaste as snow, and firm asmountain oaks. " "Propitious coldness!" exclaimed Damon, "for that mayheaven send down a thousand blessings on her head!"

"But you talked, " added he, "of some occasion of your journey which youdeferred relating to me. " "The occasion, " answered sir William, determinedto preserve inviolate the secret of Delia, "is already fulfilled. I heardfrom young Eustace of the appearance and addresses of Osborne, andsuspecting the rest, I determined to deliver you from the clutches of agirl whom I always thought unworthy of you. And now" added he cheerfully, "free as the winds, we can pursue uncontrolled the devices of our ownhearts. "

The next morning the two friends proceeded to the house of lord ThomasVilliers, the father of Damon. He had already learned something of thevisits of lord Osborne at Beaufort Place. He was not therefore muchsurprised to hear of the scene, which had passed between his son and thelady of that mansion. But there was something more to be done, in order togain the approbation of the father to the new project, in the prosecutionof which both these friends were equally sanguine. 

Lord Thomas Villiers was, as we have already said, avaricious. He was nottherefore much pleased with the proposal of a match with a lady, whosefortune was not the half of that of Miss Frampton. He was tinctured withthe pride of family, and he could not patiently think for a moment, ofmarrying his only son to the daughter of a tradesman. Sir William employedall his eloquence, and accommodated himself with infinite dexterity to thehumours of the person with whom he had to deal. Damon indeed said butlittle, but his looks expressed more, than the baronet, with all hisabilities, and all his friendship, was able to suggest. In spite of both, the father continued inexorable. 

The mind of Damon was impressed with the most exalted ideas upon thesubject of filial duty. Had his heart been pre-engaged, before the affairof Miss Frampton was proposed to him, he might not perhaps have carriedhis complaisance so far, as to have married the indifferent person, inspite of all his views and all his prepossessions. But in his estimate, the actual entering into a connection for life in opposition to the willof a parent, was a mode of conduct very different from, and far moreexceptionable than the refusing to unite oneself with a person in whosesociety one had not the smallest reason to look for happiness. 

There was another inducement that had much weight with Damon, and evenwith his more sanguine friend, sir William Twyford. The fortune neither ofDamon nor Delia was independent. Lord Thomas Villiers was filled with toomany prepossessions and too much pride, easily to retract an opinion hehad once adopted, or to forgive an opposition to his judgment. The narroweducation of a tradesman it was natural to suppose had rendered the mindof Mr. Hartley still more tenacious, and unmanageable. And neither wouldsir William have been willing to see his friend, nor would the loverreadily have involved his mistress in circumstances of pecuniary distress. 

The resolution of Damon was therefore speedily taken. Every motive thatcould have weight, served to counteract the bias of his inclination. He byno means wanted either firmness or spirit. He resolved to struggle, nor tocease his efforts till he had conquered. With this design he entreated, and, after some difficulties, obtained of his father leave to enterhimself in the army, and to make a campaign in America. 

The character of his heart seemed particularly formed for militarypursuits. He was grave and thoughtful, he was generous and humane. To amind contemplative and full of sensibility, he united a temper, frank, open, and undisguised. He was usually mild, gentle and pliant. But in asituation, that called for determination and spirit, it was impossible toappear more bold and manly, more cool and decided, --Affectionate was thefarewel of his father, and still more affectionate that of his friend. Damon, though he endeavoured to summon all his resolution, could notrestrain a sigh when he considered himself as about to sail for distantclimates, and recollected, that probably, before his return, his belovedmistress, _dearer than life and all its joys_, would be united, irrevocably united to another. But here we must take leave of our hero, and return to his fair inamorata. 

DAMON

AND

DELIA. 

PART the SECOND. 

DAMON

AND

DELIA. 

PART the SECOND. 

CHAPTER I. 

_In which the Story begins over again_. 

Sir William Twyford had taken care to inform Miss Fletcher, and by hermeans Delia herself, of every circumstance as it occurred. Delia wasindeed flattered by the breach that had taken place with Miss Frampton, and the perfect elucidation, which the story of this lady afforded to themost enigmatical expressions of Damon, in the interesting scene that hadpassed between them in the alcove. She no longer doubted of the reality ofhis attachment. Her heart was soothed, and her pride secretly flattered, in recollecting that she had not suffered herself to be caught by one whowas perfectly indifferent to her. 

But the information that stifled all her hopes, and gave her the prospectof so long, and, too probably, an eternal absence, sat heavy upon herspirits, and preyed upon her delicate constitution. From the persecutionsof lord Martin she had no respite. Her eye grew languid, the colour fadedin her damask cheek, and her health visibly decayed. 

At this time Miss Fletcher proposed a journey to Windsor and other places, and intreated to have her friend to accompany her. Mr. Hartley, with allhis foibles, was much attached to his only child, and deeply afflictedwith the alteration he perceived in her. He readily therefore gave hisconsent to the proposed jaunt. "When she returns, it will be time enough, "said he to lord Martin, "to bring things to the conclusion, so muchdesired by both of us. I will not put my darling into your hands, but withthat health and gaiety, which have so long been the solace of my old age, and which cannot fail to make any man happy that deserves her. "

Delia set out without any other inclination, than to escape fromintreaties that were become in the highest degree disagreeable to her. Shewas addressed no longer upon a topic, of which she wished never to hear. Her eye was no longer wounded with the sight of her insolent admirer. Thishad an immediate and a favourable effect upon her. The conversation ofMiss Fletcher was lively and unflagging, and the simplicity of her remarksproved an inexhaustible source of entertainment to our heroine. 

They travelled leisurely and visited a variety of parks and seats ofnoblemen which lay in their way. The taste of Delia was delicate andrefined. A continual succession of objects; gardens, architecture, pictures and statues soothed her spirits, and gradually restored her tothat gaiety and easiness of temper, which had long rendered her the mostlovely and engaging of her sex. 

At length they arrived at Windsor. The simple dignity of the castle, itscommanding situation, and the beautiful effects of the river from below, rendered it infinitely the most charming spot our heroine had yet seen. Her spirits were on the wing, she was all life and conversation, and themost constant heart, that nature had ever produced, for a moment, forgother hopes, her fears, her inclinations, and her Damon. 

She was now standing at a window that commanded the terrace. The eveningwas beautiful, and the walk crouded. There were assembled persons of allsexes and of different ranks. All appeared gaiety and splendour. Thesupple courtier and the haughty country gentleman seemed equally at theirease. There was thoughtless youth and narrative old age. The companypassed along, and object succeeded object without intermission. 

One of the last that caught the eye of Delia, was that of two gentlemenwalking arm in arm, and seeming more grave than the rest of the company. They were both tall and well shaped; but one of them had somewhat moregraceful and unembarrassed in his manner than the other. The latter wasdressed in black, the former in colours, with much propriety and elegance. 

As they turned at the end of the walk the eye of Delia caught in thelatter the figure of Damon. She was inexpressibly astonished, she trembledin every limb, and could scarcely support herself to a seat. Miss Fletcherhad caught the same object at the same moment, and, though she probablymight not otherwise have been clear in her recollection, the disorder ofDelia put her conjecture out of doubt. She therefore, before our heroinehad time to recollect herself, dispatched her brother, who had attendedthem in their journey, to inform Damon that a lady in the castle wasdesirous to speak with him. 

In an instant our hero and his companion, escorted by young Fletcher, entered the room. The astonishment of Damon, at being so suddenlyintroduced to a person, whom he had never expected to see again, wasimmeasurable. He rushed forward with a kind of rapture; he suddenlyrecollected himself; but at length advanced with hesitation. There was noone present beside those we have already named. The castle was probablyfamiliar to every person except Delia and her companions. Every one besidewas therefore assembled upon the terrace. 

Our heroine now gradually recovered from the disorder into which theunexpected sight of Damon had thrown her. She was much surprised atlooking up to find him in her presence. "How is this, " cried she, "howcame you hither?" "The meeting, " said our hero, "is equally unexpected tous both. But, ah, my charmer, whence this disorder? Why did you tremble, why look so pale?" "Oh goodness, " cried Miss Fletcher, "what should it be?Why it was nothing in all the world, but her seeing you just now from thewindow. " "And were you, " cried Damon eagerly, "so kind as to summon me toyour presence?" "No, no, my good sir, " said the lively lady, "you mustthank me for that". "How then at least, " said the lover, "must I interpretyour disorder?"

Delia was inexpressibly confused at the inconsiderate language of hercompanion. "I cannot tell, " said she, "you must not ask me. You mustforget it. " "And can I, " cried Damon with transport, "ever forget adisorder so propitious, so flattering? Can I hope that the heart of mycharmer is not indifferent to her Damon!" "Oh sir, be silent. Do not use alanguage like this. " "Alas, " cried he, "too long has my passion beensuppressed. Too long have I been obliged to act a studied part, and employa language foreign to my heart. " "I thought, " answered Delia, withhesitation, "that you were going to leave the kingdom. " "And did my fairone condescend to employ a thought upon me? Did she interest herself in myconcern and enquire after my welfare? And how so soon could she havelearned my intention?"

This question, joined with the preceding circumstances, completed theconfusion of Delia. She blushed, stammered, and was silent. Damon, duringthis interval, gazed upon her with unmingled rapture. Every symptom shebetrayed of confusion, was to him a symptom of something inexpressiblysoothing. "Ah, " whispered he to himself, "I am beloved, and can I thenleave the kingdom? Can I quit this inestimable treasure? Can I slight sopure a friendship, and throw away the jewel upon which all my futurehappiness depends?"

The conversation, from the peculiar circumstances of the lovers, had soimmediately become interesting, that the gentlemen had not had anopportunity of quitting them. During the short silence that prevailed thefriend of Damon took young Fletcher by the hand, and led him into thegarden. The lovers were now under less restraint. Delia, perceiving thatshe could no longer conceal her sentiments, confessed them with ingenuousmodesty. Damon on the other hand was ravished at so unexpected adiscovery, and in a few minutes had lived an age in love. 

He now began to recollect himself. "Where, " said he, "are all myresolutions? What are become of all the plans I had formed, and thedesigns in which I had embarked? What an unexpected revolution? No, " saidhe, addressing himself to Delia, "I will never quit you. Do thou butsmile, and let all the world beside abandon me. Can you forgive thesacrilegious intention of deserting you, of flying from you to theextremities of the globe? Oh, had I known a thought of Damon had harbouredin one corner of your heart, I would sooner have died. " "And do youthink, " cried Delia, "that I will tempt you to disobedience? No. Obey theprecepts of your father and your own better thoughts. Heaven designed usnot for each other. Neither your friends nor mine can ever be reconciledto the union. Go then and forget me. Go and be happy. May your sails beswelled with propitious gales! May victory and renown attend your steps!""Ah cruel Delia, and do you wish to banish me? Do you enjoin upon me theimpracticable talk, to forget all that my heart holds dear? And will myDelia resign herself to the arms of a more favoured lover?" "Never, " criedshe with warmth. "I will not disobey my father. I will not marry contraryto his inclinations. But even the authority of a parent shall not drag meto the altar with a man my soul detests. " "Propitious sounds! Generousengagements! Thus let me thank thee. "--And he kissed her hand withfervour. "Thus far, " cried Delia, "I can advance. I employ no disguise. Iconfess to you all my weakness. Perhaps I ought to blush. But never will Ihave this reason to blush, for that my love has injured the object itaspires to bless. Go in the path of fortune. Deserve success and happinessby the exemplariness of your duty. And may heaven shower down blessingswithout number!"

CHAPTER II. 

_The History of Mr. Godfrey_. 

In expostulations like these our lovers spent their time without coming toany conclusion, till the evening and Miss Fletcher warned them that it wastime to depart. Damon was to proceed for London early the next morning. Hetherefore intreated of Delia to permit his friend Mr. Godfrey, who wasobliged to continue in the place some days longer, to wait upon her withhis last commands. He informed himself of the time when she was to returnto Southampton, and he trusted to be there not long after her. In the meantime, as his situation was at present very precarious, he prevailed uponher to permit him to write to her from time to time, and to promise tocommunicate to him in return any thing of consequence that might happen toherself. 

During the remainder of the evening Miss Fletcher made several ingeniousobservations upon what had passed. Delia gently blamed her for having sostrangely occasioned the interview, though in reality she was by no meansdispleased by the event it had produced. "Bless us, child, you are ascaptious as any thing. Why I would not but have seen it for ever so much. Well, he is a sweet dear man, and so kind, and so polite, for all theworld I think him just such another as Mr. Prattle. But then he is grave, and makes such fine speeches, it does one's heart good to hear him. I vowI wish I had such a lover. Sir William never says any thing half sopretty. Bless us, my dear, _he_ talks about love, just as if he weretalking about any thing else. "

The next morning after breakfast, Mr. Godfrey appeared. He brought fromDamon a thousand vows full of passion and constancy. He had parted, hesaid, more determined not to leave England, more resolute to prosecute hislove than ever. 

Having discharged his commission, he offered his service to escort theladies in any party they might propose for the present day. He said, thatbeing perfectly acquainted with Windsor and its environs, he flatteredhimself he might be able to contribute to their entertainment. The verygallant manner in which this offer was made, determined Miss Fletcher, assomething singular and interesting in the appearance of Mr. Godfrey didour heroine, cheerfully to close with the proposal. 

The person of Mr. Godfrey as we have already said was tall and genteel. There was a diffidence in his manner, that seemed to prove that he had notpossessed the most extensive acquaintance with high life; but he had anatural politeness that amply compensated for the polish and forms ofsociety. His air was serious and somewhat melancholy; but there was a fireand animation in his eye that was in the highest degree striking. 

Delia engaged him to talk of the character and qualities of Damon. Uponthis subject, Mr. Godfrey spoke with the warmth of an honest friendship. He represented Damon as of a disposition perfectly singular andunaccommodated to what he stiled "the debauched and unfeeling manners ofthe age. " He acknowledged with readiness and gratitude, that he owed tohim the most important obligations. By degrees Delia collected from himseveral circumstances of a story, which she before apprehended to beinteresting. She observed, that, as he shook off the embarrassment of afirst introduction, his language became fluent, elegant, pointed, and evensometimes poetical. Since however he related his own story imperfectly andby piece meal, we shall beg leave to state it in our own manner. And wethe rather do it, as we apprehend it to be interesting in itself, and aswe foresee that he will make a second appearance in the course of thisnarrative. We will not however deprive our readers of the reflections hethrew out upon the several situations in which he had been placed. We willgive them without pretending to decide how far they may be considered asjust and well-founded. 

Mr. Godfrey was not born to affluent circumstances. At a proper age he hadbeen placed at the university of Oxford, and here it was that he commencedhis acquaintance with Damon. At Oxford his abilities had been universallyadmired. His public exercises, though public exercises by their verynature ought to be dull, had in them many of those sallies, by which hisdisposition was characterised, and much of that superiority, which heindisputably possessed above his contemporaries. But though admired, hewas not courted. In our public places of education, a wide distance isstudiously preserved between young men of fortune, and young men that havenone. But Mr. Godfrey had a stiffness and unpliableness of temper, thatdid not easily bend to the submission that was expected of him. He couldneither flatter a blockhead, nor pimp for a peer. He loved his friendindeed with unbounded warmth, and it was impossible to surpass him ingenerousness and liberality. But he had a proud integrity, that whisperedhim, with, a language not to be controled, that he was the inferior of noman. 

He was destined for the profession of a divine, and, having finished hisstudies, retired upon a curacy of forty pounds a year. His ambition wasgrievously mortified at the obscurity in which he was plunged; and hisgreat talents, in spite of real modesty, forcibly convinced him, that thiswas not the station for which nature had formed him. But he had anenthusiasm of virtue, that led him for a time to overlook thesedisadvantages. "I am going, " said he, "to dwell among scenes of unvitiatednature. I will form the peasant to generosity and sentiment. I will teachlaborious industry to look without envy and without asperity upon thoseabove them. I will be the friend and the father of the meanest of myflock. I will give sweetness and beauty to the most rugged scenes. Theman, that banishes envy and introduces contentment; the man, that convertsthe little circle in which he dwells into a terrestrial paradise, thatrenders men innocent here, and happy for ever, may be obscure, may bedespised by the superciliousness of luxury; but it shall never be saidthat he has been a blank in creation. The Supreme Being will regard himwith a complacency, which he will deny to kings, that oppress, andconquerors, that destroy the work of his hands. "

Such were the suggestions of youthful imagination. But Mr. Godfreypresently found the truth of that maxim, as paradoxical as it isindisputable, that the heart of man is naturally hard and unamiable. Heconducted himself in his new situation with the most unexceptionablepropriety, and the most generous benevolence. But there were men in hisaudience, men who loved better to criticise, than to be amended; andwomen, who felt more complacency in scandal, than eulogium. He displeasedthe one by disappointing them; it was impossible to disappoint the other. He laboured unremittedly, but his labours returned to him void. "And is itfor this, " said he, "that I have sacrificed ambition, and buried talents?Is humility to be rewarded only with mortification? Is obscurity andretirement the favourite scene of uneasiness, ingratitude, andimpertinence? They shall be no longer my torment. In no scene can I meetwith a more scanty success. "

He now obtained a recommendation to be private tutor to the children of anobleman. This nobleman was celebrated for the politeness of his mannersand the elegance of his taste. It was his boast and his ambition to beconsidered as the patron of men of letters. With his prospect therefore inthis connection, Mr. Godfrey was perfectly satisfied. "I shall no longer, "said he, "be the slave of ignorance, and the victim of insensibility. Mytalents perhaps point me a step higher than to the business of forming theminds of youth. But, at least, the youth under my care are destined tofill the most conspicuous stations in future life. If propitious fortunemight have raised me to the character of a statesman; depressed byadversity, I may yet have the honour of moulding the mind, and infusinggenerosity into the heart, of a future statesman. I have heard the secondson of my patron celebrated for the early promises of capacity. To unfoldthe springing germs of genius, to direct them in the path of generalhappiness, is an employment by no means unworthy of a philosopher. "

In this situation Mr. Godfrey however once more looked for pleasure, andfound disappointment. The nobleman had more the affectation of a patron, than any real enthusiasm in the cause of literature. The abilities of Mr. Godfrey were universally acknowledged. And so long as the noveltyremained, he was caressed, honoured, and distinguished. In a short timehowever, he was completely forgotten by the patron, in the hurry ofdissipation, and the pursuits of an unbounded ambition. His eldest carewas universally confessed stupid and impracticable. And in the younger hefound nothing but the prating forwardness of a boy who had been flattered, without sentiment, and without meaning. Her ladyship treated Mr. Godfreywith superciliousness, as an intruder at her lord's table. The servantscaught the example, and showed him a distinction of neglect, which theexquisiteness of his sensibility would not permit him to despise. 

Mortified, irritated, depressed, he now quitted his task half finished andthrew himself upon the world. "The present age, " said he, "is not an agein which talents are overlooked, and genius depressed. " He had heard muchof the affluence of writers, a Churchil, a Smollet, and a Goldsmith, whohad depended upon that only for their support. He saw the celebrated Dr. Johnson caressed by all parties, and acknowledged to be second to no man, whatever were his rank, however conspicuous his station. Full of theseideas, he soon completed a production, fraught with the fire andoriginality of genius, pointed in its remarks, and elegant in its style. He had now to experience vexations, of which he had before entertained noidea. He carried his work from bookseller to bookseller, and was everywhere refused. His performance was not seasoned to the times, he was aperson that nobody knew, and he had no man of rank, by his importunitiesand eloquence, to force him into the ranks of fashion. At length he founda bookseller foolish enough to undertake it. But he presently perceivedthat the gentlemen at the head of that profession were wiser than he. Allthe motives they had mentioned, and one more, operated against him. Themonarchs of the critic realm scouted him with one voice, because his work, was not written in the same cold, phlegmatic insupportable manner as theirown. 

He had now advanced however too far to retreat. He had too much spirit toresume either of those professions, which for reasons so cogent in hisopinion, he had already quitted. He wrote essays, squibs, and pamphletsfor an extemporary support. But though these were finished with infiniterapidity, he found that they constituted a very precarious means ofsubsistence. The time of dinner often came, before the production that wasto purchase it was completed; and when completed, it was frequentlyseveral days before it could find a purchaser. And his copy money and histaylor's bill were too little proportioned to one another. 

He now recollected, what in the gaiety of hope he had forgotten, that_many a flower_ only blows, with its sweetness to refresh the _airof a desert_. He recollected many instances of works, raised by thebreath of fashion to the very pinnacle of reputation, that sunk as soonagain. He recollected instances scarcely fewer, of works, exquisite intheir composition, pregnant with beauties almost divine, that had passedfrom the press without notice. Many had been revived by the cooler andmore deliberate judgment of a future age; and more had been lost for ever. The instance of Chatterton, as a proof that the universal patronage ofgenius was by no means the virtue of his contemporaries, flashed in hisface. And he looked forward to the same fate at no great distance, as hisown. 

To Mr. Godfrey however, fortune was in one degree more propitious. Damonwas among the few whose judgment was not guided by the dictate of fashion. Having met accidentally with the performance we have mentioned, he wasstruck with its beauties. As he had heard nothing of it in the politestcircles, he concluded, with his usual penetration, that the author of itwas in obscure and narrow circumstances. _Open as day to sweethumanity_, interested warmly in the fortune of the writer of so amiablea performance, he flew to his bookseller's with the usual enquiries. Thebookseller stared, and had it not been for the splendour of his dress, andhis gilded chariot, would have been tempted to smile at so unfashionableand absurd a question. He soon however obtained the information hedesired. And his eagerness was increased, when the name of Godfrey, andthe recollection of the talents by which he had been so eminentlydistinguished, led him to apprehend that he was one, to whose abilitiesand character he had been greatly attached. 

He found some difficulty to obtain admission. But this was quicklyremoved, as, from the dignity of his appearance, it was not probable thathe was a person, from whom Mr. Godfrey had any thing to apprehend. Hefound him in a wretched apartment, his hair dishevelled and his dressthreadbare and neglected. Mr. Godfrey was unspeakably surprised at hisappearance. And it was with much difficulty that Damon prevailed upon himto accept of an assistance, that he assured him should be but temporary, if it were in the power of him, or any of his connections, to render himrespectable and independent, in such a situation as himself should chuse. 

Disappointment and misfortune are calculated to inspire asperity into thegentlest heart. Mr. Godfrey inveighed with warmth, and sometimes withpartiality, against the coldness and narrowness of the age. He said, "thatmen of genius, in conspicuous stations, had no feeling for those whomnature had made their brothers; and that those who had risen fromobscurity themselves, forgot the mortifications of their earlier life, anddid not imitate the generous justice which had enabled them to fulfil thedestination of nature. " But though misfortune had taught him asperity uponcertain subjects, it had not corrupted his manners, debauched hisintegrity, or narrowed his heart. He had still the same warmth in thecause of virtue, as in days of the most unexperienced simplicity. He stilldreaded an oath, and reverenced the divinity of innocence. He stillbelieved in a God, and was sincerely attached to his honour, though he hadoften been told, that this was a prejudice, unworthy of his comprehensionof thinking upon all other subjects. 

CHAPTER III. 

_A Misanthrope. _

Such was the story, in its most essential circumstances, that Mr. Godfreyrelated. Delia was exceedingly interested in the gaiety of hisimagination, the cruelty of his disappointments, and the acuteness, andgoodness of heart that appeared in his reflections. Miss Fletcher listenedto the whole with gaping wonder. But as soon as he was gone, she beganwith her usual observations. "Well, " said she, "I never saw an authorbefore. I could not have thought that he could have looked like agentleman. Why, I vow, I could sometimes have taken him for a beau. Ay, but then he talked for all the world as if it had been written in a book. Well, by my troth, it was a mighty pretty story. But I should have likedit better, if there had been a sighing nymph, or a duel or two in it. Butdo you think it was all of his own making?"

We will not trouble the reader to accompany our ladies from stage to stageduring the remainder of their journey. Nothing more remarkable happened, and in ten days they arrived again at Southampton. 

Damon met Mr. Moreland in London, and, with that simplicity and candour bywhich he was distinguished, related to him every circumstance of hisstory. Mr. Moreland had no predilection in favour of lord Thomas Villiers. His sister, whom he esteemed in all respects an amiable woman, had by nomeans lived happily with her husband. Avarice and pride of rank were thefarthest in the world from being the foibles of Mr. Moreland, and thesensibility of his disposition did not permit him to treat the faults, towhich himself was a stranger, with much indulgence. He thereforeencouraged Damon to persevere in the pursuit of his inclination, andinvited him to return with him into the country. He promised himself topropose the match to Mr. Hartley, and assured his nephew, that he shouldnever feel any narrowness in his circumstances, in case of his father'sdispleasure, while it was in his power to render them affluent. 

In pursuit of this plan, Damon, Mr. Moreland, and sir William Twyford, whom they found in London, and whose goodness of humour led him heartilyto approve of the alteration in the plan of his friend, arrived, almost assoon as our travellers, in the neighbourhood of Southampton. Sir Williamand Damon, soon waited upon their respective mistresses, and in company somutually acceptable, time sped with a greater velocity than was usual tohim, and days appeared no more than hours. 

It was impossible that such a connexion should pass long unnoticed. Itmust be confessed however that it met with no interruption from lordMartin. Perhaps it might have escaped his notice, though it escaped thatof no other person. Perhaps he was satiated with the glory he hadacquired, and having conquered one beau, would not, like Alexander, havesighed, if there had remained no other beau to conquer. Perhaps thecountenance of Mr. Hartley, of which he considered himself as securer thanever, led him, like a wise general, to reflect, that in staking his lifeagainst that of a lover, whose chance of success was almost whollyprecluded, he mould make a very unfair and unequal combat. 

Be this as it will, Mr. Hartley had no such motives to overlook this newoccurrence. Just however as he had begun to take it into his matureconsideration, he received the compliments of Mr. Moreland, with anintimation of his design to make him a visit that very afternoon. 

At this message Mr. Hartley was a good deal surprised. Mr. Moreland he hadnever but once seen, and in that visit, he thought he had had reason to beoffended with him. If that gentleman treated the company of Mr. Prattleand lord Martin, persons universally admired, as not good enough for him, it seemed unaccountable that he should have recourse to him. He wasneither distinguished by the elegance of his accomplishments, nor did hemuch pride himself in the attainments of literature. After manyconjectures, he at length determined with infinite sagacity, to suspendhis judgement, till Mr. Moreland mould solve the enigma. 

This determination was scarcely made before his visitor arrived. Thatgentleman, who, though full of sensibility and benevolence, was not a manof empty ceremony, immediately opened his business. Mr. Hartley, drewhimself up in his chair, and, with the dignity of a citizen of London, whothinks that the first character in the world, cried, "Well, sir, and whois this nephew of yours? I think I never heard of him. " "He is the son, "answered Mr. Moreland, "of lord Thomas Villiers. " "Lord Thomas Villiers!Then I suppose he is a great man. And pray now, sir, if this great man hasa mind that his son should marry my daughter, why does he not come andtell me so himself?" "Why in truth, " said the other, "lord Thomas Villiershas no mind. But my nephew is his only son, and therefore cannot bedeprived of the principal part of his estate after his death. In the meantime, I will take care that he shall have an income perfectly equal to thefortune of Miss Hartley. " "You will sir! And so in the first place, thisyoung spark would have me encourage him in disobedience, which is thegreatest crime upon God's earth, and in the second, he thinks that I, BobHartley, as I sit here, will marry my daughter into any family that is tooproud to own us. " "As to that, sir, " said Moreland, "you must judge foryourself. The young gentleman is an unexceptionable match, and I, sir, whose fortune and character I flatter myself are not inferior to that ofany gentleman in the county, shall always be proud to own and receive theyoung lady. " "Why as to that, to be sure, you may be in the right for_auft_ that I know. But _howsomdever_, my daughter, do you see, is already engaged to lord Martin. " "I should have thought, " repliedMoreland, "that objection might have been stated in the first instance, without any reflexions upon the conduct and family of the young gentleman. But are you sure that lord Martin is the man of your daughter's choice?""I cannot say that I ever _axed_ her, for I do not see what that hasto do with the matter. Lord Martin, do you see, is a fine young man, and afine fortune. And Delia is my own daughter, and if she should boggle abouthaving him, I would cut her off with a shilling. " "Sir, " answeredMoreland, with much indignation, "that is a conduct that would deserve tobe execrated. My nephew, without any sinister means, is master of yourdaughter's affection; and lord Martin, I have authority to tell you, isher aversion. " "Oh, ho! is it so. Well then, sir, I will tell you what Ishall do. Your nephew shall never have my daughter, though she had but arag to her tail. And as for her affections and her aversion, I will lockher up, and keep her upon bread and water, till she knows, that she oughtto have neither, before her own father has told her _what is what_. "Mr. Moreland, all of whose nerves were irritated into a fever by so muchvulgarity, and such brutal insensibility, could retain his seat no longer. He started up, and regarding his entertainer with a look of ineffableindignation, flung the door in his face, and retreated to his chariot. 

CHAPTER IV. 

_Much ado about nothing_. 

Damon was inexpressibly afflicted at the success of his uncle's embassy. When Mr. Moreland related to him the particulars of his visit, Damonrecollected the opposite tempers of the two gentlemen, and blamed himselffor not having foreseen the event. Mr. Hartley was infinitely exasperatedat the cavalierness with which he had been treated. He now discovered thetrue cause of his daughter's pertinacity, and proceeded with more vigourthan ever. 

"And so, " cried he, "you have dared to engage your affections without myprivity, have you? A pretty story truly. And you would disgrace me forever, by marrying into the family of a lord, that despises us, and an oldfellow, that for half a word would knock your father's brains out. ""Indeed sir, " replied Delia, "I never thought of marrying without yourconsent. I only gave the young gentleman leave to ask it of you. " "Yougave him leave! And pray who are you? And so you was in league with him tosend this fellow to abuse me?" "Upon my word, I was not. And I am verysorry if Mr. Moreland has behaved improperly. " "_If_ Mr. Moreland!and so you pretend to doubt of it! But, let me tell you, I have providedyou a husband, worth fifty of this young prig, and I will make you thinkso. " "Indeed sir, I can never think so. " "You cannot. And pray who toldyou to object, before I have named the man. Why, child, lord Martin hasten thousand pounds a year, and is a peer, and is not ashamed of us onebit in all the world. " "Alas, sir, I can never have lord Martin. Do notmention him. I am in no hurry. I will live single as long as you please. ""Yes, and when you have persuaded me to that, you will jump out at windowthe next day to this ungracious rascal. " "Oh pray sir do not speak so. Heis good and gentle. " "Why, hussey, am I not master in my own house? Ishall have a fine time of it indeed, if I must give you an account of mywords. " "Sir, " said Delia, "I will never marry without your consent. ""That is a good girl, no more you shall. And I will lock you up upon breadand water, if you do not consent to marry who I please. "

The despotic temper of Mr. Hartley led him to treat his daughter withconsiderable severity. He suffered her to go very little abroad, andemployed every precaution in his power, to prevent any interview betweenher and her lover. He tried every instrument in turn, threats, promises, intreaties, blustering, to bend her to his will. And when he found that byall these means he made no progress; as his last resource, he fixed a dayat no great distance, when he assured her he would be disappointed nolonger, and she should either voluntarily or by force yield her hand tolord Martin. 

During these transactions, the communication between Delia and her loverwas, with no great difficulty, kept open by the instrumentality of theirtwo friends. They scarcely dared indeed to think of seeing each other, asin case this were discovered, Delia would be subject to still greaterrestraint, and the intercourse, between her and Miss Fletcher, be renderedmore difficult. In one instance however, this lady ventured to procure theinterview so ardently desired by both parties. 

Damon made use of this opportunity to persuade his mistress to anelopement. "You have already carried, " said he, "your obedience to theutmost exremity. You have tried every means to bend the inflexible will ofyour father. If not for my sake then, at least for your own, avoid thecrisis that is preparing for you. You detect the husband that your fatherdesigns you. If united to him, you confess you must be miserable. But whocan tell, in the midst of persons inflexibly bent upon your ruin, nofriend at hand to support you, your Damon banished and at a distance, whatmay be the event? You will hesitate and tremble, your father willendeavour to terrify you into submission, the odious peer will force fromyou your hand. If, in that moment, your heart should misgive you, if onefaultering accent belie the sentiments you have so generously avowed forme, what, ah, what! may be the consequence? No, my fair one, fly, instantly fly. No duty forbids. You have done all that the most rigidmoralist could demand of you. Put yourself into my protection. I will notbetray your confidence. You shall be as much mistress as ever of all youractions. If you distrust me, at least chuse our common friends sir WilliamTwyford. Chuse any protector among the numerous friends, that your beautyand your worth have raised you. I had rather sacrifice my own prospects offelicity forever, than see the smallest chance that you should beunhappy. "

Such were the arguments, which, with all the eloquence of a friend, andall the ardour of a lover, our hero urged upon his mistress. But thegentleness of Delia was not yet sufficiently roused by the injuries shehad received, to induce her, to cast off all the ties which education andcustom had imposed upon her, and determine upon so decisive a step. "Surely, " said she, "there is some secret reward, some unexpecteddeliverance in reserve, for filial simplicity. Oh, how harsh, how bold, how questionable a step, is that to which you would persuade me!Circumstanced in this manner, the fairest reputation might provoke thetongue of scandal, and the most spotless innocence open a door to theblast of calumny. I will not say that such a step may not be sometimesjustifiable. I will not say to what I may myself be urged. But oh, howunmingled the triumph, how sincere the joy if, by persevering in aconduct, in which the path of duty is too palpable to be mistaken, propitious fate may rather grant me the happiness after which I aspire, than I be forced, as it were, myself to wrest it from the hands ofprovidence!"

Such was the result of this last and decisive interview. Delia could notbe moved from that line of conduct, upon which she had so virtuouslyresolved. And Damon having in vain exerted all the rhetoric of which hewas master, now gave way to the gloomy suggestions of despair, and nowflattered himself with the gleams of hope. He sometimes thought, thatDelia might yet be induced to adopt the plan he had proposed; andsometimes he gave way to the serene confidence she expressed, and indulgedthe pleasing expectation, that virtue would not always remain without itsreward. 

CHAPTER V. 

_A Woman of Learning_. 

We are now brought, in the course of our story, to the memorable scene atMiss Cranley's. "Miss Cranley's!" exclaims one of our readers, in a toneof admiration. "Miss Cranley's!" cries another, "and pray who is she?"

I distribute my readers into two classes, the indolent and thesupercilious, and shall accordingly address them upon the presentoccasion. To the former I have nothing more to say, than to refer themback to the latter part of Chapter I. , Part I. Where, my dear ladies, youwill find an accurate account of the character of two personages, who itseems you have totally forgotten. 

To the supercilious I have a very different story to tell. Most learnedsirs, I kiss your hands. I acknowledge my error, and throw myself uponyour clemency. You see however, gentlemen, that you were somewhatmistaken, when you imagined that I, like my fair patrons, the indolent, had quite lost these characters from my memory. 

To speak ingenuously, I did indeed suppose, as far as I could calculatethe events of this important narrative beforehand, that the Miss Cranleyswould have come in earlier, and have made a more conspicuous figure, thanthey now seem to have any chance of doing. Having thus settled accountswith my readers; I take up again the thread of my story, and thus Iproceed. 

Mr. Hartley being now, as he believed, upon the point of disposing of hisdaughter in marriage, began seriously to consider that he should want afemale companion to manage, his family, to nurse his ailments, and torepair the breaches, that the hand of wintry time had made in his spiritsand his constitution. The reader will be pleased to recollect, that he hadalready laid siege to the heart of the gentle Sophia. He now prosecutedhis affair with more alacrity than ever. 

Alas, my dear readers! while we have been junketting along fromSouthampton to Oxford, from Oxford to Windsor, and from Windsor toSouthampton back again, such is the miserable fate of human kind! MissAmelia Wilhelmina Cranley, the most pious of her sex, the flower of Mr. Whitfield's converts, the wonder and admiration of Roger the cobler, hasgiven up the ghost. You will please then, in what follows, to represent toyourselves the charms of Sophia as decked and burnished with a suit ofsables. Her exterior indeed was sable and gloomy, but her heart was farsuperior to the attacks of wayward fate. She sat aloft in the region ofphilosophy. She steeled her heart with the dignity of republicanism; forher to drop one tear of sorrow would have been an eternal disgrace. 

About this time--it was perhaps in reality a manoeuvre to forward theaffair, to which she had no aversion at bottom, with the father ofDelia--that Miss Cranley gave a grand entertainment, at which were presentMr. Hartley, Mr. Prattle, sir William Twyford, lord Martin, most of theladies we have already commemorated, and many others. 

The repast was conducted with much solemnity. The masculine character ofthe mind of Sophia had rendered her particularly attached to the grace ofaction. When she drank the health of any of her guests, she accompanied itwith a most profound _congè_. When she invited them to partake of anydish, she pointed towards it with her hand. This action might have servedto display a graceful arm, but, alas! upon hers the hand of time had beenmaking depredations, and it appeared somewhat coarse and discoloured. 

After dinner, the lady of the house, as usual, turned the conversationupon the subject of politics. She inveighed with much warmth against theeffeminacy and depravity of the modern times. We were slaves, and wedeserved to be so. In almost every country there now appeared a king, thatpuppet pageant, that monster in creation, miserable itself, a combinationof every vice, and invented for the curse of human kind. "Where now, " sheasked, "was the sternness and inflexibility of ancient story? Where wasthat Junius, that stood and gazed in triumph upon the execution of hissons? Where that Fabricius, that turned up his nose under the snout of anelephant? Where was that Marcus Brutus, who sent his dagger to the heartof Cæsar? For her part, she believed, and she would not give the snap ofher fingers for him if it were otherwise, that he was in reality, as sagehistorians have reported, the son of Julius. "

In the very paroxysm of her oratory she chanced to cast her eyes upon Mr. Prattle. With the character of Mr. Prattle, the reader is already partlyacquainted. But he does not yet know, for it was not necessary for ourstory he should do so, that the honourable Mr. Prattle was a commoner anda placeman. Good God, sir, represent to yourself with what a flame ofindignation our amazon surveyed him! She rose from her seat, and, takinghim by the hand, very familiarly turned him round in the middle of thecompany. "This, " said she, "is one of our Fabiuses, one of our Decii. Good God, my friend, what would you do, if a brother officer shook a caneover your shoulders as he did over those of the divine Themistocles? Whatwould you do, if the brutal lull of an Appius ravished from your arms anonly daughter? But I beg your pardon, sir. You are a placeman, mutuallydisgracing and disgraced. You sell your constituents to the vilestministers, that ever came forward the champions of despotism. And thoseministers show us what is their insignificance, their impotence, theirwant of discernment, in giving such a thing as you are, places of so greatimportance, offices of so high emolument. "

Mr. Prattle, unused to be treated so cavalierly, and arraigned before solarge a company, trembled in every limb: "My dear madam, my sweet MissSophia, pray do not pinch quite so hard;" and the water stood in his eyes. Unable however to elude her grasp he fell down upon his knees. "For God'ssake! Oh dear! Oh lack a daisy! Why, Miss, sure you are mad. " MissCranley, unheedful of his exclamations, was however just going to beginwith more vehemence than ever, when a sudden accident put a stop to thetorrent of her oratory. But this event cannot be properly related withoutgoing back a little in our narrative, and acquainting the reader with someof those circumstances by which it was produced. 

CHAPTER VI. 

_A Catastrophe_. 

Sir William Twyford had gained great credit with lord Martin by hisconduct in the affair of Mr. Prettyman. He now imagined that he saw anopening for the exercise of his humour, which he was never able to refill. He communicated his plan to lord Martin. By his assistance he procuredthat implement, which school-boys have denominated a cracker. This hislordship found an opportunity of attaching to the skirt of Miss Cranley'ssack. At the moment we have described, when she was again going to enterinto the stream of her rhetoric, which, great as it naturally was, was nowsomewhat improved with copious draughts of claret, the cracker was set onfire. 

Poor Sophia now started in great agitation. "Bounce, bounce, " went thecracker. Sophia skipped and danced from one end of the room to the other. "Great gods of Rome, " exclaimed she, "Jupiter, Minerva, and all thecelestial and infernal deities!" The force of the cracker was now somewhatspent. "Ye boys of Britain, that bear not one mark of manhood about you!Would Leonidas have fastened a squib to the robe of the Spartan mother?Would Cimber have so unworthily used Portia, the wife of Brutus? WouldCorbulo thus have interrupted the heroic fortitude of Arria, the spouse ofThrasea Paetus?"

"My dear madam, " exclaimed lord Martin, his eyes glistening with triumph, "with all submission, Corbulo I believe had been assassinated, beforeArria so gloriously put an end to her existence. " "Thou thing, " cried MissCranky, "and hast thou escaped the torrent of my invective! Thou eternalblot to the list, in which are inserted the names of a Faulkland, aShaftesbury, a Somers, and above all, that Leicester, who so bravely threwthe lie in the face of his sovereign!" "He! he!" cried lord Martin, whocould no longer refrain from boasting of his great atchievement. If I haveescaped your vengeance, let me tell you, madam, you have not escaped"mine. " "And was it thee, thou nincompoop? Hence, thou wretch! Avaunt!Begone, or thou shalt feel my fury!" Saying this, she clenched her fist, and closed her teeth, with so threatening an aspect, that the little peerwas very much terrified. He flew back several paces. "My dear MissGriskin, " said he, "protect me! This barbarous woman does not understandwit, "--and he precipitately burst out of the room. The lady too was somuch discomposed, that she thought proper to retire, assuring the companythat she would attend them again in a moment. 

"Well, " cried Miss Griskin, as soon as she had disappeared, "this was thenicest fun!" "I was afraid, " said Miss Prim, "it would have discomposedMiss Cranley's petticoats. " "Law, my dear!" said Miss Gawky, "by myso, I like the music of a cracker, better than all the concerts in thevarsal world. " We need not inform our readers, that Miss Languish, in thevery height and altitude of the confusion, had been obliged to retire. 

Lord Martin, in the midst of his triumph and exultation, had not leisureto recollect, nor perhaps penetration to perceive, the effect that thislittle sally might have upon his interests. Despotic and boorish as wasthe genius of Mr. Hartley, it cowred under that of Sophia with the mostabject servility. And that lady now vowed eternal war against the heroicalpeer. 

"Mr. Hartley, " said she, in their next _tête a tête_, "let me tellyou, lord Martin, must never have Miss Delia. " "My dearest life, " said theold gentleman, "consider, the day is fixed, my word is passed, and it istoo late to revoke now. Beside, lord Martin has ten thousand pounds ayear. " "Ten thousand figs, " said she, "do not tell me, it is never toolate to be wife. Lord Martin is a venal senator, and a little snivelingfellow. " "My dear, " said Hartley, "I never differed from you before: dolet me have my mind now. " "Have your mind, sir! Men should have no minds. Tyrants that they are! And now I think of it, Miss Delia does not likelord Martin. " "Pooh, " said Mr. Hartley, recovering spirit at such anobjection, "that is all stuff and nonsense. " "Nonsense! Let me tell you, sir, women are not _born to be controled_. They are queens of thecreation, and if they had their way, and the government of the world wasin their hands, things would go much better than they do. " "I know theywould, " replied her admirer, "if they were all as wise as you. " "Child, "returned Sophia, turning up her nose, "that is neither here nor there. Thematter in short is this. Damon loves Delia, and Delia loves Damon. And ifyour daughter be not Mrs. Villiers, I will never be Mrs. Hartley. "

From a decision like this there could be no appeal. Mr. Hartley told lordMartin, the next time he came to his house to pay his devoirs to hismistress, that he had altered his mind. His lordship was too muchsurprised at this manoeuvre to make any immediate answer; so turned uponhis heel, and decamped. 

The happy revolution, by the intervention of Miss Fletcher, was soon madeknown to sir William and his friend. Damon now paid his addresses in form. A reconciliation took place between Mr. Moreland and the father of ourheroine. The marriage was publicly talked of, the day was fixed, and everything prepared for the nuptials. 

It is impossible to describe the happiness of our lovers, when they sawevery obstacle thus unexpectedly removed. Damon was beside himself withsurprise and congratulation. Delia, at intervals, rubbed her eyes, andcould scarcely be persuaded that it was not a dream. They saw each otherat least once every day. Together they wandered along the margin of theocean, and together they sought that delicious alcove, which now appearedten times more beautiful, from the recollection it suggested of thesufferings they had passed. 

Lord Martin was in the mean time most grievously disappointed. "The devildamn the fellow!" said he, "he crosses me like my evil genius. I have amonth's mind to send him a challenge. He is a tall, big looking fellow tobe sure. But then if I could contrive to kill him. Ah, me! but fortunedoes not always favour the brave. My reputation is established. I do notwant a duel for that. And for any other purpose, it is all a lottery. Fireand furies, death and destruction! something must be done. Let methink--_About my brain_. "

But lord Martin was not the only one whose hopes were disappointed, by theexpected marriage of Delia. He loved her not, he felt not one flutter ofcomplacency about his heart. It was vanity that first prompted him toaddress her. It was disappointed pride that now stung him. Even Mr. Prattle viewed her with a more generous affection. His genius was notindeed a daring one, but it was active and indefatigable. Squire Savagedid not feel the less, though he did not spend many words about it. He wasa blustering hector. He had the reputation of fearing nothing, and caringfor nothing, that stood in his way. There were also other lovers besidethese, _whom the muse knows not, nor desires to know_. 

In this manner gins and snares seemed, on every side, to surround ourhappy and heedless lovers. They sported on the brink. They sighed, andsmiled, and sang, and talked again. At length the eve of the day, fromwhich their future happiness was to be dated, arrived. They had but onedrawback, the continued averseness of lord Thomas Villiers. Damon washowever now obliged, together with Mr. Hartley, to attend the lawyers atMr. Moreland's, in order to complete the previous formalities. 

CHAPTER VII. 

_Containing what will terrify the reader. _

At such a moment as this, a mind of delicacy and sensibility is fond ofsolitude. Delia told Mrs. Bridget, that she would take her usual walk, andbe home time enough to superintend the oeconomy of supper, at which thecompany of Damon and sir William Twyford was expected. 

They accordingly arrived before nine o'clock. Mrs. Bridget expected hermistress every moment. Damon and his friend would have gone out to meether, but they were not willing to leave Mr. Hartley alone. The clockhowever struck ten, and no Delia appeared. Every one now began to beseriously uneasy. Damon and sir William went in both her most favouritewalks to find her, but in vain. Messengers were dispatched twentydifferent ways. The lover repaired to the mansion of Lord Martin. Thebaronet immediately set out for the house of Mr. Savage. 

Mr. Hartley, who, with the external of a bear, and the heart of a miser, was not destitute of the feelings of a parent, was now exceedinglyagitated. He strided up and down the room with incredible velocity. He bithis fingers with anxiety, and threw his wig into the fire. "As I am a goodman, " said he, "Mr. Prattle lives but almost next door, and I will go tohim. " Mr. Prattle was at home, and having heard his story, condoled withhim upon it with much apparent sincerity. 

Damon met with the same success. Lord Martin received him with perfectserenity. "Bless us, " cried he, "and is Miss Delia gone? I never was moreastonished in my life. I do not know what to do, " and he took a pinch ofsnuff. "Mr. Villiers, " said he, with the utmost gravity, "I have allpossible respect for you. Blast me! if I am not willing to forget all ourformer rivalship. Tell me, sir, can I do you any service?" Damon had everyreason to be satisfied with his behaviour, and flew out of the house in amoment. 

Sir William Twyford did not however meet with the person he went in questof. Miss Savage informed him, that her brother, not two hours ago, hadreceived a letter, and immediately, without informing her of his design, which indeed he very seldom did, ordered his best hunter out of thestable. She added, that she had imagined, that he had received a summonsto a fox-chace early the next morning. 

Such was the account brought by sir William to the anxious and distractedDamon. "Alas, " cried he, "it is but too plain? She is by this time in thehands of that insensible boor. Oh, who can bear to think of it! He isperhaps, at this moment, tormenting her with his nauseous familiarities, and griping her soft and tender limbs! Oh, why was I born! Why was I evercheated with the phantom of happiness! Wretch, wretch that I am!"

With these words he burst out of the house, and flew along with surprisingrapidity. Sir William, having hastily ordered everything to be preparedfor a pursuit, immediately followed him. He found him, wafted, spent, andalmost insensible, lying beside a little brook that crossed the road. Thebaronet raised him in his arms, and, with the gentlest accents thatfriendship ever poured into a mortal ear, recovered him to life andperception. 

"Where am I?" said the disconsolate lover. "Who are you? ah, my friend, mybest, my tried friend! I know you now. How came I here? Has any thingunfortunate happened? Where is my Delia?" "Let us seek her, my Villiers, "said the baronet. "Seek her! What! is she lost? Oh, yes, I recollect itnow; she is gone, snatched from my arms. Let us pursue her! Let usovertake her Oh that it may not be too late. "

He now leaned upon the shoulder of his friend, and returned with painfuland irregular steps. His disorder was so great, that sir William thoughtit best to have him immediately conveyed to a chamber. He was so muchexhausted, that this was easily accomplished, without his being perfectlysensible what was done. The baronet, with three servants mounted onhorseback, immediately pursued the road towards London. --Having thusrelated the confusion and grief that were occasioned by her suddendisappearance, we will now return to our heroine. 

She had advanced, according to the intention she had hinted to herservant, towards the grove, where she had so often wandered with herbeloved. She was wrapped up and lost in the contemplation of herapproaching felicity. "And is every difficulty surmounted, and shall atlast my fate be twined with Damon's? Sure, it is too much, it cannot be!Fate does not deal so partially with mortals. To bestow so vast ahappiness on one, while thousands pine in helpless misery. But let me notbe incredulous. Let me not be ungrateful. No, since heaven has thusaccumulated its favours on me, my future days shall all be spent inraising the oppressed, and cheering the disconsolate. I will remember thatI also have tasted the cup of woe, that I have looked forward todisappointment and despair. _Taught by the hand that pities me, _ Iwill learn to pity others. "

She was thus musing with herself, she was thus full of piety and virtuousresolution, when, on a sudden, a trampling of horses behind her, rousedher from her reverie. Two persons advanced. But before she had time toexamine their features, or even to remove out of the path, by which theyseemed to be coming, the foremost of them leaping hastily upon the ground, seized her by the waist, arid, in spite of all her struggling, placed heron the front of the saddle, and instantly mounted with the utmost agility. Cries and tears were vain. They were in a solitary path, little beaten bythe careful husbandman, or the gay votaries of fashion. She was nowhurried along, and generally at full speed, through a thousand bye paths, that seemed capable of puzzling the most assiduous pursuit. 

They had scarcely advanced two little miles, ere they arrived at a largeand broad highway. Here they found a chariot ready waiting for them, intowhich Delia was immediately thrust. She now for the first time lifted upher eyes. The first object to which she attended was the faces of herravishers. Of him who had been the most active, she had not the smallestrecollection. The other who was in a livery, she imagined she had seensomewhere, though, in the present confusion of her mind, she could not fixupon the place. She next looked round her with wildness and eagerness, asfar as her eye could reach, to see if there were no protector, nodeliverance near. But she looked in vain. All was solitude and stilness. The murmurs, the activity of the day were past. And now, the silver moonin radiant majesty shed a solemn serenity ever the whole scene. Serenity, alas! to the heart at ease, but nothing could bring serenity to thetroubled breast of Delia. 

As her last resource, she appealed to those who by brutal force hadcarried her away. "Oh, if you have any hearts, any thing human that dwellsabout you, pity a poor, forlorn, and helpless maid! Alas, in what have Iinjured you? What would you do to me?" "Oh, pray, Miss, do not befrightened, " said the first ravisher with an accent of familiar vulgarity, "we will do you no harm, we mean nothing but your good. You will make yourfortune. You never had such luck in your life. You will have reason tothank us the longest day you can ever know. "

CHAPTER VIII. 

_A Denouement_. 

At this moment, Delia with infinite transport, heard the sound of horsesat a distance. Every thing was quiet. Our heroine listened with eagerexpectation, and those who guarded her looked out to see who it was thatapproached. Suspense was not long on either side. The horsemen were upwith them in a moment. "Oh, whoever you are, " cried Delia, in an agony ofdistress, "pity and relieve the most miserable woman'"----She received noanswer, but the horses stopped, and lord Martin was in a moment at thedoor of the carriage. "Oh, my lord, " cried Delia, "is it you? Thanks, eternal thanks, for this fortunate incident. If you had not come, heavenknows what would have become of me! Those brutes, those wretches--Butconduct me, my lord, to my father's house. Without doubt, they must bythis time be in a terrible fright. "

"Do not be uneasy, " cried his lordship, endeavouring to assume anharmonious, but missing his point, he spoke in the shrillest and mostsqueaking accent that can be imagined. "Do not be uneasy, my charmer. Youare in the hands of a man, that loves you, as never woman was lovedbefore. But I will be with you in a minute, " said he. And withdrawingbehind the carriage, he beckoned to the person who had conducted thebusiness of the rape. "Why, you incorrigible blockhead, " said lord Martin, "you have neglected half your instructions. Why, her hands are atliberty. " "I beg your honour's pardon, " replied the pimp, "I had indeedforgotten, but it shall be remedied in a moment. " And saying this, hepulled a strong ribband out of his pocket, and getting into the chariot, fastened the soft and lily hands of our heroine behind her. She screamed, and invoked the name of his lordship a thousand times. Her hair becamedisentangled from its ligaments, and flowed in waving ringlets about hersnowy, panting bosom. Exhausted with continual agitation, and particularlywith the last struggle, she seemed ready to faint, but was quicklyrestored by the assiduity of these sordid grooms. 

Before she had completely recovered her recollection, lord Martin hadseated himself in the carriage, and was drawing up some of the blinds. "Drive on, " said he to the coachman, who was by this time mounted into thebox, "Drive, as if the devil was behind you. " The cavalcade accordinglywent forward. There was a servant on each side of the carriage, beside thecommander in chief, who occasionally advanced in the front, andoccasionally brought up the rear. 

"And whither, " said the affrighted Delia, "whither are we going? Thiscannot be the way to Southampton. What do you mean? But ah, it is tooplain! Why else this impotence of insult?" endeavouring to disengage herhands. And she turned from him in a rage of indignation. "Ah, " cried hislordship, "do not avert those brilliant eyes! Turn them towards me, andthey will outshine the lustre of the morn, and I shall perceive nothing ofthe sun, even when he gains his meridian height. " "And thou despicablewretch, is this thy shallow plan? And what dost thou think to do with me?Mountains shall sooner bend their lofty summits to the earth, than I willever waste a thought on thee. " "Do with thee, my fairest!" cried the peer, "why, marry thee. Dost thou think that the paltry Damon shall get thebetter of my eagle genius? No. Fortune now unfurls my standard, and Idrive the _frighted fates_ before me. " "Boastful, empty coward! Thoudarest not even brave a woman's rage. If my hands were at liberty, I wouldtear out those insolent eyes. " "_Go on_, thou gentlest of thy sex, _and charm me with that angel voice_! For though thou dealest inthreats, abuse, and proud defiance, _it is heaven to hear thee_. "

Such was the courtship that passed between our heroine and her triumphantadmirer. They had new proceeded twenty miles, and the midnight bell hadtolled near half an hour. They had passed through one turnpike, and Deliahad endeavoured by cries and prayers to obtain some assistance. But theperson who opened to them was alone, and though ever so desirous, couldnot have resisted such a cavalcade. Beside this, the pimp told him aplausible story of a wanton wife, and an injured husband, with theparticulars of which we do not think it necessary to trouble our readers. They had also seen one foot passenger, and two horsemen. But they wereeluded and amused by a repetition of the same stratagem. 

Delia, having exhausted her first rage and astonishment, had now remainedfor some time silent. She revolved in her mind all the particulars of hersituation. She had at first considered her ravisher in no other light thanas hateful and despicable, but she was now compelled to regard thisvenomous little animal, as the arbiter of her fate, and the master of herfortunes. She reflected with horror, how much she was in his power, whatill usage he might inflict, and to what extremities he might reduce her. She now seriously thought of exerting herself to melt him into pity, andto persuade him, by every argument she could invent, to spare and torelease her. "Ah, where, " thought she, "is my Damon? Why does not heappear to succour me? Alas, what distresses, what agonies may he not evennow endure!"

Full of these, and a thousand other tormenting reflections, she burst intoa flood of tears. Lord Martin drew from his pocket a clean cambrichandkerchief, and, carefully unfolding it, wiped away the drops as theyfell. "Loveliest of creatures, " said he, "by the murmuring of thy voice, the heaving of thy bosom, the distraction of thy looks, and by thesetears, I should imagine thou wert uneasy. " "Ah, " cried Delia unheedful ofhis words, "what shall I say to move him?" "Oh, talk for ever, " repliedhis lordship. "The winds shall forget to whistle, and the seas to roar. Noisy mobs shall cease their huzzas, and the din of war be still; forthere is music in thy voice. " "Oh, " exclaimed our heroine, "let one touchof compassion approach thy soul. Indeed, my lord, I can never have you. Release me, and I will forgive what is past, and Damon shall never noticeit. " "Zounds and fire!" cried the peer, "dost thou think to prevail withme by the motives of a coward? But why dost thou talk of Damon? Look onme. Behold this purple coat, and fine _toupèe_. Think on my estate, and think on my title. "

But at this moment the oratory of his lordship ceased to be heard. At asmall distance there appeared two persons, the one on foot, and whose air, so far as it could be perceived by the imperfect light, was genteel, andthe other on horseback, engaged in earnest conference. As the carriagedrew towards them, Delia exclaimed, in a piercing, but pathetic voice, "Help! help! for God's sake! Rape! Murder! Help!" The voice immediatelycaught the young gentleman on foot, who approached the carriage. --Butbefore we proceed any farther we will inform our readers who these personswere. 

The gentleman on foot, was Mr. Godfrey. He was on a visit to a sister, wholived very near the spot upon which he now stood. She was married to asubstantial yeoman, who rented an estate in this place, the property oflord Thomas Villiers. The beautiful scenes of nature were particularlycongenial to the elegant said contemplative mind of Mr. Godfrey. And hehad now, as was frequently his custom, strolled out to enjoy the calmserenity, and the splendid beauty, of a midnight scene. The man onhorse-back was a thief taker, who, just before the carriage had driven up, had, without ceremony, accosted Mr. Godfrey with his enquiries, and adescription of the person of whom he was in pursuit. 

CHAPTER IX. 

_Which dismisses the Reader. _

Mr. Godfrey, in a resolute tone, called out to the coachman to stop, andnot contented with a verbal mandate, he rushed before the horses, andbrandishing a club he held in his hand, bid the driver proceed at hisperil. "Drive on, " said lord Martin, thrusting his head out at thewindow--"Drive on, and be damned to you!" At this moment the pimp rode up. "It is nothing, " said he, "but a poor gentleman, who has just forced hiswife from the arms of a gallant. " "Oh no!" cried Delia. "I am not hiswife. I am an innocent woman, whom he has forced from her father and herlover. "

The thief taker out of curiosity rode forward. "That, " said he, fixing hiseye upon the pimp, "that is the very rascal I am in search of. " The pimp, who had only been borrowed by lord Martin of one of his more experiencedacquaintance, no sooner heard the sound, than, accounting for it withinfinite facility and readiness of mind, he turned about his horse, andattempted to fly. One of the footmen, naturally a coward, and terrified atthese incidents, with the meaning of which he was unacquainted, imitatedhis example. The other came forward to the assistance of his master, andwas laid prostrate upon the ground, by Mr. Godfrey with one blow. Thethief taker had the start of the pimp, and overtook him in a moment. 

Mr. Godfrey now opened the door of the carriage. But the little peer wasprepared for this incident, and having his sword drawn, made a sudden passat our generous knight-errant. The latter, with infinite agility, leapedaside, and lifting up his club, shivered the sword into a thousand pieces. 

"Death and the devil! Pox confound you!" said lord Martin, and endeavouredto draw a pistol from his pocket. But the unsuccessful pass he had madehad thrown him somewhat off his bias, and though he had employed more thanone effort, he had not been able to recover himself. At this instant, Mr. Godfrey seized him by the collar, and with a sudden-whirl, threw him intothe middle of the road. "Fire and"--his lordship had not time to finishhis exclamation. The part of the road in which he fell was exceedingdirty. The workmen had been employed the preceding day, in scraping themud together into a heap against the bank, and his lordship, unable toovercome the velocity with which he trundled along, rolled into the midstof it in an instant. He was entirely lost in this soft receptacle. Thecolour of his purple coat, and his lily white _toupèe_, could nolonger be distinguished. 

The coachman, perceiving the disaster of his lord, now leaped from thebox. Mr. Godfrey had scarcely had time to reduce this new antagonist to astate of inactivity, before the footman, upon whom he had first displayedhis prowess, began to discover some signs of life. He might have been yetoverpowered in spite of all his valour and presence of mind, if the houseof his brother-in-law, had not fortunately been so near, that the shrieksof Delia, and the altercation of her ravishers reached it. The honestfarmer was at the window in a moment, and perceiving that his brother wasengaged in the affray, he huddled on his clothes with all expedition, andnow appeared in the highway. 

The victory was immediately decided. The footman perceiving this newreinforcement, did not dare to act upon the offensive, and Mr. Godfreymounted into the chariot to assist our heroine. He now first perceivedthat her hands were manacled. From this restraint however, he suddenlydisengaged her, and taking her in his arms out of the carriage, hedelivered her to his sister, who advanced at this moment. 

The footman, assisted by the humanity of the farmer, was now employed inraising his master. His lordship made the most pitiable figure that can beimagined. His features, as well as his dress, wore an appearance perfectlyuniform. "Whither would you convey him?" said Mr. Godfrey, who was nowreturned. "What shall we do with him?" "Oh, and please you, sir, " said thefootman, "his lordship has a house about half a mile off. " Lord Martin nowfirst discovered some marks of sensibility, and _shook his goarylocks_. "His lordship!" exclaimed the yeoman. "Sure it cannot be--yetit is--by my soul I cannot tell whether it be lord Martin or no. " Thecoachman now rose from the ground, and began with a profound bow to hismaster. "And please your honour, " said he, "we have made a sad day's workof it. Your worship makes but a pitiful figure. Faugh! I think as how, ifI dared say so much, begging your honour's pardon, that your lordshipstinks. " "Put him into the carriage, " cried Mr. Godfrey, "and drive himhome. " Lord Martin, now first recovered his tongue, and wiping away themud from his eyes, "And so it was you, sir, I suppose, " cried he, "to whomI am obliged for this catastrophe. But pox take me, if you shall not hearof it. Ten thousand curses on my wayward fate! The devil take it! Deathand damnation!" During this soliloquy, the servants were employed inplacing their lord in the chariot. The coachman mounted the box, and bythis time they were out of hearing. 

Mr. Godfrey and his brother now entered the house. Delia was seated in achair, her hair dishevelled, her features disordered, and her dress in themost bewitching confusion. But how much were both the deliverer and theheroine surprised, when they mutually recognised each others features! Mr. Godfrey made Delia a very polite compliment upon her escape, andcongratulated himself, in the warmest language, for having been thefortunate instrument. 

They now retired to rest. The next morning, Delia was much betterrecovered from her terror and fatigue, than could have been expected. Mr. Godfrey however had not thought it adviseable that she should be removedthat day, and had therefore set off early in the morning for Southampton, that he might himself be the messenger of these happy tidings. 

"I hope Miss, " said Mrs. Wilson, who attended our heroine, "that you willdress yourself as well as you can. " "And why" cried Delia, "do you desirethat? I can see nobody, I can think of nothing, but my absent and anxiousDamon. " "Let us hope, " replied the other, "that he is very well. But, Miss, we expect lord Thomas Villiers by dinner time. " "Lord ThomasVilliers!" exclaimed Delia, in the extremest surprise. "Yes, " cried Mrs. Wilson. "He is our landlord, and he always comes over once about this timeof the year. " "Alas, " said Delia, "I can see nobody. But I had rather meetany person at this time, than lord Thomas Villiers. " "Bless me, Miss! whyI am sure he is a very good sort of a gentleman. " "I dare say he is, "cried Delia. "But indeed, and indeed, Mrs. Wilson, I cannot see him. Prayoblige me in this. " "Law, well I cannot think what objection you can have!There must be something very particular in it. "

Such were the hints that Mrs. Wilson threw out for the satisfying of hercuriosity, but Delia was not disposed to be more communicative. The goodwoman however, with the error of our heroine before her eyes, wasdetermined not to commit a similar fault. Lord Thomas was thereforescarcely arrived, before she set open the flood gates of her eloquence, indescribing the rescue, and the unrivalled beauty of the lady under herroof. 

His lordship had long had a misunderstanding with lord Martin upon thesubject of their contiguous estates. As his temper was not the mostgentle, nor his memory upon these subjects the most treacherous, heexpressed his triumph in loud shouts, and repeated horse laughs, upon therecent defeat of his antagonist. Nothing however would content him but asight of the lady. "That, " said Mrs. Wilson, "my guess is too nice toconsent to. You must know, she has a particular dislike to your lordship. ""A dislike to me!" said the old gentleman, whose curiosity was now moreinflamed than even "Will you be contented, " said his kind hostess, "with apeep through the key hole!" and without waiting for an answer, she tookhim by the hand, and led him up stairs. "By my foul!" said his lordship, "she is the finest woman in the world. Devil take me, if I can containmyself, " and he burst into the room. 

Lord Thomas advanced a few steps, and then stopping, clasped his hands;"Why she is an angel of a woman! And did Martin, that dirty scoundrel, think he could run away with you? Impudent, pot-bellied spider! Ah, if myson had fallen in love with such a woman as you, I could forgive him anything. " And seizing her hand he pressed it to his lips. "Forgive me, charmer, " cried he, "I am an old fellow. I will do you no harm. "

Delia, though pleased with the behaviour of her intended father-in-law, dared not yet discover herself to him. In the afternoon, Mr. Godfrey, andSir William Twyford, arrived. Damon, agitated as he was by the mostdreadful images that a troubled fancy could suggest, appeared in themorning in a high fever. Instead of being able to hasten to the mistressof his soul, he was confined to his bed, and attended by physicians. 

"Ha, " cried lord Thomas, as soon as he saw the baronet, "and who sent foryou? What do you want? I think, Sir, you are the gentleman to whom I amobliged for telling my son, that duty to parents is a baby prejudice, thatobstinacy is a heroic virtue, and that fortune, fame, and friends, are allto be sacrificed to the whining passion, which, I think, you call love. ""My lord, " replied the baronet, "I have done nothing, of which I feel anyreason to be ashamed. But a subject more pressing calls for my immediateattention. " Then turning to Delia, "Give me leave to congratulate you, madam, and heaven can tell how heartily I do it, upon the generous andhappy interposition of Mr. Godfrey. " "And pray, " interrupted lord Thomas, "how came you acquainted with that lady?" "Oh, tell me, " cried Delia, withan impatience not to be restrained by modes and forms, "tell me, how doesmy Damon? Why is he not here? Alas, I fear"--"Fear nothing, " cried thebaronet. "He is safe. He is at your father's house, and impatient to seeyou. " "And is this the lady, " cried lord Thomas, "of whom my son isenamoured? But he shall not disobey me. I will never permit it. Sir, ifthis be the lady, I will give her to him with my own hand. But where isthe ungracious rascal? Why does not he appear?" "Nothing, be assured, "said the baronet, "but reasons of the last importance, could have kept himback in so interesting a moment. " "Alas, I fear, " cried Delia, "since youendeavour to conceal them from me, they are reasons of the most afflictingnature. " "It is in vain, " replied Sir William, "to endeavour atconcealment. " "Your son, " turning to lord Thomas Villiers, "is confined tohis bed. The anxiety and fatigue that he suffered, in consequence of theextraordinary step of lord Martin, have thrown him into a fever. But benot uneasy, my Delia, " taking her hand, "there is no danger. One sigh, onelook from you will restore him. " "Ten thousand curses, " exclaimed thefather, "upon the head of the contemptible, misbegotten ravisher! But letus make haste. I am glad however that my rogue of a son is a littlepunished for his impertinence. Let us make haste. "

Saying this, he ordered the horses to his chariot, and the whole companyprepared to set out for Southampton immediately. The only business whichremained, was the dispatching a message, which was done by one of sirWilliam's servants, from Mr. Godfrey to lord Martin, announcing his name, and informing his lordship, that he was to be met with any time in theensuing week at Mr. Moreland's. 

Lord Martin was a good deal bruised and enfeebled with the adventure ofthe preceding evening. He had been obliged to undergo a lustration of nearan hour, before he could be put to bed. He was just risen, when themessage was delivered. "Zounds!" cried the peer, "he is, is he? And sothis fellow, whom nobody knows, has the impudence to snub me! By my title, and all the blood of my ancestors, he is not worthy of my sword. I willhave him assassinated. I will hire some blackguards to seize him, and bindhim in my presence, and I will bastinado him with my own hand. Furies andcurses! I do not know what to do. Oh, this confounded vanity! Notcontented with one disgrace, I have brought upon myself another, ten timesmore mortifying than the first. By Tartarus, and all the infernal gods, Ibelieve I had better let it rest where it is! Wretch, wretch, that I am!"And he threw himself on the bed in an agony of despair. 

Damon had slept little the preceding night, and his slumbers had beendisturbed with a thousand horrible imaginations. The first person whoappeared in his chamber the next morning he addressed with "Where, whereis she? Where is my Delia? My life, my soul, the mistress of my fate? Ah, why do you look so haggard, so unconsoling. You have heard nothing of her?Give me my clothes. I will pursue her to the world's end. I will find her, though she be hid deep as the centre. " "Sir, be pacified, " said theservant, "she is safe. " "Safe, " cried our lover, "why then does she notappear to comfort me? But haste, I will fly to her. I will clasp, I willlock her, in my arms. No, nothing, not all the powers on earth, shall everpart us more. " "Sir, she is not in the house. " "Not in the house, " criedDamon starting, "Ha! say. I will not be cheated. On thy life do not triflewith my impatience. "

At this moment Mr. Godfrey entered the room. "Who is there?" cried Damon, starting at every whisper. "It is your friend, " said Godfrey. "A friendthat owes you much, and would willingly pay you something back again. " "Ido not understand you, " replied our hero. "I can talk of nothing but myDelia. Oh Delia! Delia! I will teach thy name to all the echoes. I willsend it with every wind to heaven. Ever, ever, shall it dwell upon mylips. " "Delia, " replied the other, "is in safety. I have been so happy asto rescue her. " "Ha! sayest thou? let me look upon thee well. I amsomewhat disordered, but I think thy name is Godfrey. Thou shouldst notdeceive me. Thou art not old in falsehood. " "I do not deceive thee. On mylife I do not!" exclaimed Godfrey, with emotion. "Compose thyself for afew hours. Or ever thou shalt see the setting sun, I will put thy Deliainto thy arms again. "

Damon was somewhat composed by these assurances. No voice like that ofGodfrey had power to sooth his mind to serenity. But though he sought torestrain himself, he listened to every noise. He started at the sound ofevery foot, and the rattle of a carriage in the street agitated his soulalmost to frenzy. 

"Why does not she come? What can delay her? I have counted every moment. I have waited whole ages. I see, I see, that every thing conspires tocheat, and to distract me. Damon has not one friend left to whisper in hisear--to whisper what? That Delia is no more? That all her beauties aredefaced, by some sacrilegious hand? That all her heaven of charms havebeen rifled? Oh, no. I must not think of that. But hark! I thought I hearda sound, but it is delirium all. Sure, sure it comes this way. I willlisten but this once. "

The door of the chamber now flew open. But oh, what object caught theraptured eye of Damon! He was just risen. "It is, it is my Delia!" andthey flew into each others arms. But having embraced for a moment, Damontook hold of her hand, and held her from him. "Let me look at thee. And isit Delia? And art thou safe, unhurt? I would not be mistaken. " "Yes, I amshe, and ten times more my Damon's than ever. " "It is enough. I amcontented. But hark! who comes there? Sure it is not the brutal ravisher?No, " cried he, in a voice of surprise, "it is my father. "

Lord Thomas Villiers, who had been a witness of this scene, could restrainhimself no longer. "Come to my arms, thy father's arms, " cried he, "andlet me bless thee. " "Stay, stay, " cried Damon. "Yes I know thee well. ButI will never be separated from her any more. I will laugh at the authorityof a parent. Tyranny and tortures shall not rend me from her. " "Theauthority of a parent, " replied lord Thomas, "shall never more be employedto counteract thy wishes. I myself will join your hands. "

The constitution of Damon was so full of sensibility, that it was somedays before he was completely recovered. In the mean time, the amours ofSir William Twyford, and Mr. Hartley, continually ripened, and it wasproposed, that the three parties should be united in the same day. 

"And now, " said Damon, "I have but one care more, one additional exertion, to set my mind at ease. My Godfrey, I owe thee more than kingdoms canrepay. Tell me, instruct me, what can I do to serve you? Damon must be themost contemptible of villains, if he could think his felicity complete, when his Godfrey was unhappy. "

"Think not of me, " said Godfrey, "I am happy in the way that natureintended, beyond even the power of Damon to make me. Since I saw you, afavourable change has taken place in my circumstances. In spite of variousobstacles, I have brought a tragedy upon the stage, and it has met withdistinguished success. My former crosses and mortifications are allforgotten. Philosophers may tell us, that reputation, and the immortalityof a name, are all but an airy shadow. Enough for me, that nature, from myearliest infancy, led me to place my first delight in these. I envy notkings their sceptres. I envy not statesmen their power. I envy not Damonhis love, and his Delia. Next to the pursuits of honour and truth, my soulis conscious to but one wish, that of having my name enrolled, in howeverinferior a rank, with a Homer, and a Horace, a Livy, and a Cicero. "

The next day the proposed weddings took place. It is natural perhaps, atthe conclusion of such a narrative as this, to represent them all ashappy. But we are bound to adhere to nature and truth. Mr. Hartley and hispolitician for some time struggled for superiority, but, in the end, theeagle genius of Sophia soared aloft. Sir William, though he married awoman, good natured, and destitute of vice, found something more insipidin marriage, than he had previously apprehended. For Damon and his Delia, they were amiable, and constant. Though their hearts were in the highestdegree susceptible and affectionate, the first ebullition of passion couldnot last for ever. But it was succeeded by _the feast of reason, and theflow of soul_. Their hours were sped with the calmness of tranquility. When they saw each other no longer with transport, they saw each otherwith complacency. And so long as they live, they will doubtless afford themost striking demonstration, that marriage, when it unites two gentlesouls, and meaned by nature for each other, when it is blest of heaven, and accompanied with reason and discretion, is the sweetest, and thefairest of all the bands of society. 

THE END.