CHAPTER IV. Club, August 20th. "DEAR HARRY, "After expecting you so long to return to the haunts of the living, that I began to imagine your name had been unaccountably omitted in the list of the illustrious dead, I am going to bore you with a series of questions as to the nature of your present pursuits in that highly-interesting locality,' as the guide-books say, to which you so wilfully betook yourself in the midst of a London season. First, let me premise that you are not compelled to answer them, unless convenient; though touching my discretion, Master Hal,' I have given you sundry proofs of it lately, the merits of which have been most unjustifiably overlooked. Are you yachting, travelling, or only rusticating? What are the 'natives' like; and (remember, I'm a susceptible fellow,) are there any pretty girls among them? Things here are going that lively pace, which they generally do at the end of the session; honourable members bagging their grouse, or bragging of Parliamentary prowess to their constituents, and even our shopkeepers' wives are inhaling saline breezes at Brighton or Boulogne. But now to the object of my letter. Crofton has won his bet, which has been pending so long, and gives us a champagne supper at his club in consequence. It is on Tuesday, the 22nd, so come up to town and join us. Crofton wanted to write himself, but I undertook the task of drawing you out of that hermit's retreat of your's at St. Mary's. Do come, my, dear fellow; we are positively inconsolable at your prolonged and mysterious absence. Everybody wants you-all your sins are forgiven, and even poor Augustus L-, whom you so cruelly distanced in the favour of a certain fair friend of our's, wonders what has become of you-he is just returned from the Continent, by-the-bye. Now, my dear Harry, you must come. I have special reasons for wanting to see you myself, and believe me, CHAPTER V. "August 12th.-HARRY returned at noon today. The ball, he said, had not concluded when he left, and the Marchioness had begged him to attend a fête to be given next week. I cannot tell why, but I felt so depressed upon hearing the intelligence, that I did not even ask if he intended going. At last I regained my self-possession sufficiently to ask several questions concerning his cousin, and listened with a smile, while my heart ached, to the reply. It appears the Marchioness is young and beautiful, and, as Harry openly affirmed, has married her husband (considered by every one her inferior) for the sake of his title and vast possessions. Are these marriages de convenance common in English society? I thought they were confined to foreigners alone. On the Continent they are wholly brought about by the parents, and often when the betrothed are mere children; but there is something revolting when a woman voluntarily sacrifices herself at the shrine of Mammon. How easy and commonplace, too, was the tone in which Harry acknowledged the fact! Why did that tone grate upon my ear as it never did before? "August 13th.-The effort I made yesterday has not been without its reward. Harry has been more himself since his return. A ray of happiness again illumines my path, and could I succeed in divesting my mind of all anxiety for the future, there would be little to disquiet me in the present. How fervently do I wish that my husband would no longer hesitate to make known his marriage to his father! Alas! he has even ceased to mention the subject. "August 14th.-It is strange too that Harry seldom talks now of his plans for the future. Whole days pass in the discussion of irrelevant topics, or the routine of our usual pursuits, without his once alluding to them. Is my husband, like myself, haunted with fears, and forebodings of the future? Can this be the cause of his frequent fits of silence and melancholy? 66 August 15th.-Another day; a dull weary void. Harry absent, trying a new horse. Poor Sultan is pronounced incurable; will he be discarded for a newer favourite? 66 August 16th.-Harry has expressed a desire to return to town. Why did the announcement sound like the knell to my happiness? It was so unexpected that I can hardly recollect the way in which I replied to him. But surprise made me break through all reserve, and I entreated him before leaving our retirement to make known his marriage to his father and the rest of his friends. He rather evaded than denied my request, endeavoured to reconcile me to the change, and still declared it necessary to put off acquainting his father with his marriage till his return. After he had quitted the room, his reasoning appeared on reflection, so unsatisfactory to me, that I felt more depressed than I had done before. At this moment he is writing letters in the library-dare I hope that he has seen matters in a different light, and is imparting to his father the long-kept secret? 66 August 17th.—I perceived from several things that happened yesterday, that Harry had decided on quitting the Island. But however I may regret the change, I will no longer oppose it. Three short months of retirement from the busy world, is not so long as to make him weary of this se |