consequence to which they have but little claim, very often being wanting both in talent and education to befit them for the important duties of their situation, they are indeed styled governesses, and in consequence are very self-sufficient of their paltry claims to the task of instructing and giving a polish to the manners of youth; but Mrs. Pelham was not one of these pretenders, she was a female who was both born and educated a gentlewoman, and whose sphere in life had once been the means of introducing her into the most elegant and even exalted society, which she had seen and constantly witnessed, and therefore was well calculated to give it to her pupils ;-that easy polished grace and unaffected good-breeding, so necessary for a perfect gentlewoman, and which no preceptress ever could impart unless she had been accustomed to the peculiar and distinguishing features of it herself. Mrs. Pelham was also an authoress of some celebrity, or her works had never been purchased by the booksellers; if Mrs. Pelham had not written well, the gentlemen in the folio line would never have applied to her a second time for the display of that talent which they afterwards affected to despise, because they could not obtain it at so cheap a price again; all this Mr. Trelawney knew, and knowing this, he respected the talent of the too humble authoress, by transplanting her to a far happier and more congenial soil, and where she might plant roses without being encompassed by the sharp thorns to goad and sting her like so many deadly scorpions; and, in addition to all these recommendations, Mrs. Pelham had yet the advantage of another, of a most superior kind, and that was the recom mendation of such an exalted and amiable a personage as Lady Honoria Belmont. "I have no children," cried her Ladyship one day to her, with a fascinating smile, "but I have a friend who is possessed of a little rising generation, or in other words, she has a charming family, four lovely girls, three of whom are his daughters and the fourth a niece of Mr. Trelawney's, to all of whom, my dear Pelham, you will be of the greatest service, and I shall certainly do my best to place you as a preceptress in the family of Mr. Trelawney the very next time I pay a visit to Berkeley Street," which was accordingly done; and for full five years Mrs. Pelham had continued the preceptress of the Miss Trelawney's, about the same distance of time that the quaint tutor had also become a stationary planet in the same hemisphere; and as this was a circumstance of which Lord Wyndham was by no means ignorant, he chose to invite these said personages most graciously to his table, not more in compliment to their protectors, than one paid to their own private and exclusive merits. Would to heaven that such amiable propensities in persons of exalted rank and high birth were more generally followed! how often would the elegant mind whom they had brought forth from the bed of humble obscurity, be enriched by such a noble and generous display of exalted greatness of character and benevolence of soul; how often could the full hearts swell with grateful and delicious rapture, and one action of this praiseworthy and liberal kind would reflect more lustre on their names than whole volumes of flattery fed at the shrine of the voluptuous court of sycophants, soothsayers, courtezans and the gay votaries of pleasure: but, alas, the too often neglected sons and daughters of genius, are not those who are invited to the overflowing banquet, or asked to the hall of plenty, by those who preside at the grand and stately board, where hospitality never smiles to welcome the unfriended stranger, nor a guest received without a calculation being made of what interest is to be got by his society. At length the dinner party adjourned to the residence of Lord Wyndham, in South Audley Street; Fothersgill having equipped himself in his new suit of mourning, the gift of his patron, and Mrs. Pelham had received a similar mark of liberality from Mrs. Trelawney, so that when they all were completely assembled in the drawing-room of his Lordship, they had the appearance of one family, Lord Wyndham himself being attired in a splendid costume of mourning. His Lordship never appeared to greater advantage in the midst of this fair assembly of his friends; and a most magnificent dinner was placed before them, in a rich service of the most costly silver; nothing could exceed the tasteful elegance of the entertainment, and when the ladies repaired to the drawingroom, which was most splendidly lighted up, they were regaled with the most odoriferous perfumes, from beautiful Indian vases, of the most exquisite workmanship; while arcades of blooming and choice. exotics were arranged with the most finished elegance in other parts of the room; adjoining to which was a concert-room, of the most superlative taste, and marked by the hand of the science of harmony, and Lady Catherine, expressing her warmest approbation of the taste of the accomplished master, smilingly exclaimed to Mrs. Trelawney, "It is really barbarous for Lord Wyndham to continue a bachelor,-why here is a kingdom for a little queen to reign in." To which Mrs. Trelawney archly replied,— "Why I strongly suspect, that although a widower, his Lordship will have no insurmountable objections to conquer, to induce him to enter the holy state again." And Lady Honoria immediately whispered in the ear of Lady Catherine, "Fix your eyes on a certain young lady in this room, and try if you cannot guess who is the destined bride of Lord Wyndham.' Miss Trelawney, on perceiving that she had engaged their Ladyships' attention, coloured deeply; and Lady Catherine, patting her cheek, smilingly exclaimed, "My dear Miss Trelawney, how that blush becomes you, my love, because it is the most distinguishing feature of native modesty, which is never the offspring of affectation, believe me, my dear girl I shall very sincerely rejoice at an approaching event which has at present so sweet and promising an appearance for your future felicity; for marriage without happiness, my dear young friend, though splendour rocks the cradle, is at best but gaudy slavery, and unsubstantial joy; 'tis love only which should light the temple of hymen, and honor the sacred talisman which should protect its faithful votaries." At this moment the gentlemen made their appearance, and the subject of matrimony was deferred till some more seasonable and appropriate opportunity. CHAPTER XI. "Farewell! if ever fondest prayer For other's weal avail'd on high, "Mine will not all be lost in air, "But waft thy name beyond the sky. A bright and transitory glow of pleasure lighted up the countenance of Miss Trelawney at the entrance of Lord Wyndham, to that elegant and spacious apartment which she was very shortly to reign mistress of, and being seated next to him, she softly complimented him on the exquisite taste he had displayed. "I assure you, my Lord," cried Alexina, blushing deeply, "I have received the highest gratification possible in listening to the warm eulogiums pronounced from the lips of Lady Honoria Belmont and Lady Catherine Queensbury, on the tasteful and elegant variety which these charming apartments exhibit, and mamma too, dear mamma, is delighted with them." "And does not my Alexina feel any pleasure in contemplating the arrangements which were solely intended, by her faithful and devoted Wyndham, to |