THE HISTORY OF THE OLDCASTLE FAMILY. AN ORIGINAL NOVEL. [Continued from Page 70.] THE general festivity of the hall was now interrupted by the death of Lady Priscilla, who, without any previous illness, was found one morning dead in her bed! We shall not detain our readers by dwelling on the grief occasioned by this event; suffice it to say, that this excellent woman was lamented equal to her worth. Upon opening her will, it was found that the whole of her property was left between Mr. Beachcroft and Agnes, on the condition that they intermarried within a certain time. If this union did not take place, that party was to lose its moiety who refused the hand of the other. month overthrown every thing. Of what avail would it now be that Bellasis should return to the neighbourhood of the Firs?" Her thoughts again took a turn, and led her to reflect on the singular clause in the will of Lady Priscilla "Had my bene. factress lived," said she, "I should have sacrificed my happiness to her slightest wishes; and whatever might have been my secret repugnance, would have united myself to the amiable Beachcroft. I can no longer see a necessity for this sacrifice; I' shall act more generously by freely sur rendering my moiety of the immense bequest; Sir George will be better satisfied, and Mr. Beachcroft himself will submit. Bellasis will not love me with a less ardent passion because he finds me less rich than he imagined." Such were the reflections' which passed through her mind during the three first days of her journey, and she resolved upon seeing Mr. Beachcroft in town to acknowledge candidly the true situation of her mind. "His generosity," said she, "will release me from obligations which he will perceive to be burthensome,-I shall not appeal in vain to the most generous of men." She was awakened from this reverie on the fourth day of her journey, by an excla The hurry, the agitation, and the anxiety of mind from the late events had so wholly occupied the attention of Agnes, that she had thought little of Bellasis since the death of her beloved protectress. The first excess of her grief having now subsided, Bellasis was the first of all former images which returned to re-occupy her heart; and her love, perhaps, was more confirmed, as in the loss of Lady Priscilla she needed a protector,-she required an object to occupy that love and esteem which was hitherto gratefully bestowed upon her benefactress. It is a truth honourable to human nature, that a mind of sensibility cannot have a greater enjoy.mation from Miss Beachcroft, who, looking ment than in the mere act of loving. A French author has said, with as much wit as good humour, "I love my cat, but care very little whether my cat loves me." Agnes now, therefore, became anxious as to the situation of Bellasis; she recalled to her mind every circumstance of their last farewel. Little did they then expect the melancholy event which had now occurred. Lady Priscilla was then in health and happiness, and, in the confidence of long life, was planning future schemes of happiness. Agues herself, too, was at that time possessed with no other fears than that Bellasis should be detained by the necessity of accompanying his mother into Norfolk. "Alas!" said she, "how has a single out of one of the windows of the coach, exclaimed abruptly,─"Well, who could have thought it? I protest, Agnes, there is old Jonathan, our old coachman, on the top of the Exeter coach, going to London." Agnes looked out; the Exeter stage had but in the same moment passed them; the eye of the faithful old domestic, fixed upon the carriage, caught that of Agnes. Jonathan took off his hat, and with a kind of exulting triumph, half waved it in the air. Agnes, in the joy of the moment forgetting all distance, returned his salute with a nod and a smile. The poor fellow seemed transported with her kindness, but the stage hurried him in a few minutes out of sight. Accept, my dear young lady, the inclosed sum; the two hundred pounds the earn Agnes now for the first time remembered the packet in her pocket, and resolved to read it when Miss Beachcroft shouldings of my service, and the five hundred again fall asleep, which she usually did after the first three miles of every stage. She now, however, seemed unusually inclined to talk because, perhaps, she had now a new incident. “Well, what can that old fool be going to London for," said she; "to make his fortune, I suppose." pounds which Sir George paid me this morning as the legacy of my late honoured Lady. Indeed, young lady, I know not what to do with all this money; accept it, therefore, in trust, and repay me when you shall come of age, and to your own; for if I know any thing of the world, you will not receive a single guinea from Sir George "He is not so old," said Agnes, "as to till that time shall come.-My honoured be without curiosity." young lady, your sincere though humble friend, JONATHAN," "And so he is going to see curiosities," added she; "I can only say, my dear, that he will be the greatest curiosity himself. I would advise him to send a part of my aunt's legacy in purchasing a caravan, and as Lady Priscilla has left him her old horses, he will be saved half the expence; and then he may go about the fairs, and shew himself and his horses for twopence a piece to all spectators. I swear he will make a fortune,-a better one than the Irish Giant." It may be believed that Agres was far from pleased with this contemptuous raillery of a servant known to be peculiarly attached to herself; but she knew Miss Beachcroft, though without malice, to be incorrigible, and therefore listened to her in silence, in some hopes that she would soon talk herself asleep. Nor was it long in fact before this actually happened, for wearied of receiving no other answers than the monosyliables of Agnes, she at length sunk her head into one corner of the carriage, and within a few minutes was in a profound sleep. Agnes now took out her packet, and opening it, found it to contain a small parcel and a letter. Opening the parcel, she found it to contain nearly two hundred pounds in small notes, and a check on the house of Hammersley for five hundred more. A few words on a slip of paper which fell to the ground, appeared to contain the explanation. Agnes hastily took it up, and read as follows: "My honoured young lady,-I know that you have fallen into hands not the most generous in the world, and I know that London is a very expensive place for young ladies, and you may find yourself much straitened when you little think it. Agnes experienced no inconsiderable satisfaction from this testimony of affection; it is needless, however, to say, that she resolved to return it the first moment that she should see the faithful domestic. As Miss Beachcroft still slept, Agnes opened the letter. Her heart beat with quicker emotions when she found it to come from Belassis. The first few sentences consisted of protestations, &c. which it is not to the main purpose of this history to extract, though Agnes, no doubt, thought it the most agrecable of the whole epistle. But after this matter of course the letter thus proceeded : "I am miserable, dearest Agnes, whilst thus detained from you, but I am not without hopes that even gratitude and duty will shortly permit my return. My mother talks of returning into Cornwall within a fortnight or three weeks, and the Captain, my more than father, intends to accompany her. You will thus conclude that you may expect a visit by surprize. Tell Lady Priscilla that the Captain talks hourly of her, and frequently recals with almost rapture the many happy hours which he has spent at the Firs, hours which we hope shortly to repeat.”—“ No, never, never!" exclaimed Agnes, the tear starting into her eye; "alas, those hours are fled for ever!" The letter again proceeded:-" That Poet was no lover, nor did he understand the nature of that generous passion, who asserts that love is lessened by absence. No, Agnes, absence but increases the passion, as it substitutes the imagination for the reality; the lover, however remote from his mistress, still sees her in his fancy, and she loses nothing by the exchange. Never are you a moment absent from my fancy; I see you in my walks, you are the constant image of my dreams." by this question. He proceeded to ask me with increased earnestness if I had any repugnance to marriage. Upon my reply in the negative, he asked me what I thought of you. I could only regard him with surprise. He proceeded, however, to explain himself, and unfolded his views with regard to my adoption, as I have mentioned above, and thus continued:-"I confess that of all the families I have hitherto seen that of Lady Priscilla is the one with whom I should be most ready to connect myself. The fortune of her daughter is opulent to my wishes; I mention Agnes as her daugh Agnes was here interrupted by Miss Beachcroft, who happened to awake.“Well, my dear," said the flippant young lady, "don't you think I have done very well; I have been dreaming of London, and been in Grosvenor-square whilst you have been counting the mile-stones. What an excellent thing is sleep, as Sancho says; how happy would it be if one could sleep the whole summer, and wake only on the road to town in the following winter?" The young lady continued talking inter, as I have received it from Lady Pristhis manner till she again talked herself asleep, and again left Agues at liberty to peruse her letter. cilla herself that she has adopted her as such, and that she intends to bequeath her the greater part of her ample fortune. I have no doubt but my Lady Priscilla will approve of this proposal if it find no repugnance upon your part.' "There is one thing in my present situation which I confess gives more than ordinary satisfaction, as it opens to me the delightful prospect, that my Agnes will "You will believe, my dearest Agnes, at length be mine. If the tenderest love that I did not let pass this opportunity of can merit this felicity, I may boldly lay acknowledging my passion, and confessing claim to it,-in every other point of view that you were not uninformed of it. My accuse me not of the vanity of thinking benefactor shook me by the hand with an myself worthy of the love of the most heartiness peculiar to himself. He asamiable as well as most lovely of her sex. sured me that my happiness should not be You will perhaps have some wish to under-long delayed.-The fortune of your Agstand to what I allude. Were you less nes,' continued he, will not fall short of generous, less noble-minded yourself, and a hundred thousand pounds, which will therefore more apt to suspect any defect be a noble addition to your fortune, and of generosity in others, I should fear to enable you to rival in mercantile reputainform you, but as I know you to be every tion the family of the Greshams or the thing that is generous and noble, I have|| Medici. I know nothing that could have no hesitation. happened more to my wishes. England has become a kingdom in which antiquity of family is less respected than wealth, and even the family of the Oldcastles would be overlooked unless supported by this secondary lustre.' "I need not now relate to you, that the whole hopes of my future fortune are from the benevolence of my adopted father. It is one of the foibles of his character anxiously to wish to see his family restored to a splendour they once enjoyed; and he proposes to effect this end by two means, the adoption of myself to his name and fortune, and to spare no efforts to augment my fortune to a princely opulence. It is for this reason, as I have before said, that he has engaged me in commerce. It is scarcely two hours from the date of this letter that I have left his apartment. We have had a conversation of which you were the object. My father demanded of me if I had never as yet thought of settling into the peace of domestic life? You may conceive I was in some degree embarrassed "Such, my beloved Agnes, is the pros. pect which has opened to me. I know you will be too noble and generous to take this in any wrong point of view. However valuable wealth may be to the sordid sons of avarice, you will do me the justice to believe, that I hold it as cheap as yourself. If I am at the present moment happier than at any one period of my life, it is because I see an opportunity by which, without contradicting the obligations of gratitude I owe to my benefactor, my more than father, I may at length become happy in the possession of my Agnes.” . Cruel were the reflections of Agnes upon this mockery of fortune. If any thing is more intolerable than another, it is when misery is aggravated by this mockery. Well does the Egyptian hieroglyphic represent the Goddess of Fortune,-half a woman and half an ape. ] enough to know that it must be a spectacle of more than usual splendour, and therefore readily consented to join the party of Lady Beachcroft. Mr. Beachcroft called on Agnes for the first time since the death of Lady Priscilla, as she was waiting in the parlour to accom All further reflection was here inter-pany Lady Beachcroft, the coach not being cepted by the carriages having now reached the end of their journey, a large and handsome house in Portman-square. Every thing was so new to Agnes upon her entrance into London that every other thought and emotion was lost in her curiosity. The noise, the bustle, the multi-till Agnes was summoned to the coach. tude, confounded her; she appeared in a new world. The splendour, riches, luxury, and elegance displayed in the different shops excited her surprise. yet at the door. Mr. Beachcroft knew the sensibility of the mind of Agnes, and in respect to her feelings mentioned not a syllable of his love. Agnes could not, of course, enter upon the subject, and the visit passed away in general conversation, Mr. Beachcroft then took his leave. Agnes was somewhat surprised that he should not live in the house of his father, and more particularly so as the house was more than ample enough for the family. She knew not that it had become the mode, as it is called, with all the young men of fashion of the day, to affect this family "Is it possible (thought she), that money can be wanting in a city every shop of which thus exhibits almost the wealth of kings? And what can be the business of this innumerable multitude, every indivi-independence, and leaving the domestic dual of whom wears alike a face of import- circle of mother, father, sisters, and ance. Can even commerce itself supply younger brothers, to amuse themselves in. occupation for these myriads? Must there the best manner they could, they betake not be many who, without any real busi-themselves to the proud independence of ness, have contracted the habit of looking || a first floor. She knew not that the heir important?" of a Duke might be found in the first floor of a milliner, or perhaps lounging along the counter, trifling with the women. She knew not that there was scarcely a great family within the bills of mortality in which the father and the son, arrived to manhood, were on such good terms as to support the society of each other, except at the dinner hour once or twice in the week. The conjecture of Agnes was doubtless here well founded. How many indeed are there of those whose important looks would lead one to believe that the fate of the nation hung upon their next resolve, and who at bottom are but the veriest idlers of the town,-physicians who were never troubled with a fee, and counsellors who never opened their mouths in the court, politicians who only read the Courier, Lady Beachcroft ordered the coach to courtiers who only visit the court, and drive through Bond-street :-" We must attorneys who feed only in term time,-order our dresses, for we must go to such are the greater part of those crowds court. Agnes, we must get you presented," which jostle you off the pavement, and said she. then intreat your pardon with looks as if the gravity and importance of their business was sufficient excuse for their rudeness. Such were the reflections of Agnes for the three or four first days. On the fifth, Lady Beachcroft invited her to accompany her to a review in Hyde-Pak. The Volunteers in the neighbourhood of the me tropolis were to be reviewed by his Majesty in person. Agnes comprehended The coach, accordingly, stopped at the door of a fancy dress maker. "Come choose, choose girls," said Lady Priscilla; "but harkee, Juliet, you must treat your self now, for you can better afford it than I can." In a moment the carpet was covered with silks, muslins, &c. in a profusion, and with an apparent carelessness of their value which somewhat surprised Agnes. Agnes, accustomed to dress in a style of simple elegance only, took up a piece muslin which appeared to her suited to the purpose, and, according to her custom, when she attended Lady Priscilla in a shopping jaunt to Penzance, was preparing to ask its price per yard, when she heard Miss Beachcroft demand of the milliner, what would be nearly the amount of a dress about which they were consulting? "Why, I think, Misses, as you are my established customers,” replied Mrs. B———— "I could make it up for about ninety guineas.' "What, trimmings and all?" said Miss Beachcroft. "Yes, Miss, at least the difference will not be considerable." "Well, I will have it then," said Miss Beachcroft; "but be sure you follow my instructions, or I shall not endure it; but I will not go above the ninety guineas, remember that." This conversation occasioned Agnes, in some confusion, to drop to the ground the muslin she had taken up. Miss Beachcroft demanded of her whether she had yet chosen? and Agnes replying in the negative, "well then," said she, “let me choose for you, and I am sure you will admire my taste." She then again turned over the silks, muslins, and laces, and at length fixed upon one to her taste." You will have this Agnes;" said she.-" The young lady will have this, Mrs. B——," said she without waiting the assent of Agnes, “you will have the goodness to make it up, and send it home the same time that you send mine. But pray what will it come to? "Why, Miss," said Mrs. B--, "it is rather an expensive dress, as it will take an immensity of lace to cover the slip. I really cannot tell you, Miss, what it may amount to, as from the uncertainty in these things we are careful never to fix the price lest we should lose." But tell us nearly," said Miss Beacheroft; come my dear Mrs. B--, make haste, for we are going to the review. am I ever to pay for this, I have not twenty pounds about me?" "And I have not twenty shillings," added Miss Beachcroft, "and yet you hear what I have ordered. These things are necessaries, my dear, and must be had, though they were never paid for. And the woman, though a little extravagant, is not unreasonable, she can wait I assure you.Well, Mrs. B--," continued she, “ yon will be punctual with both the dresses;" and with these words she followed her mother to the coach. They now drove immediately to the review.-Agnes was never more dissatisfied at her irresolution, she remembered to have often heard Lady Priscilla declaim against that fashionable extravagance which would lavish on a dress or a trinket what would support almost for their lives one or more poor families.-Miss Beachcroft, however, talked with so much volu bility about the beauty of the dress, and the distinguished taste of Mrs. B——, that Agnes was absolutely shamed out of her penitence. “You will look so beautiful in it, Agnes, for I have inatched it to your complexion. The slip is a pale-pink, which will be rendered still more pale as it is reflected through the lace. I can assure you, my dear, that there is more art than you imagine in arranging a fancy dress. And if I was a prime minister's lady, I would give Mrs. B--a place or a pension for her taste." Agnes suffered herself at length to be overpowered by these arguments, and by a firm resolution to be guilty of no second act of a similar nature, reconciled this first concession to her mind. They had now gained the scene of the review. Sir George, who was one of the Colonels, obtained permission for their carriage to enter into the centre of the ground marked out. They had thus a full view of the whole line. The day was fine, and the sun shining on the polished steel of the swords and musquets, and the splendid Will it come to much more than an hun-regimentals of the several corps, composed dred guineas?" "No, Miss, not much more." "Well, then, let it be made up." "Stop, for Heaven's sake," said Agnes, taking the arm of Miss Beachcroft; "how a scene of unequalled splendour. The effect was heightened by the number of men, drums beating, colours flying, every thing, in a word, which could animate and exhilarate. |