vy and malignity lurked at the bottom, and were expressed in loud and bitter whispers as the crowd closed behind them. Such is fashion, that amongst all those groups who were revelling in frenzied mirth at the expence of the mistress of the demesne, there was hardly one individual who did not join in the gibe and the sneer that followed her.

Lady Deborah, who had strongly opposed this fête while it was yet in contemplation, was peculiarly out of humour on the night of its taking place. Seeing, however, that there was now no remedy, she endeavoured to assume a placidity to which her soul was of late very much a stranger. According to the etiquette prescribed by her niece, which she was obliged to adopt, she too, though dressed in the character of a lady abbess, was unmasked. Her manner and her looks so far corresponded with the recluse habit she wore, that she seemed, amidst all the surrounding noise and gaiety, to be entirely wrapped up in the gloomy thoughts of a religieuse. Nor was the fact very much at variance with appearances. The wild merriment of the scene recalled to her some of those nights of a similar description which she had

passed in her earlier days, when her feelings were very different, when, borne on the bosom of the triumphant tide of prosperity, she commanded the gratification of every passion as it arose; but the recollection now filled her bosom with adders. Good Heavens! what would she now have given to have had her years to live over again! To religion she had indeed at one time turned with the hope of consolation. But, ignorant of the grand principles of our faith, she could not participate in its rational hopes, and her malady was rather augmented than allayed, and her guilty mind was filled with the most horrible anticipations of the future.

These she endeavoured to banish whenever they arose, but generally without effect, and on this night they came upon her, and adhered to her with an unusual degree of tenacity. She even seemed at times to be unconscious that she was not alone; and in the midst of the most perfect seeming abstraction, she would suddenly start away, as if stung by some fresh remembrance, and then, pressing after her niece through the mazes of the pleasure-ground, she would hang on her rear, as if in anxious contemplation

of all her actions, and as if afraid to lose her. Now and then she would join her for a moment, but when she did so, she was but ill received, and there was always an evident inclination on the part of the young Lady to escape from her.

CHAPTER IV.

But the long pomp, the midnight masquerade,
With all the freaks of wanton wealth arrayed,
In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain,
The toiling pleasure sickens into pain,
And, even while Fashion's brightest arts decoy,
The heart, distrusting, asks if this be joy?

GOLDSMITH.

The prophecies of wizards old,

Increased her terror, and her fall foretold.

WALLER.

MISS DELASSAUX was sitting with the Count in the Temple of Venus, which, at the moment we are now speaking of, was illuminated by a glory of lights, that might have done sufficient honour to the festival of the goddess herself, in her own Paphian bowers The trees immediately inclosing the grassy recess where the temple stood, were hung with tastefully disposed garlands of coloured lamps,

the reflection of which faintly glimmered from the surface of the artificial lake in front. On the water floated a vast and dark body, indistinctly seen against the deep shadows of the groves lining the opposite shores, where the impenetrable gloom was unbroken by a single ray of illumination.

A grand flight of rockets suddenly shot up from the mass on the water, penetrating the dark vault of Heaven to an immense height, and a general shout was immediately heard from all parts of the gardens. This was instantly followed by a rush of many feet towards the lake, and particularly towards the temple, where Miss Delassaux and the Count were seated.

"Let us quickly embark, Count," said she, "we shall otherwise become embarrassed by the crowd. Let them enjoy the view of the fireworks from the shore, whilst their groups will tend to heighten their effect to us, as we shall, -in our turn, contribute, by the addition of our figures, to embellish the spectacle about to be presented to them;" so saying, she hastened with him to a gilded boat in waiting for her, manned by six rowers in white dresses.