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CHAPTER II.

The soote season that bud and bloom forth brings,
With green hath clad the hill, and eke the vale;
The nightingale with feathers new she sings;
The turtle to her mate hath told her tale;
Summer is come, for every spray now springs;
The hart hath hung his old head o'er the pale;
The buck in brake his winter coat he flings;
The fishes float with new repaired scale;
The adder all her slough away she flings;
The swift swallow pursueth the flies small;
The busy bee her honey new she brings;
Winter is gone that was the flowers' bale;
And thus I see, among those pleasant things,
Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs.

LORD SURREY.

LORD MOWBRAY felt, when he set off the next morning, that bleak and barren as he had thought this spot when he first came to it, he nevertheless could attach himself to its wild scenery. We grow to like those on whom we confer benefits, or to whom we are of use; and we become fond of a place which we feel to be our own, and to which our presence can be of material consequence; besides, a change which we look forward to anxiously in distant prospect, we frequently dread as it approaches nearer, and fifty times ere Lord Mowbray reached Montgomery Hall, he repented him of having consented to go there. "Perhaps,' "Perhaps," thought he, "this beautiful vision which haunts my imagination may prove different from what my fancy painted her when seen on the wilds of Dorsetshire; and should she prove, in fact, ever so beautiful, what is that to me ?” With these and similar wayward thoughts, Lord Mowbray entered Montgomery Hall.

It was late in the evening when they arrived, and he had to pass through a tedious ordeal; for after having been introduced to General Montgomery, he was in due order presented to every individual of the society there assembled, by the General himself. "My niece, Lady Emily Lorimer; my niece, Lady Frances Lorimer; my friend and kinswoman, Miss Marian Macalpine-I beg her pardon for having forgotten to name her before; her friend, Miss Patersonboth of them near relations of my mother's; Mr. Samson Skinner, and Mr. Abraham Aldget, my friends and agents; and though last, not least, my worthy Knight of the Thistle, Sir Richard Townley." Lord Mowbray, always shy, was peculiarly so on the present

occasion. One glance had told him that his fair huntress was Lady Emily Lorimer, but she did not seem to recognize him; and though at first this had been rather a relief, yet afterwards it was not flattering to his feelings; and, looking at her more leisurely, he thought she was not so handsome as he had fancied her to be; neither perhaps was she, in fact, as beautiful at this moment as when exercise and the fresh air, and the excitement of pursuing her hat when blown away by the wind had lent to her all those graces of action and emotion, which give to beauty its greatest, but at the same time its most evanescent charm.

While General Montgomery continued to go through the regular routine of introduction, Lord Mowbray merely bowed in silence; and the General, having fulfilled what he conceived to be an indispensable part of polite hospitality, hastened to his rubber of whist, the clock having struck nine; and the habit of portioning out time having become a part of his nature, nothing discomposed him so much as being obliged to forego the regular occupations of the regular hours: and happy are those whose youth has been so spent that this blessed love of order gradually settles into a fixed habit in declining years; it is seldom or ever seen, where a life of vicious pleasure or idleness has previously unfitted the mind for those serene enjoyments, which attend a dignified and virtuous old age. In General Montgomery, this was beautifully exemplified. He had passed gradually, and without any violent or abrupt transition, from active and healthful youth, into the vale of honoured years: all the finest pleasures of existence remained to him still, vivid and unimpaired; and when the hour came at which the card-table was set out, and his loved niece, Emily, was waiting for him with her gay defiance, the General felt that youth of spirit which continues to find interest in the simplest enjoyment.

Lord Mowbray having declined playing at cards, the usual party, consisting of Miss Macalpine, Sir R. Townley, the General and Lady Emily, sat down to whist. Mr. Aldget engaged Colonel Pennington at backgammon; Mr. Skinner was busily employed in examining a plan of the estate, with some proposed improvements annexed; and while Lady Frances worked some gold embroidery, Lord Mowbray pleased his eyes with looking at her white fingers; and now and then agreeing to some commonplace observation she made, or merely half dissenting by the interrogatory, "Do you think so?"

"What a tiresome thing it is," said Lady Frances, after a long

pause, and looking towards the card-table," " to do the same dull things at the same dull hour! That everlasting whist makes me quite sick. One of the reasons which induce me to hate the country is, that I see it takes effect upon every body, more or less, and renders them stupid, at least silent, which is much the same thing. I am afraid at last that I shall grow into a clock, and never say any thing but tic-tic."

"A clock!" rejoined Lord Mowbray, with a smile; "one might as well be a clock as any thing else, for aught I know; it would save one a deal of trouble to be wound up regularly, and set agoing for the four-and-twenty hours; besides, after all, few people say any thing better worth listening to than tic-tic!"

:

Lady Frances raised her eyes to the speaker, to see if it were possible this speech could have been pointed at her but his Lordship's eyes were closed, or nearly so; and he seemed to have forgotten that it was necessary to speak at all, so long a silence followed this effort at conversation. "Doublets, by all that is unlucky!” suddenly exclaimed Colonel Pennington, in a voice which made them all start. Softly!" my good friend, cried General Montgomery, looking over his shoulder; "I believe he thinks he is storming a fort!"

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“Bless me, Lady Emily! I wish you would mind what you are about!" cried Miss Macalpine; why you have trumped my queen, and lost the odd trick, and they are at nine; and that's a double and single, and the rubber, and there's eighteen-pence lost to me for ever it's so much the mair provoking, that if ye would but mind, ye are no' so bad at it; but ye 're aye thinking o' something or anither-that's no' the game o'whist; what made you so heedless, lassie? you can play well enough when you mind what you are about; but that little head is running upon something else, I'm thinking !"

"Ah! do not scold me, my dear Alpinia !" (the name of affection which Lady Emily gave her.) "We shall beat them well, another evening."

"Pay me my half-crown, Emily!" said the General; "you know you would have a bet.".

"There it is, dear uncle," said she, laughing; "but I will have two for it at some future time."

"Dearest and best!" cried the General, kissing her, "you shall have your revenge now, if you like it."

"Oh, no! not now, if you please; you know it is time for a little music."

"Ay, very true: let us have that delicious Di Piacer!" and, to

the regret of Miss Macalpine, music banished cards: not that she disliked music, only she like cards better.

"Is your Lordship fond of our Scottish airs ?" said Miss Macalpine, adressing Lord Mowbray.

"I like them now and then, when they are sung with taste and spirit, and in the true Scotish style; but I am afraid," (smiling) "that my real predilection is for Italian music.”

"Well, you shall hear Lady Emily sing

'Will ye go to the Ewebuchts, Marian ?'

and tell me true, if ever ye heard the like, far or near !” They now adjourned to the music-room: Lady Frances sat down to the piano; Lady Emily drew the harp towards her; the General took his flute, and the concert commenced.

There is something in a family concert, even when the performers are only moderately skilled in music, which is peculiarly harmonious, owing to a kindred touch and feeling; and also perhaps to the habit of studying and playing together: and if this be the case in merely instrumental pieces, how much more decidedly is it so in vocal music. Is there any thing more striking than the similar tones which harmonize so divinely together in the voices of near relations who sing in parts? they are like shades of the same colours, all differing, yet all agreeing, fading, mingling, contrasting, and blending in one perfectly harmonious whole. When listening to the concord of sweet sounds thus poured forth from fraternal and filial song, it is difficult to conceive that a moral concord should not always continue to exist between the parties; and that the soft melody of sweetly attuned voices should not pervade the whole of their intercourse with each other. But, alas! relations are parted --sometimes cruelly parted, by the jealous or evil passions of others: absence produces estrangement; estrangement leads to forgetfulness; and all the sweet influences of natural affection are dispersed, and vanish like those dulcet sounds which die in their very birth. It is, however, some consolation to think, that the ties of consanguinity cannot be broken by mortal hatred or mortal malice; they will, every now and then, make themselves to be felt : and the sound of a well-known voice, or the melody of an oft-sung air, will frequently bring back the tenderness of recollected love, after long years of cold neglect and apparent oblivion.

It was impossible, when hearing General Montgomery and his nieces tuning their voices together in song, not to feel soothed into

a forgetfulness of worldly evil; and even those persons who were least alive to tender impressions, acknowledged somewhat of this balmy sensation, at least during its immediate influence. The General's voice was most peculiar it still retained much of the power and charm it had once possessed, and was a clear deep tenor, as singular in its quality of tone, as he was himself unlike any being that ever lived in the union of sweetness with nobility of disposition. Lady Frances was a perfect musician; the ear found no fault with her execution and skill, but there was a touching richness in her sister's voice which spoke to every heart. Music was as necessary a mental aliment to this family as any other food is to common existence; and the General required from his nieces the tribute of a song every evening. Those who had no particular taste for music had ample freedom to absent themselves, and found abundant means of amusement in the library or the billiard-room.

Lord Mowbray having got over the first introduction, and being comfortably established on a sofa, was pleased with what he conceived to be the usual routine of the house. It suited him exactly: there was an absence of form, and a tranquillity in the manners of General Montgomery, which were precisely according to his ideas of comfort. The visionary admiration which he had entertained in his fancy for Lady Emily was considerably lowered in tone; but Lady Frances's beauty was splendid, and he found no great difficulty in transferring his penchant from the one sister to the other. As he sat, therefore, during that first evening of his arrival, admiring the graceful bend of her well-turned neck, and watching the motion of her fairy fingers, he thought inwardly that, providing a woman could always look as beautiful, he should care very little whether she ever did any thing better worth doing than net silk purses.

From this wise reverie he was disturbed rather unpleasantly by Miss Macalpine's affirmation that he had never heard any thing so charming as "Will you go to the Ewebuchts, Marian?" He prepared, however, with as good a grace as he could, to have his ears excruciated by a drawling Scotch tune. In this he had been agreeably disappointed; it was a charming air, sung with exquisite feeling and simplicity; and Lady Emily afterwards proved that, though she sung Scotch airs to please Miss Macalpine, and Handel to please the General, she was not insensible to the power of Italian music. On the contrary, she sang Caraffa's exquisite airs with a style and expression which enchanted even the delicate and practised ear of Lord Mowbray; and as music was declared to be the

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