Chapter XV.

With Harriet, now closely connected with them by marriage as well as regard, the Baronet's family maintained a most friendly intercourse, and Mrs. Wilson, and Emily, a prodigious favourite with her new cousin, had consented to pass a day soberly with her, during an excursion, of her husband to Windsor, on business connected with his station. They had, accordingly, driven round to an early breakfast; and Chatterton politely regretting his loss, and thanking their consideration for his wife, made his bow.

Lady Harriet Denbigh had brought the Baronet a very substantial addition to his fortune; and as his sisters were both provided for by ample settlements, the pecuniary distresses which had existed a twelve-month before had been entirely removed; his income was now large; his demands upon it small, and they kept up an establishment in proportion to the rank of both husband and wife.

"Mrs. Wilson," cried their hostess, twirling her cup as she followed with her eyes the retreating figure of her husband to the door, "I am about to take up the trade of Miss Harris, and become a match maker."

"Not on your own behalf so soon, surely," rejoined the widow, returning her animated smile.

"Oh no, my fortune is made for life, or not at all," continued the other gayly, "but in behalf of our little friend Emily here."

"Me," cried Emily, starting from a reverie, in which the prospect of happiness to Lady Laura was the subject, "you are very good Harriet, and for whom does your consideration intend me!" she added with a faint smile.

"Who? why who is good enough for you, but my cousin Pendennyss.

Ah!" she cried laughingly, as she caught Emily by the hand, "Derwent and myself have both settled the matter long since, and I know you will yield, when you come to know him."

"The Duke!" cried the other with a surprise and innocence, that immediately brought a blush of the brightest vermillion into her face, as she caught the expression of her companion.

"Yes, the Duke," said Lady Chatterton, "you may think it odd for a discarded lover to dispose of his mistress so soon in this way, but both our

hearts are set upon it. The Earl arrived last night, and this day himself and sister dine with us in a sober way: now my dear madam," turning to Mrs.

Wilson "have I not prepared an agreeable surprise for you?"

"Surprise indeed," said the widow, excessively gratified at the probable termination to her anxieties for this meeting, "but where are they from?"

"From Northamptonshire, where the earl has already purchased a residence, I understand, in your neighbourhood too; so, you perceive, he at least begins to think of the thing."

"A certain evidence, truly," cried Emily, "his having purchased the house. But was he without a residence, that he bought the Deanery."

"Oh no! he has a palace in town, and three seats in the country---but none in Northamptonshire, but this," said the lady, with a laugh. "To own the truth, he did offer to let George Denbigh have it for the next summer, but the Colonel chose to be nearer Eltringham; and I take it, it was only a ruse in the Earl to cloak his own designs. You may depend upon it, we trump't your praises to him incessantly in Westmoreland."

"And is Col. Denbigh in town," said Mrs. Wilson, stealing an anxious glance towards her niece, who, in spite of all her efforts, sensibly changed colour.

"Oh yes! and Laura as happy--as happy---as myself," said Lady Chatterton, with a glow on her cheeks, as she attended to the request of her housekeeper, and left the room.

Her guests sat in silence, occupied with their own reflections, while they heard a summons at the door of the house; it was opened, and footsteps approached the door of their own room. It was pushed partly open, as a voice on the other side said, speaking to a servant without,

"Very well. Do not disturb your lady. I am in no haste."

At the sound of its well known tones, both the ladies almost sprang from their seats--here could be no resemblance, and a moment removed their doubts. The speaker entered. It was Denbigh.

He stood for a moment as fixed as a statue. It was evident the surprise was mutual. His face was pale as death, as his eye first met the countenances of the occupants of the room, and then instantly was succeeded by a glow of fire. Approaching them, he paid his compliments, with great earnestness, and in a voice in which his softest tones preponderated.

"I am happy--very happy, to be so fortunate in again meeting with such friends, and so unexpectedly,"--he continued, after his inquiries concerning the Baronet's family were ended.

Mrs. Wilson bowed in silence to his compliment, and Emily, pale as himself had been the moment before, sat with her eyes fixed on the carpet, without daring to trust her voice with an attempt to speak.

After struggling with his mortified feelings a moment, Denbigh rose from the chair he had taken, and drawing near the sopha on which the ladies were placed, exclaimed with fervour,

"Tell me, dear madam---lovely--too lovely Miss Moseley, has one act of folly--of wickedness if you please--lost me your good opinions forever?

Derwent had given me hopes that you yet retained some esteem for my character, lowered as I acknowledge it to be, in my own estimation."

"The Duke of Derwent? Mr. Denbigh!"

"Do not--do not use a name, dear madam, almost hateful to me," cried he, in a tone of despair.

"If," said Mrs. Wilson gravely, "you have made your own name disreputable, I can only regret it, but"--

"Call me by my title--oh! do not remind me of my folly---I cannot bear it---and from you"--he cried, interrupting her hastily.

"Your title!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilson in a cry of wonder, and Emily turned on him a face, in which the flashes of colour and succeeding paleness, were as quick, and almost as vivid, as the glow of lightning, while he caught this astonishment in equal surprise.

"How is this; some dreadful mistake I am yet in ignorance of," he cried, taking the unresisting hand of Mrs. Wilson, and pressing it with warmth between both his own, as he added, "do not leave me in suspense."

"For the sake of truth--for my sake--for the sake of this suffering innocent, say, in sincerity, who, and what you are?" said Mrs. Wilson in a solemn voice, and gazing on him in dread of his reply.

Still retaining her hand, he dropped on his knees before her, as he answered,

"I am the pupil--the child of your late husband--the companion of his dangers--sharer of his joys and griefs--and would I could add, the friend of his widow. I am the Earl of Pendennyss."

Mrs. Wilson's head dropped on the shoulder of the kneeling youth--her arms were thrown in fervor around his neck, and she burst into a flood of

tears: for a moment, both were absorbed in their own feelings, but a cry from Pendennyss, aroused the aunt to the situation of her niece.

Emily had fallen back senseless on the sofa which supported her.

An hour elapsed, before her engagements admitted of the return of Lady Chatterton to the breakfast parlour, where she was surprised to find the breakfast equipage yet standing, and her cousin, the Earl; looking from one to the other in surprise, the lady exclaimed,

"Very sociable, upon my word; how long has your lordship honoured my house with your presence, and have you taken the liberty to introduce yourself to Mrs. Wilson and Miss Moseley."

"Sociability and ease are the fashion of the day.--I have been here an hour, my dear coz, and have taken the liberty of introducing myself to Mrs.

Wilson and Miss Moseley," replied the Earl gravely, although a smile of great meaning lighted his handsome features, as he uttered the latter part of the sentence, which was returned by Emily with a look of archness and pleasure, that would have graced her happiest moments of juvenile joy.

There was such an interchange of looks, and such a visible alteration in the appearance of her guests, that it could not but attract the notice of Lady Chatterton; after listening to the conversation between them for some time in silence, and wondering what could have wrought so sudden a change below stairs, she broke forth with saying,

"Upon my word, you are an incomprehensible party to me--I left you ladies alone, and find a beau with you. I left you grave-- if not melancholy--

and find you all life and gayety. I find you with a stranger, and you talk with him about walks and rides, and scenes and acquaintances; will you, madam, or you, my lord, be so kind as to explain these seeming inconsistencies?"

"No," cried the Earl gayly, "to punish your curiosity, I will keep you in ignorance; but Marian is in waiting for me at your neighbour's, Mrs.

Wilmot, and I must hasten to her--you will see us both by five," and rising from his seat he took the offered hand of Mrs. Wilson, and pressed it to his lips: to Emily, he also extended his hand, and received hers in return, though with a face suffused with the colour of the rose. Pendennyss held it to his heart for a moment with fervor, and kissing it, precipitately left the room to hide his emotions. Emily concealed her face with her hands, and dissolving in tears, sought the retirement of an adjoining apartment.

All these unaccountable movements, filledLady Chatterton with an amazement; that would have been too painful for further endurance; and

Mrs. Wilson knowing that concealment with so near a connection would have been impossible, if not unnecessary, entered into a brief explanation of the Earl's masquerade, (although ignorant herself of its cause, or the means of supporting it,) and his present relation with her niece.

"I declare it is provoking," cried Lady Chatterton gayly, but with a tear in her eye, "to have such ingenious plans as Derwent and I had made, all lost from the want of necessity of putting them in force. Your demure niece, has deceived us all handsomely; and my rigid cousin too--I will rate him soundly for his deception."

"I believe he already repents sincerely of his having practised it," said Mrs. Wilson with a smile, "and is sufficiently punished for his errors by its consequence--a life of misery to a lover, for four months, is a serious penalty."

"Yes," said the other archly in reply, "I am afraid his punishment was not confined to himself alone; he has made others suffer from his misconduct. Oh! I will rate him famously, depend upon it I will."

If any thing, the interest felt by Lady Chatterton for her friend, was increased by this discovery of the affections of Pendennyss, and a few hours were passed by the three, in, we will not say sober delight, for transport would be a better word--Lady Chatterton declared she would rather see Emily the wife of the Earl than her brother, for he alone was good enough for her---and Mrs. Wilson felt an exhiliration of spirits in this completion of her most sanguine wishes, that neither her years, her philosophy or her religion even, could entirely restrain: the face of Emily was a continued blush, her eye sparkled with the lustre of renewed hope, and her bosom was heaving with the purest emotions of happiness.

At the appointed hour the rattling of wheels announced the approach of the Earl and his sister, to fulfil their engagements.

Pendennyss came into the room with a young woman of great personal beauty, and extremely feminine manners, leaning on his arm. He first announced her to Mrs. Wilson as his sister, Lady Marian Denbigh, who received with a frank cordiality that made them instantly acquainted. Emily, although confiding in the fullest manner, in the truth and worth of her lover, had felt an inexplicable sensation of pleasure, as she had heard the Earl speak of his sister by the name of Marian---love is such an unquiet, and generally such an engrossing passion, that few avoid unnecessary

uneasiness while under its influence, unless so situated as to enjoy a mutual confidence.

As this once so formidable Marian approached to salute her, and with an extendedhand, Emily rose from her seat, with a face illumined with pleasure, to receive her---Marian viewed her for a moment intently, and folding her arms around her, whispered softly as she pressed her to her heart, "my sister, my only sister."

Our heroine was affected to tears, and Pendennyss gently separating the two he loved best in the world--they soon became calm and attentive to the society they were in.

Lady Marian was extremely like her brother, and had a family resemblance to her cousin Harriet, but her manners were softer and more retiring, and she had a slight tinge of a settled melancholy--when her brother spoke, she was generally silent, not in fear but in love--she evidently regarded him amongst the first of human beings, and all her love was amply returned.

Both the aunt and niece studied the manners of the Earl closely, and found several shades of distinction between what he was, and what he had been--He was now the perfect man of the world, without having lost the frank sincerity, which inevitably caused you to believe all he said.--Had Pendennyss once told Mrs. Wilson with his natural air and manner, "I am innocent," she would have believed him, and an earlier investigation would have saved them months of misery--but the consciousness of his deception had oppressed him with the curse of the wicked--to whatever degree we err, so itbe proportionate in any manner to our habits and principles--a guilty conscience; and imagining her displeasure to arise from a detection of his real name by the possession of his pocket book--his sense of right would not allow him to urge his defence.

He had lost that air of embarrassment and alarm, which had so often startled the aunt, even in her hours of greatest confidence, and which had their original in the awkwardness of disguise--But he retained his softness --

his respect, his modest diffidence of his opinions--although somewhat corrected now, by his acknowledged experience and acquaintance with man.

Mrs. Wilson thought the trifling alterations in manner to be seen were great improvements; but it required some days and a few tender speeches to

reconcile Emily to any change in the appearance of the Earl, from what she had been fond to admire in Denbigh.

Lady Marian had ordered her carriage early, as she had not anticipated the pleasure she had found, and was engaged to accompany her cousin, Lady Laura, to a fashionable route that evening. Unwilling to be torn from his newly found friends, the Earl proposed the three ladies should accompany his sister to Annerdale House, and then accept himself as an escort to their own residence. To this, Harriet assented, and leaving a message for Chatterton, they enteredthe coach of Marian, and Pendennyss mounting the dickey, they drove off.

Annerdale House was amongst the best edifices of London. It had been erected within the preceding century, and Emily for a moment felt as she went through its splendid apartments, that it threw a chill around her domestic affections; but the figure of Pendennyss by her side, reconciled her to a magnificence she had been unused to--he looked the lord indeed, but with so much modesty and softness, and so much attention to herself, that before she left the house, Emily began to think it very possible to enjoy happiness even in the lap of splendour.

The names of Colonel Denbigh and Lady Laura, were soon announced, and this formidable gentleman made his appearance--he resembled Pendennyss more than the Duke even, and appeared about the same age.

Mrs. Wilson soon saw she had no grounds for pitying Lady Laura, in the manner she had done since their acquaintance. The Colonel was a polished, elegant man, of evident good sense, and knowledge of the world--

and apparently devoted to his wife-- He was called George frequently by all his relatives, and he, not unfrequently, used the same term himself, in speaking to the Earl-- something was said of a much admired bust --and the doors of a large library opened, to view it. Emily was running over the backs of a case of books, until her eye rested on one; and half smiling and blushing, she turnedto Pendennyss, who watched her every movement, as she said, playfully:--"Pity me, my Lord, and lend me this volume." "What is it you would read," he asked, as he bowed his cheerful assent. But Emily hid the book in her handkerchief. Pendennyss noticing an unwillingness, though an extremely playful one, to let him into the secret, examined the case, and perceiving her motive, smiled, as he took down another volume and said--

"I am not an Irish, but an English peer, Emily. You had the wrong volume." Emily laughed, as with deeper blushes, she found her wishes detected--while the Earl, opening the volume he held--the first of Debrett's Peerage; pointed, with his finger, to the article concerning his own family, and said to Mrs. Wilson, who had joined them at the instant--

"To-morrow, dear madam, I shall beg your attention to a melancholy tale, and which may, in some slight degree, extenuate the offence I was guilty of, in assuming, or rather maintaining an accidental disguise." As he ended, he went to the others, to draw off their attention while Emily and her aunt examined the paragraph. It was as follows:--

"George Denbigh--Earl of Pendennyss --and Baron Lumley, of Lumley Castle-- Baron Pendennyss--Beaumaris, and Fitzwalter, born--, of --, in the year of --; a bachelor." The list of Earls andNobles occupied several pages, but the closing article was as follows:--

"George, the 21st Earl, succeeded his mother Marian, late Countess of Pendennyss, in her own right, being born of her marriage with George Denbigh, Esqr. a cousin-german to Frederic, the 9th Duke of Derwent."

"Heir apparent. The titles being to heirs general, will descend to his lordship's sister, Lady, Marian Denbigh, should the present Earl die without lawful issue."

As much of the explanation of the mystery of our tale is involved in the foregoing paragraphs, we may be allowed to relate in our own language, what Pendennyss made his friends acquainted with, at different times, and in a manner, suitable to the subject and his situation.