The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 44: what you’re looking at

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380 THE YOUNG DUCHESS; OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY. purse with the silver slides :—and with a friendly nod the donor passed lounging gly away from the spot. ‘‘ Well,” said the old man to himself, as he very | comfortably consigned the extra donation to his~ waistcoat-pocket, which could have ‘stowed away | a couple of hundred of them; “if ever I saw a man that looked like « woman, you are the one !” He continued to weigh this reflection as the young exquisite strolled along the path towards Mrs. Trevor, who was advancing from the oppo- site direction. ey CHAPTER VII. THE DISCOURSE AT THE GATE, Mrs. TREVOR, who was dressed with that simple | elegance which invariably characterized her toilet, was taking an evening walk, having seen her beloved infant consigned to its cradle of repose. | lage; and thus in a few instants the open road Her eyes were bent downward—for she was think- ing of her Alfred, who had departed from Adding- | ton on the preceding day, precisely as Mr. Hogben | had informed the young stranger. Not that Ethel was unhappily pensive or gloomily thoughtful ; because, after the visit to London upwards of ten days back, she had every reason to be happy and ¢ontented at the proofs which Alfred had ' afforded her of his pecuniary prosperity. But he had again gone away for one of those periods of indefinite absence which were longer than the in- tervals that he devoted to her at Dahlia Cottage ; and she was thinking to herself how long the time ‘night be ere his return. _All of a sudden she heard footsteps approach- ing; and raising her eyes, she beheld a fashionably- : dressed young gentleman contemplating her with his quizzing-glass in a style which at once struck her to be most superciliously impertinent. Ethel was virtue itself—she was propriety personified : therefore, innocent and artless though she were, -she was the very first to feel any insult that might. appear to be directed against her womanly mo- desty. Her immediate impulse now was to turn abruptly round and retreat to the cottage: but a second thought induced her to continue her way. ' It struck her in a moment that it was a species of conduct whieh she ought not to seem to recognise, and that it would be time enough to resent it if it assumed a more overt shape. Jesices, it was still daylight—the sun had not as yet set—she caught a glimpse of the old parish clerk seated upon the church-yard stile at a little distance—and in the adjacent field there were two or three labourers returning from their work. She therefore flat- tered herself that the exceeding insolence of the fashionably-dressed stranger’s regards would be limited to its present bounds. But she was mistaken. The young exquisite, still retaining his glass up to his eye, said in a taunting, jeering voice, ‘Oh! oh! Mrs. Trevor —eh? Do let me have a look at you! They say you are the belle of the place.” Ethel’s countenance became crimson, and the fires of indignation flashed from those beautiful hazel eyes which were usually so calm and soft in their expression, | her walk: A laugh which was strangely musical in its mockery, rang from the lips of the young stranger, and he continued his way, apparently satisfied with the amount of insult which he had thus thrown upon the amiable and inoffensive young lady. Nay, more—he almost instantaneously repented of it: for scarcely had he hastened onward fifty yards, when he ejaculated with an expression of countenance which showed how angry he was with himself, ‘‘ Fool that I have been to interfere with the creature !” Meanwhile poor Ethel’s sudden paroxysm of indignation had yielded to one of deep mental distress; and she felt afflicted, as every modest | woman does under such circumstances, at the thought that her own appearance and her natural good -intentions should not have been sufficient to defend her from insult. She could not continue she wished to be at home that she might at least be shielded by its walls from the possibility of further aggression from the same quarter. She glanced around: the impertinent young coxcomb, as she naturally tock him to be, was striking into another path leading to the vil- was left clear to her to seek Dahlia Cottage. What was her surprise, and how great was her joy, when on reaching her habitation she beheld Alfred himself coming forth to greet her! She flew towards him :—another moment and she was clasped in his arms! ‘Oh, what a happy surprise, dearest husband !” she fervidly exclaimed. “And equally happy for me, beloved Ethel, that I am enabled thus to return to you for a few days!” “Then you were not wanted in London so soon as you fancied ?” she eried. “No,” he rejoined. ‘‘ But good heavens, Ethel! how pale and agitated you are! Something has Happened! Good God! what is it? Do tell me !” ‘Nothing, nothing, Alfred” she exclaimed : and she nestled all the more closely to his bosom, as if to that of a beloved protector who had most unexpectedly returned at the very instant when his presence was invoked, “Do not say that it is nothing, my dear girl!” interposed her husband. ‘ You are all trembling and quivering! Ethel, I must know what this is!’—and he himself now appeared to be seized with much trepidation and emotion. “T cannot disobey you, Alfred!—I must tell you the truth when you thus adjure me! I have been insulted,” “Tnsulted, Ethel?” echoed Trevor, his hand- some countenance flushing with indignation, “who would dare insult you? Tell me, dearest! tell me! This is a point that I must know and must have cleared up !” “Oh, do not for an instant believe, Alfred,” said the young lady, greatly distressed, ‘that by any look on my part ‘ ‘‘ Good heavens !—no!” he exclaimed. “ Sooner would I believe that the sun itself would cease to shine, than that you would fling a glance of en- couragement upon the libertine! Who has in- sulted you, Ethel ?” A few words of explanation were quickly given ; and then the young lady added in an im- ploring tone, as she saw the angry start which Connicloookks oO Colin