was indisposed; as he was of a violent temper and would irritate his complaint with passion, if he knew he had contracted a marriage, however advantageous, without consulting him.

"Lord Rossmore on his arrival, had the pleasure of finding the Earl quite well; but at the same time, the severe mortifi cation to be informed, that his illness was a mere pretext to bring him home; some officious and malignant person having conveyed intelligence by letter, to Lord Cliffden, that his son was going to disgrace himself by marrying a low, mean, and infamous woman, advising the Earl to invent some excuse to make him return to England; which advice his lordship instantly followed..

"In vain did Lord Rossmore represent he was deceived; that the lady to whom he was attached, possessed family and fortune: he might with equal success have preached

to the winds, as he would neither believe him, or give up the author of his information; whom my lord suspected to be the nobleman that had admired his wife. To acknowledge his marriage at present, while Lord Cliffden was in this ill-humour, he found impossible, being intirely dependent on him in respect to pecuniary matters; and Elmira, though heiress to an immense fortune, would not be able to receive any part of it during her father's life, without his consent; which it was very improbable they would gain, since he favored Lord Rossmore's rival, and would be extremely displeased to learn she had married in a clandestine manner.

"He was in the most distracted state of mind, in consequence of these reflections, when I first saw him after his arrival, and relieved his uneasiness by placing confidence in me, and asking my advice how to act. On such a delicate point, I felt myself unequal to the task, but acquitted myself

myself to the best of my weak abilities, and with the most sincere wish. for his welfare.

"Soon after he formed the resolution to affirm to the Earl, that he never would marry any other woman than Elmira; and the rage of Lord Cliffden at this declaration, was almost inconceivable; but when he became more calm, and perceived his son was so ardently devoted to the lady, fearful he might in a fit of despair, attempt something fatal, he was at length prevailed to promise, that if in a twelvemonth, Lord Rossmore continued to persevere in the same affection for Elmira, he would no longer withhold his consent, on condition he remained quietly during that period at Cliffden Castle.

"To this proposal, though impatient to be united to her he loved, my lord consented, not being able to procure more advantageous terms, and wrote directly to

inform Elmira of them; tenderly recommending her to resist with fortitude, any offers of marriage that would incur her father's anger by her refusal; as twelvemonths would soon pass away, and give her an affectionate and adoring husband.

"To this letter, and several others which he wrote, he never received any answer, which filled him with anxiety; but five months after he had parted from her, one at length reached him, in which she mentioned having wrote several times, but not hearing from him, concluded her letters had been intercepted; therefore contrived to send this by another hand, on whose fidelity she could rely. An event, which would have given her pleasure in any other circumstances, she now informed him, afflicted her most poignantly, which was being far advanced in a situation that would cause her soon to become a mother; and should it be discovered by her father, or the nobleman she had been vehemently urged,

urged, since his departure, to marry, she dreaded the consequence of the rage of the first, at her disobedient and secret engagement; and the disappointment of the last, whose disposition she had been informed, was bad and revengeful. Hitherto, Elmira continued, she had successfully concealed her situation, and proposed, within a few weeks of the approaching alarming moment, to ask permission to visit a particular friend, her only confidant, where she could secretly be brought tobed; pretending to be afflicted during the visit, with some other indisposition, and thus deceive her father and detested lover.

"This letter nearly overset the reason of Lord Rossmore, at learning that the woman he adored, was in so much affliction, and exposed (should any accident reveal her being on the point of giving birth to a child) to the anger of a severe father, and the revenge of a jealous lover, without the soothing tenderness of a husband to conH 6

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