Country quarters : a novel

COUNTRY QUARTERS.

VOL. I.

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COUNTRY QUARTERS;

A NOVEL.

BY
THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON,

WITH A MEMOTR

BY HER NIECE, MISS POWER.

^rj«/erl.4e (P^wer) Farmer G&f^t-net^, cou.Y\t<s^ «f BW-

IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:

WILLIAM SHOE EEL, PUBLISHER,

20, GREAT MAELBOROUGH STREET.

[(^nttrtH at ^tatioucrjS' ^aXl.]

1850.

LONDON :

PRINTED BV O. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STBAND

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. XXlil

and Lady Blessington the warmest and closest in-
timacy had existed uninteriTipted fi*om the period of
her first residence in Paris. The monument is de-
signed and erected in a most beautiful and retired
spot, by one who for nearly five-and-twenty years
had regarded her with a deep and filial devotion,
and whose only consolation was to be found in
paying the last tribute of tenderness and respect to
her cherished memory. We allude to Comte d'Orsay,
whose dying mother had with her latest breath
exacted from Lady Blessington a promise never to
leave her son, a similar promise having been made
by him to Lord Blessington, who loved him with a
paternal affection. This mutual engagement was
kept to the letter, and the quarter of a century that
they remained together only served to strengthen
and consolidate the tender regard that subsisted
between them. In Comte d'Orsay, Lady Blessing-
ton found the son that nature had withheld from
her, and on him she bestowed that tenderness with
which her heart overflowed. His wishes, his inte-
rests, were ever the moving principle of her actions;
his friends were hers, and to love or dislike him
(and her quick and feminine instinct never failed to
teach her where either sentiment existed) was the
best claim to her affection, or the strongest provoca-
tive to her antipathy.

On her tomb, the following Inscriptions, the Eng-
lish from the pen of Barry Cornwall, the Latin from
that of Walter Savage Landor, render worthy ho-
mage to her gifts and virtues.

M. A. P.

XXIV MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS.

IN MEMORY OF

MARGUERITE, COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON,

WHO DIED ON TUE 4tH JUNE, 1849.

In her lifetime

She was loved and admired,

For her many graceful writings,

Her gentle manners, her kind and generous heart.

Men, famous for art and science,

In distant lands,

Sought her friendship :

And the historians and scholars, the poets, and wits, and painters,

Of her own country,

Found an unfailing welcome

In her ever hospitable home.

She gave, cheerfully, to all who were in need,

Help, and sympathy, and useful counsel ;

And she died

Lamented by many friends.

They who loved her best in life, and now lament her most,

Have reared this tributary marble

Over the place of her rest.

Hie est depositum

Quod supercst mulieris

Quondam pulcherrimae

Benefiicta celare potuit

Ingenium suum non potuit

Peregrinos quos libet .

Grata hospitalitate convccabat

LutetioB parisionim

Ad meliorem vitam abiit

Die iv mensis Junii

ilDCCCXLIX.

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MEMOIR

THE COUNTESS OP BLESSINGTOK

>

;i The task of a biographer is always attended with
-r- peculiar difficulties, which increase or diminish in
-c an inverse ratio to the time which may have elapsed
^ since the death of the person whose character is
^to be illustrated and portrayed. Petty jealousies,
£ rival pretensions, contending interests or opinions,
J^ false impressions and prejudiced views, generally
-^ blind people more or less to the merits of their imme-
ij^'diate contemporaries, and it is only in a few in-
Ki stances, where all the more endearing qualities of
^ the heart accompany great mental superiority, that
^ they are not more disposed to cavil at the praise be-
stowed, than to inquire dispassionately into its strict
w justice, or propriety.

^ Only about six months have elapsed since the grave

jj^ closed over the mortal remains of Lady Blessington,

and it is the consciousness that this name (destined

h2

^^ CI o -t O

iv MEMOIR OF THE

to be borne by her alone) excited among all classes
as mucli affection as admiration, which gives us the
courage thus early to attempt a brief biographical
notice of the gifted being who has been so lately and
so suddenly snatched from among us.

Marguerite Blessington was the third child and
second daughter of Edmund Power, Esq., of Knock-
brit, near Clonmel, in the County of Tipperary, and
w^as born on the 1st of September, 1790. Her father,
who was then a country gentleman, occupied with
field sports and agricultural pursuits, was the only
son of Michael Power, Esq., of Curragheen, and de-
scended from an ancient family in the County of
Waterford. Her mother also belonged to a very old
Roman Catholic family, a fact of which she was not
a little proud, and her genealogical tree was pre-
served with a religious veneration and studied until
all its branches were as familiar as the names of her
children : — " My ancestors, the Desmonds," were
her household Gods, and their deeds and prowess her
favourite theme.

The rest of the family consisted of a son, Mi-
chael; Anne and Edmund, who both died early;
Ellen, who married, first, Mr. Home Purves, brother
of Sir Alexander Home Purves, a Scotch baro-
net of ancient descent and large fortune, and se-
condly, the Viscount Canterbury, then Speaker of
the House of Commons; Robert, now Surveyor-
General of Van Diemen's Land ; and Marianne,
married to the Baron de St. Marsault.

Beauty, the heritage of the family, was, in her
early youth, denied to Marguerite ; her elder brother

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. V

and sister, Michael and Anne, as well as Ellen and
Robert, were singularly handsome and healthy chil-
dren, while she, pale, weakly, and ailing, was for
years regarded as little likely ever to grow to woman-
hood ; the precocity of her intellect, the keenness of
her perceptions, and her extreme sensitiveness, all
of which are so often regarded, more especially
among the Irish, a people peculiarly impressionable
and superstitious, as the precursive symptoms of an
early death, confirmed this belief, and the poor, pale,
reflective child was long looked upon as doomed to a
premature grave.

The atmosphere in which she lived was but little
congenial to such a nature. Her father, a man of
violent temper, and little given to study the characters
of his children, intimidated and shook the delicate
nerves of the sickly child, though there were mo-
ments— rare ones, it is true — when the sparkles of
her early genius for an instant dazzled and gratified
him. Her mother, though she failed not to bestow
the tenderest maternal care on the health of the little
sufferer, was not capable of appreciating her fine
and subtle qualities, and her brothers and sisters,
fond as they were of her, were not, in their high
health and boisterous gaiety, companions suited to
such a child.

During her earliest years, therefore, she lived in a
world X)f dreams and fancies, sufficient, at first, to
satisfy her infant mind, but soon all too vague and
incomplete to fill the blank within. Perpetual spe-
culations, restless inquiries, to which she could find
no satisfactory solutions, continually occupied her

VI MEMOIR OF THE

dawning intellect; and, until at last accident happily
thi'ew in her way an intelligence capable of com-
prehending the workings of the infant spirit, it was
at once a torment and a blessing to her.

This person, a Miss Anne Dwyer, a visitor and
friend of her mother's, was herself possessed of
talents and information far above the standard of
women in those days and in those situations, where
a considerable portion of natural and uncultivated
cleverness, an inexhaustible fund of vivacity and re-
partee, with a very small sprinkling of education
and accomplishments, " two washing gowns and a
tune on the piano," generally formed the whole
dower of an Irish country girl, even when belonging
to some of the oldest and most respectable families.

Miss Dwyer was sui'prised and soon interested by
the reflective air and strange questions, which had
excited only ridicule among those who had hitherto
been around the child. The development of this fine
organization, and the aiding it to comprehend what
had so long been a sealed book, formed a study
fraught with pleasure to her ; and, while Marguerite
was yet an infant, this worthy woman began to un-
dertake the task of her education. She commenced
by encouraging her freely to communicate all her
ideas, thoughts, and speculations, and by answering
her questions as clearly and satisfactorily as she was
able. The child, enchanted at being at length un-
derstood and instructed, eagerly demanded where
her preceptress had found what appeared to her an
inexhaustible fund of knowledge. "From books," was
the reply ; and, from that moment, books seemed to

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. Vll

her the most precious of all treasures. She learned
to read with a rapidity and facility that astonished as
much as they delighted her instructress : and, once
possessed of this source of entertainment, she be-
came independent of all other amusement.

Even at this early age, the powers of her imagi-
nation had already begun to develope themselves.
She would entertain her brothers and sisters for
hours with tales invented as she proceeded, and at
last so remarkable did this talent become, that her
parents, astonished at the interest and coherence of
her narrations, constantly called upon her to impro-
viser for the entertainment of their friends and
neighbours, a task always easy to her fertile brain ;
and, in a short time, the little neglected child became
the wonder of the neighbourhood. Her health at
length began to improve ; and, though still cited as
the plainest of the family, there were to be found a
few who ventured to predict that she would one day
do it no discredit.

The increasing ages of their children, and the
difficulty of obtaining the means of instruction for
them at Knockbrit, induced Mr. and Mrs. Power
to put into practice a design long formed of re-
moving to Clonmel, the county town of Tipperary.
This change, which was looked upon by her brothers
and sisters as a source of infinite satisfaction, was
to Marguerite one of almost unmingled regret. To
leave the place of her birth, the scenes which her
passionate love of Nature had so deeply endeared to
her, was one of the severest trials she had ever ex-
perienced, and was looked forward to with sorrow

viii MEMOIR OF THE

and dread. At last, the day arrived when she was
to leave the home of her childhood, and sad and
lonely she stole forth to the garden to bid farewell
to each beloved spot.

Gathering a handful of flowers, as relicts to keep
in memory of the place, she, fearing the ridicule of
the other members of the family, carefully concealed
them in her pocket ; and, with many tears and bitter
regrets, was at last driven from Knockbrit, where, as
it seemed to her, she left all of happiness behind
her.

Arrived at their destination, the many friends with
whom her parents were acquainted at Clonmel,
eagerly flocked around them. Loud and long were
the praises bestowed on the beauty and animation of
the children, with the exception of Marguerite, who,
pale, sad, and retiring, showed to even less advan-
tage than usual; and she would have remained
wholly unnoticed, had not the projection of that
homely article of dress, her pocket, unfortunately
attracted the attention of the lady at whose house the
first evening was passed. " What have you got in
your pocket, my dear } " she inquired of the child,
who, blushing with painful confusion, dared not re-
ply to the question. Her mother beckoned to her,
and, thrusting her hand into the repository of trea-
sures, drew forth from its recesses the withered
flowers, so carefully placed there in the mom-
*ng. Shame, embarrassment, and gi'ief, all sti'ug-
r[ed in the breast of the child as the beloved relics
Tere brought to light, and contemptuously flung
irom the window, — and, after a hard but unsuccess-

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. IX

ful effort to restrain her tears, she burst into a fit of
weeping, which drew down accusations of folly and
ill-temper, at the idea that a girl of her age shovild
amuse herself by filling her pocket with withered
flowers, and then cry because they were taken from
her !

At Clonmel, the improving health of Marguerite
and the society of children of her own age, gradually
produced their effect on her spirits ; and, though her
love of reading and study continued rather to in-
crease than abate, she became more able to join in
the amusements of her brothers and sisters, who, de-
lighted at the change, gladly welcomed her into their
society, and manifested the affection which hitherto
they had little opportunity of displaying.

But soon it seemed as if the violent grief she had
experienced at quitting the place of her birth, was
prophetic of the misfortunes which, one by one, fol-
lowed the removal to Clonmel.

Her father, with the recklessness too often dis-
played by his countrymen, commenced a system of
give-and-take hospitality, which his means, though
amply sufficient to supply necessary expenses, were
wholly inadequate to support.

He then embarked in a speculation in which were
engaged the heads of some of the most respect-
able families of Clonmel and its neighbourhood ;
and so successful was it at first, that he would,
in all probability, have been enabled to secure
a comfortable independence for himself and his
children, when, in an evil hour, he was tempted by
the representations of a certain nobleman, more

h 5

X MEMOIR OF THE

anxious to promote his own interest and influence
than scrupulous as to the consequences which might
result to others, to accept the situation of Magistrate
for the counties of Tipperary and Waterford, a po-
sition from which no pecuniary reward was to be ob-
tained, and which, in those times of ti'ouble and
terror, was fraught with difficulty and danger.

Led on by promises of a lucrative situation and
hints at the probability of a baronetcy, as well
as by his own fearless and reckless disposition,
Mr. Power performed the painful and onerous
duties of his situation with a zeal which procured
for him the animosity of the friends and relatives in
the remotest degree of those whom it was his fate
in the course of his office to bring to punishment,
and entirely precluded his giving the slightest atten-
tion to the scheme which had bid so fair to re-esta-
blish the fortunes of his family. His nights were
spent in hunting down, with troops of Dragoons, the
unfortunate and misguided rebels, whose connexions,
in turn, burned his store-houses, destroyed his plan-
tations, and killed his cattle, while for all of these
losses he was repaid by the most flattering enco-
miums from his noble friend, letters of thanks from
the Secretary for Ireland, acknowledging his services,
and by the most gratifying and marked attention
at the Castle, when he visited Dublin.

He was too proud to remind the nobleman he be-
lieved to be his friend, of his often-repeated promises,
whilst the latter, only too glad not to be pressed for
their performance, continued to lead on his victim, and,
instead of the valuable official appointment, &c. &c..

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. XI

proposed to him to set up a newspaper, in which his
lordship was to procure for him the publication of the
Government Proclamations, a source of no inconsi-
derable profit. This journal was, of course, to
advocate nothing but his Lordship's views, so that,
by way of serving his friend, he found a cheap and
easy method of furthering his own plans. The
result may be guessed; — Mr. Power, utterly un-
suited in every respect to the conduct of such an
undertaking, only became more and more deeply
involved, and year by year added to his difficulties.

About this time, Anne, the eldest of the family,
was attacked by a nervous fever, partly the result of
the terror and anxiety into which the whole of the
family was plunged by the misfortunes wdiich
gathered round them, aggi'avated by the fi'equent
and terrible outbreaks of rage, to which their father,
always passionate, now became more than ever sub-
ject. In spite of every effort, this lovely child,
whose affectionate disposition and endearing quali-
ties entirely precluded any feeling of jealousy
which the constant praises of her extreme beauty, to
the disparagement of Marguerite, might have ex-
cited in the breast of the latter, fell a victim to the
disease, and not long after, Edmund, the second
son, also died.

These successive misfortunes so impaired the
health and depressed the spirits of the mother, that
the gloom continued to fall deeper and deeper over
the house.

Thus matters continued for some years, though
still there were moments when the natural buoyancy

Xll MEMOIR OF THE

of childhood caused the younger members of the
family to find relief from the cloud of sorrow and
anxiety that hung over their home. The love of
society still entertained by their father, brought not
unfrequent guests to his board, and enabled his
children to mix with the families around. Among
those who visited at his house, were some whose
names have been honourably known to their coun-
try. Lord Hutchinson and his brothers, Curran, the
brilliant and witty Lysaght, Generals Sir Robert
Mac Farlane, and Sir Colquhoun Grant, — then
Lieutenant-Colonels, and other men of talent and
merit, were among these visitors, and their so-
ciety and conversation were the greatest delight of
Marguerite, who, child as she was, was perfectly
capable of understanding and appreciating their su-
periority.

At fourteen, she began to enter into the society of
grown-up persons, an event which afforded her no
small satisfaction, as that of children, with the excep-
tion of her brothers and sisters, especially Ellen,
from whom she was almost inseparable, had but little
charm for her. Ellen, who was somewhat more than
a year her junior, shared the beauty of her family, a
fact of which Marguerite, instead of being jealous,
was proud, and the greatest affection subsisted be-
tween the sisters, though there was but little simila-
rity in their dispositions, or pursuits. In order that
they might not be separated, Ellen, notwithstanding
her extreme youth, was permitted to accompany her
sister into the society of Tipperary, that is to say, to
assemblies held once a week, called Coteries. These,

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. xiii

though music and dancing were the principal amuse-
ments, were not considered as balls, to which only-
girls of riper years were admitted. Here, though
Ellen's beauty at first procured her much more no-
tice and admiration than fell to the lot of her sister,
the latter, ere long, began to attract no inconsider-
able degi-ee of attention. Her dancing was singu-
larly graceful, and the intelligence of her counte-
nance, and the charm of her conversation, produced
more lasting impressions than mere physical beauty
could have won. Her consciousness of the want of
this attraction also induced her to bestow particular
pains on her dress, a taste for which had, we may
state en passant, very early developed itself, and
been the cause of many amusing adventures, which
our space, unfortunately, does not permit us to relate.

About this period, the 47th Regiment arrived, and
was stationed at Clonmel, and, according to the
custom of country towns, particularly in Ireland, all
the houses of the leading gentry were thrown open
to receive the officers with due attention.

At a dinner given to them by her father. Margue-
rite was immediately singled out by two of them,
Captain MuiTay and Captain Farmer, who paid her
the most marked attention, which was renewed at a
juvenile ball given shortly after. »

The admiration of Captain Murray, although it
failed to win so very youthful a heart, pleased and
flattered her, while that of Captain Farmer excited
nothing but mingled fear and distaste. She hardly
knew why ; for young, good-looking, and with much
to wm the good graces of her sex, he was generally

XIV MEMOIR OF THE

considered as more than equal to Captain Murray in
the power of pleasing.

An instinct, however, which she could neither
define nor control, increased her dislike to such a
degree at every succeeding interview, that Captain
Farmer, perceiving it was in vain to address her
personally, applied to her parents, unknown to her,
offering his hand, with the most liberal proposals
which a good fortune enabled him to make. In
ignorance of an event which was destined to work so
important a change in her destiny. Marguerite re-
ceived a similar proposal from Captain Murray, who,
at the same time, informed her of the course adopted
by his brother officer, and revealed a fact which per-
haps accounted for the instinctive dread she felt for
him. Captain Farmer was subject to fits of insanity,
so violent as to endanger the safety of himself and
those around him ; and, even during his lucid inter-
vals, there were moments when the symptoms of the
terrible malady might be detected in a certain wild-
ness and abruptness of speech and gesture. Asto-
nishment, embarrassment, and incredulity, w^ere the
feelings uppermost in the girl's mind at a communi-
cation so every way strange and unexpected. That
a child of fourteen should thus seriously be sought
in marriage by two men, seemed to her as all but
impossible, and that she should be kept in ignorance
of the fact as regarded one, appeared no less so.
The idea, however, that this silence on the part of her
parents, might proceed from their having rejected
the addresses of her dreaded suitor, occurred to relieve
her mind, and, feeling more pained and embarrassed

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. XV

than gratified by the declaration of Captain MuiTay,
she bUishingly declined his proposals, on the plea
that she was too young to contemplate so serious an
engagement.

A few days proved to her that the information of
Captain Farmer's having addressed himself to her
parents was but too true ; and the further discovery
that these addresses w^ere sanctioned by them, filled
her with anxiety and dismay. She knew the em-
barrassed circumstances of her father, the desire he
would naturally feel to secure a union so advan-
tageous in a worldly point of view for one of his
children, and she knew, too, his fiery temper, his
violent resistance of any attempt at opposition, and
the little respect, or consideration, he entertained for
the wishes of any of his family when contrary to his
own. Her mother, too, gave but little heed to what
she considered as the foolish and romantic notions
of a child who was much too young to be consulted
in the matter. Despite of tears, prayers, and en-
treaties, the unfortunate girl was compelled to yield
to the commands of her inexorable parents ; and, at
fourteen and a half, she was united to a man who
inspired her with nothing but feelings of terror and
detestation.

The result of such a union may be guessed.
Her husband could not but be conscious of the sen-
timent she entertained towards him, though she en-
deavoured to conceal the extent of her aversion ; and
this conviction, acting upon his already diseased
brain, produced such fi'equent and terrible paroxysms
of rage and jealousy that his victim trembled in his

XVI MEMOIR OF THE

presence. It were needless to relate the details of
the period of misery, distress, and haiTowing fear,
through which Marguerite, a child in years, though
old in suffering, passed. Denied in her entreaties
to be permitted to return to the home of her parents,
she at last, in positive terror for her personal safety,
fled from the roof of her brutal persecutor to return
no more.

Of the years which followed this decisive step, we
can give but little account. Mrs. Fanner resided
principally in England in the most complete seclu-
sion, indulging to the utmost her natural love of
study, to which she devoted the greater portion of
her time. Circumstances having at last induced her
to fix upon London as a residence, she established
herself in a house in Manchester Square, where,
with her brother Robert, (Michael had died in India
some years previously,) she remained for a consider-
able period, enjoying in his society and her favourite
pursuits a degree of tranquillity which, after the
stormy scenes of her early years, was positive hap-
piness.

Notwithstanding the troublous scenes through which
she had passed, the beauty denied her in childhood
had gradually budded and blossomed into a degree of
loveliness which many now living can attest with the
warmest enthusiasm, and which Lawrence painted
and Byron sang.

Unknown, unfriended, and retiring from the gaze
of the world, her extraordinary beauty attracted,
wherever she appeared, a degree of attention and
admiration which she was far from seeking. By

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. XVll

dint of anxious inquiries, lier history became partly
revealed, and the interest her misfortunes excited
added to the charm that she already possessed.
Hosts of would-be admirers sought to win her fa-
vour, but her dignity and reserve forbade any but
the most respectful attentions, and drove away the
idle flatterers whose ill-advised gallanti'ies met with
the coldest rebuffs.

She received at her house those only whose age
and character rendered them safe friends, and a very
few others on whose perfect respect and considera-
tion she could wholly rely.

Among the latter was the Earl of Blessington,
then a widower, who entertained feelings of the
deepest and most respectful admiration for his
beautiful hostess; but, fearful of forfeiting the pri-
vilege so highly prized of enjoying the charm of her
society and conversation, he ventured not to give
expression to any feeling that might endanger the
loss of this pleasure, until the occurrence of an event
which placed the destiny of Mrs. Farmer in her own
hands.

This was the death of her husband, who, at a
dinner given by one of his friends, locked the door,
and, being seized with one of the fits of insanity to
which he had for so many years been subject, at-
tempted to rush out, and, failing in his frenzy to open
the lock, he sprang to the window, which stood open,
and, before he could be prevented, flung himself out,
and was killed almost on the spot. This event,
which occurred in the year 1817, left Lord Blessing-
ton at liberty to solicit the hand of Mrs. Farmer,

XVUl MEMOIR OF THE

which she accorded to him, and the marriage took
place in London, in the month of February, 1818.

And now a new era opened in the life of her whose
existence, up to this period, had been one of almost
unmingled trial and suffering. Young, beautiful,
with a charm of manner rarely equalled, gifted with
genius, and every quality that could excite affection
as well as admiration, the wealth, splendour, and
homage which surrounded her seemed but as her
natural atmosphere ; and happy, without being daz-
zled by the brilliant change in her destiny, she
turned all her talents to the task of making the
home to which her husband had brought her, one in
every way suited to his rank, position, and magnifi-
cent fortune, and congenial to their mutual tastes.
How she succeeded, hundreds still living can attest.

Statesmen, wits, poets, painters, men of genius and
science — even royalty itself, proudly acknowledged
the influence, and gratefully accepted the notice of
the brilliant and beautiful Countess of Blessington ;
and the mansion in St. James's Square soon became
the centre of attraction for the most remarkable men
of the day of all denominations. But, in the midst
of her triumphs, the goodness of her heart, and the
fine qualities that had ever distinguished her, re-
mained wholly unimpaired. Generous to lavishness,
charitable, compassionate, delicately considerate of
the feelings of others, sincere, forgiving, devoted to
those she loved, and, with a warmth of heart rarely
equalled, her change of fortune was immediately felt
by every member of her family. The parents whose
cruel obstinacy had involved her in so much misery,

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. XIX

but whose ruined circumstances now placed them in
need of her aid, were comfortably supported by her
up to the period of their deaths. Her brothers and
sisters, (the youngest of whom, Marianne, she adopted
and educated,) and even the more distant of her re-
latives, all profited by her benefits, assistance, and
interest.

"And none who sought her bounty, sought in vain."

Of her sojourn abroad, her " Idler in France " and
" Idler in Italy," give a detailed account ; and her
" Conversations with Lord Byron," whose acquaint-
ance she then first made, are the most interesting
memorials of an epoch in her life to which she ever
referred with extreme interest and pleasure.

The death of Lord Blessington, from apoplexy,
which occurred in Paris, in the year 1825, again ef-
fected a change in her destiny, and was a source of
the deepest and most enduring affliction. She re-
mained in Paris till after the Revolution of 1830, when
she returned to England, and took a house in Seamore
Place, May Fair, from which some years subsequently
she removed to Gore House, Kensington. Here, in
the midst of splendour and elegance, adding largely
to her jointure by the success of her literary efforts,
she lived for some years a life peculiarly suited
to her taste — surrounded by men of distinction,
in every branch, loved and admired by all who
came within her sphere. Gore House was an arena
where assembled the celebrities of all nations, all
politics, all denominations, and all positions : it was
the starting point fi'om whence Prince Louis Napo-

XX MEMOIR OF THE

leon Bonaparte, a cherished guest through years of
friendless exile, proceeded to head the government
of France.

But, in the course of time, changes and cir-
cumstances, over which Lady Blessington had no
control, rendered a removal from Gore House
desirable. Severe domestic afflictions, increasing
years, and impaired health, made the literary la-
bour, in which she had been so long and actively
engaged, a task much too difficult and fatiguing to
be longer persevered in, at the same time that its
remuneration, in the cases of even the most popular
and distinguished writers, became considerably di-
minished. The distresses in Ireland, from whence
Lady Blessington's income was drawn, were also the
source of considerable delays, disappointments^ and
losses. Desirous of rest, and feeling the impossi-
bility of making a change in her mode of life without
a change of residence, she had long contemplated
retiring to the Continent, where her income would
be sufficient to enable her to live without the neces-
sity of labour. This step was at last put into execu-
tion, and, in the month of April, 1849, she re-
moved to Paris, where she took a new and beautiful
appartement in the Champs Elysees, which she
began to occupy herself in furnishing. Having
nearly completed the task, her impatience to quit
the hotel, where she suffered much from the heat
and noise, and her desire to enter her new abode,
induced her to remove to it before it was entirely
ready for her reception, and she took possession of
it on the 3rd of June. Early on the following morn-

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. XXI

ing, she was attacked with difficulty of breathing, a
symptom from which she had suffered on previous
occasions, but which had been lightly treated by the
physicians consulted. Finding herself becoming
rapidly worse, she called for assistance, and medical
aid was instantly sent for, while, in the meantime,
every remedy that could be suggested was applied,
but in vain. She gradually sank, and expired at
the last, tranquil as a sleeping infant; so that, not
even those who hung trembling over her, could fix
with precision the moment when she drew her latest
breath. Enlargement of the heart, which was proved
on examination to have commenced at least five and
twenty years previously, was the cause of her death.
Possibly the change of air and mode of life, the un-
usual exertion she had undergone during her stay in
Paris, and the excitement attendant on the removal,
may have accelerated the crisis, but that such a ma-
lady must soon have had a fatal result, was inevita-
ble.

It is many years since the death of any indivi-
dual, however eminent, has produced the same sen-
sation as that of Lady Blessington. A halo of interest,
admiration, and affection, had so long hung about
her, that it seemed impossible that the light of so
brilliant a star should thus instantaneously and un-
expectedly be quenched. The announcement of her
dea+h was so strange and startling, that it was at first
received with incredulity ; but, when the fact was
confiimed beyond the possibility of doubt, deep,
sincere, universal, and lasting, was the sorrow felt
and expressed. Great to all, her loss to many, is

XXll MEMOIR OF THE

irreparable. Those who knew her in her home
circle, who shared her unbounded generosity, her
tender friendship and protection ; who witnessed
her trials, — trials arising but too often from sources
whence she had a right to expect nought but gra-
titude and devotion ; who beheld her forgiveness of
unmerited injuries, " not until seven times, but until
seventy times seven," her courageous defence of the
traduced at w^hatever personal cost — her thousand
fine and noble qualities, — can alone feel the full ex-
tent of such a bereavement.

In all the peculiarities of her genius. Lady Bles-
sington was essentially feminine ; the tenderness of
her heart, the extreme quickness of her perceptions,
the keenness of her sensibility, the sprightliness of
her wit, the freshness of her feelings, evidenced in
her almost childish facility of being touched, in-
terested, or amused, remained unimpaired to the
latest day of her existence. In her works may be
observed all these characteristics, united with an ex-
treme readiness of invention, great humour, and a
high moral tone, which was so prominent a feature
in them, that innumerable members of the clergy with
w'hom she had no personal acquaintance addressed
to her letters of approval and compliment.

The remains of Lady Blessington are interred in
France, a country for which she always entertained
much regard; and which, on her removal thither,
she contemplated the probability of making her
permanent residence. They are deposited at Cham-
bourcy, near St. Germain-en-Laye, the residence of
the Due and Duchesse de Grammont, between whom

COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER I.

It was a clear bright day in the second
week of December, 18 — , when the sound
of martial music drew nearly every female
inhabitant in the picturesque little town of
, in the south of Ireland, to the win-
dows of their houses in the main street ; and
many a fair and smiling face looked forth
with cheeks rendered more rosy than usual
by animation, and eyes sparkling with plea-
sure.

The street, it being Saturday, a market day,
was crowded by peasants, with their blue and

VOL. I. B

^ COUNTRY QUARTERS.

grey frieze coats slung carelessly over their
shoulders, a bright-coloured cotton or silk
handkerchief passed once around their
throats, with the ends floating, and their coarse
felt hats, beneath which their broad and
strongly-marked faces were seen, excited
into an expression half comic, half curious,
as they eyed the portion of the regiment
then marching into the town. The peasant
women with their blue and red cloaks, some
with the hoods drawn over their heads,
while others, and chiefly those of the youth-
ful part, wore simple white muslin caps,
adorned with a gay-coloured ribbon, or a
snowy dimity hood, from which their glow-
ing cheeks and blue eyes peeped out to
peculiar advantage, as half timid, half play-
ful, like startled fawns, they drew near to
the houses or behind the men, placing these
last as a sort of barrier between them and
the soldiers. The stalls in the street, co-
vered with rural merchandise, were partly
drawn back to allow the regiment to pass ;
while here and there a frightened horse or
cow rushed wildly among the throng, terri-

6

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 6

fied at the sound of the loud drums and
" ear-piercing fifes," and sundry pigs on three
legs, the fourth held up by the cord attached
to it, and retained by the angry driver, pur-
sued precisely the direction opposed to his
wishes, he uttering curses not only loud but
deep on its obstinacy.

The hosts of the Great Globe and the
New Inn stood on the steps of their respec-
tive doors, backed by a couple of waiters,
anxious to win the officers to their houses.
The Great Globe little answered to its high-
sounding appellation. It was of small di-
mensions, built of red brick, of a very fiery
hue: the door and window sashes were
painted of a bright green, affording a strik-
ing contrast to its opposite neighbour — the
New Inn. This last-named appeared to be
the oldest house in the town, and not in the
best possible state of repair. The host of
the Great Globe was almost as rubicund in
the face as his mansion, and, as if to render
the resemblance still more striking, he wore
green spectacles, to relieve an habitual in-
flammation of the eyes, was clothed in a

B 2

4 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

bottle-green coat, a red waistcoat, and wore
a flaxen wig. He of the New Inn was a
tall lusty man, dressed in a faded brown
coat, a drab waistcoat, and wore a black wig.
Each of the hosts stood on the tiptoe of ex-
pectation, bowing low as the regiment
marched on, followed by a numerous crowd
of idle boys and girls, as well as by the fool,
of which race every Irish town possesses at
least one. The waiters of the rival houses
partook of the peculiar characteristics of
their employers both in their dress and ap-
pearance. Their manner, too, assimilated ;
for, while the master of the Great Globe ex-
panded his lips into a broad smile of cordial
welcome, closely imitated by the man and
boy, styled waiters, standing behind him, he
of the New Inn maintained a solemn gravity
only to be equalled by that of the two old
men in sad-coloured suits w^ho, with soiled
napkins in hand, bowed every time he
did.

And now the music of fifes and drums
was changed for that of the full band, much
to the delight of the hearers. The well-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 0

polished brazen instruments shone bright as
gold in the sun ; the negroes, with their
clashing cymbals, white turbans, and gilt
collars, attracted general admiration, mingled
with some degree of alarm, among the
women and children. The portly drum-
major was pronounced by various groups to
be the grandest gentleman of the whole ;
and, as with head erect, protruded chest, and
shoulders kept back, he strutted proudly on,
occasionally throwing up his gilt-topped staff
in the air, and adroitly catching it again,
shouts of approbation followed the feat.
The colonel — an elderly, dignified-looking
man — rode at the head of his regiment,
gravely glancing from side to side at the
strange scene through which he moved ; his
charger champing the bit of his bridle and
keeping time to the music, much to the
amazement of the spectators.

Hanging from the open doors of the shi-
been houses* might be seen youths excited by
whisky, with the soft, dark down of man-
hood still unshorn on their upper lips and
* Spirit-shops.

6 COUNTRY QCJARTERS.

chins, wildly throwing up their hats and
swearing they would enlist ; while endea-
vouring to hold them back were aged grand-
mothers, remonstrating mothers, weeping
sisters, and blushing sweathearts, who prayed
them " not to break the fond hearts that
loved them by going to be soldiers."

The house of the magistrate — the most
stately in the street — stoodbackfrom the other
dwellings, having a small garden, well filled
with laurustinus and arbutus, separated from
the street by iron rails. The windows of this
mansion were occupied with plants, through
which young and blooming faces peeped
forth sparkling with animation — the owners
all unmindful that a cold air was blowing
their silken tresses over their rosy cheeks in
" most admired disorder," and tinging with
red the tips of their little piquant retrouss^
noses. " Ah, what beautiful music !" ex-
claimed one. " Look, what a handsome
officer !" cried another. " Which ? — where ?"
inquired others of these gay and guileless
young creatures.

On the opposite side was the house of the

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 7

doctor, with its shining brass knocker, well
rubbed every morning, as the spiteful said,
to make believe it had grown so bright by
being constantly used by patients seeking
aid from its owner.

" Just look at Fanny O'Farrell," ex-
claimed the plump and pretty Honor O'Fla-
herty, " how demure she looks ! She pre-
tends not to see that handsome young officer
who carries the colours, though I'd lay a wager
of a pair of Limerick gloves she knows every
feature in his face as well as — "

" You do, Honor," interrupted Bessy Mac
Henry, " who have never taken your eyes
off his face since he came in sight."

" Is it me? — that's a good joke, Bessy.
Just as if I had looked more at him than
you did !" replied the blushing Honor, be-
traying some embarrassment at the charge.

" What do you think of the sight, Miss
O'Neill?" inquired one of the young ladies
of a lovely girl who kept rather in the back-
ground of the picture. " Did you notice
the handsome young officer who carried the
colours ?"

Q

COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" I was SO much pleased with the whole
stirring scene that I did not examine the
individuals that composed it."

" That's always Miss O'Neill's way," ob-
served Honor O'Flaherty. " While we,
foolish giddy girls as we are, are admiring
the red coats, she, I am pretty sure, was
thinking of all the hardships to which this
regiment has been exposed. 0 ! I know her
so well ! Why, I had all the trouble in the
world to coax her to come and see the regi-
ment march into town ; and I don't believe
she would have come at last if her grand-
mother had not persuaded her."

" I must plead guilty to your charge,
Honor," replied the fair and beautiful girl
who answered to the name of Miss O'Neill,
" for the sight of the faded and tattered
colours waving in the bright sunshine, bear-
ing witness to many a death struggle against
the foe in a foreign land, did draw my atten-
tion away from the present in the midst of
the gay scene, and for a moment saddened
me."

" Well, you see she's not like us," said the

COUNTRY QUARTERS. V

smiling Honor, " for, when our eyes were
fixed on the colour-bearer, hers were only
directed to the colours."

" I must say there are some very hand-
some men among the officers," observed
Fanny O'Farrell.

" So you said when the last regiment
marched in," remarked Bessy Mac Henry.

" And she was right, too," answered Honor
O'Flaherty. " Wasn't Major Villiers, and
Captain Elliotson, and Lieutenant Saunders
handsome men ?"

" They were not ugly, certainly ; but the
major had such a solemn face, he never
smiled," said Mary Macchee.

" That was because he had bad teeth, and
you shouldn't blame a poor man for his mis-
fortunes," rejoined the laughing Honor, with
a deprecating tone.

" We'll be sure to see all the officers
marching to church with the regiment to«
morrow," said Bessy O'Neill.

" Ay, and in church also," observed Honor.

" I hope that there is not among us any
girl so unthinking as to bestow a look or a

B 5

10 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

thought on them in the house of God," said
Miss O'Neill, gravely. ** That would be very
wrong indeed."

" You'll end by turning a Methodist,
Grace, that's what you will," answered Honor
OTlaherty, " as if there was such a mighty
crime in looking at these red coats."

" You mistake me, Honor," replied Grace
O'Neill. " I think it just as bad to look at
a black or a blue coat, or its wearer, or at
one of our own sex, when we are in a temple
dedicated to prayer."

While this animated dialogue was going
on, the regiment had been drawn up on the
parade, and were thence dismissed to the
barracks ; and the officers entered the Great
Globe — that being the inn which, from its
more flourishing appearance, promised the
best cheer and accommodation — but, being
found too small to contain the whole, the
junior officers adjourned to the New Inn ;
not, however, without many regrets expressed
by Mr. O'Sullivan, the host of the Great
Globe, that his house could not hold them
all, unless the young officers would consent

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 11

to occupy inferior rooms, and sleep three or
four in each chamber. Breakfast being
ordered, Tom McCarthy, the head waiter,
as he proudly termed himself, while busy in
covering a very large table with a snowy-
white cloth — the officers filling the windows
of the room and gazing into the street — ven-
tured to address the colonel : —

" Is there anything at all partiklar, curnel,
that you'd like to have to yourself?'' in-
quired Tom. " A divilled leg of a turkey ?
The Great Globe is famous for divils !"

" Give us the best breakfast you can
serve," replied the colonel.

" Oh, and isn't it myself that'll be sure to
do that same, and no mistake ? Only, curnel,
I thought that perhaps you'd like something
quite partiklar for yourself, just to come up
smoking hot between two plates, which I'd
set down before you ; for what's a divilled
leg of a turkey if it is to be shared between
so many ?"

And he looked around.

" Is this neighbourhood well inhabited V
inquired the colonel.

12 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Well inhabited !" reiterated the waiter.
" Faith, and it is, your honour : and a great
pity it is, for that's what makes ould Ireland
so poor, and will keep her so, too. There's
two mouths for every potatoe; which all
comes from boys and girls marrying and
having children, when they're no better than
children themselves. Poor cratlmrs, they
bring starvation on themselves and their brats
before they've got sense in their brains.'*

" You mean that the country is over-
populated ?" observed the colonel.

'« Why, in regard that the children spring
u]) faster than the potatoes, I do, curnel."

" When I asked you whether the neigh-
bourhood was well inhabited," resumed the
colonel, " I meant to inquire whether you
you have many noblemen and gentlemen's
seats about here."

" Oh, plenty, your honour. First, we've
the Marquis of Snowhill, as great a noble-
man as can be found in all Ireland, who has
an elegant place within five miles of the
town."

" I'm glad to hear his lordship is in the
county," observed the colonel.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 13

" Is it him, curiiel ? Faitli, and many
would be glad to hear it, too ; but, if they
haven't a headache till then, they won't suffer
even from drinking hot whisky punch. Sure
the castle is shut up, and not a soul in it but
the ould porter and his wife. The marquis
hasn't been in Ireland these tw^enty years
and more, for the marchioness is an English
lady, plase your honour, and she says the
Irish air doesn't agree with her ; so the mar-
quis stays away on account of her health,
and every sixpence of rent is sent out of the
country to him, to be all spent in London.
No wonder it's so rich ; for sure many a
thousand of Irish money goes to it out of
poor Ireland, not a farthing of which ever
returns to it. We have Lord MiUicent, who
has another elegant place, and a deer park ;
but he can seldom find time to come to Ire-
land, he has so much to do in England. One
day you'll read of him in the papers arriving
at Newmarket, and the next somewhere else.
He's what is called on the turf, and that
doesn't leave him a minute to look after his
business here, which is a great pity ; for, when

14 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

he used to come, he did a power of good.
He used to have all the boys in the whole
parish to go out beating the woods when he
and the English lords he brought with him
went out shooting, and every boy who had
his legs peppered by the shots used to come
home with his pockets well filled with ten-
pennys. Oh ! 'twas a fine time for the poor
crathurs !"

The colonel, a grave man, looked at the
speaker with wonder, while many of the other
oflScers appeared not a little amused by his
originality.

And now breakfast was brought in, and
certainly no complaint could be made of its
want of copiousness. Beef steaks, mutton
chops, broiled fowls, crimped salmon, fried
trout, with slim cakes, and griddle bread,
and a profusion of eggs, cream, tea, and
coffee, were spread on the board.

*' This breakfast justifies the reputation of
Ireland for plentiful repasts," observed the
colonel, addressing the ofiicers seated around
the table.

" Is it plinty in Ireland, curnel ?" said the

COUNTRY QUARTERS, 15

waiter. ** I'll go bail, your honour, Ireland's
the place for plinty for man and baste, pro-
vided they're genteel; ay, by my troth, and
for a hearty welcome into the bargain."

" What is that ?" inquired one of the offi-
cers, pointing to a dish of salmon, the white
curd of which nearly concealed the delicate
pink of the fish.

" Sure that's salmon, your honour, rale
elegant Blackwater salmon, and a great
dainty it is, as you'll find if you taste it."

And Tom seized the dish and handed it to
the officer, who, eyeing it through his glass,
declined it, saying, " No, no, that doesn't
look a bit like English salmon. Nothing
would induce me to taste it. Salmon never
looks white in England except when out of
season."

" Oh, murther ! isn't it enough to dhrive
a man raving mad to hear the likes of that,"
blundered out the waiter, " when all the
world knows that the rale beauty of the
Irish salmon is to have that elegant curd
on it, which comes partly by nature and
partly by the fish being crimped ? Sure Ire-
land beats the whole world for salmon !"

16 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

The enthusiasm of Tom for the fish of his
native land excited only laughter. Not one
of the officers would taste the salmon, which
led to his telling his friends in the kitchen,
when he returned there, that " them English
up stairs were, after all, a poor ignorant set,
who did not know what was good, and were
too prejudiced to taste a novelty."

" I heard that Irish beef was good," ob-
served the colonel ; " but this," pointing to
some on his plate, " is tough and tasteless."

" Then don't judge of all the beef, curnel,
by this specimen, for sure this came from the
piper's cow J who had danced away all her fat,
for the poor crathur had such an ear for
music that she couldn't be quiet when she
heard him playing, and that's what made her
so lean."

" What nonsense !" replied one of the
officers. '' Quite improbable," said another ;
but no one smiled at the joke, which induced
Tom to report in the lower regions of the
Great Globe that " them English were
mighty slow at taking a joke."

*' That seems a strange fellow," observed
the colonel, as Tom left the room.

COtTNTKIP' QUARTERS. 17

*' Very strange, indeed," said Lieutenant
Marston. " Did you observe what a strange
story he told about the piper's cow ?"

* * As if a cow ever could dance," remarked
Lieutenant Hunter. " I ought to know
something of cows, for my father has the
finest in Yorkshire."

" You must never believe a single word
the Irish say," said Captain Sitwell.

" A very liberal mode of judging," observed
Colonel Maitland.

" I hope the Irish will amuse me, I like
to be made to laugh ; and the Irish charac-
ters on the stage always made me laugh, they
had such a funny way of speaking," said Mr.
Herbert Vernon.

" People pretend they are always uttering
jokes ; but I never can understand jokes. I
hate joking — it's vulgar," observed Lieutenant
Marston.

" Here's something, curnel, that'll make
your breakfast sit aisy on your stomach,"
said Tom, the waiter, entering, with a smiling
countenance, and presenting a bottle of Irish
whisky to Colonel Maitland.

18 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" What is it ?" inquired the colonel.

" Faith, it is the rale potheen, and not to
be matched in any house in the whole town."

The whisky was declined by all the offi-
cers, to the utter surprise, not unmingled
with a contemptuous pity, in the breast of
Tom McCarthy, who shook his head when he
related this fact to his friends in the kitchen,
and said, " What poor crathurs they must
ber

When Colonel Maitland and Major El-
vaston withdrew, the junior officers looked
sadly at each other. Captain Melville was
the first who broke silence, and, drawing a
deep sigh, he exclaimed, '* I fear we are
doomed to die of ennui in this barbarous
place !"

*' Can't we get up steeple-chases, or races ?"
said Mr. Hunter.

'^ Or get the wild Irishwomen to run in
sacks ? — it's such good fiin," observed Lieu-
tenant Marston.

*' Or get up balls with some of the pretty
girls we saw in the windows as we marched
into the town?" interrupted Mr. Hunter.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 19

" Hunter is for getting up some love-affair
already," said Captain Melville. ** But he
must take care of what he is about ; for Irish I

fathers and brothers are ticklish fellows to ij

deal with, I am told."

20 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER II.

" Well, I must confess that I never saw
so many pretty faces in one church as to-
day," remarked Captain Sit well, as he and
his brother officers sat lounging in the largest
room of the Great Globe, appropriated to
their use, the Sunday after their arrival.

" Then sure you'd see twice as many more,
your honour, if you had gone to the chapel,"
observed Tom, the waiter, who happened to
be then serving a bottle of soda-water to one
of the officers, and who, as usual with him,
lost no opportunity of joining, sans ceremonie,
in any conversation going on in his presence.

" Indeed !" said one of the party, " I did
not know that religion made a difference in
female beauty."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 21

" Troth and it does in Ireland any way,
your honour."

" You don't mean to say that Roman
Catholics are handsomer than Protestants,"
asked Captain Sitwell ; " that would be too
absurd ; and not even all your eloquence,
friend Tom, and I am ready to admit you
have a more than ordinary share, could make
me believe such an assertion.'*

" Well, wait and you 11 see I am right,"
replied Tom, *' for sure the rale beauties are
the true ould Milesians, and them are all
Roman Catholics, while the Protestants are
only poor Sassenachs.''

" But we're no admirers of old beauties,"
remarked the officer. *' We prefer young
ones."

" And, by my troth, you're right : but I
only meant of ancient descent by saying
ould," replied Tom with rather a contemp-
tuous air.

*^ And who is considered the greatest
beauty in your town?" inquired one of the
youngest officers.

'' Miss O'Neill is thought to be by some,

V^UUINXiii-X l^iU AXtXJl<±X.O.

while others prefer Miss Honor O'Flaherty.
Then there's Miss Kate Broderick, and Miss
Bessy Mac Henry, and many more that's
thought to be very handsome."

" But, for your own taste, which is the
prettiest?" demanded another young officer.

" Miss Grace O'Neill, to my thinking,
bates 'em all hollow," was the answer,

'' I dare say that was the black-eyed, rosy-
cheeked charmer who showed her white teeth
in church by biting one of the very reddest
under lips I ever saw in my life," observed
Captain Sitwell.

" Not at all," replied Tom. ^' Miss Grace
goes to chapel ; and, as for biting her lips,
or showing her teeth, though whiter and
evener never were seen, she's not one to do
the like. Her pretty mouth is always quiet,
unless she speaks or smiles, which is not
often ; for, though she's mild as May, she's
not given to smiles, except when she speaks
to her good old grandmother, or to the poor,
and then it's the smile of an angel, full of
pity, and not of a beauty wanting to show
her white teeth."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. Zd

" Ton my word, you grow quite poetical,"
observed the officer who had previously spoken.

"And so it is only to her grandmother
and the poor that this fourth Grace shows
her teeth V said another ; " but, as the poor
abound here, frequent opportunities are af-
forded her of exhibiting her pearls."

" Is it she exhibit anything ! No, sir,
she*s above it. She'd be ashamed to exhibit
even her goodness, though many a one has
found it out. But here's the big coach, with
Sir Geoifrey Fitzgerald, come to visit the cur-
nel, ril go bail."

And off hurried the waiter to receive the
card of the baronet. Next came an old-
fashioned chariot drawn by horses whose
condition proved that they were not kept for
mere show, but often officiated in the agri-
cultural department of their owner's esta-
blishment.

" Ye gods ! look at that turn-out ! " said
Captain Sitwell. " What a rattletrap, by
way of a carriage ! and the steeds, how high
in bone, and low in flesh !"

A jaunting-car next presented itself, on one

24 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

side of which sat a red-faced old gentlemaiij
with a young ladj seated by him, and on the
other an elderly lady of large dimensions,
Avith a young lady to balance the vehicle.
Soon after Tom, the waiter, made his ap-
pearance with six cards.

" They are for the curnel," as he persisted
in calling the colonel, " and the major."

" Let us see them ! let us see them !" ex-
claimed all the young officers. The baronet's
card, thrice as large as the usual dimensions,
was examined. On it was printed, " Bally-
macross Castle " and " Deer Park," to show
that he possessed two seats. " Mr. Mac
Vigors, Mountain Lodge," was engraved on
the second ; and " Mr. Oliphant Hennessy
Rathdundrum Hall," on the third.

" They tould me to be sure and make no
mistake, but give the cards to the curnel and
the major only ; or, if there were two curnels
or two majors, to give to both of them."

" I find that, even in obscure regions, the
natives adopt the English plan of showing-
attention only to field officers," observed
Captain Sitwell, as he returned the cards.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 25

" And for a good reason," said one of the
young officers; " the old fellows are afraid
of us young ones turning the heads of their
wives and daughters ;" and the speaker
looked in the old-fashioned mirror between
the windoAvs, drew up his shirt collar, and
smiled complacently.

The following day the barrack-rooms were
ready to receive the officers, and the Great
Globe was left nearly as deserted as its great
namesake after the deluge, while the New
Inn resumed its propriety and duhiess,
which had been greatly disturbed by the
officers and their servants during the pre-
vious two days.

" The Lord have mercy on their sinful
souls ! " exclaimed the proprietor of the New-
Inn ; " how fearful it was to hear them take
His name in vain on every occasion !"

*' But more especially when I handed
them the bill," observed the demure and af-
fectedly sanctimonious waiter, turning up his
eyes to the ceiling until only the whites of
them were left visible. " What a volley of
oaths then burst forth ! ' Your master is a

VOL. I. c

26 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Methodist, is he not ?' said one of them to
me. ' He is a humble Christian, sir/ was
my reply. ' He has drawn up a very Metho-
distical bill, however,' says he ; ' and tell him
from me that, judging by his charges, I
should not take him to be much of a Chris-
tian.'"

" What signifies what such a foolish young
fellow, without the fear of God before his
eyes, says ? It is but right, if one be com-
pelled as a publican to harbour such sinners
under one's own roof, to make them pay
heavily for the accommodation, and all their
spiteful remarks won't impair the value of
the money I have got from them."

" That may be," thought the waiter ; " but
an unreasonable bill always puts i3eople in
bad humour to behave well to the poor
waiter."

In a different spirit did Thomas M'Carthy,
the waiter of the Great Globe, comment on
the officers who had left it. " Faith and
shure," said he, " they behaved quite gen-
teel f ' and he shook in his hand the liberal
supply of silver given to him by the army, as

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 27

he termed the officers. " People may say
what they like, but the English are capital
men for paying their way. The divil a word
they said against the bill ; troth, not so
much as a long face among the party, but
out with the purses at once, all in as good
humour as if there was no bill in the case."

" Indeed," observed his employer, " they
were real gentlemen, and did perfect justice
to the fine old claret I gave 'em. Irishmen
could't have enjoyed it more."

" But it would have put more life into
'em, and they'd have been singing as gay as
larks, while the English took it as aisy as if
they were drinking water."

On Monday the clergyman, the magistrate,
and the doctor called on the officers, not
confining their visits to the colonel and ma-
jor, but extending them to the whole corps.

" We shall have some fun, I fancy," ob-
served Sitwell, " for the old gentleman
hinted at dinners to come, and tea parties
without number. An Irish tea and turn-out
must be a delectable pleasure. They also
spoke of balls to be given."

c 2

28 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" A ball in a place like this must be
amusing, at least for once ; and Irish misses
will have the advantage of novelty to recom-
mend them, if one could get over the dread-
ful Irish accent, of which I have a perfect
horror," said Mr. Hunter.

" Hang it, Hunter, it can hardly be as bad
as the Yorkskire dialect, in which you excel,"
observed Captain Sitwell.

"Me!" exclaimed Mr. Hunter. "Well,
that's a good 'un, however. I have always
been told that I had not the slightest touch
of the accent peculiar to Yorkshire.*'

" And you were told the truth," resumed
Captain Sitwell ; " for you have not the
slightest. Au contraire, you have the most
remarkable Yorkshire dialect I ever met
with." And Sitwell gave so very successful
an imitation of Hunter as caused a general
laugh.

" I am told," said Lieutenant Marston,
" that, if you happen to look at an Irish
young lady at dinner, she instantly says,
' Port, if you plaise !' and, if you dance twice
with one, the following day a tall, uncouth

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 29

brother calls on you to inquire * what your
intentions are/ "

" By Jove, that would be no joke !" ob-
served Hunter. *' What would my governor
say to the alternative of my bringing home
an Irish wife to Wintern Abbey, or being
shot because I declined doing so ?"

" Why, as you happen to be his only son,
the probability is that he would prefer a son
with an Irish wife to no son at all," replied
Captain Sitwell.

" I never thought of that," said Hunter ;
" but, should I fall desperately in love with
one of these young ladies, and be forced to
marry, 'twould be a good excuse to the
governor."

" Then you admit the possibility of being
forced to marry ?" inquired Captain Sitwell,
somewhat contemptuously.

" I didn't exactly mean that," replied
Hunter, colouring ; " but, if these Irishmen
are such savages as to insist on men marry-
ing their sisters "

"You see nothing to be done except to
submit to their wishes ?" interrupted Sitwell,
sneeringly.

80 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" You always interrupt one before you
know what one is going to say," remarked
Hunter, peevishly.

" I'm sorry for you. Hunter," resumed
Sitwell, laughing ; " but I see it's all up with
you. You'll leave this place a married man,
as sure as you're born, if any Sir Lucius
0' Trigger of a father or brother should take
it into his head that you should wed his
daughter or sister."

" I'll bet you a pony I don't, unless I
should happen to take a fancy to the sister."

" Or that she should fall in love with
you ?" resumed Sitwell ; " in which case you
would, I am sure, be too good-natured to
break a poor girl's heart, or force her brother
to send a bullet through yours."

" I am not so very good-natured as you
may think," said Hunter. " Did I marry
Miss Vincent, though every one allowed that
she was over head and ears in love with me
when we left our last quarters ?" And
Hunter drew up his shirt-collar, and glanced
at a small looking-glass in the room, with
the air of a conqueror of hearts.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 31

"But you forget she had no brother,"
observed Sitwell.

" And if she had ten brothers I would not
have married her," replied Hunter, " for I
never will marry any girl I am not in love
with."

" But why did you pretend to be in love
with Miss Vincent?" demanded Sitwell,
sternly.

" I did not pretend," replied Hunter. ^* I
really thought I was in love with her, until
after two or three days, on the march, I
found I had quite forgotten her."

"And do you think you had any right,
when so little assured of your own feelings,
to trifle with hers, and make the poor girl
believe you really loved her, and so win her
affections ?'* inquired Sitwell.

" Have I not told you that I really
believed I loved her until I discovered that
out of sight out of mind ? And, if I can do
without her, if I never think of her, why
should T marry her, I should like to know,
especially as it would drive my governor
mad?"

32 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" A man of honour should think of all this
before he tries to gain the affections of an
amiab'e and innocent girl," observed Captain
Sitwell. " And now. Hunter, that you are
aware of your own instability of character,
you will cease to be considered as such if
you ever again play the unfair game you
have been practising with poor Mary Vin-
cent."

" But it isn't my fault that I have forgot-
ten her," said Hunter, looking disconcerted.

" But it is your fault that you made her
believe you never would ; and that probably
at this moment the poor girl is thinking of
you wath a misplaced tenderness which may
long embitter her days."

" She'll get over it, as I have done," re-
plied the selfish young man ; "and, as
she is by far the prettiest girl at Exeter,
she'll be sure to find plenty of admirers
among the officers of the regiment that
replaced us."

" A supposition worthy of you," remarked
Captain Sitw^ell, disdainfully, " and arguing
little for your heart."

COUNTRY aUARTERS. 33

" Come, come, Sitwell, it is not because I
happen to be your subaltern that you are to
dictate to me on any other than military
matters," observed Hunter, sulkily, his fat
chubby face growing red with anger.

" It is precisely because you happen to be
my subaltern, and that I wish you to do
credit to your profession, that I shall always
give you my opinion when your conduct
does not please me. You are young, inex-
perienced, and require advice ; and, however
unpalatable it may be to you, I will not fail
to administer it when I see occasion."

Some brother officers entering the room
put a stop to the discussion, leaving all who
heard it impressed with the opinion that
young Hunter was a selfish and unfeeling
fellow, while he considered himself very ill-
used by the interference of his superior
officer on a subject not connected with the
articles of war, or the regimental orderly-
book.

" What a confoundedly dull place this is ! '
said one of the officers who had lately entered
the room. " Not a civilized looking being to

c 5

34 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

be seen in the streets. The women wearing
the fashions of seven summers ago, and such
clumsy iil-made shoes as would render Venus
herself no longer attractive. The young
men riding about on Irish hunters, of which
we have heard so much, but which bear no
more resemblance to English ones than their
riders do to the fellows one sees at Melton.
There is a certain indescribable look of pride
and defiance in the faces of these young
Irishmen, a sort of gave a qui me louche ex-
23ression of countenance that is very provok-
ing. I sauntered with Melville into the
environs after parade, and saw two of these
Irish squires leaping their horses over the
fences. The animals don't leap at all as
ours do, but instead of clearing the fence
they touch and go, making, as it were, two
jumps instead of one. We stood still to look
at these would-be Nimrods, rather amused, I
confess, which they, I suppose, suspecting,
left off their sport, and, confronting us, eyed
us with a fierte that almost challenged a
remark."

" Perhaps they saw you smile, and ima-

COUNTHY QUARTERS. 35

gined you were laughing at them," observed
Captain Sitwell. " The Irish are said to be
peculiarly susceptible of aught approaching
to ridicule, especially from the English, and
are prone to resent it. If, therefore, we
wish to maintain a good understanding with
the neighbourhood, we must avoid looking
quizzical or smiling when we encounter these
wild Irish fire-eaters, for I strongly suspect
that not one of them would be satisfied by
the answer given by the clever Frenchman
who, happening to laugh when a stranger
was passing by him, answered the question
rudely and promptly put to him, * Why did
you laugh, sir, when I passed ?' by the ready
answer of, ' Why did you pass, sir, when I
laughed ?' "

" The fierce-looking individual in question
rode remarkably well, I must confess," ob-
served Captain Melville, " reminding one of
the Elgin marbles, or of the fabled centaurs,
seeming to form a part of their horses, so
closely did they adhere to the animals."

"I hear," replied Captain Sitwell, "that
the Irish gentlemen are not only capital

36 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

riders, but excellent shots and good fisher-
men. In short, that they are famous sports-
men, and very liberal in giving permission to
others to enjoy similar amusements on their
properties ; a singular piece of good fortune
to poor devils like ourselves condemned to
country quarters in places promising so few
agremens. I confess that in England such
liberality is rarely exercised towards the
military, or at most is only occasionally
extended to field officers who happen to
belong to the aristocracy. Mere soldiers
of fortune, or rather let me say of no fortune,
are seldom, if ever, invited to share the plea-
sures of a battue in the well-guarded preserves
of any nobleman or gentleman near to where
their regiments happen to be quartered ; or,
if by some rare chance such an event should
occur, they are given over to one of the
gamekeepers who knows his business, which
is to lead them where least game is to be
found."

*• You are quite right, for I have experi-
enced this treatment many a time ; but,
ofrown awai-e of the manoeuvre, 1 defeated its

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 87

success by privately exhibiting a golden por-
trait of my sovereign to the keeper, a hint he
so well understood, that I was allowed to
enter covers never meant to be profaned by
aught less than a cabinet minister, foreign
ambassador, or princely noble, who repays
such stately hospitalities in kind."

" A capital plan. It is a pity that it
cannot be oftener put in practice."

*' Chary as we English are said to be of
our money, even the richest have this reputa-
tion, our magnates are still more chary of
allowing poor devils like us soldiers to par-
take the pleasure of shooting their game.
This is a gratification confined exclusively to
the rich in England ; and, although the Irish
gentlemen have no well-gnarded preserves to
oflTer us, no battues where a massacre of the
feathered race takes place every season, I
am by no means disposed to reject their civi-
lities, and am ready to shoot grouse over
their mountains, partridges in their fields,
and woodcocks and snipes in their bogs.
Nay, I am quite prepared to eat their din-
ners, though French cooks are not very

38 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

common in this green island, and to drink
their claret, which is much more pure, as I
am given to understand, than in England."

*• And I am quite willing to follow so good
an example, if the temptation should be
thrown in my way."

COUNTRY aUARTERS. 39

CHAPTER III.

The visits of the few neighbouring gentle-
men who had left their cards on the colonel
and major being duly returned, as also those
in the town, invitations to dinner came pour-
ing in, for when was an Irish gentleman found
deficient in exercising the rights of hospi-
tality? The colonel was requested to bring
three or four of his officers, this being, as the
writers of the invitations stated, the general
custom of the country.

A public ball, to be followed by a supper,
was announced to take place at the Court-
house in a few days, under the auspices of
the neighbouring gentry, and the colonel and
officers of the Regiment. Every fe-
male heart in beat quicker at this an-

40 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

nouncement, and the officers declared they
would each and all attend, being extremely
impatient to see the beauty and fashion of

. Every mantuamaker in the town was

busy in consultation with the youthful belles,
whose tastes were exercised in the colours
and forms of the dresses to be worn on this
momentous occasion, while mothers and
aunts regulated the prices, which were, as
they stipulated, " on no account to be ex-
ceeded." Often did the young ladies entreat
that tulle or gauze might be substituted for
book muslin, or that sarsnet might be used
for slips instead of glazed cotton ; and then
the comparative difference of the expense of
the two materials was calculated on a bit of
paper, and gauze and silk being only, as the
youthful ladies said, little more than triple
the cost of book muslin and glazed cotton
linings, mothers were implored for this once
to yield to the desires of their daughters with
an eloquence only to be resisted by j^rudent
mammas, with the fear of a lecture from
stern husbands before their eyes.

" But the expense, my dear girls, the ex-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 41

pense ! and then, book muslin is so nice, and
looks almost as good as new when well got
up."

"And tulle and gauze dye so well, dear
mother, and a sarsnet slip can be worn with
every dress."

The book mu&lin, however, was decided
on, the alternative being offered to the young
ladies, either to go in muslin dresses, or to
remain at home. The material being defi-
nitively settled, the colour became the next
question. How many times did Honor
0 'Flaherty waver between a pink, a blue, or
a white robe ? Pink was so becoming, blue
looked so light, and white so simple and
ladylike ; and then she deliberated on the
probable effect of each on her peculiar style
of beauty. Every woman, however plain,
believes that she has a peculiar style, if not
of positive beauty, at least of something ap-
proaching so near as to be frequently mis-
taken for it ; and to dress so as to suit this
imagined peculiarity becomes the object of
each. The fade blonde, believing herself a
languishing beauty, attires her person in blue

42 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

celeste, thinking that delicate colour the best
calculated to show off her peculiar style. The
brunette selects yellow, which she thinks
makes her look fairer. The lady troubled
with too much embonpoint chooses a dark-
coloured dress, and the one with too little
selects white, each quite assured of produc-
ing the desired effect. This spirit of co-
quetry, originating in the amiable desire to
please, inherent in the female sex, was as
predominant in the ladies of the remote

town of as in Paris, that " Paradise of

women," whose thoughts are ever fixed on
witching the world by their skill in the secret
arcana of the toilette. Bent on committing
havoc on the hearts of the newly-arrived red-
coats, the various fabrics of the loom to be

procured at were examined, compared,

and at length decided on.

One fair girl alone might be excepted
from entertaining this desire to captivate,
and this was Grace O'Neill, who declared to
her grandmother that she preferred staying
at home with her to going to the ball. " In-
deed, darling, you must go," said tlie good

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 43

old lacly. " You confine yourself too much
to the house with me. You may shake your
head, Grace, but indeed you do ; and the
consequence is that you are losing your fine
colour for want of the exercise and gaiety
suitable to your age, and a little dancing will
do you good."

" Don't ask me, dearest grandmother. I
really prefer not to go."

" And I, Grace, have set my heart on your
appearing at this ball ; so I will lay my com-
mands on you for this once, — a rare thing
between us, my child, for you are always
much more disposed to obey than I am to
command."

" But is it not foolish, dearest grand-
mother, for us who are not rich, to throw
away money on a dress for an occasion that
does not at all tempt me ?"

" Ah ! Grace, things are changed since I
was a girl. Young persons now are wiser
than their parents ; ay even than their old
grandmothers. But for this once I will have
my way. A book muslin dress will not ruin
us, poor as you think we are ; and a flower

44 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

out of Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerald's conservatory,
to which we are always welcome, will be suf-
ficient ornament for your head ; and, with
your pearl necklace, I doubt not that my
Grace will look as well, if not better, than
any girl in the room."

" Your partiality misleads you, dearest
grandmother, and would make me vain if I
did not remember its extent."

And Grace arose, and, clasping her arms
around the neck of the worthy Countess
O'Neill, kissed her forehead. " God bless
you, darling !" said the amiable lady, her eyes
filling with tears. " You are the pride and
comfort of my life."

But our readers must permit us to make
them acquainted with the grandmother and
grand-daughter ; nay, more, with the grand-
father. The Countess O'Neill, now in h6r
sixty-fourth year, was the widow of a Gene-
ral O'Neill who had long served in the Aus-
trian service, his religion — he being a Roman
Catholic — having precluded his entering the
army in his native land. Of an ancient
family — so ancient that its origin was traced

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 45

to one of the kings of Ireland — persecution
and confiscation had for many years so dimi-
nished the once large fortune of his progeni-
tors, that when left an orphan, when little
more than a boy, it was deemed expedient
that, furnished with letters of recommenda-
tion from the hand of a neiofhbourinof noble-
man to no less a personage than Maria
Teresa herself, and with a genealogy con-
taining as many quarterings of nobility as
that of the proudest count of the Holy Ro-
man Empire, he should proceed to Vienna
and enter the service of the Empress. His
good looks, gallant bearing, and, though last
not least, his gentle blood, found favour in
the sight of his protectress. He soon had a
commission bestowed on him, with an allow-
ance to support it with decent dignity, and
he so well justified the favour shown him
that he gained the respect of all who knew
him. The young Irishman arrived to offer
his services to Maria Teresa at a critical
moment for her, for never were her affairs in
a more hopeless state. Without troops, allies,
or money, and with ministers incapable of

10

46 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

assisting her by their counsel, any other
woman would have despaired. But her
heroic heart and courageous mind sustained
her, and the aid of England and her brave
Hungarians lent her fortitude.

In this extremity, she convoked a Diet at
Presburg, whither the young O'Neill, with
other volunteers, followed her. He beheld
her for the first time when, with the crown
of St. Etienne on her head and the royal
sword girded to her waist, she appeared be-
fore the Assembly with her young son in her
arms. Attired in deep mourning — in that
most picturesque of all dresses- — the Hunga-
rian— her appearance made a deep impres-
sion on all who beheld her ; but, when she
addressed the States in Latin, her youth, her
beauty, and misfortunes, won all who listened
to her cause. " Abandoned by my friends,
persecuted by my enemies, attacked by my
nearest relatives, I have no resource but in
your fidelity, your courage, and my fortitude.
I place in your hands the daughter and son of
your king, who depend on you for their pro-
tection.'' The magnates, fired with enthu-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 47

siasm, drew their sabres and cried aloud^
" Let us die for our sovereign, Maria
Teresa !"

Up to that moment, she had maintained an
attitude of calm and majestic dignity; but,
beholding the devotion of her adherents, she
burst into tears, which so excited their feel-
ings that they would willingly have sacrificed
their lives for her at the moment. Nor did
their enthusiasm in her cause subside until
she had regained her rights and established a
peace the most advantageous to her interests.
In all the actions fought, O'Neill distinguished
himself in his profession, and his promotion
became as rapid as his most sanguine hopes
could anticipate. He had, after many years'
service, attained the rank of general, with
the title of count of the Holy Roman Em-
pire, bestowed by the empress as a reward
for his bravery in several actions and as a
proof of the high estimation in which he was
held, with a pension for his life to maintain
the rank to which he was elevated.

A longing desire to behold once more his
native land induced the Count O'Neill to

48 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

visit Ireland. He was welcomed by tlie few
persons still alive who had known his worthy
father; and by all who remembered the
handsome, manly, ingenuous youth who,
twenty years before, had left that neighbour-
hood to seek his fortune in a country where
his religion was no impediment to his enter-
ing the profession of arms, to which he was
formed to do honour. Often had his fame
reached the land of his birth through the
newspapers, and his countrymen were proud
of his reputation. But, when he visited
tliem, his bronzed but still handsome face,
his gallant bearing and fine soldier-like
figure, with the military decorations bestowed
on him, excited a warm interest in his favour
among the men, and a still more lively one
among the women, ever prone to admire
bravery and mihtary distinction. Many
were those who, forgetful of his father when
the son was left unprovided for and an
orphan, now came forward with alacrity to
claim acquaintance with the handsome and
distinguished Count O'Neill, and to solicit
his acceptance of their hospitalities.

I

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 49

Every anecdote connected with bis child-
hood, or with his father, was now recalled to
the minds of his new-found friends, to the
surprise and admiration of those who well
j.emembered tlie little notice taken of the
orphan youth, w^ho had now become an ob-
ject of such attraction to those who had then
neglected him. The Count O'Neill's servant,
too, an Irishman, who had entered his ser-
vice some ten years before, considerably aided
in extending the reputation of his honoured
master. He spoke of rich Countesses whose
hands and broad lands it only depended on
the Count to have accepted ; nay, more, of
princesses, as he described them, rolling in
gold and covered with diamonds, who were
dying with love for his sake, but whose ad-
vances he had slighted. He told of his
having danced with the Empress Maria
Teresa herself at the court balls, an honour
seldom conferred except on kings and princes
— of orders sparkling with jewels bestowed
on him, with a heap, as he exj^ressed it, " of
diamond rings and snuff-boxes enough to fill
a jeweller's shop." Patrick O'Donohough,

VOL. I. D

50 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

for SO was Count O'Neill's servant named,
had a lively imagination, and no ordinary
eloquence in displaying it on all subjects, but
more especially when the honour and distinc-
tion conferred on his master became his
theme. He believed that in exalting the
general in the opinion of all with whom he
was acquainted, he took the most effectual
means of gaining consideration for himself;
and, as he really entertained the warmest ad-
miration for his master, his statements were
tinged with all the high colouring which an
unbounded partiality and a profound respect
could bestow. The old axiom, that no man
could be a hero in the eyes of his valet de
chambre, did not hold good in the case of
Count O'Neill and Patrick O'Donohough ;
for, although the former was allowed by those
who knew him to possess all the qualities
which constitute a hero, in no eyes did he
possess them in so eminent a degree as in
those of his servitor, perhaps for the simple
reason that not a single spark of envy min-
gled with his admiration ; and of how few
of the admirers of heroes could this be
asserted !

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 51

" I wonder the Count never married any
of those princesses, or grand ladies, that you
say were in love with him, Mr. O'Dono-
hough !" would one of the femmes de chambre
of his acquaintance observe when Patrick
had been boasting of the numerous tender
passions his master had inspired in foreign
lands.

" The Count," would he reply, " is too
proud a gentleman ever to become the left-
handed husband of even a queen."

" And what's a left-handed husband, Mr.
O'Donohough ?"

" It's a marriage contracted with a person
of inferior rank, which, though tolerated in
a religious point of view, is not openly ac-
knowledged, as a marriage is between equals.
A king marries, suppose a countess or a mar-
chioness ; he makes her a duchess or a prin-
cess, but he cannot make her a queen ; nor
her son by him cannot be a king ; but the
lady is known to be his majesty's wife, a la
main gauche, as we say in France and Ger-
many, which means by the left-hand."

" Ah, I see now, Mr. O'Donohough — I

D 2

52 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

quite understand, and T think the Count was
quite right not to be a left-handed husband.
It's for all the world like being a bishop's
wife, who is only plain ' Mrs.,' while he is
* my lord,' and ' your lordship,' which has
always made me wonder that any lady would
consent to marry a bishop."

" And you are right, Mrs. Maroony. Hus-
band and wife ought to be equal in every
respect, which is the reason that I have re-
mained single; for, says I often to myself,
when I might have married far above me,
which I might have done more than once, ay,
or twice, if I had wished it — not that I am
given to boast, God knows, but ladies will
sometimes take a fancy — yes, and real ladies
too — to persons far below their own station ;
but, like my master, I objected to a left-
handed marriage. It would never have done
for me to have my wife a countess, while I
was only plain Mr. O'Donohough ; and so I
refused the offers made me."

The boasting of Patrick produced a great
effect on his simple auditors. He who was
supposed to have conquered the hearts of

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 53

countesses achieved an easy conquest over
those of the handmaidens of the neighbour-
hood where he now found himself; for it is
one among the many mysteries of the female
heart, from the highest down to the lowest
grade in society, that the man who has, or who
is supposed to have, won the affection of
women superior to himself is generally an
object of attention to the rest of the female
sex. Many were the aspirants for Patrick
O'Donohough's affections among the pretty
and coquettish maidens who waited on the
young ladies in the neighbourhood, — but
many more w^ere the assaults aimed at the
heart of his master by the young ladies them-
selves.

But Count O'Neill was accustomed to
such attacks, and resisted them as a soldier
of twenty years' standing, and great expe-
rience in the strategies of love as well as
in those of war, might be expected to do.
Nevertheless, while he was well guarded
against the attacks he was prepared for, his
heart yielded at once to the charms of a
lovely and artless girl who never dreamt of

54 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

touching it, or of disputing the prize with
those who were so anxiously striving to gain
it. The beautiful Mary O'Halloran was sur-
prised to find that the affection sought by so
many competitors was accorded to her ; but
surprise was quickly followed by delight,
when, authorized by his declaration of at-
tachment, she allowed herself to become
sensible of his numerous attractions and
noble qualities. Her's was not a heart to
yield itself unsought, or to dwell on the
perfections of any man who had not evinced
such a decided preference for her as might
justify such a contemplation : but now, con-
vinced of the sincerity of his affection for
her, she abandoned herself to the contem-
plation of a character which every day's in-
tercourse enabled her to judge merited all her
esteem, and she repaid his attachment with
a love no less fervent and profound than his
own.

A new world seemed to open before this
young and lovely creature as she yielded her
heart to the passion that now filled it. The
sky seemed brighter, all nature seemed em-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 55

bellished, and love tinged every scene and
every object around her with fairer hues.
She dwelt in an elysium, into which the
world's cares and thoughts could not pene-
trate ; and she resigned herself to the happy
present, as children do to slumber, without a
fear for the future. Love was the magician
that had wrought this change ; and she only
wondered, as she compared the past with the
present, how she had endured the placid,
monotonous course in which her days had
previously rolled on, contrasted as they now
were with such felicitous ones, — bright and
blissful illusions of a first love, felt but once,
and ever after looked back on as the halcyon
days of life, the green oasis in the dreary
desert of existence.

56 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER IV.

Mary O'Halloran was envied by all her
female acquaintance when it became known
that the gallant, the distinguished Count
O'Neill had demanded her hand; but even
envy could find nothing to hint a fault in
one so pure and artless as this lovely girl.
The young gentlemen in the neighbourhood
envied the Count, and expressed their regret
that, while some of them were deliberating
on the momentous question of proposing for
Mary O'Halloran, a new competitor should
arrive and bear off the prize.

In due time the marriage was solemnized,
and the fair bride would have been the hap-
piest of her sex had not the prospect of
leaving her widowed mother damped her

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 57

felicity. Pressing were tlie inYitations given
by Count O'Neill that his mother-in-law
should accompany him and his wife to
Vienna, and make her home with them ; and
the timid but doting mother had at length
yielded her assent, when the Count was sum-
moned by the Austrian Government to repair
to London, thence to proceed on some mis-
sion of importance, after which he was to
return to Vienna wuth as much speed as pos-
sible. This last injunction offered a for-
midable obstacle to his mother-in-law's ac-
companying the Count and Countess O'Neill
to Vienna. Her delicate health precluded
her undertaking a hurried journey; nor did
the Count think it right to expose his wife
to such a trial under existing circumstances,
she having been pronounced to be enceinte a
few weeks before. What was to be done in
this unexpected emergency ? And how little
time was there for reflection ! It was de-
cided that the Count was to set off for Eng-
land forthwith, leaving his carriage for the
use of his wife and mother-in-law, with his
faithful servant Patrick O'Donohough, to es-

D 5

58 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

cort them to London, whence they were to
proceed by easy journeys to Vienna, where
he Avould make the necessary preparations
for their reception.

The separation, though believed to be but
for a short time, filled the heart of the
Countess O'Neill with such sorrow that she
deemed herself childish and unreasonable at
being thus afflicted. Had there been time
for reflection, she felt that it would have
been difficult, if not impossible, for her to
refrain from accompanying her husband, not-
withstanding her conviction that her doing
so would prevent her mother from proceed-
ing to Germany with them. But the whole
affair had been so hurried over, the Count
departing the evening of the day he received
the summons, and the few hours that inter-
vened between, her spirits had been in such a
tumult that she knew not, until she beheld
the chaise that was to bear him away, and
was clasped to his heart in a parting em-
brace, how much above her strength was the
sacrifice she made in letting him depart
without her. She strained her eyes after

6

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 59

the carriage as it was rapidly driven from
her sight, and, when the sound of the reced-
ing wheels could be no longer heard, she
dropped into a seat, pale, and speechless.

Mrs. O'Halloran, pressing her lips to the
icy brow of her child, whispered that in two
days they should set out to join her son-in-
law, while a pang thrilled the maternal
breast at finding that she who had until
lately been all-in-all to her child could not
now suffice, even for a few weeks, to console
her for the absence of her husband. She
almost wished that she had not accepted a
sacrifice which cost her daughter such grief,
and expressed something like this to the
Countess. She could not have had recourse
to any better means of recalling her daugh-
ter from the all-engrossing regret to which
she was abandoning herself; for the words,
thouofh not meant to do so, sounded like a
reproach, and, clasping her arms around
her mother's neck, she asked her pardon for
forgetting, in the anguish of a first parting
from her husband, the rich reward for this
brief separation would be the blessing of

60 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

having her mother to share her home in a
distant land. Nevertheless, she found tears
continually chasing each other down her
cheeks, though she attempted to smile at
her own weakness as she wiped them away.
She found her eyes continually turning to-
wards his vacant chair, and remembered
with a pang of agony not to be subdued,
that every passing minute took him farther
from her.

" Alas !" thought the tearful wife, " what
may not a day bring forth ? This morning
I awoke the happiest of women, without the
most remote dread of this heavy trial, and
710W he is hurrying far from me, putting
miles and miles between ; and the sea — ''
(she involuntarily shuddered at the recollec-
tion)— " the broad sea will soon roll between
us. Had any one whispered a few hours
ago the possibility of such misery so soon
occurring, I could not have believed it ; yet
it has come to pass. We have parted, and
while I look around on objects fondly — oh !
how fondly — associated with him, he is hur-
rying through scenes where I have never

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 61

been, where nothing can bring me to his
memory. How cheerless, how desolate
must all scenes be Avhere the beloved has
never passed, where one cannot identify his
image with a single object, or say ' here he
thought of me !' But my beloved needs no
such reminders. Flis lieart will talk to him
of his poor Mary ! How he would chide her
weakness if he knew how utterly unable she
is to bear even a short absence from him.
What a wretched soldier's wife I shall make,
should he be called from me by a war ! But
I must not think of anything so dreadful."

When the Countess sought her pillow, the
sight of that which her husband's head had
pressed the night before, renewed her grief.
She kissed it while her tears fell on it, and
she almost screamed with joy as a letter slid
from under it. " How thoughtful, how ten-
der, how like him !" exclaimed she, eagerly
breaking the seal and reading over a fare-
well as fond and as passionate as her own
woman's heart could have dictated. He had
anticipated all her feelings, all her regret :
and every syllable in his letter dropped like

62 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

a healing balm on her heart. Again and
again she read that precious letter, and
thanked the Almighty Giver of all good for
having bestowed on her a husband so worthy
of all her love.

The second day after the departure of
Count O'Neill, his wife, and mother-in-law,
accompanied by a youthful and simple
maiden, who served them, and by the faith-
ful Patrick O'Donohough, set out for Water-
ford, where they were to embark for Eng-
land. Mrs. O'Halloran, struck by the
extreme depression of spirits of her daugh-
ter, and alarmed for its effects, had hurried
her preparations for departure, and left an
old and trustworthy servant in charge of her
house and furniture until an opportunity
should offer of disposing of both. Though
she sympathized with the deep depression of
spirits under which her daughter was la-
bouring, she could not quite comprehend its
cause. So short a separation ought, she
imagined, to be borne with more fortitude ;
and she trembled with apprehension for the
future, on observing how little able her

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 63

daughter was to submit to the trials from
which no wife, and more especially a sol-
dier's wife, can be exempt. " Poor, poor
Mary," thought the fond mother, " may
Heaven preserve you from any greater trial
than the present !"

The travellers reached Waterford on the
second day of their journey, determined to
embark by the next packet that should sail ;
and, on alighting at the hotel nearest to
the quay, the Countess announced their in-
tention to the landlady as she conducted
them to their rooms.

" I hope, ladies, that you will have a safe
passage," said she, " for we have all been
greatly shocked by the intelligence which
has this evening reached us of the loss of the
packet for England, which sailed three days
ago from this port, every soul on board of
which has perished."

A thrill of horror passed over the frame of
Mrs- O'Hailoran, and an instinctive movement
drew her closer to her daughter, on whose arm
she was leaning as they were slowly ascending
the stairs. A faint shriek escaped the lips of

64 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

the Countess, and she fell into the arms of
her mother in a deep swoon. She was taken
to bed while still in a state of insensibility ;
a medical man was sent for, who found it
exj^edient to call in another to his aid ; and
for several days the life of the bereaved wife
was despaired of from the effects of a violent
brain fever.

Alas ! the fatal intelligence so abruptly
conveved to her was but too true ; the
packet in which Count O'Neill, with other pas-
sengers, had sailed, had gone down the night
he embarked, in a heavy gale of wind, and
the floating timbers of the shattered wreck,
one of which bore the name of the vessel,
revealed its fate. Long was it before the
hapless widow was in a state of mind to com-
prehend the truth. She raved continually
of the last parting with her husband, ut-
tered frequent reproaches for being detained
from joining him, and menaced those about
her v;ith his anger for keeping her from him.
Her mother never left the room of her suf-
fering child. Whenever, exhausted by fatigue,
she reposed for a short time, it was always

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 65

on a small bed near that of her daughter ;
and she would allow no hand but her own to
administer the medicines ordered for her.
In vain the doctors warned Mrs. O'Halloran
that she would inevitably destroy her own
delicate health by her exertions and constant
confinement to the sick chamber. No warn-
ings, no arguments, could induce her to leave
her child for even half an hour.

Patrick O'Donohough's grief for his adored
master j)artook of all the fire of his cha-
racter. The blow fell on him with such a
stunning shock that for many days he would
not, could not, believe it to be true. " Oh !
no, it can't be," said he ; " hav'n't I seen him
often in the midst of the field of battle sur-
rounded by the enemy, his nostrils open like
those of a war-horse when it snorts at the
sound of the cannon, his hair rising from his
temples as if in defiance, his fine eyes flash-
ing fire, and his white teeth exposed by his
open lips ; bis sabre gleaming like lightning
as he whirled it over his head, cleaving
down those opposed to him, as the scythe of
of the reaper mows down the ripe corn, each

66 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

stroke leaving a red stain on the blade?
Oh ! it was a grand yet terrible sight to be-
hold him at such moments ! and, as I think
of him coming safe from such danger, I
can't bring myself to believe that he could
meet death anywhere but on the field of
battle. Then he could swim as I never saw
any one else do. He seemed as much
master of the waves as of his charger,
mounting and descending on them when they
were in their rage as naturally as the sea-
gulls do. And then to have such a hero go
down in a common packet like any of the
other passengers, and to have his noble body
become food for the sea monsters and fishes,
oh ! it drives me mad ; and I'm always
thinking that if I had been with him, and
couldn't save him, at all events I'd have had
the honour and comfort of dying with him ;
and a great honour and comfort it would
be."

Poor Patrick begged permission of Mrs.
O'Halloran to go to England a few days after
the news of the fatal catastrophe had reached
him. ^' I have heard, madam," said he.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 67

" that it was near the English coast that the
ship was lost, and who knows but the body
may have been cast on shore, in which case
I'd bring it over for interment ? Lord, lord, if
he had died at Vienna, what a grand funeral
he would have had ! I want to go to the
Austrian ambassador in London, too, and it's
right for many reasons that I should; but,
my master, — may the heavens be his bed ! —
having left me in charge of the Countess, I
could not quit my post without leave."

Alas ! the poor Countess was in such a
state of distraction, that for many, many
weeks she could not be appealed to on any
subject, but her mother yielded assent for
Patrick to proceed to England, he solemnly
assuring her that his going would be for
the good of his lady. Patrick departed, and
tarried some weeks on the coast near to
which the packet had been wrecked, but no
tidings could be obtained of the body of his
master. Day after day would he, with a
couple of boatmen, row about the place
pointed out as the scene of the disaster,
praying, with a tortured heart, that '' the sea

68 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

might yield up her dead," and endeavouring
to peer into her depths to discover the ob-
ject of his search ; but all was vain ; that
noble form which still lived in his memory
was never more to meet his sight, and, con-
vinced of this, he proceeded to London to
relate his sad story to the ambassador. This
nobleman had been an old and intimate
friend of Count O'Neills, and knew Pa-
trick, the fate of whose master excited
the deepest regret in his breast. Patrick
could have hugged him to his heart when he
witnessed the tears he vainly tried to
check.

" 0, Count, sure it's no use crying," said
the poor fellow ; " remember that your
friend has left a widow, the loveliest, the
best of women ; and, if I may touch on such
a matter, she is likely to bring forth a child.
God grant it may be a boy to support his
name ! Write to the Emperor, Count. If
his mother was alive she'd be a mother to
his wife and child, for she loved him like a
son." And here tears checked the words of
poor Patrick, as he remembered the distinc-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 69

tion with which his departed master had
ever been treated by the Empress.

" Write to the Emperor, Count, and re-
mind him tbat one of the bravest officers he
ever had has left a widow who will in a
few months have a child ; that she is the
only daughter of a widow as noble in mind
as she is poor in pocket ; and that a pension
for the Countess O'Neill and lier child for
thefr lives is the least he can give to prove
how^ he valued the departed hero."

Patrick found a patient hearer in the am-
bassador, who lost no time in making such a
representation to his Sovereign as led to a
pension of three hundred pounds a year be-
ing granted to the widowed Countess for her
life, with a reversion to her child, should it
prove a girl, and the oifer of an education
in one of the military colleges, and a com-
mission in the army, should it be a boy.
This gracious grant was accompanied by a
letter to the Countess O'Neill written by the
royal hand, containing such high eulogiums
on her departed husband, and expressions of
such deep interest towards herself, as must

70 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

have soothed her heart had she then been in
a state of mind to comprehend its kindness.
But the hour was not arrived when such un-
expected goodness could mitigate the vio-
lence of her grief, for her reason still tot-
tered on its throne. The faithful Patrick,
by the advice of the ambassador, proceeded
from London to Vienna with letters of re-
commendation to some of the most attached
friends of his late master, in order that the
property of the deceased should be converted
into money for the benefit of his widow,
and, so anxious were the companions in arms
of Count O'Neill to possess anything which
had belonged to him, that every article of
furniture in his apartment, with his swords,
pistols, &c., were purchased at thrice their
original cost, forming a much larger sum
than had ever been anticipated. The Em-
peror had a copy made of a fine portrait of
Count O'Neill which he possessed, and sent
it, with a handsome watch, chain, and seals,
and a valuable diamond ring, to the widow.

When after three months the Countess
O'Neill, reduced to nearly a breathing sha-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 71

dow, was restored to consciousness of her
deprivation, she found her mother so changed
in appearance as to be hardly recognisable.
Her attenuated form and pale face appealed
more forcibly to the heart of her child than
all the reasoning that the most eloquent
preacher could utter. In them she saw the
results of care, anxiety, and sorrow, which
had made such inroads on the life of her
parent ; and now, aware that in a few months
she herself would become a mother, she felt
more than ever disposed to fulfil the duties
of a daughter, and to make an effort to live
to repay the debt of gratitude she owed to
her doting parent. She wished to live also
to behold and bless his child ; and a flood of
tenderness gushed to her heart as she thought
of her unborn infant. 0 ! should it but re-
semble its father, that husband so adored,
and so soon snatched from her, she might
yet be able to bear existence, although hap-
piness could never more be hoped for.

There were moments when the blissful
but too fleeting days of her wedded life ap-
peared to her but as a dream ; and she asked

72 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

herself whether it could be indeed true that
she had been so blest, and was now^ so deso-
late ? Then she would look back, and remem-
ber how calmly had glided away her days
until she beheld him whose loss had steeped
her life in wretchedness ; and w^ould ask
whether there was no lethean draught which
could destroy the memory " that such days
were, and were most sw^eet ? " But her heart
told her that, whatever might be the tortures
which memory could inflict, she preferred
them to forgetfulness of him wdio had been
the idol of her life, and w^as now the guid-
ing star that pointed her hopes to Heaven.
No ! she should hate herself could she forget
him ; and that existence, which could never
more be brightened by a hope of happiness
for herself, should be devoted to the care of
his child. That the terrible shock she had
received had not destroyed her infant seemed
little less than a miracle ; and for this boon
she was, indeed, most grateful to Heaven.
Always pious, the Countess O'Neill became
now more so than ever. Her thoughts con-
tinually reverted to that better world where

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 73

no teais are shed, where no more partings
are. There he, so passionately, so fondly
loved, had preceded her ; and there she
hoped, one day, to join him. This blessed
hope sustained her ; and, when it pleased the
Almighty that she sliould see the face of her
child, should hear its feeble cry, and press it
to her breast, she felt that, for its sake, she
could submit to live.

The Countess O'Neill and her mother re-
turned once more to their home, that home
which when they left they believed they
should enter no more. The day they again
took i^ossession of it was, indeed, a painful
trial to the youthful widow ; but, when she
felt the bitterness of grief renewed, she
pressed her infant to her heart, and remem-
bered how baleful to its health would be the
indulgence of the violent sorrow she found it
so difficult to subdue. She had insisted on
nursing her child, and her mother, aware how
much this occupation would fill her mind and
lighten the weight of affliction that had
crushed her, approved the measure, firmly
calling her daughter's attention to the abso-

VOL. I. E

74 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

lute necessity of the self-control to be ex-
ercised by a nurse. The dread of injuring
her infant's health became now the fixed rule
of the doting young mother's conduct, and, as
she marked the effect of this almost heroic
triumph over self on the child, she was repaid
for it.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 75

CHAPTER V.

The faithful Patrick O'Donoliough, a ge-
neral favourite with the friends of his late
master, met with great kindness and sympa-
thy from them. Several offered to take him
into their service ; and the general who
commanded the regiment in which Count
O'Neill had formerly served, so strongly re-
commended him, that a pension of thirty
pounds a year was granted to him for his
life by the order of the Emperor.

" I must return to my duty," said Patrick.
" My honoured master placed me in charge
of the Countess, and in her service I'll live
and die ; since what else have I now on earth
to do but to prove as devoted to her as I
was to him ? "

E 2

76 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

"But, if she sliould marry again ? *' sug-
gested one of Patrick's friends.

" Marry again !" repeated Patrick, with an
air of Jiertc, " after having such a husband
as Count O'Neill? You little know her. No;
she'll never look on another man with eyes
of affection, unless God should give her a
son who may resemble him. She's not a
woman to love twice."

Deeply interested for the youthful widow^
])y the artless but animated description of
her given by Patrick, the brother officers of
her late husband determined to send her a
mark of their affection for his memory.
They subscribed to her a tasteful and valua-
ble tea-service, executed in silver, with a
suitable inscription, which they forwarded to
her through the Austrian ambassador in Lon-
don ; and Patrick returned to Ireland the
bearer of eight hundred pounds, the produce
of his poor master's effects at Vienna, and a
considerable sum of his own, the gifts of his
master's friends, absolutely forced on him.

" I'm come back, madam, never more to
leave my mistress," said he to Mrs. O'Hal-
loran.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 77

" I am afraid, Patrick/' replied she, " that
our circumstances will not permit us to re-
tain you, which I greatly regret, for we know
how to value you ; '' and she sighed deeply.

" Faith, I was afraid of that, ma'am, and
1 didn't like to be a burden ; but still I
couldn't leave my charge. Sure the last word
he ever said to me was, ' Patrick never leave
your mistress.' And could I forget that
command ? I was always thinking how I
could manage to obey his orders without being
a burden to you, ma'am, or to the Coun-
tess ; and I remembered that I was brought
up to be a tailor when I was a boy, though
it's a confession I never made to mortal since
I went to Vienna, fifteen years ago; and
which I hope, ma'am, you'll have the good-
ness never to tell to any one ; " and Patrick
looked around cautiously to see that no one
was listening to this confession. " Sure,
ma'am, I was ashamed of my life to think I
had been of all things in the world a tailor,
the ninth part of a man, as they are called,
a dressmaker in breeches, saving your favour.
It was hearing people everlastingly laughing

78 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

and jeering about tailors that made me leave
my trade and go off to Germany with a young
gentleman with whom I lived till he died ;
and then I had the honour — and sure a great
honour it was — to enter his service wlio is
now in Heaven. And often, and often, when
his clothes didn't quite fit him, and I saw,
plainly enough, for all their conceit, that
them extravagant tailors at Vienna couldn't
alter them to his mind, I have locked myself
up and ripped the clothes, and pinched them
in here, and let them out there, until I got
them quite to his fancy ; and then I used to
be so pleased and proud when he praised
them, that I was sometimes tempted to tell
him the truth, and ask him to let me make
all his clothes ; but then the thought of being
laughed at, of being considered the ninth
part of a man, stopped my tongue, so I never
let out the secret. But, as I was going to
tell you, ma'am, when I suspected I might be
an expense, a burden to the Countess and
you, I determined to take a little room near
your house, and set up for a tailor. I could
work for six hours in the morning before

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 79

either of you were up, and get through a
power of work, and be ready to serve break-
fast, and do all my mistress and you required
during the day ; and I could earn enough to
keep myself free of expense, and to put by
something over and above for whatever might
be wanted."

Mrs. O'Halloran looked her gratitude, for
she was too much touched to speak. " But
now, ma'am, this sacrifice of my pride — and
it was the greatest I ever was willing to
make — is not necessary, and I rejoice in it,
for I believe I was a fool to be ashamed of
an honest calling ; but, when folly gets into
the head of the young, it's hard to get it out
after." And then Patrick entered into a full
detail of all that had taken place at Vienna,
delivered the Emperor's letter and gifts, as-
suring the pension, and wound up by hand-
ing an exact statement of the sale of Count
O'Neill's effects, and the sum they had pro-
duced, to Mrs. O'Halloran. " Oh, ma'am,''
added he, " if I have an advice to offer, it
would be that you and the Countess and his
child, when it pleases God to send it, should

8

80 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

go to Vienna, v/here you would find friends
and brothers in plenty for Ms sake ; and
where the Emperor and Empress, Heaven
bless 'em ! would stand by you all as long as
you live. There you would see how he was
adored ; yes, ma'am, positively adored."

Faithfully did Patrick serve his mistress,
and fondly did he doat on the little daughter
of his never-forgotten master, though when
she first saw the light he regretted that God
had not sent a son to bear the Count's title,
and in due time go to Vienna. But, as the
child grew up, he became reconciled to her
sex, and almost worshipped her. Mrs. O'Hal-
loran died some few years after, and the
Countess O'Neill, a delicate invalid, almost
constantly confined to the house, found every
day what a treasure she possessed in the
faithful servant of her departed husband.
He managed her little property so judi-
ciously, being, at once her housekeeper,
cook, and butler, that, at the end of every
year, she discovered that such savings had
been eifected by Patrick that the fund ap-
propriated as a marriage portion for her

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 81

daughter was daily increasing. Her deep
devotion to the memory of her departed
husband had caused Patrick to look up to
her with a reverence never surpassed. He
considered her, and he was not wrong in his
belief, as one of the most faultless of her sex,
" a perfect saint," he used to say, " whose
heart was set on Heaven, where he now was
who had been too good for this world."

The child of his master grew up to woman-
hood, educated by her exemplary mother,
whose delicate constitution she unfortunately
inherited. Patrick taught her to ride, pro-
vided her with a horse, and one for himself
to attend her, and made her a riding-habit
(working in secret) which was the admira-
tion of all the town and neighbourhood, and
which was supposed to come from London,
so well did it fit its fair wearer, and so ad-
mirable was its workmanship. His own
clothes were also manufactured by himself,
though no one but the Countess O'Neill was
in the secret ; and it was often remarked
that no one wore such well-fitting garments
as Mr. O'Donohough. At seventeen, Miss

E 5

82 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

O'Neill — for, in spite of all Patrick's repre-
sentations and reclamations on the subject,
she was not styled Countess, which he de-
clared she was entitled to be, as the daughter
of a count of the Holy Roman Empire —
married a colonel of her own name, which,
in Patrick's opinion, was a strong recommen-
dation to the match. The colonel, like her-
self, was an only child — had lost both his
parents, and possessed no patrimony, his
commission being his sole dependence. He
was then on leave of absence, and returned
to his native land in search of health, he
having lost that blessing by a long sojourn
with his regiment in an unhealthy climate.
In the course of his perambulations, he came
on a visit to one of the neighbouring houses,
and saw the beautiful Maria Theresa O'Neill.
" A mutual flame was quickly caught and
quickly revealed ;" and, after a courtship of
some months, which disclosed the many esti-
mable qualities of the suitor, the Countess
O'Neill consented to the union of the lovers.
"Sure, madam," said Patrick, who, pre-
suming on his attachment and long services.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 83

considered he had a right to offer his opinion,
" what more could be desired ? Is he not an
Irishman, a colonel, and an O'Neill? A
brave soldier, as I have often heard her
father, who is in Heaven, say, is worthy of
any alliance. The darling child is not strong
enough to bear disappointment ; so, in God's
name, let her have the man of her heart."

This simple reasoning was all-powerful
with the fond mother. She bestowed her
daughter's hand on the colonel, who became
an inmate of the maternal roof, adding
largely to its happinesSj until ten months
after, when Mrs. O'Neill expired in giving
birth to a daughter, leaving her husband and
her mother plunged in the deepest grief
The poor infant — all that now remained of
a daughter she had adored — was received
into the arms of its sorrowing grandmother,
and was so fondly cherished, so tenderly
cared for, that, contrary to the prediction of
all the neighbours, it grew and prospered, to
reward, by its infantile smiles, her who from
the hour of its birth had devoted herself to
it. Silent grief, acting on the shattered

84 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

health of the bereaved husband, rendered it
soon apparent that he could not long survive
his beloved wife. In seven months, he fol-
lowed her to the tomb, having bequeathed
his child to her grandmother, well convinced
that in that amiable w^oman she would find
the tenderest of mothers.

Even on this occasion the faithful Patrick
proved the judicious friend of the family.
Seeing the danger of Colonel O'Neill, and
entertaining little hope of his recovery, he
suggested to him the prudence of selling his
commission and investing the money it pro-
duced for the use of his child. The suofres-
tion was immediately adopted, and four
months after the sale was effected and the
produce secured to the child, the Countess
O'Neill being named guardian to her grand-
daughter and executrix to the coloners will.
The heavy trials which had fallen on the
Countess O'Neill had chastened her mind
and purified her heart. She felt that the
infant bequeathed to her care required that
she should quell her grief if she hoped to live
long enough to fulfil the duties of the task

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 85

she had undertaken, and thenceforth she
bent all her thoughts to its fulfilment. Often
would she consent to partake some delicacy
which the watchful forethought of Patrick
had prepared for her, when he urged the
necessity of her keeping up her strength for
the sake of the darling Miss Grace, for so
was the child named.

" Sure, madam, how can you hope to live
to see her grow up if you won't take nourish-
ment enough to keep life and soul together,
but go on only tasting one little thing or an-
other, just for all the world as if you were a
sparrow ?"

Often might Patrick be seen rolling the
Countess in a garden-chair which he had pro-
vided, with the child on her knee ; and as
often might he be seen dancing the baby in
his arms, and singing to her, " for fear," as he
used to say, " she would grow up dull in so
quiet and silent a house, where a laugh or a
loud word was never heard." And the child
soon learned to know and love her humble
friend. She would hold out her little dim-
pled hands the moment he entered, crow and

86 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

smile the moment he offered to take her ;
and he would say, while he wiped a tear
from his eye, that he could fancy sometimes
that he was in a dream, and that it was his
blessed master's own child instead of his
grandchild he w^as looking on, the mother
and daughter were so exactly alike.

" Well, to think that I, who was a gay
young man at Vienna," would Patrick say,
"going to the wine-shops with my compa-
nions and dancing with the pretty girls at
fetes, should have passed away my youth
nursing child after child, and the Countess,
• poor dear lady, into the bargain ! But what
could they do without me ? Sure God is
Qfood. If He lets trouble and sorrow fall on
some, He puts it into the hearts of others to
be of use to 'em ; ay, and teaches ^em how.
I never could have believed that ever I could
learn to be a nurse or a cook, and sure I'm
both — through the force of necessity ; for I
do believe that if I had not had the thought
to learn to cook a few nice things, and the
perseverance to make the Countess eat 'em
in spite of her inclination, she wouldn't now

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 87

be alive, after all the sorrow she has gone
through ; and, as for both the darling chil-
dren I have brought up, they'd have died in
their cradles if I had not kept up their spirits
vidth dancing 'em and singing sprightly songs
to 'em ; though, God knows, I often did both
when I was more inclined to cry than to
sing. Well, God be praised, I have been of
use ; this is a consolation for having been a
tailor. What an angel of a woman the Coun-
tess is, and so was her mother before her,
never to have thought the worse of me after
knowing this secret !"

Never did a miser take more pleasure in
saving money than did Patrick O'Dono-
hough. He confined his own personal ex-
penses to so limited a sum, that three parts,
at least, of his pension were hoarded and
placed out at interest for the purpose of add-
ing to the portion of the grand-daughter of
his never-forgotten master. Nor could all
the eloquence of the Countess ever persuade
him to accept any wages, or any pecuniary
gift, from her. Her small establishment —
consisting of Patrick and two female ser-

88 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

vants — he managed with such strict economy^
without, however, neglecting every comfort,
and many luxuries, for the table of the Coun-
tess, that she frequently felt surprised when
the amount of the disbursements, which
Patrick regularly entered in a book, was
placed before her every month; and won-
dered how, even in Ireland, so proverbially
cheap, the expenditure could be so little.
Patrick had an especial pride in this syste-
matic economy : first, because it increased
the little fortune of Miss O'Neill ; and^
secondly, because it proved his ability in
housekeeping, and excited the wonder and
admiration of the Countess O'Neill. He
calculated every half-year the sums saved
from the pension of the Countess, as well as
from his own, and the interest thereon, also
on the £800 produced by the sale of Count
O'Neill's property at Vienna, with the sum
for which the late Colonel O'Neill's commis-
sion sold. " She'll be no pauper after all,"
would he say, as he summed up principal
and interest on a slate — a favourite occujDa-
tion of his when he had a little leisure, and

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 89

which furnished a subject of wonder to the
two women servants of the establishment, to
whose questions he always replied that he
was calculating the national debt, a reply not
the less satisfactory because wholly beyond
their comprehension.

The marriage and death of his master's
daughter, with the birth of her child, and the
death of its father, were duly announced to
the friends of Count O'Neill in Germany by
Patrick, who entreated the general who had
formerly obtained the pension for the Coun-
tess and its reversion to her daughter, to have
it extended to the Count's grand-daughter ;
and so well did Patrick urge the case, and so
powerfully did the general advocate it, that
the Emperor, who had not forgotten his brave
officer and favourite, readily and graciously
complied with the request ; and a letter
signed by royal hand was the first intima-
tion the Countess had of Patrick's persevering
and successful efforts to better the fortunes
of her grand-daughter— the request he had
made having never once occurred to her to
suggest or to believe likely to be crowned
with success.

90 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Faith now, Miss Grace will be quite an
heiress — a real rich heiress," said Patrick.
" The Countess blamed me for asking that
the pension might revert to her ; but don't
I well know that the Count's faithful services
and acknowledged bravery richly merited
anything that could be done for his grand-
child; and don't I know that she's more likely
to get well married with a good fortune than
if she had only her beautiful face and the
noble blood in her veins to recommend her ?
Money, money is everything now. ' How
much will she have ?' is always the question ;
and if a young gentleman in love (and sure
she has beauty and goodness enough to make
any young gentleman fall in love with her)
should forget all about money, isn't there
always an old father or guardian to remind
him of it ? Often I've thought of this, and
provided against it, so that Miss Grace may
hold up her head with the best in regard to
birth, beauty, and fortune. And Patrick
O'Donohough has proved that though a man
may have been, a tailor he may turn out a
faithful steward, and correspond with Counts

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 91

and a general, too, to serve the grand-daughter
of his master, who, at some future day, will,
with the blessing of God, when he meets
him in Heaven, say, ' Thank you, my good
Patrick !'"

92 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER VI.

Such was the history of the grandfather,
grandmother, father, and mother of Grace
O'Neill. When we introduced her to our
readers she was in her seventeenth year, and
one of the most captivating and amiable girls
in the world. A little above the middle
stature, and exquisitely formed, with a profu-
sion of hair, black as the raven's wing and
of the softest texture, Grace was dazzlingly
fair, with a delicate and transparent rose
colour in her cheeks that paled or increased
with every motion of her susceptible mind.
Her eyes were dark blue, shaded by long
and thick lashes, and might, whenever they
sparkled with animation, have passed for
hazel. Her long, black eyebrows were slightly

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 93

arched, and defined the commencement of a
nose so finely formed, and in such perfect
harmony with the whole face, that it might
have challenged separate admiration in one
less perfect ; but, though each feature was
faultless, the peculiar beauty of the mouth
rivetted the gazer's eye. Small, with lips of
just the desirable fulness, and so red as to
make the cheeks look pale, they disclosed?
whenever they opened, teeth white and even
as pearls. Her face was of a perfect oval,
which, with the fine features delicately chi-
selled as if a sculptor had formed them, gave
a classical style to her beauty, without, how-
ever, any of the cold or inanimate character
peculiar to sculpture. The symmetry of her
figure, and the exquisite delicacy of her feet
and hands — these last perfections considered
so rare in her countrywomen — excited general
admiration wherever Grace O'Neill appeared ;
and when, as sometimes occurred, remarks on
the somewhat clumsy proportions of the hands
and feet of Irish ladies in general were
hazarded by English officers with more naivete
than good breeding, Miss O'Neill was trium-

94 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

pliantly quoted as a proof that an Irish-
woman had fairy fingers, and feet that the
slipper of a Cinderella could fit. Unfortu-
nately she was the single exception in the
whole neighbourhood to the general rule — a
fact which she only seemed not to know.

With such personal charms, Grace was
wholly free from the alloy that but too fre-
quently accompanies great beauty — vanity.
Simple, natural, and unaffected, yet with a
dignified maidenly reserve that enforced re-
spect even from the young and giddy, Grace
was one of the most amiable, as well as the
most lovely, of her sex : and, although uni-
versally acknowledged to be so, excited nei-
ther the envy nor hatred of any of them.
Each and all admitted her immeasurable
superiority without a dissenting voice, or
even the use of the disparaging (strange as it
may seem) conjunction, hut ; nay more, her
private friends, however incredible it may ap-
pear, were absolutely proud of her beauty.
Although bred in so retired a spot, and where
showy accomplishments could not be easily
attained, Grace O'Neill was not deficient in

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 95

even these. A chorister of the cathedral
in Cashel came twice a week to give lessons
on the piano to a few of the young ladies of

, and Grace, under his tuition, applied

so diligently to music, that she, after some
years, acquired a proficiency in it. She
drew and painted in water-colours better
than many young ladies who had been taught
by expensive masters, though a love of na-
ture and a strong desire to copy its works
alone guided her in its study. The Countess
O'Neill, when the crushing affliction of the
loss of her husband befel her, found, after the
first year of her sorrow had elapsed, her only
consolation in reading. She fled not to
novels, as women do to opiates, and men to
even more condemnable stimulants, for a
temporary oblivion of care, but had recourse
to the perusal of history, in which the vicis-
situdes of life, occurring even to the greatest
sovereigns of earth, taught her lessons of for-
titude while cultivating and strengthening
her mind.

This vast and well-digested store of infor-
mation rendered her a most able monitress

96 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

to her grand-daughter, whom she had habi-
tuated to think and reflect, an art but too
little attended to in the process of education,
and the want of which precludes women from
becoming the rational friends and companions
of their husbands. Grace O'Neill had been
taught to dispense with the luxuries which
even the finances of her prudent grandmother
could well afford in a country so cheap as
Ireland, though all the requisites for comfort
were granted. And, while the Countess, bj
a well-regulated system of economy, was
every year adding to the portion of Grace,
she was kept in ignorance of the real state of
affairs, and believed herself and her grand-
mother much less rich than they actually
were. Not that the Countess O'Neill would
ever have condescended to aught resembling
deception, but that she thought it most pru-
dent not to reveal the actual state of her
fortune to Grace until she had reached her
twentieth year, in which opinion Patrick
O'Donohough entirely coincided.

" Faith, madam," would Patrick say, *' if
some of the wild young men about here, with

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 97

good Milesian blood in their veins it is true,
but with few guineas in their purses, knew
as well that Miss O'Neill had some thousands
of pounds safe in the funds as they know
that she is beautiful, we'd never have a mo-
ment's peace or rest with proposals pouring
in from the day she was fifteen up to this
hour ; and she herself, too, though she is the
most perfect of God's creatures, might not
be so easily satisfied as she is now if she was
aware that she has twice a better fortune
than any of the young ladies in her neigh-
bourhood, ay, by my troth, or in the next
city. Sure did I not hear the waiter of the
Great Glol)e say t'other day that most of the
young ladies at Cashel had only two washing
gowns and three tunes on the piano for their
fortune. Miss O'Neill would be for squan-
dering her money on the poor, I know well
enough, for she never can keep a shilling in
her pocket when she sees 'em, and is ready
to believe every lie they tell her."

We left Grace O'Neill yielding to the
wishes of her grandmother in preparing for
the ball ; and, when the night on which it

VOL. I. F

98 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

was to take place arrived, that she stood
before her in her simple but tasteful toilette,
perhaps a more lovely creature never was
beheld. Patrick was permitted to see her, a
privilege of which he was not a little proud ;
and having walked around her, carefully ex-
amining her dress, he gravely nodded his
head in sign of his perfect approbation, and
drevv^ forth a bouquet of beautiful flowers,
which the gift of five shillings had procured
him from the gardener of Sir Henry Travers.

" Thanks, good, kind Patrick," exclaimed
his young mistress, as he loved to call lier ;
" what rare and lovely exotics ! Look, dear
grandmother, how much finer these are than
the bouquet sent me by Lady Fitzgerald an
hour ago."

"Ah, poor lady," observed Patrick, "and
much finer than she or her daughters will
have to-night. They'll get the very refuse
of the greenhouse, while that rogue, Tim
Shaughnessey, has sold the pick and choice in
the town for the ball for his own profit."

In a short time after, the sound ot the
wheels of Lady Fitzgerald's old rumbling

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 99

coach was heard approaching the door, and
Grace O'Neill, having embraced her grand-
mother, and promised not to dance too much,
and to be sure not to stand near an open
window, nor to drink cold water, nor to eat
ice while she was heated, descended, con-
ducted by Patrick, who, with ill-dissembled
pride, handed her into the coach.

" Well, isn't she a glorious creature, ma-
dam?" exclaimed he, as he returned to re-
move the tea-things from the Countess's
little dravv^ing-room. "It did my heart good
to look at her, so it did. I'm sure there
won't be any lady in the room to compare
with her, and all eyes will be fixed on her at
the ball. I'd like very much, madam, to
step over and see how all goes on for an
hour, if *you don't want me. It always re-
minds me of the grand balls at court, when
I used to get a place in the orchestra to see
my noble master, with his elegant court
dress and diamond stars on, dancing with
one of the archduchesses. Though, God
knows, the ball here is a very different thing
from that at Schoenbriin ;" and he sighed

F 2

100 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

deeply, a sigh which was still more deeply
responded to by the Countess.

" But I suppose," resumed Patrick, *' one
ball reminds me of the other, because I went
to the court only to see my master, and I go
to this 23oor ball to see my young mistress.
Often and often do I think how much more
suited she is to be at a court ball than at

one in the poor town of . But it all

comes to the same at last. The bright eyes
that shine at courts grow dim, and close, as
well as those that dazzle the guests in far
less grand places, and all go down to the
narrow grave at last ;" a truth to which the
Countess assented with a melancholy shake of
her head.

Patrick dressed himself with unusual care
in order to do honour to his yomig lady.
His black coat, nether garment, and silk
stockings of the same sombre hue, showed
off his snowy and delicately-jilaited shirt-
frills, in which a diamond pin, the gift of
the general who commanded his masters re-
giment, sparkled ; and his intelligent face
and venerable white locks rendered him one

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 101

of tlie most gentlemanlike looking old men
imaginable. As at the court ball at Schoen-
briin, some forty years before, a place was

accorded him in the orchestra, so at a

seat was reserved for him in the gallery with
the musicians, whence he could command a
perfect view of the company.

" Just as I expected,' murmured Patrick,
sotto voce, " all eyes are fixed on her. How
elegant she looks, and how she dances !
That's a very fine-looking officer she is
dancing with ! How different she is from
every other young lady in the room ! They're
drawing themselves up out of their stays,
and bridling, and looking down occasionally
at their tuckers, to see that the lace is not
rumpled, or laughing too much with their
partners, or using their fans too violently, or
picking the leaves of their nosegays, and are
too red in the face, and too determined to
dance well, while she, calm and dignified,
conducts herself for all the world like one of
the young archduchesses I was thinking of
a few minutes ago, now and then giving a
little smile, or a gentle bow of the head.

102 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

She is not a bit flushed in the face, while
the faces of the other young ladies are as
red as peonies. She never looks down at
her tucker, nor does anything else that the
others do. No wonder that all eyes are
turned to her. She's for all the world like
a maiden blush-rose in the middle of a bed
of tulips, the more beautiful from being seen
near the gaudy flowers."

There was not an oflftcer present that did
not request to be presented to Miss O'Neill,
in order to solicit her hand for a contre-
danse ; but Grace, mindful of her promise to
her grandmother, only yielded it to tw^o as-
pirants for that honour ; and then, seated by
her chaperon, Lady Fitzgerald, remained a
pleasant spectatress of the dancers. Her
first partner, the Hon. Sydney Mordant,
hovered around the spot where she was seated,
and rendered himself so agreeable to Lady
Fitzgerald, by his well-bred attention to her,
that she encouraged his advances without
appearing to be aware of their motive. He
frequently addressed himself to Grace, who
rephed in a tone of such modest self-posses-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 103

sion as induced him to abandon the compli-
mentary style he generally adopted to young
ladies, and more especially those of the
country, and to assume a more deferential
one. Her second partner, Mr. Herbert Ver-
non, was equally disposed to be attentive,
but the reserve with which he saw she re-
ceived the advances of his friend, Mordant,
checked his ardour, without, however, dimi-
nishing his admiration.

" Only look at Grace O'Neill,'^ said the
pretty Honor O'Flaherty to Florence Fitz-
gerald. " Did you ever see her look so beau-
tiful r

" She is too pale for my fancy," was the
reply.

*' Call her not pale, but fair," said Sir
Henry Fraser.

" Ah ! there you are with your quotation,
Sir Henry, always ready. Why can't you
speak from your own head, instead of from
the heads of poets ?" said Florence Fitz-
gerald.

" Because he is a sensible man," whis-
pered Honor O'Flaherty.

104 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" I'm sure that whisper contained some-
thing malicious against me, Miss OTlaherty,"
observed the Baronet, looking suspicious and
half-offended.

** What on earth could I find to say against
you?" replied Honor, looking provokingly
innocent.

" I hardly know ; but when young ladies
are so given to quizzing as some are," and
Sir Henry looked reproachfully at Miss
OTlaherty, " no man is safe from their as-
saults."

" You must forgive me, Sir Henry, if,
like one of my ancestors, I take the liberty
of studying the antiquities of our common
country.

'^ I dare say there's some hidden and un-
civil meaning in that speech," observed the
Baronet, growing red with anger.

" You wouldn't think so, if you had ever
read O'Flaherty's * Ogygia, ' " said Honor,
with a contrite expression of countenance,

" And what have I to do with the anti-
quities of Ireland, I should like to know ?"
inquired Sir Henry Fraser, suspecting some
mischief.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 105

" True, true, I was wrong ; you are more
given to the study of the middle ages, the
florid Gothic," observed Honor.

And the Baronet, finding that she meant
some covert attack on his age, grew still
more red in the face, and walked angrily
away.

" Haven't I vexed the ci-devard jeune
homrne ?" whispered the sprightly and mis-
chievous girl to Florence Fitzgerald, much
pleased at having annoyed the Baronet, who,
as she was wont to say, was " one of her
favourite aversions."

" Give me leave to introduce Mr. Hunter,"
said Colonel Maitland, addressing himself to
Miss Florence Fitzgerald.

A bow and a courtesy being exchanged, Mr.
Hunter solicited the honour of the lady's
hand for the next contre danse. She was
engaged for that and the following one ; on
which Mr. Hunter requested her to present
him to her friend.

" Miss O'Flaherty, Mr. Hunter."

Another bow and courtesy, and then fol-
lowed Mr. Hunter's demand for the pleasure

F 5

106 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

of her hand for the next dance, which, after
a pause of half a minute, was accorded.

" Are you fond of dancing?" inquired the
gentleman.

" That depends on my partner," was the
reply.

" Which means, I suppose, if he happens
to be a good dancer ?"

" Or a good talker," observed the lady.

" What has talking to do with dancing ?"
inquired Mr. Hunter.

" A great deal in the choice of one's part-
ner. If he is pleasant and agreeable, I may
like him for that ; if not, he ought to be a
good dancer. Few are both.

Mr. Hunter looked half puzzled, half of-
fended.

" There may be differences of taste with
regard to agreeable men, as well as of good
dancers," remarked he, looking self-impor-
tant.

" Indeed," resumed Honor O'Flaherty, " I
always thought there could be but one opi-
nion on these points." And she assumed an
air of gravity.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 107

'* I used to be considered a tolerable dancer
in England."

** And a pleasant talker, I conclude ?" said
Honor, archly.

He looked more puzzled than before.
" Not less so than other men."

*' Then I shall have two advantages in
having such a partner.'*

He bowed and looked flattered, and, the
sets being formed, led his partner to the
dance. Honor being an exceedingly pretty
girl and a very good dancer, Mr. Hunter
thought her entitled to his peculiar notice,
and she, having soon discovered his vanity
and pretensions, determined to play him off
for her amusement. Arrived at the bottom
of the set, Mr. Hunter expressed his hope
that she did not think him a very bad dancer,
fully expecting a compliment.

*' Not particularly ; and I think that with
more precision in finishing your steps, a
greater attention to time, and a more degagi
air, you might in time become a good
dancer."

Mr. Hunter looked as angry as he felt, and

108 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

observed, that "in England he was consi-
dered a very tolerable dancer."

" Luckily," said the sly Honor OTlaherty,
''you converse so agreeably, that you may
be pardoned for dancing less well than might
be desired."

" My mother gave a splendid ball on my
coming of age, and I opened it with Lady
Augusta Freeborne, and everybody remarked
that we were the best dancers in the room.
That was a splendid affair. All the rank and
fashion in the county, as the newspapers
stated, and all the delicacies of the season,
which means precisely everything out of sea-
son, and which is valued on account of the
vast sums it costs ; but my father has so
large a fortune that he can afford throwing
away money."

*' I suppose half his life was spent in
making money, and he passes the other half
in lavishing it?"

" I did not say he made his money," ob-
served Mr. Hunter, sulkily.

" 0, it was your grandfather, then, that
made it ?" and Honor assumed a very inno-
cent countenance. 7

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 109

To change a subject that was growing
anything but agreeable to him, Mr. Hunter
inquired " what was the reason that so many
Irish famihes had an 0 before their names V

" Because they were so wonderful," replied
Miss O'Flaherty, " that the O was put to ex-
press the astonishment excited by that
quality, and the descendants of those so dis-
tinguished still retain it."

" They are very foolish in doing so ; for in
England people only laugh at them, and
often, when they introduce a ridiculous
Irishman on the stage, put an ' 0 ' or a
' Mac ' before his name."

" A very clever and ingenious mode of
disparaging us poor wild Irish," remarked
Honor. " Nevertheless, I half suspect that
you English are very jealous of our ' O's '
and * Macs,' and would gladly tack them to
your names could you make out any claim to
them. How well O 'Hunter or Mac Hunter
— which means son of Hunter — would sound !
This last would be a proof that a man had a
father."

" Every man in the world must have had

110 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

a father ; so you have made a regular Irish
blunder, Miss O'Flaherty ;" and Mr. Hunter
laughed heartily at his own remark. " Don t
think I am laughing at my own wit," said he,
noticing his partner's grave face.

" And if I did," replied Honor, with one
of her most innocent faces, " you might be
forgiven on account of the rarity of the
cause."

Mr. Hunter looked more puzzled than
ever ; and, on resigning his partner to the care
of her chaperon, told his friend, Lieutenant
Marston, that Miss O'Flaherty was capital
fun, said such droll things, and looked so
grave while saying them, that one could
hardly know what she meant, but that he
suspected she was a little bit smitten with
him."

"All those Irishwomen have such con-
founded accents that I can't stand them,"
observed Lieutenant Marston.

'*Why can't they speak as we do?" re-
marked Mr. Hunter.

" They're devilish handsome, I must say,"
resumed Lieutenant Marston; "but, some-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. Ill

how or other, they have an indescribable
manner, half innocent and half quizzical, that
prevents a man being at his ease with them,
and makes him think they may be hoaxing
him."

"No, no, they're not such fools as to
attempt hoaxing one of us," replied Mr.
Hunter; ** they know better."

1 1 2 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER VII,

The ball passed off as most balls do in a
country town, where the youthful inhabit-
ants, and more particularly in Ireland than
elsewhere, delight in dancing, and have a de-
cided taste for red-coats, and where a newly-
arrived regiment awakens fresh hopes in
every female heart under thirty that the new-
comers may be as amusing as those that pre-
ceded them, and more disposed to marriage.
Nor were the officers of the regiment dis-
satisfied with the acquaintances they had
formed at the ball. The yomig ladies were
pronounced to be "devilish fine girls," "capi-
tal dancers," and " very sprightly," though
some of the juniors of the regiment declared,
and Mr. Hunter was among the number, that

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 113

Miss 0 'Flaherty and her friend Miss Mac
Henry were somewhat addicted to quizzing ;
but so they concluded most Irish girls were.

" What a lovely creature Miss O'Neill is !"
observed Major Elvaston. " There is some-
thing quite different from all her companions
in her."

" So Mordant seemed to think," said Mr.
Herbert Vernon," for he never asked any of
the other young ladies to dance, or even
looked at them."

" A peculiarity which you shared," replied
Captain Mordant, "for I observed you ho-
vered about Miss O'Neill all the evening."

" She looked like an oriental pearl among
false stones," said Mr. Herbert Vernon.

" A very poetical and pretty comparison,"
remarked Major Elvaston.

" I have been making all sorts of inquiries
about the beauties," said Captain Sit-
well. " Every one admits that Miss O'Neill
bears the bell, though Honor OTlaherty and
Bessy Mac Henry, — ye gods, what names ! —
are not wanting in beauty. It cost me a
handful of silver, expended at Miss White's

114 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

shop in shoe ribbon and bad eau de Cologne,
to ingratiate myself sufficiently into the old
maid's favour to get her to tell me all she
had to say."

" How like Sitwell ! I dare say he now
knows all the scandal of the town of the
last half-dozen years' standing."

" There you're wrong, Madden, for it ap-
pears that, wild as they are, no scandal at-
taches itself to these sprightly damsels, who
are more disposed to laugh at than fall in
love with their admirers."

" Nothing piques me into making love to
a girl like hearing that she has an invul-
nerable heart," said Mr. Hunter, with an air
of fatuity.

" How fortunate it is for pretty girls that
your power of doing mischief does not equal
your desire," observed Major Elvaston. " But
I venture to prophesy that you will not da-
mage a single female heart while we remain
here, unless it be that of Miss White, the
milliner, by buying more shoe ribbon, eau de
Cologne, and lavender-water from her than
any one else will do."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 115

" Don't be too sure of that," replied Mr.
Hunter. " If any man will bet me fifty
pounds that I don't, in three months, make
one of the beauties here in love with me 111
accept the wager."

The entrance of Colonel Maitland put an
end to the subject, for Mr. Hunter stood too
much in awe of his colonel to venture to
continue it. The day after the ball, and
several ones that followed, Captain Sydney
Mordant might be seen repeatedly walking
past the door of the Countess O'Neill's
house, the windows of which seemed to ex~
cite a great interest in him, for he looked
up at one after another, and was only repaid
for his pains by seeing some peculiarly fine
myrtles and geraniums in old-fashioned china
flowerpots, which filled the small balconies.
Nor did any one observe how often he
w^alked in that direction, save and except
Mr. Herbert Vernon, who by some chance
pursued the same path as frequently, won-
dering what possessed Mordant to prefer
that promenade to all others, though, had he
consulted his own heart, it might have ex-
plained the cause.

116 COUNTRY QUARTERS. •

The other officers had chosen another di-
rection for their daily walks ; and, more for-
tunate than Mordant and Vernon, were not
disappointed in their object ; for in the win-
dows of Miss O'Flaherty and her friend, Miss
Mac Henry, might daily be seen these young
Jadies, occupied in drawing, embroidery, or
reading, not, however, so wholly intent on any of
these tasks as not to cast many a glance into
the street on the red-coats who, arm in arm,
sauntered up and down, although the ladies
affected not to be conscious of the presence
of their admirers, notwithstanding that occa-
sional loud laughs, or conversation addressed
to each other from the officers, must have
revealed their proximity.

" How did you like your partners, darl-
ing?" inquired the Countess O'Neill the
morning after the ball.

" They appeared agreeable and gentle-
manly," w^as the reply.

" You danced only twice, I heard, which
pleased me, for I was afraid of your fatiguing
yourself. Patrick told Peggy Morrice that
your two partners were the handsomest men
in the room."

COUNTRY QUARTERS* 117

Why did Grace O'Neill blush as she heard
her grandmother utter these words ; and,
instead of confirming Patrick's report, merely
admit its correctness by a slight nod of as-
sent ?

" Patrick used to be a good judge of manly
beauty," resumed the Countess ; and she
sighed, remembering that his taste was
formed on the fine specimen of it which her
husband, thirty-eight years before, had pre-
sented.

" I believe Patrick was right," observed
Grace, timidly, " for both my partners were
very good-looking."

" Lady Fitzgerald, I suppose, told you
that she left a note for me to invite you to
the castle for three or four days, as they are
to give a dinner to the new -comers ; to
which they have invited the neighbourhood,
and I have promised for you, darling."

For the first time in her life Grace O'Neill
was disposed to be disingenuous with her
grandmother, and to express her desire to
remain at home with her in preference to
accepting the invitation ; but she could not

118 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

bring herself to utter the words, so remained
silent.

'* You have no objection, dearest," resumed
the Countess O'Neill, " and I am glad of it;
for a few days' fresh air will do you good,
and tempt you to take exercise."

" I am never so well, nor so happy, any-
where as with you, dear grandmother," re-
plied Grace ; and another blush arose to her
fair face, which the Countess, being short-
sighted, did not observe, and concluded that,
as hitherto, Grace was unwilling to leave
her.

" The Fitzgeralds are so kind to us that I
like to oblige them," resumed the old lady,
" and I know I cannot confer a greater
favour on them than by giving them your
company sometimes, I have been thinking
this morning about your dress, and Patrick
has already had some silks sent here from
Miss White's, from which I have selected two
gowns, which are now in hand. So, you see,
darling, all is arranged for your going ; and
you will, I flatter myself, be satisfied with
the choice I have made."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 119

" You are only too good to me, clearest
grandmother," said Grace, embracing the
Countess, who was quite elated at the antici-
pation of two or three days' recreation for
her.

*' I wonder will he be there ?" thought
Grace to herself. " Yet why should I think
of him ? What can it be to me whether he
is invited or not? Lady Fitzgerald, or the
girls, said nothing of it. If he is not to be
there, I would rather not go. I wish I knew,
for I shall be so disappointed if the other
officers come, and he stays away. But I think
he is sure to have been asked, for Lady Fitz-
gerald seemed very much pleased with him.
How odd that I find myself thinking so much
about him, when, probably, he has not be-
stowed a single thought on me ! I must
drive him out of my head, otherwise I shall
be sure to blush when I see him, and I would
not do that for the world. Nothing is so
tiresome as to fall into a habit of blushing."

Such were the reflections that filled the
mind of the beautiful and artless Grace
O'Neill for the next two days, notwithstand-

120 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

ing her repeated determination to think no
more of Captain Sidney Mordant ; and, when
Honor OTIaherty came to pay her a visit,
and announced that he was to be among the
guests at Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerakl's, her reso-
lution of not falling into a habit of blushing
did not prevent her cheeks from becoming of
a bright rose colour, though luckily for her
Honor O'Flaherty happened at that moment
to be so occupied arranging an obstinate
ringlet before the glass as not to have seen
the blush.

** Grace told you, I suppose, dear Coun-
tess, that she danced with the tw^o handsomest
men at the ball ?" said the giddy Honor,
^' w^hile I was only asked by the ugly ones ;
and such a conceited fool as one of them
w^as ! I should have been bored beyond en-
durance if I had not, in self-defence, quizzed
him all the time."

" How often must I entreat you to leave
off this dangerous and unfeminine habit of
quizzing, dear Honor ?" observed the Coun-
tess O'Neill. " It makee enemies, and en-
courages strangers to take liberties and mis-
judge you."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 121

" Now don't look so grave, dear Countess.
I assure you I do all I can to check myself
from making game of people ; but, when I
see a conceited fool, who looks down upon
the Irish, and gives himself airs, and talks of
his father's riches and grandeur, I can't for
the life and soul of me help making fun of
mi.

" It is precisely this habit of making fun,
my dear Honor, that gets our countrywomen
ill spoken of. I speak to you as I would to
Grace, and earnestly advise you to refrain
from quizzing."

'^ ril do all I can to follow your advice,
my dear kind friend, and thank you sin-
cerely for taking the trouble to give it to
me ; but, in order to keep my good resolu-
tion, I hope none of those conceited purse-
proud fools will provoke me. I can't, like
dear Grace, awe them into respect by dignity
and reserve. Mv face and fio^ure are not
formed for it : I have always some nonsense
or piece of fun coming into my head, and
the least attempt to act the grand with me
makes me break out into quizzing those who

VOL. I. G

122 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

try it ; but I'll correct myself, indeed I
will," and the good-humoured girl kissed the
Countess O'Neill's hand.

" And in anticipation of your keeping your
promise, my good Honor, accept the reward,"
said the Countess, drawing forth from beneath
the pillow of her sofa a gown-piece, purchased
that morning for Honor.

" 0 ! what a lovely, what an elegant
dress ! Look, Grace, isn't it beautiful ?"
and Honor, in a state of perfect delight,
danced round the room, holding up the
dress.

" One of Miss White's young women is
now in the house to take your measure for
this dress, Honor. Ring the bell, dear
Grace, and have her sent up."

'• Was there ever such a friend, such a
thoughtful, kind, friend ?" said Honor.
" Isn't it enough to make me conquer my
folly, and endeavour to copy Grace's good
breeding and reserve, instead of being a
madcap wild Irish girl, as I know people
have thought, and not scrupled to call me !
Your goodness shan't be thrown away ; you'll

COUNTRY aUARTERS. 123

see, my dear Countess, that Til be an altered
person, for such kindness is enough to cor-
rect even greater faults than mine ;" and
tears filled the eyes of the grateful girl.

It was by thoughtful acts of kindness like
the one we have noted that the Countess
O'Neill rendered herself little less than
adored by her less prosperous neighbours.
Mrs. O'Flaherty, a widow like herself, with
an only daughter, was reduced from compa-
rative affluence, by the reckless extravagance
of her husband, to a stipend so narrow as to
require the strictest habits of economy to
keep up the appearance of respectability for
herself and her child. Her husband died of
a broken heart, when the consequences of his
selfish folly were brought before him ; and
his late remorse had so touched the affec-
tionate heart of his poor wife, as to make her
forget not only the ill usage he had heaped
on her, but the poverty he had entailed on
her and their daughter, but to leave her a
mourner for the remainder of her days.

But poor Mrs. O'Flaherty lived among
kind hearts, and the evils of straitened cir-

G 2

124 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

cumstances were lightened by the thoughtful
consideration and unceasing attention of her
neighbours. Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerald never
had a sheep killed in his plentiful establish-
ment that a joint or two of it did not find
its way to her kitchen, on the alleged reason
that he was quite sure her delicate appetite
could not endure the coarse meat sold by
the butchers at . The alleged inferi-
ority of the poultry furnished the same ex-
cuse for her being constantly supplied with
the excellent produce of his poultry-yard.
Similar reasons were assigned for sending
her butter and cream from his dairy, vege-
tables from his garden, and fruit from his
hothouses ; and such were the tact and the
delicacy of the worthy donor of these good
things, that it was made to appear that any-
thing like a refusal to accept them on her
part would be deemed a tacit avowal that
she did not admit their superiority to what
could be obtained at the common markets.

Another neighbour, wdiose housekeejier
had acquired a certain fame for preserves,
furnished, by the order of her employer, Mrs.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 125

O'Flaherty 's store-closet with an ample stock
of jams and jellies ; and the housekeepers
of some three or four families, urged into
emulation by their masters, vied with each
other in keeping her constantly supplied with
cakes, meat pies, and fruit tarts, so that few
persons with triple, ay, quadruple, her income
had so good a larder as Mrs. O'Flaherty,
who often extended to others as well as to
the poor the superfluous good things fur-
nished to her by her generous friends.

A pretty dress for Honor, or a better silk
gown or cloak or bonnet for both, were the
not unfrequent gifts of the Countess O'Neill
to her old neighbour and her pretty daughter,
whom she often reproved for her too high
spirits and propensity to quiz her acquaint-
ances in general, but English oflicers in par-
ticular, when these last excited her ire by
their unfeigned wonder or unrepressed smiles
at what they termed her Irishisms.

Honor's mother, a half-heartbroken woman,
who passed three parts of her day in weeping
for the loss of the husband who had ruined
her and her child, and the fourth in prayers

126 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

for the repose of his soul, was seldom a spec-
tatress of the escapades of Honor, and, even
if she had been, was too nervous and timid
to correct them, — a fact so well known to
the Countess that she endeavoured to supply
the maternal care, of which she stood in needj
to the wild girl.

Honor O'Flaherty was to accompany Grace
O'Neill to Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerald's, whose
carriage was to be sent to convey them to his
mansion. Honor's heart beat quick with anti-
cipated delight at three consecutive nights'
dancing, for it was the custom in that family,
as in most others in the neighbourhood, that
three dinners should follow each other, after
which were to be balls. Patrick O'Dono-
hough was to take his place on the box, by
the side of Sir Geoffrey's coachman, for no-
thing would induce him to allow his young
lady to go even a mile into the country with-
out his protection.

The day arrived for the visit, Mrs. O'Fla-
herty came to pass the time of her daughter's
absence with the Countess, an arrangement
which generally took place on similar occa-

COUNTRY QUARTEllS. 127

sions ; and, as the carriage containing the two
young ladies drove from the door, Mrs.
0' Flaherty wiped her eyes, and observed,
" What a happy season youth is, when the
anticipation of two or three days' amusement
can give such joy !"

" Yes," replied the Countess, " youth is the
time for enjoyment, as age is for reflection."

" For sorrow, my dear friend ; for what
else can reflection bring to those who, like
you and I, have lost the beloved partners of
our lives ?" observed Mrs. O'Flaherty, ap-
plying her handkerchief once more to her
eyes.

" It can bring the consciousness of having
fulfilled our duties to the utmost of our
power, and the hope of meeting hereafter
those we mourned."

" Ah ! yours is a more hopeful spirit than
mine ! But you had not passed your youth
with your husband, you had not wept for
years over his errors, and then seen him
lament their results with an anguish that
brought him to the grave, as I did, the recol-
lection of which can never be eflaced from

128 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

my mind. You lost the Count O'Neill ere
yet the passion of the lover had faded down
into the calmer sentiment of the husband,
and you never knew the grief of witnessing
his eriors, or beholding his remorse. '

" Poor woman !" thought the Countess,
" the more faultless was my husband the less
she thinks I ought to lament him. But I
can overlook the error of a fond heart and
meek mind, and pity the sorrow of my poor
friend. Alas ! the perfection of my first, my
only lover, was such as to preclude the possi-
bility of my ever knowing a second passion ;
and when I think of the noble being, fault-
less in mind and conduct as in person, to
whom I was wedded, and compare him with
the half-educated and reckless libertine,
whose habits of intoxication and indulgence
of low pleasures had alienated him from the
good- will and respect of all who knew him, I
could be angry that his poor widow imagines
her cause of sorrow to be greater than
mine !"'

But no symptom of what was passing in
the mind was revealed to her poor nervous

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 129

companion by the high-mindecl Countess
O'Neill, who soothed and spoke words of
pity and comfort to her, while other friends
could not forbear from questioning the sin-
cerity of a regret so unceasing for an object
universally deemed so unworthy of it as the
rout Philip O'Flaherty. But who shall
judge the secret heart, or pronounce whether
the faulty are not sometimes as long and as
deeply mourned as the faultless ?

G o

130 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER VIII.

" I HAVE a mind not to go to this old Irish
Baronet's dinner," said Captain Sydney Mor-
dant to Mr. Herbert Vernon, the morning
of the day on which the said dinner was to
take place.

" What would I not give to have the
power of going in your place," observed the
latter, " and of meeting Miss O'Neill, who is
to be there ? She is by far the loveliest
girl I ever saw, and, whatever our country-
men may assert against the want of elegance
in the manners of the Irish ladies, I declare
that this descendant of the ancient kings of
Hibernia is not only the prettiest but the
best-mannered girl I ever saw."

" And I quite agree with you in opinion,"
said Captain Sydney Mordant.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 131

" Then why hesitate about meeting her,
when an opportunity is afforded ?"

" Precisely because I think so highly of
her that she might become very dangerous
to my peace of mind. Fancy a poor devil
of a younger brother, with only ten thousand
pounds in the world to depend on, falling in
love with an unportioned Irish girl ! '

" Et bien et apres f "

" Either breaking my heart in a hopeless
passion, or breaking the hearts of my father
and mother by marrying this charmer."

" The alternative, I admit, is not agree
able for a man who loves himself well enough
not to be disposed to break his own heart,
and his parents too well, to risk wounding
theirs. But after all, as your elder brother
has married a great heiress, who bids fair to
give no olive branches to the genealogical
tree of the ancient house of Mordant, I don't
see why you, my dear friend, may not be
pardoned for pleasing yourself, if you prefer
love in a cottage, with such a divine creature
as Miss O'Neill, to a marriage de raison with
the daughter of some rich ' citizen ' of credit
and renown." 7

132 COUNTHY QUARTERS.

" If one could be sure that these divme
creatures would not bestow on one a nume-
rous progeny of paupers, a love-match might
not be such a desperate affair ; but, as poor
folk always have more children than rich, the
most unthinking fellow must shudder before
he entails on himself the chance and misery of
offspring, for whom he has no means of pro-
viding, and of seeing the woman he loves
not only deprived of the elegancies and com-
forts of life, but depressed by gloomy appre-
hensions for the well-being of her children."

" The picture is not encouraging, I confess ;
yet how many persons with a similar one
staring them in the face snatch a few months
of happiness, and bid defiance to the future ?"

" Those who do so are either so selfish
as to prefer the gratification of their own
passions to the happiness of the object, or
are incapable of reflection. I am not of
these, and consequently am afraid of know-
ing Miss O'Neill better, lest I might have to
undergo a conflict between love and reason,
which might prove too strong for the last."

" You are wiser than I am, my dear Mor-

CbUNTRr QUARTERS. 133

dant, for I, on one point at least, resemble
that good saint who called it ' all joy to fall
into divers temptations ;' not that I, like him,
believe I could vanquish many of them, but
simply because certain temptations are so
pleasant. I wish, therefore, I could go in
your place to Bally macross Castle to-day, and
warm myself in the sunshine of Miss CNeill's
eyes."

" And, were my card of invitation trans-
ferable, I don't think I would yield it to you
on this occasion, my dear Vernon ; for it
surely would not be acting the part of a-
friend to expose you to a temptation that 1
dread to encounter myself."

While the friends were conversing, a card
was brought to Mr. Herbert Vernon from Sir
Geoffrey and Lady Fitzgerald, requesting the
honour of his company at dinner that day,
accompanied by an explanatory note of
apology, stating that, "through the mistake
of a servant, the invitation, which ought to
have reached him several days before, was
only now forwarded ; and hoping that he
would kindly overlook the mistake."

134 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" By Jove, just what I wished !'V exclaimed
Mr. Vernon, throwing the card and note
across the table to Captain Mordant. *' I
dare say the alleged mistake is all a hum, —
that I am at the eleventh hour invited to fill
up the place of some Banquo whom sudden
illness, or dread of a boring party, will keep
away. Reflection fait, perhaps the old Mile-
sian, or his better half, or the young ladies,
have only now discovered that I am entitled
to have honourable stuck before my name,
and have, therefore, sent me what Sydney
Smith calls a soup-ticket. If I hstened to
the suggestion of my dignity I should decline
accepting this tardy invitation, but to meet
Miss O'Neill is a temptation beyond my
powers of resistance, and so I shall go."

*' And I also," said Captain Mordant,
something like a blush bespreading his face,
a suffusion of countenance to which he was
by no means subject.

" Now, then, my dear Mordant, let us
have a fair start. We have both danced
once with this charmer. You had the ad-
vantage over me of engrossing her conversa-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 135

tion nearly the whole evening of the ball,
while I could only hover near her ; but now,
each for himself, we will start afresh, and by
all fair means endeavour to win the prize to
which both aspire."

" And, if you should win the lady's heart,
are you prepared to demand her hand ?"

" Decidedly ; and, what is more, I can
count on my governor and my mother's con-
sent. Not that they might not blowup con-
foundedly at first, at the notion of a portion-
less wife, and an Irish one into the bargain ;
but, after having fought them into allowing
me to enter the army, a measure against
which they entertained the strongest objec-
tions, I may naturally count on their indul-
gence in this instance. 1 have only to be
threatened with a pain in the side, and an
attack of the chest, if they should evince any
obstinacy at first, and they will consent to
anything. This is one of the many advan-
tages of being an only son, my dear Mordant ;
and inestimable they all are when one hap-
pens to have a father and mother who trem-
ble at the bare notion of losing their heir."

136 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

"If such are your prospects, Vernon, you
will have nothing to dread from any rivalry
on my part. I cannot deceive myself into a
belief that my father or mother would ever
consent to my marrying a portionless wife,
though she may claim regal descent from
the Kings of Eoghain, and is the grand-
daughter of the brave and respected Count
O'Neill, whose high character reflects honour
on his young and beautiful descendant."

Captain Mordant was perfectly sincere
when he thus spoke ; but when, some seven
or eight hours after, he entered the drawing-
room of Ballymacross Castle with his friend,
Mr. Herbert Vernon, and saw Grace O'Neill
looking more lovely than ever, a bright blush
giving increased lustre to her eyes, he felt it
would not be an easy task to refrain from
seeking to find favour in those bright orbs.
Having paid the customary attention to his
hostess and her daughters, he involuntarily
turned to look at Miss O'Neill. The blush
that had lent her cheeks so bright a hue had
subsided, leaving them so transparently fair
as to remind him of an alabaster vase throusfh

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 137

which the light was visible, and he was
debating within himself whether her beauty
was seen to most advantage when thus pale,
or when her cheeks wore the bright tint that
coloured them when he entered the room,
when a whisper from Honor O'Flaherty to
the object of his thoughts once more brought
a rosy shade to her delicate cheeks, and
decided the difficult question, for he now
thought that he had never previously beheld
Miss O'Neill so brilliantly handsome.

Perhaps the hasty and timid glance she
cast on him while the whisper was uttered
had something to do in his decision, and the
downcast lids which veiled those soft blue
eyes, for some minutes after, confirmed it.
What would he not have given to know
what the whisper contained which could
thus make the lovely girl blush ? That it
related to him he could hardly doubt, from
her having instantly glanced at him. She
had blushed, too, when he entered the
drawing-room ; but, as he was accompanied
by Herbert Vernon, that individual might
have occasioned the roseate suffusion. He

138 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

should have liked to ascertain this point, but
how was this to be effected ? He saw Her-
bert Vernon now approach Miss O'Neill, and
address her, when she, calm and composed,
as if one of her female friends had spoken to
her, raised her eyes to acknowledge his salu-
tation, but no change of colour indicated
that she felt the slightest interest in the
speaker.

" Strange !" thought Mordant, " Vernon
did not cause the blush ;" and a sensation of
pleasure filled his breast at the conviction.
" What if I approach and observe whether I
may attribute the blush to my presence ?"
thought Mordant ; and, before reason could
whisper that such a step would not be in
strict accordance with his voluntary avowal
to Vernon that he had no rivalry to fear
from him, he crossed the room and addressed
Miss O'Neill. Before he could utter a single
word, her cheeks assumed their former rosy
tint, leaving him no longer in doubt that this
beautiful change of colour was produced by
no other than himself, and delighted at the
certainty.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 139

Sydney Mordant, although a remarkably
handsome man, was so little disposed to cox-
combry, that the J3lainest and most insignifi-
cant of his sex, accustomed to receive only
cold civility from the young and fair, could
not have felt more elated than he did on the
present occasion. The reserve of Miss
O'Neill towards him was much greater than
to his friend, Herbert Vernon, with whom she
conversed perfectly at her ease, while to him
there was a timidity not to be subdued by
the efforts of the conscious girl, which led
him to the rapturous conclusion that she was
not as indifferent to his presence as she
wished to appear.

The company being now assembled, and
the butler having announced that dinner was
served. Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerald, having offered
his arm to an old lady, requested Captain
Sydney Mordant to lead Lady Fitzgerald to
dinner, and Mr. Herbert Vernon to hand out
another lady ; after which the rest of the
guests, with due regard to etiquette, offered
their arms to the rest of the ladies. Heartily
did the two honourables of the party regret

140 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

the aristocratic distinction wliicli deprived
them of the power of sitting next the lady
who occupied the thoughts of both ; and
greatly did they envy the men who enjoyed
this pleasure, one of whom happened to be
Colonel Maitland, and the other Sir Henry
T ravers. Honor O' Flaherty, seated between
Major Elvaston and Captain Sitwell, neither
of whom had she ever spoken to before, was
as entirely at her ease with them, as if they
had been old friends, and both appeared to
be very much amused by her lively re-
marks.

Lady Fitzgerald presiding at the top of
the table, and Sir Geoffrey at the bottom,
were — " on hospitable thoughts intent" —
helping white and brown soup, followed by
crimped salmon and turbot with lobster
sauce, declared by the gourmands of the
party to be the most delicious they had ever
tasted. But these delicacies were replaced
by a huge boiled turkey, white as the damask
table-clotlx on which the silver dish which
contained it was placed, and covered with
celery sauce ; vis a vis to which was a smoking

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 141

haunch of venison, the fat of which did honour
to the deer-park of the old Baronet ; with a
ham of no ordinary dimensions, flanked by a
pigeon pie of similar proportions and four
copious entrees.

The Enghsh portion of the company stared
with astonishment at the profusion of the
dinner, which reminded some of them of the
line in Lewis's poem —

" The tables they groaned with the weight of the feast,"

which was almost literally borne out, for the
sideboard displayed a smoking baron of beef,
a quarter of cold lamb, a venison pasty, and
sundry other dainties, with " all appliances
to boot," calculated to satisfy a good appe-
tite, or excite a jaded one. In vain did Cap-
tain Sydney Mordant offer his services to
Lady Fitzgerald to help the fish, or carve
the turkey or game that succeeded it. The
hostess declared that carving was a positive
pleasure to her instead of a trouble, and that
Irish ladies and gentlemen infinitely pre-
ferred the oil fashion of helping their guests

142 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

to the new one adopted in England of having
the relevees carved by the maitre d "hotel on
the sideboard.

It is true the flushed cheeks of Lady Fitz-
gerakl, from the operation, and her unceasing
attention to her guests, exemplified by anxious
glances cast around on their plates, and "becks
andnods" (though not vrreathed smiles) to
the attendants, induced a comparison in the
minds of some between the advantages or
disadvantages of her discharge of the duties
of her social system, or the perfect noncha-
lance with which an English lady sits at her
own table, leaving the comfort of her guests
to the well-drilled servants, who, placed be-
hind their chairs, glide rapidly and noise-
lessly as ghosts to supply their wants almost
before they are expressed.

But the epicurean portion of the dinner
party were disposed to admit the superiority
of the Irish fashion when they beheld the
delicate morsels carved by one who well un-
derstood the whereabouts, and how they
should be cut, and remembered the jagged
lumps or too thin slices — ^the too much or

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 143

too little gravj — served to them from the
hvffet of some aristocratic salle a manger in
England, and consoled them for the trouble
their hostess was giving herself by the re-
flection that she was used to it, and had pre-
pared herself by a copious luncheon for the
privation of having no dinner.

The wines were pronounced to be excel-
lent, and were as profusely served as the
dinner. The claret was found to be of a
very different quality from the wine of the
same name met with at English tables, owing
to its not having passed through the spirit-
giving medium of the cellar of an English
wine-merchant, who prepares it for the taste
of his countrymen, while Irish gentlemen
import their own from Bordeaux. Repeated
bumpers, pressed on his guests by the hos-
pitable Baronet, proved that it was a beve-
rage that " cheered but not inebriated," and
reconciled the English portion of them to
the want of body or strength, as they termed
the mild flavour occasioned by the absence
of brandy.

The excellence of the viands, the goodness

144 COUNTRY QUAKTEES.

of the cookery — which reminds agounnet of
that of Vancien regime in France, before Paris
was filled by hungry soldiers fresh from the
battle-field, where the constant smell of gun-
powder and scarcity of good food had spoiled
the delicacy of the palates of the heroes, and
led to the adoption of undue quantities of
pepper and onions in the cookery — and the
fine quality and liberal quantity of the wines,
put the male portion of the guests into such
good humour, that the most fastidious amongst
them were ready to overlook the want of the
noiseless steps and precision of attention
which distinguish English from Irish ser-
vants, who are somewhat prone to run against
eacli other and break china in their zeal to
serve the company quickly.

Before the ladies left the dining-room,
several vehicles of various descriptions, jaunt-
ing-cars predominating, arrived at Ballyma-
cross Castle laden with the persons invited
to the ball, and for whose reception cham-
bers were prepared, in which they arranged
their hair, put on their dancing-shoes, shook
the creases from their dresses, and put on

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 145

their wreaths and bouquets. Had any in-
quisitive listener been near the doors of these
tiring rooms, into each of which some half-
dozen of young and blooming damsels were
crowded, he or she might have been amused
by hearing the disjointed exclamations of the
occupants.

" Do, dear Bessy, let me peep into the
looking-glass."

" In a minute, dear; but first let me see
the effect of this flower."'

" Bessy has had this same flower in and
out of her hair seven times, to my certain
knowledge," observed another.

" Do pin my sash, Mary, and 111 do as
much for you," entreated a fair plump girl,
whose dress only required this adjunct to be
completed.

" I declare I have not been able to get a
single glance in the glass, and I am sure I
shall look a regular Blouzabella," remarked
a sparkling brunette.

" Dear Kate, are you sure that my slip is
not longer than my gown ?"

" 111 look in a moment ; but this ringlet

VOL. I. H

146 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

is SO obstinate I can do nothing with it ; it
looks like a broken corkscrew."

The chaperons of these sprightly girls
were no less busy in an adjoining chamber.

" I declare my bird of paradise is nearly
spoiled," said one portly dame of large di-
mensions w^hile endeavouring to arrange the
plume in a beret, a-la-m.ode some ten years
before. " My maid put it into the wrong
bandbox."

" That eternal beret and plume!" whis-
pered a thin withered-looking woman ; " how
tired I am of seeing it !"

" If it be true, as is said, that birds. of
paradise never while in life alight on earth,
the poor birds are hardly used when dead,
by being made to do duty in the turbans
and berets of half the old dowagers in the
kingdom," observed a pretty young matron,
sotto voce, to another youthful wife.

" How dreadful !' exclaimed a rotund lady,
" my beautiful point lace flounce is torn in
three places ! What can I do ?"

" Mend it," said the lady to whom the
question was addressed.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 147

" How do you think this gold-embroidered
scarf looks with my turban ?"

" Admirably ! you look exactly like Roxa-
lana."

" Much more like Bajazet," whispered
the thin lady.

'^ Had I not daughters to marry I cer-
tainly would not expose myself to cold by
coming twelve miles to a ball in a jaunting-
car," observed one of the elderly ladies, who
had hitherto been so busily occupied in ar-
ranging her dress as to have wholly for-
gotten that she had daughters.

** And I also would have remained at
home but for the same cause," said another,
holding a pocket-glass to a small pimple on
her chin, to which she was carefully apply-
iug a bit of sticking-plaster. In short, the
old ladies were all as intent on beautifying
themselves as the young, though without the
same excuse ; namely, the desire of capti-
vatino' an admirer who mio-ht become a hus-
band. So inherent and undying is the de-
sire to please in the heart of a w^oman, that it
outlives every rational motive, and must be,

H 2

148 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

we suppose, like " virtue, its own exceed-
ing great reward," for the efforts never after
a certain age meet with gratitude from that
sex to please whom they are generally made.

The junior officers of the Regiment

not included in the invitation to dinner were
asked to the ball, it being thought advisable
to provide partners for all the young ladies,
which without the presence of these gentle-
men it would be difficult to do ; besides, as
Lady Fitzgerald observed to her hospitable
husband, a due sprinkling of red-coats
among so many blue and black ones had
always a good effect ; and so it proved when
the ball-room was thrown open, for nothing
could look more gay than the white dresses
and bright flowers of the young ladies, and
the uniforms of the officers, while the old
ladies formed a parterre of what, in Ireland,
are termed wallflowers.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 149

CHAPTER IX.

" You will oblige me, Captain Mordant,
by opening the ball with my eldest daugh-
ter ; and you, Mr. Herbert Vernon, will
dance the first set with my second, Flo-
rence," said Lady Fitzgerald.

" What a bore !" whispered Mr. Vernon
to Mordant, "just as I had made up my
mind to dance with Miss O'Neill. This is
the price of our dinner, I suppose."

Mordant envied Sir Henry Travers when
he saw him lead the fair object who occu-
pied all his own thoughts to the dance, but
remarked with a selfish satisfaction, that the
countenance of Grace denoted no pleasure
on the occasion. Grace stood next Miss
Florence Fitzgerald in the set, which al-

150 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

lowed both her admirers an opportunity of
studying her beautiful face and figure. Sir
Henry Travers seldom removed his eyes from
her, but it was evident that she was more
annoyed than gratified by his admiration.

" Poor Grace O'Neill will be bored to
death by her stupid partner," said Miss Fitz-
gerald to Captain Mordant. *' He is despe-
rately smitten, and I suspect means to make
his proposal in due form, to-night."

" Has he any chance of success ?"

" What a question ! It is one, however,
that you would not ask if you knew Grace
as well as I do ; for she is not a girl to be
influenced for a single moment by his ten
thousand a year, although he believes few
girls could resist such a temptation."

" Men capable of forming such an opinion
of your sex. Miss Fitzgerald, do not deserve
pity when they find themselves mistaken."

" Look at him ! how intent, yet how
foolish, he seems ! Grace looks vexed. He
bites his lip and grins, and, — yes, yes, I am
sure, — as we Irish say, he has popped the
question. Grace looks grave and dignified.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 151

as she always does when she wishes to put
an end to a subject. Yes, he has received
Ills conge. Fool ! he urges his suit again.
It's of no use. See how angry he is ! How he
frowns ! Grace looks more cold and stately
than before ; she speaks to him ; and now
he knows that all his pleadings are vain."

Mordant was deeply interested as he
watched the scene pointed out to him by his
partner, whose praises of Miss O'Neill had
given him a favourable opinion of her. He
wondered not that Grace should, without a
moment's hesitation, refuse to accept such a
suitor, for he considered it little less than an
unpardonable impudence that such a man
should presume to lift his eyes to so superior
a creature ; but he remembered how many
girls he had seen gifted with beauty, of high
birth, and not deficient in fortune, accept,
with outward complacency, whatever might
be their internal feelings, the proposals of
men who had no recommendation whatever
except a certain number of thousands a year,
and he thought the more highly of her that
she was not one of those worshippers of

152 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

gold. Had he only one quarter of the for-
tune of Sir Henry Travers, how readily
would he lay it at her feet, and how ar-
dently wonld he implore the consent of his
parents to present them with such a daugh-
ter ! A deep sigh broke from his heart, little
in unison with the gay scene around him ;
and Miss Fitzgerald remarked to her sister,
Florence, when the contre danse was over,
that, " although Captain Sydney Mordant
was a peculiarly well-bred man, he was not
a lively partner."

Mr. Herbert Vernon lost not a moment in
seeking Miss O'Neill's hand for the next
dance ; and Mordant, whose eyes involun-
tarily followed hers, thought, — but it might
only be fancy, as he admitted to himself, —
that she looked disappointed, and once
glanced over at himself.

" There can be no harm in asking her for
the third dance," thought he. " It would be
really too great a sacrifice to refrain from
dancing with her at all ;" and, having come
to this decision, he watched her movements,
admiring their grace and elegance, and, above

COUNTRY (QUARTERS. 153

all, the air of dignified but cold politeness
with which she received the animated atten-
tions of his friend, Herbert Vernon. Never
had he seen Vernon so intent to please, and
never had he seen him less successful in his
efforts.

A faint smile, or a nod of assent or dissent,
was all he could obtain from his fair partner ;
and the frank and open countenance of Ver-
non revealed disappointment when^ the dance
being over, he led Miss O'Neill to her seat.
Mordant, fearful that she might be engaged
again, hurried to entreat her hand for the
next set, and, as he urged his request, ob-
served with a thrill of delight passing through
his heart, as a sunbeam penetrates through
foliage, that a bright blush coloured lier
cheeks. Yes, i.Ms time he could not be mis-
taken, he was too near her, and there was
nobody else in proximity to whose account
he could attribute this change of colour. A
beautiful smile followed it while she made
the admission " that, although somewhat tired,
she would dance the next set with him."

" Not for worlds, if you are fatigued," said

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154 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Mordant ; " I am not so selfish as to desire a
pleasure at any risk of fatigue to you."

Grace thanked him only by a sweet smile.
" It would be difficult in England to see so
many beautiful faces collected together at a
country ball," observed Mordant, " as I have
noticed to-night."

" Are you quite sure of this ?" replied
Grace, archly, " or may I not attribute the
compliment to your desire of pleasing me by
praising my friends and countrywomen ?"

" There is only one thing I would not do to
please you, Miss O'Neill, and that is to say
what I did not think."

" If it be a weakness, I confess to it," —
and here another blush passed over her lovely
face, — " but I do like to hear my country-
women praised. They have been so often
disparaged by strangers, their artless gaiety
has been so frequently mistaken for levity,
their frankness for boldness, that I am glad
when they are well spoken of; and, although
you have referred only to their personal at-
tractions, I assure you their mental ones,
when known, merit esteem."

7

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 155

" Were I to judge all by one admirable
specimen,"— and here Mordant raised his
eyes to the face of Miss O'Neill, — " I would
readily give them credit for the possession of
every charm and of every virtue."

Grace blushed again, but this time no smile
followed the bright tint, and Mordant saw
that his implied compliment had offended the
delicacy of her to whom it was addressed.

" What an agreeable man Colonel Maitland
is !" observed Grace, after a pause in the con-
versation that made Mordant feel ill at ease.

" He is an excellent as well as an agreeable
man," replied he, " and we look up to him as
to a father."

" As the daughter and grand-daughter of
soldiers, I feel a particular interest in men of
his age and standing, for such I think my
father might have been, had it pleased Heaven
to have prolonged his life."

The pensive expression of her lovely face,
as she uttered this sentence, lent it a new
charm, and her low sweet voice well ac-
corded with it.

" Colonel Maitland would be flattered if he

156 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

knew the favourable impression he has made
on you, Miss O'Neill," said Mordant, anxious
to break the train of sad reflections into which
the fair girl was falling.

" I am not so vain as to think so. Of what
value to a man of his age and experience
could the opinion of a person so youthful and
inexperienced as I am, be?"

" It must be valuable to every man," was
the reply.

" Pardon my frankness, Captain Mordant,
and permit me to tell you that, \^ you attach
any value to my esteem, you will refrain
from compliments direct or indirect^' — and
here she blushed again, — " for I never can
divest myself of the notion that those who
utter them have formed .a low estimate of her
to whom they are addressed."

Mordant w^as about to utter something to
deprecate this belief, when Grace raised her
head and said, " Not another word on the
subject of compliments, lest you add to your
sin of flattery."

" Fool that I was," thought Mordant, " not
to have seen at once that this lovely creature

COUNTRY aUARTERS. 157

was too superior to the generality of those of
her age and sex to receive praise with com-
placency. I have injured myself in her opi-
nion by having tried such old and stupid
means of conciliating her as might please
other women, and she has given me a lesson
not soon to be forgotten."

" I am, then, to suppose, Miss O'Neill, that
Colonel Maitland addressed no compliment
to you?" resumed Mordant, desirous to break
the silence that followed her reproof.

" He paid me the most delicate of all com-
pliments — that of taking for granted that I
did not like them, and of speaking to me as
he would have done to my grandmother."

At this moment, Honor 0 'Flaherty ap-
proached Miss O'Neill, and, with a very arch
expression of countenance, whispered, but not
low enough to be inaudible to Mordant, " So,
Sir Henry Travers has popped the question,
I find, and got the belt, as he deserved ?"

" Pray be silent, Honor. Such matters
should never be talked of; and I can't con-
ceive how you should know anything about
it."

158 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" You forget, Grace, that you happen to
have a very speaking face ; although your
tongue IS none of the most communicative,
perhaps on the principle of compensation.
Florence Fitzgerald, who, like me, has plenty
of time on her hands to observe the love-
making, of men to other girls, because she
has no similar occupation of her own, told
me that she saw the whole scene, from the
first introduction to the last sentence."

*' I assure you that there is not the slightest
chance of my ever changing my mind. Honor,
I must insist that you will say no more on
this subject."

" Not quiz him a little on his disappoint-
ment ?"

*' Not on any account, dear Honor ; as your
doing so would really offend and pain me."

" What a sensible and high-m.inded crea-
ture this is ! " thought Mordant. " Inherent
tact and delicacy have done the work of time,
and, having been long accustomed to move in
the best society, this advantage has materially
conduced to form her mind and to polish her
manners. There is a modest confidence,

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 159

founded on self-respect, in her that charms
me; for, while it has conquered all the
gaucherie peculiar to extreme youth and want
of les usages du monde^ it has not impaired,
in the slightest degree, that feminine reserve
which is one of the greatest attractions in a
youthful maiden."

" Oh, Grace ! I have had such a sparring
match with Mr. Hunter," said Honor OTla-
lierty aloud. " Now, don't look so horrified,
dear Grace. You could not appear more
shocked if I had clawed, instead of quizzed
him."

" How can you persist in this odious habit
of quizzing, Honor — a habit so wrong, so un-
feminine ? "

" You begin to scold me without knowing
the extent of my sin against feminine pro-
priety ; " and the wild girl drew up her lips,
and looked demure, in imitation of w4iat she
termed Grace O'Neill's prudery. '* Before
you condemn me, you should hear my crime.
You must know that Mr. Hunter did me
what I dare say he considered an honour —
that of asking me to dance ; and I was taken

160 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

SO unaware, and I suppose was so overcome
by the favour, that I consented to his request.
But, no sooner had we danced down the first
set, than he began to compare the grandeur
and elegance of England in general, and of
his father's portion of it in particular, with
the poverty and uncivilization of poor Ire-
land,— a subject so unpalatable to me, that I
am apt to lose all self control when it is
persisted in, so I could not resist the temp-
tation to hoax him."

" Hoax ! what a word. Honor ! " said Grace
O'Neill.

" A very good word, for anything I can see
to the contrary, Grace. Why I hear all our
acquaintance use it frequently."

" Can I never make you understand,
Honor, that words which may be permitted
to men, are not precisely what women should
utter ? "

" Do hear this modern Mrs. Primmer lec-
ture me, Captain Mordant," said Honor,
turning to that gentleman. " Is it such a
shocking word, after all ? "

The half-contrite, and half-comic, counte-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 161

nance of the lively girl who appealed to his
opinion overpowered his gravity, and he
yielded to something more than a smile till,
reproved by a glance of Miss O'Neill's se-
rious face, he checked it, and admitted " that
the word in question was more suited to
male than to female lips."

" What a hypocrite you are, Captain
Mordant ! You were ready to burst into
a hearty laugh when Grace's solemn face
alarmed you out of it ; and, to please her,
you pass sentence against my good and ex-
pressive word ' hoax.' But I must finish
my story about Mr. Hunter. I assumed a
very innocent countenance, and told him 1
thought he must be a very condescending
person to come to such a poor vulgar country
as Ireland, and to dance with girls like my-
self, when, by throwing up his commission,
he might remain in England, where there
was no poverty, nor vulgarity, and where
he might dance with Lady Marys and Lady
Augustas at every ball. He seemed quite
pleased, and said he did it for his country's
good. ' You are not only a soldier, but a

162 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

patriot/ observed I, * and it is no wonder
that the Irish ladies, who admire bravery and
patriotism, think highly of you/ ' Do they,
indeed ?' inquired he, pulling up his shirt
collar, and glancing at the large looking-glass
near us. ' Well, 'pon my honour, I am ready
to allow that, though the Irish ladies have
not the polish, the elegance — in short, the.
je ne sgais quoi of the English, they are, never-
theless, very fine girls.' "

" ' How proud they'd be if they knew you
think so ! '

" * O ! 1 assure you I have told my opinion
to several of my brother officers.' "

" * I hope it won't get known to my poor
countrywomen, for it would turn their heads,
and encourage them all to fall in love with
you.' "

" Honor, can it be possible that you com-
promised the dignity of your sex in this
dreadful manner ? " demanded Grace O'Neill,
her face flushed with shame.

" * To have them all in love with me would
be too much of a good thing,' said the vain
fool ; ' but I should not be sorry to make an
impression on the hearts of a few.' ''

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 163

" I have played my part so well, " con-
tinued the arch girl, " as to make him believe
that not only I, but half my female friends,
are deeply smitten with him, and have left
him in a fool's paradise of pleasure."

" Honor, I am seriously angry with you
for thus letting down the dignity of our sex
for the puerile amusement of the moment,
and for drawing on us all the impertinence
of this foolish young man. What must he
think of us?"

" I flatter myself that he is now thinking of
me only, for my flattery has proved such a good
bait that he has swallowed it, hook and all ;
and, if I don't play with this odd fish for my
diversion, as the angler does with a large one
that he has safely hooked, my name is not
Honor O'Flaherty."

Grace O'Neill looked so much ashamed
and distressed, that Captain Mordant, though
really amused by the comic manner in which
Honor OTlaherty related the scene with
Mr. Hunter, did not indulge his risible
muscles, and promised his fair partner that
should Mr. Hunter repeat, the flattery ad-

164 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

ministered to him by her friend, he would
make his brother officers understand that
Miss O'Flaherty was only amusing herself at
the expense of his vanity and credulity,
while the incorrigible Honor entreated he
would not spoil her joke, the denouement of
which she declared she felt assured would be
charming ; and then, seeing how much dis-
pleased Grace was at her levity, she walked
away, saying that " some persons made harm
out of every bit of fun, and looked shocked
about trifles."

" She is a good-hearted girl," said Miss
O'Neill, '* but allows herself to be carried
away by her wdld spirits and love of fun, —
besetting sins with too many of my youthful
countrywomen, and which give rise to the most
erroneous opinions to their disadvantage."

Had Captain Mordant been a vain man, the
desire evinced by Miss O'Neill that her coun-
trywomen should not be misjudged by him,
and the displeasure she betrayed at the gid-
diness of her friend, might have struck him
as originating in a peculiar desire to prove to
him that she was too superior to the gene-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 165

rality of Irishwomen to be capable of the
errors she so severely reprehended in one of
them. But he was not a vain man, and
truly appreciated the motives of her conduct,
which he felt quite persuaded sprang only
from a purer sentiment.

The extreme delicacy oF mind and deco-
rum of manner of the Countess O'Neill had
taught her grand-daughter to shrink with
dismay from the somewhat coarse mirth, and
desire of exciting it, so prominent a defect
in many of her young countrywomen, and she
M'ould have felt as desirous to see tliem more
dignified and refined, for their own sakes,
as well as for hers. But, shocked herself by
every proof of levity and want of maidenly
reserve on their parts, her sense of propriety
rendered her aware of the evil impression
such follies were calculated to make on
strangers ; — hence, the lovely Grace O'Neill
was somewhat disposed to fall into an oppo-
site defect of manner, by becoming as formal
as her companions were the reverse.

166 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER X.

The following day a portion of the junior

officers of the Regiment were invited

to Ballymacross Castle, it being by no means
the intention of Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerald and
his lady to confine their hospitality to the
senior ones, while these last were engaged
to the ball which was to follow in the even-
ing, and the other half of the juniors were
to dine with the Baronet the third day,
their superior officers being again engaged
for the third ball. Thus, three gala days, as
the giver termed them, followed each other,
a mode of displaying hospitality frequently
adopted in Ireland. At each of these balls
Miss O'Neill was alternately the partner of
Captain Sydney Mordant and Mr. Herbert

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 167

Vernon, both alike smitten with her, but
with very unequal chances of winning her
affection, her preference being wholly ac-
corded to the former, although she as yet
knew not how deep was the impression made
on her heart.

Never had that young and innocent breast
previously harboured so dangerous a guest as
love ; consequently, she was not aAvare of the
extent of his power until, on taking leave of
her at the conclusion of the third ball at
Ballymacross Castle, Captain Mordant, with
an involuntary sigh, remarked to her that
^* the last three evenings had been the hap-
piest of his life, but would render future so-
litary ones more insupportable," when a
pang at her heart told her that she too would
find her quiet evenings at home less happy
than previous ones.

" How much I should like to have the
honour of being presented to the Countess
O'Neill !" said Mordant ; " may I, Miss
O'Neill, entreat that favour from you?"

Grace blushed and faltered as she promised
to ask permission from her grandmother, but

168 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

added that she so seldom formed any new
aeqiiaintauce, that she hardly hoped an ex-
ception to the rule of seclusion made by her
ijrandmother, Avould now be accorded.

*' But may I call at your door?" inquired
Mordant.

Another blush, and a gentle assent, sent
Mordant back to his quarters more in love,
yet less unhappy, than before.

*' Was there ever a more beautiful crea-
ture than Miss O'Neill ?" demanded Herbert
^'ernon, as he and Mordant drove away from
Ballymacross Castle after the last ball.

" Never," was the sole reply.

" I feel over head and ears in love with
her, Mordant, but cannot flatter myself into
a belief that my suit would ever prove suc-
cessful, however warmly urged. Yet, when
I think to what a comparatively brilliant des-
tiny I could elevate her by making her
my wife, and transporting her from this wild
and comfortless country to the stately home
and abundant luxuries in which it abounds,
which will one day be mine, a latent hope
>prings up in my breast that she may be in-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 169

(luced to accord to my position and prospects
that which no stretch of my vanity could
lead me to think she would concede to my-
self. Before I had seen Miss O'Neill, had
any one told me I could ever bring myself
to sue for the hand of a woman who loved
me not, and who only accepted me for my
prospects, I should have pronounced such a
supposition not only an insult but an impos-
sibility ; nevertheless, such is the revolution
produced by an all-engrossing passion, that
pride, self-respect, all, all yield to its influ-
ence ; and I am weak — mean enough, to be
ready to accept with joy the hand of her
whose heart 1 fear I may never be able to
touch."

Herbert Vernon hid his face with his
hands, while his deep sighs revealed the ex-
tent of his emotion.

" This passion is of so recent a date, you
know so little of her who has excited it, that
a little reflection, and an avoidance of Miss
O'Neill's society, may enable you to conquer
it, my dear Vernon."

" And can you. Mordant, imagine that she

VOL. I. I

170 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

is one of those women who, once loved, can
be so easily forgotten ?"

Mordant's heart prompted a ready reply,
but he forbore to utter it, for it would have
entirely coincided with the sentiments of his
friend; so he affected to make light of the
subject, and said, " You know the lines,
Vernon —

* None without hope e'er loved the brightest fair.' "

" Yes," replied Vernon, interrupting him,
" and the next line, which applies to me —

* For love will hope where reason would despair.'

Yes, such is precisely my state. The reserve
and coldness of Miss O'Neill convince my
reason that I have no cause for hope, yet the
syren still cheats me."

" But this is not your first passion, Ver-
non : and, as a former one has subsided, may
not this also fade away when no food is given
for its maintenance ?"

" This, though not the first, is, I feel, the
only real passion T ever knew. It is as dif-
ferent from the former one as the object

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 171

that lias created it is superior. Oh ! Mor-
dant, if she showed only half the pleasure
when I approach her that she evinces when
you do I should be the happiest man alive !"

" Surely you are mistaken, Vernon. I
assure you I have never had the slightest
reason to think that I have found more fa^
vour in her eyes than you have."

" And I, fool as I am, have let you into
the secret ! Have I not seen her blush
whenever you drew near her ?"

" Miss O'Neill is only lately introduced
even into the narrow circle here, which its
inhabitants designate the world, or, more
properly speaking, society. She is naturally
shy and prone to blush, as is generally the
case with persons of her age and sex, who
have never mingled in more extended cir-
cles."

" So I might suppose if she blushed when
other men a})proach her. Mordant; but I
have watched her narrowly, and never have I
seen the least suffusion of her cheek, except
when your presence, or the mention of your
name, produced it."

I 2

172 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

How rapidly throbbed the heart of Mor-
dant, and how delicious were the sensations
he experienced, as another confirmed the
belief he had previously hardly dared to
indulge, lest vanity might have misled him !
He could have embraced Vernon, so trans-
ported was he by his words ; but the recol-
lection of his own dependent position, and
the conviction that never would Lord and
Lady Fitzmordant consent to his marrying
the object of his attachment, damped his
transitory happiness.

" Perhaps, Mordant, if you were to plead
my suit with Miss O'Neill, and let her know
what my prospects are, the certainty that
my father and mother would receive her on
whom the happiness of their only son de-
pended with open arms, and tell her all the
good you know of me, she might be disposed
to listen to my proposal ?"

" But might not a compliance with your
desire, Vernon, expose me to the danger of
forming an attachment which, in my peculiar
position, must be a hopeless one ? Miss
O'Neill is not, I confess, a person with whom

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 173

any man with a disengaged heart couki come
in frequent contact with impunity."

" You feel, you admit this, Mordant. Ah !
yes, I was right in my supposition when I
guessed that you are already, perhaps uncon-
sciously, smitten with her who has captivated
me."

' ' I will be frank with you, Vernon. I
am not indifferent to the charms of Miss
O'Neill ; nay more, I never felt so lively an
interest in any woman before ; but, as I
never can hope to call her mine, I am not so
selfish as to wish to entangle her affection,
or to prevent her from listening to your
suit ; believing, as I firmly do, that with an
honourable, kind-hearted, and good-tem-
pered fellow like yourself, she would have a
very fair chance of happiness."

" My dear Mordant, I can never forget
your conduct on this occasion," said Herbert
Vernon, clasping the hand of his friend.
" Judge, then, Tiow^ strong is the affection
which would lead me to seek the possession
of her hand, even though assured that with
it she could not bestow her heart. This is

174 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

being selfish — mean — whatever you like to
designate it ; but, knowing that I would de-
vote my life to making her happy, that my
father and mother would act as the tenderest
parents to her, that my friends and connec-
tions would become hers, I cannot but hope
that I might in the end acquire the affection
, I would give worlds to possess."

" But are you not premature, Vernon, in
declaring your attachment ? Consider you
have known Miss O'Neill little more than
two or three weeks, and out of three weeks
have spent only four evenings in her society,
and those in crowded balls."

" Mordant, your blood is colder than mine,
if you can think that it requires a longer
time than four evenings for a creature so
lovely in person and admirable in mind as
Miss O'Neill to captivate a heart like mine."

Mordant felt his own heart too profoundly
touched to deny the truth of the assertion of
his friend, and, when the carriage stopped at
the barracks, and they separated, he heartily
wished that Vernon had not made him his
confidant, nor asked him to plead his cause

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 175

with Miss O'Neill ; for, as a man of honour,
he felt bound to serve his interest, however
painful to his own feelings. Men are so
often the dupes of their own hearts, that who
shall say that, in accepting the trust imposed
on Mordant by his friend Vernon, he was not
unconsciously influenced by the desire of
facilitating occasions of interview with the
secret object of his own affection, which
might furnish opportunities of becoming
better acquainted with her?

Reason sometimes warns mortals that
certain results are likely to spring from cer-
tain causes, and they, admitting it, form reso-
lutions not to let such results occur, believ-
ing that they can always avert them. Never-
theless they do not adopt the wise course of
avoiding the cause of the effect they dread ;
namely, of shunning the object with whom
they know their peace might be in danger ;
and, determined not to risk her happiness
and their own by an ill-assorted marriage,
they fearlessly rush into danger by inter-
views which feed the flame of affection, until
it becomes torture to separate from her they

176 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

love, and tliey end by the marriage, wliich,
at the commencement of their passion, they
determined on never forming. Well may
this weak conduct be compared to the infa-
tuation of flies, who hover around a flame,
which first singes their wings without teach-
ing them to avoid it, and ends by their total
destruction.

Mordant was kept awake for some time
by certain qualms of conscience, as to the
propriety of his own conduct. Was it right
for him to seek opportunities of becoming
better acquainted with the qualities of a
creature so irresistibly charming, that even
on so short an acquaintance with her, he felt
that his heart was no longer free, certain as
he must be that the more he knew her the
stronger must his attachment prove? But
a3 he believed the danger would be confined
solely to him, that there would be no risk to
her (for the part he had undertaken of plead-
ing, the suit of another must lead her to think
that he had no views for himself,) the desire
of seeing her blinded him to the possible or
probable consequences, and silenced his scru-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 177

pies. There would be, as he said to himself,
always time to withdraw from her presence
when he should find he could no longer
master his feelings; and with this vain
belief he at length sank into slumber, to
dream of her who occupied all his thoughts.

Had Mordant been a vain man, it might
have occurred to him that the peace of the
beautiful Grace 0 Neill might be endangered
by frequent interviews with him ; and he
was so honourably disposed, that such a possi-
bility would have prevented him from seek-
ing them; but he was really so free from
vanity, the besetting sin of the generality of
young men, that it never did occur to him ;
hence he believed that he risked only his
own peace when he sought to become better
acquainted with her.

The following morning, at breakfast in the
mess-room, the hospitality of Sir Geoifrey
Fitzgerald and the balls of the preceding
three nights, furnished the universal topic of
conversation.

" There were, I admit," said Colonel
Maitland, "a number of very pretty girls

178 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

present ; but Miss O'Neill is, in my opinion^
so infinitely superior to them all, that she
totally eclipsed them. Her manner, too, is
so distinguished, so perfectly lady-like, that
I could do nothing but admire and wonder
how in this wild country she could have
acquired such ease and elegance."

Herbert Vernon looked triumphantly
across the table at Mordant, and, encouraged
by his colonel's praises of Miss O'Neill, men-
tally applauded himself for having selected
her as the object of his affection.

" For my part," observed Mr. Hunter, " I
think Miss O'Flaherty quite equal to her,
though in another style."

"Yes, a very different style, I grant," re-
marked Lieutenant Marston ; " Miss O'Neill
resembles a fine Arabian horse, and Miss
O'Flaherty a capital hackney."

" But how comes it, Hunter, that Miss
O'Flaherty has found such favour in your
sight of late ? The other day you sppke
slightingly of her."

"I didn't know her then/' replied Mr.
Hunter, " but, now that I do, I think her

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 179

one of the most agreeable girls I ever
met."

" I confess that I think all the Irish young
ladies we have seen remarkably handsome,
and, although, not quite as polished as our
English ones, far more pleasant and piquant,"
said Captain Sitwell.

" Their freedom of manner somewhat
shocks one at first," observed Major Elvaston.
" We Englishmen are not accustomed to
have young ladies shake hands and welcome
us as cordidly on the second interview as if
we were old and privileged friends ; but this
freedom extends no further, and I have a
strong notion that any one presuming on it
to take the slightest liberty, would find him-
self severely reproved."

" Or laughed at, which would be, perhaps,
the more mortifying check of the two," said
Captain Sitwell.

" The characteristic features in the man-
ners of Irishwomen, seem to me to be little
changed since Lord Chesterfield, when Vice-
roy of Ireland, pronounced his opinion of
them," observed Colonel Maitland. " His

180 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

lordship, than whom there were few better
judges of women, said that the Irishwomen
looked less correct than English ones, but
were in reality more so."

"Although I will not admit that any
women can be superior to those of our own
country," remarked Captain Sit well, " I
nevertheless am attracted by the artless
gaiety, the buoyant spirits, and unceremo-
nious cordiality of greeting of the Irish
ladies, who, unconscious of evil in others,
because they are conscious of none in
themselves, like frank and lively children,
are ready to amuse and be amused with
others."

" I agree with you," said Mordant, '' and
believe that the ill-natured comments some-
times called forth by the natural vivacity of
Irishwomen wholly originate in the igno-
rance of those who utter them."

" With every inclination to judge fairly of
the ladies of this side of the water, I con-
fess," remarked Colonel Maitland, " that I
w^ould prefer to see them resemble Miss
O'Neill a little more, who, free from the

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 181

formal and conventional reserve of our
Englishwomen, is equally so from the too
vivacious and demonstrative freedom of the
Irish."

182 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER XL

" And so, darling, you enjoyed your three
days at Ballymacross Castle?" said the
Countess O'Neill to her grand-daughter as
they sat together at tea the evening of the
return of the latter from her visit to that
place.

" Yes, dearest grandmother ; and I should
have enjoyed them much more did I not
remember how much you would miss me,
and that my pleasure was purchased at the
ex])ense of your comfort."

" Why, I must confess, Grace, that poor
Mrs. O'Flaherty is not precisely the person
to fill your place, or make me forget your
absence. Nevertheless, I got over the three
days tolerably well, for the hours, whether

COUNTRY QUARTERS. J 83

agreeably or disagreeably passed, still fleet
on ; for, alas ! there is no casting anchor in
the stream of time."

" I feared poor Mrs. 0 'Flaherty would
ennuyer you. She sometimes has that
effect on me, she is so childish. "

" I have been endeavouring to reason with
her on the folly of encouraging Honor in her
wild spirits and reckless habit of bantering,
which must present a great obstacle to her
being happily settled for life, this last point
being, as I was well aware, the only one
likely to make an impression on her. To
dwell on the impropriety of Honor's doings
and sayings in any graver light than their
injurious effect on her matrimonial chances
would have been utterly unavailing. But
her poor, weak-minded mother assured me
that she relied wholly on the very points in
her manner to which I objected for her
achieving con(][uests, and would not on any
account check or change her. She quoted
to me, as examples illustrative of the truth
of her theory, the good marriages formed by
all the wild and giddy girls of oar acquaint-

184 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

ance, and the failure of the grave and steady
ones in securing husbands.

" * You have heard,' said she, * the old
saying, that there is a God who watches over
the safety of drunken men. So, I am per-
suaded, there is a Providence for wild girls ;
and, as I have instilled into Conor's mind
that her first consideration in life must be to
get a husband, you will find that, either by
bantering or quizzing in her own w41d way,
she will carry her point when people least ima-
gine it probable.' It was in vain that I tried
to make her sensible of the evil of thus
training her daughter to become a husband-
hunter, and of its debasing effects on her
mind. I could produce no good by my re-
presentations ; and I really pity the poor
girl, who finds in her own mother the worst
adviser she could have. But you have told
me none of the particulars of your balls.
Who did you dance with ?"

" Captain Mordant and Mr. Vernon."
" The same gentlemen, if I remember
rightly, with whom you danced at the ball
here ?"

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 185

" Yes."

" Are they agreeable and sensible men?"

The Countess turned her eyes towards the
face of her grand-daughter, and was surprised
to see it suffused with a bright blush, while
the artless girl seemed at a loss to frame a
reply to so simple a question.

"Mr. Vernon," at length, said Grace, "is
very gentlemanlike."

" And Captain Mordant, is he less agree-
able than you thought him on the first night
of your acquaintance ?"

" Oh ! no, he is even more so ;" and a
a deeper blush followed the former.

" Then you prefer him to Mr. Vernon, is
it not so ?"

" I hardly know ; that is, perhaps he is
the more agreeable of the two; but really,
dearest grandmother, on so short an acquaint-
ance it is not easy to pronounce."

The Countess O'Neill felt certain that
Captain Mordant had made some impression
on the heart of her grand-daughter. Her
blushes, her hesitation, convinced her of it ;
and an involuntary sigh broke from the breast

186 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

of the fond and anxious parent at the dis-
covery that her darling Grace could no longer,
as hitherto, expose every thought of her pure
mind to her. She now almost wished that
she had not let her go to Ballymacross
Castle, to be again exposed to the attentions
of Captain Mordant.

*' And yet," reasoned the admirable woman,
" it is the destiny of the young and fair to
win affection, and to respond to it. Who is
there here among the young men of my
neighbourhood to whom I could wish to see
the happiness of this dear girl confided ? Or
who could appreciate her as she merits to be
appreciated ? I must see this Captain Mor-
dant ; must study his character, and judge
whether he is worthy of the affections of my
treasure. And yet may I not confide in the
delicacy of her taste, the purity of her mind,
and that intuitive sense of what is estimable,
which have always characterized my child,
for taking for granted that no man but one
of superior qualities and attainments could
make an impression on her ?"

While these reflections were passing in

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 187

the mind of the Countess O'Neill, Grace bent
over a drawing she was making, occasionally
lifting lier eyes to the face of her grand-
mother with a mingled expression of curiosity
and timidity. How should she ever, without
betraying a timidity that might reveal her
emotion, repeat the request of Captain Mor-
dant to be permitted to pay his respects to
her grandmother ? How foolish it was of
her not to have mentioned the request when
her grandmother had inquired about him !
That was the moment to do so, and she had
allowed it to pass ; and he woukl be sure to
call the next day, she felt certain he w-ould,
and her grandmother woukl think it odd, and
he, too, must think it very strange, that he
was not admitted ; and yet how could he be
let in if she did not ask permission of her
grandmother ? Yes, he would be sent from
the door, would probably feel mortified ; and
all this would be her fault. How could she
be so foolish, so nervous ? She never was so
before ; and what could be more simple than
repeating his request ? She cleared her
throat two or three times to speak to her

188 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

grandmother, but a sense of suffocation pre-
vented her from speaking.

" Have you caught cold, darling ?" inquired
the Countess, somewhat alarmed.

" No, dearest grandmother, only a slight
huskiness in the throat, which is now quite
gone."

" I was thinking, dearest, that, though I
do not like seeing strangers, I should be glad
to receive a visit from your two partners."

" Which reminds me," said Grace, blushing
up to her very temples, " that Captain Mor-
dant asked me to obtain your permission to
receive him."

" 1 must give instructions to Patrick to
admit him, my darling, so ring the bell;" a
command which Grace obeyed with ala-
crity.

The Countess insisted on her grand-
daughter going to bed unusually early that
night, to make up for the fatigue of the three
preceding ones; and we do not exaggerate
when we assert that the mind of the old lady
was almost as much occupied by Captain
Mordant, whom she had never seen, as was

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 189

that of Grace herself, to whom his image was
perpetually present. How sweet were the
dreams of the level j girl that night !

She seemed to listen to the tones of that
musical, yet manly voice, as it breathed vows
of love in her enraptured ear, and vowed
eternal constancy. She walked with him in
beautiful gardens, by murmuring fountains ;
and he told her that he now loved for the
first time, and entreated a return of his pas-
sion. She essayed to speak, but could not,
and he accused her of cruelty, when, placing
her hand in his, she felt him cover it with
kisses ; and she awoke to find it fondly
pressed by her grandmother, who was bend-
ing over her couch.

" I came to see how you slept, darling,"
said the Countess, " and when I approached
you put forth your hand to meet mine, and
seemed so happy that for a moment I be-
lieved you were awake ; but when I looked
more closely T saw that you still slept."

For the first time in her life Grace re-
flected some minutes on what dress she
should wear that day. She first decided on

190 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

putting on her best and most becoming
morning dress ; but then came the thought
that her grandmother might think it strange
that she wore it, and attribute it to the true
cause, the wish of appearing to advantage in
the eyes of Captain Mordant. No ; she
would wear a dark silk dress. It is true her
grandmother often told her she looked best
in light colours, and therefore she was
tempted on this occasion to attire herself in
a robe of grey poplin. But no ; on reflec-
tion she would wear a dark gown, with white
collar and cuffs ; that would look less pre-
tending, and lead to no suspicion of her wish-
ing to appear to more than usual advantage
that day.

The dark robe was put on, and well it
fitted the exquisitely-formed bust and slender
waist of its beautiful wearer. The snowy
whiteness of the collar and cuifs was pecu-
liarly becoming to the fine complexion of
Grace ; and the small feet and delicate hands
peeping forth from the dark robe would have
proved to the most prejudiced Englishman
that ever touched the Hibernian shore, that

10

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 191

an Irishwoman might have as small feet and
hands as the most aristocratic dame that
England had ever given birth to.

Never previously had Grace looked so fre-
quently in her mirror as on this morning, and
never had she been less satisfied with the
image it reflected. Never vain, she was on
this occasion so much the reverse that she
really persuaded herself into a belief that she
was rather plain than good-looking : a fact
so extraordinary that we fear few of our
female readers will give credence to it, but
which was, nevertheless, perfectly true. At
three o'clock, a knock at the hall- door an-
nounced a visitor, and in a minute after the
sound of ascending steps was heard.

Grace half rose with the intention of look-
ing in the glass, but, recollecting herself, sat
down again ; and a bright blush overspread
her cheeks, whether from a latent dread that
her grandmother might have suspected the
motive of her half leaving her seat, or from
pleasure at the visit she was about to receive,
we are not prepared to decide. The door of
the drawing-room thrown open by Patrick,

192 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Captain Mordant entered, while Lis name
was pronounced, and Grace presented liim to
her grandmother, with certain irrepressible
indications of perturbation which she would
have given much to conceal.

The fine figure, handsome and intelligent
face, and, above all, the air distingue of
Mordant, made a most favourable impres-
sion on the Countess O'Neill ; while the
suavity of his manner, and the deferential
tone he adopted towards her, soon banished
the constraint and ceremony which generally
attend a first visit between total strangers.
The conversation was chiefly maintained by
the Countess and Mordant, who were mu-
tually pleased with each other, Grace only
occasionally joining in it ; and when, after a
visit of an hour, Mordant arose to depart,
entreating permission to renew the privilege
of calling sometimes, and of presenting his
friend Mr. Vernon, Grace thought that half
an hour instead of a whole one could not
have elapsed.

" But why should he wash to present Mr.
Vernon V thought Grace. " I wish he

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 193

had not asked grandmamma, for now Mr.
Vernon will always be sure to accompany
him when he comes here, and his presence
w^ill spoil all the pleasure of Captain Mor-
dant's visits, at least to me."

It was Sterne who said that " a man has
seldom an intention of making a woman an
offer of kindness without her having a pre-
sentiment of it some moments before." This
female instinct, young and inexperienced as
Grace was, had led her to form a notion that
Mr. Vernon regarded her with a more than
ordinary interest. But so little of a coquette
was she that, far from this suspicion afford-
ing her any pleasure, it really was disagree-
able to her, and she would gladly have
avoided giving Mr. Vernon any opportunity
of resuming liis attentions. Now, however,
the Countess O'Neill having accorded her
permission to receive him, Grace felt certain
that he would avail himself of it much more
frequently than would be acceptable to her,
and determined to discourage him as much
as was consistent with good breeding.

" What a remarkably gentlemanlike man
VOL, I. K

194 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Captain Mordant is !" remarked the Countess.
" He is very good-looking, too, and, unlike
the generality of his sex, does not appear to
be too well aware of this fact. A vain wo-
man is bad enough, but a vain man is still
worse. You expressed yourself so coldly
about Captain Mordant's personal advantages
that I was not prepared to see so handsome
a man."

Grace had lately fallen into such a habit
of blushing that her grandmother, who had
observed it, was not very much surprised at
seeing her fair cheeks glow with a bright but
evanescent hue when she addressed this re-
mark to her, and was almost tempted to
smile when, in reply to her observations,
Grace uttered something about the difference
of opinion often entertained about good
looks.

" You surely don't mean to say that you
consider Captain Mordant otherwise than
handsome, darling?" said the Countess,
amused by the disingenuousness of her
grand-daughter, prompted by an incipient af-
fection and maidenly shyness. Her own

6

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 195

experience of the feelings peculiar to a first
attachment had taught her to comprehend
those of Grace. She well remembered that,
although naturally of a most frank and open
disposition, and fondly devoted to her own
mother, how disposed she was to conceal
from that dear parent the state of her heart
until the demand for her hand from Count
O'Neill justified the preference she had con-
ceived for him, and truly sympathized with
Grace on the present occasion. Nevertheless,
she was not indisposed to indulge a mo-
mentary espieglerie at her expense, certain
that it would not be long ere Grace would
confide to her maternal breast the only se-
cret of her heart.

"Am I, then, to understand that in
this instance, Grace, your taste and mine
do not agree ? " inquired the Countess
O'Neill

" No, dearest grandmother — that is to
say, yes ;" and the lovely girl blushed to her
very eyes. " I think Captain Mordant very
good-looking ; but, as I am not much of a
judge of good looks, at least in men, I did

K 2

196 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

not know whether you might think him so ;

and so"

" And so, darling," said the Countess
O'Neill, interrupting her, " you were afraid
of compromising your good taste by declaring
your opinion. In this case, however, it was
safe, for none could deny the personal at-
tractions of Captain Mordant." And then,
changing the subject to an indifferent one,
the Countess relieved her sensitive grand-
daughter from the embarrassment under
which she was labouring, leaving her happy
in the belief that her secret preference for
Captain Mordant was uususpected, while to
the Countess O'Neill, it was as fully revealed
as if Grace had confessed it. " Poor dear
child," thought she, " I must not attempt to
gain her confidence on this point until her
delicacy is relieved by an avowal of his affec-
tion. Then, I am sure, she will open her
heart to me."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 197

CHAPTER XII.

If Mordant was deeply smitten by the
beauty, unaffected modesty, and charm of
manner of Grace O'Neill when seen, as
hitherto, only in the blaze of a brilliantly-
illuminated ball-room — a light so favourable
to female beauty that, even after its first
freshness has somewhat faded, it seems to
recover its pristine bloom — how much more
did he admire her when he beheld her in the
bright sunshine of a clear and cheerful day,
that true test of youth and beauty, which
leaves not the slightest defect concealed,
while it brings out the charm of a fine com-
plexion ? She struck him as being even
more lovely than he had previously thought
her, and, notwithstanding his resolution not

198 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

yield up his heart, he was more in love with
her than ever.

The extreme neatness of the house in
which she resided, the simple elegance that
reigned throughout the room in which he
had been received, vouching for the intellec-
tual and feminine occupations of its inhabi-
tants, was in perfect harmony with their ap-
pearance. Books, flowers, a pianoforte, a
frame on which a piece of embroidery was
strained, and half finished, from a beautiful
drawing placed on an easel near it, formed
a little picture to which the elderly and
youthful lady gave the finishing touches and
animation.

Never did age appear more venerable or
more respectable than in the Countess
O'Neill. Tall and slight, with finely-formed
features and a delicate fairness of skin, a
strong resemblance existed between her
grand-daughter and her. Attired in black
silk with a white crape collar and cuffs, and
a widow's cap, which had never been aban-
doned since the death of her husband, she
wore her silvery hair, of which she had a

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 199

profusion, separated, a la Madonna, on her
forehead. Those rich tresses, which sorrow
had rendered prematurely grey, had once
been as black as those of her grand-daughter,
but no attempt to conceal this mark of age
had ever been made ; and, as Mordant con-
templated her countenance, he thought those
snowy braids lent a peculiarly touching cha-
racter to her pale but fair face.

Reclined in an ebony easy-chair, with dark
velvet cushions, a small table, on which was
placed her Bible, close to her, Mordant
thought her the most interesting-looking
woman he had ever beheld, and just such a
one as Vandyke would have liked to paint.
Her small and finely-shaped hands resting
on her black dress reminded him forcibly of
a charming picture by Vandyke of one of
his female ancestors, who, like the Countess
O'Neill, had never changed her widow's
dress for any other. This portrait he had
often admired in the stately gallery of his
father, and, now that the original seemed to
stand before him, he felt that the appearance
of the grandmother of Miss O'Neill, even in

200 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

the most fastidious and courtly circles, must
command respect. Who that looked on this
venerable woman, whose beauty Time had
touched and mellowed without defacing, and
then glanced on the lovely creature in the
bloom of youth and beauty near her, but
must have felt assured that, when years had
dimmed the lustre of her charms, she would
grow into the perfect likeness of her grand-
mother, only changing one character of
beauty for another ?

Mordant thought of women of a certain
age in high life in England, to whom Time,
in proportion as he took away their comeli-
ness, bestowed increase of embonpoint until
they wished their " too too solid flesh would
melt," and who with tresses only become
their own by right of purchase, and, "by
using all other appliances to boot," vainly
endeavour to repair or conceal the ravages
of the inexorable tyrant, looked such vile
caricatures of human beings as had often
made him turn with distaste from some
plump young beauty, a daughter or grand-
daughter of these moving masses of flesh, in

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 201

whose pretty faces might be traced a re-
semblance to the puffed ones of their mam-
mas or grandmammas, shuddering at the
thought that such might these Hebes here-
after become. But the lover of Grace
O'Neill who could aspire to her hand might
anticipate the effect of Time on her without
distaste or dread, when he looked on the face
and figure of her grandmother.

It had struck Mordant more than once
that Miss O'Neill had not the slightest por-
tion of the Irish accent, and he found that
the Countess was equally exempt from this
national peculiarity, while almost all the per-
sons in Ireland with whom he had associated
hitherto possessed it in a very striking de-
gree. Their utter freedom from the accent
of their country greatly gratified him, for it
seemed to his fastidious taste that any touch
of it would have impaired the refinement
and elegance which he considered so indis-
pensable in women. When he left their
house, he encountered Mrs. and Miss O'Fla-
herty, who were approaching it.

" Give me leave. Captain Mordant," said

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202 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

the latter, " to introduce you to my mo-
ther."

The oJd lady, with a very strong Hibernian
accent, declared she was " mighty pleased to
become acquainted with the Captain, and
hoped he would sometimes look in and pay
her a visit; though she led a very lonely
life, and would be moped to death only for
the constant good spirits of Honor. Good
spirits were, indeed, a great blessing; but,
for her part, she could not be expected to
have them, after having lost a husband," and
here she drew out a cambrick handkerchief
and applied it to her eyes, " for whose loss
she never could be consoled."

" That will do, mother," interrupted Ho-
nor. " Don't bother Captain Mordant about
a loss that happened so long ago, and which,
after all, if what you have told me be true,
was no loss at all."

" Honor ! Honor ! what can yon be think-
ing of, to speak so disrespectfully of your
own /ather, who is now in Heaven ? Don't
mind her, Captain ; she is a wild, giddy girl,
that doesn't know what she is saying half
her time."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 203

" There's a pretty character to give a poor
girl! Isn't it?" said Honor, with a comic
expression of countenance. " It's easy to
see, mother, that you don't want to get me
married off your hands, when you tell all
my faults to the first stranger you meet in
the street. But Captain Mordant is a good
creature — are you not?" smiling at him,
" and won't let out a word of all this to any
of the marrying men in his regiment, and
in return I'll put in a good word for him
whenever it is required."

" Will you hold your tongue, you madcap ?
Sure there's no keeping you quiet," observed
Mrs. O'Flaherty ; but, though her words
were meant to reprove her giddy daughter,
her eyes were turned to her with an expres-
sion of pride and complacency that betrayed
her admiration of her.

" My mother will be very glad to offer
you a cup of tea and a bit of hot slim cake
any evening that you have nothing better to
do with yourself. Won't you, mother ? And,
if you bring a certain young officer with you,
the first letter of whose name is Hunter, I
will engage to make you laugh."

204 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" How often have I told you, Honor, that
I can't bear your humbugging young men as
you do?"

" Would you rather that they should
humbug me, mother ? Because, if that's the
case, I'll be as innocent as a lamb, and be-
lieve everything they tell me."

" Was there ever such a girl in this world '
Sure what I want is not to have any hum-
bugging at either side. When I was young,
no genteel or well-brought-up girl would at-
tempt to quiz, or humbug. It would be
considered very wrong. But you take after
your poor father who is now in Heaven, and
who was everlastingly quizzing and hoaxing
every one he met with. Sure even I, his
own lawful wife, he never could let alone;
but used to bother me by making me be-
lieve black was white, and laughing at me
after. God forgive him !" And Mrs. OTla-
herty again drew forth her handkerchief and
applied it to her eyes.

" God knows, mother, there's no pleasing
you any way," said Honor, archly. " You
are crying now because you hav'n't my poor

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 205

father to humbug and make game of you,
yet when I try to follow his good example
you complain."

" Well, well, it's of no manner of use rea-
soning with you, Honor ; but don't let us
keep the Captain standing in the street.
Good morning, sir. I'm mighty proud to
have the pleasure of making your acquaint-
ance, and if poor Mr. O'Flaherty, God rest
his soul, was now alive, he'd be very proud
to invite you to dinner, for he was very fond
of company," and the speaker's handkerchief
was once more applied to her eyes. But
he's in Heaven."

" Where I'm afraid he can't have the
pleasure of the Captain's company," added
Honor demurely, as she and her mother
walked away.

" How can Miss O'Neill, with her refine-
ment and delicacy, be so partial to that wild,
coarse-minded girl ?" thought Mordant. " It
really is disgusting to see that she cannot
spare even her own mother, who, however
ridiculous she may be, ought to be respect-
able in the eyes of her daughter. Then to

206 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

hear how she utters pleasantries on subjects
that should ever be sacred ! I wish Miss
O'Neill saw less of her, for Miss O'Flaherty
seems always out of her place when she is
in the society of one so immeasurably her
superior."

While Mordant was thus soliloquizing, he
encountered Herbert Vernon, who, too im-
patient to await his return to the barrack,
had come forth to meet him.

" How long you have stayed. Mordant !"
said he. "I began to think you would re-
main all day at the Countess O'Neill's, and
feared you thought more of gratifying your
own feelings than of consulting mine during
this visitation."

" You wrong me, Vernon. I did think of
you, and have obtained permission to present
you to the Countess O'Neill."

" But did it require such a prolonged visit
to effect this ?"

Mordant saw that his friend was piqued,
and, feeling that in a similar case he, too,
might have been impatient, related to him
the interview with Mrs. and Miss O'FIaherty

COUNTRY QUARTERS. ^ 207

which had occasioned his delay in returning
to the barrack.

" Strange to say," observed Vernon, " I
left that foolish fellow. Hunter, declaiming
on the charms of this same Miss O'Flaherty,
who has certainly succeeded in making a
deep impression on his vanity, if not on his
heart."

"An appeal to a man's vanity is often
the shortest and surest road to his heart,"
replied Mordant ; " but, foolish as Hunter
is, I don't think he can be caught by this
wild girl. Only fancy his bringing such a
wife to Wintern Abbey. What a blow it
would be to the millionaire and his wife ;
and what a fertile field for her favourite
amusement of quizzing the retired manufac-
turer and bis spouse would it furnish their
hopeful Hibernian daughter-in-law !"

" But you have told me nothing of the
lovely Miss O'Neill and her grandmother,
Mordant. Do tell me every particular. Is
their home very Irish ? And is the old lady
what one is prone to imagine an old-fashioned
Irish lady must be ?"

208 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Quite the reverse of the caricatures
which are brought forward on the stage in
England, and which we English take for
granted must be faithful pictures of Irish
life."

" And to which, if I may credit what I
have heard, some striking resemblance may
still be foundc Mrs. OTlaherty, j>a7' ex-
ernple.'^

*' Yes, I must confess Mrs. O'Flaherty is
very Irish and very absurd. The Countess
O'Neill is one of the most distinguished
women in appearance, and the most lady-
like in manner, I ever saw anywhere ; and,
like her fair grand-daughter, has not the
slightest accent of her country."

" Tant mieux, tant mieux, my dear fel-
low ; for one would not like to have to blush
for one's wife's family. But Grace, who
may truly be said to be a fourth Grace if not
a tenth Muse, how does she bear daylight
and sunshine, — I mean, how does she look
of a morning? So many women who ap-
pear young and beautiful as Houris in a
well-lighted ball-room look like faded flowers

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 209

the following morning at breakfast; and, as
I hold it an essential advantage in wedded
life to have my wife preside at the matinal
repast, I should like her not to appear less
fresh and white than the delicate roll which
is to tempt my appetite. A very homely
comparison, you will say."

*' You can judge for yourself to-morrow,
Vernon, for I will present you, and you will
then concur in opinion with me that a fairer,
fresher face never confronted the light of
day than Miss O'Neill's."

" 0 ! Mordant, how happy should I be
could I but hope to call this lovely creature
mine ! Heigh-ho ! How little did I think
when we marched into this dull town that I
should ever contemplate marrying one of its
fair denizens ! I would have wagered hun-
dreds against the possibility of such an event,
yet here am I now so far gone in love that
the bare thought of becoming an unsuccess-
ful suitor fills me with fear."

" Are you quite sure that you do not ex-
aggerate your feelings, Vernon ?"

" What a question ! But what puts such
a notion into your head ?"

210 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Your anxiety about Miss O'Neill's ap-
pearance by daylight, and her grandmother's
claims to distinction. A man deeply in love
would not, according to my notions, attach
such importance to these points."

" You don't mean to say, Mordant, that
if you found the lovely nymph you beheld
at a ball, a mere niortal, faded and unhealthy
by daylight, or even worse, coarse and red-
faced, that your passion would know no di-
minution ?"

" My admiration might decrease, but not
my passion, if I had, indeed, formed one."

" Mine, too, would, I am sure, resist such
a trial of its force ; nevertheless, I confess
that I am not sorry to be spared it ; for the
beautiful Grace has so often been present
to my imagination, seated at my breakfast-
table, attired in a snowy dishabille, her shin-
ing raven tresses braided around her classi-
cally-shaped head, her milk-white throat en-
circled by delicate lace, which in my eyes
enhances the charms it shades, her small
white and dimpled hand pouring out my tea,
while her fairy-like foot, in its Cinderella-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 211

sized slipper, rests on a tabouret, and peeps
forth from the soft white drapery which falls
around it, that she is more identified, in my
mind, with this picture than with any other
my fancy can form."

A deep sigh from Mordant was the only
comment made.

212 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER XIII.

The officers of the Regiment found

themselves engaged in a round of dinners,
which, if they wanted the refinement and
elegance peculiar to those given in England,
abounded in viands of the best quality, and
wines rarely to be met with even in the most
aristocratic circles of their native land ; and,
above all, crowned by a warmth of welcome
which even the most fastidious agreed in
thinking was more exhilarating to the spirits
of the guests than the coldness and reserve
which characterize dinners given in country
quarters in England. To be sure the din-
ner-tables were crowded not only by the
visitors assembled around them, but by the
quantity of good things literally heaped

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 213

upon them ; for, according to Irish hospita-
lity, that virtue in which few, if any, of its
inhabitants are deficient, there cannot be too
many pleasant persons around the board, nor
too many good things set on it.

Often was recourse compelled to be had
to side-tables, for the supernumerary guests
sure to assemble on occasions where the
host and hostess, " on hospitable thoughts
intent," seldom failed to extend invitations
to some six or eight persons more than their
largest dinner-table could accommodate, on
the alleged plea that all who were asked
might not come. Some one might be called
away, others might be indisposed, and a
death or marriage among the relations might
prevent others from being present.

Thus, on the contingency that some three
or four of the invited guests might not be
able to come, as many more were engaged
to fill their places ; and not to extend hospi-
tality to any chance visitor who might unex-
pectedly arrive at the houses of the families
first invited was a proceeding so wholly out
of the question as never to be thought of.

214 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Hence two, and even three side-tables were
not uncommon at dinner parties, where the
perfect consciousness that, however numerous
might be the guests, there would be ample
food for all, prevented the hosts from feeling
any uneasiness.

The gaiety and frequent explosions of
mirth at these dinners, although they sur-
prised the English portion of the company,
accustomed to the reserve and somewhat
formal gravity and decorum of English din-
ners, nevertheless produced a sympathetic
cheerfulness in them ; and, while they ad-
mitted that the Irish were a wonderfully
sprightly people, these last declared that
Englisbmen only required to live a little with
the Irish to become capital fellows, and ad-
mirers of good jokes.

Even the proud-looking young Irish fox-
hunters and hare-hunters, whose desinvoltura
style of sitting their horses when leaping
over stone walls, wide ditches, and stiff fences
that might have made even a Meltonian
stare, became on friendly terms with the offi-
cers, whom they no longer suspected of a

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 215

disposition to quiz them, and good-naturedly
offered to show them as much sport as their
woods, fields, mountains, and rivers could
afford ; and the officers in return invited them
to breakfasts, luncheons, and dinners at their
mess. In short, in the course of a month or
six weeks a frequent interchange of hospita-
lities, most freely given and as cordially re-
ceived, had established a very friendly under-
standing between all parties ; and sorry would

both have been had the Regiment been

removed from their present quarters. Often
were the officers induced to smile as they
perused the letters of their relatives from
England, filled with expressions of pity and
sympathy for *' the poor exiles in Ireland,"
as they were termed.

Lady Fitzmordant was almost lachrymose
when she wrote to her son. Mordant, on the
hardships of his fate in that dreadful wild
country, where he could have no society, or
at least none worthy of him ; and mentioned
the fetes lately given at Fitzmordant Castle,
in honour of the presence of royalty, as a
contrast to the uncivilized state of vegeta-

216 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

tion to which he, poor dear fellow ! was con-
demned.

Lady Melborough hoped her dear son w^ould
not expose himself to the danger of colds in
that damp climate, which the Dowager Lady
Snowhill had told her had caused the loss of
the use of his limbs to a relative of hers, who
had merely passed a few hours up to his
middle in a river there, fishing, on a very
cold day ; and Mrs, Hunter advised her son
never to venture out after dark without a
guard of soldiers, as she heard that all who
were so foolhardy as to neglect this precau-
tion were sure to be murdered by the wild
Hirish. She added a strict injunction to
avoid Hirish ladies, (if, indeed, there were
any ladies in such a barbarous country,) for
she remembered that an Hirish kitchenmaid,
whom the housekeeper at Wintern Abbey
had once been so foolish as to hire, had got
tipsy and abused every one, which led her to
conclude that all Irishwomen were prone to
indulge in strong liquors, which was said to
be the cause of their high spirits.

" I wish the old girl had not such a strong

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 217

prejudice against the Irish, or Hirish, as she
terms them," muttered Hunter to himself,
as he laid down tlie letter ; " and also that
she would not aspirate, or, as a fellow of my
acquaintance one said, exasperate, her h's so
much, or rather not put h's in where there
ought to be none. What a confounded funk
she and the old governor would be in if I
were to marry Honor O'Flaherty ! Their
anger, however, w^ould only be like a fire
made of straw, hot for a short time, — and
soon over. But I have not yet made up my
mind to that, although it has occurred to me
more than once ; and, after all, I might do
worse, for Honor's a devilish fine girl, full of
fun and up to everything. What rare sport
we should have, for she longs to gallop across
the country, clearing hedges and ditches !
What ridicule she would cast on our fellows
who set up to quiz and hoax me ! By Jove !
she'd have the best of it, for I never saw a
girl with such ready answers on every sub-
ject as she has. Well, if, after all, I should
end by marrying her, which, if I find I can-
not do without her, I will, I can tell the old

VOL. I. L

218 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

boy and girl at Wintern Abbey that if I
haven't brought a fortune into the family I
have brought an Honor. Hah, hah ! not so
bad a joke. That would make Honor her-
self laugh if I told it to her."

So great was the impatience of Mr. Her-
bert Vernon to be presented to the Countess
O'Neill, that he called on his friend, Mordant,
the following day two hours at least before
the usual time for paying morning visits, and
Mordant had some difficulty in preventing
him from presenting himself at the door at
one instead of half-past three o'clock, the
time at which the Countess was generally
visible. The emotion of Vernon as he took
a seat by Grace was so ill-concealed that her
grandmother soon perceived it, and noticed
at the same time that Grace was by no
means gratified by his attention. The per-
fect indifference she betrayed when he ad-
dressed her was so unlike the blushing timi-
dity she evinced when Mordant spoke to her,
that the Countess 0*Neill became convinced
that the suspicions she had previously formed
of her grand-daughter's growing partiality for
the latter were well founded.

COUNTRY dUARTERS. 219

This belief induced her to study more at-
tentively the character and disposition of
Mordant ; and, as she conversed with him on
various topics, she discovered, with pleasure,
that the gentlemanly manners and good sense
which in their first interview had won her
favourable opinion w^ere based on qualities
which, even in conversation, revealed the
high and moral cultivation of his mind. She
observed that often did his glance turn to
Grace with an expression of no common
interest, while his conversation was addressed
almost exclusively to herself. When Mor-
dant arose to withdraw, his friend seemed
disposed still to linger, as though he could
not tear himself aw^ay from Grace ; and, wdien
he approached the Countess O'Neill, and
solicited her permission to renew his visits,
there w^ere a trepidity and anxiety in his man-
ner that denoted the deep importance he
attached to obtaining this privilege, and the
gratification he experienced at its being
accorded to him.

" Mr. Herbert Vernon appears to be a very

L 2

220 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

gentlemanlike young man, and is very good
looking," observed the Countess O'Neill.

"He does not strike me as being any-
thing very remarkable, dearest grandmother,"'
was the reply.

" I had no idea that my Grace was so fas-
tidious ! Compare Mr. Herbert Vernon with
any, or, indeed all, the young men of our
neighbourhood, and he must gain by the
comparison."

" Perhaps so," answered Grace, carelessly.

'' But," resumed the Countess, " as you
have hitherto seen only the young men in
our neighbourhood, over whom you admit
this young Englishman has a superiority,
how can you say that you think there is no-
thing very remarkable about him ?"

Never did Grace regret the unaccountable
propensity to blushing which had lately
evinced itself so much as at this moment,
when she felt, rather than saw, that her
grandmother's eyes were fixed on her face ;
and felt, also, that her cheeks were glowing.

" Perhaps, dear grandmother," said she,

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 221

after a pause, "it is because T never rated
the young men in our neighbourhood very
highly, that, while admitting Mr. Herbert
Vernon's superiority over them, I am not
disposed to estimate his advantages as any-
thing remarkable."

" I was right in my conjectures," thought
the Countess O'Neill, and a deep sigh uncon-
sciously followed the admission. *' My pre-
cious child," thought the Countess, "your
gentle and artless heart has received its first
tender impression, an impression which, if I
may judge by my own experience, will be
indelible. Oh ! may Heaven grant that he
who has awakened affection in it may reci-
procate the sentiment in all its force, and be
free to claim that dear hand as its reward."

" How many solicitudes spring up in the
maternal breast when a mother first discovers
that her child loves ! And am I not a mo-
ther? ay, and more than a mother, for all
the tenderness I felt towards my sole child,
the mother of my precious Grace, is added
to the affection I feel for her, dear and en-
dearing creature ! But who, with a disen-

222 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

gaged heart, could see without admiring,
could know without loving and esteeming
her ? She is not rich, it is true ; never-
theless, she cannot be termed poor ; and I
have brought her up so free from expensive
habits and tastes, that the fortune I can
bequeath her, small as it might appear to
a person accustomed to luxury, will be suiSi-
cient, — ay, amply sufficient, — to satisfy her
wants, and prevent her being deemed por-
tionless as the wife of a cadet de famille,
though it might not be thought large enough
to entitle her to wed the elder branch of a
noble family. With such a man as Captain
Mordant my child would, I am sure, be
happy ; for, short as our acquaintance has
been, the impression he has made on me
is so favourable to him, that I should be in-
deed greatly disappointed were I to discover
anything to his disadvantage. There are
some persons whom, even on a slight ac-
quaintance, we are ready to pronounce to be
worthy of our esteem, and this Englishman
is of the number."

Such were the thoughts that occupied the

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 223

Countess O'Neill, as she sat reclining in a
berghre, her eyes fixed on her grand-daughter,
who had resumed her pencil, and who, un-
conscious that her grandmother was regard-
ing her, was intent on the drawing she was
sketching. A message from Mrs. O'Fla-
herty, to request the loan of a book, caused
the Countess to send Grace for it to her
chamber, and during her absence the
Countess walked to the table, and glanced
at the drawing, when, to her surprise, she
beheld two or three sketches of the head of
Mordant, so strikingly like as to leave no
room to doubt for whom they were meant.

Never had the Countess previously seen
any attempt at portraiture made by her
grand-daughter, her drawing being confined
to landscapes and flowers, in the representa-
tion of which she excelled ; but here was
the proof of a new talent; and, as the
Countess O'Neill examined it, she felt con-
vinced that deep indeed must be the impres-
sion made on her grandchild's heart wdien
from memory alone she could so accurately
portray the features and expression of one

224 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

known only so short a time. She returned
to her seat when she heard the returning
footsteps of Grace, reluctant that the sensi-
tive girl should know that she had seen the
sketches ; and, w^hen she saw her resume her
task, and, when concluded, consign the paper
into a portfolio, she was glad that Grace
had not found her examining it, and not the
less so as she remembered that hitherto all
Grace's drawings were submitted to her in-
spection.

" Dear, dear girl ! a change has already
taken place in that youthful mind, and she
is no longer quite at her ease with me. But
this was to be expected ; and I must not
feel the decrease in her confidence as if it
originated in a decrease of affection."

The seclusion in which the Countess
O'Neill had lived since the death of her
husband, and the constant contemplation of
the exquisite but too brief happiness she had
enjoyed from the moment of her union
until that event, had kept alive the fresh-
ness of her feelings long after age might
have been supposed to have chilled them.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 225

This freshness of heart enabled her to
enter into, and sympathize with, the emo-
tions of her grand-daughter, and, as she
compared them with those which she her-
self had formerly experienced, she read, as
in an open book, all that was passing in the
guileless heart of Grace, verifying the truth
of the line, " He best can paint them who
has felt them most," only substituting the
word " imagine " for " paint." Little did
Grace guess, when she surreptitiously re-
moved the paper on which the drawings of
Mordant were sketched from the sitting-
room to her bedchamber, that she might
gaze on the resemblances free from observa-
tion, that her grandmother had already seen
them and recognised the likeness ; much
less did she expect that her secret feelings
were divined by that fond heart.

L o

226 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER XIV.

The visits of Mr. Herbert Vernon to the
Countess O'Neill became as frequent as was
consistent with the respect which that lady
knew so well how to inspire and maintain.
He was fearful of presenting himself too
often, lest it might not be agreeable to her ;
and, while he put this constraint on his feel-
ings, believing that he was not passing the
limit dictated by les hienseances, when he pre-
sented himself twice a week at the Countess's
door, instead of every day, as his heart
prompted, the Countess felt certain that a
more than ordinary interest drew him to her
house. Often did he turn his steps to her
door, and involuntarily raise his hand to the
knocker, when, recollecting that he had paid

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 227

a visit tlie previous day, he withdrew his
hand, and walked away.

He was in the habit of frequently passing
by the house, although not encouraged by
the hope of beholding the magnet that drew
him there in the window ; for Miss O'Neill,
unlike too many of her countrywomen living
in a street, never looked out of windows,
thinking that they were formed solely to
admit light and air, while so many of her
young female friends seemed to think that
they were only meant to exhibit their fair
faces to the passers by, and, to prevent the
said passers by from suffering any disappoint-
ment, generally stationed themselves at the
windows of their abodes while they pursued
their usual avocations.

This habitude was peculiarly distasteful to
the Countess O'Neill, who had early im-
pressed her opinion on her grand-daughter ;
hence, not only did Grace carefully avoid the
casements, but white muslin curtains so
closely shaded them that not even a shadow
of the occupants of the chambers could be
revealed to any person in the streets.
" Where can she walk ?" would Mr. Herbert
Vernon say to himself; "I never by any

228 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

happy chance meet her; yet, surely, she
must go out for air and exercise, or she
would not look so blooming. How I should
like to know in what direction she walks !"

The gentleman was not aware that an
extensive garden which appertained to the
house of the Countess O'Neill, and which
was surrounded by a high and close hedge
of privet and boxwood, offering as imper-
vious a screen as a wall of ten feet high
would have done, enabled Grace to enjoy air
and exercise in })erfect privacy ; and, here,
too, ber grandmother was rolled around in
her garden-chair whenever the weather per-
mitted.

" 1 find there are two very good parties in

the Regiment," said Lady Fitzgerald

during a morning visit which she paid to the
Countess O'Neill. " One is Mr. Herbert
Vernon, and the other is Mr. Hunter. Mr.
Herbert Vernon is the only son of Lord
Melborough, a very rich nobleman ; and Mr.
Hunter is also an only child to the modern
Croesus, who has amassed such an enormous
fortune by the cotton manufacture, of no
family to be sure, quite a parvenu ; but few
mind that novv-a-days, when money is every-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 229

thino'. I bad written to Enofland to some
friends of mine to learn every partiealar
about tbe officers, and bave received answers.
Captain Mordant is only a second son, and
his ekler brother is married. My corre-
spondent bas not yet ascertained whetber tbis
brother bas a son, for that, you know, would
make a great difference in the case ; but tbe
other two officers would indeed make unex-
ceptionable matches, and really these are not
times to neglect any opportunity that offers
of disposing of one's daughters to advan-
tage."

" But don't you think, my dear lady Fitz-
gerald, that it is better to leave all these
matters to chance ?" observed the Countess
O'Neill.

" To chance !" reiterated Lady Fitzgerald.
" You would not say so if you spent every
season in London as I do, and saw how
mothers there exert themselves to procure
matches for their daughters."

" I should not like a child of mine to owe
a husband to any such exertions," was the
reply.

" If all mothers were of your opinion, there
would be fewer marriages every season, I

230 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

can assure you, for men now know their own
value, and are very wary about being
caught."

" Which is the inevitable result of the
exertions you mention. Were men allowed
to seek, instead of being sought, they would
be more disposed to wed."

" I doubt it. They are so apathetic, so
engrossed by their clubs, their horses, their
pleasures, that they postpone all thoughts of
marrying from year to year, thinking that it
will always be time to marry when satiated
with the enjoyments of which they are in
possession. No, no ; mothers now require
no inconsiderable degree of address to bring
about marriages for their daughters, however
handsome the girls may be ; and, as to plain
girls, (and here the speaker sighed,) she must
indeed be a Proteus m talent Avho can
secure husbands for them."

" Were I in such a position," observed
the Countess O'Neill, " I would not make
the attempt ; for what chance of happiness
can a wife have whose husband has been
manoeuvred into marrying her ?"

" Quite as much as if he had married her
for love. In both cases, the results are the

COUNTRY aUARTERS. 231

same. The man who marries for love in a
certain time becomes tired of his wife, and,
as he married to please himself, neglects her
for the same cause ; while he who has been
manoeuvred, as you term it, into marrying,
entertains so much less affection on entering
his conjugal career, that a good understand-
ing is more likely to be maintained through
it. The pair expect less, and consequently
are less disappointed."

" But surely no right-minded girl would
marry a man whom she did not prefer to all
others, and whom she did not believe pre-
ferred her ?"

" Perhaps not, if she had a fortune. But
what are poor girls with small portions, or,
worse still, none, to do ? Live as pensioners
on an elder brother, whose wife, hardly tole-
rating their presence, makes them feel how
distasteful it is to her; or live — or rather
say, starve — on an income insufficient for
any of the comforts of life — nay, for almost
the necessaries."

" You have drawn a gloomy picture, and,
for poor girls situated as you have described,
I must admit that marriage becomes indis-
pensable. Nevertheless, even to accomplish

232 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

this desired end, I am still of opinion that
the less parents interfere to bring it about,
the better is the chance of success, and the
less likely is the husband to reproach his
wife for the match into which he may have
been entrapped."

" Entrapped, my dear Countess O'Neill, is
a harsh term, and I don't think it applicable
to the aids contributed by parents to marry
off their daughters. Dinners, balls, water
parties, pic-nics, and riding parties promoted
by mothers, and which draw young people
together, can hardly be stigmatized as
traps."

The Countess O'Neill smiled, as was her
M'ont, when she saw persons objecting to
certain terms while pursuing the very line
of conduct designated by them — persons
wdio objected not to the thing but to the
name.

" You smile, my dear friend," observed
Lady Fitzgerald ; " you may do so, for your
grand-daughter is differently placed. She
has great beauty and peculiar fascination of
manner. You have, I doubt not, secured
her an independence which exempts the
necessity of husband-hunting, while my girls

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 233

with but a few paltry thousands — three at
the outside — all the estates being- entailed
on their brother, will become little less than
paupers after the death of their parents,
should they not find husbands. In our
neighbourhood we have no marrying men ;
or, at least, none who would marry girls
without fortunes. Not that our countrymen
are more selfish or avaricious than English-
men ; au contraire, in my opinion, they are
much less so. But we know that their
estates are so encumbered, as almost all Irish
estates are, that it would be little short of
madness in them to wed without finding
money sufficient to clear some of the incum-
brances. I have taken my daughters to
London season after season, have gone to
fashionable watering places until their faces
are as well known as here, without having
succeeded in establishing them. Their father
blames me for the expenses so uselessly in-
curred, and threatens to prevent our going-
to England any more ; so that I turn to the
present chance with a faint hope of securing
them husbands. At all events, I must leave
nothing undone to draw the two individuals,
Mr. Herbert Vernon and young Hunter, to

234 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

my house ; and, should an occasion offer, I
trust, my dear Countess, that you will im-
press these gentlemen with a favourable
opinion of my girls. A good word from a
person so esteemed and respected as you are
might do much. But — hush ! — I hear my
girls, with Grace, returning from the gar-
den."

" It is too absurd, I can't believe it," said
Miss Fitzgerald, as she was entering the
drawing-room, accompanied by her sister
and Miss O'Neill.

" What is too absurd, my dear !" inquired
her mother.

" Nothing less than Honor OTlaherty,
who has been walking with us in the garden,
having assured us that she has made a con-
quest of Mr. Hunter."

" Of Mr. Hunter !" exclaimed Lady Fitz-
gerald, her countenance betraying that this
intelligence afforded her great dissatisfaction.
" I can't believe it ; for she does nothing but
ridicule and quiz him, and I never heard of
a man being quizzed into falling in love."

" I think it is only one of Honor's hoaxes,
as she terms all attempts to impose on the
credulity of her acquaintances," observed

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 235

Miss Kate Fitzgerald ; " for, although Mr.
Hunter does not seem to be very wise, I
don't think he can be quite so foolish as to
select Honor OTIaherty for a wife."

" But he may admire her without any
such serious intention," said Lady Fitzge-
rald. " A flirtation got up with a pretty
girl coquettish enough to encourage him, and
too wild and inexperienced to be aware of
the evil consequences of such unguarded
conduct, is a very different thing from a
matrimonial project."

" Poor Honor, I hope she will not allow
herself to be made a fool of. I must really
advise her on this subject," observed the
Countess 0 Neill gravely, " for her mother, I
am sorry to say, has but little influence over
her."

" For my part, I think Honor is more
likely to make a fool than to be made one,"
remarked Miss Kate Fitzgerald, " for she is
a very cunning girl, and having, as she her-
self confessed to us half an hour ago, deter-
mined on securing a husband, will not stop
at trifles to accomplish her aim."

" Well, we shall see, we shall see," re-
plied Lady Fitzgerald, evidently piqued and

236 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

alarmed at the notion that her own schemes
to secure Mr. Hunter as a husband for one
of her daughters were likely to be endangered
by the ambitious projects of Honor O'Fla-
herty, whom she had hitherto considered by
no means a rival to be dreaded for her young
ladies. " It is true," thought she to herself,
" Honor is, I must confess, infinitely better-
looking than my girl, but she is so untu-
tored, so very Irish, that I should think an
Englishman would be more shocked than
attracted by her wild spirits and hrusquerie,
while my daughters have acquired the reserve
and hienseances peculiar to English girls
accustomed to fashionable society in London.
Mais, qui sait ? Perhaps it is the constraint
imposed by their adoption of English man-
ners, which, like a tight dress, to be worn
only on state occasions, sits awkwardly on
them, that has deprived them of the spright-
liness and vivacity which they formerly pos-
sessed, and which, in my opinion, rendered
them more attractive. However this may
be, certain it is that they approach that age
which, once passed, terribly diminishes the
chance of girls getting married ; and, al-
though we have spent more money in dinners

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 237

and balls than was prudent, considering the
expenses of my son's contested election, not
a single offer of marriage has been made, and
Sir Geoffrey grows very testy and reproach-
ful of late whenever bills are sent ia. Yes,
I must make some efforts without delay to
bring on flirtations, and not allow my plans
to be defeated."

Such were the reflections which filled the
mind of Lady Fitzgerald as she and her
daughters were returning to Ballymacross
Castle, in no very good humour; and the
result of her cogitations was a consultation
with her ladyship's liege lord on the best
mode of carrying on the campaign against
the liberty of the Hon. Mr. Herbert Vernon
and Mr. Hunter, whose hearts were no
longer free.

"You are wrong to fill the house with
pretty girls, my dear Martha," observed the
Baronet, " when you invite the officers here.
It is a bad policy 1 assure you, for men will
make comparisons between girls A\hen oppor-
tunities are afforded them, and our daughters,
we must allow, are much less good-looking
than could be wished."

" They certainly are not beauties, it must

238 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

be owned, and I'm sure I can't guess who
they take after, for I, when a girl" — and
here the speaker drew herself up and
glanced in an opposite mirror — " was among
the favourite toasts in the county."

" Perhaps, my dear, it was the being so
much toasted that made you so brown," ob-
served Sir Geoffrey, a wicked smile playing
about his mouth ; for the Baronet, be it told,
could not resist a joke, though even at the
expense of his friend or wife, and was not
particular whether it was of ancient or mo-
dern origin.

" Thank you, Sir Geoffrey, thank you,"
replied his cara sposa, growing red in the
face. " If your'" — laying a peculiar em-
phasis on the word your — " daughters were
as good-looking as I was at their age, they
would not now be unmarried. But, unhap-
pily for them, they do not in the least re-
semble me, or any of my family."

" They take after 7ne, I suppose," observed
Sir Geoffrey, " though, as I was fair-com-
plexioned and flaxen-haired, and they are
brunettes, 1 cant see the resemblance."

*' But I had such a jjeculiar transparency
of complexion, such beautiful hair, such

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 239

bright eyes, and such remarkably fine teeth ;
none of which advantages do your daughters
possess, Sir Geoffrey, that no man with eyes
in his head could say that they bear the
slightest resemblance to me. Look at my
portrait, that proves the truth of my asser-
tions."

*' Not at all. The artist who painted it
was known to flatter his sitters to the most
absurd degree, so much so, that few could
recognise the slightest likeness between the
originals and their pictures ; and I remember
when the portrait in question was sent home
all our visitors used to inquire who it was
meant for."

*'0n the contrary, everyone declared it
to be a very unfavourable likeness, and
blamed the artist for not having rendered
me justice. Your portrait was, I admit,
grossly flattered ; yes, Sir Geoffrey, grossly,
however surprised and incredulous you may
look, for it represented you with a fair com-
plexion, instead of a nankeen-tinted face
with straws-coloured hair, and totally left out
the brown freckles which always made your
face look like a turkey egg''

" Yours, at this moment, my dear, is

6

240 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

but no, I will not say what it resembles. I
leave personalities to you, Lady Fitzgerald ;
but let me tell you that, if you had been as
candid thirty-five years ago as you have now
proved yourself, you might have longed for
turkey eggs and nankeen all the days of your
life, without my furnishing them."

" Who provoked me, Sir Geofirey, I should
like to know ?"

" And who began, Lady Fitzgerald ? Do
you ever call my girls 'your daughters' ex-
cept to remind me that they are mine^ be-
cause they are plain ? On every other
occasion, you speak of them as if they be-
longed only to you."

And off walked the Baronet, loudly slam-
ming the door as he left the apartment.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 241

CHAPTER XV.

" I WISH I had not quarrelled with him,"
said Lady Fitzgerald to herself when left to
her own meditations, " for now he will be so
sulky for several days that it will be useless
to propose new plans to him for brinoing the
young- men on whom I have views here.
But he really is so unbearable, so rude, and
says such personal things, that he is enough
to make a saint lose her temper. He was
right, however, on one point. It is no use
filling the house with other girls to counter-
act my schemes for our own, nor to invite
other men than those who would make suit-
able husbands, to observe, and perhaps warn,
those we have designs on. Lookers-on often
see the game that is playing, better than
those engaged in it, and I will ask only Mr.
Herbert Vernon and Hunter. I will propose

VOL. I. M

242 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

our going to Deer Park to spend a week,
and engage these young men to accompany
us. Much may be effected in a week when
young persons are thrown constantly toge-
ther, and, if my daughters are not fools, they
may so play their cards as not to let this
opportunity pass without profiting by it."

Sir Geoffrey Fitzgerald was by no means
a man who bore malice long, notwithstand-
ing that his wife accused him of being sulky.
The anger of the morning generally subsided
under the influence of a good dinner and a
bottle of claret, and on the day in question,
Lady Fitzgerald, as a peace-offering, had
agreeably surprised him by the presence of
one of his most favourite dishes prepared by
her orders, and which had not been entered
in the bill of fare. This system of concilia-
tion never had failed, a system which most,
if not all, wives with husbands inclined to be
gourmands would do well to adopt ; and,
when the cover was removed from this
favourite dishj and its savoury fumes tickled
the olfactory nerves of the Baronet, a broad
smile revealed his restored good humour, and
a request to his " dear Martha" to drink a
glass of wine with him assured her that the

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 243

personal affronts offered him some hours be-
fore were forgiven.

Well has it been observed by a philoso-
pher who knew mankind profoundly, that
they are generally governed by those who
have studied their w^eaknesses, rather than
by persons w^ell aware of their virtues ; and
often had Lady Fitzgerald proved the truth
of the reflection in her management of her
kind-hearted but somewhat impatient hus-
band. On the present occasion, when her
daughters left the dining-room, she remained
with Sir Geoffrey while he drank his claret ;
and, after an artful preamble, introduced her
plan of a week's sojourn at Deer Park with
so much tact, that he listened to it with good
humour.

" But why not invite these officers here,
Martha, instead of to Deer Park ? We shall
have to send many things there to render
the house habitable, for you know it is at
present a little in the Castle Rack-rent
style, and the transporting of the necessary
objects will be attended with considerable
expense."

" You are quite right, my dear ; indeed I
must do you the justice to say you generally

M 2

244 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

are ; but in the })resent case my motive for
preferring Deer Park is, that, it being well
known to our neighbours that owing to the
dilapidated state of the place and the paucity
of furniture, we cannot receive more than
two or three visitors, they cannot feel
offended at not being engaged, so that the
girls will have the undivided attention of
Messrs. Herbert Vernon and Hunter."

" A capital plan, Martha, an excellent
plan, to which I willingly assent ; but do
you know that it struck me when we gave
our last gala that Grace O'Neill had made a
deep impression on Mr. Herbert Vernon,
and that that madcap, Honor 0 'Flaherty,
wholly engrossed Hunter ? I move about,
look here, and look there, and make my own
observations, and such was the result."

" Nevertheless, my dear, I think it worth
our while to try my plan. We should leave
no effort untried to give our girls a chance ;
and men are very prone, when those they
prefer are absent, to be content with those
who are present."

The invitations w^ere sent and j)romptly
accepted by the gentlemen in question, in
the full belief that the ladies of their love

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 245

would be of the party, each anticipating with
pleasure the opportunity thus afforded of en-
joying their society. But " a change came
o'er the spirit of their dream" when the fol-
lowing day they ascertained that neither
Miss O'Neill nor Miss 0 'Flaherty was in-
vited, and they heartily regretted havinL>'
accepted the invitation to " Deer Park."

" There's some plot hatched by Lady Fitz-
gerald, I am sure," thought Honor OTla-
herty, when Mr. Hunter informed her of the
intended visit to Deer Park, " but I'll defeat
it, or my name is not Honor 0 'Flaherty ;
and, perhaps, the cunning old lady may find
that the plan she has formed to spoil my
chance may be turned to advance it. I think
it's rather unfair that she who hawks her
daughters half over England every summer,
can't let us, poor girls, who haven't the means
to go there to show ourselves, have a chance
when it is thrown in our way. Don't be too
sure, my lady, that, after all, I don't defeat
your schemes, for when it comes to securing
a husband I won't stand on trifles, I can pro-
mise you. I'll set all my wits to work, and
make my Lady Fitzgerald feel that she's no

246 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

match for me when I take it into my head
to carry a point. Poverty and dependence
are rare sharpeners of the wit, and I have
tasted both so long, that I know the bitter-
ness too well not to endeavour to escape
from them. Courage, Honor, and assert
your right to fight for the prize the old lady
would wrest from your grasp. Ill just put
on my bonnet and step to the Countess
CNeilFs ; perhaps I may hear of something
there to help me to work out my plan."

Miss O'Flaherty found Grace in the gar-
den, and alone. " Are you asked to Deer
Park ?" was the first question she addressed
to her friend.

" No," was the answer, "but if I were I
would have declined the invitation."

" And why ?"

" Because I prefer staying at home with
my grandmother."

" But don't you think it rather strange,
Grace, that neither you nor I have been in-
vited ?"

" Not in the least. Surely the Fitzgeralds,
who are always so kind and hospitable
to their friends, need not engage all of

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 247

them on every occasion, and more espe-
cially when they go to Deer Park, where
there is so little accommodation for com-
pany."

" But why go to Deer Park, where there
is so little accommodation ?"

" Because they prefer it, I suppose ; and,
probably, because they wish to encourage
their tenants there, and assist the poor."

" Well, Grace, you are simple as a child.
You never see anything but good in every-
thing. Now, I'll lay a wager that this visit
to that old ruined barrack. Deer Park, is a
plan got up by Lady Fitzgerald to have Mr.
Herbert Vernon and Mr. Hunter all to
themselves for a week, free from our pre-
sence."

" How can you, Honor, be so suspicious,
so ungrateful ?"

" How can I be so much more sharp-
sighted than you are, Grace ? That's what
you should say."

" There are times, Honor, and this is one
of them, when I feel so displeased with you,
that I am ready to abjure our friendship.
I can't bear ingratitude, or suspicion."

" I should like to know what I am to be

248 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

SO mighty grateful to Lady Fitzgerald
for ? '

" If your own heart does not tell you, it
would be vain to remind you."

" You are always for making molehills into
mountains, Grace."

'' And you, vice versa, are for making
mountains into molehills."

" Because I am not ready to think that I
owe eternal gratitude to the Fitzgeralds for
sending my mother the surplus of their
comforts, which they never miss, and which,
if not sent to her, would go to some one
else."

" Oh ! Honor, this is rank ingratitude, and
pains me more than I can express."

" What they and others have done for my
mother I would be quite as ready to do for
them, if I possessed the means."

" I do hope and trust you would; but,
although the power be denied you of testify-
ing this otherwise than by your gratitude,
the consciousness of a warm sense of favours
received justifies to one's own feelings their
acceptance, and precludes the sense of hu-
miliation."

" Well, wait, Grace, until I have secured

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 249

a rich husband, and then all who have helped
my mother will find that I am not ungrate-
ful/'

" Could you repay tenfold the kindness
shown to your mother, you would still sub-
ject yourself to the im23utation of ingratitude,
unless you felt as grateful as if you had
never done so. Repaying kindness does not
exonerate the payer from the debt, if the
sense of it is obliterated from the mind."

" It's no good to reason with you, Grace.
You and I see things in such a different
point of view, that it's just the same as if
you looked at some object through a blue
glass, that made it look blue, and I looked
on it through a green glass, that made it ap-
pear green ; and that we were both to in-
sist that it was as each of us saw it."

" No, Honor, your comparison is not cor-
rect. There is but one true and fair medium
of viewing moral feelings and principles ;
and that is by regarding objects through an
unprejudiced mind, which may be likened to
an unstained glass."

" Have it all your own way, Grace ; you
are as like your grandmother as two peas in
all your thoughts and ways."

M 5

250 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Would I could believe this, Honor ; for
then I should consider that you paid me the
greatest compliment I ever received."

" Now don't let us go on preaching, Grace,
there's a dear, good girl, for I'm quite as
angry at Lady Fitzgerald's engaging your
beau as mine ; and, if I were you, I'd tell
him not to go, and that would serve the old
lady right."

" My beau !" repeated Miss O'Neill, a
blush overspreading her face.

" Yes, your beau ! You don't mean to
say that Mr. Herbert Vernon is not in love
with you, I hope."

" No girl has a right to assert that a man
is in love with her who has never told her
so," observed Grace ; " and I should be ex-
tremely sorry to be assured that Mr. Her-
bert Vernon felt a preference for me which
I could not reciprocate."

" There, Grace, with all your wisdom you
are wrong. It is always as well to have as
many admirers as possible, for one can play
them off against each other. If Mr. Herbert
Vernon would propose for you, which I
think, with a little encouragement, be might
be got to do, and that you refused him, for

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 251

which, begging your pardon, I think you'd
be a great fool to do, that might encourage
Captain S. Mordant to propose. Oh ! how
you blush, Grace : and you wouhl not refuse
him, 1 suppose."

" How poor an opinion you must enter-
tain of me !" said Miss O'Neill, with an air
of offended dignity, " if you think I could
descend to such unworthy means to secure a
husband. Captain Sydney Mordant is no-
thing more to me than Mr. Herbert Vernon.
I have not had the slightest reason to sup-
pose that he entertains the slightest prefer-
ence for me, so "

" Why do you blush then, Grace ? Is all
the preference at your side ?"

" I repeat there is no preference at either
side, and I request that the subject may
cease."

Ah, Grace, Grace ! if you would only play
your cards as I'd advise you, you'd soon be
married. Let Captain Herbert Vernon pro-
pose, and then let me tell Hunter, under the
seal of strict secrecy of it, which will, of
course, induce him to inform Captain Mor-
dant of the fact. This will rouse Mordant,
if he really has a liking to you, which I

252 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

strongly suspect, to propose likewise, and,
if he should not, you can marry Ver-
non."

" Not another word, Honor, unless you
wish to put an end to our friendship. You
have shown me that you entertain a very
poor opinion of my character and conduct in
supposing me capable of adopting the advice
you have given."

" There are some persons whom one can-
not serve, and you are one of them, Grace ;
and there's an end of it," replied Miss OTla-
herty, more than half disposed to be angry.
" Let us go to your grandmother, for my
mother will be bothering me with questions
about her when I go home, and I must have
my answers ready." ^

When the two young girls entered the
drawing-room, they found the Countess
O'Neill absent, and Grace, fearful that she
might be unwell, sought her in her chamber,
leaving Honor OTlaherty alone. Possessed
of an insatiable curiosity, this wild and way-
ward girl w^as deterred by no honourable or
delicate scruples from gratifying it whenever
any opportunity w^as afforded her, and on
this occasion, seeing a letter with a broken

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 253

seal on the table near the Countess's easy-
chair, she snatched it, and hurriedly made
herself mistress of its contents. She paused
for a moment, and then, instead of restoring
the letter to its place, hastily consigned it to
her pocket, and, opening the window next
the chair of the Countess, resumed her seat
at the other end of the room, and, taking
up a book, pretended to be busily engaged
with its contents as she heard the approach-
ing footsteps of Grace. "It was as I sup-
posed," said Miss O'Neill, "my grandmother
has been seized by a severe headache, and
has lain down."

" And I won't keep you from her," ob-
served Honor, rising to depart ; " so good
bye, Grace, and mind you forget and forgive
anything I may have said to displease you ;
for, be assured, I had only your good at
heart, for no one loves you better than I
do."

" Farewell, Honor. Oh ! how I wish I
could bring you to think as I do, and to lay
aside all unworthy projects and schemes to
obtain a husband. They are so unfeminine,
so indelicate, that all who discover them
must think less of you than you deserve, for

254 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

I will not, I cannot, believe that you are the
worldly-minded girl you profess to be."

" Why, sometimes I am only joking," re-
plied Honor, with a smile, as she departed.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 255

CHAPTER XVI.

" And so that blockhead, Sir Henry Tra-
vers, has made his proposal for her," said
Honor O'FIaherty, lodging her door care-
fully to prevent intrusion, and drawing from
her pocket the letter she had purloined at
the Countess O'Neill's. " Here," resumed
she, " is a girl who has never given him the
least encouragement, and to whom he offers
his hand, while I, who tried all my arts to
bring him to the point, totally failed, which
is the reason I am always hoaxing and ban-
tering him. Who knows, if I had not en-
raged him, but that, finding himself refused
by Grace, he might have fallen to my lot ?
Lady Travers ! how well it would have
sounded, and what a gay life I should lead
if I bore it ! It was foolish to wage war

8

256 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

against him. A girl who has set her heart
on being married never should make ene-
mies. I must be more on my guard in fu-
ture, for I see the evil consequences of let-
ting out either one's anger or one's plans.
I am now convinced that, had I not told the
Fitzgerald girls that I should soon secure
Hunter, this party to Deer Park would not
have been got up ; but I must be wiser in
future.

" This same proposal shall be turned to good
account ;" and she again j^erused the letter.
" Fortunately, the Baronet writes sucli a
long, straggling, illegible hand, that, by
scratching out some words and scribbling in
others I can make Hunter believe the pro-
posal is for me, and addressed to my mother.
This will, this must, have a great effect on
his feelings, and I'll take care to play my
cards so well that he shall believe I have
rejected Travers because I am in love with
him. What good fun it will be, and how
well I'll get through my part ! But first let
me make the necessary alterations in this
precious letter." And, effacing some words
and adding others, the letter might pass
even to a cleverer person than Mr. Hunter,

COl^NTRY QUARTERS. 257

as having been addressed to Mrs. OTla-
hert J. To be sure the terms of profound re-
spect in which the proposal was expressed
did seem somewhat absurd as addressed to
such a weak and ridiculous person as Mrs.
0' Flaherty, and as referring to so wild and
unreserved a young lady as her daughter,
and did make Flonor more than once burst
into uncontrollable laughter as she perused
them ; but she counted on the stupidity of
Mr. Hunter for not detecting this want of
vraisemhlance, and relied on her own talent
for passing it off.

" The Countess and her grand-daughter
will never mention to any one that Travers
has proposed. I know their starched no-
tions on these points too well to have any
fear. Grace will repel him with all due
politeness, and there will be an end of the
mattef; but even should she accept him,
which I think utterly out of the question, I
can always make Hunter believe that Travers
only proposed to Grace O'Neil when he found
that I would not accept him. How I long
to show the letter to Hunter, and to disclose
to him my terror lest my mother should
compel me to marry the Baronet on account

258 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

of his great riches ! I must even get up a
few tears, if necessary, to impose on my ad-
mirer, and cover my face with my handker-
chief, to hide, not my blushes, but the absence
of them. I wouldn't have half the satisfac-
tion in marrying Hunter had he really taken
a fancy to me and proposed in the regular
way ; but to have brought it around by my
own cleverness, there is the triumph."

When Honor O'Flaherty met Mr. Hunter
the following day by the seaside, where
latterly their meetings had been very fre-
quent, she assumed a pensive air, which was
so unusual to her that her admirer inquired
the cause.

" I am wretched," replied the young lady,
** for that odious Sir Henry Travers has pro-
posed for me."

" He has, has he ? Well, but let me tell
you it's an offer many girls would juttip at.
He has a capital fortune, a fine place, and is
rather a gentlemanlike sort of fellow."

" I would rather die than marry him, not-
withstanding all his thousands a year and his
fine place." And Honor called up a most
sentimental expression of countenance.

*' Is it that you like some one else ?" in-
quired Hunter.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 259

" How can you ask such a question ? If I
did not like some one else, would not this
be a marriage that no girl could refuse ?"

" Well, but if your affections are engaged
you can refuse this Travers."

" That would be easily done ; but my
mother, as you may naturally imagine, when
you reflect on my having no fortune, is so
anxious for me to accept this offer, that I
shall have no peace nor quiet at home until
I do. Look, here is the letter. She re-
ceived it yesterday, and, when I requested
that a refusal should immediately be sent to
Sir Henry, she said I must be mad, yes, posi-
tively mad, to think of rejecting such a pro-
posal. I dare not, of course, tell her that my
heart is engaged."

'' Why not r

" Because the person to whom I have un-
fortunately given it has never told me that
he had bestowed his heart on me in ex-
change;" and Honor applied her handker-
chief to her face, whether for the purpose of
concealing her blushes, or wiping away a tear,
her admirer could not ascertain. He took
her hand in his and pressed it, hesitated for
a moment, and then, clearing his throat, said.

260 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

*' Any fellow that had tlie good fortune to
be liked by you would be a devilish ungrate-
ful dog if he did not love you, in return. I
am a poor hand at making fine speeches ; it
is quite out of my line ; but, by Jove ! if you
refuse Travers on my account, I shall think
myself bound to marry you myself."

" Oh, James, dear James, do you indeed
love me ?"

" I suppose I do," was the ungallant an-
swer ; " for I never before asked any girl to
marry me, although two or three girls, ay,
and very pretty ones, too, I can assure you,
were dying in love with me."

" I can well believe it," and a deep sigh
followed the admission, " for who, dear
James, could help loving you ?"

" There are some fellows in our regiment
who pretend that it is only the fortune to
which ])eople know I am heir that has made
girls wish to marry me."

" And are you heir to a fortune ?" inquired
Honor, with a most artless countenance. " I
am so sorry you are rich."

" Why so r

" Because you have probably a father, or
a guardian, or some one who, for that very

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 261

reason, may prevent you from marrying a
girl who has no fortune ; whereas, if you were
poor, no one would interfere.'^

" You are a true-hearted girl, Honor, that
you are, and I like you all the better for
loving me only for myself But don't be
uneasy as to any one interfering to prevent
my marrying you. I am of age, a trip to
Gretna Green is easily accomplished, and, the
knot once tied, then all would be safe. As
to asking my old governor's consent, that
would be useless ; he would not hear of my
marrying anything short of an earl's daughter,
in order that there may be a Lady Augusta,
or a Lady Mary, in the family ; for the old
boy and girl have a great fancy for titles ;
and, as to my marrying an Irish girl, they
would as soon consent to my wedding a wild
Indian."

" But, if you offend them, they may refuse
to forgive you — may disinherit you ; and,
though / don't value riches, you may, and I
should be wretched to be the cause of your
losing your fortune."

" Not they. They are not such fools. I
have offended them fifty times ; but they
have always been as ready to forgive as I

262 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

was to offend ; and so they will when we
have made a runaway marriage. They'll
make a great fuss at first — they'll swear
they'll not receive you, and that they'll cut
off the supplies to me^ — but we'll let them
cool down by degrees, and then they'll find
out that it's no such easy matter to break
with an only son on whom they doat, and
we'll be invited to Wintern Abbey, receive
lots of presents and cash, and there will be
an end of the matter."

" Oh ! dear James, how happy we shall
be !"

" That w^e shall, Honor. I'll buy you a
couple of such nags, and take you out hunt-
ing with me. I'll have a coach, and drive
four-in hand ; and you'll sit on the box with
me, and we'll go to all the races. But mind,
Honor, there's one condition which I must
make, and without which I would not marry
any woman on earth, and that is, you must
not interfere with my smoking. Without
my cigars, I should be like a fish out of water,
and I should soon hate any woman who ob-
jected to them."

" You little know me, dear James, if you
suppose that I could object to anything that

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 263

gave you pleasure. But, in the present case,
it happens that I have a peculiar liking to
the smell of tobacco ; so much so, that I have
often longed to smoke a cigar myself."

" Then, by Jove ! you shall ; and it will
look devilish knowing to see you in a riding-
habit, with your hat a little on one side and
a cigar in the corner of your mouth ; which
will show off your red lips to advantage."

" Oh ! delightful ! What rare fun we
shall have ! Won't we quiz your brother
officers, and laugh at them ! We'll be two
against one ; whatever you say, PU swear to ;
and you'll do the same by me, won't you ?"

" You may swear to it. But mind, Honor,
don't let the least hint slip tliat we intend
to marry. The Colonel, if he suspected it,
would write to my governor, and 1 should
be sent to England on leave of absence.
No ; we'll keep all snug and quiet until my
next quarter's allowance falls due, and, when
I touch the money, I'll get a month's leave,
and we'll make a start for Gretna Green.
Another thing, too. Honor ; mind you don't
lose that proposal of Sir Henry Travers, for
it will be well to show it to the governor
and the old girl when we go to \\ intern

264 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Abbey, that they may see what an offer you
refused for me. A baronet with ten thou-
sand a year, and Fil persuade them he has
twenty, will show them what you might have
done in your own country, and make them
think more of their daughter-in-law."

•' I'll keep the letter safe enough, and send
an answer to it before the day is over. How
the poor Baronet will fret and fume when he
gets my refusal ! Poor man, I could almost
find it in my heart to pity him !"

" How oddly things turn out, to be sure !
Would you believe it. Honor, that when we
met at those balls at the Fitzgeralds', I fan-
cied that Sir Henry Travers disliked you in-
stead of loving you ?"

" Because I did all in my power to dis-
courage his addresses, and that used to en-
rage him."

" But what's more odd, Honor, wdien first
I knew you, I never thought I should fall in
love with you myself, and would have betted
ten to one against it ; and even now I hardly
know how it came about."

*' But I do, fool," thought Honor. " Your
vanity and folly rendered you an easy prey
and, knowing that it was not affection that

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 265

prompted you to choose me, I never can
have any regard to your feelings, once the
knot is fastened."

While this thought passed through the
mind of the unprincipled and reckless girl, a
fond smile and a pressure of Hunter's hand,
drew from him an avowal that now all was
settled between them, he would not give her
up for the handsomest and richest girl in
England, were she even a duke's daughter,
*' although," as he confessed, " he had al-
ways wished to marry some tip-top girl of
fashion."

" You might have married any girl you
took a fancy to, my dear James," said Honor,
with a sentimental air ; " for where, I should
like to know, could the highest girl in the
land meet with so fine a young man as you
are?"

" Why, 1 believe I am not a sort of fellow
to be refused, to tell you the truth ; and one
thing I can swear, which is, that I never
asked any girl the broad staring question of
'Will you marry me?' until I proposed to
you, Honor ; and, what's more, hang me ! if
some time ago an angel had told me that I
should marry you, I should have laughed

VOL. I. N

266 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

outright at the bare notion ; yet here I am
fairly caught, and ready to take you for bet-
ter for worse, as the saying is, the moment
we can get off. As 1 said before, I often
wonder how it all came about, and Pll tell
you how I account for it. Whenever I
fancied formerly, that I was smitten with a
girl, I used to think of her, and even go so
far as to be unhappy. I hated being put out
of sorts about her sometimes, and ever since
I have known you I always leave you in bet-
ter humour with myself. You talk to me
about me much more than about you. You
say pleasant things to me — tell me that I am
good looking and clever, which none of the
other girls 1 flirted with ever did, for they
were thinking more of themselves than of
me — and you ridicule and quiz all the fel-
lows in my regiment, who have such a high
opinion of themselves, yet seem to hold me
cheap, — that I said to myself, ' Honor is the
girl for me. To be sure, she is not so refined
and elegant in her manner as some of my old
flames in England, but as she pleases me bet-
ter, and puts me in better humour with myself,
that's the point.' "

Honor 0 'Flaherty, reckless and coarse-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 267

minded as she was, felt the full force of the
naive admissions of the weak, vain, and selfish
Hunter. " Oh, won't I pay you for all this ?"
thought she to herself, while the flush of
anger mounted to her brow. " So the fool,
not content with preferring me only because
I flatter him, must make me feel this humi-
liating fact every time we meet. It is the
flattery, and not the flatterer, he likes ; and
it is to ensure this gratification that he in-
tends to marry me. But he shall find himself
disappointed, I can promise him, for Mrs.
James Hunter will scorn to flatter her hus-
band, however she might have condescended
to administer to the vanity of her foolish
lover. He has let out some disagreeable
truths to me before wedlock, and I will let
out fifty times more to him after."

" I am thinking that it is no use, and I am
sure it will be no pleasure to me, to go to
Deer Park to the Fitzgeralds," observed
Hunter. " I should be like a fish out of
water there, Honor, without you. The Fitz-
gerald girls never say an agreeable thing to
one. They seem to be always thinking of
themselves, while I only like persons who
think of me."

n2

268 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" I must take care and not let him fall in
the way of any girl who will flatter him more
than I do," thought Honor, " for I do believe
that if a Gorgon were to lay the honey on
thicker he would prefer her to me."

" What say you, Honor, shall I go or not ?"

" I shall be sorry to lose you for a week,
dear James," and the lady sighed, "but if
you wish to go I prefer your pleasure to my
own."

" Then by Jove ! I won't go a step, and ill
write an excuse at once."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 269

CHAPTER XVIL

While Herbert Vernon was becoming
more enamoured at every interview with
Miss O'Neill, she began to feel a stronger
sentiment than indifference rising in her
breast towards him, as she observed that the
coldness of her reception did not prevent the
perseverance of his attentions to her. She
bad conceived, whether justly or unjustly, a
notion that his frequent visits prevented those
of Captain Sydney Mordant ; and this notion
led her to dislike Mr. Vernon, to whom,
otherwise, she would have experienced no
livelier feeling than perfect indifference.

There is one striking difference between
the nature of men and women. A man has
often been known, as in the case of Hunter,
not only to vanquish a conceived dislike to

270 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

a woman because he has been led to think
she preferred him, but to feel, or fancy he
feels, a preference for her ; while a woman
has seldom, if ever, been won to like a man
whose attentions her avoidance of him had
not the power to check. Do not think, dear
male readers, that this difference originates
in any peculiar good qualities of your sex,
such as gratitude or good-nature. No ; it
springs solely from gratified vanity, that can-
not resist the food it loves to feed on. Wo-
men, if handsome, being accustomed to flat-
tery from their childhood, become satiated
with it, unless he who administers it suits
their tastes. Hence they have no gratitude
for a preference they value not ; while men,
in the superabundance of their vanity, often
yield up their freedom, if not their affections,
to the woman who will minister to it, how-
ever unsuited in mind or person she may be
to their tastes.

Whenever Mr. Herbert Vernon's name
was announced in the drawing-room of the
Countess O'Neill that lady observed an ex-
pression of dissatisfaction overspread the
countenance of her grand-daughter, and, al-
though too well-bred to suffer any visible in-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 271

dications of her growing dislike to become
apparent to him who excited it, her involun-
tary absence of mind when he addressed her,
and her monosyllabic replies, might have
taught a more sensitive or more experienced
suitor that he had wholly failed to make a
favourable impression on the heart he so ar-
dently desired to win. No roseate blush of
pleasure, no dimpled smile, no unconscious
start, those certain indications of a growing
preference, betrayed that the presence of her
admirer was welcome to Grace O'Neill.
Nevertheless, Mr. Herbert Vernon's passion
was quite strong enough to live on without
the food of encouragement required by other
men to bring a passion to maturity, and, with
the blindness peculiar to lovers, he believed
that, once his affection should be declared to
its object, she might be induced to treat him
with less coldness.

Every time they met this declaration ho-
vered on his lips, but how to make it to one
who remained so near the chair of her grand-
mother that not a syllable could be addressed
to her without its being audible to that lady?
And a declaration, as all lovers know, or ought
to know, never has a good effect if more than

272 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

two pair of ears can hear it. Various and, as
he thought, clever hints, plain even to the
least quick intellect, used he to direct on the
subject of love and conjugal happiness to
Grace, descriptive of the sort of person who
alone could tempt him to seek the altar of
the saifron-robed binder of hands, descriptions
so entirely applicable to her, that no one save
a person obstinately determined not to un-
derstand them could mistake their meaning.
But, wlieu Mr. Herbert Vernon turned his
eyes to the beautiful face he hoped to find
suffused by a blush of consciousness of what
was passing in his heart, he became chilled
by the unconcerned and indifferent counte-
nance of the lady, and the words he would
fain utter died on his tongue.

While he continued from day to day to
pursue his unpromising suit. Captain Sydney
Mordant waited impatiently to hear its result.
Often would he say to himself, " What can it
be to me ? Will her refusal of poor Herbert
place me in a different position? Can I, with
my scanty portion as a cadet de famille, offer
any fair prospect of a provision for a wife and
family ? Never before did I regret my po-
verty. But now, when it raises a barrier

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 273

between me and the only woman I ever
wished to call mine, I feel, ay, bitterly
feel it, and lament for the first time the
chance that sent my brother into the world
a year before me. Happy Vernon, who can
pass whole hours in her society, who is en-
abled by his position to sue for the hand I
would give worlds to call mine ! Yet, if he
should sue in vain, if she should reject the
brilliant fortune he can lay at her feet, will
he not, with all his riches, be as unhappy as
I am who have none ? I knew not when I
promised to leave the field open to him who
could, in wedding her, bestow rank, and for-
tune too, how much pain the sacrifice would
cost me.

" Never do T see him direct his steps to the
Countess O'Neill's door without a jealous pang-
shooting through my heart. I examine his
countenance, when he returns, with inexpres-
sible anxiety, in order to read in it what pro-
gress he has made in his suit. If he looks
cheerful, a sentiment approaching to hatred
fills my mind, for I am tortured by the sup-
position that he has had cause to hope ; and
it is only when I notice that he is gloomy
and depressed that my old friendship for him

N 5

274 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

revives ; because I attribute his tiistesse to
his want of success with the beautiful Grace.
What must she think of my avoidance of
her ? Does she regret not seeing me ? But
fool, vain fool that I am, it is but too proba-
ble that, while this constrained absence in-
flicts misery on me, she has never observed
it. And yet have I not seen her lovely face
brighten up when I approached her ? Have
I not seen a rosy blush bespread it when I've
entered the room, and beheld her matchless
eyes sparkle, and then veil themselves be-
neath their transparent lids, as if they
dreaded to betray their increased lustre to
me ? Have I not had as much experience
of women as most men of my age, ay, and of
some of the most spotless of the sex, too ?
And could I be deceived into the belief that
I was not totally indifferent to her, which I
have dared to indulge ? No, if I know my-
self, I am not 2l vain man, nor one who could
conjure up such a fancy without a base to
build it on. If looks and blushes may ever
be trusted, and surely they are the most art-
less of all indications, then may I believe that
my presence created a livelier interest in the
Breast of the lovely Grace O'Neill than that
of any other man !

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 275

*' Herbert Vernon grows less communica-
tive, less confidential, every day. Is tliis the
result of 272creasing or G?ecreasing hope to gain
his suit? Perhaps, knowing my deep admi-
ration for Grace, he wishes to spare my feel-
ings by not telling me his success. But what
if his silence on the subject should originate
in the objection all men, even the least vain
of us all, feel in confessing that they have
failed to please the object of their passion ?
Yes, it may be so. I will cheat myself into
this hope, and then, my poor friend, Vernon,
I will, indeed, pity instead of envying you."

When, a few minutes after this soliloquy,
Mordant encountered Vernon returning from
his visit to the Countess O'Neill's, the reverie
in which he seemed plunged, and the gravity
of his countenance, betokened none of the
happiness peculiar to a favoured suitor. Ver-
non would have passed on without recogni-
sing his friend, so deep was his abstraction,
had not Mordant exclaimed, " How now,
Vernon ! are you going to cut me ?"

The latter started, as if awakening from a
dream, and, holding out his hand, said, " I
really did not see you ; my thoughts were so
deeply engaged elsewhere."
10

276 COUNTRY aUARTERS.

" I hope on an agreeable subject ?"

" Would 1 could say yes ! but, alas ! my
dear fellow, the contrary is the fact. But
let us adjourn to your room, or mine ; the
street is a bad place to converse in, on what
so powerfully excites my feelings. You have
acted so honourably to me, my dear Mordant,
that I ought to have no concealment with
you. Indeed, I think myself blameable in
not having sooner reported progress to you,
though, on second thoughts, I have used the
wrong word ; for I have made no progress at
all with Miss O'Neill, who, I verily believe,
feels rather moi^e than less indifferent towards
me than when first I knew her."

Mordant felt a glow of pleasure diffused
through his breast as he listened to this
avowal, although the next moment he
blamed himself for his selfishness. Having
entered Herbert Vernon's room, the latter
threw himself on a sofa, looking so mortified
that even Mordant felt pity for him.

" All my assiduities, and all the love in
which they originated, have failed to touch
her heart," said Herbert Vernon. " She does
not, or, rather, I believe, she will not, under-
stand the passion she has inspired. I have

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 277

gone on, hoping from day to day to observe
some slight indication of pleasure at my ap-
proach; or regret for my absence; but I have
watched for such in vain, and I have at
length come to the conclusion that I have
not the most remote chance of ever making
any impression on her heart. Under these
circumstances, I feel that I ought to discon-
tinue my attentions ; and yet I have not
courage to banish myself from her presence,
or to tear her from the heart she tortures.
1 am now determined to know the worst. I
will declare my affection, and ask if I may
dare to hope for its being sanctioned. Should
she, as my fears suggest, decline my hand, I
will apply for leave of absence, and go home;
for I can no longer support the state of anx-
iety 1 have lately been enduring. Until she
has positively refused me, I cannot entirely
banish hope, and suspense is no longer bear-
able. You say nothing. Mordant — you offer
no advice."

'* What can I advise, my dear Vernon ?
I believe that, in your case, I should adopt
the plan you propose ; but the truth is, my
own feelings are too much interested to ren-
der me competent to offer advice. Yes,

278 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

Vernon, I love Miss O'Neill — passionately
love her ; and neither prudence nor avoid-
ance of her has as yet enabled me to triumph
over my passion."

" Perhaps, Mordant, her total indifference
to me may be caused by her preference to
you?"

How Mordant's heart throbbed at the sug-
gestion !

" No, no, Vernon, I dare not flatter myself
on this point. Nay, more ; I should regret,
rather than rejoice, were your notion founded
on truth. It would be weak, unmanly, and
selfish to wish to create an interest in a
heart I cannot, dare not, claim ; and^ how-
ever I might bear to struggle against my
own unhappiness, I could not contemplate
even the possibility of hers ; if, indeed, she
entertained a preference for me. T am too
poor to offer her a home suitable to her merit
and my own birth. I have no prospects to
look forward to but promotion in my pro-
fession. With that and the scanty pittance
of a younger brother I must be content ; but
sorry should I be to involve her I love in
the perpetual difficulties entailed by strait-
ened circumstances."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 279

" But if you knew she loved you. Mordant,
would you still have courage to resist suing
for the hand which you believed she was
ready to accord to you?"

" Yes, Vernon ; if I know myself I think
I should, for I could not bear to see her de-
prived of comforts to which she has ever
been accustomed, and which my income
could not furnish."

** One question more, Mordant. If you
knew that she was pining for your love —
that her happiness, her life, were at stake —
could you still persist in avoiding her?"

" Why, Vernon, present such an hypo-
thesis to me ? Why vainly, uselessly, excite
my feelings ?"

" Because I strongly suspect. Mordant, that
the case I have put to you is not wholly an
hypothetical one. Yes, I believe that Grace
O'Neill entertains for you that preference
which I would give half my future fortune
to inspire ; and I am not so wholly selfish as
not to wish to secure her happiness, al-
though, alas ! / cannot form it. Her ab-
sence of mind — her frequent relapses into
tristesse, when she thought herself unobserved,
— and which I, like a fool, fancied, in the

280 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

comniencemeiit of my acquaintance witb her,
might have their origin in a growing prefer-
ence to myself— have, I am now quite cer-
tain, proceeded from an attachment to you.
1 remember the pleasure she took in your so-
ciety— how her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks
became pink as a new-blown rose, when you
approached her. I recollect no such symptoms
when any one else addressed her ; and, conse-
quently, it appears to me that you, whether
willingly or otherwise, have won her affection.
" If her peace should be endangered,
Mordant, you could not allow prudence to
hinder you from avowing your passion.
Every other consideration should yield to
that. And now, to prove to you that I do
not wholly disregard prudence, let me tell
you my project. I will one day, as you
know, be rich. All my father's property is
entailed on me, but with me the entail ends,
and I may bequeath the fortune, or any por-
tion of it, to whom I like. My father has
been too generous, too kind, to me to admit
of my desiring to succeed him in the pos
session of the property, of which he makes
so good a use, and I say with all sincerity of
lieart that I trust it will be many long years

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 281

before such an event may arrive. He gives
me a much larger allowance than I spend,
and, were I to require it to-morrow, would
make me any advance I asked for. Let me,
therefore, my dear Mordant, raise twenty-
live or thirty thousand pounds, the interest
for which I can pay out of my yearly al-
lowance without being put to the slightest
inconvenience ; and this twenty-five or thirty
thousand pounds will enable you to make a
settlement to its full amount on your future
wife, while the interest of the capital will
make a comfortable addition to your in-
come.'*

" My good, my generous friend," exclaimed
Mordant, greatly touched by Vernon's offer,
" how shall I express my deep sense of your
friendship, so nobly proved by your unex-
ampled generosity ?"

" Make no attempt to thank me, but do
better, my dear fellow. Accept my offer,
without hesitation. You have not, I trust,
waited until now to be convinced of the sin-
cerity of my friendship for you, or to know
how readily I would devote some of the
wealth which will be mine to ensure your
comfort. But, when to this old and warm

282 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

friendship is added the desire to secure the
happiness of the only woman I ever loved,
judge how eager I am that you should not
refuse to accept from me the means of as-
suring it."

" But, my dear Vernon, I cannot."

" Don't say cannot, say will mA,'' inter-
rupted Vernon impatiently. " Are you too
proud to owe happiness to a friend, or to
risk that of a woman who loves you, sooner
than vanquish a pride so ill-placed ? Could
we but change places, do you think I would
refuse at your hands the offer I now make ?
No, on my honour, on my soul, I would not ;
and my happiness would be enhanced by the
reflection that it was due to a friend."

" Do not think me unfeeling, ungrateful,
dear Vernon ; but this new proof of your
unselfishness, your worth, makes me believe
you more worthy of Miss O'Neill than I am.
If she could know your offer, it would, it
must, change the current of her sentiments,
and make her comprehend the value of the
heart ready to be proffered for her accept-
ance."

*' No, Mordant, she must never know it.
I, too, can be proud, and I would not owe

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 283

even the inestimable blessing of her hand to
• mere esteem called forth by an act the gene-
rosity of which you greatly exaggerate, but
which I am perfectly convinced you would
not hesitate to emulate, were it in your
power."

" See her again, my dear friend, plead your
suit, and demand her hand. If she rejects
you, you will, by the manner in which it is
done, be able to judge whether her refusal
proceeds from a preference to another, or
simply because you have not yet interested
her affections. If the former be the cause,
and that I should be really the object on
which she has placed them, let time be given
to see whether the growing tenderness may
not subside when no indication of reciprocity
encourages its duration ; and who knows
but, when time to become acquainted with
and appreciate your merits be afforded her,
that she may not yield you the boon you
sigh for ?"

" Only promise me one thing, Mordant,
and that is, if I find Miss O'NeilPs happiness
disturbed, or her health fading, that you will
accept the proposition I have made, and
claim the hand I must not hope to possess."

284 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Let us wait the result of your proposal
to her before I pledge myself," said Mordant,
wringing the hand of his friend ; and they
parted.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 285

CHAPTER XVIII.

"How strange, my dear Sir Geoffrey!'"
said Lady Fitzgerald, as she laid down on
the table two notes she had been reading.

" What is strange, my dear ?" inquired the
old Baronet.

" Refusals from Mr. Vernon and Mr.
Hunter : ' Very sorry they cannot have the
honour of waiting on us at Deer Park.'
There must be some cause for this refusal,
Sir Geoffrey. Some manoeuvre or other that
I don't quite comprehend."

" I should set it down to notliing more or
less than a want of inclination to join for a
whole week a dull family party, my dear."

" That is so like you, Sir Geoffrey, always
finding the simplest reasons for actions that
are perfectly incomprehensible to others."

286 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" Probably, because others search hidden
motives when only the simplest exist. The
gentlemen you invited have discovered that
none of their acquaintances are asked, and,
concluding that we shall be en famille^ do
not feel disposed to come. What can be
more natural ?"

" Or less flattering to us," was the brief
reply ; the lady who uttered it growing red
in the face, always, with her, a symptom of
a coming storm. " Who could have sup-
posed that in so dull a place as , where

so little civilized society can be had, that
these men would refuse our invitation ?
They professed to be fond of shooting, too,
yet, though I mentioned you could offer
them some tolerable sport, they reject it.
Yes, there must be some cause, and I'll not
rest until I have discovered it."

" I think I could furnish the clue to the
enigma," observed Sir Geoffrey coolly ; " they
have heard that the covers at Deer Park
have been so ill preserved that magpies
abound there in the proportion of ten to one
partridge ; that the keeper talks of the hare
instead of hares ; in short, that the prospect
of even one day's tolerable shooting could

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 287

not be realized ; and this, to men accustomed
to the hattus in England, was not encou-
raging."

" But our girls, and a good cook, and good
wine, Sir Geoffrey ?"

" All these combined temptations, my
dear, they have resisted ; and, if my advice be
followed, it should be that no more attempts
be made at match-making. The wildest
birds on my estate are not so shy as the
young men of our time, or more wary of any
snare laid to catch them."

" Then how are matches to be made, I
should like to know ?"

" If we may believe some people, they are
made in Heaven ; but from this opinion I
confess" (and Sir Geoffrey heaved a sigh)
" I am strongly disposed to dissent. I in-
cline to the belief that chance — and, above all,
beauty have a great deal to do in the matter.
A man sees a pretty girl, takes a fancy to
her, hears other men chatter about her good
looks, which last point has a great effect in
exciting his passion ; while the girl, pleased
at his evident admiration, gives him just
enough encouragement as serves to increase
it, and the friends and relations, if wise, show

288 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

no anxiety to bring things to a close. When
the young fellow has worked himself into
the notion that he can't do without the
girl, he proposes, and the marriage takes
place."

" Then you would have parents and, espe-
cially, mothers take no part in getting their
daughters married."

" Decidedly."

"But can you deny. Sir Geoffrey, how
successfully Lady Moreland, Lady Bellaston,
and many others whom I could name, have
been in getting rid of their daughters ?"

" I know their daughters have married
early and well, but whether this was effected
by their mammas or not I do not know. A
woman must be nothing short of a magician,
not to say sorceress, who can persuade a fel-
low with half an ounce of brains in his head,
or of heart in his breast, to marry a girl who
did not please his fancy. I don't say that,
when a man lias been struck by a pretty girl,
a clever mother may not help on the affair
by affording opportunities of meeting, and,
above all, by appearing never to suspect that
anything serious is going on or desired ; but,
as the cookery-book phrase has it, to make'

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 289

hare-soup, * first catch your hare,' so, to make
a husband, first catch a lover."

" I am to suppose, then, that I do not
possess the cleverness of other mothers who
have succeeded in marrying off their daugh-
ters ?" said Lady Fitzgerald, with an angry
brow.

" We may naturally come to this conclu-
sion, my dear, when your efforts during so
many years have been so perfectly unavail-

iiig."

" They might have been otherwise, Sir
Geoffrey, had you aided me," and the lady
glanced angrily at her husband.

" Me aid you to kidnap poor devils ! No,
no, you'll never catch me at that work, Lady
Fitzgerald ; I'll never act as a decoy-duck
to lure others into a scrape. If a fellow
likes to marry a plain girl without a fortune,
that's his affair, and I'll not discourage him ;
nay, more, I'll give him as much venison and
claret as he can swallow ; but there I take
my stand, and nothing shall induce me to go
beyond it.'

" Who ever dreamt of asking you to inter-
fere more than most other reasonable fathers
do ? What I meant by your aiding me w^as,

VOL. I. O

290 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

to take a well-stocked manor in Norfolk,
invite down to it some six or eight single
men with good fortunes, keep an excellent
cook, and have the best wine, and so give the
girls a chance."

" And give myself something more than a
chance — a positive certainty, Lady Fitzgerald
— of becoming — a beggar. See into what
straits I have already reduced myself. Am
I not over head and ears in debt, owing to
having adopted your advice in taking you
and the girls to London for the last six
seasons? I was quite sure nothing except
debt and difficulties would come of it, but
you positively bored me into it."

"As a member of Parliament you were
obliged to be in London, Sir Geoffrey, and
the expense of two establishments was saved
by our going."

" Stuff and nonsense. A single man in
London can get a cheap lodging, live at his
club for a mere trifle, and dine out when he
is asked. I could manage the whole thing
for seven pounds a week ; but, when a house
for a family in a fashionable street is to be
taken, servants engaged, carriages and horses
to be had, dinners to be given, and, above

10

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 291

all, Lady Fitzgerald, milliners, niantua-
makers, florists, shoemakers and hairdressers
to be constantly employed, what a frightful
sum does it require to defray all this unavail-
ing expenditure ! Money has to be bor-
rowed, interest to be paid for it, and season
after season adds to the difficulties of a poor
devil of a father, who finds himself a ruined
man without having achieved the object for
which all this expense was incurred."

" Nevertheless, I still think. Sir Geoffrey,
that had you taken the manor "

" Taken leave of my senses," replied the
Baronet, greatly excited. " I should have
merited to be shut up in a madhouse, and
would certainly, if not protected by the pri-
vilege of Parliament, be shut up in a prison.
You seem to think that the whole purpose
for which a man was sent into the world was
to marry off his daughters, and that his own
ruin is to be risked if not accomplished in
the attempt. But henceforth. Lady Fitz-
gerald, you shall not find me so easily
managed as hitherto. If my daughters are
ever to find husbands it must be in Ireland,
where a long line of ancient ancestors is still
a title to respect."

o 2

292 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

So saying, Sir Geoffrey angrily left the
room, leaving liis weaker, if not his better
half, considerably discomposed by the result
of the matrimonial consultation.

" I have not seen him so angry for some
time," soliloquized the irate matron. " He's
always talking of being ruined. Every sea-
son the. same story ; yet still, somehow or
other, we get on, as all the other people who
are said to be ruined do. I never had any
head for politics, or accounts. Every attempt
at endea'v.o.urin:g. to. comprehend either never
fails togive 'me a headache; consequently, f
can't ascertain the truth of Sir Geoffrey's
alarming statements, being as incompetent
to look into his debts as to calculate the ex-
tent of the national one. I believe all men,
except bill-brokers and speculating mer-
chants, tell their wives they are ruined, or
on the verge of being so ; and the exceptions
only refrain from terrifying their wives from
the fear. that they, in the frankness and can-
dour peculiar to women, might extend the
information to parties equally interested in
it. Heigh-ho ! I'm sure 1 wish that I was
exempted from hearing on all occasions those
fri^rhtful statements which Sir Geoffrey de-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 293

lights in making ; for, as i can do nothing to
extricate him, it's of no use making me ner-
vous and uncomfortable. I must, however,
order some of his favourite dishes, in order
to restore him to good humour. How lucky
it is that 1 have discovered that the surest
and shortest road to this desired end is
through his stomach !"

The cook having been summoned, and
having received Lady Fitzgerald's instructions
for the peace-offering to be prepared for her
husband, her ladyship sought the morning-
room, where her daughters generally passed
a portion, of the day. She laid the letters
from Messrs. Yernon and Hunter on the
table for their perusal, and marked, while
they alternately read them, the increased
colour in their cheeks and the angry expres-
sion of their countenances.

" I am sure," observed Miss Fitzgerald,
" that these foolish young men have already
embarked in some absurd love affair or other,
which prevents their accepting the invitation
to Deer Park;" and she contemptuously
threw the letter down.

" It proves that there was some truth in
what Honor O'Flaherty boasted," said Miss
Florence.

294 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

" That only regarded Mr. Hunter," re-
marked Lady Fitzgerald, " and does not ac-
count for Mr. Herbert Vernon's sending an
excuse. Sophie told me this morning, when
I was dressing, that Miss Magrath had in-
formed her that Mr. Herbert is a frequent
visitor at the Countess O'Neill's."

"Grace is, of course, the magnet that
attracts him there?" said Miss Fitzgerald.
" I suspected that she w^as setting her cap at
him."

*' How can you accuse her of such a thing,
Florence ? Grace is the last girl in the world
to set her cap at any one."

" And why so, pray ? Is she so mighty
superior to all other girls as to disdain mak-
ing an effort to win a suitor ? "

" T really think so."

" Then 1 differ in opinion with you, Kate,
and should not wonder if, after all, she car-
ries off this prize."

*' But she may accomplish this without
any effort on her part. She is handsome
and engaging enough to attract, and amiable
enough to retain, any man who had a disen-
gaged heart."

" You, I know, consider her a rara avis, a

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 295

piece of perfection, near which no other girl
has a chance of being admired."

" For Heaven's sake, girls, don't get into
an argument. If, as Sophie told me, Mr.
Herbert Vernon is such a frequent visitor at
the Countess O'Neill's, it's of no use thinking
any more about him."

" I don't see that," observed Miss Fitzge-
rald ; " and if I thought it worth my while
to lay myself out to please Mr. Herbert
Vernon, I should have little doubt of suc-
ceeding."

" I would not advise you to make the at-
tempt, Florence."

*' I don't require your advice."

" How silly it is to get up a discussion
about trifles ! " said Lady Fitzgerald. " I
have just had a very disagreeable interview
with your father, who has explained to me
the utter impossibility of our going to Eng-
land any more, such is the deplorable state
of his finances."

" But so he has told you, mamma, regu-
larly every year, and you have as regularly
repeated the information to us, and yet we
have gone to London a few months after.
Papa has cried ' wolf ' so often, that, like the

296 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

boy in the fable, when the wolf really did
come, no one believed his cry."

" This time, however, Florence, I believe
there is but too much truth in your father's
assertions ; for, although I do not pretend to
know much about business, the difficulty of
getting money to pay our bills, and the
frequent depression of spirits which I notice
in your poor father, convince me that he does
not exaggerate the embarrassed state of his
affairs."

*' Then why did he allow them to get em-
barrassed ? Why did he not regularly pay
all bills?"

" These are the very questions I wished to
ask him, but he looked so cross that I had
not the courage."

" Depend on it, my poor father would
have discharged his bills if he had had the
money. Poor dear father ! how a generous
kind spirit like his must writhe under the
pressure of debt !" And Miss Fitzgerald
sighed deeply as she uttered the words.

" I am quite as much to be pitied as he is,
my dear," said Lady Fitzgerald. " You have
no idea how annoyed I was when I was
tormented by Madame Falbala, before I left

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 297

London, for the amount of her bill : ay, and
by half a dozen other duns who kept writing
for a settlement of their small accounts, as
they term it I never saw a vulgar-looking
letter with a ci])lier on its seal without a
shudder; and the sight of a column of arith-
metical figures made me feel quite faint/

" You were more sensitive on these points
than I should have been," observed Miss
Kate. *' All persons of fashion are dunned,
you may be quite sure, and after a little use
one becomes quite accustomed to it. Be-
sides, mamma, you, as a married woman,
could not be arrested ; and papa, as an
M.P., was equally exempt from the penal-
ties annexed to debt. With this conviction
in your mind, you should not have allowed
yourself to be made uneasy."

" I assure you, Kate, light as you make of
it, the being compelled to ask one's hus-
band for money, to see the elongation of face
that takes place when one has stated one's
wants, and to hear the long homily that is
sure to follow, is not among the lightest of a
woman's trials."

" I can quite comprehend it, mother, and
blame myself for having been the cause of

o 5

298 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

subjecting you to this annoyance more than
I ought. 1 might liave done with fewer
dresses, fewer bonnets and flowers, and should
have done so, dear mother, if I had remem-
bered, as I ought, the annoyance my extra-
vagance would entail on you." And Miss
Fitzgerald arose from her seat, and embraced
her mother affectionately.

" You must not accuse yourself, dear Flo-
rence ; I never found you extravagant."

" I should think not, for I am sure I have
seen Florence wear dresses, flowers, satin
shoes, and gloves that could no longer be
termed fresh," observed Miss Kate.

" Florence is a much better manager than
you are, Kate, I must say."

" Which means that she has not such a
decided objection to faded finery as 1 have."

" As it now appears settled that we are
not to go to England the ensuing season, it
seems to me that you should both, my dear
girls, turn your thoughts towards marrying in
your native land."

'* Quelle horreur, quelle horreur ! Only
fancy poor me married to one of the Irish
squires in our neighbourhood ! — a man I
should be ashamed to present to any of my
fashionable friends in London."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 299

" But, if the London men won't seek your
hands, you must make up your minds to be-
stow them on your own countrymen."

" Don't you think, dear mother, that it will
be time enough to think of them when they
pay any attention to us, which, hitherto, they
have not seemed disposed to do."

" Because you have treated them rather de
haut en basJ"

" I certainly shall lay no snares to catch
any of those wild birds," said Miss Kate.

" And I,'' observed her elder sister, " will
make no rash vows to refuse a countryman
until I am put to the test."

" Wisely determined, dear Florence, and
may you soon have an opportunity of saying
yes !"

300 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

CHAPTER XIX.

The ensuing day after the confidential
conversation with Mordant, Herbert Vernon,
unable any longer to bear the suspense he
had lately sustained, addressed a letter to
the Countess O'Neill, entreating her to
sanction his addresses to her grand-daugh-
ter. He enclosed an open billet to that
young lady containing an offer of his heart
and hand, and impatiently awaited an an-
swer. When the letter, the most momen-
tous he had ever written, was despatched,
and beyond the power of recall, he almost
wondered at his own temerity in sending
it. The more he reflected on the uniform
coldness with which his attentions had been
received by Miss O'Neill, the less hope re-
mained to him of their being now more fa-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 301

vourably accepted ; and, as he walked up and
down his chamber in a state of agitation
never previously experienced, he felt that,
little as he had dared to hope, the total de-
molition of these faint hopes required the
exertion of all his strength of mind to sup-
port. " I have been rash in thus bringing
the affair to a crisis," thought Vernon.

" Time and patience might have wrought
something in my favour. Yet, no ; what
grounds had I for hope, and is it not better
to know the worst at once ? Had I cou-
rage it would have been well to have made
my proposal in person. I should then have
had an opportunity of judging whether I
was rejected from indifference, or because
another and more fortunate man had made
an impression on her heart. But I will,
even though rejected, ask permission to be
received as an acquaintance, as a friend ;
and opportunities may thus offer of ascer-
taining the state of her feelings. Yes,
beautiful Grace, though I have not been
able to win your affection, I will try, at
least, to merit your esteem ; and, if / cannot
render you happy myself, it will be some
consolation to enable another to do so."

802 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

In due time, the servant who was the
bearer of Vernon's letter returned. How
quickly throbbed the heart of his master as
he heard his step ascending the stairs and
saw him enter the room ! It was a relief to
him to hear that " an answ^er would be sent ;"
it seemed a reprieve for which he was
thankful. Vernon could settle to nothing
from the moment he received this message.
Various conflicting thoughts passed through
his mind. Hope revived in his breast once
more as the thought suggested itself that,
had Miss O'Neill positively decided on reject-
ing him, no time would have been lost in
sending an answ^er to his letter. He w^alked
up and down his room ; opened his window
to see if any one was bringing a letter to
the barracks ; took up a newspaper and
tried to read, but in a few minutes threw it
down again ; opened book after book, in the
hope of being able to occupy himself, but
every attempt was vain.

Never did time hang so heavily on his
hands, and, when every half hour he referred
to his watch, he could scarcely believe that
four hours had not elapsed when only one
had gone by. At length, a letter was brought

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 303

to him, and he desired his servant to leave
it on the table, being unwilling that he
should see his emotion. When the servant
had left the room Vernon, with trembling
hands, tore open the envelope, and found
that it contained only one letter. That was
from the Countess ONeill, who stated that
her grand-daughter had requested her to
answer the letter addressed to her by Mr.
Vernon. In terms the most courteous the
proposal was declined, though with a due
sense of the honour conferred on Miss
O'Neill, and with every kind wish for the
future happiness of Mr. Vernon, whom the
Countess stated it would always give them
pleasure to receive as a friend, but with an
explicit understanding that the proposal
which he had done Miss O'Neill the honour
to make should be no more referred to.

" Cold, unfeeling girl, not to have written
me a single line !" exclaimed Vernon, as he
threw the letter from him. " A love like
mine merited at least a few expressions of
kindness from her own hand. But perhaps
it is better as it is. A note from her would
be something to treasure, souiething to keep
alive a hopeless passion, and I need, Hea-

804 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

ven knows, nought to do tliat. Grace,
Grace, you have cast from you a heart that
loved, idolized you, and with a passion so
true, so unselfish that even now, when hope
is fled for ever, it can dictate the prayer
springing from its inmost core, that you may
never have cause to repent this rejection, —
that in him you love you may find all the
devotion for you that fills mine !"

A sentiment of delicacy prevented Mor-
dant seeking his friend that day. He wished
to spare his feelings by not witnessing the
emotions of regret, which a refusal of his
suit would inflict on Vernon ; and he had
not philosophy enough to behold unmoved
the happiness which its acceptation must
bestow. *' Herbert Vernon," thought he, " is
not a man likely to be denied the hand of
any girl : so good-looking, gentlemanlike,
and high-principled as he is. I know no
man more likely to render a woman happy.
In England he might, I am sure, select, with
a certainty of success, any girl from the
proudest house to become his bride. With
a mind and person so attractive, with a
character so respected and esteemed, and
with prospects so brilliant, how few could re-

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 305

ject him ! Miss O'Neill may have hitherto
given no attention to his assiduities, because
she did not believe that he was seriously
attached to her, but, his devotion proved by
the most irrefragable of all proofs — an offer
of marriage — she may now accept his hand."
A pang shot through his heart as he con-
templated this possibility, and, after yielding
for a few minutes to the pain he endured, he
endeavoured to reason himself out of his
regret. " I must not be selfish," thought he.
" With the conviction that nowhere could
this matchless creature bestov/ her hand
where the blessing would be more highly
prized than by Vernon, nor where her hap-
piness could be more safely trusted, I must
not allow my own disappointment to engross
my thoughts. Situated as 1 unfortunately
am, I could not ask her to share my lot, and,
as she could not be mine, I ought to rejoice
that the man I most esteem will call her his.
Happy Vernon ! you will, indeed, possess a
treasure, but you are worthy of her. Even
my tortured heart, while writhing under the
pangs of hopeless love, is ready to acknow-
ledge that you are so. Perhaps, had I not
discontinued my attentions, 1 might have

306 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

created an interest in her heart. There
were moments during our first acquaintance
that I thought I was not wholly indifferent
to her. Oh ! those were delicious, intoxicat-
ing moments — never, never to be forgotten !
Had I loved her less — if her happiness had
not been far dearer to me than my own — I
could not have had the courage to avoid her
presence, and desist from betraying to her
the passion she ^ had inspired. Beautiful
Grace ! you will never know how wildly,
how devotedly, you w^ere loved ! If you
ever bestow a thought on me, you will think
me strange, wayward, and incomprehensible.
But better is it that you should thus judge
me than know hereafter that I was selfish
enough to involve you in the misery of
poverty, which must have been the case had
I won your hand."

While these reflections were passing
through the mind of Mordant, his cogitations
were disturbed by a visit, as unexpected as it
was undesired, from Mr. Hunter. One of
the evils of residing in a barrack is, that soli-
tude, unless he who wishes for it is made of
sterner stuff than was Mordant, is almost out
of the question. Hence it often occurs that.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 307

when an officer wishes most to be alone, one
of his comrades will lounge into his room, to
bestow his tediousness on him, and will fre-
quently be so indiscreet as not to perceive
that his presence is unwelcome.

"You look as bored as I am, Mordant,"
observed Hunter, throwing himself on a
sofa. " But I don't wonder at it ; this is
such a devilish dull place that one never
knows how to kill time."

" Have you made many attempts ?"

"Innumerable. I have set all the idle
boys about the streets boxing ; and was
rather amused by it at first, but I have got
tired of it. I have set them to run races in
the exercise-ground until they have been
ready to drop, and sent them home happy in
the possession of more coppers than they
ever had before. Five shillings' worth of
halfpence goes a great way in distributing
rewards among these half-naked urchins, who
consider me nothing less than a Croesus in
wealth, and a prince in generosity, because I
have expended some two or three pounds*
worth of halfpence in encouraging their
gymnastic sports."

" That accounts for the crowd of ragged

308 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

boys, with elfin looks, that I saw yesterday
coming out of the whisky-shop intoxicated —
or, as one of them termed it, 'screeching
drunk,' — vociferating blessings on ' the cra-
thur,' and * the soldier-officer,' who furnished
the means of procuring it. You will do
mischief, Hunter, in enabling those poor boys
to get drunk."

" But they are such good fun when the
whisky works in them. See them before
they have drunk any, and they are inanimate,
timid, and pale, looking the pictures of star-
vation and misery ; but no sooner have they
tossed off a glass of this fiery liquid than
they become wild, reckless, and full of gaiety,
and utter such original things, bring forth
such droll images and comical similes, as
are enough to make one half die of laugh-
mg-

" You should, however, remember, Hunter,
that what is sport to you is death to these
poor creatures."

"If one is to be always thinking of the
probable results of the money one throws
away, few would bestow charity."

" Charity ! my good fellow ; surely, you
cannot consider providing the means of buy-
ing whisky as charity ?"

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 309

" By Jove I do, though ; for, if I make a
set of poor starving wretches forget for a few
hours the pangs of hunger and cold, I think
I have done a charitable action."

" Far, far from it. You have encouraofed
in them a propensity which, once acquired,
is seldom conquered — a propensity that has,
unhappily, greatly retarded the civilization
and improvement of their unfortunate coun-
try."

*' What a grave aiFair you make of a trifle,
Mordant ! Don't continue the lecture,
there's a good fellow ; for no schoolboy ever
more dreaded being flogged than I do being
lectured. What a place this is for falling in
love ! In fact, a poor devil has nothing else
to do. Being in love gives one something to
think of."

" Am I to conclude that you have had
recourse to this dernier resource for passing
your time ?"

" Well, and if I have. I might do worse."

" That depends on the object you have
selected."

" Selected ! What a strange fellow you
are, Mordant ! Just as if a man selects the
girl he is to fall in love with. According to

310 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

my notion there is no choice in the affair.
A man falls in love because he has nothing
else to do, and because he can't help it. If
a man had the choice whether he would be
in love or not, it's my belief few would pre-
fer it."

" Then, according to your notion, reason is
for nothing in this the most momentous
affair of a man's whole life, and on which all
his happiness is to depend."

" Why, what can all the reason in the
world do for him if a girl takes his fancy,
and he finds he can't do without her ?"

" Exercise his reason. Try absence, in
general a very efficacious remedy for the love
of gentlemen under twenty- five years of age,
and a remedy the excellence of which you
have proved on more than one occasion."

" If a man were to do that every time he
falls in love, he'd never marry at all."

" And it would be better never to marry
than to wed a girl to whom a man's attach-
ment was so slight that a few months'
absence could conquer it."

" But, as a fellow who is to have lots of
money must marry one day or another, he
may as well do it when the fancy comes into
his head."

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 811

" And, when it is too late, repent it all bis
days."

" That he may do, when or whoever he
marries ; and, if a fellow ever has a good
excuse for getting married, it is in country
quarters, where there is not even a billiard-
table, or smoking-room, or a news-room, to
help him to kill time ; but where there are
some devilish pretty girls ready to take him
for better or worse."

"If such are your feelings, you are in
danger, my good fellow, and I earnestly
advise you to ask for leave of absence and go
to England, rather than rush headlong into
wedlock."

" I have always thought of marriage as of
a desperate leap out hunting — neck or
nothing ; and, whenever I do marry, it will
be in the same spirit."

" No great compliment to the future Mrs.
James Hunter."

" I'll never make you my confidant, Mor-
dant, I can tell you, for you have no more
feeling about love-affairs than my grand-
mother. If you had, you could not have
resisted such a bevy of beauties as this place
contains. Why, by Jove ! there are girls

312 COUNTRY QUARTERS.

here that would put to shame the cried-up
belles in London, with their faces faded by
hot rooms and late hours, and their manners
as languid as their faces ; while the girls
here are fresh and blooming as roses, and
full of spirits and gaiety. But you have no
heart, Mordant, that's the fact.

A deep and uncontrollable sigh might
have revealed to a keener observer how erro-
neous was Mr. Hunter's supposition ; but
the latter, drawing out a cigar, prepared to
light it, fully convinced that his friend was a
cold-hearted opponent to love and wedlock.

" Hunter, you must not infect my room
with tobacco-smoke," said Mordant, remov-
ing the light w^hich Hunter was applying to
the cigar, — a hint wiiich drove away the
unwelcome intruder, whistling as he went
for want of thought.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON:

G. J. p.almer, savov street strand.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN0I9-URBANA

3 0112 041409332