MANNERS:
A NOVEL.
Ingenium par materiæ.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1817.
MANNERS.
CHAPTER I.
Puesta que no me lo has dicho,
Ni aún con los ojos siguiera,
Mudas lenguas de amorios.[1]
It was long before Selina's agitated spirits could be composed; and whenat length she sunk to rest, she was haunted by confused dreams of mixedjoy and sorrow, in which Mordaunt's figure was always prominent. Atlast, however, towards morning she fell into a quiet sleep, from whichshe did not awake till several hours after Mrs. Galton and Augustus hadleft Eltondale.
Selina had given her maid so many charges to call her in time to takeleave of them, that she had firmly relied on her doing so, littleimagining that Mrs. Galton had previously determined to spare her thepain of parting. She had left a note for her, in which she reiteratedher farewell, and her request to hear frequently from Selina; but thekindness of its expressions, if possible, aggravated the poor girl'ssorrow and disappointment. As usual, she gave way unrestrainedly to herfeelings, and wept aloud, really unconscious that while her tears flowedostensibly for Mrs. Galton alone, her regrets arose not a little fromthe absence of Augustus. But, though Selina deceived herself in thebelief, that she only bewailed this her first separation from herbeloved aunt, she was most sincere in the grief she professed to feel onher account; for hypocrisy was a stranger to her guileless heart, yetuninitiated in the mysteries of that world, in which the timid andunpractised first learn to conceal the sentiments they actually feel,and conclude by displaying those that are but assumed. On the contrary,her genuine feelings were neither blunted by familiarity with sorrow,nor exhausted by the premature cultivation of sickly sensibility; and,though a more sobered reason might have wished the expression of them tobe occasionally restrained, yet even a Stoic might have confessed, thatthe perfection of her judgment would have been dearly purchased by anyalteration in the susceptibility of her heart.
Her melancholy toilet was scarcely finished, before she was summoned toLady Eltondale's dressing-room. Her Ladyship advanced to the door tomeet her with unusual cordiality of manner; but she scarcely beheld herwan countenance, when, starting back, she exclaimed with surprise, "Goodheavens, child! what can be the matter? Oh! I had really forgotten Mrs.Galton's departure. Why, Selina, you could not have disfigured yourselfmore, if she was gone to heaven instead of to Bath. Here, La Fayette, dobring some cold crea