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Caroline of Brunswick herself retired behind the draperies of her box, after acknowledging her daughter's welcome.

Lord Dornington not only remained in our box all the evening, but even accompanied us home. For all that, Colonel Tarragon contrived to hand me into the carriage. How little I expected the parting words he uttered! "Isabella, for heaven's sake say you will let me speak to you alone to-morrow-quick! your answer! What time?"

"Twelve o'clock: my father will be engaged, and Lady Laura not risen."

"Enough! God bless you-bless you!" Oh, benison, sweeter to my ear than that of holiest saints! Oh First Love! Child clothed in rose-coloured garments, garlanded with the green leaves of youth and hope, what shall replace the entrancement of your illusions? Other loves may come-firmer, more solid, more lasting -but when your rainbow-tints have faded, there is left but the cold grey shadows, the twilight realities gathering fast unto the night. What thoughts came flashing over me! Perhaps I had not, after all, deceived myself-perhaps Lord Dornington's fussiness had given Vincent the opportunity of speaking without Lady Laura's hearing; for he stood, poor old gentleman, bare-headed, at the opposite window of the carriage, asking some foolish question before entering, and then, as he stepped deliberately in, Lady Laura impatiently gave the longed-for word-" Home!"

CHAP. XXIII.

If my reader imagines that I was prone to forget old friends at this period, having made no mention of Mr. Benvolere since my departure from Mnemosyne House, he or she, will commit a very grave error in judgment. That I had lost sight of my dear master was certain; but I had constantly regretted it, and it had been mainly his own fault. I knew not, indeed, if he were alive or dead. I had received one note from him, soon after I went to Hamden House, to tell me he was going abroad for some time, for the purpose of bringing home his sister who

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He also had been left a widow at Tours. mentioned that he had arranged for a friend to take charge of his professional business till he returned. There was no address to this letter, indeed I found afterwards that Mr. Benvolere had written it at an inn just previous to starting for Dover. I had repeatedly enquired his address at music-shops, and of the professor who attended at Miss Norman's, but could not 'London Disucceed in attaining it. The rectory," if there were anything like an organized directory in those days, had not arrived at its present pitch of perfection. The humble musician's name was not in the "Blue Book," so I had to fret in secret because I could not find him. One thing I used to say, when indulging kind and my regrets at the loss of so sympathising a friend-"Benvolere knows where to write to me."

It so happened, that on this morning, as I sat alone in the drawing-room, awaiting Colonel Tarragon's promised visit, the memory of my "Ah old music-master came vividly across me. if I could but see him," I thought; "could but hear him say, "My child !" I little thought, as I sat there, in how short a space of time my wish would be gratified. Presently a well-known knock came to the door, and I could only hope and trust that the sounds thereof might not penetrate to Lady Laura's apartments.

I had not time, though, to dwell on my fears, for Colonel Tarragon, running up-stairs with the familiarity accorded to "my lady's brother” by the servants, entered the room. I forgot everything in the agitation of that moment. Our hands were clasped together, and Vincent's arm encircled my waist, before I found breath to expostulate.

"Isabella, dearest, beloved, you must have guessed my secret. Now I must know yours. Are you engaged yet to old Dornington ?" "Lord Dornington! good heavens! no. Till looked so strangely, last night, when you I had not a suspicion of the Earl's intentions, and perhaps I am wrong: I hope so."

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No, my Isabella, you will be forced to enter Liar" into the engagement. My sister told me you had consented without a murmur. and he gnashed his teeth," she knew I loved you."

"Is this possible? Love me!"

"Possible my love, give me credit for the effort to hide from you the feelings existing almost from our first interview-how little I

guessed what consequences would arise from the acquaintance of Lady Laura's much abused stepdaughter! Possible to love you! How would it be possible to live in your society, to mark your pure life and purity of thoughts, in a little world of corruption, and not love such goodlove inakes a man! I, I know, I ask too much; ness? I have fancied too-psha! what a puppy but I must leave here, Isabella; and if I do so with the knowledge that you are to be another's, and that other, old, doting-and believe me, not no, I am assured you will not enter into this worthy of you-I should, I say, go mad. But alliance and you do not despise me?”

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'Despise you! Ah, Vincent, I fear my unguarded behaviour has told you something very different."

"No indeed, you deceive yourself. Sometimes you to frigid as ice; sometimes-yet pause: I tell reflect before you make me delirious with joy by a confession which-Isabella Castlebrook, Itell you I am a sad dog; there's no denying it. Mind I do not call myself that name as the old uncles and fathers in comedies do their gay, generous, fine-hearted heirs. No: I mean, that in my own way, I am as good for nothing as my brother Tarragon, or my sister. Castlebrook. We are all good for nothing. Some one of our Norman ancestors-heaven knows who-that we boast of so much, had bitter black blood in his veins, and he bequeathed a drop or two to his

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posterity, and it taints all the bettermost nature in us. Oh Isabella, reflect; if you wed with me, you wed debt and difficulty. My father allows me two hundred a year, that about pays my landlady and my laundress; but now that I have my colonel's full pay, and chance of promotion, I might do better, I believe, if—But no. If any of the honour of the Old-Tree pedigree be left in my soul; why, I say, let it not be tarnished. But the worst is, I am in debt."

I cast down my eyes, I could not reproach him, that would seem so selfish: a few minutes ago I had no right even to do so; but I wished to offer some consolation, so I said

"I could live on very little, and I never wish to go out."

"Sweet victim, do you think I would allow you to make a holocaust of your youth and beauty? Besides, dear simpleton, know that is not the way to hold a man after you have snared him. No the plain truth is, we are selfish brutes, and would rather see our wives admired and resplendent, though they run us in debt for their jewels and clothes, than behold them moping at home, with pale cheeks and a red rim round their eyes, cultivated mainly by sitting up till day break, waiting for us to come home fromsave the mark!—our pleasures."

"An encouraging picture!" smiling somewhat uneasily, for a dim idea haunted me, that Colonel Tarragon had not himself rested during the past night, and that his sarcasms on himself and his sex might be simply owing to the repentance of dissipation. It was, however, impossible to hint such a suspicion, so I went on "I should not like you to be deceived. I do not believe, dear Vincent, I shall have any money when I marry."

"Neither do I. My dear one, if you will wed me, we must forget there is any money in the world."

"You jest. How are we to exist then?"

"Oh! who talks of the romance of youth? Isabella, you ought to think only of dew, roses, sunbeams, a cottage where wreaths of woodbine hide the chimney, whose thin blue smoke is the sole token of the ignoble fact that, within, Damon and Phillis are cooking beans and bacon."

"After all then, even you admit that love is not fed, chamelion-like, on air?”

"I fear not. Love is a true glutton: he must be fed with incense, with praises of the beloved one from the wide mouth of the world. What boots it that I wear on my finger the most priceless diamond, if none but myself perceive or value my treasure ?”

I was indignant, "Colonel Tarragon, if I thought you serious-but no! Yet this levity offends and hurts me, deeply, I assure you." "My love! Is this a world to be serious in ?" "Yes indeed--and to be as good in as we can, and one in which, above all, we must do our duty."

"Dear monitor, these things seem easy to you."

"And they must be so to you. Dear Vincent, have you not heard Mr. Moore talk about his cottage, home, and his wife? He seems to me, when in society, always longing for the time to go back to them, and yet who is so much the spoiled child of the world as he? I remember when I noticed that trait in his character, I thought of what I read at school, that the Romans had a kind of cake, made of honey, which even after their most sumptuous and splendid feasts, they could eat of with fresh appetite. Vincent, home seems to me the honeycake, to which a man rightly constituted should turn with fresh zest after all the satiety of fashionable life."

"But, dearest, we are moralizing, and forgeting how precious time is. Isabella, I am recalled to my regiment. My sick-leave, by special favour has been renewed and renewed till now, if I delay, my honour itself will be in danger, nay-" for I turned pale-"nothing can part us now, unless-they make you, my love, waver."

"The

I gave one glance-it was enough-he held out his arms, and my lips were pressed by those which worlds would not have convinced me could ever breathe falsehood or treachery. He placed on my finger an emerald ring. emblem of hope,” he whispered tenderly. shall hear from me as soon as an opportunity presents itself. Meantime, Isabella, "Faith and. Hope, remember, are our watchwords."

"You

A few minutes after, I was weeping alone in the empty drawing-room. I was free when I entered; now I was bound heart and soul to another-my first, best love. How fully I deemed it then, my last and only one!

A SKETCH FROM REAL LIFE.

BY JANE M'KENNA.

Adown her tapering back, her hair unbound
From her pale lips, poor love, there came no sound,
In curls hung shivering.
They were so sad and quivering.

Her lovely hands, so stony and so white,
Seemed as if asking kisses.
Where could you find so beautiful a sight
Amid mere worldly misses?

Her cottage lay within a sweet green wood;
And gaily forth the young maid lightly would
She tended flowers,

Trip 'neath spring showers.

Until the dark knight of the castle came,

With beard and brow of gloom; For them at length there burst love's fatal flame In bud and bloom.

They met! yes met. Aye, morn, and noon, and night
They pledged love's vow;

But on their love there fell a cruel blight.
Behold her now!

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Oft urged the youth she loved, with pleading sigh, "Thy kindred scorn me, pray thee let us fly! Sad are my hours till thou consent doth give." "An' if I do," quoth she, " where shall we live?"

"Through these fair woods," he saith, now might we rove,

Our arched and columned halls each sylvan grove!" Aye," quoth the prudent mayde, "and this were sweet;

Yet do thou not forget that we must eat?"

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1865.

9

BRUSSELS DURING THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

Early in March, 1815, it was rumoured in Brussels, that on the 26th of the preceding month the Emperor Napoleon had escaped from his little island kingdom of Elba, and landed with about a thousand of his faithful guard, and such of his civil and military officers as still clung to his standard, near Cannes, on the coast of Provence. This astounding news was soon verified. He had reached Grenoble, and taken possession of its citadel. The forces sent to encounter him had joined him as the heart of one man. Lyons, the second city in France, had succumbed to his arms. His victorious eagles were once more about to alight on the domes of the Tuileries. He had arrived in Paris on the evening of the 20th. On the same day Louis XVIII., so often a fugitive, had set out for Ghent.

At these tidings, the more intelligent inhabitants of Brussels were wrought up to a high pitch of excitement. For it was well known that at the time Napoleon returned, there was in France a host of fierce and daring men, ready to range themselves under the banner of their old master. Davoust states, that the country was overrun with soldiers, just released from garrisons on the frontier of the empire; or the prisons of Europe, from Spain to Russia. Most of these counted as many battles as years, and would be ready to flock round the imperial eagles, as having no other means of subsistence. It was soon a certainty, that the Congress of Vienna had determined to hold no negociation with the usurper; that he was universally denounced as the enemy and disturber of the tranquillity of Europe, and that England, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Hanover, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, and the Netherlands were all resolved upon uniting their forces against the Bonapartist faction. The government of Great Britain were not only prepared to supply men for the coming war; but had already subsidized the continental states with £11,000,000.

Congress of Vienna, and taken the command of the allied army. It was necessary that he should be early on the spot, because Napoleon had numerous partisans in Belgium, who were ready, if an opportunity occurred, openly to espouse his cause. The Flemish had not been satisfied with the union forced upon them by the Congress of Vienna; a union with a country totally different from their own in manners, religion, and commercial interest. The workmen of Liege were said to be deeply disaffected to Holland. Many of the Belgians had fought under Bonaparte. In fact, fully expecting to occupy Brussels, he had already dictated the following proclamation to the Belgians, and the inhabitants of the left bank of the Rhine :

"The ephemeral success of my enemies detached you for a moment from my Empire. In my exile upon a rock in the sea, I heard your complaints. The god of battles has decided the fate of your beautiful provinces: Napoleon is among you. You are worthy to be Frenchmen. Rise in mass, join remainder of those barbarians, who are your enemies my invincible phalanxes, to exterminate the and mine: they fly with rage and despair in their hearts.

"By the Emperor, (Signed) NAPOLEON, "The Major-general of the Army. "At the Imperial Palace of Laeken.

"COUNT BERTRAND."

It was afterwards discovered that one of the principal noblemen of the city had ordered a magnificent supper for Napoleon and his staff; and that similar festivities were ready for all the officers of the army, in the full expectation that Wellington and Blucher would be overthrown.

An English lady, who arrived in Brussels at this crisis, gives the following picturesque account of her first impressions on approaching the city :

"Near Brussels we passed a body of Brunswick Troops (called Black Brunswickers). They were dressed in black, and mounted upon The beautiful city of Brussels was daily black horses, and their helmets were surmounted agitated with fresh tidings. It was, so to speak, with tall nodding plumes of black horse-hair, the advanced bastion of Germany and the which gave them a sombre and funereal appearnorth, therefore sure to become the first object ance. As they slowly moved along the road of attack. In order to seize on the precious before us in a long regular procession, they prize, the French legions were gradually draw-looked exactly like an immense hearse. Some ing near to the frontier of Belgium. Count D'Arlous' corps was at Lille; Reille's at Valenciennes ; Vandamme's was at Mezierès; Gerard's at Metz, and Lobau's at Laon. The Imperial guard, in magnificent order, was prepared at a moment's notice to start from Paris. As early as the night of April the 4th, the Duke of Wellington had arrived in Brussels from the

of these black, ominous looking men kept before us, and entered Brussels along with us At first we passed through some mean dirty streets, but the appearance of the town soon improved. The houses are large, ancient, and highly ornamented. There is an air of grandeur and of architectural design in the towns of Flanders, which is peculiarly striking, on first coming

from the plain; diminutive, shopkeeper-looking, red brick rows of houses in England. The streets of Brussels are narrow, but they have that air of bustle, opulence, and animation, which characterises a metropolis. To us everything was new and amusing: the people, the dresses, the houses, the shops, the very signs diverted us.

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"Everything wore a military aspect; and the number of troops of different nations, descriptions, and dresses, which filled the town, made it look very gay, soldiers' faces, or at least their white belts and red coats, were to be seen at every window; and in our slow progress through the streets we were delighted to see the British soldiers, and particularly the Highlanders, laughing and joking with much apparent glee with the inhabitants. On our right we caught a glimpse of the magnificent spire of the Hôtel de Ville, far exceeding in architectural beauty anything I remember to have seen. We slowly continued to ascend the winding of the long and steep hill, which leads from the low to the high town of Brussels, and the upper part of which is called La Montagne du Parc. Passing on our left the venerable towers of the cathedral, we reached at last the summit of this huge Montagne;' and the Parc of Brussels, of which we had heard, read, and talked so much, unexpectedly opened upon us. What a transition from the dark, narrow, gloomy streets of the low town to the lightness, gaiety, and beauty of the Parc, crowded with officers in every variety of military uniform, with elegant women, and with lively parties and gay groups of British and Belgic people, loitering, walking, talking, and sitting under the trees! There could not be a more animated, a more holiday scene; everything looked gay and festive, and everything spoke of hope, confidence, and busy expectation." Ever since his arrival in Brussels, the Duke of Wellington with his usual calm presence, had been occupied in carefully organizing the allied army. It consisted of about 105,000 men, of whom 35,000 were British, 6,000 King's German Legion, 32,000 Dutch Belgians, and Nassau-men, 7,000 Brunswickers, and 24,000 Hanoverians. These were kept well in hand, sc as to be ready to take the field, when and where the French Emperor should make his attack; but it was necessary to occupy many points, lest Napoleon should out-manoeuvre the allies. Meanwhile, the Duke of Wellington had issued imperative orders for the defence of all the fortified towns and strong places in the country. The dykes were cut, and the marsh-lands inundated. Antwerp, Ostend, Neiuport, Ypres, Tournay, Ath, Ghent, and Mons, were to be declared in a state of siege, as soon as the French crossed the frontier. Any governer surrendering his post without sustaining at least one assault, was to be declared guilty of high treason. This strong measure was rendered necessary, in consequence of the equivocal loyalty of several who held municipal and military rank. In fact, many of the latter had fought under the eagles of Napoleon, many of the former had been

fascinated by his mysterious influence. The Dutch-Belgian army was in a most unsatisfactory condition. It was described by Sir Henry Harding, in a letter to Lord Stewart, as "Not unlike Lord Randecliff's description of a French pack of hounds: pointers, poodles, turnspits, all mixed up together, and running in sad confusion."

The Prussian government had dispatched to the seat of war an army consisting of 115,000 men, commanded by the veteran Prince Blucher, with 312 pieces of cannon. These had entered, with few exceptions, heart and soul into the contest, and were ready to fight Bonaparte to the death.

On the evening of Thursday, the 15th of June, an officer arrived in Brussels from Marshal Blucher, to announce that the enemy were crossing the frontier, and attacking his advanced posts. The Duke of Wellington was sitting after dinner, with a party of officers, enjoying the wine and dessert, when he received the important intelligence. The Prussians had been driven back that day by the French; but the conflict seemed a mere affair of outposts, and not likely to proceed much further at present. The best strategists, assembled at this time in Brussels, suggested that the enemy intended by a false alarm to induce the allies to concentrate their chief forces near Charleroi, in order that he might more successfully make a serious movement on some other point. The troops were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice; but as yet all was uncertainty as to the precise direction of Napoleon's principal attack.

Lest the people of Brussels should be unnecessarily alarmed by these events, and to check the wild rumours which were already in circulation, the Duke, with many of his officers, went to a ball given by the Duchess of Richmond at her residence, No. 9, Rue des Cendres,* Boulevard Botanique. The romance of that ball, could it be written, would of itself constitute a remarkable episode in the history of modern Europe. The saloons were crowded with a brilliant assemblage of lovely women and brave men. The richness and magnificence of the uniforms, the multitudinous wax lights, the perfume of exotic flowers, the strains of martial music, formed a rare combination of enjoyment, in which the poetry of motion was wonderfully interwoven with that of musical sounds, and with tremendous historical events; events that, at the lapse of half-a-century, still furnish materials for the bard, the annalist, and the critic.

The ball was at its height when a second officer arrived from Blucher. The attack had become serious; the enemy were in considerable force; they had taken Charleroi, and had gained some important advantages over the Prussians. While reading the dispatches, which

*The present name of the street and house.

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