 they knew not whither he was
gone, or when he would return.

Lord Montreville, who had depended more on the information of
Fitz-Edward than any other he hoped to obtain, left a note at his
lodgings desiring to see him as soon as he came to town, and went back
in encreased uneasiness to his own house. But among the numberless
letters which lay on his library table, the directions of which he
hastily read in a faint hope of news of Delamere, he saw one directed by
the hand of Emmeline. He tore it eagerly open--it contained an account
of all that had happened, written with such clearness and simplicity as
immediately impressed it's truth; and it is difficult to say whether
Lord Montreville's pleasure at finding his son still unmarried, or his
admiration at the greatness of his niece's mind, were the predominant
emotion.

When the former sentiment a little subsided, and he had time to reflect
on all the heroism of her conduct, he was almost ashamed of the long
opposition he had given to his son's passion; and would, if he had not
known his wife's prejudices invincible, have acknowledged, that neither
the possession of birth or fortune could make any amends to him, who saw
and knew how to value the beauty of such a mind as that of Emmeline. The
inveterate aversion and insurmountable pride of Lady Montreville, he had
no hope of conquering; and she had too much in her power, to suffer his
Lordship to think of Delamere's losing such a large portion of his
inheritance by disobeying her. For these reasons he checked the
inclination he felt rising in his own heart to reward and receive his
niece, and thought only of taking advantage of her integrity to separate
his son from her for ever.

He went with the letter in his hand to Lady Montreville's apartment,
where he found Mr. Crofts and the two young ladies.

He read it to them; and when he had finished it, expressed in the
warmest terms his approbation of Miss Mowbray's conduct. Lady
Montreville testified nothing but satisfaction at what she called 'the
foolish boy's escape from ruin,' without having the generosity to
applaud _her_, whose integrity was so much the object of admiration.

Possessing neither candour nor generosity herself, she was incapable of
loving those qualities in another; and in answer to Lord Montreville's
praises of Emmeline, which she heard with reluctance, she was not
ashamed to say, that perhaps were the whole truth known, his Lordship
would find but little reason to
