 prevail on Lady Adelina to alter a resolution which rendered
them both wretched.

Some weeks, however, passed, and she still adhered to it; while the
melancholy conversation which Emmeline frequently had with Fitz-Edward,
and the importunity and unhappiness of Delamere, deprived her of much of
that tranquillity she might otherwise have enjoyed; particularly after
the recovery of Lady Westhaven (who presented her Lord with a son), and
the arrival of Mrs. Stafford and her family from France.

Lord Westhaven, who held a promise particularly sacred when made to the
unfortunate, had procured for Mr. Stafford a lucrative employment in the
West Indies. Thither he immediately went; and his wife, whose spirits
and health were greatly hurt, was happy to accept the offer Emmeline
made her of going down with her children to Mowbray Castle. The Marquis
of Montreville had presented his niece with the furniture he had sent
thither, being in truth ashamed to charge it; there was therefore every
thing necessary; and there Emmeline intended Mrs. Stafford should reside
'till she should be established in some residence agreeable to her;
which she intended to fix if possible near her own; and she now felt all
the advantages of that fortune, which enabled her to repay the
obligations she owed to her earliest friend.

[Footnote 43: Oh! certainly, Mr. Crofts is always very sprightly. A most
entertaining personage.]

[Footnote 44: If there is any thing in the world I utterly detest, 'tis
such dismal society as that.]







The rank, and extensive connections of Lady Westhaven, led her
unavoidably into a good deal of company; but it was among persons as
respectable for their virtues as their station. Emmeline, of course,
often accompanied her: but almost all her mornings, and frequently her
evenings, were dedicated to Lady Adelina; who hardly saw any body but
her, Lady Westhaven, her brothers, and her sister; and never went out
but for the air.

Godolphin passed with her much of his time: to the love and pity he had
before felt for her, was added veneration and esteem, excited by the
heroism of her conduct. At her lodgings, too, he could see Emmeline
without the restraint they were under in other places. There, he could
talk to her of his love; and there, she consented to hear him.

Lady Westhaven went constantly every morning to visit her mother, who
had lately been rather better, and whose health her physicians
entertained some hopes of re-establishing. Her own unhappy temper seemed
to be the chief impediment to her recovery; her violent
