superior.
Ought I not to regard this marriage as a material fault in Mr. Roatsley's character: for that his chief, if not his only aim in it is fortune, I cannot help being convinced; and is it not an unpardonable error to prize the advantages of splendour

so highly, and to hold domestic happiness in so low estimation. Yet I ought not to judge thus harshly. We know not a thousand circumstances which may render this match not only laudable but meritorious; and of Lady Elizabeth I merely form my opinion from the observation of a few hours, where the little defects of address must be supposed wholly to have influenced my judgment. Erroneous as this mode of conclusion may be, yet the manner so generally bespeaks the character, that where the one is informed and intelligent, the other seldom or never appears trifling or disgusting.
But to return to the company. Lady Linrose being engaged at whist, still preserved towards me the cold distance she had assumed since Mr. Howard's appearance, and addressed herself to me no more during the remainder of the evening. Her eldest daughter seemed languid and out of spirits, and at length

took up a book, in which however she only occasionally looked, often recurring to the investigation of my figure, which appeared much the most amusing employment of the two; for she examined me sometimes for minutes together with no great cordiality in her countenance, and with entire disregard to the uneasiness it gave me. Lady Elizabeth was soon persuaded to retire to the next apartment, where she was solicited to play on the organ, which induced almost all the company to follow her. Miss Lucy Dudley, however, seeing me disengaged and silent, kindly resumed her seat on a sopha; where, with Sir Edward and Mr. Bradshaw, we made a sort of distinct cotterie, and began to chat very agreeably together.
Lady Linrose, who appeared to remark with displeasure her daughter's attention to me, soon called her to look over her cards, and kept her by her side

the rest of the evening; and a message from the music room soon after requesting Sir Edward to accompany on the flute Lady Elizabeth's voice in a song, unwillingly obliging him to leave the drawing room, Mr. Bradshaw and I were left in a manner tete a tete on the sopha. I found him agreeable and intelligent, attended with a certain bluntness of manner which rather inspired the idea of sincerity than rudeness, and we soon entered into a most interesting conversation.
Pray, said he, may I ask your opinion of Lady Elizabeth. She