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he went out, leaving poor Maria pale and trembling. Opening the letter, Hamilton read the following words:
"Charming youth,
"Will you, at eleven this evening, be on the Steyne, and meet a lady, neither old, ugly, nor disagreeable? Your appearance bespeaks you a man of honour; I need say no more.
"Amanda."
Hamilton was very far from being
a man of intrigue; but, on the other
hand, was not a perfect Sir Charles
Grandison; besides, he was now elevated
with wine, and not indisposed to a frolic;
and having a ready invention, he immediately
devised a scheme for disengaging
himself from his mother and sister: he
wrote the lady that he should attend so
sweet an invitation; but that, as he was
