Page:Paul Clifford Vol 2.djvu/195

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PAUL CLIFFORD.
187

CHAPTER VII.


Come, the plot thickens! and another fold
Of the warm cloak of mystery wraps us around
******** And for their loves?
Behold the seal is on them!

Banner of Tyburn.


We must not suppose that Clifford's manner and tone were towards Lucy Brandon such as they seemed to others. Love refines every roughness; and that truth which nurtures tenderness, is never barren of grace. Whatever the habits and comrades of Clifford's life, he had at heart many good and generous qualities. They were not often perceptible, it is true, first, because he was of a gay and reckless turn; secondly, because