he would have perished by the sword,—not a fictitious rival as he had met with in Herbert, but truly such in reality, as acknowledged by his own words: had he not been afforded such a testimony, every after circumstance would have revealed and confirmed the fact.
Becoming acquainted with General De Brooke's retreat from the world, and meeting Douglas by chance in London, upon his return from Scotland, who intimating his intention of immediately quitting it for Glamorganshire, Harcourt availed himself of apparently so propitious an occasion, and declared himself ready to become the companion of his journey; his intention being to form a better acquaintance with Rosilia, in the hope of making himself agreeable to her, and offering himself as the future partner of her life. Having while in India, as we have seen, confided to Douglas his partiality, and having never received from him any discouragement to his pretensions, supposing rather that he might calculate upon ensuring his services on the occasion, he was but little prepared to find in him so formidable a rival. Amidst the general happiness prevailing upon the recovery of Rosilia, he had, as a spectator merely, deeply participated in the same sentiment. But when, in turning his ideas inward upon himself, the unfortunate fate attending his destiny, the sport as it were of fortune, clouds of heaviness oppressed him.
