sire to learn who was her correspondent; a facility which greatly reconciled her residence at the Park, and consequent separation from her family.
The obsequious and polite Sir Howard had in the meantime so much won upon the attention of the General, that he as well as his lady became less desirous of quitting London than they had been previous to the intimacy formed with him.
Mrs. Herbert began to feel uneasiness on the score of his frequent visits, lest he should prove a second Harcourt. Having succeeded in dismissing the one, she was determined also, if possible, to counteract the views of the other, commencing her interference by saying what she thought might best depreciate him in the estimation of Rosilia; who, not aware of her artful designs, sometimes defended Sir Howard against her imputations, which she conceived were unmerited, but which gave Mrs. Herbert cause to suspect that in so doing she was not wholly disinterested, and that her inclinations, which she had fondly hoped would have been reserved to bless her son, had already become excited in favour of another.
"Ah," said she one day, in a disconsolate tone, "I see how it is, you are ambitious of a title, which has caused you to decide so prematurely. Truly," continued she ironically, "to be styled Your Ladyship! my Lady Sinclair! may well compensate for many deficiencies."
Indignant at the charge, Rosilia for a moment
