She told him Mr. Blachford was a very rich gentleman, lived in a handsome house near at hand, and was very kind to her mother, an aged widow, who inhabited a small cottage close to his gate; that the occafion of her fpeaking to him from the window, was fimply to thank him for fome favours he had beftowed upon her mother; fhe hoped that Henry had faid nothing to give him offence, for that he was a proud man, and would not put up with an affront from any body, much lefs from his inferiors: moreover he was a juftice of peace, and dealt fo rigidly with those that came under his hands, that all the parish and neighbourhood round about ftood in fear and terror of him.

"He may be a juftice," replied Henry, "but I'll take upon me to fay he is not a gentleman. As to his business with you, Sufan, or your's with him, truft me I am not curious to be informed of it: it was mere chance and accident threw me in the way to interrupt it, which if I have done to your detriment or regret, I am heartily forry for it. As for his bluftering and threatening, I fear him not, neither did I provoke him by any language improper for me to make ufe of to a perfon

of his ort; I was as humble towards him,
as becomes any one human creature to be
to another in the like circumstances. I refpect
him, however, for being kind to your mother;
I only hope it is pure kindness, and that he does
not look for it to be repaid by any facrifices
from you: whilft you
make no other acknow-
ledgments than you can convey to him from

a window, all will be well."

This was pointed with a certain expreffion of look and accent, that brought the blushes into Sufan's cheeks. She hoped fhe could not be fufpected of favouring fuch a great, black, ugly thing as his worship, and an old fellow into the bargain; fhe trusted she underfood herself better, than to give her company where he could not bestow her liking; in faying which, fhe conveyed a glance to Henry's eyes, which fimplicity itself could not fail to decypher, and nothing less than predetermined virtue could be able to encounter; for, without attempting defcriptions, which we do not wifh to engage in, we defire the reader to take it on our word, that the aforefaid Sufan May, in form and feature, was pofitively one of the most dangerous objects, that ftrong paffion and weak refolution could poffibly come

in contact with; fhe had health, youth and beauty to allure defire, and tell-tale eyes, that threw out fignals of encouragement to hope.

દ "Upon my word, Henry," faid fhe, " you are very confiderate of my reputation, which is more than I fhould have expected from a handfome young fellow like you, who I dare fay have fly fins enough of your own to anfwer for; but, to tell you the truth in one word, there is not a being upon earth I fo abominate as that furly brute Juftice Blachford: I believe he is as base in heart as he is black in perfon; therefore, with your leave, we will put him afide, and talk of fomething that is more to the purpose. What have you done to my drunken dame, I would fain know, that has fet her in fuch a tantarum? There was fhe, foaming and fretting after you had been with her, like a mad thing: furely you did not put on that preaching face to her, as you did just now to me: you'll never have a moment's quiet in this houfe, if you don't keep well with the tipfey fhrew that rules it fhe'll ferret you out in a twinkling, take my word for it, if you thwart her, and it is not the Doctor that can fave you; but if you'll coax and humour her, you may

pafs

for

pass your time to your heart's content; and my share, fhort as our acquaintance has been, so much am I prejudiced in your favour, that as far as I can contribute to your happiness, be affured nothing in my power shall be wanting to make your life pleasant whilst we are together."

It was a look, a smile, a gentle preffure of his hand in her's, whilft fhe uttered these words, that gave them a grace and energy, which but for thefe accompaniments had not belonged to them; Sufan, though not eloquent, poffeffed the orator's best attribute in an eminent degree; in her action fhe was irrefiftible. I know not whether I am to call it Henry's good or evil genius, that now appeared in the person of old Bridget, to draw him off to his master in his bed-chamber. He had begun a stammering kind of acknowledgment to Sufan, that meant to convey fomething between courtesy and caution, but expreffed neither one nor the other diftinctly, when the plea of duty helped him out of the dilemma for this turn, but left a memento behind it, plainly intimating that flight was his best defence against fuch weapons as nature had bestowed on Sufan: fhe in the mean time VOL. 1.

D

was

was not flow to discover, both where his weak, nefs lay, and in what her own ftrength confifted; what he could not term a victory on his part, fhe had no right to confider as a defeat on her's chance had broken up the conference; opportunity could not be want ing to renew it.

CHAPTER VIII.

A fudden Attack upon an unguarded Confcience. WHEN Henry entered the Doctor's

chamber, he found him ftill between the blankets, where he had provoked fo copious a perfpiration, that there is little doubt but he had paid intereft through his pores for every drop of water he had borrowed by his throat in his rencounter with the duck. Instead of giving a strait anfwer to Henry's enquiries, he began to hold forth a learned. lecture, upon the ufe and efficacy of fudorifics, reprobating in the ftrongest terms the vulgar error of pouring in hot liquors upon cold ftomachs, which he pronounced to be a diabolical practice, and little better than flow poison, just then forgetting the glass of

brandy