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gage his heart, was fufficiently tired of his mercenary attachment to Mifs Rachel; fo that he patiently submitted to his difmiffion and readily obeyed his father's commands by a total discontinuance of his vifits to Sir Paul: To the ladies of the family this behaviour appeared altogether mysterious; Sir Paul kept the secret to himself, and watched Louisa very narrowly; when he found fhe took no other notice of Lionel's neglect, than by flightly remarking that fhe fuppofed he was more agreeably engaged, he began to dismiss his jealousy and regain his Spirits.

It was far otherwife with the unhappy Rachel; her heart was on the rack, for though fhe naturally fufpected her brother's jealousy of being the cause of Lionel's abfence, yet fhe could not account for his filence towards herself in any other way than by fuppofing that Louifa had totally drawn off his affections from her, and this was agony not to be supported; day after day passed in anxious expectation of a letter to explain this cruel neglect, but none came; all communication with the whole family of lord Mortimer was at a ftop; no intelligence could be obtained from that quarter, and to all fuch enquiries as the ventured to try upon her brother,

he answered fo drily, that fhe could gather nothing from him: In the mean time as he became hourly better reconciled to Louifa, fo he grew more and more cool to the miferable Rachel, who now too late difcovered the fatal confequences of interfering between husband and wife, and heartily reproached herself for her officioufnefs in aggravating his jealoufy.

Whilst she was tormenting herself with these reflections, and when Louisa seemed to have forgotten that ever fuch a person as Lionel exifted, a report was circulated that he was about to be married to a certain lady of great rank and fortune, and that he had gone up with lord Mortimer to town for that purpose. There wanted only this blow to make Rachel's agonies compleat; in a fate of mind little short of phrensy the betook herself to her chamber, and there fhutting herself up fhe gave vent to her paffion in a letter fully charged with complaints and reproaches, which the committed to a trusty messenger with strict injunctions to deliver it into Lionel's own hand, and return with his anfwer: This commiffion was faithfully performed, and the following is the answer the received in

return.

« Madam,

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"Madam,

"I am no lefs aftonished than affected by "your letter: If your brother has not long fince "informed you of his conference with my fa"ther and the refult of it, he has acted as un

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justly by you as he has by lord Mortimer "and myfelf: When my father waited upon "Sir Paul for the exprefs purpose of making "known to him the hopes I had the ambition "to entertain of rendering myself acceptable to "you upon a propofal of marriage, he received "at once so short and peremptory a dismission 66 on my behalf, that, painful as it was to my "feelings, I had no part to act but filently to

fubmit and withdraw myself from a family, "where I was fo unacceptable an intruder.

"When I confirm the truth of the report you have heard, and inform you that my marriage took place this very morning, you will 66 pardon me if I add no more than that I have the honour to be,

"Madam, your most obedient

" and moft humble fervant,

"LIONEL MORTIMER."

Every hope being extinguished by the receipt of this letter, the difconfolate Rachel became henceforth

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henceforth one of the moft miferable of human beings: After venting a torrent of rage against her brother, fhe turned her back upon his house for ever, and undetermined where to fix, whilft at intervals fhe can scarce be faid to be in poffeffion of her fenfes, he is ftill wandering from place to place in fearch of that repofe, which is not to be found, and wherever the goes exhibits a melancholy fpectacle of disappointed envy and self-tormenting spleen.

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N° CLIII.

Delifa poffeft of beauty, fortune, rank, and every elegant accomplishment, that genius and education could beftow, was withal fo unfupportably capricious, that the feemed born to be the torment of every heart, which fuffered itself to be attracted by her charms. Though her coquetry was notorious to a proverb, fuch were her allurements, that very few, upon whom fhe thought fit to practise them, had ever found refolution to refift their power. Of all the victims of her vanity Leander feemed to be that

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over whom she threw her chains with the greatest air of triumph; he was indeed a conqueft to boast of, for he had long and obftinately defended his heart, and for a time made as many reprifals upon the tender paffions of her fex as the raised contributions upon his: Her better ftar at length prevailed; fhe beheld Leander at her feet, and though her victory was accomplished at the expence of more tender glances, than fhe had ever bestowed upon the whole sex collectively, yet it was a victory, which only piqued Adelifa to render his flavery the more intolerable for the trouble it had cost her to reduce him to it. After she had trifled with him and tortured him in every way that her ingenious malice could devife, and made fuch public display of her tyranny, as fubjected him to the ridicule and contempt of all the men, who had envied his fuccefs, and every woman, who refented his neglect, Adelifa avowedly difmiffed him as an object which could no longer furnish sport to her cruelty, and turned to other purfuits with a kind of indifference as to the choice of them, which seemed to have no other guide but mere caprice.

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Leander was not wanting to himself in the efforts he now made to free himself from her chains;

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