CHAPTER IV. "O sir, you are old; Nature in you stands on the very verge Ir is with sorrow and reluctance that, by the course of the narrative, we are obliged to linger amid scenes where vice had mingled its bewitching and baneful influence with the most exquisite beauty and refinement, thus gaining a double ascendancy over the mind of one who, though gifted with good and excellent qualities, from an impetuous disposition and unstable principles was, unfortunatly, but too open to the inroads of temptation. It was a period of guilty happiness to Lady Florence, whilst she thus held in thraldom one whom she loved with all the violence of ungoverned passion; and thus loving with fearful desperation, shut her eyes to all the crime and peril of her situation. Day after day passed on, and Julian, though still languid and at times suffering from his accident, found each succeeding hour more interesting than the last; while his passion for the seductive Florence gained strength by indulgence. Since the moment when the mention of Evelyn's name had called forth so tender a burst of passion and of grief, it had never passed his lips; but from the period when her pure image was banished from his mind, that mind had so fallen from its high estate of honour and vir tue, that now to have mentioned it would have been in a measure polluting the former object of his heart's idolatry. The morning after the dinner at the Duke of Strathhaven's, spoken of in a preceding chapter, Julian was, as usual, tête-à-tête with his enchanting hostess, feasting his eyes upon her glowing loveliness, and drinking large and intoxicating draughts of passion while he gazed. He was almost entirely recruited in health, though quiet and abstinence were still strictly prescribed; and he knew full well that the hour was fast approaching, or indeed had arrived, when he ought to tear himself away from the growing delights of his present position. But how was it to be done? How could he summon resolution to do that, which would be a frightful struggle to his own feelings, and to the devoted being to whom he owed so deep a debt of gratitude. Lord Bacon says, "affection beholdeth merely the present; reason beholdeth the future and sum of time." Julian and Florence had, indeed, only lived for the present; and while wandering VOL. III. D in a flowery labyrinth, with eyes closed to the termination of the vista which bounded its prospect-forgetting alike the reckoning future time would call for, and the certainty of the coming of that time -they had given themselves up to the delightful delirium of each passing hour. Still there were moments, calm solitary moments-before the excitement of the day had commenced, or when tired, even in spite of the wit, the beauty, the love of Lady Florencehe sank on his bed, too much moved with the restless anxiety of passion even for sleep, that Julian remembered that this state of existence must not last for ever, fraught as it was with ruin to them both, particularly to her whose welfare he was bound to cherish with the tenderest care. These thoughts, on the morning of which we are speaking, again partially reverted to his mind, during the absence of Lady Florence, who had gone to join a visitor in another apart ment. Whilst he was revolving in his mind the necessity of quitting Belgrave Square, and the possibility there would still remain of his constantly seeing the arbitress of his time and of his pleasures, Lady Clairville was announced. Julian saw, in a moment, that her brow was more than usually stern; she looked pale, and her countenance was overcast with gloom. knew that something more than ordinary had disturbed her, and waited in silence for the outburst of the storm which he saw was impending. He Lady Clairville threw herself upon a chair, and sat for some moments without speaking. At length she said in a harsh discordant tone of voice Julian, is it your intention to live for ever with Lady Florence? To tell you the truth, your remaining here, now that you are able to be removed, savours of the most glaring impropriety. I must therefore desire that you |