I long to know, as I said once before, the particulars of what Sir Charles has done, to oblige everybody in so high a manner. Don't you, Lucy? Bless me! what a deal of time have I wasted since I came to town! I feel as if I had wings, and had soared to so great a height, that every thing and person that I before beheld without dissatisfaction, in this great town, looks diminutive and little, under my aching eye. Thus, my dear, it must be in a better world, if we are permitted to look back upon the highest of our satisfactions in this.

I was asked to give them a lesson on the harpsichord after tea. Miss Grandison said, Come, come, to prevent all excuses, I will shew you the way.

Let it then be, said Mr Grandison, Shakespeare's Cuckow. You have made me enter with so much comparative shame into myself, that I must have something lively to raise my spirits. Well, so it shall, replied Miss Grandison. Our poor cousin does not know what to do with himself when you are got a little out of his reach.

That is not fair, Charlotte, said Sir Charles. It is not that graceful manner of obliging, in which you generally excel. Compliance and reflection are not to be coupled.

Well, well, but I will give the good man his Cuckow, to make him amends.

Accordingly she sung that ballad from Shakespeare; and with so much spirit and humour, as delighted everybody.

Sir Charles being a judge of music, I looked a little sillier than usual, when I was again called

upon.

Come, my dear, said the kind Countess, I will prepare you a little farther. When you see your two elder sisters go before you, you will have more courage.

She sat down, and played one of Scarlatti's lessons; which, you know, are made to shew a fine hand. And surely, for the swiftness of her fingers, and the elegance of her manner, she could not be equalled.

It is referred to you, my third sister, said Sir Charles, who had been taken aside by Mr Reeves; some whispering talk having passed between them, to favour us with some of Handel's music: Mrs Reeves says, she has heard you sing several songs out of the Pastoral, and out of some of his finest Oratorios.

Come hither, come hither, my sweet Harriet -Here's his Alexander's Feast: my brother admires that, I know; and says it is the noblest composition that ever was produced by man; and is as finely set as written.

She made me sit down to the instrument. As you know, said I, that great part of the beauty of this performance arises from the proper transitions from one different strain to an

other, any one song must lose greatly, by being taken out of its place; and I fear

Fear nothing, Miss Byron, said Sir Charles: your obligingness, as well as your observation, entitle you to all allowances.

I then turned to that fine air,

Softly sweet, in Lydian measures, Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures.

Which not being set so full with accompanying symphonies, as most of Mr Handel's are, I performed with the more ease to myself, though I had never but once before played it over.

They all, with more compliments than I dare repeat, requested me to play and sing it once

more.

Dare repeat! methinks I hear my uncle Selby say, the girl that does nothing but repeat her own praises, comes with her If I dare repeat!

Yes, sir, I answer; for compliments that do not elevate, that do not touch me, run glibly off my pen: but such as indeed raise one's vanity; how can one avow that vanity by writing them down?-But they were resolved to be pleased before I began.

One compliment, however, from Sir Charles, I cannot, I find, pass over in silence. He whispered Miss Grandison, as he leaned upon my chair, how could Sir Hargrave Pollexfen have the heart to endeavour to stop such a mouth as that!

AND now, having last night, and this morning, written so many sides, it is time to break off. Yet I could give you many more particulars of agreeable conversation that passed, were I sure you would not think me insufferably tedious; and did not the unkind reserve of my cousin Reeves, as to the business of that Bagenhall, rush upon my memory with fresh force, and help to tire my fingers. I am the more concerned, as my cousin himself seems not easy; but is in expectation of hearing something, that will either give him relief, or add to his pain.

Why, Lucy, should our friends take upon themselves to keep us in the dark, as to those matters which it concerns us more to know than perhaps anybody else? There is a tenderness sometimes shewn on arduous occasions, in this respect, that gives as much pain, as we could receive from the most explicit communication. And then, all the while, there is so much strength of mind, and discretion, supposed in the person that knows an event, and such weakness in her that is to be kept in ignorance, that-But I grow as saucy as impatient. Let me conclude, before I expose myself to reproof for a petulance, that I hope is not natural to your

HARRIET BYRON.

LETTER XLVIII

MISS HARRIET BYRON TO MISS LUCY SELBY.

Thursday Night, March 2.

AND what do you think was the reason of Mr Reeves's reserves? A most alarming one. I am obliged to him, that he kept it from me, though the uncertainty did not a little affect me. Take the account of it, as it comes out.

I told you in my former, that the person to whom Sir Charles was sent for out, was Mr Bagenhall; and that Sir Charles had sent in for Mr Reeves, who returned to the company with a countenance that I did not like so well as I did Sir Charles's. I now proceed to give you, from minutes of Mr Reeves, what passed on the occasion.

Sir Charles took Mr Reeves aside-This unhappy man, (Sir Hargrave, I mean,) said he, seems to me to want an excuse to himself, for putting up with a treatment which he thinks disgraceful. When we have to deal with children, humours must be a little allowed for. But you will hear what the proposal is now. Let not the ladies, however, nor the gentlemen, within, know anything of the matter till all is over. This is a day devoted to pleasure. But you, Mr Reeves, know something of the matter; and can answer for your fair cousin.

He then led Mr Reeves in to Mr Bagenhall. This, sir, is Mr Reeves.-Sir Hargrave, in short, Mr Reeves, among other demands that I cannot comply with, (but which relate only to myself, and therefore need not be mentioned,) insists upon an introduction to Miss Byron. He says, she is absolutely disengaged-Is she, sir? I dare say she is, answered my cousin. This gentleman has been naming to me Mr Greville, Mr Orme, and others.

No one of them has ever met with the shadow of encouragement from my cousin. She is above keeping any man in suspense, when she is not in any herself. Nothing has given her more uneasiness than the number of her admirers.

Miss Byron, said Sir Charles, must be admired by every one that beholds her; but still more by those who are admitted to the honour of conversing with her. But Sir Hargrave is will ing to build upon her disengagement something in his own favour. Is there any room for Sir Hargrave, who pleads his sufferings for her; who vows his honourable intentions even at the time that he was hoping to gain her by so unmanly a violence; and appeals to her for the purity, as he calls it, of his behaviour to her all the time she was in his hands-who makes very large offers of settlements-Is there any room to hope, that Miss ByronNo, none at all, Sir Charles

What! not to save a life, Mr Reeves?-said Mr Bagenhall.

If you mean mine, Mr Bagenhall, replied Sir Charles, I beg that may not be considered. If Sir Hargrave means his own, I will pronounce that it is safe from any premeditated resentment of mine. Do you think Miss Byron will bear to see Sir Hargrave, Mr Reeves? I presume he intends to beg pardon of her. Will she consent to receive a visit from him?-But is not this wretched trifling, Mr Bagenhall?

You will remember, Sir Charles, this is a proposal of mine: what I hoped might be agreed to by Sir Hargrave; but that I was willing to consult you before I mentioned it to him.

I beg your pardon, Mr Bagenhall: I now remember it.

If ever man doted upon a woman, said Mr Bagenhall, it is Sir Hargrave on Miss Byron. The very methods he took to obtain her for a wife, shew that most convincingly.—You will promise not to stand in his way, sir?

I repeat, Mr Bagenhall, what I have heretofore told you, that Miss Byron (You'll excuse me, Mr Reeves) is still under my protection. If Sir Hargrave, as he ought, is inclined to ask her pardon; and if he can obtain it, and even upon his own terms; I shall think Miss Byron and he may be happier together, than at present I can imagine it possible. I am not desirous to be any way considered, but as her protector from violence and insult; and that I will be, if she claim it, in defiance of a hundred such men as Sir Hargrave. But then, sir, the occasion must be sudden: no legal relief must be at hand. I will not, either for an adversary's sake, or my own, be defied into a cool and premeditated vengeance.

But, Sir Charles, Sir Hargrave has some hardships in this case. You will not give him the satisfaction of a gentleman: and, according to the laws of honour, a man is not entitled to be treated as a gentleman, who denies to one

Of whose making, Mr Bagenhall, are the laws of honour you mention? I own no laws, but the laws of God and my country. But, to cut this matter short, tell Sir Hargrave, that, little as is the dependence a man of honour can have upon that of a man, who has acted by a helpless woman, as he has acted by Miss Byron, I will breakfast with him in his own house to-morrow morning, if he contradicts it not. I will attribute to the violence of his passion for the lady, the unmanly outrage he was guilty of. I will suppose him mistaken enough to imagine, that he should make her amends by marriage, if he could compel her hand; and will trust my person to his honour, one servant only to walk before his door, not to enter the house, to attend my commands, after our conversation is over. My sword, and my sword only, shall be my companion but this rather, that I would not be thought to owe my safety to the want of it,

than in expectation, after such confidence placed in him, to have occasion to draw it in my own defence. And pray, Mr Bagenhall, do you, his friend, be present; and any other friends, and to what number he pleases.

When I came to this place in my cousin's minutes, I was astonished; I was out of breath upon it.

Mr Bagenhall was surprised; and asked Sir Charles, if he were in earnest ?

I would not be thought a rash man, Mr Bagenhall. Sir Hargrave threatens me: I never avoid a threatener. You seem to hint, sir, that I am not entitled to fair play, if I consent not to meet him with a murderous intention. With such an intention I never will meet any man; though I have as much reason to rely on the skill of my arm, as on the justice of my cause. If foul play is hinted at, I am no more safe from an assassin in my bedchamber, than in Sir Hargrave's house. Something must be done by a man who refuses a challenge, to let a challenger see (such is the world, such is the custom) that he has better motives than fear, for his refusal. I will put Sir Hargrave's honour to the fullest test: Tell him, sir, that I will bear a great deal; but that I will not be insulted, were he a prince. And you really would have me

I would, Mr Bagenhall. Sir Hargrave, I see, will not be satisfied, unless something extraordinary be done: and, if I hear not from you, or from him, I will attend him by ten to-morrow morning, in an amicable manner, to breakfast at his own house in Cavendish Square.

I am in terror, Lucy, even in transcribing only. Mr Reeves, said Sir Charles, you undo me, if one word of this matter escape you, even to your wife.

Mr Reeves begged that he might attend him to Sir Hargrave's.

By no means, Mr Reeves.

Then, Sir Charles, you apprehend danger. I do not. Something, as I said, must be done. This is the shortest and best method to make all parties easy. Sir Hargrave thinks himself slighted. He may infer, if he pleases, in his own favour, that I do not despise a man, in whom I can place such a confidence. Do you, Mr Reeves, return to the company; and let no one know the occasion of your absence, or of mine, from it.

I have told you, my dear, what a difference there was in the countenances of both, when each separately entered the dining-room. And could this great man, (surely I may call him great,) could he, in such circumstances, on his return, give joy, pleasure, entertainment, to all the company, without the least cause of suspicion of what had passed?

Mr Reeves, as I told you, singled out Sir Charles in the evening, to know what had passed after he left him and Mr Bagenhall. Sir Charles acquainted him, that Mr Bagenhall had

proposed to let him know that night or in the morning, how Sir Hargrave approved of his intended visit. He has, accordingly, signified to me already, said Sir Charles, that Sir Hargrave expects me.

And will you go, sir?

Don't give yourself concern about the matter, Mr Reeves. All must end well. My intention is, not to run into mischief, but to prevent it. My principles are better known abroad, than they are in England. I have been challenged more than once by men, who knew them, and thought to find their safety from them. I have been obliged to take some extraordinary steps to save myself from insult; and those steps have answered my end, in more licentious countries than this. I hope this step will preserve me from calls of this nature in my own country. For God's sake, Sir Charles

Be not uneasy on my account, Mr Reeves. Does not Sir Hargrave value himself upon his fortune? He would be loath to forfeit it. His fortune is my security. And am I not a man of some consequence myself? Is not the affair between us known? Will not, therefore, the cause justify me, and condemn him? The man is turbulent; he is uneasy with himself; he knows himself to be in the wrong. And shall a man, who resolves to pay a sacred regard to laws divine and human, fear this Goth? 'Tis time enough to fear, when I can be unjust. If you value my friendship, as I do yours, my good Mr Reeves, proceeded he, I shall be sure of your absolute silence. I will attend Sir Hargrave by ten to-morrow morning. You will hear from me, or see me at your own house, by twelve.

And then it was, as Mr Reeves tells me, that Sir Charles turned from him, to encourage me to give the company a lesson from Dryden's Alexander's Feast.

Mr Reeves went out in the morning. My cousin says, he had been excessively uneasy all night. He now owns, he called in St James's Square, and there breakfasted with Lord and Lady L, Miss Grandison, Miss Emily, and Dr Bartlett. Sir Charles went out at nine, in a chair; one servant only attending him: the family knew not whither. And his two sisters were fomenting a rebellion against him, as they humorously called it, for his keeping from them (who kept nothing from him) his motions, when they and my lord were together, and at his house: but my lord and Miss Emily pleasantly refused to join in it. Mr Reeves told us, on his return, that his heart was so sunk, that they took great notice of his dejection.

About three o'clock, just as Mr Reeves was determined to go to St James's Square again, and, if Sir Charles had not been heard of, to Cavendish Square, (though irresolute what to do when there,) the following billet was brought him from Sir Charles. After what I have written, does not your heart leap for joy, my Lucy?

LETTER XLVIIL

MISS HARRIET BYRON TO MISS LUCY SELBY.

Thursday Night, March 2. AND what do you think was the reason of Mr Reeves's reserves? A most alarming one. I am obliged to him, that he kept it from me, though the uncertainty did not a little affect me. Take the account of it, as it comes out.

I told you in my former, that the person to whom Sir Charles was sent for out, was Mr Bagenhall; and that Sir Charles had sent in for Mr Reeves, who returned to the company with a countenance that I did not like so well as I did Sir Charles's. I now proceed to give you, from minutes of Mr Reeves, what passed on the occasion.

Sir Charles took Mr Reeves aside-This unhappy man, (Sir Hargrave, I mean,) said he, seems to me to want an excuse to himself, for putting up with a treatment which he thinks disgraceful. When we have to deal with children, humours must be a little allowed for. But you will hear what the proposal is now. Let not the ladies, however, nor the gentlemen, within, know anything of the matter till all is over. This is a day devoted to pleasure. But you, Mr Reeves, know something of the matter; and can answer for your fair cousin.

He then led Mr Reeves in to Mr Bagenhall. This, sir, is Mr Reeves.-Sir Hargrave, in short, Mr Reeves, among other demands that I cannot comply with, (but which relate only to myself, and therefore need not be mentioned,) insists upon an introduction to Miss Byron. He says, she is absolutely disengaged-Is she, sir? I dare say she is, answered my cousin. This gentleman has been naming to me Mr Greville, Mr Orme, and others.

No one of them has ever met with the shadow of encouragement from my cousin. She is above keeping any man in suspense, when she is not in any herself. Nothing has given her more uneasiness than the number of her admirers.

Miss Byron, said Sir Charles, must be admired by every one that beholds her; but still more by those who are admitted to the honour of conversing with her. But Sir Hargrave is willing to build upon her disengagement something in his own favour. Is there any room for Sir Hargrave, who pleads his sufferings for her; who vows his honourable intentions even at the time that he was hoping to gain her by so unmanly a violence; and appeals to her for the purity, as he calls it, of his behaviour to her all the time she was in his hands-who makes very large offers of settlements-Is there any room to hope, that Miss ByronNo, none at all, Sir Charles

What! not to save a life, Mr Reeves?-said Mr Bagenhall.

If you mean mine, Mr Bagenhall, replied Sir Charles, I beg that may not be considered. If Sir Hargrave means his own, I will pronounce that it is safe from any premeditated resentment of mine. Do you think Miss Byron will bear to see Sir Hargrave, Mr Reeves? I presume he intends to beg pardon of her. Will she consent to receive a visit from him?--But is not this wretched trifling, Mr Bagenhall?

You will remember, Sir Charles, this is a proposal of mine: what I hoped might be agreed to by Sir Hargrave; but that I was willing to consult you before I mentioned it to him.

I beg your pardon, Mr Bagenhall: I now remember it.

If ever man doted upon a woman, said Mr Bagenhall, it is Sir Hargrave on Miss Byron. The very methods he took to obtain her for a wife, shew that most convincingly.—You will promise not to stand in his way, sir?

I repeat, Mr Bagenhall, what I have heretofore told you, that Miss Byron (You'll excuse me, Mr Reeves) is still under my protection. If Sir Hargrave, as he ought, is inclined to ask her pardon; and if he can obtain it, and even upon his own terms; I shall think Miss Byron and he may be happier together, than at present I can imagine it possible. I am not desirous to be any way considered, but as her protector from violence and insult; and that I will be, if she claim it, in defiance of a hundred such men as Sir Hargrave. But then, sir, the occasion must be sudden: no legal relief must be at hand. I will not, either for an adversary's sake, or my own, be defied into a cool and premeditated vengeance.

But, Sir Charles, Sir Hargrave has some hardships in this case. You will not give him the satisfaction of a gentleman: and, according to the laws of honour, a man is not entitled to be treated as a gentleman, who denies to one

Of whose making, Mr Bagenhall, are the laws of honour you mention? I own no laws, but the laws of GoD and my country. But, to cut this matter short, tell Sir Hargrave, that, little as is the dependence a man of honour can have upon that of a man, who has acted by a helpless woman, as he has acted by Miss Byron, I will breakfast with him in his own house to-morrow morning, if he contradicts it not. I will attribute to the violence of his passion for the lady, the unmanly outrage he was guilty of. I will suppose him mistaken enough to imagine, that he should make her amends by marriage, if he could compel her hand; and will trust my person to his honour, one servant only to walk before his door, not to enter the house, to attend my commands, after our conversation is over. My sword, and my sword only, shall be my companion but this rather, that I would not be thought to owe my safety to the want of it,

than in expectation, after such confidence placed in him, to have occasion to draw it in my own defence. And pray, Mr Bagenhall, do you, his friend, be present; and any other friends, and to what number he pleases.

When I came to this place in my cousin's minutes, I was astonished; I was out of breath upon it.

Mr Bagenhall was surprised; and asked Sir Charles, if he were in earnest ?

I would not be thought a rash man, Mr Bagenhall. Sir Hargrave threatens me: I never avoid a threatener. You seem to hint, sir, that I am not entitled to fair play, if I consent not to meet him with a murderous intention. With such an intention I never will meet any man; though I have as much reason to rely on the skill of my arm, as on the justice of my cause. If foul play is hinted at, I am no more safe from an assassin in my bedchamber, than in Sir Hargrave's house. Something must be done by a man who refuses a challenge, to let a challenger see (such is the world, such is the custom) that he has better motives than fear, for his refusal. I will put Sir Hargrave's honour to the fullest test: Tell him, sir, that I will bear a great deal; but that I will not be insulted, were he a prince. And you really would have me

I would, Mr Bagenhall. Sir Hargrave, I see, will not be satisfied, unless something extraordinary be done: and, if I hear not from you, or from him, I will attend him by ten to-morrow morning, in an amicable manner, to breakfast at his own house in Cavendish Square.

I am in terror, Lucy, even in transcribing only. Mr Reeves, said Sir Charles, you undo me, if one word of this matter escape you, even to your wife.

Mr Reeves begged that he might attend him to Sir Hargrave's.

By no means, Mr Reeves.

Then, Sir Charles, you apprehend danger. I do not. Something, as I said, must be done. This is the shortest and best method to make all parties easy. Sir Hargrave thinks himself slighted. He may infer, if he pleases, in his own favour, that I do not despise a man, in whom I can place such a confidence. Do you, Mr Reeves, return to the company; and let no one know the occasion of your absence, or of mine, from it.

I have told you, my dear, what a difference there was in the countenances of both, when each separately entered the dining-room. And could this great man, (surely I may call him great,) could he, in such circumstances, on his return, give joy, pleasure, entertainment, to all the company, without the least cause of suspicion of what had passed?

Mr Reeves, as I told you, singled out Sir Charles in the evening, to know what had passed after he left him and Mr Bagenhall. Sir Charles acquainted him, that Mr Bagenhall had

Don't give yourself concern about the matter, Mr Reeves. All must end well. My intention is, not to run into mischief, but to prevent it. My principles are better known abroad, than they are in England. I have been challenged more than once by men, who knew them, and thought to find their safety from them. I have been obliged to take some extraordinary steps to save myself from insult; and those steps have answered my end, in more licentious countries than this. I hope this step will preserve me from calls of this nature in my own country. For God's sake, Sir Charles

Be not uneasy on my account, Mr Reeves. Does not Sir Hargrave value himself upon his fortune? He would be loath to forfeit it. His fortune is my security. And am I not a man of some consequence myself? Is not the affair between us known? Will not, therefore, the cause justify me, and condemn him? The man is turbulent; he is uneasy with himself; he knows himself to be in the wrong. And shall a man, who resolves to pay a sacred regard to laws divine and human, fear this Goth? 'Tis time enough to fear, when I can be unjust. If you value my friendship, as I do yours, my good Mr Reeves, proceeded he, I shall be sure of your absolute silence. I will attend Sir Hargrave by ten to-morrow morning. You will hear from me, or see me at your own house, by twelve.

And then it was, as Mr Reeves tells me, that Sir Charles turned from him, to encourage me to give the company a lesson from Dryden's Alexander's Feast.

Mr Reeves went out in the morning. My cousin says, he had been excessively uneasy all night. He now owns, he called in St James's Square, and there breakfasted with Lord and Lady L, Miss Grandison, Miss Emily, and Dr Bartlett. Sir Charles went out at nine, in a chair; one servant only attending him: the family knew not whither. And his two sisters were fomenting a rebellion against him, as they humorously called it, for his keeping from them (who kept nothing from him) his motions, when they and my lord were together, and at his house: but my lord and Miss Emily pleasantly refused to join in it. Mr Reeves told us, on his return, that his heart was so sunk, that they took great notice of his dejection.

About three o'clock, just as Mr Reeves was determined to go to St James's Square again, and, if Sir Charles had not been heard of, to Cavendish Square, (though irresolute what to do when there,) the following billet was brought him from Sir Charles. After what I have written, does not your heart leap for joy, my Lucy?