antagonist hesitated
for a moment in want of a reply--and Miss Milner softly whispering to
him, as her guardian turned his head, to avoid an argument, he bowed
acquiescence. And then, as if in compliment to her, he changed the
subject;--with an air of ridicule he cried,

"I wish, Mr. Dorriforth, you would give me absolution of all my sins,
for I confess they are many, and manifold."

"Hold, my Lord," exclaimed Dorriforth, "do not confess before the
ladies, lest, in order to excite their compassion, you should be tempted
to accuse yourself of sins you have never yet committed."

At this Miss Milner laughed, seemingly so well pleased, that Lord
Frederick, with a sarcastic sneer, repeated,

"From Abelard it came,
And Eloisa still must love the name."

Whether from an inattention to the quotation, or from a consciousness it
was wholly inapplicable, Dorriforth heard it without one emotion of
shame or of anger--while Miss Milner seemed shocked at the implication;
her pleasantry was immediately suppressed, and she threw open the sash
and held her head out at the window, to conceal the embarrassment these
lines had occasioned.

The Earl of Elmwood was at that juncture announced--a Catholic nobleman,
just come of age, and on the eve of marriage. His visit was to his
cousin, Mr. Dorriforth, but as all ceremonious visits were alike
received by Dorriforth, Miss Milner, and Mrs. Horton's family, in one
common apartment, Lord Elmwood was ushered into this, and of course
directed the conversation to a different subject.

CHAPTER VI.

With an anxious desire that the affection, or acquaintance, between Lord
Frederick and Miss Milner might be finally dissolved, her guardian
received with infinite satisfaction, overtures of marriage from Sir
Edward Ashton. Sir Edward was not young or handsome; old or ugly; but
immensely rich, and possessed of qualities that made him worthy of the
happiness to which he aspired. He was the man whom Dorriforth would have
chosen before any other for the husband of his ward, and his wishes made
him sometimes hope, against his cooler judgment, that Sir Edward would
not be rejected--he was resolved, at all events, to try the force of his
own power in the strongest recommendation of him.

Notwithstanding that dissimilarity of opinion which, in almost every
instance, subsisted between Miss Milner and her guardian, there was in
general the most punctilious observance of good manner