d discontent--

"'I am sorry, Francis, but I did not think the time had arrived
when I could give you such a mark of confidence. There is too much
of bitterness in your tone for me to suppose your question arises
out of an interest in my sorrows, and only those who have such an
interest have a claim to my explanations. Is it a young girl like
you that I should choose out by preference, in whom to confide the
sad secrets of my unhappy marriage? And how could I begin to speak
about a subject on the termination of which I am still in doubt?'

"'And it never occurred to you, my lord, that there might be a danger
in leaving me ignorant of your marriage?'

"'No, certainly not. I came here to divert my thoughts from my
troubles, and to seek solace--which I have found--in my favourite
studies. I made your acquaintance in the house of your father, who
received me hospitably; and I thought I perceived your education had
been neglected, nay, that even a false turn had been given to your
ideas. This I have tried to remedy and I must acknowledge you have
gratefully appreciated and seconded my efforts; but it does not follow
that I ought to acquaint you with all my personal affairs and all
my griefs and troubles. I fled from England to escape the condolence
of my friends and the raillery of my adversaries. I wished to avoid
a lawsuit in which my name--a name of some renown in England--would
have been exposed to the comments of a public ever hungering after
scandal. Could I have talked to you on such a subject? It would have
cast a gloom over the golden dreams of your youth, and rendered the
autumn of my life still more cloudy!'

"'The clouds surrounding you, my lord, must be pretty thick already,'
I replied, exasperated by his cool manner, 'to prevent your seeing
that my ignorance of your marriage has caused me to embark on a sea of
illusions, where in the spring-time of life I shall suffer shipwreck.'

"A movement of fright escaped him. I broke forth in complaints and
reproaches; he fell back on a divan and covered his face with his
hands. He protested he had never guessed at such an idea, never even
suspected anything of the sort. Afterwards, when I had eased my mind
and was sitting sobbing before him, he recovered himself, and coming
over to me he said, in his usual calm and affectionate tone--

"'My child, there is much exaggeration in all you have told me. Your
imagination has been struck, and you have suffered it to carry