ubsided with me, and I was fully intent on the details by which he
hoped to escape his embarrassments. My mother was my first thought. Lady
Charlotte, I knew, could never encounter her changed condition; she was
certain to sink under the very shock of it. My father, however, supposed
that she need not be told its full extent; that, by management, the
circumstances should be gradually made known to her; and he hoped, too,
that her interest in her husband and son, both absent from her, would
withdraw her thoughts in great measure from the routine of fashionable
life, and fix them in a channel more homely and domestic.

'Besides,' added he, with more animation of voice, 'they may offer me
some military appointment in the colonies, where she could accompany
me; and this will prevent an exposure. And, after all, Jack, there is
nothing else for it.' As he said this he fixed his eyes on me, as though
rather asking than answering the question.

Not knowing what to reply, I was silent.

'You were fond of Julia, as a boy,' said he carelessly.

The blood rushed to my cheek, as I answered, 'Yes, sir; but--but----'

'But you have outgrown that?' added he, with a smile.

'Not so much, sir, as that she has forgotten me. In fact, I believe we
are excellent cousins.'

'And it is not now, my dear boy, I would endeavour to make you more to
each other. What is not a union of inclination shall never be one
of sordid interest. Besides, Jack, why should we not take the field
together? The very thought of it makes me feel young enough!'

I saw his lip quiver as he spoke; and unable to bear more, I wrung his
hand warmly, and hurried away.

CHAPTER XLIX. THE HORSE GUARDS

I will not say that my reverse of fortune did not depress me; indeed,
the first blow fell heavily; but that once past, a number of opposing
motives rallied my courage and nerved my heart. My father, I knew,
relied on me in this crisis to support his own strength. I had learned
to care less for extravagant habits and expensive tastes, by living
among those who accorded them little sympathy and less respect. Besides,
if my changed career excluded me from the race of fashion, it opened the
brilliant path of a soldier's life before me; and now every hour seemed
an age, until I should find myself among the gallant fellows who were
winning their laurels in the battlefields of the Peninsula.

According to the duke's appointment of the preceding evening I found
myself