Young is very well. Mr. Dodd is very well;
but they have not the true air--as how should they? I protest, I beg
pardon! I forgot my lord bishop, your ladyship's first choice. But, as I
said before, to be a complete woman, one must have, what you have, what
I may say and bless Heaven for, I think I have--a good heart. Without
the affections, all the world is vanity, my love! I protest I only live,
exist, eat, drink, rest, for my sweet, sweet children!--for my wicked
Willy, for my self-willed Fanny, dear naughty loves!" (She
rapturously kisses a bracelet on each arm which contains the miniature
representations of those two young persons.) "Yes, Mimi! yes, Fanchon!
you know I do, you dear, dear little things! and if they were to die,
or you were to die, your poor mistress would die too!" Mimi and Fanchon,
two quivering Italian greyhounds, jump into their lady's arms, and kiss
her hands, but respect her cheeks, which are covered with rouge. "No,
my dear! For nothing do I bless Heaven so much (though it puts me
to excruciating torture very often) as for having endowed me with
sensibility and a feeling heart!"

"You are full of feeling, dear Anna," says the Baroness. "You are
celebrated for your sensibility. You must give a little of it to our
American nephew--cousin--I scarce know his relationship."

"Nay, I am here but as a guest in Castlewood now. The house is my Lord
Castlewood's, not mine, or his lordship's whenever he shall choose to
claim it. What can I do for the young Virginian that has not been done?
He is charming. Are we even jealous of him for being so, my dear? and
though we see what a fancy the Baroness de Bernstein has taken for him,
do your ladyship's nephews and nieces--your real nephews and nieces--cry
out? My poor children might be mortified, for indeed, in a few hours,
the charming young man has made as much way as my poor things have been
able to do in all their lives: but are they angry? Willy hath taken him
out to ride. This morning, was not Maria playing the harpsichord whilst
my Fanny taught him the minuet? 'Twas a charming young group, I assure
you, and it brought tears into my eyes to look at the young creatures.
Poor lad! we are as fond of him as you are, dear Baroness!"

Now, Madame de Bernstein had happened, through her own ears or her
maid's, to overhear what really took place in consequence of this
harmless little scene. Lady Castlewood had come into the room where the
young people were thus