ady,
increased her bitterness all the more because Mr. Belamour was a friend
of Mr. Addison and Sir Richard Steele, and had contributed some papers
to the _Spectator_. He was making a good fortune in his profession, and
had formed an engagement with a young lady in Hertfordshire, of a good
old family, but one which had always been disliked by Lady Belamour. It
is said, too, that Miss Sedhurst had been thought to have attracted one
of my Lady's many admirers, and that the latter was determined not
to see her rival become her sister-in-law, and probably with the same
title, since Mr. Belamour was on the verge of obtaining knighthood. So,
if she be not greatly belied, Lady Belamour plied all parties with her
confidences, till she contrived to breed suspicion and jealousy on all
sides, until finally Miss Sedhurst's brother, a crack-brained youth,
offered such an insult to Mr. Belamour, that honour required a
challenge. It was thought that as Mr. Belamour was the superior in age
and position, the matter might have been composed, but the young man was
fiery and hot tempered, and would neither retract nor apologise; and
Mr. Belamour had been stung in his tenderest feeling. They fought with
pistols, an innovation that, as you know, my father hates, as far more
deadly and unskilful than the noble practice of fencing; and the result
was that Mr. Sedhurst was shot dead, and Mr. Belamour received a severe
wound in the head. The poor young lady, being always of a delicate
constitution, fell into fits on hearing the news, an died in a few
weeks. The unfortunate Mr. Belamour survives, but whether from injury to
the brain, or from grief and remorse, he has never been able to endure
either light or company, but has remained ever since in utter darkness
and seclusion."

"Utter darkness! How dreadful!" cried Aurelia, shuddering.

"How long has this been, sister?" inquired Harriet.

"About nine years," said Betty. "The lamentable affair took place just
before Sir Jovian's death, and the shock may have hastened it, for he
had long been in a languishing state. It was the more unfortunate, since
he had made Mr. Belamour sole personal guardian to his only surviving
son, and appointed him, together with my father and another gentleman,
trustee for the Belamour property; and there has been much difficulty
in consequence of his being unable to act, or to do more than give his
signature."

"Ah! sister, I wish you had not told me," said Aurelia