Lady Gourlay or Mrs.
Mainwaring; and I am now utterly friendless, with the exception of God
alone. But I will not despair--so long, at least, as reason is left to
me."

"I assure you, Lucy, you astonish me. To you, whose imagination is
heated with a foolish passion for an adventurer whom no one knows, all
this suffering may seem very distressing and romantic; but to me, to my
father, and to the world, it looks like great folly--excuse me, Lucy--or
rather like great weakness of character, grounded upon strong obstinacy
of disposition. Believe me, if the world were to know this you would be
laughed at; and there is scarcely a mother or daughter, from the
cottage to the castle, that would not say, 'Lucy Gourlay is a poor,
inexperienced fool, who thinks she can find a world of angels, and
paragons, and purity to live in.'"

"But I care not for the world, Thomas; it is not my idol--I do not
worship it, nor shall I ever do so. I wish to guide myself by the voice
of my own conscience, by a sense of what is right and proper, and by the
principles of Christian truth."

"These doctrines, Lucy, are very well for the closet; but they will
neyer do in life, for which they are little short of a disqualification.
Where, for instance, will you find them acted on? Not by people of
sense, I assure you. Now listen to me."

"Spare me, if you please, Thomas, the advocacy of such principles. You
occasion me great pain--not so much on my own account as on yours--you
alarm me."

"Don't be alarmed, I tell you; but listen to me, as I said. Here, now,
is this marriage: you don't love this Dunroe--you dislike, you detest
him. Very well. What the deuce has that to do with the prospects of your
own elevation in life? Think for yourself--become the centre of your own
world; make this Dunroe your footstool--put him under your foot, I say,
and mount by him; get a position in the world--play your game in it as
you see others do; and--"

"Pray, sir," said Lucy, scarcely restraining her indignation, "where, or
when, or how did you come by these odious and detestable doctrines?"

"Faith, Lucy, from honest nature--from experience and observation. Is
there any man with a third idea, or that has the use of his eyes, who
does not know and see that this is the game of life? Dunroe, I dare say,
deserves your contempt; report goes, certainly, that he is a profligate;
but what ought especially to reconcile him to you is this simple
fact--that the man's a