it had been prudent in Talbot to have had recourse to
apologies and submission; but such conduct appeared to him base, and
unworthy for a man of his importance to submit to: he accordingly acted
with haughtiness and insolence; but he was soon convinced of his error;
for, having inconsiderately launched out into some arrogant expressions,
which it neither became him to utter nor the Duke of Ormond to forgive,
he was sent prisoner to the Tower, from whence he could not be released
until he had made all necessary submissions to his Grace: he therefore
employed all his friends for that purpose, and was obliged to yield more
to get out of this scrape than would have been necessary to have avoided
it. By this imprudent conduct he lost all hopes of marrying into a
family, which, after such a proceeding, was not likely to listen to any
proposal from him.

[A very exact account of this transaction is given by Lord
Clarendon, by which it appears, that Talbot was committed to the
Tower for threatening to assassinate the Duke of Ormond.
--Continuation of Clarendon, p. 362.]

It was with great difficulty and mortification that he was obliged to
suppress a passion which had made far greater progress in his heart than
this quarrel had done good to his affairs. This being the case, he was
of opinion that his presence was necessary in Ireland, and that he was
better out of the way of Miss Hamilton, to remove those impressions which
still troubled his repose: his departure, therefore, soon followed this
resolution.

Talbot played deep, and was tolerably forgetful: the Chevalier de
Grammont won three or four hundred guineas of him the very evening on
which he was sent to the Tower. That accident had made him forget his
usual punctuality in paying the next morning whatever he had lost
over-night; and this debt had so far escaped his memory, that it never
once occurred to him after he was enlarged. The Chevalier de Grammont,
who saw him at his departure, without taking the least notice of the
money he owed him, wished him a good journey; and, having met him at
court, as he came to take his leave of the king: "Talbot," said he, "if
my services can be of any use to you during your absence, you have but to
command them: you know old Russell has left his nephew as his resident
with Miss Hamilton: if you please, I will act for you in the same
capacity. Adieu, God bless you: be sure not to fall sick upon the road;
but if you shoul