, so deeply seated as to be
incurable. Still she was the same frivolous, heartless being; still she
sighed for pleasure, and to move in those circles in which she had been
received at the time of her marriage. But, as her income diminished, so
did her acquaintances fall off, and at the period of Isabel's return,
with the exception of Mr Heaviside, and one or two others, she was
suffered to pine away in seclusion.

Isabel was greeted with querulous indifference until the explanation of
the first ten minutes; then, as an heiress, with the means as well as
the desire of contributing to her mother's comforts, all was joy and
congratulation. Her incurable disease was for the time forgotten, and
although pain would occasionally draw down the muscles of her face, as
soon as the pang was over, so was the remembrance of her precarious
situation. Wan and wasted as a spectre, she indulged in anticipation of
again mixing with the fashionable world, and talked of _chaperoning_
Isabel to private parties and public amusements, when she was standing
at the brink of eternity. Isabel sighed as she listened to her mother,
and observed her attenuated frame; occasionally she would refer to her
mother's state of health, and attempt to bring her to that serious state
of mind which her awful situation demanded; but in vain: Mrs Revel
would evade the subject. Before a week had passed she had set up an
equipage, and called upon many of her quondam friends to announce the
important intelligence of her daughter's wealth. Most of them had long
before given orders not to be "at home to Mrs Revel." The few to whom,
from the remissness of their porters, she obtained admittance, were
satisfied at their servants' negligence when they heard the intelligence
which Mrs Revel had to communicate. They were so delighted; Isabel was
always such a sweet girl; hoped that Mrs Revel would not be such a
recluse as she had been, and that they should prevail upon her to come
to their parties! An heiress is of no little consequence when there are
so many younger brothers to provide for; and, before a short month had
flown away, Mrs Revel, to her delight, found that the cards and
invitations of no inconsiderable portion of the _beau monde_ covered the
table of her confined drawing-room. To Isabel, who perceived that her
mother was sinking every day under the exertion she went through, all
this was a source of deep regret. It occurred to her that to state her