his rival; and to say the exact truth, illness, which makes a man's
thoughts turn very much upon himself, banished many of the most tender
ideas usually floating in his mind around the image of Lucy Brandon. His
pill superseded his passion; and he felt that there are draughts in
the world more powerful in their effects than those in the phials of
Alcidonis.--[See Marmontel's pretty tale of "Les Quatres Flacons."]--He
very often thought, it is true, how pleasant it would be for Lucy to
smooth his pillow, and Lucy to prepare that mixture; but then Mauleverer
had an excellent valet, who hoped to play the part enacted by Gil
Blas towards the honest Licentiate, and to nurse a legacy while he was
nursing his master. And the earl, who was tolerably good-tempered, was
forced to confess that it would be scarcely possible for any one "to
know his ways better than Smoothson." Thus, during his illness, the
fair form of his intended bride little troubled the peace of the noble
adorer. And it was not till he found himself able to eat three good
dinners consecutively, with a tolerable appetite, that Mauleverer
recollected that he was violently in love. As soon as this idea was
fully reinstated in his memory, and he had been permitted by his doctor
to allow himself "a little cheerful society," Mauleverer resolved to go
to the rooms for an hour or two.

It may be observed that most great personages have some favourite place,
some cherished Baiae, at which they love to throw off their state, and
to play the amiable instead of the splendid; and Bath at that time,
from its gayety, its ease, the variety of character to be found in
its haunts, and the obliging manner in which such characters exposed
themselves to ridicule, was exactly the place calculated to please a man
like Mauleverer, who loved at once to be admired and to satirize. He was
therefore an idolized person at the city of Bladud; and as he entered
the rooms he was surrounded by a whole band of imitators and sycophants,
delighted to find his lordship looking so much better and declaring
himself so convalescent. As soon as the earl had bowed and smiled,
and shaken hands sufficiently to sustain his reputation, he sauntered
towards the dancers in search of Lucy. He found her not only exactly in
the same spot in which he had last beheld her, but dancing with exactly
the same partner who had before provoked all the gallant nobleman's
jealousy and wrath. Mauleverer, though not by any m