icate
affection of his sweet cousin, all the magnanimity of the high-souled
Mont-fort, and the generosity of the accomplished Mirabel, passed before
him, and wonderfully affected him. He could not flatter himself that
he indeed merited such singular blessings; and yet with all his faults,
which with him were but the consequences of his fiery youth, Ferdinand
had been faithful, to Henrietta. His constancy to her was now rewarded.
As for his friends, the future must prove his gratitude to them.'

Ferdinand Armine had great tenderness of disposition, and somewhat of a
meditative mind; schooled by adversity, there was little doubt that his
coming career would justify his favourable destiny.

It was barely a year since he had returned from Malta, but what an
eventful twelvemonth! Everything that had occurred previously seemed
of another life; all his experience was concentrated in that wonderful
drama that had commenced at Bath, the last scene of which was now
approaching; the characters, his parents, Glastonbury, Katherine,
Henrietta, Lord Montfort, Count Mirabel, himself, and Mr. Temple!

Ah! that was a name that a little disturbed him; and yet he felt
confidence now in Mirabel's prescience; he could not but believe that
with time even Mr. Temple might be reconciled! It was at this moment
that the sound of military music fell upon his ear; it recalled old
days; parades and guards at Malta; times when he did not know Henrietta
Temple; times when, as it seemed to him now, he had never paused to
think or moralise. That was a mad life. What a Neapolitan ball was his
career then! It was indeed dancing on a volcano. And now all had ended
so happily! Oh! could it indeed be true? Was it not all a dream of his
own creation, while his eye had been fixed in abstraction on that bright
and flowing river? But then there was Henrietta's letter. He might be
enchanted, but that was the talisman.

In the present unsettled, though hopeful state of affairs, Ferdinand
would not go home. He was resolved to avoid any explanations until
he heard from Lord Montfort. He shrank from seeing Glastonbury or his
cousin. As for Henrietta, it seemed to him that he never could have
heart to meet her again, unless they were alone. Count Mirabel was the
only person to whom he could abandon his soul, and Count Mirabel was
still in his first sleep.

So Ferdinand entered Kensington Gardens, and walked in those rich glades
and stately avenues. It seems to t