ad never before experienced so severe a wound.
Her consequence was lessened in her own eyes, and she felt that it would
be so in those of others, by the desertion of such a lover, for she had
sense enough to discern the superiority of Lionel over all her other
admirers. She could appreciate his worth, but she could not controul her
own too long indulged inclinations, and was still too artless to conceal
the wrong bias they had taken. The disappointment had a visible effect
upon her temper: she grew peevish, and dissatisfied with every thing
about her. She resolved to leave no means untried to regain the heart of
Lionel, and the suggestion of a rival in his affection made her
absolutely outrageous. She had so little considered Claribel in that
light, that she had not deigned to notice Lionel's attention to her,
which indeed her vanity whispered was merely a feint to pique herself,
and to give him an opportunity of still hovering near her. The gift of
the fairy, which had operated so much to Claribel's disadvantage in the
opinion of her lover, secured her from sharing the keen mortification of
her cousin at his loss.

Some time after this had happened, an invitation was sent to the
inhabitants of the castle to an entertainment, which was to consist of a
trial of skill in archery in the morning, and a ball in the evening.
Adrian, who was now wholly devoted to his ill-chosen companions, had
made some engagement he liked better with them, and would not go, and
Claribel was confined at home by indisposition. Amaranthe looked forward
with the most flattering anticipation to this proving the scene of her
triumph, and restoring all her power over Lionel, who she knew was to be
a principal guest there. She exhausted all her invention in contriving
the most becoming dresses for both occasions, and selected every
ornament that she thought would add lustre to her beauty. The anxiously
expected morning arrived, and Amaranthe set forth in all her glory. She
found a large company assembled in the part of the grounds marked out
for the archery, where a tent was erected ingeniously fitted up, and a
handsome collation prepared in it. The gentlemen who were to engage in
the contest were all properly equipped for the purpose. Amongst the most
conspicuous was Lionel, who with his bow in his hand and quiver on his
shoulder, was compared by some of the company to the god of love. In a
group of ladies opposite to her, Amaranthe discerned Ethelin