reverse of which is well known to be the reigning mode made at prefent.

Lady Bellafton had been apprifed of his Lordship's vifit at his first arrival, and the length of it very well fatisfied her, that things went as fhe wifhed, and as indeed fhe had fufpected, the fecond time fhe faw this young couple together. This bufinefs fhe rightly, I think, concluded, that the fhould by no means forward, by mixing in the company while they were together; the therefore ordered her fervants, that when my Lord was going, they fhould tell him fhe defired to speak with him, and employed the intermediate time in meditating how best to accomplish a scheme, which he made no doubt but his Lordship would very readily embrace the execution of.

6

Lord Fellamar (for that was the title of this young nobleman) was no fooner introduced to her Ladyfhip, than fhe attacked him in the following ftrain: Blefs me, my Lord, are you here yet? I thought my fervants • had made a mistake, and let you go away; and I want⚫ed to fee you about an affair of fome importance.'• Indeed, Lady Bellafton,' said he, I don't wonder you are astonished at the length of my vifit; for I have staid above two hours, and I did not think I had ftaid above half a one.'- What am I to conclude from thence, my Lord?' faid fhe; the company must be very agreeable which can make time flide away fo very deceitfully. Upon my honour,' faid he, the moft • agreeable I ever faw. Pray tell me, Lady Bellafton, who is this blazing ftar which you have produced among us all of a fudden? What blazing ftar, my Lord? faid fhe, affecting a furprife. I mean,' faid he, the lady I saw here the other day, whom I had laft night in my arms at the playhouse, and to whom I have been making that unreasonable vifit.'- O, my coufin • Weftern!' faid fhe: 6 Why, that blazing ftar, my Lord, is the daughter of a country booby fquire, and ⚫ hath been in town about a fortnight, for the first time." Upon my foul,' faid he, I fhould fwear fhe had • been bred up in a court; for befides her beauty, I never faw any thing fo genteel, fo fenfible, fo polite. O brave!' cries the lady; my coufin hath you,

6.

·

.6

I find.'Upon my honour,' answered he, I wish fhe had; for I am in love with her to distraction,'

Nay, my Lord,' faid fhe, it is not wifhing yourself " very ill neither, for fhe is a very great fortune: I affure you she is an only child, and her father's estate is a good 3000l. a-year.' • Then I can affure you, Ma'dam, answered the Lord, I think her the best match in England. Indeed, my Lord,' replied fhe, if you like her, I heartily wish you had her.' • If you think fo kindly of me, Madam, faid he, as fhe is a relation of yours, will you do me the honour to propose it to her father?" And are you really then in earnest?' cries the lady, with an affected gravity. I hope, Ma'dam,' answered he, you have a better opinion of me, than to imagine I would jeft with your Ladyfhip in an 'affair of this kind.' 'Indeed then,' faid the lady, ' I will moft readily propofe your Lordship to her father; ' and I can, I believe, affure you of his joyful acceptance of the propofal: but there is a bar, which I am almost afhamed to mention; and yet it is one you will never 'be able to conquer. You have a rival, my Lord, and a rival who, though I blush to name him, neither you, nor all the world, will ever be able to conquer.'

6

Upon my word, Lady Bellafton,' cries he, you have 'ftruck a damp to my heart, which hath almoft deprived me of being.' Fie! my Lord,' faid fhe; 'I 'fhould rather hope I had ftruck fire into you. A lover, and talks of damps in your heart! I rather imagined " you would have asked your rival's name, that you might have immediately entered the lifts with him.' I promise you, Madam,' anfwered he, there are very few things I would not undertake for your charming 'coufin : but who is this happy man? Why, pray he is,' faid the, what I am forry to fay most happy " men with us are, one of the loweft fellows in the • world. He is a beggar, a bastard, a foundling, a fel• low in meaner circumstances than one of your Lordfhip's footmen.' And is it poffible,' cried he, that

a young creature with fuch perfections should think of beflowing herfelf fo unworthily? Alas! my Lord,' anfwered the, confider the country--the bane of all young women is the country. There they learn a fet

way:

• of romantic notions of love, and I know not what folly which this town and good company can scarce eradicate in a whole winter.' Indeed, Madam,' replied my Lord, your coufin is of too immenfe a value to be thrown afuch ruin as this must be prevented.' •Alas!' cries fhe, my Lord, how can it be prevented? The family have already done all in their power; but the girl is, I think, intoxicated, and nothing less than ruin will content her. And to deal more openly with you, I expect every day to hear fhe is run away with him.' * What you tell me, Lady Bellafton,' answered his lordfhip, affects me moft tenderly, and only raifes my compaffion, instead of leffening my adoration of your coufin. Some means must be found to preserve so ineftimable a jewel. Hath your Ladyfhip endeavoured to reason with her? Here the lady affected a laugh, and cried, my dear Lord, fure you know us better than to talk of reafoning a young woman out of her inclinations? These ineftimable jewels are as deaf as the jewels they wear: time, my Lord, time is the only medicine to cure their folly; but this is a medicine which I am certain fhe will not take; nay, I live in hourly horrors on her account. In fhort, nothing but violent methods will do.' What is to be done!' cries my Lord, What methods are to be taken? Is there any method upon earth?- -Oh! Lady Bellafton! there is nothing which I would not undertake for fuch a reward.'- I really know not,' anfwered the lady, after a paufe; and then paufing again, fhe cried out,Upon my foul, I am at my wit's end on this girl's account. -If the can be preferved, fomething must be done immediately; and as I fay, nothing but violent methods will do. If your Lordship hath really this attachment to my coufin, (and, to do her juftice, except in this filly inclination, of which fhe will foon fee her folly, fhe is every way deferving), I think there < may be one way, indeed it is a very difagreeable one, and what I am almoft afraid to think of.-It requires great fpirit, I promife you.' I am not confcious, Madam,' faid he, of any defect there; nor am I, I hope, fufpected of any fuch. It must be an egregious defect indeed, which could make me backward on this

' occafion.'

Nay, my Lord,' answered fhe,

I am far

In

from doubting you, I am much inclined to doubt my own courage; for I muft run a monftrous risk. 'fhort, I mult place fuch a confidence on your honour as a wife woman will scarce ever place in a man on any con• fideration.' In this point likewise my Lord very well fatisfied her; for his reputation was extremely clear, and common fame did him no more than juftice in speaking well of him. Well then,' faid fhe, my Lord,--I—Ï vow I can't bear the apprehenfion of it.-No, it must not be.-At least every other method must be tried Can you get rid of your engagements, and dine here to day? Your Lordship will have an opportunity of feeing a little more of Miss Western.-I promise you we have no time to lofe. Here will be no body but Lady Betty, ⚫ and Mifs Eagle, and Colonel Hamfted, and Tom Edwards; they will all go foon,-and I fhall be at home to no body. Then your Lordship may be a little more explicit. Nay, I will contrive fome method to convince you of her attachment to this fellow.' My Lord made proper compliments, accepted the invitation, and then they parted to drefs, it being now paft three in the morning, or to reckon by the old style, in the afternoon.

T

CHA P. III.

A further explanation of the foregoing defign.

HOUGH the reader may have long fince concluded Lady Bellafton to be a member (and no inconfiderable one) of the great world, fhe was in reality a very confiderable member of the little world; by which appellation was diftinguished a very worthy and honourable fociety which not long fince flourished in this kingdom.

Among other good principles upon which this fociety was founded, there was one very remarkable: for as it was a rule of an honourable club of heroes, who affembled at the clofe of the late war, that all the members fhould every day fight once at least; fo it was in this, that every member should, within the twenty-four hours VOL. III. K

tell at least one merry fib, which was to be propagated by all the brethren and fifterhood.

Many idle ftories were told about this fociety, which, from a certain quality, may be, perhaps not unjustly, fuppofed to have come from the fociety themselves; as, that the devil was the prefident; and that he fat in perfon in an elbow chair at the upper end of the table. But, upon very ftrict inquiry, I find there is not the least truth in any of those tales, and that the affembly confifted in reality of a fet of very good fort of people, and the fibs which they propagated were of a harmless kind, and tended only to produce mirth and good humour.

Edwards was likewife a member of this comical fociety to him therefore Lady Bellafton applied as a proper instrument for her purpose, and furnished him with a fib, which he was to vent whenever the lady gave him her cue; and this was not to be till the evening, when all the company but Lord Fellamar and himself were gone, and while they were engaged in a rubbers at whift.

To this time then, which was between feven and eight in the evening, we will convey our reader; when Lady Bellafton, Lord Fellamar, Mifs Western, and Tom being engaged at whift, and in the last game of their rubbers, Tom received his cue from Lady Bellafton, which was, I proteft, Tom, you are grown intolerable lately; you used to tell us all the news of the town, and now you know no more of the world than if you lived out • of it.'

Mr Edwards began then as follows: The fault is not mine, Madam; it lies in the dulnefs of the age, that doth nothing worth talking of.— -O la! though now I think on't, there hath a terrible accident befallen poor Colonel Wilcox.--Poor Ned.--You know him, my Lord; every body knows him: faith! I am very • much concerned for him.'

What is it, pray? lays Lady Bellafton.

Why, he hath killed a man this morning in a duel, that's all.'

His Lordship, who was not in the fecret, afked gravely, whom he had killed? To which Edwards anfwered,