Things were in this state, when the countess requested that Miss
Dorothy would allow her niece to make one in her party to the
Haymarket Theatre. The good lady having consented, Miss Beaufort
received the permission with pleasure; and as she was to sup in
Grosvenor Place, she ventured to hope that something might fall from
her hostess or Miss Egerton which would throw a light on the true
situation of Mr. Constantine.
From infancy Miss Beaufort had loved with enthusiasm all kinds of
excellence. Indeed, she esteemed no person warmly whom she did no
think exalted by their virtues above the common race of mankind. She
sought for something to respect in every character; and when she
found anything to greatly admire, her ardent soul blazed, and by its
own pure flame lit her to a closer inspection of the object about
whom she had become more than usually interested.
In former years Lady Somerset collected all the virtue and talent in
the country around her table, and it was now found that they were not
brought there on a vain errand. From them Miss Beaufort gathered her
best lessons in conduct and taste, and from them her earliest
perceptions of friendship. Mary was the beloved pupil and respected
friend of the brightest characters in England; and though some of
them were men who had not passed the age of forty, she never had been
in love, nor had she mistaken the nature of her esteem so far as to
call it by that name.
Pages:
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390