them, he welcomed them all sincerely; but
Sandford the most, with whom he had not spoken for many days before he
left the country, for his allusion to the wretched situation of his
daughter.--And Sandford (with his fellow-travellers) now saw him treat
that daughter with an easy, a natural fondness, as if she had lived with
him from her infancy. He appeared, however, at times, under the
apprehension, that the propensity of man to jealousy, might give
Rushbrook a pang at this dangerous rival in his love and fortune--for
though Lord Elmwood remembered well the hazard he had once ventured to
befriend Matilda, yet the present unlimited reconciliation was something
so unlooked for, it might be a trial too much for his generosity, to
remain wholly disinterested on the event. Slight as was this suspicion,
it did Rushbrook injustice. He loved Lady Matilda too sincerely, he
loved her father's happiness, and her mother's memory too faithfully,
not to be rejoiced at all he witnessed; nor could the secret hope that
whispered him, "Their blessings might one day be mutual," increase the
pleasure he found, in beholding Matilda happy.

Unexpected affairs, in which Lord Elmwood had been for some time
engaged, had diverted his attention for awhile from the marriage of his
nephew; nor did he at this time find his disposition sufficiently
severe, to exact from the young man a compliance with his wishes, at so
cruel an alternative as that of being for ever discarded. He felt his
mind, by the late incident, too much softened for such harshness; he yet
wished for the alliance he had proposed; for he was more consistent in
his character than to suffer the tenderness his daughter's peril had
awakened, to derange those plans which he had long projected. Never even
now, for a moment did he indulge--for perhaps it would have been an
indulgence--the idea of replacing her exactly in the rights of her birth,
to the disappointment of all his nephew's expectations.

Yet, milder at this crisis in his temper than he had been for years
before, and knowing he could be no longer irritated upon the subject of
his daughter, he once more resolved to trust himself in a conference
with Rushbrook on the subject of marriage; meaning at the same time to
mention Matilda as an opponent from whom he had nothing to fear. But
for some time before Rushbrook was called to this private audience, he
had, by his unwearied attention, endeavoured to impress upon Matilda's
min