y.

"I shall be glad if it be true," said the prince, with decision; "and I
speak the common sentiment at Vienna. That kinsman had a noble spirit,
and was, I believe, equally duped and betrayed. Pardon me, sir; but we
Austrians are not so bad as we are painted. Have you ever met in England
the kinsman you speak of?"

"Never, though he is supposed to reside here; and the count tells me
that he has a daughter."

"The count--ha! I heard something of a scheme,--a wager of that--that
count's. A daughter! Poor girl! I hope she will escape his pursuit; for,
no doubt, he pursues her."

"Possibly she may already have married an Englishman."

"I trust not," said the prince, seriously; "that might at present be a
serious obstacle to her father's return."

"You think so?"

"There can be no doubt of it," interposed the attache, with a grand and
positive air; "unless, indeed, the Englishman were of a rank equal to
her own."

Here there was a slight, well-bred murmur and buzz at the door, for
the Count di Peschiera himself was announced; and as he entered, his
presence was so striking, and his beauty so dazzling, that whatever
there might be to the prejudice of his character, it seemed instantly
effaced or forgotten in that irresistible admiration which it is the
prerogative of personal attributes alone to create.

The prince, with a slight curve of his lip at the groups that collected
round the count, turned to Randal, and said, "Can you tell me if a
distinguished countryman of yours is in England, Lord L'Estrange?"

"No, Prince, he is not. You know him?"

"Well."

"He is acquainted with the count's kinsman; and perhaps from him you
have learned to think so highly of that kinsman?"

The prince bowed, and answered as he moved away, "When one man of high
honour vouches for another, he commands the belief of all."

"Certainly," soliloquized Randal, "I must not be precipitate. I was
very near falling into a terrible trap. If I were to marry the girl, and
only, by so doing, settle away her inheritance on Peschiera!--how hard
it is to be sufficiently cautious in this world!"

While thus meditating, a member of parliament tapped him on the
shoulder.

"Melancholy, Leslie! I lay a wager I guess your thoughts."

"Guess," answered Randal.

"You were thinking of the place you are so soon to lose."

"Soon to lose!"

"Why, if ministers go out, you could hardly keep it, I suppose."

This ominous and horrid member of parl