The
Lady Mabel, however, seems to have been a notable strong-minded
personage enough. She acknowledges the receipt of her lover's letters;
which, however, without condescending to give any further explanation,
she avers 'came to hand at an untoward moment,' and finishes by
sending him a receipt for making elderflower wine--assuring him, with
a certain sly malice, that it is 'a sovereign specific against colic,
vertigo, and all ailments of the heart and stomach!' What a contrast
to his protestations endorsed, 'These, with haste--ride--ride--ride!'
which many a good horse must have been spurred and hurried to deliver.
How he rings the changes upon his unalterable and eternal devotion!
How he implores 'his dear heart' never to forget him! and calls her
'his sweet life,' and protests that 'he welcomes the very night-breeze
blowing from the castle, because it must have swept past the windows
of his love!' and pours out his foolish heart like a child pouring
water into a sieve. Lady Mabel, however, seems to have been proof
against sentiment, as she undoubtedly was against good looks. From all
that I can gather, she appears to have made use of her adorer in
furtherance of sundry political schemes, such as were so numerous at
that period, and to have thrown him away, like a rusty blade, when she
had no further occasion for his services. I cannot help thinking she
despised him thoroughly. There are certain bills and memoranda, with
his signature attached, relating to levies of men and great purchases
of arms, which look as if he had plunged into some desperate
enterprise, doubtless at her instigation; and in his sonnets there are
frequent allusions to 'winning her by the sword,' 'loving her to the
death,' and such Quixotic protestations, that look as if he had at one
time meditated an unusually daring stroke. He was a fool," said Lady
Scapegrace reflectively, "but he was a fine fellow, too, to throw
wealth, life, and honour at the feet of a woman who was not worth a
throb of that kind, generous heart, a drop of that loyal, gallant
blood!

"Then he married, I can't quite make out why, as there is a
considerable gap in the correspondence of the family about this time,
only partially connected by the diary of an old chaplain, who seems to
have been formerly tutor to Sir Montague, and to have cherished a
great regard for his pupil. The lady was a foreigner and a Romanist;
and although we have no picture of her, we gather from the