more as conjecture than
reality. So long a time had elapsed, that the wild errors of his youth,
which had been perhaps the original cause of his leaving England, were
entirely forgotten, as if such things had never been, and the Viscount
now found himself quite as much, if not more, an object of universal
attraction in his native land than he had been on the Continent. He was
now about thirty, and perfect indeed in his vocation. The freshness,
_naivete_, and perfect innocence of Caroline had captivated his fancy
perhaps even more than it had ever been before, and her perfect
ignorance of the ways of the fashionable world encouraged him to hope
his conquest of her heart would be very easy. He had found an able
confidant and advocate in Miss Grahame, who had contrived to place
herself with her father's friend on the footing of most friendly
intimacy, and partly by her advice and the suggestions of his own heart
he determined to win the regard of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, before he
openly paid attentions to their daughter. With the former he appeared
very likely to succeed, for the talent he displayed in the House, his
apparently earnest zeal for the welfare of his country, her church and
state, his masterly eloquence, and the interest he felt for Grahame,
were all qualities attractive in the eyes of Mr. Hamilton; and though he
did not yet invite him to his house, he never met him without evincing
pleasure. With Mrs. Hamilton, Alphingham did not find himself so much at
ease, nor fancy he was so secure; courteous she was indeed, but in her
intercourse with him she had unconsciously recalled much of what Grahame
termed the forbidding reserve of years past. In vain he attempted with
her to pass the barriers of universal politeness, and become intimate;
his every advance was repelled coldly, yet not so devoid of courtesy as
to make him suspect she had penetrated his secret character. Still he
persevered in unwavering and marked politeness, although Annie's
representations of Mrs. Hamilton's character had already caused him to
determine in his own mind to make Caroline his wife, with or without her
mother's approval; and he amused himself with believing that, as her
mother was so strict and stern as to keep her children, particularly
Caroline, in such subjection, it would be doing the poor girl a charity
to release her from such thraldom, and introduce her, as his wife, into
scenes far more congenial to her taste, where she would be