ciety, and especially
with the softer sex, somewhat late in life, he had married suddenly
a beautiful woman, who was without fortune, and not a member of the
enchanted circle in which he flourished. The union had been successful,
for Lord Roehampton was gifted with a sweet temper, and, though people
said he had no heart, with a winning tenderness of disposition, or at
least of manner, which at the same time charmed and soothed. He had been
a widower for two years, and the world was of opinion that he ought to
marry again, and form this time a becoming alliance. In addition to his
many recommendations he had now the inestimable reputation, which no one
had ever contemplated for him, of having been a good husband.

Berengaria, Countess of Montfort, was a great friend of Lord Roehampton.
She was accustomed to describe herself as "the last of his conquests,"
and though Lord Roehampton read characters and purposes with a glance,
and was too sagacious to be deceived by any one, even by himself,
his gratified taste, for he scarcely had vanity, cherished the bright
illusion of which he was conscious, and he responded to Lady Montfort
half sportively, half seriously, with an air of flattered devotion. Lord
Roehampton had inherited an ample estate, and he had generally been in
office; for he served his apprenticeship under Perceval and Liverpool,
and changed his party just in time to become a member of the Cabinet of
1831. Yet with all these advantages, whether it were the habit of his
life, which was ever profuse, or that neglect of his private interests
which almost inevitably accompanies the absorbing duties of public life,
his affairs were always somewhat confused, and Lady Montfort, who
wished to place him on a pinnacle, had resolved that he should marry
an heiress. After long observation and careful inquiry and prolonged
reflection, the lady she had fixed upon was Miss Neuchatel; and she
it was who had made Lord Roehampton cross the room and address Adriana
after her song.

"He is not young," reasoned Lady Montfort to herself, "but his mind and
manner are young, and that is everything. I am sure I meet youth every
day who, compared with Lord Roehampton, could have no chance with my
sex--men who can neither feel, nor think, nor converse. And then he is
famous, and powerful, and fashionable, and knows how to talk to women.
And this must all tell with a banker's daughter, dying, of course, to
be a _grande dame_. It will do. H