This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
214
LADY ANNE GRANARD.

live when come some violent overthrow of government, some revolution, as in France; some civil war, as in Spain; some invasion, as in Italy: yes, yes, the English are prudent, but it is sight for sorrow."

"Upon my word, sir, it is all for charity, there is no prudence in it, save that of making a little money go a long way."

"Then the English have change their character exceeding much; they did not use to burn candels before their gifts, neither to wheedel one anoder into the kind action. No, no, altogether it is allied to the sorrow."

So far as Lady Anne was concerned, the conclusion for the present appeared right, for she continued very unwell, and being obliged to consult a medical man, was consigned to her bed; and an anodyne, which, although it prevented her from receiving the Count, perhaps gave her the more of his society in her dreams, when he appeared in every possible guise, but always as a friend and protector. He rescued her from the burning house and the shipwrecked vessel; was the Perseus who delivered his Andromeda from the monster, and the warrior who broke the doors of her prison; and so agreeable did she find the pleasant land of "idlesse and dreamyhood," that nothing less than the desire of seeing and thanking the object of her thoughts would have induced her to arise, and prepare for another day of fatigue and triumph.