nor the legitimacy of his heir to be doubted. God knows, neither Georgiana nor any of your daughters merited to be thus reflected upon! If she could bring herself to be Marchioness of Wentworthdale, she would be an honour to her high station;—however, that is over now, he is grouse-shooting in Scotland."
Lady Anne was relieved; the absence of the marquess had greatly puzzled her, as he had bade adieu for a short time, which had become a long one. Baskets of game had reached her house, but not a single line, in his own hand, had met her eye. Better it should be so: Georgiana was not yet in a state to "lure the gentle tassel back," but no thanks to the chattering coterie whom she had courted for the sole purpose of rendering the marquis reassured on the subject of proper acquaintance. With much less tact than was usual, she had concluded that the reverse of wrong must be right, and that the occasional appearance of a serious lady in her drawing-room, would neutralize the flirtations of her gayer friends; and this she now mentioned, with many indignant expressions, venting on those she called "prosy old hypocrites" the anger she really felt for Mr. Palmer.
"It was not a wise thing to enter a close clique, my good madam, until you had examined both them and yourself, and considered how far you were likely to coalesce. Your true friends would say either party were unworthy, or unfit, for your associates; the un-
