that Augusta might marry whom she pleased. There was my Lord Viscount Ogleton, Sparkleton's eldest brother; he was single, and was an old beau who had been long in India, and who, inheriting the disposition of his father, the earl of Gripeall, was said to be a capital match. If his eyes were dim and his skin somewhat dingy from a livercomplaint, he wore the two finest diamonds in England, the one in his neckcloth, the other on his finger; so that he was a brilliant object at all public places, and he had paid Augusta considerable attention, had related to her all his exploits against the Burmese, had described to her several escapes he had had from snakes of all kinds, and had induced her to taste a curried dish, when seated next to her at a dinner-party. He was very elegant, and only two years older than Sparkleton; but those two years! they made him a present viscount and a future earl. And then there was the still older father of these two old beaux. He had pronounced Augusta divine! Yes, old Lord Gripeall himself, rich as a Jew, was a widower, and had said he had not seen so lovely a woman for many years. 66 Dashington had an elder brother too, a baronet, a sporting character, who had said Augusta was a capital horsewoman. Riskwell was a really good match; so she affectionately embraced her dear, handsome nephew," and said she had only just stepped in to tell him of Augusta's conquests, knowing he would think the three wooers coming almost together a capital joke. And so it was, but yet Julian felt a little nervous. Sparkleton was the son of an earl, Dashington a leader of ton, Riskwell was reported a very Croesus; he had never been so much in love, so jealous, or so uncomfortable before; but he resolved to say nothing, not even to see Augusta till her decision was made known, but, if she rejected them all, to beg his father's permission to offer himself at once. He finished his toilet with unwonted rapidity, scarcely touched the late breakfast that awaited him, and, ordering his horse, he sprang into the saddle, and setting off into the country at full speed, tried to lose, in the rapidity of the motion, the sense of anxiety so painful to an unaccustomed heart. CHAPTER XXII. "Favours to none, to all she smiles extends; Rape of the Lock. In all the pride of conquest, Augusta, who fully entered into her mother's feelings, sat dressed to the greatest advantage, to receive and dismiss her three aspirants. Her mother, with a look of more palpable importance for she was somewhat vulgar, and her daughter was not-was arrayed in a new and most towering cap, with fan-like blonde petals and crimson bows, while her ample silk dress and lace pelerine seemed inflated by the pride and consequence of its wearer. Mrs. Lindsay, who thought it looked plebeian to be employed, vainly tried to appear at her ease in doing nothing. Ellen was not present; she had enough of the woman in her nature to be glad that presumption should meet with its reward, but too much of the angel not to shrink from witnessing the punishment it deserved. She was gone to see poor Grizzy Douglas, who continued to keep her room, and to refuse all visits but Ellen Lindsay's. It was a quarter to four o'clock. The beauty and her mother were growing angry and impatient, and beginning to admit a thousand vague fears of having been trifled with, and, at the mere suspicion, to form as many plans of prompt and terrible revenge. It will be remembered that the Honourable York Sparkleton had been appointed for three o'clock, Captain Dashington for half-past three, and Sir Peter Riskwell for four. It wanted ten minutes of four, and no one had appeared, when the stopping of a carriage at the door, and a thundering knock, made Augusta's heart beat and Mrs. Lindsay's crimson bows quiver. "Which of them is it, mamma?" faltered Augusta, changing colour, and Mrs. Lindsay, |