"Oh, so kind! And every night we all pray for you, sir; you ought to be
happy, if the blessings of the poor can avail the rich."

Maltravers remounted his horse, and sought his home; and his heart was
lighter than before he entered that cottage. But at evening Cleveland
talked of Vargrave and Evelyn, and the good fortune of the one, and the
charms of the other; and the wound, so well concealed, bled afresh.

"I heard from De Montaigne the other day," said Ernest, just as they were
retiring for the night, "and his letter decides my movements. If you
will accept me, then, as a travelling companion, I will go with you to
Paris. Have you made up your mind to leave Burleigh on Saturday?"

"Yes; that gives us a day to recover from Lord Raby's ball. I am so
delighted at your offer! We need only stay a day or so in town. The
excursion will do you good,---your spirits, my dear Ernest, seem more
dejected than when you first returned to England: you live too much alone
here; you will enjoy Burleigh more on your return. And perhaps then you
will open the old house a little more to the neighbourhood, and to your
friends. They expect it: you are looked to for the county."

"I have done with politics, and sicken but for peace."

"Pick up a wife in Paris, and you will then know that peace is an
impossible possession," said the old bachelor, laughing.