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love perished for want of its natural element, Hope; but hisheart being susceptible without being fickle, he transferred his,affections to one who secured by returning them; and whenhimself a happy husband, he had a sad opportunity of playinga brother’s part by Madeline.
“ At last it was rumoured that Madeline Forster was notinsensible to the attentions of a suitor, a certain Mr. FrederickRadnor being named in association with her; and one day shethrew herself upon my neck and owned that she loved himdearly, that he had asked her to he his wife, and that he wason the point of addressing her uncle on the subject. I had noreasonable objection to urge; and therefore, though I did notpersonally like Mr. Radnor, I was obliged to offer my con-gratulations. My dislike put me so much in the minority thatI kept it rather to myself, for he was decidedly a popular personin society,—good-looking, well-mannered, and an excellent con-versationalist. Having travelled a good deal, the last gift waswidened in its scope. He was the younger son of a baronet,and had only a small government appointment; but then Ma-deline’s fortune was enough for both, and so they were engaged.Madeline’s uncle represented to her that it was not what theworld would call a good match for her, but he could not thwarther, and did not wish to distress her by opposition; and besides,he really had nothing of which to accuse the fiance, except thesmallness of his income.
“ I have said that I was in the minority; but GeoffreyForster, at any rate, shared my feelings of dislike. We agreedthat Mr. Radnor was a hypocrite; yet when we questionedourselves to declare in what particular, we were equally at fault.We could see that Madeline, who had high chivalrous notionsof honour and propriety, had been caught by the very propermanner in which Frederick Radnor expressed himself whenfaults or follies were the topic of conversation ; and though it is
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