friends, and to receive their congratulations and regrets. Among others he must take leave of Lady Eveline, and then keep out of her way for ever.
A few weeks before he called to say farewell, Lady Eveline became the mother of her eldest child—a boy. Her mother and aunt hoped this new element would sweeten her life, and that she would grow contented and happy; but she was one of those women who would love her children through her husband, and for his sake. She had no love for children as children; she had no turn for amusing them, and she had never had any experience with them. This boy was exceedingly like his father, and that, where the father is not loved, is no recommendation to the mothers hear. She had hosts of servants to take all the trouble of the child, and returned to her rounds of gaiety with undiminished zeal. She could not endure her life without the change and excitement of society.
To bid Gerald Staunton good-by for years certainly, and probably for ever, was a thing exceedingly bitter and bewildering to her. She knew that her aunt had moved heaven and earth to procure this appointment, and that it was on her account that he was banished from his own proper sphere, and had his fair prospects of professional success blighted. She showed more emotion than was proper or prudent, and unfortunately she
