already observed, closely attached to him on the shores of Portugal, an affectionate sharer in the grief he indulged in for the loss of the best of mothers.
Scarcely, however, had a decent period elapsed, when the task was imposed upon De Brooke of congratulating his father upon a second matrimonial engagement. The lady was a widow, and, from what he had heard, was equally distinguished for a cultivated intellect, as for a large inheritance or jointure left her by her late husband. What might be her pretensions to amiability he was yet to learn; but he had reason to suppose she possessed a character essentially different from that of his late mother, and for this reason, doubtless, more in concord and agreement with that of Sir Aubrey.
A lawyer and a step-mother had now entered his family,—formidable foes to contend with, thought De Brooke, unless the world had been led, as he hoped it had, to pass upon such a too indiscriminate censure. Time will determine, sighed he.
Her ladyship did not fail to reply to his letter of felicitation, and therein expressed the warmest assurances of ever acting in conformity with the general interests and harmony of the family of which she had the honour and happiness of becoming a member.
