Page:Ethel Churchill 2.pdf/114

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112
ETHEL CHURCHILL.

slight, and, certainly, a handsome young man, and perfectly aware of whatever advantages he possessed. He had lived chiefly abroad; and if any thing in England satisfied him, it was the satisfaction of abusing every thing. With Mrs. Churchill he soon became a first-rate favourite. His head was quite turned with mysteries, secret correspondences, and plots: he met her on her own weak point. Both delighted to hear themselves talk, and both talking themselves out of all rationality; for words, like wine, get up into the head: they passed hours in conversational conspiracies, till both the old woman and the young man believed that the house of Hanover only waited their impetus to tremble to its downfal.

Ethel found that it was not so easy to make her intended disclosure; for when she attempted to speak to Mr.Trevanion, she was overwhelmed with such a flood of flowery eloquence, that she was dismayed into silence. The time grew terribly near; and courage has oftener despair for its mother than any other parent. She seized an opportunity when he was walking