Page:Romance & Reality 1.pdf/114

108 —in difference, languor, and quietude now united to form a beau idéal of elegance. Of Lord Morton little can be said; he was rather good-looking, and as good-natured as a very selfish person can be; and not more in the way than those always are who depend entirely upon others for their amusement. Such was the family where Edward Lorraine promised to stay for a fortnight—a very dangerous period; long enough to fall in love, scarcely long enough to get tired. Lady Lauriston was perfectly satisfied with the proceedings; she was aware of the advantage of the suffrage of one whose authority in taste was held to be despotic; she calculated on his good report preceding Adelaide in town; and she felt too much confidence in her daughter's principles to be at all alarmed about her heart.