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42 facts of the mismanagement and even misconduct of those around him, stated by an eye-witness, brought forcibly forward the evil of his indolent solitude. Hitherto he had consoled himself by that most mischievous of axioms—It hurts no one but myself. He was now obliged to acknowledge that it injured others also;—and when Mr. Stanmore proposed a ride round a part of the estate now in sad and wasteful disorder, it met with ready acquiescence from his guest.

The evening passed delightfully. Adelaide soon found that talking of his brother was a great source of pride and pleasure to Algernon, in whom she forthwith expressed great interest, but of the most subdued and quiet kind. The avowal that a gentleman is a young man whom every one must admire, never implies any very peculiar admiration on the part of the speaker; still, the acquaintance was a bond of union between them. The character that Adelaide was now supporting was one of unbroken spirits and natural vivacity, with an under-tone of deep feeling which as yet had never been called forth. The liveliness was on the principle of contrast—the feeling on that of sympathy. For a love affair, a mixture of the two is