307 

 THE LOVER OF BEAUTY; 



OR WHICH WILL HE WED? 



" By Jove, he's a fool ! an absolute fool !" exclaimed the volatile 

 Captain Atherstone, throwing himself at full length upon a 

 couch in his brother's drawing-room, after an introduct^'on to his 

 new sister-in-law — " Melville's an idiot to marry a fright — a 

 scarecrow — an actual Hottentot, like Miss Trevor. And a fellow 

 like him too ! a fine, dashing, sensible fellow ! a man of taste 

 and spirit! egad ! the very thought of it makes me mad. Here 

 am I, with nothing but my sword and epaulettes, a decent figure 

 and physiognomy to count upon," casting his fine eyes somewhat 

 carelessly upon the mirror, "and with these trifles only for my 

 inheritance, as happiness is my hope and beauty my divinity, 

 / would not have tlirovvn myself away." 



" Let me see, how runs the inventory ? Complexion, black — 

 olive at least, — hair dark — not so much amiss, but too prudishly 

 fancied to suit, — skin seamed, literally, with the small pox — by 

 heaven ! every feature ruined — positively ploughed up by that 

 insatiable enemy to loveliness ; — exjes, passable, I admit, — -figure, 

 too tall by half, — manner, too tormenting, too satirical, too — too 

 — too annoying for any thing short of an Empress. Melville 

 will be ashamed of his Egyptian deity before a twelvemonth is 

 over ! And what chances he had ! chances — aye such as never 

 fell to my lot, unlucky dog that I am, thougli I have figured at 

 Almack's for seasons, and wasted a revenue in white kids and 

 eau-de-mille-fleurs. There was Lord Linley's daughter, an 

 heiress, and a creature with the look of an angel, the sweetest 

 little blonde that man ever beheld ; with eyes like March violets, 

 and lips like the budding rose, to say nothing of rino'lets 

 that fell in a glistening shower of gold upon her neck. Then 

 there was the Everton, a girl that it was inspiration to gaze 

 upon, pale, sweet, mystical, and seraphic, with the brow of 

 Diana, and the witchery of heaven in her smile : and what a 

 figure! slender, graceful, and fawn-like; — a mortal, with the 

 sublime character of a celestial ! beautiful, accomplished, and 



sensible ! Heigho ! I but pshaw ! — no — she never thought 



of me. Then there was the Darnley — a woman of wonderful 

 captivation, full of majesty, a model for Cleopatra herself! 

 Why he might have chosen from the fairest and the wealthiest, 

 but instead of uniting himself to youth, sentiment, and love- 

 liness, Colonel Atherstone, the envy of one sex and the admira- 

 tion of the other, ties himself down to a swarthy, ill-favoured, 



elderly ." The conclusion of this soliloquy was prevented 



by the opening of the door; Captain Atherstone turned his 



NO. V. 2 s 



