308 THE LOVER OF BEAUTY ; 



head, lanfi^uidly, to note the intruder, but sprang, hastily, upon 

 his feet, upon perceiving that " the swarthy^ ill-favoured, elderly' 

 Mrs. Colonel Atherstone stood before him. 



The reader has been, already, indulged with a rapid portraiture 

 of the lady from the by-no-means auspicious pencil of Captain 

 A., but there is some necessity for amending the likeness thus 

 afforded, in order to impart to it that vraisemhlance which is 

 usually discoverable in the courtly productions of a Chalon or 

 an Alabaster, and to which, it must be confessed, the lady was 

 justly entitled. Mrs. Colonel Atherstone, "the swarthy, ill- 

 favoured, and elderly" was, in fact, a tall, graceful, patrician-like 

 woman of some seven-and-twenty years of age : a dark com- 

 plexion was illumined by the brilliancy of a pair of black eyes, 

 which, although not wonderfully large, were replete with ani- 

 mation, while a smile of winning playfulness and vivacity, gave 

 sweetness and intelligence to her mouth. Her hair, black as the 

 raven's wing, simply braided across her forehead, fell in a few 

 thick ringlets on her neck, displaying the jewelled pendants that 

 glittered in her ears, and reposing like a mass of shining jet upon 

 the rich shawl of India silk that enfolded the upper part of her 

 person. Her features, it is true, bore traces of that disorder 

 which has destroyed many a fine outline, but upon the coun- 

 tenance of Mrs. Atherstone there was a decided character of 

 warmth, sincerity, and sprightliness, that to some, no doubt, more 

 than compensated for the loss of mere smoothness of surface. 



Regarding Captain Atherstone with an air of peculiar arch- 

 ness, she begged him to be seated, while, blushing with genuine 

 alarm at the thought of his complimentary effusion having been 

 overheard by the very person whom it most seriously concerned, 

 the gallant soldier stood bowing, courteously, to conceal his 

 emotion. 



" Nay, my good brother-in-law," gaily observed the ill-favoured 

 and elderly, "we will dispense with all further ceremony, our 

 mutual introduction has been effected : I will enter you on the 

 family list, order a cover for your especial enjoyment, and always 

 reserve a place by the fireside, and a corner in the barouche for 

 my most esteemed and truly-admired kinsman. Captain Henry 

 Atherstone. But I fear much that you will be ennuye to death 

 in our society ! — immured in an old mansion like this, surrounded 

 by oaks that have stood for centuries, and elms that have been 

 the hereditary property of the rooks for as many ages, what on 

 earth can a man of ton, accustomed to the seductions of St. 

 James's-street, the glitter of the Park, and the aristocracy of May 

 Fair, what can he find to amuse him ?" 



"My dear madam," aspirated the Captain, " the pleasure of 

 refined society :" " don't speak of it," laughingly rejoined the ill- 

 favoured, " don't speak of it — the conversation of a couple of 

 old-fashioned commoners can make ill amends for the wit, the 

 brilliancy, and the gaiety of White's, Tattersall's, and Almack's : 



