28 NEITHER LOVE OR THE COTTAGE. 



it was not. At one his valet handed him a note ; it 

 ran thus : — 



" As you had not the thought or generosity to 

 make a settlement on her you professed to love, you 

 cannot be surprised at her rewarding a man who 

 will; or at the pupil of your extravagant hours, 

 preferring luxury in a palace to love in a cottage. 



I am on my way with Count to his estates in 



Germany ; do not think I forget you, if you should 



pass. 1 have the Count's permission to give you 



our invite there. 



" Kate." 



Blaze as Manderville was, this trait of cool ingra- 

 titude and nonclialance^ from a woman he had rashly, 

 fondly but foolishly loved, was like crushing the 

 already half-broken heart. The pain was maddening ; 

 he leaped from his bed, snatched one of his pistols 

 from the case, and put his finger on the trigger. 

 Personal fear formed no part of Fred.'s constitution ; 

 but that angel who watches over all but the truly 

 fiendish, intervened between him and destruction ; he 

 threw the pistol from him, and the outraged feelings 

 of his heart found vent in woman's tears. 



A few hours found him in a post-chaise on the 

 Kent road. A few weeks saw his stud, and all the 

 splendid specimens of his taste in virtu distributed 

 in different hands. Six months after, a letter to a 

 friend concluded thus : — 



" The men liere dress in devilish bad taste; but, 

 after all, Boulogne is a very fair refuge for the 

 destitute." 



