Augustus now received frequent invitations to Osselstone House, both for large dinner parties, and for the still more flattering distinction of a _tÍte ‡ tÍte_; but though he daily met with considerate and even kind attentions from the Earl, he could not help still feeling he was more his _patron_ than his _friend_. Lord Osselstone frequently concluded a _tÍte ‡ tÍte_ dinner, in which he had exerted every charm of conversation for the entertainment of his guest, at the same time eliciting all the varied powers of understanding that guest possessed, by proposing that he should accompany him to those higher circles of fashion, which the Earl still occasionally frequented; and in those crowded assemblies where there is so often "company without society, and dissipation without pleasure," the heir to Lord Osselstone's earldom was always welcome, even where the untitled Augustus Mordaunt would scarcely have been noticed. It may be supposed that Augustus received, with no little trepidation, the card his uncle presented him with for Lady Eltondale's assembly. For a moment he hesitated whether or not to accept it; but the thought of being once more in the same room with Selina soon over-balanced his wounded feelings. As he followed his uncle up the sumptuous stair-case in Portman-square, while his heart fluttered between pleasure and despondency, his mind had wandered back to the scenes of Deane Hall, and "days long since gone by." By a natural illusion Selina's figure had always floated before his fancy, as he had last seen it clothed in the sable garb of woe, with the tear of regret resting on her pallid cheek. How different was the blooming form that now presented itself, as at the moment of his entering the room his eye intuitively singled her out from the crowd that surrounded her. She stood like the queen of beauty receiving the homage of all around, her eyes sparkling with animation, her whole figure beaming in joy. "Good God, how lovely!" he involuntarily exclaimed. But as his protracted gaze discovered the alterations her manners and appearance had undergone in the few months she had been under the tuition of Lady Eltondale, a cold chill ran through his veins, as he recollected the possibility that her mind might be equally changed; and renewing his scrutinizing glance, he shuddered at the external improvement that had first extorted his admiration, and sighed to think of the lovely artless girl, who would once have flown to meet him with all the innocence of undisguised delight.