take place during the winter, would produce a declaration. Various engagements with which the daughter would have gladly dispensed, but which the mother thought it necessary to fulfil, detained them till February between Brighton, Bath, and the country; and no explanation having taken place, it was believed by Sir Edward Hamden, and by others, except those in Hamilton’s secrets, that Miss Primrose was to bestow her hand and fortune on Mr. Hamilton. The Countess of Cockatrice, who still kept up her acquaintance with our hero, was not without some knowledge of the truth, but was desirous, for various reasons, that a matrimonial connexion might be formed between our hero, and the great heiress Miss Mortimer. She had studiously sought an opportunity of knowing Maria, and though that young lady had declined her advances, and avoided intimacy, yet they had repeatedly met at public places. Cockatrice, herself discerning, discovered ability and penetration in Maria, and heard the same accounts from others, whom she instructed to enquire and examine, much more than opportunity had enabled her to discover herself. To seduce the affections of married men, had nothing in it repugnant to the countess’s moral creed, either speculative or practical. It was indeed not to be expected, that she who so little regarded her duty to her husband, would care for the duty of another man to his wife. If Hamilton married Maria, the wife might be a formidable and overpowering rival, but if he should wed the fortune of Miss Primrose, it would, she apprehended, be no difficult matter to retain a superior interest in his heart. Besides, the countess, though a votary of love, coupled it as often as possible with ambition and interest, including pecuniary convenience. Like Lady Townly, she much oftener wanted money than her husband gave it, or indeed could give it. Drafts were returned from bankers, not honoured; also those visitations known by the name of executions, were familiar to Cockatrice’s house; and though too common to be much regarded on their own account, yet they were aukward and troublesome. The agents, of John Doe and Richard Roe, though officers, were not deemed pleasing companions even by ladies. No visitants could be more likely to excite among many of the guests, disagreeable recollections, or still more disagreeable forebodings, and so to break the harmony of the company. But what was worse than executions for the past, was the refusal of credit for the future. The insolence of tradesmen often demurred at sending in goods where there was no chance of being paid; and thus the brilliancy of galas, the splendour of dress and equipage, must fall infinitely short of right honourable taste and conceptions. For all these, and many other good reasons, money was a very useful commodity, and if it could be acquired along with love, all the better. Now Hamilton by marrying Miss Primrose, would command