"But after this long interval, if Mr Darnley were really anxious, and at all concerned about me, he would have written to press you to the performance of your promise." "He might have done so to be sure," said her father, slowly and thoughtfully, and then, as if recollecting himself, he continued in a livelier and quicker tone; "but perhaps, as he has not heard from me, he takes it for granted that you really were desirous of dropping the correspondence; and so after all you will appear to him as the person by whose act and deed the acquaintance has ceased." "And what will he, or can he think," rejoined Penelope, "if, under present circumstances, there should be on my part an effort made to renew the acquaintance? No, no; let the matter rest. Even if you did promise to write first, you may be sure that he would not have waited patiently all this while in expectation of hearing from you. He might naturally enough suppose that I should object to having overtures made as from me; and if he had a real regard for me, we should have heard from him by this time. My attachment to Mr Darnley was founded on the qualities and endowments of the mind, and if I were deceived as to them, that attachment will soon die away." "Upon my word, child," said Mr Primrose, "I really do not think you have any regard for Mr Darnley. You are certainly captivated by this Lord Spoonbill." This was said by Mr Primrose not angrily, but with a tone of mock reproach. Penelope shuddered at the allusion to Lord Spoonbill; but she endeavoured to conceal her emotion as much as possible, lest she should be under the necessity of informing her father of the proposal which his lordship had made her the day before. While this conversation was passing between Mr Primrose and his daughter, another scene was passing at the town mansion of the Earl of Smatterton, where his lordship and family had arrived on the preceding day. Parliament was about to meet after the prorogation. On such occasions his lordship's magnificence swelled out to most extraordinary dimensions. Then did he bethink himself that he was one of those who held in his hand the destiny of the British empire; and, when the postman brought letters from divers parts of the kingdom, his lordship felt himself to be the centre to which many minds were directing their most anxious thoughts. The letters were handed to his lordship on a silver tray. The servant who brought them swelled with importance, and even the silver tray shone with unusual brightness beneath its important burden. "It is very fatiguing," his lordship would sometimes say, "to have anything to do with public business. I often envy the obscurity of humble station. There is peace and quietness in the lowly valley."