All these regrets Penelope endeavoured to abate or disperse, by proving to Mr Darnley’s very great satisfaction that he had not been at all deserving of blame, but that under all the circumstances he had acted with the profoundest wisdom and according to the strictest and purest moral principles. How pleasant a thing is penitence, and how agreeable is confession when, upon the acknowledgment that we have done wrong, we have the satisfaction to hear that what we considered wrong proves to be altogether right and good, and when, instead of meeting with rebukes and reluctant forgiveness, apologies are furnished for our transgressions with a sophistry more ingenious than our own self-love can form them withal. So greatly delighted was Mr Darnley with his reception at Smatterton, so many new beauties did he discover in Penelope, and so many unsuspected good qualities did he discern in Mr Primrose, that in the ardour of his reconciliation he would insist upon it that an early day should be fixed for a festive meeting at Neverden rectory; and he was so impatient, that he would have the following day appointed for that purpose, without once considering whether or not it might be convenient to Mrs Darnley to provide an entertainment for a party at so short a notice. Having made this engagement, Mr Darnley and his son took their departure from Smatterton, and it occurred to the elder gentleman that it would be proper for him to make a call of sympathy and condolence on Lady Aimwell. And if Sir George Aimwell had not been the great man of the parish, it would also have occurred to the reverend gentleman that it would be proper to give the magistrate a gentle rebuke for having so neglected the charge committed to him, as to suffer the young lady to elope from his house. But to a mind so susceptible of impression from the majesty of rank and the dignity of high birth and large fortune, it appeared altogether a species of high treason to admonish roughly or reproachfully an opulent baronet and an unpaid magistrate. We cannot think of unpaid magistrates without reverence and gratitude; for, when we think how dear is law and how expensive the protection of property, it is quite delightful to know that we may have some sort of law for nothing. As to the quality of that gratuitous law, we cannot say much; all the beauty of it is, the fact that it is gratuitous--it costs nothing! When Mr Darnley reached Neverden Hall, he found Lady Aimwell reading Stackhouse’s History of the Bible, and the worthy baronet amusing himself with a volume of the Newgate Calendar. For, though the magistrate was not what is called a great reader, he used now and then, when it was not shooting season, to amuse himself with a book. As Mr Darnley entered the room, the baronet laid down his book, and her ladyship lifted up her head. And the baronet spoke first, saying;