From this time there was no thought of her soul hidden from her mother-in-law, and Mrs. Fitz-Eustace’s maternal partiality saw, in the irresistible attractions of her son, an excuse for Maria’s fault, which made pity almost usurp the place of blame. It became the mother’s task to console her who had blighted all the prospects of that beloved son; for Maria saw and felt too well that the life of aimless, listless idleness that Lord Sotheron led, was affecting his spirits, his temper, and his character; she knew and felt to her heart’s core that her eldest boy would always have to struggle against the flaw in his birth. By Eleanor’s advice they resolved to pass some time on the continent, till the painful notoriety at present attached to their name had in some measure subsided, and it was not till after the lapse of two or three years that they took possession of their magnificent mansion of Stonebury. Many were the family discussions to which the arrival of Lord and Lady Sotheron gave rise. The gay wished to participate in the society which they thought would probably be assembled at Stonebury; the easy and good-natured understood that Lady Sotheron had conducted herself with the greatest propriety since her present marriage, and were inclined to forget any past misconduct; the vulgar enjoyed the opportunity of protecting a person of rank and fortune. On the other hand, the rigid urged the unanswerable argument, that unless a decided line be drawn between virtue and vice, there must be an utter end of all morality in the land. They naturally were shocked that the woman who had abandoned all her duties should be at the head of society, enjoying rank, fortune, and even respectability. Alas! if they could have read the heart of her whose worldly prosperity thus excited their virtuous indignation, they would have found her as much an object of pity as those who have erred should ever be, to those who need not shrink from the reproaches of conscience or the judgment of their fellow creatures. Not one of these visits passed without some occurrence, which to a sensitive mind gave exquisite pain.