From this state she was suddenly roused by the servants announcing Lord Albert D'Esterre himself; and making an effort to subdue the feeling which either she was too much ashamed, or too proud to own, she endeavoured to receive him with as much composure as she could assume. After the first words of course had passed, Lady Hamlet Vernon was too deeply absorbed in one subject for her readily to turn to any indifferent topic; and she at length addressed Lord Albert on the subject of her solicitude, saying, "Do you know I have received a letter this morning full of the praises of a person, in whom I believe you are much interested; it is from a friend of mine now staying at Dunmelraise, and who draws such a picture of the charms of Lady Adeline Seymour, that I wonder, Lord Albert, to see you here--but you are going to Dunmelraise, are you not, immediately?" Her tears almost flowed afresh as she pronounced these words; and unconsciously she cast a look of tender intreaty on Lord Albert. The latter had involuntarily started, coloured, and hesitated to reply to this unexpected question; at length he answered: "No, not immediately; I am unable to leave town yet." "You are not in love," Lady Hamlet Vernon exclaimed, "no, you are _not_ in love with Lady Adeline Seymour--I read your heart in the measured calmness of your words; she is _not_ the mistress of your affections." The sentence seemed to have escaped Lady Hamlet Vernon's lips without the power of control, in a moment of excitement; and her eyes, which had been fixed on Lord Albert, now as suddenly fell beneath his gaze as he exclaimed with astonishment, "What can you mean, what _do_ you mean, Lady Hamlet Vernon?" At that moment Lady Tilney was announced, and a minute after Lord Gascoigne. Conversation became general; but Lord Albert, evidently labouring under some painful feeling, took no part in it. Still he seemed determined to remain, to await the departure of the others, when Lady Tilney proposed to Lady Hamlet Vernon to accompany her to the Park; and the latter, fearing that she had compromised herself in the too open expression of her feelings relative to Lord Albert and Lady Adeline Seymour, availed herself of the opportunity to avoid any renewal of the theme. With a heart ill at ease, she prepared to attend Lady Tilney to the dazzling throng of Hyde Park; while Lord Albert, seeing it was vain to look for any explanation of Lady Hamlet Vernon's extraordinary address to him at the moment, reluctantly handed her to Lady Tilney's carriage; and, trusting to some future opportunity to ask an explanation, he mounted his horse and rode off; but not with a mind so tranquil or a heart so buoyant as he had possessed a short time before.