“Would you have me wed when my heart is not fixed?” demanded Charles, warmly. “I laboured under a delusion: I fancied that I loved Lady Frances as one whom I should wish to make my wife--but I now find that it was only with the affection of a brother or of a very sincere friend that I in reality regarded her! Yesterday morning you, my dear father, entered my chamber, at a moment when the confusion of ideas caused by unpleasant dreams was scarcely dissipated;--you urged me to confess an attachment to Lady Frances--to seek her hand;--and I obeyed you! But I acted under an impulse for which I could not account;--I yielded to some unknown influence which I could not resist. And yet it was not love, my dear parents;--no--it was not love! In making Lady Frances my wife I should only ensure the unhappiness of an excellent--a beautiful--an accomplished girl----” “You admit all her admirable qualities, Charles,” interrupted his mother; “and yet you refuse to avail yourself of an opportunity to secure so precious a prize--to link your fortunes with one who is certain to make the best of wives!” “It is truly incomprehensible!” exclaimed Mr. Hatfield, whose knowledge of the world and large experience of the human heart convinced him that there was something more at the bottom of his son’s conduct than the alleged reasons for so abruptly breaking off a match that, he thought, must appear in every way so eligible and advantageous to the young man. “My dear parents, this scene is most painful to us all,” said Charles, who, glancing rapidly at the time-piece upon the mantel, saw that the hour was approaching for his to visit Perdita. His father, observing that impatient look cast towards the clock, instantly comprehended that his son had some appointment to keep; and connecting this discovery with the strangeness of his conduct in respect to Lady Frances, it flashed to his mind in a moment that the young man had formed some attachment elsewhere. “Charles,” he accordingly said, turning abruptly towards his son and looking him full in the face, “you love another?” The young man became red as scarlet, and stammered out a few unintelligible words, which his father soon cut short. “Now we have discovered the truth! But surely you have formed no unworthy attachment?--surely you cannot love one whom you are ashamed to name?” cried Mr. Hatfield. “Speak, Charles--speak! Answer your father!” said Lady Georgiana, in an imploring tone, as she perceived her son turn away towards the mantel.