She besought me then, with great earnestness, to give her my company till the day arrived, and on the day. You see, said she, that my brother has engagements till Monday. Dear creature, support, comfort me Don’t you see my heart beat through my stays? If you love me, come to me tomorrow to breakfast; and leave me not for the whole time Are you not my sister, and the friend of my heart? I will give you a month for it, upon demand. Come, let us go down, I will ask the consent of both your cousins.

She did: and they, with their usual goodness to me, cheerfully complied.

Sir Charles set out this morning to attend the triple marriages; drest charmingly, his sister says. I have made Miss Grandison promise to give me an account of such particulars, as, by the help of Saunders, and Sir Charles’s own relation, she can pick up. All we single girls, I believe, are pretty attentive to such subjects as these: as what one day may be our own concern.

Letter XII.

Miss Grandison to Miss Byron.

Thursday night.

Unreasonable, wicked, cruel, Byron! To expect a poor creature so near her execution, to write an account of other people’s behaviour in the same tre-mendous circumstances! The matrimonial noose has hung over my head for some time past; and now it is actually fitted to my devoted neck. Almost choaked, my dear! This moment done hearing read, the firsts, seconds, thirds, fourths, to near a dozen of them Lord be merciful to us! And the villainous lawyer rearing up to me his spectacled nose, as if to see how I bore it! Lord G. insulting me, as I thought, by his odious leers: Lady Ger-trude simpering; little Emily ready to bless herself How will the dear Harriet bear these abominable recitatives? But I am now up stairs from them all, in order to recover my breath and obey my Byron.

Well, but what am I now to say about the Dan-bys? Saunders has made his report; Sir Charles has told us some things: yet I will only give you heads: make out the rest.

In the first place, mv brother went to Mrs. Har-rington’s (Miss Danby’s aunt): she did every-thing but worship him. She had with her two young la-dies, relations of her ‘ate husband, dainty damsels of the city, who had procured themselves to be invited, that they might see the man, whom they call — ed, A wonder of generosity and goodness. Richard heard one of them say to the other, Ah, sister! This is a king of a man! What pity there are not many such! But, Harriet, if there were a hundred of them, we would not let one of them go into the city for a wife; would we, my dear?