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.
In proposing to take Lady Hamlet Vernon to the Park, Lady Tilney's real object was to withdraw her from Lord Albert, whose anxiety had not escaped her observation, and whose political career she still had hopes might not be positively decided; at any rate, if hope remained, it was worth the trial; and should she have been correct in her idea that Lord Albert had not committed himself irrevocably, no time was to be lost; that very moment perhaps he waited only the voice of Lady Hamlet's influence, to decide his wavering intentions. Lady Tilney's part was therefore quickly taken; and as they proceeded to the Park, she endeavoured to turn Lady Hamlet Vernon's mind from Lord Albert, if he really occupied any share in it, by adverting to every topic of the day; among other things she said:
"What do you think! Miss Melcomb's marriage with Lord Glenmore is at length declared. I had long had my suspicions that it would be so; but I cannot say I approve of the affair; and I am sure you will think with me, Lord Glenmore is too great a card to be played by that little miss, who has never left her mamma's wing; and has, of course, imbibed all her prejudices. But although Lord Glenmore has allied himself with this family, we must not wholly give him up; besides the Georgina is pretty, and she may yet not prove quite such a simpleton as she looks." Lady Tilney, however, in vain endeavoured to interest Lady Hamlet Vernon in any subject she discussed; the former acquiesced in every thing her companion said, in order to avoid the argument which would have followed any dissent from her opinion. Lady Hamlet Vernon's remarks, when she made any, were short, and little to the purpose; and at length, wearied and ill at ease, she complained of a head-ache, and besought Lady Tilney to set her down at home.
When the carriage-door closed, Lady Tilney flung herself back, exclaiming as she drew up the glass, "How provokingly discreet, she did not once commit herself!" and Lady Tilney drove once more back to the Park, in the hope of seeing Lord Albert; and if possible, by courting his attention, of counteracting any influence which might have been exercised on his opinion by Lady Hamlet Vernon. She looked, however, in vain for him in the crowd; and at length drove home, disappointed and displeased at her want of success, and out of humour with every thing.