Lord Eltondale seldom joined the circle in which alone his Viscountess condescended to move; and, except in very large assemblies, either at home or abroad, they were seldom seen together.
The same undistinguishing kindness still marked his manner to Selina, which she had experienced on her first reception at Eltondale; and he continued to think of her as a pretty, lively, good-humoured girl, but he had neither time nor talent to ascertain whether she was a happy one; indeed he never thought about her, except when she was present; and thus the occasional depression of her spirits, which was so new in the history of Selina's life, passed unnoticed both by the Viscount and his Lady, from the total want of reflection in the character of the one, and the refinement of duplicity in the other.
On the evening of the day in which Selina visited Somerset House, she accompanied Lady Eltondale to the Opera. She had never yet been in any theatre. What then were her sensations, when, on the door of her aunt's box being opened, she beheld, at one coup d'œil, the assembled magnificence of the stage, presented in the last act of a beautiful ballet, and that of the audience, which seemed ranged round more to increase than to enjoy the splendor of the spectacle? To those who have beheld such a scene, with as little experience, and as much capability of enjoyment as Selina possessed, no description of its effects would be necessary; and to those who have not, no words could give an adequate idea of her delight. Lady Eltondale's box was soon filled with gentlemen, but nothing had, at first, the power of diverting Selina's attention from the stage, whilst the naïveté of her remarks, and the varying expression of her countenance, gave her every moment new charms. Amongst the rest Sir James Fenton and Lord George Meredith were most obsequious in their attentions, and loudest in their encomiums. She had just turned her head, to listen to a curious account the latter was giving of his having been once introduced to Mrs. Sullivan and her daughters, and was laughing heartily at his ridiculous imitation of their manners, when her eye caught that of Mordaunt, who was standing in the pit at no great distance. But his fine countenance no longer bore that expression, which she had so fondly treasured in her memory. He stood gazing at her, with a cold, almost contemptuous steadiness: no beam of tenderness softened the brilliancy of his penetrating eye, that seemed to dart into her very soul. She coloured, and returned his half salute with one still more expressive of indignant pride; and, with increased vivacity, renewed her conversation with Lord George Meredith. Mordaunt did not visit their box the whole evening, though Lord Osselstone staid in it for some time, occasionally smiling, and sometimes even calling forth Selina's observations on the scene, to her so replete with novelty and attraction: while once or twice following the direction of her unconscious glance, his eyes were directed to an opposite box, where Augustus seemed to be evidently renewing his devoirs to the pretty Miss Webster, to whom, as Selina thought, he had been so unnecessarily civil at Lady Eltondale's assembly.
At last, as the closing scene was almost finished, and the Viscountess was preparing to leave her box, escorted by Sir James Fenton, the door was suddenly opened by Sedley, who came to attend Selina to her carriage; she gave a smothered sigh as she thought "Augustus would once have done the same," but accepted the proffered civility, after having introduced him to Lady Eltondale; who was already well acquainted with him by name, as Frederick Elton's friend and correspondent, and therefore she thought him a most desirable attendant on Selina. Thus escorted, they hastened to their carriage, and drove without delay to join another crowd, at the Duchess of Saltoun's ball. And here Selina was, as usual, admired, followed, and flattered. Lord George Meredith and Sedley had both engaged her, before they left the Opera, to dance; and as it was one of her favorite amusements, she quickly entered into all the gaiety that surrounded her, with that vivacity which is so natural to youth, and so peculiarly belonging to her character. Mordaunt, for the moment, was forgotten; or if his image intruded on her mind, it rose as a dark cloud, that threw a gloomy shade on her present pleasure, and served but to make her turn to the joys of dissipation with increased avidity, as an antidote to its saddening influence. Is it to be wondered at, that a girl so totally inexperienced as Selina was, should yield a little to the many temptations that now surrounded her? Without any calm, steady friend, whose sobered reflection would have served as a counterpoise to her natural volatility, she found herself suddenly transported from the deepest shade of retirement to the brightest blaze of fashion.
Her youth, her beauty, her fortune, all conspired to place her in the foremost rank of praise.—All the young men professing themselves her admirers, all the women her friends.—Could she for a moment doubt their sincerity being equal to her own? And could it be supposed, that, believing their truth, she should be wholly insensible to such unexpected adulation?
CHAPTER VI.
Songez bien que l'amour sait feindre,
Redoutez un sage berger,
On n'est que plus près du danger,
Quand on croit n'avoir rien à craindre.[5]
Balls, parties, operas, followed each other in rapid succession; and as rapidly did Selina rise to the very zenith of fashion. She became at once the ton, and, being so, whatever she said, whatever she did, was of course immediately pronounced "wisest, discreetest, best." She had many followers, but Lord George Meredith was the only gentleman, who had yet openly professed himself to be her suitor. It was, however, far from Lady Eltondale's intention, that Selina should make any choice for herself; or rather, she determined so to bend her ductile mind, that by degrees that choice, which was in reality Lady Eltondale's, should seem to be her own. She therefore carefully observed the manner of all the young men, who were most sedulous in paying attention to Selina; believing that she was fully capable of discriminating, whether their intentions went beyond the amusement of the passing moment, and equally certain of frustrating any plan that militated against her own. The more Selina became the fashion, the more steady became Lady Eltondale's determination to marry her to Frederick Elton; and with that infatuation, which is a natural consequence of self-love, the deeper she became engaged in the prosecution of her scheme, the more she felt herself interested in its ultimate success. Lord George Meredith soon rendered himself an object of her jealousy; and she therefore took an early opportunity of casually informing Selina, through an apparently accidental conversation with Sir James Fenton, of his Lordship's unconquerable passion for gaming, and concluded by turning abruptly to Selina, remarking, "that, no doubt, the fine oaks of Deane Hall would serve to repair some of his losses; and, as he regularly made love to every heiress that came out, perhaps Selina might, if she chose, procure for herself the hitherto rejected title in reversion of Marchioness Starmont." Lady Eltondale's sarcasm was not without its due effect: by degrees Selina's behaviour to Lord George sunk into a cold, though polite reserve; and his Lordship, understanding the change in the manner both of aunt and niece, gradually withdrew his attentions. The conduct of Mr. Sedley was much more equivocal, and almost baffled the penetration of the Viscountess. It always happened his engagements and theirs were the same, and wherever they went he became one of their immediate party; but his manner was so perfectly careless, that the rencontre seemed purely accidental. He admired Selina's beauty avowedly, but with apparently equal nonchalance, sometimes complimented Lady Eltondale on the elegance of Miss Seymour's dress, and much oftener finding fault with Selina herself, if any particular ornament or colour in it happened not to suit his fancy. To the Viscountess herself his manner was in the highest degree attentive, and even insinuating; and had the world in which they moved had time to attend to his conduct in particular, it would probably have decided, that he was much more assiduous in recommending himself to the aunt than to the niece. He would often place himself, for a whole evening, behind Lady Eltondale's chair, when the vivacity and singularity of his conversation, compounded, as it was, of sense and levity, would withdraw nearly all her attention from the rest of the company, while at the same time Selina would appear almost unregarded by him. It also often happened, if they were at a ball together, he would ask Selina to dance, "provided she had not any other partner;" or tell her to "say at least she was engaged to him, if any asked her she did not wish to dance with;" and such was the pleasure Selina always experienced from his natural vivacious manners, that it seldom happened that the engagement was not fulfilled. And yet it seemed almost a matter of indifference to him, whether it was so or not; he often appeared fully as anxious to procure other pleasant partners for her, as to be the chosen one himself. One evening, Selina supposed she had engaged herself to him, and waited in anxious, though vain, expectation of his coming to claim her hand; and when, as his apology for not doing so, he told her laughingly, that he had totally forgotten their engagement, she was almost tempted to be affronted. But he so good naturedly called the next morning, to bring her the music of the last new ballet, and appeared so unconscious of having merited her displeasure, that it quickly vanished, and their friendship seemed more firmly established than ever.