"'You may do both then, at a humble distance, George. But here's Philip Mornington, can satisfy all your queries—he knows, and used to feel an interest in the young lady.'
"To hear her name in such company, was to me profanation. I made some ungracious reply to what I considered an impertinent observation of Howard's, and feigning some improbable excuse for absenting myself from the party, I turned my horse's head and rode back to my lodgings, in spite of several large bets that I had pending upon a favorite horse.
"Charlotte was in London, and I could not rest until I had learned my fate from her own lips. I hastened to her aunt's residence; and, contrary to my expectations, on sending up my card, I was instantly admitted to her presence.
"She was alone in the drawing-room. The slight girl of seventeen was now a beautiful and graceful woman; intelligence beaming from her eyes, and the bloom of health upon her cheek. As I approached the table at which she was seated, she rose to meet me, and the colour receded so fast from her face that I feared she would faint, and instead of addressing me with her usual frankness, she turned away her head and burst into tears.
"You may imagine my distress: I endeavoured to take her hand, but she drew proudly back.
"'Is this Charlotte?'
"'Rather let me ask—is this Philip Mornington, my brother's friend?' she spoke with a degree of severity which astonished me—'the man for whom I once entertained the deepest respect and affection.'
"'Which implies that you do so no longer?'
"'You have rightly guessed.'
"'And may I ask Miss Laurie why she has seen fit to change the opinion she once entertained?'