"THE IMPROVISATRICE," "THE VENETIAN BRACELET," &c. &c. &o. Thus have I begun ; And 'tis my hope to end successfully. SHAKSPEARE IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. NEW-YORK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. ROMANCE AND REALITY. CHAPTER I. "Alas! what differs more than man from man? "There is a bondage that is worse to bear Than his who breathes, by roof, and floor, and wall 'Tis his who His fetters in his soul." must bear WORDSWORTH. A DAY when the south wind brought with it sunshine and showers-when one half hour down came the glistening rain so quickly that the sun had not time to hide his faceand the next, the blue sky had its azure deepened by the relief of the broken white clouds; while the garden was flooded with golden light-at the point of every leaf hung a clear, bright rain drop-and the turf shone like an emerald with the moisture. The air was soft and warm, and fraught with that peculiar sweetness which tells that the serynga (our English orange flower) has expanded, and that the lilacs are in full blossom. Edward Lorraine was seated at an open window: when the soft warm rain came down, it beat the other way, and the eye followed it driving through the sunshine, like a fairy shower of diamond or amber, till it seemed to melt on the green and distant hills into a mist, silvery but indistinct. Mr. Morland was amusing himself with the County Chronicle, and Edward was absorbed in his book: Lady Mandeville and Emily were seated at a small work table. Lady Mandeville, who had not been in the room ten minutes, was very industrious; but it must be owned that VOL. II.-1 |