He told
her, that his sister and Lord G---- were to be married on the following
Tuesday. He himself, he said, should set out for Paris on Friday after:
but hoped to see a family intimacy begun between his sisters and Lady
Beauchamp; and between their lords, and Sir Harry, and Mr. Beauchamp. He
applauded her on the generosity of her intentions, as declared to him in
their former conference; and congratulated her on the power she had, of
which she made so noble an use, of laying, at the same time, an
obligation on the tenderest of husbands, and the most deserving of sons:
whose duty to her he engaged for.
All this set her in high good humour; and she took to herself, and
bridled upon it, to express myself in Charlotte's manner, the praises and
graces this adroit manager gave her, as if they were her unquestionable
due.
This agreeable way they were all in, Sir Harry transported with his
lady's goodness, when Mr. Beauchamp arrived.
The young gentleman bent his knee to his stepmother, as well as to his
father, and thanked her for the high favours his father had signified to
him by letter, that he owed to her goodness. She confirmed them; but,
Sir Charles observed, with an ostentation that shewed she thought very
highly of her own generosity.
They had a very cheerful evening. Not one cloud would hang on Lady
Beauchamp's brow, though once or twice it seemed a little overshadowed,
as Mr.
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