The baronet had proposed this rustic _fete_ when
his own heart had been light and happy; now he looked forward to the
day with a sickening dread of its weariness. Others would be happy; but
the sound of mirthful voices and light laughter would fall with a
terrible discordance on the ear of the man whose mind was tortured by
hidden doubts. Sir Oswald was too courteous a host to disappoint his
visitors. All the preparations for the rustic festival were duly made:
and on the appointed morning a train of horses and carriages drew up in
a line in the quadrangle of the castle.
It would have been impossible to imagine a brighter picture of English
life; and as the guests emerged in groups from the wide, arched
doorway, and took their places in the carriages, or sprang lightly into
their saddles, the spectacle grew more and more enlivening.
Lydia Graham had done her utmost to surpass all rivals on this
important day. Wealthy country squires and rich young lordlings were to
be present at the festival, and the husband-huntress might, perchance,
find a victim among these eligible bachelors. Deeply as she was already
in debt, Miss Graham had written to her French milliner, imploring her
to send her a costume regardless of expense, and promising a speedy
payment of at least half her long-standing account. The fair and false
Lydia did not scruple to hint at the possibility of her making a
brilliant matrimonial alliance ere many months were over, in order that
this hope might beguile the long-suffering milliner into giving further
credit.
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