THE

A

NOVEL,

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

BY

MISS JANE PORTER,

AUTHOR OF THADDEUS OF WARSAW, SIDNEY'S APHORISMS,

AND THE SCOTTISH CHIEFS.

I will confess the ambitious projects which I once had,
are dead within me. After having seen the parts which fools
play upon the great stage; a few books, and a few friends,
are what I shall seek to finish my days with.

TWEDDELL.

VOL. IV.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

THE

PASTOR'S FIRE-SIDE.

CHAP. I.

SOME time elapsed before Louis saw the Marquis again; but when he re-appeared, it was to appoint him an interview with a lady of the court; and this ostensible confidant was no other than Her Majesty's self.

Santa Cruz's representation of Louis's romantic honour with regard to Countess Altheim, had excited Isabella's not less romantic taste for adventure; and she resolved to try her personal effect upon him, unaided by her rank. While she was considering this project, a person arrived from Vienna, speaking every where of the confusion which had taken place at that court,