Ravensdale; a Tale, by a Lady

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. O beware, my Lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on.? Shakspeare. Thus flitted time, its daily routine unvaried by any striking event. At length cards were issued for a ball at Ravens- dale; and never to Emily did time seem to press more heavily than during that tedious lapse, which intervened till the arrival of the particular Tuesday destined for the event. And a brilliant scene was that ball?according well with the lightsome show of joyous countenances gracing the refined circle. The outward seeming was fair to behold; nor pause we to investigate more deeply, save in the instance of one, or two, or three individuals, to whom a more particular introduction becomes indispensable to our narrative. Sir Richard Mordaunt?the first who claims our attention?and whose characteristics being of that butterfly nature which may be pourtrayed in few words, here demands a cursory review. Light, gay, agreeable, and fashionable; but worthless, frivolous, selfish, dissipated, and vain? his disposition was unredeemed. by one sterling virtue?possessing, however, an agreeable exterior, independent fortune, and high birth: with these pretensions he had some time previously entered himself a candidate for the favour of Emily, who, however, from an inherent dislike to his individual character, and in strict compliance with the counsel of her brother, failed not heretofore to repulse him at every opportunity. But dark was the thread on this night, interwoven by the fates into the web of her existence ! ?by the fates?did I say ? Ah ! how prone are we to lay to the charge of destiny, the too manifest consequences of our own wilful errors !?and how sad to think how oft our wayward fancy leads us to step asid...