THE LADY OF THE MANOR; BEING A SERIES OF CONVERSATIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF CONFIRMATION. INTENDED FOR THE USE OF THE MIDDLE AND HIGHER RANKS OF YOUNG FEMALES. BY MRS. SHERWOOD, IN SEVEN VOLUMES. VOLUME V. PHILADELPHIA: TOWAR & HOGAN, No. 255 MARKET STREET. 1829. THE LADY OF THE MANOR. CHAPTER XXII. Tenth Commandment.-Thou shalt not covet thy Neigh bour's House, thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's Wife, nor his Servant, nor his Maid, nor his Ox, nor his Ass, nor any Thing that is his. "AS the commandments have already engaged our attention for a considerable time," said the lady of the manor to her young people, on the evening chosen for the consideration of the tenth commandment, "I hope to close the subject of this day with a narrative which I happen to have by me relative to the matter in hand. And, as most of what may be said on this subject is introduced in different parts of this story, I think it the less needful to make any remarks of my own on the question." The lady of the manor then drew forth a small manuscript from her work-bag; and, when she had read the title, a smile immediately appeared on the countenances of the young people, several of whom remarked, that they could form no idea of what kind of narrative it would be which should answer to a title so extraordinary. The lady of the manor smilingly signified, that she was ready to satisfy their curiosity in the best manner imaginable-by reading the story, which she accordingly commenced without further delay. Rich in the Kitchen, poor in the Parlour. On the confines of Worcestershire and Herefordshire, in a neighbourhood rendered in winter almost inaccessi›ble through the deep roads of stiff red clay, is an ancient mansion called Stanbrook Court. This building, which was from time immemorial the seat of a respectable family of the name of Vaughen, had been erected in the reign of William and Mary, and partook of that style of architecture which was fashionable in that period. The old gentleman who had entered into possession of the estate about the middle of the last century, had, at his death, left six children, with all of whom we shall become acquainted in the course of our narrative, although the affairs of one only will engage our particular attention. Of these children, the eldest, a son, had been educated at home, and had spent the greater part of his youth in his father's stable and dog-kennel. At the period from which our narrative commences, he was more than fifty years of age, had been a widower some years, and had two sons, and as many daughters. He was generally denominated, in the country, Squire Vaughen, of Stanbrook Court, and was said to possess the best pack of fox-hounds in the county. Two maiden sisters, viz. Mrs. Dorothea and Mrs. Penelope, who were nearest in age to the Squire, kept his house, which honourable station they had held ever since the death of his wife: and though they were neither of them remarkable for their good temper, yet, as their fortunes were small, and as they enjoyed in their brother's house some conveniences which they could not expect to find elsewhere, they contrived to accommodate themselves so far to his humours, that, during the course of their long residence with him, he had never actually told them to leave his house, although he not unfrequently had dropped hints which they might have interpreted to this purpose, had it suited their convenience so to do. These ladies had all that pride and ignorance of the world which is frequently found among persons who live in retirement and among their inferiors, and they were not without a variety of notable notions concerning that which they deemed proper and becoming in persons in a certain rank of life. Their nieces, the Squire's daughters, whose education had been begun by their aunts, and finished at an ordinary but dashing boarding-school in a neighbouring town, were not different from the common run of young people who have been carelessly educated, and who mistake a certain air of easy confidence for gentility, excepting that they were infected with that kind of family pride and hauteur of manner which is now seldom exhibited in the world, and which would not be tolerated were such display attempted. The second son of the old family of which the Squire was the elder, had been entered into the navy at an early age, and from that period had rarely visited his native place. This gentleman was always distinguished, when spoken of in the family, by the appellation of the Captain; and, as he was in the East India service at the time of which I am speaking, it was hoped that he would return home with some lacs of rupees; and, also, that he would then think himself either too old or too infirm to marry; as it is generally believed that those who go abroad live three years while their more quiet friends in England have added only twenty four months to their lives. The fifth child of this family was a daughter, who having entered this world some years after her sisters, and being endowed with rather more beauty than her seniors, had been put forward to make her fortune by marriage. This lady had been seen by a young counsellor at an assize-ball at Hereford, and had been taken by him to London, where she had resided ever since, taking care to spend her husband's money as expeditiously as he obtained it, having acquired a vehement desire for the vanities and pomps of this world. The youngest individual of this household was a son, who, having been early taken from his father's family, and weaned from the inelegant habits which there prevailed, by a pious uncle, who adopted and educated him, he, through the divine blessing, became a character as |
