to me increased; I went there often."

My father paused, and seeing my mother had fixed her eyes upon him with
a sort of mournful earnestness, and had pressed her hands very tightly
together, he bent down and kissed her forehead.

"There is no cause, my child!" said he. It was the only time I ever
heard him address my mother so parentally. But then I never heard him
before so grave and solemn,--not a quotation, too; it was incredible: it
was not my father speaking, it was another man. "Yes, I went there
often. Lord Rainsforth was a remarkable person. Shyness that was
wholly without pride (which is rare), and a love for quiet literary
pursuits, had prevented his taking that personal part in public life for
which he was richly qualified; but his reputation for sense and honor,
and his personal popularity, had given him no inconsiderable influence
even, I believe, in the formation of cabinets, and he had once been
prevailed upon to fill a high diplomatic situation abroad, in which I
have no doubt that he was as miserable as a good man can be under any
infliction. He was now pleased to retire from the world, and look at it
through the loopholes of retreat. Lord Rainsforth had a great respect
for talent, and a warm interest in such of the young as seemed to him to
possess it. By talent, indeed, his family had risen, and were
strikingly characterized. His ancestor, the first peer, had been a
distinguished lawyer; his father had been celebrated for scientific
attainments; his children, Ellinor and Lord Pendarvis, were highly
accomplished. Thus the family identified themselves with the
aristocracy of intellect, and seemed unconscious of their claims to the
lower aristocracy of rank. You must bear this in mind throughout my
story.