Suddenly, when the young idol of London still wanted some two or three
years of his majority, a new whim appeared to seize him. He withdrew
entirely from society; he left unanswered the most pressing three-
cornered notes of inquiry and invitation that ever strewed the table of a
young Guardsman; he was rarely seen anywhere in his former haunts,--when
seen, was either alone or with Egerton; and his gay spirits seemed wholly
to have left him. A profound melancholy was written in his countenance,
and breathed in the listless tones of his voice. About this time a
vacancy happening to occur for the representation of Lansmere, Harley
made it his special request to his father that the family interest might
be given to Audley Egerton,--a request which was backed by all the
influence of his lady mother, who shared in the esteem which her son felt
for his friend. The earl yielded; and Egerton, accompanied by Harley,
went down to Lansmere Park, which adjoined the borough, in order to be
introduced to the electors. This visit made a notable epoch in the
history of many personages who figure in my narrative; but at present I
content myself with saying that circumstances arose which, just as the
canvass for the new election commenced, caused both L'Estrange and Audley
to absent themselves from the scene of action, and that the last even
wrote to Lord Lansmere expressing his intention of declining to contest
the borough.

Fortunately for the parliamentary career of Audley Egerton, the election
had become to Lord Lansmere not only a matter of public importance, but
of personal feeling. He resolved that the battle should be fought out,
even in the absence of the candidate, and at his own expense. Hitherto
the contest for this distinguished borough had been, to use the language
of Lord Lansmere, "conducted in the spirit of gentlemen,"--that is to
say, the only opponents to the Lansmere interest had been found in one or
the other of the two rival families in the same county; and as the earl