“Come, I like that—­I am enigmatical myself—­you see it is in the family.”

“Enigmatical threats which I cannot understand, and desires me to hold myself prepared for certain steps which he is about to take, in justice to what he is pleased to term his own claims.  However, it is not worth notice.  But this Norton, I am anxious to see him, Dunroe—­will you request him to call upon me to-morrow at twelve o’clock?—­of course, I feel desirous to make the acquaintance of a man who has proved himself such a warm and sterling friend to my son.”

“Undoubtedly, my lord, he shall attend on you—­I shall take care of that.  Good-by, my lord—­good by, Emily—­good—­good—­my dear girl, never mind the embrace—­it is quite undignified—­anything but a patrician usage, I assure you.”

Now it is necessary that we should give our readers a clearer conception of Lord Dunroe’s character than is to be found in the preceding dialogue.  This young gentleman was one of those who wish to put every person who enters into conversation with them completely at fault.  It was one of his whims to affect ignorance on many subjects with which he was very well acquainted.  His ambition was to be considered a character; and in order to carry this idea out, he very frequently spoke on the most commonplace topics as a man might be supposed to do who had just dropped from the moon.  He thought, also, that there was something aristocratic in this fictitious ignorance, and that it raised him above the common herd of those who could talk reasonably on the ordinary topics of conversation or life.  His ambition, the reader sees, was to be considered original.  It had besides, this advantage, that in matters where his ignorance is anything but feigned, it brought him out safely under the protection of his accustomed habit, without suffering from the imputation of the ignorance he affected.  It was, indeed, the ambition of a vain and silly mind; but provided he could work out this paltry joke upon a grave and sensible though unsuspecting individual, he felt quite delighted at the feat; and took the person thus imposed upon into the number of his favorites.  It was upon this principle among others that Norton, who pretended never to see through his flimsy irony, contrived to keep in his favor, and to shape him according to his wishes, whilst he made the weak-minded young man believe that everything he did and every step he took was the result of his own deliberate opinion, whereas in fact he was only a puppet in his hands.

His father, who was naturally kind and indulgent, felt deeply grieved and mortified by the reflections arising from this visit.  During the remainder of the day he seemed wrapped in thought; but we do not attempt to assert that the dialogue with his son was the sole cause of this.  He more than once took out his brother’s letter which he read with surprise, not unmingled with strong curiosity and pain.  It was, as he said, extremely enigmatical, whilst at the same time it contained evidences of that deplorable spirit which almost uniformly embitters so deeply the feuds which arise from domestic misconceptions.  On this point, however, we shall enable the reader to judge for himself.  The letter was to the following effect: