CHAPTER XIX.
Come, the plot thickens! and another fold Of the warm cloak of mystery wraps us around.
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And for their loves?
Behold the seal is on them! Tanner of Tyburn.
We must not suppose that Clifford's manner and tone were towards Lucy Brandon such as they seemed to others.

Love refines every roughness; and that truth which nurtures tenderness is never barren of grace.

Whatever the habits and comrades of Clifford's life, he had at heart many good and generous qualities.

They were not often perceptible, it is true,--first, because he was of a gay and reckless turn; secondly, because he was not easily affected by any external circumstances; and thirdly, because he had the policy to affect among his comrades only such qualities as were likely to give him influence with them.

Still, however, his better genius broke out whenever an opportunity presented itself.