He had come to town on business, and regretted that he would not be at Newstead until a fortnight, as he wished to have seen me there on my way to Scotland.

Says he, 'Can you keep a secret ?' 'Certainly--positively--my wife's out of town!' 'Then--I am going to be MARRIED!' 'The devil! I shall have no poem this winter then ?' 'No.' 'Who is the lady who is to do me this injury ?' 'Miss Milbanke--do you know her ?' 'No, my lord.' "So here is news for you! I fancy the lady is rich, noble, and beautiful; but this shall be my day's business to enquire about.

Oh! how he did curse poor Lady C---- as the fiend who had interrupted all his projects, and who would do so now if possible.

I think he hinted that she had managed to interrupt this connexion two years ago.

He thought she was abroad, and, to his torment and astonishment, he finds her not only in England, but in London.