Lord Kingsborough had no sooner finished this important business, than he set out for London, in his return to Paris, determined, if possible, to recover Miss Faulkner, and to restore Miss Johnson to her parents, agreeable to the promise he had made the Colonel. With this intention, on his arrival in London, emissaries of various kinds were employed and dispatched through all parts of the town, and several days were spent in fruitless enquiries for our heroine. She had taken lodgings in the neighbourhood of Grosvenor Square, the most retired and private part of the town; and being an entire stranger, without one single acquaintance, she lived in the most frugal manner with a widow lady, to whose house she had been recommended; and seldom stirred out of doors but in her company, sometimes to the play, and at other times to take a walk in Hyde Park; and in this obscurity she had passed several months, so that it was almost impossible to find out her retreat. Lord Kingsboroughh had spent a whole week in London, without receiving the least account of her; he continued several persons in employ for the same purpose, during his absence, and set out for Paris.

            We must not, however, too hastily conclude, that Lord Kingsborough's immediate return to Paris, proceeded from the violence of his passion for Miss Johnson, or that it was in preference to the pleasure the discovery of Miss Faulkner would have given him. It was quite the reverse. Ambition prompted his Lordship more than love, in his adventure with the former. He never entertained for her any of that real tenderness and regard, which he felt for Miss Faulkner, and now that she appeared lost to him, all his former passion for this lovely fugitive revived with additional ardour, and the apprehensions he was under lest any fatal accident had happened to her, filled his mind with a concern and anxiety which he never before felt, and he was resolved to recover her at any expense or trouble, on his return to London.

            These were his principal inducements for immediately setting out for Paris before he had found her; and the promise he had made Colonel Johnson to restore his sister, was another motive for his speedy return to that lady. She was equally rejoiced at his safety, and the attention, which he paid her, in so suddenly removing her fears and apprehensions; but after a few days, when he acquainted her with the promise he had made to her brother, she was confounded, and touched with the severest remorse.

            Lord Kingsborough however assured her, that the Colonel had given him his word of honour, that she should meet with the kindest reception from her parents, and that not a syllable of what had passed would ever be mentioned to her, provided she returned to them immediately; and to convince her that these were the sentiments of her father, he advised her to write a penitential letter to him, and request an answer directed to London, where they should receive it on their return to Ireland, as they would leave Paris in a few days.

            Miss Johnson was none of those inflexible ladies, that languish out the remainder of their lives, and die of broken hearts for the loss of their lovers. When she found there was no alternative, and that Lord Kingsborough was determined to part with her, she consoled herself, wrote as he desired to her father, and after a few days spent in viewing all the curiosities at Paris, set out for London, as cheerful and happy as the nature of her situation would permit.

            On their arrival in London, Lord Kingsborough resolved to take separate apartments for Miss Johnson as well to keep up some appearance in her favour, as to prevent the further resentment of Miss Faulkner, if he should be so happy as to find her. Elegant lodgings were accordingly taken for Miss Johnson in Pall Mall, where a handsome equipage was ordered to attend her, with two footmen in her own livery, and as Lord Kingsborough had purchased her a great many very rich and elegant dresses at Paris, she cut a very conspicuous figure. This, his Lordship knew, was her darling passion, and he was determined to indulge it to any excess, in order to divert her from more pensive reflections. She was now in as high spirits as ever. She had received the most pressing letter from her father to return home, and that everything should be buried in utter oblivion; but she could not think of leaving London, till she had seen all the public diversions, and indulged her natural vanity in the display of her charming person, dress and equipage.

            The first night she appeared at the play, she drew the attention of numbers of both sexes. She was really an elegant figure, and the richness of her clothes and jewels, together with the novelty of her face, attracted most of the bloods and bucks from all parts of the house, amongst whom was a young gentleman from Ireland, who had seen her some years before in Dublin, and knew her brother and family; but, having been out of that kingdom for some years, had not heard anything of her adventure with Lord Kingsborough, who was then also to the house, but purposely avoided going into the same box with Miss Johnson for the reasons already mentioned. Mr Fleming, for that was the gentleman's name, who was now particularly struck with Miss Johnson's figure and appearance, seeing her alone and unattended, resolved immediately to make himself known to her: but as this accidental meeting is of some consequence to Miss Johnson and cannot be related in this chapter, we shall defer it to the next, that the reader and author may have a little respite, which one of them, at least, is this moment in need of.

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