You are sure to please me when you see me?" he
murmured. "You are very confident, young lady!" So much had her charm
faded. And then he thought kindly of her, and that a meeting would not be
good for her, and that she ought to go to Italy and follow her
profession. "If she grows famous," whispered coxcombry, "why then oneself
will take a little of the praises given to her." And that seemed
eminently satisfactory. Men think in this way when you have loved them,
ladies. All men? No; only the coxcombs; but it is to these that you give
your fresh affection. They are, as it were, the band of the regiment of
adorers, marching ahead, while we sober working soldiers follow to their
music. "If she grows famous, why then I can bear in mind that her heart
was once in my possession: and it may return to its old owner,
perchance." Wilfrid indulged in a pleasant little dream of her singing at
the Opera-house, and he, tied to a ferocious, detested wife, how softly
and luxuriously would he then be sighing for the old time! It was partly
good seed in his nature, and an apprehension of her force of soul, that
kept him from a thought of evil to her. Passion does not inspire dark
appetite. Dainty innocence does, I am told. Things are tested by the
emotions they provoke. Wilfrid knew that there was no trifling with
Emilia, so he put the letter by, commenting thus "she's right, she
doesn't spell badly." Behind, which, to those who have caught the springs
of his character, volumes may be seen.

He put the letter by. Two days later, at noon, the card of Captain
Gambier was brought to him in the billiard-room,--on it was written:
"Miss Belloni waits on horseback to see you." Wilfrid thought "Waits!"
and the impossibility of escape gave him a notion of her power.

"So, you are letting that go on," said Lady Charlotte, when she heard
that Emilia and the captain were in company.

"There is no fear for her whatever."

"There is always fear when a man gives every minute of his time to that
kind of business," retorted her ladyship.

Wilfrid smiled the smile of the knowing. Rivalry with Gambier (and
successful too!) did not make Emilia's admiration so tasteless. Some one
cries out: "But, what a weak creature is this young man!" I reply, he was
at a critical stage of his career. All of us are weak in the period of
growth, and are of small worth before the hour of trial. This fellow had
been fattening all his life on prosperity; the very best dish i