ut two o'clock in the morning, we took a brougham, drove back my
aunt to the Rue de l'Arcade, where she occupies a splendidly furnished
suite of rooms, and then returned home.

"What do you think of all that, my dear Louis? Hum!"

Our little circle has been augmented by a very pleasant and genial
addition, Mr. Edward Wolsey, a nephew of the commodore's, who may very
likely be engaged to Maud.

As I have become quite intimate with Commodore Montague's party, I
generally join their group, without the smallest fear of raising a
suspicion regarding these encounters. The attention which I pay to
Kondje-Gul and to Suzannah have caused no little envy, for, as you know,
Kondje-Gul pretends she does not dance. This peculiarity, together with
her original fascinations with which a certain childish simplicity is
mingled, give rise to the most extraordinary conjectures. What is the
cause of all this reserve? men ask. Is it modesty, bashfulness, or
pride? They know that she can dance splendidly, for she has been seen
dancing occasionally at private parties with Maud and Suzannah. They
think it must be due to some jealous _fiance_, her betrothal to whom is
kept secret, and to whom she is devoted.

Lent having interrupted the course of public entertainments, our private
parties which usually took place at Teral House, became the gainers by
it. Maud and Suzannah felt more free and easy there, and Kondje-Gul
experienced quite a childish delight in holding what she called her
"receptions." Our small circle was soon augmented by a dozen select
friends, picked carefully from the ranks of their young ball-room
acquaintances. There were one or two mothers among them whose presence
did not interfere with the harmony of these charming gatherings, and the
tone of elegant distinction which prevailed in no respect interfered
with their exuberant gaiety.

This break in the giddy circle of fashionable dissipation, afforded
quite a new happiness to Kondje-Gul and me. In the course of her
initiation into the refinements of our life, her exotic charms had
acquired some new and indescribable embellishments. We spent many a long
evening alone together in that delightful privacy which affords the
sweetest opportunities for communion between loving hearts, and we grew
to feel like a modern Darby and Joan. I was quite proud of my handiwork,
and contemplated with joy this pure and ideal being whose nature I had
inspired, whose soul and whose heart I