oom, I marching at their head in
my gamekeeper's costume. Without further consideration, I ran
downstairs again, followed by the ladies, and so re-entered the
room, where the gentlemen were still assembled in common council,
and where our almost immediate return in this fashion was hailed by
a universal shout of surprise and laughter. After standing for a
minute, with a huge rough overcoat over my rose-colored satin and
_moire_ skirts, which made a most ludicrous termination to the
pugnacious habit of my upper woman, I plunged my hand into one of
the pockets, and drew forth a pair of hand-cuffs (a prudent
provision in case of an encounter with poachers). Encouraged by the
peals of merriment with which this discovery was greeted, I thrust
my other hand into the other pocket, when Mr. Morton Berkeley,
without uttering a word, rushed at me, and, seizing me by the wrist,
prevented my accomplishing my purpose. The suddenness of this
movement frightened me at first a good deal. Presently, however, my
emotion changed, and I felt nothing but amazement at being thus
unceremoniously seized hold of, and rage at finding that I could not
extricate myself from the grasp that held me. Like a coward and a
woman, I appealed to all the other gentlemen, but they were laughing
so excessively that they were quite unable to help me, and probably
anticipated no great mischief from Mr. Berkeley's proceeding. I was
almost crying with mortification, and actually drew the cutlass and
threatened to cut the fingers that encircled my wrist like one of
the iron handcuffs, but, finding my captor inexorable, I was
obliged, with extreme sulky confusion, to beg to be let go, and
promise to take the coat off without any further attempts to search
the pockets. I divested myself of my borrowed apparel a great deal
faster than I had put it on, and its owner walked off with the
pea-jacket, the right pocket of which remained unexplored. We ladies
withdrew again, rather crestfallen at the termination of our joke, I
rubbing my wrist like Mary Stuart after her encounter with Lord
Ruthven, and wondering extremely what could be the mysterious
contents of that pocket.

The next day Lady Mary told me that her brother had long cherished a
romantic sort of idolatry for Miss F----, and that, as a pendant to
the handcuffs in one