s that her sister is our dependant, we may make our own terms. It
would be the very ruin of her in St Petersburg to publish such a fact."

"But Miss Dalton will surely write to her herself."

"She can be persuaded, I trust, to the contrary," said Mrs. Ricketts,
knowingly. "She can be shown that such an appeal would, in all
likelihood, wreck her sister's fortunes, that the confession of such a
relationship would utterly destroy her position in that proud capital;
and if she prove obstinate, the letter need not go; you understand that,
at least," added she, with a contemptuous glance that made poor Martha
tremble.

Mrs. Ricketts was now silent, and sat revelling in the various thoughts
that her active mind suggested. Upon the whole, although Dalton's dying
was an inconvenience, there were some compensating circumstances. She
had gained a most useful _protegee_ in Nelly,----one whose talents
might be made of excellent use, and whose humble, unpretending nature
would exact no requital. Again, the season at Baden was nearly over; a
week or two more, at most, was all that remained. The "Villino," which
she had left for the summer to some confiding family, who believed
that Florence was a paradise in July and August, would again be at her
disposal; and, in fact, as she phrased it, "the conjunctures were all
felicitous," and her campaign had not been unfruitful. This latter
fact attested itself in the aspect of her travelling-carriage, with its
"spolia" on the roof, and its various acquired objects under the body.
Pictures, china, plate, coins, brocades, old lace, books, prints,
manuscripts, armor, stained glass, trinkets, and relics of all kinds,
showed that travel with her was no unprofitable occupation, and that
she had realized the grand desideratum of combining pleasure with solid
advantage.

Meanwhile, so ingenious is thorough selfishness, she fancied herself
a benefactor of the whole human race. All the cajoleries she used to
practise, she thought were the amiable overflowings of a kindly nature;
her coarse flatteries she deemed irresistible fascinations; her
duperies even seemed only the triumphs of a mind transcendently rich in
resources, and never for a moment suspected that the false coin she was
uttering could be called in question, though the metal was too base for
imposition. There is no supply without demand, and if the world did not
like such characters there would be none of them. The Rickettses
are, howeve