half-defiant air which had, in a measure, spoiled the charm of her
girlhood, sat with a sort of dignity on her features as a woman.

Not a word was spoken on either side; and from her look of intense
preoccupation, as she sat gazing on the broad hem of her handkerchief,
it was evident that her thoughts were wandering far away from the place
she was in. As they sat thus, the door was noiselessly opened by a
servant in deep black, who, in a very subdued voice, said, "The Duke de
Castro, your Excellency."

"I don 't receive," was the cold reply, and the man withdrew. In about
a quarter of an hour after, he reappeared, and in the same stealthy tone
said, "Madame la Comtesse de Renneville begs she may have the honor--"

"Lady Culduff does not receive," said his Lordship, sternly.

"The Countess has been very kind; she has been here to inquire after me
several times."

"She is a woman of intense curiosity," said he, slowly.

"I 'd have said of great good nature."

"And you 'd have said perfectly wrong, madam. The woman is a political
_intriguante_ who only lives to unravel mysteries; and the one that is
now puzzling her is too much for her good manners."

"I declare, my Lord, that I do not follow you."

"I'm quite sure of that, madam. The sort of address Madame de
Renneville boasts was not a quality that your life in Ireland was likely
to make you familiar with."

"I beg you to remember, my Lord," said she, angrily, "that all my
experiences of the world have not been derived from that side of the
Channel."

"I 'm cruel enough to say, madam, that I wish they had! There is nothing
so difficult as unlearning."

"I wish, my Lord--I heartily wish--that you had made this discovery
earlier."

"Madam," said he, slowly, and with much solemnity of manner, "I owe it
to each of us to own that I had made what you are pleased to call this
'discovery' while there was yet time to obviate its consequences. My
very great admiration had not blinded me as to certain peculiarities,
let me call them, of manner; and if my vanity induced me to believe that
I should be able to correct them, it is my only error."

"I protest, my Lord, if my temper sustain me under such insult as this,
I think I might be acquitted of ill breeding."

"I live in the hope, madam, that such a charge would be impossible."

"I suppose you mean," said she, with a sneering smile, "when I have
taken more lessons--when I have completed the course of instruct