ime MRS. PRIOR has been peering into a parcel which
MRS. BONNINGTON brought in her hand.] I brought it with me across the
Park. I could not walk through the Park in my cap. Isn't it a pretty
ribbon, Mrs. Prior?

MRS. P.--Beautiful! beautiful? How blue becomes you! Who would think you
were the mother of Mr. Milliken and seven other darling children? You
can afford what Lady Kicklebury cannot.

MRS. B.--And what is that, Prior? A poor clergyman's wife, with a large
family, cannot afford much.

MRS. P.--He! he! You can afford to be seen as you are, which Lady K.
cannot. Did you not remark how afraid she seemed lest I should enter her
dressing-room? Only Pinhorn, her maid, goes there, to arrange the
roses, and the lilies, and the figure--he! he! Oh, what a sweet, sweet
cap-ribbon! When you have worn it, and are tired of it, you will give it
me, won't you? It will be good enough for poor old Martha Prior!

MRS. B.--Do you really like it? Call at Greenwood Place, Mrs. Prior, the
next time you pay Richmond a visit, and bring your little girl with you,
and we will see.

MRS. P.--Oh, thank you! thank you! Nay, don't be offended! I must! I
must! [Kisses MRS. BONNINGTON.]

MRS. B.--There, there! We must not stay chattering! The bell has rung. I
must go and put the cap on, Mrs. Prior.

MRS. P.--And I may come too? YOU are not afraid of my seeing your hair,
dear Mrs. Bonnington! Mr. Bonnington too young for YOU! Why, you don't
look twenty!

MRS. B.--Oh, Mrs. Prior!

MRS. P.--Well, five-and-twenty, upon my word--not more than
five-and-twenty--and that is the very prime of life. [Exeunt Mrs. B. and
Mrs. P., hand in hand. As Captain TOUCHIT enters, dressed for dinner, he
bows and passes on.]

TOUCHIT.--So, we are to wear our white cravats, and our varnished boots,
and dine in ceremony. What is the use of a man being a widower, if he
can't dine in his shooting-jacket? Poor Mill! He has the slavery now
without the wife. [He speaks sarcastically to the picture.] Well, well!
Mrs. Milliken! YOU, at any rate, are gone; and with the utmost respect
for you, I like your picture even better than the original. Miss Prior!

Enter Miss PRIOR.

MISS PRIOR.--I beg pardon. I thought you were gone to dinner. I heard
the second bell some time since. [She is drawing back.]

TOUCHIT.--Stop! I say, Julia! [She returns, he looks at her, takes her
hand.] Why do you dress yourself in this odd poky way? You used to be
a very smartly dressed gi