ould say that there is quite as much difference between
them as between a bishop and a curate. And so I think
there is.

I don't wish at all to speak of my own feelings; but if he
were not an attorney, he is, I think, the sort of man I
should like. He is very nice in every way, and if you were
not told, I don't think you'd know he was an attorney.
But, dear Amelia, I will be guided by you altogether. He
is certainly much nicer than Mr Moffat, and has a great
deal more to say for himself. Of course, Mr Moffat having
been in Parliament, and having been taken up by uncle
de Courcy, was in a different sphere; but I really felt
almost relieved when he behaved in that way. With Mortimer
Gazebee, I think it would be different.

I shall wait so impatiently for your answer, so do pray
write at once. I hear some people say that these sort of
things are not so much thought of now as they were once,
and that all manner of marriages are considered to be
_comme il faut_. I do not want, you know, to make myself
foolish by being too particular. Perhaps all these changes
are bad, and I rather think they are; but if the world
changes, one must change too; one can't go against the
world.

So do write and tell me what you think. Do not suppose
that I dislike the man, for I really cannot say that I do.
But I would not for anything make an alliance for which
any one bearing the name of de Courcy would have to blush.

Always, dearest Amelia,

Your most affectionate cousin,

AUGUSTA GRESHAM.

P.S.--I fear Frank is going to be very foolish with Mary
Thorne. You know it is absolutely important that Frank
should marry money.

It strikes me as quite possible that Mortimer Gazebee may
be in Parliament some of these days. He is just the man
for it.

Poor Augusta prayed very hard for her husband; but she prayed to a
bosom that on this subject was as hard as a flint, and she prayed
in vain. Augusta Gresham was twenty-two, Lady Amelia de Courcy was
thirty-four; was it likely that Lady Amelia would permit Augusta
to marry, the issue having thus been left in her hands? Why should
Augusta derogate from her position by marrying beneath herself,
seeing that Lady Amelia had spent so many more years in the world
without having found it necessary to do so? Augusta's letter was
written on two sheets of note-paper, crossed all over; and Lady