ta's
astonishment must be greatly excited by the number of shawls and scarfs
which her brother deemed it possible for a lady to bring into use during
a season.

As may be supposed, it was not difficult to lure the lively Frenchwoman
into talking of the head of the establishment; and she very speedily
gratified Lord Linden by communicating as much of Mademoiselle Melanie's
history as she herself knew. But had Mademoiselle Melanie lovers? Or was
her vestal-like demeanor genuine? This was difficult and delicate ground
to tread upon; yet his lordship was too much in earnest not to venture a
step or two.

The wily Victorine now assumed a mysterious air, for she entertained a
suspicion that the gentleman did not make inquiries without being deeply
interested in the answers. It would be impossible to relate precisely
_what_ she said. Her confidences were given more by inuendoes and arch
glances and knowing shakes of the head, which suggest so much, because
they leave so much to the imagination. Lord Linden received the
impression that Mademoiselle Melanie, though much admired by the
opposite sex, had conducted herself with exemplary decorum _until
lately_; but, of late, certain mysterious proceedings had become known
to the forewoman of which she did not wish to speak too unreservedly.

The handsome black lace shawl which Lord Linden begged Victorine to
accept delighted her to a point which won further confidence; for, while
folding it up with caressing touches, and thanking the donor with that
grace which belongs to her nation, she admitted that there was a certain
M. de Gramont who was enamored of Mademoiselle Melanie, and for whom the
latter had evinced a marked preference, though Mademoiselle Melanie
evidently wished to act with all possible discretion, and keep his
attentions from the eyes of the public.

Be it understood, that with Victorine's lax ideas of morality, keeping
an _affaire de coeur_ from the eyes of the public was all that was
necessary to preserve the honor of a woman who chose to indulge in a
_liaison_.

Lord Linden had no alternative but to believe that Mademoiselle Melanie,
in spite of her air of exquisite purity, and the chaste dignity which
characterized all her words and actions, was, after all, not
inaccessible. It was (he reflected) as much out of the question for the
Viscount de Gramont to marry a mantua-maker as it was for Lord Linden to
marry her; as a natural sequence, their intentions mus