ays will insist upon a white squall.'

'But you have deserted me!'

'I never desert any one,' replied Cadurcis calmly, raising her from
her supplicating attitude, and leading her to a seat. 'The last time
we met, you banished me your presence, and told me never to speak to
you again. Well, I obeyed your orders, as I always do.'

'But I did not mean what I said,' said Lady Monteagle.

'How should I know that?' said Lord Cadurcis.

'Your heart ought to have assured you,' said the lady.

'The tongue is a less deceptive organ than the heart,' replied her
companion.

'Cadurcis,' said the lady, looking at her strange disguise, 'what do
you advise me to do?'

'To go home; and if you like I will order my vis-a-vis for you
directly,' and he rose from his seat to give the order.

'Ah!' you are sighing to get rid of me!' said the lady, in a
reproachful, but still subdued tone.

'Why, the fact is, Gertrude, I prefer calling upon you, to your
calling upon me. When I am fitted for your society, I seek it; and,
when you are good-tempered, always with pleasure; when I am not in the
mood for it, I stay away. And when I am at home, I wish to see no one.
I have business now, and not very agreeable business. I am disturbed
by many causes, and you could not have taken a step which could have
given me greater annoyance than the strange one you have adopted this
evening.'

'I am sorry for it now,' said the lady, weeping. 'When shall I see you
again?'

'I will call upon you to-morrow, and pray receive me with smiles.'

'I ever will,' said the lady, weeping plenteously. 'It is all my
fault; you are ever too good. There is not in the world a kinder and
more gentle being than yourself. I shall never forgive myself for this
exposure.

'Would you like to take anything?' said Lord Cadurcis: 'I am sure you
must feel exhausted. You see I am drinking wine; it is my only dinner
to-day, but I dare say there is some salvolatile in the house; I dare
say, when my maids go into hysterics, they have it!'

'Ah, mocker!' said Lady Monteagle; 'but I can pardon everything, if
you will only let me see you.'

'Au revoir! then,' said his lordship; 'I am sure the carriage must be
ready. I hear it. Come, Mr. Gertrude, settle your wig; it is quite
awry. By Jove! we might as well go to the Pantheon, as you are ready
dressed. I have a domino.' And so saying, Lord Cadurcis handed the
lady to his carriage, and pressed her lightly by the hand, as he
re