ce of reluctance as possible."

"I have no desire to draw a painful attention to myself, papa; but you
will please to recollect that I have all my horror, all my detestation
of this match to contend with; and, I may add, my physical weakness,
and the natural timidity of woman. I shall, however, go through the
ceremony, provided nature and reason do not fail me."

"Well, Lucy, of course you will do the best you can. I must go now,
for I've many things to think of. Your dresses are admirable, and your
trousseau, considering the short time Dunroe had, is really superb.
Shake hands, my dear Lucy; you know I will soon lose you."

Lucy, whose heart was affection itself, threw herself into his arms, and
exclaimed, in a burst of grief:

"Yes, papa, I feel that you will; and, perhaps, when I am gone, you will
say, with sorrow, that it would have been better to have allowed Lucy to
be happy her own way."

"Come, now, you foolish, naughty girl," he exclaimed affectionately,
"be good--be good." And as he spoke, he kissed her, pressed her hand
tenderly, and then left the room.

"Alas!" exclaimed Lucy, still in tears, "how happy might we have been,
had this ambition for my exaltation not existed in my father's heart!"

If Lucy rose with a depressed spirit on that morning of sorrow, so did
not Lord Dunroe. This young nobleman, false and insincere in everything,
had succeeded in inducing his sister to act as brides-maid, Sir Thomas
having asked her consent as a personal compliment to himself and his
daughter. She was told by her brother that young Roberts would act in an
analogous capacity to him; and this he held out as an inducement to her,
having observed something like an attachment between her and the young
ensign. Not that he at all approved of this growing predilection, for
though strongly imbued with all the senseless and absurd prejudices
against humble birth which disgrace aristocratic life and feeling,
he was base enough to overrule his own opinions on the subject, and
endeavor, by this unworthy play upon his sister's feelings, to prevail
upon her to do an act that would throw her into his society, and which,
under any other circumstances, he would have opposed. He desired her,
at the same time, not to mention the fact to their father, who, he
said, entertained a strong prejudice against upstarts, and was besides,
indisposed to the marriage, in consequence of Sir Thomas Goulray's
doubtful reputation, as regarding the