tronage of all
Ireland in his hands; and assuredly they who attained promotion were not
slow in testifying to what quarter they owed their gratitude. Some of
that mysterious grandeur that clung to the old religions of the Greeks
seems to hover round the acts of a great Government, till the Ministers,
like Priests or Augurs, appear less equals and fellow-men than stewards
and dispensers of immense bounties intrusted to their keeping. There was
about Dunn's manner much to foster this illusion. He was a blending of
mystery with the deepest humility, but with a very evident desire that
you should neither believe one nor the other. It was the same conscious
power looming through the affected modesty of his pretensions that
offended Lord Glengariff, and made him irritable in all his intercourse
with him.

Let us take a passing glance at Lady Augusta. And why, may we ask, has
she taken such pains about her toilette to-day? Not that her dress is
unusually rich or costly, but she has evidently made a study of the
"becoming," and looks positively handsome. She remembered something of a
fuchsia in her hair, long, long ago; and now, by mere caprice of course,
she has interwoven one in those dark clusters, never glossier nor
more silky. Her calm, cold features, too, have caught up a gentler
expression, and her voice is softer and lower. Her maid can make nothing
of it. Lady Augusta has been so gracious and so thoughtful, and asked
about her poor old sick grandmother. Well, these sunlights are meant to
show what the coldest landscapes may become when smiled on by brighter
skies!

And Sybella. Pale and melancholy, and in mourning, she, too, has caught
up a sense of pleasure at the coming visit, and a faint line of color
tinges her white cheek. She is very glad that Mr. Dunn is expected. "She
has to thank him for many kindnesses; his prompt replies to her letters;
his good nature to poor Jack, for whom he has repeatedly written to the
Horse Guards; not to speak of the words of encouragement and hope he has
addressed to herself. Yes, he is, indeed, her friend; perhaps her only
friend in the world."

And now they are met in the drawing-room, waiting with anxiety for some
sounds that may denote the great man's coming. The three windows open to
the ground; the rich sward, spangled here and there with carnations or
rich-scented stocks, slopes down towards a little river, from the bridge
over which a view is caught of the Glen-gariff road