ve; Dolly's
clustered or was knotted about her head, without the least disorder,
but with a wilfulness of elegant play most harmonious with all the rest
of her appearance. To characterise the two in a word, Christina was a
beautiful pearl, and Dolly was a translucent opal.

They sat down round the fire.

"Well, Sandie, you naughty boy," Christina began, "what has kept you
away all this time?"

"Duty."

"Duty! I told you so, Dolly; this man has only two or three words in
his vocabulary, which he trots out on all occasions to do general
service. One of them is 'duty;' another is 'must.'"

"'Must' is the true child of 'duty,'" the gentleman remarked.

"Oh no, I don't allow that; it is a marriage connection, which may be
dissolved by a dispensation."

"Is that your idea of the marriage connection?" said he with a smile.

"But, Sandie! don't you want something to eat?"

"No, thank you."

"Because you can have it in a moment."

"I have dined, Christina."

"Where have you been all this while--weeks and weeks?"

"Have you not received any letters from me?"

"Yes, indeed! but words are so different spoken and written. We have
been half over Europe. I wish you could have been along! Sandie, we
went to Baden-Baden."

"What for?"

"_What for!_ Why, to see it. And we saw the gaming."

"How did you like it?"

"It is fascinating. I never saw such a scene in my life; the people's
faces; and then the mad eagerness with which they went at it; old men
and young men, and women. Oh, it was astonishing to see the women!"

"What was the effect upon you?"

"I don't know; astonishment."

"How did Mrs. Thayer like it?"

"Do you know, I think she half wanted to try her hand? I was so amazed
at mother! I told her she must not."

"You observe, Miss Copley, Miss Thayer knows the use of one of my
words."

It was a strange, novel, absorbing experience to Dolly. Sitting at one
corner of the hearth, quiet, and a little as it were a one side, she
watched the play and the people. She was so delightfully set free for
the moment from all her home cares and life anxieties. It was like
getting out of the current and rush of the waves into a nook of a bay,
where her tossed little skiff could lie still for a bit, and the
dangers and difficulties of navigation did not demand her attention.
She rested luxuriously and amused herself with seeing and hearing what
went on. And to tell the whole truth, Dolly was more than amused; she