o take
part in anything that is going forward She never needs, for example,
being twice asked to sing. She is free from the vice which Horace
ascribes to all singers, of not complying when asked, and never leaving
off when they have once begun. If this be a general rule, she is an
exception to it.

_Lord Curryfin._ I rather wonder she does not tinge her cheeks with a
slight touch of artificial red, just as much as would give her a sort of
blush-rose complexion.

_Miss Ilex._ You will not wonder when you know her better. The
artificial, the false in any degree, however little, is impossible to
her. She does not show all she thinks and feels, but what she does show
is truth itself.

_Lord Curryfin._ And what part is she to take in the Aristophanic
comedy?

_The Rev. Dr. Opimian._ She is to be the leader of the chorus.

_Lord Curryfin._ I have not seen her at the rehearsals.

_The Rev. Dr. Opimian._ So far, her place has been supplied. You will
see her at the next.

In the meantime, Mr. Falconer had gone into the inner drawing-room, sat
down by Miss Gryll, and entered into conversation with her. The doctor
observed them from a distance, but with all the opportunity he had
had for observation, he was still undetermined in his opinion of the
impression they might have made on each other.

'It is well,' he said to himself, 'that Miss Ilex is an old maid. If
she were as young as Morgana, I think she would win our young friend's
heart. Her mind is evidently much to his mind. But so would Morgana's
be, if she could speak it as freely. She does not; why not? To him at
any rate. She seems under no restraint to _Lord Curryfin._ A good omen,
perhaps. I never saw a couple so formed for each other. Heaven help me!
I cannot help harping on that string. After all, the Vestals are the
obstacle.'

Lord Curryfin, seeing Miss Niphet sitting alone at the side of the room,
changed his place, sate down by her, and entered into conversation on
the topics of the day, novels, operas, pictures, and various phenomena
of London life. She kept up the ball with him very smartly. She was
every winter, May, and June, in London, mixed much in society, and saw
everything that was to be seen. Lord Curryfin, with all his Protean
accomplishments, could not start a subject on which she had not
something to say. But she originated nothing. He spoke, and she
answered. One thing he remarked as singular, that though she spoke with
knowledge of many t