mind in consequence of my various
lovers that I do not know where to turn; nor do I quite
know whom I am to call lover number one. Therefore, I
write to you to ask advice. Dear old Frank used to be
lover number one. Of course I ought to call him now Mr.
Francis Jones, because another lover is really lover
number one. I am engaged to marry, as you are well aware,
no less a person than the Earl of Castlewell; and, if
all things were to go prosperously with me, I should in
a short time be the Marchioness of Beaulieu. Did you
ever think of the glory of being an absolutely live
marchioness? It is so overwhelming as to be almost too
much for me. I think that I should not cower before my
position, but that I should, on the other hand, endeavour
to soar so high that I should be consumed by my own
flames. Then there is lover number three--Mr. Moss--who,
I do believe, loves me with the truest affection of them
all. I have found him out at last. He wishes to be the
legal owner of all the salaries which the singer of La
Beata may possibly earn; and he feels that, in spite of
all that has come and gone, it is yet possible. Of all the
men who ever forgave, Mr. Moss is the most forgiving.

Now, which am I to take of these three? Of course, if
you are the honest girl I take you to be, you will write
back word that one, at any rate, is not in the running.
Mr. Francis Jones has no longer the honour. But what
if I am sure that he loves me; and what, again, if I
am sure that he is the only one I love? Let this be
quite--quite--between ourselves. I am beginning to think
that because of Frank Jones I cannot marry that gorgeous
earl. What if Frank Jones has spoiled me altogether? Would
you wish to see me on this account delivered over to Mr.
Mahomet Moss as a donkey between two bundles of hay?

Tell me what you think of it. He won't take my money. But
suppose I earn my money for another season or two? Would
not your Irish brutalities be then over; and my father's
eloquence, and the eccentricities of the other gentlemen?
And would not your brother and your father have in some
way settled their affairs? Surely a little money won't
then be amiss, though it may have come from the industry
of a hard-worked young woman.

Of course I am asking for mercy, because I am absolutely
devoted to a certain young man. You need