Miss Francie--he was
doomed to disappointment. There were very few of "the great" present, to
begin with; and those who were paid no particular attention to Lionel
Moore. It was Octavius Quirk who appeared to be the hero of the evening,
so far as the attention devoted to him by Lady Adela and her immediate
little circle was concerned. But Maurice himself was not wholly left
neglected. When tea was brought in, his hostess came over to where he
was standing.

"Won't you sit down, Mr. Mangan?--I want to talk to you about something
of very great importance--importance to me, that is, for you know how
vain young authors are. You have heard of my new book?--yes, I thought
Mr. Moore must have told you. Well, it's all ready, except the
title-page. I am not quite settled about the title yet; and you literary
gentlemen are so quick and clever with suggestions--I am sure you will
give me good advice. And I've had a number of different titles printed,
to see how they look in type; what do you think of this one? At present
it seems to be the favorite; it was Mr. Quirk's suggestion--"

She showed him a slip with "North and South" printed on it in large
letters.

"I don't like it at all," Mangan said, frankly. "People will think the
book has something to do with the American civil war. However, don't
take my opinion at all. My connection with literature is almost
infinitesimal--I'm merely a newspaper hack, you know."

"What you say about the title is _quite_ right? and I am _so_ much
obliged to you, Mr. Mangan," Lady Adela said, with almost pathetic
emphasis. "The American war, of course; I never thought of that!"

"What is Ichabod's choice?--I beg your pardon, I mean have you shown the
titles to Mr. Egerton?"

"I'm afraid he doesn't approve of any of them," said Lady Adela, sadly
turning over the slips.

"No, I suppose not; good titles went out with good fiction--when he
ceased to write novels a number of years ago. May I look at the others?"

She handed him the slips.

"Well, now, there is one that in my poor opinion would be rather
effective--'Lotus and Lily'--a pretty sound--"

"Yes--perhaps," said Lady Adela, doubtfully, "but then, you see, it has
not much connection with the book. The worst of it is that all the novel
is printed--all but the three title-pages. Otherwise I might have called
my heroine Lily--"

"But I fear you could not have called your hero Lotus," said Mangan,
gravely. "Not very well. However, it i