is cousin; "I dare say it may be managed." But I thought
she looked disappointed. "Did you know we were all going to the
B----theatre to-night?"

"No! really! what fun?"

"No fun for you; for you must start early, as you said just now. The
owners of the horses here patronise a play, and they have made papa
promise to go, and so we must, I suppose, and"----

"Oh! we'll all go, of course," said Horace, decidedly.--"You'll stay and
go, won't you, Hawthorne?"

"You forget your supper party," said I.

"Oh! hang it, they'll take care of themselves, so long as the supper's
there; they wont miss me much."

"Didn't I hear something of your being confined to college after nine?"

"Ah, yes; I believe I am--but it won't matter much for once; I'll call
on the dean to-morrow, and explain."

"No, no, Horace, that won't do; you and Mr Hawthorne must go home like
good boys," said Flora, with a smile only half as merry as usual, "and
Mary and I will persuade Mr Hurst to stay and go to the theatre with
us."

"Oh! confound it!"--Horace began.

"Hush! here comes papa; remember this is my arrangement; you ought to be
very much obliged, instead of beginning to swear in that way; I'm sure
Mr Hawthorne is very grateful to me for taking so much interest in the
question of his breaking his neck, if you are not. Oh! papa," she
continued, "do you know that we shall lose all our beaux to-night; they
have some horrid supper party to go back to, and we shall have to go to
the play ourselves!"

Most of the Squire's sympathies were at this moment absorbed in the fact
that dinner was already four minutes late, so that he had less to spare
for his daughter's disappointment than Mrs Leicester, who on her arrival
took up the lamentation with all her heart. She attacked her nephew at
once upon the subject, whose replies were at first wavering and
evasive, till he caught Flora's eye, and then he answered with a dogged
sort of resolution, exceedingly amusing to me who understood his
position, and at last got quite cross with his aunt for persisting in
her entreaties. I declared, for my part, that I was dependent on
Horace's movements; that, if I could possibly have anticipated the
delightful evening which had been arranged for us, every other
arrangement should have given way, &c. &c.; when Hurst's reappearance
turned the whole force of Mrs Leicester's persuasions upon him, backed,
too, as she was by both her daughters. "Won't _you_ stay, Mr Hurs