idst, which was a thing Pansey Cottrell
dearly loved. He felt that he should be the good fairy on board that
steamer,--that two or three of the human puppets thereon would dance in
accordance with his fingering of the wires; and mischievously as he
would interfere at times in such matters, felt upon this occasion that
the puppets would jig as much to their own gratification as to his.

"Dear Lady Mary," he replied, "it is to be quite one of the pleasantest
things of the season. All your own set will be there--pre-eminently
the right people all round. I saw Beauchamp and his _confreres_ last
night. They say they are overwhelmed with applications for tickets,
but have adhered rigidly to the number originally determined on. They
may naturally expect to find themselves quite out of society next
season. Those that were asked will have forgotten all about it, while
those that were not won't. Kind regards to Miss Blanche. Tell her
that there is a great deal of information to be picked up at water
parties, and that I will guarantee her making one or two discoveries
which I think will surprise and please her.

"Yours sincerely,
"PANSEY COTTRELL."

On receipt of that note Miss Bloxam's determination not to attend the
Beauchamp party vanished. It would be hard to say now whether mother
or daughter were more impatient for that afternoon, or more curious as
to what it might bring forth. Lady Mary's speculations were vague in
the extreme. Mr. Cottrell's shadowy announcement she regarded as
liable to mean as much or as little as "hear of something to one's
advantage" might in an advertisement in the second column of the
_Times_. But with Blanche the case was different. Miss Bloxam's ideas
took definite shape, and, with very slight grounds to go upon, she
jumped instinctively to the conclusion--as women will in such
cases--that whether Lionel Beauchamp was to be all to her or nothing
would be effectually settled that afternoon. The promoters of the
picnic themselves could not have prayed more fervently for fine weather
than did Lady Mary and her daughter.

"Happy is the bride that the sun shines on," saith the proverb; but if
it is vouchsafed one to command a fine day at will in the course of
existence, it would be better to reserve that privilege not for one's
wedding, but for our first important picnic. Lionel Beauchamp and his
_confreres_ were especially favoured. The day for their picnic was
like unto tha