ess to be hard upon any one.

"No, no, Mr. Montague!" she exclaimed, with the sunniest of smiles; "I
cannot take it; I cannot, indeed. I am not entitled to it, for my
champion is not even a soldier. I know without Lionel telling me that
I have been very lucky to save my bracelet. I am well content to leave
my cup in your hands, for I feel quite sure that you will keep it for
me against all comers."

But if Sylla Chipchase was content, Lady Mary Bloxam was very much the
reverse. Mr. Beauchamp's victory had gratified her, it was true; but
then how came this sparkling brunette not only to call him "Lionel,"
but apparently to know all his habits and capabilities? She felt, too,
exceedingly wroth at the manner in which Sylla had unexpectedly usurped
the position of queen of the revels, and again determined that she
would see as little as possible of the Chipchase girls as long as their
cousin was with them.

CHAPTER V.

AN EXCURSION TO TROTBURY.

That there is nothing succeeds like success, is an axiom most
profoundly believed in by women. The sex have a natural tendency to
hero-worship, and can you but snatch the laurel-leaf, you will ever
count plenty of admirers among them. In the drawing-room at Todborough
that evening the victor of the afternoon was quite the hero of the
occasion; but we may be sure that in the course of the conversation the
race provoked, Lady Mary did not neglect to ascertain how it was that
Lionel had become on such a familiar footing with Sylla Chipchase.
That young lady having dropped the mask, of course Beauchamp made no
mystery of the fact that they lived close to each other and had been
friends from childhood. Lady Mary was by no means gratified by this
discovery. She foresaw that Lionel must necessarily be thrown much
into the society of one whom, with all her prejudice, she could not but
admit was a most attractive girl; and she reflected that young men at
times discover that the little-thought-of playmates of their childhood
have grown up wondrous fair to look upon. Blanche's curiosity, too,
was also much exercised on this subject, and young ladies, in their own
artless fashion, can cross-examine in such cases as adroitly as a
Queen's Counsel. On one point there was much unanimity, namely, that
it was a great triumph for the Grange, and most satisfactory that Jim
Bloxam's defeat should have been so speedily avenged.

In the tobacco parliament, held as usual after the l