ortion of the courage with
which his friend's lessons had inspired him. The outstretched hand fell
slowly to her side, the smile gave place to a look of composed dignity,
which made Archie at once feel that the fate which called upon him to
woo a countess was in itself hard. And she walked slowly into the room
before she spoke to him, or he to her.

"Captain Clavering!" she said at last, and there was much more of
surprise than of welcome in her words as she uttered them.

"Yes, Lady On--, Julia, that is; I thought I might as well come and
call, as I found we weren't to see you at Clavering when we were all
there at Easter." When she had been living in his brother's house as one
of the family, he had called her Julia as Hugh had done. The connection
between them had been close, and it had come naturally to him to do so.
He had thought much of this since his present project had been
initiated, and had strongly resolved not to lose the advantage of his
former familiarity. He had very nearly broken down at the onset, but,
as the reader will have observed, had recovered himself.

"You are very good," she said; and then, as he had been some time
standing with his right hand presented to her, she just touched it with
her own.

"There's nothing I hate so much as stuff and nonsense," said Archie. To
this remark she simply bowed, remaining awfully quiet. Captain Clavering
felt that her silence was in truth awful. She had always been good at
talking, and he had paused for her to say something; but when she bowed
to him in that stiff manner--"doosed stiff she was; doosed stiff, and
impudent, too," he told Doodles afterward--he knew that he must go on
himself. "Stuff and nonsense is the mischief, you know." Then she bowed
again. "There's been something the matter with them all down at
Clavering since you came home, Julia; but hang me if I can find out what
it is!" Still she was silent. "It ain't Hermy; that I must say. Hermy
always speaks of you as though there had never been anything wrong."
This assurance, we may say, must have been flattering to the lady whom
he was about to court.

"Hermy was always too good to me," said Lady Ongar, smiling.

"By George, she always does. If there's anything wrong it's been with
Hugh; and, by George, I don't know what it is he was up to when you
first came home. It wasn't my doing--of course you know that."

"I never thought that anything was your doing, Captain Clavering."

"I think Hu