inted now, Mr. Burgess."

"What's the good of going on, Camilla?" said Mrs. French. Arabella
sat silent in her corner, with a conscious glow of satisfaction, as
she reflected that the joint disappointment of the elder and the
younger Miss Stanbury had been caused by a tender remembrance of her
own charms. Had not dear Mr. Gibson told her, in the glowing language
of truth, that there was nothing further from his thoughts than the
idea of taking Dorothy Stanbury for his wife?

"Well, you know," continued Camilla, "I think that when a person
makes an attempt, and comes by the worst of it, that person should
put up with the defeat, and not say all manner of ill-natured things.
Everybody knows that a certain gentleman is very intimate in this
house."

"Don't, dear," said Arabella, in a whisper.

"Yes, I shall," said Camilla. "I don't know why people should hold
their tongues, when other people talk so loudly. I don't care a bit
what anybody says about the gentleman and us. We have known him for
ever so many years, and mamma is very fond of him."

"Indeed I am, Camilla," said Mrs. French.

"And for the matter of that, so am I,--very," said Camilla, laughing
bravely. "I don't care who knows it."

"Don't be so silly, child," said Arabella. Camilla was certainly
doing her best, and Arabella was grateful.

"We don't care what people may say," continued Camilla again.
"Of course we heard, as everybody else heard too, that a certain
gentleman was to be married to a certain lady. It was nothing to us
whether he was married or not."

"Nothing at all," said Arabella.

"We never spoke ill of the young lady. We did not interfere. If the
gentleman liked the young lady, he was quite at liberty to marry
her, as far as we were concerned. We had been in the habit of seeing
him here, almost as a brother, and perhaps we might feel that a
connection with that particular young lady would take him from us;
but we never hinted so much even as that,--to him or to anyone else.
Why should we? It was nothing to us. Now it turns out that the
gentleman never meant anything of the kind, whereupon he is pretty
nearly kicked out of the house, and all manner of ill-natured things
are said about us everywhere." By this time Camilla had become quite
excited, and was speaking with much animation.

"How can you be so foolish, Camilla?" said Arabella.

"Perhaps I am foolish," said Camilla, "to care what anybody says."

"What can it all be to Mr.