and didn't listen to her singing. She
only sang at you and Mr. Pendennis, it seemed to me. But I will ask her
if you wish, Harry," and so Miss Amory's name was written on the card
with her mother's.

This piece of diplomacy being triumphantly executed Harry embraced his
fond parent with the utmost affection, and retired to his own apartments
where he stretched himself on his ottoman, and lay brooding silently,
sighing for the day which was to bring the fair Miss Amory under his
paternal roof, and devising a hundred wild schemes for meeting her.

On his return from making the grand tour, Mr. Foker, Junior, had
brought with him a polyglot valet, who took the place of Stoopid,
and condescended to wait at dinner, attired in shirt fronts of worked
muslin, with many gold studs and chains, upon his master and the elders
of the family. This man, who was of no particular country, and spoke
all languages indifferently ill, made himself useful to Mr. Harry in a
variety of ways,--read all the artless youth's correspondence, knew his
favourite haunts and the addresses of his acquaintance, and officiated
at the private dinners which the young gentleman gave. As Harry lay
upon his sofa after his interview with his mamma, robed in a wonderful
dressing-gown, and puffing his pipe in gloomy silence, Anatole, too,
must have remarked that something affected his master's spirits; though
he did not betray any ill-bred sympathy with Harry's agitation of mind.
When Harry began to dress himself in his out-of-door morning costume,
he was very hard indeed to please, and particularly severe and snappish
about his toilet: he tried, and cursed, pantaloons of many different
stripes, checks, and colours: all the boots were villainously varnished;
the shirts too "loud" in pattern. He scented his linen and person
with peculiar richness this day; and what must have been the valet's
astonishment, when, after some blushing and hesitation on Harry's part,
the young gentleman asked, "I say, Anatole, when I engaged you, didn't
you--hem--didn't you say that you could dress--hem--dress hair?"

The valet said, "Yes, he could."

"Cherchy alors une paire de tongs,--et--curly moi un peu," Mr. Foker
said, in an easy manner; and the valet, wondering whether his master
was in love or was going masquerading, went in search of the
articles,--first from the old butler who waited upon Mr. Foker, senior,
on whose bald pate the tongs would have scarcely found a hundred ha