f they live in the same house; and he 's just the
kind of fool to marry her, too. Who 's that little fellow, listening to
us?"

"Purvis, my Lord; don't you remember him? He's one of the Ricketts's
set."

"To be sure I do. How are you, Purvis? You look so young and so fresh, I
could not persuade myself it could be my old acquaintance."

"I 've taken to homoe-homoe-homoe-homo--" Here he opened his mouth wide,
and gasped till he grew black in the face.

"What's the word? Give it him, Haggy. It's all up with him," said the
Viscount.

"Homoeopathy, eh?"

"Just so. Homeo-hom--"

"Confound it, man, can't you be satisfied? when you're once over the
fence, you need n't go back to leap it. And how is the dear what's her
name Agathe? no, Zoe, how is she?"

"Quite well, my Lord, and would be cha-cha-cha-rmed to see you."

"Living in that queer humbug still, eh?"

"In the Vill-ino, my Lord, you mean?"

"Egad! she seems the only thing left; like the dog on the wreck, eh,
Haggy?"

"Just so, my Lord," said the other, with a complacent laugh.

"What a mass of old crockery she must have got together by this
time!" said the Viscount, yawning with a terrible recollection of her
tiresomeness.

"You came out with a yacht, my Lord?" asked Haggerstone.

"Pretty well, for a man that they call ru-ru-ruined," said Purvis,
laughing.

Norwood turned a look of angry indignation at him, and then, as if
seeing the unworthiness of the object, merely said,

"A yacht is the only real economy nowadays. You get rid at once of all
trains of servants, household, stable people; even the bores of your
acquaintance you cut off. By-by, Purvis." And, with a significant wink
at Haggerstone, he passed across the street, in time to overtake Onslow,
who was just passing.

"I think I ga-ga-gave it him there," cried Purvis, with an hysteric
giggle of delight; who, provided that he was permitted to fire his shot,
never cared how severely he was himself riddled by the enemy's fire.
Meanwhile, the Viscount and his friend were hastening forward to the
Mazzarini Palace, as totally forgetful of Purvis as though that valuable
individual had never existed.

We may take this opportunity to mention, that when the rumors which
attributed a grand breach of honorable conduct to Lord Norwood had
arrived at Florence, Sir Stafford, who never had any peculiar affection
for the Viscount, declared himself in the very strongest terms on the
subject of his offend