e; the name and
condition of my father; a description of Saxonholme, and the very date
of my birth. Then she criticized all the ladies in the room, which only
drew my attention more admiringly upon herself; and she quizzed all the
young men, whereby I felt indirectly flattered, without exactly knowing
why; and she praised Dalrymple in terms for which I could have embraced
her on the spot had she been ten times less pretty, and ten times less
fascinating.

I was an easy victim, after all, and scarcely worth the powder and shot
of an experienced _franc-tireur;_ but Madame de Marignan, according to
her own confession, had a taste for civilizing "handsome boys," and as I
may, perhaps, have come under that category a good many years ago, the
little victory amused her! By the time, at all events, that Dalrymple
returned to tell me it was past one o'clock in the morning, and I must
be introduced to the mistress of the house before leaving, my head was
as completely turned as that of old Time himself.

"Past one!" I exclaimed. "Impossible! We cannot have been here half-an
hour."

At which neither Dalrymple nor Madame de Marignan could forbear smiling.

"I hope our acquaintance is not to end here, monsieur," said Madame de
Marignan. "I live in the Rue Castellane, and am at home to my friends
every Wednesday evening."

I bowed almost to my boots.

"And to my intimates, every morning from twelve to two," she added very
softly, with a dimpled smile that went straight to my heart, and set it
beating like the paddle-wheels of a steamer.

I stammered some incoherent thanks, bowed again, nearly upset a servant
with a tray of ices, and, covered with confusion, followed Dalrymple
into the farther room. Here I was introduced to Madame de Courcelles, a
pale, aristocratic woman some few years younger than Madame de Marignan,
and received a gracious invitation to all her Monday receptions. But I
was much less interested in Madame de Courcelles than I should have been
a couple of hours before. I scarcely looked at her, and five minutes
after I was out of her presence, could not have told whether she was
fair or dark, if my life had depended on it!

"What say you to walking home?" said Dalrymple, as we went down stairs.
"It is a superb night, and the fresh air would be delightful after these
hot rooms."

I assented gladly; so we dismissed the cab, and went out, arm-in-arm,
along a labyrinth of quiet streets lighted by gas-lamps few