ll, let us have done with aphorisms, and speak openly. If you
are really pleased with his manner and address, say so at once, and I
'll promise never to criticise too closely a demeanor which, I vow, does
not impress me highly,--only be candid."

"But I do not see any occasion for such candor, my dear. He is no more
to me than he is to _you_. I ask no protestations from _you_ about this
Mr. Roland Cashel."

Miss Kennyfeck bit her lip and seemed to repress a rising temptation to
reply, but was silent for a moment, when she said, in a careless, easy
tone,--

"Do you know, Livy dearest, that this same manolo you danced this
evening is not by any means a graceful performance to look at, at least
when danced with long, sweeping drapery, flapping here and flouncing
there. It may suit those half-dressed Mexican damsels who want to
display a high arched instep and a rounded ankle, and who know that they
are not transgressing the ordinary limits of decorum in the display; but
certainly your friend Mr. Softly did not accord all his approval. Did
you remark him?"

"I did not; I was too much engaged in learning the figure: but Mr.
Softly disapproves of all dancing."

"Oh, I know he does," yawned Miss Kennyfeck, as if the very mention
of his name suggested sleep; "the dear man has his own notions of
pleasantry,--little holy jokes about Adam and Eve. There is nothing
so intolerable to me as the insipid playfulness of your young parson,
except, perhaps, the coarse fun of your rising barrister. How I hate Mr.
Clare Jones!"

"He is very underbred."

"He is worse; the rudest person I ever met,--so familiar."

"Why will he always insist on shaking hands?"

"Why will he not at least wash his own, occasionally?"

"And then his jests from the Queen's Bench,--the last _mot_--I'm sure I
often wished it were so literally--of some stupid Chief Justice. Well,
really, in comparison, your savage friend is a mirror of good looks and
good manners."

"Good night, my dear," said Olivia, rising, as though to decline a
renewal of the combat.

"Good night," echoed her sister, bluntly, "and pleasant dreams of
'Roland the brave, Roland the true;' the latter quality being the one
more in request at this moment." And so, humming the well-known air, she
took her candle and retired.

CHAPTER VIII. LOVE v. LAW

Ay! marry--they have wiles,
Compared to which, our schemes are honesty.

The Lawyer's Daughter.

Notwithsta