task. On the
contrary, she was so recalcitrant, so inattentive and so awkward,
that she often caused confusion, and her partner had the greatest
difficulty to rectify her mistakes. Indeed, the polite young officer
was pitied by the whole company, and the more so because it was known
that he was sacrificing himself to a sense of duty; for he was engaged
to a charming young lady who had been prevented from attending the
ball by a recent death in the family."

"Pardon, madame; permit me to say that your representation of the
facts is not quite correct," interrupted Captain Sanders, in whose
favour I immediately became prepossessed on account of his serious
and earnest look. "Allow me to set you right as to facts, for I am
a friend of Lieutenant Wilibald's, and I know he would be sorry if
what you have said should go forth to the world as truth. It was by
no means a disagreeable task for him to lead out Miss Mordaunt in any
dress she chose to appear in, for he was too much in love with her
to notice such small matters as dress. Yes, I venture to say, if it
had depended on him alone he would not have married the woman he has;
but he was forced by circumstances, and Miss Mordaunt did her utmost
to promote the marriage and to put him in possession of a fortune."

I inwardly thanked the Captain for his chivalrous defence of the
absent, and I would gladly have taken him by the hand and done so
publicly, but that this would have prevented my hearing more on the
subject of Francis.

"And has Miss Mordaunt been married since?" I asked, trying to put
the question as disinterestedly as possible.

"Why, no!" cried the elderly spinster with a triumphant smile. "So
far as we know (and we know pretty well everything that happens in
our circle), she has never had an offer."

"Ah! that is very strange; a young lady who seems to be possessed of
so many attractions," I observed.

"That's not at all strange," interrupted the little widow, in a
coquettish, sentimental tone. "It was never difficult for her to
attract admirers and flatterers for the moment, but it is only by
the heart that a woman wins true affection and esteem; and, with the
Captain's permission, no one could ever believe Francis Mordaunt to
be in earnest, for she has no heart--she never cared for anything
but horses and dogs."

"You forget her grandfather!" pleaded the Captain.

"Well, yes, she has been his idol; but this very fact has turned out
her ruin."

"How