a little, _a very little_ of the brogue is
most seductive. Whether the subject be grave or gay, whether mirth or
melancholy be the mood, like the varnish upon a picture, it brings out
all the colour into strong effect, brightening the lights, and deepening
the shadows; and then, somehow, there is an air of _naivete_, a tone of
simplicity about it, that appeals equally to your heart as your hearing.

Seeing that the conversation in which she was engaged seemed to engross
her entire attention, I was about to retire without addressing her,
when suddenly she turned round and her eyes met mine. I accordingly came
forward, and, after a few of the commonplace civilities of the moment,
asked her to dance.

'Pray, excuse me, Mr. Hinton; I have declined already several times. I
have been fortunate enough to meet with a very old and dear friend of my
father----'

'Who is much too attached to his daughter to permit her to waste an
entire evening upon him. No, sir, if you will allow me, I will resign
Miss Bellew to your care.'

She said something in a low voice, to which he muttered in reply. The
only words which I could catch--'No, no; very different, indeed; this
is a most proper person'--seemed, as they were accompanied by a smile
of much kindness, in some way to concern me; and the next moment Miss
Bellew took my arm and accompanied me to the ball-room.

As I passed the sofa where the duke and Mrs. Rooney were still seated,
his grace nodded familiarly to me, with a gesture of approval; while
Mrs. Paul clasped both her hands before her with a movement of ecstasy,
and seemed about to bestow upon us a maternal blessing. Fearful of
incurring a scene, Miss Bellew hastened on, and, as her arm trembled
within mine, I could perceive how deeply the ridicule of her friend's
position wounded her own pride.

Meanwhile, I could just catch the tones of Mrs. Rooney's voice,
explaining to the duke Miss Bellow's pedigree. 'One of the oldest
families of the land, your grace; came over with Romulus and Remus; and,
if it were not for Oliver Cromwell and the Danes----' The confounded
fiddles lost the rest, and I was left in the dark, to guess what these
strange allies had inflicted upon the Bellew family.

The dancing now began, and only between the intervals of the cotillon
had I an opportunity of conversing with my partner. Few and brief as
these occasions were, I was delighted to find in her a tone and manner
quite different from anythin