d dreary afternoon, the
only solace to my hunger being the imaginative one of reflecting on the
pleasure of those happy mortals who were sitting down to dinner in the
various houses along the Square, and fancying to myself the blessed
state of tranquillity it must impart to a man's nature to see a meal of
appetizing excellence, from which no call of business, no demand of any
kind could withdraw him. And what speculations did I indulge in as to
the genial pleasantry that must abound,--the happy wit, the joyous ease
of such gatherings when three or four carriages at a door would bespeak
the company at such a dinner-party!

At last, out came my captain, with a haste and flurry of manner quite
unusual. He did not, as was his constant custom, pass his hand along the
mare's neck to feel her coat, nor did he mutter a single word of coaxing
to her as he mounted. He flung himself with a jerk into the saddle, and,
rapping my knuckles sharply with the gold knob of his whip, pettishly
cried, "Let her go, sirrah!" and cantered away. I stood for some moments
motionless, my mind in that strange state when the first thought of
rebellion has entered, and the idea of reprisal has occurred. I was
about to go away, when the drawing-room window, straight above me, was
opened, and a lady stepped out upon the balcony. It was too dark to
discern either her features or her dress; but a certain instinct told me
it was Mrs. Mansergh. "Are you Captain De Courcy's boy?" said she, in a
sweet and subdued voice. I replied in the affirmative, and she went on:
"You know his quarters at the Royal Hospital? Well, go there at once,
as speedily as you can, and give him this note." She hesitated for a
second, as if uncertain what to say, and then added, "It is a note he
dropped from his pocket by accident."

"I'll do it, ma'am," said I, catching the letter and the half-crown,
which she had half inserted in the envelope to give it weight. "You
may trust me perfectly." Before the words were well uttered, she had
retired, the window was closed, the curtain drawn, and, except the
letter and the coin in my fingers, nothing remained to show that the
whole had not been a trick of my foolish brain.

My immediate impulse was to fulfil my mission; I even started off at
full speed to do so. But as I turned the corner of the Square, the glare
of a bright gas-lamp suggested the temptation of at least a look at
my despatches; and what was my astonishment to find that o