nd, it is no radical says this, girls,--_moi qui vous
parle_ am no revolutionist, no leveller! I like these grand conditions,
because they give existence its best stimulus, its noblest aspirations.
The higher one goes in life,--as on a mountain,--the more pure the air
and the wider the view."

"And do you mean to tell me that Augustus would consult his happiness
better in marrying some fine lady, like our grand step-mamma for
instance, than a charming girl like Julia?" said Ellen.

"If Augustus' notions of happiness were to be measured by mine, I
should say yes, unquestionably yes. Love is a very fleeting sentiment.
The cost of the article, too, suggests most uncomfortable reflections.
All the more as the memory comes when the acquisition itself is
beginning to lose value. My former chief at Munich--the cleverest man of
the world I ever met--used to say, as an investment, a pretty wife was
a mistake. 'If,' said he, 'you laid out your money on a picture,
your venture might turn out a bargain; if you bought a colt, your
two-year-old might win a Derby; but your beauty of to-day will be barely
good-looking in five years, and will be a positive fright in fifteen.'"

"Your accomplished friend was an odious beast!" said Nelly. "What was
his name, Temple?"

"Lord Culduff, one of the first diplomatists in Europe."

"Culduff? How strange! Papa's agent, Mr. Harding, mentioned the name at
breakfast. He said there was a nobleman come over from Germany to see
his estates in the north of Down, where they had some hopes of having
discovered coal."

"Is it possible Lord Culduff could be in our neighborhood? The governor
must ask him here at once," said Temple, with an animation of manner
most unusual with him. "There must be no time lost about this. Finish
your game without me, girls, for this matter is imminent;" and so
saying, he resigned his mallet and hastened away to the house.

"I never saw Temple so eager about anything before," said Nelly. "It's
quite charming to see how the mere mention of a grand name can call
forth all his energy."

"Temple knows the world very well; and he knows how the whole game of
life is conducted by a very few players, and that every one who desires
to push his way must secure the intimacy, if he can, or at least the
acquaintance, of these." And Marion delivered this speech with a most
oracular and pretentious tone.

"Yes," said Nelly, with a droll sparkle in her eye; "he declared that
profou