nnections and titled relatives, his great services, and the
immense reputation they had given him, and, last of all, he spoke of his
personal qualities, the charm of his manner, and the captivation of
his address, so that finally she became as eager as himself to see this
great and gifted man beneath their roof.

During the evening they talked much together of what they should do
to entertain their illustrious guest. There was, so to say, no
neighborhood, nor any possibility of having people to meet him, and they
must, consequently, look to their home resources to amuse him.

"I hope Augustus will be properly attentive," said Temple.

"I 'm certain he will. I 'm more afraid of Nellie, if there be anything
strange or peculiar in Lord Culduff's manner. She never puts any curb
on her enjoyment of an oddity, and you'll certainly have to caution her
that her humoristic talents must be kept in abeyance just now."

"I can trust Lord Culduff's manner to repress any tendency of this
kind. Rely upon it, his courtly urbanity and high tone will protect him
from all indiscretions; and Nelly,--I 'm sorry to say it, Marion, but
Nelly is vulgar."

"She is certainly too familiar on fresh acquaintance. I have told her
more than once that you do not always please people by showing you are
on good terms with yourself. It is a great misfortune to her that she
never was 'out' before she came here. One season in town would have done
more for her than all our precepts."

"Particularly as she heeds them so little," said Temple, snappishly.

"Cannot we manage to have some people to meet Lord Culduff at dinner?
Who are the Gages who left their cards?"

"They sent them--not left them. Montifort Gage is the master of the
hounds, and, I believe, a person of some consideration here. He does
not, however, appear to invite much intimacy. His note acknowledging our
subscription--it was a hundred pounds too--was of the coldest, and we
exchanged a very few formal words at the meet yesterday."

"Are we going to repeat the Herefordshire experiment here, then?" And
she asked the question with a sparkling eye and a flushed cheek, as
though the feeling it excited was not easily to be repressed.

"There 's a Sir Roger Kennedy, too, has called."

"Yes, and Harding says he is married; but his wife's name is not on the
card."

"I take it they know very little of the habits of the world. Let us
remember, Marion, where we are. Iceland is next door but o