ed there. Mrs. Egremont's position
would hardly be established till she had been presented to the
notabilities who lived beyond calling intercourse; and her husband
prepared himself to be victimised with an amount of grumbling that was
intended to impress her with the magnitude of the sacrifice, but which
only made her offer to forego the gaiety, and be told that she would
never have any common sense.

So their carriage led the way, and was followed by the Rectory
waggonette containing the ladies and Mark, who had been decisively
summoned home, since his stepmother disliked public balls without a
gentleman in attendance, and his father was not to be detached from his
fireside.

And in a group near the door, got up as elaborately as his powers could
accomplish, stood Gerard Godfrey. He knew nobody there except a family
in his sister's parish, who had good-naturedly given him a seat in
their fly, and having fulfilled his duty by asking the daughter to
dance, he had nothing to disturb him in watching for the cynosure whose
attraction had led him into these unknown regions, and, as he
remembered with a qualm, on the eve of St. Britius. However, with such
a purpose, one might surely grant oneself a dispensation from the vigil
of a black letter saint.

There at length he beheld the entrance. There was the ogre himself,
high bred, almost handsome, as long as he was not too closely
scrutinised, and on his arm the well-known figure, metamorphosed by
delicately-tinted satin sheen and pearls, and still more by the gentle
blushing gladness on the fair cheeks and the soft eyes that used to
droop. Then followed a stately form in mulberry moire and point lace,
leaning on Gerard's more especial abhorrence,--'that puppy,' who had
been the author of all the mischief; and behind them three girls, one
in black, the other two in white, and, what was provoking, he really
could not decide which was Ursula. The carefully-dressed hair and
stylish evening dress and equipments had altogether transformed the
little homely schoolgirl, so that, though he was sure that she was not
the fair-haired damsel with pale blue flowers, he did not know how to
decide between the white and daisies and the black and grasses.
Indeed, he thought the two whites most likely to be sisters, and all
the more when the black lace halted to exchange greetings with some
one, and her face put on an expression so familiar to him, that he
started forward and tried to