ault," continued her
ladyship, playfully, "you are so good-natured, and have made us so
dependent upon you, that we cannot let you off now. Nothing in the
_trousseaux_ is approved of, unless stamped by the taste of Mademoiselle
Valerie de Chatenoeuf. Now, a week cannot make a great difference, and
lawyers love delay: will you oblige me, therefore, by leaving Lady R--'s
affairs for the present?"

"Certainly, Lady M--," replied I. "I will stop a letter I was about to
send to her solicitor, and write another to the effect you wish, and I
will not repeat my request for the carriage until after the marriages
have taken place."

"Many thanks," replied her ladyship, and I went out, took my letter from
the hall table, and wrote another to Mr Selwyn, stating that I could
not enter into any business until the following week, when I should be
prepared to receive him.

I wrote another to the same effect to Lionel, requesting him not to call
again, but that I would write and let him know where to meet me as soon
as I was more at leisure.

Indeed I was glad that Lady M--had made the request, as the trouble and
chattering and happy faces which were surrounding the trousseaux, and
the constant employment and appeals made to me, drove away the
melancholy which Lady R--'s affairs had occasioned me. I succeeded to a
great degree in recovering my spirits, and exerted myself to my utmost,
so that everything was complete and satisfactory to all parties two days
before the wedding was to take place.

At last, the morning came. The brides were dressed and went down into
the drawing-room, frightened and perplexed, but their tears had been
shed above. The procession of carriages moved on to Hanover Square;
there was a bishop of course, and the church was filled with gay and
tastefully-dressed women. The ceremony was performed, and the brides
were led into the vestry-room to recover, and receive kisses and
congratulations. Then came the banquet, which nobody hardly tasted
except the bishop, who had joined too many couples in his lifetime to
have his appetite at all affected by the ceremony, and some two or three
others who were old stagers on the road of life, and who cared little
whether it was a wedding-breakfast, or refreshments after a funeral.

At last, after a most silent entertainment, the brides retired to change
their dresses, and, when they re-appeared, they were handed into the
carriages of their respective bridegrooms a