orrow? An upright could be most conveniently carried
upstairs."

"Certainly, if you wish it. We shall be on Broadway this afternoon,
and I will attend to the matter."

"Thank you, Mrs. Palma."

"Regina Orme! what an embryo diplomatist, what an incipient
Talleyrand, Kaunitz, Bismarck you are! Mamma is as invulnerable to
all human weaknesses as one of the suits of armour hanging in the
Tower of London; and during my extended and rather intimate
acquaintance with her, I have never discovered but one foible
incident to the flesh, love of her morning nap! You have adroitly
struck Achilles in the heel. Sound the timbrel and sing like Miriam
over your victory; for it were better to propitiate one of the house
of Palma, than to strangle Pharaoh. You should apply for a position
in some foreign legation, where your talents can be fitly trained for
the tangles of diplomacy. Now if you were only a man, how admirably
you would suit the Hon. Erle Palma as Deputy----"

"He prefers to appoint his deputies without suggestion from others,
and regrets he can find no vacant niche for you," answered Mr. Palma,
from the threshold of the door where he had been standing for several
moments, unperceived by all but the hazel eyes of the graceful figure
on the lounge.

"Ah! you steal upon one as noiselessly, yet as destructive as the
rats that crept upon the bowstrings at Pelusium! And the music of
your eavesdropping voice;--

'Oh it came o'er my ear like the sweet south
That breathes upon a bank of violets.'"

She rose, made him a profound salaam, and with the black kitten in
her arms, quitted the room.

"Will you come, in, Erle? Do you wish to see me?"

Mrs. Palma always looked ill at ease when Olga and her stepbrother
exchanged words, and Regina had long observed that the entrance of
the latter was generally the signal of departure for the former.

"I came in search of Regina, but chancing to hear the piano question
discussed, permit me to say that I prefer to take the matter in my
own hands. I will provide whatever may be deemed requisite, so that
this young lady's Rothschild's allowance may continue to flow
uninterruptedly into the coffers of confectioners and flower-dealers.
Mrs. Palma, if you can spare the carriage, I should like the use of
it for an hour or two."

"Oh, certainly! I had thought of driving to Stewart's, but to-morrow
will suit me quite as well."

"By no means. You will have ample time af