't understand it at all!" said the unfortunate Mrs.
Starkey. "I thought, to be sure, that Nicholas was my nephew. Never saw
him before, but he said he was; and now, now, I don't know what I shall
do!" and the poor lady, suddenly bereft of her fortune, began to wipe
her moist eyes; "but perhaps," she added, with a bright, though
transient gleam of hope, "we are both aunts to him."

"That cannot be," said Nicholas, kindly, who left his aunt to set the
company right, if possible. "My dear friend," he said, taking Mrs.
Starkey's hand, "it has been a mistake, brought on by my heedlessness. I
knew only that my aunt's name had been Eunice Brown. It chanced that
yours was the same name. I happened to come upon you first in my search,
and did not dream it possible that there could be two in the same court.
Everything seemed to tally; and I was too pleased at finding the only
relation I had in the wide world to ask many questions. But when I saw
that my aunt knew who I was, and I saw my mother's features in hers, I
perceived my mistake at once. We will remain friends, though,--shall we
not?"

Mrs. Starkey was too much bewildered to refuse any compromise; but Mr.
Manlius stepped forward, having his claim as a private officer of
justice.

"I must still demand an explanation, Sir, how it is that in this mixed
assembly the learned Doctor Chocker addresses you as Mr. Le Clear, and
you do not decline the title"; and Mr. Manlius looked, as if for a
witness, to Doctor Chocker, who was eating his cake with great
solemnity, holding his ear-trumpet in hopes of catching an occasional
word.

"That would require too long an explanation," said Nicholas, smiling;
"but you shall have it some time in private. Mr. Le Clear himself will
no doubt tell you"; which Mr. Le Clear, an amused spectator of the
scene, cheerfully promised to do.

The company had been so stirred up by this revelation, that they came
near retreating at once to Miss Pix's to talk it over, to the dismay of
the four musical gentlemen, who had not yet been presented, and
especially who had not yet got any cake. Miss Pix, though in a transport
of joy, had an eye for everything, and, discovering this, insisted on
presenting them in a body to Mrs. Blake, in consideration of her
fatigue. They bowed simultaneously, and stood before her like bashful
schoolboys; while Nicholas assumed the knife in behalf of his aunt,
distributing with equal liberality, when they retired in high glee