said to her one morning, after a lagging
conversation of some twenty minutes' duration--"is it true, Miss
Dillon, that you have discarded altogether the attentions of Mr.
----?" and he named the old gentleman whose offer had been so painful
to Rose, and who was now made painfully aware that the subject had
been publicly talked of. This confused her. "Nay," he continued, "I
think you ought to be very proud of the fact, for he is worth two
hundred thousand pounds."

"If he were worth ten hundred thousand, it would make no difference to
me," was the reply.

"Then, you admit the fact."

Rose could not tell a falsehood, though she confessed her pain that
it should be known. "I intend," she added, "to remain in my own quiet
sphere of life; I am suited for no other."

The gentleman made no direct reply, but from that hour he observed
Rose narrowly. The day of the election came, with its bribery and its
bustle. Suffice it, that the Honourable Mr. Ivers was declared duly
elected--that the splendour of the late member's wife's entertainments
and beauty, were perfectly eclipsed by the entertainments and beauty
of the wife of the successful candidate--that every house, _except_
one, in the town was splendidly illuminated--and that the people
broke every pane of glass in the windows of that house, to prove their
attachment to the great principle of freedom of election. "God bless
you, cousin!" said Rose; "God bless you--your object is attained. I
hope you will sleep well to-night."

"Sleep!" she exclaimed; "how can I sleep? Did you not hear the wife
of a mere city baronet inquire if late hours did not injure a country
constitution; and see the air with which she said it?"

"And why did you not answer that a country constitution gave you
strength to sustain them? In the name of all that is right, dearest
Helen, why do you not assert your dignity as a woman, instead of
standing upon your rank? Why not, as a woman, boldly and bravely
revert to your former position, and at the same time prove your
determination to support your present? You were as far from shame
as Helen Marsh of Abbeyweld, as you are as the wife of an honourable
member. Be yourself. Be simply, firmly yourself, my own Helen, and you
will at once, from being the scorned, become the scorner."

"This from you, who love a lowly state?"

"I love my own birthright, lowly though it be. No one will attempt to
pull me down. I shall have no heartaches--suffer no affron