the slight and delicate figure before him.

"Wonderfully well, uncle. During the voyage every one was most polite
and attentive to me. There was a handsome young Guardsman who would have
been more, had he not been gentleman enough to know that I was a lady.
And, once at Cork, I met, the very moment of landing, with a kind old
friend, Father Luke, who took care of me hither. He only parted with
me at the gate, not wishing to interfere, as he said, with our first
greetings. But I don't see Herbert--where is he?"

"Poor Herbert has been dangerously ill, my dear," said the father, "I
scarcely think it safe for him to see you."

"No, no," interposed Sir Archy, feelingly. "If the sight of her can stir
the seared heart of an auld carle like mysel', it wad na be the surest
way to calm the frenzied blood of a youth."

Perhaps Sir Archy was not far wrong. Kate O'Donoghue was, indeed, a girl
of no common attraction. Her figure, rather below than above the middle
size, was yet so perfectly moulded, that for very symmetry and grace it
seemed as if such should have been the standard of womanly beauty, while
her countenance had a character of loveliness, even more striking
than beautiful; her eyes were large, full, and of a liquid blue that
resembled black; her hair, a rich brown, through which a golden tinge
was seen to run, almost the colour of an autumn sun-set, giving a
brilliancy to her complexion which, in its transparent beauty, needed no
such aid; but her mouth was the feature whose expression, more than any
other, possessed a peculiar charm. In speaking, the rounded lips moved
with a graceful undulation, more expressive than mere sound, while,
as she listened, the slightest tremble of the lip harmonizing with the
brilliant glance of her eyes, gave a character of rapid intelligence to
her face, well befitting the vivid temper of her nature. She looked her
very self--a noble-hearted, high-spirited girl, without a thought save
for what was honourable and lofty; one who accepted no compromise with
a doubtful line of policy, but eagerly grasped at the right, and stood
firmly by the consequence. Although educated within the walls of a
convent, she had mixed, her extreme youth considered, much in the
world of the city she lived in, and was thus as accomplished in all the
"usage," and conventional habits of society, as she was cultivated in
those gifts and graces which give it all its ornament. To a mere passing
observer there mig