gn correspondents of two women
who had made successful first appearances, one at Milan and one at
Florence, he had arranged to visit those cities, and to judge of the
merits of the dancers for himself, before he joined the bride and
bridegroom. His widowed sister, having friends at Florence whom she
was anxious to see, readily accompanied him. The Montbarrys remained
at Paris, until it was time to present themselves at the family meeting
in Venice. Henry found them still in the French capital, when he
arrived from London on his way to the opening of the new hotel.

Against Lady Montbarry's advice, he took the opportunity of renewing
his addresses to Agnes. He could hardly have chosen a more
unpropitious time for pleading his cause with her. The gaieties of
Paris (quite incomprehensibly to herself as well as to everyone about
her) had a depressing effect on her spirits. She had no illness to
complain of; she shared willingly in the ever-varying succession of
amusements offered to strangers by the ingenuity of the liveliest
people in the world--but nothing roused her: she remained persistently
dull and weary through it all. In this frame of mind and body, she was
in no humour to receive Henry's ill-timed addresses with favour, or
even with patience: she plainly and positively refused to listen to
him. 'Why do you remind me of what I have suffered?' she asked
petulantly. 'Don't you see that it has left its mark on me for life?'

'I thought I knew something of women by this time,' Henry said,
appealing privately to Lady Montbarry for consolation. 'But Agnes
completely puzzles me. It is a year since Montbarry's death; and she
remains as devoted to his memory as if he had died faithful to her--she
still feels the loss of him, as none of us feel it!'

'She is the truest woman that ever breathed the breath of life,' Lady
Montbarry answered. 'Remember that, and you will understand her. Can
such a woman as Agnes give her love or refuse it, according to
circumstances? Because the man was unworthy of her, was he less the
man of her choice? The truest and best friend to him (little as he
deserved it) in his lifetime, she naturally remains the truest and best
friend to his memory now. If you really love her, wait; and trust to
your two best friends--to time and to me. There is my advice; let your
own experience decide whether it is not the best advice that I can
offer. Resume your journey to Venice to-morrow; and when you take
lea