Lydia, here is my friend Collyton. I have been so anxious you
should know him; and he leaves to-morrow.'

"'I hope he will permit me to rescue my scarf first,' said the lady,
taking no heed of the introduction.

"'I am so sorry--I really am in despair,' said Collyton, as the lady,
growing at last impatient, tore the frail web in order to get free.

"'It was all your fault, sir, remember that--or rather that of your
star, which I'm sure I wish the Sirdar, or the Nizam, had reserved for a
more careful wearer.'

"'I never deemed it would have done me such service,' said Collyton,
recovering courage; 'without it, I should have passed on, and you would
never have taken the trouble to notice me.'

"'There, sir, I must leave you your prize,' said she, smartly, as,
taking the arm of her partner, she joined the waltzers; while Collyton
stood with the folds of a Brussels veil draped gracefully on his arm.

"He went home; spent half the night disengaging the intricate web, and
the next day called to restore it, and apologise for his misfortune; the
acquaintance thus casually formed ripened into mutual liking, and, after
a time, into a stronger feeling, and in the end they were married; the
whole of the event, the great event of every life, originating in
the porcupine fashion of the Nizam's star and the small loops of a
Brussels-lace scarf! Here, then, is my case; but for this rencontre
they had never met, save in the formal fashion people do as first
acquaintances. Without a certain collision, they had not given forth the
sparks that warmed into flame."

"I call that a pure chance, just as much as--as----"

"Our own meeting this morning, you were about to say," said I,
laughingly; and she joined in the mirth, but soon after became silent
and thoughtful. I tried various ways of renewing our conversation; I
started new topics, miles remote from all we had been talking of: but
I soon perceived that, whether from physical causes or temperament,
the eager interest she exhibited when speaking, and the tone of almost
excited animation in which she listened, seemed to weary and exhaust
her. I therefore gradually suffered our conversation to drop down to an
occasional remark on passing objects; and so we travelled onwards till,
late in the afternoon, we found ourselves at the gate of a handsome
park, where an avenue of trellised vines, wide enough for two carriages
to pass, led to a beautiful villa, on the terrace of which stood