ss; and
there were finally only a few intimate friends left, and four players at
a card-table.

Then Miss Brandon arose, and, coming up to Daniel, said to him,--

"Will you grant me ten minutes' conversation, sir?"

He prepared to follow her, when Mrs. Brian interposed, saying a few
words in a tone of reproach to her niece. Daniel knew enough English to
understand that she said,--

"What you are doing is highly improper, Sarah."

"Shocking!" added M. Thomas Elgin.

But she shrugged her shoulders slightly, and replied in English,--

"My dear count alone would have a right to judge my conduct; and he has
authorized me to do what I am doing."

Then turning to Daniel, she said to him in French,--

"Come with me, sir."

IX.

Miss Sarah led Daniel to a small boudoir adjoining her own room. Nothing
could be fresher and more coquettish than this little room, which looked
almost like a greenhouse, so completely was it filled with rare and
fragrant flowers, while the door and window-frames were overgrown
with luxuriant creepers. In the windows stood large vases filled with
flowers; and the light bamboo chairs were covered with the same bright
silk with which the walls were hung. If the great reception-room
reflected the character of Mrs. Brian, this charming boudoir represented
Miss Brandon's own exquisite taste.

She sat down on a small sofa and began, after a short pause,--

"My aunt was right; it would have been more proper for me to convey to
you through M. Elgin what I want to say. But I have the independence
of all the girls of my country; and, when my interests are at stake, I
trust no one but myself."

She was bewitching in her ingenuousness as she uttered these words with
the air of a little child who looks cunning, and determined to undertake
something that appears quite formidable.

"I am told that my dear count has been to see you this afternoon," she
continued, "and you have heard that in less than a month I shall be the
Countess Ville-Handry?"

Daniel was surprised. In less than a month! What could be done in so
little time?

"Now, sir," continued Miss Brandon, "I wish to hear from your own lips
whether you see--any--objections to this match."

She spoke so frankly, that it was evident she was utterly unconscious of
that article in the code of social laws which prescribes that a French
girl must never mention the word "marriage" without blushing to the
roots of her hair. Daniel, on the