to be looked at.'

Now there was a great flutter in the band, and nothing but the name of
Miss Temple was heard. All vowed they knew her very well, at least
by sight, and never thought of anybody else. Some asked the Count to
present them, others meditated plans by which that great result might
be obtained; but, in the midst of all this agitation, Count Mirabel rode
away, and was soon by the very lady's side.

'What a charming voyage yesterday,' said the Count to Miss Temple. 'You
were amused?'

'Very.'

'And to think you should all know my friend Armine so well! I was
astonished, for he will never go anywhere, or speak to anyone.'

'You know him intimately?' said Miss Temple.

'He is my brother! There is not a human being in the world I love so
much! If you only knew him as I know him. Ah! _chere_ Miss Temple, there
is not a man in London to be compared with him, so clever and so
good! What a heart! so tender! and what talent! There is no one so
_spirituel_.'

'You have known him long, Count?'

'Always; but of late I find a great change in him. I cannot discover
what is the matter with him. He has grown melancholy. I think he will
not live.'

'Indeed!'

'No, I am never wrong. That _cher_ Armine will not live.'

'You are his friend, surely------'

'Ah! yes; but I do not know what it is. Even me he cares not for. I
contrive sometimes to get him about a little; yesterday, for instance;
but to-day, you see, he will not move. There he is, sitting alone, in a
dull hotel, with his eyes fixed on the ground, dark as night. Never was
a man so changed. I suppose something has happened to him abroad. When
you first knew him, I daresay now, he was the gayest of the gay?'

'He was indeed very different,' said Miss Temple, turning away her face.

'You have known that dear Armine a long time?'

'It seems a long time,' said Miss Temple.

'If he dies, and die he must, I do not think I shall ever be in very
good spirits again,' said the Count. 'It is the only thing that would
quite upset me. Now do not you think, Miss Temple, that our _cher_
Armine is the most interesting person you ever met?'

'I believe Captain Armine is admired by all those who know him.'

'He is so good, so tender, and so clever. Lord Montfort, he knows him
very well?'

'They were companions in boyhood, I believe; but they have resumed their
acquaintance only recently.'

'We must interest Lord Montfort in his case. Lord Montfort must assist