g people--who, between ourselves, were
hopelessly ignorant that such a person as the late earl had ever
breathed, and cared less, probably, about the fact--that had her poor
papa been yet alive, things would have been "very different with her;"
an assertion of questionable accuracy.

There are some persons in this world who can never by any possibility
take a rose-coloured view of life. No matter what vivid touches the
great painter puts in on the canvas of their every-day being, they
always remain mentally colour-blind, and perceive but one monotonous
neutral tint--as they will continue to do until the end, when,
perchance, their proper sight may be restored.

Lady Dasher was one of these. She persisted in taking a despondent view
of everything around her--her past, her future, her position, her
prospects; nay, even the circumstances and surroundings of her friends
and few intimates came to be regarded in the same unsatisfactory light.
She was unacquainted with the healthy tone of wisdom contained in the
old quatrain,--

"That man, I trow, is doubly blest,
Who of the worst can make the best;
And he, I'm sure, is doubly curst,
Who of the best doth make the worst!"

Morbid and melancholic had been her disposition at the commencement of
the chapter:--morbid and melancholic she would naturally remain to its
close.

With all her morbidity, however, she took a wonderful, albeit
lachrymose, interest in the temporal matters of the parish; and was
acquainted with most of the contemporary facts and incidents with which
her neighbours were mixed up, being mostly indebted for her information,
as she seldom went out herself, to her daughters Bessie and Seraphine--
the latter commonly known amongst audacious young men as "the Seraph,"
on account of her petite figure, her blue eyes, and her musical voice,
the latter having just a suspicion of Irish brogue and blarney about it.

They were nice lively girls and much liked, as they were quite a
contrast to their mother. Indeed, it was surprising, considering her
disposition and their bringing up, that they were what they were. Had
it not been for them, Lady Dasher's existence would have been
considerably more monotonous and dreary than it was; but, thanks to
their assistance, she was kept thoroughly "posted up" in all the social
life going on in her midst, in which, through her own lache, she was
unable to take part.

Bessie and Seraphine did not attend parties, al