Colonel, looking at his
daughter with displeasure. "But my Isabella, Miss Arden, will be
grateful for your kindness."

"I have so few, Sir, to regard me," said Miss Arden, "that I shall
indeed be happy to gain the love of this little girl."

Elizabeth now asked if she would walk in the garden. "Come, my little
pet," said the Colonel, "give me one kiss; and go with this young lady,
and try to divert her. And do not forget to bring her with you the
first holiday, and we will have a merry day; all your young friends
shall be invited to meet you."

In the course of the morning most of the young ladies arrived. It was a
complete day of bustle. There were trunks and packages to be removed
from the hall into the dressing-room; then one wanted her reticule, and
another a book from her bag; and a third was searching her basket for
good things, either for her own private eating, or to give to some one
to whom she had taken a fancy. Then there were so many conjectures, "who
and who such ladies were?" Miss Vincent and Miss Russel, who were
declared friends, kept apart from their companions. There were few,
indeed, they would deign to notice; and no one, unless her Papa had a
carriage. There was an air of scorn in their countenances, which seemed
to say, "here is a motley group, indeed!"

Jane had been confined to her chamber the whole of the morning, but in
the afternoon strolled into the garden to converse with the young
ladies. She soon felt fatigued, and went into the summer-house to rest.
There, to her surprise, she beheld a young lady with a melancholy
aspect, seated, with her eyes fixed intently upon the floor.

"My dear, why are you here alone?" asked Jane in a tone of kindness;
"was there no young lady to walk with you?"

"No, ma'am; the ladies do not wish to associate with me. They object to
my complexion: and, I believe, they think that I am without feelings.
The little girl would have remained with me, but her sister would not
allow her."

A loud laugh now proclaimed a party approaching the summer-house. Jane
was shocked when she heard Miss Vincent exclaim, "Oh, do come in and
behold her! she is a complete creole! I never saw so frightful a
complexion!"

"The young lady is a stranger to me," said another, "and I am sure I
would not insult her upon any account."

"That is a voice I know," said Jane, stepping to the door. "My dear Miss
Damer, I wish to speak to you." Miss Vincent and her friend instantly
retrea