A Good Match.

CHAPTER I.

THE CIRCLE OF A YEAR.

PHILIP was very much surprised when he heard of Mr. Stillington's visit to me, and his gift of the locket; but he was very glad

to find that we had come to such an excellent mutual understanding of each other. He heard it all from me, for his guardian never said a word to him about it. But a very short time after, Messrs. Stillington, Stephenson & Co., advanced him to a higher post in their counting-house, and increased his hundred-a-year by one half; an event which he had not expected for a much longer period. The next year of my life I will pass over

VOL. II.

B

with very brief notice, for it contained very little worth recording.

On Mr. Duchesne's return from London, his visits to Crawdour were renewed; he seemed to have quite forgotten the snubbing he had received from me on the night of his ball; for he recommenced and pertinaciously continued his unwelcome courtship. But that was all I had to suffer in this matter. I was called to no more interviews with my uncle in the library, and Lady Crawdour informed me that it was arranged that matters were to be let rest for the present, until my cousin Mountiford came home; then the affair was to be settled decisively, one way or the other.

But though I had quite made up my mind which way it should be settled, I received Mr. Duchesne's and his daughter's attentions with a patience and decent civility now, that I had never done before,-a patience and

civility that I believe deceived Lady Crawdour into thinking that I would ultimately yield.

But I had no intention of deceiving her, no more than I had of yielding. Only, that my own mind being in a happier and pleasanter condition now, I could bear these annoyances with a patience I was quite unable to summon before, when I had nothing even to think of that was not irritating.

"You are changed, Lilla," Mrs. Thayer said to me.

"For the better, I hope."

"H-um, I hardly know; you have grown

Well; don't you think that is an improvement? You used to say I was too gay."

"Not too gay, but you were too fond of flirting; you know I disapproved of that."

"You did; but I am afraid I did not mind your disapproval much. However, I have very few opportunities for flirting now,

Lady Crawdour and Mr. Duchesne take care

of that."

"But I don't think you would do it whether you had opportunity or not."

I didn't think I would, either, since I had given up flirting with Philip Staunton. I had never felt any inclination to flirt with any one else.

"Even your dress is altered," said Mrs. Thayer. “You always dressed in good taste, but you wear much plainer and quieter and less expensive things now than you used."

This too was true. I had begun to assimilate my attire much more to that of the curate's wife than to the modes which Lady Geraldine Landon brought from London. The lot in life I had chosen would resemble Mrs. Thayer's more nearly than that of Lord Lesham's daughter; and, with the zeal of a young convert, I had begun to mortify the spirit already in this manner.